Tuesday, February 9, 2016

I still find airline pricing humorous...

Southwest

Delta
I still find it so funny that airlines like Delta and United try to fool us or blame the government and airports for the cost of airfare going up. They itemize taxes, do not even mention the cost of baggage until later, when you checkin, and so many people still do not look at the details. They see 165 and 175 and head for Delta... "it's cheaper".

Meanwhile, Southwest is totally transparent "this is what we are charging you, for everything."  Why would you ever fly Delta?!? 

Okay, okay... I do fly Delta.  Why? Legacy. We have miles there, we have companion tickets due to our credit cards, and disentangling requires a (I know, little) bit of effort. Sometimes we fly Delta (two people for about $500) RT from ATL-SMF.  Then it is worth it... sort-of... I always have to remind myself that I pay for the credit card... then I remind myself that we don't have to pay for checked bags... and sometimes my wife and I have 2 checked bags!  Also, sometimes when time is tight, it is great to fly direct.
 Cracked me up last time we flew, Delta tried to put both bags under my name and charge me a baggage fee for my second bag. That was at the counter in Sacramento. What!!! Do they think you are so dumb as to NOT know!?!?  Yep, unfortunately, I think that most airlines do thing we are dumb.

One more rant... about our pets... (see my Change org pet petition).  On Southwest, we never worry about the crate not fitting under the seat. It just DOES.  On Delta, lots of different aircraft and seat configurations... always a concern... and they bother you more about the pet.

Done!

Friday, February 5, 2016

Microsoft's underwater datacenters

This is about http://natick.research.microsoft.com/ and a worry about the future.  We already place a large burden on the oceans.  They take our waste products and our effluent.  All of these things raise the temperature of the oceans somewhat. Microsoft's impact might be minimal but I am as concerned about thousands of datacenters off our coasts as I am hundreds of oil wells.

How far away can the noise of the system be heard by whales and dolphins?

We know that pollutants travel differently in air than in water, but one of those pollutants is sound. http://dosits.org/faq/ has some interesting facts about sound in water and the impact on ocean life.

I am not an expert on datacenter noise, the impact of sound on local ocean life (and how far away the sound travels from the datacenter) nor how much heat thousands of such systems could transfer to the gigantic heatsink of the oceans, lakes and rivers that may eventually be used to cool datacenters.  I just have this sense of dread of yet another way to use and abuse our environment to allow, and encourage, data collection about each and everyone of us for the sake of market research, and monitoring our behavior for other reasons.

Just saying...

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Throwback Thursday inspired python code.

Throwback Thursday inspired code.

For anyone else out there finding this, if you take the code and modify it or put it somewhere else public, let me know. If I do such a thing, I too will let you know.

First off, all I wanted was a way to find images for Throwback Thursday and I have a very messy folder called Pictures and in there my photos go back to 2003, November.

Some are older, but their modification/creation dates on my computer will not reflect their true date/time so this tool will be useless for those. Unless I modify it later, for example, I can think of an improvement. . . if date modified content does not match date in name of file (parse the name of the file) then use the name as the date.

[update] I am not sure how to make this better. It is definitely not 100% accurate. For example, today, some of the 10 images I've pulled up were created on 9/6/2012 (Thursday) BUT they were created for a web-site by a script I used in the past.  By pure coincidence, it also happens to be originally taken on Thursday, July 19, 2012... so, here it is :).

Angel Island, Thursday, July 19, 2012


The code is currently below. I also put it on Siafoo.

================================= usage:

Mac OS X Terminal with python3 and python installed.  This python3 is 3.4.

