Cop Car's Beat

This made me laugh

From xkcd: Symbols

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

This means that you are free to copy and reuse any of my drawings (noncommercially) as long as you tell people where they're from.

That is, you don't need my permission to post these pictures on your website (and hotlinking with <img> is fine); just include a link back to this page. Or you can make Livejournal icons from them, but -- if possible -- put xkcd.com in the comment field. You can use them freely (with some kind of link) in not-for-profit publications, and I'm also okay with people reprinting occasional comics (with clear attribution) in publications like books, blogs, newsletters, and presentations. If you're not sure whether your use is noncommercial, feel free to email me and ask (if you're not sure, it's probably okay).

____________________________________________________________

NOTES:

1. In the "header" of the xkcd webpage appears this: 

2. In a "footnote" is wryly noted:

3. I'm sorry to say that I no longer recall how my first introduction to xkcd came about. I'm sure it was through the blogroll of a blog friend, but which one??? 🤷‍♀️

4. As to the second item in the listing, partial differential equations, I can only guess that anyone who would attribute their use to a grad student never took an undergraduate physics course in thermodynamics. 🤦‍♀️

5. As to the last item in the listing, Tau is (by definition) twice Pi. (I only care in polar coordinate systems.) 👩‍🦰

6. (I still hit "7") In Notes 3 through 5 I've been showing off the fact that I can use one of the silly keys on my new keyboard. It displays a bunch of emoticons that may be inserted in text. 👀

From News for Nerds - No comment

Olympics Broadcaster Announces His Computer Password on Live TV (vice.com)34

Posted by BeauHD on Monday July 26, 2021 @08:45PM from the smile-you're-on-camera dept.

In what is, at least so far, the biggest cybersecurity blunder of the Tokyo Olympics, an Italian TV announcer did not realize he was on air when he asked the password for his computer. Motherboard reports:"Do you know the password for the computer in this commentator booth?" he asked during the broadcast of the Turkey-China volleyball game, apparently not realizing he was still on air. "It was too hard to call the password Pippo? Pippo, Pluto or Topolino?" he complained, referring to the Italian names for Goofy, Pluto and Mickey Mouse. The snafu was immortalized in a video posted on Twitter by cybersecurity associate professor Stefano Zanero, who works at the Polytechnic University of Milan. A source who works at Eurosport, the channel which was broadcasting the volleyball game, confirmed that the video is authentic.

A colleague of the announcer can be heard in the background saying the password depends on the Olympics organizers, and asking the announcer if it's on a paper or post it close-by. Turns out the password was "Booth.03" after the number of the commentator's booth. "Even the dot to make it more complicated, as if it was NASA's computer," he said on the air. "Next time they will even put a semicolon." "Ma porca miseria," he concluded, using a popular italian swearing that literally means "pork's misery" but is more accurately translated to "for god's sake."

Another Vanity Card from Chuck Lorre - and further notes on Lorre

If one looks up "Chuck Lorre" on Wikipedia (please see Creative Commons), one finds a photo of "Chuck Lorre", below.

Lorre at PaleyFest 2013

The entry starts, as follows:

Charles Michael "Chuck" Lorre (/ˈlɔːri/;^[1] born October 18, 1952)^[2][3] is an American television director, writer, producer, composer, and actor.

Called the "King of Sitcoms" during the 2010s,^{[4][5][6][7][8]} he has created and produced sitcoms including Grace Under Fire, Cybill, Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Mike & Molly, Mom, Young Sheldon, The Kominsky Method, Disjointed, Bob Hearts Abishola, B Positive, and United States of Al. He also served as an executive producer of Roseanne. He won Golden Globe Awards for Roseanne (1993) and Cybill (1996),^[9] and won the 2019 Golden Globe Award for The Kominsky Method.

Other than Young Sheldon, The Kominsky Method, and Disjointed, I have seen and enjoyed (some to a greater, some to a lesser extent) Lorre's sitcoms. I still watch re-runs of The Big Bang Theory though I can recite the dialogue - without having the TV audio engaged - in most of the episodes. (I admit to deliberately avoiding several episodes that I find annoying - usually because of writing that presents characters Sheldon and Wolowitz in truly obnoxious ways. They are obnoxious enough without the extra effort that someone seems to think is required.) In addition, because of conflicts with my schedule or the TV schedule I missed most first-run presentations of Mom, I am now catching up on those presentations, in re-runs.

