Scott Ourth

Scott is the son of our cousin, Lynn Ourth, and is active in the Church (when it was the RLDS church). He has attended Graceland University and lives close to Lamoni, Iowa.

He is active in Iowa politics, and hosts events by Democratic hopefuls from the porch of his house. My brother Steve should be getting to know him better, but is not.

My Chromebooks are Down

I have two of the things, that have behaved better than my Windows 10 laptops - until recently. When my newest one keeps giving me a Network Connection Error. But seems to be working normally.

Operating Systems are big buggy things, that are making out lives more difficult. Google's Chrome OS has been working better, but it has got the Virus too.

Meet Maddy

Xamarin Newsletter

Doesn't this sound better than Meet Microsoft? Take a quick look at this gal before you answer. Couldn't Microsoft have done better?

Microsoft is desperate (as they have been for a long time) to improve its image. The guy on the right can do that. But the gal on rhe left is a little bit nutty. Her red dress is enough to set her on fire.

She does have a tough job: being a Software Developer. This isn't something you can fake, but she is trying anyway.

Discord

This has joined the many strange things that are making my life difficult.

I started out with the best of intentions - I saw an ad for a new course on Udemy. Ir was about Microsoft's Power BI. I bought it and started to learn it. Then it said I really should use another app, called Discord, so I could join all the other people taking the Power BI course!

The result was a total mess. 

"A total mess? You are saying. Welcome to Reality, where most things are this way - and getting worse!"

My Father stopped having Sex with my Mother

Why? Because she wanted too much of it.

In 1947, when I was 11, we moved to my Mother's hometown of Nauvoo, Illinois. My parents slept in the Master Bedroom upstairs, which had its own fireplace. But then my Father moved downstairs to his office and stayed there.

This was embarrassing to my mother's sister who slept in a double bed and had lots of children by her husband. And also, we can be sure, lots of sex.

The Impact of the Digital Economy on Workers

The first redefinition of what a worker was. was provided by Karl Marx.  And adopted by the Soviet Union.

When this ended in 1990, the rest of the world had some hard thinking to do, but this thinking was not too hard, and the US rushed into the Gulf War, and Iraq War instead. And is still involved in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the Computer Economy (Apple. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft) were creating a new kind of worker - making Software! And spending billions (not millions) of dollars!

Most workers, however, insisted on doing the same thing - and elected Trump to help them with this.

They are saying (as loudly as they can) "There is no digital economy!"

CFR and the Virus

Council for Foreign Relations

This post is the first in an Asia Unbound series of voices from Asia on the COVID-19 crisis, and on its implications for Asia and for Asian views of the United States. 

I am sitting here, in my pajamas, reading about the rest of the world. And I am horrified. 

The Human Race is in worse shape than I thought. 

The City That Had Too Much Money

Bloomberg Businessweek

One academic terms the process “the Vancouver model”: a seamy mingling of clean and dirty cash in casinos, real estate, and luxury goods made possible by historic ties to China and by Canada’s lax record of fighting financial crime.

Being Stupid is the Normal Way to Be

This seems obvious to me. People are not just stupid, they want to prove they are stupid, every chance they get.

And rhe best place to do this, is at work. Where they are surrounded by people who want things to work. The normal, stupid person can easily mess this up. And then protest his innocence (I was only trying to make it better!). 

There is one place, however, where this will not work: in Software. If you are stupid there, you are out of a job, immediately.

Advertisements in Politics

I get urgent requests about this frequently "We gotta have more money, to buy more ads! The other guys are outspending us! Money buys success!"

There is some truth to what they are saying. We gotta get the facts before the voters. 

But this easily becomes "The voters are stupid, and we have to fix the facts to make it easier for them to vote our way!" 

It is true that most people are stupid, but using advertisements will only make this worse. 

My Brother needs to Make a Movie

But he cannot program his computers (including his Phone) to do this.

He is completely normal this way: most people cannot do this and do not want to do this.

They live in a world controlled by computers on the Internet - but they cannot control these computers.

They want someone else (or something else) to do this for them. And believe it or not - something else is running our world.

