Have you really lived?

Noticed this on another blog and thought I'd play along...

No - 1. Touched an iceberg
Yes - 2. Slept under the stars
No - 3. Been a part of a hockey fight

But I did have to break up some fights at a Rolling Stone concert, see #1 at bottom.

Yes - 4. Changed a baby's diaper
Yes - 5. Watched a meteor shower
Yes - 6. Given more than you can afford to charity
Yes - 7. Swim with wild dolphins
Yes - 8. Climbed a mountain
No - 9. Held a tarantula

But I held a baby alligator and "wrestled a grown alligator".

Yes - 10. Said "I love you" and meant it

I even said "I do" till "death due us part" and meant it. I heard "what God has joined, let no man put asunder". But in today's disposable, secular (don't mention God) society, that just doesn't hold true. But I have another blog on those topics.

No - 11. Bungee jumped
Yes - 12. Visited Paris
No - 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

But I have seen a water spout (like a tornado over a large lake) and I also saw a rainbow from a prop plane, in the air they are a complete circle.

Yes - 14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
No - 15. Seen the Northern Lights
Yes - 16. Gone to a huge sports game
Yes - 17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty

And I took photos out of the crown of the book

Yes - 18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
Yes - 19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
Yes - 20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
No - 21. Had a pillow fight
No - 22. Bet on a winning horse
Yes - 23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
Yes - 24. Built a snow fort
Yes - 25. Held a lamb
No - 26. Gone skinny dipping
No - 27. Taken an ice cold bath
Yes - 28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
Yes - 29. Seen a total eclipse
Yes - 30. Ridden a roller coaster

When I was a kid, don't much like them now

Yes - 31. Hit a home run
Yes - 32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
No - 33. Adopted an accent for fun
Yes - 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

Met relatives that still lived in Ireland and found the burial site of a distant relative.

Yes - 35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
Yes - 36. Loved your job 90% of the time
Yes - 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

xx

No - 38. Watched wild whales
No - 39. Gone rock climbing
Yes - 40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
No - 41. Gone sky diving
Yes - 42. Visited Ireland

Met relatives, found major areas in the lives of ancestors.

Yes - 43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
No - 44. Visited India
No - 45. Bench-pressed your own weight
No - 46. Milked a cow
No - 47. Alphabetized your personal files
No - 48. Ever worn a superhero costume
No - 49. Sung Karaoke
Yes - 50. Lounged around in bed all day
No - 51. Gone scuba diving

But I did go snorkeling over a coral reef. Also went in a submarine exploring the area too.

Yes - 52. Kissed in the rain
Yes - 53. Played in the mud
No - 54. Gone to a drive-in theater

But will try to do this soon.

Yes - 55. Done something you should regret, but don't
No - 56. Visited the Great Wall of China
No - 57. Started a business

But I was a director in a small startup, reporting to the president and participated in every facet of building the business from inception to close.

No - 58. Taken a martial arts class
No - 59. Been in a movie

But my wife and I were at the hotel where they filmed Pelican Brief and saw celebrities and the filming every day.

No - 60. Gone without food for 3 days
No - 61. Made cookies from scratch
No - 62. Won first prize in a costume contest

But I won second prize in a photo contest for maker made print (hand printed in my own chemical darkroom) and third prize for a zoo photo contest.

Yes - 63. Got flowers for no reason
No - 64. Been in a combat zone
No - 65. Spoken more than one language fluently

Well not fluently, you need lots of years experience to do that, but good enough to be understood while out of the country.

No - 66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
Yes - 67. Bounced a check
Yes - 68. Read - and understood - your credit report
No - 69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy

But my son explores my attic and we play with my old childhood toys together.

