Rick's b.log - entry 2020/10/01

Comically missing the point

It's the one where I uploaded a webcam photo to MyHeritage's celebrity matcher-upper service. The one that said I was 45% similar to Jimi Hendrix and Mom was 47% similar to Heath Ledger and 46% similar to Ariel Sharon!!!
That deserves three exclamation marks, given as none of the five matches were even of the correct gender, and I'm not a cool black dude with an afro.
But asides from that, yeah. We both look like humans. Great going.

So, Madison, completely missing the point, asked if I could link to their comparison of the DNA testing services.

I ignored the first message. I get weird requests from time to time, but when (s)he got back in touch, I guess I took pity on him/her and duly provided a link. Of course, we'll skip over the bit that us Europeans are a little bit miffed about the continual data suckage by American companies, and that there's probably little chance that people on this side of the ocean will be totally okay with sending their DNA to America. A country that continually fails in any attempt to respect European Privacy regulations, and, for that matter, often fails to respect that other sovereign countries (and their citizens) have their own laws and ways of doing things that may not resemble the American way.
Oh, and an asshole for a President. Yes, we all got to see the Presidential Debate. The one where if South Park had parodied a Presidential Debate, it would have been more coherent than the real thing.
Please, for the love of God, vote that cretin out.

Of course, all the prices quoted in the blog article are in dollars. So for the sake of completeness:

• MyHeritage.fr - DNA tests normally €79, currently a special offer of €49 (for the next ten days).
  I can't give a UK price. It detects I'm in France and redirects to the French site.
• 23andMe - DNA tests are in English, and must be ordered from the UK site. It looks like the generic ancestry+traits test is £79.
• Ancestry.fr - says (in English) that DNA tests are not available for purchase in France. It also states that the DNA products offered are subject to the laws of the United States. There is no direct link, but reading between the lines, I would imagine you're supposed to go to the American (or UK?) site, order it, and give a French address...
  It looks like the UK version costs about £79 for the basics.

Note that France is really weird about stuff falling in the "medical" domain - which is why your smartphone can tell you your pulse but it can't report your blood oxygenation level even though the hardware is quite capable of it. A doctor must be the one to make such measurements. Likewise, DNA testing is technically illegal (with a €3,750 fine) but actually enforcing this is practically impossible.

Batten down the hatches!

Storm prediction; © Windy.com

It is storm Alex (in French). Predicted to be winds of 130-140kph on the coast, and 100-120kph over land.
It's going to pass right over, and Météo France has us on orange alert. The alert levels are: Green - No worries; Yellow - That sucks; Orange - Oh Crap; Red - We're dead.

So I've cleared off the front to help draining, I've redone the cuts in the sides of the road (to drain). Collected up the deck chairs and other stuff that's light and liable to find itself airborne. And tonight I'll close the shutters and latch them.

I hope this one mostly passes over without too much wind or rain...

The heart, by the way, is because I tapped on Rennes to call up the more detailed forecast. The barometer has just made it down to 999. I already have a headache and there's potentially another 20mb to go. Oh joy. I think I'll go stuff my face on doughnuts once I've uploaded this. A sugar hit ought to make me feel better. ☺

We're all gunna gonna going to die

While there is blatantly missing punctuation and the mix up between "your" and "you're", what really stands out is the fact that the same word (if you count "gonna" as a word) is spelt two different ways. What? (and is "gunna" even a word?!)

Asides from that, the basic premise is correct. I will get old(er) and then I too shall end up in an itty bitty box, probably dropped on top of mom, where I shall remain until the end of the concession. What happens then? Does the church dig you up and toss whatever is left in the bin? Well, whatever, I won't care, I'll be dead.

So, Other John, this one is dedicated to you:

Your comments:

Please note that while I check this page every so often, I am not able to control what users write; therefore I disclaim all liability for unpleasant and/or infringing and/or defamatory material. Undesired content will be removed as soon as it is noticed. By leaving a comment, you agree not to post material that is illegal or in bad taste, and you should be aware that the time and your IP address are both recorded, should it be necessary to find out who you are. Oh, and don't bother trying to inline HTML. I'm not that stupid! ☺ ADDING COMMENTS DOES NOT WORK IF READING TRANSLATED VERSIONS.
 
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John, 1st October 2020, 20:10

I'm finding this reversing number strings increasingly difficult! Amnesia, anorexia, impetigo, - I can't remember the word, but am I suffering from it?    Probably! I can't remember!

John, 1st October 2020, 20:12

Accessing the bank is complicated enough!

John, 1st October 2020, 20:20

and the bank's only 4 digits!    Dementia, that's the one!    Could we have IP verfication as an alternative? You can do PHP! As can I, more-or-less!

John, 1st October 2020, 20:24

This 5 digit code is so mind-numbing I've forgotten what I wanted to say!

Rick, 1st October 2020, 20:25

That you agree that the English in that comment was awful and that it's pretty obvious that *that* John isn't *this* John? :-)

Rick, 1st October 2020, 20:27

If it helps, write the message and then deal with the code.  Don't worry if you forget, you'll get the Validation Failed page asking you for the code (and it won't toss your message away, unlike the ROOL forum!).

John, 1st October 2020, 20:28

Two people named John - it's a bit like having two people named John Williams in a rural French village - have metaphorical T-shirt!

Rick, 1st October 2020, 21:22

Two Johns down, sixteen million to go...

Rick, 1st October 2020, 21:23

But yes, the same (non French) name in a tiny (French) town was a bit strange.

David Pilling, 2nd October 2020, 02:40

"Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives of humans and share nearly 99 percent of our DNA."    I have had some requests about web pages from the USA. There's the team who want all wikipedia links duplicating with another site that provides more accessible content.  Then there's another lot who would like links to their site on obscure pages on my site. They seem to pass the Turing test and are involved in some honest endeavour, but why they want to be on a page that is probably only visited once in a decade...    Hey John, are you on a fixed ip address.    Is Alex a quintessentially French name. The one that sprints to mind is Alex Jones (Welsh, female BBC presenter) (not American, male far-right radio show host). We have been told that the storm has been named by French met office - waiting for storm Asterix.

Gavin Wraith, 2nd October 2020, 11:47

I listened to the video. A lovely voice, thank you, but I could not make out what language she was using; it was drowned out by the portentous growly noises in the background. Currently my favourite YouTube listening is "Luca Pianca suona Francesco da Milano".

Rick, 3rd October 2020, 18:02

Yes, it is a nice voice. But a strange (to my ears) pronunciation combined with the doom-laden music can make it heard to understand.    The lyrics begin: Well I loved my aunt, but she died. And my uncle Lou, then he died. I'm searching for something which can't be found, but I'm hoping. I still dream of dad, though he died...    I'll stop there. Either copyright reasons, or my inner Goth leaking out. Pick which reason you prefer. ;-)

Gavin Wraith, 3rd October 2020, 20:50

It is only recently, with the Rpi4, that I have started listening to music more on YouTube than on CDs (which take up ridiculous volumes of storage). I use Chromium in Raspbian. The Music folder currently has subfolders Medieval, Persian/Arab, Indian, Maghreb, African, Duetti Italiani and Modern. The latter has five entries:  Living in the Past (Jethro Tull)  Take the weather with you (Crowded House)  I can't get no satisfaction (Rolling Stones)  Break on Through (The Doors)  Oye Como Va (Santana Abraxas)  Apart from that the only western music figuring in my bookmarks was written before 1620 or so.

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