celebrating Ishtar

Celebrating Ishtar the goddess of sex and fertility is the actual Pagan version of Easter.. Thats why the bunnies and the eggs. Why do people confuse it with the resurrection. I can see if we were celebrating the insurrection. I like to think of thi day as celebrating sex drugs and rock and roll.

March has been a wonder. Lots of snow some cold weather and of course some nice warm spring days. Tomorrow is April 1. The fools day.. I spent this weekend setting up the yard for spring planting and brought old MAx out of hibernation for the spring travels.  All in all its been a good weekend.
Here is a pic of the kids easter bins I created this morning . It doesnt matter that they are 13, 17 and 20 I am still expected to play Ishtar bunny.

techie and sci fi Sunday

 I finished reading turing and burroughs book by rudy rucker.. def beat influence throughout , alot of techie with a tad of monkey wrench thrown in.. Def a good well paced read that will hold the interest of the young and old alike.. The cameos of Neal Cassady and Ginsberg were very well placed.

I also must suggest that the ipad is a wonderful tool for all-purpose viewing, reading and surfing the web. While it is not of the caliber of the nexus or the smaller droid in its compatibility to open software it is by far the simplest most efficient tool for the market.

The reading of ebooks, the watching of mp4 films, the surfing of the web is all made easy on thei little device. I remember the old days when I had to carry many books and documents with me and it was cumbersome. However with the ipad and tablets available the load is definitely lighter. And after the useage the files can be easily stored for future enjoyment on my NAS rather than taking up room on my shelves, in boxes or in assorted closets. Evenually I would like to turn my NAS into a resource that my children  and close associates can access from anywhere . A sort of my own private cloud.

 

 

9 inches and melting

It was very unusual snow yesterday. All told we got about 9 inches at the homestead. Very dry fluffy snow. So dry that when the plow came thru the street was clean.. No ice. Very unusual. I will be going out later to do my part and shovel the sidewalks.. right into the beds.

Twas a relaxing day yesterday. I watched some youtube videos on pipe smoking and gardening. I cant believe that young people are calling pipe smoking a hobby.. To old Trash its a way of life. I got my first corn cob at 15, my first briar at 18 or so and my first Calabash when I was like 22 or 23. That old girl made it thru 6 or 7 kids and finally got broke beyond repair sometime after I turned 45. I have used my pipes to smoke luxury blend tobaccos, cheap ass crap, Prince Albert, and yes I even put a screen in one for smoking MJ. smoking MJ in a corncob is a lifes luxury item.

Why did I start smoking pipes? To me it was like carrying on family tradition. My dad smoked cigarettes. About 2 packs a day. My mom smoked to , and so did gramma. SO I guess it was a given that around age 11  I would also. At the time there were none of these bullshit laws in place. I went to the liquor store and bought a pack of camel non-filters, what dad smoked. You would tell the clerk you were buying them for your parents.. You could do this a cuppla times a week. Or you could risk grabbing a pack of dads out of the carton in the fridge. I always preferred option 1. And at 35 to 60 cents a pack it was cheap.

When I got into middle school  I found my first corncob in a basket on the counter of the local liquor store. Twas 75 cents for a Missouri Meerschaum and occasionally you could get it free with some Prince Albert or Captain Black tobaccos. I treasured that thing and I still have a preference for corn cobs. It was a cool smoke and was thoroughly enjoyable as an alternative to cigarettes.

Around age 16-17, a few years after dad died we were now able to smoke freely on campus.. We had an area in the main quad reserved for smoking. And it ws put to good use. ON a school trip up in Yosemite one of my friends brought his briar pipe and a bag full of good pipe tobacco. After smoking it a cuppla times during that trip I was hooked. When we returned I went to the Tinder Box and bought myself one. About 5 bucks.  It was my new pride and joy . I enjoyed it for years. Cigarettes, Cigars, and pipes are as much a way of life for some as ipods, cell phones and laptops are for others.

Smoking is not just a hobby its a way of life for some of us.

morning snow

Well the snow started coming down late yesterday afternoon but I went tot he store for coffee, junque foods etc whilst enjoying the early evening snow. I fell asleep early and woke up this morning to have my coffee, toast and butter, and a smoke. NOthing is finer.

Junior is happy with his new franken machine I built for him to work on his dubstep mixing. He has found a calling. Not too shabby.He has already posted one on youtube.

Anyhow I am on my third cup  of coffee and am contemplating a trek out in the snow since the Mrs needs creamer (powdered not good enough for her). But I am the providor.

