Mark Turner

Cheap thoughts: discouraging nighttime thefts from cars

Saturday night as I lay sleeping in the bedroom just above, a thief quietly slipped up my neighbor’s driveway to his car, tried the door handle, and slipped away. He and his buddy found my other neighbor’s door unlocked and ransacked the car.

This happens from time to time when you live in the big city. You either keep your car locked (always a good plan) or suffer potential thefts. There aren’t many tools to it from happening.

Being a law-and- order-minded geek, I have been considering ways to catch some of these crooks. One way involves altering the battery pack on a laptop to conceal a GPS-enabled smartphone, which would lead cops directly to the thief. Why the battery? It does no permanent damage to the laptop and the remaining cells in the battery could power the laptop long enough for a crook to be convinced it works.
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The genitalia vote

A liberal friend posted this on her Facebook page in an effort to drum up support for Hillary Clinton for President:

IT is time to put our ducks in a row and support a woman IMHO. We all cashed in that chip and supported Barrack Obama the last time – and we did the right thing — even though he gave us Arnie Duncan!! I want to win. I want a woman to run. I like Bernie but come on – he will not be elected and he is not a woman — if we have a qualified woman does not she deserve our support? Where are all you affirmative action progressives? And bashing Hillary is harming our party and will harm our election chances and many many days the comments against her seem like “excuses” to support another man. Many comments are on the edge of sexist innuendos and often rude. I love Bernie’s brashness- boldness-his honesty and finger wagging BUT I do not want him to be my President – Hillary has experience as Sec. Of State alone that outranks his experience. I think it is time for a woman in the USA to be President. IMHO.

I was a bit taken aback that somehow Hillary was the Chosen One and that to point our her flaws is considered “bashing.” We are over a year away from the actual election, of course. There’s a long way to go. But there’s more.
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China hacked 7% of America – Business Insider

Remember the Chinese hack on OPM? It’s far worse than we were told. Ugh. I’m thinking somebody needs to go to prison.

More than 20 million people had their personal information stolen when Office of Personnel Management (OPM) servers were breached by Chinese hackers last year, sources close to the agency are reporting.The New York Times and the government are reporting 21.5 million, and CNN is reporting 22.1 million. ABC and Reuters have reported 25 million.

Source: China hacked 7% of America – Business Insider

17 Oct 2000: USS Kitty Hawk gets buzzed by Russian jets

The USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) get overflown by Russian jets. This should never happen.

The photo above was taken by a Russian reconnaissance jet as it buzzed 200 feet above the USS Kitty Hawk as the ship steamed in the Sea of Japan on 17 October 2000. As you can see, the flight deck was far from being ready to launch CAP aircraft. According to some reports, it took over 40 minutes for the Kitty Hawk to launch any aircraft in response to this overflight. Even then, rumor has it that all the ship could muster to launch was a lowly EA-6B Prowler, no match for the Russian jets.

The skipper on that day was Captain Allen G. Myers, who had assumed command 27 May 2000. Ordinarily when a skipper gets caught with his figurative pants down like Captain Myers apparently did, he winds up pushing pencils at some far-flung outpost, never to be seen again. Myers bucked that trend, though, retiring as a Vice Admiral before beginning a lucrative career last year as a vice president at a defense contractor.

Once upon a time I admired the Navy’s flavor of military justice, with it’s deep tradition of a captain’s accountability. By custom as well as international and maritime law a captain at sea is essentially God. With this awesome responsibility comes ultimate accountability. Or so I thought. My first skipper, uh … “bent” our ship, sliced through our sonar array, and made other mistakes that would’ve sunk mere mortal captains. His Naval Academy buddy happened to be Secretary of the Navy, though, and having friends like that makes mistakes magically disappear. My CO went on to retire with three stars and eventually I realized that military justice is a crock.
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Police and Animal Control Respond to Coyote Encounter

Here’s the press release from Raleigh Police on last week’s coyote incident. WRAL’s story identified the man as Stephen Keating, 24.

