Kevin's Social Blog: May 2015

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!

Erika Perloff

A painting of the Pacific coast, by Erika Perloff:

Morning Veils

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:

Little Rock, Arkansas-based Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life" from their 2003 album "Fallen" on the Wind-up and Epic labels. Video.

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

London, England-based Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" (featuring the vocals of Bruno Mars) from his 2014 album "Uptown Special" on the Sony, Columbia, and RCA labels.

Heard on KZSU 90.1 FM, out of Stanford, California:

DJ John Powell's show "Emotive Force" critiqued the score from the 2010 DreamWorks film, "How to Train Your Dragon"

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

Watched an endangered Green Sea Turtle scratch its back
Dawn liked watching the near threatened Cownose Rays

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:

KidRobot

Yummy World
Frank Kozik's labbits

Pusheen the Cat pencil case
Pebblechild turtle keyrings

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:

Kokugikan = sumo hall (seems like the Ryōgoku Kokugikan (両国国技館 Ryōgoku Kokugikan)
Taiikukan = gymnasium (seems like the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (東京体育館 Tōkyō Taiikukan)

Dates:

March 27th, 2010: Kokugikan
April 24th, 2010: Taiikukan

Product Code: CTBR-92067
JAN Code: 4945817920676
Female guest vocalist: Crystal Kay
Track list:

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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:

Faster Than Light music played as background music on May 12, 2015, around the 5:30 p.m. mark.

Heard on KSAN 107.7 FM out of San Mateo, CA:

London, England-natives Led Zeppelin's "Bring It On Home" from their 1969 album "Led Zeppelin II" on the Atlantic label. Audio.

Heard on KFJC 89.7 FM out of Los Altos Hills, California:

London, England-based The Damned's "Life Goes On" from their 1982 album "Strawberries" on the Bronze label. Audio. Note: "Captain Sensible" represents a great pseudonym!

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

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

Via, via

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:

Two round-trip air tickets to Las Vegas, Nevada (for us, on Southwest ~$600)
Two-Night Complimentary Stay at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino (~$600)
Two Complimentary Tickets to Weird Al’s performance on Saturday, May 16th, 2015 at 8:00 p.m., in the Showroom at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino (~$300)
Upgraded tickets (slightly modified, as noted), to "The Mandatory Czar Experience" (+~$400):

Premium reserved ticket in the first five rows (note: we sat in Row 'R', close to center, with other contest winners, most likely to accommodate seating of customers paying for the experience...this seemed to represent the only modification)
Complete Set of 133 Weird Al Trading Cards (including brand new cards from Mandatory Fun)
Mandatory VIP badge
Mandatory Czar blue event sticker
One Exclusive, Limited Edition Poster 18"x24" personally signed by Weird Al (note: it reads, "Hi Dawn!", followed by his signature)
Additional exclusive Weird Al merchandise gift (note: in our case, we received a military-themed tee shirt: "a t-shirt that sort of looks like the dictator jacket which Al is wearing on the cover of Mandatory Fun. Sort of like those tuxedo print t-shirts.")
VIP pre-show party, held in the re-purposed Gallery Night Club at Planet Hollywood, starting at 5:30 p.m.
VIP after-party, held in the same space as the pre-show

$100 Food and Beverage Credit to Planet Hollywood
Two Complimentary Tickets to the High Roller at The LINQ (~$75)
Ground transportation from and back to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas (~$50)

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 Richter, two of Neil Diamonds' keyboard players, Tom 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):

** Smells Like Nirvana
* Lasagna chef
* Tinfoil hat
Tacky shirt
Tuxedo suit
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

Model-View-Controller song

Heard the Model-View-Controller song, for the first time, today! http://csl.ensm-douai.fr/noury/20#mp3
(Note: see Ralph Jonshon's comments, at the end)

Via

See, also: http://www.headfirstlabs.com/books/hfdp/dm.html

Saturday, May 02, 2015

3x3 cubes

http://thecubicle.us/yuxin-p-3939.html (used for current world record)

http://thecubicle.us/moyu-hualong-p-4253.html (normally the one used by current world record holder)

World record thread

Hostage negotiation

The most dangerous negotiation is the one you don't know you're in.