What An Incredible Time To Be Alive [Pete Bog]

On December 17th, 1903, one hundred and twenty-two years ago on a windy sand dune in North Carolina the world was changed. Two brothers, bicycle mechanics from Ohio ran a contraption made of wood, cloth, and wire down a rail until it gained enough speed to become airborne. The first manned powered flight. In the scale of recorded human history, about 5,000 years, 122 years is a trivial span. I would suspect that no similar span anywhere in that history has been as technologically prolific as these last 122 years. The 122 years preceding flight likely are the second most prolific. The power of steam had been harnessed to propel trains, boats, early automobiles, and mechanized farm equipment. Metallurgy flourished. Electricity had been turned from a novelty to useful applications that were just beginning to be implemented. Fossil fuels and the internal combustion engine had burst onto the scene.

The Wright Brothers pioneering pursuit of flight was only made possible by the application of power derived from what was at the time a groundbreaking innovation. A lightweight gasoline engine designed by an employee of their bicycle shop that weighed 180 pounds and produced 12 horsepower. He had hand built the engine in six weeks using simple tools such as a lathe and drill press. And it worked!

It is difficult to overstate the importance of what the Wrights accomplished. In the few years following the first flight aviation exploded into the public consciousness and the pace of change in design, reliability, airworthiness, and range was significant. The First World War supercharged the development of the technology and culminated in the development of fast, maneuverable machines that could be armed with guns and bombs. Military tactics changed to accommodate the new technology. The interval between the wars supercharged the development of airplanes and modern aviation both from a civil and military standpoint. During this same period similar advances were occurring in just about every field of science and technology. Just as the telegraph had eclipsed the Pony Express to spread news, radios and air mail surpassed the telegraph. A dominant theme delivered in that stream of news was the pace and breadth change.

One hundred twenty-two years. Both of my grandfathers were born before the first manned flight. Their great grandchildren may be able to go to space. I may be able to go to space. What an incredible time to be alive.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:00 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I'll fetch em

Posted by: Skip at December 21, 2025 12:01 PM (Ia/+0)

2 The pace and scale of advances of this sort are mind boggling, but only if one pays attention, thinks about it, and is inclined to step back and consider such things.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 21, 2025 12:02 PM (U/Byj)

3 It took 1/2 that time to put a man in space

Posted by: Skip at December 21, 2025 12:03 PM (Ia/+0)

4
Flight only came about from this country's legacy of slavery!!

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 21, 2025 12:03 PM (tgvbd)

5 Thx Pete.
From the Wright Brothers to Spirit Airlines. Progress;

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 21, 2025 12:03 PM (MoRvC)

6 Grandpa had a steam engine tractor.

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at December 21, 2025 12:04 PM (Kt19C)

7 >>> Both of my grandfathers were born before the first manned flight. Their great grandchildren may be able to go to space. I may be able to go to space. What an incredible time to be alive.

We have covered an amazing amount of ground.

I am convinced that we learn knowledge way faster than we gain wisdom.

Posted by: fluffy at December 21, 2025 12:06 PM (AN2gy)

8 The Wright Brothers stole the airplane technology from the Somalian slaves that actually invented flight.

Posted by: We Wuz Pilots n' Sheeit at December 21, 2025 12:07 PM (MIYs/)

9 Uplifting reading, Pete Bog.

Posted by: scampydog at December 21, 2025 12:07 PM (XCWxh)

10 Before retirement, my entire professional career was due to the Wright Brothers' achievement. Thank you, Wright Brothers!

Posted by: one hour sober at December 21, 2025 12:07 PM (Y1sOo)

11 >>> Grandpa had a steam engine tractor.

That beats my story. My grandfather had a gas powered tractor he started with a hand crank.

Posted by: fluffy at December 21, 2025 12:08 PM (AN2gy)

12 Technology comes and goes. If any of you people have friends or relatives in Denmark, the very last day to get a letter there is December 30, 2025. After 400 years of posting/delivering letters it is all going away, including the iconic POST boxes. The Post Office will still deliver packages and parcels.

Posted by: Post Time! at December 21, 2025 12:08 PM (oftw2)

13 4
Flight only came about from this country's legacy of slavery!!
_-_
Ever hear Dickran Gobalian discuss the first ever jazz recording?

Posted by: Don in SoCo at December 21, 2025 12:08 PM (vd6bO)

14 Flight only came about from this country's legacy of slavery!!
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 21, 2025 12:03 PM (tgvbd)

I thought we stole the tech from the Iroquois.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:09 PM (wGK1C)

15 Now we’re poised and wondering - is AI going to be the world changer like Elon and its proponents say it will be, or is it going to the worlds next Segway?

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 21, 2025 12:09 PM (0anTZ)

16 Ever hear Dickran Gobalian discuss the first ever jazz recording?
Posted by: Don in SoCo at December 21, 2025 12:08 PM (vd6bO)

The recognized "King of Jazz" was a fat pale guy named Paul Whiteman. Look it up.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 21, 2025 12:10 PM (uQesX)

17 Both of my grandfathers were farmers in Norway. Neither ever owned a tractor or learned to drive a car.

Posted by: Norse Saga at December 21, 2025 12:10 PM (oftw2)

18 I thought we stole the tech from the Iroquois.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:09 PM (wGK1C)

No, that was our form of government.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 21, 2025 12:11 PM (uQesX)

19 >>> The power of steam had been harnessed to propel trains, boats, early automobiles, and mechanized farm equipment.

Don't forget powering massive refrigeration plants (used heavily in the beer industry) and big azz pumps to keep subways dry... Or to move sewerage.

https://archive.org/details/
buildingtechnologyheritagelibrary

Check it out and search by year.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:11 PM (/lPRQ)

20 I thought we stole the tech from the Iroquois.
_-_
Heh.Yeah, wasn't it a British who first had the physics worked-out pretty well? Don't remember the name...

Posted by: Don in SoCo at December 21, 2025 12:11 PM (vd6bO)

21 /willowed

"Sarah A. Hoyt has a -"

Sarah Hoyt is a lying POS who has falsely accused me of Stolen Valor and refuses to look at my DD214 and post a retraction and apology. She poses as patriotic as a grift to pimp her book, don't fall for it.

Posted by: Fen at December 21, 2025 12:12 PM (T7Acs)

22 I wonder how much the Wright Bros were regarded during their lifetime? Did they ever get a sense that they had altered history?

Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:12 PM (EMg+d)

23 The recognized "King of Jazz" was a fat pale guy named Paul Whiteman. Look it up.
Posted by: OrangeEnt

Bing Crosby was the "boy singer" for Whiteman until his popularity took off around 1932.

Posted by: Der Bingle at December 21, 2025 12:12 PM (oftw2)

24 8
'The Wright Brothers stole the airplane technology from the Somalian slaves that actually invented flight.'

Flight was built on the backs of slaves and migrants.
Only they should be able to take credit for it.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 21, 2025 12:13 PM (fd80v)

25 The reason I don't like to fly has nothing to do with flight. It has everything to do with the manner in which we've set up airports, and even the structure of airplanes.

I'd like to see smaller airships, with more leg room, and less cattle car style design and processing.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:13 PM (wGK1C)

26 I've avoided the subject as a courtesy to your readers but you brought her up.

Posted by: Fen at December 21, 2025 12:13 PM (T7Acs)

27 Check it out and search by year.
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:11 PM (/lPRQ)

You mean you can follow the Connections?

Posted by: James Burke at December 21, 2025 12:13 PM (uQesX)

28 >>> Just as the telegraph had eclipsed the Pony Express to spread news, radios and air mail surpassed the telegraph.

We still use the evolved telegraph with fiber optic internet.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:13 PM (/lPRQ)

29 21
'She poses as patriotic as a grift to pimp her book, don't fall for it.'

What is the name of her book?

