“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 239

November 24th, 2020

Techmoan is kind of a fun channel, but one that I try to avoid overusing. I’m using it today because this video popped up, and it answers a question that’s been in the back of my mind.

Whatever happened to portable televisions? Remember the Sony Watchman?

Obviously, the digital transition killed off the old analog portables. But why don’t we have portable digital televisions?

Short answer: we do, but not from any major manufacturers, and they’re pretty much crap as televisions. (Some of them may be decent portable media players, but do they do anything you can’t do with a small laptop or tablet?)

When I’m out shopping in thrift stores and other odd places, and see one of those cool looking old portable devices with a TV built in, I think about picking it up and hooking up a converter box, just for the lulz.

Bonus: “Prison Tech”. Not really the kind of thing people in prison improvise, but rather what kind of tech you’re allowed to have (and can purchase) for prison use.

(Previously on WCD.)

Posted in Geek, History, Radio, TV | Comments Closed

How do you like them Apples?

November 24th, 2020

This is another one of those weird intersections.

Apple’s head of security, Thomas Moyer, was indicted last week along with three other people. The others were Harpreet Chadha (an insurance broker), Santa Clara Undersheriff Rick Sung and Captain James Jensen.

Why is this weird? Because it is also a gun thing, and you don’t often see “Apple” and “guns” together.

Specifically:

Sung—second in rank only to Sheriff Laurie Smith in the sheriff’s office—is accused of deliberately holding back four concealed carry weapons (CCW) permits for Apple’s security team until the Cupertino-based corporation agreed to donate 200 iPads worth about $75,000 to the Sheriff’s Office, Rosen said. Sung and Jensen allegedly worked together to solicit the exchange of CCW permits for the tech donation from Apple.

…

In another incident, Sung “extracted” a promise from Chadha for $6,000 worth of luxury box suites at a San Jose Sharks game on Valentine’s Day, 2019, before issuing Chadha a CCW permit, [DA Jeff] Rosen said.
“Sheriff Laurie Smith’s family members and some of her biggest supporters held a celebration of her reelection as sheriff in Chadha’s suite,” Rosen said.

All of this is part of an ongoing investigation into Sheriff Smith’s office. Captain Jensen was previously indicted in August:

The original August conspiracy and bribery indictment alleges Jensen, political fundraiser Christopher Schumb, attorney Harpaul Nahal and local gun-maker Michael Nichols — the other three people indicted– arranged to get up to a dozen concealed-carry weapons permits to the executive security firm AS Solution, in exchange for $90,000 in donations to support Smith’s contentious re-election bid against former undersheriff John Hirokawa.

Posted in Apple, California Über Alles, Cops, Guns, Law | Comments Closed

Obit watch: November 24, 2020.

November 24th, 2020

An obit roundup, because I’m a little behind.

Jan Morris, British writer and historian. I haven’t read any of Morris’s work, yet. But John Crowley in his beautiful novella “Great Work of Time” cites Morris’s history of the British empire as a major source, and I’ve been hunting for reasonably priced copies. (Like I need three more volumes of history to read, in addition to Gibbon and the two volume history of the Canadian transcontinental railroad.)

Ken Spears, co-creator of “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!”. The other creator, Joe Ruby, passed away in September.

Daniel Cordier, one of the legendary figures of the French Resistance. He was 100.

David Dinkins, former mayor of New York City.

Posted in Books, History, Obits, Politics, TV | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 238

November 23rd, 2020

Since I’ve done copper mining, I thought it might be fun to do another element.

Lead. Sweet, sweet, lead.

From 1972, “The Lead Matrix”, brought to you by the Lead Industries Association.

And as a bonus: “A Story Of Lead”, from the Department of the Interior Bureau of Mines circa 1948.

Posted in Geek, History | 2 Comments »

Your loser update: week 11, 2020.

November 22nd, 2020

NFL teams that still have a chance to go 0-16:

New York Jets

Next week: the 6-3 Miami Dolphins.

Posted in Loser, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 237

November 22nd, 2020

Science Sunday!

It seems like it has been a while since I’ve done any computer science, so today I thought I’d focus on someone I find interesting, and who died far too young: John von Neumann.

Short: an explanation of Von Neumann architecture from Computerphile.

Long: a documentary about John von Neumann from the Mathematical Association of America.

I should probably mention that von Neumann wasn’t just an early computer scientist: he was also a brilliant mathematician and theoretical physicist, which I think comes out in this video.

Posted in Geek, History | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 236

November 21st, 2020

I guess technically this could fall under travel. But I decided I wanted to treat this separately, because:

“What Owning a Love Hotel in Japan is Like”, from the “Abroad In Japan” channel.

I don’t think this is a business opportunity for FotB RoadRich, as I have another much better opportunity for him that does not involve moving to Japan.

Bonus #1: since I’ve touched on the Mongols before (in the context of the Feds trying to seize their trademark) and since I received some positive feedback on my last biker war post: a documentary about the Mongols from “Hidden In America”.

