Done Since 2018-01-29

[mdlbear]

Just about the last thing I did at Conflikt was to annoy my back, probably by twisting around to pick up my gig bag from under and behind my chair. Took a cyclobenzaprine, two naproxen, and a hot bath before going to bed. It was a lot better by morning, but I still very sensibly called for a bellman to help. This was especially sensible given that the suitcase I shared with C was still very heavy. A massage (thank you, N!) and some time with a heating pad when I got home also helped.

I didn't manage to see the lunar eclipse Wednesday morning; N and g told me they caught about 15 seconds of it before a cloud covered it. There's another one coming in July.

technoshaman pointed me at Mycroft, the open-source alternative to the Amazon Echo, et. al. We have four Echo Dots in the house, although the last one isn't set up yet; the advantage of Mycroft over Alexa, Siri, and Google is that it can interact directly with things on your local network. Everything is local, it doesn't save what you say or track what you search for. I went and ordered a Raspberry Pi 3 and a microphone array, so that I can install Picroft on it. I'll let you know next week how well it works.

I also relocated my WiFi repeater to give a better signal to the room over the garage. That has the unfortunate side-effect of disconnecting my laser printer, which was attached to one of its ethernet ports. I tried to replace it with another of my routers, a Linksys WRT54G, but it wouldn't connect to my network as a client. WTF? (Many articles say that client mode, at least, is possible. Haven't managed to do it.) It turns out that bridging a WiFi connection to ethernet is a black art. The eventual solution is likely to involve routing rather than simply bridging. Wasted a day and a half on that.

I missed guitar practice yesterday, too. Grump. Wednesday was interesting -- Neither N nor g could go, so I had a private singing lesson. Fun. Sang two of the songs I usually do solo: Keep the Dream Alive (which would actually work really well with backup) and Riverheart (which is very much a male solo).

We need to get almost everything cleared out of the garage so that the builders can work there. That was originally supposed to involve putting up a metal shed by the side of the house (between the propane tanks and the ramp). As it turns out, the shed I'd ordered was shipped in three boxes, one of which didn't arrive. I found that out yesterday. