Nov 24 2024 - Putin's Idle Hands

 

t occurred to me.  Who would be married to Vladimir Putin?  There are all kinds of headlines over a recent video about his hands.  I wondered about who would want to be married to him.   "Alina Kabaeva, 39, has been romantically linked to Putin, 69, for more than a decade and is thought to have had at least three children with him. In announcing sanctions against her on Tuesday, the Treasury Department said "Kabaeva has a close relationship to Putin" and that she was being targeted as part of an effort to "impose severe costs for those who support President Vladimir Putin's war." That article was in August 2022. Before that, Putin's wife was Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Ocheretnaya who served as the first spouse or first lady of Russia from 2000 to 2009 and 2012 to 2014. They divorced in 2014. The first lady position is listed as vacant. Back to Putin himself: It is his motionless hands during an eight minute speech that made all the headlines. The theory being tossed about is the hands were replaced in the video with AI.   There's worry in all the headline adjectives - rigid, glued and frozen.  That's because Putin's hands are "usually twitchy."  At one meeting his hands have turned purple as he "clutched his chair." It turns out that Putin's hands are a frequent and detailed news topic.  The experts look to his hands for clues of his intentions.   As to the frozen hands, here's one expert view: "Filmmaker Patrick Hölscher took the footage and zoomed in on the despots deathly unnatural hands. Up close, Putin’s tie moves as he talks, which only emphasizes how unnaturally still his hands are.  On top of this Hölscher highlights the blur and stretch on Putin’s right hand, which looks to be the result of a really rubbish editing job, and perhaps the heavy-handed handiwork of a photoshop touch up job." With all this talk, analysis, and opinion, it is no easy search to actually look at the video.  I don't think is is available.  So I screen-captured a closeup of his hands with the big red box around them.   What is this insert offering semaglutide for dirt cheap?  It is an on and off thing as I did a few screen-captures to test it.  More AI at work, I think. Another thing to distract us if we are curious.

Let's travel back to simple times.

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Sep 19 2024 - Canadian Awkward Moments

 

I expect there is a through-line between politeness and awkward moments.  There are lots of awkward moments for Canadians on the internet.   Canadian have enough awkward moments that there's a CBC article detailing Canadian and U.S. leaders from 1965 to 2019.  Wouldn't you conclude that's a long history of not getting along.  Here's the relationship to politeness.   Before he became prime minister, Lester B. (Mike) Pearson was a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957. But when he made a speech accepting a similar prize, the World Peace Award, from Philadelphia's Temple University in 1965, the reaction from his U.S. counterpart was anything but peaceful. "You pissed on my rug!" Lyndon B. Johnson told Pearson, as retold by journalist Lawrence Martin in his 1982 book, The Presidents and the Prime Ministers.   Here's a moment of  cultural differences: "Martin's book told another story. An enraged Johnson lit into Pearson on an outdoor terrace after lunch at the Presidential retreat Camp David the day after his speech. As two aides and the Canadian ambassador looked on through a window, Johnson grabbed Pearson by the shirt collar, twisted it, and lifted the Canadian by the neck." And then Trudeau and Nixon: ...a telephone conversation Nixon had with Trudeau would be recorded in the Oval Office, along with pejorative remarks about the prime minister that the U.S. president made to staff ahead of the call. Trudeau would later quip that he had been called "worse things by better people." Good to know that our world leaders have the distinction of being like the rest of us.

A nice country road on a railroad layout. A nice country road on a railroad layout.

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June 3 2024 - PINs Abound

 

It didn't occur to me.  What about you?  Would you make your PIN any of these? 1234 1111 0000 1212 7777 1004 2000 4444 2222 6969 9999 3333 5555 6666 1122 1313 8888 4321 2001 1010 These are the top 20 PINs.  What is the choices of PINs?  Ten thousand combinations with the number 0 to 9.   And how did they find out these are the most common ones?  A study of 3.4 million leaked credit card pins.   That's lots of leaks and in 2023 there  were 3,205 data compromises impacting 353 million people.   While it seems stupid to have a password of 1234, data breach frequency seems to make all those careful choices of PINS - all 9,980 of them seem pointless. This area of PIN and passwords is the subject of many jokes. This joke demonstrates why this is. There are many variations - I liked the one with Roses but the swear words were a bit overwhelming.   SENIOR TRYING TO SET PASSWORD: WINDOWS: Please enter your new password. USER: cabbage WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must be more than 8 characters. USER: boiled cabbage WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must contain 1 numerical character. USER: 1 boiled cabbage WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot have blank spaces. USER: 50bloodyboiledcabbages WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must contain at least one upper case character. USER: 50BLOODYboiledcabbages WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot use more than one upper case character consecutively. USER: 50BloodyBoiledCabbagesShovedUpYourA$$IfYouDon'tGiveMeAccessNow! WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot contain punctuation. USER: ReallyPissedOff50BloodyBoiledCabbagesShovedUpYourA$$IfYouDontGiveMeAccessNow WINDOWS: Sorry, that password is already in use. 🙂

