Essays
Yet Again Focusing On The Wrong Thing
The lesson to be learned from the false missile alert in Hawaii is not how someone screwed up, a bad communication plan, nor bad UI design. The lesson that should be learned is that the possibility of a nuclear strick on the United States is much more plausible today that it has since the cold war. We appear to be nearing Cuban Missile Crisis territory with incompetent leadership in the government.
The Continuing Search For The Perfect Todo App
It’s the beginning of the year and therefore the time for my yearly ritual of trying to find a to-do (task management) app that I like and think that I will use. I am again finding myself with Toodledo, mostly because it has more filtering features that other apps and because it has a robust web app. However, Toodledo does not have a robust iOS app.
The Toodledo iOS app does the job but doesn’t have the best UI. However, I have found that 2Do syns with Toodledo so I am giving that a try. At worst I can toggle between the two apps because they sync with the same data.
Unfortunately, 2Do does not sync Toodledo’s statuses, so if I want the same functionality I need to create tags rather that statuses.
Psion Is Trying To Make A Comeback
I am interested to see how well received Psion’s Android clamshell device will be at CES. Psion is a blast from the past, at it’s height it was competing with Palm and Windows CE with its own operating system, and now it will be running Android. If it is priced around $300, I might be interested in buying one.
And it’s British, so there is that.
The Storyline For Today's GLi Championship
Later today Michigan Tech will play Bowling Green in the championship game of the 53rd Great Lakes Invitational hockey tournament. It is the first GLi at the new Little Caesars’s Arena and is hosted by Michigan Tech.
Either of the potential opponents for Tech in the championship presented interesting story lines. Had Michigan won Tech would be facing their former coach, Mel Pearson, who just left his Alma mater to become Michigan’s head coach. Tech’s return to college hockey prominence started when Pearson took the helm.
Pearson’s last game as Tech’s head coach was the 2017 WCHA championship game in which the Huskies beat Bowling Green to take the Broadmore Trophy and the NCAA tourney bid. What better way for the Falcons to gain revenge for that loss than by beating Tech in their tournament in the new arena and carry home the MacInnes Cup, named for legendary Tech coach John MacInnes?
Android On Tablets Is Dead, Long Live Android On Tablets
Google has stopped selling the Pixel C, and there is no replacement Android tablet in the Google Store. Consequently, you will now see articles about the demise of Android on tablets and/or how bad Android has been for tablets.
Forgive Us Our Debts, As We Forgive The Debts Of Others
He died for our debts, not our sins
If we think deeply about the consequences of debt you see meaning. Holding debt over a person is to have power over that person. The person in debt therefore is more or less a slave to the person (or thing) that has power over them. One of the earliest themes of what Jesus did for us was to set us free.
As we in the United Stated look more and more like the Ferengie every day, it may be helpful to replace the word “sin” with “debt” more often.
Setting Up Pi Zero
I got a Raspberry Pi Zero W for Christmas that I am setting up, and so far not having much luck getting the OS to install. I think the file transfer is taking too long. I am regretting following the instructions literally, meaning I installed the Pi Zero in the case and there isn’t an easy way to remove the micro SD card without removing them Zero entirely.
Looks like I will have to remove the Zero and flash the card with a complete build on a PC. I hope that I can get the Zero out of he case without breaking it.
Day One Journal
Day One Journal is now available for Android, and now I have a decision to make. Before Day One changed to a yearly subscription, I had purchased a version and therfore I am grandfathered in a plan that enables me to sync across iOS devices, but that will not support Android. So, is it worth $25 per year to have access to my journal from my Android smartphone?
SSH Apps On iPad
What is the best ssh app to use on an iPad? Right now I use Termius, but it does this thing where it doesn’t scroll properly as the screen fills up so I have to do some dragging around to re-align the display. I also am turned off by the $29/year subscription cost and there are some premium features I wouldn’t mind having. It is, however, the most recently updated app in the store.
