You Can be HERE...

Doubleplus Ungood Think

If you insist that not being racist is actually racist, and to not be racist you must be racist...

First, you're wrong.

Second, you may need mental health assistance.

Third, there's this guy named Eric Arthur Blair... he wrote several things that you need to read, look him up.

The Wisdom of Sir pTerry

The Sound of My Own Voice

A few months ago I got a new headset, which has a studio monitor quality headphone component, but I don't really know how good the mic is... I decided to test it with a video.

This is the youtube version, I'm also going to try uploading it via facebook video, and then try to compare both with the original recording, to see what kind of compression and processing quality loss there is across the platforms.

But they can't admit it...

"I think people are stupid and gullible and irresponsible and bad, and they will be swayed by other bad people, and they will do bad things... Not me because I'm better and smarter than those other people and I won't be swayed, so I should be able to make decisions for those other people, because otherwise bad people will, and I want them to be forced by men with guns to do what I think they should do, because I am good and right and my thoughts and preferences and decisions are good and right"

-- Everyone who wants the government to restrict rights... but they can't admit it

Say what you mean, and mean what you say... Definitions MATTER

If you mean "it's to be expected that X happened" or "it's unsurprising that X happened", say so.. Don't say its "Understandable that X happened"...

Understandable means that you empathize with the action, or sympathize with it, or can find it reasonable, or excusable, or justifiable... or at least understand and find reasonable that others might.. If that's what you mean, then OK... that's what you mean. But if it isn't, then use the right words and constructions to convey the right meaning.

This isn't just meaningless wonkery... it's a very important distinction.

Definitions matter. Words matter. Communication depends on these things. Misunderstanding and conflict are generated and perpetuated based on getting them wrong.

You Like Me... You REALLY Like Me...

At peak, my blog was averaging about 2,500 to 5,000 unique views per day... a few times I went as high as 25,000, and a rare couple of times I went over that...

But I nearly stopped writing on the blog in 2015... and had been writing a lot less since 2013. I wrote more than 3900 posts from 2005 through the end of 2014... I've written exactly 145 posts in the 5 years since.

... But there's something funny...

As late as the end of 2018, I was still seeing up to 2500 uniques a day, and now, 5 years since I stopped posting every MONTH (I've averaged about 2 posts a month in over the last 5 years), never mind every week or every day... I'm still getting between 500 and 1,500 unique page views every day... That's how much my writing is out there, circulating, linked and referenced in other peoples posts, on forums etc... And how often is shows up in searches for the topics I write about.

... And that feels pretty damn great...

Comments are fixed... sort of

Comments are broken, and have been for a while. I'm working on figuring out why, and fixing it, right now.

Hopefully I'll have them back up, before more than a couple people want to comment but can't.

UPDATE: Well, the first fix was easy... but you have to actually go into the posts own page to comment. I'm trying to see what I can do to fix that.

Travelling Back From Out Of The Fog

A few years ago, I decided to deprioritize the blog... for several reasons.

First, my life was all cancer all the time, and I really just didn't feel like I was writing much worth reading that wasn't about the cancer and the impact it had on our life.

Second, and more relevant to the current state of social media, is that in large part, people stopped commenting on blogs... They would comment on twitter, or facebook, or reddit, or wherever they found the post, or had the post shared with them etc... but they wouldn't actually comment on the blog itself.

... The discussion moved away from the platform... and that killed the entire point of blogs, which was to actively engage with readers and commenters. Otherwise, it's just a web site... or worse, a livejournal...

So, I moved my primary social media activity and most of my new writing, from this blog, to other social media... Mostly facebook, with a little bit of twitter, and eventually a little bit of MeWe.

... I still occasionally posted, as my loyal readers hopefully noted... but often I went months at a time between blog posts.

However, I am generally a long form writer... I've got several blog posts exceeding 10,000 words, and at least a couple exceeding 20,000 words... and across the last 15 years that Ive been writing in this space, I've managed to write a couple of series of posts exceeding 100,000 words, which is entire book length.

... And Facebook isn't exactly well suited to long form writing... though I've still managed to write a fair few long form posts anyway.

Well... For quite some time now, a lot of my readers and friends have asked me to start posting my longer FB posts back to my blog... at the very least because FB makes it extremely difficult to save and find posts later, and it can be difficult to link to or excerpt a post when you want to etc...

