What a weird and oddly wonderful hotel he created … I recommend watching the video tour near the end of the page.
Saturday, August 30, 2025
Friday, August 29, 2025
Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low-likelihood, study finds
Not to be an alarmist … but this ain't good.
Anyone care to actually do something? Or should we just say our goodbyes now so some can have some obscene wealth, with a short time to use it.
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Disney caters to the wealthy
The New York Times wrote a piece about how Disney has changed, and I thought it was worth sharing.
As a frequent visitor, I 100% agree with this assessment. I've watched them go from being a park for any and every one, at an affordable price, to being an expensive playground for the wealthy. I had noted along the way, that the company was doing everything in its power to "tip the scales" toward the affluent.
Everything is an upcharge, and you can get more if you pay more. That's not to say its not fun, its just more expensive, and you really have to temper your expectations going in.
For reference, I took my daughter back in March, and over three days, we managed to see almost every attraction we wanted, without any upcharges. Yes, it was complicated. We had to criss cross the parks, start early, and stay late, and make some changes on the fly. And yes, it seemed like it wouldn't be possible at times. But we had a ball and managed to squeeze a lot in. But in this case, I was the advantage because of my own experiences....not everyone has that. And there was definitely some amount of luck involved.
We Call It Imagineering Episode 3: How Rides Come to Life
This is an intermittent series and it feels a little "edited for the masses" (so they eschew some technical details), but it's still a little fun to hear about the development process imagineers use in their craft.
Another day of stupidity
I am amazed at the breathless coverage of the truck driver who (very unfortunately and sadly) killed three people. And it's hard to follow but maybe he didn't have the right license or wasn't a citizen or couldn't read English. Whatever any of that has to do with anything.
So we simply must have more rules and tests because we can't allow an immigrant to kill people while driving a truck. We need more laws!
But yet the feds have decided they don't need to follow *existing* laws on gun ownership, licensing, and usage. Because that's a burden.
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Submitted for your consideration
In the US, we have the major sports (the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA at the top) and there are teams that play in those leagues.
But the wild part is that there's no threat of being demoted or being discharged from the league. Some teams, then, are basically incentivized to not even bother trying to win (and just roll with it), to keep payrolls low, or to do what is known as "tanking" where they attempt to lose on purpose in order to get some return in the long-term
As fans, sometimes you get stuck wanting to root for the team you "love," but there's never going to be a championship, and you just accept it and maybe even remain hopeful that someday your team's fortunes will change.
For their part, the leagues also see an opportunity to generate revenue, by imposing hefty fees to relocate or to bring in a new franchise to that league (when they think it's the right time).
But meanwhile, in many other leagues (the English Premier league of soccer being the most notable), there's a promotion and relegation system so the teams that are at the top have to play hard to stay at the top - and if they lose, they will get relegated down to a lower league. And teams in that lower league can be promoted up to that higher league if they play well and win enough.
So they're incentivized to put their best foot forward and always try and win because there's a threat that if they lose, they're going to get demoted and have a lower income level.
And why am I mentioning this? Well, to put it bluntly, leagues that have promotion and relegation are a capitalist type of economy. You win to stay relevant. You win to keep making money. You win to have the biggest TV contracts. You win to have the biggest fan bases. And there are no salary caps. So big money can (and must!) be spent to stay at the top. Even a "small market" team can have success because that's capitalist way.
Whereas teams in the United States are essentially a socialist system. TV contracts are negotiated by the league, and every team benefits from them through revenue sharing. There are salary caps, and salary floors to ensure a level playing field. Teams are guaranteed an equitable portion of all proceeds from the league in which they play, so some teams are able to just coast along.
And the reason this amuses me so much is that most Americans rail against socialism as really, really bad! The worst thing ever! And yet sports are essentially socialist constructs in this country and people love the leagues, their teams, and could never imagine their team having to play just to stay at the top. I don't want my team to be considered an also-ran (just like I don't want to see my team abandon my city!). And the capitalist owners just see the money and don't care, either.
To me, it's so funny how people get so hung up on an ideal that they can't even see it happening in something they get passionate about.
OK, this may sound a conspiracy adjacent but…
The 2024 election was peculiar in that Kamala lost every swing state by a margin that seemed unlikely. And of course. that's in spite of her having led in all of those same states as late as a week or two before the election
And in reviewing the results, there were some voting districts in those states where there were zero votes for Kamala. Zero. Sure, on the surface, It's certainly possible that this was the case, but it doesn't feel right in a way.
