Bag of Randomness for Friday, May 22, 2020

She Gets Calls And Texts Meant For Elon Musk. Some Are Pretty Weird

Tucker, who works at a Sephora beauty store in San Jose, Calif., had never heard of the Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO until a couple years ago, when she began fielding a steady stream of calls and text messages intended for him.

“I asked my mom, ‘Hey, I keep getting these text messages’ — and I was also now starting to get phone calls — ‘for this guy Elon Musk. I don’t know who this is,’ ” Tucker said. “And my mom’s jaw just dropped.”

Turns out, Tucker’s cellphone number used to be registered to Musk. On any given day, she receives at least three calls or texts intended for Musk, whom she has never met.

Texas mayor says women can’t pray at city council meetings

Wylie Mayor Eric Hogue cited two New Testament passages in an email to another member of the Wylie City Council, who suggested some local students be allowed to lead the public prayer at the next council meeting on May 26.

The Guardian – U2’s 40 greatest songs – ranked! – As Bono turns 60, we look back at how the Irish greats turned scratchy post-punk into a stadium-filling proposition – and continue to move with the times

I could never do a ranking, it has changed over the course of my life depending on what was happening and it will continue to be that way. Though I probably could come up with an unranked top ten, but I’d probably agonize over it. I do think Bono writing letters to the artists or their family members about the top 60 songs which saved his life was one of the greatest things done in music history.

Ford has filed an interesting patent for a roof-retractable vehicle cover that blankets the vehicle in solar panels. It reminds me of some product I saw on Shark Tank but was designed to protect it during hail storms. I bet this idea from Ford will keep the paint from fading for at least a couple of years.

A Twitter thread matching a Golden Girl and their wardrobe to Air Jordan sneakers.

Matt Lauer decided to get a tattoo on his forearm.

n a photo obtained Wednesday by Us Weekly, the former “Today” show host is driving his car in New York with the words “Hatred corrodes the container it’s carried in” inked across his inner forearm. The phrase is a quote from former Sen. Alan Simpson’s eulogy at the 2018 funeral for former President George H.W. Bush.

How Nextdoor Courts Police and Public Officials – The hyper-local social media platform Nextdoor is winning over local law enforcement and other government officials in the U.S., alarming civil rights advocates.

I can’t stand the Nextdoor app, it’s another form of Facebook full of nonsubstantive and unhelpful thoughts and complaints, but I only joined because my city and its police department utilize it to communicate to the community. I’m also suspect of all the folks on there who praise the Ring doorbell, it has all the feels of a hidden ad.

She doesn’t start belting it out until the 1:54 mark.

Violinist provides the music and sound effects for Super Mario Bros.

Most popular TV series 1951 – 2019 (MOST WATCHED TV SERIES)

Posted in Interesting | 3 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Thursday, May 21, 2020

Most of you have no idea what the Syner Cut is but it’s been something I’ve been hoping to see for a long time now, and now it’s coming to HBO Max, which oddly, really doesn’t have much to do with HBO. It’s really a Warner Bros. streaming service but they just thought the HBO moniker was a better sell for a streaming service.

Any longtime reader knows I’m fascinated by Howard Hughes. I’m curious how he’d hold up if he were alive today. I’m sure most would argue he’d be a recluse, but I think he’d be more sociable since masks and gloves have almost become the norm. He’d be thinking, “Finally, the world has conformed to my standards.” This all came to mind as I saw this photo of Jerry Jones.

The Fastest-Growing And Fastest-Declining Retail Brands From 2019 To 2020, Visualized

The top two fastest-growing brands are lululemon and Costco. The top two fasting-declining brands are Under Armour and H&M. Also on that list is Subway and The North Face (goodness, their logo placement always has annoyed me).

NASA scientists detect evidence of parallel universe where time runs backward

 

Some days you are just better at blogging than others, this wasn’t one of my best days. #MyBad

Posted in Personal | 6 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, May 20, 2020

It’s starting to warm up and the dogs have a pretty long coat right now, so I think it’s time for their summer cut.

The kids were talking about “apps” yesterday and out of curiosity, I asked them if they had any clue what “app” was short for, they didn’t.

I like the theory that President Trump has actually tested positive for COVID-19, asymptomatic, doesn’t want it publically known, and that’s why he’s taking hydroxychloroquine.

