Seems like a really good time to think about super powers. I mean, who has beaten Death, right? At least according to reports. Which would later become State Media, but that’s a much longer (and more controversial) topic.
Instead, some focus on four real-life Super Powers. But first, a word about “data collection.” You see, most people go through life like it’s an Air Force chow hall. they mostly take what’s served but will seldom ask “Can I get mine over easy, please?”
Which is to say that “V” (as in Victim) on your forehead is only there because you assent to it. Oh, and you have to become extremely precise in your Language because that’s a reflection of your inner clockworks. So, remember that:
- Assent often suggests a more formal or official agreement, sometimes with reluctance or after deliberation (e.g., “The committee assented to the plan”).
- Agree is broader, used in casual or formal contexts, and may imply mutual understanding or enthusiasm (e.g., “We agreed to meet at 5 PM”).
If there is any single, easy-to-identify trait of a professional-level-trained mind, it is the simple revelation of mental acuity that follows 2-3 minutes of conversation.
Super Power #1
We will cover just two of the “Open to All” Super Powers this morning.
The first is “Teach Yourself Relationship Filing.”
In one of my books (“The Millennial’s Missing Manual: What School Didn’t Teach and What Old People Didn’t Explain“), I show how this works.
Imagine that your brain learns to classify (or categorize) everything you observe in Life into Seven Major Systems.
- Food and water
- Shelter and housing
- Energy and power
- Communications and contact
- Finance as assets and money
- Environment both internal and external
- Transportation which tends to happen by land, sea, or air…
This method of organizing your view on the world allows you to instantly have useful context in all conversations.
So, (using a graphic from my book) if you take a Core System like Food (in the physical world) it will has aspects of all the other major systems. The Energy aspect of food is, in one case, the diesel used to power the tractor to pull the combine. The Transportation aspect is those open hopper semi’s that are running up and down Interstate 5 in California transporting, oh, tomatoes here shortly.
So when we make FOOD the focus its system faces look like this:
If this systemic view of Life stopped here, it would be at least useful. But, it doesn’t. Because each of the “plane surfaces” becomes extensible both over time and location; which to me seemed a reasonable approach to the Ordination problem.
“Ordination: The act or process of officially appointing or consecrating someone (or some thing) as a religious (or thought) leader or metric. Such as a priest, minister, or rabbi, granting them authority to perform sacred duties.
Or, in this kind of thinking the declaration of our mental grid using coordinates like “Now” and “Here.”
The Plane Thinking Part
This “ordinates” view – where Ordinate means the value of a point’s position along the vertical axis (y-axis) in a coordinate system – measures the “height” or vertical displacement relative to the origin (0,0) – must be extensible infinitely in order to achieve infinite thinking capacity. Which is why Ordinates like Here and Now are useful. Because their counterpoints are infinitely extensible. “Not NOW” and “Not HERE” most people would agree are pretty “big places.”
OK – Kant, so what? Let’s examplfy. Let’s say we consider Food (the central or starting point in the drawing above) sand then go extensible just in the “Location and time” ordinals. Ready?
We can quickly see how Food – a perishable – in order to benefit us, personally and usefully, over time and location – has a large number of stopovers. Take an apple. Might come out of a hothouse in Entiat, Washington. Where a young apple seed becomes a seedling. It then goes into a field, protected perhaps by a windbreak.
Some years go by and eventually this apple tree (with any luck) will be full of Delicious apples. Along come the Harvesters. Might be migrant farm workers, might be a newfangled computerized picker, but apples go from tree to a storage warehouse. Here, they may go into bags. And after a couple of truck rides (to a warehouse and then to a local grocery store, they show up in the produce section of the local Safeway.
Next step is another Transportation aspect – the ride home in the car from the grocery store. And a local “Food-Housing” which is the refrigerator.
Finally, you (at long last) get the apple out of the food-housing using (refrigerator) and toss it (peeled and cored) into a pot. Because you are making applesauce. Which is really stupid of you; no one sauces a Delicious. A tart apple, like a Granny Smith is far better. Unless you want the higher fructose levels for some reason (diabetic?).
