Strawberry Moon
Current Wx: Temp: 89.89°F Pressure: 1011hPa Humidity: 63% Wind: 1.99mphWords: 13
A little exercise to try to remember how to post an image here.
✍️ Reply by emailLittle Bunny
Current Wx: Temp: 90.54°F Pressure: 1010hPa Humidity: 68% Wind: 9.22mphWords: 13
Another exercise to try to figure out the best way to do this...
✍️ Reply by emailSome Assembly Required
18:07 Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Wx: Temp: 89.62°F Pressure: 1012hPa Humidity: 72% Wind: 5.99mph
Words: 693
Sometimes, things that seem like they ought to be easy are really kind of hard. You can see the big pieces, and you know how they ought to work, but there are a lot of little tiny pieces, well, small pieces anyway, that have to get put together just so, for the thing to work.
One thing about programming, I don't care what language, it demands a lot of attention to detail. When you spend most of your day just pointing and clicking, that isn't a skillset that gets exercised.
And then there are these little idiosyncratic quirks that seem to exist just to bug you, because you have to account for them somehow.
What I'm trying to accomplish is to build a little custom workflow that will take an image from my Photos library, export it to a folder, and then automatically generate a note in Tinderbox with all the necessary html already written for me. About the only thing I'd have to do is enter some text beneath the photo (more about that in a second, so hold that thought), hit Export and then tell Forklift to sync the site's local folders with the server.
It may be premature, but I think I've got most of the pieces working. At least, I'm getting the computer to do some things for me that I haven't been able to do before. In pieces, not the whole chain.
One idiosyncrasy that bugs me is Photos changes the filename suffix of an exported photo from .jpg to .jpeg. So if you use AppleScript to grab the filename from Photos, and stick it in a variable that you can send to another app, that'll be the correct filename for the image as it came from the camera. But when you tell Photos to use the filename as the filename for the exported photo, that filename will not be the correct filename as it came from the camera. The camera uses the three letter extension ".jpg" and Photos just does its own thing and appends a four letter ".jpeg" extension to the exported file.
Now, I can fix this with a little Hazel re-name action, or I could do with with a Folder Action from AppleScript, but it's just one more moving part that might fail one day.
It's fits and starts with this stuff. I spent most of Monday working on this, thinking I'd just stick with it until it was done. Mostly it was an exercise in frustration.
One little breakthrough in that "attention to detail" thing is that in an object-oriented model, first you tell the app, then you tell the document, then you tell the note in the document.
Otherwise the document just looks at you like, "You talkin' to me? I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying."
Pounding on the keyboard is kind of like raising your voice. Works about as well.
So now I just do a little bit and then quit. I'd say I'm about 60% of the way there, but I'm sure it's a Pareto thing, the last 40% will probably take forever.
Anyway, those two test images are huge, so the page loads slowly. That's something I'll pay more attention to later. Just know I know.
And the beat goes on...
Oh, almost forgot. So, Photos gives you the option to put a Caption in an image, which, naturally the AppleScript dictionary for Photos calls a description, because of course it does. Accessible html calls for "alt" text, a description (there's that word again) of the image for text-to-speech page readers for the visually impaired.
I'm not certain how useful or helpful my descriptions will be, but since I can access that text programmatically through AppleScript, that'll become the alt text in the html that gets assembled.
I expect that sometimes I'll just post a picture and maybe it should speak for itself. Since most of my stuff isn't that good, I'll probably offer some excuses for it in the text of the note. Which I don't mind. At least I'm not writing all that fiddly html nonsense that demands attention to detail.
✍️ Reply by emailAs I Was Saying
18:51 Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Wx: Temp: 88.95°F Pressure: 1012hPa Humidity: 71% Wind: 10.36mph
Words: 471
Since Mitzi isn't here, she's up in DC with her newest grandson, and my temporary houseguest, Dozer, my neighbor's dog, has gone home, I guess I'll talk to you. I'm tired of Twitter today.
