Category: Technology

Waiting for Barbara – 22 December 2016

Posted on by Zogman

Yesterday we got a Christmas card from my cousin, Barbara.  I haven’t seen Barbara in years.  Tomorrow we’re going to meet another Barbara – the second storm of the year.  Definitely a different Barbara.  Today we got a taste of Barbara – the storm.

We drove to Currys at Bishopbriggs because they had the printer cartridges for my Canon printer.  I did think about buying a new printer because the Canon, whilst it still works, is getting old, but I’m still not settled on a make or model.  I really only use the printer at Christmas to print my annual calendar.  The rest of the time I just steal a couple of prints from Scamp’s printer.  Once I’ve got the calendar printed and out of the way, I’ll decide on the long term future of the IP4500.

After we came back and had some lunch, I went out in the torrential rain to get some photos.  One great benefit of the 365 is it forces me out to get some photos.  Some days I admit that I use the flowers or weemen to get something to post, but I personally see them as stopgaps at best and failures at worst.  Today I waited until the rain had passed and headed up to the Antonine Wall to get some atmospheric shots of the landscape after the rain.  Unfortunately, because of the gale force winds, the next blash (another Scottish word that describes a sudden downpour perfectly) of rain came battering down as I was setting the camera and tripod down.  However, the lighting was good and the clouds were exactly where I wanted them, so I carried on and got the shots.  There wasn’t much colour in the scene and what was there didn’t add anything, so I reduced both shots to monochrome in Lightroom.  Now I’ve got the camera and lens drying out in the warm living room hoping that there is no moisture in the innards of the lens.

We’d intended to go to Barca tonight, but the weather was against us, so we left it for another, drier day.

Tomorrow?  Let’s see what Barbara brings to the party.

Well, that was a short day – 21 December 2016

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The Winter Equinox, the shortest day.  I could never remember the exact date and I always had an argument with my dad about it.  He said it was the 21st and I said the 22nd.  He was right.  He usually was about dates and things.

It might have been a short day, but it certainly was a wild one.  High winds and driving rain and in between bright sunshine, blue skies and even a double rainbow!  Drove Scamp in to Glasgow and went looking for ink for the printer that had returned from the dead yesterday.  No ink was to be found.  Another problem with older printers is that the shops stop stocking the ink because there’s not the same demand for it as printers become start being replaced by newer models.  This time it’s not the manufacturer or the retailer that’s at fault, it’s us, the consumer that brings this about.
After failing to source any ink in Glasgow, I tried the big Currys in Coatbridge.  I drove along the notorious M8/A8 to get there and it’s not a road I’d recommend for a Sunday drive.  It’s a bit of a nightmare to be honest, but I was on the easy bit.  Just as I was taking the sliproad to Coatbridge, the whole road ground to a halt and as far as the eye could see there were red tail lights.  Glad I sidestepped that.  Tried the Currys superstore and the Tesco superstore, but there weren’t any CLI-8 cartridges.  It looks like the only solution is to buy the expensive cartridges from Staples or to buy online from Amazon.

Salsa tonight was a hit and a miss.  The ‘hit’ was the 7.30 advanced class which was almost as good as the Monday advanced class.  They were too reticent and well behaved in the rueda games but got stuck in with the Glowstick Dancing in the Dark fun.  The ‘miss’ was the 6.30 improvers class where only three people arrived.  Not really enough for a class, so they were sent home with a selection box as compensation for a fruitless journey on a cold night.

More wet and windy weather (another alliteration!) forecast for tomorrow.

Printer Problem Solved by Old Tech – 20 December 2016

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The old tech in question isn’t me.  I’m not a Tech.  It was, in fact, CUPS which has been around since OSX 10.2 (c2000).  It’s a fairly technical printing system that involves a Scheduler, a Filter System and a Backend, and of course I don’t understand any of it, I just quoted that guff from Wikipedia, but it sounds clever.  The main thing is, that once you link it up with some (legally) free printer drivers from Gutenprint it works!  And, that’s what Macs should do.  They just work.  Or at least they used to before they got all high and mighty and started going full tilt into Technology Push.  But no, I won’t get into a rant.  Someone saw the need and designed a solution to a problem.  That’s a good thing.  Apple, are you listening?

