Don't forget that only acronyms get pronounced as words...if you say the letters, then it's an initialism. I learned that first in a book (novel?) by Penn Jillette (forgot the name of it).
"Acronyms are always initialisms and abbreviations, but not all initialisms are acronyms. Only initialisms that can be pronounced as a word (as opposed to pronouncing each letter in the initialism) count as acronyms. Both of these terms are abbreviations of phrases, but abbreviations can also be made of single words as well."
I got into this topic because of a company I work with called IRPI. Most of my colleagues considered it to be an initialism, but some pronounced it er-pee.
The devices, which aim to stop Tesla Autopilot from nagging drivers to put their hands on the wheel, have been criticized by regulators and safety experts
SAN FRANCISCO — The devices are marketed for a variety of innocuous uses — a cellphone holder, for instance, or a safety hammer. One promises to relieve shoulder pain. Others ditch the pretext and list simply as “wheel weights” or “wheel knobs.”
They all have a common purpose: To let Tesla drivers take their hands off the wheel.
Steering wheel weights have become a popular commodity as Tesla has expanded its “Full Self-Driving” technology from around 12,000 vehicles to more than 400,000 over the past year. While the electric car manufacturer has adopted measures to discourage their use, the devices have been involved in at least two recent traffic incidents.
COMMENT: the problem isn't the steering wheel weights. The problem is that AutoPilot is not ready for prime time because it can be defeated and result in crashes.
Only if you don't get back out before it becomes apparent to most that it is in fact a ponzi scheme/scam. (Checks notes, observes that this is similar to the performance of many stock and real estate investment products.)
I forgot where I was going, maybe John Wayne to O'Hare, on United, and 20 people had to get off the plane because it was such a hot day and the plane couldn't take off. John Wayne also has a short runway.
I fly to small airports so I've had that happen often. I've seen some people not cooperative about it, but the last thing you want is a plane crashing, I would do anything to help prevent that.
Guardians prospect George Valera shoves an ump, punches catcher in the chest who took it like a frickin' champ and didn't even flinch. Have fun on your suspension, bucko.
ROUGE! Edmonton Elks remain winless (0-5) after rookie receiver CJ Sims - an American who played juco ball plus time at division II NM Highlands U - didn't know that a touchback on a kickoff is worth one point to the kicking team. He effectively conceded the game.
The European League of Football's Prague Lions win their first game in its history, a 35-0 victory over the Leipzig Kings because the latter [checks notes]... forfeited because it went financially kaput.
LOS ANGELES — Dodgers pitchers have been dropping like flies, so any sort of return to normalcy is welcome. Julio Urías provided that with six strong innings in his second game back from the injured list, backed by a powerful top of the lineup in a 5-2 win over the Pirates on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
“He started the season as our opening day starter, which was earned, and I think he wants to fulfill that responsibility,” manager Dave Roberts said prior to Thursday’s series finale. “Up to this point he hasn’t been as consistent as he’d like, as we’d like, and that’s most frustrating.”
There is the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Masters Ultramarathon. It's a 6.7km loop. Racers have to complete at least one loop per hour until only one racer is left. The 2023 winner ran 425 miles over 4 days + 6 hours. Here's the catch - you have to cross the start line at least once per hour, so it behooves you to stop right after you finish a loop to await the next hour. You can do whatever you want before the next hour starts - sleep, eat, drink, bathroom - but the clock never stops.
I can't imagine. I've done 24-hour relays and that was tough enough. We had the max of ten on the team and you rotate through the team doing one mile each. One year I ran with many of the good Alaska runners and we did 272+ miles (may still be a state record). Had to go out and ran a hard mile just under every hour with no real time to wind down.
defending champ Vingegaard takes yellow jersey, but gives up almost half his 1 min lead over Pogacar in a thrilling mountain stage yesterday. Pogacar vs Vingegaard is looking like a good back and forth affair .. which is rare for Le Tour.
still 2 more weeks to go, time trials, the Alps, etc.
- Road Truckers. I really liked this show. History Channel and Discovery had a bunch of fun shows. Ice Road Truckers, American Choppers (I only watched this a little when they first came out), Fast N Loud, Monster House, Monster Garage, Mythbusters, Storm Chasers, Wings.
No 3 makes fun of me, but for some reason I love Swamp People.
