Use normally dead/black televisions as virtual windows into interesting places via webcams?

by philg

Readers may recall my passion for doing something with the dead/black/huge televisions that are on many walls of our houses (the house that we bought in Florida actually came with six flat-screen TVs at no extra charge because the previous owners didn’t feel like demounting and moving them), e.g.,

I’m surprised that nobody has implemented a business idea that I proposed to entrepreneurial friends about 10 years ago: a streaming service that turns any television into a “virtual window”, but not a window onto the boring street where one actually lives. A subscriber could choose to be looking out at the Champs Elysée, at the crazy intersection in Shibuya (Tokyo), a lake/mountain view from a famous resort hotel, etc. Since all of my ideas are terrible, from a business point of view, the original concept was a cable TV channel. Cable companies offer roughly 50 music channels for ambient use. Why not 50 virtual windows as well?

High quality webcams have only gotten cheaper in the decade since I proposed this idea. Internet has become faster and more reliable. Why hasn’t this idea caught on?

There is a construction documentation company that branched out into this market a little and offers earthcamtv.com, which seems to be supported by low-rent ads rather than subscription. They have an Android TV app so I guess it would work on a Sony, TCL, or HiSense . I don’t think anyone would want this running continuously in his/her/zir/their house.

Here’s a newer twist on the idea: Immigration TV. This could have virtual windows into the countries that enrich us, e.g., Venezuela, Haiti, Colombia, India, Pakistan, etc. It could be sponsored by both the Democratic Party (channels that show how great life is in places that migrants claim are too dangerous to inhabit) and the Republicans (channels that show the crowded, dirty, and disorganized conditions that people in source countries have created for themselves).

As far as I know, all current TVs lack the interface required to be programmed to “wake up at 0900 and start up the Virtual Windows app” so it would be somewhat tedious to go around to every TV in the house every morning and configure this.

Samsung is still trying to sell people on its absurdly deficient The Frame system (requires an external box that nobody has a place to put except maybe if a house was built from scratch with The Frame in mind; they make a wireless version of the box, but of course everyone says that it doesn’t stay connected). Most humans are much more drawn to moving pictures than to still images, even still images of great art (art museums that are free still struggle to attract a wide audience). Why wouldn’t LG introduce The Window in which the television comes preloaded with the ability to show streams from curated webcams around the world?

Partial personal list of desired virtual windows:

  • One for each of the nicest Japanese gardens in Japan (that would be around 50 window choices?)
  • One for the bonsai collection with pond behind at Morikami Japanese garden in Palm Beach County, Florida (good for the Japanese winter months)
  • Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania)
  • Churchill, Manitoba (polar bars)
  • Piazza San Marco, Venice (from a second-story window since nobody needs to see the pigeons up close)
  • Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, Lisbon
  • Portofino South condo rooftop in West Palm Beach (looks out towards Mar-a-Lago so we can keep our envy levels appropriately high)
  • Miami waterfront skyscraper (any) looking out toward Biscayne Bay and Miami Beach (watch the cruise ships come and go)
  • Looking out on the main square of Santiago de Compostela to watch pilgrims who’ve completed their walks
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Moen Flo Artificial Intelligence Water Overlord

by philg

Everyone in Florida prepares for the Category 5 hurricane that, generally, never shows up (e.g., Tampa hasn’t been hit badly by a hurricane for 100 years). Hardly anyone prepares for an internal water leak and quite a few of our neighbors have suffered severe home damage from, e.g., burst sink faucet supply lines. All of the houses in our neighborhood are about 23 years old and that’s apparently a great age for a massive water escape.

I debated and dithered between the Moen Flo and the Phyn Plus. The vulnerability of the Moen Flo is a mechanical impeller that reportedly fails after 1-3 years, but my friend decided that the Phyn Plus would impose more restriction on water pressure (maybe due to 3/4″ internal pipe where our supply is 1″?). Our plumber has a Flo so we decided to go with Moen (the evil Kohler empire rebrands Phyn Plus). The Phyn Plus makes some stronger claims for intelligence.

About one month after the Flo went in we had our first leak, a steadily dripping Roman tub faucet. Here’s an excerpt of the Flo’s recorded usage:

What’s remarkable about the above is that the AI Water Overlord decided that it was a perfectly normal usage pattern for a human to stand at a faucet for several days and pull out 0-0.01 gallons per minute. No alerts were issued. I did an AI support session with the app, which told me to go onto the web site and see if I could do a “MicroLeak” test there. The app wouldn’t let me do it maybe because it thought that a faucet was legitimately in use. In any case, the history showed a few MicroLeak tests passed with flying colors during an obvious and steady leak. Through all of this, the app displayed a “fat/dumb/happy” screen:

I eventually did call the Moen support number. The phone line was quickly answered by an American with no accent. He had no explanation for why the device hadn’t raised an alert, at least, and decided to escalate the question to Tier 2. Meanwhile, although I’d purchased a bundle of the device and three years of extended warranty and other support (assuming that the impeller will fail for us as it has for everyone else), the Web application showed me as not subscribed to “FloProtect” and kept trying to sell me “FloProtect”. The customer support agent confirmed that I actually WAS subscribed.

