Post for December 18
# 1585
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Opening Picture
Chip
Integrated circuit from an EPROM memory microchip
Zephyris - Own work
An EPROM microchip die showing the detail of the integrated circuit itself and the silver wires which connect the die to legs of the chip. The image covers an area of approximately 5 by 4 mm. This is a high-magnification view of the die in the chip in the foreground of this image: File:Microchips.jpg
Permission details
For information about commercial use please contact me via my website.
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Commentary
Although I fear Trump’s mesmerizing hold on a significant part of America’s electorate, and although I revel in every downturn in his fortune, there is a sadness in watching a human being come apart in full view of 1,000,000,000 people across the globe. These post-Thanksgiving days have seen Donald Trump degenerate from the ludicrous toward the insane.
Do we really want to daily watch a sick person break apart as part of our morning news?
Years ago, Senator Daniel Moynihan coined the phrase ‘benign neglect’.
While in its day the use of that phrase was poorly conceived, I’m thinking Trump’s disintegration may provide an opportunity to utilize this concept and to ignore Trump’s antics as we ignore the involuntary tics of victims of Tourette’s Syndrome.
Tangentially, I find watching his opponents pecking at his growing illness, exacerbating the syndrome, even more distasteful,
Inevitably, the Loser King will lose his sanity. I hope we will find the grace to permit him to come apart in private.
Goya's Madhouse, 1812-1819
Francisco de Goya - [1]
Spanish: Casa de locos or Manicomio The Madhouse
Permission details
PD-Art
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Commentary II
The United States does not currently have the same talent and supply chain pipeline (as some Asian countries do) to support a robust homegrown chip-manufacturing industry.
But President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act has led and is leading to hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in American state-of-the art chip manufacturing that will take us to the forefront of this critical industry and, in the process, is creating who knows how many tens of thousands of high-paying, high-skill jobs.
This is crucially important for America’s workers and equally essential to robustly ensure America’s independence in the supply of the leading-edge chips used in virtually every facet of the American economy and defense.
While we have years to go before we can proclaim ourselves independent from outsourced high-tech chip manufacturing, thanks to the President’s thinking, we are cruising down the highway in that direction.
CHIPS and Science Act signing 8 9 2022
President Joe Biden signing the bill into law on the South Lawn of the White House on August 9, 2022
The White House - P20220809ES-0333
President Joe Biden signs H.R. 4346, “The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022”, Tuesday, August 9, 2022, on the South Lawn of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Erin Scott)
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Commentary III
Free public transportation would be a great addition to America’s quality of life. It’ll keep money in the hands of working-class-Americans who daily swamp public transportation to get to appointments of all kinds, most noticeably to their jobs.
(Of course, the idea is incumbent on a progressive tax system that provides the money the costs of transportation.)
Subway in Tokyo
Thank you Flickr
Note this wonder: In Tokyo, Japan, the first arrivals for trains stand single file on markers scored into the station floor. Subsequent patrons line up behind the first arrivals. The trains stop exactly in place, doors opening directly in front of the lines of commuters. There is no jostling for position. You get in line and wait your turn to get on. Pretty amazing.
Same thing above-ground at street crossings: there is no jay-walking. Even when no cars are in sight, like late at night, Japanese pedestrians will patiently wait until they get the white pedestrian light to cross the street.
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Dr. Mike shares:
Baker urges big shift in health care payment models
SHNS
Job vacancies in health care loom as one of our most significant challenges, Baker said. He warned that a depleted workforce could spill over into slowing the "throughput" of patients from one provider to another. That creates both "real cost consequences" for patients as well as "pretty severe" financial challenges for providers, who as a result need to carry patients longer than expected while still getting paid a fixed amount, the governor said. "You shouldn't just think about the staffing issue as a challenge for each particular part of our system," Baker told the HPC. "That's real, but you should also think about what it means (for) the system's ability to behave as a system when they end up in a situation like this."
Overworked medical staff
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Recipe
Slow Roasting keeps the meat juices inside the meat. A hot oven, over 275*, sweats the juices out of the meat and into the roasting pan, leaving behind a drier chicken or roast beef. ‘How to’ slow roast follows.
Unwrap the roast and get it ready for the oven, either in a poultry rack or a simple rack to raise it off the bottom of the roasting pan. Let the outer layer of the meat dry out in the refrigerator, overnight if you have the time.
Take the meat directly from refrigerator and season the meat to your taste. I usually don’t.
Set the roast on the bottom rack of a cold oven and turn the oven to 200*. Set your timer. For lamb, duck, and beef, cook for 32 minutes per pound. For turkey, chicken, and pork, cook for 60 minutes per pound.
Prepare an oil-based seasoning.
