0xC9

Funny Face

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:34:05 -0800

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I asked for funny faces. Look what I got!

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Automatic Earthquake Tweet

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:54:39 -0800

I have rigged a touchatag RFID tag to automatically tweet if there’s an earthquake. The tag has been enclosed in a display slab (the slab is intended for collectible coins). I’ve labeled the tags with a post-it note and placed it in the slab as well. The earthquake tag is being held by a top-heavy robot that will (hopefully) fall on the tag reader during a moderate or large seismic event. It would be so cool if it worked, wouldn’t it?

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Hannah's Doodles

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:19:00 -0700

Here is what Hannah (3) drew tonight on my iPhone. She knows I have a sketching app (she calls it coloring), and she likes to use it after her bath. She picked all the colors too. And she signed it with an H. The only thing I helped her with was moving the view window to a new spot so she could start a new doodle.

I also drew shapes like stars which she colored over.

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Windows 3.11 on iPhone

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:18:53 -0700

Is that really Windows 3.11 running on my iPhone? No, not really. I’m just accessing it over VNC with my iPhone. It’s actually running on my desktop in Virtual PC as a 386 DX with 64 MB RAM and 250 MB HDD. What happened was, I decided to install DOS 6.22, then it grew from there. I found a Windows for Workgroups 3.11 ISO file, then the Y2K fix. Then the 32-bit update with Freecell, and so on.

I even found the Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 and S3 Trio64V video driver so I could have sound and use full color depth (I left it at 640x480 just for kicks). There’s the network card driver and a TCP/IP stack so I can access the Internet. Not easy. Virtual PC itself was no help at all with any of this except for the ability to undo disk writes. It’s like building a ship in a bottle. Some people see that as fun. Others say, “WHY!?”

It’s also great how all this stuff came back to me. Little things, like which IRQ the sound card is on or which DOS programs will run in EMS vs. XMS. Then there’s remembering what to do when you install a video driver that doesn’t work. Yep, run the setup from the command line because there’s no “safe mode.” There were also some surprises like the fact that Creative Labs drivers can still be downloaded from their web site, even in 2009! Another surprise was that Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 was available along with a matching version of Outlook Express. IE even installed a version of Java that runs applets. Not from Microsoft’s web site, mind you. No, I had to Google all this. Thanks Google!

One thing I found downright shocking was that AOL Instant Messenger works. Think about that for a second. This app is twelve years old and version 1.0 can still connect to the same servers. Well, I guess that’s not too amazing considering AIM is merely a chat app. So none of this is actually useful, but it’s certainly a blast from the past. Fun stuff.

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Ralph Lauren: The Hits Keep On Coming

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:09:36 -0700

Although Ralph Lauren have apologized for their last outrageous bout of Photoshop exuberance, they still haven’t apologized for the original DMCA their lawyers issued to this blog.

Which makes it quite difficult to resist showing you this window display from Sydney, Australia. Thanks to PG!

via photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com

Ok, this one is DMCA proof, I assume.

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Letters From A Nut: Metro Annoyances

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:58:00 -0700

Being long winded when it comes to all forms of writing, I also have a strange habit of actually writing letters. I’m not talking about e-mail letters. I’m talking about old fashioned “typed” letters on paper, mailed with a fricking stamp. Ok, I don’t use a typewriter and I do send e-mail too, but when I want to be really annoying, I print them, stuff them in an envelop, and hope at least one eyebrow will raise from my antics.

When I write them for mailing, I try to stick to some semblance of the formal rules of letter writing if I can. I tend to just use Einstein’s format for FDR (see below).

Here is a letter I wrote (albeit slightly edited and reformatted for the internets) originally addressed to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (a.k.a. “Metro,” formerly RTD, formerly MTA, etc.). The letter was written and sent in June of 2008:

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
One Gateway Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952
Sir or Madam:
My daily round-trip cost is $2.45 in total. I commute four days out of the week and spend the fifth day working from home. As you can see, I have no need for a $5 daily pass, nor $62 a monthly pass, since I only spend about $42 each month.
Needless to say, I have nothing to complain about with regard to bus fare. My commute seems longer than it was when I drove the seven miles over a year ago, but the price is much easier to deal with.