I watched a movie called, Their Finest last night. I'd link to, I don't know, something, but everything is just so commercial now.
So I just did a Get Info on the file in the AppleTV app on my Mac, then used TextSniper to grab some relevant text I can reformat:
Their Finest, directed by Lone Scherfig, starring Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, written by Gaby Chiappe.
A 2017 drama from BBC Films
Then I copied this from the general information screen in the AppleTV app:
"The year is 1940, London. With the nation bowed down by war, the British ministry turns to propaganda films to boost morale at home. Realizing their films could use 'a woman's touch,' the British Ministry of Information hires Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton) as scriptwriter in charge of writing the female dialogue. Although her artist husband looks down on her job, Catrin's natural flair quickly gets her noticed by cynical, witty lead scriptwriter Buckley (Sam Claflin). Catrin and Buckley set out to make an epic feature film based on the Dunkirk rescue starring the gloriously vain, former matinee idol Ambrose Hilliard (Bill Nighy). As bombs are dropping all around them, Catrin, Buckley and their colorful cast and crew work furiously to make film that will warm the hearts of the nation."
Yeah, I'd call it more like a romantic dramedy. It was good, and Bill Nighy had some great lines. If you watch movies with closed captions turned on, you'll laugh when it says "Jet fighters roar overhead."
It's good. Not too much to bear in these overwrought times. A worthwhile diversion with some good performances.
Night before last I rented Last Looks. Usually, I pass on anything with Mel Gibson in it, just because I can't watch him without thinking about who he is. But he's not the lead, so it was tolerable, and it was a $.99 rental.
"Charlie Waldo (Charlie Hunnam) is an ex-LAPD superstar who left the force and now lives a life of simplicity and solitude deep in the woods. Alistair Pinch (Mel Gibson) is an eccentric actor who spends his days drunk on the set of his TV show. When Pinch's wife is found dead, he is the prime suspect and Waldo is convinced to come out of retirement to investigate what happened. The case finds Waldo contending with gangsters, Hollywood executives and pre-school teachers, all in pursuit of clearing Pinch's name or confirming his guilt."
It was entertaining. I hadn't figured out whodunit, but I confess, I wasn't paying especially close attention. But another amusing diversion, if you're in need of either.
✍️ Reply by emailOne Think Leads to Another
06:23 Thursday, 15 June 2023
Current Wx: Temp: 71.96°F Pressure: 1011hPa Humidity: 81% Wind: 8.05mph
Words: 607
I was reading something yesterday, which, for a moment just now, I couldn't recall. Instantly, I thought of Jerry's Brain, and something like "This would never happen if I had Jerry's Brain." And now I'm irritated that I even know about Jerry's Brain, because I don't want my experience of my memory and its fallibilities to be forever associated with someone's digital scrapbook. Ugh.
But, happily, I did recall what I was doing, after I had that jarring little interruption. I was reading about Ridley Scott making a Gladiator sequel. It had been in the news recently due to an accident on set during a stunt scene, and I was surprised to learn there even was a planned sequel. Plus, right around the time I was feeling irritated, I realized I could check my browser history and figure it out.
One of the pieces on the sequel mentioned that Nick Cave had written an early treatment that kind of intrigued Scott, but got squashed when Russell Crowe said, "Don't like it, mate."
But that led to reading more linked things about Cave, which led to me buying two documentary films, One More Time, With Feeling and This Much I Know To Be True. I was watching the first, but still unaware of the circumstances of his son's death, so I made the mistake of checking Wikipedia.
I learned what I wanted to learn, but read some other extraneous crap that the folks who do that sort of thing thought was important to mention, got pissed off and stopped the film and turned on the news.
Well, the good thing about feelings, which is one of the points on the map I'm wrestling with, is they pass.
Knowing that some of the sort of people who edit Wikipedia have agendas and cherry-pick, I decided I wanted to know more about what Nick Cave thought, so I visited his blog. The first entry I clicked was answering a question about why he was performing at the coronation. I liked (feelings, they're everywhere) his answer, even though I kind of liked the question!