When the slow roast is done, remove the meat from the oven. Crank the heat. If cooking a multi-meal roast, crank the oven to 500*. For an individual chop or steak, set oven to Broil and slide a skillet or baking pan on the top shelf where it will get dangerously hot.
Brush seasoning all over the slow-roasted meat.
INDIVIDUAL CHOPS OR STEAKS: After 4 minutes the baking pan or skillet for the single portion is searingly hot. Paste a thin layer of oil in the pan and a thin layer of oil to one side of the meat. Set the dry side of the meat on the oiled surface of the pan and return the pan to the top shelf where it will finish cooking in 3.5 minutes, broiling on one side and searing on the other. Chops or boneless steaks will thrive. When removing the pan, be careful. Very.
LARGER ROAST: After 4 minutes the oven will be hot enough to add color to the roast. Roast the meat for an additional 15 minutes at this highest heat.
It's important to let the meat sit for 20 minutes or more to give the juices time to settle. Without that pause, when you slice the roast the heat-activated juices will pour out.
For a sauce, I chop parsley and/or basil into softened butter, with salt, coarsely ground pepper, and lemon juice.
Slather this over the steak as it settles on the carving board.
Roast Duck
D'Artagnan Duck Meat - Antibiotic & Hormone-Free - dartagnan.com
https://www.dartagnan.com/Gourmet Duck
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Chuckles and Thoughts
When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one
individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command.
Very often, that individual is crazy.
~Dave Barry
Rake’s Progress
Engraving of the eighth print of A Rake's Progress, depicting inmates at Bedlam Asylum, by William Hogarth
William Hogarth - (McCormick Library, Northwestern University); Retrieved from [1][1]
The Interior of Bedlam (Bethlem Royal Hospital), from A Rake's Progress by William Hogarth, 1763.
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Understanding Aging at 80
Falling is the action of a person or animal losing stability and ending up in a lower position, often on the ground. It is the second-leading cause of accidental death worldwide and a major cause of personal injury, especially for the elderly. Falls in older adults are a major class of preventable injuries.
I must have been daydreaming. Stepping onto the sidewalk my foot slipped and I fell forward and hard.
Fortunately there was a lamppost within reach and my right hand shot out and slammed the post with enough force to break my fall.
I got away with something that day.
So I thought.
The next morning my right hand was unusable.
I called my medical care providers and got an 11.00am appointment. After examination by a nurse practitioner, I got sent downstairs for x-rays and a splint for my arm and wrist. Early afternoon I received the results:
INTERPRETED BY: Marina Alfisher, M.D.
STUDY: HAND AND WRIST XRAY RIGHT MIN 3 VIEWS
DATE OF EXAM: 12/6/2022 11:50 AM
HISTORY: Injury of right hand, initial encounter
TECHNIQUE: PA, lateral and oblique views of the right hand and wrist were
obtained.
NUMBER OF IMAGES:
Hand: 3
Wrist: 3
COMPARISON: None.
FINDINGS:
Severe first CMC degenerative changes with joint space narrowing subchondral
sclerosis and large osteophytes. Carpal bone alignment is maintained without
significant degenerative changes of the radiocarpal or intercarpal joints.
Moderate narrowing of the second through fifth DIP joints. No erosive changes.
I took ibuprofen before I went to sleep.
Next day the pain from the fall is mostly gone.
Unfortunately, the arthritis is very comfortable living in my thumb and will not be leaving.
Ever.
Falling Toddler
three phases in timed shutter release
Jamie Campbell from Emsworth (nr Portsmouth), U.K - Falling down
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Travel
Where to vacation.
Tuscany.
How did I decide how long my trip to Tuscany should be?
I returned to the first question: what do I want to do or see?
I’ve been to Tuscany before. But that was thirty years ago. Memories are faded.
And in the interim, I’ve grown particularly fond of some important works that I hadn’t seen then, particularly, Giotto’s Life of St. Francis and Piero della Francesca’s History of the True Cross, in Assisi and Arezzo respectively.
And I’m eighty now, eighty-one when I begin my trip. My level of appreciation of the loveliness of the world and the fineness of people has reached a height that eluded me in years past. I will interact with my environment and its population in a finer way.
And I have some experience-based insights I’d like to pass on to my daughter and son if they continue with their interest in joining me.
And after the strangeness of my trip to Japan, and with a growing interest in visiting the unknown Jerusalem and Cairo, something familiar and comforting sandwiched in between the ‘foreign’ is appealing.
And don’t forget the gelato at Vivoli in Florence.
Once my strategic goals had been set, Tuscan countryside plus Tuscany’s capital city, Florence, I used Bing maps to help me figure out the time to get from place to place. The maps proved a great tool to gauge time and distance which, in turn, enabled me to minimize the number of times we would need to move from one hotel room to another.
