unclevlad

From Wikipedia, if you're wondering which to consider for your character... English – 245 million (78.5%) Spanish – 41.3 million (13.2%) Chinese (including Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and all other varieties) – 3.40 million (1.1%) Tagalog (including Filipino) – 1.72 million (0.5%) Vietnamese – 1.52 million (0.5%) Arabic – 1.39 million French – 1.18 million Korean – 1.07 million Russian – 1.04 million Portuguese – 937 thousand Haitian Creole – 895 thousand Hindi – 865 thousand German – 857 thousand Polish – 533 thousand Italian – 513 thousand Urdu – 508 thousand Persian (including Farsi, Dari and Tajik) – 472 thousand Telugu – 460 thousand Japanese – 455 thousand This does say "spoken at home" and not those picked up as a second language, so it may reflect immigration over the last 40-odd years more than anything. Still interesting that, say, French and German are down so low.

quantum computer

Hope the team you're interested in, isn't slotted into the evening slot next Saturday. It's only gonna be streamed on Peacock. They're paying $110M for it. I'll watch basketball.

After an emergency exit does its own exit...?? For me, right now? NO. At least not until they figure out the root cause.

Maybe. I've waffled on it. Mind scan doesn't require anything like it...and there's also the bonus to PER, to offset the number of sources...+10 is Large Town. It'd be at -2 for a large city. This suggests it works fairly quickly, just to do this level. Another level of Rapid also can support being able to read high-speed comms as well. It's not like, say, Microscopic levels of Sight, where we can directly interpret it. We can't. It comes down to what feels right, and sometimes some other things...like, if you slap a big Focus limit? Then maybe get harsher with respect to things like Rapid.

I never listed a focus. It's innate. Tracking...cell phones move. With Tracking, you know where it *is*, and how it's moving, in this context. It might be a bit of overlap with Targeting, but it's specifically built to follow something moving. And with Tracking and Targeting, I can reasonably say I know where the phone is very accurately. The "mind scan" was never alone, it was always combined with the HRRH. The mind scan was very specifically ONLY to nail down the specific phone, walkie-talkie, or whatever.

Some wines work with chocolate. Way back when...mid 2000s...Great American Beer Festival brought in Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery, and author of a beer and food cookbook, for a session about beer tastings...with food. And contrasting wine/food and beer/food tastings. It was awesome. I *think* it was the same year they also had some good chocolates with some appropriate beers. YUMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm. And, yes, i got a copy of the book signed by him. Very few people think broadly about beer and food...pizza? Sure. Burgers? Sure. Roast chicken? Nothing, and I do mean nothing, beats Saison Dupont. Fruit-based and vanilla-based desserts? Belgian goldens. Milder sausages? Belgian singles. I'll still pick a good red wine for roast beef, mind.

MONEY

Well-written does not mean sensible, meaningful, cogent, relevant, or accurate. I'm not about to drink decent Champagne with chips...it's a waste. But that would STILL be preferable to trying to force bad sparkling wine down...the cheap stuff is an abomination, across the board. And that's what I think they're talking about. There's quite decent blended reds that aren't expensive. I'm not a fan of the flavors of most low-end whites but there's some that are OK. But the bad sparklers....GAH!!!!!! Hideous. I remember a story from some years ago...kids who grow up on McD burgers prefer them to serious burgers...not those with funky toppings, but just the better meat, bun, etc. It's what they grew up with. Lots of people drink the mass market swill sparklers...and like them. So this is, to me, more like an effort to assuage their feelings. Kinda like McD ads that talk about quality.....................

India has half the *reported* deaths. With India, there's always a serious question about the completeness. Brazil's medical care, considering the population as a whole, is several steps behind Germany's. On that basis alone, a higher death rate could be expected. And...OK, yeah, it's nice they're down...but...WorldOMeters reports 1800 deaths in the last 7 days; over 1900 in the 7 prior days. We're still talking 90-100,000 deaths per year, world wide. So it's still a significant problem...just not a major crisis. And it looks like we may have reached a steady state. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/worldwide-graphs/#daily-deaths That's a good 6-7 months of steady numbers, with just expected random variation. Unless something dramatically changes insofar as treatment goes, it's likely this is the norm. The GOOD!! news? This should be lower than deaths from the flu.

