The year is officially here now, as I adjust to getting MLK Jr. day off of work now. But you aren’t here to read about my struggles, you want links, music, and drink recipes.
Well, it wasn’t sex stuff.
Well… at least it isn’t all sex stuff?
Also not sex stuff (this time).
I for one, thank RJ for this development.
In other local sportsball news.
*clears throat* Fuck the DMCA.
Nintendo has finally revealed the worst kept secret in the gaming industry.
I’m wondering if this was a mistake, or if it was a set up for this announcement.
There’s a thing called elegance when it comes to design, here’s the opposite of that.
Just wait for the deluxe model to be released.
A new job for those with an “increasingly rare skill”.
If you don’t qualify for that, there’s always this one. Although I feel like they should partner with these guys.
Including this one for the Hyperbole.
If you need more kitsch in your life, and want to be entertained, there’s always this guy.
For the record, I’d like to point out that through the alcohol free mocktails, one thing that I’m avoiding is the bullshit alcohol free “spirits”. Look, if you want to spend $30 for some distilled water with hints of flavoring in it, feel free to spend your own money and substitute it as you see fit. While I’ve had some not terrible NA beer, those were consumed in lieu of water at beer fests (the NA beer table was closer than the nearest water station).
Faux 75
- 1 part (1 ounce) lemon juice
- 1 part (1 ounce) simple syrup
- 3-4 part (3-4 ounces) Bitter-lemon pop (Fever Tree makes a delightful one)
Add the lemon juice and simple syrup to a shaker with ice, shake until chilled, strain into a flute, and top with the pop. Quick and easy. If you needed to know the base, that would be the French 75, which adds gin and champagne instead of the pop.
With that, go out and try to enjoy the weekend.
I suppose that’s the downside to being an artistic type… they tend to rebel against society / push boundaries / get in trouble. Almost surprising more game designers (not developers mostly, since programmers / developers tend to be anal and process oriented — even for the artistic types that’s going to counter-balance) don’t have that kind of past.
Then again — some developers just kill their wife… exception that hits the try statement, I suppose…
I remember the arguments about using his file system on /. back in the day when that all broke.
Software developer career checks out.
That article on the switch 2 was 90% wild assed guesses.
They’re just trying to switch it up.
That’s intendonal.
I hate that this is even vaguely acceptable in our society. And even more that the up and coming generations seem to react with “What do you have to hide?” When all your life is streamed via TikTok anyway, I suppose I see their point… but I can barely imagine wanting to live like that.
Maybe someday there will be a backlash… but I’m not holding my breath.
Who doesn’t want smart devices all phoning home constantly with all sorts of personal details?
“Smart” washing machines and dishwashers make no sense to me. While I have had shitty dishwashers that don’t do a great job in general, I have never had a problem just using the standard settings on either machine.
Our laundry room is off the garage, out of the house. Having notifications that the cycle is done would be helpful.
didn’t hold back the growth of the more mainstream robotics business
$20 (same as downtown of course) says they’ve got that backwards.
You get no argument from me. For a tangential point — I think society benefits immensely from fair use activities (parody, quotes for discussion, things like different commentary over existing work) and that should be stronger instead of the easy corporate heel striking down anything that they think might cost them a streaming nickel.
I should go outside and yell at the clouds now… where’s the onion for my belt?
While I dislike the DMCA, I did find the workaround entertaining, hence it made my links.
I would have expected it to be Tonio telling us about driving home nuts and weiners….
Huh…. so it isn’t just me that doesn’t find they add much when I’m told by soup and stew recipes to put them in… interesting! (one of us! one of us!)
I wonder if there’s a genetic element to who can taste it.
Wouldn’t be the first plant to taste different to different people.
There is, it’s mentioned in the article. 🙂
Like I read the articles.
People read the links?
Taste and smell are the closely intertwined oddball senses because they rely on various receptors tuned to specific molecules, unlike hearing and vision which detect certain frequencies of waves and we differentiate based on wavelength. Smell is the first sense we acquire, and the last to leave us, and has the most direct path to the brain of any of the other head-mounted sensor arrays.
Having said all that, cooking is magic. Buon appetito.
Clean and green
A fire broke out at the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in Central California Thursday. The battery power plant is the largest in the world according to the company, Vistra, that owns it.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation orders for nearby residents and closed parts of Highway 1 in response. County Health officials have asked other residents to shelter indoors with windows and doors closed and to switch off ventilation systems.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it. This is a disaster, is what it is,” Monterey County Supervisor Glen Church told KSBW-TV.
