Kurt's Thoughts

This video is surprisingly emotional for me.

“How to spot an idiot” – as told by Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker during his 2023 commencement speech at Northwestern University.

More on this here:
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/the-graduation-speech-that-is-winning-the-internet-how-to-spot-an-idiot-4162620

“Every character in Andor has their own Rebellion and that’s arguably the thematic core of Andor.

Until people realize that they are fighting the same battles as the person next to them, large-scale change can’t be achieved.

A unified force can change the world but until we look past the things that seem to divide us we’ll continue to struggle alone.”

Why Andor’s Dialogue is SO Much Better – Star Wars: Andor
https://youtube.com/watch?v=4ExQnDYwsfo&feature=shared

Here’s some additional post-Andor viewing: 😁
✅ Andor: Banality of Evil
https://youtu.be/LXVj2cDP1Gg
✅ Andor: Anti-fascist Art
https://youtu.be/2gnKDSPBcb8
✅ Honest Trailers: Andor
https://youtu.be/b6_5fjY54oQ
✅ Andor: Things You Missed
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4xEo4XxrSJaryY0PGyGRvyo5Uigh6xqE
✅ Andor: More than y’think
https://youtu.be/0olCJWnqyq8
✅ Andor Easter Eggs
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDVUo0d8uHhfDXcs0NNq3w269zDOWXY6u
✅ Everything I ❤️ about Andor
https://youtu.be/B4AEWKiPDew
✅ A 1978 Star Wars Masterpiece https://youtu.be/rDzv250fEaE
✅ Andor vs ObiWan https://youtu.be/3NJsSa-RPf4

And aome of the monologues & moments in “Andor”:
✅ Andor | Luthen Rael’s Monologue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3RCme2zZRY
✅ Andor | Kino Loy’s Monologue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKB67KzjO4A
✅ Andor | Maarva Andor’s Monologue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaKrm5txGCQ
✅ Andor | Karis Nemik’s Manifesto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-asb8zTiuZ4
✅ Inside Look of Episodes 1-3 | Andor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y05Q3SGZwc
✅ Inside Look of Episodes 4-6 | Andor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ-fhJ4aBhE
✅ Andor | Inside Look at Narkina 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh2jC-Cwa1I

#andor #starwars #disneyplus

Ketamine is a helluva drug.

Kate Conger and Remy Tumin, The New York Times:

Although Mr. Musk acknowledged that an extended boycott could bankrupt X, he suggested that the public would blame the brands rather than him for its collapse.

He’s purely delusional. (Gift link.) https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/29/business/dealbook/elon-musk-advertisers-blackmail-iger.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CU0.M30Z.l_-8B-weNJwE&smid=url-share

In case this is confusing to y’all, Elmo self-medicates with Ketamine, which he announced several months ago.

Ketamine, historically an animal tranquilizer, has a laundry list of psychological effects. Here’s a post from someone who knows Ketamine intimately:

• “Elon Musk Loves Ketamine, And Now Everything Makes Sense To Me” – Medium
• https://archive.ph/hDdX0

This is the new Tesla Cybertruck logo.

Interesting messaging when you color in a few lines, isn’t it?

In other news, there have been massive reports of overt racism and harassment of black employees at Tesla facilities including swastikas and KKK symbols.

A lawsuit was filed and alleged “that throughout the period since 2015, “Black employees also encountered displays of racist graffiti, including swastikas, threats, and nooses. They found such graffiti on a variety of surfaces, including on desks, in elevators, and on equipment, including vehicles rolling off the production lines. Black employees have described the prevalence of racist imagery as ‘frequent,’ ‘constant,’ ‘a regular thing,’ and occurring ‘too many times to count.'””

One employee stated, “I saw KKK epithets, a swastika, and the N-word all over the bathroom. It was so gross and racist I don’t want to discuss it. It would say ‘kill black people,’ ‘kill N-words,’ ‘hang black people,’ ‘hang N-words.'”

Lawsuit: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.418764/gov.uscourts.cand.418764.1.0.pdf

Full article: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/09/us-agency-sues-tesla-as-black-workers-report-swastikas-threats-and-nooses/

I don’t have time to write up a pretty summary of all of this but this is some of the articles that have been written on this topic.

