Author Archives: gmcdavid

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About gmcdavid

Retired IT professional with a wide range of interests. Married. Three sons, two with autistic-spectrum disorders and the third being transgender with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. From Chicago but now living in the Twin Cities metro, Minnesota. Episcopalian. Carleton College (BA 1972, physics) and Stanford University (MS 1974, Applied Physics; MS 1976 Statistics).

St. Luke’s again

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My wife Mia and I left Windycon about 9AM last Sunday, missing the con events of that day. It took about an hour, in perfect traffic conditions, to reach the east side of Evanston. Just like two years ago, our objective was St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. It continues to thrive. We were able to talk to some people we knew from of old. Mia and I were members there for 20 years. It is one of the key places that made us who we are. Though the buildings are very different, our present parish, St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in St. Paul, feels very much like St. Luke’s and we instantly felt at home there when we first walked into it on Maundy Thursday of 2019.

Rang Gaeilge, 24ú lá na Mí Dheireadh Fómhair 2023

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Duinnín i Lios Dúin Bhearna (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Lisdoonvarna (continued)

  • D’fhag sé slan ag Mrs. Brown. Ghairm sé Greta i leataoibh agus, ar seisean:

    “Cá bhfaighinn seoladh an tiarna talún?”

    ‘Leabhar na seoltaí — an leabhar dearg, sa halla.’

    ‘Breathnaímis air anois.’

    ‘Cogar, a Ghreta,’ ar seisean ar ball agus an Dochtúir Bhatson imithe amach an doras tosaigh, ‘tá sé in am agat post eile a lorg. Ní rófhada go mbeidh caint ar an teach seo mar theach ar deineadh beirt a dhúnmharú ann.’

    ‘Ar mharaigh seisean iad?”

    He said goodbye to Mrs. Brown. He called Greta aside and said:

    ‘Where can I find the landlady’s address??’

    ‘Address book — the red book, in the hall.’

    ‘Let’s look at it now.’

    ‘Whisper, Greta,’ he said at once as Doctor Watson went out the front door, “it’s time you looked for another job. It won’t be too long before this house will be talked about as a house where two people were murdered.

    ‘Did he kill them?’

    gairm call
    seoladh Sailing, sail;

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Rang Gaeilge, 28ú lá na Mí Mheán Fómhair 2023

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Duinnín i Lios Dúin Bhearna (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Lisdoonvarna (continued)

  • ‘Dódó, a Bhatson. An féidir leat a bhfuil scríofa faoi a Iéamh?”

    ‘J.T. Tavistock,‘ arsa Bhatson.

    “Tavistock ainm an tiarna talún,’ arsa Greta.

    ‘Is dócha gur chuir an tiarna talún troscán éigin agus maisiúcháin áirithe ar fail don tionónta,’ arsa Bhatson.

    ‘Dodo, Watson. Can you read what is written about it?’

    ‘J.T. Tavistock,’ said Watson.

    ‘Tavistock is the name of the landlord,’ said Greta.

    ‘The landlord probably made some furniture and certain decorations available to the tenant,’ said Watson.

    troscán furniture m
    maisiúchán Adornment, decoration, ornamentation m
    áirithe Certainty, surety; Certain quantity; Allotment, portion; Certain, particular f, adj

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A couple notes on Ancient Greek Astronomy

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Following up on these posts:

Today I read Beyond the Book (and What the Greeks Knew About the Earth) in which Professor Matt Strassler explains one of the ways the ancient Greeks knew that the Earth was round and how one of them (Eratosthenes of Cyrene} was able to make a reasonably accurate calculation of its circumference. This calculation assumes that the Sun is much further away from the Earth than the Moon, and hence much bigger, than the Earth of the Moon. Which is Bigger, the Sun or the Earth? Check it Yourself! explains how the Greeks knew this.

The 1945 bombing of Dresden

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When I saw the title ‘Accepted’ History Has Dresden Wrong., by Marc Dauphin, I feared the worst. Usually when I read about someone disagreeing with the conventional version of a well known historical atrocity, the authors are trying to minimize the death toll, or even deny that it happened, e.g. holocaust deniers. However, this article is different.

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More on the garage sale laptop

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I have worked some more on the HP Pavilion g6 Notebook I bought for $30 at a local garage sale. I did get the additional RAM I mentioned there. It seemed easy enough to slide into place, but I have not yet been able to get the machine to recognize it. So for now I am stuck with just 4GB. Not long ago that was considered plenty, and I was very happy with a 4GB system, but now “they” are saying you should have at least 16GB on a PC. So now I am looking at lightweight Linux systems to see if I can get some more life out of this system.
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Rang Gaeilge, 8ú lá na Mí Mheán Fómhair 2023

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Duinnín i Lios Dúin Bhearna (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Lisdoonvarna (continued)

  • ‘Admhaím go rabhas míshuaimhneach,’ arsa Bhatson.

    “Mná den chineál céanna a mheallann fear ar leith i gcónaí,” arsa de Hoilm. ‘Titeann sé i ngrá le stuaire fhionn, agus stuaire fhionn a mheallfaidh arís é. Thaitin mná easlána le Burr. Taom croí a thug an chéad bhean chun siúil. Taom croí a thug an dara bean chun siúil. Ní chuirfinn féin spéis sa chás, ach bíonn Bhatson cíocrach chun bleachtaireachta.”

    ‘I admit that I was uneasy,’ said Watson.

    ‘Women of the same sort always attract a particular man,’ said Holmes. ‘He falls in love with a handsome blond woman, and a handsome blond woman will attract him again. Burr liked sick women. A heart attack made the first woman go. A heart attack made the second woman go. I myself would not be interested in the case, but Watson is eager to investigate.

    admhaigh Acknowledge, Admit
    míshuaimhneach Uneasy, restless, perturbed
    ar leith apart, separate; several, distinct; remarkable, special
    cineál Kind, species; Class; sort, variety; race; sex m
    stuaire Handsome woman f
    easlán Sick, infirm, invalid
    taom seizure, (heart) attack
    cíocrach Greedy, eager (for food, etc.)

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A Note on the Kensington Runestone

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Mia McDavid, my wife, suggested that I look at Geologist unearthed a mystery, then landed on TV in our local newspaper. It was about Scott Wolter, who believes that the Kensington Runestone is a genuine medieval artifact. I am generally skeptical of fringe scholarship claims. The reference to the Knights Templar immediately set off more alarms in my head.

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