The company will investigate the cause of the fire once it’s out, Vistra spokesperson Jenny Lyon told The Mercury News. Vistra did not immediately respond to an email from The Verge. It completed an expansion of the facility in 2023, adding more than 110,000 battery modules needed to store renewable energy. Energy storage facilities like this one are essential for power grids to be able to keep enough excess solar and wind energy so it’s available when the sun goes down and winds wane.
Essential. Yeah, that’s it.
Our local paper yesterday was lamenting the fact that PG&E’s high rates will prevent people from buying EVs and transition to “clean energy”. I doesn’t occur to them that the push to clean energy is what’s driving the high rates and that energy costs “must necessarily skyrocket” to reduce usage.
I have said this many times before. The push for any green initiative always has as its goal LESS CONSUMPTION.
Watching the usual suspects twist themselves in knots on how to square that with AI is going to be lafftastic. I don’t think it’s actually reached their consciousness yet.
TOK — When I worked in the field, the enviros called it “demand-side management”. I guess “be poorer” or “reduce your standard of living” didn’t focus group as well.
“The push for any green initiative always has as its goal LESS CONSUMPTION”…by other people.
Would you look at this bitch?
https://x.com/VP/status/1880334350044012843
Except it’s not, he’s a blow hard no nothing
Now shit in the other hand you gigantic c**t.
I could understand this, a little, if some state had actually done something recently, buuuuttttTTTTT NOOOOoOOooooo. Not a fucking thing.
Wouldn’t this sort of thing count as a constitutional crisis if anyone took him seriously?
People are taking this fantasy seriously.
Let a million hobby-horses bloom!
rhywun:
So California and New York will have to remove abortions for women since men can’t get abortions? Or do they think that somehow I’m allowed to get an abortion in Mississippi or Texas?
Based on their sex or on their gender? I wish they would keep it straight. It’s like weather and climate. Use whichever one is most convenient for their purposes.
They should start enforcing Selective Service non-registration penalties on women then… see how long this equality lasts.
(Surveillance of pregnant people has become a concern for many Americans in the wake of state and proposed national measures to restrict abortion access.)
Cut it the fuck out.
Remember, this is always projection – so the trick now is, what is it they want to surveil like that?
Stated without evidence.
Surveillance of pregnant people
Rule 34
I’ve never had Fever Tree’s bitter lemon, but their tonic waters are my go-to. FT uses cane sugar as a sweetener; no corn syrup.
I’ve enjoyed all the flavors of Fever Tree that I’ve tried, even though some are a bit difficult to figure out the best use for.
I’m a fan of Q products.
The hibiscus ginger beer is yummy but I only find it at one grocery store that is out of my way here. It is next door to one of my doctor’s offices though. 🫤
I’m wondering if this was a mistake, or if it was a set up for this announcement.
If it was a set up, bravo. But it think it was likely a fuck up. Shouldn’t have outsourced to India lol!
At this point, they should lean into it being a setup for the announcement.
I would. Especially if it was my fuck up.
“Boss, our impressions are off the chart!”
Great songs today, btw!
Tundra:
Glad you enjoyed them. I got to see King Django several times (once solo, and with Skinnerbox a couple of times). Some of his songs will gather some confused looks, for some reason people aren’t used to Hebrew Reggae.
Tundra: You mean ‘imperssions?
When you use a connected treadmill or exercise bike, you probably expect the service to record data like how long you ran or biked and your pace. If you’re a BowFlex user, however, you might be surprised to learn that the company, in its privacy policy, also grants itself the right to collect and share data on how you smell.
Simple solution: Don’t use this stuff. Free weights and if you need machines for accessory work/rehabilitation/conditioning, use dumb, unconnected machines
Agree. And the equipment lasts a lifetime (or two).
I appreciate this sentiment coming from a valued member of my gym. 🙂
So you are saying you don’t collect data on how your customers smell? Could be a gold mine. Joe Biden will be available to help out soon.
Only two visits and I’m already a valued member? You need better standards.
😉
On a serious note: If you’re in NW Indiana, stop by Kevin’s gym. It’s a good place. The truck pull simulator was my favorite bit of equipment.
Yes you are valued, no matter the number of visits. We do have some fun fitness toys. The truck pull sim is popular, so are the tires and atlas stones.
I’ll wear my valued member badge with pride.
TBH my dream exercise equipment would be a Peloton with the topo maps and a VR headset with 3D Google Street view.