The leak was bad enough that if had happened while we were away for a few weeks it could have caused $50,000 of mold and other damage. Fortunately for us, however, it was leaking into a tub with a drain and we observed it with our own eyes.

The second fun part of this story was that I had previously asked a contractor to sort out the access panel situation for the Roman tub faucet and the shutoff valves. These were mostly tiled in so a plumber couldn’t service them. He converted two of the tiles to a magnetic mount. “Just cut the grout with a utility knife,” said the contractor, “and then maybe use a suction cup to get the tile out.” Of course, this was a huge challenge for me and I didn’t succeed without a trip to Home Depot to get a pro-grade suction cup grabber.

When I did get my unskilled paws on the 23-year-old shutoff valves I was able to turn them all the way to the right. This shut off the cold water to the tub, but the hot water still flowed out at a substantial rate and continued to drip (apparently, it was the hot water that was dripping). I torqued it down some more and finally got the pressure low enough that the dripping stopped with the faucet tap turned off. ChatGPT says that failure of old shutoff valves is common:

Most angle stops or multi-turn shutoff valves use a rubber washer or packing that seals against a brass seat. Over time, the rubber hardens, cracks, or disintegrates. When you turn the handle clockwise, the valve stem no longer presses tightly enough to fully stop flow — so you get a partial seal and reduced flow instead of a full shutoff.

So, as part of the joy of homeownership, in one day we had

  • a leak detector that wouldn’t detect leaks
  • an access panel that couldn’t be accessed
  • a shutoff valve that wouldn’t shut off

I’ve been wanting to replace the tub filler for a couple of years but I can never wrap my head around how to find something that will fit the hole pattern that we have. Nobody has ever been able to figure out what kind of faucet this is. There is no manufacturer’s name or logo above or below the tub deck. It seems to all be high quality stuff, but there wouldn’t be any way to replace a cartridge or the trim (finish badly marred maybe by some previous owner’s cleaning attempt?) since we can’t figure out where it might have come from.

Maybe the goal should be to have it all done by National Fix a Leak Week (March 16-22, 2026 unless there is another government shutdown).

The actual leak:

Did the Flo ever shut off the water for any reason? Yes! The app had been told that we have a pool and that the pool lacks an auto-filler and it had seen multiple episodes of the pool being topped off by hose before. After I turned up the sensitivity following the failure to detect the above drip, the Flo shut off the water after about one hour/1,000 gallons. So I guess if we ever do have a leak in the house, the Flo will prevent more than 1,000 gallons from covering the floors?

Update: Mere hours after this post went live, the Tier 2 folks at Moen called me back. I learned that it does the MicroLeak test by shutting off the water in the middle of the night when, in theory, nobody would want to use it. Then it spends 1-4 minutes watching for a pressure drop that could be caused by a leak. This effect can be masked however, by traditional hot water heaters and their expansion tanks. It’s possible that the layout of our house and the expansion tank would prevent any Flo device from noticing a leak on the hot side (which I think is what we had). The Tier 2 folks watched the above video and said, however, that our Flo should have noticed that level of leakage. So they’re sending me new hardware, but with the caveat that it probably won’t fix the issue. I’m planning to test it by introducing a fake leak. At the same time, I learned that our plumber should probably have put in a new “consumer water shutoff” valve before the Flo. That would enable us to easily replace the Flo without having to go to the street shutoff.

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Getting a 20-year head start on ridiculing Larry Summers

by philg

Larry Summers is in the news lately for his association with Emmanuel Goldstein: “Larry Summers steps back from public commitments, ‘deeply ashamed’ by Epstein revelations” (Politico).

Was there anyone ridiculing him 20 years ago? Yes! See “Women in Science” from this very server:

Summers was deservedly castigated [fired from Harvard for musings regarding why there weren’t more mathematicians and physicists identifying as “women”] , but not for the right reasons. He claimed to be giving a comprehensive list of reasons why there weren’t more women reaching the top jobs in the sciences. Yet Summers, an economist, left one out: Adjusted for IQ, quantitative skills, and working hours, jobs in science are the lowest paid in the United States. This article explores this fourth possible explanation for the dearth of women in science: They found better jobs.

Is “early ridiculer” credit a thing?

Separately, remember that Larry Summers and Claudine Gay have nothing left of their careers other than lifetime jobs and monthly paychecks that will keep flowing regardless of how senile and incompetent they become.