My LG freezer makes normal cubes, but also craft ice balls for cocktails. However, they aren't quite perfectly spherical. They are missing a tiny discus from one edge because it doesn't fill the form exactly to the top, which means I get little frozen Death Stars into my cocktails.
You can also get a silicone mold for spherical ice. It's actually two halves that soft snap together; a white half and a black half. The white half has a hole into which the water is poured, resulting in the Death Star shaped finished product. The resulting spheres are about 1.5" in diameter.
That's pretty cool. My coworker was thinking about trying to come up with something that would make clear spherical ice. He read that they needed very small vibrations for the air pockets to rise to the top so the ice would be clear. Never got around to doing it.
Good ice improves cocktails (cf. https://www.alcademics.com/ice/), but there’s a strain of obsession about dilution from whiskey folks that veers into unphysical woo.
(The latent heat of fusion of water is much higher than its heat capacity, so basically all cooling requires melting. This is why whiskey stones are only good for chipping your teeth.)
while i am sure everyone will chime in about It's It, i actually just like the good old fashioned ones where the wafer thing seems to be made from fake chocolate and it sticks to your fingers if you hold on to it too long.
So my wife and daughter are in Japan for six weeks...I got a month of Disney+ to binge on Star Wars shows. In descending order of quality:
[SPOILER ALERT!]
1. Andor: Right before I started, I realized that I should re-watch Rogue One, which was helpful (and better on second viewing). I liked the Imperial political drama. Andor got a bit unrealistic in the last couple of eps (prison break, etc.), but overall a good watch.
[I think I caught a continuity error. In R1, Cass says to Jyn something like, "I've been part of the rebellion since I was 6 years old", but in Rogue One, he's in his 20s and has his first contact with the rebellion.]
2. Mandolorian: I'd seen S1 and S2, which were good. Got three eps into S3 and might stop. Story seems pointless. Too much punny banter between Din and Grogu. And while I love me some Sedaris – both Amy and David – there was too much Amy comic relief. And Karl Weathers. Interesting how they explained the disappearance of Sheriff MAGA.
3. Kenobi: Last night watched the first two eps. E1 was sloooow. E2 got moving, but I wanted to strangle Leia. Didn't the SW universe learn anything from having precocious kids in Phantom Menace? And Ewan...*he* shoulda known! And too many cameos. I think I'm done with it, unless someone can tell me it gets better.
4. Boba Fett: I've heard enough bad reviews to where I prob won't start.
You explain away the 6 yr old comment, by noticing that he was 6 when someone caused the disaster on the planet he was on that left only children to survive in the woods.
Biden okays cluster munitions to Ukraine. The US has about 5.5 million cluster artillery rounds. Cluster munitions hit about 15-20x more frequently than their standard high-explosive counterparts. On the negative side, about 2-6% of submunitions end up a UXO on older 1st generation cluster rounds. On the positive side, the munition is perfect for defeating Russian defenses.
FL State Rep Fabian Basabe has been accused of sexual harassment by two male staffers. And it's not mild harassment. And go ahead and guess the Rep's political affiliation.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced Senate and House bills that require US Federal buildings to be "derived from the forms, principles, and architecture of Greek and Roman antiquity." I, for one, look forward to the vomitoriums, communal toilets, slave pits, vestal virgin residencies, and federal brothels.
JFC!
https://twitter.com/sennamikakimi/status/1657882654887272451
Acronym Pronunciation
Don't forget that only acronyms get pronounced as words...if you say the letters, then it's an initialism. I learned that first in a book (novel?) by Penn Jillette (forgot the name of it).
I checked and found this.
https://proofed.com/writing-tips/acronyms-vs-initialisms-whats-the-difference/
Thanks for the informative note!
I was inspired to find this:
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/abbreviation-vs-acronym-vs-initialism-grammar-rules
"Acronyms are always initialisms and abbreviations, but not all initialisms are acronyms. Only initialisms that can be pronounced as a word (as opposed to pronouncing each letter in the initialism) count as acronyms. Both of these terms are abbreviations of phrases, but abbreviations can also be made of single words as well."
I got into this topic because of a company I work with called IRPI. Most of my colleagues considered it to be an initialism, but some pronounced it er-pee.
NEPA
CEQA
ICWA
NAGPRA
SHPO
THPO
All are pronounced like words.
