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ailtrahq · 1 year

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If you haven’t had a good laugh at Chainalysis’ attempts to defend the use of its blockchain forensics Software for law enforcement purposes in light of recent court proceedings, now may be the time.After having to admit to the lack of scientific evidence for the accuracy of its Software and the publication of an expert report describing the use of Chainalysis’ heuristics as “reckless”, Chainalysis finds itself trying to evade an audit of its Software’s source code.Chainalysis’ source code is requested by the Defense in the case US vs. Sterlingov, an early bitcoin adopter currently awaiting trial for the alleged operation of the custodial bitcoin mixer bitcoin Fog, to reproduce the Software’s findings in light of the lack of corroborating evidence.Sterlingov’s Defense defines access to Chainalysis’ source code as “critical to Mr. Sterlingov’s due process rights given the fact neither the Government nor Chainalysis is able to produce any evidence involving Chainalysis Reactor’s error rates, rate of false positives, or Rate of false negatives. Nor can the Government or Chainalysis produce a single scientific peer-reviewed paper attesting to the accuracy of their Software. Nor has any independent audit or model validation been performed on Chainalysis Reactor.”“Moreover”, the notice continues, “the Defense’s expert witness Ciphertrace’s Jonelle Still’s expert report documents numerous issues with the Chainalysis Reactor Software and concludes that it should not be used in a federal criminal trial.”Chainalysis now argues that bitcoin Core contributor Bryan Bishop, the expert witness produced by Sterlingov’s Defense to audit Chainalysis’ source code, is “unqualified'' for the job due to his lack of a computer science degree, stating that “he does not appear to be a reliable Software engineer, let alone a reliable evaluator of Software.” On the contrary, the bitcoin developer community has found Bishop qualified and reliable enough to serve as one of two moderators of the bitcoin-dev mailinglist since 2015.The bitcoin-dev mailing list is an email distribution list to discuss latest technological advancements in bitcoin protocol development and adjacent fields. Its participants include cryptographer and HashCash inventor Adam Back, cryptographer and ex-bitcoin Core maintainer Pieter Wuille, as well as a range of well respected and prolific contributors in bitcoin development.The bitcoin-dev mailinglist is moderated based on a number of factors, all of which Bishop evaluates before approving posts to the list. These factors include speculation, non-technical concerns, and rehashing settled topics without new data. Bishop’s own contributions to the list include the bitcoin-dev/2017-April/014025.html">evaluation of signature schemes, the bitcoin-dev/2016-August/013042.html">evaluation of multisig key signing operations performed via hardware wallets, and the evaluation of Security concerns regarding bitcoin-dev/2015-May/007879.html">block size increases and bitcoin-dev/2015-November/011688.html">merge mining.As a respected expert in the field, Bishop has bitcoin-dev/2016-August/012921.html">participated in lengthy discussions on elliptic curve cryptography, ECDSA signature schemes, Schnorr signature schemes, BLS signature schemes, signature aggregation schemes, post-quantum cryptography, quantum mining, and scrypt password hashing. As a bitcoin Core contributor, Bishop has contributed to the ongoing development of bitcoin/">vaults, which are mechanisms to improve the Security of custody. This particular contribution has been named in Chainalysis’ response to installing Bishop as an expert witness, citing a notice on Bishop’s GitHub repository, which reads: “WARNING: This is not production-ready code. Do not use this on bitcoin mainnet or any other mainnet.”While Chainalysis appears to claim that Bishop’s notice proves his inferiority as a Software developer, the installment of Security notices for experimental code is common practice among engineers.

Chainalysis’ interpretation of the notice can only lead us to believe that the prosecution is actively attempting to mislead the court – or that they flat out don’t know how engineering works.Highlighting Bishop’s role as CTO and co-founder of Wyoming based Custodia Bank as a critical fact, Chainalysis attempts to taint Bishop’s reputation of 20 years in Software engineering by citing Custodia’s denied application as a member of the Federal Reserve System. This leads Chainalysis to argue that “Mr. Bishop has a massive incentive to abuse his access to Chainalysis in order to attempt to figure out why he could not in his previous efforts develop Software to effectively mitigate money laundering and terrorism financing Risks—what stopped his prior bank from getting a license to operate by the Federal Reserve.”What Chainalysis fails to highlight is that the very letter of denial cited names the inefficiency of Chainalysis services to map funds to real-world identities as one of the reasons to deny Custodia’s application in light of AML concerns:“While there are private companies that investigate transactions on crypto-asset blockchains solely based on public Information, such as from the blockchain or social media, without customer identification Information, the services are highly imperfect. Law enforcement and specialist blockchain analytics firms, like Chainalysis, can learn Information about a wallet and its holder, including whether the wallet may be associated with illicit activity or other wallets identified as suspicious or sanctioned; however, it can be difficult, relying on blockchain analysis alone, to establish the real-world identity of the person with ownership or control of a wallet with available Information at the time of the transaction. Even following an investigation, such Information can be difficult to establish, particularly if blockchain obfuscation techniques are used.”The attempted denouncing of Bishop as an expert witness fit to audit Chainalysis’ code based on his prior experience is particularly rich in the face of Chainalysis’ own experts being unable to tell bytes from bits; a fundamental of computer science taught as first lessons in undergrad engineering degrees.In short, Chainalysis is worried that an audit of Chainalysis’ source code by the defendant, defense council, or the suggested expert would cause “irreparable harm to Chainalysis’ business.” We can only wonder why.

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oblivionrecords · 3 years

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Sam Steinberg in boxing pose 1974 /"Tete de Personnage avec Serpent 20x15" Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland

Outsider artist and Oblivion cover painter Sam Steinberg never earned any art world cred for his distinct vision. Maybe it was his prolific output (my conservative estimate is 3000+ works over 15 years, but it could be closer to 10,000. He probably made anywhere between 5 and 15 paintings every week) or the fact that he sold exclusively on the Columbia University campus in New York. Or perhaps it was that the influential New York art critics need the outsiders to actually be outside the city? Whatever it was, Sam got virtually no media attention during his lifetime (1896-1982). The most in depth piece on Sam was written in 1996 in Folk Art magazine. I’ve reposted it here because the original is in a difficult to read online edition of the magazine (where you can see all references and credits).

You can read more about Sam’s Oblivion contributions here.

Sam Steinberg: A House of Cardboard or a Marble Palace?

By Craig Bunch FOLK ART Summer 1996

Ninety-four-year-old Pauline Steinberg summed up life with her brother Sam in a breathless conjunction: “I was a mother to him. I was a father to him, and I tried to be a sister to him. And I know his weak points and his good points and I know how ambitious he was and how good and kind he was. He was truly a wonderful man, my brother. The pictures don’t show it, you know.” Some considered the persistent street vendor a figure for mockery or even a nuisance, but few who could see beyond his humble calling would disagree with Pauline Steinberg’s assessment of her brother’s virtues. More than a few have though that the paintings also say something wonderful about Sam Steinberg.

“The little picture is very interesting, it gives me keen pleasure,” wrote Jean Dubuffet in 1973 of one of Steinberg’s paintings. “I would like to acquire, if it is possible, some other pictures by him.” Even a fictional Steinberg painting was sufficient to overcome the protagonist of a Rebecca Goldstein novel “with a nostalgia that surged into desire.”

“He was a very picturesque figure on campus,” remembers Professor Robert Austerlitz. “He was straight from the heart.” Upon the artist’s death in 1992, Columbia University president Michael Sovern consoled Pauline Steinberg, Sam’s companion of eighty years, saying that her brother was “an institution” and would be “greatly missed.” “An institution gone,” echoed Columbia College dean Arnold Collery of this little man who was for decades a strong presence in the Columbia community, as imposing in his own way as the dome of Low Library or the great limestone tower nearby Riverside Church. As Sam Steinberg himself once put it, “Everybody here know me from my paintings and everybody likes me here.”

A typical Steinberg work is a whimsical and surreal as a Klee or Miró, as sincere as a Grandma Moses, as enamored of the body colored plane as a Stella and of the almond eye as the Egyptian tomb paintings – and as original as they come. (Who but Steinberg could pull off a portrait with “one Chinese eye and one Japanese eye”?) Like each of the above artists in some ways, Steinberg nevertheless produced an oeuvre that could not be mistaken for that of any other. “Sam,” as he was universally known, touched the lives of thousands, from university presidents to generations of Columbia students. Yet he and his work are virtually unknown to anyone who did not once frequent the few blocks of Morningside Heights that converge on Columbia University’s College Walk. The data on Sam Steinberg exists almost entirely in the realm of memory and anecdote, and in a variety of difficult-to-access Columbia publications. This article, then is an attempt to synthesize and preserve the basic facts on an American original.

“Hey mistake, I got paintings here! Or maybe you want a Hoishey bar.” He must have warbled some variation of this theme a million times in his unmistakable crackly Brooklynese. Like Grandma Moses before him, Steinberg came to painting at an advanced age. Until the last of his eighty-five years, however, he remained a simple street vendor, typically rising with the sun and returning by subway at the end of a workday to one of a succession of nondescript Bronx apartments long after dark. Whether hawking ice cream from a cart or candy bars from a low-slung cardboard box. Steinberg never earned more than enough to provide the necessities for himself and sister Pauline. He enjoyed a small but livable income, fresh air, no boss, steady customers, and, in his own restricted universe, a measure of fame.

Back in the World of Tomorrow days of 1939, when he still signed his name “Chuck,” Charles Saxon, best known for his long tenure as a New Yorker cartoonist, rendered for the Columbia humor magazine Jester a pen-and-ink caricature of a man with his feet firmly planted in the present. In almost every respect, this sketch closely resembles the Sam of forty years later: candy bar in the right hand, left hand raised in the air to signal a potential customer, cardboard box beside him, the bright eyes and summoning upturned mouth, the prominent nose and ears, the baggy pants and work oxfords, the ever-present coat and oversized taxi driver’s cap. Appearing more gaunt and less robust forty years later, as health waned and age waxed, Steinberg was nevertheless the unmistakable subject of Saxon’s drawing. Shortly after Steinberg’s death, Robert Diamond, a Columbia senior, remarked that he “saw a yearbook picture from 30 years ago with a picture of Sam in it and he looked the same. What else here stays the same for 30 years?”

Portrait of William Glaser by Sam Steinberg 1981 (right) Sam with William Glaser 1981

In certain photographs from the 1960s and 1970s, Steinberg affects the pose of a boxer challenging his opponent. Perhaps he was paying homage to Jack Dempsey or Rocky Marciano or living his own youthful dreams; perhaps it was a photographer’s staged pose. Jack Vartoogian, one whose camera capture Sam in this stance, remembers it as Sam’s idea. Pauline Steinberg discounts any thoughts of hero-worship: “You know, Sam didn’t admire anybody special. He was a good, plain, ordinary person. He didn’t have to admire anybody.” Sam painted the famous and infamous, she says, “because God puts in us the power to do beautiful things.”

