Butt Ugly

 

As a general rule Tesla vehicles are quite stylish and sporty.  Not so much the Cyber Truck.

While the technology and innovation is first-rate; the styling is a failure.

Backside of one running down the road.

Butt ugly.  

 

New Eyes

You're probably wondering why this guy is  smiling.

It's because after wearing vision-correcting eyeglasses since the fifth grade he's driving his Mustang while wearing a pair of uncorrected sunglasses that set him back a $1.50. 

Since I retired my annual visit to the eye doc has included monitoring the progression of cataracts that have conspired to degrade my vision.  Cataracts are a clouding of the natural lens of the eye, leading to blurred vision, glare, and eventual vision loss. This spring's routine visit resulted in sufficient advancement of the condition to do something about it.

I finally got my chance to get my eyes fixed.  Two visits, one week apart, to the Eye Clinic in Green Bay.   

Cataract surgery removes the cloudy lens and replaces it with a clear artificial intraocular lens (IOL).  And for me it opened up a world where everything is clearer, brighter and more colorful.  I didn't know what I was missing.

This is an outpatient procedure performed under local anesthesia with sedation (you’re awake but relaxed).  Most commonly it is performed with phacoemulsification (ultrasound to break up the lens), followed by IOL insertion.  Truthfully, the prep and recovery took up most of the time.  The procedure itself took all of ten minutes and required no eye drops in the follow-up care. 

By all outward appearances things were busy at the clinic.  Inquiring of the surgical staff I learned that there were four operating rooms and two surgeons performing, respectively, approximately 20 procedures each day of my visits.

Cataract surgery is the most commonly-performed procedure on the planet with over 3.7 million surgeries performed annually in the United States.  Over 20 million are performed globally each year and the number continues to rise due to aging populations.

Over 98% of surgeries result in improved vision and complications are rare and usually treatable. 95% of patients achieve 20/40 vision or better (good enough to drive without corrective lenses) and many achieve 20/20 with or without glasses depending on lens choice.

Best of all the procedure is covered by Medicare and my supplemental insurance policy.  Between you and me this is good government policy; trust me, you don't want millions of vision-impaired baby boomers on the road. 

At the present time both my eyes have been corrected to 20/20 vision so I went to the Dollar Store and splurged less than ten bucks for four pair of +1.75 reading glasses and a couple of plain sunglasses - one for each automobile.   My doc sez that I need to allow a month (give or take) before a final correction in vision can be confirmed. 

We are blessed to live in a Golden Age of replacement parts.

Evolution of Desktop Computing

The Tandy 5000 MC was a high-end PC introduced by the Tandy Corporation in 1989.  It was available through Radio Shack.

Equipped with an Intel 80386 CPU running a 20 MHz, 2 MB of RAM (expandable up to 16 MB) , it also came with the 40 MB hard drive.  The operating system was MS-DOS (v 3.3) and Windows 386 and it supported color monitors with EGA/VGA graphics.

There were expansion slots for further customization allowing additional cards for enhanced graphics, sound and networking. 

The target market for this device were business and professional users and the 386 processor (I remember it) was relatively new that year and very robust for the time. 

It competed with the IBM 386 which, depending on configuration, sold for $10,000 to $15,000 in 1989.

Evolution

 

 

For $3000 in 1983, Santa brings you this TRS-80 Model II, with 64K of memory, 12 inch monochrome monitor, and a built-in 486K 8-inch floppy drive!

I recall purchasing a similarly-priced Compaq "portable" computer with TWO floppy drives.

A pile of money forty-two years ago!

The Magic Hour

Google Photo periodically furnishes unsolicited photo vignettes using their AI platform.  Like these brief, fleeting, moments associated with the rising and setting of the sun.

Characterized as the Magic Hour almost always these moments are not even close to an hour.  Most often they are there and gone in a heartbeat.  You snooze you lose.

This is nice slideshow....