Bottom line:

1. NEVER ACCEPT LINKEDIN REQUESTS FROM PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW.
2. DISCONNECT FROM THOSE WHO ACCEPT RANDOM LINKEDIN CONNECTIONS FROM REQUEST SPAMMERS.

WHY? IF YOU ACCEPT CONNECTIONS FROM REQUEST SPAMMERS:

1. You’ve given them free access to spam you based on your attributes, profile & previous posts & interests. This is normally something restricted by InMail to prevent spammers from doing this & you just bypassed it all.
2. They sell you & your connections as targets for advertising. Sometimes this is for their spamming on LinkedIn but more often its for spamming you on Facebook, Twitter & other social networks because…
3. Scrapers build a dossier on your profile. They cross-reference you with other social networks & Internet signals to link you to them & by connecting, you just gave the spammers a treasure trove of details about you professionally.
4. Scammers now have access to your connections & you expose them to being profiled. They also build a mesh of relationships that integrate you & your contacts so they can use you as a refernece to get to them.
5. You effectively betray all your connections when you accept a LinkedIn connection invite from someone you don’t know & people will know it was you – based on the flag that says, “[Person] also is connected with [You].

Posts about unknown LinkedIn Connection:

• LIPROSPECT: The potential risks of accepting connection requests from unknown individuals on LinkedIn
  https://liprospect.com/blog/the-potential-risks-of-accepting-connection-requests-from-unknown-individuals-on-linkedin/?noamp=available
• NPR: Professionals beware: That new LinkedIn connection request may be part of a scam
  https://www.npr.org/2022/09/14/1123024055/professionals-beware-that-new-linkedin-connection-request-may-be-part-of-a-scam
• THE MUSE: Why You Shouldn’t Add Strangers on LinkedIn (aka Here’s What Happened When I Accepted Over 300 Random LinkedIn Requests)
  https://www.themuse.com/advice/heres-what-happened-when-i-accepted-over-300-random-linkedin-requests
• THE LADDERS: Why you should (and shouldn’t) accept LinkedIn requests from people you don’t know
  https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/why-you-should-and-shouldnt-accept-linkedin-requests-from-people-you-dont-know
• TECH REPUBLIC: Don’t fall for LinkedIn phishing: How to watch for this credential-stealing attack
  https://www.techrepublic.com/article/dont-fall-for-linkedin-phishing-how-to-watch-for-this-credential-stealing-attack/
• TECH TARGET: How to avoid LinkedIn phishing attacks in the enterprise
  https://www.techtarget.com/searchSecurity/tip/How-to-avoid-LinkedIn-phishing-attacks-in-the-enterprise
• WELIVESECURITY: Common LinkedIn scams: Beware of phishing attacks and fake job offers
  https://www.welivesecurity.com/2022/05/09/common-linkedin-scams-phishing-attacks-fake-job-offers/
• TAPLIO: Remove Pending LinkedIn Connection Requests Before They Hurt Your Account
  https://taplio.com/blog/remove-linkedin-connection-requests

CHRIS PIRILLO: “Well, that does happen every once in a while. That can’t be good. Uh, now… are you done with that… then?”

“Apparently we’re REALLY done with that one!”

If you use Android, there’s a wicked way to eliminate the worst features/annoyances of Twitter including ads (Yes, it removes the ads), the stupid “for you” tab, the black X logo replacing the blue Twitter bird logo, etc.

It’s involves installing a plug-in for Firefox BETA on Android called, “Control Panel for Twitter”. Read about how to download & install it on your Android installation of Firefox BETA.

✅ How to block Twitter’s ‘For You’ on Android and iOS for an Elon-free Twitter
By Daniel Rubino published March 28, 2023 https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/how-to-block-twitters-for-you-on-android-and-ios-for-an-elon-free-twitter

Incidentally, this also works for Windows desktops using Microsoft Edge. Twitter switched to using the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser, so when you “install” Twitter from the Microsoft Store, you’re just getting a PWA in Edge.