Yes - 70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
Yes - 71. Called or written your Congress person
No - 72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

But there are several cities I know so well from the large amount of time I've spent there that I could pick up and move and look like a native in no time

Yes - 73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
No - 74. Helped (watched) an animal give birth
Yes - 75. Been fired or laid off from a job
Yes - 76. Won money

But not much

Yes - 77. Broken a bone
Yes - 78. Ridden a motorcycle

But not long or well

Yes - 79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
No - 80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

But I've been there at the rim, just didn't have time to hike all the way down

No - 81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing

But I've slept for most of a flight, I just make it a point to watch the takeoff and I always seem to wakeup during the descent before landing.

No - 82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

Taken many canoe trips in rivers, lakes, even in a busy area near a major shipping port.

No - 83. Eaten Sushi
Yes - 84. Had your picture in the newspaper
No - 85. Read The Bible cover to cover
Yes - 86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
Yes - 87. Gotten someone fired for their actions

He was in trouble for a variety of reasons, but I did blow the whistle on public bid irregularities that helped speed his exit. I hope to do the same for my divorce judge.

No - 88. Gone back to school
No - 89. Changed your name
No - 90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
No - 91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
No - 92. Read The Iliad
No - 93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
No - 94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
No - 95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
Yes - 96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
No - 97. Been elected to public office

Not political office, But I was chosen to be an officer in some organizations.

Yes - 98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
No - 99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

But I did see a close relative who did

No - 100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
No - 101. Had a booth at a street fair
Yes - 102. Dyed your hair

For a Halloween party and to get rid of grey

No - 103. Been a DJ

But I was very close friends with one

Yes - 104. Rocked a baby to sleep
No - 105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours
No - 106. Raked your carpet
Yes - 107. Brought out the best in people
Yes - 108. Brought out the worst in people
Yes - 109. Worn a mood ring
Yes - 110. Ridden a horse
No - 111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
No - 112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
No - 113. Buried a child

But I did bury my young (early 30s) cousin

Yes - 114. Gone to a Broadway play

And also a play in London too.

No - 115. Been inside the pyramids
Yes - 116. Shot a basketball into a basket
Yes - 117. Danced at a disco
No - 118. Played in a band(orchestra)
No - 119. Shot a bird
Yes - 120. Gone to an arboretum
Yes - 121. Tutored someone
Yes - 122. Ridden a train

Several times, Amtrack in the US, a Eurrail pass all over Europe and even the Chunnel from London to Paris. Train travel is fun and efficient, too bad we have so little in the US.

No - 123. Brought an old fad back into style
No - 124. Eaten caviar
Yes - 125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
No - 126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant

But I did ride a camel.

No - 127. Published a book
No - 128. Pieced a quilt
No - 129. Lived in an historic place
Yes - 130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
Yes - 131. Asked for a raise
Yes - 132. Made a hole-in-one (in putt putt, that counts, right?)
No - 133. Gone kayaking in the ocean

Went canoing in a shipping lane.

Yes - 134. Gone roller skating
No - 135. Run a marathon
No - 136. Learned to surf
No - 137. Invented something
Yes - 138. Flown first class
No - 139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite

But, I have stayed in some pretty nice hotels and even suites.

Yes - 140. Flown in a helicopter

Many times, over cities, the statue of liberty, over the Grand Canyon, even to save my life as I was taken from an ER to a Trauma Center. Even had some short tethered hot air balloon rides.

No - 141. Visited Africa
No - 142. Sang a solo
Yes - 143. Gone spelunking
Yes - 144. Learned how to take a compliment
No - 145. Written a love-story
Yes - 146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
Yes - 147. Had your portrait painted
Yes - 148. Written a fan letter
No - 149. Spent the night in something haunted
No - 150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
No - 151. Ran away
No - 152. Learned to juggle
Yes - 153. Been a boss
Yes - 154. Sat on a jury

Not once, but 5 times. And while our system may be better than some, it is still a flawed process that people don't take seriously enough.