Undeniably, Steinberg painted famous people, icons of history and popular culture among them: Washington and Lincoln, Garland and Valentino, Elvis Presley and Jesus Christ. As photographic likenesses are not the forte of the surrealist or the primitive, identification of the subject required a program. Like a caricaturist who emphasizes one or two striking features of his or her subject, Steinberg would tender Telly Salvalas’s Kojak, for instance, by accentuating the large nose and shiny dome. Valentino could be recognized by the multicolored sheik’s garb and the snake protruding from –or from behind– his head. As for his version of Richard Nixon, the artist could only aloud at his own ingenuity: “Ya think they’ll throw him in jail?”

By some accounts, the most popular works of Steinberg’s 1978 one-man exhibition at Columbia’s Ferris Booth Hall –his first show there in ten years– were the portrait of then-Columbia president William McGill and “Self-Portrait on the Moon.” The well-attended show included more than 50 paintings, of which nine belonged to the Professor of German Joseph Bauke, who was reported at the time to own forty-eight “Sams” –certainly one of the largest collections.

The profit motive and a desire to please his customers often led Steinberg to execute special commissions. There were limits, however. According to Henry Rosenberg, sometime around 1972 “sam was taking commissions for portraits: students would describe their own hair- and eye-color. When he realized that I wanted him to do a portrait of himself, Sam looked horrified. ‘I don’t do that,’ he said.” The 1978 exhibition of Self Portrait on the Moon suggests that Steinberg had decided, or been persuaded, to abandon that policy. Or perhaps he simply misunderstood Rosenberg’s request. In 1992 Char Smullyan’s office in Columbia’s Hamilton Hall still displayed one of the portraits she painted from a photograph of Steinberg. “Oh, would you paint me?” she remembers him saying. The painting shows a smiling, seated Sam holding a candy bar; on the ground sits his rendering of a dog with birdlike heads attached to or perhaps emerging from the ears.

Columbia graduate Peter Frank, an art critic and curator, wrote that Steinberg often produced a work to order, only to find later that “the order was a joke or an aside that Sam took seriously.” Eventually Steinberg would sell it to another customer: “The party din’t collect his paintin’. D’ya think I should see it ta someone else? Ya like it?”

Despite the stylized portraits and regular commissions, Steinberg was best known for the animals he painted. Mermaids, snakes, dogs, birds, and especially cats inhabited his menagerie. A mermaid may have even been his muse. After deciding that he was becoming too old for the life of the peddler and wondering what to do, he one day “saw a statue, a mermaid, half-woman, half-fish, and at the age of 67, was inspired to begin a new career as a painter. Much of Sam’s work,” surmised Lenny Glynn in 1968, “can best be understood as variations on the motif of this epiphany, the half-woman, half-fish.” Indeed, a great many of his animals are hybrids unknown to veterinary science, comprising a zoom of nameless creatures that can be appreciated only by contemplating their portraits: banana dogs, bird women, lizard ladies, and what can only be described as grandmother cats. “God gave me the power,” Steinberg once said. “I never was a painter before.”

“My mother was born in Russia,” Pauline Steinberg explains, “you know, where that big blast was – in Kiev.” Her father, Adoph (later Aaron), was from Odessa. As for her siblings: “First came my brother Lou – Louie. After him came Sam. Then I was the first oldest daughter. Then came my brother Morris. And then came my beautiful sister Doris. That’s five… Well, each one of [them] were beautiful natures – because my mother and father were two beautiful people –you know what I mean?– family… But there was something lacking, you know. Lacking of love and affection of both parents for the children. You know, two people, when they get together, they first have to straighten out their own lives – you know what I mean? They have to understand their own nature… When they don’t, they don’t know how to put the family together properly. Right?”

Sam, 1973; photograph by David Weintraub

Sam was born on East Ninety-sixth Street in Manhattan on May 20, 1896, and grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. It was a struggle to survive, Pauline recalls: “We were very, very poor…” The first home she knew was “very shabby. A walkup in a wooden house – all going one way. You wouldn’t know about such apartments. There was a toilet in the yard. [There] was nothing there. Oh, there was no heat.”

“At a very early age,” wrote Lenny Glynn in 1968, “Sam began to work as a grocery boy for $12 a month. In his teens he switched to his lifelong career of peddling ice cream and candy. he was a sickly kids, 4-F in World War One, and has been through more than twenty serious operations in his life for ailments ranging from varicose veins to ingrown eyelashes.” According to Sam, he was once the beneficiary of a two-hundred dollar operation at St. Luke’s Hospital for “half-price, for forty dollars.”

He couldn’t write or read. He [could] write his name a little. He couldn’t read. [Imagine] having a brother who couldn’t read of write.” Pauline explains: “He never went to school much. They couldn’t hold him in school.”

Steinberg undoubtedly saw the subjects of some of his future portraits at the movies or in the pages of such magazines as Life and Look. Perhaps he even encountered Picasso there; he knew of Picasso. “Pictures, yeah,” recalls Pauline. “The only thing he did was magazines. He’d draw pictures on the paper. He didn’t have no paper, so he drew pictures right on the print.”

He sold those pictures, too, says Pauline. “That’s why I had to buy the good stuff. And my older brother said, ‘Don’t waste your money for that.’ And I used every penny to help my brother out, to do the best, to have the best, of everything.” This memory led Pauline to contemplate Sam’s life at Columbia: “And he didn’t like the toilets there. He saw the boys there weren’t clean. They messed up everything. He was even afraid to sit on the toilets there.” That was the least of his difficulties.

Steinberg’s one big trip, taken sometime in the mid-1950s, wrote Lynn Glynn, “made a powerful impression on him… Sam and a friend set out for Texas hopping freights, looking for new jobs. But they were robbed by hobos and Sam was beaten half to death. Frightened for his life, he climbed out on the ladder between the moving cars, screaming for help. It was a terrible experience for him.”

Steinberg himself tells the story best: “I was alone on the car screaming ‘help! help! momma! and stars were falling out of my eyes and I saw devils all around me but it was all country roads, country roads and nobody heard me.” Only the railroad detectives hears him, and they arranged two weeks in the Albany jail for him. Apparently, he made it back to New York City with the aid fo a friend called “Faffalla.” After that, he was cured of the desire to roam.

(L-R) Untitled (Mermaid with Cat & Dog; Sam by Charles Saxon, 1939 in the Columbia Jester; Sam with a student, circa 1975

Steinberg worked in a variety of media, from t-shirts and bookmarks to large seedpods. But his best work was reserved for cardboard or illustration board. Sometime in mid-1968, about five years after beginning to sell his paintings, he switched from watercolors –“because they hurt his eyes– to Magic Marker on cardboard; at about the same time, he began adding scalloped borders to his works. The often high-quality materials –“permanent markers,” stressed Pauline, and frequently Pearl No.1700 illustration board– were unusual as the media of art brut or outside art, whose practitioners typically appropriate whatever materials ar readily at hand. “Art brut,” a term coined by Jean Dubuffet, and translated as “raw art,” is a style associated with children, psychotics, and other naives whose “untutored, uncensored vision” so pleased the celebrated French artist. And Steinberg’s stories were not alway apocryphal: Dubuffet did enthusiastically accept a Steinberg drawing for the collection of art brut he donated to the city of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Sam’s painting is “certainly not the work of someone who’s insane, but the work of someone who’s simple,” explains Peter Frank, who adds that although “much art brut fills the picture plane,” Sam’s generally did not; he “wanted to create a volume of work that he could sell. If he left areas open, he could get more done. Also he liked bright colors.”

Frank explains the popularity of Sam’s paintings as due to both their visual and thematic appeal: the “fanciful subject matter” and the “psychoanalytic subtext” afforded the sophisticated viewer (in plentiful supply at Columbia) had seemingly found their perfect niche. “When i was on campus, the unsophisticated was celebrated and here was the genuine article… And there was a druggie element. The sinewy lines and intense saturated colors were a trip even for those of us not doing acid.”

Columbia has at times been a hotbed of student political activity, and Steinberg no doubt saw outdoor political gatherings as an opportunity to increase his sales. An Ari Mintz yearbook photograph, captioned “Sam Steinberg works a demo,” features a mugging Sam folding a dollar bill while Che Guevara look-alike in the immediate background does his part to save the world. In another photo, it is not clear who is the sales winner – Sam, holding an A&P bag and makeshift candy box, or his equally well-armed interlocutor, holding a “Students Must Organize” leaflet. Steinberg could even be found hawking his wares at Columbia commencement exercises.

Not all of Steinberg’s admirers remember him from Columbia – or even knew that he was an artist. Carolyn Jones, who bought candy from him as a child in Harlem, required but a single grainy photograph to unlock a forgotten cache of memories: “He used to sell candy for many, many thousands of years,” she could not help but hyperbolize. “He was always walking with his candy. He had a pleasant smile. He had a jolly step about him… a little peppy walk.” She knew him only as the Candy Man.”

“The Candy –that’s what they called him– the Candy Man,” agrees Pauline. “And you know what? On Fifth Avenue in the Bronx was 110th Street… Your weren’t allowed to stand and sell candy there, stayed there. And I was wondering how he got the guts to do [that]. I guess God gave him – let him have his way, you know… Do you know they were jealous of him. They were jealous of his ambition to peddle his candy, to push the ice cream wagon, of his ambition to work to earn a few pennies… And even though I was poor and I had nothing myself and he also [had] nothing. I was thankful I had my brother – and we were both poor you know. We were both emotionally immature.”

He never hated anybody. He wouldn’t hurt anybody. He was so good that, that at first he peddled outside of Columbia College –you know what I mean– and it was after the war, the first war. The soldiers came home and they wanted to take his place…”

After the First World War?”

“Yeh, but God put him in a better place. God let him go into Columbia College…”

“You mean he had to stay outside at first; he couldn’t–“

“At first they didn’t know him.”

“They didn’t know him; they didn’t want people selling things inside?”

“Right. But he was the only one.”

“Finally they let him in?”

“Yeah.”

“When? Do you know about when they let him in?”

“I don’t know. That was the time when I think Eisenhower was something inside in Columbia. Wasn’t he president?”

“That’s right.” (Eisenhower was president of Columbia University during 1949-1950.)

“Oh, oh, oh, oh oh! You know St. John the Divine Church… Well, uh, first of all, in St. John the Divine Church they had an outreach for senior citizens –you know what I mean– so he told them the landlord didn’t do anything for us where we lived, you know what I mean. So they tried to get him in there to the building… After he died they got me a place to live.” Pauline continues: “You know, I was alone and my brother once closed the door on me and he wouldn’t let me come back in the house. That was a time when I was all alone in the world. I was like an outcast. My own brother.”

“Sam? Why did that happen?”

“Because I didn’t have the courage of my own convictions. You know because he [knew] I was weak, I wasn’t my own true self… I was like burned out, washed out… And he wanted me –even my pastor– he wanted me to stand up for myself. He locked me out.”

“When? When did that happen?”

