Public Service Announcement
07:53 Thursday, 26 June 2014
Words: 36
I thought this was kind of interesting, given some of the things I’ve been writing about here. Good luck.
Red Dragonfly With Authentic Battle Damage!
09:12 Thursday, 26 June 2014
Words: 45
Still flying though!
Looked Scarier Than It Was
09:29 Thursday, 26 June 2014
Words: 44
Edited in the iPhone by Snapseed.
Internet fast...
08:41 Tuesday, 26 June 2018
Words: 452
It seems most people want fast internet. I'm taking an internet fast.
With the exception of e-mail, I hope to forego all internet access this week. It's harder than it sounds, and I've already made a couple of exceptions. I play trivia every Monday with a small group of friends, and the company offers a free answer on their web site. Of course, I could have just allowed one of my teammates to look it up, so I suppose it says something that I couldn't manage to do that! I also checked on the qualified candidates for the upcoming elections on my county supervisor of elections web site. Can't say I really had to do that either.
But, I didn't use Facebook or Twitter all day, and it was... different. I did enjoy having the time back, though I found I didn't really have a clear idea of what I wanted to do with it. As the day went on, I began to get somewhat more organized and directed in my efforts.
What happens with the web is that I get sucked down into a rabbit warren of links, usually. It's just a huge time-suck. I'll spend so much time reading about how other people "get things done," that I end up getting nothing done. Irony™, the fifth fundamental force of the universe.
So I'm spending a moment here, reflecting on my dismal performance in making this a "practice." I'm telling myself that ftp doesn't count, and I can view the preview locally to check for errors. I'll normally export the page and then read it online and discover a few errors I didn't notice in Tinderbox.
We did pretty well in trivia last night, zeroes to heroes in the final question. The final question is always an exercise in putting four items in some kind of order. You can "wager" up to 15 points on the question, if you get it wrong they're deducted from your score. We were well back in the pack at 55 points, 15 points out of first. There's "house cash" (essentially gift cards, or certificates) for the 1st through 4th place finishers. We were back in sixth, so well out of the money. Of course, that meant we had nothing to lose, so we bet 15 and got the answer right. That put us into second place, for $30 in house cash.
We play as a team every Monday, and when we accumulate $100 in winnings, we use it to cover everyone's drinks at the following game. Pretty fun.
I have another little disclosure related to that supervisor of elections web site thing, but I'll do that in a separate post. Stay tuned.
Democracy
08:54 Tuesday, 26 June 2018
Words: 527
After the 2016 election, I became sufficiently alarmed to abandon my "no party affiliation" status and become a registered member of the Democratic Party. Now, yes, I'm quite aware off all the problems with that organization, but in the "lesser of two evils" analysis, it's a no-brainer. The Republican Party has lost the plot, courting chaos to hang onto power and reaping what it's sown over the last few decades, and we're all suffering for it, and will continue to do so for decades to come.
So, I did what I thought was my little bit by registering as a Democrat in a thoroughly red county in a purple state. Where I live, if you add the registered Democrats and NPAs together, they're still outnumbered by registered Republicans. We're players in the statewide elections, but it's unlikely we'll be able to turn the county blue anytime soon. But, who knows, it's a weird time in America. Who would have thought we'd elect a game show host as our president? So, yes, weirder things have happened.
Anyway, a couple of the county dems asked me to consider running for a seat on the Soil and Water Conservation District board. It's a non-partisan race, so there's no D or R next to anyone's name. I never knew anything about any of those candidates when they appeared on the ballot, so I usually voted for a woman if there was one running, or just picked a candidate at random if there wasn't one. I agreed to do it, thinking at least it was something.
Like most things, there's a process and rules and so on, but it's not incredibly difficult or burdensome. I had no plans to run ads or raise money, so it was a bit simpler for me. I figured the most I would do would be to appear at "meet the candidates" events, and maybe some social media.
I submitted my intent to qualify paperwork back in April. Got a nice sit-down tutorial from the staff at the supervisor's office, and then submitted my qualifying paperwork last Tuesday. Friday was the deadline for qualifying, and I didn't know when I filed if I'd be facing an opponent or not. Well, it turns out, nobody else wanted to run for the seat. It was the same for the other two seats on the five-person board, both of which had single qualifying candidates. So we're all in by default, and our names won't appear on the ballot.
I did look into the role of the Soil and Water Conservation District, and it's been largely supplanted by state and local government, and it seems most of its recent activities are confined to judging essay contests and such. But it does give me a brief, and sea level rise affects both soil and water conservation. I don't know what the other members of the board hope to accomplish, but if I have anything to say about it, we'll be doing quite a bit more than judging essay contests. Not that I have any illusions about anything, but let's just say I won't be sitting on my hands.
