WTF-Beta

I wonder if he's familiar with the Constitutional prohibition. Mark Cuban said on Monday that it's a good move to have Nvidia and AMD pay the US government 15% of their China chip sales revenues. "This is a 'billionaire's tax' structured as a royalty or sales tax on semiconductors from the most valuable company in the world, sold to China," Cuban wrote on X, after the Financial Times first reported that President Donald Trump had imposed the requirement on the two chipmakers. Cuban — who spent the 2024 election campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris — said Trump deserves praise if the government does get a cut from Nvidia and AMD's China chip sales. "Everyone knows how I feel about POTUS, but he doesn't get everything wrong," Cuban said on Monday, referencing his past criticisms of Trump's tariff policies. "Will this make up for the explosion of the deficits we face? Not as it stands now. Not close. But give him credit for knowing how those CEOs approach problems and opportunities, and using his leverage to generate tax revenues," Cuban added. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mark-cuban-lauding-trump-potus-070045505.html

My grandmother's sister had a Cadillac her husband bought her. It was North Carolina in the mid-century. It was kind of a big deal. I remember as a child the FM radio was always tuned to an elevator music station. I remember many things about her car. The music was one of them. It seemed like a good soundtrack for riding in her car.

It's part of the push towards "6G" (sixth generation communications system). Under the big umbrella of "integrated sensing and communication" (ISAC), researchers and engineers have been working on using wireless communication technologies combined with AI and machine learning to "sense" various things/activities in the radio transmission/reception paths. For now we see more work on using Wi-Fi to do this because Wi-Fi is localized and cheap, with very low barrier of entry for experimentation. The monetizable use cases are also easier to identify (e.g., motion detection at home, infant and senior monitoring at home). But the ambition is to be able to do this ISAC thing also with the big wide area cellphone networks.

These cats are so cooperative. Mine don’t like hats!

@RealPlayer I dumped the Times after their "non-endorsement" endorsement of Cuomo, and their ridiculous decision to publish Andrew Sullivans diatribe against the gay community on the anniversary date of Obergefell. Totally tasteless decision. They aren't relevant to me any more. My sources: The Guardian, UnHerd (for alternative views), ProPublica, Joe.My.God for raw headlines (which I often ignore during the day because it's overload), Jen Rubin, Robert Reich, and Paul Krugman on substack, and Talking Points Memo.

Who gets fired today? Employers in the US added just 22,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate crept up to 4.3% Economists hadn't had high hopes that hiring would get back on track - but that's even fewer than expected. [image: 4c56567c-58b4-4600-b5d2-d9265c064237.png.webp] https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c5yk8n869g1t

In a lengthy dissent, Oldham complained his two colleagues were second-guessing Trump’s conduct of foreign affairs and national security, realms where courts usually give the president great deference. Silly man. The courts usually do lots of things, but he only needs look at the Roberts court to see that it doesn't make any difference. They'll decide what outcome they want then piece together a "history" to justify it.

That's cool. Spirograph. I want a wood lathe. Went to buy one this week but they weren't in stock. Still very interested in getting one and I'm checking Craigslist for used ones.

@Axtremus said in All Magic Has A Price -- at Disney's: Based on what we earn, we see different ads, stand in different lines, eat different food, stay in different hotels, watch the parade from different sections, and on and on. What’s profitable today is not unification. It’s segmentation. Yes, and it’s hard not to think that this is part of what’s contributing to all the other social and political division we’re experiencing

Froome is a great in the cycling world. Sad this happened. Just to make this about me; I bought a mountain bike in Tucson. Read that a guy my age asked about bike crashes. He was told, "You might live." Think I will consign the bike when I get back to Tucson.

Add Mexico to the list. Mexico said Wednesday its postal service was suspending package shipments to the United States ahead of an end to the exemption on tariff duties for low-value packages by the Trump administration. The announcement follows similar moves by postal services from the European Union and several other countries to pause shipping as they await more clarity on the U.S. measure. It also comes during monthslong negotiations between the Mexican government and the Trump administration to avoid wider tariffs. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/28/mexico-suspends-postal-shipments-to-united-states-over-tariff-confusion-00533242

From what I've seen of Trump's dealings with Putin, he should get the Noballs Peace Prize

Waiting for a quote on putting basement back together, house was painted early this month, huge window will be replaced 9/18 and we made big progress in the garage yesterday. We will get both cars in this winter!

@CHAS No, but you should see his electric bill!

@jon-nyc said in Piano Party 7/27 Klaus is coming to visit: There are some. Klaus is here a week and we’re at the Jersey shore now. Next weekend I’ll post some videos. Back from the shore yet? I would really like to see some videos. Big Al

Big Al

Auction results. Pretty good return for his $10. Lots 211 through 217, as far as I can tell. https://hansonslive.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk/auctions/catalog/id/706?page=3

My daughter lived there while student teaching. It’s a visually interesting city.

People will bet on anything.

@wtg Good story. Thanks