Study tips

http://matt.might.net/articles/college-tips/

Toto Washlet bidet

The KitTea washroom had a Toto Washlet bidet, a revelation.

I am not sure what specific model, but the arm control panel looked similar to the C100 model:

• Heated seat...so nice!
• Bidet heated water jets; felt oddly luxurious : o )

Alas, $600!

SF day trip

• KitTea
• Cats
1. Dizi
2. Banjo
3. Willa
4. Bonnie
5. Genie
6. Tia
7. Morris
8. Eric (pending adoption and move to Germany)
9. Cub
10. Murray
11. Gizmo
12. Colby
• Teas tried
• Genmaicha
• Sencha
• Hojicha
• Two herbal teas
• Food tried
• San Francisco Cheesecake Strawberry Swirl cheesecake: "Local organic strawberry preserves, from Inna Jam, swirled into our original style cheesecake."
• Shop
• Tea cups
• Tee shirts
• Very positive experience, overall
• Well thought out and coordinated experience
• Cats provided a lot of interaction
• Dawn really wanted to play with Cub, so we went back in for another 30 minutes
• However, another couple played with Cub the whole time, so we cuddled with orange tabby Colby
• Arizmendi Bakery, 1268 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA
• Heirloom Tomato, Red Onion, Lemon Parsley Pesto
• Lemony, but not overly so! A tasty diversion
• Many consider this the pizza place referenced in the film, Inside Out (Yeast of Eden)
• Mount Sutro
• Parked on Belgrave Avenue
• Walked on Interior Greenbelt steep trail up to Johnstone Drive
• Passed by UCSF student housing
• Saw the Sutro Tower up close
• Behr Avenue to Nike Road
• North Ridge Trail with detour to summit, then back on North Ridge Trail to Medical Center Way
• Medical Center Way to Fairy Gates Trail
• Fairy Gates Trail to Johnstone Drive to Clarendon Ave
• Clarendon Ave to Tank Hill Park (what views!)
• Back to the car
• SutroStewards.org
• Haight Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream: Tonight Dough ice cream brownie sundae
• Drove up Castro Street

Linux-friendly cloud hosting (with synchronization)

UPDATE: Trying InSync, to start.

• Copy
• "you have to manually create symlinks in order to get files synchronized directly in your own file system."
• "referral Link you will straight away get 20GB instead of regular 15GB"
• SpiderOak
• one of the first to support Linux 
• InSync
• Dropbox
• Cloudways
• They install and manage OwnCloud for you.
• 
  
• ownCloud.org
• Lists free providers (?)
• https://owndrive.com/
• Bitcasa
• Seafile
• The server is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license and clients are licensed GNU GPL version 3 (only)
• Wuala
• Box
• The java applet works on Linux, but it has limited functionality.
• RackSpace
• you can mount the storage in Linux using CloudFuse
• Crashplan
• Amazon S3 with Duplicity
• Other
• rSyncIT FTP Backup Solution
• Tarsnap
• git-annex 

REFERENCES

https://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/769023-three-alternatives-to-ubuntu-one-cloud-service

https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1fzod1/linux_compatiable_cloud_storage_vendors_lets/ (2013)

https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1wu3wr/need_clientside_encrypted_cloud_storage_backup/ (2014)

https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/3fe4pt/cloud_storage_providers_with_proper_linux_support/ (2015)

Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight (2008 film)

Watching the 2008 animated film. Wow. Thoughts after watching just 26 minutes:

• The bad news:
• The sexism: seems pretty obvious the producers knew they had no chance to pull off their vision of a Lord of the Rings-style epic, so they decided to order the animators to try distracting their target audience, instead...maybe it works, for 12 year-old boys, but wow, so crass it hurts
• The made-for-TV animation style: I remember watching films like this 30 years ago...sophomoric...
• Artistic style: oy...who came up with the intro idea of flying the red dragon through a brown turd-cloud...I groaned aloud
• This film's performance has killed (probably a good thing, from a business perspective) the chances of making the remaining books into films, by the same team
• The good news:
• It's Dragonlance...I'm like a dying man in a desert...I devoured these books, in high school
• I have completely forgotten all the major plot points...I remember the main characters, but much feels new again (for example, Otis' spiced potatoes)
• I think this FAQ post sums up the reality of the business side, from Co-Executive Producer Cindi Rice: "...I've seen many deals for Dragonlance come and go, and this is the first one to actually become a reality." Yep. Take it or leave it.

Verdict: The bad points above fatally flaw the film, both in execution and production. Critics have savaged the film, with just cause. Ah well. Maybe someday. Even Frodo had a few mediocre attempts before achieving movie history.