As it happens, I had already decided to do so... and few days ago I mentioned I was already in the process of doing it... But, you have been following both FaceBook AND the blog all along, you may have noted I hadn't done so yet (or at least not until a few minutes ago).

I haven't forgotten about doing so... I'm just in the process of collecting, cleaning up and re-writing in blog format, and then scheduling those posts to come out one or two at a time, so i'm not flooding the blog with tens of thousands of words all at once.

... So... why now?

Well, a few reasons... For one thing, I've noted that some people are starting to engage with long form writing and blogs again. Also, my life, while not exactly great at the moment, is at least no longer all cancer all the time, so I feel like I can write more about what I actually want to write about.

... But there WAS something specific that prompted me to act on the notions that have been stewing for months, where I was hesitating before now...

For the last 10 years, I have suffered from what I, and other cancer warriors call "cancer brain"... I have had long and severe bouts of  overwhelming fatigue, lack of clarity and focus, writers block, and even readers block, where I literally can't concentrate or focus enough to read, sometimes for months at a time. I have spent days, weeks, months at a time, going in and out of what those of us who suffer from it call "brain fog"... where I can have seemingly normal function, even be reasonably intelligent and clever and seem to write reasonably well... but it's not me... it doesn't feel right, it doesn't... work... It's not good work and good writing, or at least not good enough. I try to grasp ideas and work with them, and they just slip away. I try to write the proper words to say what I really mean, in the way I want to say it... and I just can't.

... But there have been moments when I came out of the fog, and WAS able to do good work... even some things I thing are great. Among the best I've written... They're not common, but they have been happening more and more, as I recover more and more.

A few days ago, I managed to write about 20,000 words, on several different subjects, in just a few hours... I think maybe some pretty good ones, as I have strung them together.

My brain started working close to how it should for a few hours... Waking up after a good quality sleep with less pain and no reflux (for the first time in days) was undoubtedly a big help there... but sometimes, in the midst of the fog, I hit a clear patch, and can think, and write, and be productive, at least a bit like I used to.... And hopefully will again.

And in that clear patch,  I wrote wrote couple of the best things I've written in a good long while, as well as a couple of linked posts that are...

...Let's call them interesting seeds, that will hopefully grow from possibilities in peoples minds, to interesting realities in peoples lives.

So, I decided that I would stop letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, and at the very least, post here, whatever I may write that I think is good... or that may plant interesting seeds in peoples minds...

...If I can achieve that... it's something worthwhile... And you can't hope for much better than that.

These have some interesting potential

8GB Raspberry Pi 4 released for $75

I have been waiting for the 8gb memory threshold to be crossed, for Pi platforms to become really seriously useful for certain important and/or fun applications. I was hoping they'd be a little closer to $50, but that will happen not too far out I'm sure.

Honestly... I cant afford this right now, but I think I need it, for personal and professional development stuff that I have been wanting to do for a good long while..

If anyone wants to help me get one of these... preferably the full developers kit... It would be much appreciated (paypal via chris@chrisbyrne.com or contact me directly for basically every other possible way of helping out). Or several of them really... at least two, but up to eight ideally (because they're modular building blocks that are most efficient in blocks of 8, which would be 32 cores and 64gb of memory for $600 at current pricing... and likely $400 or less for bulk pricing in six months).. because what I want to do involves some clustering, and scaling... It would potentially go a long way to helping me rebuild my professional life, and get some significant income again.

Arnold Lied, People Died.

The conventional narrative of the air war in Europe, is that the P51 was the fastest and longest ranged fighter of the war, and that we didn't have fighters with the escort range necessary to escort bombers all the way to their targets and back, until the arrival in quantity of the P-51C, and P-51D with the 8th air force at the end of 1943 and into early 1944 (P51s officially started escort missions in January 1944).

This narrative is repeated in countless histories and documentaries... it was even part of the official 8th air force doctrine reference and history.

It's also completely false.

In actual fact, as used in the field, the P47 (particularly the later bubble canopy models) was both faster (higher turbosupercharging boost pressure and better cooling, with higher octane fuel and new props, and new venting systems, plus new understanding of how those interacted and development of optimal settings for them improved speed and fuel economy in the field by more than 20% over official sources), and had longer range than the P51 when both were equipped with drop tanks.

