For Gail

Rick Thues April 14, 2025 Uncategorized 3 Comments

Episode #846 April 19, 2025   Paula’s sister Gail died suddenly last month.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlY90lG_Fuw Along with so many things in her life, Gail was a politically conscientious force. She changed the people around her and through them changed the world. Just before her death we were on the phone lamenting the destruction being done to our democracy. I said that I had done right by voting correctly. "What more can I do at this point?" I asked her.  She asked me if I had participated in any of the protests. I had not since Vietnam.  During the Vietnam...

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Allegory of the Cave

Rick Thues April 8, 2025 Uncategorized 2 Comments

Episode #845 April 12, 2025 Plato's Allegory of the Cave serves as a metaphor for how we each construct our own perception of reality.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNy8llTLvuA In the allegory, prisoners are chained inside a cave, and forced to face a wall. Behind them, a fire casts shadows on the wall, which is the only reality they know. One prisoner is freed and, though temporarily blinded by the sunlight outside, gradually adjusts to the world’s complexity. As his eyes open to a richer, more vibrant reality, he returns to the cave to share his discoveries with the others. However, his fellow...

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BOTs Make Mistakes

Rick Thues April 2, 2025 Uncategorized 3 Comments

Episode #844 April 5, 2025 An Internet BOT (short for robot) is software that automates activities on the Internet.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_8Pma1vHmw The function of bots ranges from beneficial to malicious.  Among the most beneficial are web crawler (spiders). Their job is to browse the Internet and index the content of websites. These indexes are used by search engines like Google to help users find information they seek. One of the most malicious bots is a credential-stuffing bot. This bot uses stolen user names and passwords to attempt logins at thousands of different institutions. Because people often use the same...

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Smart water monitor

Rick Thues March 24, 2025 Uncategorized 6 Comments

  Episode #843 March 29, 2025 Recently I had to buy new homeowner’s insurance.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2LUWFptNCM After much comparative shopping I found a very good offer from Farmers. In order to get a favorable rate the agent separated the water damage coverage into its own line item with its own deductible. I agreed to the policy on the spot. As with many insurance offers there was a catch. To cover my older house with a separate water damage line item Farmers requires the installation of a Moen Flo Smart Shutoff valve. Moen Flo Shutoff device is installed just after...

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Time and Space

Rick Thues March 20, 2025 Uncategorized No Comments

Episode #842 March 22, 2025 Does Time exist?     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgUizK4anxk   The distinction between the past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” —Albert Einstein We imagine time as an arrow from the past, through the present, pointing to a yet to exist future. We represent this arrow with analogue clocks whose hands circle a dial. This motion, however, is only evidence that potential energy in a spring or electrons in a battery are being dispersed. It is a measure of entropy, not time. We see ourselves as progressing through time from a zygote to a baby...

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Bungee

Rick Thues March 12, 2025 Uncategorized 2 Comments

Episode #841 March 15, 2025 We were new skydivers when Paula and I jumped off the Bridge to Nowhere.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmzdieVSiXM Bungee jumping was one of the things on our bucket list. I asked around and found Bungee America who own the Bridge to Nowhere. It is along the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. The owner gave us cryptic directions to the bridge: “Take Highway 39 north which is Beach Blvd in Orange County. SR 39’s name changes to Azusa Ave, then N San Gabriel Canyon. Turn right on East Fork Road, it will become Camp Bonita Prairie...

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