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[DeVaultSetter]

Have it outside! The neighbours are sure to want to get involved, even when the theme is atomic! Come to think of it, a model nuclear plant is sure to pique the interest of local boffins – particularly around the rather refreshing subject of coffee.
Here’s a video of Jaffa. the new pup:

One with Shem

Jaffa resting. 🙂

[Spastic Hamburger]

Couldn’t find many scaled power plants available for model railroads (found a few coal plants) and couldn’t find any nuclear power plants that are still available. Only thing I could find was this discontinued one. There are a few blueprint files available for 3D printers, however. Granted, that requires a 3D printer 😛

He really likes the toy! 😀

My dog has rediscovered the cow hoof in the bedroom after over a year. She’s spending a lot of time in there playing with it. She does come out to check on things from time to time and then she goes right back to it 😛

[DeVaultSetter]

They have a pretty cool albeit pricey locomotive set for the Deutsche Reichsbahn, out of stock at this time:

The tail is just about to come off the toy, Jaffa is showing no concerns for it whatsoever! 😛
A cow hoof in the bedroom – was that for a shoe stretcher -or did she intend re-imaginings for a new look decor?
The hypnotising effect of the Weasel War Dance was recently debunked on a local radio program – still looks like the stoats are having fun:

[Spastic Hamburger]

And for the holidays: https://www.trainworld.com/bachmann-00724-ho-jingle-bell-express-christmas-starter-train-set.html

Lots of possibilities with model trains!

That was quick! Better keep some in reserve! 😛

Oh, got the two for her! When she was visiting my mom once, she fell in love with chewing on them so I got her a couple for here. She loves them!

Yep! Definitely having a good time!

We supposedly have them here but I’ve never come across them before! Likewise with skunks. I’ve seen most of our other wildlife that’s native to the area, including foxes and field mice.

[DeVaultSetter]

Update on the toy doll: now minus a tail and one leg. 🙁
The old wombat, tired of cold and dark holes has now taken to habiting the shed!
Purchased at ebay two sets of replacement blades here and here for two different models of Phillips shavers – different sellers – and they turn out to be exactly the same product. Gone again is that old feeling of being led down the garden path of thinking ebay sellers have intimate knowledge of their wares. 😛
“We’re told that four out of five dentists recommend sugarless gum” – the high figure is because of herd mentality, see here. These days you’re doing well spotting a chewing gum which isn’t sugar free on the shelves. 😛

[Spastic Hamburger]

There’ll be nothing left at the rate he’s going!

Make sure to give it a straw bed or the likes to keep it comfortable! 🙂

Ugh. That’s annoying! Well, on the bright side, at least you have an extra set!

Yeah, I don’t generally trust those metrics and usually try to find the actual research. Or, better yet, I would ask my own dentist 😛

Just checked the local grocers…only four varieties of gum that aren’t sugar free 😛

[DeVaultSetter]

Have you ever performed a facial recognition search on Google – apparently they have “results for people are limited” along with zero hits of images similar to the one you want. Weird, as there are so many other ways of doing it – Pimeyes and Yandex to mention a few – tried Bing image search, which didn’t throw up objections as much as not being all that helpful either – might be by design. 😛

[Spastic Hamburger]

Use the reverse image search periodically but rarely use it for faces. Mostly, I use it to try and find an article something came from 😛

People are funny about their faces and Google blurs them by default in Street View so I’m surprised they have a facial search function

And Zork is now open source!

[DeVaultSetter]

Certainly Zork has drummed up a bit of interest – the engine update is 6 years back in the Github repo – no doubt that will change soon. 🙂
Would you believe there is a piccy of an odd sock at Wikipedia?

From Good Things Guy the “Sock Loss Index” is:

(L(p x f) + C(t x s)) – (P x A). In the formula, ‘L’ stands for ‘laundry size’ which is calculated by multiplying the number of people in the household (p) with the frequency of washes in a week (f). ‘C’ stands for the ‘washing complexity.

There’s is surely another factor, the sub population of those who already have a collection of odd socks. Surely those folks would take extra care in order to reduce the risk of more orphaned socks? Seems to have worked over here – so far. 😛

[Spastic Hamburger]

Weird article. 😛

Seinfeld also did a bit on the life of socks:

And regarding ballpoint pens, this is what happens to them: https://www.reddit.com/r/HitchHikersGuide/comments/11lczct/comment/jbiz38x/

And just came across this: https://www.reddit.com/r/HitchHikersGuide/comments/1os8gv3/douglas_adams_gets_ballpoint_pens_at_his_grave/

Nice little memorial Adams has going 🙂

[DeVaultSetter]

Ian Gunn rewrote the story in poetic form for an edition of ye olde Australian HHG zine Pangalia, as a parody of The Man from Snowy River by A. B. “Banjo” Paterson.

Uh – don’t recall that – to transmute the antics of Veet and Zaphod into the following would be an amazing stretch:

There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around
That the colt from old Regret had got away,
And had joined the wild bush horses – he was worth a thousand pound,
So all the cracks had gathered to the fray.
All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far
Had mustered at the homestead overnight,
For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are,
And the stockhorse snuffs the battle with delight.