The day started cold and frosty and we didn’t want to go out and get our tootsies all froze, so we stayed in with the heating on.  By lunchtime we were brave enough to go for a swim.  The water in the pool was probably too warm, but it was good and warm and there weren’t too many folk in the pool, so it was an excellent decision to go for a swim.  Sauna has been fixed – boy, has  the sauna been fixed.  It’s almost too hot now and the steam room is the same.  Just the job on a cold day.

When we were leaving the leisure centre I spotted the wee bear sitting all forlorn on the grass by the path and decided he would be my PoD.  The best camera in  the world is the one in your pocket.  In this case the camera also doubles as a phone and a personal computer, but today its strength was in its photo taking abilities.  It’s an Apple phone, but I’m not getting dragged into that rant again.

Tomorrow is going to be windy and cold and Scamp is heading in to meet her Nancy in Glasgow for a gossip and I may go for a wander round town now that I don’t need a new printer!

Golden Light – 19 December 2016

Posted on by Zogman

Today dawned, like the rest with a dull, grey cloudy sky.  It didn’t look as if it was going to get any better and it lived up to that promise, in fact it got worse.  A heavy mist came down obliterating any view that had been there.

I decided to make the best of the day and print off a first copy of my 2017 calendar.  Unfortunately, El Capitan doesn’t want to work with my Canon ip4500 printer.  Canon don’t want to supply a driver and Apple don’t care about any hardware more than seven years old as I already know.  A quick search of the internet confirmed my suspicions that there is no workaround for the problem, apart from buying a new printer.  I did manage to get the calendar printed by converting my Pages file into a PDF and using this to print it off on my old Tosh laptop.  A laptop much more than seven years old.  Despite my disappointment, or maybe because of it, I drove in to Glasgow hoping that Staples could supply me with a magenta cartridge for my ancient printer.  They could at £16.95.  Rather expensive when you find that Amazon can supply a three cart set for £26.  So Stalples is going out of business?  I think I can see why.  I didn’t buy their overpriced cart.  One interesting thing I found out is that Epson sell a 3 in 1 printer for £189, complete with two years’ worth of ink  No more dinky ink cartridges, this thing works with bottles of ink.  It sounds like a good investment as long as Apple don’t make it obsolete halfway through my second or third bottle of ink.  I’m really beginning to become pissed off with Apple’s devotion to designed obsolescence.  I may bite the bullet and go back to Mickysoft.  It’s slow and sluggish, but at least the OS just works.  Something I used to say about Apple, but not any longer.

When I was driving home my mood was lifted by the golden light making everything glow.  Now, that’s more like it.  The clouds had blown away, the mist had lifted and the sun was setting with a beautiful glancing light.  Instead of heading straight home, I took the road less travelled and with better views of the landscape.  That’s where the photo of the trees came from.  Even the mist earlier in the day had produced the water beads on the car roof and gave me one shot in the bag before I left for Glasgow.

Salsa tonight was a Christmas Extravaganza, one of JamieGal’s specialities with dancing, games, glow-sticks, silly hats and prizes.  He’d previously issued an open invitation to dancers past and present, from our school and from any other and none and there was a great party spirit.  Fun for all, that’s just his way.  Brilliant.  One of the best teachers I’ve had the pleasure to meet.

Tomorrow?  Maybe a swim.

Walking through the Gloaming – 15 December 2016

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I’ve started a bad habit of allowing the blog to get away from me.  These last couple of days have seen me in the morning playing catch-up to get the blog posted, yesterday’s blog that is.  Today I’m finishing today’s blog today.

Not a lot of work done this morning.  Scamp was hard at work buying Tesco again and cooking all day for the Witches Christmas Party while I farted about.  There, that’s the honest truth, well, almost the truth.  I did get my 2017 calendar sorted out, so that’s one thing done.

I went for more ‘messages’ – you remember what messages are, don’t you – after lunch and took Scamp’s advice to carry ONE camera with me.  I chose the E-M5 with a short zoom lens and no EVF (Electronic View Finder).  Very pocketable.   I walked the short walk round the railway walk, across the tree plantation and back along the canal while the light changed from blue to a glorious orange gloaming.  Some beautiful lighting on the hills, but the short lens was struggling to make anything of it.  By comparison, the short focal length lens made the skies look good.

