Intelligence test scores have been increasing, just about everywhere. It’s too fast to be genetic. It’s not clear whether this is due to better education, or greater familiarity with the type of tests, or better nutrition, or whatever else. But it is clear that some environmental factors can account for at least 14 points, probably much more.
So there’s no honest reason for people to insist that regional differences are genetic. As I said, similar decade-by-decade differences can’t be.
But they’re are a lot of dishonest reasons for people to do so, and I’m depressed that this keeps coming back.
We know that Miriel died in Valinor, traditionally of melancholy. But the elves were unfamiliar with old age, and may not have understood it. And a lone human or half-human may not have, either.
Now according to tradition, her spirit remained in the Halls of Mandos, rather than returning like the elves, or leaving like the humans.
When you’re screaming your lungs out, because overwhelming fear, because those dogs will not stop barking, and the dogs will not stop barking, perhaps because someone is screaming and they think PREY.
I’ve been feeling very sick from the midnight stroad repair/sleep deprivation. And finally got an answer about the schedule: “remainder of 2022.” Fuck King Car.
I tried to find an accessible route to a park between home and the library. No luck. I probably need recent satellite photos, without zooming. I found an unsuitable route to the library, lost my pedometer someplace past 5.25 miles, and had to get an expensive taxi back. But I got a library card, picked up a few books, and have a brochure for access services.
If I try to contact local agencies about flashing lights, it’s a state issue. If I try to contact state ones, it’s a federal issue. If I try to contact federal ones, it’s a state issue.
I’m trying to find an operating system which lets me reduce frame rates, globally block blinking cursors, adjust font smoothing, etc… Linux documentation tends to rely on readthedocs, so I can’t read the documentation. I have been trying several distros in VirtualBox, but it;s frustrating. The Ubuntu live iso crashes if I open the settings. The Pop! OS one strobes. The Accessible Coconut one sorta works, but it lacks the accessibility options I’m looking for.
I just saw a Youtube video asking what would happen if the Balrog seized the One Ring.
I have my own theory.
The Balrog sees Sauron as the chief threat to his power. After destroying Lorien, heads straight to Mordor. The Nazgul go over to the Balrog and Sauron is too weak to fight back. The Balrog wants to destroy Middle-Earth, and one of the Nazgul devises a plan involving magical detonations under Orodruin.
Sauron sees the Balrog as an infinitely greater threat. If he retains enough of his old shape-shifting power, he uses it to infiltrate Orodruin and try to take the ring back, before the preparations are too far along. They fight. They accidentally set off some explosives which had not yet been planted, hurling them both into the lava.
I was thinking of the Balrog myself, today (things just randomly go in and out of my mind). What I wondered about was a battle between The Balrog or the Chernaborg?
I finally set up Thunderbird on my Linux partition.
So far I’ve–
Found a Distro that will run without too much trouble. (A T2 build of Fedora. If I were starting over, I’d use the new T2 build of Mint instead.)
Set up wifi.
Found a desktop that will let me avoid too much animation. (Cinnamon, with settings for Effects, and under Keyboard.)
Set up Firefox, and Calibre.
Set up Vorta, for backups.
Set up Steam, with appropriate scaling.
Set up sound, apart from the headphone port.
Found a script to enable middle-button scrolling when using xorg. But I have to use this script each time I log into Linux, and I would need something else if using Wayland.
Adjusted the main menu.
Installed k2pdfopt and set up a couple handy scripts.
Set up Thunderbird. (Still got to set up local folders, filters, etc.)
I’ll still need to–
Find a good tagging solution, and preferably a way to import Mac tags into Linux.
Figure out how to import my gs, ocrmypdf, etc. scripts.
I’m looking for a magnifier to help read pdfs on small and medium screens.
I tried regular loose magnifying glasses, but the slightest movement makes things change size and makes me migraine.
I tried a fresnel lens on a stand. It can help. But I have to set everything on a flat surface, and look straight down at that surface.
I think it’d be so much easier with a book stand with a frame and a replaceable lens.
I went by the bookstore yesterday, they just sold reading glasses and loose lenses. I also checked Annatar, they seem have have 2 options with book stands and so many with nothing to hold them in place.
I finished a 10-hour transcription I started back in '07 or '08.
It was of some police radio recordings during the Seattle WTO protests, and while I have much more sympathy with the protesters, and with people being gassed than people doing the gassing, it’s still good to have this other perspective. And it helps sort out the times and places, and helps give their estimates on the numbers.
I still have to clean up a lot, probably remove phone numbers, cross-reference, etc.