Show in Mac Preview app 10 files of png or jpg found in /foo/bar directory:

python3 tbt.py /foo/bar/ -n 10 -m

List all files in /foo/bar directory:

python3 tbt.py -l /foo/bar

List all options with -h:

unknown68a86d404130:play michaelcase$ python3 tbt.py -h
usage: tbt.py [-h] [-d D] [-l] [-m] [-mw] [-n N] directory

Program for "Throwback Thursdays" allows users to specify day of week to find,
defaults to Thursday, and provides a list of files of jpg and png within the directory you
specify that occurred on that day of week. However, precedence goes mw, m then
l. In other words, ONLY ONE of those flags will be supported, if you specify
more than one, the precedence is enforced.

positional arguments:
  directory   Required. Directory from which to read files.

optional arguments:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit
  -d D        Optional. Day of week. Defaults to Thursday. Can not do multiple
              days.
  -l          Optional. Reply with list of files that can be passed to
              something like xargs.
  -m          Optional. Mac OS open Preview App with resulting list of files.
              If the list of files gets too long, the command may fail.
  -mw         Optional. Mac OS open Preview App with one image per window. Can
              be torture to your screen, be careful.
  -n N        Optional. Number of files to *randomly* retreive from list.

(Revision 1.0 of 2015-12-14 14:15:28)


================================= code, cut here to end. put in file tyt.py


# use os.path.getctime to get creation date/time.
# use date.weekday() to get 0 = Monday to 6 = Sunday.
# then use present Thursdays as tbt files :)

# ctime - the last time the file's inode was changed (e.g. permissions changed, file renamed, etc..)
# mtime - last time the file's CONTENTS were changed
# atime - last time the file was accessed.
# author: Michael E. Case, mec at dcn dot davis dot ca dot us
 
import sys
import os
from datetime import *
import time
from sys import argv
#from subprocess import Popen
import argparse
import random

# 2015-12-14: 
# Given a path, search through it and all it's subdirectories for "throwback thursday" files.

# info to identify program and current revision, and some globals.
global pgm, rev, date
pgm  = (sys.argv[0]).replace('./','')
rev  = '$Revision: 1.0 $'.replace('$','')[9:].strip()
date = '$Date: 2015-12-14 14:15:28 $'.replace('$','')[5:].strip()

def isint( s ):
    try:
        int(s)
    except ValueError:
        return False
    else:
        return True

def tbt_main():

    #read command arguments
    global pgm, rev, date

    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog=pgm, epilog="(Revision "+rev+" of "+date+")", description="""Program for \"Throwback Thursdays\"
allows users to specify day of week to find, defaults to Thursday, and provides a list of files of jpg and png within the directory 
you specify that occurred on that day of week. However, precedence goes mw, m then l. In other words, ONLY ONE of 
those flags will be supported, if you specify more than one, the precedence is enforced.""")    
    ap.add_argument("directory", help="Required. Directory from which to read files.")
    ap.add_argument("-d", help="Optional. Day of week. Defaults to Thursday. Can not do multiple days.", default="3")
    ap.add_argument("-l", help="Optional. Reply with list of files that can be passed to something like xargs.", action="store_true", default=False)
    ap.add_argument("-m", help="Optional. Mac OS open Preview App with resulting list of files. If the list of files gets too long, the command may fail.", action="store_true", default=False)
    ap.add_argument("-mw", help="Optional. Mac OS open Preview App with one image per window. Can be torture to your screen, be careful.", action="store_true", default=False)
    ap.add_argument("-n", help="Optional. Number of files to *randomly* retreive from list.", default=-1, type=int)
    newargs = ap.parse_args() 
    #print(newargs)
    #if ()
    listfiles = newargs.l
    indir = newargs.directory
    nf = newargs.n
    macprev = newargs.m
    macprevwin = newargs.mw
    dow = 3
    if isint(newargs.d) == False:
        lcd = newargs.d.lower()
        if "monday" in lcd:
            dow = 0
        elif "tuesday" in lcd:
            dow = 1
        elif "wednesday" in lcd:
            dow = 2
        elif "thursday" in lcd:
            dow = 3
        elif "friday" in lcd:
            dow = 4
        elif "saturday" in lcd:
            dow = 5
        elif "sunday" in lcd:
            dow = 6
        else:
            print(newargs.d+" not found in day of week. Day of week will default to Thursday (3).")
            dow = 3
    else:
        if dow > 6:
            print(newargs.d+" is greater than 6. Day of week will default to Thursday (3).")
            dow = 3