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 21, 2025 12:15 PM (fd80v)

30 Bing Crosby was the "boy singer" for Whiteman until his popularity took off around 1932.
Posted by: Der Bingle at December 21, 2025 12:12 PM (oftw2)

More than one singer made his/her start that way. The band leader got more recognition than the vocalist.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 21, 2025 12:15 PM (uQesX)

31 Now we’re poised and wondering - is AI going to be the world changer like Elon and its proponents say it will be, or is it going to the worlds next Segway?
Posted by: Tom Servo at December 21, 2025 12:09 PM (0anTZ)

I vote Segway. I’m far from convinced that AI will be world altering in a way that the iPhone was… the smart phone is the only invention of my lifetime that truly and fundamentally changed the way people live

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 12:15 PM (YobFY)

32 Just as the telegraph had eclipsed the Pony Express to spread news, radios and air mail surpassed the telegraph.
---------
We still use the evolved telegraph with fiber optic internet.
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:13 PM (/lPRQ)

It blows my mind the healthcare industry still uses fax machines.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:15 PM (wGK1C)

33 Flight only came about from this country's legacy of slavery!!
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh

Wright Brothers had a whole stable slaves running advanced calculations to validate their flight theories.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:16 PM (/lPRQ)

34 A dominant theme delivered in that stream of news was the pace and breadth __ change.

Quick, before anyone notices, put an "of" in there?

Then hide this comment.😃

Good morning busy morning missed the book thread I see. That's okay that's okay gonna be a busy rest of the day. Myanmar shave.🙄

Posted by: mindful webworker - coffee to the rescue at December 21, 2025 12:17 PM (WB0Mb)

35 Wright Brothers had a whole stable slaves running advanced calculations to validate their flight theories.
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:16 PM (/lPRQ)

Using stone knives and bearskins.

Posted by: Mr. Spock at December 21, 2025 12:17 PM (uQesX)

36 That's why I was so disappointed in 1951. We had enough atomic bombs and B-29s to knock the red chinamen out of the war. So much progress had been made since 1939. What good is a weapon if you don't use it? Old Mao would still be glowing today.

Posted by: Zombie Douglas MacArthur, Japanese Warlord at December 21, 2025 12:17 PM (R/m4+)

37 The left is doing all it can to take us back to 19th century mode of transport visa trains.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 12:17 PM (UJWr0)

38 Largest steam engines ever built powered pumps that blew the sewage from holding ponds near the Thames out to sea on the outgoing tides. Saved untold lives from cholera and other diseases. They were dumping waste in the river for hundreds of years.

Posted by: If It Don't Go Down, Call Brown. at December 21, 2025 12:18 PM (oftw2)

39 Grandpa had a steam engine tractor.
Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats

Grandmother moved to a new home a hundred miles away with covered wagon.

Draft animals were still a major part of ground transport through WWII.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:18 PM (/lPRQ)

40 33
'Wright Brothers had a whole stable slaves running advanced calculations to validate their flight theories.'

That was no small feat 40 years after the Civil War.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 21, 2025 12:18 PM (fd80v)

41 I vote Segway. I’m far from convinced that AI will be world altering in a way that the iPhone was… the smart phone is the only invention of my lifetime that truly and fundamentally changed the way people live
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 12:15 PM (YobFY)

I am pretty sure, in less than 20 years we won't have any more films, with humans acting. We won't have musicians, we won't have students writing papers.

Or architects designing buildings, engineers making bridges.

Human error will be removed from all these industries that require us to do things that can harm us.

Will that make things better? Hell if I know, but it makes no sense to keep humans doing things that machines will do without worrying about stupid human mistakes.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:18 PM (wGK1C)

42 Grandpa had a steam engine tractor.

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at December 21, 2025 12:04 PM

When I was a small child my grandparents house was heated with a coal furnace. They had to shovel coal into that thing all year long. They switched it out for gas when the gas lines got to their neighborhood. My grandfather turned to the coal bin into a root cellar. The house was built in 1889.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at December 21, 2025 12:19 PM (0N4FZ)

43 Wilbur died in 1912, but Orville didn't die until 1948 so certainly saw his creation reach fantastic limits

Posted by: Skip at December 21, 2025 12:19 PM (Ia/+0)

44 What is the name of her book?
Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 21, 2025 12:15 PM (fd80v)

She writes a lot of books, and is generally quite charming. I know absolutely nothing about the personal feud being referenced, but I don’t think this is the day for the Airing of the Grievances yet.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 21, 2025 12:19 PM (0anTZ)

45 In Idiocracy the people live around technical and architectural marvels. They have no idea how any of it works.

Posted by: Ted Torgerson at December 21, 2025 12:20 PM (R86kT)

46 22 I wonder how much the Wright Bros were regarded during their lifetime? Did they ever get a sense that they had altered history?

Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:12 PM (EMg+d)

Yes, they were world famous.
They sold airplane kits for awhile, but couldn't make a big business out of it.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 21, 2025 12:20 PM (6ydKt)

47 I ate lunch a couple weeks ago at the building that was the telegraph office where the Wright Brothers sent out their news to the world. Building is now the Black Pelican Restaurant.

Posted by: Kitty Hawk, NC at December 21, 2025 12:20 PM (oftw2)

48 Now we’re poised and wondering - is AI going to be the world changer like Elon and its proponents say it will be, or is it going to the worlds next Segway?
Posted by: Tom Servo

I suggest getting anything / everything not available in hardcopy downloaded and saved offline as AI is actively turning the net into one big garbage dump.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:21 PM (/lPRQ)

49 45 In Idiocracy the people live around technical and architectural marvels. They have no idea how any of it works.

Posted by: Ted Torgerson at December 21, 2025 12:20 PM (R86kT)

It has electrolytes.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 21, 2025 12:22 PM (6ydKt)

50 The reason I don't like to fly has nothing to do with flight. It has everything to do with the manner in which we've set up airports, and even the structure of airplanes.

I'd like to see smaller airships, with more leg room, and less cattle car style design and processing.
Posted by: BurtTC

They call them "pax" for a reason

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:23 PM (/lPRQ)

51 AI isn’t going to change things. It has changed things. For work AI has been revolutionary. What took me days to do can now be done in an hour or two.

People are conflating the AI stock market bubble with AI itself. Yeah the market is in a bubble. Just like .com was a bubble. But when that bubble popped the internet didn’t disappear. What happened was a lot of consolidation into the big companies we have now like Google, Amazon, etc.

Same will happen with AI we will have 3 or 4 behemoths. It’s a matter of guessing which ones it will be.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 12:23 PM (UJWr0)

52 >Grandpa had a steam engine tractor.
---

Grandma got run over by a reindeer
Always thought it would be that tractor

Posted by: Don Black at December 21, 2025 12:23 PM (ZxPkt)

53 "the smart phone is the only invention of my lifetime that truly and fundamentally changed the way people live"

Are you serious?

Have you heard about fiber optics?

Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:24 PM (EMg+d)

54 The House Minority Leader responds like a kindergartener:

https://tinyurl.com/2asj6dys

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 21, 2025 12:24 PM (Pmfrl)

55 Wilbur died in 1912, but Orville didn't die until 1948 so certainly saw his creation reach fantastic limits
Posted by: Skip at December 21, 2025 12:19 PM (Ia/+0)

I thought one of them died in a plane crash, but just looked it up. Orville was in a crash that killed an Army Lt. who was instrumental in getting the military involved in flight.

Orville was injured, but not killed in that flight.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:25 PM (IrYHD)

56 Dear Fen,

I invite you to take it up with Sarah at her blog. Merry Christmas!

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at December 21, 2025 12:25 PM (NWwW8)

57 "George Wyndham once told me that he had seen one of the first aeroplanes rise for the first time and it was very wonderful but not so wonderful as a horse allowing a man to ride on him." -GKC

Posted by: Bad Andrew at December 21, 2025 12:25 PM (WJlVY)

58 Grandma got run over by a reindeer
Always thought it would be that tractor
Posted by: Don Black

I know Colorado has elks and mule deer-didn't know there were reindeer, or was grandma at a zoo?