The movie web site FAQ, read in an accusatory tone, produces a laugh: Who is to blame??  ; o ) The movie web site forums had to do damage control.

The IMDB page shows the movie poster, showing Raistlin recoiling in horror, presumably from the film itself.

The movie's home page lists a number of prior attempts to make Dragonlance films into a reality.

Well. Maybe someday. Hope springs eternal.

Dragonlance Movie: War of the Lance

While on the subject of Raistlin Majere, I wondered about the production of a proper movie treatment of the Dragonlance War of the Lance trilogy.

It's already done, with respect to the Lord of the Rings. Selfish, perhaps, of me, to want to see something so influential from my childhood treated in the same way?

Self Regulation by Practitioners

The thought struck me several weekends ago that practitioners of a subject will always represent the most grounded voice in their practice. I wondered about self-regulation, but, upon reflection, think now that more voices than the practitioners have a say in regulation of practices.

Capturing this thought, as it seemed of interest during a long drive, even though upon reflection it seems rather prosaic.

Afton Ink

Saw a business card tacked to a community board, for a freelance copy editor, at Jamba Juice, in Sacramento, on Tuesday:

"They say the secret to happiness is doing what you love and I'd have to agree. Every project I take on–– big or small––is handled with the care, passion and creativity of someone who truly loves what they do. From launching a new publication to finding the right words to represent a business, I've got you covered.  

ABOUT JULIA MCCANDLESS 

I am proud to lead Afton Ink as a journalist passionate about finding the story and telling it well. I attended UCLA and UC Davis and hold a B.A. in Communications, and a minor in Theater Arts. My background includes working as a staff writer for several newspapers covering stories on education, arts & entertainment and sustainability. I also have experience as an editor with a communications firm in Los Angeles, CA, where I produced and managed print and virtual projects for a diverse client base. Now, I am proud to bring my expertise to my own clients—whether it’s rejuvenating communications for an established business, or helping a new business find its voice. "

Well said! : o )

Raistlin of Ruby

A commenter on Hacker News last week posted their experience with Ruby and I thought I might describe it as "Raistlin of Ruby". 80 hour work weeks, sacrifice of social connections, but paid very well and seems successful.

Mark Twain Autobiography, Volume 1: Memories of childhood

I sat and listened to Mark Twain's descriptions of his childhood home on a Thursday afternoon last week. I had the car windows open and had parked in the shade. A breeze cooled things considerably, making for a very pleasant time.

The following section represents one of my favorites, to date, describing his childhood area:

"My Autobiography [Random Extracts from It]: Paragraph 89," in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1. 2010, 2008. (http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=works/MTDP10362.xml;style=work;brand=mtp;chunk.id=d1e8913#d1e9096)

The Golden Arm

A folktale described by Mark Twain. It ends with a pause prior to the final sentence...if the speaker gets the timing right, it spooks the audience.

Screen door for apartment front door - Keeping cats inside

Would greatly appreciate the flexibility of propping the front door open, for the cross breeze. However, we can't let our cats out.

One comment: "This combine with a baby gate keeps my cats inside the house and insects out".

One comment: "We use a wide piece of cardboard spanning the width of the door and resting on the floor that is tall enough to prevent her from escaping, and that gets in the way for us humans."

UPDATE(S):

#1: we purchased the Bug Off 36 by 96 Instant Screen. We'll try some ad-hoc cat-proofing.

#2: we purchased "Grreat Choice Extra Tall Arched Expandable Metal Pet Gate with Small Pet Door," from PetSmart. These two products work well, together, and, with a door stop, all three allowed us to comfortably leave our door open!

Storing bicycles on balcony

How to store a bike outside and still avoid rapid decay?

• Tarp
• YardStash
• TidyTent

BIke on porch with cover this winter. Will it rust?

• "Moisture respects no covers"
• A cover helps quite a bit so there will be less rust on exposed parts. 
• Even temperature changes during the course of a day can cause condensation to form inside a frame which then leads to rust.
• mostly from the temperature swings.
• Garages seem OK (note: which agrees with my experience)

Bikes on the balcony?

• Plastic sheeting will keep the rain off but makes a noise in the wind.
• breathable plastic

Reddit: Is it okay to store bikes on a balcony?

• I've seen things get blown off balconies during strong enough storms.
• Storing a bike outside, even under a tarp or something to protect from rain, means that it's subject to daily temperature fluctuations. These fluctuations cause the components of a bike to expand and contract as the temperature heats up during the day and cools down at night. Over time, these fluctuations will wear out your bike's components faster than if you'd have just stored it inside in a climate controlled environment. If you have the space, storing it inside is preferred.