    if macprev == True and macprevwin == True and listfiles == True:
        macprev = False
        listfiles = False
        print("Found -mw, -w and -l, precedence dictates using mw.")
    if macprev == True and listfiles == True:
        listfiles = False
        print("Found -w and -l, precedence ditates using -m.")
    if macprevwin == True and listfiles == True:
        listfiles = False
        print("Found -mw and -l, precedence dictates using -mw.")

    # print(macprev, str(nf), indir, listfiles)

    # print(indir)
    fs = ""
    fsofar = 0
    randomfs = False
    if nf != -1:
        randomfs = True
    nfilestot = 0
    # probtofind = 0
    rindstosave = []

    # can't figure out how to do this using "probability of this picture being one of the n you requested."
    # or rather, that solution did not always give me n. So the new solution is come up with n integers between
    # one and nfilestot. Those will be the ones we get. No repeats, of course.
    if randomfs == True:
        for root, dirs, files in os.walk(indir, topdown=True):
            #print("in first for")
            for name in files:
                tm = os.path.getmtime(os.path.join(root,name))
                dt = datetime.fromtimestamp(tm)
                if dt.weekday() == dow:
                    if len(name.split(".")) > 1:
                        spl = name.split(".")
                        last = spl[len(spl)-1]
                        if last.lower() == "jpg" or last.lower() == "png":
                            nfilestot +=1
        #print("total number of all jpg and png = "+str(nfilestot))
        if nfilestot > 0:
            nsel = 0
            while nsel < nf and nf > 0:
                rn = random.randint(1, nfilestot) # [1, nfilestot]
                if rn not in rindstosave:
                    rindstosave.append(rn)
                    nsel += 1
                
            # print ("nsel = "+str(nsel))
            # print (rindstosave)
            rindstosave.sort()
            # print (rindstosave)
            # probtofind = nf / nfilestot
    fc = 0
    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(indir, topdown=True):
        #print("in first for")
        for name in files:
            #print("in second for")
            tm = os.path.getmtime(os.path.join(root,name))
            dt = datetime.fromtimestamp(tm)
            if dt.weekday() == dow:
                if len(name.split(".")) > 1:
                    spl = name.split(".")
                    last = spl[len(spl)-1]
                    if last.lower() == "jpg" or last.lower() == "png":
                        fc += 1
                        #print("found jpg")
                        #os.system
                        #Popen
                        if macprev == True:
                            #print (fs)
                            if randomfs == False:
                                fs += "\""+os.path.join(root,name)+"\" "
                            else:
                                if fc in rindstosave:
                                    fs += "\""+os.path.join(root,name)+"\" "
                                    rindstosave = rindstosave[1:]
                        if macprevwin == True:
                            if randomfs == False:
                                os.system("open -a /Applications/Preview.app "+"\""+os.path.join(root,name)+"\"")
                            else:
                                if fc in rindstosave:
                                    os.system("open -a /Applications/Preview.app "+"\""+os.path.join(root,name)+"\"")
                                    rindstosave = rindstosave[1:]
                        if listfiles == True:
                            if randomfs == False:
                                print("\""+os.path.join(root,name)+"\"")
                            else:
                                if fc in rindstosave:
                                    print("\""+os.path.join(root,name)+"\"")
                                    rindstosave = rindstosave[1:]
                        #
#                print(os.path.join(root,name)) 
                # call("open -f -a /Applications/Preview.app", os.path.join(root,name))
    if macprev == True:
        #print ("open -a /Applications/Preview.app "+fs)
        os.system("open -a /Applications/Preview.app "+fs)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    tbt_main()

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

unlimited data plans going.. going... gone... and less memory on phones. Result? lots of uploads and data use.

