Author Archives: Jim at JimsBBS

The Louvre’s collections are online

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The Louvre Museum announced that its entire collections are now available to view online at collections.louvre.fr

La base de données Collections présente plus de 480 000 œuvres du musée du Louvre et du musée national Eugène-Delacroix. Enrichie quotidiennement, elle est issue d’un travail continu de recherche et de documentation mené par le personnel scientifique des deux musées. 

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The Collections database consists of entries for more than 480,000 works in the Musée du Louvre and Musée National Eugène-Delacroix. Updated on a daily basis, it is the result of the continuous research and documentation efforts carried out by teams of experts from both museums.

Cause and Effect

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A judge in Colorado blocked Boulder’s two-year-old ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines earlier this month — less than two weeks later, 10 people were killed during a mass shooting at one of the city’s supermarkets. According to the affidavit, investigators determined that the suspect, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, purchased an assault rifle on March 16, 2021.

Boulder County District Court Judge Andrew Hartman ruled on March 12 that the 2018 ban, which outlawed the possession, sale or transfer of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines (LCMs), was invalid because it runs contrary to state law.

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Assault weapons were banned across the country for 10 years under the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, commonly called the Assault Weapons ban, until 2004 when Congress failed to reauthorize the ban. Many states have since passed their own assault weapons laws, some more stringent than the federal ban.

President Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee when Congress passed the ban. He wrote in a 2019 New York Times op-ed that, if elected president, he would push to ban them again.

“Assault weapons — military-style firearms designed to fire rapidly — are a threat to our national security, and we should treat them as such,” Mr. Biden wrote.

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Yes, we did it once. We can do it again. Try harder….

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Testing YouTube Connections

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Sorry folks, this post is primarily a test run to see which of the 3 youtube display methods shown below actually shows up in the post generated for followers. My previous post did not display the youtube properly as shown in type 2 below, even though is shows properly on the actual site. Perhaps type 3 will work. WordPress has changed to a block editor and it confuses the heck out of me. Fingers crossed, as they say.

type 1 link via target=blank Click Here to see the video.
type 2 plain url Click Below to see the video.
type 3 wordpress embedded controls

Making Training Videos with Zoom

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woman-with-robotsSometimes it is better to show someone how to do things vs. doing it for them. You know, teach them to fish vs. feeding them a fish. And then there are people like me that need a printed menu when the steps get complicated. So I have created a script to make training films using Zoom and then I used the script to create a film showing how to do the same!

The following PDF shows two types of films to make, the video only shows the first. Enjoy…

Click Here to see/download the PDF.

Click Below to see the video.

Good Flics 4

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Here are some movies that we enjoyed recently. Some are serials, some are films. They are not in rank order, they are simply alphabetized. Enjoy….

Amazon Prime

Archive
Edge of Extinction
James vs His Future Self
Prodigy
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
Tinker
Uncle Frank

Netflix

About Time
Arrow
Call My Agent *
Hinterland
Jericho
Lupin
Marco Polo
Midnight Special
Moxie
Occupied
Parker
Queens Gambit *
Ragnarok
The Dig
The Discovery
The Messengers
The Midnight Sky
The Professor and The Madman
War Dogs
White Tiger

How to some stuff

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How to prevent video autoplay in Chromium Edge

The new Edge is fast and slick.  But videos are starting up when I open a new page without my permission!  I hate that, especially when I want my browsing to remain quiet!  I had blocked this long ago in Chrome and had forgotten that this could be optional.  When this happens in Edge, you’ll probably find that the autoplay-block option has to be enabled.  Curiously, Microsoft does not display this block option in Settings by default, but the option exists!  We have to enable the option.  Copy the next line into the address bar and press Enter:

edge://flags/#edge-autoplay-user-setting-block-option

Once this flag is enabled, you should see Block on the autoplay options menu.

You will see a list of new options, enable Block.

Then go into Settings, search for Media Autoplay, and set it to Block. Then do Restart of Edge.

How to find (and then delete) large files in your Gmail account

It is easy to forget to delete emails in your Gmail system. When these forgotten emails contain large files, like videos and pictures, lots of space can accumulate. I know I sometimes receive humorous videos from friends that I view and then send to others later. When later goes into the next day, I often forget about the file.

You can easily search for old emails by size and then delete them. If the old large files are important, you should save them to your computer and then back them up in an organized fashion!

To search for Gmail mails by size simply type the following into the search bar and hit enter.

size:20 mb

You can use a different size, of course, but I have found that 20 mb is a reasonable first run. Go ahead, surprise yourself.  Review each large email and delete accordingly.

“It continues to be true that Flat-Earthers have supporters all around the globe.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson

Sandra’s Shepherd’s Pie

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According to Google, this “casserole” can be called a Shepard’s pie only if it contains lamb and a Cottage Pie only if it contains beef. Ah well, this is delicious with “fowl”, and we can call it whatever we want!  It is very good.  Serve with a light green or almond & mandarin orange salad.

Ingredients for Potatoes

  • 1 1/2 lb. potatoes, peeled
  • 4 tbsp. melted butter
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Ingredients for Filling

  • 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 2 small parsnips, cauliflower or other vegetable of choice
  • 3/4 cup frozen corn
  • 3/4 cup frozen peas
  • 1 tsp. garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp. fresh sage, minced
  • 3/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1 1/2 lb. ground turkey or chicken
  • 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour or 1 pad brown gravy mix
  • 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.