“It happened. How he ever let me in I don’t know, but I got in,” Pauline says with a short laugh. “Well, I got back in again and uh, I tried to do the best I could. I went to the arts downtown where they sell artwork –and I bought the best pencils and pens and papers and I bought a art table and I spent a lot of money –where I got the money I don’t know– and I bought him the best of everything so he could draw, because he had a yen for drawing. You see, whatever he drew – that’s his!”

Steinberg was a favorite subject of passing photographers and student filmmakers. Edward Gray made a short film around 1971 with now-obsolete equipment. In a surrealist homage to a surrealist painter, Sam is featured singing through the mouths of hi Magic Marker creations. Pauline notes that Sam “made singing tapes. He sang like Caruso, you know what I mean.”

“Did he have a good voice?”

“Beautiful! Beautiful voice. He had a beautiful voice. He made tapes about our landlord, what mean landlord he is, how he doesn’t do anything for the tenants.”

Michael Schulder and Tim Burnett produced a video documentary during their junior year at Columbia (1976-1977). Schulder recounts: We approached Sam with our idea, to which he was receptive, without being terribly enthusiastic or even interested… Our coup de grace was traveling with Sam by subway to his apartment in the South Bronx… I laugh at the thought of us lugging all that heavy video equipment by ourselves to the Grand Concourse. Sam lived with his sister, who was a few years younger than him. She was much more in the ‘real’ world than him… The best line, in the body of the show and under the closing credits, was Sam saying in his hoarse voice, ‘I don’t drink; I don’t smoke; I work hard – ‘cause that’s the kind of guy I am.’”

Painting and album cover; “Friends” by Marc Cohen (Copeland) & John Abercrombie 1973, Oblivion Records

A colorful 1973 jazz record bears Sam’s signature. Entitled Friends, in his own shaky script but perhaps another’s spelling, this cover image depicts three cats in casual shirts and short. Five years later, Sam Steinberg was still selling fifteen-by-twenty-inch paintings for five dollars each. His paintings tended to grow smaller as he grew older. Pauline says that “he went as far as charging ten dollars a picture –ten dollars a picture.” Schulder believes that prices in the late 1970s “would vary from $5 to $15, depending on size and subject. Without a doubt, as Peter Frank noted in 1975, “If the Museum of Modern Art discovers Sam Steinberg, those paintings ain’t gonna go for $3.50 a shot!”

Sam and Pauline were collaborators in art as well as life. As for his painting, “I tried to make it a little neater, you know what I mean. More evenly. You know, it should be nice,” she says hesitantly. “He knew about colors, but uh, I gave him nice colors.” The controlled use of vivid colors is one of the remarkable aspects of the paintings signed “Sam S.” “I loved every picture he ever made, every picture he ever did,” says Pauline, knowing, perhaps, that there is some of her in each one of them. But Sam, she says, did not particularly care for them: “He didn’t want any of his pictures at all.”

“You know,” she considers, “he never counted his money. He just made and made, and put it away, didn’t wanna count it. As though, as though it was for a reason. Maybe so I should have [enough] to live on. Think so?… But you know what Sam told me some day? He said, ‘Pauline, would you like to live in a marble palace?’ He asked me if I want to live in a marble palace. He said, ‘Do you want a chauffeur to take you home?’ Why did he want all that good for me? He loved his sister. But I gave away my whole heart…”

Untitled (Crystal Ball) circa 1976; George Washington 1973

The reader may have gained the impression that Sam is remembered –indeed cherished– more for his unique personality and Brooklyn accent, his being in the right place at the right time, and his sheer staying power than for the quality of his art. Undeniably, nonaesthetic factors have always affected the reputation of an artist. Despite the force of Sam’s personality, his art stands on its own and might one day take its place in the pantheon of American outsider artists.

The bright colors have here and there begun to fade. But Sam is remembered as a graying Columbian flips through the pages of an old yearbook, as a resident of Lausanne notices the curious small painting in the Collection l’Art Brut, as a painted seeped emerges from the confines of a desk drawer, or as a sister imagines what might have been.

Craig Bunch is a librarian, review editor of Popular Culture in Libraries, and a member of the American Library Association's Reference Books Bulletin editorial board. He lives with his wife Delana, in Oakhurst, Texas, and still admires the paintings he bought from Sam Steinberg in 1978. He thanks Delana, Dr. Eva Schleslinger, Dr. Terry Bilhartz, Hollee Haswell, and all who contributed to this article.

#Sam Steinberg #OD3 #Friends #Marc Cohen #Marc Copland #John Abercrombie #Folk Art #painting #Illustration #graphic design #Columbia University #Pauline Steinberg #artistsupport #painter

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nanowrimo · 5 years

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What 335,000,000 Words Have Taught Us About NaNoWriMo

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Today, Novlr, a 2019 NaNoWriMo sponsor, shares what they’ve learned from the millions of words that have been written on their site during NaNoWriMo. Try out Novlr for free!

We are not the experts on NaNoWriMo. We are not the experts on writing. We are certainly not the experts on writing during NaNoWriMo. However, we’ve learnt a lot from the thousands of Novlr users taking on the challenge over the years.

Over 335 million words have been written by Novlr users over the last few years, and those stats have helped us create a list of tips to help you win:

Tip #1: Build in some slack.

It’s not going to go perfectly. You will slip up. Hopefully, you’ll write 50,000 words in November, but to get there, there’ll be days you hit 1667 words, and days you don’t. Our stats show that very very few people manage 30 days in a row, let alone 30 days of over 1667 words.

Build in some break days. You don’t need to choose which days, but expect some days where you don’t hit the daily target. Factor that in to the daily target. Could you hit 1850 a day? If you can, that gives you three days to play with.

However, we also know how important momentum is. Our Streaks feature—which tracks how many days in a row you’ve been writing—is one of our most popular. We recommend seeing how far you can get at 1850 a day—it’ll make the rest of the month easier. And roll with it if you miss a day or two unexpectedly.

Tip #2: Write, don’t delete.

Writing does not mean writing well. No one, even you, pours perfection onto the page for 50,000 hasty words. So don’t worry too much about the exact words, phraseology, or even the novel timeline, during the month—just smash the words out.

The goal of NaNoWriMo is to WRITE 50,000 words in a month, so even if you don’t particularly like a sentence, don’t delete it. Leave it there. By the time you come back to edit it, you might have grown fond of it.

Novlr will keep you motivated with celebratory messages as your word count grows... Just. Keep. Writing.

Tip #3: Day 4 is hard.

From analyzing Novlr streaks, we know that Day 4 is hard. Lots of users drop their streak after day three—not just in November, but across the year. It seems getting on a roll has a 3-day limit for many. Knowing this is your weapon against it. Day 4 this year is a Monday—plan to make sure you make it very easy for yourself to achieve your target that day—set the time aside, maybe have two or three times in the day that you plan to write so that there is more chance of being able to do it.

And not just day 4, but every day 4. Every few days you may find a lull. If you haven’t decided it’s time for a break (see tip #1) then make sure you make it easy for yourself to write. It might help to set a small target for that day: “Today I will write 400 words, either before work, or right after dinner, or right before bed.” Beat the day 4 lull before it beats you.

Tip #4: Switch it up.

If the unchanging view from your dining room table is becoming too much; if your bum’s numb from the same office chair; or the noise of the kids every time you try to write is driving you up the wall... then it might be time for a change of scenery.

It might sound simple but in the depths of NaNoWriMo it can be hard to be rational! If you’re sensing writer’s block, switch things up. Leave your desktop computer behind, grab the laptop and get yourself to a cafe, the library, a museum or gallery—or the local pub if that helps. Even consider what you eat and drink, what you wear, what you listen to and who you write with. Change things.

We can see that many of our most prolific writers log into their Novlr accounts from different devices. What we don’t know is if that’s at work, at your mum’s house, at the public library or on your spare laptop...but it seems that a change of scene works.

Tip #5: Create a purpose list.

This tip isn’t based on Novlr stats—this one is personal.

Before you start, write out the reasons why you are doing this. Why did you sign up to NaNoWriMo? What made you decide to do it this way rather than the usually approach to writing a novel? Be that: “I need the outside push to make me do it”; “I won’t make time otherwise”; “I won’t have time later in the year, it has to be now”; “I want to achieve this thing I’ve been talking about doing for years”; “I want to make my family proud.”

Everyone has a reason, or a myriad of reasons, for taking on this incredible challenge. Don’t lose sight of what that is. Write the reason, or reasons, down on a piece of paper and stick it in your wallet/on the fridge/anywhere. When you are struggling to keep motivating, read it and remind yourself what got you here in the first place.

Learning from data

At Novlr, we’re determined to use the statistics and data about how people write to find ways of helping support writers better. Good examples of that are our Streaks feature and our positive messages of encouragement as you hit targets, which our users tell us help them write more (and we’ll be looking at the stats around this in the coming months to see what impact it has).

If you are interested in seeing if Novlr can make you more productive, or as thousands of writers have already found, is the best place to write your novel, try our free two week trial. Exclusively for NaNoWriMo participants, we’re also offering 40% off for a year with our discount code in your sponsor offers.

Top photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash.

#nanowrimo #writing #amwriting #nanowrimo 2019 #nano prep #by nano sponsor #novlr

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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 years

Text

Pluralistic: 11 Mar 2020 (Saturated fat and obesity, which foods produce satiety, spying VPNs, Twitter's research-friendly terms of service)

Today's links

Obesity and unsaturated fats: Blaming unsaturated fats for obesity is very plausible, but likely wrong, alas.

The satiety index: Which foods cause or satisfy cravings?

Sensor Tower's VPNs and adblockers spied on users: Like sneaking laxative into Immodium.

Twitter's new Terms of Service help academics: Good bots welcome.

Italy's "I Stay in the House" law: The comprehensive quarantine plan.

Scam-buster hacks into a scam-factory: He gets their CCTVs, recordings of their calls, transaction data, Whatsapp chats, and more. Delicious.

Postmortem: the catastrophic EU Copyright Directive. Testimony from yesterday's Senate hearing.

Podcast: A Lever Without a Fulcrum Is Just a Stick: My latest Locus column, on how copyright failed artists and enriched corporations.

This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Obesity and unsaturated fats (permalink)

Scott Alexander does a very deep dive into the literature on diet, weight, and saturated vs unsaturated fats.

https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/03/10/for-then-against-high-saturated-fat-diets/

The most important elements for me were first, the validation that something really has changed: average US adult men's weight went from 155lbs to 195lbs from the 1800s to today. The 90th percentile 1800s man weighed 185lbs, today, it's 320lbs. US obesity rates in the 1800s were 1%. Today, they're 25%.

But the usual culprits can't explain the change: they ate more bread and potatoes in the 1800s, for one thing.

In China, obesity rates were very low even with a diet dominated by white rice.

1970s France had 1800s US obesity rates, on a diet of "baguettes, pastries, cheese, meat. Lots of sugar, white flour, and fat."

It's true that some tactics (intermittent fasting, low-carbing) work for some people, but they're not what worked in 1970s France or 1800s USA. So if those things work, they're "hacks" – not an indictment of carbs or eating three meals a day.