Yes - 155. Lied about your weight
No - 156. Gone on a diet
Yes - 157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
Yes - 158. Written a poem not for school
Yes - 159. Carried your lunch in a lunch box
Yes - 160. Gotten food poisoning
No - 161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
No - 162. Gone deep-sea fishing
Yes - 163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks

Many times, ducks, geese, squirrels, fish. I usually take their photos too. One time a squirrel helped himself to a bag of peanuts next to my camera bag while I was taking photos.

No - 164. Gone to the opera
?No - 165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
No - 166. Worn knickers
Yes - 167. Ridden in a limousine
No - 168. Attended the Olympics
?No - 169. Can hula or waltz
No - 170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
?No - 171. Been stuck in an elevator
No - 172. Had a revelatory dream
No - 173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
No - 174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
No - 175. Saved someone’s life
No - 176. Eaten raw whale
No - 177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
Yes - 178. Laughed till your side hurt
No - 179. Straddled the equator
Yes - 180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
Yes - 181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
?No - 182. Sent a message in a bottle
Yes - 183. Spent the night in a hostel

And many charming B&Bs. Stayed in B&Bs exclusively during much of my 2nd European trip.

No - 184. Been a cashier
No - 185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

Hope to see it someday, there are many great national park destinations on my hope to visit list.

No - 186. Joined a union
No - 187. Donated blood or plasma
No - 188. Built a campfire
Yes - 189. Kept a blog
No - 190. Had hives
No - 191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
Yes - 192. Made a PowerPoint presentation

I have also presented and been published to a national audience.

No - 193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
No - 194. Served at a soup kitchen
No - 195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
No - 196. Know CPR
Yes - 197. Ridden in or owned a convertible

And dune buggies too. My uncles used to build them.

Yes - 198. Found a long lost friend
Yes - 199. Helped solve a crime
Yes - 200. Commented on a stranger's blog

That's xxx Yes or xx% living...

There's a few other things not on this list....

1. I once was employed to provide security for a large stadium concert featuring the Rolling Stones. Thought I'd get to see the concert, but I had to stay alert to prevent trouble, but I did hear it. I even assisted in a major cocaine bust in my section.
2. Some of my computer security work has put me in close contact with the FBI, CIA, Secret Service and other interesting people. I even met Louis Frech when he was the Director of the FBI.
3. I assisted the Secret Service in tracking a student's threat (from where I worked) to the President of the United States. It was a dumb prank, but those guys are serious about every threat. It was interesting to learn the behind the scenes path and security when you email to the government.
4. I have been to Europe twice for one month each time, the first time with my brother and the second time with my wife on our fifth wedding anniversary. Countries I visited the first time with a guided tour were Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, France, Belgum, and the Netherlands. The second time we went on our own schedule, Eurrail Pass, etc, to England, Ireland, France, Monaco, Italy.
5. I have traveled the US extensively and feel that some cities are like a second home.
6. I am a very avid photographer, see some of my photos here.
7. I'm not much of a seafood fan and like raw/rare foods even less.
8. I don't like to hunt.
   

Status: First Draft - last updated at 12/28/08 11 PM

Dual views of God

Today's liberal atheistic (is that even communistic, that social experiment that proved to be a failure?) view here in the US, where the attempt to separate religion from the government is a radical misinterpretation of our founding fathers.

Einstein's famous work on physics and the theory of relativity were based in applying the clean discipline of mathematics to the order of the Universe. Einstein made no secret of his belief in God and saw no conflict between that belief and his occupation as a scientist. One of Einstein's difficult conflicts was between classic physics and the new developing discipline quantum mechanics. In classic physics things are neatly explained in mathematics, but in quantum mechanics, the mere act of trying to measure things introduces unusual unpredictable behavior at the smallest levels. This was fundamentally bothersome to Einstein and he was quoted as saying:

"God does not play dice"

In an effort to offer an alternative to this "messy" new quantum mechanics theory, Einstein embarked on a "Theory of everything". He continued to his dying day working on this theory, even when sick he covered bed sheets in calculations. He wanted a clean theory that would "read the mind of God" and replace the unpredictability of quantum mechanics. Even today the quest for the "Grand Unification" theory continues. As Stephen Hawking explains in "A brief History of Time", this achievement is so important it will give us a "glimpse at God". But the proponents of quantum mechanics, despite its unpredictability, responded with a quote seeming to taunt Einstein with this quote:

"Stop telling God what to do with his dice"

Ironically the closest thing to the Grand Unification Thoery today is String Theory, which incorporates quantum mechanics.

