Smells that comfort

A Quora question listed some.

Wondering again how to communicate smells...have not researched it.

Previously;

Cupcakes and pizza

Stopped in Davis on the way out of Sacramento on Friday evening and got six cupcakes at Let Them Eat Cake:

1. Wake Up Call - Coffee cake with coffee frosting
2. Vegan Chocolate - Vegan chocolate cake and frosting
3. To Grandmother's House We Go - Gingerbread cake with cream cheese frosting (seasonal, winter)
4. Dubliner - Guinness Stout chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream
5. Scarlett - Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting
6. Down by the Sea - Vanilla cake with salted caramel buttercream

Also, I stopped at the Village Bakery and got two slices of cheese and two slices of veggie. 

Collin Street Bakery - Miniature Pecan Cakes

This bakery, from Corsicana, Texas, makes delicious Miniature Pecan Cakes. We have tried two of the four:

1. Mini DeLuxe Fruitcake
2. Mini Apricot Pecan Cake

They sell them in a set of four, 9 oz. mini cakes (about 5" across), for $55.45. 

Note: they also sell Mini Pineapple Pecan Cake and one Mini Apple Cinnamon Pecan Cake.

Citrix Receiver 13.1 for Linux - More Citrix, More Problems

Smiled when I saw Citrix released Citrix Receiver 13.1 for Linux, what seems like a true 64-bit Citrix Receiver client. It seemed to install cleanly to Debian Wheezy--good. It even allowed me to login to my employer's install of Citrix Web Interface 5.? to access XenApp VM hosted apps--promising.

However, selecting a hosted app icon via the Web Interface only seemed to change my mouse cursor from a pointer into a spinning circle for a few seconds, after which it revered to a pointer. Waiting for several minutes, nothing appeared. I tried access in both Mozilla IceWeasel 31.3.0 and Google Chrome 37.0.2062.120. Poking around in /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/, I noted running the binaries seemed to work OK (for example, selfservice)...no core dumps or broken dependencies, it seems.

I also tried installing the Citrix Receiver for HTML5 1.5. This seemed to have similar results as the Citrix Receiver 13.1 for Linux--successful authentication, but no success when selecting hosted app icons.

A WORKAROUND

A brief web search discovered this URL:

http://zo0ok.com/techfindings/archives/1743

which pointed me to /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/wfica.sh . I downloaded the .ICA file after selecting the hosted app icon, then passed the file path to it as a parameter to wfica.sh, as described at the URL. Success.

So, at this point, I know I can run hosted apps manually, which suffices....

Previously; Previously; Previously

Pack of Lies

Listened to a riveting performance of Pack of Lies, the play, on the drive last night. I heard the 2004 or 2005 version produced by L.A. Theatre Works and recorded in front of a live audience.

The performance features Martin Jarvis as Stewart and Rosalind Ayres as Barbara Jackson. In real life, Jarvis and Ayres married each other in 1974.

Description
Actual events during the Cold War inspired this thriller that takes place in a suburb of London during the autumn and winter of 1960-1961. Loyalty, duty, and friendship collide when the Jacksons slowly discover the Krogers, their neighbors and cherished friends, are not what they appear. A gripping play that may leave you wondering exactly what it is those nice people next door are really up to. Starring (in alphabetical order): Megan Austin Oberle as Julie, Sally Rosalind Ayres as Barbara Jackson Roxanne Hart as Helen Kroger Martin Jarvis as Stewart Sione Owen as Thelma Julian Sands as Bob Jackson David Selby as Peter Kroger.

'Meeting d'Aviation Nice', France, 1910

What a view!

"Description
Photolithographic poster, with artwork by Charles Dana Gibson. This poster was produced for an early aviation meeting in Nice, France, held from 10 to 25 April 1910, and shows an airman flying above the coastal town of Nice, scattering flowers from his aeroplane. The prize money offered at Nice totalled 210,000 francs (£9,000), and the speed prize was won by Efimoff at 35 miles an hour. The sport and spectacle of the first meetings were instrumental in the great rise in popularity of aviation in the first two decades of the 20th century.