Posted by: Large Ruminant Fan at December 21, 2025 12:26 PM (oftw2)

59 It blows my mind the healthcare industry still uses fax machines.
Posted by: BurtTC

I asked one of my "providers" about that.
Basically all-in-one printers so they can scan and automagically E-mail the doc or feed it into the NSA databases. They use the term loosely.

It would be cool to see them using an old-school fax with the rotating drum though.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:27 PM (/lPRQ)

60 My personal advice is people might not want to count their chickens before they hatch. Might strongly not want to do it.

Posted by: Baron bon Mot at December 21, 2025 12:27 PM (rnujI)

61 "Both of my grandfathers were born before the first manned flight."

Your grandfathers were born before 1961? And you think that will impress this room full of 29 year-olds?

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at December 21, 2025 12:27 PM (lLEcp)

62 When I was a small child my grandparents house was heated with a coal furnace. They had to shovel coal into that thing all year long. They switched it out for gas when the gas lines got to their neighborhood. My grandfather turned to the coal bin into a root cellar. The house was built in 1889.
Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at December 21, 2025 12:19 PM (0N4FZ)

My parent's house had a coal furnace, steam heat. My uncle built the house in 1947 and we moved in November 1948 when I was a year and a half old. I grew up with my dad AND mom shoveling coal into the furnace, and "banking" the fire at night before bedtime. Dad worked steady midnights, so mom would do the task when he was working. We finally converted to oil in the summer of 1961 when I was 14.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at December 21, 2025 12:28 PM (5xuJ/)

63 and communications ... from radio, to TV ... phones kept getting better, no live chat with anyone in the world (except much of the third world).

And Tyrannical BigGov at every step tried to control the communications, and control The Narrative. The internet is now sorta breaking that iron grip, but Google Archipelago type controls still maintain powerful influence over The Message, while also censoring Wrong Think.

But life in general is better for most of us (for now, until things go Full Dystopian). But we must use the new tools for good, and not be controlled by them and the new AI Overlords. Always just one generation away from losing our liberties.

Posted by: illiniwek at December 21, 2025 12:28 PM (vbXSk)

64 Wright Brothers had a whole stable slaves running advanced calculations to validate their flight theories.
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher

And then their wives got the vote.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 21, 2025 12:28 PM (kfTpm)

65 They were dumping waste in the river for hundreds of years.

It's a principle of civil engineering they picked up from the Romans. Romans silted up their grain port, Ostia, with their own ordure. As long as the crap got flushed downstream, they didn't give a shit. And the British keep mouthing "Sanitation, what have the Romans done for us lately?" because they never got one step further.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at December 21, 2025 12:28 PM (zdLoL)

66 One of my grandfathers served in the Spanish American war. The other in WWI. Amazing how fast time moves.

Posted by: Pudinhead at December 21, 2025 12:28 PM (NBPRu)

67 NOW live chat, not NO live chat.

Posted by: illiniwek at December 21, 2025 12:29 PM (vbXSk)

68 Who was the astronomer who met and spoke with Orville Wright, Yuri Gagarin, & Neil Armstrong? That has to be a tiny group of people.

Posted by: Nazdar at December 21, 2025 12:29 PM (NcvvS)

69 AI is mid: it will have its uses, but they will be limited and will need human oversight to get things right. What it isn’t is artificial intelligence.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at December 21, 2025 12:29 PM (NWwW8)

70 I asked one of my "providers" about that.
Basically all-in-one printers so they can scan and automagically E-mail the doc or feed it into the NSA databases. They use the term loosely.

It would be cool to see them using an old-school fax with the rotating drum though.
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:27 PM (/lPRQ)

Email is not an acceptable way to transmit HIPAA protected docs, unless it's encrypted.

And since it's a hassle to encrypt and decrypt, most offices still use faxes. Manual or digital, it's still a fax.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:30 PM (IrYHD)

71 Often overlooked in these discussions is health care. The advancements in just the past 50 years are incredible let alone the past 100 years.

It’s not sexy in the way planes or iPhones are. And the improvements are incremental. So people take it for granted.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 12:31 PM (UJWr0)

72 I imagine there will be something of a "robot revolution" in the near future. What it'll look like is probably still up for debate.

I honestly think it could go sideways with only the slightest nudge. People being stupid, evil and all that.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 21, 2025 12:31 PM (NwnyJ)

73 When in Seattle, please make a point of visiting the Boeing Museum of Flight.

It would be well worth the trip.

Posted by: nurse ratched at December 21, 2025 12:32 PM (IhIKR)

74 One of my grandfathers served in the Spanish American war. The other in WWI. Amazing how fast time moves.
Posted by: Pudinhead at December 21, 2025 12:28 PM (NBPRu)

My dad's dad served in WWI. And he'd just emigrated here in 1914.

One of my mom's uncles was killed in that war.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:32 PM (IrYHD)

75 And since it's a hassle to encrypt and decrypt, most offices still use faxes. Manual or digital, it's still a fax.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:30 PM (IrYHD)

That's all we ever ask for.

Posted by: Joe Friday at December 21, 2025 12:32 PM (uQesX)

76 Pops said he was on an aircraft carrier (as a reporter) for the first jet take off.

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at December 21, 2025 12:33 PM (Kt19C)

77 They had to shovel coal into that thing all year long.

No they didn't. There was pre-wrapped "package coal," no dust, that you could just toss in, and there was a device called Iron Fireman that would auto-feed through the night. Had a little feed auger with an electric motor, remote controls, thermostat and everything. You've been sold a bill of goods by Big Gas.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at December 21, 2025 12:34 PM (zdLoL)

78
You had coal?!

I literally had to cut wood, split it, and feed two wood burners or freeze to death in winter.

When I moved out my parents not only got a gas furnace but whole house AC too.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:34 PM (/lPRQ)

79 It blows my mind the healthcare industry still uses fax machines.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:15 PM (wGK1C)

Faxes are a little bit more secure than emails, as they are generally directed to a single phone number and can't be readily copied.

Compare that to having an accidental "Reply all" sending your Viagra prescription to five thousand people at once.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at December 21, 2025 12:35 PM (lLEcp)

80 Dad worked steady midnights, so mom would do the task when he was working. We finally converted to oil in the summer of 1961 when I was 14.
Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy

Did your Dad work with Fred and Barney down at Mr. Slate's quarry?

Posted by: You Make Me Feel So Young at December 21, 2025 12:35 PM (oftw2)

81 Are you serious?

Have you heard about fiber optics?
Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:24 PM (EMg+d)

I’m totally serious. People don’t walk around staring at fiber optics… they stare at their phones and use them for everything. I watched TV and made phone calls etc etc before fiber optics. Fiber optics are infrastructure nobody sees… they made things better but didn’t make observable changes in everyday life

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 12:37 PM (xT8gx)

82 AI is getting a lot of investment and development horsepower right now because computational technology and modeling has gotten to the point where it can produce interesting and useful things.

AI and it's related techs has been around for a long time but was always regarded as niche and boutique because it was practical therefore unmarketable.

Ai development is just starting in reality.

Many technologies have followed similar paths.

Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:37 PM (EMg+d)

83 smdh

Posted by: Don Black at December 21, 2025 12:37 PM (ZxPkt)

84 I looked at a house in WV that was heated by coal. Had the bin next to a huge firebox, blower, etc. Not sure if it was fed mechanically or manually.

Messy.

Bought something else.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 21, 2025 12:37 PM (NwnyJ)

85 What it isn’t is artificial intelligence
_-_
I heard an argument several decades ago that it would be more like intelligence amplification. The idea has held up well so far.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at December 21, 2025 12:39 PM (vd6bO)

86 Compare that to having an accidental "Reply all" sending your Viagra prescription to five thousand people at once.
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at December 21, 2025 12:35 PM (lLEcp)

Not too long ago, maybe six months or so, an email went out to everyone in my organization, and it shouldn't have.

