Sunday, December 31, 2023

Artificial intelligence doesn't make a computer program exactly like humans because instinct and intuition are left out of Artificial intelligence

Of course this doesn't mean that people couldn't SIMULATE intuition and instinct in a computer program or programs either so it APPEARS to be human when it is not.

Define Artificial Intelligence

I realized that a computer program that can function for short or long periods of time autonomously would be considered Artificial intelligence. An autopilot in a car or truck or a Predator drone that can shoot hellfire missiles with or without a pilot flying it on the ground is also Artificial intelligence too under this definition. Under this definition "Google Translate" would also be Artificial Intelligence.

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ar·ti·fi·cial in·tel·li·gence
/ˈärdəˌfiSH(ə)l ənˈteləj(ə)ns/
noun
  1. the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.
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I'm optimistic about AI too. However, I know it's also going to kill as many people as cars and trucks do yearly here in the U.S. as well

 

In fact, one of the biggest killers is likely to be things like the Tesla (and other cars) autopilot feature.

For example, even in my own main car we bought in 2022 it has this autopilot feature and it at times is a little scary if the car is driving itself if I'm on a freeway and passing a large semi truck. The autopilot just takes me too close to these big trucks so I have learned to take off the autopilot that drives the car automatically when passing big trucks on the freeway. So, these autopilot features and self driving taxis (which no driver at all aboard) I think are going to kill a lot of people who aren't either technically proficient or who are dumb enough to ride in a driverless taxi.

I think riding in a driverless taxi is about equally as dangerous (for now) as riding a motorcycle between cars on a busy freeway or sky diving. But that's just my opinion.

Then on top of this we will have (like China does now!) driverless Semi trucks crossing the U.S. Now those will get all sorts of people killed dead. So, even if you JUST are thinking about AI in regard to Vehicles it's going to cause all sorts of deaths because often people just are not technically knowledgeable to know what they are actually dealing with regarding self driving vehicles or vehicles with an Autopilot for some situations.

I had a 5000 mile trip for 5 weeks through Tahoe, Tetons, Glacier National Park, Banff in Canada and Lake Louise then across to Washington and Oregon and south to get used to a Autopilot in the car. And my wife was freaked out a lot until I learned to shut off the autopilot when passing semi Trucks on the Freeway!

So, it took me 5000 miles to fully understand how amazing and simultaneously dangerous Autopilots are on cars and trucks.

If you imagine your autopilot on your vehicle is a 5 year old child sitting in your lap learning to drive, this might be the most realistic way to assess what you are actually dealing with in an autopilot in a car or truck. 

I bought a Toyota Tundra Truck in 2011 new with a smaller V8 engine that gets 20 miles per gallon

However, recently I was pricing a similar Toyota Tundra 2024 and realized that you cannot buy the smaller V8 engine because they don't sell that engine anymore on Tundras which tends to go 300,000 miles or more without a rebuild if you maintain it  properly with things like Synthetic Oil and such to keep the engine from burning out early.

However, now you have to buy a Hybrid and that only gets 22 miles per gallon. My thought is that: "Why do I want a hybrid that only gets 22 miles per gallon when I have a perfectly good small V8 truck that gets 20 miles per gallon with a 6 speed overdrive and a high and low range 4 wheel drive to boot already?"

So, for now at least I think I will keep my 20 mpg Toyota Tundra which has been a really great truck especially for 4 wheel driving on roads around Mt. Shasta and the vicinity. We have been really remote like 50 miles away from the nearest person more than once in it which for me is wonderful in the back woods as long as you have a forest service map because your cell phone isn't going to work that remote in that area anyway.

However, if you have an Iphone 14 or newer you have an emergency Satellite phone built into it for rescue that works very remote in an emergency if you get injured or lost. It even can work in the middle of the ocean they say for getting rescued in an emergency

Some people are going all electric like with the new Rivian Truck. But I worry about bouncing around on 4 wheel drive roads with something like that and whether all the electrical connections with an electric Vehicle could handle that without breaking electrical connections.

Also, we talked to someone staying nearby us in Mt. Shasta with a Rivian Truck and they were going 4 wheeling in their Rivian Truck and brought along their own gas powered generator so they wouldn't get stuck out somewhere without electricity.