My complaints about Lorre's writing is his reliance upon cheap sexual innuendos that are most unfunny and his insistence upon keeping characters infantile beyond their years. That said, for the most part, Lorre's writing is still above the standards set by others in sitcoms that see the air on our major networks. I am a fan. Or, perhaps I am merely jealous of anyone who has discernible eyebrows?

These made me laugh - 2

Oh, how true is the Dilbert comic by Scott Adams from Sunday's Wichita Eagle newspaper! Over the years, I've been tripped up, so often, by being too literal.

 

 

In the same edition of the above cited newspaper was the FoxTrot comic by Bill Amend. Corny, but funny.

 

Mystery for two

Scene: 6:40am I am abed in my basement bedroom, listening to the news on the radio. Hunky Husband is abed in his bedroom that is directly above mine. I do not know whether my eyes are open or closed as it is dark. I see a bright flash ("explosion") of white light either just inside or just outside one of the small, high windows on the wall against which the headboard of my bed nestles. Immediately following the light flash I hear a muffled, light "thud" - rather like the thud of a rolled, small newspaper's landing in a grassy yard after being thrown by the paper deliverer.

Action: Quickly, I arise, check out my bedroom, turn off the two radios that are playing in my bedroom and the heating pad that is warming my knees, and run upstairs to check with HH. He has also arisen and is outside his bedroom, in the hallway, with the light burning. When I ask if everything is alright upstairs, he says it is. He saw the light flash, but did not hear the noise. Hmmm...he thought the flash was inside his bedroom, toward his bay window (immediately above my bedroom windows).

I scanned the back yard, then turned on the outside floodlights to scan, again. Nothing.

Mulling: There is no odor of ozone as an electrical arc, inside the house, might produce. Besides, I would not expect the flash of an electrical arc to be visible in both bedrooms since all electrical lines in that wall of each bedroom are within a foot of the respective floor.

Possibility: I can only think that we were hit by a micrometeorite or a tiny piece of junk falling from the sky. As it is raining/freezing raining outside, and somewhat windy (30mph), it may be a day or two before I can do any searching. For such a small flash and such a small noise, it probably will not be possible for me to find the micrometeorite or junk, even if the possibility is a fact. It's a mystery for HH and me.

Invitation: Any thoughts?

These made me laugh.

How I feel with all of the leaves I rake each fall -

...and something else that gave me a chuckle -

11/19/2020 - Hunky Husband just had to send a link to this video to me.

 

A bot or not a bot?

When one's blog traffic increases by a factor of 20, and continues for days, one becomes curious. That's what's been happening, here, for the past several days. It started with an innocuous comment by "Art" who had been referred to my blog by a blog that, in the past, I had visited. At about the same time, my blog was getting referred hits from that blog every few minutes...then, every 10s of minutes, then every hour. This has continued to today when the hits are coming at the rate of once every three hours. Hmmmm....

I checked everything that I knew to check and contacted tech support at Typepad on Monday. They did some checking and, in their final message to me, wrote:

We did some checking but were not able to determine why you started seeing an increase in referrers from [the other blog]. It doesn't appear that they have linked to your blog anywhere, but there could be a different source or a bot spoofing the source.

In no way is your Typepad account compromised by this traffic. Additionally, we monitor traffic, and if a spike is deemed malicious, we will block the source of the unwanted activity.

If any of my blog friends or casual readers can contribute to my understanding of what is going on, especially if you are "Art", please let me know - by email or by comment. The increased traffic is evidently harmless, but very strange.

P.S. to Art: I have taken down your comment and the posting on which the comment was made. I have blocked from commenting the URL from which the referred hits are coming as well as your IP address and email address. If you would be so kind as to contact me by email (under my thumbnail photo at the top of the left side bar) and convince me that you are a real, innocent person, I shall consider re-publishing the posting and your comment. In fact, you could become a real blog friend if you help me understand what's going on.