Business closings in Orosi

Orosi is the little town I live in, in Costa Rico. The economic impacts of the Virus have been dramatic, but uneven. There have been no infections, that I know of. The local Medical Center is empty and not serving anyone.

The first business affected was the Bar, that was shut down, and has remained shut down. This reaction seemed extreme to me, since most people in the Bar, were just having a beer, and visiting with friends.

The Coto Restaurant (which served many tourists) has reopened, with no masks being used. The Soda Luz, one of the oldest businesses in town, has closed down and remains closed. Why the difference?

Can Computers Approve of People?

The keyword here is approve, a transitive verb: to have or express a favorable opinion of.

Something people can do easily, but computers cannot do at all.

How my Parents died Rich

I hate to admit it, but our savior was the RLDS Church. Who bought my parent's property in Nauvoo, Illinois for an indecent sum.

Why so much money? Because my parents were Church members, and they wanted to make them rich.

Allow me to begin my story in Ft. Madison, Iowa, right after WWII. My father owned a Photography Studio then and made lots of money during the War.

The best place to spend that money was in my mother's home town of Nauvoo, Illinois, just across the Mississippi River.

They bought two acres right on the river. And moved a house from uptown down to it.

My father tried to start two new businesses but failed at both of them. Things didn't look so good.

The Church, however, decided to build a new Visitors Center, to show tourists the RLDS church was as good as the LDS church. That was busy buying up the rest of the town. This was built close to the highway that ran through the town.

And close to our house. Suddenly, we were rich!

The New Colossus

Wikipedia

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I’m convinced that software is a human process and needs people telling stories

The New Stack

The writer is Salvatore Sanfilippo. a Hispanic a name as I ever saw one.

He says nothing about where he came from. But wherever it was, it must have been some time ago. Because when he talks, Gringos listen.

She just wants More Babies

This applies to men also, but they have a problem: they have to pay for those babies.

This is not a problem in poor countries, where people are cheap, but in wealthy countries. people think twice before acquiring more.

They can see a few years into the future when those babies have to go to College. 

Sorry but TikTok can’t be ignored any longer

DTIG Daily

This is a heavy read! I will have to read it some more times, before it sinks in.

This company started in China but is moving aggressively to the US.

In either case, it is aimed at the Young, who still capable of learning.

Making Espresso takes some Smarts

I just got a new Espresso machine and it is breaking me in.

The tricky part here is steaming the milk, and adding the right amount to your coffee.

I also add some Splenda, to make it extra-tasty.

Most People are Stupid

And cannot realize this. They are stupid in two ways: (1) they do not know much. and (2) they consider this the proper way to be.

This is obviously a problem, but how much of a problem is it?

I was born and raised a Mormon, and one of their key beliefs is in the Book of Mormon. Which is nothing. Now that I have dropped out of the Church, I can ask myself "What do they see in it?"

One answer is "It gives them something stupid to believe in!" And for many people this a vital necessity. They have to have something to believe in, and it has to be stupid.

Not Being and Self-Destruction

These are the same thing, as you can determine for yourself, after a little thought.

However, this is not true for most people, who feel just the opposite - that they are most themselves when they do not exist!

This is one of the strange peculiarities of human existence, and I hope you will give it some thought.

Being a Decent Person

I am thinking about this, this morning.

And for me, thinking is an important part of the process. You have to think about what kind of person you want to be, and talk to other people about it,  before you can work at becoming that kind of person.

This is what people were doing during the Enlightenment. And the result was America, and one of its symbols: the Statue of Liberty, in New York Harbor.

This Statue would never be erected today. Why? Because our concept of Liberty has changed that much.

I noticed this when I ran a support group in San Diego in the Eighties. All we did was sit on the floor in my apartment in a big circle, and talk about ourselves. There was only one rule: only one person would talk at a time.

It worked, as long as the high-tech boom in San Diego lasted, which wasn't too long.

The best-laid plans of mice and men ...

Love without Sex

Everyone will agree, this is possible. And everyone will agree, this is difficult.

It is much easier to have sex without love. This happens frequently, especially to women.

When I was in Silicon Valley, in the Nineties, everyone was doing it with everyone else. and this lasted thru the teens. Having sex with them, meant you were interested in them and their project.