I did find out in an emergency that the stock Jack in my Toyota Tulundra wasn't any good for emergencies so I bought a 12 ton hydraulic Jack and I also bring along a 12 volt air compressor in case a tire goes down or flat. I also carry now some of that liquid compressed rubber in a can for emergencies. However, if you use it your sensors that tell if your tire is down or flat won't work and that might cost around 600 dollars to replace if you use that stuff. This is why happened to us when we hit too sharp of volcanic rocks on a back 4 wheel drive road and got a slow leak in a rear tire.

Luckily, we met some campers or dualsport motorcycles, one of which had a 12 volt air compressor to fill up our tire after we used the liquid rubber in a compressed air can which messed up  the air pressure sensor in that tire and then we had to pay the $600 for a new air pressure sensor in that wheel for that tire.

So, if you go into the back country where there are no houses, or gas stations for 50 miles make sure your jack and your 12 volt air compressor works because your cell phone will not when you are that remote in that area.

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Tom Wilkinson, 'The Full Monty' and 'Batman Begins' actor, dies at 75

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I first became a survivalist around 1980. NOT regarding guns but more around food security

Several things happened in 1980 that made me think this way. First of all, Unemployment was 10% nationwide then and worse in selected places around the country. So, I put some of our cash reserves into buying 2 1/2 acres. At that time I could buy 2 1/2 acres without electricity with a spring on the land at 4000 feet for around 8000 dollars which I know seems impossible today. However, you do have to remember that we could get 7 feet of snow or more at one time anytime between December and April then too. So, it did have it's drawbacks. So, part of the year when the snows came I parked my International Harvester Scout II 4 wheel drive (the most amazing 4 wheel drive I have ever own in that it could push 2 sometimes 3 feet of snow and keep on going. I never bought a snow plow attachment for it because I watched friends trash their trucks costing them thousands of dollars in repairs when they did this who lived near us then in the wilderness. So, we built an A-Frame house which allowed us to not be there without caving the roof in with the snow load if we weren't there when the snow came down.

Back then, we buried non-perishable food in 50 gallon drums because we believed the U.S. Government was going to economically collapse because of the excesses of the Viet Nam war and really bad inflation worse than now. So, we bought good pasta and rice and bags of uncooked beans and things like 25 gallons of. Peanut butter and Maple Syrup so we had basic needs taken care of to survive. Then we also bought canned goods too. Things were really bad for many people but because we prepared for literally anything we were okay through all of this. Also, by investing cash into land we didn't have to pay rent. Then we sold my then wife's 1971 Westfalia Camper van and bought building materials with it which was enough to create the basics with plywood and roofing. My father who was 64 then came up with his camper in 1980 because he had just retired and helped me build our house too. At one point my father and I built two ladders out of lodgepole pines on our land and leaned them against the plywood on the roof and then put down first tar paper and then Green Felt Roofing to keep out the rain and snow. My father took an old water pressure tank from his 2 1/2 acres of retirement property in Yucca Valley, California and welded me up a Wood Stove for heating our A-Frame. We built a Loft for us all to sleep in above the first floor too because it is warmer above the wood stove in the winter time when it is snowing outside.

So, we always had enough food even when others were starving. So, I could always feed my family even when others couldn't from 1980 to 1985. But, I was never into the whole gun part of being a Survivalist because I thought that didn't make any sense. 

Then after the economy got better again we bought another business in the greater San Francisco Area because our oldest (then 12) didn't want to be home schooled anymore and wanted to go back to a regular school.

Note: By the way the main reason that the U.S. government didn't go bankrupt then is that Europe and Japan loaned the U.S. enough money so it didn't go bankrupt from the outlandishly expensive Viet Nam war that we lost anyway.

So, our friends that we had loaned money to to get back on our feet in Europe and Japan saved us by loaning us money so we didn't go bankrupt then.

I didn't think this was possible at the time but you learn something new every day.

But, preparing for food insecurity by preparing ways to not be food insecure I think is still a good idea today, especially because of inflation. So, having non-perishable food for a rainy day of food insecurity is always important.

