Author Archives: Jim at JimsBBS

Extreme Maga Republicans

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The following is a list of the 20 Congressional Representatives that held up the vote for Kevin McCarthy as speaker for 15 rounds of voting in early January 2023.  These people are the ones who are most likely to block any reasonable issues before congress.  They are Maga Republican radicals , far right extremists, who only can be controlled by the voters within their districts.  If you care for democracy, if you do not want the populists to take over our country, vote these guys out of office. There are other Maga Republicans, but this is the group who even blocked one of their own.  

AZ       Andy Biggs

AZ       Eli Crane

AZ       Paul Gosar

NC       Dan Bishop

CO       Lauren Boebert

FL        Anna Paulina Luna

FL        Byron Donalds

FL        Matt Gaetz

GA      Andrew Clyde

IL         Mary Miller

MD     Andy Harris

MT      Matt Rosendale

OK       Josh Brecheen

PA       Scott Perry

SC       Ralph Norman

TN       Andy Ogles

TX       Michael Cloud

TX       Chip Roy

TX       Keith Self

VA       Bob Good

‘No chance’ of global heating below 1.5C but nuclear tech ‘promising’ in cli mate crisis, Bill Gates says

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Bill Gates is investing lots of money in health, climate, and nuclear power. This article is from a speech he made this week.

This line below makes me think that perhaps our great great grand children will have it better than me.

“I’m still very optimistic that it will be much better to be born 20, 40, 60 years from now than [at] any time in the past.”

If the climate crisis causes you mental anguish, don’t read it.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/23/no-chance-of-global-heating-below-15c-but-nuclear-tech-promising-in-climate-crisis-bill-gates-says?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

ChatGPT: How artificial intelligence affects critical thinking | Opinion

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https://www.deseret.com/2023/1/23/23562681/chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-critical-thinking-dark-ages

The above linked article is a critical look at AI in general and what the internet has done to our student population. It is a long read, I doubt anyone younger than 30 will read it. Of course, that is what the article forecasts.

I know that some people younger than 21 won’t even read emails. Since this post doesn’t have any pictures, They probably won’t read this either.

Read a book!

Safer Chocolates

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The February 2023 issue of Consumer Reports has an article exposing which dark chocolates have high levels of Lead and Cadmium. The five bars shown here are the safest, have the least Lead and Cadmium. Of this group, Mast is the best.

A Book – The Sawtooth Slayer

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Nathan Dylan Goodwin writes mysteries where investigative genetic genealogy is used to help solve the cases. The books of his that I have previously read have been excellent. This book looks to be the same. I have just started it, but am already finding it hard to put down.

This is a quote from someone who has already read it through.

“I just finished the recent Venator Cold Case book by Nathan Dylan Goodwin….. called The Sawtooth Slayer. I couldn’t put it down. I appreciated the forensic process…. laid out so well by Goodwin… clusters, genetic communities, reverse genealogy. It is all there.”

(The following comments were written after I finished reading it.)

Well, the rains came right on time, giving me an excuse to keep reading this newest book by Nathan Dylan Goodwin, The Sawtooth Slayer.  I couldn’t stop until I had read it all.

The book lays out how modern DNA analysis and genealogy can work together to solve not only cold cases, but current ones as well.  This is the first mystery book that I’ve actually marked up with stickers to help me keep track of the many research sites used during the story.

Nathan is actually a historical, genealogical mystery crime writer, but in this series of books, genetics has been introduced to help solve living crimes.  If you like mysteries, or genealogy you should enjoy this read.

We should get together and trace the clustering methods used and then map out the family trees developed in the story, both forward and “reverse” so we could learn how the conclusions were reached.  And someone should make and share a list of all the research sites mentioned.

https://www.nathandylangoodwin.com/

A new Comet is coming around the Sun

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A comet known as C/2022 E3, marked by its bright green nucleus and long faint ion tail, will be on display in the Earth sky later this month — possibly for the first time ever.

“If C/2022 E3 has ever passed through the solar system before, it would have last been seen in the sky more than 10,000 years ago,” says Jon Giorgini, a senior analyst at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The comet is expected to reach its closest proximity to the sun on Jan. 12. Then, about three weeks later, beginning Feb. 1, it will be most visible from Earth. You might be able to find it near the bright star Polaris, otherwise known as the North Star, in the early evening.

Perhaps you can see it with the naked eye or simple binoculars.

Live longer with a sense of purpose!

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Having a sense of purpose may help you live longer, research shows.

The analysis revealed that those with the strongest sense of purpose lowered their risk of death by 15.2% compared to people with the least sense of purpose. The results showed no significant differences in this association regardless of the participants’ race or ethnicity.

The findings also showed that purpose was more strongly associated with longevity in women than men, although it provided a significant benefit for both.

See the full article here:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/longevity-having-a-purpose-may-help-you-live-longer-healthier#Living-longer-and-healthier-with-purpose

DALL-E and ChatGPT are from the same company

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Did you know that ChatGPT was created by the same company that created DALL-E ? That is OpenAI. OpenAI is a private company, so far, and is owned by private investors.

https://openai.com/

DALL-E 2 is a new AI system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language. The images in this post were created by DALL-E. .

https://openai.com/dall-e-2/

If you have an account at either AI site, it will work at the other site. Your account is actually an OpenAI account! I wonder what their next system will be?! .

OpenAI has provided a chat bot called ChatGPT that you really should try

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ChatGPT is a chatbot launched by OpenAI November 30, 2022. It is built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 family of large language models, and is fine-tuned with both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques. ChatGPT answers complex questions conversationally.  It’s a revolutionary technology because it’s trained to learn what humans mean when they ask a question.

The use of ChatGPT is currently free during the “research preview” time. There are no advertisements, no fees. Try it while you can.

To use the program, go to

chat.openai.com

You will need to create an account. It will need your email address, a password, your name and a phone # for text verification. Once you are in, type your comment or questions in the bottom line. Think of a session as a conversation. ChatGPT will remember what you previously said during this session. You can refine your question, “prime the pump” as it were. So far, I have been impressed! This might be as revolutionary as Google!

During my first session, I gave it this question: What are the benefits of a DNA special interest group? ChatGPT replied with the following text.

A DNA special interest group (SIG) is a group of individuals who have a shared interest in using DNA testing for genealogy and family history research. DNA SIGs typically provide a forum for members to share information, resources, and expertise related to DNA testing and genealogy.

Some potential benefits of joining a DNA SIG may include:

  1. Access to information and resources: DNA SIGs often have a wealth of information and resources related to DNA testing and genealogy, including educational materials, case studies, and links to relevant websites and databases.
  2. Opportunities for networking and collaboration: DNA SIGs provide a platform for members to connect with others who have similar interests and to collaborate on research projects.
  3. Expertise and support: DNA SIGs often have members with a wide range of expertise and experience in DNA testing and genealogy. These individuals can provide support and guidance to other members who are new to the field or who have specific questions or challenges.
  4. Community involvement: DNA SIGs can be a great way to get involved in the genealogy community and to contribute to the advancement of DNA testing and genealogy research.





Try it now.  Some folks are using it to write papers in college!  Some are using it to impress.  Some are using it for research. This type of “bot” will be with us into the future.  You can say that you were part of the “early days”.  OMG