WebSSH Pro and Prompt 2 are two other alternatives that appear at the top of a Google search.
Amazon Lockers
I got an email from Amazon telling me that I can use an Amazon Locker to receive items shipped to me. There is a Whole Foods near me that has a locker, so I can select it as a delivery location. How do I use it?
Apparently, when something I ordered is delivered to the locker, I will get an email with a six digit code that I then use at the locker location to retrieve my package. I have three days to pick up the package otherwise it will be returned for refund. Perhaps best of all, lockers can be used as a drop off location for returns.
Given the rise in people having deliveries stolen, I can see these lockers becoming useful for valuable items being shipped for which you may not be hope to sign for.
The NFL Continues To Reward Violent Hits
Despite scientific research and Congressional hearings, the NFL is still not serious about the safety of its players due to concussions. In fact, the current NFL rules rewards teams of players who inflict a concussion.
The latest example occurred during the Packers and Panthers game on December 17. During the game Panther Thomas Davis launched into Davante Adams resulting in Adams being removed for the game due to the obvious helmet-on-helmet hit. A personal foul was called on Davis, but he remained in the game while the Packers lost one of their most important players.
Players who may be concussed must be removed from play until doctors confirm it is ok for him to return. In this case, the right thing happened while that has not always been the case. However, how is it that the player causing the injury, unnecessarily, is still allowed to play?
Treating concussions is important but equally important is preventing concussions from happening in the first place, and that will not happen without immediate and significant enforcement on the field. All direct hits to the head should result in an immediate ejection, and this rule should be enforced not only by on field officials but also by replay. At a minimum the NFL ought to have a booth review, as is the case with the NCAA, but I favor the booth being able to eject such players at any time.
The bottom line is that the current approach of only reviewing and penalizing such plays after the game is over is not sufficient in deterring such hits and violates the spirit of the game. The life time health of the players demands extreme action. If the NFL is unable to police itself then Congress must step in with regulation. Right now it appears profits are outweighing safety.
Tweeking CSS
Ok, after some fiddling I now have the home page rendering as I want it to on tablets. First I experimented with the viewport setting, but that did not fix the problem. Next, I downloaded the CSS and uploaded a copy to my server. Then, I experimented with the @media setting, landing on auto for the left and right margins and max-device-width to 1024px.
Now the home page renders centered on my iPad Mini, Nexus 9 and iPad Pro. It actually renders the best on the Nexus 9.
Not Centered
The next technical issue I want to resolve is the rendering of my main blog in portrait on tablets. As you see, the viewport is shift to the right, making the text not centered. When I rotate the display to landscape then the viewport and text are centered. If anyone has a suggestion to fix please let me know.
What We Need Is Wisdom
“Wisdom comes from dealing rightly with the information, but information has become a consumer item in its own right. We have no place deep inside us to integrate this information and transform it into wisdom. Hence our social system may produce many specialists, but very few wise men and women. And in the end we’re short of knowledge, wisdom, and time.” from “Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go” by Richard Rohr
Patience
“Communism tries to enforce equality, Nazism tries to enforce security and solidarity within a group, fundamentalist religion tries to shame and psychologically coerce people into an “only way.” The biblical God seems to just call us to simplicity and patience, which keeps us outside of every totalitarian big system or overarching explanation.” from “Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go” by Richard Rohr
A Call To Live Differently
“We don’t think our way into a new life; we live our way into a new kind of thinking. The Gospel is before all else a call to live differently, so that life can be shared with others. In other words, the Gospel is ultimately calling us to a stance of simplicity, vulnerability, dialogue, powerlessness, and humility. These are the only virtues that make communion and community and intimacy possible.” from “Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go” by Richard Rohr
I Want A Posting Switchboard
I’ve tried several apps that provide a central location for writing and a way to “broadcast” that writing to different networks, but none provide a simple way to designate per post to which network I want a post sent. Like others I have seen, micro.blog only seems to have a way to send everything I write here to all other designated networks.