Because whatever you buy now is going to be more expensive tomorrow. So, if you have a good place to store non-perishable food then maybe buy now while it is less expensive is a good idea. Because food is only going to go up in price because of Global Climate changes and uneven rain patterns worldwide now.

I think preparing for the inevitable weather changes is equally important to trying to slow the changes down

First of all, any serious weather person on TV is going to tell you that it will be 300 years at the earliest that we can slow this thing down (even if we didn't burn another log or petrochemical right now ever again on earth and even if we shot all the herds of cattle and sheep on earth and everyone became a vegetarian to prevent methane depletion of the higher atmosphere. Even then the melting permafrost is releasing untold millions of gallons of methane (not sure of a useful measurement for Methane).

So, because it is going to (at the very least) get worse for 300 years no matter what we do, preparing for the inevitable will be a matter of life and death for millions if not billions of people.

If you watch the around 10,000 people coming up from South and Central America to the U.S. and Canada right now you see that they know they will starve and die or worse where they are from. This will not be 10,000 people a day coming north eventually it will be 1 million people a day and I don't know what we as Americans can actually realistically do about it. Because most people are just going to stay out of the line of sight of Border patrols unless they are really hungry so the Border patrol people will feed them so they don't starve to death.

So, finding a place where you can survive whatever the weather does might be important in the short and long run. A City (any big city) is the worst survival place you can be if the shit hits the fan by the way.

You need to either be in the Suburbs or further out in the country where there is farmland to build your place where you can survive what is actually coming. So, a lot of thought needs to be put into WHERE you can financially and physically survive along with your families and friends.

By God's Grace

2023's extreme weather is a sign of what's to come

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For at least 73 years I have been on a path called "Soul Travel"

My life was saved by Archangels from Whooping cough in 1950 when I was 2 years old. Ever since then (I'm now 75) I have been on a soul travel path. Though I had experienced having wings in dreams which is an indication of higher gifts and I have flown with my wings in dreams a lot growing up, I wasn't allowed to consciously soul travel where I could will it to happen sort of until my early 20s when I went to the Galactic Core and Met who the Greeks Called "Zeus" the present owner of this Galaxy that his family built. All Galaxies are built by the Creator Species that "Zeus?" is.

In fact, all our souls here on earth are of the Creator species that basically never dies and all galaxies like I said before are built by our Creator Species. Most of us on earth now are very old retired souls who take incarnation as human beings in order to extend our lives further than the millions or billions of years we have already lived.

By God's Grace

I think that Seers from Ancient Greece also Traveled to the Galactic Core by Soul Traveling like I did

 And just like I did I met who they called Zeus and the Zeus pantheon. And since Odin and Thor are so similar but set in the Nordic Scandinavian Regions I think people from Greece to Scandinavia all must have gone to the Galactic Core like I did Soul Traveling.

When I went around 1970 I went through the Sun because it is a Travel Portal for Souls heading towards the Galactic Core.

However, when I arrived at the Galactic Core people were surprised that I didn't die doing this.

I guess not many people are allowed to travel to the Galactic Core where the Black Hole is. But, I was.

When I got there the Leader of the Creators who I call "The Galactic Sentience" but many citizens of the Galaxy call him "God".

However, he doesn't like being called that and considers people who call him a God sort of provincial and ignorant.

So, when I soul traveled to the Galactic Core expecting to meet God I was introduced to the Galactic Sentience who the Greeks called "Zeus" instead.

By God's Grace

Even though the tides weren't as high today the waves were so big and strong that likely today there will be the most devastation from Oregon through California

I went to my favorite beach which has been gone (all the sand) from the big waves and even when I was on a 20 foot high bluff on a bench built there some of the spray got to me and at one point I thought I could be washed off the 20 foot high bluff. Then I looked to my right and the ocean was almost reaching the road. When I drove further down the water was pushing rocks and sand across the paved road we were driving on.

This is why today I think the damage is going to be even worse than with the super high tides. However, it is true that today the King tide Still was about 6.8 feet instead of the 7.6 feet vertically that it has been the last few days. I've also never seen as many tourists gather near the water and there were California state park rangers giving people tickets that walked through the barriers and onto the closed beaches too.

