In one of the interviews, I was talking to an engineer (rather senior, as I recall) and he asked a question: how would my program check the file type. In brief diversion, the file type was simply the type of information contained within a file, be it a directory, a text file, a photo file, an executable file, and so on. Knowing he was in the Windows group, I gave first the Windows answer; viz., check the file extension. In this way, ".txt" is a text file, ".jpg" is a photo file in JPEG format, ",exe" is an executable, ".doc" is a text file in WORD format, and so on. Before he could go on to the next question, I added quickly that this was totally unreliable. with a trivial name change ('rename'), a file could be marked as any type of file with no regard to the actual contents. This would cause endless user confusion; "I open the '.doc' file and the application crashes all the time" because someone had renamed a '.txt' file to end with a '.doc'. Therefore, I counseled, a careful programmer would open the file and look for signature information. This signature inspection might be guided by the file extension, but the extension should only be treated as a hint or a starting point. The interviewer did not like this answer because it was, in fact, a major short-coming in Windows.
I got the job, anyway.
After a trial period of three months, after repeated hounding, and with a final offer, I have succumbed to SiriusXM.
My then-new car came with a trial subscription to SiriusXM. It was free (or included), so I gave it a try. It had come with a rental car and I had enjoyed that little experience, so I figured it would be something useful to listen to on those long highway drives. During the trial, my actual results were mixed. There were spots where service faded out. I was not really surprised by the tunnels and overpasses, but driving down tree-lined roads seemed to be a problem. In particular, there is a stretch of a nearby arterial, an uphill bit with overhanging trees, that repeatedly faded out. At the end of my free trial, I decided that the value simply was not there. The situation was compounded because COVID hit, and my time in the car dropped dramatically. I will soon work out the numbers, but my daily car driving went to the odd trip out, so the implied value of the SiriusXM service dropped. I let the free trial drop.
In December, I received a three-month trial offer from SiriusXM. As it did not require a credit card, I was free of the automatic-sign-up problem and I took it. I have been trying it in the car, and it has been OK. Initially, there was a lot of Christmas music and then I switched over to Beatles and Oldies with a bit of Jazz. It has been OK, but the fading seems to be unchanged (that same hilly bit on the nearby arterial continues to fade). However, SiriusXM is branching out and now has a streaming service that works through the SiriusXM app and through Amazon Alexa. That is a nice addition, and I am getting rather addicted to the capability.
Nominees for the movie industry Oscar awards were announced the other day. I took brief notice, the radio report ended, and I went on with my day. I have never been impressed with the Oscars, but probably not for the usual reasons.
Some people are wrapped up in the Oscars. They have a favorite movie, or a preferred actor/actress/director that they feel makes the finest films in the world, films or roles deserving of permanent positions in the firmament. So-and-so really captures the heart of a character, a writer or composer nails the story, or a cinematographer sets the perfect mood. All this may be true. But.
We get Oscar winners ever year. For 2022, there is guaranteed to be a Best Movie, a Best Actor, a Best Producer, a Best Foley Actor, and so on, even if there is really nothing outstanding in those fields. Oh, but surely there is a Best Actor, just look at the performance by <insert name here>! And, yes, some individual will have the best performance doing some aspect of a move in 2022, but does that person deserve to be remembered? Quick - who won Best Director in 2000? Maybe you know that one, so do you remember the plot of the Best Movie in 1997? I have no idea, and those are relatively recent. If I were to go back to the 1950s, how many Oscar winners could you remember? According to oscars.org, Sam Mendes for American Beauty, The English Patient, and the 1950s were the days of Brando, Bogart, Kelly, Dandridge, Wyman, and others. I have seen neither American Beauty nor The English Patient, or, if I have seen them, I do not recall them in any way. This is not to say that they are bad movies or bad actors, but that the bulk of the Oscar movies are not memorable, therefore they do not really deserve awards.
