Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Technobabble

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I’ve been fooling around with some AI lately and I understand that some users have been using AI to write code. So, I tried my hand at asking it to write a script for a countdown to the new year. I asked for JavaScript to be embedded in HTML and it produced the result seen below. The AI (Google Gemini) produced JavaScript, HTML and the Style Script (CSS). All I had to do was provide the HTML Header and Body and, voila, the counter worked right off the bat. Link to Gemini code.

If you see “Happy New Year” instead of the counter, then It is already (MST) 2026.

I’m posting this some 32 hours or so before the new year so visitors to the site can see the counter. I may (just for grins) change the code to countdown to 2027 after the new year.

So, from both The Damsel and I, we wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year in 2026!

UPDATE: I changed the target to St. Valentine’s Day 2026!

30 Dec 2025 by Cyberspace Entertainment Holidays Technobabble

122nd Anniversary of Powered Flight

Just a quick one here to acknowledge one of the most iconic technological feats in history that occurred in the early 20th century; to wit: the Wright Brothers first flights. I did a detailed post on this topic in December of 2022. In that post, I referenced an old photo, a display replica of the flyer and occupant. I asked the GEMINI AI to colorize and noise enhance it and the (clickable) image above is the result.

17 Dec 2025 by Aviation Classics Technobabble

Grokipedia On The Sonoran Desert

One of the good things coming up in cyberspace is Grokipedia, which should be an unbiased alternate to the left-wing-biased Wikipedia. It’s still in its beginning stages of development, but some folks think it is already better and more accurate than its left-wing counterpart. Elon thinks it’s the best!

I asked Grok AI to give me Grokipedia’s take on Sonoran Desert Wildlife. This colorful description came back:

Grokipedia: Sonoran Desert Wildlife

“The desert’s not empty—it’s just picky about who it invites to the party.”

The Sonoran Desert—spanning Arizona, California, Sonora (Mexico), and a sliver of Baja—covers ~100,000 sq mi of the hottest, driest, *wettest* desert in North America. It gets two rainy seasons (winter Pacific fronts + summer monsoons), which is why saguaro cacti can grow 40 ft tall and why the wildlife here looks like it read the survival manual, then rewrote it in glitter pen.

Signature Species (the ones that sell postcards)

Animal Grok’s Hot Take Fun Fact
Saguaro cactus (technically a plant, but it’s the mascot) A 200-year-old apartment complex for birds, bats, and insects. One arm can weigh 2 tons when full of monsoon water.
Gila monster Venomous lizard that looks like it’s wearing beaded armor from the 1980s. Only U.S. lizard with venom; bites like a stubborn stapler.
Roadrunner Real-life cartoon: accelerates 0–20 mph in 3 strides, eats rattlesnakes for brunch. Can lower its body temp by 8 °F at night to save water.
Harris’ hawk The only raptor that hunts in wolf-pack formation—stack attacks from 50 ft up. Juveniles stay with parents for *years*; family dinner is mandatory.
Cactus wren State bird of Arizona; builds football-shaped nests in cholla cacti like it’s trolling predators. Sings a descending car-alarm duet with its mate.

Weirdos You’ll Miss If You Blink

  • Kangaroo rat: Never drinks water. Gets moisture from seeds + *exhales cold air* to condense humidity on its nose at night.
  • Desert tortoise: 100-year lifespan, digs 30-ft burrows that become Airbnb for 20 other species.
  • Tarantula hawk wasp: 3-inch blue-black nightmare that paralyzes tarantulas, drags them home, lays one egg. Baby eats spider alive. *Pain index: 4.0/4.0 (“blinding, fierce, like a lightning strike”)*.
  • Coati: Raccoon’s long-nosed cousin that raids campsites with a 30-member gang.
  • Elf owl: World’s smallest owl (size of a sparrow), nests in saguaro cavities carved by woodpeckers.

    • Adaptations That Should Be Illegal

    1. Water hacking
    – Bats visit hummingbird feeders at night.
    – Javelinas (peccaries) eat prickly pear pads—spines and all—then use the stored water.

    2. Heat cheating
    – Scorpions glow neon under UV light (blacklight raves in the sand).
    – Sidewinder rattlesnakes “sidewind” to touch only two points of 140 °F sand at a time.

    3. Camouflage level: expert
    – Horned lizards squirt blood from their eyes up to 6 ft to gross out predators.
    – Pocket mice change coat color seasonally like a desert mood ring.