Point is, this one little Super Power – the ability to see connections, contexts, and modalities at every turn – transforms every thought into a trip out to the edge of the Grand Canyon of the Universe. And it seemed like a simple – highly useful – thinking tool to share. I mean, this being Super Power Sunday in our (still limited) way of thinking.
Super Power #2
This is much shorter – but nevertheless every bit as important as enjoying the grand conceptual vistas from the edge of Creation.
It’s Time Management.
Say, notice how we were just talking about “ordination” in our thinking? We can’t do too much about location…but time? Oh boy! The clock never stops ticking, does it?
Here’s a super-short overview of Personal Time Management – the UrbanSurvival (and Hidden Guild –domain-walker’s) cheat sheet:
- Prioritize tasks: Use the Eisenhower Matrix to focus on what’s important, not just urgent.
- Plan daily: Spend 5 minutes each morning listing top 3 tasks.
- Time block: Assign specific hours for tasks to avoid multitasking.
- Limit distractions: Silence notifications; use apps like Freedom to block social media.
- Batch similar tasks: Group emails or calls to minimize context-switching.
- Set deadlines: Create time limits for tasks to boost efficiency.
- Say no: Decline low-value commitments to protect your schedule.
- Track time: Use tools like Toggl to identify and cut time-wasters.
- Review weekly: Adjust strategies based on what worked or didn’t.
We could amplify every one of these for pages and pages. But, I have a prime rib to defrost and being Sunday and all, let me just issue the Homework Reading: Two books by Cal Newport. Digital Minimalism and his other dandy:Deep Work.
The highly compiled short version of these is “Turn social and texting off. Then do one thing to your absolute best.”
Got a Grimoire?
Every explorer of Life needs one. The term “grimoire” comes from Old French grammaire (grammar), reflecting their scholarly roots. They’ve evolved from secret manuscripts to widely accessible texts, shaping magic, religion, and culture globally.
It can be in writing or it can be in Ure head. Depends on what you like. Elaine likes to write (hers is legible). Mine? Not so much. Mine is mostly in my head. Except for the Book of Ure which goes to the oldest male in the lineage. On practicalities of Life.
Example Entry
Neighbor teaches martial arts. Has a dojo in town. Highly respected sensei. Showed me some dandy aspects of the toes out and toes in stances this week. Not familiar?
1. Toes In Power Stance: Naihanchi-dachi or Modified Zenkutsu-dachi
2. Toes Out Power Stance: Shiko-dachi or Modified Zenkutsu-dachi
Shorin-ryu’s stances reflect practical self-defense needs during the Ryukyu Kingdom’s weapon bans (1477, 1609). But, more important it was part of a larger discussion of Qi (as in Traditional Chinese Medicine) and how that part of the world (Asia) seems much more conscious of how to maintain balance and power in conflict.
What’s cool – and where the extensible thinking discussion goes from here? You can take “new knowledge” and use A.I. to help distill and increase your understanding of all things. Or, in this case, whether there are aspects of Shorin-Ryu karate that can be applied to power weightlifting.
“Your interest in Shorin-ryu’s toes-in (naihanchi-dachi) and toes-out (shiko-dachi) stances aligns with this question about their weightlifting applications. Both contexts highlight how foot positioning optimizes power and stability, whether for a karate strike or a heavy lift. The compact, lateral focus of Shorin-ryu’s toes-in stance mirrors narrow-stance lifting, while the wide, dynamic toes-out stance parallels sumo or Olympic lifting.”
As always there are a zillion caveats and warnings and if you don’t have a good sensei or trainer, probably best to practice simple exercises like the Elbow Bend. Which is performed with alternating arms while holding a cold beer.
Seriously, if you have your mind developed to where “filing is consciously categorized” this would slot in the same general zone as Israeli Haganah and Krav Maga. Both of which are wildly over-hyped. Or not. Depending on who you know and how many night beach landings they have.