✅ Run ‘Control Panel for Twitter’ via Microsoft Edge and get rid of all the Twitter BS like ‘For you’
By Daniel Rubino last updated February 15, 2023 https://www.windowscentral.com/tweak-new-twitter-microsoft-edge

China’s economy is weakening, and the government is taking action by censoring news about the economy. https://www.semafor.com/article/08/07/2023/china-restricts-economists-from-discussing-risks

China is losing the world. Companies don’t want to invest. Tourists don’t want to visit. https://archive.ph/0u9NS

Watching the “More Star Trek” channel on plutoTV – 24/7 Star Trek Deep Space Nine. All day, every day.

Just the theme gets me misty. DS9 is easily my favorite Star Trek of all time… although Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is giving it a run for its money. 😁

https://pluto.tv/en/live-tv/more-star-trek

Musk appears to be openly committing fraud.

Tesla employees celebrated as they canceled appointments & mistreated customers: Some celebrated canceling service appointments by putting their phones on mute & striking a metal xylophone, triggering applause from coworkers.

The team often closed hundreds of cases a week & staffers were tracked on their average number of diverted appointments/day.

Managers told the employees that they were saving Tesla about $1K for every canceled appointment.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-batteries-range/

Yael Tauman Kalai is a Sr. Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research & an adjunct professor at MIT. A theoretical computer scientist & cryptographer, she was awarded the 2022 ACM Prize in Computing.

She & her collaborators are updating their cryptographic schemes for a future in which quantum computers could threaten the security of today’s cryptographic methods.

“The Cryptographer Working to Protect Computations” – Quanta Magazine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMrpHQehRmY
#microsoft #quantum #security

I went to Knott’s Berry Farm for the 1st time in more than 25 years. I wanted to specifically check out:
✅Ghost Town Alive!
✅Fiesta Village
✅Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Restaurant
…cuz certain YouTubers have hyped it up a bit. So away we went.

Not gonna lie… I wasn’t initially impressed with the #knottsberryfarm #GhostTownAlive experience.

If you’ve been on #StarWars #GalacticStarcruiser you know that initially getting engaged can a little difficult for some but the #playDisney app provides rails for the story & really helps.

Here there is no app, so if you get lost, lose track of your ‘guy’ or the story, you’re kinda hosed.

Also, knowing to pick this up & read it at the start would’ve been very helpful to know initially.

But many of the actors are really good. I mean, they’re workin’ their asses off getting guests involved & dragging them into the story thru tasks & missions.

Really everywhere you turn you can get 1:1 time with someone looking to help you get engaged with the town of Calico.

For example, we walked into town & just started talking to someone named Flint & he just WENT OFF & gave us subtle hints on where to go & what to do & a “task” thru this slip of paper.

Here’s tip #1: There were rather few people at #knottsberryfarm #ghosttownalive on a Sunday compared to #Disneyland or even #disneycaliforniaadventure. If you’re gonna visit, this a great time to go.

Tip #2: The “Fastlane” pass wristband (skips/accelerates the line) for rides is SO worth it. At “Calico River Rapids”, we didn’t just skip the entire 1hr long line in the 90F heat… we rode 3x in a row w/ NO WAITING. In front of 100s of people waiting in line, it felt borderline criminal!

Depending on who you ally yourself with you can get some interesting quests or missions in #knottsberryfarm #ghosttownalive.

For example, my son was deputized by the Calico sheriff & got a warrant to search certain facilities to retrieve stolen objects. There’s a lot of ground to cover (it’s a big town) but he managed to accomplish some tasks & got the token in the image below for something he did.

I’ve heard others got other rewards or items for many other quests.

Another job we secured was hunting down the sheriff’s bounties. #Ghosttownalive seemed to be emulating the #GalaxysEdge #bountyhunters game but with real people.

We never caught him cuz we had to hustle over to “Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Restaurant” for lunch & we had a mixed experience:
❌You have to leave the park to go to the restaurant. And it’s a fair walk.
❌The chicken dinner was frankly just okay. Crispy, thinly battered but BLAND, Disney Plaza chicken is a whole level better. (cont.)

(cont.)
✅Boysenberry drink, jam & ice cream are excellent. Don’t pass on those.
✅Mashed potatoes maybe some of the best I’ve ever had at a restaurant.
❌Everyone’s salads were drowning in dressing. Really surprising & unappetizing.
✅Time from ordering to biscuits, salads & appetizers? 5min. Lightning fast.
❌Time from appetizers to main course? 45min. People that arrived after us got served their meals before us. At the 30min mark, I got stern about the kitchen eff up & things sped up.