I notice that many of the Metro buses have been outfitted with flat panel displays called “Transit TV” which inform and attempt to entertain riders en-route. One of the features I have noticed of this system is that as the bus driver presses down on the bus accelerator, the audio from Transit TV system intentionally gets louder to compensate for the extra noise from the bus engine.

I find it odd that radios are prohibited by law (California Penal Code § 640.3 “Playing sound equipment on or in a system facility or vehicle.”) yet sound equipment from the Transit TV systems are lawful. In fact, I find Transit TV downright obnoxious. Why should I be jarred away from my book to hear commercials for people with bad credit? On the Torrance Transit line, if some-one’s earphones are too loud, the bus driver asks them to turn them down. I am seriously considering what it would take to remove Metro from my daily commute. In all likelihood, the only thing I need to do is purchase a bicycle.

I would like to know if Transit TV has been granted an exception from the law, and if so, I require to know where this exception is documented so that I may start a petition to remove the exception, if I find any such interest from other riders to do so.
No doubt, Metro receives revenue from Transit TV for playing those obnoxious commercials. It would be one thing if the monitors merely displayed messages in silence. No doubt revenue could still be gathered by silent ads. I can only guess this is all in an effort to avoid raising the bus fare.
As it is, the bus fare really doesn’t bother me, but I pay $1.55 to get to work and $0.90 to get home four days a week because I incorporate Torrance Transit into my route. It might make more sense to just remove Metro from the equation and pay only $0.50 each direction.

When I come home, I get a transfer from Torrance Transit. When I transfer to Metro, many times the Metro driver won’t take my transfer, but let me on anyway. Occasionally, Metro drivers offer resistance for even showing them the transfer. It’s like they think they are day passes, they don’t recognize them anymore, or they think I’m trying to pull a fast one. I’m not sure why the driver wouldn’t want to take my transfer.

I know the code requirement for fare disputes is to pay the fare (§640.B), but I have been polite with the drivers and thus far this has not been necessary.

All this to say, I am not that impressed with your bus line and I have a sneaking suspicion you are getting rid of inter-agency transfers and force me to buy a day pass that the Torrance Transit line doesn’t plan on accepting. Is this true? If so, all this will serve to do is confirm my desire to remove Metro from my daily commute.

Sincerely,
Anthony Martin

I do not write my letters really expecting any change or even a response. Only about half of the letters like this ever get a reply. And about half of those replies do not seem to pertain at all to what I originally wrote about. This does not come as a surprise to me. But years ago, I would get coupons and other perks for writing nutty letters to corporations. Lately, nothing. And I certainly didn’t expect anything from monopolistic-pseudo-corporations like these guys.

And I was right. There was no reply. My address was part of the letter I sent (which was redacted here for posting online), so there’s no reason they couldn’t reply. But because I brought up legal terminology, my letter was probably shredded ASAP.

But an interesting thing has happened since that time. My primary complaint about the noise level generated by “Transit TV” seems to have been addressed. I’m not sure if it’s because of my letter or something unrelated like the fact that maintenance has gone completely out the window (maybe it’s a combination thereof).

And my secondary complaint about the odd treatment of transfers has also been addressed. I have gotten zero resistance to my transfers for a long time. There have been many new operators since that time too, so it’s not because they got used to me.

So I can’t say letter writing was effective here since I have no direct evidence to support it. But I do enjoy it nonetheless. And on occasion, it might even help. Who knows?

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Yay Island's

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:12:23 -0700

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We finally took T.J. (Titus) to Island’s! He had lots to look at here.

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Lies and Propaganda

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:22:16 -0700

Let’s say your little sweet daughter comes up to you and asks if she can have some of your Honey Mustard & Onion Pretzels Pieces. And you don’t want to share for whatever reason, so you tell her they are yucky. So she decides that’s good enough and stops asking for some.

