tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3281976878879174832024-03-17T20:04:24.170-07:00MegalextoriaMegalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.comBlogger5985125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-80480853054764859182024-03-16T09:52:00.000-07:002024-03-16T09:52:54.822-07:00‘Laissez-Faire’ Sweden Had the Lowest Mortality in Europe From 2020–2022, New Analysis Shows<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5YXrJfEQ6aOaQifetbxs2WU7iML0Pz-fpnZx9Xo0Qioji-3czSd_t18hDMpAyY1uG69JgB3T7aJFzsR0FtMnmqtitt60CiR01H8VT68WX7nPLwcElKoEN24_WMAUyTfwa9neZnUUVnhhGDh8PZirmEpYyNRxAwkYo0lyeMPX2_v5yyE6cH0ko9Ak6NA/s1201/anders_tegnell_in_2020.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5YXrJfEQ6aOaQifetbxs2WU7iML0Pz-fpnZx9Xo0Qioji-3czSd_t18hDMpAyY1uG69JgB3T7aJFzsR0FtMnmqtitt60CiR01H8VT68WX7nPLwcElKoEN24_WMAUyTfwa9neZnUUVnhhGDh8PZirmEpYyNRxAwkYo0lyeMPX2_v5yyE6cH0ko9Ak6NA/s400/anders_tegnell_in_2020.webp"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/16/laissez-faire-sweden-had-the-lowest-mortality-in-europe-from-2020-2022-new-analysis-shows/">‘Laissez-Faire’ Sweden Had the Lowest Mortality in Europe From 2020–2022, New Analysis Shows</a>
<p>Gore Vidal once said “I told you so” are the four most beautiful words in the English language.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is why it’s difficult to resist sharing new data that show how Sweden’s much-maligned pandemic response was right after all.</p>
<p>For those who’ve forgotten, Sweden was excoriated by corporate media and US politicians for its lighter-touch Covid-19 strategy. Many were downright hostile to the Swedes for refusing to shutter schools, lock down businesses, and ramp up police to enforce mandates.</p>
<p>Here’s a sample of headlines:</p>
<p>• “Why the Swedish Model for Fighting COVID-19 Is a Disaster” (<em><a rel="nofollow" href="https://time.com/5899432/sweden-coronovirus-disaster/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Time</a></em>, October 2020).</p>
<p>• “The Inside Story of How Sweden Botched Its Coronavirus Response” (<em><a rel="nofollow" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/12/22/sweden-coronavirus-covid-response/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Foreign Policy</a></em>, December 2020).</p>
<p>• “Sweden Stayed Open and More People Died of Covid-19, but the Real Reason May Be Something Darker” (<em><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2020/07/07/sweden-stayed-open-and-more-people-died-of-covid-19-but-the-real-reason-may-be-something-darker/?sh=3154d46f69bd" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Forbes</a></em>, 2020).</p>
<p>• “Sweden Has Become the World’s Cautionary Tale” (<em><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/business/sweden-economy-coronavirus.html#:~:text=Its%20decision%20to%20carry%20on,Britain%20move%20to%20lift%20lockdowns." class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">New York Times</a></em>, July 2020).</p>
<p>• “I Just Came Home to Sweden. I’m Horrified by the Coronavirus Response Here” (<em><a rel="nofollow" href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/sweden-coronavirus-response-death-social-distancing.html" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Slate</a></em>, April 2020).</p>
<p>This is just a taste of the reactions against Sweden in 2020. By opting to allow its 10 million citizens to continue living relatively normal lives, Sweden was, in the words of <em>The Guardian</em>, leading not just Swedes but the entire world “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/30/catastrophe-sweden-coronavirus-stoicism-lockdown-europe" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">to catastrophe</a>.”</p>
<p>Even then-president Trump <a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/miltimore79/status/1765129495797973460" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">got in on the action</a> of smacking Sweden around.</p>
<p>“Sweden is paying heavily for its decision not to lockdown,” the tweeter-in-chief warned.</p>
<p>Despite the foreboding rhetoric, the worst-case predictions for Sweden never materialized. In fact, they were <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/sweden-s-actual-covid-19-results-compared-to-what-modelers-predicted-in-april/#:~:text=So%20how%20do%20the%20predictions,have%20slowed%20to%20a%20crawl." class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">not even close</a>.</p>
<p>In March 2021, it was apparent that Sweden had a lower mortality rate <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/sweden-saw-lower-mortality-rate-than-most-of-europe-in-2020-despite-no-lockdown/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">than most</a> European nations. The following year, Sweden <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/sweden-once-mocked-for-its-covid-strategy-now-has-one-of-the-lowest-covid-mortality-rates-in-europe/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">boasted</a> one of the lowest mortality rates in Europe.</p>
<p>By March 2023, Sweden had the lowest excess death rate in all of Europe, <a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/MarkChangizi/status/1632363525405392896" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">according to</a> some data sets. And though some weren’t ready to admit that Sweden had the lowest excess mortality in all of Europe, even the <em>New York Times</em>, which had mocked Sweden’s pandemic strategy, conceded that the nation’s laissez-faire approach <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/the-new-york-times-stunning-confession-on-sweden-s-pandemic-response/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">was hardly the disaster</a> many had predicted.</p>
<p>More recently, Danish economist Bjørn Lomborg shared a statistical analysis based on government data from all European countries from January 2020 to August 2022. The study demonstrated that Sweden had the lowest cumulative age-standardized mortality rate in all of Europe in that period.</p>
<p>“Across Europe, Sweden saw [the] lowest total death during and after Covid,” Lomborg <a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/BjornLomborg/status/1764733376450203858" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">said on X</a> (formerly Twitter).</p>
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<h2 id="link-0">One Economic Fallacy to Rule Them All</h2>
<p>Lomborg’s analysis provides yet more evidence that the Covid state was a disaster.</p>
<p>Some will say, <em>How could we have known?</em></p><div style="clear:both;"><div id="om-fqmeg7lcejd7fy5oro5r-holder"></div>
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<p>The harsh truth is that some of us <em>did</em> know. In March 2020, <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/panic-has-led-to-government-cures-that-are-worse-than-the-disease-history-shows/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">I warned</a> that government “cures” for Covid-19 were likely to be worse than the disease itself. The following month, <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/could-sweden-s-laissez-faire-approach-to-the-coronavirus-actually-work/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">I argued</a> that Sweden’s laissez-faire policy was likely to be a more effective policy than the hardline approach favored by other nations.</p>
<p>I wrote these things not because I’m a prophet, but because I’ve read a bit of history and understand basic economics.</p>
<p>History shows that collective responses during panics tend not to end well, and economist Antony Davies and political scientist James Harrigan <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/no-policy-can-save-lives-it-can-only-trade-lives/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">explained why</a> near the beginning of the pandemic.</p>
<p>“In times of crisis, people want someone to do something, and don’t want to hear about tradeoffs,” <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/no-policy-can-save-lives-it-can-only-trade-lives/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover" data-original-title="" title="">the authors noted</a>. “This is the breeding ground for grand policies driven by the mantra, ‘if it saves just one life.’”</p>
<p>The thing is, tradeoffs are real. Indeed, economics is largely a study of them. When you choose one thing, you give up another; and we evaluate outcomes based on what we get versus what we gave up. We call this opportunity cost.</p>
<p>Throughout most of the pandemic, however, there were those who didn’t want to pay any attention to opportunity costs or <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/the-new-york-times-finally-discovers-unintended-consequences/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover" data-original-title="" title="" aria-describedby="popover393198">the unintended consequences</a> of government lockdowns—and they were legion.</p>
<p>This is the great economic fallacy Henry Hazlitt warned of decades ago.</p>
<p>Hazlitt, the author of <em><a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/resources/economics-in-one-lesson/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover" data-original-title="" title="">Economics in One Lesson</a></em>, claimed that overlooking the secondary consequences of policies accounted for “nine-tenths” of the economic fallacies in the world.</p>
<p>“[There is] a persistent tendency of men to see only the immediate effects of a given policy,” he wrote, “and to neglect to inquire what the long-run effects of that policy will be.”</p>
<p>This was the fatal flaw—quite literally—of the Covid state. Its engineers didn’t realize they were not saving lives, but trading lives (to borrow a turn of phrase from Harrigan and Davies).</p>
<p>Lockdowns weren’t scientific and proved <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/3-studies-that-show-lockdowns-are-ineffective-at-slowing-covid-19/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">ineffective</a> at slowing the spread of Covid, but even if they had worked, they came with severe collateral damage: cancer screenings plummeted, drug use surged, learning <a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/DKThomp/status/1765135053061845154" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">was lost</a>, and global poverty exploded. Depression and unemployment skyrocketed, businesses went bankrupt, and high inflation arrived. Babies <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/four-newborns-die-after-being-denied-heart-surgery-because-of-covid-travel-restrictions/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover" data-original-title="" title="" aria-describedby="popover278427">were denied heart surgery</a> because of travel restrictions, youth suicides <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2023/youth-suicide-rates-increased-during-the-covid-19-pandemic" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">increased</a><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2023/youth-suicide-rates-increased-during-the-covid-19-pandemic" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">…</a>the list goes on and on.</p>
<p>The dark truth is that lockdowns <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/sweden-s-top-infectious-disease-expert-says-covid-19-lockdowns-are-not-based-on-science-history-shows-he-could-be-right/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">were not based on science</a> and came with a rather unfortunate side effect: <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/18/evidence-lockdowns-kill-people-lock-kill/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">they killed people</a>.</p>
<h2 id="link-1">‘A Giant Experiment’</h2>
<p>The secondary consequences of lockdowns and other non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) did irreparable harm to humans that will be experienced for decades to come.</p>
<p>In the words of <em>New York</em> magazine, lockdowns were “<a rel="nofollow" href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/covid-lockdowns-big-fail-joe-nocera-bethany-mclean-book-excerpt.html" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">a giant experiment</a>” that failed.</p>
<p>Sweden’s top infectious disease expert, Anders Tegnell, was one of the few people to understand that lockdowns would probably not work. And though Tegnell is not a professional economist, he seemed to understand the lesson of secondary consequences better than many economists.</p>
<p>“The effects of different strategies, lockdowns, and other measures, are much more complex than we understand today,” <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN23W22U/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">he told Reuters</a> in 2020, when his strategy was under fire.</p>
<p>By understanding this basic economic principle and having the courage to stand by his convictions, Tegnell was able to avoid the pernicious effects of lockdowns, a policy that seduced so many central planners.</p>
<p>Today, many more people in Sweden are alive because of it. And Anders Tegnell should not be shy in saying, “I told you so.”</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nZRR5zZ0I0s?si=9lh9x_EnSGKfEbRc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
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<a href="http://fee.org/people/jon-miltimore/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">
Jon Miltimore
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<p class="brief-bio">
</p><p>Jonathan Miltimore is the Editor at Large of FEE.org at FEE.</p>
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<p style="font-style: italic;">This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the <a href="https://fee.org/articles/laissez-faire-sweden-had-the-lowest-mortality-in-europe-from-2020-2022-new-analysis-shows/">original article</a>.</p>
<img src="http://fee.org/counter/206240" width="1" height="1" alt="" /><script src="https://fee.org/Scripts/fee-repub.js" async="async"></script>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-38850240909926253412024-03-16T07:57:00.000-07:002024-03-16T07:57:59.719-07:00PC World (March 2007)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Pfn5FaQj6YGaLsFY8BNSebxTNZhSuxlA80oLCOOU9_muebEEGqHv2RdQ2tSG9O1ylxvJnEdndK0y5YJJFbmTnAlYWgogMS9Ej5UsOOhOzOo_CwP0R7StxkpJtV73je1tAO5rJdqkqPB_19MBJa4H_02Mla9EzhoGZ4Qo1XjTkbsm9D51gOf3d3D48iA/s2160/PC_World_2007-03_001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="1601" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Pfn5FaQj6YGaLsFY8BNSebxTNZhSuxlA80oLCOOU9_muebEEGqHv2RdQ2tSG9O1ylxvJnEdndK0y5YJJFbmTnAlYWgogMS9Ej5UsOOhOzOo_CwP0R7StxkpJtV73je1tAO5rJdqkqPB_19MBJa4H_02Mla9EzhoGZ4Qo1XjTkbsm9D51gOf3d3D48iA/s600/PC_World_2007-03_001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/16/pc-world-march-2007/">PC World (March 2007)</a>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-55928561645712598692024-03-11T07:06:00.000-07:002024-03-11T07:06:06.543-07:00PC World (January 1990)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7SutsQlN4WM9nWWMJVMW27O2RG5nr5HXEKgJOp-w1eFhrVQOvyUMBWXKTh2YYro24d5MG0ly0yP02d0IQSRFf7FbqEy9hVFoWfIMJJUgtuNJ9liyD1UlNXq-EFLrnkerwH88XTPPFLQmT0fBB5BVya4_0LB0LT4u63ZaiuJ1WUMDHiD6oopYCwrMqMNQ/s2160/PC_World_1990-01_001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="1517" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7SutsQlN4WM9nWWMJVMW27O2RG5nr5HXEKgJOp-w1eFhrVQOvyUMBWXKTh2YYro24d5MG0ly0yP02d0IQSRFf7FbqEy9hVFoWfIMJJUgtuNJ9liyD1UlNXq-EFLrnkerwH88XTPPFLQmT0fBB5BVya4_0LB0LT4u63ZaiuJ1WUMDHiD6oopYCwrMqMNQ/s600/PC_World_1990-01_001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/11/pc-world-january-1990/">PC World (January 1990)</a>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-36075198928765879312024-03-11T07:00:00.000-07:002024-03-11T07:00:15.286-07:00Vintage Photos - Oestreicher (1277-1280)
<p>See the previous post in this series <a href = "https://hive.blog/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-oestreicher-1273-1276">here</a>. </p>
<p>I had the opportunity to pick up a huge batch of slides a while back. These pictures span from as early as the late 1940s to as late as the early 1990s. These came to me second hand but the original source was a combination of estate sales and Goodwill. There are many thousands of these slides. I will be scanning some from time to time and posting them here for posterity.</p>
<p>Getting your pictures processed as slides used to be pretty common but it was a phenomenon I missed out on. However, my Grandfather had a few dozen slides from the late 1950s that I acquired after he died. That along with having some negatives I wanted to scan is what prompted me to buy a flatbed scanner that could handle slides and negatives, an Epson V600. It can scan up to four slides at a time with various post-processing options and does a decent enough job. </p>
<p>This set continues a large batch of slides that originally came from an estate sale and appear to have belonged to a locally well known photographer (or perhaps a friend or family member) from the Spokane Washington area and later Northern Idaho named Leo Oestreicher. He was known for his portrait and landscape photography and especially for post cards. His career started in the 1930s and he died in 1990. These slides contain a lot of landscape and portrait photos but also a lot of photos from day to day life and various vacations around the world. Here's an article on him from 1997 which is the only info I have found on him: <a href = "http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jan/04/photos-of-a-lifetime-museum-acquisition-of-leo/">http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jan/04/photos-of-a-lifetime-museum-acquisition-of-leo/</a></p>
<p>Many of these slides had the date they were processed stamped or printed on them. I've found that in cases where I could verify the date, that this date has typically been the same month the photos were taken. In other words, I expect that in MOST cases these photos were taken relatively near the processing date. </p>
<p>Click the link below to also see versions processed with color restoration and Digital ICE which is a hardware based dust and scratch remover, a feature of the Epson V600 scanner I am using. There are also versions processed with the simpler dust removal option along with color restoration.</p>
<p><b>The first photo is undated but was clearly taken at Christmas time. It is from the late 1950s or early 1960s. The next three phtos were all processed in May 1966. One is an aerial shot but I don't know the area. The next shows footprints in the sand and the final one was take from a boat. All of these could have been taken in the same general area.</b></p>
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmdvbvCgvEhVRMPWJ2psToPxt7yuSfo7kHAkyEGAzbGDAn/slides2k02_277a.jpg" width="560"><br /></center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmXy2iC99SHkAtk95T5eq3pmikgET29utqNrUFfadJtCfb/slides2k02_278a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmWrmGMFG3qqiE2hNZWL3xA6HN9xRvaU3EhArxd5HvNN9e/slides2k02_279a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmPwd6K6EY61f43MNoKVPa2HCMnx5GDmGD6ANrAsjNtAUL/slides2k02_280a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br /><br />
<p>The entire collection that has been scanned and uploaded so far can also be found <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/slides/index.php?twg_album=Leo_Oestreicher">here</a>.</p>
Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-37450118517997283322024-03-10T13:51:00.000-07:002024-03-10T13:51:01.354-07:00California’s Politicians Appear Determined to Bring ‘Atlas Shrugged’ to Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0B6tciq8H1v21n_oouf1r1bvmGl9STZc7mpZmkoo3oJig0cOmGIi6gm4fZO-96KUozkBkJvk_ged8ZXRe21v8HjmlfzGt-xX8uBqCUniFC1wNd69Cgj0Gyk_J_oEfhOLvfpnwtSKsfOXbh6dvzIirM2ytYLaTMIaoXsp1X259ebihocdWnxqG3I-5OI/s1200/golden-gate-bridge-7453415.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0B6tciq8H1v21n_oouf1r1bvmGl9STZc7mpZmkoo3oJig0cOmGIi6gm4fZO-96KUozkBkJvk_ged8ZXRe21v8HjmlfzGt-xX8uBqCUniFC1wNd69Cgj0Gyk_J_oEfhOLvfpnwtSKsfOXbh6dvzIirM2ytYLaTMIaoXsp1X259ebihocdWnxqG3I-5OI/s400/golden-gate-bridge-7453415.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/10/californias-politicians-appear-determined-to-bring-atlas-shrugged-to-life-foundation-for-economic-education/">California’s Politicians Appear Determined to Bring ‘Atlas Shrugged’ to Life</a>
<p>The plot of Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel <em><a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Atlas Shrugged</a></em> can be briefly summed up as follows: the productive leaders and innovators of the country go on strike by disappearing from society to protest the cronyism, corruption, and oppressive taxes that have made living a virtuous life unbearable. The nation is then on the brink of an economic collapse as the remaining politicians, intellectuals, and mediocre businessmen are only able to take from others and have no capability to create or add value. <em>Atlas Shrugged</em> is very popular with those whose views lean toward libertarianism, while those who lean to the left react to it like a vampire does to a crucifix, despite never even reading a page.</p>
<p>Concerningly, the state of California seems determined to bring Rand’s novel to life.</p>
<p>During the 20th century, California was the jewel of America. Beautiful weather, diverse landscapes, access to the Pacific Ocean, and other features made it the leading state of the nation. There is a saying that says “<a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.childrennow.org/blog/golden-state-example-on-learning/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">As California goes, so goes the nation</a>” because to many Americans this seemed like the best place in the entire country to live and raise a family.</p>
<p>Things seem to have changed in the 21st century though. When times were good, the government of California grew and spent more money than it had. In the short term, most people ignored this problem, but as time went on the deficits grew and grew. By the year 2000, the government had run up a debt of $57 billion. <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/305287/california-state-debt/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Twenty-two years later</a> that number had almost tripled to $145 billion dollars. Since California is a state and not a nation they couldn’t print money to make up for the downfall, so their only options were to either cut spending or raise taxes. They chose the latter.</p>