I broad-stroked each day: Assisi for both an easy landing after the flight plus the Giotto frescoes. Arezzo for the Piero frescoes, and Siena, for Siena and its immediate surroundings. It didn’t take long to realize that five days were needed to land in Assisi and tour using Tuscany using Siena as a home base. Further planning revealed that five or six days would be needed for Florence.
In the event, we settled on a five-night stint using Siena as a base, and a second hotel for a second five-night stint using Florence as a base, minimizing the packing and unpacking.
Now to settle on a departure date.
Life of St Francis
Nave of the upper basilica.
Starlight - Own work
Assisi, la Basilica superiore di San Francesco
Story of the True Cross
Arezzo. San Francesco. Vista de los frescos del presbiterio. Piero della Francesca.
Miguel Hermoso Cuesta - Own work
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Kat’s Corner
Here I am looking cold at a press conference outside City Hall for New York Senator Hoylman’s new bill, the “Access to Representation Act,” which would ensure everyone in immigration proceedings has access to a lawyer.
I’m the one sitting closest to you.
Wish I had a heating pad for my derriere.
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Screen
For those who enjoy quality TV series, I recommend two Korean-originating limited series. The first: the King’s Affection.
This story is set during the Joseon dynasty, at a time when twins were considered an ominous sign. As a result, when the Crown Princess gives birth to twins, an order is sent to kill the daughter. To save her, she is secretly sent out of the palace.
A few years later, the twin daughter Dam-yi returns to the palace to work as a maid. When the male twin, Lee Hwi, loses his life through a case of mistaken identity, their mother, having recognised her daughter as the court maid Dam-yi, persuades her to take Lee Hwi's place. Although she distances herself from everybody, Lee Hwi (Dam-yi) starts developing feelings for Jung Ji-woon, her original first love and later teacher who comes from a noble family.
Promotional poster of The King's Affection
KBS
This is a poster for The King's Affection. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the TV series, the publisher of the TV series or the graphic artist. Further details: The poster has the images of lead cast. Besides the entertainment value, the American viewer learns a great deal about Korean/Asian culture.
The second series is Mr. Sunshine.
Critics praised the drama[64] for its "deep storytelling" and its ability to raise viewers' awareness of history. The Korea Times applauded the drama for shedding light on those deemed peripheral in society, such as women and the lower classes, and for successfully laying out contradictions and hope in the fast-evolving late Joseon period; it also praised the show's strong female characters. Time's Kat Moon chose the show as one of the 10 "Best Korean Dramas to Watch on Netflix" and argued, "Besides serving up stunning cinematography, the show introduces two of the most dynamic female leads from the K-drama world".
Mr. Sunshine
This is a poster for the 2018 South Korean television series Mr. Sunshine. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the television series, tvN, the publisher of the television series or the graphic artist.
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts, including links.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Daughter Kat sent this photo saying: "Hey dad, I love New York.” Or is she saying, “What do you think of your daughter’s thrift shopping for clothes?”
Blog meister responds: Either way, what I’m hearing is what any father wants to hear: Daddy, I’m happy.
And another email from a friend who prefers to remain anonymous. This is in reference to my feeling poorly and wondering if I had an undiagnosed bout (s) with covid:
Dom:
There may be another answer: side effects of experimental Covid vaccine and multiple boosts.
When was your last booster? Have you felt better the further away you move from it?
Occam’s razor!
Blog meister responds: Maybe.
An 1802 cartoon of Edward Jenner's cowpox-derived smallpox vaccine
James Gillray - Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZC4-3147 (color film copy transparency), archival TIFF version (4 MB), converted to JPEG with the GIMP 2.4.5, image quality 88.
The Cow-Pock—or—the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation!—vide. the Publications of ye Anti-Vaccine Society Print (color engraving) published June 12, 1802 by H. Humphrey, St. James's Street. In this cartoon, the British satirist James Gillray caricatured a scene at the Smallpox and Inoculation Hospital at St. Pancras, showing cowpox vaccine being administered to frightened young women, and cows emerging from different parts of people's bodies. The cartoon was inspired by the controversy over inoculating against the dreaded disease, smallpox. Opponents of vaccination had depicted cases of vaccinees developing bovine features and this is picked up and exaggerated by Gillray. Although the central figure is often assumed to be Edward Jenner circumstantial evidence suggests this may not be so. Although the director of the Smallpox Hospital William Woodville had originally supported Jenner, he and his colleague George Pearson, were in dispute with Jenner by the time the caricature was published. It is unlikely they would have met Jenner and it has been suggested that the central figure represents Pearson. Gillray often included clues to identify individuals who were not easily recognizable, but the only clue here is the badge on the arm of the boy which identifies his connection with Woodville's hospital. The boy holds a container labeled "VACCINE POCK hot from ye COW" and papers in the boy's pocket are labeled "Benefits of the Vaccine". The tub on the desk is labeled "OPENING MIXTURE". A bottle next to the tub is labeled "VOMIT". The painting on the wall depicts worshippers of the Golden Calf.