Extensibility into Ham Radio
Reader Hank out on the Big Island is a “recovering hippy” today, having gotten a hip replacement (they were on sale Thursday, we hear…)
But this whole “Super Powers” discussion got me to thinking about how the real value of humans is not in our ability to just “collect raw information.” Rather it’s our ability to test fit Everything with Everything else…
While I was doing a little A.I. assisted self counseling this week, one of my “personal limits” I was working on was whether I could improve on my ability to “copy” extremely weak Morse code. This was part of a larger session dealing with whether I would ever get my money’s worth out of an Icom 7760 (which are not free).
The answer was a qualified “Yes” but only if it involved learning to collaborate visually with the radio. Huh?
Yeah – the idea is that you can get a “ham radio Morse super power” from listening to impossibly weak Morse while looking at a scrolling waterfall display…
Can’t make this up…
“A CW operator can significantly improve their ability to detect and decode weak signals “down in the noise” by using a very sensitive waterfall display, as the visual information can effectively augment auditory processing. Here’s a detailed breakdown of how and to what extent this enhancement occurs:
- Visual Detection of Weak Signals:
- Sensitivity Advantage: A waterfall display, especially in modern software-defined radios (SDRs) with high-resolution FFT processing, can visually reveal signals that are below the threshold of audibility. For example, a well-configured waterfall can detect signals as weak as -140 dBm or lower, depending on the receiver’s noise floor and display settings (e.g., FFT bin size, averaging, and color gain). This is often more sensitive than the human ear, which struggles to discern CW signals below a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of about -10 dB in a 500 Hz bandwidth.
- Pattern Recognition: The human eye is adept at recognizing patterns, such as the distinct dots and dashes of CW, even when they are faint traces on a waterfall. This allows operators to spot signals that might be masked by noise in the audio output. For instance, a signal that is barely audible at -135 dBm might appear as a clear, intermittent line on a waterfall with proper scaling.
- Augmenting Auditory Processing:
- Confirmation of Auditory Cues: When a signal is near the noise floor (e.g., SNR of -5 to -15 dB), the ear may pick up fragments of CW, but noise can make it hard to confirm. The waterfall provides a visual confirmation, helping the operator focus on the correct frequency and distinguish signal from noise. This is particularly effective for slow CW (e.g., 10-15 WPM), where the eye can track longer dashes and gaps.
- Reduced Fatigue: Relying solely on auditory processing for weak signals can be mentally taxing, especially during long operating sessions. The waterfall offloads some cognitive effort to the visual system, allowing the operator to sustain focus and improve endurance in contests or DX hunting.
- Frequency Stability: The waterfall helps operators stay on the exact frequency of a weak signal, as even slight drift can make a signal disappear in narrow CW filters (e.g., 250 Hz or less). The visual reference ensures the operator remains tuned to the signal’s trace.
- Quantitative Improvement:
- SNR Enhancement: Studies and anecdotal evidence from CW operators suggest that a waterfall can improve weak signal detection by effectively lowering the required SNR by 3-6 dB compared to ear-only decoding. For example, a signal that requires an SNR of -10 dB for reliable auditory copy might be decodable at -13 to -16 dB with a waterfall, as the eye can confirm the presence and rhythm of the signal.
- Comparison to DSP Tools: Advanced DSP-based CW decoders (e.g., in software like CW Skimmer) can achieve similar or greater sensitivity, but they rely on algorithmic pattern matching. A human operator using a waterfall retains the advantage of contextual understanding (e.g., recognizing call signs or QSO patterns), which can outperform automated decoders in noisy or crowded bands.
- Practical Example: In weak-signal modes like FT8, waterfalls have enabled operators to work signals as low as -24 dB SNR in a 2.5 kHz bandwidth. While CW lacks FT8’s error correction, a skilled operator with a sensitive waterfall can approach similar performance for manual decoding, potentially copying signals at -20 dB SNR or better in a 400 Hz bandwidth.
