do boogers have DNA?

 Yes, boogers contain DNA. Because they are made of dried nasal mucus, they capture air pollutants, dirt, dead skin cells, and germs. [1, 2, 3]

Because of this, boogers contain a mix of DNA from different sources:

• Your own DNA: From the dead skin cells and white blood cells that slough off into your mucus.
• Microbial DNA: From the natural bacteria, fungi, and viruses that make up your nasal microbiome.
• Environmental DNA: From trapped particles like pollen, dust, and animal dander. [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Scientists can easily extract enough human DNA from a booger to identify a person. While mucus itself is just a protein-and-water secretion with no DNA, the cells trapped inside it provide the genetic material. [2, 7]

AI can make mistakes, so double-check responses

[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10815331/

[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/15oyxha/im_wondering_if_there_is_dna_in_human_waste/

[3] https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-are-boogers-made-of-5093832

[4] https://int.livhospital.com/does-stem-cell-change-your-dna/

[5] https://blogs.oregonstate.edu/strata/blue-genes/

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deoxyribonuclease

[7] https://www.scripps.org/news_items/6831-5-fun-facts-about-boogers

TextNow’s free eSIM service review

 TextNow’s free eSIM service is a unique offering in the mobile market, essentially providing a "freemium" bridge between a pure VoIP service and a traditional cellular carrier. As of May 2026, it is one of the few legitimate ways to secure a phone number and mobile connectivity at zero monthly cost.

Here is a balanced breakdown of what you can expect if you are considering it.

The Core Value Proposition

The standout feature of TextNow is that it is genuinely free. By leveraging T-Mobile’s 5G network, it provides a functional phone number that works for domestic talk and text, even when you aren't on Wi-Fi.

• The "Free Essential Data" Perk: Unlike many other free services, TextNow includes data access for specific "essential" apps—typically navigation (Maps), email, finance, and rideshare apps—without requiring a paid data pass.

• eSIM Convenience: The introduction of the eSIM option has removed the friction of waiting for a physical SIM card to arrive in the mail. You can generally set up the service directly within the app, making it an instant solution if you have a compatible device.

Key Advantages

• Zero Monthly Fees: It is an ideal "emergency" line or a secondary number for privacy. If you need a number for dating apps, online marketplaces (like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace), or as a backup, it fulfills that role without a recurring bill.

• Flexibility: If you find you need more data (for example, for a weekend trip), you can purchase short-term passes (Day or Weekly) rather than committing to a permanent, expensive monthly plan.

• Dual SIM Utility: It is an excellent secondary line for phones that support dual SIM/eSIM, allowing you to keep your main number for personal contacts while using TextNow for public-facing or secondary needs.

Important Limitations & "The Catch"

While the service is free, it is important to go in with realistic expectations:

• VoIP Classification: Because TextNow numbers are classified as VoIP, they often struggle with two-factor authentication (2FA). Many banks, social media platforms, and security services will reject a TextNow number for verification codes.

• Ad-Supported: The app is ad-supported. You will see ads within the interface, which is the trade-off for the free service.

• Network Priority: As a budget-tier user on the T-Mobile network, your data (when using the paid passes or essential data) is deprioritized. During times of high network congestion, your speeds may be significantly slower than those of a primary carrier user.

• Number Recycling: If you do not use your number frequently, TextNow may reclaim it. If you rely on this number for critical communications, ensure you keep it "active" by using it regularly.

• Support: Customer support is limited compared to major carriers. There is no 24/7 phone support, and you will primarily rely on in-app chat or self-service documentation.

Final Verdict: Who is it for?

It is a great choice if:

• You need a secondary "burner" number for privacy or side hustles.

• You are a budget-conscious user who primarily stays on Wi-Fi but needs a reliable way to make emergency calls or texts when away from home.

• You want an instant, no-contract way to get a phone number for a short-term project.

It is not for you if:

• You need a primary number that is guaranteed to work with every banking or verification system (you will likely encounter "invalid number" errors).

• You rely on RCS messaging or other advanced carrier-integrated features.

• You expect the performance and reliability of a premium, paid cellular plan for heavy data usage.

Pro-Tip: If you decide to try it, stick to the free plan initially. While the temptation to buy data passes or upgrades exists, the real value of TextNow is its $0 status. If your needs exceed what the "Essential Data" provides, you may find better long-term value by looking at low-cost MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) like Tello or others that offer consistent, low-cost data.

Do you have a specific use case in mind—such as needing a secondary line for your professional projects or travel—that I can help you weigh against these limitations?

* This articule was generated by gemini with manual editing.

Sail a Dinghy

 April 12, ShoreLine Lake boathouse will have free rides on Catalina 14'

Africa

 Today i got some good advice from Africa about how to get agents working on my system.  I feel like I need to go from walking with AI to running and getting a team of agents to build our prediction markets.  To start I use ClaudeCoWork with Claude and ChatGPT Codex.

