A note on what the left considers "privilege"

I've come to the realisation that the word "privilege" has undergone a severe process of bastardisation over the past decades. At least the way its usage is currently applied in the west.

Taking into account the Christian perspective, there is no such thing as privilege (as in the way it's worded nowadays); rather, the plenty with which a person or family has is a blessing. All that we are, all that we have achieved and all that we possess is granted from the Holy Father. It's tantamount to when Jesus told Pilate: you would have no power if not granted from above. This was lost on Pilate who was too sidled up in his comfy  luxurious stance in life; too attached to the material and his own indulgences.

Even in want, the gift of salvation, the very promise of a saviour to redeem humanity is more than we deserve and our worth. The secular world calls this privilege, but the pious and the devoted know it is a blessing granted from God. Now and then John 3:16 is said in unsuitable or rather, cliched moments, but that's nevertheless what John was driving at - despite our inherent leaning towards evil, God still saw enough in humanity and the world and decided it was worth saving.

On potato peeling

Some of the potatoes I grew this year were Adirondack Reds. This sort constitutes a red purple type of potato that is really appealing to my tasting senses; medium yields and their skins were pretty blighted and splotchy. They also have to be entirely peeled, rather than some of the others which are are required. If given the choice, it's far preferable to not need peel your potatos because it means both less work and more food. but at times peeling the rind is unavoidable.

By chance encounter, I've recently come across an old acquaintance of mine and the potato talk came up. He told me that he prefers to peel his potatos Russian style, which means using a knife. He also went on to expound on how it's the only way to do it, if your priority is to get the most out of the potato in exchange for the time and energy undertaken for growing them. And how peeling them in such a manner is a practiced skill. And once peeled, they go into a container with cold water, kept in the fridge for a couple days.

I'd never guess that there were named methods of peeling potatos, as I've only ever relied on the usual potato peeler. Granted, i'd make use of a standard kitchen knife now and then, but my go-to-option had always been the potato peeler. It's also come in handy for peeling any thin-skinned vegetable. I'd even use it on garlic for a thin slice.

When I give myself the luxury of a steak, I prefer a baked potato -soaked in butter and spice. On the other hand, I have found out that mashed potatoes go great with chicken. I can take or leave wth gravy- usually doing without the gravy, but with butter. I have on occasion been lazy and have used the prepacked mashed taters. I'd only resort to them when making my homemade version of KFC's chicken bowl, which usually consists of a layer of mashers, corn, chicken and cheese.

IKEV1

 In computing, Internet Key Exchange (IKEv1 or IKEv2, depending on version) is the protocol used to set up a security association (SA) in the IPsec protocol suite. It's based on the Oakley protocol and ISAKMP. Using X.509 certificates for authentication (either pre-shared or distributed using DNS and a Diffie-Hellman key exchange), it sets up a shared session secret from which cryptographic keys are derived. MOreover, a security policy for every peer which will connect must be manually maintained.

Architecture

Most IPsec implementations consist of an IKE daemon that runs in user space and an IPsec stack in the kernel that processes the actual IP packets.

User-space daemons have easy access to mass storage containing configuration information, such as the IPsec endpoint addresses, keys and certificates, as required. Kernel modules, on the other hand, can process packets efficiently and with minimum overhead—which is important for performance reasons.

The IKE protocol uses UDP packets, usually on port 500, and generally requires 4–6 packets with 2–3 round trips to create an SA (security association) on both sides. The negotiated key is then given to the IPsec stack. For instance, this could be an AES key, information identifying the IP endpoints and ports that are to be protected, as well as what type of IPsec tunnel has been created. The IPsec stack, in turn, intercepts the relevant IP packets if and where appropriate and performs encryption/decryption as required. Implementations vary on how the interception of the packets is done—for example, some use virtual devices, others take a slice out of the firewall, etc.

Sliding window protocol

A sliding window protocol is a feature of packet-based data transmission protocols, used where reliable in-order delivery of packets is required, such as in the data link layer (OSI layer 2) as well as in the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

Sending a batch of data, it's necessary that the receiver ensures it was received correctly. When the receiver checks the data, it sends an acknowledgment signal ("ACK") back to the sender to indicate it can send the next packet. In a simple automatic repeat request protocol (ARQ), the sender stops after every packet and waits for the receiver to ACK. This ensures packets arrive in the correct order, as only one may be sent at a time.

The time to receive the ACK signal may represent a significant amount of time compared to the time needed to send the packet. In this case, the overall throughput may be much lower than theoretically possible. To address this, sliding window protocols allow a selected number of packets, referred to as the window, to be sent without having to wait for an ACK. Each packet receives a sequence number, and the ACKs send back that number. The protocol keeps track of which packets have been ACKed, and when they are received, sends more packets. In this way, the window slides along the stream of packets making up the transfer.

