Month: August 2010

Sharp Wizard OZ-7000

swanksalot1 Comment
Sharp Wizard OZ-7000
Sharp Wizard OZ-7000, originally uploaded by swanksalot.

Shot with my Hipstamatic for iPhone
Lens: John S
Flash: Off
Film: Pistil

Cleaning up and packing my office prior to a move, discovered this old, old piece of equipment. Not sure why I keep it, but…

From Wikipedia;

The Sharp Wizard is a series of electronic organizers released by Sharp Corporation. The first model was the OZ-7000 released in 1988, making it one of the first electronic organizers to hit the market.
The OZ-7000 was about 6.1 inches (155 mm) tall, 3.5 inches (90 mm) wide closed, 7.25 inches (184 mm) open, and 0.75 inches (19 mm) thick closed, making it much larger than current PDAs. It featured a connection port to attach to a Windows PC or Macintosh, an optional thermal printer and cassette tape backup, 32 kilobytes of memory, a 8 by 16 character black and white LCD, and an expansion slot for accessory cards.

The functionality of the OZ-7000 included a memo pad, a telephone pad, calendar and scheduling with alarms and repeating events, multi-time zone clocks, and a calculator. All the basics found in PDAs since. The keyboard was not QWERTY, although later models changed the orientation of the screen and keyboard to allow that.
The expansion cards were about the same size and shape of PC Cards but predated that standard and were incompatible. The slot was behind touch sensitive plastic allowing for up to twenty “buttons” on the card. The original selection of cards included memory expansion cards, a thesaurus dictionary, and some games.

The model numbers start with either OZ (for the USA, a prefix that’s meant to be a pun on The Wizard of Oz) or ZQ (rest of the world) followed by a number, for instance ZQ-770 is a non-US organizer with 3 MB memory.

The organizer was spoofed in the Seinfeld episode The Wizard when Jerry Seinfeld gave one to his father, Morty, who perceived its only function to be a “tip calculator”. Morty tried to give organizers to board members of his condo association as gifts, because Jerry supposedly had gotten one at a discount price. Jerry can only get them from Bob Sacamano’s father and they turn out to be low quality imitation Wizards, “Willards”, which do not calculate tips correctly.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_Wizard

Never Ending War For What Purpose

Seth Anderson0 comment

Bob Herbert, on the never-ending slog in Afghanistan:

Graceland Cemetery Crematorium

Time described the mental-health issue as “the U.S. Army’s third front,” with the reporter, Mark Thompson, writing: “While its combat troops fight two wars, its mental-health professionals are waging a battle to save soldiers’ sanity when they come back, one that will cost billions long after combat ends in Baghdad and Kabul.”

In addition to the terrible physical toll, the ultimate economic costs of these two wars, as the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and his colleague Linda Bilmes have pointed out, will run to more than $3 trillion.

I get a headache when I hear supporters of this endless warfare complaining about the federal budget deficits. They’re like arsonists complaining about the smell of smoke in the neighborhood.

There is no silver lining to this nearly decade-old war in Afghanistan. Poll after poll has shown that it no longer has the support of most Americans. And yet we fight on, feeding troops into the meat-grinder year after tragic year — to what end?

(click to continue reading Bob Herbert – We Owe the Troops an Exit – NYTimes.com.)

He’s right, what exactly is the end goal in Afghanistan? How many more need to be killed before the nebulous goal is reached? Leave now, and don’t look back.

Try Harder

Quoting an unnamed adviser to the president, Mr. Baker wrote that Mr. Obama sees the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as “problems that need managing” while he pursues his mission of transforming the nation. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking on the record, said, “He’s got a very full plate of very big issues, and I think he does not want to create the impression that he’s so preoccupied with these two wars that he’s not addressing the domestic issues that are uppermost in people’s minds.”

Wars are not problems that need managing, which suggests that they will always be with us. They are catastrophes that need to be brought to an end as quickly as possible. Wars consume lives by the thousands (in Iraq, by the scores of thousands) and sometimes, as in World War II, by the millions. The goal when fighting any war should be peace, not a permanent simmer of nonstop maiming and killing. Wars are meant to be won — if they have to be fought at all — not endlessly looked after.

One of the reasons we’re in this state of nonstop warfare is the fact that so few Americans have had any personal stake in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no draft and no direct financial hardship resulting from the wars. So we keep shipping other people’s children off to combat as if they were some sort of commodity, like coal or wheat, with no real regard for the terrible price so many have to pay, physically and psychologically.

Not only is this tragic, it is profoundly disrespectful. These are real men and women, courageous and mostly uncomplaining human beings, that we are sending into the war zones, and we owe them our most careful attention. Above all, we owe them an end to two wars that have gone on much too long.

Typical really

Seth Anderson0 comment

A microcosm of most of the country, I believe. The GOP has confused rural voters into supporting GOP policies, despite what those policies, if ever enacted, would do to rural areas.