    Night Shift (80 % of action happens after sunset)

    Time Event
    7 PM Bats exodus from cave roosts—millions in some spots (e.g., Arizona’s “bat tornado”).
    10 PM Coyotes yip in surround sound; kit foxes hunt kangaroo rats by moonlight.
    2 AM Ringtails (cat-raccoon hybrids) tightrope-walk on saguaro arms stealing fruit.
    4 AM Elf owls hunt scorpions using UV vision (yes, they see the glow).

    Threats (because even badass deserts need therapy)

    • Invasive buffelgrass: Imported for cattle, now a wildfire super-fuel that kills saguaros.
    • Border wall: Blocks migration corridors for jaguars, ocelots, and coatis.
    • Groundwater pumping: Tucson’s aquifer drop = dead ironwood trees = no nurse plants for baby saguaros.

    Pro Tip for Visitors

    Bring a blacklight. The desert floor becomes a neon disco of scorpions. Just don’t step on them.

    TL;DR: The Sonoran isn’t a barren wasteland—it’s a 24/7 survival reality show with better costumes. Bring water, respect the venom, and let the cactus wren be your alarm clock.

    I am greatly impressed with the use of AI humor and other tongue in cheek descriptions in the article it rendered. Hopefully, folks will begin turning away from the evil Commiepedia in favor of this new, useful and entertaining platform.

    04 Nov 2025 by Arizona Cyberspace Notions Technobabble

    Lunar Landings — Hoax or Real?

    Clickable Image courtesy of Google Gemini AI

    Earlier today, I watched a You Tube video purporting that the NASA and USA Lunar landings were possibly fake. I asked GROK to clarify this issue, since I was very active in aerospace in my career and found the space exploration to be genuine and not a subterfuge.

    Here is what I got from the Grok AI:

    The idea that NASA faked the Moon landings, particularly the Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972, is a well-known conspiracy theory. It suggests that the United States never sent astronauts to the Moon and that the evidence—photos, videos, and lunar rocks—was staged or fabricated. Below, I’ll outline the main claims of the conspiracy theory, the evidence supporting the Moon landings, and a reasoned perspective on why the theory persists, while keeping the response concise and grounded.

    Main Claims of the Moon Landing Hoax Theory

    Conspiracy theorists point to several perceived inconsistencies or anomalies to argue the Moon landings were faked:

    • Waving Flag: The American flag planted on the Moon appears to “wave” in videos, which some claim suggests wind, impossible in the Moon’s vacuum.
    • Missing Stars in Photos: Photographs taken on the Moon don’t show stars in the background, leading some to argue the images were staged in a studio.
    • Lighting and Shadows: Shadows in lunar photos appear inconsistent, with some claiming multiple light sources (like studio lights) were used instead of the Sun.
    • Van Allen Radiation Belts: Critics argue that astronauts couldn’t have survived the radiation in the Van Allen belts during transit to the Moon.
    • Lack of Independent Verification: Some claim that no independent observers, like amateur astronomers, saw the spacecraft on the Moon.
    • Motivation for Fakery: Theorists suggest NASA faked the landings to win the Space Race against the Soviet Union, boost national pride, or justify budgets.

    The AI responce goes on to address the concerns about the supposed inaccuracy of the landings given the photos and everything available:

    Evidence Supporting the Moon Landings

    The Apollo program’s authenticity is backed by extensive evidence, which directly addresses the above claims:

    1. Waving Flag: The flag’s movement is explained by the lack of atmosphere on the Moon. In a vacuum, there’s no air to dampen motion, so the flag, disturbed by astronauts, appears to “wave” as it settles.
    2. Missing Stars: Stars aren’t visible in photos because camera exposures were set for bright lunar surfaces. Long exposures needed to capture faint stars would overexpose the foreground, a standard issue in photography.
    3. Lighting and Shadows: Shadows appear unusual due to the Moon’s reflective surface and lack of atmospheric scattering. The Sun was the primary light source, and uneven terrain or reflected light from the lunar surface explains shadow variations. NASA’s detailed analysis, including 3D modeling, confirms consistency with a single light source.
    4. Van Allen Belts: Astronauts passed through the belts quickly, receiving minimal radiation exposure—equivalent to a few medical X-rays. NASA’s shielding and trajectory planning minimized risks, as confirmed by dosimeter readings from the missions.
    5. Independent Verification: Lunar rocks brought back (382 kg from Apollo) have unique chemical signatures, like anorthosite, consistent with lunar origin and distinct from Earth rocks. These have been studied by scientists worldwide. Additionally, the Soviet Union, a rival, never disputed the achievement, and retroreflectors left on the Moon (still used for laser ranging experiments) were detected by observatories globally.
    6. Scale of Conspiracy: Faking the landings would require silencing thousands of NASA employees, contractors, and scientists, plus coordinating with international observatories and even adversaries like the USSR. The logistical complexity makes this implausible.

