Target Practice

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My friend George and I took our shotguns down into the woods for a little target practice. George is experienced with all type of firearms… I’m a novice. I recently traded my Remington .12 gauge for a Mossberg Shockwave 590 in .410 gauge and this is my first time to shoot the gun. It was a lot of fun. Video runs 3.5 minutes.

I learned a couple of things from today’s practice session. Most importantly, there’s an issue with the new shotgun. Very difficult to rack and jams frequently. It’s on the way back to Mossberg for repair or replacement. Secondly, the Hornady .410 Triple Defense (41 caliber slug + two 35 caliber pellets) has “stopping power” but far too easy for me to miss (in the middle of the night out of a dead sleep in a dark house). I did much better with the 12 pellet BBB Buck Shot ammo.

Osmo Pocket 3: Big Ass Rock

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Trying to get the hang of the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 camera. The camera is on a selfie stick about four feet above the deck. I’m using the remote mic which works great. I try to stay out of the videos I shoot because I look older than Keith Richards. I like the distance I get with the Pocket 3 face-tracking. And the audio with the remote mic is exceptional.

At the 3:08 mark I refer to another rock formation on the other side of the house.

Personalized Spatial Audio

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I developed an appreciation for good audio headphones during my time at KBOA back in the ’70s. Not so much for the music as much as wanting/needing to hear my voice as the listener was hearing it. Too close to the microphone? Too far away? Popping my “P’s?” I’ve purchased a lot of headphones over the years, always searching for the perfect set.

I used Apple’s wired earbuds during the iPod days and thought the music sounded fine. I never purchased another set of “cans.” I purchased my first set of Apple AirPods in 2016 and have been using them ever since. They fit my ears perfectly. So well, in fact, that I forget I have them in. Unfortunately, that means I don’t notice if one falls out which happened last week. The Find My app on my phone told me where I last had the AirPod but I never found it.

When I got my new AirPods my buddy George asked if i had configured them to take advantage of Personalized Spatial Audio. I vaguely recalled reading about this feature but don’t think I ever used it. As good as I thought the AirPods were before, this bit of tech magic was impressive.

(Perplexity) It uses the TrueDepth camera on newer iPhones to scan your face and ears. This captures data about the geometry and contours of your head and ear position. This personalized profile is then used to optimize how spatial audio is rendered through your AirPods or Beats headphones. It adjusts the sound to account for your ear shape and head size, providing a more immersive 3D audio experience tailored specifically to your anatomy.

Songs I’ve listened to a thousand times sound fresh and new. So, yeah, I’ve become one of those people walking around with tiny white things in my ears. More and more I’m using Siri to schedule reminders, send messages, check the weather, jot down a note… you get the idea. My phone stays in my bag more these days and when at home, I leave it on the table and interact via AirPods (as long as phone and pods are on same wifi network.

This will get even more interesting this fall when I take the Apple Watch (with cellular) plunge.

Religious service attendance dropping

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More than three-quarters of Americans say religion’s role in public life is shrinking, per a recent Pew Research Center survey — the highest level since the group first started tracking such sentiment in 2001.

A separate Gallup survey published this week found that Latter-day Saints are the only religious group wherein a majority say they attend services weekly, at 54%.

30% of Protestants say they attend services weekly, compared to 28% of Muslims, 23% of Catholics and 16% of Jews.

Quotable

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“A chap like me could make himself pretty useful in a labour-camp.”

— 1984 by George Orwell

“Why are most people who are against abortion people you wouldn’t want to fuck in the first place?”

— George Carlin

Target Practice

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Last time I took the 12 gauge out for a little target practice was back in January. The Remington was what everybody recommended for home defense but it always had a little more recoil than I liked so I gave the 12 gauge to my brother-in-law and purchased a Mossberg 590 Shockwave in 410 gauge.

Now that my busted arm is on the mend, I’m ready to try it out with the .410.

Poppies

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It has been many years since I used the WordPress app on my iPhone. So long, I don’t recall why I stopped. Thinking about giving it another go. 

If AI does nothing else for us…

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What are you gonna do?

Trump Stand-up

The genius behind these is someone named Jabari Jones (YouTube). There’s an actor by that name but cannot confirm this is his YT channel. What can I tell you, I’m a sucker for crude humor.