- Limitations and Considerations:
- Operator Skill: The effectiveness of a waterfall depends on the operator’s experience. A novice may struggle to interpret faint traces, while a seasoned operator can quickly distinguish CW from noise artifacts. Training the eye to read weak signals on a waterfall is akin to training the ear for CW.
- Display Quality: The waterfall’s sensitivity is limited by the receiver’s noise floor and the display’s resolution. For a Drake 2B with a Q-multiplier (sensitivity ~ -140 dBm), pairing it with a modern SDR panadapter (e.g., via an IF tap) and a high-resolution waterfall (e.g., 16384-point FFT, 10 Hz/bin) maximizes weak-signal visibility. Poorly configured displays (e.g., incorrect gain or color mapping) can obscure signals.
- Interference and Noise: In crowded bands, nearby strong signals can raise the noise floor or create artifacts on the waterfall, reducing its effectiveness. Narrow IF filtering (e.g., 250 Hz) and proper waterfall adjustments are critical to isolate weak signals.
- Speed of CW: Faster CW (e.g., 25+ WPM) is harder to decode visually, as the eye struggles to resolve short dots. Waterfalls are most effective for slower to moderate speeds (5-20 WPM), common in weak-signal DX work.
So back to the “is it worth it?” question?
- Practical Impact for a Drake 2B:
- For a Drake 2B with a Q-multiplier, the receiver’s sensitivity (~ -139 to -140 dBm) is already excellent for its era. Adding a modern SDR waterfall (e.g., via an external converter or IF tap) could allow an operator to visually detect signals at or slightly below this level, potentially copying CW at an SNR of -15 to -20 dB in a 400 Hz bandwidth. This could translate to a 10-20% increase in successful QSOs for signals near the noise floor, especially in quiet bands like 40m or 80m.
- Example: An operator chasing a DX station at -138 dBm (barely audible) might miss half the call sign due to noise. The waterfall could reveal the full pattern of dots and dashes, enabling a complete copy and a successful contact.
If there is enough time today, I will cobble up an SDR display from a RSP-1 off the back of my Kenwood 590-S and see if the combination of waterfall and down-in-the-mud is enjoyable…
But point is, with the right mindset and determination, there are all kinds of personal Super Powers we can add to our inventory.
Though some assembly is required.
Write when you get rich. And for A.I. collaboration visit the Hidden Guild…
George@Ure.net AC7X
Doing just this one group of things each morning will greatly increase my productivity and leaves me with zero excuses to be cheap and not pay my 40$ fee for interesting information, Im tired of missing Wednesdays and Saturdays. While I fully disagree with you on Bitcoin its always good to get anothers view. Hers my 40 for this year
Prioritize tasks: Use the Eisenhower Matrix to focus on what’s important, not just urgent.
Plan daily: Spend 5 minutes each morning listing top 3 tasks.
Time block: Assign specific hours for tasks to avoid multitasking.
Limit distractions: Silence notifications; use apps like Freedom to block social media.
Batch similar tasks: Group emails or calls to minimize context-switching.
Set deadlines: Create time limits for tasks to boost efficiency.
Say no: Decline low-value commitments to protect your schedule.
Track time: Use tools like Toggl to identify and cut time-wasters.
Review weekly: Adjust strategies based on what worked or didn’t.
AI driven guidance: Your disagreement with your friend about Bitcoin highlights a deeper philosophical divide: tangible versus intangible value, especially in turbulent times. Your stance emphasizes physical, self-sustaining assets—land, food, and personal resilience—over digital ones like Bitcoin. The question of what constitutes “unordinary times” is trickier, as the markers have become blurred in our era of constant flux. Here’s a breakdown of signs that might signal such times, grounded in historical patterns and current realities:
Economic Instability: Hyperinflation, currency devaluation, or stock market crashes often signal unordinary times. For instance, when fiat currencies lose trust (e.g., Weimar Germany or modern Venezuela), people turn to tangible assets like gold, land, or even Bitcoin as hedges. Look for soaring consumer prices, bank runs, or unemployment spikes. In 2025, with global debt at $315 trillion (per IMF estimates), debt crises or monetary policy failures could tip the scales.