So I was relieved that it wasn't instantly apparent I'd made a mistake.
I should back up and also mention that a book, Faith, Hope and Carnage, is being promoted on the home page of his web site, and I ended up buying that. So I was probably primed to like what I read, but even so, I still think it was a good answer.
The second thing I clicked on is the basis for this post. I'll let you read it, but here's the quote that got me:
"It reminded me that none of us are ever really in control of our lives and that all we have is each other. I extend my love with the simple wish that I could do more. My thoughts and prayers are with you."
Another point on my struggling map is, "All we ever really have are moments to live, and each other." The idea is that anything we think we have can be taken away from us at any time. And any moment could be our last. Eventually, one will.
And so that statement, unsurprisingly perhaps, resonated deeply.
At first I was going to just post it on Mastodon, but then I figured it was too much for that kind of post. It belonged in the marmot.
I've been a lightweight Nick Cave fan since about 2007-ish. I may become a bigger fan after getting to explore some of his other work. But I like much of what I've seen and heard so far, Wikipedia notwithstanding.
✍️ Reply by emailPeck's Skipper
Current Wx: Temp: 82.11°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 82% Wind: 6.91mphWords: 366
Well, I posted another pic yesterday, but apparently I didn't sync the folders so it never appeared. Hit the permalink to see a pic of the fawn yesterday, kind of trapped inside the fence. It did get out eventually.
This butterfly got stuck inside the house. (Starting to sense a theme here.) I decided to play with the black E-PL7 with the 12-50mm EZ zoom mounted. The 12-50 was introduced with the original E-M5, way back in 2012. It's kind of an unusual, and therefore unique lens. Internal zoom, electronic and manual zoom, and a "macro" setting when you hold the "macro" button and slide the zoom ring forward. The electronic zoom function was intended for use when recording video, for smooth zooming. It's also weather-sealed, which was fairly unique back then.
It's not a particularly bright lens at f3.5 at the wide end, and f6.3 at the telephoto end (100mm efl). For that reason, and the fact that it's an odd looking lens, it never received a great deal of love. It's sharp enough for my taste, and I think the "macro" feature is pretty cool. It essentially locks the zoom mechanism at the 43mm focal length, and perhaps by moving the internal elements forward, allows closer focusing at that focal length.
I sold the one that came with my E-M5 and later bought a used one when I got another E-M5.
I guess the most damning thing about it is that it's kind of "neither fish nor fowl." But it is fun to play with, I think.
I dropped by the m43 forum at dpreview.com, and someone had posted images from the No Kings protest. Don't bother looking for it, the moderators have deleted it. It seems there are a significant number of Trumpers or people otherwise comfortable with authoritarianism who use micro four-thirds. There was one photo of a sign that I wish I'd downloaded. I think it read something like, "If this has to be our decline and fall, why does it have to be so stupid?"
Oh, BTW, I was able to grasp the butterfly by its wings and let it outside.
✍️ Reply by emailMontour Falls
Current Wx: Temp: 83.8°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 79% Wind: 6.91mphWords: 362
There are surprises and delights seemingly around every corner here. On Friday, Mitzi wanted to take some household items to a donation center, and we found a drop-off station in Montour Falls. We'd heard about Montour (as the locals call it) many times, but hadn't visited it yet.
It's wonderful. Like many small towns around here, it's kind of economically depressed; but it's very charming. I'm hopeful that there may be something of a renaissance for these places in the years to come. While I wouldn't welcome the kinds of suburban sprawl development that has paved over Florida, re-populating these little towns would be a welcome thing, I think.
Of course, there's the challenge of economic activity, the jobs. I wonder if the "great simplification," will afford that opportunity, as we transition away from a disposable, consumption economy to a more sustainable one, where it's economically viable and sensible to repair items.
