Sunday, May 31, 2015

Configuring HP LaserJet CP1525nw

Found myself configuring out network printer again, so recording for future reference:

  • Connect printer to router via network cable
  • Power on the printer
  • Use menu "Reports" to discover the IP address of the printer
  • Connect to that IP address via web browser
  • Configure wireless settings
  • Disconnect the network cable from the printer
  • Reconfigure any printer settings on client devices

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Copland clarinet concerto vs. Addams Family theme

In a continuation of classical themes re-use, a passage of Aaron Copland's Clarinet Conerto (1948) seems quite similar to the theme song from the television show The Addams Family (1964-66):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Addams_Family_Theme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarinet_Concerto_(Copland)

Previously, previously

"Parity is for farmers"

Seymour Cray, 1963.

Note: later, he stated, "I learned that a lot of farmers buy computers."

Note: this use of the term seems to stem from a part of the New Deal, which aimed to pay subsidies to farmers, in exchange for not bringing their products to market. The idea: limit supply of certain farm products, drive up prices, and allow farmers to earn "parity" pay for their efforts, in comparison to other professions.

"...[S]cience has taken a turn towards darkness"

Darkness!

Dr. Richard Horton and Dr. Marcia Angell, editors of Lancet and New England Medical Journal, respectively call bull-shittake on a lot of medical research published:
“The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness.”  
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/05/16/editor-in-chief-of-worlds-best-known-medical-journal-half-of-all-the-literature-is-false/
Reasons given?
  • data is sculpted to fit a preferred theory
  • important confirmations are often rejected
  • little is done to correct bad practices
  • omission of data: vaccine manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and health authorities have known about multiple dangers associated with vaccines but chose to withhold them from the public
Via

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Place names: -chester, -caster, -cester, -shire, counties, parishes, and boroughs

 History!
When the Romans came to Great Britain, they built a bunch of forts called castra, which was Anglicized to chester. So, English cities whose names end in -chester, -caster and -cester were once Roman settlements, places like Manchester, Cirencester and Worcester. 
When the Anglo-Saxons arrived in England, they divided the land into shires, which is why so many English place names end in -shire. 
Finally, the Normans invaded England in 1066, and they subdivided the land into counties, from which we get the title of “Count”.
Of course, English settlers to North America brought the county system with them. And thus, every state in America is subdivided into counties, except for Louisiana (which is divided into parishes based on an old Spanish system) and Alaska (which is divided into boroughs).
Via

Japanese Film Festival - Sacramento, 2015

Films announced!

  1. Like Father Like Son
  2. I Was Born But...
  3. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
  4. Hafu, the Mixed Race Dxperience In Japan
  5. Unforgiven
  6. Pecoross’ Mother and Her Days
  7. Under the Blood Red Sun

Erika Perloff

A painting of the Pacific coast, by Erika Perloff:



The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 2013 film

Saw a copy of the 2013 film, "The Watsons Go to Birmingham" on display and would like to view it, at some point.

The trees sang fire

I'm a poet and did not know it! ; o )

Thought of this line last night on the drive through Campbell/Los Gatos, at sunset, with the reddish/orange rays illuminating the sides of the redwoods.

Seemed like a good intro line for a book involving dragons! ; o ) As of today, Google returns no hits for that specific phrase.

Radio Songs



    Heard on KEZR 106.5 FM, out of San Jose, California:


    Heard on KBAY 94.5 FM, out of San Jose, California:
    Heard on KZSU 90.1 FM, out of Stanford, California:

    Thursday, May 21, 2015

    Las Vegas Notes

    Dawn and I recently weekended in Las Vegas:
    • High Roller (Ferris wheel)--interesting; entry/exit while moving
    • Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay
    • Homies Cinnamon Roll Cafe at the MGM (note: we tried the Homie's Awesome Apple Cinnamon Roll...it is!)
    • HEXX chocolate & confexxions (note: we had chocolate chip cookie ice-cream sandwich, with Ecuadorian single-origin chocolate ice cream)
    • Hershey’s Chocolate World--interesting, but did not purchase anything
    • Various vended items:
    • Heart-shaped lamp designs at the Brighton Collectibles-Caesar's
    • LUSH Cosmetics Mandalay Bay -- saleswoman named Sally cheered us up! 
    • Chris Reccardi art--saw his work inside the High Roller ticketing area (note: he did The Ren and Stimpy Show)
    • Fergus Greer portrait photography
      • William H. Macy
      • Elliot Gould
      • Rod Steiger
      • Dick Dale
      • LL Cool J
    • Rode the tram back, from Mandalay Bay to Excalibur
    • Reached the ticketing counter for the monorail but decided we prefer to walk the couple of blocks, rather than pay
    • The 2015 Rock In Rio concert coincided with our stay, but we did not have time to attend
    • Planet Hollywood hotel room #3756 
      • Room decor: the 1984 Robert Redford film "The Natural" (framed of Redford's "Knights" baseball jacket, framed promotional photos from the film, a side table with a faux-program and baseball card props, from the film)
      • Opened in 2007, our room seemed a bit tired looking
    • Ground transportation:
      • Stretch limo transportation from the airport to the hotel! Just us...we found a water bottle in the cooler, which was perfect...LED rainbow lights around the cabin...we buckled out seatbelts
      • Shuttle transportation from hotel to airport--with about 6-8 others
    • Other (?)

    Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Taiikukan Live

    A live concert! I believe the following video represents the second concert (that is, Taiikukan) of a two-DVD set, released in late 2010, to celebrate 20 years:
    "Tokyo Ska Paradise Kokugikan & Tokyo Ska Paradise Taiikukan Live - (12/12/2010 Cutting Edge)"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqTTclgeaSI
    NOTES

    • Japanese <> English translations:
    • Dates:
      • March 27th, 2010: Kokugikan
      • April 24th, 2010: Taiikukan
    • Product Code: CTBR-92067 
    • JAN Code: 4945817920676
    • Female guest vocalist: Crystal Kay
    • Track list:
      • 1
        • [Disc 2] OPENING / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] opening / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 2
        • [Disc 2] BOPPIN` BUNNY / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] Boppin' Bunny / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 3
        • [Disc 2] WHITE LIGHT / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] White Light / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 4
        • [Disc 2] A SONG FOR ATHLETES / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] A Song for Athletes / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 5
        • [Disc 2] WORLD SKA CRUISE / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] WORLD SKA CRUISE / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 6
        • [Disc 2] MEIKYOUSHISUI / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] 明鏡止水 / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 7
        • [Disc 2] STORM RIDER / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] STORM RIDER / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 8
        • [Disc 2] KINOUKYOUASHITA / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] KinouKyouAshita -New horn arrangement- / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 9
        • [Disc 2] LIKE JAZZ ON FIRE / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] Like Jazz On Fire / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 10
        • [Disc 2] TOKYO SKA MEDLEY 20TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL ISSUE / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] トーキョースカメドレー 20th Anniversary Special Issue / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 10
        • [Disc 2] PERFECT FUTURE / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] Perfect Future / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 10
        • [Disc 2] TABOO SKA / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] Taboo SKA / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 10
        • [Disc 2] MANTECA / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] Manteca / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 10
        • [Disc 2] L.O.V.E / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] L.O.V.E / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 10
        • [Disc 2] FINGERTIPS / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] FINGERTIPS / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 11
        • [Disc 2] ZUTTO / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] ずっと (Vo.Crystal Kay) / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 12
        • [Disc 2] ONE EYED COBRA / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] ONE EYED COBRA / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 13
        • [Disc 2] SHINONOME NIJUUGO JI / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] 東雲25時 / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 14
        • [Disc 2] JUGGLING CITY / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] Juggling City / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 15
        • [Disc 2] TAIYOU NI ONEGAI / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] 太陽にお願い / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 16
        • [Disc 2] AME NO KISEKI / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] 雨の軌跡 / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 17
        • [Disc 2] BOPPIN` BUNNY AGAIN! / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] Boppin' Bunny again! / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 18
        • [Disc 2] RYUUSEI TO BALLAD / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] 流星とバラード (Vo.奥田民生) / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 19
        • [Disc 2] JUST SAY YEAH! / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] Just say yeah! / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 20
        • [Disc 2] HYMNE A L`AMOUR WITH STRINGS / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] 愛の讃歌 with strings / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 21
        • [Disc 2] KIMI TO BOKU 2010 / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] 君と僕 2010 (Vo.斉藤和義) / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 22
        • [Disc 2] PRIDE OF LIONS / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] Pride Of Lions (EC1) / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 23
        • [Disc 2] JUNGLE BOOGIE / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA with OKUDA TAMIO.Crystal Kay.SAITO KAZUYOSHI
        • [Disc 2] ジャングル・ブギ (w/奥田民生、Crystal Kay、斉藤和義) (EC1) / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ with 奥田民生、Crystal Kay、斉藤和義
      • 24
        • [Disc 2] DOWN BEAT STOMP / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] DOWN BEAT STOMP (EC1) / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ
      • 25
        • [Disc 2] SKA ME CRAZY / TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA
        • [Disc 2] SKA ME CRAZY (EC2) / 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ

    So good!