Cayuga
06:19 Sunday, 26 June 2022
Current Wx: Temp: 75.78°F Pressure: 1014hPa Humidity: 81% Wind: 9.22mph
Words: 1191
Last leg of the trip was mostly pleasant. Mitzi had a couple of miles of threading a needle. Pennsylvania was doing some work on one lane of the turnpike, and placed a seemingly endless series of little domino-like traffic cones essentially into the right side of the left lane, while the left side of the left lane was a concrete barrier. A real test for keeping your eyes focused straight ahead.
Other than that, and the fact that Rt. 81 is in rougher shape than I recall recently, it was an easy drive.
We switched drivers just before we got into New York and Mitzi started working on a grocery list. She said she wanted to stop if we saw a produce stand. I tend to get tunnel vision and just want to press on to our objective. But she spotted a produce market and we pulled over and were well rewarded for the diversion.
I told her it was awfully early in the season for anything local, but I was wrong. Many growers around here use greenhouses, and there was a fair assortment of fresh produce, squash, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, potatoes and garlic. Mitzi was thrilled.
One of the good things about returning to the same area, if not the same place, a number of times (this is our fifth) is that you become familiar enough with the locality that you don't waste much time figuring out where to get food, lunch, etc.
Our check-in time was 2:00 pm and we were running about 90 minutes ahead of schedule. Despite our successful produce stop, we still had a list of provisions we wanted to get so we wouldn't have to go out again after we checked in. (More about that in a moment.) One of the things we really love around here is a bakery/sandwich place called College Town Bagels. And there's a CTB right next to a P&C grocery story. (There's also an antique store in the same shopping center, which I like!)
And as luck or careful planning would have it, that shopping center was right on our way.
We had a great lunch, I picked up a couple of loaves of fresh bread, Mitzi got a half dozen bagels. She went to P&C while I popped into the antique shop. Or so I thought, I turned around and Mitzi was in the store with me! She didn't stay long, but wanted to see what was available.
I'd bought three slide rules there two years ago. They only had one yesterday and, while it was interesting, its condition kept me from buying it. I did pick up a couple of old wooden rulers. I was hoping for some old radios, but no such luck.
I went over to P&C and helped Mitzi finish the shopping and then headed on to our rented house.
Technically, it's "on the lake." As a practical matter, it's across the road from the lake, with a steep set of stairs down to the dock. But it's lovely. And huge.
But the first thing we noticed as we pulled into the driveway was an outdoor electrical receptacle! I flipped the RAV4 around so it's receptacle was on the same side and after we unloaded the car, we plugged it in to recharge. Gas is nearly $5 a gallon here in New York, but we'll need very little during our stay, at least here on the lake.
The house is huge and lovely, bigger than the place we'd rented before on the winery. There is a view overlooking the lake, and we have neighbors on three sides, though there's a decent amount of separation.
What we don't have is a lot of the modern networked amenities we're accustomed to. At the winery place, there was no internet service. So I relied on using my phone as a hot spot, even upgrading my AT&T service to allow "unlimited" data use. Here, the owner has internet access, but I'm pretty sure it's DSL. About 5Mbps downstream 300Kbps upstream. Since most of my photos live in the cloud, that's going to be problematic.
What might have been a solution, using the iPhone as a hot spot, is also problematic. Since I left AT&T because they supported right-wing, antidemocratic, pro-fascist OAN, and joined Mitzi on T-Mobile, I've had spotty cell coverage. So it is here. There's a spot in the living room where I can get one bar, but most of the house is a dead zone. I can get two bars of LTE down at the dock. I may bring the laptop down there and try my luck.
I may also switch back to AT&T, because T-Mobile's coverage, while great in large urban areas, is very spotty elsewhere. I hate to do it, but given this experience and our experience out west last spring, you just don't get to take advantage of all the capabilities of the phone without a network that can support it.
I suspect most of the places around the lake don't have cable, and therefore must rely on DSL or perhaps Elon Musk's Starlink. But for now I guess it's "party like it's 1999."
The dock is wonderful. Newly constructed with a covered area. Barn swallows have taken up residence there and didn't much care for our presence yesterday. That was the case at the winery place as well, so I'll get some practice trying to photograph Barn Swallows in fight. Got a couple yesterday that might be keepers.
Mitzi got in the water yesterday, said it was cold be she got used to it. I'll probably get in today ("He said, confidently."), I did bring a pair of trunks.