<p>For state income taxes, California has the <a rel="nofollow" href="https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/fun-facts/states-with-the-highest-and-lowest-taxes/L6HPAVqSF" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">highest rates in the entire nation</a>. They also have a declining population, with a loss of more than half a million people since a peak <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/population-exodus-2023-18566180.php" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">population of 39.5 million</a> in 2019—and they did not all die of Covid. The majority are people who left to live in other states that did not have oppressive taxes and draconian Covid restrictions.</p>
<p>While wise leaders might look at this indicator and see it as a sign that they should change course, wisdom seems to be in short supply for the political elite in this state. Rather than move towards freedom, they are instead moving to erode and attack property rights even more through the form of <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-wealth-tax-bill-sacramento-democrats-gavin-newsom-f0c723b6" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">a wealth tax</a>. Of course, the people proposing this are trying to sell the idea to the public by saying only the super wealthy will be on the hook for this. The rest of us in the ninety-percent will benefit thanks to the rich paying their “fair share”.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://teachdemocracy.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-11-3-b-the-income-tax-amendment-most-thought-it-was-a-great-idea-in-1913.html" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">The 16</a><a rel="nofollow" href="https://teachdemocracy.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-11-3-b-the-income-tax-amendment-most-thought-it-was-a-great-idea-in-1913.html" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">th</a><a rel="nofollow" href="https://teachdemocracy.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-11-3-b-the-income-tax-amendment-most-thought-it-was-a-great-idea-in-1913.html" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked"> amendment was sold</a> to the American people under this promise too, and had people back then known that income taxes would lead to the system we have today, where the majority of the people use the majority of their income to pay taxes (federal, state, local, property, sales, etc), then this proposal would have been dead on arrival. Today’s politicians are trying to use the same tricks to pass a wealth tax, but the difference between now and then is that now we should know better.</p><div style="clear:both;"><div id="om-fqmeg7lcejd7fy5oro5r-holder"></div>
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<p>What makes California’s proposed wealth tax even more disturbing is that they wish to still collect the tax <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.sambrotman.com/blog/california-exit-tax" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">for years after a person moves out</a> of the state, like a feudal lord persecuting a serf for moving off his land. They also wish to impose the wealth tax on “<a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-wealth-tax-bill-sacramento-democrats-gavin-newsom-f0c723b6" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">part time residents</a>” for the portion of the year that they “reside” in the state. In other words, a family vacation to Disney Land might come with a tax bill from the State of California. And when tourism declines, I wonder who the politicians will blame?</p>
<p>While the wealth tax has not become law yet, it is already prompting some of the <a rel="nofollow" href="https://napavalleyregister.com/news/state-regional/the-wealthiest-californians-are-fleeing-the-state-why-that-s-very-bad-news-for-the/article_2b9a8232-a99b-11ee-80af-53777ea6a88d.html" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">mega-rich to move away</a>, depriving California of their portion of the income tax and increasing the deficit. And it’s not just individuals who are leaving the state. National corporations are also deciding not to do business there as well.</p>
<p>As inflation rages across the nation, the costs of everything have gone up, and building materials are no exception. It <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.travelers.com/resources/home/insuring/why-did-my-homeowners-insurance-go-up" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">costs more to replace a house</a> now than it did five years ago. To meet this new reality, home insurance premiums everywhere have increased. California’s Department of Insurance has responded to the new reality by placing <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2022/release089-2022.cfm" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">new regulations</a> on the insurers to prevent them from raising rates on their customers. The logic here is that the state has the largest population so if insurers wish to do business in the largest market in the United States, then they must abide by our rules.</p>
<p>The reaction has essentially been a boycott of the state by the companies. In addition to normal risks, California is also prone to natural disasters like wildfires, earthquakes, and even mud slides from heavy rains. With these new regulations limiting what prices could be charged, the cost of doing business in the state increasingly outweighs any potential profits. As a result, many of the largest insurance companies in the nation like Allstate and Hartford are <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/homeowners-insurance/carriers-exit-california-home-insurance/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">no longer issuing new policies</a> in the state.</p>
<p>California government policy has created an insurance desert in the state and with private business unwilling to respond because the once free market is no longer free, the politicians have solved the problem with a <a rel="nofollow" href="https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/01/california-budget-deficit-insurance-market/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">government insurance system called FAIR</a> so that homeowners can comply with the insurance requirements for their mortgage. Under this state-owned enterprise, California residents get to enjoy reduced coverage at a higher premium than they would have been able to get before the politicians stepped in to help. This is a clear cut, black and white example of the standard of living decreasing.</p>
<p>The theme of <em>Atlas Shrugged</em> is that the freedom of American society is responsible for its greatest achievements. The book warned that as freedom declined, so too would the standard of living. California’s politicians seem determined to recreate the dystopian world of the book with oppressive taxes, attacks on personal property, and regulations that drive away private businesses.</p>
<p>Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand’s novel was not meant to be aspirational.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZF-SoE6zyqs?si=QRH5sccDjwFjZrKm" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
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<img src="http://fee.org/media/32444/dankowalski.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&height=100&widthratio=1&rnd=131921917440000000" width="100" height="100" alt="Daniel Kowalski">
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<h5>
<a href="http://fee.org/people/daniel-kowalski/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">
Daniel Kowalski
</a>
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<p class="brief-bio">
</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Daniel Kowalski is an American businessman with interests in the USA and developing markets of Africa. </span></p>
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<p style="font-style: italic;">This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the <a href="https://fee.org/articles/the-great-ponzi-scheme/">original article</a>.</p>
<img src="http://fee.org/counter/206193" width="1" height="1" alt="" /><script src="https://fee.org/Scripts/fee-repub.js" async="async"></script>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-66834157174714529122024-03-08T06:51:00.000-08:002024-03-16T09:22:17.018-07:00Electronic Gaming Monthly (May 2007)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_WhkCv1AL7gO_3IeftS96Y8Jr36WF6yZ4R-9RCq5kW_TlFMQMoLrpiMp5VD0uIf65sLX4u0l5cle0HSuwSuug52M-Y4GrYx95aOY94_rXZ7eogcDQSJtb8GhEuxhh6jT5-0pe-a3vJ-UDaftnO1naa6C8XpiRTl_OcojFqtYmI3C3qFNSvnSGuGhlZI/s1200/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%2005_2007-001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_WhkCv1AL7gO_3IeftS96Y8Jr36WF6yZ4R-9RCq5kW_TlFMQMoLrpiMp5VD0uIf65sLX4u0l5cle0HSuwSuug52M-Y4GrYx95aOY94_rXZ7eogcDQSJtb8GhEuxhh6jT5-0pe-a3vJ-UDaftnO1naa6C8XpiRTl_OcojFqtYmI3C3qFNSvnSGuGhlZI/s600/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%2005_2007-001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/08/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-2007/">Electronic Gaming Monthly (May 2007)</a>
<p>This was getting close to end days for EGM. Sadly, the time I had for gaming was already greatly reduced by this time. I was probably mostly playing Mario Kart on the Wii. I definitely wasn't buying EGM anymore at this time except for maybe a very occasional issue. The May 2007 issue of EGM includes:</p>
<h1>Cover Story</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>The Future of Gaming</b> - Article that looks at the next 20 years of gaming. This issue is from 2007 so we are getting pretty close to that.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<h1>Letters</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Literacy: It's fun for everyone</b> - Reader letters about failed systems and bad controllers, emulation on the PS3, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Guitar Hero II, and more.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/03/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-2007.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmdCFCsqHUgXUqMKK46hNWVaDXKHvr9c2o8WopcgkCf2hN/electronic_gaming_monthly_05_2007_010.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the May 2007 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly</sub></center>
<h1>Press Start</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Feature: Brain Watch</b> - How video games affect your brain and how developers are taking advantage of this.</li>
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<li><b>Foreign Object</b> - A brief look at Fist of the North Star, a Japan release for the PS2.</li>
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<li><b>Online Scene</b> - The results of pointless polls.</li>
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<li><b>Preview: Ninja Gaiden Sigma</b> - The first PS3 release for this action game franchise. </li>
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<li><b>Afterthoughts: MotorStorm</b> - An interview with MotorStorm Producer Simon Benson about the game and ideas for the future.</li>
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<li><b>Preview: Team Fortress 2</b> - The long awaited sequel from Valve for the PS3 and Xbox 360.</li>
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<li><b>Take This Job</b> - An interview with he Director of Platform Strategy for Microsoft, Scott Henson.</li>
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<li><b>Preview WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2006</b> - A wrestling game from THQ for the PS3 and Xbox 360. I haven't played a wrestling game since the WWF...</li>
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</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/03/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-2007.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmcdrftc6vdsaAcaaMMjc5VkgvoPtjeE5r539gAGx7XKio/electronic_gaming_monthly_05_2007_011.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the May 2007 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (continued)</sub></center>
<h1>Reviews</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Super Paper Mario</b> - The latest Paper Mario game for the Wii.</li>
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<li><b>Cooking Mama: Cook Off</b> - I don't really understand the appeal of a cooking game but I guess it plays more as a series of mini-games.</li>
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<li><b>Medal of Honor: Vanguard</b> - Apparently not one of the better FPS games in this series.</li>
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<li><b>The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion</b> - This is a series of games that I have wanted to play for a long time but have never gotten around to. I had a friend in college who played Arena (Elder Scrolls I), another who played Daggerfall (Elder Scrolls II)...both buggy as hell and I guess that's what turned me off. Then I played a little bit of Morrowind (Elder Scrolls III) as part of a school project. This is a review of Oblivion (Elder Scrolls IV) on the PS3. If I ever play it, it will be on the PC.</li>
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<li><b>Earth Defense Force 2017</b> - An arcade style 3D shooter for the Xbox 360 where you run around blowing up UFOs, giant robots, giant insects and other things that would destroy the Earth.</li>
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<li><b>Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2</b> - Another FPS series that just seemed to keep going. This iteration was apparently pretty good though.</li>
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</ul>
<h1>Game Over</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Seanbaby's Rest of the Crap</b> - Next gen video game technologies that just didn't work out including the Mindlink (Atari 2600), R.O.B. (NES), U-Force (NES), The Interactor (SNES, Genesis), and others.</li>
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<li><b>Retro: Utopia or Dystopia?</b> - A look at retro games with a vision of the future including Crystalis (NES), Ratchet & Clank (PS2), Mega Man (NES), Snatcher (Sega CD), Chrono Trigger (SNES), Shadowrun (Genesis), F-Zero (SNES), and more.</li>
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</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/03/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-2007.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmTg1LPiXGYRVuEzSxVow5eJ1x1vbhYJNxdtMtLCxbfepS/electronic_gaming_monthly_05_2007_104.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back cover of the May 2007 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly</sub></center>
<p>Read more: <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/08/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-2007/">https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/08/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-2007/</a></p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-76176068896677013262024-03-06T08:41:00.000-08:002024-03-14T11:18:56.425-07:00Electronic Gaming Monthly (May 1992)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxqaNYTPyLJPWa-y_jA0iMAE9k6UFYGHcz6y_K5kr3r92J4BGPo8fI6_OpEzvhWS_gMs05yAJEk4pxhu589KMYStTuDWE9ypJpZma2QD8G4bWr5UlbJ7GVgjiezN7AALhCDNGXH6_j_adPVABghT5mE6Uwcg3YV8cXR4SojOL8z84UFpfcagR5PQn5AI/s1907/egm_034_1992_may_001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1907" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxqaNYTPyLJPWa-y_jA0iMAE9k6UFYGHcz6y_K5kr3r92J4BGPo8fI6_OpEzvhWS_gMs05yAJEk4pxhu589KMYStTuDWE9ypJpZma2QD8G4bWr5UlbJ7GVgjiezN7AALhCDNGXH6_j_adPVABghT5mE6Uwcg3YV8cXR4SojOL8z84UFpfcagR5PQn5AI/s600/egm_034_1992_may_001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/06/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-1992/">Electronic Gaming Monthly (May 1992)</a>
<p>I still have this particular issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly which I bought off the shelf back in the day. Consolidation has its advantages but I miss the variety of systems that used to be around. At this time, EGM was covering the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, Neo Geo, and a variety of portable systems including the Game Boy, Sega Game Gear, and Atari Lynx. The May 1992 issue includes:</p>
<h1>Departments</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Insert Coin</b> - An editorial on the inevitable wave of CD-ROM based games and whether or not the gaming industry is really ready for it.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Letters to the Editor</b> - Letters from readers about the Super NES version of Street Fighter II, The Super NES CD-ROM, Genesis coverage, the Magicom and Super Magicom, Mega CD coverage, the Consumer Electronics Show, and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Review Crew</b> - Four reviewers give their score for a variety of games including Super Scope 6 (SNES), The Rocketeer (SNES), Spanky's Quest (SNES), Might & Magic (NES), Blues Brothers (NES), Lemmings (Genesis), Earnest Evans (Genesis), D&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun (Genesis), Jordan vs. Bird (Genesis), Star Saver (Game Boy), Top Gun (Game Boy), Batman: Return of the Joker (Game Boy), Outrun Europa (Game Gear), and Hydra (Lynx).</li>
<br />
<li><b>Software Calendar</b> - A list of planned releases for May 1993. There are a total of 38 games listed including Batman: Return of the Joker (Game Boy), George Foreman KO Boxing (Game Gear), Last Resort (Neo Geo), Steel Empire (Genesis), Rampart (Lynx), Ballistix (TurboGrafx-16), The Empire Strikes Back (NES), Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Super NES), and others.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Gaming Gossip</b> - News and rumors regarding the new Street Fighter 2 Competition Joystick from Capcom, a new "Quad" development system for the Super NES, Camerica's Aladdin project, Super high Impact from Acclaim for the Super NES, Cool World for the Mega CD, Dolphin for the Genesis, and much more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>International Outlook</b> - A look at new and upcoming games being released internationally (mostly Japan). Games covered this month include Axelay (Super Famicom), Adventure Island 3 (Famicom), Parodius (Super Famicom), Gargoyle's Quest (Famicom), Astral Bout (Super Famicom), Macross (PC-Engine Super CD-ROM), Spindizzy Worlds (Super Famicom), Thunder Force IV (Mega Drive), Loom (TurboGrafx Super CD-ROM), After Burner III (Mega CD-ROM and cart), Blazeon (Super Famicom), Cameltry (Super Famicom), Ultimate Football (Super Famicom), Battleblaze (Super Famicom), Dinosaurs (Super Famicom), and Twinkle Tale (Mega Drive).</li>
<br />
<li><b>Tricks of the Trade</b> - Tips, tricks, codes and strategies for Super Smash T.V. (Super NES), The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (Super NES), Joe & Mac (Super NES), Snow Bros. Jr. (Game Boy), Sim City (Super NES), Hole In One Golf (Super NES), Rolling Thunder 2 (Genesis), Batman: Return of the Joker (NES), Snow Brothers (NES), Captain Planet and the Planeteers (NES), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 (NES), Faceball 2000 (Game Boy), and Parasol Stars (TurboGrafx-16).</li>
<br />
<li><b>Next Wave</b> - Previews of upcoming games including Return of Double Dragon (Super NES), American Gladiators (Super NES), Super Soccer Champ (Super NES), Wordtris (Super NES), World Trophy Soccer (Genesis), Muhammed Ali Knockout Boxing (Genesis), Dragon Strike (NES), Barcelona '92 (Game Gear), Double Dragon (Game Gear), and Spanky's Quest (Game Boy).</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/03/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-1992.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmfUPABmziusrb2K24ERUNTjxbDoYFAXifMDeR42ES2CaJ/egm_034_1992_may_004.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the May 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly</sub></center>
<h1>Features</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Behind the Screens</b> - A look at the making of the Wondermega. This was the all-in-one Sega Genesis/CD unit created by JVC.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Leading Edge</b> - A look at some of the latest and upcoming arcade games, including Blazeon from Atlus, Seibu Cup Soccer from Seibu Kaihatsu, and Undercover Cops from Irem.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Super Play</b> - A strategy guide for Contra III: The Alien Wars on the Super Nintendo.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Game Over</b> - A look at the last stage and end of Super Castlevania IV for the Super Nintendo.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/03/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-1992.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmcvKARCfV4j4o6HaS7MvZPdg3P5PfMnWJ16sYfMjwXny6/egm_034_1992_may_148.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back cover of the May 1992 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly</sub></center>
<p>Read more: <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/06/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-1992/">https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/06/electronic-gaming-monthly-may-1992/</a></p>
Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-39265476910375374422024-03-06T08:18:00.000-08:002024-03-06T08:18:16.126-08:00Vintage Photos - Oestreicher (1273-1276)<p>See the previous post in this series <a href = "https://hive.blog/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-oestreicher-1269-1272">here</a>. </p>
<p>I had the opportunity to pick up a huge batch of slides a while back. These pictures span from as early as the late 1940s to as late as the early 1990s. These came to me second hand but the original source was a combination of estate sales and Goodwill. There are many thousands of these slides. I will be scanning some from time to time and posting them here for posterity.
