2022-09-30

The Collapse of HBO Max

I like HBO Max better than Netflix, but reportedly it is going away and is going to be combined with The Discovery Channel.

Chess commentator sacked for sexist comments during match

All chess players - men and women - can become grandmasters, which is the highest title a chess player can attain, if they have a rating of 2,500 and above.* The very top female chess players have this title.

The woman grandmaster title is only for women and requires a lower rating of 2,300.

The commentators were discussing whether Zhu Jiner could become grandmaster, when Mr Smirin said: "She's a woman grandmaster or what?... Why she wants to be like men grandmaster in this case?"

Mr Smirin went on to appear to admit that he had privately said "chess is maybe not for women".

Fellow commentator Fiona Steil-Antoni said to him: "You're saying, you know, 'chess is maybe not for women'," and Mr Smirin replied: "I didn't say it openly... in private, private conversation."

And he also seemed to admit saying another female player - Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkin - had been "playing like a man".

"That's true," said Mr Smirin, when questioned about his apparent comments. "She played in Russia super final. Small minus she made, but it was very strong tournament. She also had like 2,600 plus rating."

Challenging him again, Ms Steil-Antoni asked: "What does that have to do with playing like a man, only men can play well?"

"No, no," Mr Smirin responded. "But she's playing in style, positional style... But OK, I'm always curious, why can women play among men but men cannot play with women in women tournaments? Interesting question."


* Reaching a rating of 2500 is not the only requirement for becoming a Grandmaster.

Chess is dominated by men, maybe because it is a highly competitive (and egotistical) game.  Men tend to prefer competition whereas women tend to prefer cooperation.

2022-09-28

Post covid brain disorders

Leftist Says Capitalism Doesn't Work

Facebook and Craigslist scams

I have noticed that a few people have created new Facebook accounts because they said that their old account was hacked or there is a problem with it. In some cases, people say that they can no longer access their old accounts.

This can get confusing because there are also fake accounts that look like the original accounts. All of this is part of scams, for example, I had a 'friend' ask to borrow money. It is always strange when you get friend requests from people who are already friends, meaning that these new friend requests are likely from fake accounts. And if they are not fake accounts then you need to verify that these people are who they say they are.

So today I encountered a scam. One of the hacked accounts had been talking to me briefly for a few days making small talk. At first, I was fooled thinking that I was talking to my friend in Salt Lake City. Then today the account tried to pull a scam that went like this:

He said that he was trying to install Facebook on his phone, but he needed a code number to finish the installation. He said that Facebook required that the code be sent to a second phone number, which makes no sense, and asked if he could use my phone number. I had already inadvertently given this person my phone number because I had asked him to give me a call so that we could chat.

I was immediately suspicious. I have seen many scams as a seller on Craigslist that will claim that they want to verify your identity with a code number and that you have to message the code number back to them. What they are actually trying to accomplish is to do a password reset on your account, which requires a code verification, so if you give them the code then they will be able to change your Craiglist password and take over your account. Then they can use your account to scam other people.

So I realized this Facebook scammer was doing the same thing trying to take over my Facebook account. I contacted my friend on his new account and he verified that this other account was not him. However, I took this one step further. I told him that I didn't know which account was the real one, the old or the new, so I asked for his phone number so that I could call him and verify his identity. As soon as he answered the phone, I knew that I was talking to the real person.
I blocked the bad account and reported it to Facebook as someone impersonating a friend.

Never give a code number (or password) to a person in a message or email. It is a scam.

--
Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Notorious Child Abduction Leads to "America's Most Wanted" | Adam Walsh ...

Very interesting...

https://youtu.be/ELvgSL70oHI

Huge brown bear enters 7-Eleven store and helps itself to CANDY BARS 🐻

2022-09-26

MAGNUS CARLSEN: "I Believe Hans Niemann CHEATED"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfqXnFNnDII

Good video.  

I don't believe that Hans cheated.  There is very little evidence for it.  Hans is a rising star and had the best game of his career and Magnus didn't.  If I can lose to players rated 200 (or in my case 500) points below me then so can Magnus.  

Shit happens.  Twenty years ago I got a draw against Grandmaster Igor Ivanov.  About the same time, I watched a B player friend of mine beat Grandmaster Susan Polgar in a speed tournament.



P.S.  The Babe Ruth story is misunderstood. He was pointing to people he knew in the stands, but the myth remains.

The story about Hans claiming ahead of time that he was going to win a tournament is interesting. Over 20 years ago I was running a Utah championship tournament when a teenager told me that he was going to beat everybody to prove that he was the best player. I thought that this was a very cocky statement to make, but to my surprise, this is exactly what he did.

2022-09-15

Re: Watch "You're Immortal And I Can Prove It" on YouTube

I like the video.  It doesn't teach me anything new, but he makes entertaining videos.

On Wed, Sep 14, 2022 at 11:34 PM Albert wrote:
A "Thoughty" video.



2022-09-10

Re: Ukraine makes progress

Although I sympathize with the plight of Ukraine, I never thought that this is a war that they can win.  I assumed that it all would be over in a couple of months.

We are depleting our national treasure over a war that is little in our national interest.  

It is like the Domino Theory all over again.  I remember in the 1960s when the politicians were talking about the Domino Theory.


On Sat, Sep 10, 2022 at 10:50 AM Larry wrote:


2022-09-04

Memphis TN

My brief stays in both Memphis, Tennessee, and Oakland, CA were essentially the same.  The people at the hotel desk told me to not walk to my car unless I was being escorted.  My cab driver in Memphis told me that the city was the murder capital of the United States, surpassing Washington D.C.  He said that he was trying to save up enough money to go somewhere else.

This is why I like small cities.



The Simple Secret of Runway Digits