There were literally over a thousand replies from people saying "take me off this email chain."

This is when it's a good thing I don't have a "Kill All" button on my pooter.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:40 PM (Fju+s)

87 81
'Fiber optics are infrastructure nobody sees… they made things better but didn’t make observable changes in everyday life'

They made data transfer radically faster. They probably noticed that even if they don't know it's fiber optics.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 21, 2025 12:42 PM (fd80v)

88 Well, since most of us are accustomed to First World Problems at this time slot, I'll just make a vague reference to the TSA.

Posted by: tankdemon at December 21, 2025 12:43 PM (9ZTyf)

89 Could have had a tech Paradise here on earth, but someone got the dumb idea to teach women to fly, drive, and vote.

Posted by: He-Man Woman Hater's Club at December 21, 2025 12:43 PM (oftw2)

90 What a wonderful time to be alive?

Obligatory, Steely Dan "I.G.Y."

I'm sure it was meant to be cruelly ironic. The joke's on them.

https://youtu.be/Ueivjr3f8xg

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at December 21, 2025 12:43 PM (lLEcp)

91 Dad worked steady midnights, so mom would do the task when he was working. We finally converted to oil in the summer of 1961 when I was 14.
Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy

Did your Dad work with Fred and Barney down at Mr. Slate's quarry?
Posted by: You Make Me Feel So Young at December 21, 2025 12:35 PM (oftw2)

He worked for Anaconda, copper refinery. Blast furnace department. 24/7 operation. Yeah, hard manual labor.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at December 21, 2025 12:43 PM (5xuJ/)

92 vague reference to the TSA.
_-_
Potential thread takeover there...

Posted by: Don in SoCo at December 21, 2025 12:43 PM (vd6bO)

93 Now we’re poised and wondering - is AI going to be the world changer like Elon and its proponents say it will be, or is it going to the worlds next Segway?

I am thinking more like "Genesis II". Pacifist Doo-Gooders versus War Mongering Slavers out for world domination.

Posted by: Zombie Gene Roddenberry at December 21, 2025 12:44 PM (R/m4+)

94 So you are limiting "inventions" to consumer products.

That's kind of lame. You are ignoring all the stuff that was invented to make the cell phone possible.

I guess that is a way that a consumer could see things.

So you think airplanes are an invention but the jet engine is not.

Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:44 PM (EMg+d)

95 81
'Fiber optics are infrastructure nobody sees… they made things better but didn’t make observable changes in everyday life'

They made data transfer radically faster. They probably noticed that even if they don't know it's fiber optics.
Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 21, 2025 12:42 PM (fd80v)

Yes but “noticeably faster data transfer” doesn’t really change the way you live your life… it’s a convenience, a nicety but it doesn’t fundamentally alter behavior.

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 12:44 PM (xT8gx)

96 GREEK HOMOS STOLE OUR FLIGHT TECHNOLOGY!!!

Posted by: We wuz kangz and sheeit at December 21, 2025 12:45 PM (TbWk/)

97 BTW, James Burkes excellent series from the BBC called "Connections" is available on Amazon Prime.

Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:46 PM (EMg+d)

98 Just about all the houses of my home town in Ohio were coal heated at one time or another. You would later see these monster furnaces, coal converted to gas, in a lot of homes. In some downtown areas, buildings were heated by municipal steam, bought from the city, and coming from a coal burning plant. BTW, you can still buy anthracite coal in 50lb bags if you look around.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 21, 2025 12:46 PM (gm9Sb)

99 91
'He worked for Anaconda, copper refinery. Blast furnace department. 24/7 operation. Yeah, hard manual labor.'

I'll that got pretty hot in the summertime.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 21, 2025 12:47 PM (fd80v)

100 So you think airplanes are an invention but the jet engine is not.
Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:44 PM (EMg+d)

The jet engine was invented before I was born. I limited my comment to inventions made in my lifetime

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 12:48 PM (xT8gx)

101 "Yes but “noticeably faster data transfer” doesn’t really change the way you live your life… it’s a convenience, a nicety but it doesn’t fundamentally alter behavior."

What, exactly are you doing right now?

Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:48 PM (EMg+d)

102 Now we’re poised and wondering - is AI going to be the world changer like Elon and its proponents say it will be, or is it going to the worlds next Segway?

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 21, 2025 12:09 PM

I think it will be a world changer, but not in a good way. It will be a negative world changer in the same way that social media and smart phones have negatively affected society and culture.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at December 21, 2025 12:50 PM (P5BPp)

103 99 91
'He worked for Anaconda, copper refinery. Blast furnace department. 24/7 operation. Yeah, hard manual labor.'

I'll that got pretty hot in the summertime.
Posted by: Dr. Claw

Getting hard to find decent copper clappers these days.

Posted by: Jack Webb at December 21, 2025 12:51 PM (oftw2)

104 Is your life any different now than it was at 1200 baud?

Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:51 PM (EMg+d)

105 Time, history and change are not taught efficiently if at all.

And innocent is totality gone from their judgements.

Posted by: thug dolphin at December 21, 2025 12:51 PM (EyfuW)

106 What it isn’t is artificial intelligence
_-_
I heard an argument several decades ago that it would be more like intelligence amplification. The idea has held up well so far.
Posted by: Don in SoCo
+++

For all values of "intelligence" including negative numbers.

From my perspective, for a lot of topics, it just averages out what info it is fed. After so many iterations it is just mud.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:51 PM (/lPRQ)

107 Eventually, AI will feature all spoken voice in an Indian (dot) accent and have elephants. But that's OK because everybody likes elephants.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 21, 2025 12:52 PM (gm9Sb)

108 I'm here for an argument.

Oh, I'm sorry, this is abuse. Arguments are next door.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at December 21, 2025 12:52 PM (vd6bO)

109 "Yes but “noticeably faster data transfer” doesn’t really change the way you live your life… it’s a convenience, a nicety but it doesn’t fundamentally alter behavior."

What, exactly are you doing right now?
Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:48 PM (EMg+d)

Remember the old stereotype of suburban housewives who did nothing all day except drink coffee and chatter on the telephone?

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at December 21, 2025 12:52 PM (lLEcp)

110 What, exactly are you doing right now?
Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:48 PM (EMg+d)

Posting a comment from my iPhone, which doesn’t contain any fiber optics….

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 12:52 PM (xT8gx)

111 Is your life any different now than it was at 1200 baud?
Posted by: pawn

Yes, and no. BBS's were just full of more engineers and mathematicians. Now it's just assholes.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at December 21, 2025 12:54 PM (mlg/3)

112 How exactly with fake images and stuff do anything for humanity?

Posted by: Skip at December 21, 2025 12:54 PM (Ia/+0)

113 >>> BTW, James Burkes excellent series from the BBC called "Connections" is available on Amazon Prime.

I believe he also did a similar series called "The Day The World Changed"

Posted by: fluffy at December 21, 2025 12:54 PM (AN2gy)

114 109 suburban housewives drinking coffee and chatting on the phone. Now, mainlining Ozempic, slamming box wine, and texting.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 21, 2025 12:55 PM (gm9Sb)

115 For all values of "intelligence" including negative numbers.

From my perspective, for a lot of topics, it just averages out what info it is fed. After so many iterations it is just mud.
_-_
Fair comment. I find it helps narrow a search when I am researching something new, but, oh, how it lies.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at December 21, 2025 12:55 PM (vd6bO)

116 I'll that got pretty hot in the summertime.
Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 21, 2025 12:47 PM (fd80v)

The men/fathers back then, did what they needed to do to support their families. He was drafted in 1942, served his time in combat over seas (wounded twice in action), and discharged in 1945. Those guys grabbed whatever jobs they could when they retirned. The Central Jersey area, especially Perth Amboy, was populated by many heavy manufacturing plants. No dad, that I knew of, in our neighborhood worked in a "white collar" position. Most, like my dad, were first generation Americans from Eastern European parents. Hard working, no nonsense people. I miss my dad. He was a good father.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at December 21, 2025 12:55 PM (5xuJ/)

117 and we shouldn't forget "Modern Monetary Theory", and its predecessor, Deficit Spending. These Financial "Miracles" changed our USA World dramatically, and leaves us as the SuperPower ... (for now, assuming the dollar does not collapse, and maybe the USA and the West with it).