Victory, right? No. That’s a lie. The pretzels are in fact very yummy and you know it. Telling her the opposite of what is true is wrong and will backfire some day.

Hopefully, you will never have this happen. Or if it does happen, you will correct it. Depending on your child, it may be impossible to correct the problem for many years. Some kids remember what they’ve been told for a long long time.

And when that time comes, there may be some mistrust to deal with as result. If someone has been lied to for a long time, even if that lie was propagated by other means, it can be very difficult once the truth comes out.

So just don’t lie in the first place. If the pretzels are yummy, tell the truth. If you don’t want your kid to have the yummy pretzels because it’s too late in the evening for them to eat something like that, tell them the truth. It is much easier in the long run.

By the way, in reference to the title of this article, when an individual tells an untruth, we call it a lie. When an institution or organization tells a lie, we call it propaganda.

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Big Benjamin & Bob

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:31:00 -0700

Benjamin asked to watch a DVD. It’s amazing. I’m so happy how far he has come with language skills. He is actually finding utility with his words. He came up to me with his movie of choice and said, “ba-de-bi-de.” That’s what i call “Benjamese” for “Bob the Builder.”

When his mom came in, he expanded his request to, “I want ba-de-bi-de!”

So I turned on the video as demanded. We are pretty accomodating with this language thing.

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A Tribute to the Polish People | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:54:33 -0700

This movement should create a situation in which authorities will control empty stores, but not the market; the employment of workers, but not their livelihood; the official media, but not the circulation of information; printing plants, but not the publishing movement; the mail and telephones, but not communications; and the school system, but not education.

via thefreemanonline.org

An excellent article about where we’re headed in the US. Check out the whole article when you get a chance.

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Hannah's Candy Store Mystery

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:25:51 -0700

Hannah knows I’m much more agreeable to certain suggestions than her mother. So Hannah has asked me on multiple occasions if I’ll take her to the candy store. But she has a particular candy store in mind. Usually the conversation goes something like this:

Hannah: Daddy, I wanna go to the candy store, please.

Me: What candy store?

Hannah: The pink and white candy store.

Me: Where is it?

Hannah: It’s on the sidewalk.

I have not figured out much beyond that. I’ll ask her where the sidewalk is, and we go around and around that it’s near the candy store.

My current theory is that it’s a recurring dream of hers. She wakes up and remembers the dream, and asks about it. The reason I think it’s a dream is because when she talks about it, she hold her and up to her face and makes the OK sign. Frequently, she’ll do this when recalling a visual aspect of something in her mind. It is not necessarily something that doesn’t exist. She’ll recall seeing something real this way too.

I’m not entirely sure she made it up, but that seems like the most likely scenario at the moment. I have to be careful about injecting my own ideas into this. So I decided to interview her to see if I could get to the bottom of this mystery. You’ll notice my line of questioning takes two kinds of approach. Sometimes I’ll suggest an idea which she confirms or denies. Sometimes I ask more open-ended questions for her to fill in the blanks.

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20090926 173434.m4a (18607 KB)

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Untitled

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:40:34 -0700

Very nice! Yay @posterous!!

via twittelator

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iPod Vending Machine

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:18:18 -0700

There’s an iPod vending maching right inside Macy’s. Yay capitalism!!

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Knott's Berry Farm

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:34:12 -0700

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Foster's Premium Ale

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:56:49 -0700

I don’t usually taste beer in my perfect beaker, but this is a kind of beer that deserves very little respect.

It’s a gimmick can. The color is a clear copper, which is also a gimmick because the can said they use artificial caramel coloring. It has a sorta whitish head. Slightly grainy/citrus aroma and flavor with a dry finish and lasting bitter/graininess. I think the bitter is from the artificial color, maybe. Thin texture and moderate carbonation. I sabotaged the lacing with my (plastic) beaker.

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Suspicionless Checkpoint, Addendum

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:09:00 -0700

Lieutenant Stephen D’anjou says that the suspicionless checkpoint (covered previously) was announced to the Daily Breeze on September 2nd. Again, I find no mention on the Daily Breeze website, so we still have an effective Internet blackout of this information.