<p>Getting your pictures processed as slides used to be pretty common but it was a phenomenon I missed out on. However, my Grandfather had a few dozen slides from the late 1950s that I acquired after he died. That along with having some negatives I wanted to scan is what prompted me to buy a flatbed scanner that could handle slides and negatives, an Epson V600. It can scan up to four slides at a time with various post-processing options and does a decent enough job. </p>
<p>This set continues a large batch of slides that originally came from an estate sale and appear to have belonged to a locally well known photographer (or perhaps a friend or family member) from the Spokane Washington area and later Northern Idaho named Leo Oestreicher. He was known for his portrait and landscape photography and especially for post cards. His career started in the 1930s and he died in 1990. These slides contain a lot of landscape and portrait photos but also a lot of photos from day to day life and various vacations around the world. Here's an article on him from 1997 which is the only info I have found on him: <a href = "http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jan/04/photos-of-a-lifetime-museum-acquisition-of-leo/">http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jan/04/photos-of-a-lifetime-museum-acquisition-of-leo/</a></p>
<p>Many of these slides had the date they were processed stamped or printed on them. I've found that in cases where I could verify the date, that this date has typically been the same month the photos were taken. In other words, I expect that in MOST cases these photos were taken relatively near the processing date. </p>
<p>Click the link below to also see versions processed with color restoration and Digital ICE which is a hardware based dust and scratch remover, a feature of the Epson V600 scanner I am using. There are also versions processed with the simpler dust removal option along with color restoration.</p>
<p><b>The first photo is dated January 19th, 1956. It appears to be at some sort of Christmas/New Year's dinner given the Christmas decorations that can be seen though January 19th seems a little late for that. The second photo is undated but appears to be from the same event and is labeled "Ruth Nystrom Wagar". I didn't find any likely matches doing a quick Google search. The next two photos were processed in May 1966. One features flowers and the other shows two guys on motorized bikes on road overlooking a resort that has shown up in a couple of earlier sets.</b></p>
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmcxuQeUurjWWvz2Sxis5NTD9SFYUwmyaJ7PQJ5JfJPoan/slides2k02_273a_1956_01_19.jpg" width="560"><br />January 19th, 1956</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmVBsudA8TnLJoYPtzQXYkgMN1y7MzaqP8BwbMXtPi5tzJ/slides2k02_274a.jpg" width="560"><br />Ruth Nystrom Wagar</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmUu9mhTU7Mf8TkRdSyGXhyB8bBWYKnGEHjMSK94RJ8peb/slides2k02_275a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmUGspbUcRKozW48JbyN5oLyt3AiFE2NiDBaXLUNaDr2iW/slides2k02_276a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br /><br />
<p>The entire collection that has been scanned and uploaded so far can also be found <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/slides/index.php?twg_album=Leo_Oestreicher">here</a>.</p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-4137019432934572712024-03-04T18:15:00.000-08:002024-03-04T18:15:39.214-08:00Javier Milei Delivers Argentina’s First Surplus in Over a Decade—and US Media Is Silent<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbItHPntU3imGpdk1dIOFQc3ozecc4s9NF9bmbrhQRKDMoiqzTco68CQqg4XeypTPLN1aL7YaJVBClRbLsB9QyGkfdZg9f-Fbf_yckj_2Bf7hzFbkJ-Fe44szemeR3FbjHqiXxcrAx0nOmkW10TR82QuVgaIntObVb6RsvPUdvBYerhMObd4p3zfc999o/s1200/milei-balances-budget.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbItHPntU3imGpdk1dIOFQc3ozecc4s9NF9bmbrhQRKDMoiqzTco68CQqg4XeypTPLN1aL7YaJVBClRbLsB9QyGkfdZg9f-Fbf_yckj_2Bf7hzFbkJ-Fe44szemeR3FbjHqiXxcrAx0nOmkW10TR82QuVgaIntObVb6RsvPUdvBYerhMObd4p3zfc999o/s400/milei-balances-budget.png"/></a></div>
<p>Argentines witnessed something amazing last week: the government’s first budget surplus in nearly a dozen years.</p>
<p>The Economy Ministry announced the figures Friday, and the government was $589 million in the black.</p>
<p>Argentina’s surplus comes on the heels of ambitious cuts in federal spending pushed by newly-elected President Javier Milei <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/afuera-milei-leads-the-way-on-slashing-bureaucracy/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">that included</a> slashing bureaucracy, eliminating government publicity campaigns, reducing transportation subsidies, pausing all monetary transfers to local governments, and devaluing the peso.</p>
<div style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" class="" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 393px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=feeonline&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1734755187661668593&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Ffee.org%2Farticles%2Fjavier-milei-delivers-argentina-s-first-surplus-in-over-a-decade-and-us-media-is-silent%2F&sessionId=a1632cc4f5f31d99530519ea3c04a7186e51c2d8&siteScreenName=feeonline&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" data-tweet-id="1734755187661668593"></iframe></div>
<p>Milei’s policies, which he has himself described as a kind of “shock therapy,” come as Argentina faces a historic economic crisis fueled by decades of government spending, <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.aier.org/article/argentinas-rampant-inflation-explained-in-one-chart/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">money printing</a>, and <a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peronism" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Peronism</a> (a blend of national socialism and fascism).</p>
<p>These policies have pushed the inflation rate in Argentina, once one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America, above 200 percent. Today nearly 58 percent of the Argentine population lives in poverty, according to <a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.mercopress.com/2024/02/19/poverty-on-the-rise-in-argentina-catholic-university-says" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">a </a><a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.mercopress.com/2024/02/19/poverty-on-the-rise-in-argentina-catholic-university-says" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">recent study</a>.</p>
<p>And Milei rightfully blames Argentina’s backward economic policies for its plight—policies that, he points out, are spreading across the world.</p>
<p>“The main leaders of the Western world have abandoned the model of freedom for different versions of what we call collectivism,” Milei <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/javier-mileis-message-to-collectivists-in-davos-you-are-the-problem/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">said in a recent speech</a> in Davos. “We’re here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems that afflict the citizens of the world—rather they are the root cause.”</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8DYQQf1KjYo?si=lyh0Qi8kEGAsjudg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>The revelation that Argentina has done something the US government hasn’t done in more than two decades—run a budget surplus—seems like a newsworthy event.</p>
<p>Yet to my surprise, I couldn’t find a word about it in major US media—not in the <em>New York Times</em>, the Associated Press, the <em>Washington Post</em>, or Reuters. (The <em>New York Sun</em> seems to be <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.nysun.com/article/mileis-economic-shock-therapy-pays-off-with-argentina-seeing-first-budget-surplus-in-more-than-a-decade" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">the only exception</a>.)</p>
<p>I had to find the story in <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.skynews.com.au/world-news/global-affairs/javier-milei-delivers-argentinas-first-monthly-budget-surplus-in-12-years/video/87ecb46be7927673f370b6b5a7429a7f" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Australian media</a>! (To be fair, the Agence France Presse also reported the story.)</p>
<p>One could argue that these outlets just aren’t very interested in Argentina’s politics and economics, but that’s not exactly true.</p>
<p>The Associated Press <a rel="nofollow" href="https://apnews.com/article/argentina-economy-cuts-devaluation-dollar-186d74647d28c02572070d0ee973819f" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">has covered Argentinian politics and Milei extensively, including a recent piece</a> that reported how the new president’s policies were inducing “anxiety and resignation” in the populace. The same goes for Reuters and the other newspapers.</p>
<p>A cynic might suspect these media outlets simply don’t wish to report good news out of Argentina, now that Milei is president.</p>
<p>Indeed, in the wake of the news that Milei’s reforms had already resulted in a budget surplus, both <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/poverty-argentina-hits-20-year-high-574-study-says-2024-02-18/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Reuters</a> and <a rel="nofollow" href="https://apnews.com/article/argentina-poverty-levels-uca-study-milei-devaluation-d5cb0a20b1e768efdeafbad5bf05eded#:~:text=BUENOS%20AIRES%2C%20Argentina%20(AP),the%20Catholic%20University%20of%20Argentina." class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">the AP</a> ran articles highlighting a new study under the headline “Poverty in Argentina Hits 20-year High.”</p>
<p>Why US media would choose to ignore Milei’s budgetary accomplishments and highlight Argentina’s soaring <a href="https://fee.org/articles/poverty-in-the-us-was-plummeting-until-lyndon-johnson-declared-war-on-it/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">poverty</a>, which is decades in the making, is a difficult question to answer.</p>
<p>The decision could stem from the fact that these outlets <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/analyst-view-argentine-far-right-libertarian-milei-sweeps-victory-2023-11-20/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">have</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/14/world/americas/argentina-javier-milei-president-primary.html" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">described</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/14/javier-milei-argentina-presidential-election/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Milei</a> as a “far-right libertarian,” and a “<a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/19/argentina-presidential-election-results-javier-milei/#:~:text=Javier%20Milei%2C%20a%2053%2Dyear,economic%20crisis%20in%20two%20decades." class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Trump-like</a>” figure (even though Trump, unlike Milei, is not a libertarian or classical liberal).</p>
<p>Another possibility is that these media institutions are suffering from something known as “media capture.”</p>
<p>Media capture can come in various forms and has numerous definitions, but the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.cima.ned.org/themes/media-capture/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">defines it</a> as “a form of governance failure that occurs when the news media advance the commercial or political concerns of state and/or non-state special interest groups controlling the media industry instead of holding those groups accountable and reporting in the public interest.”</p>
<p>The most obvious examples of media capture would be outlets refusing to cover stories due to explicit threats of retaliation from powerful actors.</p><div style="clear:both;"><div id="om-fqmeg7lcejd7fy5oro5r-holder"></div>
<div id="om-lxkcubhhqwmdm0lkjkbp-holder"></div>
</div>
<p>Maybe a sponsor says they’ll pull advertising if you run a story about the side effects of their product, or maybe a powerful Hollywood director threatens reprisals if <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.vox.com/2018/5/2/17309460/ronan-farrow-harvey-weinstein-nbc-new-yorker-media-complicity-silence-decode-kara-swisher-podcast" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">you report his sexual abuses</a>. Perhaps a certain Royal Family threatens to cut off interview access to your network if you run <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/05/776482189/abc-news-defends-its-epstein-coverage-after-leaked-video-of-anchor#:~:text=It%20appears%20to%20be%20the,%2C%20'Who%20was%20Jeffrey%20Epstein%3F" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">an interview with a sex trafficking victim</a> who says she was victimized by a member of that Royal Family.</p>
<p>These are all very real scenarios of captured media, and such situations can have a profound impact on independent journalism.</p>
<p>“Captured media can go from vigilant watchdog to toothless public relations machine, ignoring the news of the day,” CIMA notes.</p>
<p>This is why the government takes such an interest in media. The economist Murray Rothbard famously wrote that because “its rule is exploitative and parasitic,” the state has a great incentive to shape opinion and ideology, which <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/how-the-riddle-of-steel-in-conan-the-barbarian-reveals-the-secret-of-power/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">are the source of power</a>.</p>
<p>Few tools are more effective at shaping thought than media, which is no doubt why the greatest tyrants of the 20th century <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/would-be-tyrants-capture-language-to-control-thought/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">went to great lengths</a> to control it.</p>
<p>Constitutional systems of course require more subtlety. Which is why, as Rothbard wrote, the state purchases “the alliance of a group of ‘Court Intellectuals,’ whose task is to bamboozle the public into accepting and celebrating the rule of its particular State…”</p>
<p>The state has various methods to “purchase” the allegiance of media and others who can shape opinion, and some of these are downright shocking.</p>
<p>Writing for <em>Rolling Stone</em> in 1977, legendary reporter Carl Bernstein <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.carlbernstein.com/the-cia-and-the-media-rolling-stone-10-20-1977?rq=the%20cia%20and%20the%20media" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">exposed records</a> showing that hundreds of US journalists had been paid by the CIA over years to do work on the Agency’s behalf.</p>
<p>“Some of these journalists’ relationships with the Agency were tacit; some were explicit. There was cooperation, accommodation, and overlap. Journalists provided a full range of clandestine services,” wrote Bernstein, who along with Bob Woodward broke the Watergate scandal.</p>
<p>He <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.carlbernstein.com/the-cia-and-the-media-rolling-stone-10-20-1977" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">continued</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Some of the journalists were Pulitzer Prize winners, distinguished reporters who considered themselves ambassadors without-portfolio for their country. Most were less exalted: foreign correspondents who found that their association with the Agency helped their work; stringers and freelancers who were as interested in the derring-do of the spy business as in filing articles; and, the smallest category, full-time CIA employees masquerading as journalists abroad. In many instances, CIA documents show, journalists were engaged to perform tasks for the CIA with the consent of the managements of America’s leading news organizations.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To be clear, I’m not suggesting the CIA is paying the above-mentioned media organizations not to write flattering stories about Milei.</p>
<p>Media capture, as mentioned, comes in various forms. And my hunch is that it typically involves applying pressure and offering incentives in more subtle ways than overt quid pro quos.</p>
<p>What I am saying is that no institution is more effective at media capture than the government, which has even more resources and power than Hollywood directors and royal families. And chief among the state’s many agendas is its own self-preservation. This puts the state at odds with free-market libertarians like Javier Milei who wish to create a more prosperous society by reducing (or eliminating) government’s influence over our lives. And this is the reason a resounding free-market success story in Argentina is likely unwelcome news to both the state and the Court Intellectuals who serve it.</p>
<p>The problem is, free-market economics is the only force that can save Argentina from proceeding further into an economic death spiral.</p>
<div style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" class="" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 558px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=feeonline&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1760022326014283944&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Ffee.org%2Farticles%2Fjavier-milei-delivers-argentina-s-first-surplus-in-over-a-decade-and-us-media-is-silent%2F&sessionId=a1632cc4f5f31d99530519ea3c04a7186e51c2d8&siteScreenName=feeonline&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" data-tweet-id="1760022326014283944"></iframe></div>
<p>From countries like <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/hong-kong-a-success-story/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">Hong Kong</a> and <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/ireland-s-astonishing-economic-growth-holds-an-important-lesson/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">Ireland</a> to former Soviet Bloc countries such as <a rel="nofollow" href="https://fee.org/articles/how-estonia-yes-estonia-became-one-of-the-wealthiest-countries-in-eastern-europe/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">Estonia</a> and beyond, free markets have transformed struggling and impoverished economies with what Adam Smith long ago recognized as <a rel="nofollow" href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691158150/pillars-of-prosperity" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">the surprisingly simple recipe for prosperity</a>: “peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice.”</p>
<p>It will do the same in Argentina, given the opportunity—whether media choose to cover it or not.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/psDqn6KCrJ4?si=jmUpEby0Rh8gXMoi" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
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<div>
<img src="http://fee.org/media/29962/jonmiltimore2.jpg?center=0.43496801705756932,0.47333333333333333&mode=crop&height=100&widthratio=1&rnd=131810530440000000" width="100" height="100" alt="Jon Miltimore">
</div>
<div>
<h5>
<a href="http://fee.org/people/jon-miltimore/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">
Jon Miltimore
</a>
</h5>
<p class="brief-bio">
</p><p>Jonathan Miltimore is the Editor at Large of FEE.org at FEE.</p>
</div>
<p style="font-style: italic;">This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the <a href="https://fee.org/articles/javier-milei-delivers-argentina-s-first-surplus-in-over-a-decade-and-us-media-is-silent/">original article</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/03/04/javier-milei-delivers-argentinas-first-surplus-in-over-a-decade-and-us-media-is-silent/">Javier Milei Delivers Argentina’s First Surplus in Over a Decade—and US Media Is Silent</a>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-76839730624633432692024-02-27T20:53:00.000-08:002024-03-07T07:06:57.650-08:00Byte (December 1984)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOx3J8JCNo_bBPPOTIVqMien3PfnTmbyzYqWB04hJf9c-kBFbgPIs24ezw0x3H0Su_ZW-W59UnlYvWi1TIBls_kYKG4c_R1b-hjGS45HH-nT93ikHEDSNw6af1-FikusH7-z4OpSMc07DbuKvfaqYVNdfa2GCiq8U7OIydtwW6r1B3B_1HlkcIpwkGIX8/s1578/Byte_1984-12_001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1578" data-original-width="1157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOx3J8JCNo_bBPPOTIVqMien3PfnTmbyzYqWB04hJf9c-kBFbgPIs24ezw0x3H0Su_ZW-W59UnlYvWi1TIBls_kYKG4c_R1b-hjGS45HH-nT93ikHEDSNw6af1-FikusH7-z4OpSMc07DbuKvfaqYVNdfa2GCiq8U7OIydtwW6r1B3B_1HlkcIpwkGIX8/s600/Byte_1984-12_001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/27/byte-december-1984/">Byte (December 1984)</a>
In 1984, Byte covered personal computers and other small systems that were availabe at the time. Some issues of Byte could almost compete with the phone book sized Computer Shopper that came along later. The December 1984 issue weighs in at 672 pages and includes:
<h1>Features</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>The Tandy 1000</b> - The Tandy 1000 was released after the Tandy 2000. It was meant to be a lower cost IBM PC clone. Something that would compete more with the PCjr. Minimum configuration included a 4.77 MHz 8088 CPU, 128KB RAM, a single 360K 5.25" disk drive and a monochrome monitor for $1358.95 or $1199 without monitor. Additional options included a second floppy drive for $299.95, an internal 300bps modem for $179.95, an RS-232C interface for $99.95, a 128K memory expansion board, and a color monitor for $549.95.</li>
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<li><b>Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar: Build The Power I/O System</b> - Instructions for building the hardware needed to use a computer to control power to items in your house.</li>
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<li><b>C-Language Development Tools</b> - A brief look at some recent new C Language tools including the Safe C Compiler/Profiler, Instant-C, and C Source Debugger.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/byte-december-1984.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmWoDABYbzBebQxkFuKjvoJNbYJDEAdN5G8GtgQ1U3brYW/byte_1984_12_004.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the December 1984 issue of Byte</sub></center>
<h1>Theme: Communications</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>The Evolution of a Standard Ethernet</b> - Networking today is a lot easier than it used to be. The first Ethernet hardware was developed by Xerox in the late 1970s. However, in those early days and for a long time, Ethernet made use of coaxial cable and transceivers and repeaters. It was much harder to setup, much more expensive, and much slower than today.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Local-Area Networks for the IBM PC</b> - There were many options for local area networking for the IBM PC. However, they were for the most part not compatible with each other and tended to be fairly expensive. The features offered by 40 different vendors are summarized here with speeds from 375Kbps to 10Mbps, using twisted-pair, coax or fiber, and using a variety of protocols including Arcnet, Ethernet, CSMA, token passing, and various proprietary schemes.</li>
<br />
<li><b>High-Speed Dial-Up Modems</b> - The vast majority of consumer modems in 1984 were either 300bps or 1200bps. 2400, 4800, and 9600bps modems existed but were very expensive. A 4800bps modem would set you back $2500, 2400bps $800-$1400, 1200bps $450-$700 and a $300bps modem a much more affordable $60-$350.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Writing Communications in BASIC</b> - Using BASIC to implement a terminal emulator and file transfer capabilities.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<h1>Reviews</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>The Tandy Model 2000</b> - The Tandy 2000 was released before the Tandy 1000 and is the higher end machine. However, it sacrificed some PC compatibility for performance. Some regular DOS programs would work fine while others did not. Tandy also released special versions of some commercial software enhanced for the Tandy 2000. The Tandy 2000 featured an 80186 CPU @ 8MHz, 128KB of RAM (expandable to 768KB), dual 5.25" floppy disk drives, and a monochrome monitor for $3000. A version with one floppy drive and a 10MB hard drive cost $4500.</li>
<br />
<li><b>The Zenith Z-150 PC</b> - The specs of this IBM clone very closely match the original. It includes an 8088 CPU @ 4.77MHz, two 360K 5.25" disk drives, and 320KB of RAM. The most interesting things about it is that it uses a backplane instead of a motherboard and it is available in kit format. A long time ago (probably circa 1995), I had a very similar machine. I think it was a slightly newer version but the case looked identical.</li>
<br />
<li><b>TK!Solver</b> - An application for scientists and engineers for solving general mathematical expressions.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/byte-december-1984.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmXo452p47KLyW43d8PzW3yRUa3ZyMiXxdPPnwMBiQxwfG/byte_1984_12_005.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the December 1984 issue of Byte (continued)</sub></center>
<h1>Kernel</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Computing at Chaos Manner: Home Again</b> - Adventure in repairing a Zorro Z-100, some info on laser printers, BASIC compatibility on the Zenith Z-150, shopping for a clock/calendar board, The TI Professional computer, and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Byte West Coast: Happenings</b> - IBM acquires Rolm Corp., IBM to offer local-area network configurations for its personal computers, Concurrent PC-DOS 3.2 released by Digital Research, and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Byte U.K.: Prolog on Microcomputers</b> - An overview of Micro-PROLOG for DOS and CP/M. </li>
<br />
<li><b>Byte Japan: Hand-Held Computers and MSX Standards</b> - A brief look at new handheld computers in Japan including the Epson HC-88/-80 and the Ampere Big.APL. Plus, an overview of the MSX standard and a brief look at several machines including the Canon V-10 and V-20, Victor AV, Toshiba HX-10S and HX-10D, Pioneer PALCOM PX-7, Sony "Hit Bit" HD-55 and HD-75, Hitachi HI, Yamaha Y1S503, Fujitsu FM-X, Mitsubishi ML-F120, and Matsushita CF-2000 and CF-3000.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Circuit Cellar Feedback</b> - Readers chime in about the new 65816 chip, digitizing stamps, MPX-16 keyboard interface, and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Editorial: Looking Back: 1984</b> - Highlights of 1984 include the introduction of the IBM PCjr, IBM PC AT, Hewlett Packard 150, Tandy 2000, Tandy 1000, Apple IIc, AT&T PC, Compaq Deskpro, Corona Mega PC, NEC APC III, and lots more.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/byte-december-1984.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmWKB7C4k1CCFpE6QSXogWQNYR3XpXDcun3mwsgE5Qb6pP/byte_1984_12_672.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back cover of the December 1984 issue of Byte</sub></center>
Read more: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/27/byte-december-1984/Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-57824990978713514092024-02-24T11:16:00.000-08:002024-03-03T06:41:17.405-08:00Byte (September 1981)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoM9R7Az4hqU4CKTzq44uUSQvo-rf-VHZ5vstIxih7Mx1fxK2L-KQguG7uNUnzNvdAMk6LE__Maa06rD9tb_AwgXIaxrgYXAp9eVdCE0MY9fFHjVtRfUmlui0el91pS0Ycqm7l9_B478fvfY3TkmS8K1pnu_d2yVZ_SoNbbTvu1lHRzu13jqBy9c2T5k4/s1611/Byte_1981-09_001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1611" data-original-width="1195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoM9R7Az4hqU4CKTzq44uUSQvo-rf-VHZ5vstIxih7Mx1fxK2L-KQguG7uNUnzNvdAMk6LE__Maa06rD9tb_AwgXIaxrgYXAp9eVdCE0MY9fFHjVtRfUmlui0el91pS0Ycqm7l9_B478fvfY3TkmS8K1pnu_d2yVZ_SoNbbTvu1lHRzu13jqBy9c2T5k4/s600/Byte_1981-09_001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/24/byte-september-1981/">Byte (September 1981)</a>
<p>The IBM PC was introduced around the same time this issue of Byte was on the stands. If you had a personal computer at the time, it was most likely an Atari, Apple II, Commodore, TRS-80 or something built from a kit. Byte also covered what were called "small systems". I guess you could think of those as the rough equivalent of workstations for a business environment. The September 1981 issue of Byte includes:</p>
<h1>Features</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>A Look at NCC '81</b> - The 1981 National Computer Conference held in Chicago May 4th-May 7th. Some of the many things seen there include the BMC IF-800 microcomputer, LEX-21 portable terminal, the Corvus Omninet, BASF's slimline 5.25-inch flopy-disk drives, The TRS-80 Color Computer, The Xerox Star, the Sony Typecorder, a half-width 8-inch floppy drive from Tandon and much more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Build an Unlimited-Vocabulary Speech Synthesizer</b> - A guide for building your own speech synthesizer.</li>
<br />
<li><b>The Xerox Alto Computer</b> - Xerox designed the Alto as a development tool for Xerox. However, they also donated 50 machines to various educational institutions for research. It consists of a vertically oriented graphics display, a mouse which was a Xerox innovation, two 3MB hard drives, and a "processor" composed of medium- and small-scale TTL integrated circuits. One would set you back about $32,000 in 1981 dollars.