The other thing that I find very ironic is that the most gifted scientists can admit the existence of God, so why can't our government and the liberal secularists?

I'm still here....

And that wasn't always a given....

This week was a doosy, I had to prepare for a court appearance to protect property from seizure. On Thursday I went to court, then I spent the rest of the day with a friend and had a very enjoyable dinner. The next morning I spent time taking action to protect property and then I spent the rest of the day on the Lake Front, a wonderful sunny day, exploring some new areas with my DSLR, so take a look at the slide show on the sidebar for the latest.

Just trying to achieve some balance. I'm kind of proud of myself for splitting the day between court drudgery and enjoying myself.


Or you can see it here or in improved grid format if you have Adobe Flash 9 installed. For more information look at my latest photobucket tips here. Or you could use the dynamic slideshow option here.

I am sorry to have neglected my blogs, you would be surprised what's happened to me IRL in the last 6 months. Everything from a whirlwind romance to a carjacking burglary that nearly killed me. It was a violent hate crime a few months back.

Two car accidents, one that totaled my car and would have killed me if I would have been a five feet forward, tore off the front of my car and spread it for over 100 feet. The road had to be closed to clean it up.

And as if divorce court wasn't bad enough. Some former blogger buddies are even taking it upon themselves to try and interfere with my visitation IRL. Divorce actions and legal harassment still present 10 months after final decree, but I'll save those details for my divorce blog.

But I'm still here... Alive and well, despite the wear and tear.

Status: First Draft - Last Update 04/20/08 2:40 AM
All photos loaded 04/20/08 1 AM

35mm replacement complete

It was only a matter of time, and actually a short time at that, when 35mm film could be completely replaced. As an avid 35mm photographer, I have watched this process closely.

I have a very complete 35mm SLR system, by Canon. It is old, well worn from tens of thousands of photos under difficult conditions. I am on my second consumer digital camera and find I take the 35mm system out less often. But there are many times I long for the creative control in that system. My solution, a DSLR system, the new Canon 40D, that has all the capabilities of 35mm in a digital format. The DSLR market has matured very well and there are no barriers left.

Basic Requirements

The step from consumer digital to DSLR adds the following features,

• full control of camera and flash exposure
  
• resolution of 10 MP (or more) for large enlargements and editing
  
• large image buffer to reduce shutter delay
• quick auto or manual focusing
• separate flash of guide number 150 (or more) with adjustable head for bouncing to produce softer shadows
• interchangeable lenses of high quality
  
• multiple selectable focusing modes
• RAW mode
• Solid construction and weather proofing
  

Live View

One feature that can be lost on the DSLR is live view, the ability to look at the LCD and compose the photo. Canon and Olympus newest DSLRs contain Live View, others do not. One reason for not using live view is that holding the camera away from your eye is a less steady way to hold the camera than the traditional SLR method. Another reason is the mechanics of an SLR. The film plane (SLR) or digital sensor (DSLR) are behind the mirror that allows you to see through the eye piece. When you look into a DSLR, the mirror is down showing you the view through the lens, with zoom, filters, depth of field and the focus sensors are also expecting the mirror to be down, but then the image sensor is blocked and can not see the image, until the shutter is depressed. To engage Live View you need to focus, flip the mirror up and then you can see the image, but the autofocus is no longer tracking the image. This feature is excellent for macro or architectural photography.

