Thanks to Pipwerks!
Just thanking the e-learning blogger Pipwerks for an old tip that solved a baffling SCORM problem. A customer reported that my courseware was not showing grade percentages on Moodle. The problem was intermittent, with some data getting through. Intermittents are always hardest to fix.

I ran through several attempted solutions that didn't work. Finally found a 10-year-old item at Pipwerks on the importance of calling LMSCommit() at frequent intervals. This solved the problem!

Labels: Zero Problems

  ¶ 6:20 AM

  Sign of progress
When Erdogan jumped into Libya a couple months ago, it looked like more of his stupid self-defeating imperialism.

Maybe not.

Via Al Jazeera, Russia and Turkey are hosting the leaders of both sides in Libya's long civil war, hoping to start some kind of peace process. Russia has been backing Haftar and Turkey has just started backing Sarraj. Now both countries have some degree of leverage on the respective sides.

This turns out to be a smart move, an intervention aimed toward peace.

After several years, I'm re-applying the Zero Problems tag to Erdogan. ... but still remaining cautious.

Labels: Turkey, Zero Problems

  ¶ 1:10 AM

  Constant Russia
As mentioned in previous item, I don't know enough to guess the validity of Martin Sieff's BIG hypothesis that Saudi is about to collapse.

One part of the article raises two questions that fall within my department.

In a time without speed of light communications, telegraph wires, radio or Internet, the fall of the British Empire in America still rocked the entire world. It was celebrated and welcomed from the Emir of Kuwait to the Tsarina Catherine in St. Petersburg.

First question:

Successful revolutions are always backed by foreign governments. Not all foreign-backed revolutions succeed, but revolutions without assistance always fail.

Our NYC-based revolution was strongly backed by Louis in France, and we then rewarded him in typical NYC style by sponsoring the revolution that killed Louis. But what about Catherine? At that time Russia owned and occupied Alaska plus part of BC, and made a dubious claim to the entire West Coast. Russia certainly had interests on this continent. Did Catherine fund the revolution, hoping for a weaker power here?

Morris, as always, answers the question: [p269 of the PDF]

France, it is well known, went into the war for the sole object of severing America from England, and she came out of it with no other gain, than the independence of the United States. In all the secret overtures for a separate treaty, that were made to Count Vergennes, (and they were several) by emissaries from the British Court during the war, he invariably insisted on the recognition of American independence as a preliminary step. When Russia and Austria proposed to mediate between England and France, Count Vergennes accepted the offer, but imposed as a condition, that commissioners should be admitted from the United States, and take part as the representatives of an independent power in the negotiations for peace. He maintained the same ground when Spain came forward as a mediator.

Then as now, Russia was a mediator, not an aggressor.

= = = = =

Second question:

The mention of telegraph wires raises a different question, also in my department. Electric telegraphs began around 1830, but visual semaphore systems were widespread in Europe and Russia around the time of the Revolution. In those countries, news traveled much faster than horseback but somewhat slower than electricity. Why didn't USA copy the idea? For 50 years those systems were well known and highly functional, but we didn't use them. We made do with horses and runners until Morse and others persuaded the government to try the electric system.


= = = = =

And this in turn raises a subquestion. Why were semaphores slower than electric telegraphs? The obvious answer is because electricity... but that isn't the real answer.

Two reasons, one of which could have been solved with existing technology.

(1) The moving parts of semaphores were big and heavy, requiring considerable strength and time to overcome inertia. The keyboards of the first electric telegraphs acted easily and instantly, with negligible mass and momentum. This could have been solved with the compressed-air technology of pipe organs. The English six-panel system would be best because its action was binary. Each key would valve air into its own combination of pistons, each flipping one panel. When the key was released, the spring-loaded panels would snap back to default.

(2) More subtle but unsolvable. The first telegraphs were NOT significantly faster than semaphores. The Chappe system, with a dense network of stations and highly skilled operators, was able to send a message from Calais to Paris in three minutes under ideal circumstances, and one hour in typical usage. Early telegraphs shared the limitation of frequent human intervention. Batteries at each station had to overcome the resistance and reactance of long wires. The message might travel about 5 miles to the first receiver, where the operator would have to copy the complete message and then resend it. This is identical to semaphores except for the inertia and momentum. Telegraphs became instantaneous after the invention of the relay, which automatically transferred the information to a new circuit with its own batteries. Relays act instantly, so a well-formed and well-maintained line could send a message through unlimited distances instantly. There was no conceivable way to develop a relay for visual systems. It would be possible right now using video cameras and OCR technology, but it wouldn't have been possible even 20 years ago.

