The coldest winter I ever spent
Archive for June 2013
This is the Kenwood KA-800 stereo that I grew up with. Just looking at it brings back good memories. We don’t really have any use for it now. My sister is selling it to a guy in Brooklyn who is opening a retro-technology store. It will dutifully play music in his store like it has since 1980. She is selling it to an ANTIQUE STORE! My cherished icons are ANTIQUES. Argh!
The first Arduino Workshop Weekend is happening in Oakland on the weekend of July 13 & 14. This is an intensive event with 7 teacher/speakers, numerous topics and an aggressive, intensive vibe. If you want to jumpstart your Arduino-ness, this is the time and place to do it!
Are you taking the Coursera Statistics class, “HRP258 Statistics in Medicine“? Want to join a study group with me? Google Hangout, Skype, in person, whatever.
Last week I rode to College of San Mateo, careful to be kind to my knees. But yet again I injured my knees riding my bike. Ow, it hurts. It’s this horribly nonspecific pain, more like a tingling gone horribly wrong. When it’s in full swing, it feels more like a “worry” that at each step something in me is on the verge of breaking badly. Thinking about where the sensation is coming from, I imagine it’s cartilage damage that heals over a 2 week period.
The mode of pain is really weird. If, for example I walk 100 yards, it’s not until 10 minutes later that the pain will come on moderately for about 4 hours. If I walk 1/2 mile, 10 minutes later the pain will come on strong for about 24 hours. That delay is really weird. The pain started gently a day after riding to CSM (obviously when the injury happened) and here we are 7 days later and I’m still very sensitive to any stresses on my knees.
In the past year I’ve hurt my knees about 3 times. Each time I make a further effort to be more careful so it doesn’t happen again. But apparently I haven’t done a good job of it.
The worst injury was after riding up Berkeley Hills, then the next day riding hard again, then again the next. The NEXT day the pain set in and I was nearly bedridden for a week.
I would like to take the advice of my mother on the matter, “Getting old sucks. Don’t do it.”
Next time, I’ll regale you about my slight tinnitus, my arms falling asleep while in bed, my sore throats from snoring, and the further adventures of Oliver my eye floater.
Here’s some music I just took off my computer for various reasons. Mostly because of some variant of “it had it’s day”
Avril Lavigne
Alanis Morrissette
Cowboy Junkies
Extra Action Marching Band – Live on the Stubnitz
Fiona Apple
George Clinton – Hey Man Smell My Finger
John McCusker
Moxy Fruvous
Rage Against The Machine
Ramones
Vickie Tunes
Freakonomics
Omnivore’s Dilema
Guns, Germs, and Steel
Gladwell – Blink, The Tipping Point, Outliers
Kurt Vonnegut – Cat’s Cradle
Hair
Radiohead – Amnesiac
Arrogant Worms
a tango complilation
Lulacruza
Front 242 Angels vs Animals
Cary Brothers
I started a Library Research class at College of San Mateo today. I took the train and biked up and up and up to get here. Initially I cursed the difficult uphill trip but it is so freaking beautiful here! Water fountains and grand promenades and big windows and great spaces and the view and the view and the view! I was going to ask how I could get on the wifi but it’s all open. They even got the details right: the table I am sitting at right now was teetering, I was getting ready to fix it by shoving a napkin or something under a leg but the table legs have built-in screws to fixing such things!
I was on campus just once before trying to get a class but it was at night and I only saw the registration department. I remember that was even a good experience with their nice people and beautifully laid out space with these big comfy chairs with these awesome fold-out work surfaces.
It’s so pretty here I want to cry!
It’s so easy… once you know how!
In the image above, my laptop computer is running everything. Screen number 2 is plugged into my laptop. Screen number 3 is on my desktop computer. I made another “display” on my laptop and I’m showing that 3rd display using Teamviewer!
How I made it work: On the laptop, go to Windows 7’s “Screen Resolution” screen. Click “Detect” and Windows 7 will claim “Another display not detected”. That’s ok. On the properties for that display, under Multiple Displays click “try to connect anyway on: VGA”, and click Apply. Then under Multiple Displays click “Extend desktop to this display” and click Apply. You are done on your laptop!
Now go to your desktop computer. Connect to your laptop with Teamviewer (this will probably work with other VNC-like programs). Choose to view the 3rd display.
Tada! You now have multiple monitors on one computer, with the help of your other computers.
I have also used Synergy to connect two nearby computers to one another. You can use both Synergy and this Teamviewer trick at the same time. The mouse movements get a bit confusing but it works!
It’s a good day because:
In this installation art, you walk through a room where it is pouring rain everywhere… except in the spot where you are standing. Freaking awesome.
“It is one of the most incredible exhibits I’ve ever seen in my life. And I’ve seen a lot… It’s transcendent, it really is a transcendent experience. It’s like church.”
Here is a good news story about it
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/lifestyle&id=9125863
And a long form “art” video about it
I found out about this from a great site and mailing list, The Creators Project. Sign up!
(update: Stitcher responded and I haven’t had the problem again, see the comments)
Here is my email to the Stitcher.com folks:
In April I wrote that I was uninstalling Stitcher “because the only “daily update” news I ever get is of horror, death, and pain. Sure, if it bleeds it leads, but not on my phone.”
You guys wrote back and showed me how to disable notifications in the Settings so I reinstalled Stitcher and disabled notifications. Today the app chimed in out of the blue telling me about a multiple murder “deadly shooting rampage” in St. Louis complete with a photo of a man in a gurney being rushing into an ambulance by paramedics.
I am guessing Stitcher updated itself and the settings didn’t carry over from the previous install.
Please answer this: why should I subject myself to such persistent negativity when I have clearly asked you and your app to stop?