Artist
Gibson, Charles Dana

Image Ref.
10200845"
Via: http://www.ssplprints.com/image/82420/gibson-charles-dana-meeting-daviation-nice-france-1910

Blocking receptor in brain’s immune cells counters Alzheimer’s in mice, study finds

A Stanford study:

Blocking receptor in brain’s immune cells counters Alzheimer’s in mice, study finds

Brain cells called microglia chew up toxic substances and cell debris, calm inflammation and make nerve-cell-nurturing substances. New research shows that keeping them on the job may prevent neurodegeneration. 

http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2014/12/blocking-receptor-in-brains-immune-cells-counters-alzheimers.html

KEY TERMS

• microglia: a defense cell which regulates brain health, sort of like an immune cell
• EP2: a receptor on microglia
• PGE2: binds to EP2, causing microglia overstimulation and deterioration, which may ultimately lead to brain inflammation (means: prostaglandin E2)
• Aspirin: provides upstream help by preventing certain enzymes from forming molecules which then get converted into PGE2
• A-beta: microglia control the brain levels of this protein...can form clusters toxic to nerve cells--Alzheimer’s plaques

KEY TAKEAWAY

Brain immune system health (via microglia) seems to decline over time. Researchers have found a rather preliminary (in my opinion), but promising, way to restore microglial fitness by silencing microglia receptor EP2, which, when overstimulated, causes microglia deterioration. Researchers have not fully explored the consequences of doing this, it seems (?)

NOTES

Researchers increased the load of A-beta levels in brain cells with and without EP2 receptors and found several different results:

1. Young brain cells did just fine with increased A-beta loads
2. Older brain cells struggled with increased A-beta loads...perhaps as a result of less fit microglia
3. When researchers silenced receptor EP2 on older brain cells, microglial fitness increased

Researchers noted increased EP2 signaling seemed to occur at the same time as microglial production of inflammation, decreased A-beta munching, and so forth.

Previous work in the same lab showed an increase in inflammation when EP2 binded to PGE2.

(Via)

Donnelly Chocolates

Visited this small shop on Mission the afternoon of New Year's Eve:
https://www.donnellychocolates.com/

Met Henry Donnelly at the cashier. He suggested reports of whale sightings from around 11:00 a.m., down at the beach. We later would check things out, but did not see anything.

Read more about their recent recognition:
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/20130213/national-geographic-names-richard-donnelly-fine-chocolates-one-of-10-worlds-best-chocolatiers

Richard Donnelly, incidentally, attended Ripon College in Wisconsin.

The chocolate looks very smooth and consistent in color and dense. We purchased a dark chocolate ice cream bar with sea salt, a bar of dark chocolate dark French roast, a peanut-butter dark chocolate bar, and a dark-chocolate caramel sea salt bar. All delicious.

The Theory of Everything

Watched Subject at The Nickelodeon in Santa Cruz, on Lincoln Street. "The Nick" represents a cozy, locally-owned and operated theater, which resides a block away from Pacific Avenue, downtown. This was our first visit. We bought a medium popcorn and a plastic bag of caramel popcorn for later, sitting in theater #3.

The movie does an exceptional job showing the personal side of family life with an ALS member. It only rarely shows an aside of Hawking's later academic life. The parts where he begins struggling with muscle control feel tense; the frustration is real.

The University of Cambridge comes out looking marvelous. Cows grazing, wood paneling, tiny bunked rooms, croquet, rowing, hedges...such an alien world from corporate life. David Thewlis played Hawking's thesis supervisor, Dennis Sciama. In one scene, he brings Hawking to a University of Cambridge laboratory and invokes the name of J.J. Thompson and Rutherford, then leaves him to absorb it all in.

A surprise cameo: Emily Watson as Jane's mother.

A friend mentioned a late scene where Hawking lets Jane go resonated strongly with her--the tears flow freely and the close shots help bring the audience right into the perspective of each of them. The break-up felt a bit flat, however, in the sense that Hawking let her go only after he had securely met his own needs. The artificial conflict of God seems interesting but tacked-on.

I can understand why people tamp down their marks a bit when rating it. It covers a lot of ground. It goes for depth and compassion in a complicated (to put it mildly) relationship. It aims high and ends up a bit flat, though no fault of the lead actors.

The scene introducing Hawking's Equalizer software (I think?) seemed fresh. Four words per minute.

Hawking comes across as someone with raw talent, who finds inspiration in a lecture by Penrose. Wikipedia says Jane's love gave him something to live for, however.

On harrassment

Awareness tips

http://www.robot-hugs.com/harassment/

(via)

Hawaii State Fish

Reef triggerfish, or: Humuhumunukunukuapua'a
HOOMOO HOOMOO NOOKOO NOOKOO AH POO AH AH

It means, "triggerfish with a snout like a pig."

More

Pogonip Pummelers

$25 of gift certificate glory

Current reigning champions, Dawn and I succeeded in besting all the teams one, potentially drunk team to win the $25 gift certificate at the Upper Crust New Year's Eve Trivia Night. Our win streak stands at one week...we stood-in for out-of-town friends who could not make it this week.