If the Oscars were to hold to the vision of the Academy of Motion Pictures, there would be a None Of The Above choice and it would win on a routine basis. Those years when no particular movie was better than average would have None designated as the winner of the Best Movie or No One designated as Best Supporting Actor. If this were done, I might believe that the Oscars were memorable, but as long as the Academy keeps giving awards to unmemorable practitioners of the motion picture arts, I will have a hard time remembering (or caring) who wins what Oscar. For me, the Oscars, like most of these organized and annual award ceremonies, are often Participation Ribbons, forgotten when the new season starts.
To compensate for my negative message, I will leave you, dear Reader, with a picture of a cat.
Although my blog headline is a tad misleading, the problem remains the same. The particular shooting that triggered this note is not from today, but I am sure there will be another shooting today or any moment. It has become impossible to keep up with the shootings; we have so many. But I refuse to accept that this is acceptable.
For reference, an article complains that the recent Richland shooter "had been experiencing declining mental health for weeks." Richland Fred Meyer shooter: A tale of fraying mental health and early warnings The article explains that the sooter was showing signs of instability and he had been seen with a gun. As of now, it appears premeditated, although I cannot find a report that says what the motive might have been.
We are trapped. A large minority has prevented governments in the US from taking guns out of ciculation. Opponents say that this deprives law-abiding citizens from their right to own guns. (This is completely bogus, but that is for another day.) The opponents give no suggestions or methods to identify the law-abiding gun owners from the (one assumes) criminals. As a result, everyone gets guns, lawful or criminal, sane or insane, stable or declining. As a result, innocent people die.
A key element of the problem is that we (as a society) have no way to determine who is "sane" and who is not until a victim is dead. We have psychologists, psychoanalysists, sociologists, and counselors, but none of them are able to identify risky groups or individuals.
Until we can figure out what is going on, we have to restrict guns.
We were in Sorrento a couple years ago (2005?). We arrived on the train, late in the evening, tired, and not knowing anything about the place, two tired adults and two overstimulated kids. We happened past a pizza parlor on our way from the train station to our hotel. Walking by, we saw that the pizza parlor was packed, just packed. The waiters walked among the tables to take orders and deliver pizzas, the fire in the pizza oven glowed warmly in the back, and the rough rafters were almost completely obscured by hanging legs of proscuitto. The town was generally dark and this magnified the presence of the little pizza parlor. A few blocks of walking got us and our luggage to our hotel.
The kids were famished and nothing else seemed open at that hour on a Sunday night, so two of us headed back to the pizza parlor. We got some pizza for take-out and returned to the hotel with our feast. It was fabulous. Time have changed, Sorrento has changed, it is really hard to be definitive, but I am going to guess it was the Pizzeria de Franco. It is about the right location, hard by the Circumvesuviana train station for Sorrento.
We went back to Sorrento a few years later (2010?) and found the same pizzeria. This time, we got a table and ate there. It was just as good as the first visit.
I recently came into the possession of an older espresso machine made by La Pavoni, a manual machine called the Professional. It is an advancement over the prior machine called the Europiccola by adding a pressure gauge, a drip tray, and a wand for steaming milk. The particular machine was purchased in about 1980-1990 from a store in San Francisco CA that has since closed. To test the machine, I need to get a drip tray and a portafilter-basket combination. The drip tray should be simple (about $30) but the portafilter is proving to be harder to find. It seems a design change was made in the closing days of 1999 and that affects the size of the portafilter. The "pre-millennial" units have a 49mm portafilter while the Millennial units have a 51mm portafilter. I may have my acquisition date wrong because I think I have a 51mm unit, but I am not sure what to measure. At $80, I am not in a hurry to make a speculative purchase.
There are some stickers on the bottom with potentially useful information. The readable sticker gives the name of the retail shop, the one that has since closed. The hard-to-read sticker admits the Professional name and a few other details, but not a serial number, model number, or date of manufacture. I am in the process of opening the base to see if there is anything inside that admits to a date or identifying number.
I do not actually need another espresso machine, but I would like to get this one working on general principles. It was a fine device when manufactured and has many years of life remaining. I can say that now because I have not examined the state of the internals.
