(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Morning Open Thread. Ad astra per aspera. Or is it per ardua ad astra? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-04 "Next time a stranger talks to you alone, just look at them shocked and whisper "You can see me?" " --notsalmon.com The one thing I do know is I don’t know very much about most everything. But which is better? “To the stars, through difficulties”; or, “Through struggle, to the stars”? The former is my own family motto*, the latter that of the Royal Air Force. Those silly Romans. They didn’t know how to write a “U”. Entrance to Royal Air Force College Officer’s Mess “Per Ardua ad Astra”; Through Struggle, to the Stars Morning Open Thread is a daily, copyrighted post from a host of editors and guest writers. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum. This is a post where you can come to share what’s on your mind and stay for the expansion. The diarist is on California time and gets to take a nap when he needs to, or may just wander off and show up again later. So you know, it's a feature, not a bug. Grab your supportive indulgence(s) of choice and join us, please. And if you’re brand new to Morning Open Thread, then Hail and Well Met, new Friend. Now you know which way you need to go. Because it’s that time of the year. ***** I just figured it was magic: If I’d’a had any brains when I was younger I would have become a mechanic for these things. I had a real knack for being able to troubleshoot and repair complex gizmos like this. I used to have a mantra: give me the tools and the technical manual and I can fix it. Oh, hey, watch the entire video. I mean, c’mon, what else better are you doing with your time right now? I know you’re not needing to do something important, because you’re reading my drivel in the first place. Amiright or amiright? ***** Have ya ever seen something like this? I was reading a book on cryptology (actually, rereading it; yeah, I’m obsessed) and the subject of public key encryption came up and analogies involving padlocks and it made me think of this, which I actually experienced while traveling with my dad out in the “boonies”, in fact he knew all about it and had a key to one of the locks because we had permission to go where we were headed. They’re incredibly simple, just a series of padlocks linked like a chain one to the next, so that opening any one lock unlocks the entire mechanism, but it works beautifully when you need to allow multiple access but don’t want a bunch of keys floating around that can get duplicated, and mainly because this way each authorized user must provide her/his own padlock… But an arrangement like that is susceptible to bolt cutters, so here’s an upgrade: ***** If I could write like jbou, I’d be somebody: CHEERS to the wisdom of jbou. The Kossack—one of several who departed in 2016—is gone but not forgotten. C&J promised to revisit his sharp George-Carlin-meets-Stephen-Wright zingers from time to time because, well, they will never cease to crack me up. And whaddya know, today is one of those days. Here's what was on his mind back in January of 2012… » As a kid, I'd get attention by saying inappropriate things and making fart noises. As an adult, I'm taller. » The sad thing about Baby New Year is knowing he dies on his first birthday. » Love is like the Force: it surrounds us, binds us, and people can use it to cut off your arms and legs and toss you into lava. jbou » Next we should demand that Romney release his Donny Osmond records. » I ordered a plunger and a snare drum on Amazon so next time you order one and it recommends the other, that's me. » This "judge people by the content of their character" thing is not working to my advantage. » Autocorrect makes me feel like I'm friends with a nosy, incompetent know-it-all. » Time heals all wounds. Unless you suffered a horrible disfigurement working in a clock factory. Then it's just a grim reminder. » Watching all of these GOP debates is like taking a massive dump and then waiting around to see which pieces of shit get flushed down first. --as taken from Cheers and Jeers 25Jan23 ***** And didja know today is National Create a Vacuum Day? This holiday is about nothing in particular - literally! A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective vacuus for "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Though creating the absence of anything seems like a waste of time, this day is intended to make us stop and think of the importance of science on our everyday lives. In you are indoors, look up and the lightbulb in the room you are in has a vacuum inside. And look at the floor - think how much harder it would be to keep clean without the aid of a vacuum cleaner! Hey, I succeeded. I wrote this diary. If that hasn’t created a great big hole in the space-time continuum (a hole that sucks, don’t ya know, hee hee) I don’t know what would. ***** Finally, why no matter what you do or how you say them, math jokes are not now and never will be funny**. Matt Parker, on the other hand, is funny. *I can’t verify that this is actually my family motto. But if it’s not, it should be. **Any joke that needs “explaining” is by its very nature incapable of being funny. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/4/2148809/-Morning-Open-Thread-Ad-astra-per-aspera-Or-is-it-per-ardua-ad-astra Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/