BitWrench

Field Modification We had been bragging about not breaking anything this weekend... Until I emptied my pockets, and was reminded of how we managed to yank this boom vang padeye clean out of the mast, tweaking it a bit in the process... We figured out how to re-rig it pretty quickly, but still... We took two firsts and a fourth yesterday, and two firsts today, and thus won the regatta handily. Today was fun. Now off for some BBQ.

Nantucket Sleighride Winds built to 15+ kts at the end, and we had a smoking downwind finish with just under 7 kts boat speed. In an old (but beloved) IOR boat, this meant the perpetual hazard of rhythmic rolling and a gybe broach. Narrowly avoided, we were the first boat across the line, with several others retiring from equipment failures or more common sense than us. A nice end to the regatta.

The FNG Survived his first race...

On Porpoise Fins to the left...

You Don't Know Dick http://thegoodlordabove.com/twitter-bot-replaces-god-joel-osteens-tweets-dick-god-responds/

Flying Cars Real Soon Now™ http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/20/15369850/lilium-jet-flying-car-first-flight-vtol-aviation-munich

Uphill Both Ways

Captain's Chair I grew up with scifi stories about Captains of Industry (like Robber Barons, but with morals and vision). Captains of Industry Made Things, because America was an Industrial Power. Real Estate is Monopoly. Nothing gets made, but money. Originally shared by **** "I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier." http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN17U0CA

The Don Of Dips Originally shared by Damn interesting http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/01/07/a-pickpockets-tale

Oxygen Interceptor Added #throwbackthursday

Son et Lumière Originally shared by **** https://vimeo.com/170948796

(Not) Seeing Starz From the comments: "The lesson here: No one has Starz. I worked on three seasons of a Starz show and I don’t have Starz." Originally shared by Al Tlön "All Neil Gaiman wanted was to help fans watch the upcoming TV adaptation of his book American Gods. So he took steps to make sure they knew where they could do that. Then things went horribly wrong." http://io9.gizmodo.com/dont-stop-asking-neil-gaiman-how-you-can-watch-americ-1794681630

Just Add Water Originally shared by Jennifer Ouellette Climate change is turning dehydration into a deadly epidemic https://mosaicscience.com/story/climate-change-deadly-epidemic-chronic-kidney-disease https://mosaicscience.com/story/climate-change-deadly-epidemic-chronic-kidney-disease

Simulacrum That which is not real, cannot be hacked. Originally shared by Ralf Haring https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170421/12072037207/senate-id-cards-use-photo-chip-rather-than-actual-smart-chip.shtml

Chip Player Mix Tape Remuxed. Originally shared by Ray Radlein http://www.avclub.com/article/doritos-selling-chips-guardians-galaxy-2-soundtrac-254308

#WordlessWednesday #wordlessonwednesday

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Originally shared by Richard Stevens Every wonder how Torpor stays so positive? http://www.dieselsweeties.com/ics/294/ http://www.dieselsweeties.com/ics/294/

PEtty Can't dispute a ticket without a ticket. Still, probably could have been avoided by addressing the concerns without claiming expert/engineer status. Just make the case on the merits. via Ray Radlein Originally shared by Lauren Weinstein Except in very narrow circumstances genuinely related to work being done directly relating to physical public safety - that means actually being on those jobs - these registered engineer laws (including their testing regimes) are nothing but bull to generate revenue for state coffers. The politicians and bureaucrats behind this nonsense should be kicked to Pluto. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/man-fined-dollar500-for-crime-of-writing-i-am-an-engineer-in-an-email-to-the-government

Altitude with Attitude Originally shared by **** The defiant Cholitas of La Paz climb mountains because they're there. Now that's a Great Big Story. https://youtu.be/hGxxvefRk9A

Rude Girl Originally shared by Semicentenary Project

Yes, We Have HyperCard A welcome addition to the emulated early Mac collection announced last week. https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_mac via Kam-Yung Soh https://blog.archive.org/2017/04/25/macintosh-collection-hand-screenshotted-plus-hypercard/

Evitez Les Contrafaçons! Originally shared by **** Good one. http://www.adweek.com/agencies/ikea-had-a-great-reaction-to-balenciaga-making-a-2145-version-of-its-iconic-99-cent-blue-bag/

The Gold Standard Capitalism Works. Except when it doesn't... http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/dadbucks