Life Guards and other Rescue people could die trying to rescue people on days like today from Oregon to The Mexico Border. So, I can see why Rangers were ticketing people who went down on the beach where it was closed.

Necessity is the mother of invention

In other words when you see people do extreme things (of any kind) it's often because they feel they have no other choice than to do what they are doing.

In watching human behavior this helps you survive not only your own "necessity is the mother of invention" but it also helps you survive others "Necessity is the mother of invention".

Because often if you interfere in any way when people are in extreme distress of one kind or another you might not survive it.

In my own life I had whooping cough that I almost died from at 2 years of age. Then I got a concussion and had seizures some times at night from this for 5 years until my cranium grew and the pressure on my brain was released. 

I noticed how afraid of girls and dating so many boys were but after facing death so much in my life girls for me were wonderful and not scary at all just because I had already died so many times in my life before I was 15 and started dating pretty regularly after that until I got married at age 26.

So, for me, meeting girls and dating was a wonderful relief from almost dying so much in my life. The other behavior that I got from near death experiences when young was that I became a risk taker.

I became a physical risk taker mainly because I couldn't really believe I was alive after almost dying so many times. So, I only really felt fully alive when I was on the edge of death after that. Only then would I believe I was actually alive still.

I think many of us have one type of medical PTSD or another in life from the traumas we survive during our lives.

But, the saying: "Anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is true in many ways.

By God's Grace

Friday, December 29, 2023

What is unusual about the weather here in California

 In California and Hawaii we are having these massive waves, high King tides and the rains are mostly pineapple expresses from Hawaii which means that they are warm rains so places like Mt. Shasta are not getting snow even though they are getting a great deal of rain so far this year. Whereas We haven't had that much rain so far in the SF Bay area as most of it has been to the north of us.

However, this is also about the time we got non-stop atmospheric Rivers last year too. So, since we are in an El Nino year where storms are hitting further south traditionally it could be a lot of rain left coming this year into 2024.

However, there is snow mostly above 8000 feet still just not in town yet in Mt. Shasta.

Massive waves slam California, with more expected Saturday

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Powerful cyclones over the North Pacific are combining with higher-than-normal tides to create dangerous waves and flooding. The National Weather Service in Los Angeles called it “an exceptional high-surf and coastal flooding event that has not occurred in many years,” in a forecast discussion Friday.25 mins ago
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11 hours agoVENTURA, Cali. (KTLA) — Video captured the terrifying moment beachgoers were slammed into by a massive rogue wave in Ventura, California, ...
10 hours ago... people were injured by a wave along Ventura beach on Thursday. Video above ... eight people were taken to the hospital, Ventura officials said.
4 hours agoA rogue wave strong enough to move a pick-up truck sent eight people to the hospital and damaged beach-front buildings along the Southern ...

Massive waves slam California, with more expected Saturday

Ventura and Santa Cruz counties could see more damage amid stormy conditions this weekend

Large ocean waves crashed into towns along California's coastline on Dec. 28. (Video: The Washington Post)
4 min

Waves as high as 25 feet continue to pummel the West Coast after a damaging barrage flooded beaches as far south as Los Angeles on Thursday and left logs scattered across roads as far north as southern Oregon.

Powerful cyclones over the North Pacific are combining with higher-than-normal tides to create dangerous waves and flooding.

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles called it “an exceptional high-surf and coastal flooding event that has not occurred in many years,” in a forecast discussion Friday.

Conditions improved somewhat on Friday, with the Weather Service downgrading high-surf warnings to a lesser high-surf advisory for much of the California coast. But forecasters expect the waves to ramp up again as a second giant swell arrives on Saturday.

“Impacts will only slightly lessen into Friday before an additional strong wave front arrives from the northwest, reinforcing extremely dangerous conditions at the beaches again on Saturday,” the Los Angeles Weather Service wrote.

Already, emergency responders have had to rescue several people from the ocean in Southern California, according to Ariel Cohen, the meteorologist in charge at the Weather Service’s Los Angeles office.

