Saturday, November 30, 2019

Friday, November 29, 2019

The holidays make me thankful I didn't choose a career in food service. I can't think of anything more exhausting than spending all day cooking. Even physical labor. And I like to cook. But the holiday level of cooking is just a lot.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

This blog goes off the rails around the holidays. I sort of have to be dragged into the holiday spirit. And in California you never really feel like you can rest until the rain comes. Which this year came yesterday.  You can't be lazy when the sun is shining every single day. By the time the holidays come around I'm just mentally exhausted.

It's also the time of year I try to figure out this blog and what I want to do about it. The last two years have been real crap for technology. Normally I don't need as much filler content. It takes a lot of effort for the mediocre content I got you. I'm hoping next year will improve because I have been in a real rut.

Friday, November 22, 2019

A delightful use for e-ink.



E-ink or e-paper was just rising to popularity when the i-pad came out and pretty much killed it. Turns out that people like color over greyscale. Who would have thunk it? Said in the most sarcastic way. But e-paper keeps trying and this is a clever use.

Music Sheet paper. You don't expect color there anyway.

You turn the e-pages with a device on the floor and I find the whole thing delightful even though I'm not musical. I can see this being a product.











Thursday, November 21, 2019

They might as well paint them neon.



Every once in a while I like to drive by the Byton campus. I haven't really been there since the layoff and the campus does seem less busy.

But I would have never even stopped for this car if it didn't have cammo wrap. I think this SUV phase in automotive history is about as boring as it gets. They pretty much all look the same to me. The only notable thing about this car is the lack of tail lights.

I couldn't get any other angle without stepping on their campus and I was already getting the stink eye. But I would say the quickest way to have your car photographed is to put cammo wrap on it.

Monday, November 18, 2019

PG&E is playing with fire this time.

PG&E may cut power to 750,000 California residents this week to reduce wildfire risk.

I started hearing rumors about this two days ago, but predicting the weather is hard. So I decided to wait to see what was going to happen. Now they have started notifying counties this is a possibility.

Thankfully this sounds like it's only going to be a one day event. Or until they can get the lines inspected - but a lot of people lost money last time. Can you imagine how mad they are going to be is they lose a refrigerator full of stuff right before the Holiday?

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Oh Silicon Valley you make me smile.



I'm running into a little pocket of i8's right now. The license plate on this one read  LCKYBTC. I couldn't get a closer clear shot.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Are you going to believe your lying eyes now?

Economic growth is close to zero for the fourth quarter, according to Fed gauges.

Gee - seems like just yesterday the Fed was saying that there no no chance of the manufacturing recession hitting the broader economy. Oh wait...it WAS yesterday.

"Asked about the possibility the slump in manufacturing could spill over into the broader economy, Powell said central bank officials had seen no signs of that.

“That’s a risk that we monitor very carefully - we don’t see that yet,” Powell said. “The 70% of the economy that is the consumer is healthy with high confidence, low unemployment, wages moving up.” Source.

I have to admit - I've been to a couple of malls lately in different cities and they are really packed. Even I was starting to believe the consumer would never crack.

I mean, we are not at absolute stall speed. But ...... pretty close. I personally couldn't believe that the rest of the world looked so ugly and that would not affect us. And I guess I am right.

Introducing iris scanners for the low low price of 60 bucks.



I guess they are going to be everywhere now. Because hell that's cheap. Also works fine with glasses on.

i8 in the wild.



You almost never see these now so it's always a little neat when you do.



Licence plate - meh. If you aren't first - who cares.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

When they start putting hands on robots.



They are going to go on strike and throw up the robot black power fist.

Robots are boring me right now. The market right now is basically nothing but robot arms. Which all basically look the same. When they all band together there are just going to be rows of arms with their fists in the air.

In other news - your robot overlords are not as capable as everyone was freaking out about. Like I said a million times.

Boeing’s Humans Step In After Robots Fumble 777 Jet Assembly.

"Planemaker will rely instead on people assisted by machines"

All of those articles about how robots were going to take your jobs was a level of despair brought on by a horrible economy and irrationality. Robots have many shortcomings.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

I'm never entertained by the things people want me to be entertained by.






I finagled my way onto Moffett Field today. They have a McDonalds on base!

Yes.... that was my takeaway.

I didn't get an other pictures because I wasn't sure what I could photograph or not.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Winning by losing.

“Industry watchers had feared that [#China] may use #rareearths as a weapon in its #trade war with Washington... some see the policy as a way to flood the market with ample supply, keep prices low and subsequently push out any American entrants.”

ht Mark Warner

This is how war is waged in business right now. And I don't even know how to stop it. It's a complete cancer.

Everyone does it. It's why Google buys money losing companies like Fitbit. Amazon does it. China does it. WeWork is famous for their brazenness.

You sell you product at a loss. Put all of your competitors out of business because they can't compete with you. Then you are a big giant mega corporation that can't fail. Profit!

Sunday, November 10, 2019

It was a clip show.



There isn't really much new these days.  I have seen all of these cars before. But I am sort of in to the hood ornaments right now. If they are different. It might just be because I'm bored of everything else.



I also have a kink for tire stem caps. I love all the caps they have at the Asian invasion car shows. I would put them on my cars if I thought they wouldn't get stolen. I haven't seen the dice ones before though.





This hood ornament looks like a plane. Allegedly it lights up. And you know how I just love things that light up.