Now that I ma taking coding seriously again, I am asking myself the same question: can I code without being passionately interested in it?

I suspect not.

You have to have the Right Balance

Between liking people and hating people.

We have plenty of people who like people, but not enough that also hate them, and can't do enough to get away from them.

A good example was Leonard Bernstein, whose liking of people was intense, but whose dislike of them was also obvious. For him, and for many other people, Classical Music was a way of Escaping Reality.

The`Puppies are Almost Gone

They kept Ray busy for a while, chasing after them with a roll of toilet paper. And botle-feeding them when their mother's milk ran dry.

He can now take them for long walks, where they look adorable. Everyone wants one.

Mosh

Code Made Easy

I have written about this before: "Who do you get in bed with?"

Only this time it is more complicated "What organizations do you want to join?" Give this some serious thought before you do anything.

Most people, however, cannot think and cannot code either. And consider this their cardinal virtue: they cannot do anything and are no danger to anyone!

They Cannot Think, and I cannot Think Why

This is now a common situation for our species. We cannot think, and do not want to.

As someone who thinks occasionally, I should be able to explain this.  but I cannot.

The Dysfunctional Family

This is most families in today's world.

And we have the right to ask "Are there any families, that are not this way, where the family members suffer needlessly?"

When I was working in Silicon Valley in the Nineties, I was part of a Men's group, with our own therapist, where we talked about this problem endlessly. Which was part of a bigger problem "What's wrong with the world?"

There were no answers, which did not stop us from thinking there should be some.

When Beth and I got married, we solved this problem by not having any children. Maybe the only smart thing we ever did in our entire marriage of five years.

You gotta be smart to use the Cloud

I am learning about the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Coursera has a course about this, where they do their best to make it easy to understand.

But my 83-year-old brain is not up to it. And I suspect most brains of any age are not up to it either. People are not very smart, and trying to make them smarter is very difficult.

You need a young person who already knows most of what it needs to know. Then you need special training to push them a little further.

There are special certification programs to test to see if you really understand this. Most people don't.

The Cloud is many computers, scattered all over the world, and lots of special software that make it all work together, and super-smart. The net result is lots of smarts at low prices!

But to make all this stuff work right, you gotta be smart yourself. And able to work with other smart people also.

I worked once for a company that made supercomputers - or tried to. The monster machine we came up with should be in a museum somewhere.  But it did not sell.

To Understand any Important person

You have to understand the people who made him that way.

This may not be easy: why was Trump elected?

America has Become Nothing

This not entirely true. American Software runs the world. But not very well.

The whole world is wondering "What's wrong with America? And how do we fix it?"

I got the Americas Quarterly today, which attempts to answer that question. Not very successfully.

Americans should be reading it, but they are not.

Eager to Show how Incompetent They Are

The complete sentence is - they are eager to show how incompetent (or stupid or crazy) they are.

This is not true of all people, just most people.

I am reading about 9/11, in the book Sensible Security. He is marveling at how effective this attack was, and how cheap it was. And how it changed our perception of what future attacks would be like (suicide bombers).

This is now part of my Kindle Library.

When Joseph Smith was Killed, his Church Fell Apart

This period in Mormon history has not been documented very well, because the situation was so chaotic. Many things were happening in many places.

Many church members spent the winter in Iowa, in a place called Winter Camp. And it was here that Brigham Young (who, as the President of the Quorum of 12 was on a mission in England) caught up with them and became the new church leader.

And continued their journey across the Rocky Mountains to settle on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. They were leaving the US forever. And Brigham Young was a capable leader.

Joseph Smith's wife, Emma, was not part of this Movement, but remained in Nauvoo, with her sons. This was not smart of her, and she never taught her sons about the many events (including polygamy) that had happened when her husband was still alive.

Eventually, her sons became part of the RLDS church, the second-largest Mormon church.

RLDS Financial Statement

I can remember this from the Fifties. Every active church member had to file one of these every year. It was modeled on the Federal Income Tax form.

Every church member had to list all his income and all his expenses, then do the math that indicated how much he owed the Church for that year.

I dropped out of the Church in 1959 when I graduated from the U of Illinois. And I believe this requirement was discontinued when the RLDS Church became the Community of Christ church.