Of course, it took more than twice as much fuel to get there... But with the available drop tanks from late 1942 onward, and the upgraded internal fuel capacity available in early 1943 (upgraded from 305 to 370 gallons internally, and twin 150 gallon wing tanks with a 200 or 210 gallon belly tank), the P47 had a full 770 mile escort radius available to it (and a non escort range of over 1900 miles with optimal fuel management) if the generals in charge of the bombing raids had chosen to use those tanks. And a few months after that, their escort range could be as high as 910 miles.

...(an aside, the later mustangs were upgraded from 180 gallons internal to 269 gallons internal capacity, and had twin 110 drop tanks available to them, and a 168 gallon belly tank which was suitable for ferry use but not for combat. With those tanks they had an official 2,080 mile range...in reality with optimal fuel management that could be extended to something around 2,280-2,340 miles. However, the P47 had available.. though they were rarely used... twin 300 gallon tanks plus a 210 gallon belly tank with which it WAS combat capable... a combined total fuel of 1180 gallons in the configurations used in Europe... and which given optimal fuel management could extend its range... depending on atmospheric conditions at altitude [because they effected turbocharger settings] to between 2,360 and 2,480 miles... though officially it never had more than a 1,990 mile range, because it was politically important that the mustang have the higher official range number.

Further, the P47n used in the pacific, had vastly increased internal fuel capacity... ultimately a total of 810 gallons internal, which combined with twin 150 wing tanks and 210 belly tanks [they couldn't use the 300 gallon wing tanks because most of that new internal fuel capacity was in the wings, and the additional weight would have caused structural problems], gave it an escort radius of over 1100 miles, and an ultimate non-escort range of well over 2,400 miles... the longest documented range ever achieved being appx. 2,700 miles point to point, but with navigational uncertainty and course variations, could have been as much as 2,840 miles actually traveled)...

Instead, from the beginning of the war, until the very end of 1943, use of those large drop tanks was banned. In fact, throughout all of 1942, the 8th air force officially banned the use of drop tanks at all, for anything but ferry flights, though there is ample evidence that by the end of 1942 this ban was being widely ignored... and in early 1943, the use of 75 gallon drop tanks was finally authorized. Later in 1943, they authorized the use of the English 108 gallon drop tanks (made of compressed paper saturated with resin, in a bicycle and fender shop near the air base they were developed at by the by). However drop tanks were in short supply because of the official ban, and it took months and months for the supply of drop tanks to build up to usable levels after the ban was lifted.

This ban, and all that followed from it, was a stubborn insistence on the part of certain bomber mafia generals, to refuse to admit pre-war doctrine (which said that fighters couldn't effectively escort bombers long distances, and therefore the bombers should defend themselves) was false, and a refusal to accept responsibility for the loss of life caused by this doctrine.

They were able to escape this humiliating admission, by falsely claiming that they just didn't have aircraft with the ability to escort the bombers until the P51 was available in large numbers, with its drop tanks.

... So... As the P47 was actually used, by doctrine, the P51 was indeed faster and longer ranged... but in reality, in their combat conditions in the field, the P47 could be faster and longer ranged.

... At least up until the very end of the war, and really until after the active combat in the European war was over, when some final engine and turbocharging changes, and the final drop tank configurations available, finally made the P51 faster than the P47 as used in Europe and with longer ranged than the P47 as used in the European theater... but it was never faster or longer ranged in combat configurations, than the P47N used in the pacific.

... Only after the war, in stripped down configurations used to set records, using special high performance props, and turbocharger settings never allowed during the war (and then later in Korea when further developments in engine management, turbocharging, high octane fuel, and bigger better props made it even faster and more efficient) was the MUCH more aerodynamically efficient P51 actually faster than the fastest of the P47s.

I give Hap Arnold a lot of credit for a lot of things... He more than earned his legion of merit and distinguished flying cross, and he is recognized as the founder of the modern air force for good reason. I will never deny the man was critical to that foundation.

... But on this one issue, he royally screwed the pooch... and at least 10,000 men died, who probably didn't have to die, because of it.

Everything begins with round, concentric, level, and plumb...