I couldn't sleep

Bluebird of Bitterness

For the past two weeks I have failed to buy groceries because I had had a hard time getting to sleep on Monday night; thus, I fell asleep just in time to wake too late to get to the WalMart Neighborhood Market in the 6:00am-7:00am time slot on Tuesday during which, even though the store is not yet "open", old people are allowed access to do their shopping. Last night, I endeavored to get enough sleep that I would wake in time, this morning, to make it to the store at close to 6:00am.

"So, how did that work out?" I hear you ask. Not well. I fell asleep by 10:30 last night, but, awoke at 2:30am and have been unable to fall back asleep. Thus, I am at my keyboard - mostly, because I remembered promising Hunky Husband that I would send him a neighbor's (Excellent Hostess's) email address in order that he might send her a thank you email for the delicious dessert she dropped by Sunday evening.

Looking for something to read, I visited Bluebird of Bitterness (AKA b.o.b.), a seemingly frustrated English major. In her "About" page, b.o.b. writes, "One more thing: although I identify as a male bluebird online, in real life I identify as a female human. I was gender and species fluid before it was cool."

At b.o.b.'s website, I clicked on the top-listed bluebird’s greatest hits to find Bar jokes for English majors. If you love language(s) and communications, I think you will really enjoy b.o.b.'s blog - especially the bar jokes, of which I reproduce a sampling, below, as swiped by WyldKat's Lair in a posting of February 20, 2018.

Too good not to swipe.

A dangling participle walks into a bar. Enjoying a cocktail and chatting with the bartender, the evening passes pleasantly.

A bar was walked into by the passive voice.

An oxymoron walked into a bar, and the silence was deafening.

Two quotation marks walk into a “bar.”

A malapropism walks into a bar, looking for all intensive purposes like a wolf in cheap clothing, muttering epitaphs and casting dispersions on his magnificent other, who takes him for granite.

Hyperbole totally rips into this insane bar and absolutely destroys everything.

A question mark walks into a bar?

A non sequitur walks into a bar. In a strong wind, even turkeys can fly.

Papyrus and Comic Sans walk into a war. The bartender says, “Get out — we don’t serve your type.”

 

It's Liz's fault

Instead of being outside doing my yard work, I have taken the time to take Free Career Aptitude and Career Assessment Tests, this morning. It's Liz's fault! She reported on having taken such a (similar?) test on one of her government websites. (It certainly beats the tests that, 70 years ago, regularly appeared in "women's magazines".) My test results for the 123 Career Aptitude Test are below. I found it a bit off-putting that the test asked my gender and age. WTH? I decided that they were data mining when I re-took the test as a male and came up with the same suggested occupations.

As I commented at Liz's, "And here I wasted my whole professional career diddling about in aircraft structures engineering, sensing & control systems, and airbase planning. Gad! I would never, ever want to be a dentist! Perhaps I am better off remaining unemployed."

