Craig Sawyers

Alternatively Plus of course algebra is an Arabic term, from Al Jebr meaning to unite broken parts.

When Simone Biles lost the ability to orientate in 3 dimensions, I compared it to opera singers who forget how to sing (they do). They, like Biles, have to go back to basics and work through the problem. There was a shot of her in training during recent days - and trying to do a landing from the parallel bars - and landing on her face. But she worked it out enough to do a superb beam exercise, and got a probably the best bronze medal for overcoming adversity. Hats off to the woman!

Happy birthday!

Stars orbiting around our supermassive black hole, Sagittarius-A. http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~ghezgroup/gc/animations.html

Have a spectacular one Todd - Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday!

Heh - I only have 5. Three dynamic (fed by a dinahi) the two E/S (fed by BH, triode or T2 clone - all out of KG's fertile head).

Happy birthday!!

Congratulations! Sounds like you are truly smitten

Well astonishingly we won three golds today. First Adam Peaty in the 100m breaststroke. Then Tom Pidcock won in the cross country cycling; 1h 25m on an insanely difficult course in baking heat and humidity. That is the first medal of any colour we've won in that event. Then Tom Daley and Matt Lee won in the synchronised diving. So our little Island is currently fourth in the medal table. Woohoo!

TD in morse?

Yeah - I know what you mean. The 3D drone show was bloody impressive though, as was the lighting of the flame. By comparison to the London 2012 ceremony is was very muted though. In normal times Japan would have put on a show to rival London though. Going on to cycling - the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz really excelled on a truly brutal multi-lap 145 mile course and won by over a minute. I was strangely pleased that Tadej Pogačar came in third, outsprinted by Wout van Aert. Pogačar, in the last two Tour de France won yellow, white and polka dot jerseys. Which I think is odd when he is only 22 now. Shows how brutal the course was, because the average speed was "only" 24mph.

I wonder how Alan Shepard, a guy whose military, test pilot and astronaut is of the highest achievement, would feel about his name being associated with Bezos's vanity project? I guess Bezos, Musk and Branson wouldn't have a place at the table if NASA got its act together.

Well you certainly cannot make jokes about the holocaust, that is for sure. However at the time, the guy was 24, probably extemporizing and came out with what looks like one sentence. In all likelihood he had totally forgotten about it. Someone has clearly trawled through his past performances looking for mischief, and found something from when he was half the age he is now. I know several stand up comedians. My daughter went out with two of them. The best known is this guy https://www.ericlampaert.com/ , and let me tell you his humor can be pretty challenging. I'll bet if you poked around his past performances you could find something inappropriate. Like most comedians they prototype material at smaller venues, make a note of what works and what bombs. Then craft a show based on material they know to work. I suspect the one liner about the holocaust bombed, and was never repeated. He probably said it and then thought "oh fuck - what did I just say?" I'm not defending the guy's comment, just that I can understand how it happened.

This was anticipated in 1875: My grandfather's clock was too tall for the shelf So it stood ninety years on the floor It was taller by half than the old man himself But it weighed not a pennyweight more It was bought on the morn on the day that he was born It was always his treasure and pride But it stopped, short, never to go again When the old man died Ninety years without slumbering Tic toc tic toc His life's seconds numbering Tic toc tic toc etc

Ella Fitzgerald with her assistant in a Houston PD holding cell after she and fellow jazz great Dizzy Gillespie were arrested for "throwing dice" in Fitzgerald’s dressing room at the Houston Music Hall, 1955

Well, no-one is safe until everyone is safe.

I'm of two minds regarding the Tokyo Olympics. On the one hand, Japan has forked out the massive sums of money to build all the venues, Olympic villages etc. Only for it to be cancelled last year for obvious reasons. Cancelling for a second year would have given real financial problems. Part of the financial rationale for the 2012 games in London was conversion of the facilities to other uses after the games, and I would expect Tokyo to be the same. So the pressure to hold the games this year must have been very high. On the other hand, it is a Covid superspreader event just waiting to happen. Or clearly already happening.

We'll know if it is Boston Dynamics if it starts doing somersaults

Looks like a bunch of stuff from Boston Dynamics shoehorned onto/into a Jag.

That is audio porn on so many levels

Then there is the fairly new Elma A47 (47 positon) four channel attenuator https://www.elma.com/en/products/rotary-switches/audio-solutions/a47-audio-switch--4-wafers-12070365 But you are back in RK50 territory. The conclusion is: highest quality four channel attenuators all end up at about the same price, or even beyond RK50!

Then there is this http://www.tkd-corp.com/products/att/pdf/p65cs-e.pdf which is what Curl used in the Blowtorch. He used a stereo one, not four channel, because Blowtorch was not inherently a balanced preamp. It is available in four channel, I have no idea of the price, but expect it to be substantial. Then there is the Seiden 74005, 58 position 4 channel switch. You need to add resistors of course. That switch is Y47,000 direct from Seiden ($430, shipping, taxes etc on top). Depending on the resistor choice you could be back in RK50 territory or beyond. Although the Seiden price list is 2012, that is the one that Seiden sent me in Feb 2020. I have not tried either the TKD nor the Seiden, but at least considered the Seiden for another project (pending) that needs a really weird attenuation law. SEIDEN.pdf PRICE_LIST_2012.10.pdf