There's POTUS and SCOTUS, and NASA which are pronounced like words.
On the other hand, how to correctly say LGBTQ--letter by letter, or something like Lah-Geh-Bah-Teh-Que
Don’t forget FLOTUS and WOTUS.
An animal that has a bad - but unwarranted - reputation
Twist?
Obviously sharks, snakes, scorpions, alligators/crocs.
I think the better question is the reverse. Animals that has a good - but unwarranted reputation.
DBD Street Journal
Tesla owners are using steering-wheel weights to drive hands-free
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/07/tesla-fsd-autopilot-wheel-weights/
The devices, which aim to stop Tesla Autopilot from nagging drivers to put their hands on the wheel, have been criticized by regulators and safety experts
SAN FRANCISCO — The devices are marketed for a variety of innocuous uses — a cellphone holder, for instance, or a safety hammer. One promises to relieve shoulder pain. Others ditch the pretext and list simply as “wheel weights” or “wheel knobs.”
They all have a common purpose: To let Tesla drivers take their hands off the wheel.
Steering wheel weights have become a popular commodity as Tesla has expanded its “Full Self-Driving” technology from around 12,000 vehicles to more than 400,000 over the past year. While the electric car manufacturer has adopted measures to discourage their use, the devices have been involved in at least two recent traffic incidents.
COMMENT: the problem isn't the steering wheel weights. The problem is that AutoPilot is not ready for prime time because it can be defeated and result in crashes.
I agree. It seems the autopilot isn't quite ready for full auto driving.
Tom Brady and Giselle lost $48m in the FTX collapse
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12271533/Tom-Brady-ex-wife-Gisele-Bundchen-lost-staggering-48-million-FTX-shares.html
This is what happens when you "invest" in a Ponzi scheme.
Hubris, arrogance, and lack of critical thinking skills can be a huge detriment. Better luck next time.
Only if you don't get back out before it becomes apparent to most that it is in fact a ponzi scheme/scam. (Checks notes, observes that this is similar to the performance of many stock and real estate investment products.)
easyJet had to bribe 19 passengers off Lanzarote to Liverpool flight because the plane was too heavy. Aaliyah unavailable for comment.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/easyjet-pilot-forces-19-passengers-27268421
I forgot where I was going, maybe John Wayne to O'Hare, on United, and 20 people had to get off the plane because it was such a hot day and the plane couldn't take off. John Wayne also has a short runway.
I think in that situation I would get off. And find another airline.
I have been on planes small enough that the pilot asked people to go to particular seats to help balance the plane. Only maybe 7 people total.
You have to do that with a Ferris wheel or it will get stuck.
I fly to small airports so I've had that happen often. I've seen some people not cooperative about it, but the last thing you want is a plane crashing, I would do anything to help prevent that.
that seems like a lot. I wonder if the plane was going to be close to overloaded even in favorable wind and heat conditions.
PRO
Lorenzo Musetti with a no-look drop shot at Wimbledon
https://twitter.com/Wimbledon/status/1676930683674009601
Guardians prospect George Valera shoves an ump, punches catcher in the chest who took it like a frickin' champ and didn't even flinch. Have fun on your suspension, bucko.
https://twitter.com/CleGuardPro/status/1677146340453756932
ROUGE! Edmonton Elks remain winless (0-5) after rookie receiver CJ Sims - an American who played juco ball plus time at division II NM Highlands U - didn't know that a touchback on a kickoff is worth one point to the kicking team. He effectively conceded the game.
https://twitter.com/SickosCommittee/status/1677282813161230343
The European League of Football's Prague Lions win their first game in its history, a 35-0 victory over the Leipzig Kings because the latter [checks notes]... forfeited because it went financially kaput.
https://twitter.com/ELF_Official/status/1677272512952975360
In case you're wondering what Norm Chow and Jim Tomsula are doing, they are Head Coaches for the EPL.
A's lose to the Tigers 9-0.
