Today is my two year micro.blog anniversary.
Is the economy really better than it was in 2016?
Scriptures do not offer rational certitude
They offer us something much better, an entirely different way of knowing: an intimate relationship, a dark journey, a path where we must discover for ourselves that grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness are absolutely necessary for survival in an uncertain world. You only need enough clarity to know how to live without certitude! Yes, we really are saved by faith. People who live in this way never stop growing, are not easily defeated, are wise and compassionate, and frankly, are fun to live with. They have a quiet and confident joy. Infantile religion insists on certainty every step of the way and thus is not very happy.
I wish that micro.blog could put “Edit This Post” link at the bottom of posts so that when I view my blog and see an error I could simply click it to go directly to the editor rather than having to first open the micro.blog site. @manton
I am thinking about what are the best ways to manage a library of PDFs. I found a site that has several PDFS of programming notes that I have downloaded to a folder in Google Drive using my Chromebook.
A nice thing about Chrome OS is that it enables to to work with folders in Google Drive as if they are locally on your computer. By default PDFs open in a Chrome tab and you can create a bookmark but the URL is unique to Chrome OS and will not work on other platforms, so I created a “From Pixelbook” folder in Chrome bookmarks and put these bookmark there.
The lines of code that changed everything.
To shed light on the software that has tilted the world on its axis, the editors polled computer scientists, software developers, historians, policymakers, and journalists. They were asked to pick: Which pieces of code had a huge influence? Which ones warped our lives?
I finding the history of computing fascinating, mostly because it coincides with my lifetime.
To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything.
Concern rises in Pentagon over Trump’s decision making - CNNPolitics
I am guessing that the President who thinks he can’t commit a crime thinks people in the military can’t commit a crime.
Looks like I might be able to set up the Raspberry Pi Zero W to connect to a PC in a similar manner. as described in the iPad Pro/Raspberry Pi 4 articles below. I might have found myself a holiday project.
My computing muse, Jerry Pournelle, is credited for Pournelle’s law: “One user, one CPU” or “One user, at least one CPU.” The law is a statement about personal computers and the computers of the 60’s and 70’s that were time shared amongst multiple users.
Pournelle’s first law somewhat describes my interest in the Raspberry Pi. The Pi, along with most “Internet of Things” is a variation of Pournelle’s law to wit: “One application one CPU.”
While listening to the latest MobileViews Podcast I heard Jon Westfall describe using the Raspberry Pi 4 as an accessory to an iPad Pro. The key component of the solution is the USB-C ports on the iPad Pro and the Raspberry Pi 4 because they are used to power the Raspberry Pi and provide network communication between the iPad and the Raspberry Pi. I am surprised that the iPad’s USB-C power output meets the Pi 4’s higher power input requirements, however I learned that the latest firmware upgrade for the Pi 4 includes a low power option along with Ethernet over USB, which are key for this working.
I found a YouTube video that shows the configuration and a link to a web page that provides more details about the configuration.
I’ve been using a Raspberry Pi Zero W in a similar manner except that I power it using USB battery and access it via WiFi when the Pi Zero is configured as a wireless access point. The result provides me access to Linux terminal apps but does not provide simultaneous access to the Internet.
I like the idea of using the Raspberry Pi 4 as described, but in my case I would need to buy a new iPad Pro with the USB-C port. Capabilities such of this do make the idea of upgrading to the latest iPad Pros more compelling.
Previously I wrote that I have my Raspberry Pi4 in a Flirc case to provide passive cooling. Jeff Geerling has a great blog post that shows how the cooling provided by the case compares to other cooling methods.
GoKEY FOLD – Foldable Keyboard With Touchpad For Phone And Tablet – GoKey Fold
Back in the day, the Stowaway folding keyboard was a thing, so I am intrigued by this keyboard.
A New Slice Of Raspberry Pi
I bought the Raspberry Pi4 this past week and I’ve installed it in a Flirc Raspberry Pi4 case. Beside the fact that the Flirc case looks really nice, the case provides passive cooling of the CPU. Reviews of the Pi4 when it first released indicated it ran hot enough under load to hit the 82’C threshold that causes the CPU speed to throttle down. The Raspberry Pi Foundation as released a firmware update that improves cooling and so far with the firmware and the Flirc case the top temp I’ve seen is 44’C.