<br />
<li><b>Tree Searching, Part 1: Basic Techniques</b> - Techniques for searching trees, e.g. the traveling-salesman problem of finding the shortest route through multiple cities.</li>
<br />
<li><b>One Step Forward - Three Steps Backup, Computing In the US Space Program</b> - Space rating computers often means they are obsolete before they fly. Some of the testing includes repeated heating and cooling from +50 Celsius to -50 Celsius, mechanical shocks, electromagnetic interference, radiation, withstand up to 30G, intensive use for several years without any failures, etc. This article goes into more detail on the requirements for different types of space missions (near earth orbit, manned, planetary), space-rating microprocessors, tasks such computer perform, and much more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Artificial Intelligence</b> - As you can see, AI is hardly a new topic. This article focuses on using AI to organize vast amounts of data.</li>
<br />
<li><b>A High-Level Language Benchmark</b> - A variation of the Sieve of Eratosthenes algorithm that can be easily implemented in a variety of languages to test performance.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/byte-september-1981.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmVv7yyV6WW1FjoFFaVKtAg5rgLPNoVV2PxfvUyBhZDFWf/byte_1981_09_005.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the September 1981 issue of Byte</sub></center>
<h1>Reviews</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>The Big Board: A Z80 System in Kit</b> - The Big Board is a single board computer manufactured by Digital Research that includes 64K RAM, 24-line by 80-character video generator, keyboard interface, room for four 2K ROMs, and a floppy controller with options for parallel and serial ports and an on-board timer. This board cost $650. For an extra $50 they would solder the sockets for you. Then you just have to provide your own disk drive, cabinet/case, power supply, keyboard and monitor. A custom version of CP/M 2.2 was also available for it.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Misosys Software's DISKMOD</b> - A utlity that will conver Radio Shack's cassette based editor/assembler for the TRS-80 Model I into a disk based version.</li>
<br />
<li><b>MINCE</b> - A text editor for the 8080 family of computers and CP/M.</li>
<br />
<li><b>BYTE's Arcade: Big Five Software</b> - A look at three games from Big Five Software for the TRS-80 Model I/III including Attack Force, Cosmic Fighter, and Galaxy Invasion. Plus a review of The Prisoner, a graphics adventure game based on the TV series of the same name for the Apple II.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<h1>Nucleus</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Letters</b> - Letters from readers regarding MIT Apple Logo, software piracy, programming compared to essay writing, a defense of Vikings, and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Book Reviews</b> - A review of Principles of Artificial Intelligence by Nils J Nilsson.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Programming Quickies</b> - A demonstration of changing a FOR...NEXT loop into a REPEAT...UNTIL loop.</li>
<br />
<li><b>BYTELINES</b> - Tandy plans to double its hardware and software products within the next six months, Zilog to introduce and enhanced Z80 called the Z800, Commodore introduces 6508 processor, Sony starts providing OEMs with samples of its new 3.5-inch "microfloppy" disk drives, and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Ask BYTE</b> - Questions answered about the safety of double-siding floppy disks, developing a proximity warning system for cars, expanding memory on Atari 400 and Atari 800 computers, and more.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/byte-september-1981.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmf1ji86JSqBea9zpza9SfcEJeXghuhwx39rFZdpmf54CY/byte_1981_09_500.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back cover of the September 1981 issue of Byte</sub></center>
<p>Read more: <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/24/byte-september-1981/">https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/24/byte-september-1981/</a></p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-86877914837690957652024-02-23T07:45:00.000-08:002024-02-23T07:45:23.871-08:00New Jersey’s Plastic Bag Ban Backfire, Explained<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWavv-3-ZU8CL218irgKSY5wgDUsVHMp4K7hpnS-BK8iFpg7WjdGOU13Dyn56Lw-G3NuhNF6Nbql37t4h9TB2kSFWSH7s8leThXahp7njV5C_Rl69nZRDTubcVWgHSx-eh82DXkjDQPFip7GF03Tgm3ISdNFyvRU_0hTlEKq_A_NfE2Z029lULp4tLxo/s1200/plastic-bag-ban_new-jersey.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWavv-3-ZU8CL218irgKSY5wgDUsVHMp4K7hpnS-BK8iFpg7WjdGOU13Dyn56Lw-G3NuhNF6Nbql37t4h9TB2kSFWSH7s8leThXahp7njV5C_Rl69nZRDTubcVWgHSx-eh82DXkjDQPFip7GF03Tgm3ISdNFyvRU_0hTlEKq_A_NfE2Z029lULp4tLxo/s400/plastic-bag-ban_new-jersey.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>There’s a famous scene in<span> </span><em>Seinfeld</em><span> </span>in which George<span> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQLbiEEgcV0" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">passes</a><span> </span>on a TV pilot deal with NBC, only to later accept for less money than originally offered. </p>
<p>“In other words, you held out for less money,” Jerry<span> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=172693214883423" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">says</a><span> </span>after George tells him the deal. “You know the basic idea of negotiation, as I understand it, is to get your price to go up.” </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6a30B6jbtew?si=gA2gv3sNzrHtg_9e" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>The scene comes to mind after learning about New Jersey’s<span> </span><a href="https://www.aier.org/article/new-jersey-bag-ban/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">recent attempt</a><span> </span>to save the environment by banning single-use plastic bags in grocery stores.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.freedoniagroup.com/press-releases/freedonia-report-finds-new-jersey-single-use-bag-ban-boosts-alternative-bag-production,-increases-pl" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">A new study</a><span> </span>published by Freedonia Custom Research confirmed that New Jersey’s law, which went into effect in 2022, backfired badly. </p>
<p>While the state’s ban — which, unlike those of other states, also prohibited single-use paper bags — led to a more than 60 percent decline in total bag volumes, it also had an unintended consequence: a threefold<span> </span><em>increase</em><span> </span>in plastic consumption for grocery bags.</p>
<p>How this happened is no mystery. </p>
<p>The massive increase in plastic consumption was driven by the popularity of heavy-duty polypropylene bags, which use about fifteen times more plastic than polyethylene plastic bags.</p>
<p>“Most of these alternative bags are made with non-woven polypropylene, which is not widely recycled in the United States and does not typically contain any post-consumer recycled materials,” the study explains. “This shift in material also resulted in a notable environmental impact, with the increased consumption of polypropylene bags contributing to a 500% increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to non-woven polypropylene bag production in 2015.”</p>
<p>Needless to say, this was not the result proponents of the policy had hoped for. Doug O’Malley, the director of the group Environment New Jersey, said in 2022 that the goal of the policy was to “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/plastic-bag-ban-begins-at-supermarkets-in-new-jersey/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">initiate a culture shift</a>” by reducing plastic waste and pollution. Instead, the policy has become the butt of jokes.</p>
<p>“This ought to be the motto of the climate lobby,” the<span> </span><em>Wall Street Journal</em><span> </span>editorial board<span> </span><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-jersey-plastic-bag-ban-report-environment-freedonia-custom-research-18d555d4" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">quipped</a>. “We don’t help the environment, but we feel good about it anyway.”</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="link-0">What Happened?</h2>
<p>New Jersey’s economic backfire deserves some mockery. As the Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously pointed out, policies must be judged not by their intentions but by their results. And the results of the policy were dismal. </p>
<p>But it’s also important to understand why the policy failed. There are several explanations, but the best place to start is the policy’s flawed assumptions.</p>
<p>Policy makers assumed the heavy-duty polypropylene bags would be better for the environment because they can be used over and over again, unlike the single-use plastic bags. The problem is, evidence shows that few people actually do this.</p>
<p>As early as September 2022, the<span> </span><em>New York Times</em><span> </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/climate/paper-plastic-bag-ban-new-jersey.html" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">had identified a major problem</a><span> </span>with the ban on single-use plastic and paper bags. People were accumulating far too many of the heavier-styled polypropylene bags. </p>
<p>Indeed, the Grey Lady showed pictures of numerous shoppers who’d accumulated mountains of shopping bags. One problem was that delivery services were using the reusable bags to deliver groceries to consumers. As a result, instead of having a bunch of single-use plastic or paper bags they could save or discard, consumers had a plethora of heavy-duty reusable bags they could save or discard. </p>
<p>Though many people no doubt just pitched the bags, some people kept them to “avoid waste.” A man the newspaper interviewed named Brian Otto had 101 of them. Nicole Kramaritsch of Roxbury had 46 stuffed into her garage. A woman from Whippany had 74. </p>
<p>“I don’t know what to do with all these bags,” the Whippany woman<span> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1565342490214801408" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">told</a><span> </span>the<span> </span><em>Times</em>.</p>
<p>A second problem was that consumers didn’t like using their reusable bags over and over, which resulted in mass amounts of waste.</p>
<p>The<span> </span><em>Times</em><span> </span>quoted a professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability who explained that a typical reusable polypropylene bag must be used “at least 10 times” to offset the additional energy they require compared to a typical plastic bag. </p>
<p>But the Freedonia study found that, on average, reusable polypropylene bags are used “two to three times before being discarded, falling short of the recommended reuse rates necessary to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions generated during production and address climate change.”</p>
<p>The study doesn’t say why consumers typically only use a bag a few times before throwing it away, but it’s important to understand that consumers aren’t behaving irrationally in doing so.</p>
<p>An abundance of research<span> </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2010/06/25/128105740/plastics-industry-funded-study-finds-bacteria-in-reusable-grocery-bags" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">stretching back decades</a><span> </span>shows those reusable plastic bags tend to carry bacteria, some of which can be dangerous. </p>
<p>New York<span> </span><a href="https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/recycling-composting/bag-waste-reduction-law" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">banned single-use plastic bags</a><span> </span>years ago to “reduce waste and protect the environment,” but the state’s health department concedes reusable bags come with a trade-off. </p><div style="clear:both;"><div id="om-fqmeg7lcejd7fy5oro5r-holder"></div>
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<p>“When you carry food or other items in these bags, they may leave behind germs like E. coli or Salmonella,”<span> </span><a href="https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/2827/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">notes</a><span> </span>the Department of Health. “If the bags are not properly washed and dried before they are used again, these germs remain and can make you sick.”</p>
<p>Many consumers likely determine it’s safer to pitch their reusable bags after a few uses rather than risk getting sick. And while some might clean their bags over and over to keep using them, perhaps more shoppers determine it’s not worth their time and energy. </p>
<p>Energy is a key word here. As sustainability engineers point out, cleaning reusable bags also requires resources, and not trivial amounts. </p>
<p>“Don’t always assume that reusable is the best option,”<span> </span><a href="https://news.umich.edu/is-reusable-always-best-comparing-environmental-impacts-of-reusable-vs-single-use-kitchenware/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">says</a><span> </span>Dr. Shelie Miller, an environmental engineer at University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems who co-authored a 2021 study titled “Environmental payback periods of reusable alternatives to single-use plastic kitchenware products.” </p>
<p>“Our study,” Dr. Miller added, “showed that some reusable alternatives never break even because it takes more energy, and generates more greenhouse gas emissions, to wash them than it takes to make the single-use plastic item.”</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="link-1">Of Good and Bad Economists</h2>
<p>The outcome of New Jersey’s ban, as well as the research conducted by environmental engineers like Dr. Miller, is a perfect illustration of an economic truth.</p>
<p>“There are no solutions,” the economist Thomas Sowell once observed. “There are only trade-offs.” </p>
<p>Sometimes the trade-offs are good; sometimes they are not, as in New Jersey’s case. But every action or policy comes with countless secondary consequences. Indeed, even though New Jersey’s ban harmed both consumers and the environment, it was not without positive secondary consequences for some. </p>
<p>It turns out that the ban on single-use bags, which must be purchased, was a boon for manufacturers and grocery stores.</p>
<p>“An in-depth cost analysis evaluating New Jersey grocery retailers reveals a typical store can profit $200,000 per store location from alternative bag sales,” the Freedonia study asserted; “for one major retailer this amounts to an estimated $42 million in profit across all its bag sales in NJ.”</p>
<p>Ignoring the secondary consequences of a policy and focusing solely on its primary intended consequences is what the famous economics writer Henry Hazlitt identified as one of the greatest fallacies in “the dismal science,” and what separates a bad economist from a good one. </p>
<p>“The bad economist sees only what immediately strikes the eye,” the<span> </span><a href="https://fee.org/resources/economics-in-one-lesson/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAn-2tBhDVARIsAGmStVlAGz-pNn4Cqub-bXJTDG1IoLtMdMoRIhsgFYMQtlaK0qIk-9S_bCYaAmr7EALw_wcB?utm_source=aier&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=jon-op-ed&utm_content=plastic-eiol" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover"><em>Economics in One Lesson</em></a><span> </span>author wrote. “The good economist also looks beyond.”</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="link-2"><strong>The Fatal Conceit</strong></h3>
<p>Still, there’s an even bigger economic lesson that can be gleaned from the Garden State’s quixotic effort to improve the environment through its clumsy ban. It’s one of economic humility. </p>
<p>“The curious task of economics,” the Nobel Prize-winning economist F. A. Hayek wrote in<span> </span><a href="https://amzn.to/49cridn" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked"><em>The Fatal Conceit</em></a>, “is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.” </p>
<p>Economic systems are complex, virtually infinitely so. And the great lie of the 20th century was the hubristic belief that economies could be effectively administered through the centralization of decision-making, wielded by a small number of politicians and bureaucrats.</p>
<p>The effort to centralize economies was manifested most obviously in the rise of socialist systems in the 20th century, dozens of which failed miserably (<a href="https://fee.org/articles/you-cant-argue-against-socialisms-100-percent-record-of-failure/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">and universally</a>) and brought about widespread economic dysfunction and oppression.</p>
<p>But as the economist Ludwig von Mises pointed out, centralization did not just plague command-style economies. It also afflicted mixed economies that increasingly—and naturally, in Mises’s opinion—are pulled in the direction of statism. </p>
<p>“It is in the nature of a system of government control of business to aim at the utmost centralization,” Mises observed in<span> </span><a href="https://amzn.to/48Se8Tc" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked"><em>Bureaucracy</em></a>. “In voting for government control of business the voters implicitly, although unwittingly, are voting for more centralization.”</p>
<p>This pull toward centralization stems from an idea, Hayek observed: the notion that man possesses the knowledge to plan economies effectively, which breeds a “fatal striving to control society.”</p>
<p>This is in stark contrast to the lesson of Leonard Read’s famous essay “<a href="https://fee.org/resources/i-pencil/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">I, Pencil</a>,” which channels a message of<span> </span><a href="https://fee.org/articles/milton-friedman-reveals-the-humbling-truth-of-i-pencil-in-just-two-minutes/?utm_source=aier&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=jon-op-ed&utm_content=plastic-pencil" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">economic humility</a><span> </span>in its recognition that, despite all of man’s grand feats, no person in the world could engineer something as simple as a lead pencil.</p>
<p>The miracle of the pencil (and billions of other products) is not a triumph of government or central planning, but of the invisible hand of capitalism, which involves billions of people working in voluntary concert together.</p>
<p>When we break from this model, we end up with policies that achieve results like those in New Jersey. </p>
<p>One can practically hear Jerry Seinfeld: “You know the basic idea of a ban on plastic grocery bags, as I understand it, is to get plastic consumption and greenhouse gasses to go down.”</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/67tHtpac5ws?si=CbwNIh9yhfbjPDBl" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p><a href="https://www.aier.org/article/njs-plastic-bag-ban-backfires-horribly/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">This article originally appeared in The Daily Economy.</a> </p>
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<img src="http://fee.org/media/29962/jonmiltimore2.jpg?center=0.43496801705756932,0.47333333333333333&mode=crop&height=100&widthratio=1&rnd=131810530440000000" width="100" height="100" alt="Jon Miltimore">
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<h5>
<a href="http://fee.org/people/jon-miltimore/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">
Jon Miltimore
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<p class="brief-bio">
</p><p>Jonathan Miltimore is the Editor at Large of FEE.org at FEE.</p>
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<p style="font-style: italic;">This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the <a href="https://fee.org/articles/new-jerseys-plastic-bag-ban-backfire-explained/">original article</a>.</p>
<img src="http://fee.org/counter/206172" width="1" height="1" alt="" /><script src="https://fee.org/Scripts/fee-repub.js" async="async"></script>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/23/new-jerseys-plastic-bag-ban-backfire-explained/">New Jersey’s Plastic Bag Ban Backfire, Explained</a>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-27312503882678665252024-02-23T07:38:00.000-08:002024-02-23T07:38:33.691-08:00Vintage Photos - Oestreicher (1269-1272)<p>See the previous post in this series <a href = "https://hive.blog/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-oestreicher-1265-1268">here</a>. </p>
<p>I had the opportunity to pick up a huge batch of slides a while back. These pictures span from as early as the late 1940s to as late as the early 1990s. These came to me second hand but the original source was a combination of estate sales and Goodwill. There are many thousands of these slides. I will be scanning some from time to time and posting them here for posterity.</p>
<p>Getting your pictures processed as slides used to be pretty common but it was a phenomenon I missed out on. However, my Grandfather had a few dozen slides from the late 1950s that I acquired after he died. That along with having some negatives I wanted to scan is what prompted me to buy a flatbed scanner that could handle slides and negatives, an Epson V600. It can scan up to four slides at a time with various post-processing options and does a decent enough job. </p>
<p>This set continues a large batch of slides that originally came from an estate sale and appear to have belonged to a locally well known photographer (or perhaps a friend or family member) from the Spokane Washington area and later Northern Idaho named Leo Oestreicher. He was known for his portrait and landscape photography and especially for post cards. His career started in the 1930s and he died in 1990. These slides contain a lot of landscape and portrait photos but also a lot of photos from day to day life and various vacations around the world. Here's an article on him from 1997 which is the only info I have found on him: <a href = "http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jan/04/photos-of-a-lifetime-museum-acquisition-of-leo/">http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jan/04/photos-of-a-lifetime-museum-acquisition-of-leo/</a></p>
<p>Many of these slides had the date they were processed stamped or printed on them. I've found that in cases where I could verify the date, that this date has typically been the same month the photos were taken. In other words, I expect that in MOST cases these photos were taken relatively near the processing date. </p>