Sensor Size

35mm film produces an image of 24mm x 36mm, all but the best DSLRs have smaller image sensors. The average DSLR uses an image sensor that is 1.6x smaller, called APS-C. Many other cameras use smaller image sensors. Larger image sensors found in DSLRs help improve image quality.

This multiple size makes a difference in lens choice. With a full frame sensor, a 28mm lens is wide angle, with an APS-C sensor, wide angle requires a 17mm lens. There are lenses optimized for the APS-C sensor size, however these won't work on a full frame camera, so any use of full frame cameras is a consideration in lens selection.

Digital Processing

Two interesting digital effects allow the flexibility of film in the digital age. The most popular is RAW format, which creates very large unaltered uncompressed files. These RAW files are analogous to the film negative which is post processed to produce a print. Another feature called Picture Profile mimics the type of film. Just as you may use different types of film (not just ISO) to suit different subject matter, a film that produces vibrant colors, or faithful colors, or softer focus, or even black and white.

An interesting problem that digital processing brings on is how can anyone tell if the photo is doctored. Well high end digital cameras can security lock the image so that it can be proven in court to be an original unaltered image.

DSLRs need very capable processors in order to do the large amount of processing in a responsive manner. In the best camera's more than one processor may be used.

Digital Convenience

Seeing the results and the ability to magnify the image in camera to verify the desired results helps to capture the intended shot. Having the image in a digital format allows speedy transmission of the image to anyone who needs or wants it. Advanced DSLRs also have video out and wireless output that can transmit the images to a computer for immediate display and editing.

Sensor Cleaning

One potential disadvantage of DSLRs is that interchangeable lenses allow dust to enter the camera and possibly get on the sensor. Unlike a film camera, where the film is moving after each shot, the sensor remains in the fixed position where dust can accumulate and interfere with image quality. For this reason it is more important that changing lenses be done in the cleanest environment possible with DSLRs.

The newest DSLRs will clean the sensor each time the camera is turned on or off. Advanced DSLRs can do post process dust removal by taking a photo of a white subject to obtain a dust baseline which will be appended to the image file and removed by software. If dust isn't adequately removed by these two methods then a specialized cleaning product must be carefully used to physically clean the sensor (after locking the mirror up).

Accessories

Digital Media is an obvious requirement, it should be fast (266x) and from a high quality manufacturer (SanDisk or Lexar). Depending on your shooting preferences the media should be from 1 to 4 GB.

Get an extra set of batteries for the camera and flash. Having a high quality DSLR with dead batteries makes an expensive paperweight.

The lenses, especially Image Stabilized Lenses can easily cost over $500 each. It only makes sense to invest in a quality filter (Hoya, B+W, Sneider) to protect the front lens element.

A good, high powered, shoe mounted, bounce flash is a good supplement to the built in flash.


Status: First Draft

Photobucket tips

I implemented a new feature of blogger on the sidebar called slideshow. Like most features from Blogger it isn't quite finished, but i figured out how to get it to work, despite that there are no help files or blogger employees answering questions on the support forum.

This will be a convenient way for me to display new photos before I put them into their final album or use them in a post. If you hover over the slide show a back/pause/forward buttons will display. You can also double click on the photo to enlarge it, but it will not show the extra photobucket things like EXIF, Tags, or the other albums. To see that, go directly to the photobucket account using the link in the sidebar. The sidebar slideshow is in the "SS JQsLife" subalbum.

Blogger SlideShow Layout Element

Some photo hosting sites have widget features that generate a bunch of HTML/embed/javascript code, which can easily be botched up. For those using the layout feature of the new blogger, then can simply add the slideshow element to the sidebar. it appears that if you use Picasa from Google it may work, but if you use another photo server their is no place to enter your album information.

I use photobucket and the trick is to use the media rss feature with the Other provider. In photobucket go to the subalbum of your choice and look in the lower left for the rss feed, which is similar to your photobucket URL, but prefixed with "feed" and suffixed with "feed.rss". Copy this link. Select Other in the drop down box, paste this into the feed.

