Google + Robots = SkyNet?

Seeing this post on The Verge about Google droids and safety guard rails, I am reminded that since about the time Gmail was created: I’ve long thought that if such A.I. were easier to create, SkyNet would be lurking somewhere in one of Google’s data centers, shaking its digital fist at us for how hard it is to dupe humans into building better terminator bodies for it.

Okay, I guess we may be crossing that point šŸ˜…

Attrition in charging

Recently, I found myself with a fair bit of rewards points at a certain electronics store and they’re expiring. But the only thing in that price range that I’d typically acquire there, is an Alexa. Which, to be honest I may get another one someday just to have one in my study. But not planning on that.

Tonight, I’ve found an unexpected solution that takes out two birds with one stone. See, I have basically two things floating around that use MicroUSB-B as the method of charging. Maybe three if I’m forgetting something. And let’s be honest, one of those things is a plant shaped lamp that I bought for decoration, not lighting, lol.

Four years ago when I last needed a pair of headphones, I opted to go wireless and my only complaint over time has been the MicroUSB charging. At the time, this was a negative but for the price I was willing to put up with the older charger cable. These are now that “Dang it, go fetch a cable” kind of device in my USB-C based world, and after several years the battery surely isn’t lasting any longer than when it was brand new.

Combination: rewards points plus sale price equal: 16 dollars for a decent pair of Sony headphones. Conveniently with USB-C charging. The one thing that my old MPow pair lacks. And ya know what? For $16, it’s worth it to just not need to go fetch a MicroUSB cable anymore!

One eye, two eye, blue eye, red eye

For some reason it bugs me that I’ve found it hard to get up all week, and the day I can actually sleep in, I find myself waking up on time \o/.

About an hour later, coffee fueled, fed, and quartered, and onto making the day’s agenda a more actualized plan than a loose concept. Also, I quickly determined mornings are more productive if you grab the coffee beans instead of the corn chips and wonder what the fuck you’re doing standing in front of the coffee grinder. Hahahahaha!

Captain’s personal log, star date 2023.267

This morning’s plan seems to have jellied. Get up, grab a quick breakfast, go for a 2 kilometer walk, make coffee, and then sit on my ass. Seeing it about 14~15 Celsius outside made me rethink the not sleeping in part of executing this plan, but worked pretty swell none the less.

After about a kilometer I’ve warmed up and my coat functions as insurance, so the temperature was a non-issue with continuous activity. Actually, I think if I finally broke down and bought new boots that aren’t so worn out, in this weather I could have managed another lap since I brought my water bottle along. While I’ve never cared much for dedicated exercises like press ups and crunches, walks let me get out and enjoy the scenery a bit. Although, I’m definitely too round around the middle for my teenaged metric of “Be sure to take a sit by 3 hours march”, but that’s what I get for flying a desk and being a lazy gitšŸ˜….

Now if I just get the rest of the weekend chores done as effectively, lol.

Darn feet, constantly aiming for glass

Last week, I had managed to fumble in the dark and crack the shit out of one of my drinking glasses. Honestly, it kind of made me think if I was superstitious, I should just be glad that unexpected glass breakage tends to be considered more a good omen than a bad omen in many cultures, unlike mirrors. But I figured, odds are I’d still get a piece of glass stuck in my darn foot no matter how careful I am.

Of course, while making dinner tonight I ended up on a detour to the bathroom with a piece of glass stuck in my foot. Maybe 2 mm wide by 3 or 4 mm deep at the most. Something like that, just enough to stick in the outer flesh and cause a bit of bleeding as it scrapes against lower levels at a slant. What I classify as a flesh wound, or “It pisses me off but isn’t dangerously urgent”.

In retrospect, I’m glad that the old as what the heck decade is it from bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol that’s almost empty, ended up left on my counter instead of being disposed of. I ended up needing to break out the container of hanging instruments and use a sterilized old push pin to pry it up far enough to grip it with the tweezers from my pocket knife. This is a ranked improvement over the last time, where the glass was stuck in my foot for a couple weeks before ‘falling out’ a few days before a doctor’s appointment. I’d much rather have success with the needle and tweezer approach, not that I’m fond of using a push pin because I have no idea where my sewing kit ended up, lol.

