Vin Crosbie's Personal Blog

For his business blog, visit http://www.digitaldeliverance.com

Esoterica

January 3, 2021

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Earthquake Aftershock Live A video camera of RITV in the Croatian city of Rijeka captures live an aftershock from the earthquake that nation this past week. R.I.P., bassist Eugene Wright, 95. R.I.P. bassist Eugene Wright, 95, last surviving member of jazz legends the Dave Brubeck Quartet and a pioneer in racial desegregation of U.S. music venues. For those of you who don’t know who there are, see the video clip above, in particular from the 4-minute mark, to discover that a group doesn’t need to look hip to be verrrrry hip! Wright’s solo turn then begins around the 5-minute mark. Or click the this link to see one of the greatest single jazz performance ever given: The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Carnegie Hall performance of their ‘Take Five’. I’ll miss him.

December 30, 2020

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They Aren’t Coming for Your Jobs Yet, but Just Want to Dance And an Autonomous Ship will Retrace the Mayflower’s Voyage Speaking of Oceanic Voyages… A traditional ‘King Neptune’ certificate from August, 1944, as my namesake uncle, then a private in the U.S. Marine 3rd Division, crossed the Equator for the first time (at a militarily “censored” latitude) aboard the Dutch freighter Bloemfonteim, on the way to an amphibious landing at the Battle of Guam. When in 1941 the Germany invaded the Netherlands and the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, the ships of the Dutch Navy that escaped joined up with Australian, British, and U.S. navies. The Bloemfonteim became an Allied troopship. I’ve a similar Neptune certificate from 1942 when my father, then a U.S. Navy ensign, crossed the Equator for the first time, aboard the battle cruiser Santa Fe. The 20th Century in Manhattan (as well as the ‘Mad Men’ era) finally ends. No matter how important who think you are, no longer shall ye get ‘power lunches’ at the Four Seasons nor drinks at 21. And the perfect big-screen TV video for ‘Star Wars’ fans who want to feel cozy this winter. And back to robots: South Koreans, showing more acumen than American capitalists., purchase Boston Dynamics. Hyundai paid a reported billion dollars for it. Japan’s Toyota already is the world’s leader in the coming field of household robotics. Hyundai wants to be that for general-purpose worker robotics. Boston Dynamics is far more advanced at this than any other U.S. company.

October 24, 2020: Procrastinate with Confidence

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Adam Grant delivers a counter-TED speech about the counter-intuitive nature of ‘originals’ thinkers who dream up new ideas and take action to put them into the world. “The greatest originals are the ones who fail the most, because they’re the ones who try the most.” He notes that “you need a lot of bad ideas in order to get a few good ones,” plus mustn’t let doubts about yourself get in your way. Who gets what from every dollar you pay for a cup of coffee or coffee beans? This chart from visualcapitalist.com answers that. General Motors has received permission from the State of California to begin operating completely driverless automobiles on the streets of San Francisco.

Sunday, October 18, 2020

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After thirty years of thumb-sucking, nose picking, and other inactivity by the GOP about human-caused Climate Change. After more than 30 years of conservative politicians sucking their thumbs when asked about human-caused Climate Change, it is finally real. Scientific American magazines explains how to tell the difference between a real or a false conspiracy. You know what a skyscraper is. Yet what about a groundscaper? I know the Frankfurt one (pictured) due to its excellent and soundproof Hilton Hotel. Every see a CAT scanner with its cover off? You’ll realize why it’s covered. Did dinosaurs walk up walls 68 million years ago? It might appear so in this 300-foot high wall in Bolivia, long before tectonic pressure turned a muddy plain into a vertical wall. Bali won’t be accepting tourists until 2021. Think you know how to sit while driving? Guess again. Jaguar Land Rover Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steve Iley shows you how in a two-minute video.  This graphic, showing the relative scale of small things just at the limit or slightly beyond human site, shows the remarkable size of a human white blood cell. Here is a video of a new Amtrak Avelia train (disguised with Acela markings) test-running empty between Providence and New York City. Amtrak has order 36 of these ($2.4 billion) to run between Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D,C, starting in 2021. These new trains, like the Acelas, are manufactured by the French company Alstrom, with final assembly in upstate New York. Each Avelia carries 25% more passengers than current Amtrak Acela trains, has high safety and crash standards (as well as WiFi, USB and power plugs at each seat, etc.), and is 30% lighter (more miles to the kilowatt) than the Acelas. Although capable of cruising at 185 mph (300 kph), they are currently being test run at up to 165 mph (265 kph), a speed which they can reach only on the long straight section of track between Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. Unfortunately, the winding, century-old rail lines between Boston and Washington, D.C. would have to be completely rebuilt to permit true highspeed train service. The original Acela trains, which began carrying passengers on these routes back in the year 2000, will be retired. #