Many have pointed out that dogs aren’t allowed in Schenck Forest. I suspect this incident might make dog owners think twice about breaking this rule.

On July 1 at about 6:30 p.m., Raleigh Police Department officers, N.C. State University Police Department officers and Raleigh Animal Control Unit personnel responded to a wooded area off the 4800 block of Reedy Creek Road in regard to an incident that involved coyotes shadowing a man and his dog.

The man said he was walking in Schenck Forest when his dog’s behavior caused him to survey their surroundings, and he saw three coyotes. As he reversed his course and began moving away, the coyotes followed and flanked him. The man took shelter on an elevated manhole and called 911.
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Coyotes surround man on Raleigh greenway

I got word yesterday that there was an incident last week where a man walking his dog along Raleigh’s Reedy Creek Greenway was surrounded by “vicious” coyotes and he needed to be rescued by Raleigh Police. Police spokesperson Jim Sugrue is still gathering details and is expected to issue a press release this morning.

The Right Dose of Exercise for a Longer Life – The New York Times

Studies show that moderate exercise such as walking done just an hour per day significantly increases your longevity (and, hey, makes you feel better, too).

Exercise has had a Goldilocks problem, with experts debating just how much exercise is too little, too much or just the right amount to improve health and longevity. Two new, impressively large-scale studies provide some clarity, suggesting that the ideal dose of exercise for a long life is a bit more than many of us currently believe we should get, but less than many of us might expect. The studies also found that prolonged or intense exercise is unlikely to be harmful and could add years to people’s lives.

Source: The Right Dose of Exercise for a Longer Life – The New York Times

Vagus nerve stimulation – Business Insider

Vagus nerve stimulation might help relieve symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and other immune system disorders.

Luckily, she would not have to. As she was resigning herself to a life of disability and monthly chemotherapy, a new treatment was being developed that would profoundly challenge our understanding of how the brain and body interact to control the immune system. It would open up a whole new approach to treating rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, using the nervous system to modify inflammation. It would even lead to research into how we might use our minds to stave off disease.

And, like many good ideas, it came from an unexpected source.

Source: Vagus nerve stimulation – Business Insider

First Measles Death in US Since 2003 Highlights the Unknown Vulnerables – Phenomena: Germination

For the first time in 12 years, an American resident has died from measles. The victim was taking immunosuppressive drugs which made her vulnerable.

Last week, the CDC reported on a man who contracted measles after passing through an airport gate a full 46 minutes after an infected child passed through the same gate. Learn more about why measles is a scary disease here at Buzzfeed.

Shocking news today out of Washington state: For the first time since 2003, a resident of the United States has died of measles. If you wondered, based on my last post, what happens when measles infects unvaccinated people and travels with them in an untrackable manner, this is the answer: It sickens and kills people who are vulnerable for reasons over which they have no control.

Source: First Measles Death in US Since 2003 Highlights the Unknown Vulnerables – Phenomena: Germination

Moore’s Law is dead – Business Insider

“Moore’s Law,” the observation that computer chips has doubled in capacity every two years, is hitting the limits of physical matter. This is a fascinating look at the miraculous physics that makes our smartphone-enabled world possible, and where we go from here.

When Gordon Moore wrote his paper, the most complex chip had only 64 transistors on it. Back around 2000, the processor on my home-built PC was made using a 180-nanometer process technology. The one I’m using now, also built out of parts, uses a 22-nanometer technology. The amount of transistors on the chip has increased from 37 million to over 1 billion in only 15 years.

Moore’s law is based on shrinkage. How small can you shrink the manufacturing process? The smaller you can do it, the more components you can fit on a silicon wafer. We’ve been really good at that for over 50 years.

But we’re hitting limits with how small we can make these components. In fact, over the past several years, it’s become harder and harder to shrink the manufacturing process. Some experts predict we’ll hit the end of the line by 2020. Some say it will be 2022. Either way, it’s going to happen pretty soon.

Source: Moore’s Law is dead – Business Insider

Original article from Daily Reckoning.