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Oct 10 2023 - Keyboard Quirks

 

I coul5dn't5 sign into my comput5er5 this mor5ning.  My passwor5d didn't se5em to wor5k.  You can't5 se5e5 your5 passwor5d.   So then what? If I could, this is what I would have seen - all of these fives showing up in between the letters being pressed.   So I pressed the five key and things have returned to normal.   What will happen if I press it again?  There was a warning problem yesterday.  The keyboard would not capitalize T with the shift key.  So my workaround was to put caps lock on and then off after the T was pressed.   My last keyboard problem was a key cap that fell off and wouldn't go back on permanently - it had stopped making contact as well. I find out that there are lots of other issues that can happen.  "This can happen due to spills, drops, dust, or wear and tear. Some signs of hardware issues are keys that are stuck, loose, or missing, or keys that produce the wrong characters or no response at all. To fix hardware issues, you may need to clean, replace, or repair the keyboard, depending on the extent of the damage." There are software sorts of problems such as input source.  And when Baxter and Millie lie on the keyboard, they can change settings.  Baxter is the more talented at this activity.  Given this was the backup keyboard - that last one couldn't be repaired, I guess there's a new keyboard in the works.  Model layout day today. Love the red tub tacks on the bridge.

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Nune 9 2023 - Summer Time Travelling

 

Our air quality has improved, allowing people to get outdoors again.  Let's go for a drive.   Look out, though.  There are 44 closures in Toronto alone on June 9 2023 for roadwork - these are planned.  Highway 400, 401, 404, 427 and the Queen Elizabeth Way.  That covers the majority of the major roads in the Toronto area.  Seems like a lot of hiccups along the road. The events closures are ramping up too.  All those cycling fundraisers, runs and walks, and then festivals.  There's Portugal Day, Grilled Cheese Challenge festival and the RBC Open - which ironically has caused closures. Combine that with reductions in subway service for construction and reductions in GO train service. That is followed by an encouragement for residents and visitors to take public transit as a greener, faster and more affordable way of getting around.  Summer can get complicated when it comes to travelling around. What about steam train travel?  Here's a model layout.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

April 18 2023 - Scientists are worried

 

They are worried that the galaxies they keep finding with the James Webb Space Telescope shouldn't exist.  The scientist warned us.  The galaxies were as mature as our own Milky Way and they come from the beginnings of the universe.   There's billions of celestial objects - sounds like an overwhelming panic. And worse: We may be missing some fundamental information about the universe.  Galaxy formation is under the "microscope". There might be something wrong with the dark energy and cold dark matter paradigm that has been guiding cosmology for decades.  Just how do you go about changing your understanding of the cosmos and how galaxies grow?  That's an exciting proposition. Other headlines?   Why do some James Webb Space Telescope images show warped and repeated galaxies?  Does the sun really belong in its family? Astronomers get to the bottom of stellar identity crisis There's a lot going on in this field.   It's a train day today. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Mar 11 2023 - Summer Time coming before Spring Time is here

 

