Sugoi & Yokunai

When using encryption is criminal.  In France, 7 people are in legal trouble because they encrypted their communications.  Some governments feel so insecure that they have to know everything you say. 

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Rethinking climate change. Volcanic eruptions have been greater contributors to global warming than expected.  Yeah, they say it doesn't get man-made warming off the hook, but how well do they really know?

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Good rules to follow.  What not to post on social media.

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Man, not even a recent stress test can tell if you're going to die suddenly.  Condolences to Oscar Cabrera's family.  This shouldn't have happened.

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This is what I tell myself to make me feel better. 😉 Intelligent people take longer to solve hard problems. Yeah, that's gotta be the answer.

––– 凄い –––Archie Bleyer from OHSU:
"Bleyer says the increased use of diagnostic imaging such as CT scans and X rays, which expose patients to low levels of carcinogenic radiation, could be contributing,"
"When it comes to the uptick in testicular cancer, meanwhile, he says rising cannabis use is likely the leading culprit. "  (Well not everyone agrees, Archie)
"People growing taller could also be a risk factor for several cancer types, he says."   (Now THAT'S a stretch!)
But then other physicians continue to be puzzled:
"Ugai tells me there’s speculation changes in our sleep patterns could be involved."
"Marios Giannakis, a medical oncologist and researcher at the Dana-Farber Gastrointestinal Cancer Center, says changes in the microbiome — the community of microorganisms that populate the body — have been “implicated”.
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Well it's a start.  Measure 110 notwithstanding, possession of at least 1 gm of fentanyl could land you in jail.  But 1 gram of fentanyl is still a lot.  Doctors typically give fractions of a milligram of fentanyl to patients. 

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Firefighters are quitting in droves.  The article never mentions a major factor for this.  Just like with nurses.

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Washington's overdose deaths rising the fastest in the nation.  Hey, maybe eastern Washington can join Greater Idaho.  Just a thought.

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The COVID-19 vax mandates were based on a lie.  Yeah, those of use who paid attention knew this.  Nothing new.

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Cliff Mass sets us straight.  Whatever is happening with Mt. Rainier's glaciers is not due to climate change.  We need objective scientists like Cliff.

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Ranked-choice voting - where idiot voters get a second chance to vote again.  Anyone who understands RCV knows that losers lose for a reason, and that those that vote for them should get taken out of the voter pool.  But RCV essentially lets them vote again, usually to the advantage of looney lefties, and to the detriment of the top candidates. 

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So funny.  I just read this article on Oregon's peculiar problem with technology.  Then I read that there was an Internet outage at the Capitol.  Just hilarious.

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It's A.I. Ashley!  Oregon has an A.I. radio station jockey at 95.5.

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A robot that can read you mind?  Try the Mind Reader.

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I've been seeing a lot of MVA crashes lately.  I suspected that increased marijuana use would be one of the reasons. It's been reported before.

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What makes a song a hit?  Can machine learning predict?

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A.I. is only as good as its training.  And who will do the labeling of datasets for accurate training?  The new underclass, that's who.  And if you take shortcuts, you get crappy A.I.

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Slowly, Portland disintegrates.  You can no longer depend on ambulance service in the city.  Why should people pay taxes to the city anymore.  The money needs to go to a private organization that can get things done.  Also, a separate police force that actually gets crime off the streets.  And private jails to put criminals in. We can no longer depend on the city to do this.  A parallel government, since the first one is almost useless, too busy being diverse and full of equity and other bullsh#t.

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Climate change is just a 71 year old guy named Ed.  Who knew, huh?

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For those keeping track, another study showing that bivalent boosters don't last very long.  Only 30% efficacy at 4 weeks, then downhill from there.  Why bother. 

And a German study supports the contention that natural immunity is best. 

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This is just dumb. Facebook/Meta is going to offer free A.I. as part of their platform.  As if most people really know what to do with A.I. right now.  People who know a thing or two are already noticing that the quality of GPT is going downhill.  ChatGPT and similar models are like dating apps.  They seemed great at the beginning, when the content was good and just a minority of people were using it.  But as more people started using it, the quality eventually degraded it to where it's barely usable.  The low-hanging fruit stage has come and gone.  And A.I. is using A.I. to train itself, so soon the digitial world will be filled with A.I. content, good or bad. Meanwhile, Meta's Yann Le Cun is working on other aspects of A.I.  Just wish he wasn't working for Facebook.

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What's the difference between Google and Microsoft?  Here's an insight.

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Remote working and the coronavirus epidemic messed up a lot of people.  Nobody wants to go back to the office anymore, but bosses want this.  Both sides have their arguments.  Eventually, the labor force will re-adjust.

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This is crap.  Hospital forced to shut down because of ransomware.  Lives disrupted in so many ways.  Horrible.

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Well, the BRICS countries had their meeting.  We're one step closer to the dollar not being reserve currency.  Haven't we had enough to worry about for 2023 so far? 

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Doorknobbing.  Another reason to avoid downtown Portland.

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Toyota has developed a solid-state lithium battery design that will charge in 10 minutes and last 932 miles.  But cars using it won't be available until 2027.  Hope they build up the electrical grid by then.

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People Can Be Convinced They Committed a Crime That Never Happened.  Fascinating.

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AI is filling itself with garbage.  Model collapse, huh?  ChatGPT is kinda like how dating apps were.  Sounded pretty good when they first started, but as more people started using them...well, we know what happened, right?

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Testosterone therapy has had a bad rap, probably people didn't know how to prescribe them, or use them safely.  It's not as dangerous, but you still have to be careful.

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Everything must be paid for twice.  Great article.  Never thought of it that way, but it's true.

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What's wrong with Google and the Reverse Imposter Syndrome.

Within Google, there is a collective delusion that the company is exceptional. And as is the case in all such delusions, the deluded ones are just mortals standing on the shoulders of the truly exceptional people who went before them and created an environment of wild success.  
“I’m here and it’s great; therefore I must be great.

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Your brain works differently when you are speaking German and Arabic.  What the implications of this?

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How DO you find the right people?  To find the best doctor, don't ask your neighbor.  Call the hospital and ask to speak with the charge nurse on the medical or surgical unit, depending on what you want.  That nurse will know someone to recommend.

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