The King's Speech

On Tuesday, March 4th President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress.  I do not begrudge our President the opportunity to take a victory lap; particularly on the heels of six busy weeks of cabinet hearings, executive orders, reductions in force, court hearings, spending freezes, tariffs followed by pauses, starts and follow-up pauses of the the latter.

The speech was exceedingly long however; meaning the volume of dubious claims or lies was target-rich.  Nothing new under the sun; nevertheless, worthy of truthful daylight.  Consequently, from time to time one of more of the King's gems will be featured here.

Enjoy. 

“We have had $1.7 trillion of new investment in America in just the past few weeks.”

This is a spurious figure, and Trump frequently takes false credit.  Most of this claim comes from statements by Apple ($500 billion) and Saudi Arabia ($600 billion). But Apple has a practice of making this sort of announcement after the installation of a new president.  In 2018, Apple announced it would contribute $350 billion to the US economy over five years; it made a similar commitment in 2021 during the Biden administration. The most recent announcement mostly overlaps with the latter 2021 announcement.

As for Saudi Arabia, who knows.  Word is that this was floated in a phone call between Trump and the Saudi leader.  In 2017, Trump claimed Saudi Arabia had struck $350 billion in deals.  Yet, after further inspection and analysis we learned that the "deal" was a haphazard collection of magical wishful thinking, fuzzy math and double counting.  In the end almost all of the investment occurred in Saudi Arabia - no the United States.

The president also talked-up a $100 billion investment in AI data centers; truthfully, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman had launched the Stargate deal almost a year before Trump was inaugurated.  

Finally, a $100 billion investment announced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was originated by former president Biden and included funds from the Chips and Science Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that passed in 2022.

So yeah, wink wink, tall tales and don't pay any attention to that man behind the curtain. 

Office Technology Advances

The Xerox 914 was introduced in 1959 as the world's first successful commercial plain paper copier.  It revolutionized office work by making document duplication fast, easy and affordable.

Unlike earlier copiers that required special paper; the 914 used ordinary typewriter paper.  This was made possible by means of technology (xerography) developed twenty years earlier by Chester Carlson in 1938.  It incorporated automatic document feeding allowing it to handle multiple copies and produced up to seven copies per minute.  A record for the time.

Weighing-in at more than 650 pounds it required a sturdy floor and with a propensity to overheat and occasionally catch fire every unit came equipped with a fire extinguisher.  

All of that aside, the 914 was so popular it quadrupled Xerox corporation's revenue in only a couple years.  Cheap and easy to use - even a monkey could operate it...

The Magic Hour

Google Photo periodically furnishes unsolicited photo vignettes using their AI platform.  Like these brief, fleeting, moments associated with the rising and setting of the sun.

Characterized as the Magic Hour almost always these moments are not even close to an hour.  Most often they are there and gone in a heartbeat.  You snooze you lose.

Nevertheless,they are a welcome addition to my day; especially travel photos set to music.

 

You'll Get A Charge Out Of This

Last year Ford Motor added the Tesla network of Super Chargers to their existing charging network.  As an EV owner this is pretty cool as it expands significantly the chargers available thru Ford's Blue Oval charging network.

On back order since last autumn this showed-up on the porch last week.

A free adapter so I can hook-up to a Tesla fast charger while traveling.

Since I already use a Level Two Tesla Universal Charging Station at home this is an easy-peasy adaptation (pun intended).....

Road Muscle

Behold the 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z28; and all its performance attributes.  

Darn nice ride.

And the 2024 Mustang Mach-E.  

A darn better ride. 

 

My daily drive is a Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD with an extended range battery

Engine:  Two permanent magnet, synchronous electric motors, with a single speed automatic transmission

Power: 346 HP

Weight: 4,759 LB

Top Speed: Factory limited to 120 MPH

0-60 mph: 3.8 sec

Max Torque:  428 LB FT

Automotive engineering has moved light years since 1968.  

And there is no such thing as a green sports car.

Vrooom!

 

New Year Night Sky

Go out immediately following sunset as this is an early evening event because all of the participants will set in rather short order.