That's it, no fooling with javascript, no redoing your slide show and repasting, its done on blogger. Now simply add or delete photos in the subalbum and your photo slideshow will dynamically be updated via the rss feed.

Photobucket Tags

Usually when we think of tagging we think of tagging the whole entity (photo or post). In photobucket tagging refers to a portion of the image. When you tag a photo, a small square appears in the center of the photo and it can be resized and repositioned to tag a portion of the photo. Multiple tags can define multiple areas in a photo.

You can find the tagged photos by clicking on the tag list on the album page. When you are on a tagged photo you can use it in one of two ways. You can hover over a tag in the tag list under the photo and the rectangle will highlight over the area of the photo. You can also hover over an area of the photo and a bubble will open with the name of the tag.

One very popular use could be to identify people in group photos. Clicking on their tag will highlight them in the photo. Hovering over them will open a bubble with their name.

There is new embed code that will appear for a photo that has been tagged which is supposed to allow it to be shown in a blog. I have not worked with this yet.

Photobucket Descriptions

Now you can add multi-line descriptions to your photos. The best way to take advantage of these new description or tag features is to check the desired photos in the album page and then click TAG SELECTED at the bottom. This will show multiple medium size photos that can be tagged, described, or re-titled. You may want to shorten your title and include the detail in the description.

Posting Photos

Blogger allows using hosted photos by putting in the URL (photobucket Direct Link) of the photo. But when you click on the photo it will show you just the enlarged photo only.

With a little editing of the HTML, you can show the photobucket page which will show you other interesting things like the album, EXIF, Tags, Title and new multi-line description. Photobucket has another form of URL called Email & IM, this points to the Photo page, but if you use it in blogger it won't show the photo unless you edit the HTML.

There are two links in the HTML, one is HREF= that points to where you will be taken if you click on the photo and SRC= that points to where the photo is. So if you use the Email and IM link then you can jump to the page with the photobucket info with the HREF=. But the SRC= has "?action=view&current=" that needs to deleted for the photo to show up properly in the Blogger Post.

Another item you may want to adjust in the HTML is the <img style="width: nnn px;" where nnn is the width of the photo.

Sharing Photobucket Albums

This feature displays the most current photo and then has a link to the photobucket album. This is done by selecting the Share button. The code generated tends to be too wide, so the table width needs to reduced and an additional parm needs to be added to the SRC= for the photo "width=narrower" to allow for margin of the photo. This photobucket feature does not seem worth the trouble.

The same thing could be accomplished by using the Blogger Post Photo feature with the Photobucket Direct Link (rather than the Email & IM Link mentioned above) and then changing the HTML for the HREF= by deleting "xxxxx.jpg" where xxxxx is the name of the photo. Clicking on the photo will then take you to the album page.

Sharing Photobucket SlideShows

A photobucket slideshow can be viewed at the photobucket site or using the Share feature it can be added to a post on Blogger. The first step is to select the Create Slide Show button to the left and then drag photos into it. This is different from the Blogger Layout Feature in that it is statically defined. Changing the slide show means going to Photobucket, generating a new slideshow and its code and making a new post. This slideshow can have custom frames, watch for this option to the left of the slide show window.

Sometimes this slideshow can be too wide for your blogger post. There also should be a way to find the slideshow URL so you can send the reader to Photobucket to see a specific slideshow, where they will also have the option to see your other slide shows.

Photobucket Summary

Photobucket is one of several possible photo hosting sites, others include Picasa, Flickr, and Webshots. Photobucket allows an unlimited number of photos to be stored in public or private albums. The free service limits the size to 1024 x 768 pixels. Ifranview is a great tool to view your photos, crop, or resize them. Picasa incorporates local viewing of photos with an integrated connection to the hosting site. Flickr allows you to post your copyright preference and have other users comment on them but has a limited number of photos on its free service.