“We are dealing with potentially deadly conditions at the beaches so we really just encourage everyone to stay away from the water and be prepared for coastal flooding,” Cohen said.

Large waves crash into Duncan's Landing north of Carmet, Calif., on Thursday due to a Pacific storm pummeling Northern California. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat/AP)

Warnings across coastal California

High-surf warnings for waves of 15 to 20 feet, and up to 25 feet, are in effect through Saturday for beaches in Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Waves of up to 15 feet are also forecast for San Diego and Orange counties through the weekend.

A coastal flood warning is in effect for beaches in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties through 10 p.m. Saturday, while San Diego and Orange counties are under a coastal flood advisory — with less serious flooding expected — until 2 a.m. Monday.

Climate change could also be contributing to the higher seas. UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain noted Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter, that sea level rise is a background factor in the inundation seen in parts of California on Thursday. Higher sea surface heights right now, possibly due to the ongoing strong El Niño, may also be a partial cause, he said.

On Thursday, the giant waves arrived during mostly fair weather, but parts of the state will see rain Friday and into the weekend, exacerbating flooding.

“A lot of these places have smaller creeks and streams that run out to the ocean,” said Dalton Behringer, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Bay Area Office. “But they’re not able to drain as quickly as they normally would if we didn’t have that coastal run-up.”

The storm system over the North Pacific will send a strong cold front into California that will bring heavy rain, thunderstorms and mountain snow to the northern half of the state on Friday. Rain totals will range from a half inch to nearly 5 inches for isolated spots of coastal mountain ranges. For the higher peaks of the Sierra, 12-18 inches of snow are forecast. Wet weather with a chance of thunderstorms will move into Southern California on Saturday, with a 30 percent chance of rain again on New Year’s Day in the Los Angeles area.

A warning for future flooding

Some of the worst hit areas are in coastal communities that are still recovering from recent flooding events.

South of Santa Cruz, Capitola was heavily damaged by a bomb cyclone in January that wrecked the town’s wharf and closed some businesses for months. Waves once again rocked waterfront businesses on Thursday.

A utility worker runs from incoming water while inspecting downed power lines at The Venetian motel in Capitola, Calif., on Thursday. (Nic Coury/AP)

“Our message to those vulnerable communities is, you have to start planning the response and the changes now,” said Donne Brownsey, a previous chair of the California Coastal Commission.

Damaging waves events may become more common in the future. Sea levels in California are expected to rise nearly 2 feet by 2050, according to the Coastal Commission, which is sure to exacerbate future flooding and storm surge. Average wave heights near San Francisco have risen since the 1930s, apparently due to climate change, according to an August paper from a researcher at the University of California, San Diego.

Coastal cities are starting to adapt to changing conditions by building costly sea walls, dredging sand to replenish vanishing beaches and, in some cases, paying vulnerable property owners to relocate.

“I think everybody knows you have a set of not great options,” said Brownsey. “You choose the best of bad options, but if you can plan for it, it gives you a lot more tools in the toolbox to address it.”

Though it isn't as bad wave wise today still be careful whenever you are near a beach in California

Today I went out with my daughter to see how high the King Tides were today as they peaked here around 11 AM at another 7.6 Feet which is a really high tide any time of year vertically. Many parks and locations were closed so we couldn't go there and beaches mostly were all too dangerous to safely walk upon them anywhere in the Area where I live near the Greater San Francisco Bay area along the coast. People are having this same type of experience throughout the ocean areas of California with these extremely high tides called King Tides which come around this time of year. When you also have 20 to 40 foot waves at high tide it can really make a mess like it did in Capitola and in Ventura where 8 had to go the hospital from one rogue wave. The previous blog entry shows how 8 people got injured in Ventura from one big wave.

Video of 8 people being injured by wave who had to go the hospital in Ventura, California

This kind of thing has been happening up and down the coast in California all the way down to San Diego from the King Tides and 20 plus foot waves affecting people's lives in various ways.

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Rogue wave slams into Southern California beachgoers, 9 ...
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8 People Sent to the Hospital After Huge Wave
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Powerful CA wave crashes down on bystanders, sends 8 to ...
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