Friday, May 20, 2022

Firearm or Bear Spray? Detailed Analysis for Backpackers, Hikers & Hunters, Gun Bear Defense

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evEscbW2GEk

A friend of mine was followed by a bear in Yellowstone National Park.  Apparently, the bear just wanted to walk on the same trail as him.  He climbed up a hill and the bear just kept walking.

My uncle went hunting with three other guys and they were attacked by a cougar who had been stalking them.  Fortunately, all four guys had guns.  The result was Humans 1, Couger 0.

Personally, I don't see a reason to be in a place where animals could stalk you.

Here's an idea:  Let's go to the arctic circle and watch polar bears.  I probably look like a chicken nugget to a polar bear.

Jim Gaffigan Top 5 MOST VIRAL Jokes from "Quality Time"

Special When Lit: A Pinball Documentary

This is a good documentary about Pinball.  It was made in 2009.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU52zteEbIE

I remember seeing a non-electric antique amusement machine that was probably from the 1930s,   It wasn't very big, but it worked by putting in a coin, like a nickel, and turning a handle to get roughly 7 to 10 metal balls.  Then you would pull a lever to shoot the balls at holes.  If the balls landed in the holes then they would accumulate in the "score" window.  Although the game had a football theme, it was more like a pinball version of skeeball.  As primitive as the game was, it was somewhat fun to play.

Growing up in small-city Indiana, there wasn't much amusement in the early 1970s.  I remember seeing some mechanical games, like a baseball-themed game and a shooting game, both of which I found thrilling to play.  I definitely felt addicted at first.  I was young and impressionable.  This started me down a path of enjoying games.  

As a side note, in late 1974 I began to enjoy playing chess immensely which I still do.

Around summer 1975, an arcade opened up in my local mall, which had mechanical games.  My friends and I enjoyed meeting and playing the games.  The cost of pinball was 2 games for a quarter.  These mechanical games eventually would mostly give way to video games.  

There was a perfect storm of events in the second half of the 1970s that would shape my life forever.  I already was very interested in electronics because at the time this was the cutting edge of technology.  I started reading about computers and I first got to use one in 1975.  I learned how to write simple computer programs, taking to programming as a duck takes to water.  In 1976 I made friends with someone who had built an extremely primitive computer from a kit, and I learned how to program it using "machine code" which is the more difficult language of the microprocessor itself.

In 1977 video games were starting to become popular and the movie Star Wars came out.  Both were very influential on my life.  The late 1970s were culturally defined by video games, pinball, Starwars, and disco.  It was a time of cheap thrills when the economy was probably the worst since the Great Depression.  We had an oil crisis, massive inflation, and unemployment.  Most people today are too young to remember how difficult those times were.

I not only became interested in video games but I wanted to write games.  I was fortunate that my high school bought computers and taught simple computer programming in algebra class.  I was already developing programming skills and I spent much time writing programs on the school computers.

In the mid-1980s I was able to get my own computers and I started a business selling programs that I wrote, some of which were relatively primitive video games.  

In 1985 I temporarily had a job at a Showbiz Pizza maintaining and doing minor repairs on the videogames and mechanical games.  In 1993 I got my first job as a video game programmer in Utah.

Monday, May 2, 2022

3 AWFUL Habits That Make People Instantly Dislike You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZFNr44I4UI

I think that this advice can be summed up as you should make other people feel involved and appreciated.

I saw another video that claimed that the way you gain confidence is to practice.  This odd advice might not seem applicable to most things, but I think that it is.   I would not be confident making a speech or in an awkward social situation, but I am pretty confident over a chessboard.  However, if I had spent 47 years making speeches then I most likely would be reasonably competent at it. 

8 Struggles of Being a Highly Intelligent Person

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN3KT7IERSw&t=266s

I strongly relate to #6, but also #2 through 5 and #7.

I'm not sure what qualifies as "highly intelligent", but I am highly analytical, maybe too analytical, and tend to understand some topics at a deeper level.

Cat and fire


https://youtu.be/ZjOUc7rKtPQ

I think that this is better without the sound/voiceover.

Best wishes,

John Coffey

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Redefining American Capitalism | Libertarianism

I sometimes get annoyed by this guy for his leftism.  He presents some interesting thoughts here.  I share his skepticism of Ayn Rand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kWjJPQXCyc

Capitalism is often used as a pejorative.  I think that the correct term is a "free market", meaning that you are free to make choices.  The opposite of a free market is different degrees of tyranny.  

This notion of deregulation in 2008 is inaccurate. There were far more regulations in 2008 than in 2000. Part of that regulation was the Community Reinvestment Act, which was a real thing, requiring banks to lend to people who were not otherwise creditworthy. Since Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs) were buying up most of the loans, this removed risk from the loan market. Banks aren't normally in the business of making bad loans until the government gets involved.