New Ring+, TextNOW

 This carrier probably has no affiliate code, because it is a 100% ad supported for 5G T-mobile based MVNO where if you have an iPhone you can even get a free eSIM to activate the service.  If you have andriod you can wait for eSIM to be supported or buy a $3.99 physical SIM.  So far I only use the free phone number for calls and text from the app and web, very clear calls, I can't say this scientifically but I do feel the quality is better then Google Voice.  They even have an amazing analysis of the MNO vs MVNO landscape on the site, perhaps AI generated.

Rain

I am re-posting this from a private chat as I typed it I added some links by hand and this is lots of work, in the future I think these posts might be AI assisted.  I don't know that I will continue this blog on a regular cadence like I did in the start, some things don't grew the way you would like and get left behind, like @unofficialredrockopenmic.  Things seem like they might be a great idea at the time, however you always find new great ideas. These days I want to build an AI trading platform. However this might be a plaything more then something I can trust.  AI lies and giving it some real money to trade is scary. So paper money it will be.

Re-post: I was reading about CachyOS remembering @reachableCEO's comment about X11 and thinking about how long we stuck with the 2.6 kernel. I still have some old computers that use it in the house. Starting 1981 I used MS-DOS Windows 2001 Linux 2008 Mac, iOS, Android, so many distros and AIs, and so many IMs on different messengers. I just got back form a trip to the attic to patch put bails for leaks. Heavy rain woke me at 3 am to and the bathroom had a drip sound. Sometimes water hits insulation and you hear nothing.

CachyOS is the latest Linux distro to put Wayland first in its new update

www.xda-developers.com

I used to blog to https://ralferix.blogspot.com/ and what a great diary that was, until it took me 2 years to collect $100 off that site. This never bothered me when I was waiting to collect from GeoCities.com/TheTropics/1174. Amazing how I can just type that. However I don't think that the internet archive preserved it.

This is the point at which your self ownership is superior.

Yet another task for my ever expanding todo list.

Infimoble $60/year+tax 5GB data

 I tried this out on Black Friday, but it keeps on being on the website, don't know of how long, here is an extra $5 discount code: KUTET7S.  https://infimobile.com/

SSpring

 It hass been a while ssince I typed anything into this blog, mostly because my keyboard is bad :(  it is the dreaded Apple butterfly keyboar that fails in all the ways your seeing here.

It wass a great day of sailing and hiking, spring haas arrived to the Bay and I am happy this time of the year before the allergies kick in.

Tello $5/month 1GB LTE

 In my series of cheap carriers I just tried out Tello on an iPhone7 and a Pixel.  The signup process was really easy and I was able to port number from Sprint without issues.  Sprint makes porting out very simple, the PIN you use for the account is the port out PIN, you also have to find the account number on a bill that you can download as a PDF.  Give this info to Tello and wait one night, they will email you if it worked.   The email has documentation links for the codes that will setup your iPhone ##25327# or Andriod Pixel *#*#72786#*#*, but do use those links as I oversimplified it, in general they want you to be on WiFi for iPhone and some other bits.  On iPhone the setup was pretty fast and painless, on Android it took a while for the setup to complete, also it kept doing setup after a reboot.  It takes so long that I cancled it a few times.

They have a $10 referral code available to sign up.  Both the current user as well as the new signup get it.

Dogs can hear

 I verified that this only dogs can hear sound is real by recording it on my cell phone.   This graph on a microphone recording shows that there is a sound.

Do it yourself oil Change Toyota Camry

Now that I have more spare time I am finally getting to do it myself more, the first project has been done, but wasn't filmed, there are enough tutorials on YouTube for the Camry, there is no need.

It took me 4 hours to complete, including research and all the novice mistakes that I did and cost $22.11 by prorating the tools into 20 oil changes or 100,000 miles as you should change synthetic oil every 5,000 miles.  I estimate the next one, using these notes will only take me 30 minutes, I had to buy 2 oil changes, and tools that I won't need to repurchase.  For comparison I put my data into Jiffy Lube estimate and for my zip code it costs $113, although the last oil change was only $95 inflation?

I very quickly and absentmindedly searched on Temu and found 2 cheap filters, under $4 and some more expensive ones which I didn't order, who knows maybe those are the Genuine Toyota ones, that WalMart sells, but then again, what guarantee do I have that any retailer is selling the genuine items?

I tried to find Castrofil on Amazon to no avail.  When I searched for a similar filter to it to the one in a Genuine Toyota box, I found the manufacturer's page and a wholesale ad for $0.50 in quantity 100+.

The box looks different from the Walmart filter, $7.54, which does have a UPC code, Temu filter box, $2.98, does not.  Is this a fake Toyota 04152-YZZA1 filter?  Who knows, will it melt in regular use, don't know yet.  Will the felt disintegrate, I will let you know, the Castrofil, $3.97 is installed now.  So I could remove it and would if I didn't have to drain all the oil to check it.  