Am I right about this? You can reply directly by adding a comment to this blog form.

The Myth of Henry Kissinger

New Yorker

Nixon’s Secretary of State was a far less remarkable figure than his supporters, his critics—and he himself—believed.

This article is a good example of American intellectual writing. America does have its intellectuals - although they are greatly outnumbered by its idiots.  

Who were the original RLDS Church Members?

When Joseph Smith was killed in 1844. the LDS Church members scattered in many directions. Nauvoo. Illinois became a ghost town.

But there were church members still active in Plano, Illinois. They decided to reorganize the LDS church and called themselves the RLDS church. They employed the sons of Joseph Smith who were living with their mother, Emma, in Nauvoo.

These sons originally assumed they could continue to live in Nauvoo. but this did not work out and they had to move to Plano, with their Nauvoo wives and children.

The members in Plano bought farmland in Southern Iowa, built a town on it, and called the town Lamoni. The Smith sons (especially Joseph Smith III), moved with them.

The Church at that time had two kinds of members: the original members, who were farmers. and new members that JSIII was rapidly adding. The Church remained in Lamoni for a long time and soon the new members outnumbered the old ones.

No one was keeping track of the church membership, and how the church was changing.

Eventually, it moved to Independence, Missouri.  where it has remained. The original members from Plano have been forgotten.

It gradually merged with the Kansas City metro area and farming has been forgotten.

The Importance of the Computer in Today's World

We live in a world that is changing rapidly, because of the computer - and where most people are unaware of this.

They are not only unaware, but they also intend to remain this way. And consider the Computer an unnecessary intruder into their lives. 

I worked in the computer industry from 1980-2000, as a Technical Writer, and got to see the shenanigans there. 

I did not get to make a transition to a Java programmer, or I would still be there, making lots of money, I moved to Costa Rica instead, where I sm living on my Social Security retirement - and drinking their excellent coffee.

The Computer industry has evolved from hundreds of companies to just four: Apple, Amazon. Google. and Microsoft, who are making obscene amounts of money.

Costa Rica could be making this money also, by writing apps in Spanish. But so far they have not done this. The gap between North America and Latin America will continue to widen.

Their Computer people will head for the US, and will not come back.

Espresso Coffee

I am having some for breakfast, right now. But many people will not touch the stuff. Why? No one knows.

Espresso coffee is made with steam, which makes a more powerful coffee. Perhaps people think this is going too far. 

I am now going to cook a Tamale, another kind of food that does not exist for many people. Or it may only exist for a short time - Christmas in Latin America. When it suddenly appears and then disappears.

I may also have some alcohol for breakfast. There are many kinds and they are all legal.

It will not Do It, because It Cannot

There are many things this way.

For example, I fook a Photo with my Digital Camera but could not upload it to my Chromebook laptop.

I had to do a Seach in the Google Play Stoe. and download and install Google Photos, first. Then I could upload all the Photos I pleased.

Simple, huh?

When Business goes Bad

This is a subject I can be very upset about. Especially when I realize no one else is upset about it.

Business (now called the Enterprise) means working together, or it's opposite: not working together.

Most of my working life has been spent in companies that could not work together. And did not realize this. As a result, I have wasted my life (I am now 83) This is something worth getting upset about!

Optimizing Yourself: Neurodiversity in Tech

How this link popped into my life, I do not know. But it did, and once it was looking at me, on the screen of my laptop, I could not ignore it. Soon Death-inducing signaling complex was occupying another tab on my screen. What this is saying I do not know. It is way over my head. But it is grabbing something in my gut.

This is continued here, in an excellent discussion of where Software is going. 

Technology that is Bossing us Around

And we are not talking back to it. Because it keeps telling us "I am only giving you what you want!"

Is it lying to us?

Yes, but in a clever way. We have been trained like we train a puppy to not pee on the floor. Our Computers are telling us  "This is what other people are interested in." Without telling us who these other people are, or why we should be like them.

The Social Media is speaking to us, and we are listening and obeying. like well-traned puppies.

This is called Machine Learning, and we have become Machines.

My Low Energy State

The solution for this is simple, most people think - get more energy!