Look for a waxing crescent moon in the southwest; lined-up with Saturn and Venus.  Both Saturn and Venus are included among the easiest objects to identify in the night sky with your unaided eyes.  Unless you care to use binoculars you shouldn't have any need for equipment. 

The planet Saturn looks like a bright star immediately below the moon.  Venus is the much brighter star to the lower right.

Use an app like Night Sky to aid in locating and when they will set below the horizon.

Clear here.  Hope it's the same for you.

Fingers-crossed....

Edit To Add -

iPhone photograph and a screenshot from Night Sky from the same perspective.  Brutal cold out there and I need a camera that can shoot the moon without blurry glow.

The Magic Hour

On this last day of the year it seem appropriate to share some highlights of those brief, fleeting, moments associated with the rising and setting of the sun.

Most always these moments are not even close to an hour.  Most often they are there and gone in a heartbeat.  You snooze you lose.

Happy New Year and thank you for reading, following and sharing.  See you next year on the flip side....

 

Friday Music

 

 

Use your fancy noise-cancelling, blue tooth headphones with Apple Music or YouTube on your device at your own peril.

The Decibel Nanny may descend-upon you flashing an admonishment...

 

Winner Winner - Chicken Dinner!

Pregame Thanksgiving feast for the two of us.

Clockwise from the top: mixed veggies, baked yam, homemade stuffing, breast and drumstick.  Gravy over-all.

Did a roaster chicken in the bottom oven low and slow and finished it on convection roast setting to crisp it up.  Yams and dressing in the upper oven. Nuked the veggies.

I’m really digging the new GE Profile range. And, no. I’ve not paired it with my iPhone. Yet.

Pro Tip:  if you’re baking yams, taters or some other tubers; rub them in bacon drippings beforehand for a flavor enhancement.

Happy Thanksgiving Friends.

Go Pack!

 

Close Call

Smacked a whitetail yesterday on the way to a fish fry.  Deer suddenly materialized out of nowhere  from the woods on my left running at full tilt.

From all outward appearances all we suffered is a damaged front tag. 

Raising a toast to anti-collision technology and driver assist on the Ford Mustang Mach E….

Friday Music

Use your fancy noise-cancelling, blue tooth headphones with Apple Music or YouTube on your device at your own peril.

The Decibel Nanny may descend-upon you flashing an admonishment... 

 

Butt Ugly

The price of the 2024 Tesla Cybertruck starts at $81,895 and goes up to $101,985 depending on the trim and options. Until the rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck arrives for the next model year, with a starting price of $62,985, the lineup only includes the Dual Motor and Beast models.

Finally spotted one of these in the wild today.

That's a pile of scratch for a butt-ugly ride.... 

Remember The Old Electric Car?

 

In keeping with the electric vehicle theme there is this.

1909 Fritchle Electric Car. 100 miles on one charge. 

Low Price of $2000.

That is the equivalent of $69,000 in 2024 dollars.

Friday Music

From the 1972 album Seventh Sojourn this is an audio restoration remasters from the original analog vinyl recording.  This is a 2023 version remastered for maximum musical details and offers higher perceptions of around 18 dB dynamic range level - higher than the standard 12dB level typical of digital versions. 

If you've got a good pair of Blue Tooth headphones this is a good fit.  From the Moody Blues, You and Me...

The Walls Have Ears

In Medieval times it was said that if you were in someone else's castle beware what you speak.  The walls have ears.  Nowadays, we don't have castles where bad people can eavesdrop on your conversations.  We have devices that can do that and much, much more.  Technology is ubiquitous and data can be swept-up and used for all sorts of noble or nefarious purposes.

If you’ve been following the drama in Washington DC lately this may be of interest. 

Communist Red China is always watching.  And I’m not talking about spy balloons.  

Under the law in China, any company must cooperate with the government.  So if you've got TikTok on your phone, you may want to watch your back.

However, there is an even scarier company out there, it's called META. 

Both companies collect the same data, but Zuckerberg  takes this a step further.  He takes your data, bundles it and sells it to scammers. 

This is video is worth a watch. Less than three minutes….