Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-21-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (Jesus Christ was born!). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(HT: TheJamesMadison was unavailable for comment)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, sneak a peek at a Christmas present under the tree, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (332) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 21 December 2025

Top Story

• You know how I said that the Minisforum AI X1-255 mini-PC that I bought cost 60-70% more on Minisforum's US store?
  
  Strike that.
  
  The US store was quoting me prices in AUD, making it just 10% more expensive than from Amazon Australia. (It's also available on Amazon US but they only have one in stock so you'd have to be quick.)
  
  Thanks to Rick C for the correction.
  
  
  
• Is AI useful for programming? Maybe. Sort of. (MIT Technology Review)
  
  I used it last week trying to extract information from a thoroughly-but-incorrectly-documented API, with ultimate success. The API was shit but the AI saved me hours of painful iteration trying different functions looking for one that worked.
  
  On the other hand, if you're carrying out a task where you know what to do you are likely better off doing it yourself, because you will end up with fewer and less severe bugs and a much better understanding of what the code is doing.
  
  And it will in all probability save time doing it yourself.
  
  
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (250) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Night "Club ONT" December 20, 2025 [The 3 Ds]

Welcome to Club ONT. A collaboration the 3D's - The Disco, The Dino, and The Doggo. Five days until Christmas - we're in the home stretch. Come on in, unwind, and relax for a bit. Eggnog, Chex-Mix, both white and multicolored lights. We took the mistletoe down after the Christmas party.

That comment places RickZ and mindful webworker on the Club ONT VIP list. Lifetime of restroom tokens, complimentary jug of hooch, and the subtle nod that parts the velvet ropes (ok, the ropes are kite string and yarn, but still).

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (438) | Trackbacks (Suck)

A House Of DEI [Lex]

The Netflix original film A House of Dynamite will likely contend for Academy Award nominations and victories. The movie is directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who won a Best Director Oscar in 2010 for The Hurt Locker.

Bigelow has directed several near-classics (or camp, depending to whom you are speaking) such as Zero Dark Thirty, Point Break and Blue Steel.

From The Hurt Locker forward, however, she has become the go to filmmaker for military dramas and thrillers, and thus we arrive at 2025’s A House of Dynamite.
A House of Dynamite is another entry into what can only be called the nuclear holocaust sub-genre of war pictures. From Dr. Strangelove to Fail Safe to War Games to By Dawn’s Early Light (and on TV The Day After), the countdown to nuclear war and –sometimes— its aftermath never seems to get old. How could it really? The end of the world is inherently terrifying and addictive to think about.

In Bigelow’s latest rendering, we follow the detection of a missile launch from somewhere in Asia as the rocket travels toward the United States. The movie takes a novel approach to the topic, dividing into three, nearly real-time parts from different perspectives.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:40 PM | Comments (158) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - December 20, 2025 [Ornamental Rex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. As previewed, the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies (TM) landed on Christmas Ornaments, Part 2.

Last week, the call went out for Horde Christmas ornament submissions. Are you thinking "I'm a grinch that did not submit an ornament, but I am eager to see what others submitted. I can't wait to get into the content!" I knew it. Enjoy.

[Top Photo: The Official Club ONT Restroom token Christmas ornament.]

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (198) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, December 20

* * *

Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Thanks for stopping by. Kick back and enjoy the world of animals.

Would you like a treat?

Let's relax a little with the animals and leave the world of politics and current events outside today.

* * *

Posted by: K.T. at 03:42 PM | Comments (82) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, Dec 20

Spiral Potato Tree

Some of us might like a little brightening up this time of year. People put together more Christmas season things than we remember sometimes. For example, Fresno is usually considered to be part of Northern California and they have a famous "Christmas Tree Lane" which has been decorated by private homeowners for a hundred years. But I recently learned that even further north, there are community activities including a Creche Exhibit in Palo Alto, Christmas in the Park in San Jose and Dickens's Christmas Faire at the Cow Palace, Daly City.

Maybe we could be brave and do a little decorating at home, too.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:35 PM | Comments (69) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Getting what you ask for before Christmas, or not

As Hanukkah continues, and Christmas approaches, perhaps this is a good time to remember that most political issues are temporary, though they may seem permanent to some people.

Starting with the "release of the Epstein Files":

Walter Kirn:

The Epstein Files are whatever you want or need them to be, I've learned.

*

Trump must be in there somewhere! Remove all redactions! We won't rest!

*

What an incredible accomplishment to make this Epstein stuff seem like the height of elite decadence.

While a thousand Caligulas party on.