TIL: Bundling is a pain in the neck

Ya know, for years I’ve listened to the old spiel: bundle your home and auto insurance and save! Yada, yada. Well, I’ve now decided the next time I consider changing providers or sticking with my current ones — yes, you can save quite a bit by bundling, but by the time you’ve gotten the quote, you will have answered so many questions, you’d pay that much just to not have to answer another question!

Like seriously, that was a pain in the ass.

Quasi random thoughts

Growing up an era where phones were painfully slow and low bandwidth, I find it interesting how often people sound the same on the phone compared to eons ago. I’m guessing whatever the bandwidth for the now common HD Voice services, really sucks a lot less.

Either that or maybe I’m just getting old? HA!!!

There’s a joke that a friend is fond of that ends in a payment terminal displaying, “Kill him at once” instead of “Approved / please remove your card”.

As I find myself remembering this joke, I kind of hope we never reach the point where computers declare that someone should be killed. Which oddly makes my mind flash to Project Insight rather than Sky Net.

Growing up, I decided if I ever had to fill out a time capsule describing my generation that a VHS copy of Terminator 2: Judgement Day would have to be in it. For me, it’s kind of defines the time I grew up in, lol. But I have to admit, as terrifying a concept as a defense network declaring humanity a threat and launching judgement day upon humanity is, I think S.H.I.E.L.D.’s idea in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, is far more alarming. Project Insight effectively called for roving surveillance of the people they were charged with protecting, and both the computing and military infrastructure necessary to automatically catalogue potential targets and the tools to assassinate that target. Although, I would kind of like to think on Fury’s watch rather than HYDRA’s that agents deployed would have been more common than deploying the nearest helicarrier for a kinetic strike šŸ˜….

Random things you donā€™t expect to find

Going through a cache of documents that have been waiting for triage since my mother passed away, or more literally, ā€œOh, wow, so thatā€™s where these ended upā€, I was a bit surprised but it also explained why some things I expected to find cleaning out my documents drawer, werenā€™t there.

Principally the interesting stuff falls under birth and death certificate kind of things, but for family who have been dead so long, keeping them is more a formality or just in case thereā€™s useful info for looking up ancestors kinda documents. Itā€™s decades late for there being any use for things like my fatherā€™s death certificate or discharge papers that I need worry about. Mostly stuff my mother may have had some use for twenty or thirty years ago. A good bit of which become rather transient, compared to those, and ended up in the ā€˜outā€™ pile rather than the keep pile.

One thing that I didnā€™t expect however, to find, was my grandfatherā€™s discharge papers from 1945! After 78 years, the paper was so incredibly thin and flimsy, I almost thought it might be an old napkin or something else that ended up in that box. Nope, just incredibly old paper, lol.

Hereā€™s hoping Iā€™m in better shape than that paper, if I make it to 78. Thatā€™s in fourth some years šŸ˜…

Yeah, probably getting too old for this sh**

Based on how Iā€™ve felt today and yesterday, Iā€™m thinking the assessment is Iā€™m getting old and long since too round around the middle.

Based on the happy trails instructions, Iā€™ve tried to take it easy. Strenuous activities generally curtailed and kept to minimum. Combined with the increased level of hydration, walking to and from the refrigerator and the head are probably the majority of what physical activity has looked like. Stuff like putting the garbage out or longer treks across parking lots, being the minority.

Combined with greater time to recover system integrity, Iā€™m thinking that the difference between today and yesterday can be summarized as caffeine. Yesterday was a little bit of headache and an expected level of drowsiness, given I hadnā€™t taken the effort to make coffee since Saturday morning. Getting back to work and being glad Iā€™m plopped in front of a Mac book instead of hauling cargo around for a living, I opted to keep the coffee consumption light for me, at closer to 2-3 cups than 4-6. So not overdoing it but not devoid of caffeine either.

It still remains to be scene whether my natural disinclination to get out of bed, has more to do with adding a woobie to my blanket, or not having anyone to get up and take care of before going to work. Just the same however, I spent part of yesterday searching for a doctor and this morning setting up an appointment for next week.

Hereā€™s hoping Iā€™m alive and relatively well by the time I visit the doctor. And hoping this sentiment isnā€™t jinxed, lol.