Geek

When we moved from Upstate New York to Chicago in 2017 I donated much of my school clock collection to family and the local Historical Society. The Historical Society is located in one of the old elementary schools in my home school district and they’ve installed the clocks but they’re not running yet. The next time I’m back east I’ll get them running. Apparently several visitors to the building have commented about the old clocks.

I had a few clocks that made the move from storage in Chicago to our home here in Tucson. Running wire throughout this house is not an option, as we have no attic or basement. However, there are a couple of places when I can pull wire without too much destruction so maybe I’ll get one or two going.

When the clocks were in the old house they were initially run by a master clock (the type of which would be found in an office of a school or commercial building) from 1957. That clock gave up the ghost and parts were hard to come by, so I ended up writing some software to run on a 1996 era IBM PC (Pentium III) that ran the clocks for about eight years. A terrible energy hog, I was determined that if I ever had the opportunity to get the clocks running again, I’d do it with 21st century technology.

Today I started up one clock with a Raspberry Pi 3 and relay board. Less than 100 lines of code and this 1939 Standard Electric Time slave clock is running flawlessly and synced to the Atomic Clock in Boulder, Colorado courtesy of a WiFi Internet Connection.

To give you a sense of the size of the computer running this clock, here it is, in a temporary box, next to a standard pair of scissors.

By the way, the clock in question is originally from Cassadaga Valley Central School in Sinclairville, New York. They were doing some major renovations in the school in the early 2000s and replaced the clock system. I had been in the school a couple of times in the 1980s and knew they had the same type of clock system I collected. They were happy to let me have one or two clocks for my collection, as they were just getting thrown away.

Perhaps they needed a little Raspberry Pi that fits inside a small box to get things going again.

Yesterday Apple announced they would be delaying the release of their new “CSAM scanning” software originally slated for upcoming iOS15. For those unfamiliar, CSAM is short for Child Sexual Abuse Material, and the majority of the cloud providers (Google, Dropbox, Microsoft, and Apple) scan photos uploaded to their servers for this type of thing. This is a good thing. Getting the trafficking of CSAM under control is very important and actually a no-brainer. No one wants to see children abused in any way, including this way.

Apple’s intended release was to scan devices BEFORE the image made it to their servers. So, if you used iCloud to store your photos, Apple’s new software would scan the image before it made its way to the cloud, using the horsepower of your device, and on your actual device. The scanning is done based on hashes and these hashes are compared to a third party list of offending hashes. A hash is basically a binary/numeric representation of an image, not the actual image. So, if Apple found a photo’s hash that matched a listed hash, there could be trouble. The system is not 100%, but Apple assured folks there was a one in a million chance of a false positive.

Many security professionals much smarter than me, and security minded folks like me, obviously want to end the exchange of CSAM. CSAM is bad. But essentially building software that is a back door into anyone’s device to scan all cloud-bound images for this material is really bad. Apple promised this scanning would be used for this purpose and this purpose only, but once a back door is created, it can be exploited. It can be abused. Not to mention bad actors putting non-CSAM images on the hit list, for example LGBTQ+ themed images identified in a country that doesn’t like that sort of thing.

Apple has ramped back the release to re-evaluate based on customer feedback, consumer group concerns, etc.

It’s still not a good idea. If the images are on a cloud server, have at it. But scanning images directly on a device, which is essentially the same as inviting Apple to come into your house every night and rifle through your cabinets, wallets, etc., is a very bad idea. No one would allow this in the real world. We shouldn’t give up our digital privacy so easily.

It’s a two selfie day! 15 years or so ago I went back to school to become a Civil Engineer, with a focus on traffic management. That dream didn’t come to fruition in the way of a career, but from time to time I dabble with designs based on what I learned in college.

Sometimes a dork just wants to have fun.

Apparently there’s a large community of folks that collect washers and dryers. While down a YouTube rabbit hole I saw a video of this washing machine in action, which is nearly identical to the washer we had starting in 1980 or 1981 after the old Westinghouse had flooded over one too many times.

As a kid I was always fascinated with washing machines, in the home and in laundromats, until the previously mentioned Westinghouse flooded the bathroom in our tiny mobile home. It broke its own schedule and structure, did something out of the ordinary, and then I was concerned it was going to do it again. This should be have a sign to my folks that not only was their son a strange one but probably had a different set of wiring and circuits in his head.