We answered questions like the following:

• Round 1
• What was Hermione's last name in the Harry Potter universe?
• What sport throws salt before competing?
• Kodiak Island represents the largest island of which U.S. state?
• Round 2
• The Gulf War started when Iraq invaded which country?
• What instrument does the leader of an orchestra typically play?
• How many moons does Mars have?
• Round 3
• What three U.S. states border Lake Superior? (such a gimmee, for me)
• What is the eastern-most U.S. state?
• What Kingdom owns Greenland?
• Bonus round: What city housed the first U.S. Mint?

Due to low turnout, the host, Chris, played only one gift certificate challenge (I guess they usually do two or more). No beer chug-off needed--this seems like the customary way ties get decided, based on videos on their Facebook page...seeing who can quaff a beer faster. We got a +5 bonus for best team name (see Subject), due to his preference for the word Pogonip, a Shoshone word meaning "icy fog," which represents a local Santa Cruz city park near the UCSC campus.

Teams get 5 points for each correct answer. If the team provides a wrong answer, but it makes the host laugh, they get 1 point. Teams tear off a piece of paper from a 4"x6" index card and write their team name on one side and their answer on the other, then hand it to the host after each question. The last question represents the bonus round, during which teams must wager between 1 and 35 points. Depending on whether a team answers successfully or not, they gain or lose their wager. So, it can allow a team to win, even if they have a substantial deficit. 

We got all the answers except for the Greenland one. We wagered 10 points and answered the bonus round successfully. So, it seems we had 60 points out of a potential 85 maximum for the round (45 for the regular rounds + 35 for bonus round + 5 for team name). Chris seemed like a very personable and gregarious guy and congratulated the other team with a free pitcher of beer (in addition to their existing one).

Sadly, it looks like we will not have the ability to defend our title next week, as I am out-of-town.

Nerdolescence

Posted without comment, for now:

Finding out that you're not the Rebel Alliance, you're actually part of the Empire and have been all along
http://boingboing.net/2014/12/31/finding-out-that-youre-not-t.html#more-355857

What I believe
http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2119

Heavy stuff and something I look forward to discussing further.

If a man has not discovered....

"If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live."
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speech on the Great March on Detroit, 23 June 1963

Dell Inspiron 15r teardown and hinge repair

http://www.insidemylaptop.com/how-to-disassemble-dell-inspiron-15r-5521-15-3521laptop/

and

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19522781

The hinge repair seems like a common problem with this laptop. I used a soldering iron, per suggestion, to heat the metal, then gently pushed it down into the gap. I think I had the iron at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Luckily, the original hinge screws still reached the metal and seem to secure the hinge.

I tore the laptop down in order to see if any cat hair needed removal from the CPU fan. It turned out only a minor amount of hair seemed stuck. Cleaned it up and put it back together. Put all the screws in labeled baggies, which helped with putting it back together. Took about 60-90 minutes, in total, with the hinge repair.

Dell Inspiron 15r teardown

http://www.insidemylaptop.com/how-to-disassemble-dell-inspiron-15r-5521-15-3521laptop/

http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN117599/EN

Warren Buffet's 2014 Memo to Berkshire Hathaway Managers

This biennial letter follows, nearly word-for-word, the format of letters from previous years, with updates to the various statistics (for example, number of employees). Mr. Buffett included the 2010 letter in that year's annual Shareholder Letter: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2010ltr.pdf (via: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html)

Text of the memo:

Memo 

To: Berkshire Hathaway Managers (“The All-Stars”) 

cc: Berkshire Directors 

From: Warren E. Buffett 

Date: December 19, 2014 

This is my biennial letter to reemphasize Berkshire’s top priority and to get your help on succession planning (yours, not mine!). 

The top priority–trumping everything else, including profits–is that all of us continue to zealously guard Berkshire’s reputation. We can’t be perfect but we can try to be. As I’ve said in these memos for more than 25 years: “We can afford to lose money – even a lot of money. But we can’t afford to lose reputation – even a shred of reputation.” We must continue to measure every act against not only what is legal but also what we would be happy to have written about on the front page of a national newspaper in an article written by an unfriendly but intelligent reporter. 

Sometimes your associates will say “Everybody else is doing it.” This rationale is almost always a bad one if it is the main justification for a business action. It is totally unacceptable when evaluating a moral decision. Whenever somebody offers that phrase as a rationale, in effect they are saying that they can’t come up with a good reason. If anyone gives this explanation, tell them to try using it with a reporter or a judge and see how far it gets them. 

If you see anything whose propriety or legality causes you to hesitate, be sure to give me a call. However, it’s very likely that if a given course of action evokes such hesitation, it’s too close to the line and should be abandoned. There’s plenty of money to be made in the center of the court. If it’s questionable whether some action is close to the line, just assume it is outside and forget it. 