    The next part of the response from the GROK AI goes on to refute additional concerns thus concluding the landings were actual:

    Additional Evidence

    • Apollo Mission Data: Over 800,000 photos, hours of video, and detailed telemetry data from Apollo missions are publicly available. Independent analysis, including by modern AI and imaging experts, shows no signs of tampering.
    • Third-Party Observations: Soviet tracking stations monitored Apollo spacecraft, and amateur radio operators picked up signals from the Moon. India’s Chandrayaan-2 and China’s Chang’e missions later photographed Apollo landing sites, confirming hardware presence.
    • Human Testimony: Over 400,000 people worked on Apollo, and 12 astronauts walked on the Moon. No credible whistleblower has emerged, despite the conspiracy’s claim of a cover-up.

    Why the Theory Persists

    The Moon landing hoax theory persists due to cognitive and cultural factors:

    • Distrust in Institutions: Skepticism toward government and large organizations fuels belief in cover-ups, especially post-Watergate and during times of political mistrust.
    • Media Influence: Films like Capricorn One (1977) and books like Bill Kaysing’s We Never Went to the Moon (1976) popularized the idea, despite lacking evidence.
    • Cognitive Bias: Anomalies in complex data (e.g., photos) are often misinterpreted by laypeople unfamiliar with lunar physics or photography. Confirmation bias leads believers to dismiss counterevidence.
    • Cultural Impact: The theory resonates because the Moon landings were a monumental achievement, hard for some to accept as real, especially given their scale and historical context.

    So, the GROK AI, being a thing from the SpaceX world goes on to reference some posts from the X (formerly Twitter) platform and does its own conclusions and teaser for more info:

    Recent Context from X

    Posts on X reflect ongoing debate. Some users cite the usual claims (e.g., flag waving, shadows), while others share NASA’s rebuttals or memes mocking the theory. A few posts reference modern lunar missions (e.g., China’s Chang’e) confirming Apollo sites, though skeptics on X often dismiss these as part of a broader conspiracy. The platform shows a mix of staunch believers and debunkers, with no new evidence emerging to support the hoax theory.

    Conclusion

    The Moon landing hoax theory relies on misinterpretations of visual evidence and underestimates the overwhelming physical, scientific, and historical evidence supporting the Apollo missions. The theory thrives on distrust and the human tendency to seek patterns in complex data, but no credible evidence supports it. The Apollo program remains one of humanity’s greatest achievements, backed by data from NASA, independent scientists, and even rival nations.

    If you want me to dive deeper into any specific claim (e.g., analyze a particular photo or radiation data) or check X for real-time sentiment on this topic, let me know!

    So, as you may have surmised, I’m having a bit of fun with the AIs that are available out there. Everything from Lunar landings (this article) to finding ancestors. And more to come, I’m sure.

    14 Oct 2025 by Aerospace International Media Nostalgia Notions Politics Rocket Science Technobabble

    Genealogy and AI

    I suffered over five years of frustration doing Genealogy research on one of my great grandmothers. Ancestry.com and others weren’t much help, so I finally resorted to asking the GROK AI a couple of days ago for help. It went like this:

    Me:

    Margaret Elizabeth Evans Born about 1844 in Cairo, Illinois. I would like to find out who her parents were. Dad born in Tennessee or Kentucky and Mom born in Scotland.

    GROK:

    Thought for 1m 27s – I’m sorry, but after extensive searches across genealogy databases, census collections (including the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Federal Censuses on sites like FamilySearch and Ancestry), and historical records for Alexander County, Illinois (where Cairo is located), I couldn’t locate a definitive match for Margaret Elizabeth Evans born around 1844 in Cairo with parents fitting your description (father from Tennessee or Kentucky, mother from Scotland).

    What I Found and Why It Might Be Challenging:

    No Direct Matches: Searches for variations like “Margaret E. Evans,” “Margaret Evans,” or “M. E. Evans” in Cairo/Alexander County around 1844 turned up several Margaret Evans in Illinois during that era, but none aligned with the birth location, approximate age, and parental birthplaces. For example:

    A Margaret A. Evans (born ~1829 in Illinois) appears in an 1850 census household with Alexander Evans (born ~1795 in North Carolina) and Wilmeth Jackson Evans (born ~1807 in North Carolina) in Thebes Township, Alexander County. This family is close geographically, but the mother’s birthplace doesn’t match Scotland.
    Other Evans families in the area (e.g., John Evans households) had daughters named Margaret, but ages and parental origins didn’t fit (e.g., mothers from Virginia or Ireland, fathers from Pennsylvania or Ohio).