Make mashed potatoes: In a large pot over high heat, cover potatoes with water and add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until completely tender, 16 to 18 minutes. Drain and return to pot.

Use a potato masher to mash potatoes until smooth. Add melted butter, milk, and sour cream. Mash together until fully incorporated, then season with salt and pepper and fold in 1 cup cheese. Set aside.

Make turkey/chicken mixture: In a large, ovenproof skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion, carrots, parsnips (if using), garlic, thyme, sage and cook until fragrant and softened, 5 minutes. Deglaze with wine and cook 2 minutes more. Add ground turkey or chicken and cook until no longer pink, 5 minutes more. Add other vegetables, cauliflower (if using), corn, peas. Note: use whatever veggies you have handy and put the hard ones in first.

Sprinkle meat with flour (or brown gravy mix) and stir to evenly distribute. Cook 1 minute more and add broth. Bring to a simmer and let mixture thicken slightly, 5 minutes.  Add parsley.

Top meat mixture with an even layer of mashed potatoes, sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake until there is very little liquid visible and mashed potatoes are golden, about 35 minute.

Historic memory vs Human lifespan

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I believe that our historic memory is longer than our physical lives and that is what causes many of our continuous wars. We don’t forget because we’ve never learned to forgive in our brief lifetime. We live too short a life. “Forgive so you can forget.”

*The Mongols fought the Chinese back in 1200 AD, but the Chinese still suppress the Hyghurs and the Tibetans who descended from the early Mongols.

*Southeast USA lost the civil war to the Northeast USA back in 1865, yet the South still feel slavery is their civil right.

*The Christians tried to kill off the Muslims during the Crusades back in the 1400s, and are still “anti Islamic”.

*The Pope never defeated the slant eyed Easterners, and so now white Westerners don’t trust the Chinese.

*The Romans couldn’t defeat the “Huns” and so now don’t trust the Russians nor anyone from the “stan” countries.

Face it, we are all in this together, no matter who your ancestors had a fight with. Global Warming will defeat us all if we don’t join hands against this common enemy

 

the work week is an antiquated political view

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If you look up “work week” in Wikipedia, you will find that a periodic pause to daily working was originally developed either for religious purposes presumably to give people time to support their local priests or for farmers to create a market day for the sale of their goods.

I propose that we ban the work week entirely. Our modern society needs to keep businesses open 24/7. Like health care, banks, police & fire, computer systems, infrastructure, internet, and on and on.

At the same time, over population coupled with higher productivity has created the ability to give everyone a job if we work fewer hours per person.

Not wanting to ban calendars with weeks right off, I purpose we work 5 hours a day for 4 days in a row, and then have 4 days off. (Yes, 20 hours every 8 days.) Meanwhile, companies would be required to be open every day so they would need to facilitate a “staggered” work environment. Salary would be required to provide a living wage for every employed person, a living wage vs. the minimum wage. New calendars would have 8 days per week.

If someone enjoys their work enough to work more hours, fine. But no one else should loose their job because of this. Volunteering would be allowed! Overtime would also be allowed during emergencies.

If I could, I would ban inequality at the same time. But I figure moving too fast might be met with resistance. 🙂

Btw, I do mean that the 5 work day week is a political view. Yes, teachers might argue that we have 2 days off per week because business’s care about people. Those are the same people who take summers off!

100 years from now, this time will be history. Write it well.

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The Dunning Kruger effect is a well-known and proven condition where the less someone knows about a subject the more strongly they both believe in it AND
believe they are experts in the field despite lacking any real understanding.

We see this in actual flat earthers who really exist today. Also in anti-vaxers, and people who believe the moon landing was faked.

The lower the IQ the more strongly this effect is felt. Always remember that the average IQ is only 100 despite former VP Dan Quayle’s supposed announcement that he wouldn’t rest until “all our students are above average.”

Wear your mask, at least then you might appear smarter than average.

Still, he was impeached twice!

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The ending of the impeachment trial feels predictably anticlimactic. The idea that it would bring Trump to justice was always wishful thinking.

All the more reason to honor these honest Republican’s who stood up to Trump today:

Richard Burr, North Carolina, 65
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana, 63
Susan Collins, Maine, 68
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, 63
Mitt Romney, Utah, 73
Ben Sasse, Nebraska, 48
Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania, 59

If you see them, thank them for me.

“Don’t let the bees follow the butterflies.”

Amanda Gorman: 2017 National Youth Poet Laureate

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This 22 year old read her own poem at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Watch her on Youtube or read her words yourself. Impressive and inspiring indeed!

When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry, a sea we must wade.
We’ve braved the belly of the beast.
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace,
and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn’t always justice.
And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken,
but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.

And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine,
but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge our union with purpose.
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew.
That even as we hurt, we hoped.
That even as we tired, we tried.
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid.
If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.
That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.
It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it.
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
This effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith, we trust,
for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.
This is the era of just redemption.
We feared it at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour,
but within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So while once we asked, ‘How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?’ now we assert, ‘How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?’

We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be:
A country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.
We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens.
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change, our children’s birthright.
So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.

With every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the golden hills of the west.
We will rise from the wind-swept north-east where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.
We will rise from the sun-baked south.
We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.
In every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country,
our people, diverse and beautiful, will emerge, battered and beautiful.
When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid.
The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”