Daily Savings Time is here this weekend.  It seems the change of time is to make summer more enjoyable/productive/save energy/ and sorts of "tangible" benefits.  All these benefits seems to have driven it to start earlier. Long summer evenings aren't arriving for another few months.  It used to be in April, but the US Department of Energy had the idea that there were would energy conservation so moved it to March for more savings.  That seems likely to be a theoretical wish rather than a real gain.   When did it originally start? On July 1, 1908, the residents of Port Arthur, Ontario, today's Thunder Bay, turned their clocks forward by 1 hour to start the world's first DST period. Other locations in Canada soon followed suit. On April 23, 1914, Regina in Saskatchewan implemented DST. The cities of Winnipeg and Brandon in Manitoba did so on April 24, 1916. It is up to the legislation in each municipality in Canada to decide on the use of DST. As a result, there are some locations don't follow the DST schedule of their in provinces and territories. For example, while British Columbia uses DST, some locations in the province do not. Since 2007, all provinces, territories, and locations in Canada using DST follow the same start and end dates as the United States. And that's how we got to changing the clocks so much earlier.  I wondered if there was any news on Scott Adams and Dilbert. There's no news.  He is on the Locals website.  It is Coffee with Scott Adams Community...open-minded people who like to learn about persuasion, politics and the operating code for reality while having some laughs. It is here.  You get to see a preview as it is a member only site. We are ignoring all the snow today and concentrating on trains instead. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Feb 22 2023 - If you Live in Grimsby

 

So who is Ryan?  If I live in Grimsby, Ryan wants to speak to me.   Ryan is a popular name, so there are a lot of celebrities named Ryan.  First up, there's Ryan's World (formerly Ryan ToysReview).  We looked at this Ryan a few years ago.   It is a children's YouTube channel for children aged 2–6 featuring Ryan Kaji along with his mother (Loann Kaji), father (Shion Kaji), and twin sisters (Emma and Kate). The channel usually releases a new video every day. One is Huge Eggs.  Surprise Toys challenge has 2.0 billion views as of January 2023.   The family made over $250 million in 2021 - it has been listed in Forbes as the highest-earning YouTube channel.  A lawsuit was filed against Google over inappropriate advertisements and paid sponsor content.  There are now new rules on what is on YouTube for children's content.  Which of the other Ryans would it be?  Ryan has been a top boys' name in the United States. from 1976 to 2010.  There are a few headlining content.  Ryan Reynolds is a Canadian/American actor. There's Ryan Fraser in soccer, Ryan O'Reilly in hockey and Ryan Alford on the Emergencies Act. Here's an excellent Ryan joke:   I think Ryan Gosling is mature enough now.. for us to call him Ryan Goose. A beautiful trestle bridge today.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Oct 6 2022 - Most Unique

 

How many variations of unique are there?  Given the definition says "being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else,"  my expectation is none. There are no adjectives to the adjective.  I just saw Bing use the phrase "most unique", so got to wondering how far down the evolutionary path we've gone with this word.  "Truly unique shows up in Collins Dictionary - "You use truly to emphasize that something has all the features or qualities of a particular thing, or is the case to the fullest possible extent.   This is a turn of phrase that is seen in newspaper reporting.  All the examples come from news articles.   There are lots of occurrences of Truly Unique - Disc Golf, a Gift Shop, laser-engraving business,  pasta, beauty boutique.   Unique is a synonym to distinctive, so could something be truly distinctive?  Distinctive's definition -"clearly marking a person or a thing as different from others.  It turns out that there is no "truly distinctive" in Collins Dictionary.  Instead, there is highly distinctive in Collins Dictionary.   Again the examples cited come from news articles. And you can find the two used together - I guess it brings extra emphasis -  "A unique and highly distinctive sofa."   How do you catch a unique rabbit? Unique up on it. How do you catch a tame one? Tame way. Unique up on it. I met a girl named Unique today. She has a twin sister.

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March 24 2022 - National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day

 

Which do you choose to celebrate today?   1. National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day 2. World Tuberculosis Day And for the month of March? 1. National Women's History Month 2. National Umbrella Month USA Today published an article on March 14 2020 where the author proclaimed:  "If someone ever wanted to completely waste their whole life but didn’t know how, they could simply strive to devote themselves to the careful observation of every single day of inane celebration and inadequate awareness." "In response, I propose that we create a “National Day Against National Days” to raise awareness and protest bad and unnecessary “national days” for one day every year. Please use #NationalDayAgainstNationalDays on social media and observe how national days are ruining not only our timelines but our lives." This nationally published plea did not work as there are only two posts for the hashtag and the latest is this article.  So there must be a lot of people with a stake in one or some of those nearly 1,500 National Days, National Weeks and National Months.   There are massive financial implications in these days. Consuming the products being celebrated is the main activity so increased sales is the goal.  The company that runs the National Day Calendar website receives 20,000 applications a year for new celebrations.  Only 25 applications are accepted.  I don't know what makes them limit the number.  It seems that people want more opportunities to talk about silly and inconsequential things.  Avocados turned out to be very popular as a national day. The two days that have been astonishingly successful are Amazon Prime Day in the U.S. and Singles Day in China.  They generated $17 billion in sales.   And there's the draw in these days.  Mostly it is fun and inconsequential things that take the centre stage for a day, with a few monumental celebrations sprinkled in.  Today's?  March 24th 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes tuberculosis (TB). And our pictures today are part of the lead-up to our next celebration of National Model Railroad Month on Tuesday, November 1st 2022.

