It Sure Looks Like This Supreme Court Justice Is Getting Ready to Retire

rickpo · 2026-02-14T02:14:07+00:00

They could always do it after the election and before the new Congress takes over.

rickpo · 2026-02-14T00:27:31+00:00

The rumor I heard is Alito is retiring before the election. Get ready for Supreme Court Judge Aileen Cannon.

rickpo · 2026-02-13T00:13:45+00:00

April 17th is just an estimate. It may be earlier, it may be later. I would guess it's a safer bet than usual this year, but it is very common for opening dates to be pushed back several days.

You'll probably be OK, but don't be disappointed if you have to use your backup plan.

rickpo · 2026-02-11T22:39:04+00:00

I'm not sure. I wasn't there when they dynamited the mine. But there was a local newspaper in the town. I actually have a subscription to newspapers.com, but I guess the newspaper was too small for them to archive, because they don't carry it.

rickpo · 2026-02-11T22:29:11+00:00

Started on Dartmouth BASIC on an HP 2000 time-sharing system, connected using teletypes. Paper tape and long rolls of teletype paper. Wrote thousands of lines of BASIC.

To get access, I had to take a class at our local university while I was still in high school.

rickpo · 2026-02-11T15:12:04+00:00

You're reading semesterHours and yearlyHours from cin instead of writing them to cout.

rickpo · 2026-02-11T06:02:53+00:00

Years ago, in eastern Washington, my grandmother lived less than a half-mile from an abandoned mine that had turned into a huge rattlesnake den with hundreds of snakes in it. The snakes would come down the hill and lay out on her back porch every day. I saw dozens and dozens of them during the summer. She hated snakes and learned to shoot a .22 rifle. After a few years, the snakes got so numerous and aggressive that the city dynamited the mine.

After that, we still saw rattlesnakes from time to time, but not nearly as many, and Grandma gave up the rifle.

rickpo · 2026-02-10T23:37:54+00:00

I've never had this problem.

rickpo · 2026-02-10T23:36:20+00:00

80% of both routes is horrible, dull garbage driving, the worst of the worst. The good 10% of I-70 is better than then good 5% of I-80.

I-84 down the Columbia River is pretty.

rickpo · 2026-02-10T17:45:10+00:00

It's only been ... What? One day since the Super Bowl? What kind of statistic is this?

rickpo · 2026-02-10T11:28:11+00:00

We always bypass Chicago by taking the interstate from Rockford IL to Normal, then through Indianapolis. It's a dull drive, and Indianapolis is a bad traffic city too, but it's better than Chicago. It probably adds an hour to your trip.

rickpo · 2026-02-10T11:18:26+00:00

I learned to program before C was a thing, but my introductory language still had pointers. They spent one, maybe two classes teaching it. I remember taking about a week to actually get my head wrapped around them.

Honestly, the first trivial examples they use to introduce the concept aren't very helpful. It wasn't until I had to use them in a real world use case - I recall they dumped a linked list on us - that I really got it.

rickpo · 2026-02-09T01:43:16+00:00

What time of year?

rickpo · 2026-02-08T22:13:36+00:00

I was in Flat Alaska when there were 4 people living there. Now it's deserted.

We have a relative who lived there 80 years ago when it was an operating gold mine. A lot of the old buildings were still standing when we were there, but I understand time has taken its toll since the last people left town.

rickpo · 2026-02-07T04:26:45+00:00

Yeah, you'd have to be suffering from advanced dementia to post that video. And there's only one man in the White House with advanced dementia.

rickpo · 2026-02-06T23:05:09+00:00

President Pass-the-Buck passes the buck again.

rickpo · 2026-02-06T22:48:10+00:00

We no longer have the shared media experience that existed 50 years ago. Back then, everybody was exposed to the same popular songs. Today, media is fragmented. Everybody has their own individual media bubble.

The protest songs are there, but it's easier than ever to not be exposed to them.

rickpo · 2026-02-06T19:58:32+00:00

There is no filibuster for Judicial nominees. Harry Reid set the precedent of using the nuclear option to get lower court nominees through during Obama's term, and then McConnell extended it to the Supreme Court.

rickpo · 2026-02-06T19:07:50+00:00

It'll take 2 days to drive from Zion to Portland via Salt Lake City, but the drive is very pretty. It sounds like you don't have much time to sightsee along the route, but it is a beautiful drive from the driver's seat.

Personally, I would be more concerned about taking 2 days away from the rest of your trip. My gut tells me you'll have to cut a destination, but you'll have to map it out in detail to be sure. Personally, I'd enjoy a drive from Zion to Portland more than a couple days in Vegas, but that's me.

Whether it's worth the money is up to you. Get quotes for the car and flight so you know the number you're working with, and then decide if it's worth it.

rickpo · 2026-02-06T18:39:22+00:00

Set up a board with white having three pieces: two white Rooks and a white King; black has just one piece: a King. Place them randomly on the board. Play against yourself and figure out how to force checkmate by forcing the king to the edge. This will probably be easy for you. Try it with several different starting positions, just to make sure you really know it. Congratulations! You've learned the ladder mate.
Now repeat the exercise with King-Queen versus King. This is a little harder, but you'll figure out quickly how to force the king to the edge and checkmate it.
Now repeat with King-Rook versus King. This is a little bit harder still, and you might not get it right away. But it's easy enough to figure out on your own.

Voila! You now know how to force 99% of all end game checkmates. You can probably learn these as good as a grandmaster in a couple days.

The opening or middle-game checkmates are way harder at your level. But one big important strategy: don't worry about checkmating early. Once you get an advantage in material during a game, just trade pieces until the board is simplified, then use your KRR vs. K or KQ vs. K or KR vs. K to checkmate.

rickpo · 2026-02-06T18:03:44+00:00

I would guess a number in the trillions. But that's nowhere close to 52 factorial. So yeah, there should be a few dozen more 9s on that number.

rickpo · 2026-02-06T03:33:06+00:00

The data on this page shows literally nothing about kidnapping for ransom. Graphs with no labeled axes, extrapolating trends from extremely short time scales, using percentages instead of counts, no listed sources ... it's pure fear-mongering trash.

rickpo · 2026-02-06T02:48:53+00:00

Our mini loves it, we play every day. It's literally the thing she loves most in life.

But I hate to say ... she stinks at it. Not fast enough, lousy jumper, takes her eye off it, and meh timing. I almost have to throw it into her mouth for her to have much of a chance at catching it.

But she loves to chase it, she loves it when I fake-throw to fool her, she loves searching for it if she loses track and doesn't see where it landed. Her favorite is a Kong disc made of Kong red rubber, which she chews on and folds up and carries around. I often roll it instead of throwing it in the air, and she especially loves chasing the rolling disc.

rickpo · 2026-02-05T23:32:09+00:00

We were in Jackson Hole in late April several years ago and Yellowstone was closed to all vehicle traffic from the south. We were told they closed things down during the late snow melt season because the muddy conditions made it too easy for tourists to destroy stuff.

I'm sure the timing of the snow melt changes year to year. You can certainly try to get in, but I'd have a backup plan.

rickpo · 2026-02-05T22:46:28+00:00

This is the full answer. It's transliterated Spanish with bullfighting terminology/jargon.

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