Friday morning

Another week coming to an end and another round of snow is on its way.. March truly has been a snowy month..

Anyhow the 13 yr old is now getting into creating dubstep samplers and old dad is working on building him a machine for that since the Mac does not run the software he wants to use. Though Garage Band is good for beginners he prefers to try FL Studio. Alas  who am I to squash his endeavors. SO dad is building him a win 7 box for this endeavor.

Next Wednesday I will be going out to the other side of town to install the machine for the client that we configured a few weeks ago. The machine was delivered  a few weeks ago but the internet modem was just delivered yesterday. I love speediness. haha

If i was not so interested in getting free donuts at the lab I prob would consider taking a day off. But no I need my time at the lab. Besides that  there is a super drive there I need for my weekend "research".. COntemplating watching the British version of Shameless to see how well or unwell Showtime bastardized the show.

middle of the week

I have spent the last 2 days in a quagmire. Following the debacle of last Friday I am now being asked if I have any feedback. Do I be honest? Do I just let it go? Dont know.

I much prefer my work in the labs than having to deal with people? Machines are straight forward and logical. People are not? When having to deal with people I prefer to deal with them on a straight forward and logical level. Most people cannot handle this and they resort to wishy washy superflous drone mentality in their responses. But alas that is what society wants. Unfortuantely that gene was left out of my biology.

My work at the lab only provides the means to continue my work here,To explore, experiment, create, and to eventually provide a legacy on the web for my children and others who come later who may want to know about old Trash and how he sees his place in society.

Monday morning blahs

After a somewhat productive weekend around the homestead I am not really ready to go back to the lab. However I do enjoy the fact that after this week the kids will be off for spring break which culminates with Easter Sunday in two weeks. This means the official start of garden season and the spring projects.

Always in the hunt for bargains, Mrs T found a yard sale yesterday afternoon and purchased an oscillating fan for 2 bucks and got some free fabric. I saw several boxes of free stuff but had to hold back as I really dont want more clutter  to have to arrange. SO I let them wait for someone else to claim.

Walked over to Kingies yesterday to pay the public service bill and pick up some lettuce, ramen cup o soups, and grated cheese. While there I helped myself to some samples of real Irish butter on crackers, Irish cheddar cheese balls and some potato bread. The Irish butter is a def gourmet item I might have to spend some money on in the future.. Good stuff.

Ended the day with some leftover pizza that daughter brought home and some chips before settling in with a chapter of the currently reading  ebook before bed. Got me thinking about the idea of shapeshifting skugs and their potentials.

hmmmm.
 update: this is the beginning of week 3 with Spock. Having him sitting on the desk is forcing me to use him and become more of a Linux adventist . Something I should have done years ago.

the oldest video on PIrate Bay

Its also free to watch on you tube.. Enjoy

Sunday morning

I spent the morning tweaking Spock to work more like I do. Adding graphics, the ability to watch videos no matter what format, adding Audacity capability for recording, etc. It is a slow process because I am out of practice on my unix skills but it is coming along. I also found that I am not the only one who likes the work of harvey pekar as well as R Crumb. While they are not the popular super-heroes of comix that everyone knows they are 2 of my favorites. They are now available in CBR format so I can devour them on the ipad now also.

Anyhow this morning I also planted some taters, sweet peas, radishes and turnips to get the season started. I do hope it is not too early but as I said this is my laboratory and I can try anything. I would share pics but pics of pots with seeds are not very exciting. Just know that I kept my Paddys day tradition by starting the sweet peas.

Saturday evening

Gathered my jar of stored seeds from last fall and picked out some French Breakfast radishes, sweet peas and a few other cool crops to get things going. I put up some pots and hanging basket onto the porch and added some fresh compost soil to them in preparation for some early spring gardening.

This evening I was enjoying a smoke and a few e-pages of the book I am reading on the iPad. I am reading Rudy Ruckers latest Turing and Burroughs a beat sci-fi novel.. I started it at the beginning of the week and I am entrenched in it. His writing is wonderful Uber geek and Beat.

Tonight we read..

Tomorrow we plant a few.

saturday morning

I spent the day yesterday at a workshop on creating a more effective environment at the lab. What a waste of time. Sitting in a room for almost 6 hours preaching to the choir when the people who needed to hear this were not even there. But alas at least  they got it right food wise.

Unlimited urns of free Starbucks coffee. Breakfast was mounds of scrambled eggs with peppers and onions, steak fries (nice and greasy), lots of bacon and sausage links, toast, oj and various pastries.. The way to a geeks heart and arteries.