A telegraph system solely USING compressed air would have been possible in 300 BC. The Romans could have built long concrete pipelines, running along aqueducts and roads in the same way that telegraph wires ran along railroads. Air relays work the same as electric relays, and would have been feasible with Roman tech. This setup could have spanned continents with the same speed as electric telegraphs. There were a few attempts at compressed air telegraphy during the semaphore era, but they didn't get anywhere.

And let's take one more step, probably off the cliff.... An air-based telephone system would also be possible. A delicate leather sender diaphragm with a needle valve could modulate a very small flow, which could then modulate a larger flow. The larger flow could easily move a leather receiver diaphragm. Fluidic amplifiers were possible in 300 BC.

More broadly, why didn't any of these developments happen before electricity? You don't need special instruments to detect the movement and pressure of air. You can feel and smell and hear it directly, and you can make the wires and resistors and amplifiers from wood and leather. Surely someone must have tried these ideas during the 2100 years from 300 BC to 1800 AD??? Even the phonograph, a simple mechanism that could have been built in the Stone Age, didn't happen until Edison was fiddling with ways to record electrical telegraph signals.

Since I'm already off the alt-history cliff, one more step. If clay-disk phonographs had been developed in 3000 BC, would clay-tablet writing have been necessary? I think the answer is Yes, because writing didn't start with words. Writing began as bookkeeping and soon found ways to specify the items being bought or sold. You can't talk in columns.

Labels: Alternate universe, Morsenet of Things, Zero Problems, Гром победы

  ¶ 1:15 AM

  Skill-based colonialism
From the start, AMLO has been pushing hard on two themes: (1) Improving Mexico's self-sufficiency with WPA/CCC style programs. (2) Cooperating with the poor parts of Central America to help them achieve self-sufficiency.

Now we see a specific junction of the two themes. AMLO has met with El Salvador's new leader Bukele to spread the CCC program 'Sembrando Vida' into El Salvador. (In other words, Sembrando 'Sembrando Vida'.)

This halfway resembles China's approach to colonialism in Africa, where China spreads prosperity and employment and gets part of the product.

But this is actually a new concept. AMLO is already doing skill-based socialism. Now he's invented skill-based colonialism, spreading the skill of leadership. AMLO knows how to set up a program that works, knows how to get shit done. Bukele is young and ready to learn from the master. (You could also call it guild-style or union-style colonialism!)

This is the DIRECT ANTIDOTE to Graybill's Law.

If it works, Mexico will benefit by handling less refugees from El Salvador. Less direct cost, less annoyance to USA, less sanctions from Trump.

Labels: skill-estate, Zero Problems

  ¶ 5:08 PM

  Letting the infant win
I've noted a tone of condescension in AMLO's dealings with Trump. Now a brief article in NYTimes shows the reason for the tone.

The concessions that Trump proudly claims as results of his sanction-tariffs were actually worked out several months earlier. Nothing new has happened this week. Mexico and US have been meeting steadily for a long time in a genuine attempt to get the border under control. Though Mexico has no legal responsibility to prevent people from trying to get into USA, Mexico has always understood that it shares a continent with a giant retarded baby who throws nuclear tantrums. When you're chained to a giant idiot, you have to make room for the idiot's moods.

This is strongly parallel to Korea. SoKo and NoKo, with carrots and sticks from Russia and China, have been working for years to achieve reunification. Kim was gradually pushed into a position where he could cooperate without losing face. Baby Donnie stomped in and insisted on having his own brand pasted on the negotiations. The adults moved the scenery around and made room for Trump billboards, with the same condescending tone.