*

Posted by: K.T. at 11:11 AM | Comments (243) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

[H/T Sharon (Willow's Apprentice)]

*****

Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. Before we enter the Prayer Revival just a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Escanaba).

1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. He's checking his list twice or something like that.
3) No running with sharp objects. None. Nada. Zilch.
4) The Fabulous and I wish you a Merry Christmas from the Frozen Tundra.
5) Have a great weekend!

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 07:10 AM | Comments (355) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 20 December 2025

Top Story

• A couple of weeks ago I found a mini-PC that was priced - in Australia at least - at just 20% more than the cost of the RAM it includes. It uses regular laptop DIMMs so even if the PC doesn't turn out ideal it's a decent price and lets me upgrade any laptop I buy during the memory drought.
  
  Right after I bought it the price went up and I thought I'd ordered just in time, but then the price came back down.
  
  And a week ago memory prices had climbed to match the price of the whole computer, so I bought another one. I have them both set up and they seem to work well.
  
  And now as memory prices continue to climb, the memory alone is 20% more than the cost of the entire computer, so, yeah, you know it. I think I'm set for computers for a while.
  
  I tried out Ethernet-over-Thunderbolt networking today. Plugged in the cable between the two PCs and got instant 20Gb Ethernet. Magic.
  
  It's not a perfect system - the Ryzen 7 255 lacks an NPU, and it only has one rear USB-A port and that port is USB 2.0 - and it's not one I can recommend to most readers because it costs 60% 70% more in the US than in Australia. But it's pretty good for my needs given the destruction that AI buildouts are wreaking on affordability right now.
  
  
  
• Elon Musk's $56 billion Tesla pay package, previously set aside by the corrupt Chancery Court in Delaware in an action that led to the company shifting its registration to Texas, has been restored by the Delaware Supreme Court. (Tech Crunch)
  
  Though given the increase in Tesla's share price over the intervening years, it is now a $140 billion pay package.
  
  So nice going, guys.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (109) | Trackbacks (Suck)

We Wish You A Merry ONTmas

Howdy Horde! Last meme ONT before Christmas! Do you have all your shopping done?

Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (421) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Frustration Be Gone Cafe

It may seem like I took the day off, but trust me, I didn't. It was a frustrating and expensive day. It's never fun having a complete stranger looking into your computer and maybe stealing all of your passwords.

Sidling up to a fren.

More buddies.

Beaver surfing on an ice board.

Hide and seek.

Baby elephant playing with his food.

Three year old girl helps put Reggie the Wombat to bed.

Adoption day. I think there are two dogs here because people often bring their current dog to meet the potential adopted dog, to make sure they get along.

Mini-chainsaws: Not just for bayonets any longer.

The true warrior must accept every challenge he's offered.

This seal is a player. (Or is it a sea lion? I don't know animals.)

Fun with Nature's Comedians.

Posted by: Ace at 07:33 PM | Comments (259) | Trackbacks (Suck)

In Fulton County, Georgia -- Big Fani's Home County -- 315,000 "Votes" Were Counted Despite Missing the Necessary Signatures

No big deal. Don't bother checking IDs, don't bother checking if the necessary poll worker signatures are attached to the "votes."

And then prosecute Trump. He's the bad guy here.

Fulton County: 'We Don't Dispute' 315,000 Votes Lacking Poll Workers' Signatures Were Counted In 2020

Fulton County admits 2020 election did not follow rules

'When the law demands three signatures on tabulator tapes and the county fails to follow the rules, those 315,000 votes are, by definition, uncertified.'

Brianna Lyman

Earlier this month, Fulton County admitted that approximately 315,000 early votes from the 2020 election were illegally certified but were nonetheless still included in the final results of that election.

The admission came during a Dec. 9 hearing before the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) stemming from a challenge filed by David Cross, a local election integrity activist. Cross filed a challenge with the SEB in March 2022. Cross alleged that Fulton County violated Georgia statute in the handling of advanced voting ahead of the November 2020 election, counting hundreds of thousands of votes even though polling workers failed to sign off on the vote tabulation "tapes" critical to the certification process.

And Fulton County admitted to it.

Ann Brumbaugh, attorney for the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, told the SEB in the hearing that while she has "not seen the tapes" herself, the county does "not dispute that the tapes were not signed." Brumbaugh continued, "It was a violation of the rule. We, since 2020, again, we have new leadership and a new building and a new board and a new standard operating procedures. And since then the training has been enhanced. ... But ... we don't dispute the allegation from the 2020 election."