As a corollary, let me know promptly if there’s any significant bad news. I can handle bad news but I don’t like to deal with it after it has festered for awhile. A reluctance to face up immediately to bad news is what turned a problem at Salomon from one that could have easily been disposed of into one that almost caused the demise of a firm with 8,000 employees.
Somebody is doing something today at Berkshire that you and I would be unhappy about if we knew of it. That’s inevitable: We now employ more than 330,000 people and the chances of that number getting through the day without any bad behavior occurring is nil. But we can have a huge effect in minimizing such activities by jumping on anything immediately when there is the slightest odor of impropriety. Your attitude on such matters, expressed by behavior as well as words, will be the most important factor in how the culture of your business develops. Culture, more than rule books, determines how an organization behaves. 

In other respects, talk to me about what is going on as little or as much as you wish. Each of you does a first-class job of running your operation with your own individual style and you don’t need me to help. The only items you need to clear with me are any changes in post-retirement benefits, acquisitions, and any unusually large capital expenditures. But I like to read, so send along anything that you think I may find interesting. 

I need your help in respect to the question of succession. I’m not looking for any of you to retire and I hope you all live to 100. (In Charlie’s case, 110.) But just in case you don’t, please send me a letter or email giving your recommendation as who should take over tomorrow if you should become incapacitated overnight. These letters will be seen by no one but me unless I’m no longer CEO, in which case my successor will need the information. Please summarize the strengths and weaknesses of your primary candidate as well as any possible alternates you may wish to include. Most of you have participated in this exercise in the past and others have offered your ideas verbally. However, it’s important to me to get a periodic update, and now that we have added so many businesses, I need to have your thoughts in writing rather than trying to carry them around in my memory. Of course, there are a few operations that are run by two or more of you – such as the Blumkins, the Merschmans, the pair at Applied Underwriters, etc. – and in these cases, just forget about this item. Your note can be short, informal,handwritten, etc. Just mark it “Personal for Warren.” 

Thanks for your help on all of this. And thanks for the way you run your businesses. You make my job easy. 

WEB/db 

P.S. Another minor request: Please turn down all proposals for me to speak, make contributions, intercede with the Gates Foundation, etc. Sometimes these requests for you to act as intermediary will be accompanied by “It can’t hurt to ask.” It will be easier for both of us if you just say “no.” As an added favor, don’t suggest that they instead write or call me. Multiply 80 or so businesses by the periodic “I think he’ll be interested in this one” and you can understand why it is better to say no firmly and immediately.

GSBF Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt

http://gsbf-lakemerritt.org/

From a brochure we picked up at a Cherry Blossom festival in San Francisco's Japantown several years ago.

Mean Gene's Burgers - Tracy, California

Mean Gene's Burgers - Tracy, California, at the corner of North Tracy Boulevard and West Larch Road, circa 2012

UPDATE, 2015-05-18: closed, for all intents and purposes...signage inside and outside remains, and staff will cook a burger for you, but no formal menu, no branded cups/placemats/and so forth.

Mean Gene, of course, represents the WWE announcer Gene Okerlund, a Minnesota native. Wikipedia explains:

His name has been associated with fast food concept, Mean Gene's Burgers, the brainchild of food-distributor Orion Food Systems (headed by two of Okerlund's nephews), which appeared on college campuses including Duke University and his alma mater West Virginia University, as well as a chain of pizzerias located within bowling alleys, Mean Gene's Pizza. These are owned by Hot Stuff Foods, which was headed by two of his nephews. Early in 2006, Okerlund and Hot Stuff split. Okerlund and one of the nephews were planning to start their own food company on the brands, but Hot Stuff sued, claiming they had "Mean Gene" trademarked. Okerlund lost, with the judge saying that Okerlund can't use the name "Mean Gene" for his new food company. Okerlund succeeded in canceling the trademark registrations held by Orion, but remains enjoined from competing with Orion.

The official Mean Gene web site, revamped in early 2014, seems to contain a page titled "Burgers"...however, it fails to have any info, as of this posting.

UPDATE: 2015-05-02, stopped here on Friday, May 1! They told me they had closed the grill at 3:00 p.m. due to lack of people...so, will have to stop by another day, before 3:00 p.m.

Soldering tips for shaky hands

From my supervisor, Dan:

• Wooden toothpick, frayed end, to apply solder paste
• Heat gun at 630 degrees
• Touch hand poke
• Tacky flux
• Paste solder
• SMD stands for Solder Mask Defined
• Tip tinner