Difficult Discussions
GorT is back from vacation and ready to take on a few things that took place while he was tanning his 8-foot titanium robot casing. Given that it is a topic I have discussed before and that it is near … Continue reading →
GorT
GorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this pay all the Gormogons’ bills, including subsidizing this website. Some of the products he has introduced from the future include oven mitts, the Guinness widget, Oxy-Clean, and Dr. Pepper. Due to his immense cybernetic brain, GorT is able to produce a post in 0.023 seconds and research it in even less time. Only ’Puter spends less time on research. GorT speaks entirely in zeros and ones, but occasionally throws in a ڭ to annoy the Volgi. He is a massive proponent of science, technology, and energy development, and enjoys nothing more than taking the Czar’s more interesting scientific theories, going into the past, publishing them as his own, and then returning to take credit for them. He is the only Gormogon who is capable of doing math. Possessed of incredible strength, he understands the awesome responsibility that follows and only uses it to hurt people.
Mini-sode: ‘Puter’s Panda Rant
While taping one of our episodes, ‘Puter decided to go off on a rant…about pandas. Seriously. GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the … Continue reading →
Episode 2 Teaser
Quick teaser for episode 2 GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this pay all the Gormogons’ … Continue reading →
The Proof is in the Pudding
GorT carefully peeked into his Facebook and Twitter this morning to get a lay of the land. My takeaway: democrats/liberals/those on the left (choose your terminology) have a lot of free time. I honestly don’t know what they’re doing. I … Continue reading →
More Cooking Tips
As the Czar provides some great instruction on smoking poultry here and we discussed this a bit on our two-parter podcast (see link on the left side of the main site) on smoking and grilling, GorT thought he’d take a … Continue reading →
Fix The Cause, Not the Effect
Based on the recent discussions in the Castle (listen here to our most recent podcast for a taste) and a recent Twitter post by ‘Puter who pointed out the problems with this NY Times article. Keep in mind this article … Continue reading →
The First Law
GorT is flat out amazed at the amount of time some people put into posting, reposting, and kvetching about politics on social media when they do little else about it. Sure, they might have voted, but given the passion behind … Continue reading →
Intros and the Media
The Gormogons gather in the Castle and do introductions on this podcast and discuss the media GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the … Continue reading →
Season 1 Teaser
Teaser for the forthcoming inaugural season of Radio Gormogons GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this … Continue reading →
Scientists vs. Science
GorT knew yesterday’s commute home was going to be a trainwreck. I was leaving the Chantilly, VA area around 3:30pm heading to the Bethesda, MD area right at the tail end of a sizable summer thunderstorm – guaranteed the Beltway … Continue reading →
GorT’s Entertainment Update
It’s been a while since GorT provided an update on entertainment options that he’s enjoyed recently. First, let’s be honest: the Netflix, Amazon, and non-traditional media players are really coming forward with some great stuff. GorT’s been enjoying a number … Continue reading →
Professional Failure
GorT can’t believe that the following premise hasn’t been more prominent in the ongoing debate about Russian influence in the 2016 Presidential election: The contents of the emails have not been denied or asserted as being false or manufactured. Consider the … Continue reading →
For Science, You Monster
On the eve of the “March for Science” (I had to look that up as I’m lost my quick reference guide to the various marches), Neil deGrasse Tyson posted a piece titled, “Science in America.” You can read it here, … Continue reading →
Generational Cycles
GorT, Sr. passed along a summary presentation on generational cycles that stems from The Fourth Turning, a book by William Strauss and Neil Howe, in regards to Czar’s opening in this post. The basic premise is that there are … Continue reading →
Words Matter
Our good friend Mo (@molratty on Twitter) commented on a thread with the following: These people just say anything. Seriously. Whatever they can get their hands on without regard to consistency GorT has been kicking around the idea behind this post … Continue reading →
Six Stages of Liberals
As evidenced by recent family discussions, opinion pieces, protests riots, and the stances being taken by democrat leaders, the left side of the aisle has become unhinged. GorT tends to believe that they are following the “six stages of grief”: Shock – … Continue reading →