All aboard the Oligarch Express
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) are putting pressure on big tech firms to explain their motives for donating to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund. In letters to Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Uber, the lawmakers express concerns about the companies making contributions to “avoid scrutiny, limit regulation, and buy favor.”
Over the past several weeks, Google, Microsoft, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta, Amazon, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman all donated $1 million apiece to Trump’s inauguration, while Uber and its CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, each contributed $1 million. Many of these tech execs have already met with Trump, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is even hosting an inauguration party for the incoming president, according to The New York Times.
These sizable donations surpass the amount most of these companies contributed to President Joe Biden’s inauguration fund in 2021. A filing with the Federal Election Commission shows Uber donated $1 million to the event, followed by Microsoft with a $500,000 contribution, Google at $337,500, and Amazon at $276,509. Apple donated just $43,200 to Biden’s inauguration, while Meta and OpenAI didn’t contribute at all.
It were the inflation wot dunnit.
Dear Senators,
Mind your own fucking business.
Yours etc.
I DON”T NEED MY WASHING MACHINE TO BE HAVING PHONE SEX WITH MY REFRIGERATOR!
I just want it to wash my dirty drawers. /I’m sorry, nick. I’m afraid I can’t do that.
That’s a great article about Switch 2, but the updates for controllers does not mention if the crappy mechanical joysticks will be replaced with Hall switch joysticks as God intended. One can only hope after seeing all the bad press from last gen.
I want to know if they’ve finally ditched motion control nonsense.
Yes. Not a fan. I think the Hogwarts game had that added so you had to wave your arms around like a doofus.
I only recall a handful of games really pushing the motion control (oh how I hated the motion control puzzles in BOTW). But I doubt they’re getting rid of it as they’re aiming for backwards compatibility, and for the dancing/boxing/fitness games it’s kind of necessary.
I posted this before, but it needs to be repeated.
Spicerr
“These donations raise questions about corruption and the influence of corporate money on the Trump administration, and Congress and the public deserve answers.”
——-
Sens. Warren and Bennet have posed several questions to Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Uber, asking for their “rationale” behind the contributions as well as “when and under what circumstances” the companies decided to make a donation. They’re giving the companies until January 30th to respond.
“It’s a free country, ain’t it?”
It’s unreal the fucking gall they have.
Right after they dig into Biden’s money schemes, right?
“They’re giving the companies until January 30th to respond.”
Or what?
I’m sure past inaugurations were funded through aluminum can drives.
Regarding TUBI: They should pay me as their fat alien spokesperson. I did propose early on that they allow me a public category for RJ’s picks, it was rejected after TUBI sold.
The Faux 75 sounds tasty, but holy shit is the true French 75 excellent.
But I can only have one. A little too sweet.
This is a good idea.
You could always change it up and go with the French 95.
Wow. Do you think it needs the sugar, though? It sure seems like it would be good without it.
If you’re using a dry champagne, probably. But it’s your drink, change it up as you see fit. You could go the lazy route and do the champagne cocktail as well. Take a sugar cube, add a couple of drops of bitters, pour champagne over top. I’ve never ordered this in a bar, because it’s too damn simple to make at home.
Remember the OnlyFans “model” who wanted to do it with (I refuse to say “sleep with”) 1000 men in a day? Someone else beat her to it.
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1878858753333764357
Gross.
OF is destroying this generation.
No. It isn’t.
Also this:
https://x.com/AdrianneCurry/status/1880333659435352352
Yay for life goals?
Life imitates Snuff.
If this is what all 1,001 people wanted, more power to them. I would not count myself in their number.
Me neither. You would catch James Bond levels of STDs. Things only dreamt about in our philosophy….
Speaking of Bond. Welcome to going back in time in both attitude and WTF making a movie was about.
The BANNED James Bond LaserDisc Commentaries are SHOCKING!
I have a very strong suspicion that it is theater. What is next 5000 in a day!!?
Probably all bullshit.
1440 minutes in a day, so basically every man must’ve been a premature ejaculator.
Went out in public for the first time in a week today, just before the campground owner decided to grit the driveway. Luckily I didn’t slip & slide. There is zero snow 200 yards down the drive. It’s like a different world.
Anyhoo, I’m no longer snowbound, so I’m peppy and ready to party. Also it’s a 3-day weekend.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87821224358?pwd=eW55MTRDbDNtQkh2aHd3M1Nmenlzdz09
Just about 14 months. I wonder how many million.
Bumble’s new CEO is already leaving the company as shares fell 54% since killing the signature feature and letting men message first
The only thing I want from a dating app is for them to keep scammers off the platform. Period.
Plus the bots.