Since Tesco was now closed for restocking, after Scamp had bought everything it had, I went to Kilsyth to Lidl to get some odds and ends there and in B&M (my new favourite shop).  Bought far more than I intended to, so Scamp’s enthusiasm must be catching.  When I got home and after dinner, I started on my part of tomorrows banquet.  Now, at 10.30pm I’ve done my bit too.  The pudding is setting in the fridge and the bread is proving in the kitchen.  Some more work to be done tomorrow, but less frantic I hope.

I’m intending giving the WCP a body swerve tomorrow.  I’m booked for coffee and a chat with Fred and Val tomorrow midday and after that, well as Del Boy said, “The world’s my lobster”.

Coffee and a couple of jags – 7 December 2016

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EC072608-2Yesterday, the plan for today was for me to head off to meet Val and Fred at 12noon and set the Scottish education on its path to previous glory over a cup or two of coffee, then for Scamp to meet me at about 1.45pm with the stuff the nurse was going to inject us with to stop us getting some exotic infection when we were off in foreign climes.  I’d then drop her off at the station so she could get the train in to Glasgow to get even more Christmas shopping, leaving me the rest of the day free.  That was scrapped after an early morning phone call.  The nurse wanted the afternoon off, so could we come for our jags earlier, at 12noon.  (not jabs you’ll notice, we’re Scottish.  We get jags.  Much nastier – there was even a sign in the surgery advertising Flu JAGS.  Scamp wanted me to photograph it to prove to English people what the word should be).  Anyway, we agreed and changed the schedule for the day accordingly.

After the jags, I drove Scamp to the bus stop – it’s almost as quick on the fast bus as it is on the train and then went for coffee with the other two.  We solved the problem as I knew we would in double quick time.  It’s simple when you’re an outsider.  This is all you need to do:

  1. Start teaching the ‘3Rs’ again in primary school although Val tried to muddy the water by saying that it was actually two Rs and an A.  Objection noted.
  2. Get rid of Curriculum for Excrement.  That’s the core of the problem
  3. Sack Swinney and pay us the exorbitant salaries to run the whole system.

After that we discussed Celtic’s glorious exit from the European Cup to Fred’s delight and the new ‘Stones album which is actually very good.  Also discussed were “Landscape painting with felt” What the hell is that all about.  Last night’s documentary about the Italian artist who tried to steal another artist’s work and pass it off as his own.

After that we left and I gave Val a run home.  By this time (2pm) the automatic headlights came on in the car.  It was another dull day, but I had previously decided on today’s PoD and it’s almost exactly as you see it above.  The other big thing today was the arrival of the new battery for my MacBook.  It was fitted in jig time (That means quickly, Englanders) and gave just over 3.5 hours of service today from an initial 75% charge, out of  the box.  It’s now charging for the recommended 12 hours after which it must be run down to 7% again before repeating the exercise.  One of the best bits of the experience was finding that the touchpad on the mac was working again.  I’d read that if the bottom left corner switch on the touchpad stops working, it could be because the battery was beginning to swell and press on it.  It seems that was the case for me.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings in battery land.

Hoping for a better day weatherwise tomorrow.  Intending to go to Perth.

Boots – 6 December 2016

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When we got home last night Scamp discovered that she’d left her boots in the STUC building.  One frantic Facebook message later ensured that the boots had been found and stored ready for pickup today.  That was my task for the morning.

The drive in to the STUC in the West End of Glasgow was a delight this morning.  Very light traffic and even got parked just outside the building.  Boots collected, I made tracks for home because it was a dreary, dull, dreich day – that was a four word alliteration in case you hadn’t noticed.