And So It Begins
GorT’s liberal relatives fired up this morning regarding the GOP’s late night move to attempt to dismantle the Office of Congressional Ethics. The problem is that any move against an office purported to be in existence to provide independent oversight … Continue reading →
Mailbag
It’s been a while since GorT has delved into the mailbag, but this morning he reached in and pulled this one out at random from the 13,438,325 unread emails (‘Puter keeps clicking on those random links in emails): Dear GorT, … Continue reading →
Cyberbullying
I almost posted the following (or a version thereof) to Facebook as I really am interested in what other-minded folks would say. But maybe I’ll start here. Let’s say that Russia sponsored hackers infiltrated email servers and released DNC and … Continue reading →
Rose Colored Glasses in The Hall of Mirrors
GorT’s friends, family, and even co-workers are a pretty diverse bunch in social issues, economic issues, and definitely in political issues. And within that group there are those that range in extremes on all of those issues. There were the … Continue reading →
The Future
Today, and the next few weeks and months will be telling and it’s a time from introspection. As you read your Twitter timeline, your Facebook feed, Instagram, watch the news, listen to the radio, consider for a moment that there … Continue reading →
Double from the Doublewide
JAB writes in from the Doublewide in regards to this post by the Czar and GorT’s response: In order to avoid banishment to a terribly unpleasant place, I must first agree with Your Czarness’ observation that MLB, made up “rivalries” … Continue reading →
Strike Out
From time to time, there are disagreements in the Castle. One such topic that generates this is the whole baseball and soccer talk. The Czar recently posted a interesting read – which I agree with in parts – but take … Continue reading →
The Way the World Works
It’s been a bit since GorT posted anything and the Czar’s post yesterday inspired a thought and I think it actually ties in to the national disaster-of-an-election-cycle as well. GorT’s middle child, 2-of-3, is a high school senior. She is … Continue reading →
End of Summer Thoughts
As GorT’s summer wraps up, he has a few thoughts to share on a variety of random subjects: I-95 is the work of the devil. Well, not really. But it sure feels like it. Actually, the work of the … Continue reading →
Stranger Things
First – there are no spoilers in this post. GorT is not a fan of the horror genre per se. Sure, he’s seen most of the classic horror movies (i.e. The Shining, Poltergeist, The Exorcist, etc.) and some odd ones … Continue reading →
Bow Before Your Betters!
GorT is steamed. Hopping mad. P.O.’d Really f**king angry. This nation has a set of laws. They should apply equally across everyone – regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc. etc. So while we’re fighting for equality, we should … Continue reading →
Unappealing
GorT has made it pretty clear that most of the GOP candidates that were in the campaign weren’t appealing and Donald Trump is no different. I believe he’s a clown that enjoys the spotlight of attention. I’m sure he has … Continue reading →
Next Bond or Jane Bond?
Can we get past the, “<Insert female actress’ name here> should be the next Bond.” movement? First, are there no creative writers out there that can’t write a female spy-action movie script? Maybe they could even borrow largely from the James … Continue reading →
Consistency
GorT is an engineer – he enjoys building and fixing things: software, hardware, woodworking, etc. In that light, GorT relishes consistency. From his Jesuit education, an inconsistent platform or argument was always viewed as an easy target. So with the … Continue reading →
The Lady Protests Too Much, Methinks
Apologies to William Shakespeare, but this quote from Hamlet, Act III, Scene 2 might be apropos for Ms. Jill Abramson, former NYT Editor who penned this opinion piece in The Guardian. The premise: Hillary Clinton is fundamentally honest and trustworthy. Given … Continue reading →
Castle Cleaning
MEMO To: Castle Guests, Minions, Operatives From: GorT Re: Castle Cleaning This memorandum is to serve notice that the Castle will be undergoing some routine cleaning tomorrow afternoon (Friday, March 11th, EST). Nothing major, just some light dusting, vacuuming, and … Continue reading →
Ignorance is Bliss
GorT is an optimist and tends to see the good in people and gives them the benefit of the doubt until such time as evidence presents itself that he should think otherwise. I’m tending to think that the vast majority … Continue reading →
Tilting At Windmills?