<p>Click the link below to also see versions processed with color restoration and Digital ICE which is a hardware based dust and scratch remover, a feature of the Epson V600 scanner I am using. There are also versions processed with the simpler dust removal option along with color restoration.</p>
<b>All of the photos in this set were processed in May 1966 and probably taken near that time. I can't tell for sure but they may have all been taken at the same event. Perhaps a dinner party or reception or something like that. The third photo makes it look like a fancy TV dinner party?</b>
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmVhrS7jE8JkqEbLDx4RrbrrnLQNA4MVyEym623RiStaRP/slides2k02_269a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmeqCwpAWsrTPaoDkA3XBttopHaDnc5wNWwa8jVe2LTeoX/slides2k02_270a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmS5z6VikTEGjS4K5WQhF2oBY8jnhEiJ8PgcM9EQVHgKv5/slides2k02_271a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmW8TcJhKBkfEwyKZaJnopiWzanUXXFaJ9umTqL3osvLoa/slides2k02_272b_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br /><br />
<p>The entire collection that has been scanned and uploaded so far can also be found <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/slides/index.php?twg_album=Leo_Oestreicher">here</a>.</p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-53146714169427327842024-02-22T11:55:00.000-08:002024-03-01T07:28:05.549-08:00PC World (February 1997)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQlhvOZ4zABTjMdMdMsc72dkygMNhZQC2W6kDIBSvvKoSKAdPPES46mNfTi4EAugGRKATl6qqGYAM2wgxEV4icpzegvH1g741vr9TufT1v5X-7vOCaWV5jgq3Xf2rPI2kS16_X3w4nnT0_dEHSZzZT9Top5c4OI8U4txdcW5WwYR5J8uCtGvAKOD_ragQ/s2160/PC_World_1997-02-10_001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="1543" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQlhvOZ4zABTjMdMdMsc72dkygMNhZQC2W6kDIBSvvKoSKAdPPES46mNfTi4EAugGRKATl6qqGYAM2wgxEV4icpzegvH1g741vr9TufT1v5X-7vOCaWV5jgq3Xf2rPI2kS16_X3w4nnT0_dEHSZzZT9Top5c4OI8U4txdcW5WwYR5J8uCtGvAKOD_ragQ/s600/PC_World_1997-02-10_001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/22/pc-world-february-1997/">PC World (February 1997)</a>
<p>PC World was one of the most popular PC magazines in the U.S. for a long time. It wouldn't surprise me if the late 1990s were its biggest years as that was when the Internet was taking off and suddenly everybody needed a computer. The February 1997 issue includes:</p>
<h1>Cover Story</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>MMX Pentiums: Big Gain, No Pain</b> - A test of a dozen of the first MMX PCs. Pentiums with MMX were faster than standard Pentiums in part because of the MMX instructions (though software had to specifically take advantage of those) but perhaps more significantly because of a doubling of the internal cache. At the time they were introduced, they were only slightly more expensive than their non-MMX counterparts (at least as part of pre-built systems). Desktop PCs from CLR, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Micron, Packard Bell, Quantex, and Vektron with 166MHz and 200MHz MMX processors are compared with their non-MMX counterparts. Notebooks with 150-166MHz MMX processors are also compared. All systems come with 16-32MB of RAM.</li>
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</ul>
<h1>Features</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Microsoft Office 97: What's New</b> - Office 97 was one of the longest lasting versions of Office. It really seemed like that version was in use forever. New features include various web features, a new interface, and the then brand new Outlook.</li>
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<li><b>Best Routes to the Net: Top Internet Service Providers</b> - A comparison of 12 Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Services looked at include America Online, AT&T WorldNet, CompuServe, Concentric Network, EarthLink Network, GTE Internet Solutions, IBM Internet Connection, MCI Internet, Microsoft Network, MindSpring, Netcom and SpryNet. None of these services offered broadband support at this time but most offered ISDN service. It's interesting to note that most services offered some space to create your own web pages. I don't really know if service providers do this anymore or not.</li>
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<li><b>Beat Information Overload</b> - Strategies for organizing your digital life.</li>
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</ul>
<h1>Special Report</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>No Privacy on the Net</b> - The more things change the more they stay the same. Privacy on the Internet still takes work to achieve. While security on the Internet has been improved an a great many ways, so too have the ways to scrape your personal info.</li>
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</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/pc-world-february-1997.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmYiFsKastKJjJCmGDK5iTi2iTuLt1ccdpkzqrjtDp7Jgw/pc_world_1997_02_10_008.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the February 1997 issue of PC World</sub></center>
<h1>Multimedia</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>You Oughta Be In Pixels</b> - A comparison of five video capture boards, each under $500. PC World gave the Best Buy to the Fast Electronics FPS/60 which could capture 320x240 resolution video at 30 and 60 fps. For only $499.</li>
<li><b>Title Reviews</b> - Reviews of F-22 Lightning II from NovaLogic, Scorched Planet from Virgin, Titanic: Adventure Out of Time from CyberFlix/GTE, and Timelapse from GTE.</li>
<li><b>Hardware Reviews</b> - A look at the best CD-ROM Drives and best Sound Boards. At the top of the list for CD-ROM drives is the Toshiba XM-5701B 12X. The top sound board is the Ensoniq Soundscape Vivo 90.</li>
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</ul>
<h1>Top of the News</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Online Vendors: How Can You Tell the Good From the Bad?</b> - Pyramid schemes, undisclosed membership fees and more are all potential rip-offs you'll find online.</li>
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<li><b>Cable Modems: Fastest Internet Access</b> - A first look at Internet access via cable modem at speeds up to 10mbps. Availability was very limited at the time. I would get my cable modem about two years later and it was only 5mbps at first. Still, an always on connection at those speeds was massively better than dial-up. 56kbps modems were also just becoming available at this time which was a nice bump over 33.6 but nothing like broadband.</li>
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</ul>
<h1>New Products</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Teac CD-512E and Toshiba XM-5701B 12x CD-ROM drives</b> - The latest and greatest in CD-ROM tech. The Teac was cheaper but the Toshiba performed much better.</li>
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<li><b>MicroWorks Speakers</b> - A nice set of speakers with subwoofer from Cambridge Soundworks.</li>
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<li><b>Juggeler e-mail and voice mail utility</b> - A utility that lets your PC read e-mail and play voice messages over the phone.</li>
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<li><b>BocaPro Video Phone Elite</b> - A video conferencing system you can use over phone lines.</li>
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<li><b>Fujitsu LifeBooks</b> - A new line of Pentium based notebooks from Fujitsu at prices ranging from $2299 to $3999.</li>
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<li><b>HP Network Kit</b> - Featuring thre PCI 10Base-T network adapters, eight-port hub, and three 50-foot cables for $499.</li>
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<li><b>Monorail Home PC</b> - An all-in-one PC featuring an AMD K5 processor (Pentium-75 equivalent), 16MB of RAM, 1.08GB hard drive, 4X CD-ROM drive, 16-bit sound and integrated 10.4-inch dual-scan color LCD screen for $999.</li>
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<li><b>Kiplinger TaxCut Deluxe Multimedia, Personal Tax Edge, TurboTax Deluxe</b> - A comparison of tax software with TurboTax being rated the best.</li>
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</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/pc-world-february-1997.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmW8m71dphTiJEtxnHirrkZhjXPxPyuPhMF6pt7eaESYKY/pc_world_1997_02_10_009.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the February 1997 issue of PC World (continued)</sub></center>
<h1>Top 100</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Top 20 Power Desktops</b> - Dell machines take four of the top five spots with the top system this month being the Dell Dimension XPS Pro200n featuring a Pentium Pro-200 CPU at $3349. My choice at the time probably would have been the the system coming it at number 7, the Gateway 2000 P5-200XL featuring a Pentium 200, 32MB RAM, and a 3GB hard drive for $2704.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Top 20 Budget Desktops</b> - A couple of Dells, a couple of Gateways and a Micron round out the top 5. These all feature Pentium 133 CPUs except one of the Gateway machines has a Pentium Pro 180. Most of these have 16MB vs. the 32MB of the Power Desktop list. I actually have a P5-133 from Gateway but the version I have features the larger case they use for the Pentium Pro in this round-up.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Top 20 Notebook PCs</b> - Gateway 2000 takes the top spot in both the Power chart and the Budget chart for notebooks. the Gateway 2000 Solo 2100 P-133, described as breathtakingly fast, features a Pentium 133, 40MB RAM, 12.1" Active Matrix Super VGA screen, 6X CD-ROM drive and 1.4GB hard drive for $4149. The Gateway 2000 Solo 2100 P-120 features a Pentium 120, 16MB RAM, 11.3" Dual Scan Super VGA screen, 6X CD-ROM drive and 810MB hard drive for $2499.</li>
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<li><b>Personal Printers</b> - The Panasonic KX-P6100 laser printer takes the top spot for black and white printers for $399 while the Epson Stylus Color 500 ink jet is at the top of the color chart for $279.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/pc-world-february-1997.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmSEq6nKqbbJhBG8cXhES5sEM9AY8ERbuTVKX4XccUjDY8/pc_world_1997_02_10_010.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the February 1997 issue of PC World (continued)</sub></center>
<h1>Here's How</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Real Problem, Real Solution</b> - Setting up telecommuting for work.</li>
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<li><b>Answer Line</b> - Questions answered about Windows 95 OSR2, managing multiple dial-up connections, and tracking modem performance with system monitor.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Windows Tips</b> - How to get rid of unneeded Windows files and features, disabling automatic startup of apps, closing hidden programs, creating shortcuts within documents, and more.</li>
<li><b>Spreadsheet Tips</b> - Linking formulas to web data in Quattro Pro 7.0.</li>
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<li><b>Word Processing Tips</b> - Creating vertical letterheads in Word, setting different column layouts on the same page, adding a background border in WordPerfect 7, and more.</li>
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</ul>
<h1>At Home</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>At Home Products</b> - A brief look at various products including a kids keyboard, a wine database on CD, Barbie Storymaker, and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Keeping Up</b> - A look at interesting new websites including the then brand new Expedia, an online distance calculator, and a site for removing yourself from junk mail lists.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Top 5 Home PCs</b> - At the top of the list is the Dell Dimension P200v featuring a 200MHz Pentium processor, 16MB RAM, 1.6GB hard drive, 8x CD-ROM drive, 28.8kbps modem and 15-inch monitor (CRT of course) all for $2349.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<h1>Departments</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Up Front</b> - An editorial on Internet privacy.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Letters</b> - Letters from readers about Packard Bell's low prices and getting what you pay for, worst CD-ROMs, excellent tech support from U.S. Robotics, Compaq tech support complaints, web directories vs. search engines, Juno e-mail, OS/2 Warp, and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Consumer Watch</b> - Solving your own problems and getting help in the most efficient way possible.</li>
<br />
<li><b>PCW Advocate</b> - ZIP drive rebate delays from Iomega, reader gets Micron system he didn't order, and another praises APC's service.</li>
<br />
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/pc-world-february-1997.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmYKMcSfKFJj3mTvXQDHTihqQumykfado2oJ7HoVMezzf2/pc_world_1997_02_10_334.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back cover of the February 1997 issue of PC World</sub></center>
<p>Read more: <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/22/pc-world-february-1997/">https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/22/pc-world-february-1997/</a></p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-69799424173393078562024-02-16T09:57:00.000-08:002024-02-24T11:41:13.328-08:00Byte (March 1981)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZENd6S1tRTQ308TMrgiCAZ4cg5wk81OipwSqwt8udXELnBukk7paEEtN2aTPlelGqlsfh2-pzn3eYjcCn2LH0CeiTP0plueM-X7y7NX7ZYx8uN1TpIJDLrIiEC38tj9v6sfiu_NvKhci3T92rMjdXJSA5771Elq8caOoXbuXM3RerPpvGimzCaDzCz_s/s1644/Byte_1981-03_001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1644" data-original-width="1194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZENd6S1tRTQ308TMrgiCAZ4cg5wk81OipwSqwt8udXELnBukk7paEEtN2aTPlelGqlsfh2-pzn3eYjcCn2LH0CeiTP0plueM-X7y7NX7ZYx8uN1TpIJDLrIiEC38tj9v6sfiu_NvKhci3T92rMjdXJSA5771Elq8caOoXbuXM3RerPpvGimzCaDzCz_s/s600/Byte_1981-03_001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/16/byte-march-1981/">Byte (March 1981)</a>
<p>Computer magazines have been around for a really long time. Or may I should say 'were' at this point as you can find no general computer magazines on the shelf these days. Anyway, Byte was first published starting in 1975. This issue is from March 1981 which was still roughly six months before the IBM PC was introduced. There were still plenty of home computers from Commodore, Atari, Apple and others as well as numerous CP/M based machines and other unique computers. This issue weighs in at almost 400 pages and includes:</p>
<h1>Features</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Structured Programming and Structured Flowcharts</b> - An introduction to structured programming which could be accomplished in virtually any language with a goto statement.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Build the Disk-80: Memory Expansion and Floppy-Disk Control</b> - A do-it-yourself hardware project in which you build an expansion interface for the TRS-80 model I that includes both expanded memory (up to 32K) and a floppy disk controller.</li>
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<li><b>Three-Dimensional Computer Graphics, Part 1</b> - The part in a series on generating 3D polygonal graphics. Mostly this goes over the math involved.</li>
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<li><b>What is Good Documentation?</b> - A guide to producing good hardware and software documentation with minimal jargon.</li>
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<li><b>A Beginner's Guide to Spectral Analysis, Part 2</b> - Part 1 introduced ideas behind the Fourier transform. This part extends those ideas into two-dimensional space. Includes examples in 6502 machine-language.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/byte-march-1981.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmYiTQh7E9Ha7S2d2iQGsiHLyaSjbreFRncUvBPNsDDh7q/byte_1981_03_005.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the March 1981 issue of Byte</sub></center>
<h1>Reviews</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>The Micro Matrix Photopoint Light Pen</b> - Light pens were once a popular way to interface with a computer. Ultimately, the mouse took over that roll. This review looks at one such light pen and some software that supports it.</li>
<br />
<li><b>What's Inside Radio Shack's Color Computer?</b> - A detailed and technical look at the then new Tandy Color Computer. The Color Computer featured the partially 16-bit MC6809E CPU and up to 16K. While Radio Shack supported the Color Computer for more than a decade, it never really gained the popularity of machines like the Apple II, Atari 400/800, Commodore 64, VIC-20, etc. There are no good sales numbers but best guess seems to be that about 500,000 units were sold all the CoCo models combined. I had a neighbor that had a Coco 3 back in the day.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<h1>Nucleus</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Editorial: Is This Really Necessary?</b> - An editorial on design techniques.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Letters</b> - Letters from readers about technical writing, Intel's educational products, SuperBrain upgrade costs, muSIMP for the TRS-80 Model I, and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Programming Quickies</b> - Short BASIC programs for computing the determinant of a Matrix and displaying constellations.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Languages Forum: A Coding Sheet for FORTH</b> - A form for creating a graphical representation of the stack in FORTH.</li>
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<li><b>Byte's Bits</b> - News bits including an IEEE study on terminals, a computer camp for kids 10-18, an online service for the TI-99/4, research for using computers to aid the handicapped, and more.</li>
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<li><b>Technical Forum</b> - A BASIC program that converts object code to data statements; a comparison of addition and subtraction operations between the 1802 and Z-80 processors; and a design for a simple video switch.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/byte-march-1981.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmPUioQWsE9M1MCS8E8iozfZYypNW7UvNDTmJC5zaEatGv/byte_1981_03_390.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back cover of the March 1981 issue of Byte</sub></center>
<p>Read more: <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/16/byte-march-1981/">https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/16/byte-march-1981/</a>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-2369216861735855012024-02-08T11:07:00.000-08:002024-02-08T11:07:32.728-08:00The FBI’s Lawless Raid on U.S. Private Vaults Shows Why the Founders Created the Fourth Amendment<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZIYp-myd82-8HDb58GKmGTnF64n8CG8NGmWs54Dttn8F5gZNl_CI7Lz5PGN9qn7XyEOJqvmiBXnKow3fV8qVgXN1-vl7zjeONXvNnQUmm02qFOnJH6emRtfIYx4Rm8kxUGDt_f3YerC1lhL2btb4062PNp2oliJgxGqJedN_sN4PsXBZtsYcn5v9q2Ao/s1200/fbi-raid-on-us-private-vaults.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZIYp-myd82-8HDb58GKmGTnF64n8CG8NGmWs54Dttn8F5gZNl_CI7Lz5PGN9qn7XyEOJqvmiBXnKow3fV8qVgXN1-vl7zjeONXvNnQUmm02qFOnJH6emRtfIYx4Rm8kxUGDt_f3YerC1lhL2btb4062PNp2oliJgxGqJedN_sN4PsXBZtsYcn5v9q2Ao/s400/fbi-raid-on-us-private-vaults.png"/></a></div>
<p><span>A squad of </span><a rel="" href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/fbi/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">FBI</a><span> and Drug Enforcement Administration agents in March 2021 raided the Beverly Hills location of a company, U.S. Private Vaults, suspected of criminal activity.</span></p>
<p><span>Over several days, </span><a rel="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSq5J1RtzxY" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">agents wearing masks</a><span> photographed evidence, seized jewels, gold bullion, and coins, and confiscated some contraband (mostly drugs) from 1,400 safe-deposit boxes rented by an array of people, including a retired doctor, a saxophone player, </span><a rel="" href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-08/seizure-beverly-hills-safe-deposit-boxes-lawsuits" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">a retired floor contractor</a><span>, and at least two attorneys. </span></p>
<p><span>The grand total seized by the FBI was </span><a rel="" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2023/12/11/court-grills-government-over-86m-fbi-raid-on-security-deposit-boxes/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">$86 million</a><span> in cold cash, as well as Rolex and Cartier watches, rare coins, and more silver and gold than even Yukon Cornelius could imagine.</span></p>
<p><span>U.S. Private Vaults, which was headquartered in Nevada, </span><a rel="" href="https://abc7.com/beverly-hills-private-vault/11618712/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">pleaded guilty</a><span> to charges of money laundering and conspiracy the following year. (No one went to prison, and the company is no longer in business.) But it turns out U.S. Private Vaults wasn’t the only party that broke the law. </span></p>
<p><span>Last month, </span><a rel="" href="https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/01/23/22-56050.pdf" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled</a><span> that the bureau violated the constitutional rights of safe-deposit box holders whose property was seized without probable cause, something the warrant explicitly prohibited.</span></p>
<p><span>To understand just how far the FBI overstepped its authority, it’s worth examining </span><a rel="" href="https://ij.org/case/us-private-vaults-missing-property/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">the case of Don Mellein</a><span>, a retired civil servant from California. </span></p>
<p>Mellein was one of hundreds of people who had a safe-deposit box at U.S. Private Vaults, where he kept hundreds of thousands of dollars of coins for safekeeping. </p>
<p><span>When the FBI raided U.S. Private Vaults, it didn’t just search Mellein’s safe-deposit box. It seized his coins, something the FBI had explicitly said it </span><em>wouldn’t</em><span> do when it requested a warrant to raid U.S. Private Vaults (more on that in a minute).</span></p>