For lunch we had more gluttony. Pulled Pork BBQ meat, buttery rolls, BBQ chicken breast, potato salads, coleslaws, fresh fruit trays and massive platters of Peach Cobbler goop. Washed down with sweet tea or water.  Geek heaven.

As for the seminar nothing substantive was determined bt our hunger cravings were met. As we left in the afternoon, while the others were going to start Happy Hour early, I went over to the tobacconist and splurged on an Arturo Fuente cigar ($7) and enjoyed a half hour annoying people on the 16th street mall with my cigar smoke imbibement while texting on the ipad with my future SIL while enjoying the warm weather outside. Using the malls free wifi of course. 

On the homefront sometime this weekend I will be planting some sweet peas as is the custom. Sweet peas in the ground for St Paddys day. It may be a little early but alas. The homestead  is a lab in which we can experiment with all forms of things. Without the lab life is boring.

podcast for everything

I was scouring the websites I list on the left the other day and realized that I have been missing out. Pipes Magazine has a podcast. Yes they do. Apparently they rolled it out quite a few months ago and this is the first I am seeing it.
Each week they talk about pipes, tobacco music and other things. While I have only listened to a sampling thus far. I am likeing what I hear

Speaking of hearing things NPR released for free download the SXSW 100 top songs from this years SXSW, a gathering for geeks.. I have to admit they werent all in my realm of taste but they are  free. And that is a good price.

Met the Mrs over at Walmart last night for some midweek shopping and we went over to McD's for an early supper. It is nice to be able to have some time away from the teens now and then..  It gives us a chance to be adults. Not just parents. I think we all need that every once in awhile.

mid week meander

As you can see we got a bit of snow on Saturday and then again on Monday evening. Making Tuesday a challenge to commute to the lab. Luckily I let public transportation do the driving for me.

It warmed up yesterday in time to make it possible to see the new client and his wares. I was able to set up his basic infrastructure, network, secure wireless and a secure backup storage system . Phase 1 complete. We then went by Popeyes for chicken and beans/rice which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Another one of my joys in life is this tv show which I can enjoy on the run.. Can you name the show?

Sunday evening

I got indpired today by this website . It is a DIYer named Paul Elkins out of Seattle Washington. There is alot if wonderful and inspiring information to be had here. A pure source of information and an inspiration.
I found it purely by accident while scouring You Tube videos and seeing this.




enjoy

winter compost

I did a video this morning after the snow. Enjoy

snowing in Denver

The snow has finally showed its face here at the stead. I am so glad I went to the store last evening. But it was so warm even with the snow coming down I ventured to the market to get some bread  crackers, aged all natural cheddar, and some hot chocolate. I came back and went to work.
Spoke with my future SIL about some of his e-projects and suggested he go visit the new makerspace in Reno/Sparks near where they live. He reminds me a lot of me when I was young.. Maybe that is why my daughter likes him. I hope it all works out because he could join us and he could be a part of the new venture TechCommando.. Teaching people how to regain control of their tech, rather than contiuning to be a slave to it. Hope he will.
I am now on day 5 of running Spock and he is being very cooperative for an old machine with new life. Ubuntu 12.10 is a lifesend for this old Dell XPSM140.. 2gb of ram and a recycled 80gb ide hard drive. The wireless connection is an older g but it moves nicely even on the slower speeds.
I have also been playing with Tails by TOR running off of a 2 partition 16gb flash drive. Its a nice setup for someone whose HD has crashed and still needs an active machine. Same with the UBUNTU 12.1 on a bootable flash drive ..
I am working on some projects whereby I can pick up another Motorola Droid so I can create some simple how to videos and also to start adding more content on self-reliance on the DrMACStudios youtube channel. We shall see.

Friday morning

Well i went to the client last night and my oh my what a mess. The Apple 'geniuses' really got this guy all messed up. It did not take long to get him straightened out and put on a better path. There will be alot of work to but the tech commando (My new biz monicker) can handle it. Next appointment next week. I am going to correctly set up his backup system, move his important data to a secure NAS and begin the work the TC does best.
Beforehand went to my buddies house and had a nice cold rum and guava juice (fresh juiced) and roamed around his lair which eventually we are going to re-network.
 Anyhow it is Friday morning and I woke early so i went for a stroll over to WallieWorld and picked up a can of coffee and a pair of camo moccasins on sale for $5.. Good way to statrt the morning and now I am off to the lab.
Snow is expected tomorrow so I will be able to catch up on some research and development.