I had to get a shot of this van with the 1 Bedroom sign. It's the exact type of van I lived in when I was growing up. And the type of van I actually learned to drive in. It had the motor in the middle of the seats. I should drag out my photos one day.









This had adaptive camo.



Spinny wheels are back! And I don't care if you think they are stupid. I love them to death.

Saturday, November 09, 2019

It's Santa's daily driver.



Santa is now driving a caddy with a license plate holder that says ho ho ho.





I was at a car show today where they had someone singing the national anthem - and literally every single person in there stopped and oriented to the person singing the song. It had huge attendance - as it's the last show of the year. Men took their hats off and placed them over their hearts and everything.

I have seen this happen once before and it's pretty moving honestly. Especially here in California where you get the impression most people don't even like the country.

I wouldn't even consider myself very patriotic, but even I stopped this time because the whole thing is that moving. It's super fascinating.

Pictures later. Not of the people. The few things I liked of the cars. Which wasn't much. I'm bored.

Friday, November 08, 2019

Good luck with that.

WeWork says it will divest all ‘non-core’ businesses.

Ironically - I just got an email this morning from a rival co-working place in Sunnyvale with the subject line - Rent office space for 4 months and get 2 months free!

So.... I'm guessing there is a fire sale on office space right now.

The TINA market.



It became fashionable this week to say the recession has been canceled. Because all that matters is the stock market being at all all time high. How can things be bad. Right?

Well over the summer I started freaking out about the talk of negative interest rates. I said this would distort the stock market because that is where you are going to park your money if you have it. Now there is a term for this market. It's called TINA. There Is No Alternative.

It's hard to believe I only wrote that post in September. It feels like a million years ago.

In other news, my credit union has taken to sending me notices on the monthly that my savings rate has declined. That has never happened before. Not that there hasn't been a tick down here or there. But never two months in a row. Of course I started that account when we were deep in the thick of it, and banks were failing left and right. But it certainly doesn't make me feel like things are just alright. That's for sure.

If I am getting these notices - I'm sure other people are too. I am not unique in any way.

It's just funny when the socialists go after each other.

Bill Gates from 2012 and honestly every year in the Obama admnistration.

Billionaire Bill Gates Calls For Increasing Taxes On The Rich: ‘That’s Just Justice’.

"In an interview with the BBC, Gates noted “taxes are going to have to go up” and thus he’d prefer that they “go up more on the rich than everyone else.” There needs to be “a sense of shared sacrifice,” he said, adding, “right now, I don’t feel like people like myself are paying as much as we should”:"

"GATES: Well the United States has a huge budget deficit, so taxes are going to have to go up. And I certainly agree that they should go up more on the rich than everyone else. That’s just justice. "

Bill Gates yesterday.

Taxing Bill Gates $100 Billion, Counters Bernie Sanders, Could End Homelessness and Microsoft Founder 'Would Still Be a Multibillionaire'.

"Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Wednesday told a crowd at a New York Times sponsored conference that a proposed wealth tax from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, could take so much money from his vast fortune that he wouldn't know how much was left.

"When you say I should pay $100 billion, then I'm starting to do a little math about what I have left over," said Gates, who prefaced his remarks by saying he was willing to pay $20 billion in taxes. "

I'm not really sure why Bernie and Warren went after Bill Gates - they are all on the same team. Bill Gates is one of the biggest phonies out there. He says this stupid shit because he knows he will never be touched. Yet it will make it harder for anyone trying to become the next Bill Gates.

Thursday, November 07, 2019

Where the sky is chunky.



We are in that stage of the year when we need some rain, but rain will probably drop all of this.

Wednesday, November 06, 2019

It was literally the Japanification of America.



SoftBank CEO says there will be no ‘rescue’ investments after WeWork debacle.

This is why we need recessions. And profits. As if that needed being said.
I bet China never imagined in a million years that Americans would have accepted Trumps' trade war. And if everyone is being honest - Americans would have never believed it either. They have to be shocked that he hasn't been pressured to stop it.

It's sort of is a silent coming together for the good of the nation. Which is very unlike us.

Tuesday, November 05, 2019

Saturday, November 02, 2019

Friday, November 01, 2019

Who are you going to believe? This guy or your lying eyes?



From MarketWatch.

"Not a recession.  

But manufacturing is not in a “recession,” as some have concluded based on a simplistic reading of a plunge in the once-reliable ISM manufacturing index and the decline in manufacturing output for two quarters in a row. 

 To be clear, there is no accepted official definition of what constitutes a “recession” in any particular sector, as there is for the broader economy. Generally, a recession is defined as a significant, broad and lasting decline in economic activity, seen in output, incomes, employment and sales." Source.

I don't know about anyone else, but if we are not in a recession - NO ONE NEEDS TO CONSTANTLY CONVINCE ME WE ARE NOT IN A RECESSION. It is self evident.

I tend to believe charts. They are not Democrat or Republican. They are just data. And now all of a sudden we don't have a clear standard of what a recession is! LOL.

The Trump bump is basically reverting to the mean. I thought this would happen a year ago, and it's been fascinating that perception has kept things going this long. Even Regan had a recession.

There was so much money sloshing around the system because of money printing - we needed to drain it and figure out what was real and not real. But to say that manufacturing isn't in a recession is crazy.

Yes, companies have not started laying people off yet. I believe it is because they realize there is a great cost for that and they are holding onto people until they just can't take it anymore.