Even though the Westinghouse flooded my dad had my mother soldier on with it for a few more years, even making the move to the new house across the street. When it started flooding that laundry room and spitting grease on his work shirts, then we got the new General Electric washer like the one pictured above.

That washing machine lasted over 15 years before I replaced it with a pair of Hotpoints I had purchased and took the old washer and dryer to my townhouse about an hour away. This was my way of having dad pay for the washer and dryer I could no longer afford. I’m happy Dad was cooperative that way.

I don’t think anyone would expect a washer or dryer purchased today to last 10 years let alone over 15.

I am solidly a Gen-Xer. I was born in the first half of the Gen-X generation. My childhood was a little bit country and a little bit rock ‘n roll, or more aptly, a little bit analog and a little bit digital. I remember the lifestyle my parents talked about (2.5 kids, white picket fence, small town charm) and I know the lifestyle the millennials know (“you can be anything”, live your dreams, see the world!). I have no complaints with this but as I have become an aging Gen-Xer, I’m following the footsteps of the “when I was a kid…”.

As a technology enthusiast I am enthusiastic about computers. Makes sense, right? The lights and buttons and dials of the ages have entranced me in many ways throughout my life and because of my Gen-X roots, I think of computers first and foremost as a tool. Technology give us the opportunity to learn, grow, and express ourselves.

When I was a kid (there it is), my computer, a Commodore VIC-20, was up in my bedroom and used on rainy days or after dark. My first self-funded magazine subscription was to “Compute!”, a periodical for computer enthusiasts in this budding world of technology.

I quickly discovered the limitations of the 2K of memory in my Commodore VIC-20 by writing my own programs, usually emulators of the electronic point of sale systems I saw at various department stores. App stores would be decades away and any sort of standardization would still be a few years away. For example, I couldn’t save my program written on my VIC-20 on a floppy and open it on the Apple ][+ back at school. In those days, our software arrived by mail and specifically, by magazine.

Typing in your software line by line is an amazing way to learn how to program. I learned the importance of fast and accurate typing skills at an early age and more importantly, I learned how to spot mistakes quickly and cross check my entries in a fairly quick manner.

This “software” distributed by magazine laid the foundation of a skill set that I still use today as a Software Engineer. It taught me not only the role of technology in our lives, but how that technology works. In 2021, it’s more important than ever to know how technology works. The typical user of a smartphone or whatever may not know how to write a program, but I believe it’s really important for users to understand that whatever is happening in that little box of technology is not “magic”. We put a lot of trust in our devices. We become attached to them. We need to remember they’re a tool in our box of tricks in this game we call life.

Here’s an article from Geek Chicago that talks a little bit about how your iPhone knows so much about you. The article is five years old but the principles remain the same. It’s a short read and written in understandable terms.

Never stop learning about the devices you rely on.

It’s been a while since I’ve given Linux on the laptop a run. My mid-2015 Apple MacBook Pro has been wheezing and slowing down under the latest version of MacOS. I decided to wipe it out and give Ubuntu Linux a run on the machine and honestly, it’s running faster than it has in a couple of years. I’m pleased thus far. I’ll probably write a geeky entry later in the week detailing the specifics of what’s running on the machine. Almost 30 years later I can still say that using Linux on the desktop is not for the faint of heart. It’s come a long way, but it’s not as easy to use as MacOS or Microsoft Windows. But it does afford geeks like me the ability to tweak and tune the computer exactly as we want it and to see all that’s happening under the hood. And I like that sort of thing.

I also like the fact that I can probably use this computer for a few more years even though I’m pretty sure Apple will be dropping support for it next year. MacOS Monterey is coming out this fall and it’ll run on this computer, but if MacOS Big Sur is any indication, it won’t be a pretty experience. When I bought this computer in early 2016 it was the most tricked-out MacBook Pro one could buy from Apple. It’s served me well for a number of years.

I look forward to it continuing to do so for a number of more years. It doesn’t need to go to a landfill and it doesn’t need to be recycled. It needs to be used until it can’t be used no more. I’ve put my “it’s time to by a new computer” plan on hold.

