Truth follows fiction. This is what Carl Hiaasen’s book “Squeeze Me” is all about.
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‘Beast of a snake’: Huge python caught in the Everglades sets a new record
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article246305275.html
“When Trump walked through the doors, Walter Reed had a stellar reputation. As he walks out 72 hours later, its reputation is in tatters. There’s nothing Trump can’t ruin.”
— Maureen Dowd
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Pierre Schwob, a client for the fourth time over several decades, has just handed me the final draft of his novel. It’s up to me to get it published and make headline news. I believe his words will shake up the world to completely understand what needs to be done to save the planet. Schwob is an entrepreneur, inventor, and philanthropist based in Palo Alto, CA.
He founded (1994) and runs Classical Archives (ClassicalArchives.com). He invented and licensed the ID LOGIC technology for radio receivers which was incorporated into a US national standard. Author of books on chess, calculators and history (1975-76), he taught computer science at NY FIT and the NYU adjunct faculty (1981-86).
He supports cosmology research at KIPAC (Stanford/SLAC) and foreign affairs policy research at CISAC (Stanford). He was raised in Geneva , Switzerland and has lived in New York (13 y), Hong Kong (11 y) and now Palo Alto since 1997. An asteroid has been named after him. Let’s see if I can make him a star right here on earth.
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Night Terrors
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I thought we had a home invasion when I woke up at 3am. It turned out to be our stationary bike with a tripod plus camera behind it.
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Early Morning Walks
I will remember this video forever.
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Is Your iPhone Listening To You?
If you use Facebook, Instagram or other social media sites, you must have noticed ads on your feeds for certain products that you clicked on when you visited various retail websites. The first time I saw this I was amazed. How did Facebook know I wanted that blouse?”
One time I even received a notice that said, “You left this at check out.” That was correct. I placed a sweater in a checkout cart but decided not to buy it. Now that my Facebook feed reminded me of the sweater, I actually bought it. Mission accomplished by the retailer.
If all that is not scary enough, let me tell you what happened to two friends of mine. They were in the Cole Haan store in Columbus Circle, NYC last week when one guy said to the other, “I really like these shoes.” He was referring to a pair that was being showcased on a display table near him. They never mentioned the name of the shoes, the price, the color, or where they were standing. Later that night, an ad for the exact pair of shoes appeared on their Facebook feeds. Was it a coincidence? I don’t think so. Welcome to the new world of GPS, algorithms, and voice recordings.
I googled the possibilities. Here is one story I found in Forbes.
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Finally, The Truth
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Puzzlement
After completing 17 puzzles during the pandemic, the 18th fell out of Eliot’s hands when placing it on an adhesive sheet. It usually takes Eliot, two/three days of 8 hours each, to complete a 1000 to 1,500 piece puzzle. They will all be donated to charity.
Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill stepped out of her #stayathome comfy clothes and got dressed up to deliver an important “live events” message for everyone in America. We better listen carefully. We all want to return to performances on stage. Thank you Lucie.
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Warning: if you are a wine lover, expect to weep.
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SOUND FAMILIAR …….?
When one door closes and another door opens, you are probably in prison.
Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:00 pm is the new midnight.
The older I get, the earlier it gets late.
When I say, “The other day,” I could be referring to any time between yesterday and 30 years ago.
I remember being able to get up without making sound effects
I had my patience tested. I’m negative.
Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer it comes back as a Tupperware lid that doesn’t fit any of your containers.
If you’re sitting in public and a stranger takes the seat next to you, just stare straight ahead and say “Did you bring the money?”
When you ask me what I am doing today, and I say “nothing”, it does not mean I am free. It means I am doing nothing.
I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.
I run like the winded.
I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed the beginning and don’t know whose side I’m on.
When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, “Why, what did you hear?”
When you do squats are your knees supposed to sound like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?
I don’t mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited.
When I ask for directions, please don’t use words like “east.”
Don’t bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would be boring. Spend 30 seconds in my head. That’ll freak you right out.
My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.
Many of us don’t want to hear about another thing to do while we all have to #stayathome. Enough already. Let us out. We want to see children, friends, the theater, museums, sporting events, concerts, and go shopping in a mall.
Unfortunately that is going to take a while. Eliot and I do so much online that we are busy day and night. We will probably continue some of the virtual events after the pandemic because many have been entertaining, educational and convenient.
That’s why the new offering from Amazon caught my attention. I’m not crazy about Amazon dominating my life, but that’s the world we live in.
