https://www.skepticism.us/ Recent content on Dog Is My Copilot Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) © Copyright 2020 Kurtis Rader Sat, 25 Jul 2020 15:16:29 +0000 https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/07/trump-campaign-thinks-their-supporters-are-poorly-educated/ Sat, 25 Jul 2020 15:16:29 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/07/trump-campaign-thinks-their-supporters-are-poorly-educated/ It’s amazing how many articles I read on sites like Raw Story, that are clearly critical of Donald Trump and his administration, are targeted by ads in support of Trump. Occasionally I click on one of those ads and provide bogus personal information that includes a real, but throw-away, email address. The first thing to note is that nearly all of the ads are phrased in terms of a survey. Such as “Do you support President Trump? https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/07/i-used-my-computer-backup-today/ Mon, 13 Jul 2020 21:23:49 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/07/i-used-my-computer-backup-today/ I woke up today to find that my moderately old 2012 Mac Pro server (that I use to host virtual machines and BOINC scientific computing), was dead. Attempting to boot it resulted in the boot folder with a question mark icon being displayed. Which means the boot disk could not be found. A couple of hours of debugging later I concluded the OWC (Other World Computing) PCI-E SSD disk I installed a few years ago was dead. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/06/covidiots-in-silicon-valley/ Sun, 28 Jun 2020 14:37:29 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/06/covidiots-in-silicon-valley/ I live in Santa Clara. Known to the world as “Silicon Valley”. Just ten miles from the headquarters for Facebook, Google, etc. Home to a lot of well educated, intelligent people. That doesn’t mean we don’t have our share of idiots; though, in this case, “covidiots” is more apt. Walking my dogs yesterday morning I walked by one of the parks near my home and saw a group of approximately 20 young men playing basketball. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/06/the-unfathomable-stupidity-of-rich-white-men/ Thu, 25 Jun 2020 16:05:42 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/06/the-unfathomable-stupidity-of-rich-white-men/ This Daily Kos article by Haricot Blue is brilliant. It’s certainly not the first time someone has written about the shortsightedness of oligarchs but the snark that Haricot employs is a joy to read. Here are the opening paragraphs but you really, really, need to read the full article: Oh, rich, white men. You unfathomable idiots. You could have had it all! There you were back in 2008, freshly bailed out after almost totaling the economy with your criminal greed, with not a single one of you headed to prison for it. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/06/all-lives-matter-except/ Wed, 10 Jun 2020 12:39:48 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/06/all-lives-matter-except/ I was reading yet another article about excessive police force against a black male and the following hypothetical exchange was posted as a comment to the article: Black lives matter. “All lives matter." All? “All." Syrian refuges? “Well…" LGBTQ lives? “The Bible says…" Unarmed black men? “Should have complied…" Poor people on food stamps or some form of assistance? “I’m not subsidizing laziness…" People of different religious faiths than yours or no religious faith? https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/06/citi-bank-is-a-loan-shark-that-will-break-your-leg/ Thu, 04 Jun 2020 22:04:51 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/06/citi-bank-is-a-loan-shark-that-will-break-your-leg/ TL;DR Citi Bank is indistinguishable from a neighborhood loan shark. They charged me an additional $109 USD in late fees over a period of three months due to an initial debt of $60 USD incurred in the same period. I just received an email from Citi Bank telling me I owed $100.74 on my Costco credit card. Which confused me because I haven’t bought anything from Costco in the past year. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/05/i-saw-a-black-swan-in-my-neighborhood/ Mon, 11 May 2020 14:09:44 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/05/i-saw-a-black-swan-in-my-neighborhood/ Okay, it was a metaphorical, rather than literal, black swan. I was walking my two dogs yesterday and a couple I’ve never seen before crossed my path. The man was wearing a “Trump/Pence” t-shirt. This is in Santa Clara, CA. Home of “Silicon Valley”. As politically blue (i.e., liberal) as it gets. In the past three years I’ve seen exactly one red MAGA hat. The man, not surprisingly, weighed at least 260 lbs and was having difficulty walking. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/04/one-silver-lining-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/ Mon, 20 Apr 2020 14:35:27 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2020/04/one-silver-lining-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/ In a typical week I used to receive between five and fifteen telemarketing calls each week. In the past three weeks I’ve received exactly two. Apparently even scumbag telemarketers aren’t willing to kill their employees by forcing them to work in close proximity in call centers. A work environment that is probably second only to a nursing home as a petri dish for the spread of COVID-19. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/08/rep-steve-king-iowa-embodies-midwest-and-christian-evangelical-values/ Wed, 14 Aug 2019 13:15:04 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/08/rep-steve-king-iowa-embodies-midwest-and-christian-evangelical-values/ USA Today reports that Rep. Steve King (R-IA) defends rape and incest. I’ve been to Council Bluffs, Iowa, several times on business. You can’t drive a half mile without seeing a church or religious sign (typically a billboard). Steve King is representative of too many of the “salt of the earth” people who live there: hyper religious, willfully ignorant, bigoted, racist, and proud of it. You couldn’t pay me enough to live there. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/08/how-about-we-treat-men-who-buy-guns-like-women-who-want-abortions/ Mon, 05 Aug 2019 16:29:53 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/08/how-about-we-treat-men-who-buy-guns-like-women-who-want-abortions/ From a comment in this Joe My God: “How about we treat every young man who wants to buy a gun like every woman who wants to get an abortion - mandatory 48-hr waiting period, parental permission, a note from his doctor proving he understands what he’s about to do, a video he has to watch about the effects of gun violence, an ultrasound wand up the ass (just because). https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/08/a-chance-to-eat-a-big-mac-with-donald-trump/ Sat, 03 Aug 2019 14:37:44 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/08/a-chance-to-eat-a-big-mac-with-donald-trump/ Ads, masquarading as surveys, by the Trump 2020 election campaign have been appearing on a lot of the news sites and blogs I read such as Raw Story. I’ve filled out a few of those “surveys”. They have the sort of questions you would expect. For example, “Do you think the mainstream news media has treated Trump fairly?” To which I check “no”. In fact, my response to every single question makes it crystal clear I wouldn’t vote for Drumpf to be the town dog catcher let alone President of the USA. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/07/about-that-95-approval-rating-metioned-by-eric-trump/ Sun, 21 Jul 2019 17:00:14 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/07/about-that-95-approval-rating-metioned-by-eric-trump/ A few days ago Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, stated on Fox & Friends that “95% of the country is behind him”. Which is obviously absurd since even the most popular presidents have never had an approval rating that high. Too, Trump has yet to have his approval rating exceed the percentage who disapprove of his job performance. So the question is where did Eric get that figure? I have a good idea after clicking on a web ad asking me to take a survey about Donald Trump. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/07/i-love-it-when-conservatives-try-to-own-the-libs/ Sun, 21 Jul 2019 16:46:44 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/07/i-love-it-when-conservatives-try-to-own-the-libs/ Quartz reports: People feel strongly about straws, and US president Donald Trump is here to capitalize on that. “Liberal paper straws don’t work,” tweeted Trump’s campaign, with a link to purchase a pack of 10 red plastic straws emblazoned with Trump’s name for $15. If you think all that’s outrageous about a $1.50 plastic straw is the price, think again. For environmentalists, plastic straws have become a potent symbol for the toxic and persistent scourge of single-use plastic—an everyday item that can be easily eliminated from use, not unlike the plastic bag. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/05/beyond-meat-is-good-but-too-expensive/ Wed, 22 May 2019 22:01:44 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/05/beyond-meat-is-good-but-too-expensive/ The grocery market closest to my home has started selling Beyond Meat burgers. When I saw it on sale for $1 less than its usual retail price ($5.99 vs $6.99) I decided to give it a try. Let me start by saying I enjoyed the taste and the experience of cooking a Beyond Meat burger. Having said that I think anyone who regularly eats beef burgers will easily identify this as not a beef burger. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/05/mama-marys-whole-grain-pizza-crust-as-good-as-cardboard/ Wed, 15 May 2019 16:46:48 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2019/05/mama-marys-whole-grain-pizza-crust-as-good-as-cardboard/ Last night I was at my local Grocery Outlet. They had some Mama Mary’s whole grain pizza crusts. I wasn’t intending to make pizza but decided to give them a try since they were heavily discounted (which should have been a warning sign). Even before baking the pizza I had my doubts. The crust was very stiff and was pockmarked with holes on both sides that is the hallmark of cheap, mechanically produced, pizza crust. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/11/one-simple-way-to-block-most-web-server-attacks/ Wed, 21 Nov 2018 13:01:54 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/11/one-simple-way-to-block-most-web-server-attacks/ As I wrote in my previous blog post I recently switched from Apache+Wordpress to Caddy+Hugo. But looking at the Caddy access log I was perplexed to see almost no attacks being logged. So I looked at the caddy.log. Bingo! It contains lots of warnings like this: 2018/11/14 16:32:26 [INFO] 73.189.179.153 - No such site at :80 (Remote: 59.110.139.59, Referer: ) 2018/11/14 17:45:02 [INFO] skepticism.us - No such site at :80 (Remote: 181. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/11/moving-from-wordpress-to-hugo-plus-caddy/ Wed, 14 Nov 2018 20:59:00 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/11/moving-from-wordpress-to-hugo-plus-caddy/ I have never been very happy about using WordPress for my blog. Granted, that is mostly because I’ve been running it on my home server. Which means keeping Apache, WordPress and PHP up to date. Not to mention configuring that stack of software. Especially doing things like adding rewrite rules to Apache to minimize the risk that I would be hacked by someone trying to exploit WordPress/PHP vulnerabilities. And over the years I’ve had several breakages when I’ve updated my OS or any of the aforementioned packages. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/07/i-am-a-lying-moron-by-rev-jerry-carter/ Wed, 25 Jul 2018 19:26:16 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/07/i-am-a-lying-moron-by-rev-jerry-carter/ Mr. Carter seems to think he is running for office in the Republic of Gilead (see “The Handmaid’s Tale”) rather than the USA. He is either lying or too stupid to hold public office if he thinks “one nation under God” was in the original version of the pledge of allegiance. He also claims to be for “common sense in government” which is ironic since religious leaders tend to have very little common sense. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/03/the-difficulty-in-getting-fixes-accepted-to-open-source-projects/ Tue, 06 Mar 2018 02:31:53 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/03/the-difficulty-in-getting-fixes-accepted-to-open-source-projects/ Two and a half years ago I noticed the Apache mod_dumpio module does not include null bytes (or the data which follows those null bytes) in its output. So I searched the Apache Bugzilla database and found bz#57045 which someone had opened a year earlier. So I wrote a patch and attached it to the bugzilla issue. When I noticed the issue I was using the then current 2.4.16 release. There have been 13 bug fix releases since then (it’s now at 2. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/03/working-with-git-file-names-modified-in-the-workspace-or-most-recent-commit/ Sat, 03 Mar 2018 02:13:52 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/03/working-with-git-file-names-modified-in-the-workspace-or-most-recent-commit/ I frequently find myself wanting to perform an operation on all the files modified in the workspace or staging error. For example, run edit all the files or run them through a tool like clang-format or oclint. If there are no uncommitted changes I want to work with all the files in the most recent commit in the branch. To do this I wrote a gitfiles fish shell function (transforming this to bash should be trivial): https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/02/retractable-dog-leashes-i-do-and-dont-recommend/ Thu, 22 Feb 2018 23:57:50 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2018/02/retractable-dog-leashes-i-do-and-dont-recommend/ TL;DR: Flexi retractable leashes are superior to the Alcott or Wigzi brands. I’ve been using Flexi brand retractable leashes for two decades. But after a few years either the internal spring breaks or the tape or cord is frayed to the point it breaks. So with anywhere from two to four dogs in my house during that time I’ve had to buy quite a few leashes during those two decades. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2017/11/three-new-podcasts-you-should-be-listening-to/ Sun, 26 Nov 2017 20:56:14 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2017/11/three-new-podcasts-you-should-be-listening-to/ When I started this blog I wrote a post describing a few of the podcasts I was listening to that I felt were worth recommending to others. It’s time to augment that list. There are three I recently started listening to that I think everyone should make time to do likewise: “The Breach” by Rewire News and Lindsay E. Beyerstein. “Stay Tuned with Preet” by WNYC Radio and Preet Bharara. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2017/11/why-do-food-products-like-pancakes-sausage-bites-exist/ Sun, 26 Nov 2017 20:23:11 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2017/11/why-do-food-products-like-pancakes-sausage-bites-exist/ Recently I started shopping at Grocery Outlet. I love popping in and finding that they have acquired a batch of goat or other interesting cheese and are offering it for less than half the price at the other grocery stores in the area. So when I saw them selling Jimmy Dean “Pancakes & Sausage Bites” for $2.99, compared to the $9.98 it purportedly sells for at typical stores, I decided to buy a box. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2017/11/scheduling-backups-on-macos-sierra-and-high-sierra/ Thu, 23 Nov 2017 20:02:30 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2017/11/scheduling-backups-on-macos-sierra-and-high-sierra/ MacOS Sierra (OS X 10.12) modified the behavior of Time Machine from doing hourly backups to using a heuristic that decides whether to do a backup based on recent activity. For most users that’s a better approach since it makes it less likely the user will notice the performance impact of backups and will increase how far back in time backups are available. However, if you’re a software developer the new behavior is problematic. https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2017/10/i-am-surprised-that-an-isp-serversaustralia-com-au-is-ethical/ Wed, 01 Nov 2017 04:57:05 +0000 krader@skepticism.us (Kurtis Rader) https://www.skepticism.us/posts/2017/10/i-am-surprised-that-an-isp-serversaustralia-com-au-is-ethical/ I received an email a few days ago telling me about an opportunity for me, as a customer, to obtain a discount on other services an ISP provided. Since I wasn’t a customer I told them shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. I was surprised to receive a response from someone in the organization telling me this: Please accept our sincere apologies for the Marketing communication you received. This was an inadvertent error.