The Lieutenant believes it was also posted on Torrance Police Department website, but he said the website program never published it. An honest mistake. I’ve seen first hand that this can be a common mistake in any web publishing environment.

But there’s something else I’d like to point out. See if you can tell the difference between the two announcements. One announcement was for the 11th, the other was for June 19th.

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DUI_Checkpiont_91109.pdf (33 KB)

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DUI_Press_Release_061909_-2.pdf (37 KB)

The information published about June 19th, 2009 listed the intersection as well as the time. But the information published about September 11th, 2009 does not list the intersection.

It’s already beyond recognition of what it was originally. They’re just going to keep tweaking and modifying this.

If you still don’t understand why this is bad, please review my previous article on the subject. Also consider an article called “Bloodsuckers in Blue” on Lew Rockewell’s web site.

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Ghost Fleets and Protectionism

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:57:49 -0700

Ghost Fleets and Protectionism

The Mail Online has some stunning images of The ghost fleet of the recession.

The biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history lies at anchor east of Singapore. Never before photographed, it is bigger than the U.S. and British navies combined but has no crew, no cargo and no destination - and is why your Christmas stocking may be on the light side this year.

Above: The ‘ghost fleet’ near Singapore. The world’s ship owners and government economists would prefer you not to see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world’s economies

Just 12 months ago these financiers and brokers were enjoying fat bonuses as they traded cargo space. But nobody wants the space any more, and those that still need to ship goods across the world are demanding vast reductions in price.

Do not tell these men and women about green shoots of recovery. As Briton Tim Huxley, one of Asia’s leading ship brokers, says, if the world is really pulling itself out of recession, then all these idle ships should be back on the move.
This is the time of year when everyone is doing all the Christmas stu

Johnny Rockets

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:58:30 -0700

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This is the first time Benjamin has ever colored the kid’s menu. It’s also the first time we’ve been to a sit-down restaurant like this with all the kids.

Unless you count Pat & Oscar’s.

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Last Night's Suspicionless Checkpoint

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:55:00 -0700

Last night, I observed a suspicionless checkpoint on Artesia going eastbound toward Van Ness. All eastbound traffic was being stopped. A lot of cars were being towed.

I contacted Torrance Police Department to inquire as to why these activities were not announced ahead of time. The initial response from Lieutenant Stephen D’anjou (via Blackberry) was that the press release was sent out last week.

I believe Lieutenant D’anjou is mistaken. I checked the Torrance PD web site and no such press release was listed on their press release page. Maybe a press release was sent out but just not posted on the web page. The local paper would have gotten a copy if that’s the case.

But this is not the case from what I can tell. Daily Breeze (the local newspaper in Torrance) has announcements for other such activity in the past, but not the one regarding last night. Was it announced only in hard copies of the newspaper? Is this an Internet blackout?

Yet indeed, here is a view of the actual suspicionless checkpoint from the corner of Artesia and Van Ness, looking back to the west:

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Zi6_0541.mp4 (6911 KB)

This is a shot of the parking lot next to the activity:

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Zi6_0542.mp4 (4559 KB)

Torrance Police Department believes the “DUI” checkpoint is a proven effective method for increased awareness of the dangers of impaired driving.

In the past, by publicizing these enforcement and education efforts, Torrance Police Department believes motorists can be deterred from drinking and driving.

Typically, funding for these kinds of operations is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

But last night, they broke from their previous motivation and imposed the suspicionless checkpoint without even prior notice.

Whatever your belief of the effectiveness of these suspicionless checkpoint, know this. It is a violation of the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution to demand evidence of a crime without probable cause. The suspicionless checkpoint, by definition, lacks probable cause.

It is much easier to introduce an intrusive measure by watering down the most intrusive aspects. It is harder to be against suspicionless checkpoints when they are announced ahead of time. But is easy to just stop announcing them once they become commonplace.

We are no longer on our way to a police state. We live in a police state now. It’s only going to get worse.

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Behold: The Perfect Rootbeer Float

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:12:42 -0700

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