There are plenty of things that can do this - a large variety of drugs, for example. Although a change in mental state is often recommended. Falling in love, for example.

Or if you cannot do that, having sex may work just as well. Because having sex, if successful, means accepting all of a person, including his (or her) position in life.

But for many people, this is impossible because what they are, deep down, is not acceptable.

The simplest solution is just accepting your low energy state. This won't kill you, and might even make you feel better!

Breasts in Men

Both men and women have breasts, but for men, they do not amount to much.

Men have them by accident since we all started off as one cell (a fertilized egg) that became either a male or a female.

If we became a female, our breasts became the center of attention for men and women. And they produce milk (and plenty of it) for the newborn.

Who made the amazing transition from life inside our mothers to life outside her.

Alexander the Great (and his men) made this transition themselves. But were killed by a tiny microorganism.

Not too bright

That's me, and I know it.

This makes me different from Most People, that do not know it.

Where do I go from here? That depends on you, you lucky reader, who have somehow discovered my writing, that is somewhat unusual. What will you make of it?

For Most People, the answer is easy. Nothing at all.

If the world suddenly ended, you might say "Huh?" Or you might not.

The Mormons were as Crazy as they Could Be

All you have to do is look at the timing of their uprising (just before the Civil War). That destroyed Civil Rights for 100 years.

This fall of Mormonism was easiest to see in the RLDS church, which destroyed itself rapidly, beginning in the 1950s. This decline was amazing, but invisible to those in this church. It even changed its name to the Community of Christ.

This huge change was accepted by everyone in my extended family (except myself).

Not Having Children

My wife and I both felt strongly about this: No Kids! We both had an unhappy childhood, and we didn't want to make more of them.

We both had Mormon backgrounds (the RLDS church) and much of our misery was due to that. But at least we felt our misery, most Mormons do not.

The Dysfunctional  Family appeared, to our utter amazement. With its many varieties of Sexual Abuse.

America has the Best Garbage Collection in the World

This is because it has so much garbage: the most in the world.

This even applies to its Software. An important part of any App is its Garbage Collection, that periodically recycles the Code space that it is using.

Clever, huh?

Kind of Closed Down

Many businesses are closed down in Orosi, no sign of life in them. 

Others are kind of closed down: people are still in them and will serve you if you can get their attention.

Things are Worse than We can Imagine

Medium

With that historical groundwork, where does that leave us in spring 2020? Considerably more than screwed. We are at the precipice as everyone frantically looks everywhere but in front of us and down. Very much like the Coyote tricked again by the Roadrunner, we are in thin air, and our fall is inescapable and, sadly, humorous.

Strenght

Now that I have so little of this, I can see how important it is.

And how the strength of the individual depends on the Masses he is in.

And how most people identify with imaginary Masses for their strength.

I search thru my Kindle library for "masses" and find "The Revolt of the Masses"

I must be on to something here.

Facebook is made for People who Do Not Understand Computers

That is why it so popular.

Most people do not understand computers but feel they should, and Facebook makes them feel they understand them.

Another Crisis

This time it happened in my apartment. I fell down on the floor, and could not get up without getting dizzy.

Ray was not here, and the cleaning lady had a hard time getting me back on the bed, so she could clean the floor.

This morning I was able to make coffee (except I found a dead cockroach in my espresso cup). Those things cannot swim very well.

I finally realized I was trying to do too much. I am just an ordinary person. but I wanted to be super-ordinary!

This is a common problem: Joseph Smith had it Back in the 1839s, and killed him. Right now, there are online instructors doing the same thing! And getting better at it all the time. I hope it does not kill them.

Having Babies, and Paying for Them

Every culture handles this differently. And after I moved to Costa Rica, I got to see how it is done here.

Like sensible people, they consider money first. Who is going to pay for these adorable creatures everyone wants?

They know the conventional logic: the father supports his children. and their mother, which is fine if the fathers have plenty of money. But what about most of the people? Who can barely afford a pot to piss in?

The answer is clearly to get more money, by hook or crook. Which means most children will be supported by crook.

Their parents would prefer to be respectable, as respectable as it is possible to be. But second-best is good enough.