Your list of suggested occupations
	Agricultural scientist   85% Agricultural scientists research and study soil, animals and plants with the objective of improving agricultural processes, the quality of agricultural products or the impact of agricultural processes on the environment. They plan and implement projects such as development projects on behalf of clients or institutions. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Agricultural scientist
	Forester   85% Foresters are responsible for monitoring the natural and economic viability of a woodland or forest and for activities related to its management and conservation. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Forester
	Civil engineer   79% Civil engineers design, plan, and develop technical and engineering specifications for infrastructure and construction projects. They apply engineering knowledge in a vast array of projects, from the construction of infrastructure for transportation, housing projects, and luxury buildings, to the construction of natural sites. They design plans that seek to optimise materials and integrate specifications and resource allocation within the time constraints. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Civil engineer
	Dental practitioner   79% Dental practitioners prevent, diagnose and treat anomalies and diseases affecting the teeth, mouth, jaws and adjoining tissues. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Dental practitioner
	Forestry adviser   79% Forestry advisers provide services and advice on economic and environmental issues in compliance with laws and regulations. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Forestry adviser
	Cadastral technician   77% Cadastral technicians design and create maps and blue-prints, converting new measurement results into the real estate cadastre of a community. They define and indicate the property boundaries and ownerships, land use, and create city and district maps using measurement equipment and specialised software. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Cadastral technician
	Cartographer   77% Cartographers create maps by combining various scientific informations depending of the purpose of the map (e.g. topographic, urban, or political maps). They combine the interpretation of mathematical notes and measurements with the aesthetics and visual depiction of the site for developing the maps. They may also work on developing and improving geographic information systems and may perform scientific research within cartography. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Cartographer
	Land surveyor   77% Land surveyors determine, by means of specialised equipment, the distances and positions of points at the surface of sites for construction purposes. They use measurements of the specific aspects of construction sites, such as electricity, distance measurements, and metal structure volumes to create architectural drawings and develop construction projects. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Land surveyor
	Specialised veterinarian   75% Specialised veterinarians are professionals with a comprehensive scientific education. They have the authority to carry out, in an independent, ethical and personally responsible capacity, all aspects of veterinary medicine, in the interest of the health and welfare of animals and public health in accordance with national and international legislation. In addition they need a recognized qualification and/or experience in a specific species and/or veterinary procedure. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Specialised veterinarian
	Official veterinarian   75% Official veterinarians are professionals with a comprehensive scientific education. They have the authority to carry out, in an independent, ethical and personally responsible capacity all veterinary activities with particular focus on the health and welfare of animals and public health in accordance with national and international legislation. They are responsible for national animal disease eradication programmes, the protection of public health and food or animal inspection, animal movements, and import and export of live animals and their products. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Official veterinarian
	Animal chiropractor   75% Animal chiropractors provide a therapeutic treatment following veterinary diagnosis or referral. They concentrate on spinal manipulation or manual therapy for animals in accordance with national legislation. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Animal chiropractor
	General veterinarian   75% General veterinarians are professionals with a comprehensive scientific education. They have the authority to carry out, in an independent, ethical and personally responsible capacity, all aspects of veterinary medicine, in the interest of the health and welfare of animals and public health in accordance with national and international legislation. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   General veterinarian
	Meteorologist   71% Meteorologists study climate processes, measure and predict weather patterns and provide consultancy services to a variety of weather information users. They work out models for weather forecasting, develop instruments to collect meteorological data and compile statistics and databases. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Meteorologist
	Pharmacologist   67% Pharmacologists study the manner in which drugs and medicaments interact with organisms, living systems, and their parts (i.e. cells, tissues, or organs). Their research aims at identifying substances that can be ingested by humans and that exert adequate biochemical functions for curing illnesses. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Pharmacologist
	Soil scientist   67% Soil scientists research and study the scientific discipline concerning soil. They advise on how to improve soil quality to support nature, food production or human infrastructure using surveying techniques, irrigation techniques and erosion reduction measures. They make sure to conserve and restore land suffering from intense farming or human interaction. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Soil scientist
	ICT system administrator   67% ICT system administrators are responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer and network systems, servers, workstations and peripheral devices. They may acquire, install, or upgrade computer components and software; automate routine tasks; write computer programs; troubleshoot; train and supervise staff; and provide technical support. They ensure optimum system integrity, security, backup and performance. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   ICT system administrator
	Agronomist   67% Agronomists provide consulting services to companies, agricultural cooperatives, agronomical crop growers and horticultural crop growers on the cultivation of food crops. They study the science, technology and business related to growing plants. They examine crops and perform experiments in order to improve crop yields and farms' production. Agronomists also examine the most effective ways to harvest and cultivate plants. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Agronomist
	Physiotherapist   66% Physiotherapists are autonomous health professionals who are responsible for developing, maintaining or restoring motor function and movement throughout the lifespan using evidence-based practice. They relieve pain and treat or prevent physical conditions associated with injury, disease or other impairments. Physiotherapists empower patients and their carers to manage the condition outside clinical settings. They work within their scope of practice and their professional Code of Conduct.  Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Physiotherapist
	Specialist nurse   66% Specialist nurses promote and restore people's health, and diagnose and care within a specific branch of the nursing field. Examples of such specialist nursing jobs include but are not restricted to; ambulatory care nurse, advanced practice nurse, cardiac nurse, dental nurse, community health nurse, forensic nurse, gastroenterology nurse, hospice and palliative care nurse, paediatric nurse, public health nurse, rehabilitation nurse, renal nurse and school nurse. Specialist nurses are general care nurses prepared beyond the level of a nurse generalist and authorised to practice as specialists with specific expertise in a branch of the nursing field.   Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Specialist nurse
	Chiropractor   66% Chiropractors are responsible for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders related to the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. They are independent primary health care professionals. Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more:   Chiropractor