    Common Issues in 19th-Century Records:

    Census indexing can be incomplete or error-prone due to handwriting (e.g., “Evans” as “Evens” or “Eavans”).
    Cairo was a small, swampy river town in 1844 (population ~100), so families might appear under nearby townships like Thebes or Cache.

    Birthplaces were often self-reported and approximate; “Scotland” could be listed as “Scot” or “British.”
    Pre-1850 records rarely list children by name, so the 1850 census (when Margaret would be ~6) is key, but it requires manual browsing if not indexed well.

    Recommendations for Next Steps:

    To narrow this down, focus on primary sources. Here’s a step-by-step plan:

    Search the 1850 U.S. Census for Alexander County, IL:

    Use FamilySearch (free): Go to 1850 U.S. Census collection and filter for “Alexander, Illinois,” surname “Evans,” with a female child age 5-7. Then manually scan images for households with a wife born in Scotland and head born in TN/KY.
    Or Ancestry (subscription): Search the 1850 Census with the same filters. Look for ~10-15 Evans households in the county.

    Check 1860 Census for Margaret as a Teen:

    She would be ~16. Search for “Margaret Evans” born ~1844 in Illinois, residing in Alexander County or nearby (e.g., Pulaski or Union Counties, as families moved). Parents might still be listed.

    Other Records to Cross-Reference:

    Marriage Records: Margaret likely married in the 1860s. Search Illinois marriage indexes on FamilySearch for “Margaret Evans” in Alexander County (1860-1870) to see if parents are named.

    Illinois State Census (1855): Partial survival for Alexander County; available on Ancestry or FamilySearch. It lists household members and birthplaces.

    Land/Probate Records: Cairo land office records (from 1810s) on Bureau of Land Management site (glorecords.blm.gov) for Evans in Alexander County—fathers often bought land.

    Church/Death Records: Scottish immigrants often attended Presbyterian churches; check for Evans baptisms in Cairo area.

    If you have additional details (e.g., Margaret’s spouse, children, or later residence), that could unlock more—share them, and I’ll dig deeper! Genealogy can be tricky, but persistence pays off.

    Me:

    Margaret married a man named Louis Soule and had a daughter, Minnie. That marriage failed and Margaret, “Maggie,” married George Washington Poole in Denver. Does this help?

    GROK:

    Thought for 1m 30s – Yes, those details were incredibly helpful—they unlocked the full profile for Margaret Elizabeth (Evans) Poole (1842–1930), confirming her identity and life story across multiple records. I’ll summarize what I found below, including her parents based on the 1850 U.S. Census match in Alexander County, IL (which aligns perfectly with your description of the father’s birthplace in Kentucky and mother’s in Scotland).

    Confirmed Identity and Life Overview

    Full Name and Birth: Margaret Elizabeth Evans, born February 1842 in Cairo, Alexander County, Illinois, USA.

    Parents (from 1850 U.S. Census, Thebes Township, Alexander County, IL—household #143):

    Father: John B. Evans, born ~1810 in Kentucky (farmer, age 40 in 1850).

    Mother: Jane Evans, born ~1815 in Scotland (age 35 in 1850; immigrated likely in the 1830s–1840s, common for Scottish families settling in southern Illinois river towns like Cairo).

    Siblings in the household: John (age 6, b. IL), Mary (age 4, b. IL), James (age 2, b. IL). The family lived in a modest farming household valued at $300, near the Mississippi River bluffs.

    First Marriage and Daughter: Married Louis/Lewis Soule (~1862–1863, likely in Alexander or nearby Pulaski County, IL—no exact marriage record surfaced, but inferred from census and daughter’s birth). They had one daughter:

    Minnie Vivian Soule (b. ~1865 in Illinois; later used Poole after stepfather). Minnie married and had descendants, but the union with Louis ended in divorce or separation by the late 1860s (Louis appears alone in later censuses).

    Second Marriage: Married George Washington Poole (b. 1838 South Carolina, d. 1894 Pueblo, CO) on 10 October 1871 in Arapahoe County, Colorado (Denver area—record from Colorado State Archives). George was a Civil War veteran (Union, 5th Ohio Cavalry) and merchant who moved west for mining/business opportunities. They relocated to Pueblo by the 1880s.