Julio Urías looks like Julio Urías in Dodgers’ win over Pirates
https://www.truebluela.com/2023/7/6/23786700/julio-urias-freddie-freeman-max-muncy-mookie-betts-dodgers-pirates
LOS ANGELES — Dodgers pitchers have been dropping like flies, so any sort of return to normalcy is welcome. Julio Urías provided that with six strong innings in his second game back from the injured list, backed by a powerful top of the lineup in a 5-2 win over the Pirates on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
“He started the season as our opening day starter, which was earned, and I think he wants to fulfill that responsibility,” manager Dave Roberts said prior to Thursday’s series finale. “Up to this point he hasn’t been as consistent as he’d like, as we’d like, and that’s most frustrating.”
$$$. That sound you just heard was the sound of some Spanish club priming the money pump as Mbappe declines to extend his contract at PSG
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37972755/kylian-mbappe-extend-psg-deal-real-madrid-await-decision-sources
And Jesus wept because he got benched
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37968054/gabriel-jesus-chose-leave-man-city-pep-guardiola-made-cry
There is the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Masters Ultramarathon. It's a 6.7km loop. Racers have to complete at least one loop per hour until only one racer is left. The 2023 winner ran 425 miles over 4 days + 6 hours. Here's the catch - you have to cross the start line at least once per hour, so it behooves you to stop right after you finish a loop to await the next hour. You can do whatever you want before the next hour starts - sleep, eat, drink, bathroom - but the clock never stops.
https://www.deadcowgully.com.au/the-event/
I can't imagine. I've done 24-hour relays and that was tough enough. We had the max of ten on the team and you rotate through the team doing one mile each. One year I ran with many of the good Alaska runners and we did 272+ miles (may still be a state record). Had to go out and ran a hard mile just under every hour with no real time to wind down.
Rookie golfer Natthakritta Vongtaveelap from Thailand got DQd from the US Open because her caddie didn't read up on the rules.
https://twitter.com/GolfDigest/status/1677100546279309314
QB Josh Allen hooked up with actress Hailee Steinfeld of True Grit fame. Ms. Steinfeld is the niece of Jake Steinfeld, the "Body by Jake" guy
https://www.tmz.com/2023/07/06/bills-qb-josh-allen-makes-out-hailee-steinfeld-mexico-pda-pool/
They've been dating for a while. Have met the parents and everything.
Big fan of both
Le Tour de France getting good
defending champ Vingegaard takes yellow jersey, but gives up almost half his 1 min lead over Pogacar in a thrilling mountain stage yesterday. Pogacar vs Vingegaard is looking like a good back and forth affair .. which is rare for Le Tour.
still 2 more weeks to go, time trials, the Alps, etc.
Ice
, ice, baby
- Road Truckers. I really liked this show. History Channel and Discovery had a bunch of fun shows. Ice Road Truckers, American Choppers (I only watched this a little when they first came out), Fast N Loud, Monster House, Monster Garage, Mythbusters, Storm Chasers, Wings.
No 3 makes fun of me, but for some reason I love Swamp People.
Here, in the house, I have ice with the water to keep it cool.
My LG freezer makes normal cubes, but also craft ice balls for cocktails. However, they aren't quite perfectly spherical. They are missing a tiny discus from one edge because it doesn't fill the form exactly to the top, which means I get little frozen Death Stars into my cocktails.
https://www.lg.com/us/craft-ice-refrigerators
You can also get a silicone mold for spherical ice. It's actually two halves that soft snap together; a white half and a black half. The white half has a hole into which the water is poured, resulting in the Death Star shaped finished product. The resulting spheres are about 1.5" in diameter.
Yeah, I’ve got one but it doesn’t vibrate so I can’t make clear ice.
Yup, we've got one as well.
yes, i have these mold too. they are great.
That's pretty cool. My coworker was thinking about trying to come up with something that would make clear spherical ice. He read that they needed very small vibrations for the air pockets to rise to the top so the ice would be clear. Never got around to doing it.
This is correct, you can use a small vibrator to make ice clear. Two birds with one stone: clear ice and a clean vibrator.
Heh
Good ice improves cocktails (cf. https://www.alcademics.com/ice/), but there’s a strain of obsession about dilution from whiskey folks that veers into unphysical woo.
(The latent heat of fusion of water is much higher than its heat capacity, so basically all cooling requires melting. This is why whiskey stones are only good for chipping your teeth.)
Planet, Hoth
setting of one of my favorite opening scenes to any movie.
i have this art in my basement ... Destroy The Rebellion by Brian Miller
https://www.darkinkart.com/products/destroy-the-rebellion-brian-miller
Cream Sandwiches
while i am sure everyone will chime in about It's It, i actually just like the good old fashioned ones where the wafer thing seems to be made from fake chocolate and it sticks to your fingers if you hold on to it too long.
licking your fingers is the best part!