I guess this isn't going to be a long blog entry. I just find it very irritating that I am once again being phased out of an unlimited data plan by the company I currently use (Credo Mobile).  If I upgrade a phone with them, I have to leave the unlimited plan behind.

I also find that when looking for a new and faster phone, that some of the leaders have eliminated my ability to insert a microSD card.  So I can't move my microSD from my Samsung Galaxy S4 to some new devices.

It seems like the whole cloud thing is interfering with common sense... need faster uploads to REALLY make the cloud work... upload speeds from home are slow and data plans on phones/portable hardware no longer have unlimited data upload/download... so we need larger memory on smart phones in order not to pay too much for cloud access and data transport... stupid companies...

I do not believe that ubiquitous data access will ever be truly available in a free-for-all like true capitalism even with government and industry standards trying to keep up with the changes. And also, competition pushes change forward... but some parts of a system always lag behind...

We will always need local storage and in sufficient quantity for the specs of the video and still shots of our smart devices. I personally get sick of carrying my "good" camera around when really my phone is sufficient for "snapshots" which exceed my old 35 mm snapshots (as opposed to "photography").  But I'll carry it with me, or my laptop, if I think the phone's memory will run out on a trip...

Maybe I take and keep too many photos and videos on my phone.

Meanwhile, I have mirrored my backups (2 single terrabyte drives) and they are running out of space... I need to de-duplicate and clean up my backups...

What was I saying? Oh, either give me unlimited data upload capability with a ubiquitous (truly, like in Yellowstone) data access or give me more memory on my phone please!

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Windows XP, VMware Fusion 4.1.4, Mavericks, Microsoft Security Essentials pain?

I'm currently frustrated with my machine. I've been e-mailing back and forth with VMware.  I know that Windows XP is not supported anymore.  I also know that VMware Fusion has a version 6 but I'm having to move to Parallels for work. 

The application that I mess with for work that runs on Windows XP may be migrated to Windows 7. I've not done much programming on Windows in the past 14 years, so I'm leaving it up to the owner of the application to decide about the upgrade path.

I wish I had the time(to learn), existing expertise, and energy to think of porting this somewhere else but I've not written drivers for cards before, and I'm responsible for other parts of the platform which also need work.

I'm just writing this up because I installed Microsoft Security Essentials sometime just before Windows XP became unsupported.  After that everything seemed fine though I can't recall testing if my network (mac to VMware) was working.

THEN I installed Mavericks, and THEN VMware has not been able to get to the network.

So I reinstalled VMware Fusion and I still couldn't get to the world from VMware Fusion (Windows XP). 

I also could not see a settings screen in VMware Fusion.  When I went to settings, the main window of Windows XP would grey out (suspended or live) and yet no other window would appear.

I reinstalled the VMware Tools.  Still no joy.

Finally I did get through the internet just by using the "quick" buttons for settings to go between NAT and Bridged, which I had been doing before but to no avail. At this point the network was excruciatingly slow. 

I still could not get to a settings screen so I've given up on that.

Ok, long story... Basically now that I've uninstalled Microsoft Security Essentials the network runs much faster.  I'm going to try to get AVG for XP and hope that will be protection enough for long enough that I don't compromise my Windows XP.

For anyone who cares, when I test with this software, I run the user interface side on Mac OS (Java based), similar to as we do with the real hardware, and run the C/C++ part on Windows XP (again, as with the real hardware). 

The GUI commands the C/C++ on some ports and the C/C++ additionally can initiate connections to another system on other ports.  We issue commands to that third system via the C/C++ system.  For pure simulation that 3rd system is s dumb echo on my mac side.  For testing with a more authentic simulator, that 3rd system is remote, so the Windows XP needs to get out to the rest of the world for that kind of testing.




