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Showing posts from March, 2019

LavaCon 2026 and the future.

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LavaCon is a conference now going on 25 years. Its always fun at conferences where folks collaborate on what the future holds. This year I drove to Charlotte NC from Duluth GA to attend. I used the Tesla in Full Self Drive. I went park-to-park without touching the wheel for over 200 miles. It's crazy. I don't think most people understand how well it works. Lots of nay-sayers still, but it really does work. Be on guard, but enjoy. I spent some of my time "driving" while conversing with Grok as part of my daydreaming. I was discussing with Grok an idea I have of building a West system (cold molded) old style barrel-back runabout maybe 20 feet long- all varnished Mahogony. Of course this boat would have an exotic 12-cylinder engine under a transparent engine hatch between the twin cockpits. We discussed the designs, available actual study plans and pre-lofted design documents for the hull. We also discussed the best engine (perhaps a BMW N73) coupled with a Velvet Dri...
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We are back from a road trip to Las Vegas. We met my brother for his birthday out there. The last time I was there was in 2006 My blog post from 2006 . I don't feel any strong intrinsic need to go there then or now. But it is a well known destination and certainly the road trip from SoCal to Vegas is the iconic American road trip. We stopped in San Bernadino to visit the original site of McDonalds. While in Vegas, we may have enjoyed "downtown" better than the strip. I didn't even know it existed, but there are neon signs, cheesy clubs, cheesy casinos, cheesy buffets and even cheesier people.
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Angie and I went on a long urban hike this weekend. We got to see the homeless people in SoCal living in tents up close. Amazing differences in this county from block-to-block and street-to-street. Here is a nice pic of ducklings we saw trying to make their way in the concrete jungle.
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I am amazed that Don Shipley's channel on You Tube was recently terminated. I spent a lot of study time in grad school studying the future of digital censorship. To me, the termination is crazy. The show was entertaining as well as exposing -- Don has been quite respectful and equally quick to prove fraudulent actions. I can only imagine who has the power to terminate his channel. Don Shipley - Wikipedia A recent posting on a new/different channel https://youtu.be/m80VN0Vt69Y
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We rented a car to drive around SoCal this weekend. With 460 HP and a 10 speed paddle-shifter, the Mustang GT was definitely a good car to rip around the desert. I am glad I didn't get stopped for speeding, because at times I think they put you in jail for how much I was over the limit. We did pick up some bugs (I am told they were butterflies) and we did have to go through border control checkpoints a couple of times. We went to Anzo-Borrego and the Salton Sea which is a post-apocalyptic desert community. The sea (lake) has become so polluted and depleted. The fish can no longer live there. It was pretty interesting. The palm trees are dying, and the housing has disappeared or has become rundown. Since we were already in the groove for alt- post apocalypse scenes we also went to visit Slab City.
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I saw this truck but actually Rorschach test. I had to look at it awhile to realize it was a dent not a Flamenco Dancer.
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I am moving into a new office for work this week. My commute was about 2 miles. Now it is yards. This is the view from my new 5th floor office window. You can see my apartment. I have an envious commute for SoCal -- understatement. Lots of folks drive (or ride) 2 hours each way a day. I am very lucky. Concentrate on your fortunes, not your misfortunes. We all have both. Our new offices are "temporary" for two years as they build more on the main campus.
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