Along with all that debt we have a billion or so getting very rich just buying stocks, or billionaires getting richer trading them. That all promoted amazing spending on everything ... it was "free money".

Posted by: illiniwek at December 21, 2025 12:55 PM (vbXSk)

118 When my dad got out of the Army he got a job with a IBM. Computers were still a relatively new thing and most customers were large banks, insurance companies, etc.. After about 20 years with IBM he moved to DEC as the minicomputer revolution was hitting. DEC was founded and at the time still run by Ken Olson who famous proclaimed that DEC would not be getting into the PC business because nobody needed their own computer. A few years later DEC, by far the king of the minicomputer and a leader in the overall computer market, was bought by Compaq.

Computers were highly specialized and somewhat exotic thing in the 1950s into the 1970s and now they are in just about everything, from cars to refrigerators.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 21, 2025 12:56 PM (viF8m)

119 BTW, you can still buy anthracite coal in 50lb bags if you look around.
Posted by: bill in arkansas

I bought a bag of coal to burn in my fireplace, Victorian England style. Ugh. Nasty, dirty smelly stuff.

I'd go conquer the world too, just to get away from the smell of Victorian England.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at December 21, 2025 12:56 PM (lLEcp)

120 25 The reason I don't like to fly has nothing to do with flight. It has everything to do with the manner in which we've set up airports, and even the structure of airplanes.

I'd like to see smaller airships, with more leg room, and less cattle car style design and processing.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 12:1

----

I was a private pilot and I dread modern flying. The experience of staying in that crowded metal tube with sometimes difficult people. Absolutely stay away from Spirit and Frontier.

Posted by: JM in Illinois at December 21, 2025 12:56 PM (NgpKB)

121 I remember showing a relative years ago when I was very young a version of Little House on the Prairie book. She said, "Oh, yeah, I know it." Because she lived it.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at December 21, 2025 12:57 PM (mlg/3)

122 My boss loves AI. Says it's great for researching. As long as you give restrictions. Things he really doesn't know a lot about.... Kind of an overglorified search engine.. or Cliff Notes if you don't want to really learn.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:58 PM (/lPRQ)

123 119 A friend up in PA buys it for his deer camp. Burning coal is the least offensive smell in deer camp, especially when nobody tags out after a few days.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 21, 2025 12:59 PM (gm9Sb)

124 My grandmother was born in 1890 and died in 1975. She was alive when the Wright Brothers began powered flight and lived to see men walk on the moon. That's a helluva technological leap for one lifetime.

Posted by: JTSmith at December 21, 2025 12:59 PM (reaJf)

125 The iPhone is a product not an invention.

Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:59 PM (EMg+d)

126 BTW, James Burkes excellent series from the BBC called "Connections" is available on Amazon Prime.
Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:46 PM (EMg+d)

Connections was a good series, but I watch it now and pick up a lot of "slant" about what should be good. The facts are there, but there is a lot of opinion as well - and I disagree with a lot of the opinion.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 21, 2025 01:00 PM (rbvCR)

127 119
'I'd go conquer the world too, just to get away from the smell of Victorian England.'

You would have needed a time machine to get away from those smells. Coalsmoke, sewage and horse crap smells (or worse) were everywhere.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 21, 2025 01:01 PM (fd80v)

128 The best invention ever was modern anesthesia.

Posted by: Zombie Bill Morton at December 21, 2025 01:03 PM (R/m4+)

129 Yes but “noticeably faster data transfer” doesn’t really change the way you live your life… it’s a convenience, a nicety but it doesn’t fundamentally alter behavior.
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 12:44 PM (xT8gx)

Agreed. Cellphones and computers can (and did) exist before the advent of fiber optics. So did space travel. Useful and important infrastructure, but about as exciting as sewer pipes. Which are also useful and important infrastructure.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 21, 2025 01:04 PM (npFr7)

130 As Pete Bog says, this a great time. In the 1920s, only 1% of homes had both indoor plumbing and electricity. The majority had no indoor plumbing. Think about THAT with last week's frigid temperatures.

My grandparents were way tougher than me.

Posted by: JM in Illinois at December 21, 2025 01:04 PM (NgpKB)

131 122
'Kind of an overglorified search engine.. or Cliff Notes if you don't want to really learn.'

Kind of a really good vessel for a Ministry of Truth if you ask me. No one will know the difference between AI fact and AI programmer opinion.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 21, 2025 01:05 PM (fd80v)

132 >>> No one will know the difference between AI fact and AI programmer opinion.

Shut up and drink your Brawndo.

Posted by: fluffy at December 21, 2025 01:07 PM (AN2gy)

133 The best invention ever was modern anesthesia.
Posted by: Zombie Bill Morton at December 21, 2025 01:03 PM (R/m4+)

I'm waiting for recreational fentanyl to become safe.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 21, 2025 01:11 PM (LPgB/)

134 Shut up and drink your Brawndo.
Posted by: fluffy

It's got electrolytes.
* arm wave *

Posted by: weft cut-loop at December 21, 2025 01:13 PM (mlg/3)

135 Just about all the houses of my home town in Ohio were coal heated at one time or another. You would later see these monster furnaces, coal converted to gas, in a lot of homes. In some downtown areas, buildings were heated by municipal steam, bought from the city, and coming from a coal burning plant. BTW, you can still buy anthracite coal in 50lb bags if you look around.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 21, 2025 12:46 PM (gm9Sb)

A lot of those monster furnaces were "gravity furnaces", which were really convection heaters. No huge squirrel-cage blower to force hot air through narrow pipes. They had a few large pipes through which hot air would rise to heat principal rooms upstairs, and those room would have cold air returns, normally on outside walls. Fire burned all the time at a low level, and air circulated gently all the time, too. Very quiet and comfortable.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 21, 2025 01:14 PM (npFr7)

136 Who was the astronomer who met and spoke with Orville Wright, Yuri Gagarin, & Neil Armstrong? That has to be a tiny group of people.
Posted by: Nazdar at December 21, 2025 12:29 PM (NcvvS)

Had to look that one up.

The answer is Sir Patrick Moore.

Posted by: AZ Hi Desert (Gringo fuertemente armado-Tempus belli) at December 21, 2025 01:15 PM (b9CCz)

137 104 Is your life any different now than it was at 1200 baud?
Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 12:51 PM (

----

Which is about the time we reached peak airline technology. Huge jets, low cost flights. Military aviation has progressed -- fifth generation fighters -- but has commercial aviation changed much in forty years? Government run air transfer control in the US is really lagging.

Still, a great time to be alive

Posted by: JM in Illinois at December 21, 2025 01:15 PM (NgpKB)

138
From my perspective, for a lot of topics, it just averages out what info it is fed. After so many iterations it is just mud.

I have been having a lot of fun with AI running thought experiments like What if the people of Enoch's time (who lived more than five hundred) beheld Renaissance tools (printing press, universities, infrastructure/collaboration, trade, competition, high trust, etc.).

That is, if you gave domain geniuses such as Einstein, Newton, Michelangelo, et al lifetimes over 600 years, what would society look like?

A lot of interesting things come up - far exceeding what a conversation with intelligent people would yield.