There's a widespread theory that the change is driven by the switch from saturated to unsaturated fats, which was driven by spiking heart disease in the 1950s. It's likely this heart disease epidemic can be attributed to the vast increase in smoking a couple decades earlier, but the tobacco industry's denial machine meant that the blame fell on diet, and the US (and then global) diet's fat composition shifted dramatically.

We ate a lot fewer animal-derived fats and a lot more plant-derived fats. These fats had lots more Omega 6s and (to a lesser extent) 3s, and the ratio of these Omegas also changed dramatically, both in our diet and in our bodily composition. Intriguingly, these play a significant role in metabolism. There's a plausible ring to this whole business – particularly as a way of crisping up what we mean when we say "avoid processed foods." What is "processing?" Maybe it's doing something that requires vegetable fats.

Unfortunately, neither the literature nor the lived experience of experimenters support the theory. Studies don't support it. Meta analyses don't support it. Reddit forums skew heavily to people saying it didn't work for them (dotted with people for whom it did).

Which makes weight gain a mystery. It can't be (just) exercise: we're exercising more now than we did 40 years ago, and we're heavier now. Studies about causes are inconclusive overall, but clear that weight gain is more explained by diet than exercise. What's more, we're seeing weight gain in lab rats, pets and feral animals, so exercise seems an unlikely culprit here.

Alexander ponders other possible causes: plastics or other contaminants in our diet, or that it's a "ratchet" (once your weight set point changes, it doesn't change back.). Both have little evidence to support them.

He concludes that he's "more confused than when I started it," but will avoid unsaturated fats where possible, with the exceptions of Omega-3 rich oils (fish/olive oil).

I am likewise confused, but also better-informed than I was before I read his post.

The satiety index (permalink)

I lost ~100lbs in 2002/3 with a low-carb diet. The thing I immediately noticed when I started eating (lots) more fat and (lots) less carbs was that I was always satiated, with none of the food cravings that had plagued me all my life.

No other diet since has had that effect. I really struggle with cravings (and have put 50lbs back on through my 40s, though some of that is muscle from a much higher level of exercise). For me, satiety is the barrier to sticking to any diet. I don't just get ravenous, I get these all-consuming cravings that I can't put out of my mind, even if I resist them (and the longer I resist, the more likely it is that I'll really blow it out when I give in at last).

So I was really interested in this 1995 open access study, "A Satiety Index of common foods," which offers a league table of the foods that made subjects feel full.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/15701207_A_Satiety_Index_of_common_foods

The meaty (heh) parts are in these charts on pp682-3.

Sensor Tower's VPNs and adblockers spied on users (permalink)

Sensor Tower, a company that made apps billed as privacy-protecting, installed man-in-the-middle certificates on your devices that let them spy on everything you did online.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/vpn-and-ad-blocking-apps-sensor-tower

They made 20+ VPN apps for Android and Ios, but didn't disclose that all those apps were owned by analytics company, Sensor Tower. The apps had names like "Free and Unlimited VPN, Luna VPN, Mobile Data, and Adblock Focus."

The apps installed a "root certificate" in users' devices. With this cert, the company could insert itself in all the device's otherwise secure, encrypted sessions – web browsing, email, etc. Sensor Tower admits that they collected data using this cert, but insists that it was "anonymized," which is something most computer scientists agree is likely impossible for this kind of data. Re-identification of anonymized data is devilishly hard to avoid.

The claim is made even less credible when you listen to the company's other claims about its practices, such as the idea that they hid the authorship of their apps "for competitive reasons."

Or this howler: that "the vast majority of these apps listed are now defunct (inactive) and a few are in the process of sunsetting." Well, yes, they were removed for violating their users' privacy. It's not like the company had a change of heart or anything.

And then there's this: "Apple and Google restrict root certificate privileges due to the security risk to users. Sensor Tower's apps bypass the restrictions by prompting users to install a certificate through an external website after an app is downloaded."

Twitter's new Terms of Service help academics(permalink)

Twitter just published a new, and much-improved developer policy, one that permits academics to field bots for research and auditing purposes.

https://blog.twitter.com/developer/en_us/topics/community/2020/twitter_developer_policy_update.html

"Researchers will be able to share an unlimited number of Tweet IDs and/or User IDs, if they're doing so on behalf of an academic institution and for the sole purpose of non-commercial research, such as peer review."

https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/10/twitter-rewrites-developer-policy-to-better-support-academic-research-and-use-of-good-bots/

Twitter's also creating a bot registry that must include contact info for the botmaster, so that "it's easier for everyone on Twitter to know what's a bot – and what's not."

https://developer.twitter.com/en/developer-terms/policy#4-b

Italy's "I Stay in the House" law (permalink)

The FAQ for the Italian government's "I Stay In the House" decree is a fascinating document:

http://www.governo.it/it/articolo/decreto-iorestoacasa-domande-frequenti-sulle-misure-adottate-dal-governo/14278

Most notably, Italy has kicked out its tourists. As Bruce Sterling writes, "It's a tourist-ectomy. An Italy devoid of all tourists. It's fantastic, unheard-of. Surely this hasn't happened in at least 700 years."

https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2020/03/stay-house-decree/

People are allowed to go to work, to shop, and to run errands, provided it is for an "essential purpose," which you must prove "by means of a self-declaration which can be made on pre-printed forms already supplied to the state and local police forces. The veracity of the self-declarations will be subject to subsequent checks and the non-veracity constitutes a crime."

Business travelers are permitted to enter and leave the country, cab, delivery and freight drivers are allowed to do their jobs, and "outdoor motor activity is allowed as long as not in a group."

Public offices are open. Training activities are suspended. Government offices need to provide hand santizer, but if they run out, they have to stay open ("disinfectant is a precautionary measure but itstemporary unavailability does not justify the closure of the office").

Bars, pubs and restaurants may open from 6AM to 6PM, but have to cancel live music, games and screening events. Theaters, cinemas and museums are closed.

Schools are closed. Universities are closed. Exams and graduations will be conducted by video-link. Med schools are not closed. Research institutions are not closed.

Masses and funerals are canceled. Islamic Friday prayers are canceled.

Farms are open.

Scam-buster hacks into a scam-factory (permalink)

Jim Browning is a talented and prolific scambaiter. He calls the numbers listed in pop-up tech support scams and has the scammers log into a specially prepared system that lets him trace them.

In his latest adventure, Browning thoroughly turns the tables on http://Faremart.com , a Delhi travel agency that was the front for a sprawling network of tech-support scammers taking in millions every year through fraud.

Browning not only traces the scammers: he breaks into their unsecured CCTV network so he can watch them work. He compromises their phone system and listens to the recordings of all their scam-sessions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le71yVPh4uk

He gets hold of their ledgers, which list how much money each scam nets for the gang. He doxes the scammers and learns their real names. He gets a confederate to fly a drone over their HQ and maps out their comings and going.

In part II, Browning treats us to a delightful scambaiting session in which he mercilessly trolls a scammer who claims to be in San Jose, CA, tripping him up in a series of ever-more-desperate lies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV-qa9M-o4E

It's part of a growing genre of journalists who explore and document the operations of overseas scam operations. See, for example, Reply All's excellent podcasts on this:

https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/6nh3wk https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/76h5gl

There are two more parts to come in Browning's series (you can watch them now on his Patreon, apparently):

https://www.patreon.com/JimBrowning

He also turned his footage over to the BBC's flagship investigative programme, Panorama, which has produced its own doc based on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rmvhwwiQAY

Postmortem: the catastrophic EU Copyright Directive (postmortem)

Yesterday, the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held hearings on "Copyright Law in Foreign Jurisdictions," at which two key copyright experts testified on last year's catastrophic EU Copyright Directive.

First up was Pam Samuelson, one of America's leading copyright experts, who explained in eye-watering detail how the compromises made to pass the Copyright Directive produced an incoherent mess that no one can figure out how to implement in law.

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Samuelson%20Testimony.pdf

Next was Julia Reda, who served in the EU Parliament during the passage of the directive and helped spearhead the opposition to it.

Her testimony really shows you where the bodies were buried: how the EU knew it was making a pig's ear out of things.

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Reda%20Testimony.pdf

Both are essential reading for anyone striving to understand Article 17 (formerly Article 13) – it is such a tangle of garbage lawmaking that these kinds of guides are indispensable.

Podcast: A Lever Without a Fulcrum Is Just a Stick (permalink)

I've just posted my latest podcast: a reading of my new Locus Magazine column, "A Lever Without a Fulcrum Is Just a Stick," on how copyright failed artists and enriched corporations and what we can do about it.

https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/03/11/a-lever-without-a-fulcrum-is-just-a-stick-2/

Tldr: Giving monopolies to artists doesn't help them gain leverage over the super-concentrated entertainment industry, because the corporations control access to audiences and force artists to sign away those monopolies to get past their gatekeeping.

The more monopolies we give artists, the more monopolies are transfered to corporations, and the more they dominate the market and thus the more they can retain from the earnings generated by the artists' works.

Fights like the EU Copyright Directive are a distraction, a fight over shifting some points from Big Tech's balance sheet to Big Content's – but without any mechanism to move more of that revenue to creators.

Enriching creators means thinking beyond more "monopoly"-style copyright: instead, we have to think about inalienable rights that can be taken away through one-sided contracts (like the "reversion right" that lets US artists take back copyrights after 35 years).

And we have to think beyond copyright itself, by beefing up competition laws to break up entertainment cartels, and by beefing up labor laws to let artists form unions.

There is a role for copyright, but in things like extended collective licensing that would allow all online platforms to access the same catalog and pay for it based on the number of users they have, so a new platform pays pennies while Youtube pays hundreds of millions.

These blanket licenses have been key to keeping other forums for artistic revenues open: think of what the world would be like if one club or radio station could buy the exclusive rights to play the hits of the day, and then use their ensuring dominance to squeeze artists.

If you prefer the written work, you can read the column here for yourself, of course:

https://locusmag.com/2020/03/cory-doctorow-a-lever-without-a-fulcrum-is-just-a-stick/

Here's a direct link to the MP3 of the reading (thanks as always to Internet Archive for hosting – they'll host you too, for free!):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_330/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_330_-_A_Lever_Without_a_Fulcrum_Is_Just_a_Stick.mp3

And here's the RSS for my podcast:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

Now in its 14th year (Thanks to Mark Pesce for convincing me to start it)!