Despite our stated desire not to have to get back into the car after we'd checked in, Mitzi got into the car and drove about a mile down the road to a winery. What's the point of vacationing in wine country without getting some? The car was already at about half capacity, so that little jaunt used no gas. We plugged it back in and the battery is fully charged now, we can pretty much go to any of the places we like to go around here and never use gas.
We were tired last night so we went to bed early, before the stars were out. Sunset was at 2045. I got up around 0200 to see what the sky looked like. Took a few shots. I'll post one later if I can.
I've been off Twitter since we left, only uploading a screenshot of the weather app showing it was 99°F in North Carolina where we'd stopped for gas. My email blew up when the Roe decision was announced. But, for the most part, I've been successfully avoiding all the political news.
Mitzi's brother and sister-in-law arrive in a couple of days. And maybe her daughter and son-in-law with their newborn, though that's very much up in the air. For now though, we have the place to ourselves.
I plan to enjoy it.
✍️ Reply by emailFrom the Deck
Current Wx: Temp: 75.58°F Pressure: 1014hPa Humidity: 84% Wind: 9.22mphWords: 77
A disclaimer first, I'm not claiming this is a great shot. I'm pretty happy with it, but then, I don't know what I'm doing.
This was shot early this morning, handheld, using the OMDS OM-1 and the mZuiko 8mm/f1.8 fisheye. 10s exposure at f1.8, edited in Photos.
Note was created in Tinderbox using AppleScript.
I downsized the image, and I have some more work to do in that regard, especially given my current bandwidth limitations.
✍️ Reply by emailNote to Self:
10:12 Sunday, 26 June 2022
Current Wx: Temp: 84.52°F Pressure: 1014hPa Humidity: 69% Wind: 5.99mph
Words: 451
Don't go on vacation with a beta version of the OS on your only computer.
I've seldom had problems using developer betas of Mac OS. Ventura has been mostly benign, but I've encountered a new problem today that's a bit of a puzzler.
I use a USB-C hub to give me access to an SD card reader and USB-A ports. Ventura adds a layer of peripheral security, wherein you may require authorization before a connected peripheral functions.
Well, I successfully used my Satechi USB-C hub to import photos from the SD card in my Panasonic Lumix LX7. I just now tried to import images from my Olympus XZ-1. It failed from the SD card reader, and it failed when I connected the camera to the USB-A port, a method that was always a kind of fail-safe.
I brought two USB-C hubs with me, the second is a HyperDrive HD28C. It too failed to mount the SD card either in the reader or via a connection to the camera.
I went into system settings and turned off the requirement to approve peripheral connections and rebooted the MBP M1. No change.
System Report shows the card reader with the card inserted on the USB bus with both hubs, but Finder won't mount the volume. So I'm at a loss to understand what the issue may be.
I just tried the 64GB SD card from the LX7 and that mounts just fine. The 64GB card in the LX7 is formatted as ExFAT with content shown as Windows_NTFS. The 16GB card in the XZ-1 is FAT32 formatted with content shown as Windows_FAT_32. I suspect that's the issue, though I don't know.
I think I'll try Disk Utility and see what I can do.
Update: Weirdness continues, but a solution perhaps.
Disk Utility saw the SD card and refused to mount it. First Aid said there was nothing wrong with it. I tried to create a disk image of it to save the limited number of photos I've already taken. "Connection refused by host."
Okay, we'll try the nuclear option. I reformatted the 16GB card as ExFAT and put it in the XZ-1. The XZ-1 can't see it. Hmm... Well, nothing for it, I went back to Disk Utility and reformatted the card again as FAT32. Card mounted and the XZ-1 can record to it.
So I'm not sure what the issue was, but it appears as though I have a card that can be read by both the MBP M1 and the XZ-1 now. Lost some nice shots I took this morning, but c'est la vie.
The beat goes on...
✍️ Reply by emailSwallow in flight
Current Wx: Temp: 86.2°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 66% Wind: 7mphWords: 99
Shot this sitting on the dock yesterday afternoon with the Olympus OM-D E-M1x and the 12-100mm/f4 zoom. Used the bird recognition auto-focus, which requires continuous auto-focus with tracking. It was a bit hit or miss, but these birds are fast and highly maneuverable.
Also, posting this from the dock using my iPhone as a hot spot. Had more than the usual difficulty getting the MBP to pair with the iPhone, but finally got it squared away.
It's warm and breezy and I'm enjoying the sound of the water lapping away on the shore.