The sliding window method prevents the issue of traffic congestion on the network. The application layer will still be offering data for transmission to TCP without worrying about network traffic congestion as the TCP on sender and receiver side implement sliding windows of packet buffer. The window size may vary dynamically depending on network traffic.

For the highest possible throughput, it is important that the transmitter is not forced to stop sending by the sliding window protocol earlier than one round-trip delay time (RTT). The limit on the amount of data that it can send before stopping to wait for an acknowledgment should be larger than the bandwidth-delay product of the communications link. If it is not, the protocol will limit the effective bandwidth of the link.

Garden posting

Today I got my apple trees planted. Four of them in total. They are doing well but there is some blight on the leaves and they do attract the scourge of Japanese beetles. Which is not an unmanageable thing, but those ugly metallic brown and green flying insect things are not for the faint of heart. I literally have beetle juice stained fingers, often more than i'm comfortable with. There is an effective management strategy: go through your garden and pick them off the hotspots where they congregate, once or twice per day, in the cool of the day when they are slow and easy to get. Better pro tip: knock them into a light container of water and save yourself the guilt of crushing them; but then you'll have to wait as long as two days for them to most likely expire, which is also sort of troublesome.
I've also recently bought two blue spruce for which to plant as a screen in the front yard to provide some psychological protection off from the mean streets, which had led to an annoying retail experience while buying them and having to fend off an aggressive Karen clerk. I decided to not plant those two trees because they would grow too big. And so I returned them, and they told me that they weren’t doing returns because corporate policy and due to Covid! After a minor spat and some back-and-forth bickering, i ended up showing them that it said right on the receipt that returns were “within four days” and he had to take them back; and which he did, apparently at his discretion. If you have never worked retail, on the other side of the counter as it were, you may not know this: as a rule they hate you.

is it necessary to freeze tinned food?

It's easy for people to get a little worked up over the coronavirus pandemic. if you have amassed a cache of tinned foodstuff and are wondering if storing these goods in the freezer could extend their shelf life, the short answer is it doesn't make a difference.

The idea behind buying canned foods is that it shouldn't be frozen to keep it from spoiling

Canned foods will last long past the "Best by, Sell by, Use by" date that is on the can.  Notice that it doesn't say "expiration date".

Keeping canned foods in a cool, dry location will be tops. If any cans are dented or damaged in any way either throw them away or use them (as long as the can is not bulging or leaking). If stored properly, they will last a long time.

If for some unknown reason you want to freeze these items you will have to remove the food from the can and transfer it to a zip top bag or other airtight container. Leave room for expansion (this is why you can not freeze the food directly in the can it was processed in).

Bart is a Genius

Bart is a Genius is the second episode of the Simpsons' First Season, which originally aired on the Fox network on January Fourteenth, 1990. It was the first episode written by John V.D. and the first directed by David Silverman. It was also the first ever episode to use the signature title sequence. The episode features Bart Simpsons' experiences of life as a genius after he cheats on an intelligence test. It marks the first use of Bart's catchphrase "eat my shorts". As the second episode produced, directly after the disastrous animation of "Some Enchanting Evening", the future of the series depended on how the animation turned out in this episode. The animaiton proved to be more successful, and the production continued. Image caption: Homer finds out that Bart cheated on his IQ test and chases him thorugh the house. table of contents. section 1 plot, section 2 prodciution section 3 cultiural refenresnces section 5 refenreces section 6 external links section 1 plot the episode starts with teh simpssons famikly playing a game of scrabble in order to help Bart prepare for an intelligence test he will take at school the next day. Not taking the game seriously, Bart lays down all his titles inno particular order, inventing the word QUIGIBBLE. He is subsequently mocked by Lisa for being unintelligent, calls her an idiot and is chased out of the house by an enraged Homer. At school the next day, when bart is having trouble with the test, he switches tests with martin prince, a very intelligent student. At a meeting with bart's parents after school that day to discuss his behaviour, psychiatrist doctor j lore and prior identifies bART as a genius based on  teh test results. Homer, Marge and Principal Skinner are all surprised by this, but they are all to enrol Bart at a school for giifted children. Only LISA REFUSES TO BELIEVE THAT Bart is a genius. At the new school, Bart is intimidated by the other students, who are studying confusing en masse topics, do not share his interests and are suspicious and disdainful of him. They use their greater knowledge of different systems of measurement to trick Bart out of his lunch. Homer is even appreciative of bart and shows an unusual interest in spending time with him. The two bond over their shared hate of opera, which Marge forces the family to attend.