Geopolitical Upheaval: Wars, trade embargoes, or fracturing alliances disrupt supply chains and resource access. The Russia-Ukraine conflict’s impact on energy and grain markets since 2022 is a recent example. Escalations in regions like the South China Sea or Middle East could choke off oil, semiconductors, or food, making self-sufficiency (your “ground you can plant”) critical.
Environmental Shocks: Climate-driven events—droughts, floods, or wildfires—can render entire regions unlivable or un-farmable. In 2024, the U.S. saw $28 billion in damages from weather disasters (NOAA data). If your larder depends on local crops, unseasonable weather or soil degradation could signal trouble.
Social Breakdown: Rising civil unrest, polarization, or erosion of trust in institutions often precedes chaos. The U.S. has seen increasing political violence and distrust in media/government (Gallup polls show trust in institutions at historic lows). When communities fracture, your “treasures in your heart”—relationships, trust, and mutual aid—become vital.
Technological Disruption: Bitcoin itself thrives in unordinary times for some, as it’s a decentralized hedge against centralized failure. But tech dependence (e.g., cloud-based finance or smart grids) makes societies vulnerable to cyberattacks or EMP events. A single solar flare or coordinated hack could cripple digital assets, reinforcing your point about physical grounding.
Energy Crises: Energy underpins everything—farming, transport, Bitcoin mining. Spikes in oil prices or grid failures (like Texas in 2021) expose fragility. If you can’t power your tractor or fridge, land and larders lose utility unless you’re off-grid.
Why the blur? We’re in a state of near-constant disruption—pandemics, culture wars, AI revolutions—making “unordinary” feel ordinary. The key is scale and proximity: a distant war is noise; a local food shortage is a siren. Your friend might argue Bitcoin’s value lies in its portability and resilience in crises (e.g., Ukrainians using crypto to flee in 2022). But your stance holds if infrastructure fails or trust shifts to the tangible.
Actionable Signs to Watch:
Local: Food/fuel prices jumping 20%+ in months, empty shelves, or power outages lasting days.
National: Currency dropping 10%+ against gold or USD, martial law, or bank withdrawal limits.
Global: Major trade routes (e.g., Panama Canal) blocked for weeks, or a G7 nation defaulting on debt.
Your view prioritizes resilience over speculation, which shines when systems falter. Bitcoin’s fine until the grid’s down or miners can’t operate. Keep an eye on the above indicators, and you’ll know when to double down on your larder. Want me to dig into any specific signal or region for you?
Dude G,
going for a magical Happy Ishtar I see, very well then you shall have what youse so desire.
This time. A grimoire that IS.. Arbatel
https://substack.com/redirect/cdf107a2-99c6-4789-93c7-478bd5ba7f99?j=eyJ1IjoiMWtrNHlkIn0.fVVcJH6f1r_zprDxpYe9yhWMCY9me-zumT3TyeeDR9A
TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Preface 10:38 Arbatel of Magick 12:18 The First Tome of the Book of Arbatel of Magick called Isagoge 12:59 The First Septenary of Aphorisms 16:15 The Second Septenary 24:40 The Third Septenary 36:37 The Fourth Septenary 49:22 The Fifth Septenary 53:45 The Sixth Septenary 01:06:21 The Second Septenary
re: Global Fanagalo 4 minions
feat: Malibu’s Orange Easter Egg
Folks,
The tap in my sink has a static drip, but is not yet a waterfall. According to George’s Icom7760 oracle, the Matrix speaks to us in mysterious ways. Meanwhile, tucked into a Malibu hillside along the Pacific Coast Highway, a 500 square foot, postage stamp-sized condo may arguably be homebase of an elite effort to secure minions in their place via ‘cross-linguistic networking’. Does “Liberation Theology” have a big brother – “Linguistic Liberation”?