mid-week madness

After almost a year after implementation I am starting to find problems that I never thought of. When the developers built the production image for WIndows 7 64 bit did they ever think about  as before they integrated the 32 bit version on Office 2010 into the image. Mixing 32 bit apps with 64 bit os causes problems. I now have to solve them.. Stupid is as stupid does.
The other night a client asked me to set up a wireless network for their new computer. As I had not seen a router on the premises I priced some possibilities. When I got to the client I realized that they had a router and  interstingly I had used their connect beforehand on several occasioons since it was close to home and it had no security.. whoopsie. I set the security on it and wiped the logs. good day.
At least now I know where the signal came from.. And I still have the new password to the connection...
This evening I am meeting a new client who we are proposing a wirelss setup in an art gallery. fun fun. Should be a nice evening after a day at the lab.

mid-week meander

In the outside world the dnaa is in force as is the 6 strykes laws.On top of that the economy is on the down as the drones are high. The pro and anti gun advocates are out in force. Double whirly birds flying over DT most of the day.
Meanwhile anonymus is releaseing videos and wikileaks is releasing docs.. My oh my the people are getting angry. Just like Bama wants .. Martial law is coming. Big brutha is watching.. the SHTF.
Meanwhile at the stead me and the mrs went out for a walk last evening and had dinner, went grocery shopping and had a nice evening. Did not get back til almost 10 pm.. Slept in until 5am this morning.
IN the lab i fixed a power supply for one. Set up a wireless net for another and consulting on another project tomorrow.. Keep the side work coming.. Trash needs the resources.
Also spoke with a colleague yesterday on supplementing my plants with starts that she has started as well as rabbit poop compost for the beds.. The barter system works nicely if allowed..
Anyhow have a good day and I will continue to post from on Spock from Vulcan as much as and as long as possible. Fr those readers who dont get the analogy ttfb.

day 2

This is now day 2 of posting again on this new frankenputer. So far it is working well. I was able to download a cuppla plug-ins and input a sudo cmd to be able to watch dvds and burn dvds. Now there is an accomplishment. Remembering old unix commands that I havent used in years. I am beginning to get back to my old days of sitting around the lab writing code, reading the tech rags and getting motivated again. Realizing that I am not that old yet. Unix has come a long way since the old days. Spock likes it.

Working with a couple of outside and sideline clients this week for some extra revenue. We shall see. Hoping to officially launch a new project soon. Will keep all updated as this progresses.

What is in my bag

Being a geek means I carry or did carry lots of stuff with me as I never know what I am going to need. I am now down to one light briefcase. I used to carry a big backpack stuffed with assorted cables, external hard drives, flash drives, a 15 inch pc laptop, an ipod, an ipad  a droid and a few pairs of headphones. Over time I have minimized down to the briefcase with an ipad, mac book air, 2 pairs of headphones and a cuppla flash drives. One of those drives, a 16gb contains a bootable linux distro with separate partition for storage that I created, It is fully encrypted and can easily be erased if needed. This helps when I need to do tech work on clients machines that used to require me to carry a laptop to troubleshoot with. No longer. Amen. Technology has moved to the point that my daily gear gets lighter and lighter evn though my technical work continues to get more complex. Gotta love it.
I still carry a second bag with me on my daily commute to the lab but that has my paper reading material and assorted lunches and snacks, a small toolkit and a mag light for when I need it.
The second flash drive in my bag contains a test version of a public OS called Ubuntu which I am finding useful for on the go work when I want to use a clients machine but want my docs and settings already there when i boot into  it. I love this capability.

March musing

Have been spending lots of time getting caught up on my leisure reading and tv watching lately. Bad habits to get into I know but there have been some good shows on lately and definitely some good books to read.
Duck Dynasty, Anger Management, Shameless and others on cable and availalbe on ipad are wonderful. There are even some good shows on commercial tv. All of which I have been perusing for view.
For those a little bit more tech savvy there is also a Crackle App availalble on all platforms that gives you access to tons of free movies and tv shows from a bygone generation.. All in the family, Good Times, Sanford and Son etc as well as a slew of great movies and original series. All free and all streaming on the ipad.. Wonderful stuff.
As for the outdoors, the seed stores are starting to bring forth there wares for the spring. I am slowly perusing and picking out what I want to attempt this season. This weekend I started some green onions from recycle and had to bring them in this morning as it is supposed to flurry later in the day. But go back inot the 60s for the week. Good start.
MOre updates later. I am hoping to get back into serious blogging now that the winter curmudgeon is waking up.. We shall see.