Not Tonight Dear

SACRAMENTO — A new report on who supplies — and who spends — California’s public dollars shows an interesting disparity between the givers and the takers: Counties that provide most of the state’s revenue streams like income and sales taxes reliably elect Democrats, who traditionally want to take more of your money. And counties whose Republican representatives argue most vociferously for social services cuts draw, per capita, the most state aid.

The breakdown, prepared by the Legislative Analyst’s Office for the office of Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, puts another spin on what’s emerged as the central issue in this year’s fight over a $19 billion deficit. It also adds new color to the prevailing portrait of poverty for many Californians — it’s not fundamentally an urban problem.

Instead, experts say, rural residents would be most affected by the drastic cuts being considered to health and human services programs. The report shows the Bay Area’s blue counties are, in many ways, a revenue lifeline for the rural Republican red. “Is there a disconnect here between political sentiments in rural areas and the demand or desire or need for public expenditures? I think there is,” said Al Sokolow, a retired professor at UC Davis. “Leaders in these rural areas, while wanting more from the state, are also less reluctant to give in on the tax front.”

(click to continue reading Report: Bay Area counties give so rural counties can receive – San Jose Mercury News.)

And a few specifics of what the money pays for:

While budget cuts would affect all Californians, experts say the fallout is compounded in rural districts.
Rural residents already struggle with a shortage of doctors who accept MediCal clients. Cuts to in-home care for seniors might force many into nursing homes in bigger cities. And sheriff’s departments, patrolling massive counties, already lack staffing to personally handle every call.

But because some rural counties tend to lean libertarian, or because many of those affected can’t afford the time or money to engage in the political process, that reality isn’t always apparent.

“People don’t understand how much they get for the money they pay. It starts with making communities more aware,” said Connie Stewart, a former mayor of Arcata and the executive director of Humboldt State’s California Center for Rural Policy.

Don’t Steal Mac OS X Extension

Seth Anderson0 comment

As a means of procrastination, I followed these instructions to print out my desktop’s complete configuration, per these instructions:

Basically, it’s a printout of all the information that’s stored in System Profiler. Here’s how to do it. From the Apple Menu, select About this Mac. A new window appears. Click More Info to launch System Profiler. From there, select print and watch as your Mac prepares the System Profiler info for printing.

You’ll notice that it’s taking a long, long time. That’s because there’s a huge amount of information being compiled. Aside from the basics that we addressed last time, it’s grabbing every error log entry, vitals on every app you’ve got installed, network information and a whole heck of a lot more. When I ran this report the resulting document was 2.7MB and 500 pages!

(click to continue reading Mac 101: Comprehensive Mac system information.)

Mac OS 9 box

The resulting file was 830 pages, 4.2 MB large. Every application, every system extension, every font, every network configuration, every peripheral attached, etc. An extension called “Don’t Steal Mac OS X” amused me: wonder how it is ever triggered? I’ve never noticed it before1

 

Dont Steal Mac OS X:

Version: 7.0.0

Last Modified: 8/1/09 12:55 AM

Get Info String: Copyright © 2006,2009 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.

The purpose of this Apple software is to protect Apple copyrighted materials from unauthorized copying and use. You may not copy, modify, reverse engineer, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, transfer or redistribute this file, in whole or in part. If you have obtained a copy of this Apple software and do not have a valid license from Apple to use it, please immediately destroy or delete it from your computer.

Kind: Intel

Architectures: i386, x86_64

64-Bit (Intel): Yes

Location: /System/Library/Extensions/Dont Steal Mac OS X.kext

Kext Version: 7.0.0

Load Address: 0x87a73000

Valid: Yes

Authentic: Yes

Dependencies: Satisfied

Footnotes:
  1. but then I pay my Apple tax whenever due, and happily, since sticking with Apple products through all these years has helped me to be in the position I’m currently enjoying [↩]

Day 5

Seth Anderson0 comment

Today is Day Five of my annual detox1 — the goal is to totally eschew alcohol, all grains with the exception of brown rice, breads, pastas, sugars, dairy, and even legumes. Mostly subsist upon fruit, vegetables and eggs. And lots and lots of black coffee. I’m also taking a sauna every day for about 30 minutes, and trying to get more than 6 hours of sleep. I’ve been too busy this week2 to really exercise, hopefully by next week I’ll be able to get in 30 minutes of cardio or more a day.

Still life with coconut

There are herbal supplements that are part of the detox, these I’m less convinced are effective, but they don’t hurt, and actually quiet my stomach’s rumbling on occasion.

My typical diet consists largely of fruits and vegetables already, but with the addition of lots of bread, cheese, and noodles. And booze, of course, which if I’m honest with myself, is probably the biggest factor in my expanding waistline. I estimate my booze belly consists of 25% beer, 40% wine, 20% whisky and whiskey,3 13% gin or tequila and 2% other. For me to become a teetotaler would be quite difficult, even with my compromised liver. So I take a few weeks every year to clean my cells out. Sort of like Lent, but without the ridiculous religious aspects.