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at December 21, 2025 01:16 PM (PVBkQ)

139 Fun fact about Orville Wright. Bob Cummings, the actor and pilot, was a nephew (IIRC) or some sort of relative to Orville.Orville taught Bob Cummings how to fly. Bob Cummings had the first ever instructor pilot license. Number one.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 21, 2025 01:18 PM (gm9Sb)

140 What a coincidence - I just finished watching the final minutes of the film "The Spirit of St. Louis". The centennial of Lindbergh's transoceanic flight will be in 2027.

Posted by: mrp at December 21, 2025 01:18 PM (rj6Yv)

141 The B52 meme from the ONT was humorously spot on.

Posted by: toby928(c) at December 21, 2025 01:19 PM (jc0TO)

142
That is, if you gave domain geniuses such as Einstein, Newton, Michelangelo, et al lifetimes over 600 years, what would society look like?

What derived from that is telos (ultimate aim) where glorifying God vs today's self-glorification or nihilism.

Where we have had great advanced, art, beauty, human flourishing with a telos of glorifying God to our post-modern, post-Christian ethos of glorifying man and nihilism which yields rampant mediocrity. decay, decadence, ugliness and art devoid of the appreciation of craft, skill and cultural endurance.

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at December 21, 2025 01:19 PM (PVBkQ)

143 Fun fact about Orville Wright. Bob Cummings, the actor and pilot, was a nephew (IIRC) or some sort of relative to Orville.Orville taught Bob Cummings how to fly. Bob Cummings had the first ever instructor pilot license. Number one.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 21, 2025 01:18 PM (gm9Sb)

Bob Cummings also was one of the few people ever to own and fly the Taylor Aerocar, a flying car that actually made it to production.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 21, 2025 01:23 PM (npFr7)

144 128 The best invention ever was modern anesthesia.

Posted by: Zombie Bill Morton at December 21, 2025 01:03 PM (R/m4+)

I agree, in modern times.

My all-time best invention ever is irrigation agriculture. Came to be about simultaneous in the (now Iraqi) Fertile Crescent and the Lower Nile. Not needing every possible possible person in a village to be subsistence-critical hunter-gatherers, this fueled the ability for some to have enough free time to invent written language, money, to develop trade and trade routes, and invent/develop the other basic building blocks of every civilization.

Posted by: Gref at December 21, 2025 01:23 PM (5rh/l)

145 Dailytimewaster 1903 - 1952- 1925
https://tinyurl.com/mr462mn2

Time doesn't always march on so fast maybe

Posted by: Skip at December 21, 2025 01:23 PM (Ia/+0)

146 a few large pipes

Asbestos?

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at December 21, 2025 01:23 PM (Kt19C)

147
My boss loves AI. Says it's great for researching. As long as you give restrictions. Things he really doesn't know a lot about.... Kind of an overglorified search engine.. or Cliff Notes if you don't want to really learn.
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher

=============

Seconded. I feel a twinge of guilt over how easy it's been to shortcut the artists, actors, devs, and translators I used to hire. Some of the artists in particular have whole YouTube channels about being unemployable. One girl started about 6 weeks ago and she just hit 100k subscribers because she's cute and she has a sort of Shoe-on-Head sarcastic persona. She livestreams herself drawing. That's her sustenance now. But the savings for precious MEE omg.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at December 21, 2025 01:24 PM (n7rxJ)

148 My favorite invention (for the moment) is the modern flyswatter.

Posted by: mrp at December 21, 2025 01:24 PM (rj6Yv)

149 My all-time best invention ever is irrigation agriculture

I agree with Gref.

Posted by: Eromero at December 21, 2025 01:25 PM (yPhso)

150 Apparently, we've seized a third oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela

Posted by: one hour sober at December 21, 2025 01:26 PM (Y1sOo)

151 Husband and son would both say that the Bug-a-Salt vastly outshines a typical flyswatter.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at December 21, 2025 01:28 PM (FEVMW)

152 148 The flyswatter is rated as one of the best inventions as to health when it was invented. Still handy, and the flies present a health threat, but we don't have a dung heap in the back yard anymore. Also, see window screen.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 21, 2025 01:28 PM (gm9Sb)

153 It's probably not the greatest invention, but currently my most favorite invention is the rocking chair.

Posted by: Weasel at December 21, 2025 01:29 PM (vt7xw)

154 Asbestos?
Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at December 21, 2025 01:23 PM (Kt19C)

Why, yes. The hot air pipes were routinely wrapped in asbestos paper. And cracks and joints in the firebox were sealed with asbestos cement. Asbestos is wonderful stuff. Just don't fill the air you breathe with clouds of asbestos fibers, and you'll be fine.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 21, 2025 01:30 PM (npFr7)

155 Now we’re poised and wondering - is AI going to be the world changer like Elon and its proponents say it will be, or is it going to the worlds next Segway?

It's already super useful for a lot of things that aren't chatbots, but I don't think it's a world changer. More of a productivity boost, like excavators were vs. shovels.

Posted by: Ian S. at December 21, 2025 01:30 PM (QZThv)

156 The thing is, everything is a flyswatter if you make it happen, Daniel-san.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at December 21, 2025 01:31 PM (mlg/3)

157 Grandmother moved to a new home a hundred miles away with covered wagon.

Draft animals were still a major part of ground transport through WWII.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 12:18 PM (/lPRQ)

My Grandmother moved by covered wagon as well, from North Carolina to Indian Territories, now Oklahoma. Wish I had talked to her more

Posted by: javems at December 21, 2025 01:32 PM (8I4hW)

158 When I did workers comp law pipefitters would tell stories of opening bags of asbestos and having "snowball fights" with the asbestos. Fun until it wasn't

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 21, 2025 01:32 PM (MoRvC)

159 Asbestos is wonderful stuff. Just don't fill the air you breathe with clouds of asbestos fibers, and you'll be fine.

A lot of what it was used for was great. I don't get why it was in linoleum floors up through about 1950 though. Makes renovations a hassle if you do it right.

Posted by: Ian S. at December 21, 2025 01:34 PM (QZThv)

160 I guess there is some new “scandal” with Karoline Leavitt. People magazine did a photo shoot of her and they made a big deal showing she gets lip fillers to embarrass her.

Right after the Wiles Vanity Fair fiasco.

When will these people learn the msm hates them and will do everything they can to hurt them and they should never do these things.

Rhetorical, I know. The answer is never.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 01:35 PM (UJWr0)

161 Has the speed of light always been the same as it is now?

Posted by: Don in SoCo at December 21, 2025 01:36 PM (vd6bO)

162 A lot of those monster furnaces were "gravity furnaces", which were really convection heaters. No huge squirrel-cage blower to force hot air through narrow pipes. They had a few large pipes through which hot air would rise to heat principal rooms upstairs, and those room would have cold air returns, normally on outside walls. Fire burned all the time at a low level, and air circulated gently all the time, too. Very quiet and comfortable.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

I've known people lived in farmhouses with ductless convection heating. Firebox on living room and open oversized floor grates to the second floor. Kitchen was the best place to hang out in the winter as it had its own 'heater'.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 01:36 PM (/lPRQ)

163 I guess there is some new “scandal” with Karoline Leavitt. People magazine did a photo shoot of her and they made a big deal showing she gets lip fillers to embarrass her.

Those are so common now I'm not even sure why it's a big deal. Women love the "duck" look, even though men don't give a shit.

Posted by: Ian S. at December 21, 2025 01:36 PM (QZThv)

164 Has the speed of light always been the same as it is now?

What is anisotropic speed of light ?