Tip #3: Unless you want to wait in the heat w/ no air current for 30min – even with a Fastlane pass – don’t bother w/ “Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair”. (Track-driven, 3D glasses, infrared gun video game ride)

The Knott’s app will say the ride has a 5min wait & that’s b——-. The staff here load SO SLOWLY is criminal but I don’t actually know that it’s their fault: There seems to be a ton of safety concerns. The carriage doors don’t lock, it’s not clear when to get out, etc.

Tip #4: Wanna cool down? The Mix-It Up Ice Cream shop at #knottsberryfarm #ghosttownalive has ICEEs. And their exclusive flavor? Boysenberry. And it’s really good compared to cherry & strawberry.

Only problem is the line is gonna be long. 15min in the sun but it’s probably worth it. And once you get to the counter, service is super quick. Have someone in your party leave the line and go hunt down a picnic table with shade to sit at in front of the Calico Saloon or the shop.

I really loved the detail Knott’s put into the town of Calico. Everything feels authentic & the majority of the actors are fantastic.

As an aside, I never got to go to “Miner’s Mac & Spuds”. I love baked potatoes & my son loves Mac & cheese so this would have been a great place to check out but we ran out of juice by 6PM & had to head home.

#knottsberryfarm #ghosttownalive was worth the visit. We’ll come back for #knottsscaryfarm to check that out seeing that the event is notorious.

So Twitter decided to send a threatening letter to an organisation who were researching hate speech on Twitter .

They fired back with a beautiful letter on their own.

I’m sure Twitter isn’t going through with their threat, but I kinda hope they will. The discovery will be gorgeous.

Download the letter here: https://counterhate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Letter-to-A.-Spiro-from-R.-Kaplan-re-CCDH.pdf

For anyone interested in the #StarWars #GalacticStarcruiser datapad Aurebesh start screen from the #playDisney app… and its English translation:
—-
ACCESSING SYSTEM
INITIATE DATAPAD MODE… 0513-19
STATUS CHECK – DATAPAD DIAGNOSTICS
LOADING PROTOCOLS… STANDARD
DATAPAD OVERRIDE

INITIATING TOOLS… 0531-19
INITIATING FORM… 08-2919
INITIATING MAPS… 12-0519
INITIATING PROFILE… 0117-20
PLATFORM
SETUP COMPLETE
SYSTEM DEBUG… COMPLETED
ACCESSING SYSTEM
INITIATE DATAPAD MODE… 0513-19

This map that I bought was found on Etsy. Super clear & easy to read when purchased at movie poster size. I had the framed and mounted on my wall.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/947810326/stars-wars-galaxy-map-high-definition

Also found this one which was cool in that it showed Canon vs Legends, but the creator doesn’t provide any “higher” res images so it’s hard to see the detail or accuracy.

https://www.redbubble.com/i/poster/The-Galaxy-by-DavidDentAM/44588637.E40HW

People – particularly folks without the money to do so – are quick to whine about the cost of the Star Wars Galactic StarCruiser & declare that the reason it failed.

That wasn’t the reason. Then what was?

Disney marketed the #StarWars #GalacticStarcruiser to the wrong people.

I am the demographic. I can afford to go multiple times on the Star Wars Galactic StarCruiser. And I did.

The problem was Disney severely miscalculated that their in-house wave 2 & 3 target audiences would put butts in rooms.
✅ Wave 1, as everyone knows, were diehard Star Wars fans. “We’ll pay any amount” types.
✅ Wave 2 were Club 33 & Golden Oaks folks. Heavy disposable income Disney-philes.
✅ Wave 3 has been Disney Vacation Club, Magic Key & previous StarCruisers.

Unfortunately, I think Disney over-estimated the value of their own marketing for the consumers they are trying to attract. I think they believed their customer databases have the right demographic for #StarWars #GalacticStarcruiser: “A family with the disposable income to double the cost of an Orlando vacation by adding a 2-day stay at SWGS”

The closest thing I can think of is their lists for ‘Disney Destinations’ customers: People that can pay $25K for a 3-person 7-day trip to Japan.