A good question is if the retailer is liable for selling a fake product?  I wish I could share the answer with you, but I have to paste it I guess, or summarize it from Bard.  "Yes, a retailer can be liable for selling a fake product. This is because retailers have a duty to sell genuine products to their customers. If a retailer sells a fake product, they may be liable for breach of contract, fraud, and/or product liability."

Now the listing for this product doesn't state it is a Genuine Toyota product, only the box says so.  I guess they did this to protect themselves, also they didn't put the box in any pictures, again good move, they in no way stated that it is genuine.  I guess this gives the retailer the possibility to deny any knowledge of what the product looks like.  But the again, if the product performs as well as the Genuine Toyota do I care?  Will they void my warranty on an old car, nope, it is long gone.

Best Linux distro

Sadly I don't use Linux on the desktop, as our company doesn't support it and I have in the past tried to support linux myself and ran out of time writing a wiki trying to support it, mind you I had help from others in the company, but not enough to make a difference and subvert the entrenched Windows and MacOS crowd, who now have Linux solutions built into both.  Yet our Windows users don't get the Linux Subsystem for Windows, they don't have admin, can't install Putty even and IT doesn't get it, they can't work.  It takes weeks sometimes months for them to get basic access.  Does this happen in all companies?

Are we doomed to use WSL and MacOS as the only solutions at work? 

I saw this X storm and decided to write into my old blog, as I watch an ant walk on my desk at work, dreaming of a better future, but hey, I found a friend this morning someone who is also working on my desk to collect some food for the colony.  I feel blessed to have a nice workspace, but the hours are long, so long...  let us automate, we can do amazing things, remove all the shackles from us, not saying to do insecure things, Linux isn't insecure, but why are so many companies hostile to open source?

😂 pic.twitter.com/F27reo895E

— The Best Linux Blog In the Unixverse🐧 (@nixcraft) August 17, 2023

gMail Audio?

 I just got called by mistake by a friend who didn't know that he called me on gMail Audio, wow, yet another similar app in a long list of fumbles by google since 2005, when they had Google Talk, anyone remember it?  

Here is a great article of the history of blunders in this space.

Car

 I might need a car.

web scrapping

 I really need to learn to web scrape today.

Goodbye Russia

 As the iron curtain is falling I have to say goodbye to to some YouTubers that I recently met.  Eli, Inside Russia and others too numerous to lookup in my history.  I started watching Bold and Bankrupt about a year ago then saw him collaborating with Johnny FD and got interested in some places I had never considered visiting before like Moldova and Transnistria.  Anyhow Johnny bought an apartment in Kyiv, moved in right before Putin invaded Ukraine then I started looking at the other side, except that the ones who YouTube in English are probably on Ukraine's side.

Python dev

I am finally working in Python again, although it is the wrong tool for the job at hand right now at work, but never mind that we have limited access and it is the right tool for working around the artificial barriers that they placed on us.

I got very productive with debugging python3 by having a free IDE that has powerful plugins.  I think that vim is pretty good and VScode is for me as it can also do vim commands.  It is worth setting up the interactive debugging before you get too deep in code and can't spare the time.  I personally like VScode, however I have seem people productive on PyCharm and Sublime (which I used for about 2 months and abandoned for Atom)

I send people to VScode these days as it seems to have the most mindshare and frequent updates.

Pixel 3 vs new iPhone 12

 Mint has a deal, buy an iPhone 12, get 6 months free, only $15/month for a 4 GigB plan after free. I don't need another cellphone right now because I still have a Pixel $60, XL $76 and Moto Play $199 new that are fairly usable, but darn, for $90 I might just upgrade to a Pixel 3 $90.  A quick look on eBay says that this is a good deal.

If anyone wants one of my used phones hit me up, the prices I quoted are what I paid.

This post is for you my bestie who says I don't post anymore and therefor you don't read my blog.

Robinhood 2.5% margin

Robinhood has 2.5% margin rates, looked at Schwab and Webull, rates are from 3.99%-8.32% for smaller amounts, use my referral if you want to sign up and get up to 4 free stocks if you open an account.

Excessive Android phone battery drain

 I had my battery on a Pixel phone go from 100% to 30% overnight with the phone turned off so I think that either the battery sucks and has an internal resistance or there is something running on the phone even if it is turned off, which is even scarier.  So I get similar results several times and I try to leave the phone in airplane mode, no big overnight drain, very strange.  So next I try to drain the battery all the way, I get a 24 hour usage on battery saver with airplane mode at 2% for 24 hours, well now we are getting somewhere, it is a miscalibrated indicator.  I will next try to calibrate it by running the phone up to 100% twice then running it down to shutdown twice and try again to measure the result.