✍️ Reply by emailBluebird With a Case of the Mondays
Current Wx: Temp: 79.23°F Pressure: 1011hPa Humidity: 78% Wind: 8.05mphWords: 4
I feel ya, bird.
✍️ Reply by emailHomestead
Current Wx: Temp: 76.86°F Pressure: 1010hPa Humidity: 91% Wind: 5.75mphWords: 443
This is where I "grew up," or, at least the years between 6th and 12th grade. My parents built this place on two acres of land they bought from my grandfather in 1968, so it'll be 60 years old in four years. That sounds like a long time.
The front porch, mud room on the side and garage were all added later. We had wooden 2x10 steps up to the front door and back door for much of my time there.
It's odd, but I can't recall if any of the additions took place while I lived there. They were all added by my parents, because I recall going through the garage attic where much of my "stuff" was moved at some point, either by my parents or my brothers.
The place has a full basement where I used to pound out CQ on 80 meters CW as WN2FEB, I can still recall the smell of mildew and ozone, and the chill on my shoulders.
Not long after we moved in, we discovered the basement flooded. They installed a sump pump to manage that. Drinking water comes from a well, and it was very hard and had a distinct odor. I recall when we vacationed at Gramma's from Michigan, I didn't like the water because it "smelled." Turns out, you get used to it, but everything white eventually turns orange.
The trees in the left side of the frame were planted as saplings. They originally outlined our "picnic" area where we had our picnic table. Nearly everyone had a picnic table outside in those days. We'd often eat outside, bugs be damned.
Later it became the location of a used above-ground pool my dad bought and had set up. Back behind the garage was the chicken house, which we bought and had moved from wherever they bought it from. We had a few dozen chickens and sold eggs for a while. One of my chores in the winter was to trudge out through the snow to the chicken house to collect the eggs. As cold as it might be outside, the chickens kept the chicken house pretty warm.
One of my other chores was to also shovel all the chicken shit out into a wheelbarrow, and then spread it on the garden.
Speaking of shoveling, I also had to shovel snow out of the driveway so Dad could go to work. We used what was called a "grain shovel." It had a huge blade with a flat front edge and scooped sides. Mom would melt paraffin on it so the wet snow wouldn't stick as much.
Anyway, "Good times," as they say.
✍️ Reply by emailThe Big Picture
06:00 Thursday, 26 June 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 66.99°F Pressure: 1018hPa Humidity: 87% Wind: 1.57mph
Words: 483
I'm writing this using a new Benq MA270U LCD monitor. It got a good writeup in MacWorld, and my thought was to try and replicate the experience I had with my 2012 13" MacBook Pro Retina and the 27" Thunderbolt Display.
As a display, I'm pleased with it. I haven't used it very long, but I immediately enjoyed being able to keep my head up and seeing larger text on the screen. The monitor has a native resolution of 3840x2160, which is intended to be used at 1920x1080. I've got it set at 2560x1440, which was the native resolution of the Thunderbolt Display. Text still looks sharp and contrasty. Photos look natural, so there doesn't seem to be any issue with using scaling.
That's about the only thing it matches with the Thunderbolt Display. The Benq has built-in speakers, but they suck. The semi-voluminous plastic housing makes the audio coming from the display sound like it's coming from a can. It's genuinely awful. I wished they'd left the speakers out and reduced the price by $10, which is probably more than they're worth. I suppose I can use my AirPods.
It also reminds me of what a remarkable thing the Thunderbolt Display was, although it did have some problems with its USB interface. (49 Watt, 2.1 speaker system built-in)
I haven't decided on an external keyboard and trackpad or mouse yet. Right now I have the 14" M3 MBP open. (Its speakers sound better than the Benq's.) But that also raises the issue of a camera for FaceTime and Zoom. I do most of my FaceTime with my family on my phone, and I guess I can use my phone as a camera, but I need to find a way to mount it.
But the big takeaway is, "I can see! I can see! Praise Jesus! It's a miracle!" (Eddie Murphy, Trading Places, may not be the literal quote.)
For the price, it's a very nice display. It'll rotate 90°, which I haven't played with yet. Not sure why I'd use it, but it seems pretty cool.
Didn't get a great deal accomplished yesterday. Installed a kick-plate on the pantry Mitzi had installed the other day. They don't come with one, you have to order 8' of kick-panel and cut it to size. Did a bunch of weed-whacking around back. That may have been a mistake. There's a lot of uneven ground in those weedy areas, and keeping them high might discourage someone stepping in there and possibly turning an ankle.
It's in an area that'll be reconfigured whenever we build the new place.
Much cooler this morning. I'm going step outside and take down another 25' of fence, this time on the other side of the lot. Getting a bit tired of this, but it does look much nicer without the fencing.