Firefox has been avoiding loading Flickr recently, ever since version 50.0.2 installed itself automatically.  This is the first time I’ve had a problem with Firefox, but I’ve had loads of problems with Flickr, so initially I blamed the website not the browser.  However after a bit of research today I discovered the problems with v50.0.2 are widespread and not just with the Mac version, but with PCs too.  Not everybody is affected and even my problem is not always repeatable.  For instance, today it started off with baulking at loading Flickr around 4pm, but tonight after no changes to the installation, it’s loading fine.  It’s not bandwidth, because first thing this morning loading was fine.  It’s a conundrum.  In the past few days I’ve tried deleting the caches, switching off all the extensions, rebooting the Mac.  Nothing seems to give long-term success.  What I have done now is switch off ‘auto update’.  That way I have a baseline to start from.  Maybe Mozilla will fix the problem, but maybe pigs will fly too.

Today’s photo is a start at a still life from tiny wee 00 size  (1:75 scale) figures.  I know it looks fairly simple, but this took me over an hour to set up and photograph.

Tomorrow I’ve got a meeting timetabled with Fred and Val.  The Scottish education system has been highlighted as the worst in Europe and the Scottish Government have tasked us with fixing it.  We can probably do that over a cup of coffee and also find time to discuss Celtic’s exit from the European Cup and the new Stones album.

Another day on Planet Ice – 24 November 2016

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Temperature this morning at 8.30 was -4.7ºc.  That’s cold when you’ve come down stairs to the cold kitchen without your slippers.  Frozen tootsies.

I thought that by the time I was going out around 11.30 to meet Val that the car would have thawed a little.  I forgot that where I’d parked it last night would remain in the sun’s shadow all day, so no luck with the auto-defrost.  It was down to manual scraping of the windscreen.  Then by the time I got in the car and turned on the ignition, there was a new film of ice on the glass.  Finally got it defrosted and headed for the town centre.  One great thing about this car is the air-con, which in the winter defrosts the windows PDQ.

Over coffee, our conversation ranged through the usual topics of computers, cameras, more computers and moans about everything else.  Along the way I picked up some useful tips from the computer genius.  Really, that’s not sarcasm.  What Val doesn’t know about computer hardware and low level programming in DOS is not worth knowing.  I learned a lot about his experience of external hard drives and gave him some pointers on camera lenses.  As usual I gained more than I gave back.

After we we had had our caffein hit for the day we parted company.  Him to wander round the shops and me to get some photos.  Today’s walk through the winter wonderland was along the Luggie Water, part of which was frozen white and part was steaming away nicely in the warmth of the sun.  Got a barrel load of photos and reduced them down nine and from those nine, I chose my favourite six.  I’m really trying to reduce the photo overload these days.  It’s all right to take lots of photos, in fact I recommend that you do, but it’s also essential that you store only the ones that are worth storing.  I have to be more brutal or I’ll be filling the house with storage disks, even more than I do already.

By the time I was getting back to the car, the light was fading rapidly and it was time to head for home.  You forget just how short the winter days are, so it’s really important to make the most of the good light.

My maxim for the week is get out early and get the shots in the good light, even if it 4.7 degrees below zero.  Let’s see how long that one lasts!

Design Obsolescence – 22 November 2016

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My car is just coming up for eight years old.  Its had a few bits and pieces replaced since new.  The usual consumables like the oil filter and the air filter every year at servicing time.  Every couple or so years it also has needed new tyres when they run a bit thin on tread.  More expensive items like brake disks, wheel bearings and CV joints have also been replaced when necessary.  Sometimes I use good quality third party replacements, but manufacturers parts are always available at an extra cost.  Occasionally I use them when it seems prudent to do so.  All based on the trusted advice from my local garage.  It’s a good car and runs perfectly well.

My Macbook Pro is also coming up for its eighth birthday.  It’s also had a few ‘improvements’ over the years.  It’s had a memory upgrade and a new hard drive installed, then last year I added a super fast Solid State Drive.  Some from Apple and some from third party alternatives.  Now its battery is failing, so I went to the Apple store in Buchanan Street to find out how much it would cost for an Apple fitted new battery.  I was shocked to hear them claim not to have replacement batteries for “such an old computer”!  Really?  A company the size of Apple can’t source the parts to repair its own computers?  I was told by a ‘Tech’ that I would have to phone technical support to see if they still had any in stock, and if they did the repair would cost around £160.  I don’t think so.  Amazon are advertising a replacement battery for £40 and I’m not so ham fisted I can’t fit it myself.
Since I’ve had the Macbook I’ve become a great fan of Apple, but my allegiance is fading after this example of Designed Obsolescence.