Labels: #HowToAdult, Zero Problems

  ¶ 5:37 AM

  Progress report
US: Year 428 of the shutdown. Donald Trump CXIV and Nancy Pelosi LXIII are arguing about whether Thread #314,117,901 in the carpet of the White House has been singed by Trump CXIV's cesium-ion jetpack or by Pelosi LXIII's fusion-powered Tampax injector. Tomorrow the discussion will rapidly move toward a conclusion of the vastly important subject of Fiber #517,422,123,678 of the drywall in the Capitol restroom for Gender #95438504. Both sides are digging in their heels, and it may be several decades before we can move on to Fiber #517,422,123,679.

UK: Year 123,456,789 of the Brexit debate. Corbyn MMMMMMCCCCCLLLLXXXXXVIVIVIVIVI and May MMMMMMMMMMXIRPQT$%$#^&I have very nearly settled which language to use in a description of the table for the first meeting of the feasibility study on a debate about the size of digital paper to use for page 8954389543895834905894385903 of the Appendix Regarding The Lack Of Appendices On The Appendix To the Addendum To The Rider. Both sides are digging in their heels, and it may be several centuries before we can move on to page 8954389543895834905894385904.

= = = = =

Meanwhile in the sane parts of the world, we don't need to go nearly that far into the future to spot progress in solving problems. We can simply watch it in real time.

Putin is on Year 18 of his rule. Every time a problem appears he solves it immediately.

Orban is on Year 8 of his rule. Every time a problem appears he solves it immediately.

Mahathir is on Month 10 of his rule. Every time a problem appears he solves it immediately.

Salvini is on Month 7 of his rule. Every time a problem appears he solves it immediately.

AMLO is on Month 2 of his rule. Every time a problem appears he solves it immediately.

Bolsonaro is on Month 1 of his rule. Every time a problem appears he solves it immediately.

= = = = =

Do we detect a pattern here? The dead part of the world is SHRINKING and getting deader every day. The live part of the world is GROWING and getting more live every day. The redistribution is happening in two ways. A few dead countries like Italy are switching to the live side. Mostly the live countries are gaining population while the dead countries have stopped reproducing. Nature is curing the Soros disease all on its own.

Labels: Nonzero problems, things worth doing, Zero Problems

  ¶ 2:24 PM

  Plug your ears, men!
Think modern cartoons are surreal?

Via American Radio History, Odysseus as seen in 1945.....



This was an ad for Cincinnati Electric, maker of hermetic seals for transformers and modular circuits.

Tag line: Interference can spoil any pickup!



The waterdrop mascot sings:

I'm Mister Amp,
the 'lectric scamp,
for whom dampness has that feeling.
But when I'm dry,
I'm really high,
and I go for FUSITE SEALING.

Nuff said. Or something.

= = = = =

Sidenote 1: Those mermaids are clearly naked, though I suppose you could argue that they are part fish, and fish are permitted to be naked. Before the war, Comstock Laws would have banned this picture firmly and instantly, without any transpecies argumentation. During the war, every sane human understood that fighting men needed relief and release, so Comstockery was suspended. Feminist bluenoses were excluded from polite society.

Now that machine-based bluenoses are back with a murderous vengeance, it will be interesting to see what happens to this picture, especially since I've #keyed it as naked.

Sidenote 2: This is a development Orwell didn't foresee. Winston worked in a porn factory where machines turned out 'romance novels' for the proles. But his censorship work was strictly manual. He decided personally, based on the Party's daily orders, how to Rectify each Crimethink.

Now we've got it backwards. Porn is still (mostly) written by humans, but the censors are automatic.

Labels: Bemusement, Zero Problems

  ¶ 9:52 AM

  Bit of gratitude
Now that latest courseware is done and I've caught my breath, a couple notes of gratitude.

First to the publisher. I've been grumping mildly about their slowness, but the slowness is a GOOD thing. They're slow because they're a small family-owned business, concerned with quality and customer satisfaction. Previous publisher was fast and intense because they were a BIG soulless NYC LBO, concerned with the share value of JPMorgan.

Second to ScormCloud again. For a reasonable price they provide a high-quality test platform with LOTS of friendly and responsive help and advice. Unlike most online services they don't engage in politics, don't hit you in the face with fashionable shit.

Labels: Patient things, Zero Problems

  ¶ 7:54 AM

  EXCELLENT!
Via ZH:

Marine Le Pen distanced herself Monday from former White House strategist Steve Bannon, saying only Europeans will save the continent from getting orders from the EU, not Americans.