Amazon is now offering virtual classes, sightseeing tours, and shopping experiences on a new platform called Amazon Explore.l
A press release announcing The Explore platform says it currently allows customers to participate in sessions on an invite-only basis. I think that means you apply, and then you get accepted.
I am definitely going to sign up for a few sessions to explore “lessons to landmarks” with the help of instructors and tour guides. They even have personal shoppers.
If this turns out to be a marketing ploy to get us to buy merchandise we can turn it off immediately. Hosts determine the price of the course. The good news is that you can talk to them directly. I don’t think this is a zoom session. The
host is the only person on camera and you chat via the microphone on your laptop, or desktop computer. I guess PJ’s are allowed.
I also understand that instructors are from all over the world and have diverse backgrounds in order to share first hand experiences.
I’m going to try Amazon Explore, but if you beat me to it, let me know what you think so I can tell the others. Go to Amazon and type in “Amazon Explore.” Enjoy!
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Thank You Leslie Mark Alter For The Art Work
I have a business friend who told me years ago that he was working on a new invention that would replace the way autopsies are performed today. I thought he was kidding because he said, “No more slicing and dicing. Computers will be giving dignity back to the dead.” I liked the idea of that but I really couldn’t comprehend the new autopsy process he was describing. It was called “augmented reality.”
I thought about that conversation many times over the years. Every time I watched an episode of “Law and Order” I think of my old friend Charlie and wonder what ever happened to his invention.
Today I got a clue. The WSJ ran a story about the future of autopsies. They were going virtual. I don’t know if my friend is involved but I will try to call him this week if he still has the same number. I learned that digital reconstructions and machine-learning algorithms are being used to diagnose the cause of deaths.
Read about it here. If you can’t open this link, let me know and I will copy the story for you.
Augmented Reality Offers a Promise of Incision-Free Autopsies
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Why Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos won’t endorse Trump and Biden – Vox
This reminds me of some so called friends who often say to me “I support your efforts Lois but I can’t say it out loud because I might lose patients, business, customers, readers, fans, blah blah.
https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/9/30/21492411/tech-billionaires-endorsements-trump-biden
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Pier 26 Officially Opens to the Public in Tribeca – New York YIMBY
Pier 26 Officially Opens to the Public in Tribeca
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I suggest shutting the shades on your windows, even on high floors, because the world’s first jet suit-wearing paramedic could be flying by.
England is experimenting with putting first responders in a 1050 brake horsepower jet suit for speedy rescues. Watch the video, it is amazing.
Richard Browning, founder of Gravity Industries, makers of the jet suit, demonstrated how humans will finally be able to fly. The video shows how you can fly from a valley to a very high elevation like the UNESCO-protected heritage site. The Lake District is known for some of England’s highest peaks.
Browning believes that his new invention will help save lives all over the world. “First responders will be able to reach some patients much quicker than ever before.”
The jet suit was built by using 3D printed parts, specialist electronics and five jet engines. Anyone interested in taking a ride can soar at speeds of 32 miles per hour and ascend to altitudes of 12,000 feet.”
Read more about it here:
https://www.mercurynews.com/video-mountain-rescue-fire-up-the-jet-suit
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My Friend Ray Shared This Letter He Sent To Joe Biden
He also sent the message below to 30 politically connected people including an Obama ambassador and fundraiser, Henry Louis Gates, Jr, Deval Patrick & his campaign managers, Madeleine Albright’s brother, people from The New Yorker & the NYT, Michael Dukakis, and others.
Good afternoon,
I have two degrees from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Donald Trump was a year behind me at Penn. Trump parachuted into Penn from Fordham for his junior and senior years. Beginning in 2016, I joined a group of Penn classmates to investigate whether Trump’s father bribed his way into Penn and paid for others to write his papers and take his tests.
Since Trump, the fake stable genius, is attacking Joe Biden’s education credentials, my classmates and I would like to send the retort below to the Biden Campaign Team for use when under fire
If there are any more “debates,” Trump will continue to denigrate Biden’s education — implying that Trump is better educated and smarter (because of Wharton)
Joe should have a packaged retort:
I have heard from your Penn classmates that your daddy bribed your way into Penn as a junior when you were about to flunk out of FordhamYour classmates have no memory of you being on the Penn campus and because of your 6th grade vocabulary, lack of grammar, and lack of intellectual curiosity, they assume that you didn’t attend class and paid someone to write your papers and take your tests.
By pathetically trying to denigrate my college experience because I couldn’t afford an Ivy League education, you are also denigrating all of the brilliant talented people who have attended state universities and community colleges because those are the best schools their hardworking families could afford.At least they weren’t gullible enough to attend Trump University
Thank you,
Ray
DigiDame 