Dallas/Washington may be for the NFC East title, so it's a significant game. Denver/Vegas is playing out the string...yeah, there's a complex scenario where it could matter for Pittsburgh, but both teams are themselves eliminated, so...yeah, it's local markets only. Phllly-Giants is very interesting, in that it's the NE of course...and Texas. Because there's VERY likely to be LOTS!!!! of fans in both areas who'll watch both games. The coverage map has some interesting market assignments, where certain teams may be impacted by the result. I presume Utah doesn't get the Denver game because Cowboy fans are believed to outnumber Bronco fans, too.

I'm wondering if the AMA is gonna move to decertify Dr. Lapado for this extreme exercise in disinformation.

HRRH is the baseline sense to justify being able to eavesdrop on any form of radio traffic...police broadcasts, standard radio/TV, whatever. Once the radio is located, HRRH allows the listening of anything going in/out. The problem with cell phones is there's hundreds or thousands of calls on the same frequency, so you can't simply tune to that frequency...trivial with HRRH...and pick out a specific Telepathy, when it comes to computers, is reading the data stored on the computer, IMO. This isn't telepathy, it's not reading the data on the computer, it's reading the transmissions. Why would it require a Sys Ops roll? What system is being operated? It makes no sense to make it a Sys Ops roll, if the purpose is just to cut costs. I'd rather use a power skill, but overall, it's not worth it. The mind scan wasn't terribly expensive...and even the RSR Sys Ops would take the active point penalty. Plus, in a case like this, it's not the active points in the power that matters, it's the size of the haystack that's concealing the needle you're trying to find. That's what Mind Scan's # of minds modifier captures. Yes, those aspects of Mind Scan work nicely. I'm not worried about attacking through the Scan; the purpose for it is to justify that a particular cell phone can be located, and listened to. The writeup at this point doesn't use Mind Scan per se. HRRP (Radio Group), Discriminatory, Analyze, Rapid: x100, Targeting, Telescopic: +24, Tracking (55 points) +10 PER with HRRP (10 Active Points); Only to offset # of sources (a la Mind Scan # of minds) (-1/4) and for breaking signal coding Cryptography 21- The Mind Scan was an initial thought for the location aspect...and it still can work. I think this buys me the aspects of locating and tracking that a maintained Mind Scan would have, and it's mechanically cleaner, IMO.

The Middle East never remains calm for too long. First Palestine, now... https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/world/middleeast/us-isis-iran-general-suleimani.html?unlocked_article_code=1.LE0.qs0-.uV0-HMNxnhio&smid=url-share

<shudders as memories of the scorpion and the frog flood through....>

Not the classical interpretation...doesn't mean there's an association I don't recognize offhand, of course, so you just charge right ahead there...

Holy blindside blitz, Batman! Home insurance renewal notice just arrived. 50% (!!!!) premium increase. Several factors cited...construction costs, inflation. The big one, I suspect, $140 billion paid out by the industry due to natural disasters. Ouch. More bad news? Forecast is for a year that'll probably be *hotter* than last year, as El Nino raises sea surface temps...which'll impact everything. Which also suggests another year with more, and more severe, storms.

(Panthers fan to Jets fan) Q: How can you still root for that team??? A: Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time....

600

Or, the simpler, "lies, damned lies, and statistics."

David Tepper breaks the most important rule of them all: don't get caught. Video shows him dumping the remnants of a beverage onto a fan. League fine him $300K today. Playoff situation. https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-playoff-picture-postseason-probabilities-entering-week-18-of-2023-season The craziness mostly only comes about in case of certain ties, but there are some *really* specific scenarios that allow certain losers in through the back door. A Denver Post writer looks at the situation for the Broncos next year. His response to the second letter goes into the major cap issues nicely. https://www.denverpost.com/2024/01/02/broncos-mailbag-sean-payton-russell-wilson/

And Trump has a complete hair trigger when it comes to perceiving anyone as an enemy. In this regard, he's about as stable as azidoazide azide.