Brauerei Weihenstephan Original

Speaking of moving, I think our haggling over the detailed conditions of our lease will be finalized today, and we will be able to start packing this weekend in anticipation of a move-in date in the middle of next month. Moving is a stress, but also exciting – everything is still possible, even where our rooms will be located. We’ll have slightly more space than we have currently, and in a building that isn’t falling down around our ears. We haven’t totally finalized our plans with this place, either we rent it out and let it pay for itself, or put it on the (admittedly soft) market to sell. Or both. Either will require we make dozens of cosmetic repairs, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, painting, yadda yadda. While we are doing these chores4, might still use this space as an office. We are lucky that the place was purchased before the massive real estate inflation, so covering the cost of the mortgage doesn’t seem unreasonable. Renting a different place is a lot easier than getting a new mortgage, especially since the banks are less likely to allow self-reported income. Small businesses often get the shaft despite the number of times politicians mouth support for them.

Wow, a confessional blog post! So unusual – I usually prefer to keep my emotional and personal life in the margins, but here we are. Wish us luck!

Footnotes:
  1. for lack of a better word [↩]
  2. lawsuits filed against us have convinced us to move, so we’ve been house/apartment hunting [↩]
  3. i.e., Scotch, Irish, bourbon [↩]
  4. well, supervising someone more competent to do them [↩]

Courgetts (or Courgettes)

swanksalot0 comment
Courgetts (or Courgettes)
Courgetts (or Courgettes), originally uploaded by swanksalot.

There isn’t much of a language barrier in the UK for an American visitor, but this word baffled me in a few restaurants before stumbling upon this farmers market. Ahh, zucchini.

From Wikipedia:

Zucchini, like all summer squash, has its ancestry in the Americas. However, the varieties of squash typically called “zucchini” were indeed developed in Italy, many generations after their introduction from the “New World”.

In all probability, this occurred in the very late 19th century, probably near Milan; early varieties usually included the names of nearby cities in their names. The alternate name courgette is from the French word for the vegetable, with the same spelling, and is commonly used in France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It is a diminutive of courge, French for squash. “Zucca” is the Italian word for squash and “zucchina” is its diminutive, becoming “zucchine” in the plural. However, “zucchino”, the masculine form, becoming “zucchini” in the plural, is just as commonly used and is prevalent in Tuscany. Italian dictionaries such as “lo Zingarelli 1995, Zanichelli editor”, give both forms. “Zucchini” is used in Italy , and in Australia, Canada and the United States. ‘Zucchini’ is plural in Italian whereas in English it is singular. The first records of zucchini in the United States date to the early 1920s. It was almost certainly brought over by Italian immigrants and probably was first cultivated in the United States in California.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zucchini

I didn’t even notice it was misspelled on the sign until Frank1 pointed it out…

Footnotes:
  1. aka The Irish Samurai [↩]

The County Hall, London – TRI-X 400

swanksalot0 comment

post processed in Photoshop, of course.

Bigger in Lightbox

I’m slowly chugging through all of my photos from London, have three more days of images to sort through.

If you are curious as to what I’ve found of interest so far, there is a Flickr set called London which has a slideshow option. Give it a second to load. There are controls for the slideshow if you hover your mouse in the upper right corner. I’ll be adding more as I can, but there are enough uploaded to while away a few minutes dreaming of travel…

Sex, Drugs and Bill Clinton

Seth Anderson0 comment

Sounds like the perfect task for former President Clinton: he seems to genuinely love campaigning, kissing babies and shaking hands. The Democratic Party would be foolish not to give Clinton free reign to create a Never-Ending, Traveling  Campaign Circus. Give him a bio-fuel bus like Willie Nelson, and send him around the nation…

V O T E

[Bill] Clinton is getting credit for helping to resurrect the candidacy of Congressman Kendrick Meek, who gave up his safe seat to bid for the Democratic Senate nod. Meek was the presumed nominee for months, but then he got hit with a free-spending challenge from real-estate billionaire Jeff Greene, who made his money by buying credit default swaps that rose in value when subprime borrowers defaulted on their home loans. The “meltdown mogul”—as Meek dubbed him—pumped roughly $25 million into television and radio ads and mailings to likely primary voters. Not surprisingly, he surged in the polls.

Greene’s spending overwhelmed Meek and it appeared that another wealthy newcomer—like California Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, California Republican Senate nominee Carly Fiorina and Connecticut Republican Senate nominee Linda McMahon—might beat a buy a nomination that had been expected to go to a candidate with more experience but less money.

When Meek was at his weakest point, however, Clinton stepped in to campaign for the congressman, stumping in a state where the former president remains extremely popular with Democratic voters.

Then came a series of revelations about wild parties on Greene’s former home in Los Angeles—complete with appearances by boxer Mike Tyson and Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss—and intoxicated romps aboard the billionaire’s private yacht.

The combination of Clinton’s campaigning—the ex-president attended five fundraisers for the congressman, sent two fundraising e-mails on his behalf, and then appeared at rallies in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties—and the sin-at-sea stories swirling around Greene shifted the dynamic of the race at the close.

 

(click to continue reading Sex, Drugs and Bill Clinton: Florida’s Ugly Senate Primary | The Nation.)

Clinton was never my favorite Democrat, but nobody can deny he is good ((usually) at campaigning.