<p>Numerous other plaintiffs such as Mellein had their property taken simply because they were unlucky enough to have entrusted it to a company that was involved in some degree of criminal activity.</p>
<p>That the FBI had the chutzpah to ignore the judge’s warrant, which explicitly “d[id] not authorize a criminal search or seizure of box contents,” did not sit well with the court. </p>
<p><span>Judges </span><a rel="" href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/24/fbi-raid-fourth-amendment/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">called</a><span> the seizures “egregious” and “outrageous” during oral arguments, comparing them to the Revolutionary War practices of the British, who would search and seize the property of colonials without probable cause.</span></p>
<p>“It was those very abuses of power,” the 9th Circuit Court noted, “that led to adoption of the Fourth Amendment in the first place.”</p><div style="clear:both;"><div id="om-fqmeg7lcejd7fy5oro5r-holder"></div>
<div id="om-lxkcubhhqwmdm0lkjkbp-holder"></div>
</div>
<p>The Fourth Amendment protects the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” but it’s something for which the FBI agents had little regard.</p>
<p>Indeed, depositions from FBI agents suggest that “forfeiting” the property of safe-deposit box holders — some would call it “stealing” — was the FBI’s plan from the very beginning. </p>
<p><span>Excerpts of those depositions, which can be read at the </span><em>Los Angeles Times</em><span> and </span><em><a rel="" href="https://reason.com/2024/01/23/appeals-court-fbis-safe-deposit-box-seizures-violated-fourth-amendment/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Reason</a></em><span>, make it clear that the FBI had been planning a massive asset forfeiture operation months prior to filing its affidavit with U.S. Magistrate Judge Steve Kim.</span></p>
<p><span>They also reveal that the FBI had been planning all along to seize the contents of all safe-deposit boxes, so long as they contained at least $5,000 (the minimum established by the Justice Department’s </span><a rel="" href="https://www.justice.gov/criminal-afmls/file/839521/download" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Asset Forfeiture Policy Manual</a><span>). Testimony makes it clear the FBI was not particularly concerned whether these people were actually criminals, or that the agent who submitted the affidavit had assured Kim that the property rights of customers would be respected.</span></p>
<p><span>We only know all of this because a judge denied a request from the U.S. attorney’s office — surprise, surprise — to block disclosure of those depositions, laying “bare the government’s deception,” in the words of the </span><em>Los Angeles Times</em><span> reporter Michael Finnegan. </span></p>
<p>To call the FBI’s actions deceptive is an understatement. </p>
<p><a rel="" href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-23/fbi-beverly-hills-safe-deposit-box-raid-forfeiture-judge" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Finnegan’s reporting</a><span> shows FBI agents and U.S. attorneys behaving in almost mafialike fashion, demanding bank records, tax returns, and sworn statements from safe-deposit box holders </span><em>and</em><span> their family members — just to get their own money back!</span></p>
<p><span>When you read how </span><a rel="" href="https://twitter.com/miltimore79/status/1753086238733578271" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">a U.S. attorney asked a glassmaker’s lawyer</a><span> how much his client was willing to pay the feds to give him his money back, you realize the 9th Circuit was not engaging in hyperbole. The FBI’s raid is not dissimilar to the “writs of assistance” that permitted Red Coats “to break open doors, Chests, Trunks, and other Packages” to find contraband or “stolen” items, a practice despised by the Colonials. </span></p>
<p><span>“It is a power that places the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer,” the 18th century statesman James Otis said in </span><a rel="" href="https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/speech-against-writs-of-assistance/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">a famous speech</a><span> against the writs, which led to the eventual adoption of the Fourth Amendment. </span></p>
<p>The question now is: Who will be held accountable for the FBI’s lawless, shameless raid?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NxqXOAQG0Ig?si=ySz8mjpXyqASjSW4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p><a rel="" href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2834289/fbi-shredded-the-fourth-amendment-in-a-cash-grab-will-it-be-held-accountable/#google_vignette" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">This article first appeared in The Washington Examiner.</a></p>
<div>
<img src="http://fee.org/media/29962/jonmiltimore2.jpg?center=0.43496801705756932,0.47333333333333333&mode=crop&height=100&widthratio=1&rnd=131810530440000000" width="100" height="100" alt="Jon Miltimore">
</div>
<div>
<h5>
<a href="http://fee.org/people/jon-miltimore/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">
Jon Miltimore
</a>
</h5>
<p class="brief-bio">
</p><p>Jonathan Miltimore is the Editor at Large of FEE.org at FEE.</p>
</div>
<p style="font-style: italic;">This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the <a href="https://fee.org/articles/the-fbis-lawless-raid-on-us-private-vaults-shows-why-the-founders-created-the-fourth-amendment/">original article</a>.</p>
<img src="http://fee.org/counter/206101" width="1" height="1" alt="" /><script src="https://fee.org/Scripts/fee-repub.js" async="async"></script>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/08/the-fbis-lawless-raid-on-u-s-private-vaults-shows-why-the-founders-created-the-fourth-amendment/">The FBI’s Lawless Raid on U.S. Private Vaults Shows Why the Founders Created the Fourth Amendment</a>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-42101458135211581992024-02-08T11:01:00.000-08:002024-02-08T11:01:24.166-08:00Vintage Photos - Oestreicher (1265-1268)<p>See the previous post in this series <a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/vintage-photos-oestreicher-1261-1264.html">here</a>. </p>
<p>I had the opportunity to pick up a huge batch of slides a while back. These pictures span from as early as the late 1940s to as late as the early 1990s. These came to me second hand but the original source was a combination of estate sales and Goodwill. There are many thousands of these slides. I will be scanning some from time to time and posting them here for posterity.</p>
<p>Getting your pictures processed as slides used to be pretty common but it was a phenomenon I missed out on. However, my Grandfather had a few dozen slides from the late 1950s that I acquired after he died. That along with having some negatives I wanted to scan is what prompted me to buy a flatbed scanner that could handle slides and negatives, an Epson V600. It can scan up to four slides at a time with various post-processing options and does a decent enough job. </p>
<p>This set continues a large batch of slides that originally came from an estate sale and appear to have belonged to a locally well known photographer (or perhaps a friend or family member) from the Spokane Washington area and later Northern Idaho named Leo Oestreicher. He was known for his portrait and landscape photography and especially for post cards. His career started in the 1930s and he died in 1990. These slides contain a lot of landscape and portrait photos but also a lot of photos from day to day life and various vacations around the world. Here's an article on him from 1997 which is the only info I have found on him: <a href = "http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jan/04/photos-of-a-lifetime-museum-acquisition-of-leo/">http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jan/04/photos-of-a-lifetime-museum-acquisition-of-leo/</a></p>
<p>Many of these slides had the date they were processed stamped or printed on them. I've found that in cases where I could verify the date, that this date has typically been the same month the photos were taken. In other words, I expect that in MOST cases these photos were taken relatively near the processing date. </p>
<p>Click the link below to also see versions processed with color restoration and Digital ICE which is a hardware based dust and scratch remover, a feature of the Epson V600 scanner I am using. There are also versions processed with the simpler dust removal option along with color restoration.
<p><b>All of the photos in this set were processed in May 1966 and probably taken near that time. The first three feature landscape shots...the first from a cliff overlooking the ocean, the second from a boat and the third a close-up of some greenery. The final photo shows four people but they are unidentified...perhaps father, mother and their two older children?</b></p>
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmWucQQy1HVy1nNSfLaMjYGN8bYFLWrVZVtFw4pyPi1oDR/slides2k02_265a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmShAt7tghi3YCJw1fdDDUXbXFpLSGAe97gAX7jEHS8xkA/slides2k02_266a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmPhnmobS4AFq2iRxumTvXBaamd3BWs6jYzvZUffbHyMAE/slides2k02_267a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmfBxQXMi6t5CeQGdq4vxLsZreZvsqSws9xtHidxHA9dwN/slides2k02_268a_1966_05.jpg" width="560"><br />processed May 1966</center><br /><br />
<p>The entire collection that has been scanned and uploaded so far can also be found <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/slides/index.php?twg_album=Leo_Oestreicher">here</a>.</p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-77635445277343769942024-02-05T08:18:00.000-08:002024-02-13T23:04:49.904-08:00Byte (September 1985)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinXa7H9LbiyOGwH-8IUyoMHRrdTZ30oucv66NrhmwbrIcy-7hTzvKWS4vXqMTcejEMVxBO1F-z1wukGN_OVBZL1Ri-me0gdiiR6PjourFonngGdBim4Mdj6LqTEt46ytY0SQsp7MyyPqu0CKWRzwiS-IgwYeYSD9jS9PyElA9scA_0fcJn4RArIlKvBEw/s1600/Byte_1985-09_001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinXa7H9LbiyOGwH-8IUyoMHRrdTZ30oucv66NrhmwbrIcy-7hTzvKWS4vXqMTcejEMVxBO1F-z1wukGN_OVBZL1Ri-me0gdiiR6PjourFonngGdBim4Mdj6LqTEt46ytY0SQsp7MyyPqu0CKWRzwiS-IgwYeYSD9jS9PyElA9scA_0fcJn4RArIlKvBEw/s600/Byte_1985-09_001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/05/byte-september-1985/">Byte (September 1985)</a>
<p>Subtitled "The Small Systems Journal", Byte covered a wide variety of home and hobby computers in its earlier days. Towards the end of its life, it became more of a standard PC magazine. In 1985, however, it was large (almost 500 pages for this issue) and covered a lot. The September 1985 issue includes:</p>
<h1>Features</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar: Build the SB180 Single-Board Computer</b> - The SB180 was a single board computer featuring a 6 MHz HD64180 processor from Hitachi that was Z80 code compatible and could directly address 512KB of RAM (as opposed to the more limited 64K that the Z80 could directly address). This first part of a two part series focuses on the hardware.</li>
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<li><b>Programming Project: An Analysis of Sorts</b> - A look at the algorithms and speed of various sorting algorithms including the selection sort, merge sort, and quick sort.</li>
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<li><b>The DSI-32 Coprocessor Board, Part 2: The Software</b> - The second of a two part series on the DSI-32 co-processor board for the IBM PC. The co-processor in this case is the National Semiconductor 32032. This part focuses on the software.</li>
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<li><b>An Algorithm for Disk Caching with Limited Memory</b> - A set of C-language routines for caching data from floppy disks.</li>
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<li><b>Astrophysical Number Crunching</b> - A history of the use of "personal computers" in theoretical astrophysics. Or at least the history from one astrophysicist's perspective.</li>
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</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/byte-september-1985.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmadUcJw9RunVX91zjGQQbYTJnyrYawmxUQHyw9AYkKhR6/byte_1985_09_004.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the September 1985 issue of Byte</sub></center>
<h1>Themes</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>EGO: A Hombuilt CPU, Part I: The Software</b> - The first of a two-part series on the author's experience crating a homemade CPU. This part focuses on the instruction set.</li>
<br />
<li><b>The Quarter-Meg Atari 800XL</b> - Upgrading your Atari 800XL all the way to 256K and turning some of that RAM into a RAMdisk. This article includes a parts list and instructions for constructing your own 256K expansion.</li>
<br />
<li><b>A Parallel-To-Serial Printer Port Adapter</b> - Instructions for building a $35 parallel-to-serial printer port adapter that will allow you to connect a serial printer to your parallel port.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<h1>Reviews</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Reviewer's Notebook</b> - A brief look at upcoming products including the HP 110 Portable Plus and a WORM drive featuring a 400MB capacity for a mere $5000.</li>
<br />
<li><b>The Kaypro 16</b> - A portable PC compatible featuring two floppy drives (or one flopp drive and one hard drive) and 256K of RAM for $2295 to $3295 depending on whether you want that hard drive or not.</li>
<br />
<li><b>The Osborne 3</b> - Another portable PC compatible featuring an 80C86 running at 3.5 MHz, two 5.25" disk drives, 256K RAM and an LCD (80 characters x 16 lines). It's only partially PC compatible though and will not work with programs that directly address the hardware.</li>
<br />
<li><b>WordStar 2000</b> - A new easier to use version of this word processor for MS-DOS 2.0. It cost between $500 and $600 depending on whether you got the plus version or not.</li>
<br />
<li><b>XyWrite II Plus</b> - A less expensive word processor ($300). It was somewhat unique in that many of its commands were done through a command line interface vs. menus.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Filevision</b> - A visual data management system for the Macintosh.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/byte-september-1985.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmcjnfWtPCt5gR1vokjs4VaiJGBiNtoPh8k8r9Vv57vyjM/byte_1985_09_005.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the September 1985 issue of Byte (continued)</sub></center>
<h1>Kernel</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Computing At Chaos Manor: PC's, Peripherals, Programs, and People</b> - Jerry Pournelle reports on a joint press conference by Apple's Steve Jobs and Microsoft's William Gates in which they announced Excel for the Macintosh and Switcher, a program that allows you to switch between programs on the Mac. Plus a look at a lot of other products including a new version of BASIC.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Byte U.K.: Seventh Anniversary of Microcomputing</b> - A condensed history of personal computing in Britain for the 10th anniversary of Byte. Plus a look at the Husky Hunter.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Byte Japan: A History of Japan's Microcomputers</b> - Some of the computers covered here include the TLCS-12, uCOM-4, uCOM-8, uCOM-16, NEC 700, TK-80, MZ-80, and PC-8001.</li>
<br />
<li><b>According to Webster: West Coast Faire, Mac Stuff, and the Amiga</b> - The West Coast Computer Faire isn't what it used to be; Apple to offer ROM upgrade for the Mac but only for those that haven't done their own mods; the Amiga shines as the only easily expandable new low cost computer; and more.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<h1>Departments</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Editorial</b> - Looking back at the last 10 years of personal computers plus, helping The Computer Museum expand its exhibits.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Microbytes</b> - Optical drives, CD-ROMs, image scanners and laser printers show up at the National Computer Conference in Chicago; Motorolla asks FCC to allow radio LANs; Epson, ABC and Indesys signed agreement to deliver electronic info over FM radio station; and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Letters</b> - Letters from readers about the AT&T PC 6300, DEC's Rainbow, the IBM PC (a vote against coverage), more powerful BASIC, and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>What's New</b> - A brief look at new products including the SwyftCard for the Apple IIe, VP-Planner from Paperback Software, Corvus Cheetah 68010 based workstation, the Megadata 8300 Model Seven 68000 based Unix workstation, 10 and 20 megabyte hard drives from HP, and more.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/02/byte-september-1985.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmcuGJXshT7S7np91hph4YTn3EZv1f4dfJjRpQ3WN1uHuY/byte_1985_09_494.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back Cover of the September 1985 issue of Byte</sub></center>
<p>Read more: <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/05/byte-september-1985/">https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/02/05/byte-september-1985/</a></p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-84494336683381298942024-01-24T22:19:00.000-08:002024-02-03T20:53:47.023-08:00PC Magazine (January 8th, 1985)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyvHJtUcox-ihJVgnT3K_uxaXyMX2Z2M8OrJA1jLkOjdTKENV2IALAEyMoHmp0zADjuw68UtwNVPjKSYCHhZh3NhrPmQi1siOekMdWlcIQgZQWqyRMZd2UOEqmFO41hryfoIbcu0IjhYIwQ0HZTyE0qFMjAFAkdvOZMQ_4gHYPCe5dUaiUpoxeajl5zkE/s2500/PC_Magazine_1985-01-08_001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2500" data-original-width="1742" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyvHJtUcox-ihJVgnT3K_uxaXyMX2Z2M8OrJA1jLkOjdTKENV2IALAEyMoHmp0zADjuw68UtwNVPjKSYCHhZh3NhrPmQi1siOekMdWlcIQgZQWqyRMZd2UOEqmFO41hryfoIbcu0IjhYIwQ0HZTyE0qFMjAFAkdvOZMQ_4gHYPCe5dUaiUpoxeajl5zkE/s600/PC_Magazine_1985-01-08_001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/25/pc-magazine-january-8th-1985/">PC Magazine (January 8th, 1985)</a>
PC Magazine was one of the most popular PC magazines in the 1980s and 1990s. The January 8, 1985 issue includes:
<h1>Cover Stories</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Computing</b> - Predictions for the future of personal computing including a computer on every desk by the early 1990s, as many computers as TVs in the home by the end of the century, and lots more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Other Voices, Other Futures</b> - The opinions of various people on the future of computing. Those surveyed include Ray Bradbury, a theologian, Bob Hope's personal comedy writer, and many others.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/pc-magazine-january-8th-1985.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmfKFb15UofwUURHoCb1kdDAFzKzUGKVVPLCqMxL8vy41c/pc_magazine_1985_01_08_008.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the January 8th, 1985 issue of PC Magazine</sub></center>
<h1>Features</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Graphics That Dress for Success</b> - A look at various busines graphics software, mostly for data visualization. Products looked at include VCN ExecuVison, HyperGraphics, and ExecGraphics.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Charting Your Course on the PC</b> - A look at software specifically for creating charts and graphs including Lotus 1-2-3, SuperCalc, Chart-Master, DR Graph, GrafTalk, and Graphwriter.</li>
<br />
<li><b>PC Systems for Pie Chart Picassos</b> - A look at three buisness presentation graphics software packages, including PictureIt/VideoShow, Presentation Master, and Genigraphics.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Samurai Image Processor</b> - A system that uses software, a graphics card, and a film recorder to produce slies of computer graphics. This was before projectors and PowerPoint.</li>
<br />
<li><b>PC Graphics Challenge the Mighty Cray</b> - Comparing the graphics capabilities of the PC with those of the Cray super computer.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/pc-magazine-january-8th-1985.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmWiahmRSBaAGXHghBGsKpxsFg4aYwEKf6PNeR5fU9qQAS/pc_magazine_1985_01_08_009.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the January 8th, 1985 issue of PC Magazine (continued)</sub></center>
<h1>Pro Columns</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Freehand Graphics</b> - Two art programs for the PC, PC Paintbrush and Dr. Halo, are evaluated and compared to MacPaint. </li>
<br />
<li><b>For Doctors: Windows in the Office</b> - A look at Doctor's Office Manager, medical software from IBM.</li>
<br />
<li><b>A PC Helps Fight Class-Action Suits</b> - How PCs, along with an Epson FX-100 printer, Hayes 1200B internal modem, R:base Series 4000 database software, PMate text editing software, Multiplan spreadsheet software, WordStar word processor and FYI 3000 text management software, helped to win class-action lawsuits against Burlington Northern, Western Electric, Motorola, and the Chicago City Council.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Up in Smoke</b> - Using Halon 1211 instead of water and other traditional to fight fire in order to protect electronic equipment and magnetic media.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<h1>Departments</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>PC News</b> - Data loss becomes an increasing problem as those new to mass storage systems don't backup their data. Tape backups were the best choice at the time. Infocom releases a database package called Cornerstone. Compaq updates Deskpro line of computers with 10-30 MB hard drives...and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>The Market Grows Up</b> - How both PCs and users have matured over recent years.</li>
<br />
<li><b>More Than Pretty Pictures</b> - The limitations of current PC business graphics packages.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Letters to PC</b> - Letters from readers about software being sold before it is ready, The Technical Investor, Garland Pathfinder, and mail-order price wars.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Hard Disk Housekeeping</b> - A look at various programs to help organize and keep your hard drive clean.