Posted by: Unknown Drip Under Pressure at December 21, 2025 01:38 PM (a6PrB)

165 It's already super useful for a lot of things that aren't chatbots, but I don't think it's a world changer. More of a productivity boost, like excavators were vs. shovels.
Posted by: Ian S. at December 21, 2025 01:30 PM (QZThv)

I liken it to the tractor. Farming didnt really chance at its core once the tractor came along. It’s still seeds in the ground. But the tractor fundamentally revolutionized farming from an efficiency standpoint.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 01:38 PM (UJWr0)

166 114 109 suburban housewives drinking coffee and chatting on the phone. Now, mainlining Ozempic, slamming box wine, and texting.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 21, 2025 12:55 PM (gm9Sb)

Also fucking the poolboy while the husband is out working 75 hours a week to support those three kids that - unbeknownst to him - aren't even his.

Posted by: Life in modern America at December 21, 2025 01:39 PM (TbWk/)

167 My all-time best invention ever is irrigation agriculture

I agree with Gref.
Posted by: Eromero

==> BEER

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 01:39 PM (/lPRQ)

168 I’ll bet the next 122 years are even more technologically astounding.

Posted by: Pete Bog at December 21, 2025 01:40 PM (pShv9)

169 Grandpa kept a team of plow horses until he bought the John Deere when my Dad was in high school (about 1947).

Posted by: mrp at December 21, 2025 01:40 PM (rj6Yv)

170 Those are so common now I'm not even sure why it's a big deal. Women love the "duck" look, even though men don't give a shit.
Posted by: Ian S. at December 21, 2025 01:36 PM (QZThv)

It’s not a big deal. But it just shows how even for the smallest shit like this People went out of its way to portray something negative.

Republicans for some reason keep agreeing to do these magazine profiles knowing they will never get a fair portrayal.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 01:40 PM (UJWr0)

171 160 I guess there is some new “scandal” with Karoline Leavitt. People magazine did a photo shoot of her and they made a big deal showing she gets lip fillers to embarrass her.

Right after the Wiles Vanity Fair fiasco.

When will these people learn the msm hates them and will do everything they can to hurt them and they should never do these things.

Rhetorical, I know. The answer is never.
Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 01:35 PM (UJWr0)

They're all a bunch of catty, bitchy, high school mean girls who never grew up.

Posted by: Even the males at December 21, 2025 01:41 PM (TbWk/)

172 When I did workers comp law pipefitters would tell stories of opening bags of asbestos and having "snowball fights" with the asbestos. Fun until it wasn't
Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 21, 2025 01:32 PM (MoRvC)

Nearly all the workers who got asbestos-related cancers were also smokers. Of course, most people were smokers back then, too. Not all smokers get lung cancer, but it clearly increases the risk. Not all people who work with asbestos get lung cancer, but it clearly increases the risk. But if you do both? You are dicing with the Devil.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 21, 2025 01:41 PM (npFr7)

173 I guess there is some new “scandal” with Karoline Leavitt. People magazine did a photo shoot of her and they made a big deal showing she gets lip fillers to embarrass her.

Those are so common now I'm not even sure why it's a big deal. Women love the "duck" look, even though men don't give a shit.
Posted by: Ian S.

Better seal.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 01:42 PM (/lPRQ)

174 BEER
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 01:39 PM (/lPRQ)

There is a theory that beer is the reason the first farmers decided staying in one spot and planting lots of grain was a good idea.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at December 21, 2025 01:42 PM (lLEcp)

175 >Husband and son would both say that the Bug-a-Salt vastly outshines a typical flyswatter.

----

Fun Fact:
Flies take off backwards. Aim behind the fly when swatting. Your score will improve immediately.

Posted by: Don Black at December 21, 2025 01:42 PM (ZxPkt)

176 You are dicing with the Devil.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 21, 2025 01:41 PM (npFr7)

Lucifer's cooking show. Accomplished chef, in addition to being a celestial rebel and The Accuser.

Posted by: Old Scratch Biscuits - Devilishly Good! at December 21, 2025 01:43 PM (TbWk/)

177 Those are so common now I'm not even sure why it's a big deal. Women love the "duck" look, even though men don't give a shit.
Posted by: Ian S.

Better seal.
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 01:42 PM (/lPRQ)

On the poolboy's dick.

Posted by: Cosmetic surgeons are quacks at December 21, 2025 01:43 PM (TbWk/)

178
AI is political, 100%

I just typed in "Mary, Did You Know" at Google.

Here's what comes up: Why is Mary Did You Know controversial?

AI: AI Overview
"Mary, Did You Know?" is controversial mainly for its theological perspective, seen by some as condescending "mansplaining" that infantilizes Mary by asking if she knew facts about Jesus, contradicting beliefs (especially Catholic ones) that she would have known her role as the Mother of God, particularly with the line about Jesus "delivering" her, which clashes with the Immaculate Conception doctrine. Critics argue it's theologically imprecise, while supporters see it as exploring the mystery of faith through Mary's human perspective, focusing on the wonder of Christ rather than literal knowledge.

Posted by: Soothsayer at December 21, 2025 01:43 PM (4ZzTK)

179 School kids playing with liquid mercury was not unknown back in the day.

Posted by: mrp at December 21, 2025 01:44 PM (rj6Yv)

180 And 100 years later suicidal aero nuts build homemade airplanes and use modern harley engines to power them. At the same time people are building motorcycles with radial airplane engines. I'm thinking the Wright brothers would be amused.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 21, 2025 01:44 PM (snZF9)

181 Right after the Wiles Vanity Fair fiasco.

When will these people learn the msm hates them and will do everything they can to hurt them and they should never do these things.

Rhetorical, I know. The answer is never.
Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 01:35 PM (UJWr0)

Yes… never is correct. I think it has to do with their age. Trump is 79? I think… Wiles is at least in her 60s if not older… they grew up in the age of Walter Cronkite. Their view of the media will probably never fundamentally change

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 01:45 PM (xT8gx)

182 There is a theory that beer is the reason the first farmers decided staying in one spot and planting lots of grain was a good idea.
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy

Dry grain storage for food was probably the real reason... Unless some got wet and sprouted... Oopsie. Well, let's malt it and make beer.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 01:45 PM (/lPRQ)

183 180 And 100 years later suicidal aero nuts build homemade airplanes and use modern harley engines to power them. At the same time people are building motorcycles with radial airplane engines. I'm thinking the Wright brothers would be amused.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 21, 2025 01:44 PM (snZF9)

Those guys who duct tape a chair to an airboat engine and tie a paraglider chute to it.

Posted by: HOLD MUH BEER I'M GONNA FLY at December 21, 2025 01:46 PM (TbWk/)

184 Those guys who duct tape a chair to an airboat engine and tie a paraglider chute to it.

Posted by: HOLD MUH BEER I'M GONNA FLY at December 21, 2025 01:46 PM (TbWk/)

Florida man?

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 21, 2025 01:47 PM (snZF9)

185 Yes… never is correct. I think it has to do with their age. Trump is 79? I think… Wiles is at least in her 60s if not older… they grew up in the age of Walter Cronkite. Their view of the media will probably never fundamentally change
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 01:45 PM (xT8gx)
====

The days of Sander Vanocur and Eric Sevareid are long over.

Posted by: mrp at December 21, 2025 01:48 PM (rj6Yv)

186 Yes… never is correct. I think it has to do with their age. Trump is 79? I think… Wiles is at least in her 60s if not older… they grew up in the age of Walter Cronkite. Their view of the media will probably never fundamentally change
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 01:45 PM (xT8gx)

Fuckin' Boomers. Although GenZers and Alphas seem to be just as unthinkingly credulous, even though they don't get their "news" from TV anymore.

Posted by: It's not just the media, it's the brain absorbing it at December 21, 2025 01:49 PM (TbWk/)

187 My Grandmother was born in 1892; my Dad in 1913, my Mom in 1914. All three got to be party to the changes that have since been refined and passed down to us. Question: What are WE going to pass down to OUR children … ? Hmm … ?

Posted by: Dr_No at December 21, 2025 01:49 PM (ayRl+)

188 64 Has the speed of light always been the same as it is now?