And another email where sender asks for privacy. This is a comment on my dinner for my nieces and nephews only.
“Your dinner looks scrumptious! What a great tradition.”
Joachim Wtewael: Banquet of the Gods, around 1602
After Hendrik Goltzius - http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/master-paintings-evening-n10007/lot.53.html
Blog meister responds: “Amen’ to each of the thoughts.
And a last piece of mail for this week, From: Restaurant Reservation【My Concierge Japan】 myconciergejapan@gmail.com
Dear Dom Capossela
Thank you for your reservation at Wagokoro Izumi on Oct 21st.
We were informed by the restaurant staff that they may have received payment from you at the restaurant, when in fact you have already completed payment for your course in advance.
May we ask if you remember if this is the case and you made payment twice? Please let us know.
Sincerely,
My Concierge Japan
All reservations and inquiries are provided by "My Concierge Japan", a translation and contact support service.
Blog meister responds: The importance of this email is that the service discovered the overpayment and they took the steps to retrieve the funds, near $250.00 for dinner for one.
I am praising the service they rendered getting reservations for me for six of the most difficult to secure reservations in Japan or perhaps the world.
Is there anything like Champagne to announce, “Good things are coming.”
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Short Essay*
In a statement earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo dubbed the semiconductor shortage a “national security” issue because it exposed the dependency of US manufacturing on imports of semiconductors from abroad. Chips also serve critical military applications and are necessary for cybersecurity tools.
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny MOSFETs (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors) integrate into a small chip. This results in circuits that are orders of magnitude smaller, faster, and less expensive than those constructed of discrete electronic components. The IC's mass production capability, reliability, and building-block approach to integrated circuit design has ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discrete transistors. ICs are now used in virtually all electronic equipment and have revolutionized the world of electronics. Computers, mobile phones and other home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the small size and low cost of ICs such as modern computer processors and microcontrollers.
Very-large-scale integration was made practical by technological advancements in metal–oxide–silicon (MOS) semiconductor device fabrication. Since their origins in the 1960s, the size, speed, and capacity of chips have progressed enormously, driven by technical advances that fit more and more MOS transistors on chips of the same size – a modern chip may have many billions of MOS transistors in an area the size of a human fingernail. These advances, roughly following Moore's law, make the computer chips of today possess millions of times the capacity and thousands of times the speed of the computer chips of the early 1970s.
ICs have two main advantages over discrete circuits: cost and performance. The cost is low because the chips, with all their components, are printed as a unit by photolithography rather than being constructed one transistor at a time. Furthermore, packaged ICs use much less material than discrete circuits. Performance is high because the IC's components switch quickly and consume comparatively little power because of their small size and proximity. The main disadvantage of ICs is the high cost of designing them and fabricating the required photomasks. This high initial cost means ICs are only commercially viable when high production volumes are anticipated.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s biggest maker of advanced computer chips, recently outlines a $40 billion plan on Tuesday to expand and upgrade a U.S. production hub that it is building in Phoenix. At the 1,100-acre site, where gleaming buildings bearing the company’s logo are springing up among the desert shrubbery and cactus-dotted foothills, TSMC plans to import advanced manufacturing technology that has largely been limited to its factories in Taiwan.
At the start of the year, Intel said it planned to build a $20 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant in Ohio, and groundbreaking for the new chip plant took place just last month. And this month, Micron said it would invest up to $100 billion over the next two decades to build a massive semiconductor factory in upstate New York.
Intel announced it would spend $20 billion on a new chip production facility near Columbus, Ohio, and has plans to spend a similar amount building out plants in Chandler, Arizona.
Samsung floated the possibility that it could follow a previously announced $17 billion investment in chip production in Austin, with up to $200 billion on 11 plants in the area, Bloomberg reports.
But the US has much catching up to do. US-based fabs, or chip manufacturing plants, currently only account for 12% of the world’s modern semiconductor manufacturing capacity, according to data from the Semiconductor Industry Association trade group. Some 75% of the world’s modern chip manufacturing is now concentrated in East Asia – a majority of that in geopolitically-vulnerable Taiwan. And even with these renewed efforts, the United States does not currently have the same talent and supply chain pipeline as some Asian markets do to support a robust homegrown industry.
Portrait of Gina Raimondo as Secretary of Commerce under President Biden.
United States Department of Commerce - https://www.commerce.gov/about/leadership/gina-m-raimondo
*The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Community Pictures with Captions are sent in by our followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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