Author: sts
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Surpluses
NOTES FROM THE FIELDApril 5, 2026 — THE ROOM DECIDES WHO STAYS —Three movements, one week The past seven days produced three distinct structural developments. They are being reported as separate stories. They are not. I. THE PROMOTION PROBLEM On April 2, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth removed Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, along…
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Warehouse Acquisition
NOTES FROM THE FIELD April 1, 2026 — THE INFRASTRUCTURE REMAINS —The Warehouse Acquisition Program as Durable Architecture — WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING BUILT — In July 2025, Congress allocated $45 billion to ICE for immigration detention — more than a decade of normal detention funding delivered in a single appropriation. ICE is now the…
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Ducks in a row
NOTES FROM THE FIELDApril 1, 2026 — THE SEQUENCE —Birthright Citizenship, the Robot Economy, and the Architecture of Exclusion The Supreme Court heard arguments today on birthright citizenship. The framing in most coverage is immigration law. The framing in constitutional commentary is 14th Amendment precedent. Both framings are correct and both miss the more durable…
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South Maui Beaches
Life is at the beach and Kihei has almost 2 dozen of them with soft golden sand and one with black sand. All of them are a great place to spend some time whether you want to sit on the sand or frolic in the water & waves. Kihei Beaches (North to South) Wailea &…
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On theRroad
Trading my SSH terminal for the newly remodeled PDX terminal. This is our first time through. It is simply beautiful. Key Facts and FeaturesMass Timber Roof: The centerpiece is a 400,000-square-foot roof made of 18 million pounds of locally sourced timber, built off-site and lifted into place.Design & Sustainability: Designed to evoke a “walk in…
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Margie’s Xmas Gift
My Christmas gift to Marge arrived a few weeks late, but it did arrive. She now has a smart office, the smartest room in our smarter home.It took a little bit of hardware and a smaller bit of configuration for her dark office to light up by simply entering the room. If she’s gone for…
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Owsley ‘Bear’ Stanley
I was never a deadhead, but with the recent passing of Bob Weir I watched several videos of him performing with others. It didn’t take too long for the algorithm to offer me this one about the soundman for the Grateful Dead and the person responsible for the Dead’s rise to fame and so much…
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Cooling Pis
When I put the Pis into their cases I failed to take into account the heat the bottom mounted NVMe drives would generate or that the case would trap that heat to the point the Pi would go into thermal shutdown. There are lots of vents on the sides of the case so I thought…
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Architecting Your Digital Sovereignty
Most “Smart Homes” are rented, not owned. They rely on cloud-dependent devices that stop working when the internet drops or a corporation changes its terms of service. For those who demand privacy, speed, and absolute control, there is a better way: The Private Digital Estate (PDE). Your PDE should be tailored to your needs and…
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AI as a coding partner
For the past few months I’ve been using Google’s Gemini AI. The first few weeks were with Gemini 2.5; I would also try MS Copilot. The were equally frustrating as I struggled how best to use them in setting up my Pi shop. Then Gemini 3 was released and things improved immensely, sorta, maybe. AI…
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