This is a two-fer post from GorT as both topics fall into the subject line. Topic 1: Justice Scalia’s Replacement My personal take on this is that the Senate Republicans screwed up but did nothing illegal or unconstitutional. Specifically, I … Continue reading →
Measuring Diversity
A lot of hay has been made recently about the “diversity in Tech” – both for racial minorities and for women. Reporting out on these statistics makes me uneasy (and not for the reason you might think), there is trouble … Continue reading →
Never Doubt a Time Traveling Robot
Back in 2008 and 2009 when the country was all in a tizzy over moving off of the evil incandescent lightbulbs and moving us to use the compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) to the point that the government banned the manufacturing … Continue reading →
It Is Hard to Ignore Facts
GorT is stomping mad (sorry about crushing that small car, Dat Ho). The “national discussion or conversation” around gun issues in this country has devolved into almost purely political rhetoric. Aside from the theatrics that President Obama displayed earlier this … Continue reading →
Joy and Economic Inequality
GorT is going to attempt to weave together a few things today. Over the New Year’s extended weekend, GorT and family saw the movie Joy. I would recommend seeing it – just for the story, if nothing else. It’s not … Continue reading →
Thanksgiving Cooking
GorT, like most of the rest of the Gormogons, enjoys cooking (meaning: grilling, smoking, and so forth). Several of us have shared recipes and tips in the past, but to my recollection, we haven’t discussed our choices for Thanksgiving. Mrs. … Continue reading →
Remember When Data was Factual?
“Settled Science” – if it isn’t a term of ridicule, it should be. Anyone who claims that with regards to Anthropogenic Global Warming or more broadly, climate change is a fool and likely failed high school level science. Stay with … Continue reading →
Mailbag
ScottO writes in regarding this recent post: Most Estimable GorTechie, While reading your post “Convenient Settled Science”, when I got to your question of how the action advocates know the earth isn’t coming out of the last ice age, I … Continue reading →
Convenient Settled Science
It’s been a while since GorT went on a climate change rant so I figured I’d fire one up today. Maybe it’s because I was trolled on twitter with this Mother Jones graphic. Or because I offered up the following … Continue reading →
Happy Birthday, George Boole
Today marks the 200th birthday of George Boole. Who? George Boole was an English professor and researcher who, while teaching at Queen’s College in Cork, Ireland (now University College Cork), set forth the underpinnings for what we refer to now … Continue reading →
Spanning Divisions
GorT is fairly fed up with the news and much of what he reads on social media. The composite picture of a republican or conservative in this country as portrayed by the combination of social and traditional media, to include … Continue reading →
Pontificating on the Pontiff
I have to admit that this week has been inspiring. My Facebook feed hasn’t been filled with garbage – only positive stories and experiences. I’m sure between John Boehner’s resignation, more Clinton emails being released, and something that Trump did … Continue reading →
Thoughts on the CNN Train wreck
Mr. and Mrs. GorT watched about two-thirds of the second Republican debate last night. We both found it amusing, insightful, and a bit of a train wreck. GorT jumped on Twitter for a while – and his secondary processing unit … Continue reading →
Arguing with a Child
Anytime the Clintons get into hot water, they defend themselves like a teenager defending themselves when confronted by a parent. “No, Mom, I said that I was going to be at Kelly’s house. I just didn’t say where I was going … Continue reading →
Excuse Parade
Hillary Clinton’s email debacle isn’t going to get any better nor go away anytime soon. She has two things going for her in this disaster: (1) the media hates to report on her what would be – just about for … Continue reading →
Made In China
I’m sure we all have heard this questions posed lately and it will likely be asked of the candidates for the 2016 Presidential election as that progresses: “What is the greatest threat to our national security?” Lately, we have heard … Continue reading →
Is Hillary Clinton Above the Law?
