- wanted to do a proof of concept for an image comparison script. It semi-works. Download it here:
# I wanted a way to check for image similarity for a random bunch of images.
# It works well for certain types images but not not others. Needs a lot of
# tweaking/tuning on an individual basis to get it work well for a given
# set of images. Something that I wasn't expecting.
#
# As this is the very first version of the program it may be VERY buggy.
# Please test prior to deployment in a production environment.
Random Stuff:
- as usual thanks to all of the individuals and groups who purchase and use my goods and services
- latest in science and technology
- latest in finance and politics
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/candace-owens-white-supremacy-has-minimal-impact-black-americans
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Comment/South-Pacific-pivot-to-Beijing-recasts-regional-chessboard
https://practicalmotoring.com.au/car-news/jeep-wrangler-investigated-for-steering-and-weld-problems/
https://www.hawkesburygazette.com.au/story/6399597/drones-force-flight-diversions-at-dubai/?cs=12791
- latest in defense and intelligence
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Random Quotes:
- Lee Adama: [explaining to his father his rationale for humanity forsakeing technology and adopting luddite practises] If there's one thing that we should have learned, it's that... you know, our brains have always outraced our hearts. Our science charges ahead, but our souls lag behind. Let's start anew.
- After nearly 18 hours of an outage, Microsoft finally fixed the problem with its Azure cloud service by using an act familiar to Windows users: rebooting.
Cloud customers using multi-factor authentication were locked out of their accounts from 04.39 UTC on Monday US time (3.39pm Monday AEDT).
But issues around Office 365 appear to be still unresolved. On Tuesday, Microsoft was unsure of when things would be resolved to the extent that it posted a note saying the next update would only be at Tuesday midnight US time (11am AEDT Wednesday). That notice is still there.
As far as the cloud service itself goes, things appear to have been resolved late on Monday night, thanks to one of the ancient arts with which Windows are familiar. Reboot, reformat and reinstall were a standard remedy for borked Windows systems and used to be known as the triple-R salute.
As to the cause of the outage, Microsoft said: "Requests from MFA servers to Redis Cache in Europe reached operational threshold causing latency and timeouts.
"After attempting to fail over traffic to North America, this caused a secondary issue where servers became unhealthy and traffic was throttled to handle increased demand."
And regarding the mitigation, Microsoft said: "Engineers deployed a hotfix which eliminated the connection between Azure Identity Multi-Factor Authentication Service and a backend service. Secondly, engineers cycled impacted servers which allowed authentication requests to succeed."
- There’s a famous yarn about Lyndon B. Johnson from his days as a new aide to a freshman member. Johnson rented a room at the Dodge Hotel and on his first night, took four showers in the shared bathroom and the next morning brushed his teeth five times, just so he could get to know the other aides. His march to senatorial power began with retail politicking in the bathroom.
OK, how would it work? Building a dorm for 535 members of Congress—in theory, that’s 535 fully grown adults—sounds expensive.
Security would and should be the first thought. You’re creating another edifice for the U.S. Capitol Police to secure. But there is prime real estate within the already-secure Capitol complex, that could be built on, like the mostly useless park above the House office building garages.
On this spot, you could build a hotel-like building where any member could rent a room with a bathroom. Families could be offered larger suites or more temporary accommodations for short-term visits. Kitchens, eating areas and living spaces could be shared.
We’re not talking about building the Taj Mahal here. The budget could be sparse and paid for with minimal spending cuts elsewhere. The housing would be available for a very modest rent, and if you chose to live elsewhere, that would be fine, but you’d be on your own financially. Taxpayers don’t need to be subsidizing luxury high-rise condos if that’s your preference.
Members of Congress will never build themselves housing so long as voters view it as self-enrichment. Perhaps it’s better to think of this setup less as a benefit and more as a loose requirement of the job: We send you to Washington to spend your time there legislating and representing us, not becoming an advocate for your well-heeled neighbors in D.C.’s posh enclaves.
Want to drain The Swamp? Build Congress a dorm.
- According to Redflow, a major benefit of its batteries is their ability to operate in standby power system mode, where the batteries are charged and then placed in a dormant state, with no self-discharge, until they are required to supply energy during a power outage. Redflow’s SPS mode avoids the need for a standby diesel generator – eliminating the cost, complexity and risk of storing fuel at the site.
And Redflow says the 240kg size and lack of saleable components in Redflow batteries also discourage theft, an endemic problem with legacy batteries.
Harris says Redflow is building its presence in the South African telecommunications market after establishing its flow batteries with customers in manufacturing, such as Bosco Printed Circuits in Johannesburg, and local government, such as Mossel Bay Municipality in Southern Cape, as well as at residential sites.