We did have snow recently, but it is since gone. It was a significant amount for this area - six to eight inches - and it shut down a lot of activities in the area, but it melted within about three days and was followed by a week of nice weather (see earlier posts about snowshoe trips). The routine winter rains have resettled over the area but we still get "sun breaks", some as long as a day. I use these breaks to get out, address garden tasks, and fill up the compost bin. For reference, I think the compost bin has an official volume of 96 gallons and gets picked up each week (mostly). In addition to yard waste, we are able to throw in food waste, so it is busy all-year round. The contents go to a professionally operated compost facility. Back to our story.
One day, I pruned the roses by our back deck and filled the compost bin with trimmings (a climbing rose). Other days, I have pruned the hydrangea shrubs we have scattered about. I have lost count, but there are at least six, with sizes that were 6-8-feet-plus in diameter. I also pruned some of the large rhododendron shrubs. In the summer, I chip them into mulch, but because the winter ground is so soft, it is hard to get the chipper to the work areas, so they go off to the commercial compost pile. More recently, I have trimmed back many of the ferns, especially along the walkway behind the garage and house. Today, I pruned the apple tree and the holly. I have cut back the holly more times than I can count; it is a vigorous tree. I am pretty sure it is a volunteer. Usually lurking among the plants are blackberry canes, so I must be sure to wear leather gloves. I got ahead of myself this weekend. After filling the compost bin with hydrangea trimmings, I got a second load from the apple tree, so the bin will be full again as soon as they haul away the hydrangea contents. I may have to get out the chipper.
While I am on the topic of landscaping, I am glad that I do not yet have to mow. The grass is growing, but growing slowly, so I can postpone mowing. I have a spiffy new mower - battery powered and self-propelled - but I would rather not start the mowing season. Further, I have spread some grass seed to fill in the muddy patches and I want to do a run with the dethatcher to get out more moss. This is proving to be another good year for moss (that is - if you are the moss). The demoss treatment for the roof has worked well, and we shall reapply later this year to stay on top of the problem. I should find out more about the materials used so that I can apply them at Keats.
Mount Rainier was a good hike but we decided it was not enough so on Friday, 28 Jan 2022, we did a snowshoe hike at Mount Baker.
Summary - 3.0 miles, 2:30 hours, 767 feet elevation gain.
There were a few skiers but most were snowshoers. The remaining few were in boots, often with Yak-traks or similar traction devices. If one wanted to stick to the well-trodden trails, boots were sufficient. We went off-trail in several places and the snowshoes were necessary to avoid postholes. The day was sunny and warm, the wind relatively still. It was not as warm as it had been on Rainier earlier in the week, so I kept a jacket on. This was probably a mistake as the jacket arms were sodden at the end of the hike. I unzipped the main zipper and the pit-zips, so my torso stayed dry.
I have a lot of still photos from this area, in summer and in winter, so I used this as a chance to practice more with my GoPro (Hero 8 Black). On Rainier, I generally went for long shots, many minutes at a time but on Baker, I tried a different filming technique. I took more short shots, mostly panning shots of the scenery when I stopped, and a couple of walking shots on the way out. I used my GravGrip stabilization device for the first half-hour, but it proved annoying to get in and out of my pocket. More importantly, it did not seem to be doing anything to help. I wanted it to help keep a level horizon, but it seemed to want to settle off-kilter. I have a recollection that the counterweight could pivot to balance better, but it wouldn't move. As a result, it did stabilize the shots a little but it was not aligned with the horizon. I will play with it to find better technique, but I when to conventional handheld for the rest of the hike. The in-camera stabilization seemed to work pretty well; I have forgotten if the camera does any horizon leveling, but the results are acceptable.
At the top of the hike, overlooking Mt. Baker and a large valley (must have been the Chain Lakes Loop Trailhead overlooking Ptarmigan Ridge), I got a phone call. Given the quirks of geology and topology, it was a service area for cell phones.