18 USC § 793(f) states: Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, note, or information, relating to the national defense, … Continue reading →
Airline Complaints
Sigh. GorT isn’t a big complainer. In fact, being around folks who do complain wear on GorT. People get bad service, bad luck, and have bad experiences all the time. And yes, sometimes GorT will share but I strive to … Continue reading →
Driverless Cars Are an Inevitability
Resistance is futile. Ok, maybe it’s not the Borg coming to take over the joys and pains of driving oneself, but GorT believes that if you look at the trends in technology and society, we will have mainstream driverless cars … Continue reading →
Krugman is an Idiot
Do people really read and buy what Paul Krugman writes? GorT knows he’s jumping into ‘Puter’s playground of mockery here by taking on a Krugman op-ed in the NYT, but he just couldn’t let it fly past without comment. Krugman … Continue reading →
More Left Spins
GorT has been meaning to write about Confederate flags, gay marriage, and a few other relevant topics, but the last few weeks have been a bit crazy for the shiny, silver robot. However, when perusing his Facebook feed over the … Continue reading →
Thoughts on the Mother Emanuel AME Church Shooting
Mrs. GorT has plenty of extended family in Charleston, South Carolina and it’s one of our favorite places to visit and vacation. Since the tragic event, GorT has followed various news outlet reports (CNN, Fox [local affiliate], radio) and social … Continue reading →
A Brief PSA
Mark Spahn writes in with the following Public Service Announcement: Hack a Bunch of Hacks discusses the fact that all current government employees are security-compromised. Hence the government will have to hire all-new top-secret personnel who have never before worked for the federal … Continue reading →
Hack a Bunch of Hacks
By now you’ve probably heard of the cyber attack on the OPM (Office of Personnel Management). The U.S. government believes strongly that China was behind the attacks. This breach only demonstrates the shortcomings of the federal government. While one could … Continue reading →
Mailsatchel…sack…bag….Whatever
Two emails in the delivery chute today: Mark Spahn took a break from emailing the Czar to step up his game and email yours truly, the shiny robot. (“Suck it, Czar” shouts ‘Puter from the Rumpus Room couch): Dear GorT, … Continue reading →
Damn Dirty Fuels!
What is the one thing missing in our national discussions around the conflation that is climate change, fossil fuels, green energy, and energy independence? Nuclear power. Plain and simple. A recent study finds that it is possible to completely replace … Continue reading →
It’s For the Children!
Far too often we hear that cry from the left – the evil-doers on the right are trying to defund education and school lunch programs and force kids into factories while those on the left are fighting for the children … Continue reading →
You Get What You Ask For
Shocker: Hillary Clinton is running for President in 2016. Wow. Breaking News! Well, not really. People pretty much knew it for months….years. Heck, the Ready for Hillary PAC had* offices across the hall from me. So, over the weekend, Hillary’s … Continue reading →
Castle Memo
From: GorT To: Gormogons Cc: Sleestak, Prince Tochmas, Grand Mogul, Inetef-Te-Henqet, 2-IB, Yeto, Barry, and various Minions, and that Dat Ho kid Subject: Castle Gormogon Official Time This is to officially remind the Castle dwellers that we do not recognize … Continue reading →
Is This the Death Knell?