Bonus #2: This is another one of those people who is right on the edge of annoying me, but: I’ve posted about copper mining before, and, frankly, if I’m ever up near Butte, I’d absolutely pay the $3 to see the giant toxic waste pit that used to be the world’s largest open pit copper mine.

The Berkeley Pit is a tourist attraction, with an adjacent gift shop. An admission fee is charged to go out on the viewing platform.

Gift shop? I’m sold!

Posted in History | 4 Comments »

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 235

November 20th, 2020

This is another video that I just flat out could not pass up. People who know me well will understand why.

“The Devil’s Cigarette Lighter”, from 1962 and the Red Adair Company, featuring (of course) Red Adair.

Bonus video #1: Remember these commercials?

I have this mental image of Red Adair placing phone calls to get well heads…and charging them on his AmEx card. (In reality, I expect that his company probably had open accounts with everyone who provided equipment: no AmEx needed.)

(Side note: Red Adair’s biography is kind of pricey on Amazon, even in used paperback form. Interestingly, Boots Hansen’s book (affiliate link) is available in a Kindle edition.)

Bonus #2: this is a two-part biographical video about Red Adair. Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 2 does include a brief discussion of Piper Alpha and Adair’s role in putting out the fire.

Posted in Books, Explosives, History, Kindleing | Comments Closed

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#68 in a series)

November 20th, 2020

Alexander Sittenfeld of the Cincinnati city council was arrested yesterday.

Prosectors said Mr. Sittenfeld had accepted six checks totaling $40,000 from federal agents posing as real estate investors and had stashed the money in a political action committee that he secretly controlled.
According to a six-count indictment, Mr. Sittenfeld accepted the bribe money in 2018 and 2019, while promising to “deliver the votes” and perform other official acts for the downtown development project, which needed City Council approval.

…

At a meeting in November 2018 set up with Mr. Ndukwe’s help, Mr. Sittenfeld went for lunch at a downtown Cincinnati restaurant and indicated to undercover agents that he would shepherd votes for the real estate project, prosecutors said.
He presented voting data showing that he was politically popular in Cincinnati and said he was likely to be the next mayor, according to prosecutors.
“I can move more votes than any other single person,” Mr. Sittenfeld said, according to the indictment. On another occasion, in December 2018, he said, “Don’t let these be my famous last words, but I can always get a vote to my left or a vote to my right,” according to prosecutors.

Nr. Ndukwe is Chinedum Ndukwe, a former player for the Bengals, who was one of the people behind the downtown development project.

Bonus #1: Mr. Ndukwe was also working with the Feds.

Bonus #2, and I’m embarrassed to admit I missed this: Mr. Sittenfeld is the third member of the nine-member city council to be indicted this year.

The first blow came in February when Tamaya Dennard, the president pro tem of the Cincinnati City Council, was arrested and charged with accepting $15,000 in bribes in exchange for a vote on the Council. She pleaded guilty in June and faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced in federal court next week.
The second landed last week when Jeffrey Pastor, another member of the City Council, was charged with taking $55,000 in bribes in return for promising to help city development projects, including the redevelopment of a downtown building. Mr. Pastor has pleaded not guilty and has resisted calls to step down.

Apologies for linking to the NYT. I prefer to link to local sources whenever possible, but the Cincinnati Enquirer is unreadable and unlinkable without a subscription.

Posted in Law, Politics | Comments Closed

I may have spoke too soon.

November 19th, 2020

This might be the headline of the day:

Rapper with flamethrower in custody over NYC bus stunt

More context:

Authorities said Dupree G.O.D was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon. There was no information on when he would be arraigned. He was in police custody Wednesday night.
The musical artist was filmed earlier this month in an unauthorized stunt that he said was part of a tribute video for the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. The clip gained attention on social media after a police union tweeted it as an example of the city becoming less safe.

And of course:

I’m really not sure I see the “reckless endangerment” part of that charge. It seems to me that he was pointing it away from and above people. As for the “criminal possession of a weapon” charge, well, maybe, given that this is NYC.

Posted in Art, Cops, Firings, Hysteria, Law, Media, NYPD | 3 Comments »

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 234

November 19th, 2020

Travel Thursday!

Where would you like to go this week? Would you like a relatively short trip to someplace that hadn’t become a banana republic at the time?

Okay then. From our favorite defunct airline, Pan Am, “Wings to New York”. circa 1948.

Bonus: I’m probably fudging the definition of “travel” a bit here, but I don’t have a better place to put this. Here’s a Pan Am promo film documenting their history of crisis and emergency response, including the 1979 airlift out of Iran.

Posted in History, Travel | Comments Closed

Headline of the day.

November 19th, 2020

(Though this actually is datelined yesterday.)

Ponzi Scheme Suspect Uses Underwater Scooter to Flee F.B.I.