To that point, over the last few months, there have been reported vote totals results that raised some eyebrows - people who claim to have voted for Kamala see that there were no votes for her in their district. They have signed affidavits, and are suing to get into discovery. And just to be clear, this is more than just a couple of people who are saying their vote wasn't counted.
Look, I'm not saying there's anything to it. But there is something odd about all of it, and the evidence suggests its worth a look.
And here's where my "tin foil hat moment" comes in. You may recall that after the 2020 election, T-rump filed very many lawsuits against the companies that supply the voting machines. Of course, the stated purpose for the suit was that they wanted to make sure the vote totals were correct and blah blah blah...
But what if their actual goal was to use discovery to understand the voting machines more thoroughly. To get at how they connected to the systems that tabulate the votes. What if the intent was to find a flaw in the security - in order to manipulate future outcomes?
Wouldn't that be something?
Yes, its unlikely, but not improbable.
Just my two cents for today.
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Bizarro world
In his stupidity, the gov'na of Florida hates everything he considers woke. The definition varies a lot, but always includes anything in the lgbtq space.
He and the legislature decided that there can be no rainbows displayed anywhere that he can control. (And I while I think he means related to pride, I suspect he's against rainbows because they signify happiness).
Anyway, outside the pulse nightclub in Orlando where there was the shooting, there was a tribute added by the city: a rainbow crosswalk.
Dingleberry didn't like that and had his henchmen tell the city and club that it had to be removed.
They said no. He sent a team one night and just painted over it in black (like his soul).
But locals turned out to simply repainted it. In broad daylight. With the media in tow.
And here we are.
He and the legislature decided that there can be no rainbows displayed anywhere that he can control. (And I while I think he means related to pride, I suspect he's against rainbows because they signify happiness).
Anyway, outside the pulse nightclub in Orlando where there was the shooting, there was a tribute added by the city: a rainbow crosswalk.
Dingleberry didn't like that and had his henchmen tell the city and club that it had to be removed.
They said no. He sent a team one night and just painted over it in black (like his soul).
But locals turned out to simply repainted it. In broad daylight. With the media in tow.
And here we are.
I'm sure he'll paint over it again and then start threatening people who defy him.
African Union backs campaign to replace Mercator map that distorts Africa's size
This is an intriguing problem. The way we create two dimensional maps distorts the sizes of some areas. Especially a continent that spans across the equator.
And as a result, we tend to think of Africa as "small" which clearly isn't right.
Food for thought.
Scientists may have found a powerful new space object: 'It doesn't fit comfortably into any known category'
While studying a nearby galaxy, astronomers noted a peculiar object that they couldn't identify. The called it punctum (or "point") and continue to study it. It's some kind of light source, but isn't like other light sources we've seen before.
"At the moment, Punctum truly stands apart — it doesn't fit comfortably into any known category, and honestly, nothing like this has appeared in any previous millimeter surveys, largely because, until recently, we didn't have anything as sensitive and high-resolution as ALMA."
Ooooohhhh. Something new that was discovered using higher tech / more sensitive equipment. Gotta love it!
NASA’s acting chief calls for the end of Earth science at the space agency
Oh sure. The tool who holds another cabinet position unrelated to space or science was asked to *also* head up nasa because that's an easy job.
And he just announces that there will be no more earth science conducted. Even though it's in their constitutionally mandated charter.
I'm getting so tired of shining a light on the stupidity. Its insanity.
Friday, August 22, 2025
Plant based cuisine.
I listened to a really interesting podcast about the Eleven Madison Park Restaurant in New York City
The gist of the story is that the restaurant is a fine dining establishment and around five years ago, it was awarded three Michelin stars. It was heralded as one of the best restaurants in the world.
The chef/owner realized he had nothing else to accomplish; he had reached the summit and had done as much as he could. And that's when he decided to challenge himself to achieve something new.
It was sort of an existential personal crisis, and his solution was to change the menu completely, to think about sustainability and long-term health of the planet. And so he closed, and re-opened a while later as a plant-based restaurant. In his own words, this was not based on anything related to animal rights or about applying labels like being vegan, or any of those words that are associated with it. This was simply about sustainability and challenging himself to do some good for the planet.