This day in history (permalink)

#10yrsago London Olympics: police powers to force spectators to remove non-sponsor items, enter houses, take posters http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100303/tts-uk-olympics-london-ca02f96.html

#10yrsago Leaked documents: UK record industry wrote web-censorship amendment https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2010/bpi-drafted-web-blocking

#5yrsago Piketty on the pointless cruelty of European austerity https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/thomas-piketty-interview-about-the-european-financial-crisis-a-1022629.html

#5yrsago Rightscorp loses big on extortion racket https://torrentfreak.com/rightscorp-hemorrhages-cash-profit-from-piracy-remains-elusive-150311/

#5yrsago UK foreign secretary: stop talking about Snowden, let spies get on with it https://web.archive.org/web/20150315031642/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2399082/government-minister-is-bored-with-snowden-and-wants-to-get-on-with-surveillance

#1yrago Defect in car security system aids carjackers, thieves https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/gone-in-six-seconds-exploiting-car-alarms/

#1yrago Former Archbishop of Canterbury cheers on students who are walking out to demand action on climate change https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/10/rowan-williams-school-pupil-climate-protests

#1yrago Leaked Chinese database of 1.8 million women includes a field indicating whether they are "BreedReady" https://twitter.com/0xDUDE/status/1104482014202351616

#1yrago Why #Article13 inevitably requires filters https://www.communia-association.org/2019/03/05/final-x-ray-article-13-dangerous-legislative-wishful-thinking/

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: Slate Star Codex (https://slatestarcodex.com/), Slashdot (https://slashdot.org), Fipi Lele, Matthew Rimmer (https://twitter.com/DrRimmer).

Hugo nominators! My story "Unauthorized Bread" is eligible in the Novella category and you can read it free on Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Upcoming appearances:

Museums and the Web: March 31-April 4 2020, Los Angeles. https://mw20.museweb.net/

Currently writing: I'm rewriting a short story, "The Canadian Miracle," for MIT Tech Review. It's a story set in the world of my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation. I'm also working on "Baby Twitter," a piece of design fiction also set in The Lost Cause's prehistory, for a British think-tank. I'm getting geared up to start work on the novel afterwards.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: A Lever Without a Fulcrum Is Just a Stick https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_330/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_330_-_A_Lever_Without_a_Fulcrum_Is_Just_a_Stick.mp3

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020.

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a very special, s00per s33kr1t intro.

#pluralistic

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erikburnham · 5 years

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Mechanical keyboard test + comparison in December 2019 ➤ Top 14

Mechanical keyboard test + comparison in December 2019 ➤ Top 14 This form of compact keyboard is usually made of rubber and is extremely flat. This allows you to fold or roll them up and conveniently stow them in a backpack or suitcase. Typing with such a compact keyboard often takes some getting used to, but is usually easy to do after you have got used to it. What is important, however, is a good key pressure point and a minimum distance between the individual keys. Wireless keyboards are generally operated with rechargeable batteries or batteries - this means that you have to change them regularly or The result is that all entered letters are capitalized. Especially when entering text in a word processor, the typed characters may not appear on the screen as you would like them to. In addition, modern word processors offer jump markings that can be saved. For this reason, the scroll key no longer has any meaning. For prolific writers, it makes sense to relieve the wrist a little with a small contact area. In 1985 the multi-function keyboard with 101 keys came on the market and a little later the one with 102 keys. In addition to the separated number block, the function keys F1 to F12 were at the top. In addition, you should pay attention to macro and multimedia keys, the anti-ghosting function, the lighting, your preferred game genre and the material of the keys. In our guide we will tell you exactly what needs to be taken into account with these factors. Due to the fact that both keyboards are basically only derivatives of the same model, we want to use a general practical test for both keyboards. Both keyboards use blue switches from the manufacturer Outemo (an explanation of this can be found in the review of other mechanical keyboards), this means that the keys have a crisp pressure point and - similar to a blue mode - have 4mm. Furthermore, they have a clearly audible click, so that you can pretty much perceive when the button was triggered. ⇒ Make sure that no liquid gets under the buttons. Wireless and wired models each have different advantages and disadvantages that you should consider when buying.

Logitech keyboards are characterized by high processing quality.

In the following startup process, Windows reinstall the driver for the connected keyboard.

All parts are very well made and nothing works.

Keyboards are the most important work tool in the office. After all, it is only thanks to the reliable input aids that research can be carried out, reports written and e-mails written, for example. You can often configure keys and key combinations. In this way, you can assign certain multimedia commands to buttons or assign functions to them several times. The keyboards are aimed at normal users, at prolific writers, but also at gamers. Different Logitech keyboards are available for every application. We can even find ergonomic designs here. The American Microsoft Corporation based in Redmond is not only the world's largest operating system and software manufacturer, but also widely known for its computer hardware. After we have given you one or the other information about mechanical keyboards and you may have already selected a model, we would like to introduce you to the most important and best-known manufacturers. At least not without waking the sleeping dog that is often under my desk. Since the keys are as high as you are used to from previous keyboards, the included palm rest is absolutely necessary. The connection via a cable enables the manufacturer to integrate many more functions into a keyboard and to transfer the data to the computer with almost no delay. Fortunately, there is still the Internet, where you can not only get comprehensive information, but also find almost all models currently available on the market.

#how to clean the arrow key on a mechanical keyboard.

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puzzlette-blog1 · 5 years

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Mechanical keyboard test 2017 comparison and buying advice

Mechanical keyboard test 2017 comparison and buying advice On the other hand, the letters are arranged in a curved form and in 2 separate blocks. If you only write on the PC occasionally, simple rectangular keyboards are sufficient. If you work full-time on the computer and want to use the keyboard in your office, for example, ergonomic designs with a suitable design and a high level of user-friendliness are recommended. Models with matching gaming buttons are ideal for computer games. With a little rinse we also get the fat deposits on the fingers from the keys. Care should also be taken not to use harsh cleaning agents. These would ensure that the legible numbers and letters on the keyboard are rubbed off. The low volume of a notebook keyboard is not achieved. The bright click is no longer necessary, the keyboard clinks dull. The half-height buttons mean a good compromise between accuracy and noise reduction. Space and backspace are louder than the rest. Keyboards often have so-called hotkeys, also media keys, shortcuts, or freely assignable shortcut keys. These increase the functionality of a keyboard by enabling special input commands for certain programs at the touch of a button. They are particularly useful for gaming, video and image editing, but also for music lovers who want to play and control their music on a PC. Depending on the equipment, the price can also be significantly above this price range. With a special adapter, you can also connect your USB keyboard to the PS / 2 interface of your computer. Modern Both keyboards and the latest computers are hardly equipped with PS / 2 cables or

the spacebar, a quite annoying metallic feather when you hear it clicks.

These are noticeable bumps in the form of a point or a line (feeler bar [16]), or a noticeably different shape of the keys.

In contrast to Cherry MX switches, the switching point at Buckling Springs cannot be felt when the button is released.

The keys on which the umlauts are in German have a completely different meaning on an English QWERTY keyboard.

Even if cleaning the keyboard is annoying, you should do it regularly.

The Alt-Gr key was also introduced. It is advantageous that the required device drivers are included in every operating system and that we can insert a USB keyboard even during operation. Only with the AT keyboard was the dust cleaning mud a> Interface bidirectional, so that the LEDs for the Num Lock, Scroll Lock and Caps Lock keys could be illuminated by feedback from the computer. Data typists, court clerks or editors reach a very high number of hits. Since then, many wired and wireless keyboards have been developed by Microsoft. If you like it colorful but otherwise rather minimalistic, you should rather use the BAKTH gaming keyboard. The keyboard ends exactly sleeps, where the keys end. In Games.ch's mechanical keyboard practical test, the Razer BlackWidow keyboard was rated particularly well because of the better grip compared to its predecessor, the Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 Esports mechanical keyboard. Over time, dirt and dust accumulate in the spaces between the buttons. If you eat at the desk, you will also find some bread crumbs there. Illuminated keyboards are popular with gamers, but are also used in other areas. If the keyboard is illuminated, however, it consumes more power. Only the SSD, which is bound to Apple's T2 security chip, criticizes iFixit. If you regularly knock the keyboard over and vacuum it off, then no stubborn lint carpet will collect between the keys. The switches are soldered directly onto the circuit board, which should not be put in the dishwasher. If there is no other way, at least 2 days in the sun and blow dry a few minutes in between. Perixx keyboards are available for prolific writers, normal users as well as gamers. These keyboards are equipped with numerous features, such as key lighting, additional programmable function keys and a stylish design.

#how to clean the springs of a mechanical keyboard

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my-shakir-mumtaz · 5 years

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Pakistan Oil and Gas Exploration Torpedoed!

Pakistan’s oil and gas exploration has been torpedoed by the alien interests for fear of uncontrollably boosting Pakistan’s strategic, economic military position on top of mega-project CPEC and giving a free pass to its obvious beneficiary China becoming secure and economically efficient with regards to its oil and gas needs; hence becoming more aggressive and pronounced, in its counter-weight…

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#Aramco #by default beneficiaries?#Containment of China #CPEC rattling the world #Eni #exxon #Gazprom.#Heavily sanctioned regimes #helpless OPEC #India-botched regional power #OGDC #Oil and Bedouin Pentagon #Oil and Gas Game.#Pak Exp;oration torpedoes!#PPL #Prolific Block and good data #rightly boastfully decalred #Shale gas in Pakistan #Shale oil in Pakistan.

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youknows-design · 2 years

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Top 5 Web Hosting Companies

It’s about the best time for everyone to get their business online by creating their own website, whether it’s a blog or a personal portfolio of a prolific photographer or a highly skilled DIY craftsman or of course any type of business that comes to mind. You plan your idea and put the outlines of what you want your website to look like and tell your developer about your imaginations of the site, then he mentions the web hosting companies fit for your site, that’s the moment of the following questions which I will answer in this article:

What Is Web Hosting?!

How To Choose The Best Hosting Company For My Website?!

What Is The Best Web hosting For Blogs?!

Why Web Hosting Is Important?!

WHAT IS WEB HOSTING?!

How To Choose The Best Hosting Company For My Website?!

Here are my TOP 5 BEST WEB HOSTING COMPANIES:

1.Bluehost Web Hosting Company:

Bluehost is one the most reputable web hosting companies that has been in the game for a very long time, providing top notch services and great prices, in my opinion they have the best beginner friendly user interface so you don’t need to be a tech guru to handle the hosting process your self, Plus they have been rated the #1 for small business and hey they are officially recommended by WordPress as the go-to web hosting company.

PROS:

Best prices.

Top notch customer support.

Free SSL and CDN.

Free domain name.

1-click WordPress installation.

CONS:

High annual domain name renewal price.

2.HostGator Web Hosting Company:

HostGator is one of the best companies to host your site, you might have noticed their ads posted all over the internet. They are considered the best in business sites hosting, you get a guaranteed 99.9% up time which is a big plus, other than that their 24/7 customer support is just great. I highly recommend them for every big business website owner.

PROS:

Free domain name.

Free SSL certificate.

Free business email.

1-click WordPress installation.

45-day money back guaranteed.

CONS:

Highly priced monthly plans.

Expensive Upselling.

3.Hostinger:

Hostinger is a great name among the web hosting companies, one of their great features is letting you decide the location of the data center in which you want your website to be hosted at and those are located in USA, Europe, South America and Asia. Live customer support is present 24/7 plus they have good security enhancements, WordPress speed accelerator and free site migration which you could be easily charged for with other companies.

PROS:

Free domain name.

Free SSL certificate.

Great prices.

Optimized performance.

Excellent customer support.

1-click WordPress installation.

7 Choices of data centers.

CONS:

No daily backups.