I originally suggested dropping the in-house Disney customer lists & consider marketing direct to GenX nerds at Microsoft, Google, Amazon… geeks with disposable income. These folks have the “ability” to take such a trip & would also likely be very “interested” if they knew about the SWGS.

And if given some sort of compelling event (a limited time offer?) getting them to make a reservation would be easier.

Honestly, as a nerd, my nerd friends & I didn’t even know about the SWGS initially.

ICYMI: Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser (Original Soundtrack)

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2wFDrfFxN47l0Eq7zeK8wQ?si=-t-5QYQJRfqLrXCEamubQg

Amazon Music:
https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0C3Q84D9K?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_YLzY2Ny87WxLsUsCTIqWwUixB

#starwars #GalacticStarcruiser #gaya

Interested in that “Halcyon Forever” t-shirt that all the Star Wars podcasters have been wearing commemorating the Galactic Starcruiser ?

It turns out that all proceeds go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/45489473-forever-white
#StarWars #GalacticStarcruiser #Disney

“Just learn how to get stuff done.

And what I mean by that is, I’ve seen at every level, people who are very good at describing problems. People who are very sophisticated in explaining why something went wrong or why something can’t be fixed.

But what I’m always looking for is, no matter how small the problem or how big it is, someone who says, “Let me take care of that.”

If you project an attitude of whatever it is that’s needed, I can handle it – I can do it, whoever is running that organization will notice, I promise.

Which is why for young people I always say, you don’t always need to be so impatient – asking for the plum assignment. A lot of times the best way to get attention is, whatever is assigned to you, you’re just nailing. You’re killing it. Because people will notice and say, “Oh that’s someone who can get something done.””

[Archive post for future reference]

If you use Stardock Multiplicity, I obtained the following from their Support team on getting it working across multiple desktops.

———————-

Ensure you have the latest and same version of MP software installed on each machine; one as a Primary another as a Secondary. You can check your version on the ‘Help’ or ‘About’ tab in MP. You can get the current version on your account page:
https://store.edgerunner.com/account/downloads

Next (and important), try rebooting every MP machine, as well as the connected router, and testing the connection again.

Next, you will want to ensure that all the MP rules are in your firewall on ALL MP machines:
http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-04-07_1524.png
http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-04-07_1514.png
-Multiplicity Audio Service: 30567
-Multiplicity Clipboard: 30565
-Multiplicity Service: 30564
-Multiplicity Remote Screen Service: 30569 (MP3 only)

Are set for Domain, Home or Private, NOT Public.
http://screencast.com/t/Pc3CLmeG

With that, you are going to want to ensure that the network you are connected to is indeed one of them:
http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-03-26_1111.png

Changing Windows network type should you need to:

• Win7:
  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/choosing-network-location#1TC=windows-7
• Win8:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRBXOuCWk18
• Win10:
  https://tinkertry.com/how-to-change-windows-10-network-type-from-public-to-private

If this fails, shut down any \ all Firewalls entirely and try to connect again:
Windows: http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-05-12_0945_002.png

Is this a Seamless or KVM connection you are having trouble with? If KVM, please ensure it is enabled on the Secondary:
http://screencast.com/t/NgBLyB3us

Also note, that you cannot connect to a Windows XP machine via KVM mode. The errors will be that that it is a firewall issue or that KVM mode is not enabled.

When you try to connect to the other machine, are you getting the connection success window?

• Seamless: http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-06-03_0822.png
• KVM: http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-06-03_0823.png

If that still fails, remove the Secondary connection completely:

• Seamless: http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-06-03_0830.png
• KVM: http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-06-03_0831.png

And re-adding the connection by the Secondary’s IP instead of the host name:
Example: http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-06-03_0832.png

Are you getting any errors? If so, what are they, and when do they occur? Would you be able to reply with any screenshots that would help illustrate your issue? Specifically, we would like to see the connection message you are getting when you test the connection type you are trying to set up:

• Seamless: http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-06-09_1220.png
• KVM: http://sd.stardock.com/sean/jingimages/2014-06-09_1221.png

Also, please download and run the following utility on the Primary and only one non-working Secondary.
http://sd.stardock.com/ERSupportTool.exe

This is a tool that we use to gather relevant log files and basic information about your computer. Once the utility finishes running, please send back the .zip files it creates on the desktop.