Author: DOuG pRATt

Why Do I Bother?

Nothing of what Trump posted about the murder of Rob Reiner surprises me. And yet, I can’t stop myself from saying something about it.

“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-disparages-rob-reiner-political-views-murder/

For someone who doesn’t drink, Trump’s late night rants are typical of someone with a substance abuse problem. He blames the victim while making it about himself. If Rob Reiner was “tortured and struggling,” it wasn’t about Trump, it was because of his drug-addicted son.

Elbonia General

Scott Adams is back in the hospital. He’s receiving radiation treatments. I can relate.

Having had a large chunk of melanoma carved out of my scalp eight years ago, a spot that recently appeared on my stomach concerned me. My dermatologist was quick to assure me it’s nothing.

Two spots on my leg, however, were immediate candidates for biopsy. I’m now waiting for the results.

No Maybes

A couple of weeks ago, 60 Minutes had this segment about the yes|no “bet on anything” prediction market company Polymarket.

Anderson Cooper didn’t ask if Polymarket uses AI. Online sources say it does. Is the voting entirely human, or have bots infiltrated that part of the system? It seems ripe for manipulation.

I’m not going to join Polymarket, but I will make these two virtual bets.

  • Q: Was Donald Trump’s MRI for a suspected mini-stroke? A: YES
  • Q: Will Donald Trump serve out his full term? A: NO

Update for a Sunday Afternoon

Oh boy! Driver updates! I’m very interested in taking these, because it’s a Qualcomm system. I doubt Microsoft considers Snapdragon a semi-experimental platform for Windows 11, but I do. Much more interesting than having another x64 system.

What I was most curious about is the Bluetooth update. Audio/video synch was way off with my Sony SRS-BTX500 Bluetooth speaker. The native Windows driver was almost certainly negotiating the AAC codec. For $6, I bought Bluetooth Goodies’ replacement driver in order to negotiate AptX. It was money well spent.

Before taking the updates I returned Bluetooth to the native Windows driver. Would the update fix the audio sync problem?

Most definitely yes! Is AptX — a Qualcomm specification — being negotiated, or has AAC been fixed? I don’t know, but it seems I will be able to stick with the Windows driver. If anything goes wrong, I’ll flip back to Bluetooth Goodies.