Of course there were the very, very many naysayers. People told him he wouldn't succeed. People told him he was excluding long-term patrons. People told him that he really needed to have meat on the menu because that's just the way things are. But he persisted because he felt it was the right thing to do.
He re-trained his staff, learned new techniques that were outside of his "comfort zone," and started a small farm in upstate New York. And he opened his new plant-based dining concept to some fanfare.
Naturally, other chefs were upset with him because he had changed the paradigm - because he wasn't cooking with any animal products and that upset them. That's how they're all trained and we are conditioned. Diners were upset because it really didn't work for them and they used words like "woke" to describe the transition. But, he persisted.
About a year after he reopened, he was informed he retained that three Michelin star rating! He had achieved a lot. He had an exquisite array of things that he put on the menu that really defined what plant-based cuisine could be, and yet it was still about fine dining. He had a surprising number of people come in and say how amazing it was, even though they were meat eaters. He gave an example of someone who ran a cattle ranch who came in and said it was one of the best meals he'd ever had.
And here's where things get interesting. His restaurant is small (maybe 40 seats). It has thin margins, and the price of food was quite high. Preparation takes longer. Sustainability, it seems, has a cost.
He also noted that the bar tabs - especially on wine - were much higher when he served animal products. People weren't buying alcohol; it could be a reflection of the time to some degree, but it was affecting his bottom line in any case. Restaurants remain profitable in part by selling alcohol.
And that gave him pause. He has over 200 employees between the farms, the restaurant, and his business. He wants to keep them employed.
And that's when he decided that his menu (by his own admission) is non-inclusive by some measure, and the answer was to make a change and add back some animal products.
He remains steadfast in his belief about sustainability, and 90% of his menu remains plant based. Full stop.
He's adding some very specific things to the menu. But it's deliberate, and only for ingredients that he really feels are special, and which fit in the realm of a "high-end." These are things that are really worthwhile putting on his menu, that may be appealing to a slightly different audience.
It's prepared in a way that's separate from all of his plant-based things, and he has no plans to change anything about the plant-based options. For example, if he were to find a cheese that inspired him, it wouldn't suddenly be mixed in with the potatoes.
To be clear, the reason he did this was primarily for the long-term health of his restaurant. He realized that from a sustainability perspective, his own restaurant may not survive if he didn't try to do something different.
He thinks he can have a lot more success this way, and he still views himself as thinking about sustainability. Even if he pissed off some of his staff and some diners that were plant-based people, he realizes it's a balance in some way.
I just found the whole thing really interesting because it's about trend-setting and doing something bigger than yourself for the reasons that make sense, but realizing there's a limit to how much you can do.
You can't change the world with one restaurant, but you can challenge people to think differently and be that sort of disruptive influence that may help other people to realize they don't have to cook with animal products exclusively.
While he doesn't want to be the leader, he realizes that maybe other restaurants will be inspired for similar reasons. They, too, can create these plant-based, luxurious, and wonderful dishes that could be enjoyed by their diners.
Friday, August 15, 2025
hope for the best, but plan for the worst.
Somewhere in my education as an engineer, a professor said the title of this post. And its true in life these days.
Every day, we see news that is worse than the day before. The lies. The gaslighting. The The stupidity of it all. It's kind of astounding how it's happening, mostly unchecked. It's hard to focus on any single thing, or even a couple of issues, because it just keeps going.
Things may look bad. But, I try to be a little philosophical and channel my inner Yoda on this and remind myself that the future is uncertain.
Remain hopeful that tomorrow will be better. And take small actions to make that a reality in our lives.
But bigger picture, I think its important to turn off the constant news, and stay off of social media as much as possible (doom scrolling is never a good thing!)
Be a true skeptic of everything you consume. Remember that often "influencers" whether on TV, the radio, or on the interwebs are in it for clicks, fame, or money.
But with that said, the "plan for the worst part" is that we should all have options in our lives. If things were to go wildly wrong, and "we" felt the need to leave, where would we go? This is the time to be considering that eventuality.
If you're considering leaving the country, there are places that offer citizenship by investment, have a golden visa of some kind, have a residency program, offer some kind of option for retirees to live there, etc.
Or you could look at citizenship requirements for a place you like, maybe thriugh residency or a work visa. Or maybe you have an ancester (like a grandparent) who came to the US, and that country of origin offers citizenship.
Step one is to come up with a list of some options for yourself and people you care about. And do a little research (haha the irony!) on citizenship or residency in those places.
