Author: David K.

We keep making the same mistakes with spreadsheets, despite bad consequences | Ars Technica

Spreadsheets represent unknown risks in the form of errors, privacy violations, trade secrets, and compliance violations. Yet they are also critical for the way many organizations make their decisions. For this reason, they have been described by experts as the “dark matter” of corporate IT.

Source: We keep making the same mistakes with spreadsheets, despite bad consequences | Ars Technica

As I often say, making real applications out of these Frankenstein monsters of data has been my bread and butter throughout my career. The function that the central IT departments in blue chip manufacturing companies could never quite wrap its arms around keeps getting bigger and bigger, and making larger and larger gaps to fill by people in the trenches. So… too right, mate, and keep it up.

Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds | Ars Technica

Single-vehicle, single-pedestrian crash data for 2016-2021 finds hoods a problem.

When Tyndall controlled the data for vehicle body type, the effect of vehicle hood heights became more clear, actually increasing “the partial effect of front-end vehicle height, suggesting high-front-end designs are specifically culpable for higher pedestrian death rates, and this is not driven by other characteristics that are correlated with front-end height,” he writes. In fact, the study estimates that a 4-inch (100-mm) increase in front end height translates to a 28 percent increase in pedestrian death.

Source: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds | Ars Technica

I’m glad that more people are starting to fuss about this. What I really want to know is how and why it seems that everyone in the automotive industry pivoted in this direction at once. Back when I worked in the market, the tier-1’s worked fairly diligently to disguise and, at least, nominally, not telegraph their design moves, and yet all the US makers have done this, and at basically the same time. It feels conspiratorial, but I can’t imagine a motivation that would account for it.

Same Truck Models, 40 Years Apart

Dell/Windows Display Malfeasance

Apparently, no power in Heaven or Earth can make a Dell Windows “mobile workstation” display 4K@60Hz on an external monitor, using any of its ports, cables, connectors, or adapters, despite every piece in the chain assuring me that it can.

Who do I bill for the last half hour?

Bonus points for Windows losing its patience through the process, and not allowing me to resize the graphics options window after some point.

UPDATE: In desperation, I dug around in all my storage, and found the tiny USB-C-to-USB-A/HDMI adapter that came with the laptop. BEHOLD! That one works. I guess my “certified” Anker converter was not, in fact, up to spec.

2024 Cummins Inc. Vehicle Emission Control Violations Settlement | US EPA

“Today’s landmark settlement is another example of the Biden-Harris administration working to ensure communities across the United States, especially those that have long been overburdened by pollution, are breathing cleaner air.” “Today we’ve reaffirmed that EPA’s enforcement program will hold companies accountable for cheating to evade laws that protect public health.” – EPA Administrator Michael Regan

Source: 2024 Cummins Inc. Vehicle Emission Control Violations Settlement | US EPA

In case it wasn’t clear before, this is being trotted out by the Biden administration as some sort of moral victory against fossil fuels. The real problem here — and I said this about the Volkswagen “dieselgate” — is that squeamish liberals in Congress passed diesel emissions restrictions that are so restrictive that they are almost impossible to meet, and still produce a vehicle that’s worth driving. It doesn’t help that Cummins was part of the process, and nodded along with the effort, just as they’re now doing with the most recent, proposed, further California restrictions. Now they’re paying $2 BILLION dollars because they didn’t have the spine to tell Congress that their standards were absurd. I know people involved in documenting our emissions compliance, and there’s no question that they were NOT INVOLVED in some sort of conspiracy here. Whatever details come to light about this — and there was a lot after the Volkswagen scandal — they may as well just go ahead and make personal on-highway diesel vehicles illegal. The increase in the price over a similar gas-powered vehicle because of all the emissions equipment and engineering required to actually meet the emissions certification requirements will just make them unviable.

Surveyed drivers prefer low-tech cars over data-sharing ones • The Register

Despite all the buzz around internet-connected smart cars at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, most folks don’t want vehicle manufacturers sharing their personal data with third parties – and even say they’d consider buying an older or dumber car to protect their privacy and security.

Source: Surveyed drivers prefer low-tech cars over data-sharing ones • The Register

It doesn’t matter. Like with TV’s and appliances, going forward, you simply won’t be able to buy a product without privacy-invading spyware pre-installed. Eventually, it will be in them all. So we’ll wind up with things like this, in everything:

I guess the machine was hashing bitcoin? I don’t know.

In this vein, there was another post/comment that I read about how the guy blocked a device from getting to the internet in the wifi router, and the manufacturer actually noticed, contacted him, and told him that he had voided his warranty! Stupid and scary.

Return to Organic Church Services

We have special church services many times a year. Can I suggest a new one? Can we have a service where there are no directions?