<br />
<li><b>Checkerboard Challenge</b> - Reviews of Gramps: The Checker Champion and Sargon III.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/pc-magazine-january-8th-1985.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmP6MpxmTUZ4iB96eRC4yHLjPoA16LRDNnn2GfgK74iUsu/pc_magazine_1985_01_08_358.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back cover of the January 8th, 1985 issue of PC Magazine</sub></center>
<p>Read more: <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/25/pc-magazine-january-8th-1985/">https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/25/pc-magazine-january-8th-1985/</a></p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-43277704375191660022024-01-22T14:29:00.000-08:002024-01-22T14:29:27.973-08:00Science Has a Major Fraud Problem. Here’s Why Government Funding Is the Likely Culprit<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMAXQcnD2EAE5Y3Lf-uxXFp5O7qaAzO13jmnNo3370qBrzATDCiqC6IOX-txHa7k2NEzOwm4UZ1hAXAsNxxbJtcADYmJgheXtJ679jexcz42khKhKM5YlgVFrUEOF5dkM9M5ccltneGbcJ7eQi9uuSHS05i-Te-W5WSzeYVur5rlu5YkZ7fhktpE9ucqE/s1200/laboratory-2815641.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMAXQcnD2EAE5Y3Lf-uxXFp5O7qaAzO13jmnNo3370qBrzATDCiqC6IOX-txHa7k2NEzOwm4UZ1hAXAsNxxbJtcADYmJgheXtJ679jexcz42khKhKM5YlgVFrUEOF5dkM9M5ccltneGbcJ7eQi9uuSHS05i-Te-W5WSzeYVur5rlu5YkZ7fhktpE9ucqE/s400/laboratory-2815641.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>President Biden’s 2024 <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2023/03/13/fy24-budget-fact-sheet-rd-innovation/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">budget</a> includes over $210 billion directed toward federal research and development, an approximately $9 billion increase from 2023 funding. That might not sound particularly bad—after all, who doesn’t like science and innovation?</p>
<p>But, although seemingly noble, the billions pumped into the US government’s National Science Foundation don’t always translate into finding cures for debilitating diseases, or developing groundbreaking technologies.</p>
<p>In recent years, although technology and peer-review techniques have become more widespread, fraud has remained a consistent issue. The problem has gotten so out of hand that world-class researchers and medical ethics analysts believe the public should be aware of the widespread inaccuracies plaguing medicine.</p>
<p>Dr. Richard Smith, the former editor-in-chief of the <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.bmj.com/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">BMJ</a> and cofounder of the Committee on Medical Ethics (COPE), <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/07/05/time-to-assume-that-health-research-is-fraudulent-until-proved-otherwise/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">details</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Health professionals and journal editors reading the results of a clinical trial assume that the trial happened and that the results were honestly reported. But about 20% of the time, said Ben Mol, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Monash Health, they would be wrong. As I’ve been concerned about research fraud for 40 years, I wasn’t as surprised as many would be by this figure, but it led me to think that the time may have come to stop assuming that research actually happened and is honestly reported, and assume that the research is fraudulent until there is some evidence to support it having happened and been honestly reported.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Independent analysis done by J. B. Carlisle confirms Dr. Smith’s suspicions. As Carlisle analyzed dozens of government-funded control trials, he <a rel="nofollow" href="https://associationofanaesthetists-publications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anae.15263" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">found</a> a staggering 44% contained false data. These findings are swept under the rug by most mainstream news outlets, which is a problem in itself. If government-funded research produces such sloppy results, the taxpayers funding it at least deserve to know the outcomes of the experiments they paid for.</p>
<h2 id="link-0">Getting to the Root of the Problem</h2>
<p>To understand why government-funded research tends to be so inaccurate, it's crucial to look at history and remember how government involvement in research started.</p>
<p>It all ties back to the National Science Foundation (NSF), one of the first government agencies built for funding science. In the late 1940s, one of the most outspoken supporters of the NSF was Democratic Senator Harley Kilgore. His <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/195909898" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">motivations</a> were clear: the NSF was to provide the government with a pool of educated researchers that could be used for strategic purposes during the Cold War. Scientific inquisition was never the primary purpose of the NSF.</p>
<p>In addition to this, the system of “checks and balances” in scientific research is completely off-kilter. Private journals risk damage to their reputation if it is revealed that they have published fraudulent research. Privately funded journals compete to be the best among pools of hundreds of other publications. To maintain legitimacy in the eyes of future researchers and funders, publishing high quality research is in the private journal’s self-interest.</p><div style="clear:both;"><div id="om-fqmeg7lcejd7fy5oro5r-holder"></div>
<div id="om-lxkcubhhqwmdm0lkjkbp-holder"></div>
</div>
<p>Academic institutions funded by governments, on the other hand, are motivated to shield their researchers, as researchers play a crucial role in securing substantial grant funding for the institution, often reaching into the millions of dollars. Government exists in a playing field outside the private sector—they aren’t competing against other specialized journals. Because they aren’t specialized and fund a wide array of projects, they can often afford to let “a few bad apples” through (unfortunately, at the expense of taxpayers).</p>
<p>The source of funding also undoubtedly (at the very least subconsciously) sways the research outcomes. There are several ways the government introduces bias into research. For one, the state often ignores certain scientific queries, forcing researchers to adopt different hypotheses or study different questions to gain any funding. Without any market forces guiding research and development, study objectives start aligning more with the interests of bureaucrats and less with the interests of patients.</p>
<p>Government agencies also don’t want to fund proposals that contradict the agency’s political ideas. If the research’s outcome even slightly threatens the government’s power, funding is likely to be cut off, often for extended periods. These outcomes are clearest when it comes to funding regarding the social sciences and economics, but also occur with life science research. 34% percent of scientists receiving federal funding have <a rel="nofollow" href="https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA232946869&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00280836&p=HRCA&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E540ab4b7&aty=open-web-entry" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">acknowledged</a> engaging in research misconduct to align research with their funder’s political and economic agenda. Moreover, a mere 24% of these researchers have disclosed these ethically questionable research practices to their supervisors.</p>
<p>This incentive structure also explains why there is a limited amount of research into the accuracy of government-funded research. Many researchers are simply too afraid of the funding and reputational consequences that come with revealing problems with government funding. When there is research into federal funding bias, it is often concentrated on very specific and politically divisive topics (such as the use of stem cells). A team of researchers at the CATO Institute <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/working-paper-29.pdf" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">found</a> just 44 Google Scholar articles from 2010-2014 that dealt with this type of government bias influencing research.</p>
<h2 id="link-1">The Private-Sector Alternative</h2>
<p>The government’s overpowering role in science simultaneously crowds out private sources of funding. Despite this, there is some good news: the private sector is getting more and more involved in scientific funding by the day.</p>
<p>Globally, 70% of science is <a rel="nofollow" href="https://council.science/actionplan/science-private-sector/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">financed</a> privately. Charities like the American Cancer Foundation and Howard Hughes Medical Institute collectively contribute billions of dollars to spurring innovation in their respective fields.</p>
<p>For example, renowned <a rel="nofollow" href="https://bbrfoundation.org/about/people/helen-s-mayberg-md" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">neurologist</a> Dr. Helen Mayberg’s research into deep brain stimulation as a depression treatment wasn’t supported by government grants. Instead, private sources funded her research. Yet, her discoveries led to additional trials and eventually breakthroughs in the way depression is treated.</p>
<p>Most Americans treat government-funded science as the holy grail of scientific research, but it truly isn’t. Without proper market signals guiding the direction of research, millions of tax dollars are lost, and thousands of hours of scientific research are wasted. As Milton Friedman explained regarding government funding of science, “The scientific ability of really able people is being diverted from the goals they would like to pursue themselves to the goals of government officials.” It's up to the next generation to decide who they trust more: scientists, or the state?</p>
<div>
<img src="http://fee.org/media/43250/ezgifcom-crop-9.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&height=100&widthratio=1&rnd=133371776500000000" width="100" height="100" alt="Ulyana Kubini">
</div>
<div>
<h5>
<a href="http://fee.org/people/ulyana-kubini/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">
Ulyana Kubini
</a>
</h5>
<p class="brief-bio">
</p><p>Ulyana Kubini is a Ukrainian-American entrepreneur and political activist.</p>
</div>
<p style="font-style: italic;">This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the <a href="https://fee.org/articles/science-has-a-major-fraud-problem-here-s-why-government-funding-is-the-likely-culprit/">original article</a>.</p>
<img src="http://fee.org/counter/205922" width="1" height="1" alt="" /><script src="https://fee.org/Scripts/fee-repub.js" async="async"></script>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/22/science-has-a-major-fraud-problem-heres-why-government-funding-is-the-likely-culprit/">Science Has a Major Fraud Problem. Here’s Why Government Funding Is the Likely Culprit
</a>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-5235659395037221882024-01-22T12:59:00.000-08:002024-01-30T16:51:42.576-08:00Computer Gaming World (August 1986)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgFA0-OKPKxFZNOOPphwN5Fe48Kw5EhNqP27mZOy-9hArmWJrRZXphoDIrK4SSaD6kDpkiS6zezePYY8G9XYJbKMTXlMqQwAeB8YUAe_oljx9E7kHCyrMLENOv70PQuIeSatSD7jgRFOnQOn0QR4oHvfYWnX1NM4mlOXNqDP8i5IHadF8cJio7NpF4Mk/s1606/cgw_030_1986-08_01.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1606" data-original-width="1205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgFA0-OKPKxFZNOOPphwN5Fe48Kw5EhNqP27mZOy-9hArmWJrRZXphoDIrK4SSaD6kDpkiS6zezePYY8G9XYJbKMTXlMqQwAeB8YUAe_oljx9E7kHCyrMLENOv70PQuIeSatSD7jgRFOnQOn0QR4oHvfYWnX1NM4mlOXNqDP8i5IHadF8cJio7NpF4Mk/s600/cgw_030_1986-08_01.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/22/computer-gaming-world-august-1986/">Computer Gaming World (August 1986)</a>
<p>Computer Gaming World was the first major computer games magazine in the U.S. It was published for many years, eventually morphing into Games for Windows and dying not long after that. In its early days, it covered computers of all types. The August 1986 issue includes:</p>
<h1>Features</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>American Dream</b> - Review of a management simulation in which you are the CEO of a robot manufacturing company.
<br />
<li><b>Phantasie II</b> - Review of this RPG from SSI for the Apple II and Commodore 64. The mechanics of the Phantasie games are a sort of rudimentary predecessor to the AD&D Gold Box games that would come later.
<br />
<li><b>Industry Update</b> - An overview of the June Consumer Electronics Show. Some new products shown and/or announced include Accolade's Ace of Aces, Electronic Art's multiple new titles including Thomas M. Disch's Amnesia, Battlefront, Chessmaster 2000, Murder Party, Ogre, Mind Mirror, Scavenger Hunt, Bard's Tale II, Autoduel, Ultimate Wizard, Business Simulator, Ultima III and others. Plus releases from a new company called Cinemaware and more.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/computer-gaming-world-august-1986.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmTTQ3JjxL2mfUNLr2WFYDNzpDZAap4ifjWFARq7oquxKn/cgw_030_1986_08_03.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the August 1986 issue of Computer Gaming World</sub></center>
<h1>Departments</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Sports Scoreboard</b> - A look at some of the latest sports games including GBA Championship Basketball, Bop 'N Wrestle, an add-on disk for Leader Board as well as Avalon Hill's Tournament Golf and Micro League Baseball. </li>
<br />
<li><b>Amiga Preferences</b> - A brief look at new games for the Amiga including Mynd Walker, Mastertype, Rogue, and The Temple of Apshai Trilogy.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Commodore Key</b> - A brief look at the latest Commodore 64 game related releases including Garry Kitchen's Game Maker, Elite, Colossus, Booty & Cylu, Willow Pattern & Chimera, Gerry the Germ & Microcosm, Runestone & The Helm, Sabre Wulf & Underwurlde, Rasputin & Chicken Chase, Battle of Britain & Battle for Midway, Brian Bloodaxe, Revelation, Quovadis, Spell of Destruction, and lots more. Also noted is the fact that the Commodore 64 has sold more than any other home computer at this point at 3.5 million units.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Macintosh Window</b> - A look at the latest entertainment releases for the Macintosh including Orbiter from Spectrum Holobyte and Flight Simulator.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/computer-gaming-world-august-1986.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmUvdLFeZmjTV9m1ExAPCJbWGhPEBCt3b9Rmuw8S9nUd4t/cgw_030_1986_08_50.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back cover of the August 1986 issue of Computer Gaming World</sub></center>
<p>Read more: <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/22/computer-gaming-world-august-1986/">https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/22/computer-gaming-world-august-1986/</a></p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-42537940322291714532024-01-15T13:48:00.000-08:002024-01-23T11:52:18.486-08:00Compute! (November 1988)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYaeTtX2Cpw68j3fqvcl-RFhERG5EoAevIT_dzbUuTff_6OcSM5xZ7E5gtqhNbzZNcF-BkCGC2qlXhDyKOLbAV65xH7VNW90Qsu0rJV4qY-CY7mAoIdBEGexIDKz8dqW9pEeW-Z2LTYGXyE4KifEA5SDVvq4mXU8B_P8ifq38JuUWbHYqzamomnjB_UFs/s2128/Compute_Issue_102_1988_Nov-001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2128" data-original-width="1520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYaeTtX2Cpw68j3fqvcl-RFhERG5EoAevIT_dzbUuTff_6OcSM5xZ7E5gtqhNbzZNcF-BkCGC2qlXhDyKOLbAV65xH7VNW90Qsu0rJV4qY-CY7mAoIdBEGexIDKz8dqW9pEeW-Z2LTYGXyE4KifEA5SDVvq4mXU8B_P8ifq38JuUWbHYqzamomnjB_UFs/s600/Compute_Issue_102_1988_Nov-001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/15/compute-november-1988/">Compute! (November 1988)</a>
<p>Compute! covered popular home computers of the day. In the early days it covered exclusively 6502 based computers. By this time, they were covering all popular computers in the home which included The Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS based machines of all types, Commodore 64, Apple II, and maybe others. The November 1988 issue includes:</p>
<h1>Features</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Communicate by Design</b> - An introduction to desktop publishing including info on where to get more training.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Print That Page</b> - An overview of six printers recommended by Compute! including the Epson LQ-850, Star NB24-10, Okidata Microline 390, NEC Pinwriter P5200, Hewlett-Packard DeskJet, and Apple ImageWriter LQ.</li>
<br />
<li><b>How Are Computers Made?</b> - A photographic tour of the Tandy Business Products Plant in fort Worth, Texas, specifically following the production of a Tandy 4000.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/compute-november-1988.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmeVrEGjmLejRMJnH7j1BhaMz7FkXjCMFFe6zjZVxK39XC/compute_issue_102_1988_nov_004.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the November 1988 issue of Compute!</sub></center>
<h1>Reviews</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Fast Looks</b> - A brief look at recent releases including Sports Scheduler (software for organizing sports leagues) for the Apple II and DOS; and Cosmic Relief (an animated puzzle game) for the Amiga, Atari ST and Commodore 64.</li>
<br />
<li><b>NewsMaster II</b> - A page layout program from Unison World for DOS.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Springboard Publisher</b> - A desktop publishing program for the Apple II.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Street Sports Soccer</b> - Part of Epyx's Street Sports Series. According to this, Streets Sports Soccer is available for the Commodore 64, DOS, and Apple IIgs with an Apple II version coming in the Fall.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/compute-november-1988.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmS2ZMwZHAF7tnDNRfdARsp2qi6objSk3pJa9LzGQJBNxV/compute_issue_102_1988_nov_005.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the November 1988 issue of Compute! (continued)</sub></center>
<h1>Compute! Specific</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>MS-DOS</b> - Extend-a-Name, a memory resident program designed to allow you to use filenames greater than eight character filename plus three letter extension allowed by DOS; Microsoft an IBM announces MS-DOS 4.0; starting programs from batch files and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>64 & 128</b> - The possible demise of the Commodore 64/128 as software publishers de-emphasize releases for that platform; Bards Tale III by Electronic Arts released for the C64; Reach for the Stars released by SSG/Electronic Arts; Bubble Ghost released by Accolade; Metrocross released by Epyx; and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Apple II</b> - Apple IIgs version of Pirates released by MicroProse; Computer Learning News (a newspaper aimed at kids 8-12) soon to debut as a monthly publication; the Apple IIgs gets a software update (including GS/OS 2.0); and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Amiga</b> - New programming tools released including C.A.P.E. (assembler), MetaScope (debugger), and DSM (disassembler); Commodore introduces high resolution monochrome monitor; V.I.P. anti-virus software released; and more.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<h1>Columns</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Editorial License</b> - A criticism of personal computer provincialism.</li>
<br />
<li><b>News & Notes</b> - Apple released the Apple IIc Plus; DOS 4.0 released; Kyodai and Broderbund join forces to release Japanese games in the U.S.; and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Gameplay</b> - Orson Scott Card examines Romance of the Three Kingdoms.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Impact</b> - Why paper usage continues to rise in the era of the "paperless" office.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Discoveries</b> - Resources for using older computers such as the TRS 100/200, Plus/4, Timex Sinclair, VIC-20, and others for various purposes such as education.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/compute-november-1988.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmR6eBEqkAHgc1DvCuPDpthyHCYPEYmxKXwHKYh8WkfswX/compute_issue_102_1988_nov_126.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back cover from the November 1988 issue of Compute! (continued)</sub></center>
<p>Read more: <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/15/compute-november-1988/">https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/15/compute-november-1988/</a></p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-39580377570336457372024-01-10T06:16:00.000-08:002024-01-18T10:19:32.685-08:00RUN (October 1986)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip436uHgKoQ0TSHvQiR7fZ08bkIRsy8Q2rORslXppITkocwHjNP0haKNmZXvCr0O4nX_hURHCoM9D9JxkBusikSQpS3zGnBNJ-juMIVJr_WMMFfjEZ1CthsOw7xxOn96-5TRxDyhfrLwHC_9SEAtfr10AuVUc0VF-Lx-2PaoMm5rbTrQzcFWnoUk6TBxE/s1597/Run_Issue_34_1986_Oct-001.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1597" data-original-width="1177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip436uHgKoQ0TSHvQiR7fZ08bkIRsy8Q2rORslXppITkocwHjNP0haKNmZXvCr0O4nX_hURHCoM9D9JxkBusikSQpS3zGnBNJ-juMIVJr_WMMFfjEZ1CthsOw7xxOn96-5TRxDyhfrLwHC_9SEAtfr10AuVUc0VF-Lx-2PaoMm5rbTrQzcFWnoUk6TBxE/s600/Run_Issue_34_1986_Oct-001.jpg"/></a></div>
<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/10/run-october-1986/">RUN (October 1986)</a>
<p>RUN wasn't the first Commodore related magazine I ever bought but it was the last. I was buying and reading it sometime in 1989 until it died off at the end of 1992. I think I started picking it up after Commodore Magazine stopped being published and some of the Commodore 64 coverage they used to have was incorporated into RUN. The October 1986 issue includes:</p>
<h1>Features</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>Big Software For Small Business</b> - A look at some of the business related software available for the Commodore 128. Software covered here includes Vizawrite and Vizastar (word processing and database), Business Pro-Pak (statistics software that works in CP/M mode), Chartpak 128 (creates charts and graphics), The Consultant (database), Data Manager 128 (database/report writing/label-making), dfile128 (database), Fleet System 3 (word processor), Ghost Writer 128 (word processor), Jane 2.0 (word processor, spreadsheet, and database), Microsoft Multiplan (budgeting software), Paperback Writer/Planner/Filer 128 (word processing/database/spreadsheet), PaperClip II (word processor), Partner 128 (cartridge-based desktop accessory package), Swiftcalc 128 (spreadsheet), WordPro 128 (word processor), Word Writer 128 (word processor), Superbase 128 (database), and CMS General Accounting System (accounting).</li>
<br />
<li><b>Software to Improve Your Business Picture</b> - A look at available Computer Aided Design packages including Flexidraw, CADPAK, CAD-3D, CAD GEM, GEOS (specifically GeoPaint), and CADPIC 64.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Computer Creativity</b> - A sort of case study of someone who uses a Commodore 64 for his art related business. Hardware used includes a Commodore 64, 1541 disk drive, Cardco CSD-1 disk drive, 1702 color monitor and Okimate-10 color printer. Software includes Word Writer, Sylvia Porter's Your Financial Planner, Movie Maker, KoalaPainter, and Design Lab.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Commodore Power</b> - Another case study in the use of Commodore computers. In this case, a power plant in Fort Pierce, Florida is using Commodore 64s for word processing, recording in plant meter readings, and generating summaries, calculations and reports for plant activities. Software used includes Multiplan, VizaStar, Superbase64, Speedscript and The Print Shop. The VIC-20 is also being used as a data collection instrument that reads gas and watt meters then generates various calculations.