Right, now that I’ve got that out of my system, here’s a synopsis of the day:

Had an entertaining phone call with Hazy in the morning (yes, I did look up the Hive – impressive structure, H), then out to visit the dentist and no fillings, no scale and polish, just a cap replacement and no charge.  What a nice man.

After lunch Scamp and I drove in to Glasgow for some pre-Christmas shopping.  Better to go mid-week when the crowds are at work earning the pennies to spend at the weekend when we head for the hills, literally.  Parked in the Buchanan Galleries carpark with its wonderful panoramic walkway to the galleries proper.  Such a great view of Glasgow (and carpark is cheaper than Concert Hall!)  I headed off to the book shop for a couple of books I’d my eye on, but which turned out to be less than enthralling.  Scamp went looking for girlie stuff.  Met up later and had my introduction to the wonders of Designed Obsolescence – Apple style.  How to kill of a potential sale in one easy lesson.

Coffee and then trudged back homeward, but not before Scamp noticed that Jacques Vert had a sale on.  I’ll give her that, she always makes it look as if it’s a great surprise to see the sale posters in the window.  More girlie stuff bought.  Walked back across the bridge to the carpark and the light was just marvellous, so I had to stop to take some photos.  Such a beautiful sunset and one you knew just couldn’t last, so I made the most of it.  If I’d hurried past I’d have saved myself £1.50 in parking money, but I’d have missed today’s PoD (I’d also have brought the price of an Apple replaced battery down to £158.50, but I’m not bitter!)

Back home I found out that the books weren’t as interesting as I’d thought and have decided to return them (in pristine condition) tomorrow.  After a lovely stirfry cooked by Scamp I made some scones that turned out the best yet!  No eggs Hazy!

Was posting a condensed version of my rant on the Buchanan Street Apple shop page on Facebook when my eye was drawn down the page to a bloke complaining about exactly the same thing.  So, I am not the only grumpy old man then.

Travel clinic tomorrow to book our jags for foreign climes and maybe take that book back.  Unless Apple phone in the morning and offer me a brand new Macbook Pro – top of the range and an iPhone 7 to go with it to make up for their shocking customer service today.  But then I’d wake up and it would all be a dream  😉

What a grey day – 19 November 2016

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After such a lovely bright, cheerful day yesterday, today dawned dull and uninspiring.  After we dropped JIC and Sim off to meet their old friends, we headed into Glasgow.  J&S were heading there too, but by train, luckily.  When we got on to the M80 the CITRAC lit up with the joyful news that there was congestion after Junction 4.  At 1.30 on a Saturday afternoon, congestion on the M80 can only mean football traffic.  We never did find out what had caused the holdup because we cut our journey short and left at the Robroyston turnoff just after the queue had started.  After a wander around the limited variety of shops and a coffee, we headed back.  By this time the football fanatics were all safely ensconced in their seats in the rain watching 22 men chasing a ball while one man, dressed in black, tries to control them.  What fun.

When I opened the Macbook Pro this morning it just sat there.  As far as I could remember, when I’d closed the lid last night there was about 40% in the tank.  Where had it gone, or had it gone and was it just joshing me?  When it finally loaded, it proudly displayed 0%.  So where had it gone?  I looked all round the table where the MBP sits and I couldn’t find any juice lying around.  Then I checked Coconut Battery 3, my go-to app for the truth about the battery.  First thing to notice that the design capacity bar was red, not good.  It read 25.6%.  Not good at all.  I tried charging it up to 100% and completely discharging it, before charging it up to 100% again and discharging it again.  Nope, it sticks resolutely to 25.6% capacity.  I’ll overcharge it now and see what it’s like after that.  If it doesn’t work, then it’s time to call in the Weemen (Should that be WeeXY now?  Naw, it’s Weemen) Repair Team to fit a new battery.  That’s why I gave them the opportunity to hone their skill before I need to call them in for the big job.

Meanwhile I’m filling up the new external HDD.  It looks like it’ll take more time than I expected, but hopefully it will mean the photos will be more secure for a while longer.

Rough looking weather forecast for our visitors to fly into tomorrow, but it looks like the worst will be past long before they land.