The reason why the Raspberry Pi4 runs hotter is that it has a faster ARM Cortex-A72 CPU processor, as much as 4 GB of RAM, and a USB-C power supply. I am using daenerys (my name for this computer) to type this post and I am finding it surprisingly useful for web applications. Gmail, with its heavy use of Javascript is unbearable in older models, but is actually usable on the Pi4.
For a little under $100, the Pi4 is defintely worth being a child’s first computer. I think it can also be a very servicable Linux server, running Raspbian Buster Lite, a variant of Debian Buster, for home projects.
Right now I don’t any plans for daenerys but I’ll be keeping my eyes open for any opportunities. Daenerys is my fifth Raspberry Pi. The first model I bought was the Pi2, which I have connected to a seven inch screen and serves a desk clock that shows my schedule, CNN newsfeed, current weather, and four day weather forcase. I have a Pi3 running Tiddlyserver that I am using to for a family wiki, and another running Taiga, which is a project management app. I also have a Pi Zero W that use to host a portable copy of the family wiki.
Signed up as a tester for Gluon, which is a micro.blog app for Android, and installed on my Pixel 2. I was hoping it would provide the ability to post pictures, but it does not have it yet.
A movie was filmed in the town I grew up in, which is a first for me seeing places I know and been to in a movie. You can watch the trailer for Up There on Amazon.
Smashburger has brought back the turkey burger!
“In the 1700s, philosophers like John Locke argued that public life and politics should be separated from gratitude. Civic relations should be based on rules and laws—not gifts, favors, or quid pro quo—with the participation and consent of the governed. Private life, philosophers suggested, could still be ordered by gifts and gratitude in the more limited arenas of families and friends. Thus, constitutions eventually replaced kingly rulers, and laws distributed political benefits through the will of the people.” (emphasis mine)
— Grateful: The Subversive Practice of Giving Thanks by Diana Butler Bass a.co/dr6P4Iy
“The emperor or king gave his subjects the “gifts” of protection and provision. In return, subjects offered loyalty, homage, service, tithes, and taxes. If you failed to return the ruler’s favor—such as not paying a tribute or refusing to send your son to serve in the army—you were branded an “ingrate.” Ingratitude was disloyalty and sometimes treason, crimes punishable by denial of favor, reduction in rank, seizure of property, enslavement, prison, exile, or death.”
— Grateful: The Subversive Practice of Giving Thanks by Diana Butler Bass a.co/6uSppRO
American Idol
President Trump simply believes that he as president cannot commit a crime. He believes that a president is above the law. Trump’s belief is the logical conclusion of decades of expansion of presidential powers that started with Vietnam.
How far have we fallen? At the beginning of my life President Nixon resigned before he was impeached because he broke the law. Nixon knew he would be impeached because he knew and accepted that Americans did not believe a President was above the law. We now have President Trump who believes that more Americans now accept that a President is above the law and believes that Americans today find loyalty to him and loyalty to party more important than loyalty to the Republic.
All presidents in my life time have desired more power. The real problem has been Congress' abdication of it’s prime constitutional responsibility to be a check on the presidency. At root of this abdication is the transformation of Congress as representative of all U.S. citizens to only representative of the majority party. Rather than upholding and defending the U.S. Constitution, Congress has become all about enabling and implementing a Republican or Democrat ideology.
What I find ironic is that I think the core belief of conservatism is that “abosolute power corrupts absolutely” and yet Republican conservatives have been the prime architects of the expansion of powers to the president. Conservatives should be truly republican but do not act like it, but rather tend to act more as anarchists.
Worst of all is that too many U.S. citizens do not care that this is happening! Too many people do not know the Constitution nor appreciate the fundamental reasons for why the U.S. form of republican democracy was designed and adopted. These people pledge allegiance to a flag as if the flag is the thing rather than a symbol of the real thing, our way of life enabled by the Constitution.
What has been taking place over the course of my life time is the ascendency of a U.S. monarchy or dictatorship under the veneer of the Presidency. If you are truly a U.S. patriot your loyalty should be to the “Republic for which it stands”, which means the Constitution that defines the republic.