<br />
<li><b>64 Personal Ledger</b> - A type-in book keeping program for the Commodore 64 to help with things like home business or club finances.</li>
<br />
<li><b>High-Resolution Revolution</b> - A type-in hi-res drawing application for the Commodore 64.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/run-october-1986.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQma6Gekc9QDDWaQMPFN7nbj82SuwHxTLogS63TJDE13P1e/run_issue_34_1986_oct_006.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contents from the October 1986 issue of RUN</sub></center>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/run-october-1986.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmTnmyLw8frE3U9H3oEaj4w4Xjne37Tu8JS5WvtLbwPsNp/run_issue_34_1986_oct_007.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Table of Contens from the October 1986 issue of RUN (continued)</sub></center>
<h1>Departments</h1>
<ul>
<li><b>RUNning Ruminations</b> - A summary of the results of a recent reader survey.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Magic</b> - Short programs that perform various "magic". Included this month are some tips for using function keys, a program that highlights REM statements, a graph paper generator, sound effects when printing, a simple hi-res sketch program, a tip to append programs, a two-line Basic 4.5 quick loader, and more.
<br />
<li><b>Mega-Magic</b> - Like Magic above but slightly longer programs. This month are some routines for scrolling text in various directions.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Software Gallery</b> - Reviews of The Music Studio (music composer from Activision), Gato (World War II submarine sim), Your Financial Planner (finance program for the C128), Fleet System 3 (C128 word processor), Infiltrator (action game from Mindscape), Jet (combat flights sim), Personal Inventory/Personal Account/Time Manager (CP/M based software for the C128), Solo Flight (flight sim from MicroProse), GBA Championship Basketball: Two-on-Two (basketball game from Activision), Super Boulder Dash (arcade sequel from Electronic Arts), and more.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Basically Speaking</b> - A technique in BASIC for loading one program from another.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Telecomputing Workshop</b> - Questions answered about modems and online services for the Plus/4, recommendations for modems and terminal programs, terminal software for the Commodore 128, and PunterNet.</li>
<br />
<li><b>Q-Link Happenings</b> - Q-Link was a Commodore specific online service. Eventually, it became AOL. Updates noted here include improved Free Software Library, new casino games, music news and more.</li>
<br />
</ul>
<center><a href = "https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2024/01/run-october-1986.html"><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmNWZpFuh3LYNUMtWFFg2H1caYu6NAKpVAFskGkeRDizin/run_issue_34_1986_oct_148.jpg" width="560"></a><br /><sub>Back cover of the October 1986 issue of RUN</sub></center>
<p>Read more: <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/10/run-october-1986/">https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/10/run-october-1986/</a></p>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-53630864806025191722024-01-04T12:11:00.000-08:002024-01-04T12:11:41.934-08:00Economists Are Roasting Biden’s ‘Incoherent’ Inflation Tweet—and for Good Reason<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxnPajupDzb_keZT34wavzKBXk1lI6-jtXGb6WsEWj2bXJnMqg0muszSmR3gYo_cQ9h1_vwb-AgxD2SUssDovBBFHeOEnuS5pYwnhIeD2cdJbGvGmx6PiJ1iRb-wYtpLBe9qLbMv2tl1r_MA3IhZjiEsMzvmWleaWZ5OXUKC72Sfy0CV1KM1m6T8pJns/s1200/biden-inflation.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxnPajupDzb_keZT34wavzKBXk1lI6-jtXGb6WsEWj2bXJnMqg0muszSmR3gYo_cQ9h1_vwb-AgxD2SUssDovBBFHeOEnuS5pYwnhIeD2cdJbGvGmx6PiJ1iRb-wYtpLBe9qLbMv2tl1r_MA3IhZjiEsMzvmWleaWZ5OXUKC72Sfy0CV1KM1m6T8pJns/s400/biden-inflation.png"/></a></div>
<p><span>President </span><a rel="" href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/joe-biden" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Joe Biden’s</a><span> approval rating is tanking, and he’s now trailing former President Donald Trump in national polls, as well as in </span><a rel="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/us/politics/biden-trump-2024-poll.html" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">some key swing states</a><span> .</span></p>
<p><em>Vox<span> </span></em><a rel="" href="https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/23949102/biden-polls-2024-losing-old-economy" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">blames the economy</a><span> for Biden’s plunging popularity — or at least voters’ perception of the economy. A new Gallup poll shows that just </span><a rel="" href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/544808/poor-marks-biden-middle-east-economy-foreign-affairs.aspx" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">32% of people</a><span> approve of Biden’s handling of the economy.</span></p>
<p><span>To combat the narrative that Biden’s policies are to blame, the White House has gone on the offensive, </span><a rel="" href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1730211325383434419" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">attacking billionaires</a><span> and </span><a rel="" href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/biden-discovered-economic-message-flat" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">blaming corporations</a><span> for the economic pain the public is experiencing.</span></p>
<p><span>“Let me be clear to any corporation that hasn’t brought their prices back down even as inflation has come down: It’s time to stop the price gouging,” Biden </span><a rel="" href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1730247565537390998" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">tweeted</a><span> . “Give American consumers a break.”</span></p>
<p><span>It’s a strange line of attack for several reasons, but the most glaring one is that it’s entirely devoid of economic sense, something University of Michigan economics professor Justin Wolfers </span><a rel="" href="https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers/status/1730289675573543267" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">observed</a><span> on X.</span></p>
<p>“This is not only incoherent; it’s unhelpful,” Wolfers, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Brookings Institution, said of Biden’s tweet. “It’s incoherent because lower <a href="https://fee.org/articles/how-inflation-drinks-your-milkshake/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">inflation</a> is cause for firms to moderate their price hikes, rather than cut prices. It’s unhelpful because the only path back to earlier price levels is deflation, which comes with massive economic pain.”</p>
<div style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" class="" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 854px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=feeonline&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1730289675573543267&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Ffee.org%2Farticles%2Feconomists-are-roasting-biden-s-incoherent-inflation-tweet-and-for-good-reason%2F&sessionId=4ce3804fafd6a4987c79c70a2fe42a07e7a029e4&siteScreenName=feeonline&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" data-tweet-id="1730289675573543267"></iframe></div>
<p><span>Melissa S. Kearney, an economics professor at the University of Maryland, </span><a rel="" href="https://twitter.com/kearney_melissa/status/1730369745403158752" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">responded</a><span> with a face-palm emoji.</span></p>
<p>“I’m guessing the economists weren’t consulted on this one,” Kearney deadpanned.</p>
<p>The obvious fact the Biden White House missed is that while inflation might be slowing, it’s still positive, which means prices are still increasing — and at a clip much faster than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. That companies would cut prices amid a general rise in consumer prices defies economic sense.</p>
<p><span>A second problem with Biden’s tweet is that he points the finger at companies for inflation that stems from the government’s policies. In one of his most famous lectures, the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises pointed out that inflation is just that: </span><a rel="" href="https://mises.org/library/inflation" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">a policy</a><span> .</span></p>
<p>And if we look at recent U.S. monetary policy, it’s clear why people are suffering from inflation.</p>
<p><span>Over a four-year period, the Fed </span><a rel="" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WM2NS" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">increased the M2 money supply</a><span> from $14 trillion to $22 trillion at its height in the summer of 2022, an increase of more than 50% in just four years.</span></p><div style="clear:both;"><div id="om-fqmeg7lcejd7fy5oro5r-holder"></div>
<div id="om-lxkcubhhqwmdm0lkjkbp-holder"></div>
</div>
<p>The M2 money supply has fallen slightly, to $21 trillion, due to tighter Fed policy, but it is still significantly above pre-pandemic levels.</p>
<p>This is the cause of price inflation, and one need only look at the Fed’s description of what causes inflation to confirm this.</p>
<p><span>“Inflation is caused when the money supply in an economy grows at a faster rate than the economy’s ability to produce goods and services,” the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis states on its “ </span><a rel="" href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/education/feducation-video-series/episode-1-money-and-inflation#:~:text=Inflation%20is%20caused%20when%20the,round%20one%20to%20round%20two." class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">Money and Inflation</a><span> ” resource page.</span></p>
<p>The obvious question is: If printing money causes inflation, why are we doing it?</p>
<p><span>The Fed has long claimed that inflation is just the price we must pay to keep unemployment low, but using monetary policy to fight unemployment has always been problematic. It’s true that there is, generally, an inverse relationship between unemployment and inflation, as demonstrated by </span><a rel="" href="https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/PhillipsCurve.html" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">the Phillips curve</a><span> . When inflation rises, unemployment falls and vice versa — at first.</span></p>
<p><span>This relationship </span><a rel="" href="https://fee.org/articles/why-the-late-robert-lucas-deserved-his-nobel-prize/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked" data-toggle="popover">weakens over time</a><span> , however, which is why some astute economists, including the Nobel Prize-winner </span><a rel="" href="https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Hayek.html#:~:text=Hayek%20believed%20that%20Keynesian%20policies,to%20get%20higher%20and%20higher." class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">F. A. Hayek</a><span> , believed that using monetary policy to curb unemployment would inevitably result in higher and higher inflation, as central banks would have to print more and more money to maintain low unemployment.</span></p>
<p><span>We’ve seen this phenomenon play out in numerous countries in recent history, </span><a rel="" href="https://www.aier.org/article/argentinas-rampant-inflation-explained-in-one-chart/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">including Argentina</a><span> , where inflation is above 140%. Despite Argentina’s high inflation, its unemployment rate </span><a rel="" href="https://www.focus-economics.com/country-indicator/argentina/unemployment/#:~:text=The%20unemployment%20rate%20in%20Argentina,information%2C%20visit%20our%20dedicated%20page." class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">has averaged</a><span> about 8.5% over the last decade. In other words, Argentina has high inflation </span><em>and<span> </span></em><span>high unemployment, just as the United States did in the 1970s.</span></p>
<p><span>Managing unemployment might be the stated reason for inflationary policy, but the actual reason seems to be something else: It facilitates government spending. As the Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman </span><a rel="" href="https://twitter.com/miltimore79/status/1732411754175721938" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">and others</a><span> have pointed out, inflation is a tax.</span></p>
<p>Taxes are what facilitate government spending, and once one grasps that inflation is a tax, the inflation picture becomes clear. Inflation is caused by expanding the money supply, but the impetus behind the money printing is government spending.</p>
<p>Politicians can’t admit this, of course. So they concoct ridiculous economic arguments that blame companies for the very inflation their policies cause.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jmmfT0JnvPc?si=j5hfHN6MRuvkjVKe" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/patriotism-unity/biden-flunks-econ-101-with-incoherent-inflation-tweet" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">This article originally appeared on The Washington Examiner</a>. </p>
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<img src="http://fee.org/media/29962/jonmiltimore2.jpg?center=0.43496801705756932,0.47333333333333333&mode=crop&height=100&widthratio=1&rnd=131810530440000000" width="100" height="100" alt="Jon Miltimore">
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<a href="http://fee.org/people/jon-miltimore/" class="keychainify-checked steem-keychain-checked">
Jon Miltimore
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<p class="brief-bio">
</p><p>Jonathan Miltimore is the Editor at Large of FEE.org at FEE.</p>
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<p style="font-style: italic;">This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the <a href="https://fee.org/articles/economists-are-roasting-biden-s-incoherent-inflation-tweet-and-for-good-reason/">original article</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/01/04/economists-are-roasting-bidens-incoherent-inflation-tweet-and-for-good-reason/">Economists Are Roasting Biden’s ‘Incoherent’ Inflation Tweet—and for Good Reason</a>Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328197687887917483.post-74898809053520041842024-01-04T12:05:00.000-08:002024-01-04T12:05:36.749-08:00Vintage Photos - Oestreicher (1261-1264)
<p>See the previous post in this series <a href = "https://hive.blog/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-oestreicher-1257-1260">here</a>. </p>
<p>I had the opportunity to pick up a huge batch of slides a while back. These pictures span from as early as the late 1940s to as late as the early 1990s. These came to me second hand but the original source was a combination of estate sales and Goodwill. There are many thousands of these slides. I will be scanning some from time to time and posting them here for posterity.</p>
<p>Getting your pictures processed as slides used to be pretty common but it was a phenomenon I missed out on. However, my Grandfather had a few dozen slides from the late 1950s that I acquired after he died. That along with having some negatives I wanted to scan is what prompted me to buy a flatbed scanner that could handle slides and negatives, an Epson V600. It can scan up to four slides at a time with various post-processing options and does a decent enough job. </p>
<p>This set continues a large batch of slides that originally came from an estate sale and appear to have belonged to a locally well known photographer (or perhaps a friend or family member) from the Spokane Washington area and later Northern Idaho named Leo Oestreicher. He was known for his portrait and landscape photography and especially for post cards. His career started in the 1930s and he died in 1990. These slides contain a lot of landscape and portrait photos but also a lot of photos from day to day life and various vacations around the world. Here's an article on him from 1997 which is the only info I have found on him: <a href = "http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jan/04/photos-of-a-lifetime-museum-acquisition-of-leo/">http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jan/04/photos-of-a-lifetime-museum-acquisition-of-leo/</a></p>
<p>Many of these slides had the date they were processed stamped or printed on them. I've found that in cases where I could verify the date, that this date has typically been the same month the photos were taken. In other words, I expect that in MOST cases these photos were taken relatively near the processing date. </p>
<p>Click the link below to also see versions processed with color restoration and Digital ICE which is a hardware based dust and scratch remover, a feature of the Epson V600 scanner I am using. There are also versions processed with the simpler dust removal option along with color restoration.</p>
<p><b>Each of the photos in this set are labeled with names of people in the photos. No dates are included but they are likely from the late 1950s and at least the first one was taken around Christmas time based on the decorations you can see in the photo.</b></p>
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmRvSLi1fyq6efq4Srse5HsG6W1RhvGqj92jxrfdC29E7W/slides2k02_261a.jpg" width="560"><br />Rev. Jery Nelson + Leo</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmdkREkbNLBs8FxJNrau2sXVq6qbB6aHJcyGxv2qrXTTWW/slides2k02_262a.jpg" width="560"><br />Lillian Shannon, Grace Russell</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmT3nb4sc72QxueVpnzkRwM2qXuFtSiwCtSiSMmbZG4uNY/slides2k02_263a.jpg" width="560"><br />Olive Harrison</center><br />
<center><img src = "https://images.ecency.com/DQmZRUNeRS4Y51zj41e39Qt2oG2MpyAWmMA2paChKycmZNr/slides2k02_264a.jpg" width="560"><br />Leo + Marie</center><br /><br />
<p>The entire collection that has been scanned and uploaded so far can also be found <a href = "https://www.megalextoria.com/slides/index.php?twg_album=Leo_Oestreicher">here</a>.</p>
Megalextoriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15281908959579627139noreply@blogger.com0