July 11, 2017

At the Moscow Mess Café...

moscow mess

... you can talk about things that don't already have posts this morning. The Don Jr. email issue already has 2 posts, so please go to one of those to talk about that. But I did choose Moscow as the place formy Google Street View grab. I needed a picture to amuse you and mark the location of a "café." I like photos of things that are kind of messed up, even though I like things to be clean and orderly in real life. But real life isn't like that, so it's best not to nurture too much of a fetish about simplicity and neatness.

Anyway, I have to remind you that it's a "Prime Day" at Amazon, so it's an especially good time to use The Althouse Amazon Portal.

34 comments:

n.n said...

Russians are rebuilding after Soviet dreams of global hegemony and redistributive change schemes impoverished the nation and her people.

Laslo Spatula said...

Fuck Russia. Let's think about hot chicks we knew in High School instead!

Laslo Films presents "The Girl On the Phone 2: High School Sexy!"

"The Girl On the Phone 2: High School Sexy!"

Tucker reaches out to a high school classmate.

A Yearbook has been studied closely.

A Cheerleader Doll.


I am Laslo.

rehajm said...

Interesting read on the power of Twitter to create and propagate fake news: Bots have turned Twitter into a powerful disinformation platform

tim in vermont said...

Can we at lest blame Trump for that mess?

The Bergall said...

CNN says that Donald Trump Jr has ties to Donald Trump. More to follow..........

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Trump Tower Mosow site?

Hagar said...

The Japanes and U.S. Navy have fished the wreckage of several North Korean missiles out of the ocean and found that "critical components" of the missiles bore Chinese factory markings.
Also the last missile, the one supposed to be able to reach Alaska, suddenly appeared out of nowhere on a mobile transport vehicle and was then set up on a local launching pad.

Is it possible that the whole NK missile program in fact just is a Chinese program?

tcrosse said...

Moscow nights.
Paul McCartney colludes with you-know-who.

rhhardin said...

I'm running into a serious run of awful DVD films. Apparently I have all the decent ones already.

Current most interesting old one: Edge of Tomorrow: Live, Die, Repeat.

It's actually a romcom with almost everything left out.

The high point is a scene where Emily Blunt realizes she's being courted and taken care of by what she has to admit seems to be a nice guy, who is nevertheless not single-minded enough for her about winning the war.

The kiss much later was a script mistake. It has to be kept all in the out-of-script future.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

We just watched "Lion" and cried. The real people are in it at the end.

mccullough said...

Looks like Detroit, maybe nicer

Hagar said...

Russia is not the other "superpower." There are 2½ Americans for every Russian (and all of those are not "Russian").
However, there are 4½ Chinese (though all of those are not "Chinese" either) for every American.

h said...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_campaign_finance_controversy#Criticism_of_investigation

David Baker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael K said...

Is it possible that the whole NK missile program in fact just is a Chinese program?

No, it's a Bill Clinton payback for campaign contributions.

It seems fair as they paid for that technology.

"Clinton Foundation" anyone?

President Clinton said in a letter to Congress that the transfer would not harm national security or significantly improve China's military capability in space. The President was required under a 1998 law to certify that all such technology exports are in the national interest.

The certification was the first such notice to Congress under the law, which was passed in the aftermath of a Congressional uproar last year over the transfer of sensitive missile technology to China.

Mr. Clinton's notification also follows by less than a week the release of a report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which concluded that lax monitoring of the launching of American-made satellites aboard Chinese rockets had enhanced the accuracy of China's ballistic missile arsenal.


Move along. Nothing to see here,.

Clyde said...

I used the Google Maps function yesterday to stroll through Havana. Back in the day, communist dictatorships like the Soviet Union and Cuba didn't allow photography in their cities. State secrets. One of the 360 degree picture locations in Havana had a big poster of Castro in red and black with "SOCIALISMO O MUERTE." They get both. Surprisingly, there were a few modern cars among the old Chevys from the '50s and the odd Lada. Definitely the most diverse group of automobiles you're likely to find.

Etienne said...

One of the most dangerous things in your home, is the AC outlet.

Most people aren't aware of all the dangers, and routinely ignore hard won skills made in the 20th century.

Madison Coe was recently killed when she found that AC and taking a bath are incompatible. The story seems to blame her cell phone, but the phone has nothing to do with it. It's the AC phone charger that will kill you. Not the DC battery.

As a matter of fact, you can drop your cell phone into the bath, and nothing will happen (other than the cell phone being destroyed).

In my bathrooms of the last 50 years, there has been a great distance between the shaver outlet, and the tub or shower. The light switch is a great distance as well.

The famous French singer Claude François killed himself monkeying with the hanging light bulb while taking a shower. This event finally forced Parisians to update their wiring codes.

Thomas Edison was against AC in the homes. He said it was designed for electric chairs to kill people. Westinghouse blew him away with AC though. He had transformers designed to distribute electricity long distances, while Edison had to build electric generators close to the users.

Today, 12 volts DC, 24 Volts DC, and 48 volts DC are everywhere. On airplanes the generators produce 28 volts DC. Then where needed for compatibility, Inverters are used to provide AC.

Same with cars. 12 Volts DC can be converted to 115 Volts AC with an Inverter (half a UPS).