Monday, August 4, 2014

Woke up, saw a bulging iPhone 3GS. Wow!

I hadn't looked at my iPhone 3GS 32G in a while.  I was thinking of updating my music then using it at the gym so there'd be no phone interruptions.  Instead, I found this!



I have other cell phones, much older, that we occasionally power up and try to charge for a visiting friend and get a SIM card for them to use while in the US.  These phones are not kept charged either and they don't do this.

Anyway, here is a long bunch of commentary on the Apple web site.  I'm thinking of walking in to an Apple Store as some people mention, to see if I can at least get them to dispose of the device properly.

If I dispose of it I want to make sure my data is deleted. I can't recall what all I have on it, but I'd just rather not have anything out there.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Post upgrade summary

Work ordered me a new drive (512 GB SSD) and 16 GB RAM kit to upgrade my 13-inch, Late 2011 Macbook Pro from 256 GB/8GB.  I have too much that I keep running at the same time, such as, migrating from VMWare Fusion (Windows XP) to Parallels (Windows 7) on the C/C++ side and  Netbeans 8.1 for the Java development.  When I want to run both applications (which talk to each other and accomplish one task) I'll have a lot of memory in use at one time... although, right now, I'm only running at 4.something GB real memory used.  So here is the upgrade summary. Pretty easy ... after all my worry.

I put the new drive


In a case I got cheap (like $6 for 5) on Amazon ,



and slid it into the Seagate tray.  Actually, I had to trim part of the opening using an box-cutter (do this at your own risk) as I mentioned here before.  I trimmed the top (thicker, nearer the lid of the box) this time.  These trays were meant for a different drive tray but they work, so I'm happy.



Then I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the existing 256GB SSD internal to the new drive.  It allowed me to also copy the hidden volume on the original Apple drive, which was important.  I will buy this product although just the try-me version was great, I really liked it, so I'm paying for it.

The clone didn't take that long, then I cracked the case carefully following these instructions at Apple. I also had peeked at these at iFixit earlier so knew about the drive removal and necessary tools.  I put in my 16 GB RAM and the new 512 GB SSD and it worked!

I am happy I also cloned the hidden partition.  Prior to the install, I booted holding down the D key and ran diagnostics on the hardware to find no problems.  This was when trouble-shooting with Apple about why the machine was re-booting for no apparent reason. The current suspected reason is a bad USB cable. More on that later, maybe.

In any case, after the upgrade I again booted holding down the D key and ran diagnostics with the new drive and RAM in and once again, no errors.  So I'm pretty confident right now.

Well, that's it.








Friday, July 25, 2014

Internet service provider rant.

Could someone PLEASE help me!  Is there any way to get good customer support either online or on the phone anymore? and both had people on the other end who have really bad head-sets or phone systems. I swear the voices were worse than a tin-can-string phone from childhood!

Furthermore, online I find NO WAY to initiate service and request a static IP.

I'm thinking of leaving AT&T because they are VERY VERY slow to correct billing changes and my monthly cost has gone up to $122/month for 20 Mbps down/1.8 Mbps up speeds. $15 of which is for static IP.

Comcast technical support says over the phone that they can do the static IP for free.

They offer 50 down/ 15 up for 12 months at $53 (includes 3.95 in-home cable maintenance) at my address but I only have the word of the tech person that static IP is available and free.

I wish I could find ANY provider not Hughs, not frontier, not AT&T and not Comcast!

If I want to start an ISP, I have to pay one of them for the connection to a major hub in Atlanta (I believe) and what incentive do they have to give me a fair deal since I would be a competitor?

I love OmNetworks back in Davis, California.  I wish I could do something like that here in Atlanta.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Using Thunderbolt Seagate "tray" for any drive.

I just got the new drive!

