Skyflight Mobiles

Dawn and I purchased a butterfly mobile, from Skyflight Mobiles, out of the State of Washington.

It has the following five butterflies:

1. Red Admiral
2. Orange Sulphur
3. Monarch
4. Tiger Swallowtail
5. Eastern Tailed Blue

Heated Throw

At Costco, saw a Sunbeam Microplush Electric Heated Throws, but Dawn did not like the colors. Amazon has an eggplant color.

Also saw a king blanket made out of a soft fleece/flannel.

Also, Life Comfort Cuddly Sherpa Throw (in purple).

National Geographic - Tracking the Illegal Tusk Trade

Saw the cover article, recently, and found this web site. Disgusting to profit off the killing of these endangered animals. What a waste.

Land of Stories

A friend recommended this series of children's literature. Her daughter really enjoys it. It features a set of twins who enter a world where many fairy tale characters reprise their roles, in nontraditional ways.

Bunya Bunya House, Santa Cruz - For Sale, $1.4 Million

Realtor listing, 304 Walnut Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Note: we love the bunya bunya tree, a species dating back to the Mesozoic Era, 252.17 - 66 million years ago. : o )

Description:
"Your chance to own the Victorian home built for William Douglas Haslam in the late1800's. Our gracious doyenne commands the intersection of Walnut and Chestnut Streets with her Queen Anne details and rare Bunya-Bunya tree. Vintage details include original woodwork and stained glass windows. Enjoy modern amenities like an updated kitchen and bathrooms. Relax on the patio or in the lovely yard beneath mature trees. Use the detached office to work from home or convert it back into a one-car garage."

General Information
Beds3 Bed
House Size3,099 Sq Ft
Price$1,399,000
Property TypeSingle Family Home
NeighborhoodWestside
StatusActive
Baths3 Full Bath
Lot Size8,146 Sq Ft Lot
Price/sqft$451
Year Built1878
StyleVictorian
Garage1 car garage

The house was listed in 2014, for $2.25 million. So, a drop of $850,000 in 12 months! At this rate, we should have the house in hand, within 1-2 more years, heh. ; o )

UPDATE: October, 2015: now listed for rent, at $4,500/month.

Getaround - Peer-to-peer car sharing and local car rental

Saw a Getaround car, while walking near West End Tap & Kitchen, in Santa Cruz.

"Rent great cars from people nearby Unlock 1,000's of cars from $5/hour."

Costco Pizza Sauce Machine Vendor

Waiting for a bit, while at Costco, read the machine tag, on the machine which automatically spirals pizza sauce onto the dough:

Automatic Bar Controls, Incorporated, out of Vacaville, California.

Note: the machine which flattens the pizza dough into pizza crust also seemed pretty efficient.

All the Girls Love Earl

Saw a sticker, for this vendor, on a sign in Sacramento, at the corner of Q Street and 20th Street.

Not a fan, but, there it is. The web site does not list a street address, but their social media account seems to indicate they operate out of So-Cal.

Vironex Geoprobe

Vironex Geoprobe: watching one of these machines as I walk to work.

Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

Marking for audio CD follow-up. Listening to Mark Twain's autobiography and learning details about the "making of" the autobiography. Twain remarked that Grant's memory was consistently accurate, so his account seems to reflect one of the authoritative accounts of the Civil War.

Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine (2015 film)

Watched this movie at The Nickelodeon this afternoon.

• Reading between the lines--people parsed their words...for example, Chrisann Brennan, Nolan Bushnell...you could tell they feared saying what they really thought
• Chrisann's description of Jobs' reaction to learning of the baby: jaw clenched, face angry, storms out like a teenager. Ouch.
• Lots of enjoyable moments putting faces and glimpses of personalities to names...Kottke, Bushnell
• Lots of no-shows: Woz, Jobs' biological sister, his daughter Lisa, his other children and later wife
• Joan Baez gets no mention
• Biological and adoptive family given minimal mention
• Focused a lot on accounting irregularities, tax shelters, Foxconn, going after Gizmodo

New York Times review.

I thought the story of Jobs visiting Kobun Chino represented one of the key moments of the film, partly because Kobun Chino seems to represent an accurate and impartial source, but also because the visit seems to show Jobs at his most vulnerable: asking for help, and, at the same time, telling Kobun Chino he thought he was enlightened. Combine this with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (Tina Redse's theory) and Chrissann's remark about Jobs flirting with her by adapting Dylan's poetry to his own life. So complicated. 