4.SiteGround:

SiteGround is a major player in this game, just like bluehost they are a WordPress recommended web hosting company. Plus the high security options they offer. They are well known for their superb and fast customer support which is a cutting edge standard in the industry, geo location hosting is also available here as you can choose from 6 data centers located in USA, Europe, Australia and Asia.

PROS:

Google Cloud-powered servers.

Official recommendation from WordPress.

Free SSL certificate and CDN.

Website backups.

6 Choices of data centers.

1-click WordPress installation.

CONS:

No free domain name offered.

5.GreenGeeks:

GreenGeeks is vastly known by users to be a WordPress web hosting company, they have great security offers and beef ups which allow you to get more control on your website visitors as well as blocking the scammers targeting your WordPress blog. Free site migration is also available by them which is not actually free for all companies as you’ve seen from the options above.

PROS:

Free domain name.

Free CDN and SSL certificate.

Website backups available.

Eco-friendly hosting company.

1-click WordPress installation.

Integrated performance tools.

CONS:

24/7 phone support is in the USA only.

That’s it for now folks, if you want more information about the web hosting companies just leave a comment down below and let me know which web hosting provider you need more info about.

If you got value from the post please share it with others so that many can get the info.

For more posts about tech feel free to check my blog.

#web hosting #web design #hosting

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strateh000 · 3 years

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9-Pound Hammer Strain Information

9 Pound Hammer is an indica created by JinxProof Genetics that crosses Gooberry, Hells OG, and Jack the Ripper. These dense buds are coated in resin, offering sweet grape and lime flavors. 9 Pound Hammer hosts a terpene profile abundant in myrcene, pinene, and caryophyllene with THC levels ranging between 17-21%. Effects can be heavy and long-lasting, making this strain useful for pain and stress relief. Best grown indoors, 9 Pound Hammer flowers between 50-60 days and will deliver high yields. 9lb Hammer (also 9 Pound Hammer) was created when breeder Jinxproof crossed his favorite strain Gooberry with the TGA Genetics Jesus OG Kush member of the OG family. These strains combined to form 9lb Hammer’s intoxicatingly fruity blend of grape flavors and autumn-colored foliage. 9lb Hammer was so named because it allegedly felt like a heavy hammer knocking users out cold. According to Jinxproof, 9lb Hammer packs a heavy sedative punch, due to large myrcene content and higher tested percentages of THC. The THC content of this strain usually is quite potent, ranging from 18%-27% - so it isn’t recommended for novice consumers. Its high will immediately uplift cerebral activity, providing an intense head high accompanied by sedative effects that can render you couch-locked. This strain is best used in the evenings and at night since it does induce sleepiness while thoroughly relaxing the muscles. 9 Pound Hammer is often used medically due to its high CBD content.

About 9 Pound Hammer

9 Pound Hammer is a heavy-hitting indica with a patchwork genetic background. It is a three-way cross between Jack the Ripper, Hell's Angel OG and fruity Gooberry. This relaxing bud was created by prolific breeders TGA Subcool Seeds, the same producers responsible for Deep Purple and Jesus OG. Cannabis testing lab Analytical 360 has measured 9 Pound Hammer's potency at between 14% and 23% THC. 9 Pound Hammer is visually impressive, with large, chunky, multi-colored flowers. The buds adhere in a dense, solid formation, with short leaves coiled tightly inward toward their central stems. The leaves themselves are a mossy green and are threaded through with yellow and orange pistils. Flowers also commonly have flashes of purple due to high concentrations of anthocyanin pigments in their leaves; the shades of purple emerge when these pigments are agitated by cold weather during the growing process. A blanket of frosty trichomes covers the buds and makes them particularly sticky. When properly cured, 9 Pound Hammer has a strong fruity aroma with a tropical inflection. Like parent strain Jack the Ripper, it is redolent of citrus and grape. Meanwhile, breaking the buds apart gives off a strong incense-like odor courtesy of this strain's Afghani landrace lineage. When combusted in a bowl or a joint, 9 Pound Hammer burns with a remarkably smooth smoke that tastes woodsy and piney with a hint of lime on the exhale. Notably, this strain's pronounced grape flavor is entirely incidental to its purple hues -- as with any other variety, its flavor is determined by terpene compounds while its appearance is dictated by its unique pigmentation.

This strain is named 9 Pound Hammer for a reason: almost immediately, it hits users over the head with its heavy-duty sedation. Deep breathing may come more easily and muscular tension may dissipate. This sensation soon progresses into a full-body high that may leave smokers feeling floaty and disoriented. In addition to these somatic effects, 9 Pound Hammer imparts some subtle mental stimulation -- while it may not trigger intense, cerebral thinking, it can alter perception, making sounds or colors take on a new intensity. If dosage is increased, this strain is liable to cause couch-lock, sapping energy and motivation along with any lingering pain and stress. As a result, 9 Pound Hammer is best enjoyed at night, when its strong sedative effects can easily transition into sleep. 9 Pound Hammer can be of great value to medical cannabis patients as well. It can provide temporary relief from the symptoms of mild to moderate stress and depression. Its sedative, almost narcotic properties can relieve aches and pains of all kinds. Meanwhile, its ability to provoke hunger can help those who have lost their appetites due to medications or treatments like chemotherapy. As noted, 9 Pound Hammer is of particular interest to people who summer from insomnia; it can lull smokers into a deep and refreshing sleep. Because it rarely brings about the kind of recursive thinking that leads to paranoia, this strain is a good option for people who suffer from frequent panic or anxiety. Fortunately for growers, TGA has made seeds of 9 Pound Hammer available for sale online. It can be grown indoors or out, although successful outdoor cultivation calls for a semi-humid climate with daytime temperatures between 72 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It is easily accommodated indoors, where its plants grow short and bushy with strong lateral branching. Growers should be sure to trim away any broad, light-blocking fan leaves in order to encourage the growth of flowering nodes on lower branches. Thanks to some very stable genes, it is also resistant to mildew. Finally, growers looking to bring out this strain's full bag appeal should bring out its shades of purple by exposing the plants to cold (but not freezing) nighttime temperatures. 9 Pound Hammer flowers within a brief 7 to 8 weeks when grown indoors and offers growers a high yield of flowers for their efforts.

9 Pound Hammer Aroma, Flavor, and Appearance

Aroma The 9 Pound Hammer marijuana strain has a complex aroma with earthy, incense-like notes due to its primarily indica genetics. However, these are complemented by sweeter, fruity scents, including hints of grape and lime. Flavor These fruity notes carry through into the flavor of this bud. It has a sweet, citrus undertone that borders on a slightly tropical taste. This strain provides a smooth and creamy smoke, which is a real pleasure to inhale. Appearance The buds of 9 Pound Hammer are satisfyingly dense and chunky. Their primary color is a light, mossy green, with a few purple shades amongst some of its leaves. These exist abundantly alongside bright orange pistils and a dense layer of frosty trichomes. The buds are sticky and resinous and may be an excellent choice for anyone thinking about making hash and concentrates. Of course, the best way to get hold of a large enough quantity to do this is to grow your own.

9 Pound Hammer Grow Info

Once you have your 9 Pound Hammer seeds, the good news is that it’s a relatively straightforward plant to grow. It is resistant to mold and mildew and can be grown indoors or outdoors. However, if you decide to grow the 9 lb hammer strain outdoors, you will need a warm and semi-humid climate. Experienced 9 Pound Hammer growers recommend topping the plant early in the vegetative stage. Remove any excess fan leaves so more energy gets directed to producing those precious buds. These plants flower between 7–9 weeks indoors, while outdoors, they are ready for harvesting by late September to early October.

Lab Data

CannabinoidAmountTHC:18-27%CBD:0.29%CBN: Read the full article

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brittanyyoungblog · 4 years

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The True Story of How I Became a Sex Educator and Researcher

Our professional biographies tend to serve as a “highlight reel”—they only say the great things we’ve accomplished and don’t reveal the struggles, challenges, and uncertainties that went into building a career. To lift back the curtain on this, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) recently asked a number of scholars to submit their official bios along with their “unofficial bios” that reveal an extremely different version of the story with more twists and turns.

You can read some of the examples here. Although I didn’t participate in it, I thought it would be fun to do something similar on the blog. So here goes—I’ll start with my official bio, followed by the real, behind-the-scenes story.

Official Bio of Dr. Justin J. Lehmiller

Dr. Justin Lehmiller received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Purdue University. He is a Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute and author of the book Tell Me What You Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life. Dr. Lehmiller is an award-winning educator, having been honored three times with the Certificate of Teaching Excellence from Harvard University, where he taught for several years. He is also a prolific researcher and scholar who has published more than 50 academic works to date, including a textbook titled The Psychology of Human Sexuality (now in its second edition) that is used in college classrooms around the world. Dr. Lehmiller's studies have appeared in all of the leading journals on human sexuality, including the Journal of Sex Research, Archives of Sexual Behavior, and The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Dr. Lehmiller has run the popular blog Sex and Psychology since 2011. It receives millions of page views per year and is rated among the top sex blogs on the internet. In 2019, he launched the Sex and Psychology Podcast. It ranks among the top sexuality podcasts in several countries and has been named one of “11 sex podcasts that will help you get better in bed” by Men’s Health.

Dr. Lehmiller has been interviewed by numerous media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, CNN, The Atlantic, The Globe and Mail, and The Sunday Times. He has been named one of 5 "Sexperts" You Need to Follow on Twitter by Men's Health and one of the "modern-day masters of sex" by Nerve. Dr. Lehmiller has appeared on the Netflix series Sex, Explained, he has been on several episodes of the television program Taboo on the National Geographic Channel, and he has been a guest on Dr. Phil. Dr. Lehmiller has also appeared on numerous podcasts and radio shows, including the Savage Lovecast, the BBC’s Up All Night, and several NPR programs (1A, Radio Times, and Airtalk).

He is a popular freelance writer, penning columns and op-eds for major publications, including The Washington Post, Playboy, USA Today, VICE, Psychology Today, Men’s Health, Politico, and New York Magazine. He has also interviewed several prominent authors, journalists, and psychologists about their work for his blog and podcast, including Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Lisa Ling, Drs. John and Julie Gottman, and bestselling authors Christopher Ryan (Sex at Dawn) and Lisa Taddeo (Three Women).

Unofficial Bio of Dr. Justin J. Lehmiller

When Justin’s parents asked him what he wanted to study in college, he said “psychology.” He had taken a couple of psychology courses in high school that he found to be absolutely fascinating; however, his parents discouraged him from this because getting into a PhD program was tough and uncertain and, if that didn’t work out, they didn’t see much potential in a Bachelor’s degree in psychology. They encouraged him to pursue a career in occupational therapy (OT) instead because a family friend said “they needed more men in the field,” and also because his parents saw it as a path to job security with a pretty good paycheck.

He applied to a 5-year combined Bachelor’s/Master’s program in OT at Gannon University and was admitted. Incidentally, he was one of two men in the entire program. He spent a year and a half in it and made straight As in every course, including biochemistry and physics—but he wasn’t happy. He recognized the importance of OT to society, but it wasn’t his passion. After showing his parents that he was taking college seriously and earning good grades, they allowed him to switch his major to psychology.