That whole Tiger King phenomenon felt like it was at least a year ago.

This gave me a good laugh.

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1260949102617075712

I’ve been on record stating my concern regarding deepfakes and how that will affect elections and national security. I’m even more concerned after listening to this video, it totally sounds like Biggie, and it’s just not his voice but speech pattern and such. It’s all done with AI.

The voice in this video was entirely computer-generated using a text-to-speech model trained on the speech patterns of The Notorious B.I.G. For more information, see: https://ai.googleblog.com/2017/12/tac…

This guy took it up a notch and mixed it with the beat from “Hypnotize”.

If you are interested in his breakdown, check out this article.

I’m posting this article since most of my college friends were math majors and a few actually read this blog.

UT Graduate Student Solves Decades-Old Conway Knot Problem – It took Lisa Piccirillo less than a week to answer a long-standing question about a strange knot discovered over half a century ago by the legendary John Conway.

I decided to look at her website and CV, and I can’t imagine what it would be like to be so intellectual and accomplished. And to think a lot of folks add their high school as filler and has no room for filler.

This guy wanted to conquer his feat of claustrophobia and thought spelunking part of the Hell Hole cave system in Santa Cruz, California would help. Hell Hole is known for its incredibly tight passages. I don’t think you could ever get me to do anything like this. Just watching this I feel like I can’t fully inhale and expand my chest. Language warning.

Posted in Personal | 1 Comment

Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, May 19, 2020

President Trump stated he’s been taking hydroxychloroquine for the last week and a half.  What are the chances he’s been given a placebo? The FDA has issued repeated warnings about the dangers of the drug, so it doesn’t sound like good doctoring.

I think “despite all odds” is overused.

Texas is opening up more and more, but there’s just not enough of a downward trend for this family unit to tip-toe back into public.

On May 31, day and overnight youth camps, sports camps and sports leagues may resume operations.

I’m curious to know how youth sports, VBS, and other camps will be this summer. Kids have been trapped indoors and haven’t had the chance to socialize and be like kids, and I bet a lot of parents are wanting a breather from their children. I can see how other families may feel comfortable with returning to normal, especially if you live in a small town. I hope I’m wrong, but I fear we are setting ourselves up for a second wave that will be worst than the first.

The Last Dance was supposed to be a documentary about the last season of the Jordan-era Chicago Bulls, but in reality, it was a documentary controlled by Jordan about his entire career. I wish it would have touched on what he was like as a husband or father. I think his kids got about 35-seconds total in the ten-episode arc. His mother and brother got a decent amount of time, but nothing from his ex-wife. I think we all know the answer though, his first love was either basketball or competitiveness (baseball, golf, gambling, etc).

Inside the cleaner (but less convenient) McDonald’s of the future – COVID-19 will change what it’s like to eat at a McDonald’s so much that maybe we’ll just stick to drive-through.

One-Thousand-Year-Old English Mill Resumes Production to Supply Flour Amid Pandemic – In April alone, the Sturminster Newton Mill ground more than one ton of wheat

Nebraska Woman Files Suit Against All Homosexuals

A Nebraska woman identifying herself as the “ambassador” for plaintiffs “God and His Son, Jesus Christ,” is suing all homosexuals on Earth for breaking “religious and moral laws,” according to court records filed Tuesday.

In the suit, entered into the docket as Driskell v. Homosexuals, Sylvia Ann Driskell, 66, of Auburn, Nebraska, asks in a seven-page, neatly handwritten petition (PDF) that U.S. District Judge John M. Gerrard decide once and for all whether homosexuality is or isn’t a sin.

Texas tries a pandemic first: a jury trial by Zoom

Lawyers in an insurance dispute in Collin County District Court on Monday picked a jury to hear the case by videoconference, in what officials believe is the first virtual jury trial to be held nationally amid the COVID-19 crisis.

More than two dozen potential jurors logged in by smartphone, laptop and tablet for jury selection, which was streamed live on YouTube here with a judge occasionally providing tech advice on how to best use their devices.

The one-day trial is a so-called summary jury trial, in which jurors hear a condensed version of a case and deliver a non-binding verdict.

The parties, having seen how their case could fare before a jury in a full-blown trial, will sit down for mediation and try to negotiate a settlement on Tuesday.

Posted in Personal | 5 Comments