I used the Cable Matters 2.5" SATA Hard Drive case to enclose my HGST Travelstar.  It did not work "out of the box" because the opening of the Cable Matters box was slightly too small. I whittled away at the bottom, then at the top. In hindsight I think whittling all the change at the top would have been better.  I used a box cutter. Do that at your own risk. I have cut myself badly in the past trying to whittle plastic, so don't use the drive cover if you don't want to.  It just supports the drive better than sliding the bare drive onto the connector and letting it dangle.

After the adjustments I slid the drive into the the Seagate Thuderbolt "tray" adapter and hooked it up to the Thunderbolt on my MacBook.

I formatted the drive as indicated by Apple, and am proceeding to copy from the  old Time Machine Backup from my WD My Passport drive to the new drive following these instructions also at Apple.

I'm not sure what I will do with the My Passport... keep it as a spare "archive" of Time Machine?  The "genius" at the Apple Store said I can use many drives for Time Machine.  I'll have to look into what he meant by that, other than "use the new drive for new Time Machine backups and forget about the old ones unless you need them" but I can't trust a dieing drive, so I've chosen to copy the files (more than a million so far) from the old drive to the new drive.

This will take a while... more later...

Later:  hahahahahahaha!  No wonder he gave me that advice!


I am underwhelmed.

Update:  I calculated the estimate based on the 35 MB/s USB 2.0 bottleneck of the process and came up with 7 hours.  When I went to bed, the dialog said 3 days.  Got up the next morning it was done.  Relieved to know I was right in my instinct, no way 881GB took 3 days...

Update 2: I did NOT know that you could tell Time Machine to use more than one drive and it decides which backup goes where...  Also been reading about it's limitations.

Getting old(er) Apple Powerbook to use USB 3.0 devices

I haven't tried this but think it would work fine to connect any USB 3.0 device on the market to my Macbook Pro 13" early 2011 model...

SuperSpeed USB 3.0  and Echo Express Card Thunderbolt

Contemplating it. In the meantime I continue to use this; bare drive and cases arrive today, I'll get to try it soon!

Amazon link to Portable Thunderbolt Adapter from Seagate

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Opening duo pro drive, by SimpleTech (Fabrik)

Putting on my tech hat...

I have had this drive for a while. I can't recall when I got it. I found a review here: http://www.videomaker.com/article/13669-simpletech-duo-pro-drive-2tb-storage-device-by-fabrik-review that seems to be talking about a similar drive in 2008.  My drive model is 0S00039.  By looking at a zoom of the Hitachi drive inside, I see that drive was manufactured in April 2010. I thought it was older than that :-/.


Image 1
 


In any case, like the guy in that review, mine had a screw loose inside. I do not recall if it arrived that way, but part of the motivation for cracking it was to find that screw and put it where it belonged.


Also, like that guy, I have to say it is one noisy drive.  Thankfully, since it is primarily for archiving important data, it is not on all the time.

To open the drive first pull off the sign that says Warranty void if label removed. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! These instructions will void your warranty (if it is still applicable, of course).

Remove the screw under the label.

After prying around the edges a while, I found there were two other screws hidden under the rubber feet that are on the same side as the screw that was removed.  By then I had bent two plastic angled brackets that hold the lid on (more on that later).

This image shows the drive after the warranty voided and the screw is out.

Image 2

 This image shows the place the other screws were taken out.  Both were taken after the bottom (in image) cover was taken off. (There is a corresponding silver piece on the opposite side.)


Image 3

Note that in the foreground, there is one foot where I had tried to remove a screw without removing the foot and there was no screw under that foot.

I will now try to describe how to remove the cover without bending (and nearly breaking) two ledge-like plastic forms that help hold the cover on properly (I made that mistake).  DO NOT pry from the long edge that ends at that top screw.  First, lift the opposite edge (bottom right in Image 2) away from the main dark-grey body, then slide the cover towards the front of the drive (away from the side you see in Image 2).

Here are a couple images of the cover after it was removed.

Image 4: Note the "hook" like arms that you need to disengage by sliding the cover towards the front of the drive enclosure.