What is anisotropic speed of light ?
_-_
And are physical "laws" constant over time? A favorite dumb question of mine

Posted by: Don in SoCo at December 21, 2025 01:50 PM (vd6bO)

189 Fuckin' Boomers. Although GenZers and Alphas seem to be just as unthinkingly credulous, even though they don't get their "news" from TV anymore.
Posted by: It's not just the media, it's the brain absorbing it at December 21, 2025 01:49 PM (TbWk/)
===

Social Media "influencers" are media muppets for the most part.

Posted by: mrp at December 21, 2025 01:50 PM (rj6Yv)

190 163 I guess there is some new “scandal” with Karoline Leavitt. People magazine did a photo shoot of her and they made a big deal showing she gets lip fillers to embarrass her.

Those are so common now I'm not even sure why it's a big deal. Women love the "duck" look, even though men don't give a shit.
Posted by: Ian S. at December 21, 2025 01:36 PM (QZThv)

I know, I see that story and think "why would I give a shit one way or the other?"
Women do stupid stuff for looks constantly.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 21, 2025 01:51 PM (uWKK8)

191 Those guys who duct tape a chair to an airboat engine and tie a paraglider chute to it.
Posted by: HOLD MUH BEER I'M GONNA FLY

Got an uncle who made a one man hot air balloon. Not much more than a lawn chair, propane tank, big azz burner, and bag.

His brother made his own parachute. Said it packed a bit tight and you had to give it a firm bump or two with your elbows to deploy it...

Both were industrial sewers, riggers, jumpmasters, and had their own jump zones etc as a side gig to the day job. So, professionals.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 21, 2025 01:52 PM (/lPRQ)

192 And are physical "laws" constant over time? A favorite dumb question of mine
Posted by: Don in SoCo at December 21, 2025 01:50 PM (vd6bO)

No, but Time itself has changed at the same rate as the physical "laws" have changed, so if you measure them they'll still look the same and you can never tell the difference.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 21, 2025 01:52 PM (uWKK8)

193 I know, I see that story and think "why would I give a shit one way or the other?"
Women do stupid stuff for looks constantly.
Posted by: Tom Servo at December 21, 2025 01:51 PM (uWKK

Like, totally!

Posted by: Big Hair 80s Girl with Shoulder Pads at December 21, 2025 01:53 PM (lLEcp)

194 Yes… never is correct. I think it has to do with their age. Trump is 79? I think… Wiles is at least in her 60s if not older… they grew up in the age of Walter Cronkite. Their view of the media will probably never fundamentally change
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 01:45 PM (xT8gx)

Leavitt is 20-something. She should know better.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 01:53 PM (UJWr0)

195 AI is most definitely going to be a game changer in a lot of fields. Bubble in financing for sure, but the tech genie is out of the bottle.

Artists are fighting it now, but they are going to lose. Not every single one, it should go without saying (but someone will). You are going to have sites that make music for you based on whatever criteria you like: and not one of those songs will have existed previously. The same thing with art. And don't get me started with video. Movies about whatever you want on demand. Books about any subject you want, on demand. Poems, puzzles, RPGs. Everything.

Coders are going to diminish in number, greatly. The kinds of stuff I can churn out with claud.ai open in one window and visual studio in the other is wild. You still have to know what you are doing, but you aren't going to need nearly as many people.

I have no idea what the fallout will be. But it's going to be interesting times for sure.

Posted by: Are you sure about this sir? at December 21, 2025 01:56 PM (U/7CP)

196
I’ll bet the next 122 years are even more technologically astounding.

Posted by: Pete Bog

=============

I'd love to time-machine in to take a look -- although something tells me I'd want to time-machine right back out.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at December 21, 2025 01:56 PM (n7rxJ)

197 And sixty-six years after 1903, Americans were standing on the moon.

It's been fifty-six years since 1969, and our big achievement in that time span is the invention of social media.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at December 21, 2025 01:56 PM (xTIDn)

198
I've said it a hundred times here:

Human civilization peaked on July 20, 1969.

Posted by: Soothsayer at December 21, 2025 01:57 PM (4ZzTK)

199 The point with the lip thing is if they’ll go to such lengths to do this, what other lies will they tell?

I honestly don’t know how any even slightly to the right person in politics is dumb enough to do these magazine features. No matter what you say, no matter how you look it will be twisted and turned into a negative. There is literally 0 upside and unlimited downside. How do they not understand this?

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 01:58 PM (UJWr0)

200 My brother and I were at a neighbor's house when the first moon landing occurred, and we were watching it on Mr. Mason's television set. When the lunar touchdown happened, I vividly recollect Mr. Mason saying to us, "Boys, always remember that you passed from one age to another while sitting on the Mason's couch".

Last I heard, the old gentleman was still alive, in his mid-nineties.

Posted by: Paco at December 21, 2025 01:58 PM (2L+MU)

201 198
I've said it a hundred times here:

Human civilization peaked on July 20, 1969.
Posted by: Soothsayer at December 21, 2025 01:57 PM (4ZzTK)
Amen

Posted by: Eromero at December 21, 2025 01:58 PM (LHPAg)

202
The babies being born now, whatever their generation designation is, will not be able to keep the Power Grid operating.

Posted by: Soothsayer at December 21, 2025 01:59 PM (4ZzTK)

203 Leavitt is 20-something. She should know better.
Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 21, 2025 01:53 PM (UJWr0)

Yes… but she lives in an older world. I’m pretty sure her husband is in his 60s? She probably inherited his worldview

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at December 21, 2025 02:00 PM (xT8gx)

204 1WP NOOD

Posted by: Skip at December 21, 2025 02:00 PM (Ia/+0)

205 I’ll bet the next 122 years are even more technologically astounding.

Posted by: Pete Bog
------------
Which begets which? Culture vs. technology.

I fear that AI is going to destroy our culture as we know it. The humaness is going to be sapped. We see it now with the addiction to smart phones, 'apps', social media, etc.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 21, 2025 02:02 PM (XeU6L)

206 Conservatives giving interviews to mainstream media are just like Charlie Brown thinking that Lucy will actually hold the football this time.
But she never does.

Posted by: proudvastrightwingguy at December 21, 2025 02:02 PM (MNCvZ)

207 "I fear that AI is going to destroy our culture as we know it."

You bet. Humans, kicking and screaming into the future they created.

Posted by: pawn at December 21, 2025 02:06 PM (EMg+d)

208 Grandpa kept a team of plow horses until he bought the John Deere when my Dad was in high school (about 1947).
Posted by: mrp

My Grampa had 'Billy' a retired draft horse into the early 60's even though he owned a Ford 9N for years. Billy was a fantastic animal - he'd let us kids pull ourselves up using his tail or mane and take us for rides until Grammi would call. Then, he'd slowly turn around and drop us off at the back porch. I finally got rid of his horse collars when I sold the farm 15 years ago or such.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 21, 2025 02:07 PM (cYBz/)

209 It is difficult to overstate the importance of what Charlie Taylor accomplished.

Posted by: Tom Locker at December 21, 2025 02:07 PM (FQZ0B)

210 What a coincidence - I just finished watching the final minutes of the film "The Spirit of St. Louis". The centennial of Lindbergh's transoceanic flight will be in 2027.
My FIL worked for the Jenny Oil Company that provided the fuel for that flight.

Posted by: DanMan at December 21, 2025 02:11 PM (8uzBS)

211 Good one, Pete Bog!

Posted by: m at December 21, 2025 02:23 PM (RuTUS)

212 Yes, between the first powered flight and the first landing on the moon, just over 66 years elapsed, meaning that the youngster who took the famous picture might have also watched the moon landing on TV as a senior in their early 80s!

And after a few Apollo flights, we decided to take 50 years or so off from flights beyond low Earth orbit. Nice work liberals... what would we have done without you? I'd love to have found out!

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at December 21, 2025 02:40 PM (FpP3s)

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