Upon completing his Bachelor’s degree, he only applied to Master’s programs in psychology because he didn’t think he had the chops to get into a PhD program right away. The inferiority complex was strong in this one, so he didn’t even try. He applied and was accepted to Villanova University’s Master’s program in experimental psychology. He was not competitive enough of a candidate to receive an assistantship initially, although he eventually received one after another student dropped out.

He really wanted to study social psychology at Villanova, but there was only one social psychologist on staff at the time and several interested students. The only option for him was to beg one of the clinical psychologists to let him do a social psychology study for his Master’s thesis.

As he began looking for PhD programs to apply to, he met Dr. Chris Agnew at a meeting of the American Psychological Association. Chris was studying romantic relationships and Justin thought that sounded like a fun thing to spend his life doing. Plus, Chris was a super cool guy who seemed like a fantastic mentor. He applied and was admitted to Purdue’s social psychology program, although he was initially waitlisted (and rejected from all but one other program). Justin’s plan was to get his doctorate and become a college professor. Teaching and research sounded like things he could probably do.

Justin was assigned to teach a Health Psychology course at Purdue during his first year. He had never taught a class before and quickly realized that he was very uncomfortable with public speaking. The class was a disaster. Attendance dropped 60-70% within the first couple of weeks. He had no idea what he was doing and dreaded going to class each day—and he received poor evaluations in the end.

Around the same time, Justin submitted his first academic paper to a journal, it was promptly rejected and came with this review: “This manuscript is fatally flawed and of marginal utility, which is a shame because potentially interesting questions could have been asked given the topic and timing of the research. The tone of this manuscript represents the worst in scientific misconstrual, particularly because the claims are silly, wrong, or not warranted by the data.” Justin clearly sucked at both teaching and research—and if he couldn’t do those things well, how would he ever become a college professor?

He also started hearing horror stories from advanced students in his program who couldn’t find jobs and were sticking around for 6 or 7 years in the hope of eventually landing a job—any job. All of this led Justin to question what the hell he was doing with his life. Maybe he should have listened to his parents after all? Chris encouraged Justin to stick with it, though, as did his friends and mentors.

The next year, Justin got assigned to be a teaching assistant for a human sexuality course taught by Dr. Janice Kelly. It changed his life. He had to lead weekly discussion sections with students and answer their sex questions (a subject he knew next to nothing about, having attended Catholic schools most of his life). He read about sex extensively and instantly knew he had found what he really wanted to do with his career. He saw it as something fun and interesting—but also a way that he could make a real difference. He realized how little most people actually know about sex, and how education can correct so many harmful myths and misconceptions.

An opportunity to teach his own human sexuality class opened up the following year, and he took it. This time around, teaching was different—he was passionate about the subject and the students were, too. He had no problems with attendance. He ended up teaching this course six times before he graduated and eventually received a teaching award for it. He found that he loved being a sex educator.

He also found a solution to his public speaking anxiety: he started taking a beta-blocker (propranolol) on public speaking days, which removed physiological symptoms of anxiety. This allowed him to feel like himself in front of a crowd and, after just a few months, he no longer needed to take the medication—the anxiety had gone away completely.

He started conducting his own sex research, too, including a series of studies with Dr. Kelly on friends with benefits. His research skills improved and his studies started getting accepted instead of rejected.

He eventually landed a job at Colorado State University as an assistant professor, where he stayed for three years and continued his work as a sex educator and researcher. His partner couldn’t get a job in the area and had just taken a job in Boston, so Justin applied for every academic job within two hours of Boston. He was turned down for all of them. As a last-ditch effort, he applied for a teaching position at Harvard but had absolutely no confidence in it. He almost didn’t submit the application, but his partner encouraged him to do so. Justin had applied to Harvard’s PhD program previously and was rejected—if they didn’t want him as a student, why the heck would they want him as a teacher?

To his great surprise, he got the job at Harvard, where he stayed for three years. However, he had given up his tenure-track job in Colorado for a teaching position in Boston with no job security. So he decided to reinvent himself just in case things didn’t work out. In his spare time, he started a blog, wrote a human sexuality textbook, and became a freelance media writer. Communicating about sex science to the public became his hobby and was going to be his backup career in case the college professor thing didn’t work out.

Eventually, Justin’s partner wanted to move to Indianapolis for a job opportunity, so they left Boston. But Justin didn’t have a job at first and his backup plan wasn’t yet enough to be a full-time job. He knew the Kinsey Institute was nearby, so he drafted a letter to the director in the hope of establishing a connection, but he never sent it. He had a severe case of imposter syndrome and did not feel accomplished or experienced enough to have anything to do with what he saw as the premier hub for sex research in the world.

Much to his surprise, the associate director of the Institute reached out to him after he moved to Indiana to explore opportunities for working together. It was actually his hobby/backup plan that caught their eye—they were interested in working together to disseminate sex science to the public and were impressed with what he had done with his blog and social media.

Justin affiliated with Kinsey, but also jumped back on the tenure track with a job as the Director of the Social Psychology Program at Ball State University, which fortuitously opened up about 4 months after he moved to Indianapolis. After 3.5 years, he decided to leave full-time academics and do his own thing. His science communication hobby had managed to grow into a full-time job and it was no longer feasible to do that and academics. Plus, he found that the science communication work was really where his passion was. So, the backup plan officially became “the plan.”

Justin now spends every day finding new ways to help educate and inform the public about the science of sex. He’s still not sure how things ended up this way, but wouldn’t trade his current job for anything.

Want to learn more about Sex and Psychology? Click here for more from the blog or here to listen to the podcast. Follow Sex and Psychology on Facebook, Twitter (@JustinLehmiller), or Reddit to receive updates. You can also follow Dr. Lehmiller on YouTube and Instagram.

Image Source: 123RF

You Might Also Like:

How Do You Become a Sex Researcher?

So You Want To Be A Science Blogger? Here’s What You Need To Know

Sex Question Friday: What Is A Sexologist And How Do I Become One?

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atomicsuperhero · 4 years

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Uncertainty, Avoidance, and Angst

When I gave myself permission to write about whatever I wanted, that had to also mean permission to not write when I didn’t want to. Which has been the last while.

It’s been a struggle recently to find the energy for anything. You may know that I write for a living, which is fun, and a genuine dream come true, but it's also hard. Writing every day for work takes a lot more brainpower than I expected it to.

There are not many parts of my job now that are mindless tasks anymore. I don’t have much work where I can look for patterns in data or punch in numbers. That’s one of the things I will admit that I miss about an office job. There’s always some sort of mind-numbing task you can do on autopilot. Something that you might even be able to listen to a podcast while you work.

I don’t really have anything like that anymore. Now I get most of my podcast listening done while I’m driving (which is basically never) or while I pummel my stiff lats (from sitting in front of my computer so much) by rolling around on top of lacrosse balls on the floor. My current favourite podcast, and the only one I actually make time to listen to regularly, is Scotland Outdoors.

I miss listening to podcasts, they inspire me and make me think, and give me ideas to write about.

Recently I went to the website of a writer I admire, Tom Cox. I love that his website is full of long thoughtful pieces. He posts what he wants to write about, very prolifically. I wish I was doing more of that. I want to be writing on my blog here more.

I still journal most days but even that’s been hard lately. One thing I learned last year, is that writer’s block is all in your head. So I wouldn’t say I’m having writer’s block. I know there’s always something I can write about. But… I think I’m exhausted. Mixed with a little impostor syndrome.

Be Careful What You Ask For

In my last post, I asked for tips and advice. And people gave me tips and advice. And honestly, some of it terrified me. Not because it was bad advice.

But because some of it neatly collated my dreams and desires and ideas under a single umbrella that finally connected all the dots, but also made it feel real and monumental and scary.

Before now, I didn’t really know how the things I wanted to do connected to each other. And to be honest, there was a bit of comfort in that. The blissful and willful ignorance of “I don’t know how to put all these things I want to do together, so I can’t figure out what the next step is so, I’ll just like sit here and focus on how confusing it is instead of getting help trying to figure it out.”

But now… it's not like the path is clear, but the map has been sketched out on a napkin? And it's clear that the next steps take place here, on my blog, and on my social media. That to get to the next checkpoint, I need to be consistent. I need to be persistent. I need to show up.

In my head, I knew that persistence mattered. But you know how sometimes it's like someone else has to turn on the light for you. You might, in theory, know where the light switch is, but you might be fumbling in the dark, sort of deliberately missing it because you know that once the light is turned on, you can’t unsee what you’re about to see?

There are also things I’ve done recently that have pushed me not quite off, but closer to the edge of my comfort zone. If it were a cliff, I would have just kicked some rocks away from under my feet. So I know that I’m going to have to jump sooner or later and trust that I’ll either grow wings in the air and know how to use them, a parachute that I didn’t know I had will be on my back already, other people with wings will carry me towards my new path, a net will catch me, or I’ll splash into the sea and grow gills and fins.

I like flowery literary devices, ok? Even if I’m not very good at understanding the differences between all of them.

Someday soon, probably in a week or two, these blogs will start to revolve around plants again, as we start our seeds for this year’s garden in early March. Until then, you’re stuck with my existential angst.

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euroman1945-blog · 6 years

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The Daily Tulip

The Daily Tulip – News From Around The World

Monday 21st May 2018

Good Morning Gentle Reader…. Start of another week.. how quickly they come round.. We leave the house for our morning walk, after a great week end of beach time, never moving the car once.. We wander up the hill this morning, Bella catching some scent or other as she sniffs the morning air.. the little bats are wheeling and diving, mice with wings, my mother used to call them, regaling me with tales of when her sister got a bat caught in her long hair.. ah! The tales … even though there is not a cloud in the sky it feels a little humid this morning, …. Hope all is well where you are…

JAPANESE TRAIN DEPARTS 25 SECONDS EARLY – AGAIN…. A Japanese rail company has apologised after a train left a station 25 seconds early, the second such case in months. The operator said the "great inconvenience we placed upon our customers was truly inexcusable". If the details are anything to go by, customers are faced with slipping standards: a train last November left 20 seconds early while this time it was a full 25 seconds premature. As was to be expected, social media has been making the most of the story. Twitter post by @HarrisAzhari…What a shame Japan!!? Early departure for 25 second? What if I only can catch the train 4 seconds before departure!?? According to Japan Today, the train conductor thought his train was scheduled to leave Notogawa Station at 07:11 instead of the actual scheduled time of 07:12 on Friday. After closing the doors to the commuter train one minute early he realised his mistake and still could have averted the looming embarrassment. But as he couldn't spot any waiting passengers on the platform, he decided to go head and leave early - rolling out of the station 25 seconds ahead of time. Japanese trains have a reputation for extreme punctuality, and it turned out that there were indeed still people hoping to get onboard. Left on the platform, they complained to the rail operator and an official apology was issued shortly afterwards.