@One Armed Badger may be the only one in the Universe with that copy of Pangalia! Edwina Harvey is mentioned in the Fancyclopedia which happens to present a rather spicy definition of fan. That article mentions fen as an irregular plural of fan, thus fens in that context isn’t allowed, apparently. Drawing a very thin circle, do permit us to bring in The Fens of England, being just on the edge of the birthplace of the one and only very figure of Douglas Adams himself! Go figure. 😛
Ah, true devotees would have ensured his stone was numbered 42 in the cemetery (itself having an address containing the number), 42 (in/cm) dimension-wise, or his body multiples of 42 (in/cm) below, having 42 flowerpots and ballpoint pens all around … A natural consequence can be imagined as visitors to the gravesite being requested to form groups of 42, limiting their conversations to 42 words or less, having arrived on the 42nd day of the year in flights/trains/buses all possessing that number somewhere, somehow. At the sound of all this madness, Adams is sure to be gyrating his remains 42 times in sheer horror. 😛

[Spastic Hamburger]

Adams has some great quotes: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Adams

Yeah, I’m pretty surprised they didn’t add such a reference to the gravesite. Quite a few prominent writers have quotes on their headstones. Just a few examples: https://lithub.com/which-writers-have-the-best-tombstone-inscriptions/

I know there are more! Just too lazy to dig them up right now. 😛

[Spastic Hamburger]

Looks like HN is still around: https://news.ycombinator.com/news

Could be a candidate for the software thread (which I still need to reply to…)

Sadly, the posts are a lot less technical than they were a decade ago. Haven’t checked out Slashdot in a while. Think I’ll give give it once over and see how they’re faring

[DeVaultSetter]

Cool, thanks for the link! 🙂
Less technical is fine this way any way – the Scientific & Technical Amateur Radio is just the thing. And never knew about Github Toasts – the Windows Tray menu is a good enough substitute no?

[Spastic Hamburger]

Cool. Been wanting to get into amateur radio myself, just haven’t pulled the trigger yet 🙂 Also want to get a dish antenna for the system once it’s up and running to play with

I think that article is referring to toasts in the web page as opposed to the system but I could be wrong. Chrome forwards the notification API to the system now (used to be an experimental option) so you can have both! Not sure if Firefox does the same thing.

I like toast. Especially toasted bagels. Toasted bagels are good.

[DeVaultSetter]

I’ll toast anyone who can fit their apparel in the toasting glass! 🙂
Although we have a wonderful selection of Christmas beetles, this year the gov is waxing poetic with the Khapra beetle so included it for our reading pleasure:

Khapra Claus: The Beetle Nobody Invited
…..
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the shed,
Not a creature was stirring all were in bed.
The grain was all stored, the bins sealed with care,
In hope that no Khapra beetle could get in there.

But down in the corner, behind the old rake,
A tiny intruder was plotting a festive outbreak.
It munched on some wheat, then burrowed in deep,
While the farmer snored on in a biosecure sleep.

This beetle’s no rookie – it’s tough as old boots,
It survives without water and snacks on dry fruits.
It sheds little skins as conditions adjust,
And turns golden grain to powder and dust.

It’s exotic to Australia, our number 2 threat,
If it gets in your silo, you’ll break out in sweat.
It’s resistant to sprays, it’s hard to detect,
And once it’s established? Your wallet is wrecked.

So Santa flew in with a sack full of traps,
A checklist and biosecurity maps.
He shouted, “Check it! Inspect every load!
Or Khapra will party in your grain like a cane toad!”

The farmer woke up with a start and a yell,
“Not in my shed – send that beetle back to hell!”
He cleaned out his bins, he checked every crate,
He followed the rules – no room for debate.

So remember this Christmas, while roasting your meat,
Khapra’s no joke – it’ll ruin your wheat.
Declare all your goods, keep your storage pristine,
And make sure your silos stay squeaky clean.

Because nothing says “holiday” quite like a rest,
But Khapra beetle? It fails every test.
So laugh if you must but take this to heart:
Biosecurity’s serious – do your part!

[Spastic Hamburger]

Not the wheat! Yeah, invasive species are a bit of a problem here as well. We have a ton of invasive plants that clog our waterways. Not sure about insects, though

As mentioned, browsing Atlas again and came across this cool location: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/singer-castle

It even looks like it’d be something from Scooby Doo 😛

[DeVaultSetter]

Cool! Seems as if the Royal Suite could be a place of sojourn for any unroyal individual provided they are happy to part company with at least a grand per night of stay. Not for sale anymore. Terrific piccies here, and traps, tunnels and secret passages here.
The Antiques Roadshow’s “Basic, Better & Best” is a fun segment. Here’s a fine set of model cars – which one do you think is the most valuable:

Further back in time, Fiona Bruce was surprised by the verdict on the cigarette cases:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00pffzx

[Spastic Hamburger]

That page hasn’t been updated in ages! It mentions supplying a VCR 😛

It’s a really good looking place to stay. Could also be fun to have a Halloween event there or the like.

Used to have a collection of some model cars when I was a kid. Nothing special but they were fun to look at on the shelf. No idea what happened to them.

Said it before but I’ll say it again: older cars looked so much better than what’s on the road today!

We have an American version of the show but the British version is so much better

There’s also this cool hotel if you’re a spelunker: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/deep-sleep

[Spastic Hamburger]

Whelp: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/donut-smell-dunkin-haverhill/

What did you expect from a doughnut factory? Fried chicken? 😛

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