    Radio Songs

    Heard on KXJZ 90.9 FM out of Sacramento, CA:
    Heard on KSAN 107.7 FM out of San Mateo, CA:
    Heard on KFJC 89.7 FM out of Los Altos Hills, California:

    Wednesday, May 20, 2015

    Roman peace

    Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant!
    (To plunder, butcher, steal, these things they misname Empire: they make a desolation and they call it peace!)

    -- Tacitus 

    Tuesday, May 19, 2015

    Stallman coined POSIX acronym

    Interesting!

    https://stallman.org/articles/posix.html

    Good ideas


    1. Good ideas do not need lots of lies told about them in order to gain public acceptance.
    2. Fibbers' forecasts are worthless
    3. The Vital Importance of Audit

    Sunday, May 17, 2015

    “Weird Al” Yankovic Mandatory World Tour - Las Vegas

    Dawn recently won, with about ~50 others, the “Weird Al” Yankovic Mandatory World Tour Contest, which included the following:
    Many thanks to Weird Al, CID Entertainment staff (event logistics), and Frosch Entertainment staff (transportation logistics). This easily penciled out to thousands of dollars, per winner and guest! We had a great time and have nothing but love for all the hard work everyone did to pull this off.

    NOTES - CONCERT
    • Celebrities in attendance at the performance we attended: Andy Richtertwo of Neil Diamonds' keyboard playersTom Lennon (of Reno 911! fame), (?)
    • As noted, Las Vegas Magazine had a cover article on Weird Al, in their May 10, 2015 issue
    • Highlight, for me: Dare to Be Stupid, live in concert (first time since 2011?)
    • First concert, for us, since mid-2013 at the California State Fair
    • I felt really salted-out and thirsty from the hot dogs and hamburgers
    • The acoustic set reminded me of...a lounge act...in a good way (is that possible? I think so!)
    • Confetti streamer cannon during Canadian Idiot
    • No drum solo (retired?)
    • Music (30 songs, total):
      • Fun Zone
      • Tacky
      • Lame Claim to Fame
      • Now That's What I Call Polka!
      • Perform This Way
      • Dare to Be Stupid
      • Fat
      • First World Problems
      • Foil
      • Smells Like Nirvana
      • Party in the CIA / It's All About the Pentiums / Handy / Bedrock Anthem / Another One Rides the Bus / Ode to a Superhero / Gump / Inactive / eBay / Canadian Idiot
      • Wanna B Ur Lovr
      • Acoustic medley: Eat It / I Lost on Jeopardy / I Love Rocky Road / Like a Surgeon
      • White & Nerdy
      • Word Crimes
      • Amish Paradise
      • Encore:
        • The Saga Begins
        • Yoda
    • Albums represented:
      • "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983): 2
      • "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984): 2
      • Dare To Be Stupid (1985): 3
      • Even Worse (1988): 1
      • UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff (1989): 1
      • Off The Deep End (1992): 1
      • Alapalooza (1993): 1
      • Bad Hair Day (1996): 2
      • Running With Scissors (1999): 2
      • Poodle Hat (2003): 3
      • Straight Outta Lynwood (2006): 2
      • Alpocalypse (2011): 2
      • Mandatory Fun (2014): 8
    • Albums NOT formally represented (note: excluding EPs):
      • Polka Party! (1986): 0
    NOTES - PRE/POST-PERFORMANCE PARTY
    • Pre-show details:
      • Event staff wore red berets and military uniforms, in keeping with the propaganda-themed imagery of the album
      • Brief, unannounced appearances:
        • Suzanne Krajewski, Al's spouse, and their daughter
        • Andy Richter
        • Jim West, guitarist
      • Easels displayed 3'x2' prints of propaganda-themed imagery, from the album art, as we walked to the night club
      • Medium-sized lectern with faux-microphones--lots of attendees taking pictures with this as a prop, when not in use by the emcee
      • Energy ebbed and flowed, but mostly upbeat and excited
      • Spinnable Wheel of Fish with medium-sized blinking red light, at center (initially obscured by black banner with words "Top Secret")
      • "Mandatory Cocktail" ($8, I forget the ingredients, but it had grapefruit juice, alcohol, and was served over ice in what looked like a highball glass)
      • Four multimedia and poster displays showing a timeline of Weird Al from childhood to present
      • Giant (~15'x10'?) Mandatory World Tour banner
      • Large (~3' diameter) Mandatory World Tour circular promotional poster of some of the album art 
      • Photo booth for taking/sharing pictures, in front of a green screen--note: ours may not have gotten posted to Facebook, even after the initial technical glitch (?)...always take a backup photo!
      • Props for the photo booth: glittery mustaches on thin dowels, plastic bandolier, wigs, aloha shirt, metal eyewear frames (basically, you can appear as Weird Al, from the 1980's, or go with a more propaganda-themed album art imagery)
      • I wore a wig and a floral shirt (over my floral shirt) and eyewear and bandolier and moustache