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Cloud-AI relationship translated into fighter jets (France-Ukraine)

by philg

The relationship between cloud service companies and AI companies transcribed for military hardware… “France Wants to Build Jet Fighters for Ukraine. Neither Has the Cash.” (WSJ):

Separately, the article says that it will take at least 10 years for these fighters to be produced:

Dassault Aviation, the French aircraft manufacturer of the Rafale, would struggle to produce 100 jet fighters within the next 10 years, said Léo Péria-Peigné, a researcher at the French Institute for International Relations. Manufacturing a Rafale takes around two to three years, and the company said last month it still had 233 jets on order that it aimed to deliver over the next five years.

Does this mean that people expect the Russia-Ukraine war to continue for at least 10 more years?

Related:

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The Rainbow Flag Religion in Frederick, Maryland

by philg

Some photos from an October 2025 visit to Frederick, Maryland that are relevant to our observance of Transgender Awareness Week…

Formerly Christian churches have been mostly converted over to Rainbow Flagism, e.g., a Lutheran church founded in 1738:

The United Church of Christ, founded in 1745:

Their principal flag:

The chamber of commerce folks have adopted the full trans-enhanced religoin:

The shops around town generally adhere to Rainbow-First Retail in which shoppers must pass by a sacred flag as they enter. Perhaps under the guidance of the above business organization, the rainbow flags at businesses nearly all have a “Protect Trans Kids” inscription within the Biden-style trans triangle:

We hit Frederick on the way back from a history tour of Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia and the Antietam battlefield from the War of Northern Aggression. Because we visited during the shutdown (October 3, 2025), it was a great lesson for the kids on how times changed. In the mid-19th century government workers had to come into work every day and toil in extreme temperatures in order to receive pay. In the 21st century, government workers are guaranteed to get paid while sitting at home and the taxpayers who must fund their paychecks are denied entry to various historical sites and museums.

The “ferry” part of Harper’s Ferry is now bridged for the convenience of trains and hikers. Harper’s Ferry is the HQ for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the town is rich in resources regarding the trail. As recently as 1970 only about 10 people per year hiked the entire trail. Today it is more than 1,000 per year.

The ironwork done in 1893 is still keeping the trains from falling into the river, 132 years later:

The machines that were so critical to Union success in the War of Northern Aggression continue to roll through Harper’s Ferry:

The “park store” in town is run by a private group and was therefore open. It was, apparently, women who did most of the fighting in the Civil War (there was no section for “men’s history” or “white history”):

Spotted in a local’s driveway and pointed out by our keen-eyed 10-year-old (don’t miss the “Punch More Nazis”):

Below is the closed visitor center for the Antietam battlefield. Just as education wasn’t “essential” during coronapanic, this educational facility isn’t “essential” during a shutdown (i.e., the workers get paid at 100 percent and the kids who show up and try to learn something get nothing).

Here’s a sobering reminder of our insignificance. Soldiers whose names are long-forgotten fought and died for control of Burnside’s Bridge. The Sycamore tree at the far end was there during the battle and it remains there today, 160 years later.

(The bridge cost $3,200 to build, purportedly equivalent to at most $100,000 today. Because we’re so much more efficient at doing stuff today, it cost only $1.7 million (pre-Biden dollars) to rehab in 2015-2017.)

The battlefield isn’t as dense in sculpture as Vicksburg or Gettysburg, but there are many beautiful pieces nonetheless. Examples:

We eventually made it back to Bethesda where the kids learned about the health benefits of marijuana, the importance of Black lives specifically (Korean restaurant door), and the evils of plastic straws (imagine telling a 1970s high schooler that one day marijuana would be considered “essential” and plastic straws would be considered tremendously harmful!).

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The biggest event in Philadelphia this month: honoring transgender, queer, intersex and asexual

by philg

We’re right in the middle of Transgender Awareness Week for those who celebrate.

I have a business trip to Wilmington, Delaware. I thought I would check to see if there was any reason to tack on a day at the end to do something in “Filthadelphia”. Here’s the official tourism site for “the City of Brotherly Love”, reached after searching (on October 13) for “events in philadelphia november 2025”:

Here’s the first event listed:

The text:

A bold installation honoring transgender, queer, intersex and asexual members of the community, In Plain Sight debuted during Pride Month and continues to serve as a vibrant celebration of the TQ+ community on the Delaware River waterfront.

Created in collaboration with local artists and creatives, the sculpture incorporates colors from the different LGBTQ+ pride flags, each representing a segment of the community. The piece sends a loud, clear (and proud) message that all LGBTQ+ visitors are wanted and welcomed warmly in the birthplace of liberty.