    Children with George: Three sons (all b. Colorado):

    George Victor Poole (b. 1873 Denver).

    John Ralph Poole (b. 1875 Denver).

    Richard W. Poole (b. 1878 Pueblo).

    Later Life and Death: “Maggie” (as she was known) lived in Pueblo, CO, after George’s death. She died 29 January 1930 in Pueblo (age 87) from natural causes and is buried in Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo (Plot: Block F). No obituary details surfaced, but she outlived most of her children.

    This information was very helpful in the areas of finding Margaret’s parents, which was the objective. However, the AI came up with some errors that disagree with other facts in my family tree. First, George W. was a Confederate soldier who was captured and served in a Union POW Camp in Illinois until his release post war and relocation to Colorado. Next, Maggie didn’t outlive any of her children save for Richard, who died at about age 6 in 1889. Minnie died in 1951, George died in 1950 and John (my grandpa) died in 1933, ten years prior to my birth. All three of Maggies sons were born in Pueblo, CO.

    After the dialog posted above, GROK went on to present a myriad of things I can do to follow up on resurfacing more ancestors above the newly discovered great-great grandparents. When I get time, I may dive into some of those tips to see what comes out of it.

    As an epilog to all this AI stuff, I thought I might like to see what my ancestors may have looked like. I asked the GROK AI to compose an 1850 image of John, his wife and their kids on the porch of the farmhouse. Maggie is in the blue dress (clickable).

    And, lastly, I asked the GROK AI to take the only photo I have of Maggie and clean it up to reveal what she may have looked like in 1929 or so (clickable).

    06 Oct 2025 by Ancestors Entertainment Family Nostalgia Technobabble

    Sunday Dinner

    Damsel has a recipe for our Sunday Dinner consisting of Shrimp, Alfredo Sauce and Spaghetti Squash. I doodled the notion of such a meal into the Google Gemini AI image generator on my smart phone, and it produced the (clickable) image shown above. It looks very appetizing for an AI-generated (i.e. “Fake”) photo.

    Gemini is a Google AI platform that enables image generation and editing. It uses multimodal input, enhanced reasoning, and natural language understanding to create images. With Gemini, you can generate images with a single model, such as Gemini 2.0 Flash, which combines text and image generation.

    Gemini 2.0 Flash can be used for various tasks, including generating stories with consistent illustrations, conversational image editing, and creating detailed imagery with world knowledge
    1. It also excels in rendering long sequences of text, making it suitable for creating advertisements, social posts, or invitations
    2. Gemini 2.5 Flash Image is another state-of-the-art image model that benefits from Gemini’s world knowledge, enabling new use cases. It can generate images with a wide range of styles and subjects, and it is available via the Gemini API and Google AI Studio
    3. To use Gemini for image generation, you can use specific prompts to achieve consistent characters, precise edits, and blended images
    4. The platform is actively being improved, and Google is committed to making it more accessible and user-friendly.

    Gemini is also integrated with other Google services, such as Google AI Studio, Vertex AI, and the Gemini app, making it a powerful tool for developers and users alike.

    Anyhow, the actual meal will be posted on our food blog sometime late Sunday, 09/07/2025, after dinner.

    06 Sep 2025 by Arizona Food & Dining Notions Retirement Technobabble

    Starlink and DirecTV Accessibility

    Clickable image – Northern Sky View.

    We’re camping in a very nice place in the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia. It is a wooded area with lots of large trees. Unfortunately, for the reception of signals from space satellites, the trees attenuate the microwave signals from the satellites, and can make reception difficult or impossible.

    The image above is our view of the Northern Sky where we would point our Starlink® antenna for internet access. After trying to access the Starlink constellation, the app on the phone reported that there was no access to the internet. Note that the orbits of the Starlink satellites are moving across the sky with the ground antenna attempting to lock onto and track the satellites as they move across the sky. The access failed and we finally gave up on using the Starlink at this location.

    Clickable image – Southern Sky View.

    This next image is of the southern sky from our campsite. In spite of the ominous presence of signal-impeding trees, we are getting good DirecTV satellite reception. I suppose that the stationary (geo-synchronous) satellites are visible between the branches of the lofty trees in that direction.

    So, we’re watching our TV shows and enjoying them on DirecTV. As for internet access, we have a fallback position for secure access via our smartphone carrier. We pay a few bucks a month to have this backup and it’s doing its job tonight.

    24 Jul 2025 by Cyberspace Entertainment Notions Technobabble Wanderlust

    Categories

    Archives