The Andromeda Strain Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh Interesting observation. "When she’s not working in her lab at Spain’s IBBTEC institute, Federica Bertocchini keeps bees. One day, when she looked at her hives, she found them infested with caterpillars called waxworms. These insects are the bane of beekeepers because they voraciously devour the wax that bees use to build their honeycombs. Bertocchini picked out the pests and put them in a plastic bag, while she cleaned out the hives. And when she returned to the bag, she found it full of holes. The waxworms had eaten their way out. Bertocchini doesn’t study insects, waxworms, or plastic—she focuses on the early development of animal embryos. But you can’t keep a good scientist away from an interesting question, and the perforated bags posed an obvious one: Were the waxworms actually digesting the plastic? [...] Why should waxworms have the ability to digest plastic so quickly? Bertocchini think it’s a coincidence. The carbon...

Breaking Away http://www.velonews.com/2017/04/news/ringing-ears-little-500_436151/

Back Scratching Having Tennessee’s Republican Senator Howard Baker Jr., who in a few years would co-chair the Watergate hearings, was Al Bell’s idea. “It was a scratch each other’s back thing,” he says. “He wanted to rub off our success and we wanted the publicity. So I said, “We’ll come to DC and present you with a plaque and take pictures. I went up with Otis, Carla, her dad Rufus, and Jim, and the pictures ran in the papers. That was a big deal for us.” That Baker knew almost nothing of Stax was reflected in his notes, which lavished more praise on Tennessee Ernie Ford, Dinah Shore, Pat Boone, Minnie Pearl, and Elvis, than on Otis or Carla. Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Isaac Hayes, and The Memphis Horns-Tramp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKlCA0-Arks Originally shared by Semicentenary Project

Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't My Baby? http://www.gocomics.com/9chickweedlane/2017/04/24 Tom & Jerry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-sLX5UZaxk

Errybody Originally shared by Lauren Weinstein You, me, and everyone else on Planet Earth (with the Moon the small, dim spot to the left of the bright Earth) -- as viewed from inside a ring of Saturn on April 12, as imaged by the Cassini probe.

Dawging It! Originally shared by Randy Culler David Grisman and Tony Rice David Grisman and Tony Rice, Arts and Science Center of Catawba County, Hickory, NC, 10-11-1997 in its entirety, presented by Acoustic Stage https://youtu.be/hsLfh_XkRII

CBP becomes CCA Originally shared by Ray Radlein I am really mad for Gisèle Lagacé. She's been one of my favorite artists for a couple of decades now https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/04/20/archie-comics-artist-refused-entry-usa-canada-sketches/#.WPlc3xsyVQg.twitter

NATS Originally shared by Ray Radlein Forty - Love http://boingboing.net/2017/04/20/loud-sex-interrupts-profession.html

Television Made Me What I Am Today #throwbackthursday

Originally shared by Randy Culler Don't forget!

Know Nothing Why Cecil Adams has been fighting Ignorance since 1973... Originally shared by Al Tlön "How do people or companies with vested interests spread ignorance and obfuscate knowledge? Georgina Kenyon finds there is a term which defines this phenomenon." Via http://www.artsjournal.com/ http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160105-the-man-who-studies-the-spread-of-ignorance?ocid=ww.social.link.googleplus

Spec Ops http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/sd-me-seal-porn-20170414-story.html

#WordlessWednesday #wordlessonwednesday

What? Not Reading MAD Magazine? No Comics? We used to read comics... via George Station Originally shared by Jeremiah Parry-Hill Reshare of a slide by Meg Veitch, a grad student at U Mich, cataloging visual distractions created by learners in the traditional lecture-style classroom:

Broken Dreamer https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/04/18/first-protected-dreamer-deported-under-trump/100583274/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/04/18/first-protected-dreamer-deported-under-trump/100583274/

Needs Orienteering Merit Badge Originally shared by G.K. Nelson Apparently Michael Scott is now America's CiC, and his big-mouthed, testosterone-driven chest thumping won't engage us in thermonuclear war. A snafu in his incompetently run office will. https://nyti.ms/2pykpOD

Not Global Warming Originally shared by Tim O'Brien

Heuristic Haggling The price of everything, and the value of nothing... via Kevin Clarke Originally shared by The Atlantic How Online Shopping Makes Suckers of Us All http://trib.al/X0Pme5d http://trib.al/X0Pme5d

SuperFood Originally shared by **** “It makes sense if you think about it—this is a dish that can provide all five food groups in one bite,” says nutritional psychologist John Marzetti. “It’s a superfood, really.” http://babylonbee.com/news/report-baptists-impressive-life-expectancy-linked-casserole-consumption/

