Playing Cops-n-Citizens

SO, two converging trends: tattoos and LEOs (Yes, I have seen a growing percentage of LEOs with tattoos; N.B. my data set is limited and may be idiosyncratic). Multiple studies have linked visible tattoos and low impulse control (causative factors are still being explored, so there are only correlations noted so far).

I do not like these two trends being associated with each other. Maye it’s just me.

Waste of Time

Memory spurred by random crap on the Interwebs: When Doc Yarborough told me he wanted me to apply for a MENSA membership (after some p-sych tests taken as part of a senior p-sych course), I knew it was not for me. I mean, why join yet another group I’d have to explain everything to?

Nah. I just gave him my (extracurricular) survey on the GSR research he was interested in and bugged out. (The info I handed him was based on my idiosyncratic results of running the unblinded tests on myself. Decidedly NOT valid for anything but an open comparison of results, and could have been influenced by my knowledge of the research, but still interesting to him. My results were decidedly. . . Odd, of course. *heh*)

[sarc /on] Thank You, Department of Injustice [sarc /off]

Read a quick lil novel that’s a fantasy about justice served on Antifa (and similar) thugs in the wake of the 2020 riots. . . after those thugs were released and given pats on the head for looting, burning, and outright murder. It’s a little like a weak version of John Ross’s “Unintended Consequences.” Not sure those are healthy fantasies to harbor, though. Such things, once out in the wild, might well progress beyond being fantasy.

Still, it would be nice for justice to be more than a fantasy that seems more and more to be denied a place in reality. We can, at least in part, thank organized government crime like that perpetrated by the Felonious Barony of Iniquity and its parent organization, the Department of Injustice for much of the anarcho-tyranny leading to so much else in government following their examples.

It’s a Real Head-Scratcher

I don’t understand why Peter Jackson did all the CGI stuff to make Andy Serkis into Gollum for LoTR, when James Carville could have played the role w/o even any makeup.

Memory Aids. . . of a Sort

The fun thing about aging is that, while new injuries seem to take longer to heal, at least I probably won’t miss them for long, since old injuries (some 60 or more years old) continually remind me of their continuing (have I stressed “continue” enough yet? 😉 ) presence. Joy! It’s a memory boost! Maybe I will NEVER “forget” an injury! *heh*

Practice Makes Perfect?

Nope. “Practice makes perfect” is common misconception. Practice makes PERMANENT. Only perfect practice can make perfect, so BETTER practice simply makes being BETTER a permanent stepping stone on the path of improvement. Sooner or later, though, one meets one’s physical or mental limits (or both) and consistent best practice just makes permanent the best that one can be.

To Sum Up. . .

I am constantly amazed at folks who just see no benefit from even such simple maths as algebra, trig, geometry, etc., in their daily lives. There was a brief point in my life, college calculus classes, when I could pretty much just look at a simple math problem and know the answer. (Gave my prof fits, ‘cos I rarely wrote down the steps to achieve the answer. . . cos I hadn’t thought of ’em.) But. . . word problems in that class that attempted to use semi-sorta “real world” situations where different calculus functions could be used to solve things were not so much my metier at the time.

Time passed, as is its wont, and everyday circumstances took on “math meaning” in my perceptions more and more often, until not a day passes that something doesn’t trigger algebraic, “trig-ic” *heh*, differential. . .-ic ?, or whatever thoughts.

The Best Thing About Being a Libertarian

The best thing about being a libertarian is not caring what anyone else thinks is the best thing about being a libertarian.

(IOW, you do you as long as you mind your own business and don’t infringe on others’ rights. If you stray from that, the consequences are all on you.)

Secure Passwords?

I recently had someone leave a key under their front door mat for me because their keypad was malfing (was so could “sit on” grandson after school). They returned, we visited, left. Got a phone call: “Where’s the key?” Well, I had not left it EXACTLY where instructed, but since THEIR keychain was on the bookcase where I’d been told to leave the key, I simply put the key on it.

Hiding in plain sight can work, but there’s “hiding in plain sight” and its idiot cousin, “Take me; I’m yours.” Don’t be the idiot cousin.

Writing down passwords can have the benefit of having them available when needed (and forgotten, but unless that list is under physical lock-and-key security, it’s “Take me; I’m yours.” Better: a secure password service, perhaps.

Better still: use passwords you can remember. No, not your dog’s name or your wedding anniversary date. (Oh, wait. That’s not somethining you’ve forgotten before, is it? *heh*) or ANYTHING ELSE derived from personal information about you. No, while easily remembered (except for the anniversary thingy), those kinds of things are available to others and so make easily “crackable” passwords. No, select a pass phrase that is memorable – title of a fav book, an aphorism, a line from a poem or song, etc., and construct your pass word using that in a way that is sensible and memorable for you.

For example, I took the “punch line” as I “misremembered” it! – from a Smothers Brothers parody of a song that was popular back in their heyday and constructed a password from that. VERY memorable for me, but since it’s from a parody of a song that’s not in the “Top Five Million” nowadays, and the line I used is NOT as it was performed in the parody, the password I constructed (an easy one) only used the first letters of each word (as “misremembered”), a “Massive Cracking Array” could take a couple of days to crack it, so not seriously secure. But then, as I said, an easy password. . . on a “Junk Mail” account designated as a SPAM catcher.so. . . *heh*