It never hurts to have options. Even if things suddenly look better (I can dream!)
Job hunting, ageism, and the world of automation
Companies (large and small) tend to outsource their HR front end, relying on third parties to handle the voluminous applications that come into a job (in some cases it could literally be tens of thousands of applicants for a single job).
But these third parties may not be playing fair.
I read an article about a lawsuit against the "Workday company," who offer this service. The suit alleges that workday use some kind of automation (they refer to as AI, but I'm skeptical) to immediately (like within seconds) weed out candidates who the system determines are over 40 (based on years worked or degree dates or whatever).
The company defends itself by saying that it's legitimate automation and it's looking at skills and experience for a job, and the kicker is that since there's no human involved it can't be age discrimination!
And in today's world, who knows? They may be "correct" in that assessment.
But the bigger picture is that the companies that use these services (which is pretty much all of them) are complicit in their discrimnatory hiring practices. The suit is about age, but the HR company builds their automation around what the hiring company wants, which may include other things beyond age. And because they're just a front end, it leaves the hiring company's "hands clean."
But that means that for the average person - especially an older worker looking for a job - it's literally impossible that any application they submit would EVER be considered.
The only real options to stand a chance are to network or use a headhunter. But then, of course, you have little control over the situation, or type of job that may be available. "The man" has control over all of it, and you have no choices.
Its all an elaborate illusion of work.
That's totally screwed up.
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Teen scientist makes stunning breakthrough that could slash costs of lifesaving drugs: 'I cannot describe this feeling'
This young guy came up with a way to use corn husks to simplify the early part of the drug manufacturing and was able to reduce the cost of this step from $75 to $12.50.
Without the ability to scale. The and result is that it should be cheaper to make drugs in the future.
Now let's see if the drug companies actually use it AND reduce prices - or if they simply just enhance their profits.
Sunday, August 10, 2025
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Scientists unveil bioplastic that degrades at room temperature, and outperforms petroplastics
How clever of them! Using cellulose so it degrades easily at room temperature is a good answer.
WashU's chemical engineers decided to introduce cellulose nanofibers to the design of bioplastics.
"We created this multilayer structure where cellulose is in the middle and the bioplastics are on two sides,"
And thus you have something that may help with some of our plastic problems.
Friday, August 8, 2025
Almond production
Almonds are very particular plants. They require a fair amount of attention, and very large amounts of water to grow. One might argue that their overproduction in places like California is to the detriment of the environment.
But I recently learned about tropical almonds, which grow throughout the Caribbean. They are a different species of plant, but produce a nut that is very similar to an almond in size and taste. They grow along the beaches, without much care, and need almost no water, other than natural rainfall.
Given that they taste similar, it certainly seems to me that this version of the almond could be grown and harvested for use in almond butter and almond milk - at a much lower cost to the environment. Maybe these couldn't replace almonds that are sold whole, but maybe they could be introduced as an alternative product.
Just my thought on the matter.
Lets Do Nukes On The Moon (Update with Directive)
For some dumb reason, the unqualified shmoke who is the acting head of nasa has announced that America needs to claim the moon and build a nuclear reactor there.
I don't even know what to say anymore.
Da Vinci Drone Project Realized: A Revolution in Technology
Da Vinci proposed a sort of screw as a propellor. And while theoretically it sounded interesting, no one was able to create one and test it.
Until recently. Advancements in computers make it possible to build it in a simulated environment, and it can be created using more advanced printing techniques as a prototype.
And so far the results are promising. Da Vinci may have been on to something. And was very much ahead of his time.
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
The bullshit known as alligator Alcatraz
The very notion of "Alligator Alcatraz" offends me on pretty much every level.
And yet, some people love the name because it's cute in some way.
It starts at the top with the idiocy of rounding people up for no real reason (other than hatred of non-white people) and incarcerating them for petty reasons with no due process. All carried out by masked men who have been granted broad authority to harass and intimidate. And all of it in violation of the law. Not that anyone cares.
But "Florida gonna Florida" and the governor decided he could be a darling of the administration and open a detention center (in spite of already having a few around south Florida that are questionable and in use) in a part of the Everglades.
And things get weird from there, with him invoking some sort of emergency declaration, then using eminent domain to take some land from Miami-dade and collier counties without telling them, and proceeding with construction the very next day with barbed wire fences, and armed security telling citizens and elected officials to steer clear of the area. A violation of Florida and federal law.