      • Food and drink:
        • Buffalo wings
        • Mini hot dogs
        • Hamburger sliders
        • Carrots, celery, condiments
        • Cash bar
      • Music: variety of Weird Al songs played from all decades
      • Party events
        • Costume Contest
          • Six contestants (* asterisk = finalist; ** = winner):
            1. ** Smells Like Nirvana
            2. * Lasagna chef
            3. * Tinfoil hat
            4. Tacky shirt
            5. Tuxedo suit
            6. Corporal (?) Spatula
          • A crowd cheer eliminated three contestants, followed-by a dance-off to determine the winners
          • Winner got a Weird Al Mandatory Tour circular patch
        • Raffle #1 - Lip Sync battle
          • Smells Like Nirvana contestant called up to stage to go first (did not get raffle ticket called)
          • Lasagna selected as raffle winner and returned to stage
          • Not sure who won!
        • Raffle #2 - Wheel of Fish
          • Raffle winner (tin foil hat girl?) got up on stage 
          • Emcee revealed...the Wheel of Fish!
          • Winner spun the Wheel, with marker landing on "trout"
          • Emcee offered her a choice of the fish or the box
          • Crowd and winner chose the box, which contained...nothing!
          • Everyone got to take their picture with the Wheel of Fish, after this
        • Prior to leaving the party, the emcee invited everyone to sing, "Harvey the Wonder Hamster"
    • After-party details:
      • Food and drink:
        • Orange, black, and yellow tortilla chips
        • Salt and pepper rippled potato chips
        • Chex mix
        • Guacamole
        • Salsa verde
        • Cash bar
      • Subdued energy; people mostly talking in small circles
      • Music: same as at pre-show party, a mix of Weird Al songs from across the decades
      • Weird Al arrived in a brown tunic shirt and blue jeans after 45-60 minutes (he had other commitments, with other fans, first)
      • Al signed 18"x24" tour posters for everyone (one per group)
      • One cell phone photo, per group, with random requests considered (for example, Al posed with one woman in a dip dance move; another, he stood and posed, looking off to the distance, as did the fans)
      • Jay Levey, Weird Al's manager, quietly observed the signing from the side
      • Event staff members took the cell phone photos
    • Overall party impressions -- ups and downs
      • Bad news first:
        • Cash bar prices--welcome to Las Vegas!
        • Photo-booth malfunctions (note: per emcee, resolved after he called the photo-booth company president)
        • Emcee seemed overheated in military uniform and overstretched, which seemed to distract him from connecting with the audience, a bit
        • I sensed some awkward energy in the room during two of the unannounced pre-show party events...I think contestants and event staff handled things relatively gracefully but I wonder if event staff might consider discussing a more inclusive way to determine winners (?) Maybe it was just me and everyone had a great time (?) : o )
        • At the after-party, one or two overly intoxicated individuals seemed fired up and edging toward belligerence...overheard the person relate to someone else, in a somewhat defensive tone, how someone earlier had commented on his drinking and/or behavior...he then proceeded to start going off on, "I won a trip to Las Vegas to have fun!", "Don't tell me what to do...", and so forth, and so forth...it set a more edgy tone to things than I preferred, for sure
        • Thinking of things from a family-friendly angle, the night club represented a relatively subdued environment, compared to the Pleasure Pit gogo dancers visible below, on the casino floor, but the night club's back hallway--used as an exit after poster signing--did have a few larger-than-life racy pics...again, welcome to Las Vegas, parents ; o )
      • Good news:
        • Emcee--that voice!
        • Technology (other than noted above) had everything on point--multimedia displays, lights, audio, music
        • Props seemed right on point--banners, costumes, accessories for photo-booth, lectern, Wheel of Fish, and so forth
        • Food seemed well done, to me--especially the hamburger sliders
        • Resolved the photo-booth technical glitch
        • After-party went off without a hitch, including food and handing out poster sleeves
        • Al obviously exhausted, hand was a claw when he signed our poster, but soldiered on (please excuse the pun)
        • Jay Levey appearance!
        • Overall, a smashing success and it speaks very well to the entire team, moving forward!!

    Wednesday, May 06, 2015

    Information consumes attention

    “What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” – Herbert Simon

    Via

    Monday, May 04, 2015

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