If you cannot tell a story to get your point across, you may not understand it well enough yourself.

And, a majority of the people you are trying to inform or convince will not understand anything you are saying unless it is in the format of a story.

I've now learned to eat this cheesy Smartfood popcorn with a wet paper towel and a dry paper towel on the table in front of me.

No more licking my fingers clean before I start using the keyboard.

This, my friends, is the benefit of years of experience.

The wife is facing down the biggest hurricane of 2024 (USA Today) in Atlanta. Expecting statewide blackouts. The big Sephoria event she was attending is probably going to be cancelled. And she only has open-toe shoes. She brings 10 shoes. All open-toe. Silly wife.

@th3j35t3r
Not always.
But none of them can think abstractly.
They don't get analogies.

They can sometimes be quite intelligent. But they do so without using abstract concepts. So, they are hamstrung to see things that many of us find obvious.

Every day I'm encountering people that cannot think abstractly.

If I don't provide a concrete example, they cannot answer the question.

And the latest one was an engineer generating reports.

I have been so clueless for so many years about humanity.

New improvements in the wildfire home-hardening project. I can now enter an address and this box defines approximately where the house is located.
Next: use photos to define the actual perimeter.

@danalan @TwiHusband
Agreed.
Yet there will be plenty of actors that will do so anyway. I suspect Russia is building a nefarious force of them right now.

@corlin
That's the idea.
Build a model. Collect available data. Overlay the data. Run scenarios. Build a task list. Connect them to vendors. Connect them to funding sources.

We're building a tool to help people living near a forest to make a plan to harden their homes and property against wildfire risk.

This requires building many layers of information that doesn't currently exist.

1) Get the perimeter of the house mapped using public data.

Last night I was able to generate the latitude and longitude of the corners of the building as defined by Google Maps!

While not perfect, it's a start. AI and photos will refine that perimeter.

2) Add trees

@TwiHusband
Thanks. Just re-watched it. Still terrifying.

Story-telling is always the most effective means to get a complex point across to the most people.
Data and logic are powerless when influencing the masses.

I just saw this on Telegram.
A UAV (drone) delivering a dog-style robot in a war zone.
This looks like a test.
But, vendors have already started fitting these robots with munitions.
I've read that they are currently using these robots to deliver ammunition to troops in Ukraine.
#ukraine
#israel

@voltronic
It will live here.
Big cleanup project when I install it later in the week.

@voltronic
Yes. The receiver. That was a requirement. I need to switch from the TV to the projector and pull from either the TiVo or a Chromecast or Blu-ray.

Just finished building a patch panel for the new stereo.
I got tired of pulling the old stereo out of the rack to change cables. Broke the audio-optical plug once.
Once this is in I shouldn't ever have to pull it out.
This took 2 days to design, spec and assemble. Just finished labeling.

Taking a self driving taxi to dinner is now normal.
Also, more reliable and civil (no crazy drivers, crazy driving or stinky cars).

@Museek
A friend of mine died of that recently.
Difficult time.
But, she lived 15 years longer than anticipated.
That didn't make it any easier.
She live just north of you in Pacifica. Her husband is a friend of mine. Nicest person I've ever met. Married since they were teenagers.
She was always positive and navigated life with strength and happiness.

@AkomoCombine
All my lady-friends are dressing up a Dorothy.
Then we go out an look for houses giving away adult beverages.

@AkomoCombine
That's because this is my actual Halloween costume that arrived yesterday:
(Not kidding)

The abstraction of "infidelity" does not have a place in certain types of minds.
It doesn't register.
There is no place to consider "OK" or "Bad" or "WTF?"

Those of us that do have that place in our minds to consider these sorts of abstractions are puzzled by those that don't.

Consider how NC Lt Gov Mark Robinson's email address was registered on Ashley Madison.
It doesn't matter to him.
Nor to his supporters.

It
Doesn't
Register.

Before we argue
We must agree
On what our words
Mean