I revamped my office on Labor Day.

The essential elements are still here – the two tables, the many computers, the turntable, and sundry tech office things. Essentially the office doesn’t function significantly differently than before. It even has roughly the same layout. So, what changed?

Trash, first off. I got rid of 2 bag worth of recyclable detritus like empty tech boxes. Actually, it was mostly empty tech boxes.

Next came my main desk, the bigger of the two tables. I ad to replace a dying monitor a few weeks ago. Instead of ordering the same size (27”) or bigger and replacing the other one my son absconded with (which I gifted him) with the same, I got two smaller and lighter matching displays (24”). Between an on-line sale and some credits I got the pair for a song. Now, instead of my desk as the landing zone for a hodgepodge of various bits it houses the displays, the DSLR I use as a webcam, the microphone on a boom, and my coffee mug warmer.

Oh, and the sit/stand desk riser. I can use this for the first time this calendar year.

Layout wise, I moved the main desk back so I have more space & can see out my office door. The window is better positioned so I can look out and see the woods instead of my neighbor’s house. The ceiling fan and light are now above me instead of in front of me. This is far more comfortable.

However, perhaps the biggest change for my mental well being is the vast reduction in clutter. I carefully ran cables and tied them together with straps. Most of the piles of paper are out of view (until I process them).

The best thing about it, if you include the new monitors, the cost to do this was about $150 with the balance going to some screws, an extension cord, and some other bits ’n bobs. More of the cost went into time – about 5½ hours – with a but more to come to hang white boards (another part of the cost) and tidy my book shelves.

Well worth the effort!

I’m not an Olympics fan. I’m more than happy to talk your ear off about why. I also don’t care about the Oscars/Academy Awards, People’s Choice Awards, Grammys, what celebrities are up to, &c, a.k.a. entertainment. I will learn all I need to know through proximity to people who care about such things.

The news sources I follow frustrate me in that their apps won’t let me block such categories or topics. Apple News will.

Or, it pretends like I can. The interface isn’t always clear what it will block: is it the topic? A person mentioned in the article? The source itself? There is a block source option, but I reserve that for news outlets that aren’t worth my time or attention.

I blocked all that I could find in the topics related to the Olympics. Yet, now that they are in full swing, there is a whole section just down from the top stories that tell me the latest Olympics news and the medal counts.

I want the Olympics to get off of my lawn!

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Imagine a bill to study energy infrastructure in your state:

On March 2, a seemingly innocuous bill in the Tennessee General Assembly proposed a study on energy infrastructure,  but an amendment to remove local government’s ability to regulate fossil fuel infrastructure threw up red flags with legislators, local government officials and environmental groups.

(Dulce Torres Guzman via Tennessee Lookout)

Based on my limited understanding:

A libertarian would say the state should not supersede the will of the locality, and the locality not supersede the will of the local people and deny the pipeline;

A liberal would say the good of the many outweighs the good of the few (or the one), but part of the calculus should be the environmental impact and deny the pipeline;

A conservative would say the good for business is the good for all as pipelines and their ilk will create jobs, short term and long term and approve the pipeline;

A modern Republican would be for state’s rights, religious legislation, and where the others don’t intersect, a hands-off approach to business – in this case, probably pro pipeline and approve the pipeline;

A MAGA would demonize those against pipelines (pro conservative) and demonize those for local control (anti libertarian) and variously pro- and anti-Republican depending on short-term goals and approve the pipeline;

A modern Democrat will do something either in concert with other Democrats or not;

An independent informed thinker, not an Independent voter, will look at the proposal – pros and cons, history, who benefits – and will be disappointed that the State government is moving so fast on this item.

… the United States’ domestic war crimes law, the War Crimes Act of 1996 (as amended), has never been fully aligned with the nation’s obligations pursuant to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 to enact domestic legislation establishing jurisdiction over any individual suspected of committing a grave breach of these universally adopted humanitarian law treaties.

(Via Lawfare)

Also, hostis humani generis means an enemy of all mankind.

Anyway, read the whole article for the interesting and detailed details, such as

Congress deprived federal prosecutors of the authority to prosecute suspected war criminals discovered in the United States so long as they and their victims were aliens when their crimes were committed.

That, Dear Friends, is a loophole through which one could drive a oligarch’s yatch.

On 18 August 2021 a significant breach of T-Mobile was made known.

T-Mobile is warning that a data breach has exposed the names, date of birth, Social Security number and driver’s license/ID information of more than 40 million current, former or prospective customers who applied for credit with the company. The acknowledgment came less than 48 hours after millions of the stolen T-Mobile customer records went up for sale in the cybercrime underground.

(Via Krebs on Security)

Cut to March 2022, and the State of Tennessee has advice about this almost 6 month old breach:

State Attorney General Herbert Slattery is warning Tennesseans to take precautions from a massive data breach at T-Mobile from last summer.

A large amount of private data has just been put up for sale on the dark web.

That’s where criminals trade in stolen personal information.

It includes names, dates of birth, Social Security Numbers, and driver’s license information.

Slatery says more than 3/4 of a million Tennesseans were hit by the data breech.

He says victims have recently gotten alerts through various identity theft protection services about their info.

(Via WDEF.com)

Tennessee’s Attorney General waited until 750,000 Tennesseans’ personal data was available for sale — stolen six months ago and widely known to have been stolen — to warn the citizens that they should take precautions to protect themselves.

This is a non-partisan issue. I do not understand why the AG sat on this.

No Tuition hike at Chattanooga State/Cleveland State:

TENNESSEE (WDEF) – In a year of rampant inflation, it is not hitting Tennessee’s tech and two year colleges.

The Tennessee Board of Regents voted on Friday to hold the line on tuition next year at Chattanooga State, Cleveland State and local TCAT schools.

The also suspended online course fees for the second year in a row.

(by Collins Parker)