Various companies were contracted to build and secure the area, with no bid contracts handed to political supporters and with no written contracts. Again in violation of the law.
And it was all paid for by raiding various disaster relief and general funds, without authorization and with no supervision. Again. Laws were broken. The estimate on spend was $500 million dollars. Which was taken from taxpayers overnight with no accountability.
The governor plans to have 5,000 beds in this facility (and it's already at least partially full, we can't and don't know just how full because no one can inspect the site), and has some kind of handshake agreement with the federal government on costs to operate.
They are expecting that the feds will pay $245 per bed, per night. Which is insane. The Ritz Carlton on Miami Beach is only slightly more, at $279 as a nightly rate. Except that it's on the beach, has AC and of course isn't a detention center.
At the rate of $245 per night, that should be $1.25 million per day that will be recouped. So it should only take 18 months to make back the money he stole. Except of course you have to pay for guards, maintenance and food. So it will surely take 10x as long. Oh by the way the administration has already suggested they won't be paying! So yeah.
Oh and about the inability to inspect this site in any way. There are accusations of human rights abuses happening regularly. But no one can get in to see what's really going on. So human rights organizations - which regularly report on third world countries - can't see what's happening in our supposed first world country.
And crass politicians say that's all okay because these are illegals who have broken the law and should somehow be treated poorly as a result. Even though some have legal status, and at least a few are citizens.
Fuck all of this.
RFK Jr. cuts $500 million in mRNA vaccine contracts, dealing major blow to promising area of research
Yet another way we get fucked.
Who needs to research and provide cures for things that can - and will - happen in the future? Who cares if everyone gets sick and dies?
The EPA has bad news for all of us.
Now that the EPA has been ceded to people who don't care about the environment, and think protection is for suckers, we're about to see some significant changes coming.
Among them are changes to any standards as it relates to car emissions. Who needs to regulate the gas mileage, having things like catalytic converters, or care about the toxicity of what's coming out of the tailpipe?
What matters is that car companies can choose what they want to sell and gas companies should be able to profit from lower gas mileage! Screw everyone.
And there's a secondary problem that goes along with this. The EPA funds some efforts to reduce emissions, and as a result subsidizes the oil industry.
When that funding source goes away, that means the subsidy goes away. And therefore, we as consumers will pay more at the pump. How much more? I saw an estimate that it likely would be about $.79 per gallon. Meaning that today we're paying $3.17 a gallon. But shortly we'll be paying 25% more - or about $3.96 a gallon.
And gas mileage likely will go down on new cars, ensuring that you will have to fill up more often.
But hey. You voted for "lower gas prices" and now you get to FAFO.
Saturday, August 2, 2025
Dillon vs. Goliath: Portland Pickles file lawsuit over logo similarities with Disney+ show
These are the kinds of stories that truly amuse me.
There's a Disney+ show called "Win or Lose" that focuses on a fictitious baseball team called the pickles.
But there's a real team in Portland called the pickles, and because Disney is selling merch with a pickles logo, the real baseball team sued for copyright infringement.
They reached a settlement this week, and while we don't know the details, the outcome is dill-icious.
Friday, August 1, 2025
Disney Products Generated $63 Billion in Sales in 2024, as Mouse House Again Tops Global Licensing Leaderboard
$63,000,000,000 in sales of licensed merchandise - a little over 20% of all licensed products - is astounding.
And it shows the power the mouse has over everything.
Brilliant teenage students develop mind-blowing inventions to solve global crisis: 'I got goosebumps'
It's always great to see our youth tackling problems that face us all. Fun, human interest stories that offer hope and tackle challenges are always worthwhile.
Over three weeks, students formed teams and tackled pressing issues like carbon emissions, microplastics, e-waste, and heatwaves. The teams then turned their ideas into working prototypes under the mentorship of scientists, professors, and entrepreneurs at the institute.
Hubble Space Telescope spots rogue planet with a little help from Einstein: 'It was a lucky break'
The Hubble Space Telescope detected an anomaly. But it was a scientist who figure it out; Einstein had correctly posited that a planet would create a sort of ripple in its wake. And that's what they saw that encouraged them to study the space further.
A rogue planet! How very unusual.
Man awarded $12,500 after Google Street View camera captured him naked in his yard in Argentina
I know people who would have taken less. Still an amusing story. His nekkid butt was there for all to see...
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