Le Pen said Monday, at a meeting in Rome, that she wanted to clarify “lots of conjecture” about Bannon’s plans to set up a foundation, called The Movement, to boost far-right[sic] parties in Europe.

Speaking with right-wing[sic] Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini by her side, Le Pen said Bannon is not European, but rather an American who wants to create a think tank to offer research to nationalist parties in Europe.

LePen and Salvini are being diplomatic. The truth, visible IMMEDIATELY, is that Bannon is an Agent Provocateur working for the globalists. Like Alex Jones, his job is to make non-Sorosians look horrible.

I'm glad LePen and Salvini can see through the facade. (But not surprised!)

Localism means BY DEFINITION that each nation determines its own boundaries and its own way of life, WITHOUT following orders from foreigners. Soros is a foreigner, Juncker is a foreigner, Bannon is a foreigner. His attempt to be a leader for Europeans is GLOBALIST, just like Soros and Juncker.

Later and larger thought: When do we get ADULT leaders? Italy now has ADULT leaders actually ruling the country, along with Hungary and Russia and Austria and Malaysia. France has an ADULT leader (LePen) within the party system, though their Deepstate is doing everything possible to kick her out.

ADULTS speak sanely. They answer questions with facts and judgments, and when they don't know the facts they say so. They observe reality and judge accordingly.

Our leaders in "both" "parties" just grunt the same mechanical primitive shit over and over and over.

My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.
My party good. Other party bad.

Labels: Sorosia, Zero Problems

  ¶ 9:40 AM

  More from Classy Spokane
Another perfect comment!

Labels: Zero Problems

  ¶ 4:18 AM

  Verruguin works!
I don't do product notes here, but this is too good to skip.

I got tired of a large mole or wart on my cheek that had been sitting there for several years. Ordered a product called Verruguin via Ebay. It's basically isopropyl alcohol mixed with collodion to keep the alcohol from evaporating. Applied it twice a day for 7 days. This morning the wart seemed ready to break off, so I peeled gently and it flipped right off, leaving fresh pale skin underneath. No bleeding, no swelling, no drama. Just new skin. A lesser wart on my neck had already come off after just one day.

I'm still ugly, but now I'm less dramatically ugly than I'd been recently. Feels good. Confidence counts.

Verruguin WORKS!

Labels: Zero Problems

  ¶ 12:53 AM

  Nice.
Still waiting for the last few edits from the publisher, and I was getting tensed up with the approach of the supposed deadline. It's their deadline and their delay, but I want to get DONE with this as fast as possible and switch modes. I don't like halfway situations. Work or not work.

So I spent 10 hours today trying to cinch up the package as far as it can go without the last few edits.

Just after I finished, I stepped outside to stand in the back yard for a while. We finally have COOL weather after a long dry hot August, so standing outside is pleasant.

Just after I stepped outside, RAIN!



Thanks, Ma Nature. Nice touch. Maybe your workload is also lighter with Monster McCain off the earth.

Labels: Zero Problems

  ¶ 3:05 PM

  Earth is vastly improved, Hell has a problem.


The world got rid of a GIANT STINKY TURD today. McCain, the ultimate traitor and ultimate superkiller, finally ceased slaughtering. McCain supported and boosted EVERYTHING evil, from total permanent war to infinite welfare for the Bank Tribe to the "climate" "science" genocide to open borders. If it was total infinite mass murder, McCain was right there running it. Vile filthy incalculably wicked alien monster.

Roy Cohn, current CEO of Hades LLC, is going to be busy delegating troops of unfortunate minor malefactors to build yet another Circle. None of the inhabitants of the existing Circles will be able to tolerate the newcomer.

Labels: infinite GOOD, Zero Problems

  ¶ 11:41 PM

  Just cute
Not relevant, just hopelessly cute.



A 1940 Crosley open-front panel truck, equipped for radio service. Crosley, of course, had been making radios for a long time, so the double branding was a nice touch. Unfortunately the girl (Beatrice Blaxton) didn't come with the package. She was just photographed with the truck for advertisements.

I don't think this open-front model has been seen in articles about the prewar Crosley. It doesn't look familiar.