Both my computer and TV operates on 12 Volts DC. They plugs into a transformer that converts 115 Volts AC to 12 Volts DC. That plugs into a UPS that converts 115 volts AC to 12 Volts DC, and then back to 115 Volts AC using an Inverter.

This is bullshit. UPS should have a 12 Volt DC output choice.

A lot less people would be killed by AC, if their homes were wired for 12 Volts DC.

D 2 said...

My memory is foggy, but i seem to recall in an earlier iteration of google streetview (on google earth maybe?) when it first appeared, that you could " set " the map to scroll at a nice leisurely speed, and so travel from, say, wheeling over to cincinnati while doing dishes. And that China had more to look at, than in the current iteration of google maps.

I have also noticed that Europeans and South Americans tend to put fences and gates up where in NA there arent any (front yard areas in particular). No science yet to back that random observation.

Borders and checkpoints are always interesting in streetview. I think there was one in west africa - neat view of the transit pattern.

Michael said...

So now we have our very hostess signaling the Russian message to the Trump cabal. Surely she knows the cryptic note on the bricks and its implications to the Russian collaboration. Very very clever.

Gahrie said...

I just lent my niece the first six seasons of game of Thrones on DVD. Judging from the comments I'm getting on Facebook...she has just finished season 1 episode 9.

Etienne said...

All the lights in my auto shop have been converted to LED's. The problem though, is that each one of these store-bought light bulbs has AC to DC electronics in it.

This is crazy, but that's how you go from obsolete to modern technology easily.

What we really want, is 12 Volt DC LED bulbs. We don't want AC anywhere in the lighting solution. AC is good for Furnace, Oven, Washing, and Dryer. Definitely not needed for lighting.

I don't really have to change the wiring, as the AC wiring works fine with DC. But at the circuit breaker box, I need these outgoing wires to go to 12 Volts, and not 115 Volts.

So I bought a big 12 Volt battery bank that is charged by the 115 Volts. It will last 12 hours during a power loss. Then a second circuit breaker panel was installed, and I moved all the lighting wires from the 115 Volt panel to the 12 Volt panel.

The problem is, I had to crack open each light bulb and remove the AC to DC converter circuit. This of course is why the bulbs are expensive. So I'm buying cheap LED's with expensive voltage converters, and throwing away the expensive part.

I'd like to find light bulbs that are 12 Volt DC with a standard screw for home lighting.

I may have to start a company to manufacture these. All I need is 400 investors!

Yea....

rhhardin said...

A lot less people would be killed by AC, if their homes were wired for 12 Volts DC.

AC or DC doesn't matter to how lethal it is. It's voltage.

You want higher voltage to keep the current low for a given power. High current causes fires when there's a little too much resistance in the wiring. You'd need huge, huge wires for a 12v house. Your 1200 watt microwave would draw 100 amps in normal use, which would be #3 gauge wire on each side of the power cord. That's a half inch diameter each side.

rhhardin said...

Put a fuse at the battery sized for the finest gauge wire used in the system, or you will certainly burn the house down.

Or fuse the finer gauge wires separately if the main fuse is too heavy for them.

tcrosse said...

In my bathrooms of the last 50 years, there has been a great distance between the shaver outlet, and the tub or shower.

Most codes require a ground fault interrupter for circuits anywhere near water pipes.
This shuts down any current through an unintended path, like through you.

Big Mike said...

I like photos of things that are kind of messed up, even though I like things to be clean and orderly in real life. But real life isn't like that, so it's best not to nurture too much of a fetish about simplicity and neatness.

The 1970s hippie chick is older and perhaps wiser, but deep inside her core, the hippie chick is still there.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Etienne said...

rhhardin said...You want higher voltage to keep the current low for a given power.

Yes, but most things today use wall wart transformers. High power appliances should be kept separate, for sure. Good point.

My main goal is lighting, as most of my tools are pneumatic or 220 Volts.

Narayanan said...

Hagar ...
Considering that any improvement in range will bring in all of China ... The norks are definitely China puppets.

Etienne said...

tcrosse said...Most codes require a ground fault interrupter for circuits anywhere near water pipes. This shuts down any current through an unintended path, like through you.

When we remodeled the bathroom, the electrician was installing a regular plug into the box. I asked him if it should be a GFI plug, and he said it was a city code, but not a county code, and we live in the county.

I told him I wanted all the work to pass the city code. He charged me more, but as they say, you can pay me now, or pay me later.

tim in vermont said...

Current most interesting old one: Edge of Tomorrow: Live, Die, Repeat.

It's actually a romcom with almost everything left out.


Ha ha ha! You are right!

Hagar said...

I think the expression is "cat's paw."

William said...

Edge of Tomorow is fun to rewatch. All the time loop movies--Looper, Ground Hog Day, Edge--can withstand repeated viewings. There's something meta going on when you rewatch them.

Robert said...

I am still waiting for a Russia story that shows someone, anyone on the DNC staff was working for Russia. If you really want to influence things, you have to work both sides. Help one. Hurt another.

Someone in the data analysis group perhaps that told the campaign managers that visiting Wisconsin was not needed.

And if not done by a DNC someone, could the DNC data have been modified to say Wisconsin is a lock.