Month: June 2025

Google Pixel 8 Phone Camera

Steven Guccione

The Google Pixel 8 phone has a really nice camera, especially for low light shots. Last night there was a thin crescent moon setting over Bernalillo and I thought I would try to get a good shot. Past my bedtime, but it looked to be a neat photo opportunity. Took a couple with the Night Sight mode but the lights of Bernalillo were a bit too bright compared to the thin slice of the moon. But still a couple of interesting ones, given this was a phone camera.

A while back my friend Josh sent me a photo of the Northern Lights taken with his Pixel 8. He said it took long exposures of several minutes. I read a bit but couldn’t get it to work. Seems you need to hold the camera very still then the Astronomy mode kicks in. Looks like you really need a tripod. It was getting late and it was dark, but I decided to haul out my tripod and give it a shot.

The first photos of the Sandias was marred by a helicopter flying right through the middle of the shot. It was a 5 minute exposure, so I was annoyed. Pointed the camera up to try and get the Big Dipper. Guess what? The same helicopter goes through the middle of the shot. Another 5 minute exposure. Ok, maybe kinda neat. I can see how this Astronomy mode works. But what are the odds of that?

Google Books Ripoff

Steven Guccione

These days I use Google Books to purchase and read most of my books. It has a Wish List feature that is pretty handy. Occasionally a book on my list get discounted and I get a notification. Today there were 3 discounted down to $1.99. James Lee Burkes Wayfaring Stranger, Black Spartacus about the Haitian slave revolution and In Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. Except only the Burke charged as $1.99. The other two were roughly $10 and $14. I would not have noticed had I not checked the (email) receipt. Got immediate refunds on both. What is the deal here, Google?

The Government is Trying to Kill Me

Steven Guccione

I joked when I left Texas that the Governor was trying to kill me. It was a bit of a joke, sounding like a conspiracy theory, but I wasn’t joking. It became clear that Gov Abbott’s policies leaned so far against public health and safety that it was literally, IMO, becoming dangerous to live in Texas. Even more so if you were, for instance, a pregnant woman.

Now this attempt to kill off Americans is going nationwide. I expect there won’t be a flu shot this year. Why? Hard to say for sure (except that they want to kill people) but it seem to be based on a discredited theory that these vaccines, or something in them leads to autism. Discredited is probably too nice a term. Completely unfounded, bonkers theory is more like it.

During COVID it was just a propaganda campaign that lead to people avoiding the vaccine, and often dying. I’ve seen the numbers and have several family friends who didn’t get the COVID vaccine and succumbed. On the flip side I don’t know anyone who got the vaccine and died, or even got hospitalized.

But back to the flu shot. So the claim is the flu vaccine (or now, supposedly something in it) leads to autism in very young children. How about this RFK jr: why not just ban the vaccine for young children? I don’t see why keeping it from my 90 year old mother is a good idea. I don’t see her developing autism. And nobody is even claiming that.

So why? As I said the government is trying to kill me. They are trying to kill us all. Why? Well as best I can tell it’s a cult thing. The ultimate sacrifice to Dear Leader is to give your life. We all live in Jonestown now.

RFK Jr’s new vaccine panel votes against preservative in flu shots in shock move

On-Line Scams

Steven Guccione

When we moved I got rid of most of my power tools. They were things used for yard work that I won’t be doing anyway, like mowing a lawn. I did buy a new Worx 20V leaf blower when we arrived in New Mexico. Not that I have leaves to blow here, so I suppose it is really a Dust Blower, but something I do use.

I have an old 20V Black and Decker 20V drill that has seen better days. Since I wanted to stick with one brand of batteries, I decided to just get a new Worx drill. Found one On-Line and bought it. But I noticed I didn’t get an email receipt. I did a screen grab of the transaction and now notice no special transaction ID. A quick Google shows this place (XDC Depot) is a complete scam. Does not deliver, phone number and address fake. They didn’t charge my credit card, but still. Im usually pretty good at spotting fishy stuff On-Line but this one was slick. A very large and professional looking website. Ah well I guess I need to be more careful.

I went on to look for a Worx 20V drill and found prices all over the map. Hundreds of dollars in some cases. Went to the Worx web site (figuring shipping charges would be a small price to pay to avoid another scam). But everything I wanted was out of stock. Odd.

There is one package deal at Amazon that is maybe twice the price I think I should pay. And I do remember seeing these tools available from multiple (reputable) stores at more reasonable prices. Is this something to do with all the tariff back and forth with China (Worx is a German company but manufacturers everything in China). Maybe I better jump on that pricey drill over at Amazon while I still can.