What everyone gets wrong about the 2015 Ashley Madison scandal
I’m convinced they use similar on regular dating sites.
Stirring and inspirational
“Now he tells us. Biden speaks out against dark money, for climate action, and for SCOTUS term limits. I pressed four years for this speech,” Whitehouse posted on social platform X.
“That was a great speech. Had that speech launched the reelection campaign, we’d have won. Had that speech launched his presidency, we’d have saved America. Now we fight on,” he wrote in a subsequent post.
More Angry Brandon telling us how horrible half the country is? Digging in atop the progressives’ Hill of Death? that’s a great message. It worked so well for four years the voters tossed him and his team out on their ears when the opportunity arose.
lol
Your money is dark money. My money is philanthropy.
It’s so ridiculous, transparent bullshit. Kamala spent over a billion. Meanwhile, they had no problem with Zuckerberg fucking with the 2016 election for their side in ways that went well beyond just giving money.
More “We would have won if….”
Of course if they were not evil, sociopathic morons they would not be democrats. There is also that.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Don’t go away mad, just fuck off.
On your belt, tie that onion tight!
Rage, rage against the dying of the light!
“Surveillance of pregnant people”
That’s pregnant *women*. Pregnant WO-MEN.
Friday Funbags embraces the debasement.
https://archive.is/cY8p2
Debasement? Yeah. I think there are more than a few AI generate images in there.
Just for the record, I can neither confirm nor deny that “the nutmobile” was the nickname of my folks’ 1975 Ford Grenada when I was in high school.
Was it one of the awesome 70s colors like metallic brown or gold?
My ’78 Honda civic wagon was named Milkdud, many a fun hunt was enjoyed then
Not so fast
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County health officer issued an order to ensure the safe removal, transport and disposal of fire debris resulting from the wildfires.
“This order aims to protect public health and safety during the cleanup process for fire debris,” states a press release from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
You didn’t think you could just start clearing the rubble away, did you? We’ll need ten thousand pages of rules and an army of inspectors to enforce them.
As opposed to Florida, where the governor himself intervened to open closed dumps to allow debris to be disposed of quickly.
Neph,
I appreciate your links and recipes. One request; do you know of any low-sugar cocktails for us sugar free folks? I’m getting tired of No. 7 and diet pop.
I can tell you one thing: i was able to make simple syrup with Equal. It took less Equal than it would sugar, due to Equal’s strong sweet flavor. Once it was mixed it stayed that way, no residue. Try that in sugary drinks.
I’d start by testing making a simple syrup with your artificial sweetener of choice. I’m not sure how long it would keep, and you may have to adjust the ration from the 1:1 that’s used for simple syrup, but that should work as a direct substitute for simple syrup in any cocktail recipe.
Other than that, anything with fruit juices would be difficult.
I’ll keep my eyes out for low/reduced sugar cocktail recipes and see what I can dig up.
There’s always martinis…
I think it’s about 3/4 to 1 cup water. At least for Equal.
R.J.:
True, there’s always the spirit only drinks.
Fever Tree does also have some no/low sugar mixers, and there’s a brand called Dry Soda who is under 20 g of sugar in all of their flavors.
Thanks, guys. I don’t know why I didn’t snap to the Equal idea.
I like martinis but I was looking for something new.
If we could have afforded Speed Queen, we would have gotten them. As it was, we had to settle for Maytags as stripped-down as we could find them.
After a few washers we went with a Speed Queen. It’s been great.
Okie dokie. Motion for Partition filed. War has officially been declared.
We meet with the lawyer on the 30th.
Good for you. I am sending happy thoughts your way.
Burn it all down and salt the earth. 🫡
Figuratively, of course.
Best wishes.
Good luck. I hope this doesn’t all end up on Dateline.
Financebro dude at church is trying to insert himself (*snerk*) between the parties.
Me: “We are in no mood to negotiate.”
Him: “I think I have a solution that will be agreeable to both parties.”
Me: “Oh, we don’t want to bother you.”
Him: “No bother at all. I’m volunteering to help.”
Me: “We are grateful for your offer and your helping Susie. We are comfortable with our current course, thank you.”
Financebro dude at church
How is Joel Osteen?
Financebro smells an opportunity. You are right to brush him off.
Financebro: I have known a variety of people in the finance field who joined large churches just to prey on the congregation when things like this happen, and in a church these situations are going to arise. They are like sharks hanging around the mouth of a river.