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Coronapanic five years ago at Penn State

by philg

A reminder that exactly five years ago, the police in Pennsylvania were hunting for college kids who committed the crime of assembly (formerly a “right” protected by the First Amendment). From Life on campus during the plague:

At the same time, the students were reminded “It is better to report someone who’s innocent than to not report someone who’s guilty.” (context: sexual assault, though it is unclear how a sexual assault might occur among students who were following the college’s coronapanic dictates).

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Why isn’t there a simple 5-channel or 7-channel amplifier that connects to a television’s HDMI eARC output?

by philg

Our family room TV is almost impossible to use due to the fact that the hub of the system is a Yamaha RX-6A AV receiver with a complex user interface and many functions that overlap with the TV. What’s worse, the Yamaha has already had one HDMI switch board failure and seems to be on track for another one (the receiver is about 3.5 years old and sells for almost exactly what we paid for the vastly-more-useful and vastly-simpler-to-use 86-inch LG TV, i.e., $800 (we got the TV at Costco 3.5 years ago for $900, but they threw in a five-year warranty that should have been worth about $100).

What functions of the Yamaha do we actually want? We want it to switch among HDMI inputs and amplify sound for five passive speakers. If we had a subwoofer we’d want it to provide a line-level output for a powered subwoofer. A modern television already supports HDMI switching, typically among 4 inputs, which is plenty for 99% of consumers (cable TV box, some sort of dongle, maybe a slide show player). The modern television also puts out multi-channel audio and volume control commands via its eARC HDMI output. From ChatGPT:

Given how cheap Class D amplifiers are and how inventive Asian electronics companies are, I can’t figure out why there isn’t a display-free and remote-free 5- or 7-channel amplifier with a line-level subwoofer output that could take eARC with Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) input and drive one’s legacy passive speakers. This would enable consumers who’ve cut their cable cords to enjoy true surround sound with just one remote control. As a minor enhancement, when the TV is off and eARC has no signal the little amp could offer to play a Bluetooth source, e.g., from a phone app, through the two main speakers.

There must be something wrong with this product idea because nobody makes a “keep the TV at the center of the TV-watching system” amp. But what is the flaw?

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Taxpayers must fund, but cannot enjoy, the Blue Angels

by philg

Today was when hundreds of thousands of taxpayers had expected to enjoy an air show.

“NAS Pensacola cancels annual Blue Angels air show because of government funding uncertainty” (Stars and Stripes):

Naval Air Station Pensacola canceled this year’s Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show due to uncertainty regarding government funding. Officials said the ongoing government shutdown, limited funding and the time needed to arrange for performers and necessary support contracts are key reasons for canceling the annual two-day event, according to a Facebook post by NAS Pensacola. The show was originally set for Nov. 14- 15 in Pensacola, Fla., and expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Pensacola might be the best place to learn about the relationship between peasants and rulers in the U.S. See Two-year anniversary of National Naval Aviation Museum’s temporary coronapanic closure (2022) and “US government shutdown closes NAS Pensacola to the public, including aviation museum” (October 1, 2025) and “National Naval Aviation Museum to reopen to public” (AOPA, May 4, 2023):

Access to Naval Air Station Pensacola, home of the museum as well as the Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, and Fort Barrancas, had been restricted to Department of Defense cardholders since December 6, 2019, when a terrorist opened fire at the military base, killing three and wounding eight.

Wokipedia:

On the morning of December 6, 2019, a terrorist attack occurred at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Pensacola, Florida. The assailant killed three men and injured eight others. The shooter was killed by Escambia County sheriff deputies after they arrived at the scene. He was identified as Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, an Air Force aviation student from Saudi Arabia. … On January 13, 2020, the Department of Justice said they had officially classified the incident as an act of terrorism, motivated by “jihadist ideology.”

On February 2, 2020, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the shooting. In an audio recording, emir of the Yemen-based group Qasim al-Raymi said they directed Alshamrani to carry out the attack. On May 18, 2020, the FBI corroborated the claims.

In response to the domestic jihad, the government excluded taxpayers from the museum for about 3.5 years and then opened the border for any other jihadi who might want to settle permanently in the U.S., e.g., “Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, an Afghan national who entered the US on September 9, 2021, via humanitarian parole (later applying for a Special Immigrant Visa). In October 2024, he was arrested in Oklahoma City for plotting an ISIS-inspired Election Day mass shooting attack targeting large gatherings. Tawhedi purchased AK-47 rifles and ammunition from undercover FBI agents, communicated with an ISIS facilitator, and planned to die as a martyr. He pleaded guilty in June 2025 to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and attempting to acquire firearms for a terrorism offense” (Grok).

One of my photos of the Blue Angels from the Reno Air Races 2016 (the races themselves were shut down by “the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority citing regional growth and safety concerns” (source)):

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