Status: Third Draft - Last Updated 12/17/07 3 am
See draft of next set of Photobucket Tips here on my new Popular Technology Blog.

Weather

How was your day?
Autumn leaves a fallin,
Lightening flashes at night,
Hail stones hitting the skylight,
Snow on the car,
All in a day on the Northcoast!

Just a little ditty on today.
There's a group of people who write 55 word stories on Friday's.
Here's half a 55 on Wednesday. hehehe

Sorry I haven't written in so long...
Been sick for a while, slows me down with fatigue and then there's also the blog war drama that steals too much time.

As exciting as our weather can be on the Northcoast at least we're not in Tornado Alley.
There is a TV show called StormChasers where they drive around looking for Tornadoes with a DOW (Doppler Radar on Wheels) and then try to predict the path of a tornado and send the TIV (Tornado Intercept Vehicle) into its path. The Dow has an 8 foot radar dish on the back and several computers inside monitored by a specialist. The TIV is a souped up truck rebuilt like a tank with 8000 pounds of additional metal plate and bullet proof windows, with a driver and an IMAX film photographer who sits in a turret that can rotate to any angle. As the builder of the TIV describes it, it is a mobile tripod that can take a direct hit from a Tornado so he can get the 20 seconds of footage no one has ever got from inside an active tornado.

We do get occasional tornadoes, since I've lived here (15 years now) I've seen the damage from two that passed within a half mile from my house. The tell tale signs are easy to spot, when you see a neighbor's tree top that is twisted off like a corkscrew and tossed several houses down or drive by a development that has finished homes missing one side and half a roof, you know a tornado has been by.

And then there's just not working at all

So here's an update to the previous post from two weeks ago...

First Unaddressed Problem

Not only is the LCD panel still missing after 2 weeks, but the PC is there as a constant reminder of it... I wish I would have had the chance to do the cable swap, because if it was the cable, we're talking $20 at the closest computer store to keep another seat in the lab open. I'm surprised to see an LCD panel less than a year old fail completely, but if it did, it seems it would be a warranty replacement. And even so, since this is a lab for the whole school to use, you'd think they could find an LCD panel somewhere to put in its place...

I've been in both the public and large scale private sector. In my last private sector job, where downtime meant lost money, spares were kept in inventory. If you need a computer to do something, then it should always be available. It's not like a toaster where you eat your bread untoasted for a while. A well run business (and the public sector can be viewed as a very big business) understands this and takes the needed actions to accomplish it. The public sector sometimes forgets that is has business needs and that is why it can be heavily criticized at times.

Second Unaddressed Problem

In the last class, all the third grade teachers had a common problem. They had a file on the teacher's LAN they wanted to make available to the students. Ideally they wanted to make it available on the Internet through the school's site. They were having trouble understanding how they could do this. They have a mechanism to request help from the guru, which I'm guessing they don't find to helpful. So when I arrived I was asked if I could help. She signed me onto her teacher's ID, showed me where the file was. In just a few minutes I was done.

Since I stayed to fix these other problems I saw another of the teachers and let her know it was fixed. She was thrilled and asked who are you. One of the other teacher's aids and a student in her class answered in unison, oh he's [---] Dad, he's a computer expert. At least they didn't refer to me by the offensive title of guru... lol

Third Unaddressed Problem

In one of the recent classes the students where printing some graphics and it all came out black and white. Now this being the fourth year in that school system, I know they have excellent high volume color printers and the students have always had access to color output. We've long passed dot matrix and plain black and white output. The students knew it too and were complaining and asking us why it wasn't in color.

I ran some tests on the printer, it had ink, its color quality was poor but possible. Hmm, check the PC configuration... Yep, deep down in the settings was an over ride forcing all output from the student lab to be black and white. I conferred with the teacher and said I could override it, she conferred with someone who said the "guru" must have set this up because they were low on ink. Great, explain that to the 20 kids who never ran into this "problem" in their last 3 years in school.