Better get to it...
✍️ Reply by emailNew Wallpaper
12:45 Thursday, 26 June 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 75.9°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 83% Wind: 5.32mph
Words: 18
Very cool.
By Astronaut Bob Hines aboard the International Space Station on May 8, 2022.
✍️ Reply by emailNice Day
12:59 Thursday, 26 June 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 75.43°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 82% Wind: 5.32mph
Words: 477
I managed to get about 30 feet of fence taken down before the flies chased me off. I haven't been wearing any bug spray, nor have I treated any of my clothes with permethrin yet, but I will soon if this keeps up. They didn't seem to be biting, but they were swooping around my face a lot. I think they were irritated with me disturbing their habitat.
Later, Mitzi and I went off to pick some raspberries at one of the local farms. A lot of them had been sunburned from the heat in the earlier part of the week, when the farm wasn't open. But we managed to get two pints in a buy one, get one free promotion. Lady at the farm, another Lisa, was very pleasant and there was a very laid back, friendly, and very large dog, Sammy. Part Lab, part Black & Tan 'coon hound.
Stopped in at the local hardware store to return a caulking gun Mitzi bought that we didn't need. I got another tube of black silicone caulking. I'm filling cracks in the boards of this "board and batten" siding. I'll get around to painting it eventually.
On the way out we stopped at a local highlight, Scuteri's Canoli Connection. We'd only been there once before, a couple of years ago. Bought three large originals and a box of cookies. Between that place, the "garlic knots" at Jerlando's Ristorante & Pizza Co., and all the ice cream places around here, my days on this earth are numbered. (To say nothing of the micro-breweries.)
I'm playing with 2304x1296 as a resolution on this monitor. Text is still crisp, but modestly larger and easier to read in the small fonts. May stick with this, may try some other ones.
Started out cool and cloudy, which was nice for taking down fence and weed-whacking, likewise for berry-picking. But the sun's out now and the day is pretty. Not hot though.
This place is pretty airtight. I brought along the Aranet Home CO2 sensor that was all the rage in the COVID days. I thought the house in Florida was airtight, because CO2 concentrations would get up around 1500ppm or a little better. It was over 2200ppm here yesterday! I turned off the mini-split and opened the sliding glass door and a window. Got it back down below 600 before I closed everything back up and turned the AC back on.
I've signed up for the local gym, but I haven't been down there yet to get my access card and start working out. I've been focused on getting this fence down in the morning; and by the time I've done a bit of that, I don't feel very much like working out. But it'll be done soon. Maybe early next week. I'm getting there.
Then, back to the gym!
✍️ Reply by emailVisualizer Works
06:51 Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 59.86°F Pressure: 1016hPa Humidity: 97% Wind: 5.93mph
Words: 35
I'm pleased to report that beta 2 of MacOS 27 has restored Visualizer to the Music app, even in Stage Manager.
I wonder if the Music app in TVOS has the Visualizer?
I must investigate.
✍️ Reply by emailWhat Time Is It?
09:29 Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 68.05°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 84% Wind: 6.46mph
Words: 144
This is a test post that may or may not be published. As currently displayed in the Displayed Attributes, $PublicationDate is 9:29 AM (correct).
The preceding post was written at 6:51 AM ($Created attribute). The $PublicationDate in the exported html file now hosted on the server shows 18:51 (6:51 PM), which is 12 hours ahead of the $Created time.
I did not observe the change. I noticed this yesterday on another post when the sort order wasn't observed and a newer post wasn't at the top of the list. That made me look at $PublicationDate, and I noted the 12-hour discrepancy. I manually edited it, and subsequent posts and exports reflected the correct date and time.
This is flakey, but now I know to look for it.
(Edit: This export overwrote the previous page with the 18:51 time.)
✍️ Reply by emailInvestigation
10:08 Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 69.03°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 81% Wind: 9.84mph
Words: 142
So there's even more excitement and mystery! I was trying to edit the times in the preceding post, and MacOS data detectors kept firing on the time text, inserting that little dotted window around the, with a downward pointing triangle that invites a click.
I didn't want to do anything other than edit the time, but the Data Detector wouldn't let me insert the edit cursor. (Now, I didn't try to arrow over the text, I was using the trackpad. Having just thought of this, I just tried arrowing into the time and that does work.)
So I filed a Feedback using the Feedback Assistant. It may simply be that I don't know how data detectors are supposed to work, and that I don't know if, or how, data detectors are enabled in TextEdit.
The beat goes on... (At 10:08 AM.)
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