WOW. Washington's up 9 late. Texas moves the ball, Sark kicks the FG with about 1:10 late. Onside kick fails, but Texas does have 2 TOs. On 3rd down, a bit of a freak play...the Washington RB gets a somewhat gimpy leg twisted kinda wrong during a tackle. He's got to be helped off, and left the field after the game on the cart, unfortunately. This means its a time out for Washington...the LAST thing they want. So, it's 4th down, they have to punt with about 50 seconds left. They have a false start. Lose 5 yards. They get the kick away fine...the Texas returner calls for a fair catch. A Washington player just isn't watching, he's simply getting WAY too close. The return guy takes a step to the left to line up the catch...and the Washington guy interferes. 15 yards. Now Texas gets a couple big plays and BIG catches...and get it all the way down to the Washington 15, with about 15 seconds left. First down, short gain in the flat, receiver scuttles OB. Second down, good pressure, Texas QB has to throw it away basically. 5 seconds left. Third down, more pressure. Texas QB has to ditch it.....and does so JUST in time. Ball hits the turf...with 1 second left. Fourth down...one more play by the Washington secondary, one last incompletion. Washington holds on, 37-31. EARLY line is Michigan -4.5, but if the Washington RB's injury is bad enough to keep him out, that'll probably shift a bit. It's their main RB. 14-0 vs. 14-0. #1 vs. #2. Not common.

That pic is a blast from the past.......all that's missing are the helicopters. (Yeah, I remember seeing this scene *live*...from one of the choppers. Totally surreal.) I'd not seen this, but Rapaport usually is a reputable source, so this story's very interesting. https://www.nfl.com/news/examining-factors-that-led-to-broncos-benching-russell-wilson-and-what-s-potenti And what Rapaport is saying, makes sense, particularly the point that asking whether Wilson would push the guarantee date back feels like...negotiation. Not a threat. That said, if the relationship between Wilson and Payton was bad, a reasonable inference...I suppose Wilson might've seen it as a threat. What I still can't see, tho, is Wilson being on Denver's roster next September. If a core issue is that Wilson doesn't read quickly enough, missing open receivers when the window's there? At this point in his career, I simply can't see any way that'll improve markedly, and I GREATLY prefer the ability to run the offense over trying to make something out of nothing on a busted play.

I'm not a big Bama fan, and yeah, I'm pretty tired of the SEC. But man, I detest this Harbaugh. Michigan's mistakes were offset, and then some since they won, by Milroe's mistakes. The fumble...ok, turf monster somewhat, but once you lose balance and you see defenders in the area? COVER UP THE BALL. And it looked like the snap timing was off; maybe the center was a half beat late snapping, maybe Milroe started back too soon, but that play had no chance. As was said tho, Michigan got the penetration, so clean snap execution probably wouldn't have helped enough. Apparently social media is pretty much calling it the worst play call since Carroll and Wilson tried that little inside slant route. They're really stuck on the time to show the FCS game. Saturday? No, ESPN has a doubleheader Saturday. Monday? No, that's the CFP title game. I suspect they don't want to do, say, FCS title game on Monday then CFP, say, Tuesday or Wednesday, for overall scheduling reasons, but 2 Eastern Sunday overlaps both groups of NFL games. The ratings won't be good, ya gotta think. But they're scheduling the championship game fairly quickly after the semis. Last year it was Dec. 31st and Jan. 9th. 2022 was Dec. 31st and Jan. 10th. 2021 was perturbed by COVID, but Jan. 1st and Jan. 12th. 2020 was probably TOO long...Dec. 28th and Jan. 13th. This was an oddball year, kinda; Dec. 28th was a Saturday. But Jan. 6th was a Monday. Eh...the ways of megacorps are mysterious and not to be understood by us mere viewers. One bare week is unusually quick, regardless. EDIT: Ohh...side thought. Just realized. Jan. 15th is NOT open now. The expanded NFL playoffs have 6 games. NBC/Peacock gets Saturday; Sunday is standard CBS, Fox, and NBC; Monday is ESPN. They're not gonna have the CFP clash with an NFL playoff game. You'd still think they could run the CFP on, say, the 10th or 11th...but the habit of the Monday game may be locked into the bureaucratic mindset of the programming coordinators...