Labels: Zero Problems

  ¶ 3:54 PM

  Best title 5

= = = = = = THINGS WORTH DOING AND HOW TO DO THEM = = = = = =

According to the decree 18,632 people, including nearly 9,000 police officers, 6,000 members of the military, 199 academics from universities across the country as well as hundreds of ordinary teachers were sacked. Their passports will be cancelled, according to the decree published in the Official Gazette early on Sunday.

Turkish authorities had already dismissed around 160,000 government workers since the failed military intervention SOROS COUP, of whom more than 50,000 have been formally charged and kept in jail during their trials.

Labels: infinite GOOD, Sorosia, things worth doing, Zero Problems

  ¶ 7:25 AM

  SALUTING ITALY


Polistra and friends offer a GIANT salute to Italy, which is FIRMLY AND FEROCIOUSLY resisting the Sorosian demons. No compromise, no half-measures, no wink and nod. All parts of the Italian government are working together to SEND BACK all Sorosian invaders.

BRAVISSISSISSIMO!

Labels: infinite GOOD, Sorosia, Zero Problems

  ¶ 2:28 PM

  Soros dream
Oddly pragmatic dream about Soros this morning. Not dark or demonic.

I was making a presentation about why science is corrupt, why universities are corrupt. Soros was sitting among other people around the conference table, perhaps getting ready to make his presentation. As I discussed tenure, football, and other university corruptions, I magically caused Soros's mouth to become the word MONEY. I said "There. See? This is why colleges supported by Soros always win. He puts his money where his mouth is."

Sidenote: I don't know why these conference table presentations are so common in my dreams. They weren't common AT ALL in reality. Maybe a dozen in my whole life, 3 in recent decades.

Labels: infinite infinite infinite infinite evil, Zero Problems

  ¶ 4:39 AM

  GOOD, by god.
ITALY GETS SERIOUS. The new government is ACTUALLY TURNING BACK migrant boats. No more talk, no more of the usual Western noise and stagecraft. ACTION.

GOD APPROVES.

Labels: Zero Problems

  ¶ 11:47 PM

  Pays to be prepared 2
Another instructional video from the Everett TweakerCam.



This fellow is showing us how to palpate a street with a bucket. He spent several minutes in the middle of the street, bravely enduring heavy rain and traffic, to demonstrate correct tapping techniques, both rhythmic and non-rhythmic. Finally he moved onto the curb where he sat down in a puddle and raised the intensity of the tutorial, demonstrating the two-hand technique, the one-hand technique, the throwing the bucket technique, the kicking the bucket technique, and finally using the bucket to palpate his own head for calibration.

Gotta be prepared for every eventuality! You never know when a Bucketized Street Palpator job will open up!


= = = = =

In a more serious vein: Yesterday the cam caught the most miserable man in the universe. He's not one of the regulars, and clearly not from this part of the country. NYC or Philly type. Looks EXACTLY like Jack Palance. I'd guess he was a traveling salesman who got knocked down by gambling. He was still dressed for sales and golf, with a jaunty blue fedora, giving the impression that he had finished 18 rounds and then slid all the way down onto Skid Row without stopping. He sat on the curb, drinking beer and occasionally smoking something that wasn't tobacco. The smoke made him even more miserable. I've never seen a more MISERABLE person in my life, and I've been around a fair bit of misery. I'm hoping one of the regular TweakerCam aggregators shows the sequence. Maybe somebody who knows him will see it.


Later: Dream Free got the bucket action and the Palance action. The regular livestream chatters give names to every character in the scene, including the trash cans and rats. Dream Free named the miserable man 'Lenny', showing that his NYCness is universally obvious.

Labels: Nonzero problems, Zero Problems

  ¶ 12:39 AM

  Pays to be prepared!
A couple of caps from the Everett TweakerCam:



Casper the Friendly Tweaker!

= = = = =



At first I thought this was the classic hobo suitcase, a bag on a stick over the shoulder. I'm not convinced anyone actually used those, but they were always seen in cartoons. On closer examination of the frames, I think she's just carrying a tree branch with leaves. Gotta be prepared for any situation!

Labels: Zero Problems

  ¶ 6:06 AM