I work down the hall from a “Ready for Hillary PAC” office. I really wonder what it’s like in there. Do they read and watch the news reports? Are they seeing the following: [March 4, 2015] – WASHINGTON (AP) – … Continue reading →
Putting Things in Perspective
It’s always worth having the context and measure of reality. Collecting a few numbers and statistics really can provide this. I give you an interesting take on police incidents: GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who … Continue reading →
Papal Interpretations
I find it interesting how broadly the Pope’s statements get interpreted, bent, twisted and otherwise spun. There have been instances surrounding his statements on gay marriage and now there is a thread starting with his latest comments on the acceptance … Continue reading →
Two Tragic Anniversaries
Yesterday was the anniversary of the Apollo One tragedy. On January 27, 1967, three astronauts: Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee perished on the launchpad in the capsule during a launch rehearsal. A fire broke out and swept … Continue reading →
OMG lolz #Winning
I am steadily growing more worried about the future of the Generation Y (Millennials) and Generation Z (Boomlets) – specifically that their future might really look like the world presented in the movie “Her”* Have you watched a member of … Continue reading →
Battle of the Five Characters We Lost Interest In
GorT and family trekked out this past weekend to see “The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies”. To set the stage, GorT has always been a bigger fan of the novel, The Hobbit, than the trilogy of the Lord of … Continue reading →
GorT’s Workplace Tips #451
GorT has shared a number of tips before…no they weren’t titled as such, but the lessons are in the posts, you just have to do the reading. Tip #451: Your best opportunity for happiness (and therefore success, in my opinion) … Continue reading →
Lamenting the Future
GorT was at an event recently where the POTUS spoke. The crowd was largely in their early 20s and lapped it up. Sure, there is probably a large degree of star-struckness of being in the same room as the President … Continue reading →
Diversity and Misdirection
GorT works in the tech industry (surprised?) and this topic comes up periodically. It usually goes something like this: there is a lack of representation of (insert sub-group of population here) and companies are evil because they aren’t doing enough … Continue reading →
A Taste for Disaster
I subscribe to a number of blog feeds, email digests, etc. for work and personal interests. A co-worker turned me on to Seth Godin’s daily emails from his blog – they’re short (usually) and specific to a single topic. While … Continue reading →
Playtime at the Castle
The Gormogons are all fans of getting outside and enjoying the fresh air and some healthy exercise. Some of the castle dwellers wanted more variety around the grounds for our enjoyment so our official contracts officer, ‘Puter, put out a … Continue reading →
Ready for the Flames?
Wal-Mart announced this week that it will be raising health insurance premiums for its employees and will end providing health insurance for part-time employees (those working under 30 hours per week). It probably isn’t news to anyone that the liberals … Continue reading →
More Settled Science
As previously discussed, empirical evidence is the strongest for the common person. When you combine that with the failure of scientific models – not factual data – to show causality, you tend to create skeptics and a general disbelief. While … Continue reading →
Scottish Referendum
GorT came across this well done clip by The Guardian to educate non-Brits on the Scottish Referendum occurring today. It’s worth a watch. Gormogon official positions will surely be revealed soon. Many are probably thinking this is bigger than it … Continue reading →
Mmmmm….Food
The Czar’s recent post got GorT thinking about recent meals that he has prepared. One in particular is a family favorite: Fried Chicken and Waffles. There are many ways to make fried chicken but I rely on one of two … Continue reading →
Initiating Cortex Download
GorT has been slammed – work is crazy (in a good way…mostly), he has a senior in high school who is in the middle of the college search process, two others who along with the senior have been busy with … Continue reading →
Wait, Did I Miss The Memo?
While this is nothing new to the current political maneuverings of left side of the political spectrum in the United States, we do have another pretty clear example of the double-edged sword they’re wielding. The liberal, progressive, democrat support organization, Campaign … Continue reading →
Sci Fi Interoffice Memo
GorT received the following interoffice memo from Dr. J regarding the Science Fiction TV show countdown: GorT,I’ve enjoyed your commentary on the top 50 Sci-Fi shows as ranked by people other than us.I’d like to share a few of my … Continue reading →
Science Fiction TV – Top 5