The story is exactly as it says on the tin:

Tracked by air and trailed by F.B.I. agents and members of the California Highway Patrol, Mr. Piercey, 44, of Palo Cedro, Calif., was seen removing something from his truck and entering the frigid water with it in his street clothes, the authorities said. After about 25 minutes in the lake, part of which he spent submerged, a very cold and wet Mr. Piercey emerged and was arrested, the Justice Department said.

Posted in Cops, FBI, Law, Media | Comments Closed

Obit watch: November 18, 2020.

November 18th, 2020

Vincent Reffet.

A free-flying world champion and avid BASE jumper (involving leaps from towering static objects rather than from a plane), Mr. Reffet had undertaken breathtaking feats including a record-breaking jump of over 2,700 feet from a platform above the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, and a midair dive into a plane from a 13,000-foot mountain in Switzerland.

…

In Dubai, the group worked with XDubai, an extreme-sports brand that has been endorsed by the crown prince. In one stunt that went viral, the pair flew with jetpacks above Dubai beside an Emirates Airbus 380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft.

He was 36 years old. According to the NYT obit, he died in a training accident.

Ben Watkins. My feelings about reality TV are well known, but nobody should have that hard a life, and nobody should die at 14.

Posted in Food, Obits | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 233

November 18th, 2020

This is an amazing video that popped up in my recommendations, and that I could not pass up.

“Out Of The Sun” is a General Dynamics promo film for the F-16. Unlike a lot of plane specific promo films I’ve run across, though, this one concentrates mostly on air combat history and tactics, building towards a case that the F-16 is the “fighter pilot’s fighter”.

What makes this amazing to me is the interviews in this video:

Aces interviewed include W.C. Bill Lambert from World War 1 (footage of Manfred Baron von Richthofen is also in this segment), the second-ranking American ace of World War I. Lambert claimed 18 air-to-air victories, eight fewer than “Ace of Aces” Eddie Rickenbacker, and won the DFC. Also interviewed is the Luftwaffe’s Adolf Galland who flew in the Spanish Civil War and World War 2; the Royal Air Force’s Douglas Bader and Robert Stanford-Tuck, Norway’s Sven Heglund, American David Lee “Tex” Hill, the WWII Luftwaffe pilot Erich Hartmann; U.S. Air Force pilot Francis Gabreski from World War 2 and the Korean War; USAF pilot Ralph Parr from the Korean War; and Steve Ritchie, the only ace from the Vietnam War.

As best as I can tell, all of these interviews were done specifically for this film. (Mr. Lambert and Sir Bader both passed in 1982: according to the YouTube notes, this dates to 1983, so I think it is possible that the makers managed to get in interviews with both men before they passed.)

While I was checking Sir Bader’s date of death, I ran across this story that I had not heard before:

During one visit to Munich, Germany, as a guest of Adolf Galland, he walked into a room full of ex-Luftwaffe pilots and said, “My God, I had no idea we left so many of you bastards alive”.

Bonus #1: here’s a 1965 interview with Sir Douglas Bader.

Bonus #2: I don’t have any other place to put this, and it is kind of related. The backstory: Saturday night, we were watching “The High and the Mighty” and we noticed the Coast Guard was flying B-17s. This, in turn, led me to research the operational history of the B-17 (and, yes, the Coast Guard did use B-17s, in the PB-1G variant, as late as October of 1959). That in turn led me to this rather remarkable paragraph:

On 28 May 1962, N809Z, piloted by Connie Seigrist and Douglas Price, flew Major James Smith, USAF and Lieutenant Leonard A. LeSchack, USNR to the abandoned Soviet arctic ice station NP 8, as Operation Coldfeet. Smith and LeSchack parachuted from the B-17 and searched the station for several days. On 1 June, Seigrist and Price returned and picked up Smith and LeSchack using a Fulton Skyhook system installed on the B-17. N809Z was used to perform a Skyhook pick up in the James Bond movie Thunderball in 1965. This aircraft, now restored to its original B-17G configuration, is on display in the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

As great and good FotB RoadRich said when I brought this up, it’s a wonder that they were even able to get into the air, given the weight of the giant brass balls on everyone involved.

“Fishing from Airplanes for Soviet Secrets: What was Skyhook – Operation Coldfeet?” from Dark Docs.

Posted in History, Planes | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 232

November 17th, 2020

There’s a British gent named Guy Martin who has a YouTube channel. He used to race motorcycles, but more recently he’s become a television personality who seems to specialize in engineering and technical stuff.

I thought I’d do two videos today, one short, one longer. The short one: Mr. Martin goes to Japan and forges a sword with a master sword maker. As you know, Bob, I love hot metal and knives, so this is right in my wheelhouse.

The long: this is the first part of a series, “How Britain Worked”.

…getting stuck into six of the country’s biggest restoration projects, bringing some of the 19th century’s most impressive engineering achievements back to life.

This one covers “The Railway”. The other parts are available on his channel.

Posted in Bookmarks, History, Knives, Swords | Comments Closed

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