Big Hero 6

"unobtanium", heh ; o )

Power: Li-On batteries (?)
Scanning technology--whole city (?)
Ms. Cass--no clue about what's going on
Professor Callaghan--seems pretty likeable, normal guy, builds a lab full of seemingly well-adjusted students, very functional program...then turns out to throw it all away for a micro-bot which he would get access to anyway, when Hiro joins his lab (probably something he completely controls)
Robot fighting web site: illegal, but widely available online?
Fred's butler: he's seen things...unflappable. Bravo.
Maker culture: 3D printers, 3D scanners, movie-OS (Dawn's observation) user interface...ala Tony Stark, unlimited power, resources, and materials to build with...Hiro made tons of microbots; software: neural interface, medbot OS, AI, and so forth
Honey Lemon: manic

In a world...where all of this seems near-future...

Are you a Genmaicha fan ?

The rice taste reminds me of rice krispy cereal and just does not resonate.

Movies

Today we watched two animated films:

• Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet (2015)
• Song of the Sea (2014)

Shirt heart idea

ORIGINAL
http://www.grafolio.com/illustration/26002&from=cr_fd&folderNo=351

HEART SHAPES
One heart (note: recolor, to red?)
http://www.polyvore.com/pink_heart_clip_art/thing?id=77246044

http://www.clker.com/clipart-orange-coral-heart.html

Two hearts
http://clipartzebraz.com/files/3/10783_clip-art-heart.html

Henry - VR Film

https://storystudio.oculus.com/en-us/henry/

gscan2pdf - Duplex scanning, with OCR

After setting up my Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i on Debian Jessie (stable), I began scanning duplex pages:

• sudo gscan2pdf
• Place pages into scanner, face down
• File > Scan
• Select device (in my case, "FUJITSU ScanSnap S1300i")
• Page Options Tab
• # Pages: All
• Source Document: Single sided (note: we select duplex, later)
• Select button "Options", for line "Clean up images"
• Select tab "Filters"
• White threshold: 0.90
• Black threshold: 0.48 (note: this currently does not save, for me!)
• Scan Mode Tab
• Scan Source: ADF Duplex (note: this scans both sides at once!)
• Scan mode: Lineart (note: best for scanning text)
• Scan resolution: 300
• Geometry Tab: accept defaults
• Enhancement Tab:
• Threshold: 50 (note: this helps cleans up artifacts)
• Sensors Tab: accept defaults
• Page options > Scan button
• Close the popup window
• File > Save

If you like, save the Scan Profile.

LINKS

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1681579

Andrew Purchin, Artist

Peet's Coffee, downtown Santa Cruz, features a selection of Andrew Purchin's paintings.

Portal Art Display, Sacramento Ice House Remodel on R Street

Portal: "a 12’ tall mirrored tunnel with programmable LED light panels that will be motion sensitive and respond to social media participation, Borden said."

On the way to work, I saw the FOX40 Sacramento news team preparing for their segment on the August 21 launch. The day before I had noticed the cage and wondered about it. Now it all seems clear.

UPDATE: And, just like that, it's gone. I walked past a party on Wednesday, September 16:

"Portal Finale Event / EDGE 916 / presented by Metro EDGE / Join Sacramento’s young professional movers and shakers for the biggest party of the year as we say goodbye to PORTAL on R! "

On Tuesday, September 15, they had this event, which I also walked past:

"Glow Yoga 5:30PM – 9PM Bikram Yoga of Elk Grove 14th Birthday Block Party BASH! Join us for an outdoor glow yoga class with tribal body paint, a taco truck, NuYo frozen yogurt, yoga demonstrations, music, prizes and giveaways, good company, and more. Tickets in advance are $10 and $20 the day of the event. The first 100 people to purchase a ticket will receive one (1) meal from the taco truck, one (1) drink (water or electrolyte), one (1) glow necklace and bracelet, and one (1) NuYo frozen yogurt."

In partnership with Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA), The PORTAL is designed by Quadriga Landscape Architecture. Programming for the PORTAL is developed, managed, and implemented by Tre Borden. Nice work.

Guzzler Vacuum Truck

Saw a Guzzler vacuum truck near the Sacramento Ice House remodel.