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Mar 5 2022 - Beautiful Losers

 

Toronto Island and Hydra share something in common - the lack of cars and motor vehicles.  I was wondering about Hydra's place in Leonard Cohen's life. It is where he wrote Beautiful Losers. We saw the documentary on his relationship with Marianne last night.   Of course, Hydra has a mythical world-wide reputation.  The Toronto Islands are only an hour away from here.  Typically they are not described as mythical but as quaint and funky, things like that. The reviews of Beautiful Losers caught my attention in the documentary.  The reception by reviewers was considered unsympathetic or hostile.   In April 1966, Fulford wrote the famously quoted one-line 'slap-down review'.  In particular, it was Robert Fulford's famous review that is often repeated. Robert Fulford's review is quoted over and over - "the most revolting book ever written in Canada".   The final paragraph of the review?  The final paragraph tempers his disgust somewhat: “At the same time it is probably the most interesting Canadian book of the year.” By July 1966, he's writing more about Cohen and referencing his famous review: “Meanwhile, back in Toronto, Cohen’s Beautiful Losers is still an object of some controversy,” writes Fulford. “The Deer Park Library, which is circulating three copies of it, has pasted a section from my review in the front of each copy. The quotation says, in effect, that the book is revolting but interesting. The idea is to warn off those readers whose stomachs may not be strong enough for Cohen.”   That's a well-known Forests Hill library.  Fulford lived in the St. Clair Avenue area, and I remember seeing him once at the bank in the line-up when I worked at Imperial Oil on St. Clair Avenue West.  I would have like to ask for his autograph at the time.   But by July 1969, Peter Goddard is covering him as a pop star - the transition from revolting novelist to compelling celebrity complete: “If you think Pierre Trudeau makes an impact on a party, you should see Leonard Cohen,” wrote the Star’s Peter Goddard. “With his sad, sensitive face and his boyishly wise and gentle way, Cohen does not so much dominate a room as glow in it, add to it, change it.” The article I've referenced is in the Toronto Star, November 14 2016 HERE.

A wonderful bridge on a scenic railroad layout today. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Jan 12 2022 - A Fishy Story

 

The Globe and Mail had a story on page 2 yesterday - Goldfish learn to drive a robotic car on land.  You can go HERE to see the video of the goldfish.  This is the NBC story with the video and the story starts with this joke: Two fish are in a tank and one says, "Do you know how to drive this thing?" The camera in the “fish-operated vehicle” uses motion sensing technology to send a signal to one of its four wheels whenever a fish swims close to a side of the fish tank. Over time the fish learned that their movements would correspond to the movements of the vehicle. The Globe says:  Some fish are smarter than others.  This brings to mind the mention of the popular myth that a goldfish's memory lasts only a few seconds.  It reminds us of misinformation and disinformation that Snopes is in pursuit of reducing. While Snopes does not address the 3 second attention span of Goldfish, others do. From live science magazine HERE:  "In reality, goldfish have such impressive memories, they're often used as a common model for studying memory and learning in fishes, Brown said. As a result, "there are thousands of studies [on goldfish] that show fish have excellent memories," Brown said. "And the rate of which these studies are being published is growing exponentially." There is always something Snopes has on hand.  Here's their fact-checking item on goldfish:  A 9-pound “goldfish” was caught in a South Carolina lake during a routine electrofishing survey.  TRUE And compare that with a 280-pound catfish caught in Italy in 2015.  There are enough photos of that one to look like it is true.  Two goldfish are in a tank. One turns to the other and says “It’s a bit wet in here” The other says “Wow! A talking fish!” A man walks into a cafe with a goldfish under his arm He asks the owner “do you sell fish cakes?” The owner says no The man says “That’s a shame. It’s his birthday today.”   A railroad scene from Gerry's layout.

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