If you can rotate one piece and hold another piece completely still against it to cut it or grind it, you can make anything perfectly round and concentric.

Once you get four pieces perfectly round, concentric, and identical, you can find perfect level and plumb.

Once you can make four pieces perfectly round, concentric, and level, you can take a piece and make one surface perfectly flat.

Once you can make one surface perfectly flat and level, you can make a second surface perfectly perpendicular to it, and perfectly flat and level.

Once you can make two surfaces perfectly flat, level, and perpendicular to each other you can always find 90 degrees.

Once you can make things perfectly round and concentric, and make two surfaces perfectly flat and perpendicular to each other, you can make anything flat and square on all sides.

Once you know one exact measurement... all you need to do is hold it up to something else you know the size of... and can make something flat, square, perpendicular, and level on all sides, then you can always find a 45 degree angle.

Once you can make something flat and square on all sides, and you can always find a 45 degree angle, you can make anything flat, square, and true on all sides.

Once you can find an exact measurement, and exact 90 and 45 degree angles, you can always find the center of any measurement, and you can always double any measurement.

Once you can halve and double any measurement, find 90 and 45 degrees, and find the center of any measurement, you can find any measurement at all.

Once you can find 90 degrees, 45 degrees, and any measurement at all, you can find any angle at all.

Once you can make something round, concentric, flat, square and true, and can find any measurement and any angle, you can make any spiral you want, and thus, cut any screw thread or gear you want.

Once you cut four threads and four gears to act against each other, you can double the precision of your threads and gears.

Once you can find any measurement, and the center of any measurement, and can find 90 degrees, and 45 degrees, and any angle at all... and can halve and double them... you can double the precision of your measurements... and redouble them to any degree of precision.

Once you can double the precision of your measurements, and the precision of your threads and gears, you can make anything round, concentric, flat, square, and true at double precision.

Once you can make four flat, square, and true objects at double precision, and four round and concentric flats and shafts at double precision, you can double it again...

Then you can double the precision of your threads and gears again, and redouble, and redouble, to any degree of precision.

...and by doubling, redoubling, and halving, and quartering, over and over, you can find any measurement, of any line, at any degree of precision, and make anything round, concentric, flat, and square to any degree of precision.

Once you can find any measurement, at any degree of precision, and can always find the center, 90 and 45 degrees, you can find any angle, to any degree of precision.

Once you can find always find endpoints, and center points of any line, any measurement, and any angle, at any degree of precision, you can describe any arc, at any degree of precision.

... and cut any screw or gear, at any degree of precision.

Once you can make anything round, concentric, flat, square, true, and level, find any measurement and any angle, cut any screw and any gear, and describe any arc, at any precision...

... you can make anything at all...

This is how the entire industrial world developed, and how everything is still made today...

Everything... every manufactured piece, every machine, everything in this modern world... begins with the lathe.

The actual Covid-19 death data says... Yep, it's a sociopolitics driven fraud

Once you understand the full scope of the fraud that has been perpetrated on the american people surrounding Covid-19 deaths, death rates, infection rates, and everything else... you're going to be very angry, and rightly so.

Remember the initial death estimates of 2 million... or even the revised estimates of 2,000,000? Yeah... turns out, not so much. Even projecting current trends out to august.. the date for those original 2 million death projections... Looks like its' going to be AT WORST, 1/20th of that.

The ACTUAL reported deaths, from the CDC as of May 1st?

... It's not 68,000 as widely reported... it's actually a little more than HALF that, at 37,000.

The actual number of deaths per day peak? It's not 2,500 to 2,800 as widely reported, but about 1,700... and that was just one bad week, it went down to 1,500 the next week, and is now down to 450.

Oh and about 1/3 of all the deaths are just in NYC by itself... about half if you include the NYC metro area. This has been a genuine crisis for the New York metro area, and for a couple of other densely populated cities... and yes, really... essentially a really bad flu season everywhere else.

This is not to say that the disease and its direct impacts aren't serious... but we've now put 30 million people out of work for... if you're charitable, an "overabundance of caution"... If you're more cynical, for a very deliberate sociopolitical fraud by mostly the left, but also authoritarians of all stripes... Who see this as an opportunity to push their own political agendas and goals.

Data directly from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/COVID19/