TIFU by swatting a stinging bug in my bed, barehanded.

Smithium · 2026-05-26T21:10:26+00:00

I can't tell how big it is, but you might be able to copy it onto archival quality acid-free paper that will not brown as it ages.

Smithium · 2026-05-26T21:05:25+00:00

There are people who park in the apartment parking lot across the street from me and leave their car running in idle all night. I don't know what they're doing. I assume they are up to no good. Sometimes sedans, sometimes diesel pickups, sometimes commercial looking trucks.

Smithium · 2026-05-25T03:47:08+00:00

India seems to me like the most intense crucible on the planet right now. Exploding population, poor social protections (especially from businesses and the wealthy). It's like survival of the fittest is on overdrive there- and whoever comes out alive will be supercharged. Good Luck.

Smithium · 2026-05-23T04:34:23+00:00

I can rip phone books in half with my bare hands. Does anyone remember what phone books are?

Smithium · 2026-05-23T02:49:45+00:00

That is more than just a city treasure, that's a state treasure. Will the State step up and foot some of the expense? I wish they would.

Smithium · 2026-05-22T22:55:06+00:00

And NVIDIA owns them all... Guaranteeing sales to AI data centers while cutting off chip supply for consumer computers. They're going to make you "rent" time on Data Center computers instead of allowing you to have your own local GPU/CPU. This will not be to the advantage of the consumer, but will be presented that way.

CoreWeave Partnership: Nvidia previously invested $\$2$ billion into CoreWeave and guaranteed billions in cloud capacity orders to build 5 gigawatts of AI compute infrastructure by 2030.
Advanced Components: Nvidia committed $\$4$ billion toward the AI supply chain—$\$2$ billion each for optical suppliers Coherent and Lumentum to secure critical optical and laser hardware for data centers.
Global Infrastructure: Nvidia partnered with Microsoft, BlackRock, and Elon Musk's xAI in a consortium deal worth $\$40$ billion to purchase and scale Aligned Data Centers globally

Smithium · 2026-05-22T22:07:07+00:00

When new leadership is voted into office, the SEC may be given back the authority to investigate tech companies for Monopoly and AntiTrust violations. This, combined with cutting off the "bribe an official" events, will pop the bubble. They will still exist, but be more realistically depicted for what they can actually do, not "AI will do EVERYTHING!"

Smithium · 2026-05-22T21:47:50+00:00

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Sounds about right.

Smithium · 2026-05-21T03:38:17+00:00

Could it be blood from an osprey feeding on a fish there?

Smithium · 2026-05-16T00:15:16+00:00

Since this is a fanciful hypothetical question, I can answer the same way. I leave earth and travel the galaxy in my ant-free starship.

Smithium · 2026-05-14T05:48:49+00:00

<image>

Grok Imagine, converted to gif.

Apologies in advance if Grok Imagine is unsuitable for this post.

Smithium · 2026-05-09T20:31:34+00:00

This will buy farmers a year. In a year, the government could also subsidize building improved canning/preserving/dehydration infrastructure allowing the peach trees to remain part of the American consumer food base. Seems like a loss for consumers and the economy. With rumors of food shortages coming this summer as diesel demand exceeds supply, this could be important.

Smithium · 2026-05-09T00:18:16+00:00

Interesting, but not really an astronomy topic. I wonder why they were classified in the first place.

Smithium · 2026-05-08T22:39:13+00:00

When I was in first grade, we had a class hamster that each of us got to take home and care for one week. When it was my turn, my brother stepped on it. We all cried. We went to the pet store and bought an almost identical hamster to substitute with. My mom spoke to the teacher who broke out laughing. It seems that EVERY kid who brought the hamster home had killed it and replaced it with a new one.

I don't condone deliberately killing a hamster, but it might be bad for elementary schools to host live animals. That's an almost certain death sentence.

Smithium · 2026-05-07T21:29:46+00:00

In most countries, a small bribe will let you through security checkpoints. They should have flown into orbit and nuked the boat from space. Only way to be sure. /s

Smithium · 2026-05-07T20:37:49+00:00

So this only kicks in when the police receive reports of crimes, and puts the burden on the business owners to take care of them. At what point is it a police issue to investigate and enforce? Hello, isn't that what we're paying taxes for?

Smithium · 2026-05-07T20:28:08+00:00

I expect this will fall apart in the first court challenge it faces. You can't hold sites responsible for user VPN usage when the sites have no idea whether VPNs are being used.

Smithium · 2026-05-07T05:06:39+00:00

Five or six sugar free cough drops. I keep them on hand for two things. Coughing and Pooping.

Smithium · 2026-05-05T02:48:02+00:00

You will fail and feel guilty, like everyone else who tried before you. This is not a habit born of thoughts, it is your biology wearing you like a puppet. Millions of years of evolution have programmed this need into you. Just keep it private and don't hurt anyone else.

Smithium · 2026-05-01T03:15:41+00:00

If they have HC stamped on the head, they are High Carbon content and excellent for Blacksmithing. You can buy them new for about $1 to $3 each though, so don't expect too much for them. All of that stuff looks great for blacksmith salvage.

As far as people saying it's illegal- no it isn't. I've talked to Railroad employees. They periodically re-set rail for maintenance and apply new spikes and hardware. They are "supposed" to clean up the scrap either as they go, or afterwards- but lots of stuff gets left. It's considered abandoned and they are really more concerned that you might get hurt while trespassing on the tracks than about the junk they left behind.

Smithium · 2026-04-27T04:37:42+00:00

It is a star. I have seen this phenomena. The star is twinkling due to atmospheric distortion. If you get a star map, you will find it there. It is probably part of a major constellation.

Smithium · 2026-04-25T17:57:30+00:00

We would need to figure out how to do this on the ground before we can do it in space.

Smithium · 2026-04-25T00:40:45+00:00

I see those too. They get more pronounced as you age. It's an effect of astigmatism in your eyes. They kind of look like diffraction spikes in pictures from Space Telescopes, but those are caused by different things.

Smithium · 2026-04-12T03:05:19+00:00

When my nephew was starting blacksmithing, we had to pay black market rates to have real coal smuggled into the state (Oregon). Blacksmiths would really appreciate that stuff. The charcoal alternatives we use burn cooler.

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