The Daily Dose/July 16, 2021
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
THERE YOU GO READIN’ AGAIN: Another headline caught our eye, this one in The New York Times:
Tesla Says Autopilot Makes Its Cars Safer. Crash Victims Say It Kills.
Dry, Technical Matter: Tesla is developing cars that can drive themselves, using proprietary software called Autopilot and it is facing numerous lawsuits because its Autopilot vehicles have hit other cars and killed people, instead of avoiding cars and center dividers and other obstacles to safe driving.
Oopsies: The accidents have not only killed bystanders and passengers in other cars, but Tesla drivers as well, drivers who were in the cars when the autopilot system was unable to detect hazards.
Get Your Official Daily Dose Policy Right Here: Tesla says Autopilot makes driving safer, but if a driver still needs to pay attention, what’s the point? To tell a driver their car can drive itself is inviting tragedy, an invitation tragedy is accepting more and more.
More Official Daily Dose Policy: Sure, yay for the technology and go ahead and pat yourself on the back and say look what I did, not bad. But, honestly, coming up with Autopilot is somewhat akin to being Henry VII or on the crew of Apollo 10 nice, but, you know, big wow. A moving vehicle will always need human attention.
The Bottom Line: Man will always move forward but – as driverless vehicles are showing – sometimes in spite of ourselves. A generation from now Autopilot could be standard equipment and we’ll still have to keep our hands on the wheel and feet ready to accelerate or brake.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow’s weekly umpiring assignment is a modest fiasco. Today’s Diary.
And don’t think the positions of the bases – and the portable pitcher’s mound – were arrived with any degree of precision, either…They were reckoned by walking them off and there was some modest hilarity because no one except for ol’ Sparrow knew the distance from home plate to second base was 127 feet, 3 and ⅜ inches and good luck walking that off exactly.
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On This Date
The long march to today.
In 1969 – Man’s greatest adventure – Apollo 11 – lifts off from Cape Canaveral, on Florida’s east coast. Commanded by Neil Armstrong and also manned by Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, Apollo 11 would land on the moon on July 20 and return to Earth on July 24. It was man’s third voyage to the moon. The previous December Apollo 8 had reached and orbited the moon and in May Apollo 10 had done everything except land, with their lunar module coming within nine miles of the lunar surface.
In 1961 – Mike Boston of the United States establishes a new long jump world record at a meet in Moscow. Boston jumped 27 feet, 1.5 inches to break the record of 26 feet, 11.25 inches he had set in May. It was the third of five times Boston would set the long jump record, and he remains the only person to break his own record twice. Boston’s record stood until 1962, was obliterated by Bob Beamon in 1968 and the mark is now held by American Mike Powell, who jumped 29 feet, 4.25 inches in 1991.
In 1949 – Paul Williams is at #1 on Billboard’s Juke Box Race Records chart – one of several predecessors to today’s soul chart – for the 14th and final non-consecutive week with The Huckle-Buck. It was the fifth of eight soul chart singles for Williams and remains his only #1 song. The song had first hit #1 in March and was the fourth song to spend at least 14 weeks at #1 on the soul jukebox chart. Though Williams’ chart success faded after The Huckle-Buck, he remained a popular concert draw and session musician into the 1960s.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Artists fall in love, of course, but love isn’t their primary gift. They love…the use of their genius.
Saul Bellow
Ravelstein
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Twelve Americans have won a total of 14 Olympic decathlon gold medals. Ashton Eaton (2016, 2012) and Bob Mathias (1952, 1948) did it twice.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
How long did Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stay on the moon? – Answer next time!
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