Image 5: In the foreground you see the two legs that were screwed in by the feet cover screws.
 To the left of both images you see some ledges shown more clearly here (after I tried to bend them back into position).


Image 6

Then, I removed the screws holding the drive assembly in place. The two drives and interface card form one unit.


Image 7: Close up (actually on re-installation) of the screws to take out to be able to remove the drives from the case.
At this point, I did not try to fully remove the hardware completely.  Earlier I shook out the screw that had been shaking around in there for a while, and then I unscrewed the 4 screws that held in the drive assembly.

DO NOT pry the drive assembly out straight.  Lift the part facing the front of the enclosure by tilting it. Then the ports out the back slide out of the holes in the case easily. There is a cable connected to one side of the case. I did not remove the cable because I did not need to get any farther into the case.  

Image 8: Assembly tilted out.

Here is the drive bracket without the screw in it. I found the screw floating around inside as expected.


Image 9: bracket from where the screw fell out.
There isn't much more to show.  I put in that screw, then gently repositioned and slid the back connectors into the stenciled holes on the back of the enclosure. This was a bit tricky.  The back should slide in, and all the ports line up nicely, then the front will fall into place with the LEDs lined up properly for the lights on the front bezel.


Image 10: Final product re-assembled.
After trying not to mess with computer hardware for something like 10 years, it was fun to get in there.  Next project should be easier since the equipment I want to mess with is more recent and there are lots of web sites to help the process.

I wrote this up only because I could not find it, and thought that if anyone else wants to do this, they can save themselves from bending the plastic facing the rear of the drive by reading this carefully.  I hope it has been clear.

For fun, here is a video of the assembly (taken with my phone). Sometimes I'm busy screwing screws in and the video does not show anything interesting.  You can also hear my Shihtzu - Dachshund mix barking at something in the background. More for entertainment.


Youtube link to video 

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Chinese Dates (Jujube) preservation

For no good reason

how I'm making the preserves of the season

Chinese dates, aka Jujubees


These arrived the past week from family in California.  We have 3 large trees and lots of shoots coming up from the ground around them, kind-of the way pomegranates can grow a new "tree" from a root far from the main trunk.






At this point we eat as many of the more solid looking, not shriveled and not blemished as we possibly can.  The we worry about how to keep the others for the year (or two or...).  In the past we then take the rest and make jam out of them (might show you that some other time).

Last night, I dried some whole ones and for the first time painstakingly cut some off the seed as well. I set the oven to 175-degrees Fahrenheit the lowest possible.

The ones I cut off the seed were so so good!  Kind-of like crispy sugar candies of some kind.

Last night, Fu and I finished all of the sliced ones and a few that were dried whole.

Today I wanted to make more for Mi so she can taste both when she gets back on Saturday.

I'll update this when they are finally dried (3-4 hrs later) but for now, here they are sorted, peeled and in the oven:



Okay, it took a bit longer, more like 5.5 hours but I think that is because my first batch was already drier and it was a small test batch.

These will last a year or two stored properly.  Ok, here they are!


Friday, January 27, 2012

Why I started this blog...

The idea at the time, was let's go!  Put something out there!  Get going with new technologies in your field!  Talk about yourself as if everyone in the world wants to hear you!  Join the crowd!!

Obviously I did not "go" anywhere with this blog. No one besides my brother has seen this and I'm not sure I WANT anyone to see it.

I am here again because I have the desire to log some work notes somewhere, in a way that is easy to search, has a 'management' scheme of a blog and etc.

There are so many different ways to do these things, ranging from electronic logbooks to project management suites.  I'm not sure how I'll end up doing it or if I'll come back to this blog at all.  If I find something interesting that I think others might want to read, then maybe I'll come back here... later... in another 3.5 years...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

First post...

Intayon is Ilokano for "let's go!"
Ilokano is a Philippine language or dialect that I grew up speaking.