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo Originally shared by Ray Radlein Today is the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid. This is the only surviving participant. https://www.stripes.com/news/1-member-of-the-doolittle-raid-remains-as-fellow-airman-dies-1.415959#.WPZER99ifCI

Slap Happy The Rules Are Pretty Simple... http://www.aplayfulpath.com/danish-clapping-game-copenhagen-game-collective/

Games People Play via Assia Alexandrova Originally shared by Richard Bartle I read More New Games recently. This is the follow-up to The New Games Book , which I had anyway. The New Games movement was active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was all about using games to bring people together, beginning as it did in the counterculture capital of the world, San Francisco. Its motto ("Play hard, play fair, nobody hurt") summed up its philosophy: play should be physical, simple, adaptable, require little or no equipment and be non-exclusive. Challenge was important, and although competition could deliver that challenge, the view was that playing is what's important, not winning or losing. The games that grew out of (or were discovered by) the movement were of the kind you might find in school playgrounds. Some of them are actual schoolyard games, such as British Bulldog ; others would go down well at a children's party, although these are games primarily intended for...

Down To The Waterline (Not so) sweet surrender down by the quayside... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz1TlJGLzqs Here in NC, we're ahead of the curve, by managing fear mongering science statements about ocean levels with, wait for it... legislation: http://wunc.org/post/state-outlawed-climate-change-accepts-latest-sea-level-rise-report#stream/0 Originally shared by Rugger Ducky Oh, but nothing is really happening, right? Denial. Rapidly becoming a flooded river covering the eastern seaboard. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/18/magazine/when-rising-seas-transform-risk-into-certainty.html

10-K Also? There wasn't a single one of the "surprising" facts mentioned, that I didn't already know. Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh What he's been up to lately: making available a database on the US Government [ https://www.usafacts.org/ ]. "[A conversation with his wife, Connie] led Mr. Ballmer to pursue what may be one of the most ambitious private projects undertaken to answer a question that has long vexed the public and politicians alike. He sought to “figure out what the government really does with the money,” Mr. Ballmer said. “What really happens?” On Tuesday, Mr. Ballmer plans to make public a database and a report that he and a small army of economists, professors and other professionals have been assembling as part of a stealth start-up over the last three years called USAFacts. The database is perhaps the first nonpartisan effort to create a fully integrated look at revenue and spending across federal, state and local governments. Want to k...

Death and Taxes Originally shared by Al Tlön " European governments slap heavy taxes on gas, for instance, but they’ve made sure to contain healthcare costs. In the U.S. we’ve done the opposite: Mexico excepted, our gas tax is by far the lowest in the industrialized world, but healthcare costs are largely entrusted to market forces. American insurers are corporations seeking profits, which raises prices, requiring government to step in and cover excessive costs, and this steady flow of state money in turn allows insurers to raise prices even further. In the end, our health-insurance system doesn’t look too different from what you’d get if you’d set out to design one as expensive as you could manage" http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3336/if-everything-else-is-more-expensive-in-europe-why-do-we-pay-more-for-healthcare

This One Sunday... The Chreasters are Coming! https://www.facebook.com/johnbcrist/videos/1048596308608781/

Trust The Pookah Originally shared by lynn paden Elwood P. Dowd: Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be" - she always called me Elwood - "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me. James Stewart "Harvey" 1950

Originally shared by Ray Radlein http://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/04/14/teslas-parking-problem-says-a-lot-about-elon-musks-brand-of-tech-saviorism/

Exclusive Originally shared by George Station Not how I'd do it, and I don't think Bourdain would do it all the time, but perhaps he's made his point. #diversity #inclusion #food http://www.papercitymag.com/culture/restaurant-buzz/anthony-bourdain-bans-white-people-houston-show-parts-unknown-cnn/

Got No Shadow Little Feat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HWyt3s_z4 via George Station Originally shared by Mitch Wagner "The sun is exactly overhead twice a year in Lahaina, Hawaii, once in May and once in July. Poles don't cast shadows, giving the urban landscape an eerie appearance. Hawaii is the only state in the US where the sun's rays are perpendicular to the surface of Earth. It's called a subsolar point." http://boingboing.net/2017/04/13/lahaina-noon-when-the-sun-is.html?_rtu=CronmdezSgaCvKFupyi30A