IS REMOVING 'ABORIGINAL' FROM BIRTH CERTIFICATES WHITEWASHING HISTORY?.... Garry Smith wants Western Australia to stop altering historical birth records. It was never a requirement, but back in the 1800s some clerks in Australia took it upon themselves to add notes about ethnicity to some birth certificates. As the BBC's Frances Mao in Sydney writes, a move to reverse that has generated a new problem. Garry Smith just wanted to complete a family tree documenting his Aboriginal heritage. However in 2013, when he retrieved the 19th Century birth certificate for his great-grandmother, he noticed a glaring omission: the word "Aboriginal" had been covered over. He asked authorities what had happened, and was told the word had been erased due to its "offensive" connotations. "Having somebody telling you it's offensive, I just stood there and felt a bit sick," he told the BBC. "Was I supposed to be embarrassed or ashamed to have Aboriginal heritage, ashamed of my father, and great grandparents?"

POPE WARNS NUNS TO USE 'SOBRIETY' ON SOCIAL MEDIA…. The Pope has issued instructions telling nuns to use social media apps "with sobriety and discretion". The document, titled Cor Orans, clarifies rules governing monastic life that were issued in 2016. It says the guidance is intended to safeguard silence and recollection. The document mentions "social communications" rather than specific apps, but Catholic newspaper the Tablet said that this referred to Facebook and Twitter among other services. The document says that discretion should apply to "the quantity of the information and the type of communication", in addition to the actual content of the media. An order of nuns in northern Spain made headlines last month after taking to social media to comment on a controversial case in Pamplona that saw a group of men accused of gang rape given what many regarded to be unduly lenient sentences. On their Facebook page (in Spanish), the Carmelite Nuns of Hondarribia defended the victim by pointing out the free choice they had made to live in a convent, to not drink alcohol or go out at night. "Because it is a FREE decision, we will defend with all means available to us (and this is one) the right of all women to FREELY do the opposite without being judged, raped, intimidated or humiliated for it," they added. The latest guidance is not thought to have come about as a result of that case; and this is not the first time the Catholic Church has issued guidelines on social media use for nuns. The original constitution on feminine monastic life, Sponsa Christi Ecclesia, was published in 1950 by Pope Pius XII, but Pope Francis expanded the document in 2016 to warn against digital culture's "decisive influence" on society. He urged nuns not to let digital media "become occasions for wasting time". The Vatican itself is a prolific tweeter. It has posted close to 15,000 messages on its news account and more than 1,500 times via the Pope's English-language official page. It also runs Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google+ accounts.

UK PRISONS 'AWASH' WITH SMUGGLED PHONES AND SIM CARDS…. "We are also taking decisive action to find and block mobile phones" - Prison Service spokesman. At least 15,000 mobile phones or SIM cards were confiscated in English and Welsh prisons last year, equivalent to one for every six inmates. Phones are used by some prisoners to order drugs and co-ordinate criminal activity inside and outside jail. A penal reform charity said the government had failed to tackle the root of the issue. The Prison Service said improved security measures had led to more confiscations. The BBC's Shared Data Unit compared figures for the period 2010-2014 and 2017 from ministers' answers to written questions in Parliament, Freedom of Information requests to prison services in Scotland and Northern Ireland and published prison population figures. A former prison worker, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, said: "They [mobile phones] are a huge problem - they make getting any kind of contraband in very easy. "They can sit all night with unlimited access to the internet and make voice calls. "The big part of being in jail is you are cut off and denied your liberty. With the spread of mobile phones that's completely irrelevant. "It's difficult to keep order in jail because staff are outnumbered. If prisoners don't take the authority seriously, it makes a joke out of the whole system. "People see [videos posted on social media from inside jail] and they are less frightened of jail, they think their mates are having a whale of a time." Mobile phones have been used by prisoners in recent years to orchestrate fatal revenge attacks, helped coordinate an armed, masked gang freeing a drug baron en route to court and by inmates flouting authority by broadcasting themselves live.

RUSSIA WORLD CUP: ARGENTINA 'FLIRTING MANUAL' PANNED…. The manual was issued to journalists, coaches and officials heading to the World Cup in Russia. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has been panned for including a chapter about "how to stand a chance with a Russian girl" in a manual it handed to journalists travelling to the World Cup in Russia. It recommended that journalists "look clean, smell nice and dress well" in order to impress Russian "girls". It also urged them to treat women as "someone of worth". The advice caused an outcry on social media and the AFA has since removed it. The association apologised and said that an internal investigation had found that part of the material was "printed by mistake". The controversy comes just months after the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, saw the biggest women's march in Latin America with protesters decrying rampant sexism and demanding an end to violence against women.

Well Gentle Reader I hope you enjoyed our look at the news from around the world this, Monday morning… …

Our Tulips today are just plain beautiful... if beauty can be defined as plain.....

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Monday 21st May 2018 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus

#robertmcangus #robert mcangus #tulips #news #blog #love #travel

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theliberaltony · 6 years

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Is Scott Pruitt plated in gold or spattered in mud?

In a week where President Trump’s lawyer got raided by the FBI, Trump’s top homeland security adviser resigned, the president agreed to join an international response to a chemical warfare believed to have been conducted by the Syrian government, and news broke that the Speaker of the House would not seek re-election — all before breakfast on Wednesday– it’s easy to forget that we ended last week expecting the imminent ouster of Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt.

Pruitt is still employed at the moment. But accusations that he received improper gifts from lobbyists, misspent public funds and engaged in questionable personnel practices have not gone away. And the swirl of scandal surrounding him — there are at least five open inquiries into Pruitt’s behavior, according to The Washington Post, and the Office of Government Ethics indicated Friday that it remains very interested in his alleged ethics violations— prompted a flurry of appraisals of his tenure at EPA. They were … confusing. He’s either a deregulatory master, praised by Trump and Republicans for his pro-business approach to environmental regulation and accused by liberals of destroying the environment. Or he’s just a spin master, and most of his accomplishments have been smoke and mirrors.

The truth, of course, is a matter of perspective, and it all depends whether you take the short, long or longer view.

Despite his reputation for effective and prolific deregulation, much of what Pruitt has done is to prevent the implementation of Obama-era policy by simply delaying those policies — not dismantling them. Consider, for example, the EPA’s own list of deregulatory actions that were completed under Pruitt’s tenure, which it compiled as part of documenting the agency’s adherence with Trump’s 2-for-1 deregulation executive order requiring that for each new regulation added to the books, two must be removed. There are 24 actions on this list, but only two actually represent the complete and successful negation of an Obama-era environmental policy. In one case, the EPA withdrew its request for oil and gas companies to complete a survey about their equipment and the tools they were using to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the other, the agency rolled back a decision to increase air-quality-monitoring requirements on facilities that store and treat certain kinds of hazardous waste. Of the remaining 22 actions, 10 were delays of Obama-era proposals — mostly extending deadlines for when rules would go into effect. One implemented a rule written during the George W. Bush administration that the Obama EPA had tried to block. Three offered exemptions for ozone pollution rules to a handful of counties in Tennessee and Louisiana. Two were uncontroversial updates of standards. One made a minor amendment to product-labeling laws. Five implemented rules that had originally been put forward under the Obama administration.

On the whole, Pruitt is getting less done than he would like you to believe. It’s not nothing. Those deregulatory actions made Pruitt’s EPA the most productive deregulator in the Trump administration, according to 2017 data compiled by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. But as Pruitt has rushed to block as much as possible, the EPA has wound up issuing shorter, less detailed rulings that aren’t holding up well to legal challenges. Case in point: In May 2017, Pruitt issued a 90-day stay of an Obama-era regulation that sought to reduce methane emissions at landfills. But the stay was challenged in court and the EPA let the stay expire, allowing the regulation to take effect. As of now, the rule remains on the books, even as Pruitt’s EPA was sued by several states for failing to enforce it. It’s possible that his legacy could end up mimicking that of Reagan appointee Anne Gorsuch, who slashed the EPA’s budget and enforcement activities — then resigned under a cloud of ethics violations just 22 months into the job. Her work left little measurable impression on environmental quality.

But while it’s possible to draw an analogy between Pruitt and Gorsuch, Donald Trump is no Ronald Reagan. A big part of why Gorsuch was unable to build a lasting legacy is that she was replaced by William Ruckelshaus, the EPA’s founding administrator, who undid many of her efforts aimed at dismantling the agency. Environmental protection, however, was much more of a bipartisan issue back then, and if Pruitt leaves his post, his replacement will probably look a lot like, well, Pruitt. Hostility to more environmental regulations and skepticism about comprehensive government efforts to combat climate change are GOP orthodoxy now, not just the views of one rogue administrator.

Sure, the Senate would have to confirm anyone put forward as a replacement for Pruitt, and Republicans hold a very narrow majority in that chamber (51-49). But there’s no guarantee that Democrats would unanimously oppose an anti-environmental-regulation nominee. In fact, Democrats in coal country, like West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, might feel pressure to vote for someone like that, particularly in an election year. Manchin, who voted to confirm Pruitt, has already said that he’ll support Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, for the role of EPA deputy administrator. And if even if Pruitt leaves and is not replaced quickly, it’s unlikely that the agency would go back to its more pro-regulation Obama-era approach, since some of Trump’s political appointees would likely remain at the EPA.

Remember when one-time chief strategist Steve Bannon left the White House? Bannon’s departure didn’t matter much in the end because the president himself adheres to nationalist/populist/conservative identity politics, so they remained an element of this policy-making even without Bannon there to push those views. This is even more true in Pruitt’s case. Essentially the entire Republican Party agrees with Pruitt on environmental policy, both inside and outside of the Trump administration. Trump agrees with him too.

If the president gets rid of Pruitt (and his ethics problems), Trump will still find ways to annoy liberals and delight conservatives on environmental policy. And maybe this time he’ll get an EPA administrator who does more than delay. In other words, it’s possible to say that Pruitt isn’t the deregulation powerhouse the president has portrayed him as (the short-term view) and that his resignation wouldn’t exactly spell relief for liberals (the long-term view).

Only from a still longer-term perspective is there truly good news for environmentalists. The very quirks of the EPA that allowed Pruitt to undo as much as he did may in turn undo his legacy. Congress delegates a great deal of authority to the EPA, which the agency uses to take broad laws — particularly the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act — and interpret them, creating the regulations that actually make the laws function. In the process, it decides how (or whether) those regulations will be enforced. That system gives the agency wide-reaching ability to determine the boundaries of its own mission and act without worrying about what Congress thinks. Unsurprisingly, therefore, Pruitt was not the first EPA administrator to be criticized for acting autocratically. His immediate predecessor, Gina McCarthy, faced similar accusations for her pro-regulation activity.

Pruitt’s path to undoing much of McCarthy’s legacy (and that of her boss, then-President Barack Obama) was relatively straightforward. All he had to do was decide that McCarthy had incorrectly interpreted the law, or decide not to implement proposals made under her tenure.

But this kind of power and autonomy can cut both ways. McCarthy learned that lesson when Pruitt moved EPA policy to the right. And Pruitt may learn it too — but probably not until someone else sits in the Oval Office.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Maggie Koerth-Baker and Perry Bacon Jr.

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101blockchain · 4 years

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