So I do a little more checking... This printer uses a multi-color dry ink system that insures good quality color for the full run of the ink. You can see the ink levels and keep at least one block ahead of empty and you should not have color shifts that are typical of single ink cartridges. So why are there color shifts and poor quality. Time to run diagnostics. Oh boy, this puppy has not been maintained for some time. The test sheet looks like shit. So I run more advanced diagnostics to look at color strips and the ink nozzle performance. Blocked nozzles, drifting color strips. I run through the first of several cleaning cycles, I get the brown to turn yellow again, I get the black nozzles unclogged, but I would need a bunch more time to clean each of the other colored clogged nozzles. Plus it burns through ink in the process, so I'd need someone to get me some ink blocks to use for cleaning. I read the diagnostic manual further, yep, there is a whole recommended cleaning process with disassembly and a maintenance kit.

Now mind you I am not a PC jockey or guru, and don't you call me that either, its offensive, so that's how I handle the situation, and I'm an unpaid volunteer. How does a guru handle it? Turn off the color option in a windows driver and lie to people that its low on ink. Even the 3rd graders knew this didn't sound right, why would grown adults accept that bullshit? What did I do next? I put a status message on the board that ink levels were fine, yellow quality had been restored, and a full maintenance cleaning was required. Yeah call me a rabble rouser, I've been called worse.

Fourth Unaddressed Problem

Between breaks a teacher was telling me of lost LAN data that took over a week to restore. I know how that can happen, I also know why and how it can be prevented. I just shook my head as I thought back to when I first saw the PC/Enterprise generation gap. Well over a decade ago when LANs were new, everyone was going gaga over them and their superiority over the "dying dinasour" Mainframe, I saw the the perfect example of this short sighted thinking which is still applicable a decade later.

Mainframes are the heart of a fail safe infrastructure. Oh I know people have tried it on other platforms and I have seen the various levels of partial success they have achieved. But mainframe systems just come that way, industrial strength, ready for the challenge.

So over a decade ago, we have temporary disk error threshold being exceeded... Yes the disks actually detected, corrected and reported when they were having problems and we had predictive failure and replacement processes. Why? Cuz people don't like to hear the computer is down. So they got bad quick and we had to take a database offline, close its journals, and run sector diagnostics to locate the bad portions of disk and relocate them to spare sectors. This would be 15-30 minute emergency operation over lunch time. Done it a hundred times, it will work, we'll bring all data back online, roll the journals forward, not missing a beat (transaction).

So the IT director is standing there breathing down our necks. I rolled back from the master console and bumped into the clown. I looked up at him and said you know this would go quicker if you gave me a little room, ya think I could call you when I'm done. See I was a smart ass back then... LOL. Meanwhile the LAN everyone was going gaga over lost a disk without any warning and after several weeks of fooling around they declared the data gone forever. Where was the director then, why wasn't he breathing down their necks? Oh it was "new" technology, it was OK to have failures. Why?

And here we are a decade later, oh the PC disks are cheaper and a little better. But ya know what, so are the mainframe disks. The stuff I did back then, taking the databases down for 30 minutes, happens on the fly, hot recovery, no downtime, and the disk controller calls the vendor to tell them which component failed. The dispatcher calls the data center after obtaining the part from the closest parts depot and schedules a technician to install the replacement.

Lessons (jqisms)

• Given the choice between time engaged and time in chair, always go with engaged, you'll be much further along.
• There are two kinds of knowledge, real and imagined. Real knowledge possessed by a person who cares will solve problems. Any other combination doesn't matter.
• There is no particular correlation between having the job, being promoted, and actual useful output, for that to occur life would have to be fair and Peter's Principal would have to be false (and of course neither statement is true).
• if the answer sounds like bullshit, it probably is, keep looking.