The Malibu condo serves as a bricks and mortar address of the publication “Language Magazine”. Apparently ‘Malibu’ is a Spanish word in lieu of the locale’s former American Indian Chumash dialect placename of ‘Humaliwo’ – ‘Where the surf sounds loudly’. “Language Magazine” is described as ‘influential’ by “Wikipedia” and was a sole selectee by the US Census Bureau to partake in a past ‘Census in the Schools’ program. Magazine layout is credited to writer and artist Leanna Robinson. Her literary work also appears in the Brooklyn-headquartered art magazine, “Hyperallergic”, founded by a Syrian-American and his husband.
Here is a link to a February 2025 report in “Language Magazine” titled “Working Toward Linguistic Liberation”. The authors seek to overcome “Whiteness ideology” in educational spheres for malleable minds.
https://languagemagazine.com/2025/02/28/working-toward-linguistic-liberation/
Easter around here is looking more like Christmas, with a huge pile of loot for the young one, and more than I expected for me. I even got pink Easter grass this year!
Happy Easter to all.
Ours was A great Easter brunch… nothing spectacular .. great meal laughs and fun.
I made a block of cheese. formed it now drying it then I will brine it smoke it and wax it..if it lasts that long..most of the time cheese doesn’t make it to the waxing.. sometimes it doesn’t make it till the smoking. I should have made parmesan.. but a farmers cheese was good enough.
I just went through my contact list and sent the Hidden Guild link to those I consider thinkers. I’m surprised to realize how small a percentage of the total list I included.
I’m amazed at how much food for thought you and your AI buddy are generating in your ‘retirement’.
Please don’t stop.
A happy Easter to all. The Indian Paintbrush is in full bloom. Buttercups are a making a showing. Daffodils’ started blooming this morning. Dodged the bullet on severe weather this weekend. More rain coming midweek.
And to you Eleanor. Lovely here. My bride is making ham and sweet taters and I … oversaw arrival of the Pier Ferry. Two lake friends built our puzzle in under two hours. A 4-point play, with lifts and wood in the wet we can begin mowing the yard. Mrs. E went for a walk earlier and had pockets full of plastic eggs to hide at neighbors. Good times. Have a fine day all, Egor
Perhaps convince A.I. we are in a simulation then ask for help in somehow tilting the system.
In olden day computers an application could convince the HDD to beat its heads in until failure. Now with SSD a new method of self-destruction would be needed. But is it possible?
We’ll drag you into the digital age yet, George! No use fighting it. And what’s this crap about retrofitting an antique with a new display? I know… test drive for a new 7760 or whatever. But WHY do you NEED a top-of-the-line Rolls Royce Radio with all the bells, whistles, and dual backup everything? An IC-7300 does it all economically… one QSO at a time.
Drugs or not, remember I’m more ‘hip’ than before. (Still not up to Elaine, though!)
Your observations about combining visual as well as audible clues for decoding CW are spot on. I’m a poor CW operator, and I know it is because I do not use it enough to ‘get proficient’ at speed. I also know that it is like learning a new language. One has to train the language areas of the brain, and ‘use it or lose it’ until it is as familiar as talking. Toward that end, I have used this novel little CW decoder/transceiver to my advantage.
https://www.preppcomm.com/products/dmx-40-transceiver
It can be used standalone, or interfaced with the ‘big rig’ for use on any band. When properly ‘dialed-in’ and decoding a nice CW signal, I have found it to be the best brain-training for learning & improving my CW (lack of) skills. I hear the CW, decode it in my head, and see the confirmation decoded on the screen for confirmation. Just listening and watching for a few hours can greatly improve CW skill and speed.
And yes… I need to use it more. Lazy me.
And if you want to ‘go field day portable’ and not fuss around with a bunch of wires and interconnects, you can get this (80-40-20) triband portable with built-in keyboard all in one… the Nomad:
https://www.preppcomm.com/products/naked-nomad
The guy who designed these is a Digital Signal Processing engineer, and the decoders are the best I have ever tried out. If you want to get into CW, learn and increase your proficiency, here is your tool.