My husband breathes a sigh of relief.

A while back Chris and Mike started watching “The Expanse”. Being the dork that I am, I casually watched the show from afar, but there was a husky voiced woman swearing like a sailor with all sorts of swagger that got my attention. When I saw her move across the screen she had a regality that I adored. After watching a few episodes in the middle of the run I felt in love with Shohreh Aghdashloo’s portrayal of Chrisjen Avasarala.

Earl and I started watching from episode one this past weekend. Science fiction is really not Earl’s cup of tea, but he enjoys sitting on the couch watching television together and he is most tolerant of my selection of television. Since Chris and Mike are in season four and we’ve just started season one, I can safely say the production quality of season four is much better than what we’re seeing. As I understand it, Syfy cancelled the series after season three and then Amazon Prime picked it up. Apparently the Amazon Prime episodes have a bigger budget.

I’ve never read the novels, but the reality of this science fiction series is intriguing. It’s the 24th century, humans have colonized the Solar System, Earth is run by the U.N., Mars is its own thing (and in a cold war with Earth) and precious commodities are mined and collected by the “Belters”, folks that live in the Asteroid Belt. The tech is most intriguing. The physics are well done; the tech of the 24th century makes sense. And the human attitude pretty much adheres to where we’re probably headed: while tech has evolved, humans have repeated history and the same mistakes over and over. The far future feels (too?) familiar.

I’m looking forward to watching this series over the next few months. And as Chrisjen Avasarala would probably say, “I fucking love it”.

I’ve successfully worked from home over the past decade. When the pandemic lockdowns came about early last year it wasn’t really a change of working pace for me, as I just kept doing what I do from my home office. Others throughout the company were not familiar with working from home and so they had to make adjustments, but after a couple of weeks we were all communicating and collaborating just fine and all went well. In fact, our company found productivity actually went up during the pandemic. Maybe it’s because people realized that working from home allows for better pacing, less water bubbler chat, and reduced distractions.

Tech companies are now finding that many of their employees want to continue working from home. Some companies are not pleased with this and are coming down pretty hard on bringing people back to the office. I attribute this to a lack of management skill or creativity; in the tech world it’s pretty easy to determine the output levels of remote employees on your team. In team lead positions I’ve rarely had an issue that needed to be addressed and on the one occasion I had someone doing something they shouldn’t have been doing during normal business hours (trying to work and drive Uber at the same time), it was easy to figure out what positions must not have really been necessary to begin with.

I’m keeping an eye on the work from home policies of tech companies and considering their practices when making tech related purchases. I know Tim Cook from Apple wants folks back in that giant spaceship they built in Cupertino. They spent billions of dollars on the place. It’s a shame a sizeable number of employees don’t want to come back to being full-time in the office. And, reducing commuting time, and subsequently the carbon emissions associated with commuting, is better for the environment.

With the right attitude, creative leadership, and a clear focus, we can help clean up the environment by reducing commuting times and subsequently reducing carbon footprints. I’m hopeful many companies will reconsider outdated practices and do better with embracing Working From Home.

After “Bewitched” ended its run in 1972, Elizabeth Montgomery made no further appearances as nose-twitching witch Samantha Stephens from the popular series. She was ready to move on and didn’t want to be typecast as the character. Lizzie went on to make numerous TV movies and enjoyed a successful career until her passing in the mid 1990s. Though “Bewitched” has been in constant syndication since it ended its original run, she rarely talked about “Bewitched” until fan interest in the show picked up in the late 1980s and early 90s, and books and the like started to appear around the subject. She was pleased with her performances as Samantha, but she didn’t want to be known as just Samantha. In the early 1990s she did agree to appear in a pilot for a reboot of the series. The new version was to be about a witch that lived in London, but the show never came to fruition.

Even though Lizzie was distancing herself from Samantha, she did appear in a run of Japanese commercials for Lotte Mother Biscuits, twitching her nose and doing Samantha-like magic. I guess she figured these Japanese commercials would never make it to the States. But courtesy of the Internet and Youtube, we can see Elizabeth Montgomery doing Samantha like things in the mid 1980s.

As a lifelong “Bewitched” fan, it’s fun to see Elizabeth doing her Samantha like gestures later in her life.