Yesterday, we went to the local "chain" grocery store, Tops. It's kind of old. A bit dog-eared. But it was clean and had a good selection of products. Higher prices, to be sure, but not ridiculously so. Jean, our checkout lady, was 80 years old and had worked there for many years. She really loves her job, and loves her customers. We signed up for their rewards program. The first Tuesday of every month, seniors get 10% off their bill, so we'll be doing a lot of shopping there at least once a month!
I went out this morning, before 7:00, and cleared another 20 feet of fence. The posts came out pretty easy, but the vegetation and grown around the bottom wires of the fencing, so that was a bit of a challenge. I'll do a little bit every day, and I should have it all down in a week.
I was thinking of keeping the fencing, but now I'm not sure. It doesn't roll up very compactly, and it's taking up a lot of space. There's a scrap metal place I can probably take it to.
And, for whatever significance this may represent, I was able to tighten my belt another notch this morning.
✍️ Reply by emailSo Far, So Good
Current Wx: Temp: 51.42°F Pressure: 1009hPa Humidity: 94% Wind: 8.66mphWords: 698
MacOS 27 is installed and, so far, everything seems good. I posted this pic just to make sure the AppleScript still works.
I haven't tried any of the new features yet, and I'll be busy enough today that I probably won't get to do so right away.
The picture is from the other morning and is from the back corner of the lot, looking southwest. That large grassy area between the bottom of the frame and the house is where the new place is going, the driveway is a big clue.
In better news, Brad the Builder got back from his weekend getaway with his family last night, and we were able to go over the plans. It turns out that the "error" is perhaps not an error at all. At least, if we tried to change the ceiling height of the basement, that would require a change to the stairs, and then a whole series of changes cascade from that.
So while we hadn't specifically requested 9' ceilings in the basement, they were something of a necessity to accommodate a stair design that we had requested, to maintain adequate clearance going down the stairs and making the turn on the landing. Mitzi and I would have been fine, but anyone over six feet tall would have had to duck. We'll have French doors at the walkout portion of the basement, so we would never have to carry any large objects down those stairs, but it's nice not to have to worry about people bumping their heads. Plus, it's probably a code thing, I haven't checked.
Anyway, we're off to the races! We'll be filing for the permit today, and hopefully breaking ground later in the week.
I watched a YouTube video about the history of The Moody Blues the other day, and got all nostalgic for some Prog Rock. I had a few of their more well known tracks in my library, but I went ahead last night and bought several of their earlier albums. I started listening to Days of Future Passed last night with headphones on because Mitzi was watching that Jane Fonda concert/counter-programming event.
It was 1975 when I was a plebe at the Naval Academy, near the end of the era of album-rock FM. (They'd play entire albums on the air, and you could record them on cassettes!) One "safe space" I could find was the library, where I could check out headphones and sit in a study carrel and jack into the library's audio system. I think they had six or eight stations or channels you could select. An album rock station in DC was one of them, and I just recall sitting there listening to Days of Future Passed one evening, not studying anything at all. It's not a strong memory, I've not made any effort to recall those memories or strengthen them. But I recall the feeling, which was kind of melancholy, but also relieved, to be someplace quiet where I could listen to music and not worry about anyone bothering me. I was depressed much of that time.
Just had a brief conversation with ChatGPT about the foregoing. I guess I should place an AI content warning here.
Anyway, I recall those days of FM rock. As a teenager, it was kind of how you connected with the broader "cool" culture. It felt much more sophisticated than AM radio with their loud and noisy DJs, ads and three-minute songs. Of course the jazz and classical fans had their stations as well.
I can't even imagine that listening experience today.
One thing that may be broken in Apple Music in MacOS 27 is the Visualizer. Couldn't get it to work on either the 27" monitor or the built-in 14" screen on the MBP. I don't know if it has anything to do with using Stage Manager. I tried putting Music into full screen mode, but it didn't help. All I got was a black screen in both versions of Visualizer.
Hopefully that gets fixed. I'm looking forward to listening to some progressive rock and watching the visuals on the screen.
And the beat goes on...
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