Broke The Mold Originally shared by Jennifer Ouellette If You Need to Cry, Star Wars Made a Carrie Fisher Tribute. "We love her, she knows." http://www.vulture.com/2017/04/star-wars-carrie-fisher-tribute.html http://www.vulture.com/2017/04/star-wars-carrie-fisher-tribute.html

Take The Ball And Go Home http://www.wral.com/nc-lawmakers-take-shots-at-ncaa-acc-/16640487/

Collateral Damage I'm waiting for someone to point out that BBQ and Low Country Shrimp boils would also be illegal, by this logic, among other things. http://www.wral.com/gay-marriage-ban-filed-in-nc-house-/16639157/

Ron Zeigler Impersonator Head over to the original post and join in on the fun, if you haven't already. Originally shared by **** New game. Name a job you would hire this man to do. Go. http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/white-house-ineptitude-represented-in-its-spokesman-spicer-919214659700

OBEY The Algorithm. Think about how unpleasant your interaction with various software programs and services would be, if they got to call the police on you for breaking the rules. Software companies, more often than not, care less about customer service than Real World companies. It's cheaper, and easier, to use the Algorithm, instead of Expert Human Judgement, at almost any level. Originally shared by **** "I was only following corporate algorithms." Let's recap. United employees blindly followed the decision making of algorithms up to the point of telling seated passengers to deplane. The authoritarian decision making that followed was just as rigid and unyielding. Disobeying orders of the flight crew led to the police. Disobeying the police led to forced removal. Finally, the public failure of this process led United's CEO to praise employees for their rigid adherence to algorithmic and authoritarian decision making. The entire process was inevitable. It's...

#WordlessWednesday #wordlessonwednesday

No Plan B https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2017/04/06/exit-stage-center/

Cluck Tracks I was going to call it Hot Biscuits, but nobody would get it. via Susan Jahn https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/03/arts/music/steve-lillywhite-kfc-sell-cds-indonesia.html

Passengers, Prepare To Board Originally shared by Sci-fi Covers Knuckle dusters and wrist razors. That must be quite a fight.If vol 6 no 1, December 1955. Cover art by Kelly Freas titled “Heavyweight Champion of the World.” http://bit.ly/2osxnzu #scifi #sciencefiction #KellyFreas #magazinecover #1950s

"The Stunner" Originally shared by Grand Comics Database Peter O’Donnell (11 April 1920 – 3 May 2010, UK) was a comics writer, novelist, essayist, script-writer, and playwright. He began his comics career writing for syndicated strips such as ‘Garth’ (1953–1966) and ‘Romeo Brown’ (1956–1962). He adapted the James Bond novel “Dr. No” as a strip (1960). O’Donnell’s best-known work was the newspaper strip ‘Modesty Blaise’ (1963–2001), drawn first by Jim Holdaway and then by Enrique Badia Romero. It has been translated globally and much of it remains in print. He wrote a screenplay adaptation in 1965 for a film that ended up using little of his material. He revised it and published it as the first of a dozen novels and short-story collections featuring ‘Modesty Blaise’. From 1971 to 1986, he also wrote romance adventure novels under the pen-name ‘Madeleine Brent’. He won the 1978 Novel of the Year award from the (UK) Romantic Novelists’ Association for one of them, “Merlin’s Keep...

Not National Fidelipac Day Still waiting on that one... via Al Clark Originally shared by Montgomery D'Arcy April 11th is National Eight Track Day.

Always Keep A Looking... http://sharonrandall.com/2017/04/joes-big-day-april-11-2017/

Painting With A Broad Brush A not so Social Democrat makes a pronouncement: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4396224/Sweden-never-mass-immigration-PM-says.html

Pew Pew http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/why-firing-tomahawk-missiles-at-syria-was-a-nearly-usel-1794113103

"Systems" Approach I used to think we should have Engineers running things, because I am one. I used to think Scott Adams was smart. I no longer think those things. Read the comments.

Click Track https://acountrydoctorwrites.wordpress.com/2017/04/08/all-or-nothing/

Even A Broken Clock... via Ray Radlein Originally shared by John Walkenbach We have a new law.