Remember, all my church’s clergy are laypeople. I don’t suspect him of malfeasance. His church job is to take care of people, and he’s very good at it. It’s just, his mediation is going to muddy the waters and it’s none of his fucking business. He is not OUR assigned leader. He’s Susie’s. OTOH, he has a BIG interest in getting Susie to move*, so I guess he isn’t necessarily wrong to insert himself.
*He and the other leaders in the ward discuss the Three Sisters regularly. That property, mostly Susie, takes up a vast amount of the congregation’s resources. The leaders can’t force them to move, but the congregation constantly taking care of them and their FIVE ACRES AND TWO HORSES is not sustainable. My mother has been in Susie’s ear for years trying to get her to move or pay for help, but Susie does what Susie wants. Susie gets what Susie wants. What’s Susie’s is Susie’s, and what’s yours is Susie’s. It’s embarrassing to my mother.
“We’ve been building with very little consideration of fire for many decades,” Barbato said. “Rebuilding something that burned down is just not a good idea. If we rebuild exactly as we have and don’t take proper measures, we can only expect the same results, or worse.”
Urban planning will be important going forward because a lot of the communities and where they were situated “weren’t safe to begin with” when taking fire safety into consideration, Scott Stephens, professor of fire science at the University of California, Berkeley, told ABC News.
——-
While California already has “extremely good” regulations in place for making new housing fire resistant, Synolakis estimates that 90% of the homes that burned down were built before those regulations went into effect, adding that all homes should be retrofitted to meet current building codes.
Obviously any revisions to the building code should be mandated retroactively. For safety.
Making the buildings fire resistant is futile if you never clean up the surrounding forests.
Not a lot of forest, mostly scrub/brush with a few trees here and there. You can clear a “defensible space” to keep the flames at bay, but as for embers – they can carry a long way; then it comes down to how the house is built.
Didn’t Gov. Greasy just proclaim a few things that ensure exactly this will happen?
Making the homes more fire resistant is probably a good idea. Maybe it should be between the homeowner and the insurance company. Oh wait, they all left.
Oh wait, they all
leftwere driven out.FTFY
I think my next-door neighbor (the one with the yappy dog, not the one on the other side who was just shrieking her sex noises an hour or so ago) has just discovered Techno Viking.
Sigh.
Thank you RFK!
https://x.com/KenDBerryMD/status/1880051591509893431
Make fast food great again!
I have no idea what the taste difference is supposed to be. I would probably have to test old and new side-by-side.
I remember McDs fries from the old days. The modern ones taste like cardboard.
The beef tallow cried McD’s fries were so good your tongue might knock your front teeth out trying to get to them.
Off the leash
In case this isn’t obvious, in the not-too-distant past, Fetterman described himself as a “progressive” and backed Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. More recently, however, the senator told NBC News, “I’m not a progressive.”
It’s difficult to say with confidence what’s behind the Pennsylvanian’s shifts, but those hoping to see Senate Democrats maintain a united front against the incoming administration should keep this in mind: There are real differences between the old Fetterman and the new Fetterman.
The nerve of that guy, not reflexively throwing a tantrum at everything Trump says. He’s as bad as Joe Manchin.
Sen. Fetterman is angling for a place on the 2028 ticket. He may have to wrassle the other Pennsylvanian, Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has his eye on the prize.
Don’t be silly, third time a woman is the nominee will be the charm – it’s Whitmer baby! Of course she’d only be the second to win the nomination.
JI, who was the first?
Making the homes more fire resistant is probably a good idea.
You’d think it would be unnecessary to force people to build their houses out of something other than straw.
I’m a big fan of concrete and steel.
Why would you think that?
Him: “I think I have a solution that will be agreeable to both parties.”
*poorly stifled laughter*
I suppose everyone saw Newsome barely able to contain his glee and doing his little fairy dance while explaining he was helping coordinate land speculators to come and deal with the burned areas.
Jesus, could it be more obvious? If it comes out that the govt there was responsible for setting the fires and letting them burn I would not bat an eye, not one bit of surprise or disbelief.
He looked like he was rolling on some drug, ready to head out to an EDM concert.
Whoopsie
The former mayor of Oakland, a far-left progressive Democrat who was recalled by voters in November, was indicted by federal officials on Friday and accused of accepting bribes from powerful members of a local family who helped her win election.
Former mayor Sheng Thao, her longtime boyfriend, Andre Jones, and two members of a powerful local family, David and Andy Duong, are listed as defendants on the 22-page indictment, which accuses them of a variety of offenses, including engaging in a conspiracy, bribery, and making false statements to authorities.
This of course will be interpreted as a Trump DOJ witch-hunt.