These days, it feels like we never go more than a couple of minutes without being told to do something. Come to the altar. Raise your hands. Shout. Dance. Jump. Clap. Say amen. Pray for someone. Tell someone your deepest problem. Reach across the aisle, and pick your neighbor’s nose. On and on and on. All the time. Every service.

And there’s this looming fear that we should do it because the person with the microphone is saying it under the unction of the Holy Ghost, but it’s so frequent these days that it’s no longer special. It just feels like spiritual calisthenics and time stretching.

There’s power in letting conviction take root. There’s power in letting it be awkward. There’s power when someone steps out and walks down to the altar without being asked. I’ve been that guy many times, and it changes your life. With all of the constant instructions, there’s very little room for steeping in the worship and the preaching, and being obvious about changing your direction any more.

Just once a year, can we have a service where we aren’t asked to do anything? Nothing. Sing or don’t sing. Say amen or don’t. Just let it ride. I just want to have an “organic” service for a change. I just want to sing the songs, listen to a sermon, and let everything else happen as the Spirit leads. All I ask for is altar music and enough volume so that I can pray without people hearing what I’m confessing over in the next section. Is it just me? 

Holiness Gatekeeping

When people come into an Apostolic church for the first time, I’m pretty sure that we all agree that we should welcome them “as they are,” befriend them, listen to them, guide them to the altar, and answer questions about scripture. Right? That’s what Jesus did, when people came to Him. He didn’t wait to eat with sinners until they sanctified themselves with the temple priests. He didn’t withhold healing from people until they had worshipped God to His satisfaction. We’ve been taught for a long time that we should let God lead and guide them, and help them sort out their issues. It’s part of being disciples and making disciples.

But somewhere along the way, something changes. People in church make a decision that a person hasn’t made it as far as they should in their “walk,” by however long it’s been since they first turned their heart to the Lord, and then the people feel like they should start nagging them about spiritual matters in which they feel they’re not measuring up. And what else is there to talk about, except visible, outward things? So this journey of the spirit starts being judged by the path of the flesh. Someone doesn’t do enough of this, or does one too many of that, so we “correct” them.

Why do we do this? Is that really what God wants? Why don’t we just continue to love them, point them to the altar, and answer questions about scripture, all throughout their journey? At what point is it appropriate to step into God’s shoes and try to tell someone that they’re not being spiritual enough? If there are specific things that a person is doing that is causing disruption or harm to someone else (or to you), that’s a separate issue. Maybe I’m crazy, but I don’t think it’s ever our job to try to convict someone about behavior that is between them and God. It’s probably not going to work, anyway.

Lying

We Apostolic Pentecostals get real picky and choosy about what sins we get upset over. People have affairs, and we get them counseling, and try to restore them and their marriages. People get caught up in substance abuse, and we help them get into rehab and nurture them back to health. This is great! This is proper. This is the work of the Good Samaritan.

But if someone supposedly violates one of our standards of holiness? Out comes the whip; it’s time for a public flogging! Even if it’s just based on rumor or speculation, we feel the need to run them out of church on a rail! I mean, think of the children! We don’t want anyone getting the wrong impression that we approve of such things, do we?! Of course not! And, if we don’t overreact, the horror will spread! Ug. This is nonsense, and absolutely not in keeping with Christian charity, nor even with our previous attitude.

And then there’s the opposite of the self-righteous extreme. The sins we think just don’t count. What about lying? And I mean bald-faced, straight-up lying? Repeatedly? Unashamedly? Some people apparently think this is fine. I guess they think it’s acceptable as long as it’s done in service to a cause they believe to be righteous. But do they really think God cares what purpose they think it serves? And if you only hear about it from someone else, you think, “Nah, they can’t have said that. That would be ludicrous. No one would try to say that, would they?” And you wind up giving them the benefit of the doubt, and the lies continue, and worsen.

The “Right Amount” of Prayer

Pentecostal preachers like to tell stories about how they were counseling with someone, found out that they weren’t being very spiritual, and then point out that all the trouble in their life was because of this. I’ve heard this many times. The lesson is that, if you would just pray, your situation will improve. And, sure, we Christians will all nod and agree with that. That’s part of the basic premise of a relationship with God, right? But if we draw a line through those two points — first, that life is terrible if you don’t pray at all, and second, that life is “better” if you pray “more” — then there must be a third point on that graph at which you pray “enough” that you don’t have any more problems. Except, I don’t know anyone like that. Does anyone else know someone that doesn’t have any problems? If you do, please point me towards them, because I want to find out how much they pray. I want to know the amount of prayer it takes to not have any problems. I’d settle for how much it takes to just get me past the health problems I currently have. After almost 3 years, I still have no clue how much that is, and, if I’m being honest, I’m kind of tired of trying to figure that out.