Smells Like Money Expedited Delivery Of Services... http://www.wral.com/hog-waste-bill-speeds-through-nc-house/16630700/

Still Organic https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/04/09/decomposed-bat-is-found-inside-bag-of-organic-salad-from-a-florida-walmart/?utm_term=.fc451b5d2247

Welcome To Rooshia “For the rest of us,” added one longtime regional staffer, “there probably will be a significant rise in alcoholism.” Originally shared by **** https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/04/07/epa-staffer-leaves-with-a-bang-blasting-agency-policies-under-trump/?utm_term=.cb4c96721c6f

When You Reach The Broken Promised Land You could lose more than you'll ever hope to find... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCwRNMev9XI

First Causes Originally shared by David “not B” A 450 Million Years to #Caturday

Tactitards and Neckbeards Operator Culture FTW. http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/04/04/gun-guy-thoughts-tactitards-neckbeards-make-industry-go-round/

Submit http://chicago.seriouseats.com/2009/09/susies-drive-thru-chicago-illinois-polish-sausage.html Originally shared by Zac Alleywalker Lowing Suzies! The home of every samich you can think of and like 67 kinds of milk shakes.

When It Rains, It Pours Originally shared by Ray Radlein http://www.nature.com/articles/srep46173

Won't Get Fooled Again Oh, wait... Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Only worse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYMD_W_r3Fg via Kevin Clarke Originally shared by Jim Feig

Who Are You? It's funny, I can remember Randall Munroe's xkcd sysadmin worrying about this 5 years ago. Web Comic. Originally shared by Damn interesting https://www.wired.com/2017/04/hackers-hijacked-banks-entire-online-operation/

Cosplay Parenting is Faking It Until You Make It (Or Break It). Alternating, in various proportions. If you care enough, about the right stuff, it can go pretty well. Originally shared by Karen Conlin The classic tradition of the evil step-mother. The real-life step-mother. Who will win? (As a step-mother myself, this spoke very loudly to me.) https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/magazine/in-the-shadow-of-a-fairy-tale.html?_r=2

Request For Comments Y'all better not say anything mean about Cheetolini... Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh @IETF‏ @ietf Happy Birthday Request for Comments! 8000+ RFCs have been published since @SDCrocker shared RFC1 on 7 Apr 1969 (link: https://www.rfc-editor.org/ ) rfc-editor.org " Harish Pillay https://twitter.com/ietf/status/850276521923067904

#WordlessWednesday #wordlessonwednesday

Not Sent Back To Deepest, Darkest Peru... Yet Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh "In October 1958, a forlorn bear with a suitcase sat at London’s Paddington Station, looking around as commuters walked all around him. A note attached to his coat read “Please look after this bear. Thank you.” The Brown family who came across this bear took him home, and named him Paddington Bear, after the location where he was found. [...] After nearly 60 years since their publication, the little bear from Peru can still be found at the train station under the clock on Platform 1, looking for help. A life-size bronze statue of Paddington Bear designed by sculptor Marcus Cornish was unveiled in February 2000. There’s also a Paddington Bear store in the station, full of merchandise dedicated to one of literature’s favorite furry friends. (And there is another Paddington statue, this one more than 6000 miles away, in the little bear’s hometown of Lima, Peru [ http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/paddingt...

404 https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/04/iot-garage-door-opener-maker-bricks-customers-product-after-bad-review/

Like The Batman Of The Welsh Riviera A Real Cob... Originally shared by Robert Rambusch _Cygnus_ificant https://whatahowler.com/how-cyril-the-swan-became-the-uks-most-notorious-mascot-5422b59c1342 https://whatahowler.com/how-cyril-the-swan-became-the-uks-most-notorious-mascot-5422b59c1342

Originally shared by Damn interesting https://longreads.com/2017/04/03/building-in-the-shadow-of-our-own-destruction/

L S D Originally shared by Ralf Haring "Finally, the DMV told me that I wasn’t the victim of identity theft; there was simply another Lisa S Davis with the same birthday in New York City. Our records were crossed. When cops run a license, they don’t check the person’s address, signature, or social security numbers. They check the name and the birthday, and both the other Lisa S Davis’s and mine were the same. We were, in the eyes of the law, one person, caught in a perfect storm of DMV and NYPD idiocy." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/03/identity-theft-racial-justice

Endangered Brutalist Heh. Build your own: http://www.wurlington-bros.com/DC/JEdgarHooverBldg.pdf

Dressed For Success Originally shared by Richard Bensam For all the gushing about her leather jacket, no one is talking about how Hillary Clinton has also gained the power of Kirby krackle. https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/03/we-still-live-in-a-world-where-people-think-that-h.html

Founding Father Of the Democratic Party...

Truly

Ditch Drill Originally shared by The past is a foreign country Hawaiian Airlines crew training with a DC-3 1957