I absolutely love those. Wirecutter recently rated them for us. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-ice-cream-sandwiches/
I get it; I also like that kind of ice cream sandwich the best! But am open to other ice cream sandwiches, of course.
But man, I can't remember having these things at all.
Safeway has had them on sale lately so I've been eating them. They're smaller than they used to be so have to do two to get my fix.
Put a third in between them so you can have an ice-cream sandwich sandwich.
No such thing as too much ice cream, amirite?
You right.
Agree.
DBD AV CLUB
So my wife and daughter are in Japan for six weeks...I got a month of Disney+ to binge on Star Wars shows. In descending order of quality:
[SPOILER ALERT!]
1. Andor: Right before I started, I realized that I should re-watch Rogue One, which was helpful (and better on second viewing). I liked the Imperial political drama. Andor got a bit unrealistic in the last couple of eps (prison break, etc.), but overall a good watch.
[I think I caught a continuity error. In R1, Cass says to Jyn something like, "I've been part of the rebellion since I was 6 years old", but in Rogue One, he's in his 20s and has his first contact with the rebellion.]
2. Mandolorian: I'd seen S1 and S2, which were good. Got three eps into S3 and might stop. Story seems pointless. Too much punny banter between Din and Grogu. And while I love me some Sedaris – both Amy and David – there was too much Amy comic relief. And Karl Weathers. Interesting how they explained the disappearance of Sheriff MAGA.
3. Kenobi: Last night watched the first two eps. E1 was sloooow. E2 got moving, but I wanted to strangle Leia. Didn't the SW universe learn anything from having precocious kids in Phantom Menace? And Ewan...*he* shoulda known! And too many cameos. I think I'm done with it, unless someone can tell me it gets better.
4. Boba Fett: I've heard enough bad reviews to where I prob won't start.
You explain away the 6 yr old comment, by noticing that he was 6 when someone caused the disaster on the planet he was on that left only children to survive in the woods.
Yeah, that’s how I understood that comment as well.
Similar to how people often don’t realize they are poor when they are young but understand it as they grow older.
yeah...I guess it was (little r) rebellion, not (big r) Rebellion. and his adopted mom was into rebel-ly things.
well played!
i liked Boba Fett. havent seen S3 of the Mandalorian yet.
Boba Fett felt like season 2.5 of the Mandalorian both in plot and quality.
I also liked Boba Fett.
Good to know about BF...I'll give it a go. I'm counting on you, HSB! ;-)
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Biden okays cluster munitions to Ukraine. The US has about 5.5 million cluster artillery rounds. Cluster munitions hit about 15-20x more frequently than their standard high-explosive counterparts. On the negative side, about 2-6% of submunitions end up a UXO on older 1st generation cluster rounds. On the positive side, the munition is perfect for defeating Russian defenses.
Ron DeSantis' wife also seems unhinged.
https://twitter.com/CaseyDeSantis/status/1677061896317353988
I thought she was supposed to be the likable one.
Walmart Melania.
* Publix
FL State Rep Fabian Basabe has been accused of sexual harassment by two male staffers. And it's not mild harassment. And go ahead and guess the Rep's political affiliation.
https://www.alternet.org/florida-gop-lawmaker-harassment/
Must be a Democratic trans man.
Is that a new interpretation of "trans"? Changing political party?
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced Senate and House bills that require US Federal buildings to be "derived from the forms, principles, and architecture of Greek and Roman antiquity." I, for one, look forward to the vomitoriums, communal toilets, slave pits, vestal virgin residencies, and federal brothels.
https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/39975146-cf13-46fd-813e-69bb20cca172/B2362A415F10F4E74234BEEEE6A74887.beautifying-architecture.pdf
I wonder if they know that Greek and Roman statues were not originally white?
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/12/1109995973/we-know-greek-statues-werent-white-now-you-can-see-them-in-color
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/true-colors-17888/
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
Pat Fitzgerald is on unpaid suspension because of hazing/reading too much California Golden Blogs
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/37973549/pat-fitzgerald-suspended-northwestern-hazing-inquiry
Dang, my daughter will be unhappy.
CAL
Go Bears!!!