Georgia's Secretary of State Office investigated the alleged failure to sign tabluation tapes and "substantiated" the findings that Fulton County "violated Official Election Record Document Processes when it was discovered that thirty-six (36) out of thirty-seven (37) Advanced Voting Precincts in Fulton County, Georgia failed to sign the Tabulation Tapes as required [by statute]," according to a 2024 investigation summary. In addition to probing the unsigned tabulation tapes, the investigation also found that officials at 32 polling sites failed to verify their zero tapes.

Georgia law requires that election officials have each ballot scanner print three closing tapes at the end of each voting day. Poll workers must sign these tapes or include a documented reason for refusal. Voting laws also require poll workers to begin each day of voting by printing and signing a "zero tape" showing that voting machines are starting at zero votes.

If there is no record of whether the tabulator was set at zero at the start of polling, there is no way of telling whether ballots from a previous election (or ballots from a test run) were left on the memory card and might later be counted. Notably, this happened in Montana, where officials discovered more votes than were cast and believe the votes were leftover sample data that had not been cleared.

"These signed tapes are the sole legal certification that the reported totals are authentic," Cross told the SEB at the Dec. 9 hearing. "Fulton County produced zero signed tabulator tapes in early voting."

Posted by: Ace at 06:34 PM | Comments (186) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Feds Discover Another $9 Billion in Medicaid Fraud... All in Tim Walz's Pirate Paradise of Minnesota

I'm able to connect through my phone now, but still not through my wifi. I guess that's something.

Nice.

US Attorney's Office: 'Half or more' of $18B billed through state programs tied to fraud

As the U.S. Attorney's Office announced a new batch of charges related to suspected fraudulent billing in Minnesota's government services, officials painted a dire portrait of just how extensive the problem might be.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson on Thursday said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pulled claims for 14 programs identified by Minnesota officials as being particularly vulnerable to fraud and found $18 billion in Medicaid billing since 2018.

While not all of those payments were illegitimate, Thompson estimated "half or more" of the $18 billion was received through fraudulent means, though he said prosecutors are still working to find the exact number.

"The magnitude of fraud in Minnesota cannot be overstated. It's staggering amounts of money that's been lost," Thompson said.

Feds are also looking into Minnesota foreign pirates scamming the unemployment system.

The Department of Labor announced on Monday it is sending staff to Minnesota to investigate concerns about fraud in the state's Unemployment Insurance Program.

The department's decision to authorize an "on-site specialized UI strike team" in Minnesota makes it the latest of several federal agencies deploying agents to investigate reports of widespread fraud in the state's welfare programs, including those from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"I am appalled at what we are hearing about potential fraud coming from numerous benefits programs in Minnesota," Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement.

"If there has been any related abuse of our UI systems, it will not be tolerated, and I trust our specialized strike team to get to the bottom of this and report their findings directly to me," she continued. "Our mission to protect American workers remains unchanged, and I will not allow malicious actors to destroy the integrity of this trusted program."

Posted by: Ace at 05:40 PM | Comments (215) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Open Thread

still down.

Posted by: Ace at 04:27 PM | Comments (374) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Open thread

Posted by: Ace at 03:20 PM | Comments (430) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Open thread

Posted by: Ace at 02:16 PM | Comments (377) | Trackbacks (Suck)

315,000 Possibly Fraudulent Ballots? Eh...It's Business-As-Usual In Georgia!

Nothing shocking, except for the admission that they are either fantastically bad at their jobs, or are subverting the Constitution.

Or both!

'We Don't Dispute' It: Georgia 315k Vote Bombshell Blows a Big Hole in 2020's 'Most Secure Election' Lie

A Georgia State Election Board investigation substantiated that Fulton County violated election rules in 2020 by failing to have poll workers sign required tabulation tapes for early votes in 36 out of 37 advanced voting precincts, affecting approximately 315,000 ballots.

These unsigned tapes broke the chain-of-custody and certification requirements under Georgia law, which mandates signed tapes as the sole legal proof of authentic vote totals.

During a board meeting on December 9th, Ann Brumbaugh, attorney for the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, contends that Fulton County does “not dispute that the tapes were not signed.”

Posted by: CBD at 01:07 PM | Comments (265) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Open thread

I'm taking the computer in to a repair shop. Unfortunately I'll only be posting open threads from the phone. Now my computer doesn't even show a network ability at all

Posted by: Ace at 01:06 PM | Comments (198) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Open Thresd

Major computer problems. Cannot connect to internet no matter if I use my home wifi or my phone hotspot, any ideas? I've rebooted and turned the wifi on and off a dozen times

Posted by: Ace at 12:22 PM | Comments (341) | Trackbacks (Suck)