ArsTechnica: Storing a bike outside

• Disassemble
• CycleShell

In other news...if we have not used them in over a year...maybe time to sell (?)

Something So Strong

One of my favorite songs from the 1980's: Crowded House's 1986 hit, "Something So Strong" (video).

Learned today the drummer, Paul Hester, committed suicide, in 2005. Tragic.

Standing task chair

An idea, for work (?)

• Focal Upright Furniture
• ?

Previously

Deep Note

Wikipedia notes: "Deep Note is the name of THX's audio logo, a distinctive synthesized crescendo sound that glissandos from a high pitch to a rumbling low pitch. It was created by Dr. James A. Moorer,[1] then an employee of the Lucasfilm Computer Division, in late 1982.[2] The sound is used on trailers for THX-certified movie theatres, home video releases, video games and in-car entertainment; it debuted in the THX trailer shown before the 1983 premiere of Return of the Jedi in Los Angeles.[2]”

Kevin Braheny Fortune created an album, “Galaxies”, in 1988, which seems to include a nod to Dr. Moorer’s Deep Note...but Deep Note predates it by several years.

Kronos Quartet

Saw the Kronos Quartet on Sunday, at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium: David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello).

They performed a set of pieces labeled, "In the Blue Room":

"...an intimate concert of works that includes a tribute to composer Terry Riley in celebration of his 80th birthday year! They’ll perform Good Medicine from Riley’s epic Salome Dances for Peace, and a new work written by Polish composer Aleksander Kościów, a piece is based on a traditional Polish folk dance, the oberek. A musical gift to Riley, it represents, in the words of the composer, “the human need for pure joy.” The evening also includes a work written for Kronos by Cabrillo composer-in-residence Nathaniel Stookey, and works by Mark Applebaum, Laurie Anderson, and Mary Kouyoumdjian."

NOTES

• All wore earpieces
• Lighting projected the performers' shadows on the upper walls of the auditorium
• We had great seats: Section K Row B, 1 and 2
• During an early piece, a dragon fly, attracted to the lights, swirled around and around, above the performers, disappearing into the ceiling, then re-appearing, swirling down closer and closer, until it finally reached the performers and disappeared from view--John smiled and completed the work
• Composer Nathaniel Stookey walked out to greet the performers, after they completed his work
• A few people walked out of Mary Kouyoumdjian's "Silent Cranes"
• I found Kouyoumdjian's work the most powerful and dark piece heard in recent memory...Kronos Quartet members get major props for playing it, in my estimate
• Setlist:
• Terry Riley / Good Medicine from Salome Dances for Peace *
• Mark Applebaum / Darmstadt Kindergarten *
• Aleksander Kościów / Oberek for Terry Riley *
• Nathaniel Stookey / String Quartet No. 3, “The Mezzanine” *
• Intermission
• Laurie Anderson (arr. Jacob Garchik) / Flow +
• Mary Kouyoumdjian / Silent Cranes *
• Two encore songs:
• Ralph Carney: "Lament for Charleston" ; Ralph brought out a bass sax, sitting between John and Hank
• Baba O'Riley 
• 
  

Étouffée

Dawn and I noticed a food truck with Étouffée:

"Étouffée or etouffee (pronounced: [e.tu.fe] ay-too-fay) is a dish found in both Cajun and Creole cuisine typically served with shellfish over rice. The dish employs a technique known as smothering, a popular method of cooking in the Cajun areas of southwest Louisiana. Étouffée is most popular in New Orleans and in the Acadiana area of the southernmost half of Louisiana as well as a popular dish in the coastal counties of Mississippi."

It was parked at the Cabrillo Festival’s Church Street Fair, in Santa Cruz. Crab, maybe, or shrimp (?)

Pk / Mk Black - Plotter Printer

Noticed color cartridges in a HP plotter printer, at work, had multiple shades of grey and black:

• matte black (mK)
• photo black (pK)
• gray (G)

Clarinet player - Brennen Milton

Dawn and I saw Sacramento clarinet musician Brennen Milton, in 2014, playing outside Karma Brew, near Fremont Park. Never got his name, at the time, but we purchased a CD of a recital and listened to it for a time, to help support his musical trip to Italy.

I ran into him just last week, playing outside his workplace, on J Street. Thought I recognized him, but was not sure, and by chance overheard his name from a co-worker, so Google'd him when I got home, and ta-da! His GoFundMe page.