So, I’ve received some feedback from other Castle dwellers as well as some operatives and minions. Always great to hear the opinions. I’ll present the top 5 here and let folks digest. Over the next few days, I’ll post up … Continue reading →
Science Fiction TV Numbers 10 – 6
Getting closer…I appreciate the mail and will be posting feedback and mail after the full list is up. Number 10: The Outer Limits I never really went back and watched The Outer Limits or its inspiration, The Twilight Zone, save … Continue reading →
Science Fiction TV Numbers 15-11
Tick, tick, tick – we’re getting closer to number 1…do you know what it is? Did you cheat? Number 15: Blake’s 7 GorT has no pattern recognition here – never heard of it or saw it. Blake’s 7 featuresRoj Blake, … Continue reading →
SciFi TV Mailbag
The esteemed Borepatch writes in regarding Torchwood on the list: Two Borepatch household thumbs up on Torchwood. It’s interesting that this is a Dr. Who spin off with frequent gunfire, and also interesting that Captain Jack is American. Even in … Continue reading →
Science Fiction TV Numbers 20 – 16
As we close in on number 1, you’ll start seeing some consistently strong contenders. However, still a few anomalies remain. Number 20: Starblazers / Space Battleship Yamato GorT watched this on Saturday mornings regularly. The article references both Speed Racer and … Continue reading →
Science Fiction TV Numbers 25 – 21
Marching down the list, we get a few good ones here… Number 25: Max Headroom GorT watched this whole series and enjoyed it as a young lad – geeky science fiction, quirky humor (I was a young lad) and Amanda … Continue reading →
Science Fiction TV Numbers 30 – 26
Here’s the next installment of the countdown. Number 30: Battlestar Galactica (1978-79) A science fiction mish-mash of Mormonism (courtesy of creator Glen A Larson) and some mythology and we get the original BSG. As cheesy as it was, it … Continue reading →
SciFi TV Mailbag
Greetings, oh shiny one. I am minion #462.5, and I normally report to the Czar (may his shoes remained tied, and verily, not unto each other). I have been perusing the list of sci-fi shows, and it saddened me that … Continue reading →
Science Fiction TV Numbers 35 – 31
Number 35: Cowboy Bepop You think that Guardians of the Galaxy is the only mixed team that includes an odd cast of characters? Cowboy Bebop ran for 20+ episodes in the late 1990s and remains a fav in the … Continue reading →
Science Fiction TV – Numbers 40 – 36
Number 40: Life on Mars This was a short-lived BBC show where a detective was hit by a car and wakes up in the 1970s. Ok, maybe “science fiction”….or maybe just an interesting premise as the series focused more on being … Continue reading →
Science Fiction TV – Numbers 45 – 41
The next installment: Number 45: Knight Rider Blech. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. Ok, maybe a lot. GorT was never a fan of this show. Way too campy. Hasselhoff was over the top. Ugh. … Continue reading →
Science Fiction TV – Numbers 50 – 46
It’s been a while since GorT (or others here) did a multi-part post/series. We’ve had some memorable ones. While this one may not become one, it’s of interest to me and a few followers that I’ve traded emails with so … Continue reading →
The Man in the High Castle
Amazon Studios just quietly greenlighted the drama The Man In the High Castle. Based on Philip K. Dick’s Hugo Award-winning novel, The Man In the High Castle is written by Frank Spotnitz (of the X-Files) and to be directed by David Semel (Legends). It is set in … Continue reading →
Hitting the Lottery
GorT is a manager of 20+ software engineers in two different cities in the United States. GorT has been in the software industry for 20+ years and this group is one of the highest performing and talented teams he’s seen … Continue reading →
Automated Mailbag
GorT got this delivered via the autonomous mail delivery system we have here at the Castle…mostly because the denizens of the moat don’t play nice with our regular postal carrier. We love our postal carriers, but it’s pretty hard to … Continue reading →
Autonomous Vehicles
GorT came across a brief post by Seth Godin regarding autonomous cars and tends to agree with his broad assessment. His summary: Self-driving cars are going to be a huge transformational disruption, and they’re probably going to happen faster than … Continue reading →
Happy Birthday, Nikola Tesla
Today marks the 158th anniversary of Nikola Tesla’s birth. GorT has a bit of a bias and feels that Tesla is probably the greatest inventor in the modern age. Aside from being most famous for developing the modern Alternating Current … Continue reading →
Mailbag
It’s been a while since GorT has done a mailbag dump (man, that sounds like something ‘Puter would say). Item 1 – maybe shockingly to the Czar, Borepatch writes into the silver robot with the followin: Great writeup. I completely … Continue reading →
Cupcakes, meh
GorT told his friends and family a few years ago that the whole “cupcake industry” as it were has 3 to 5 years of viability. Then people will tire of it, there will be some new trendy thing and all … Continue reading →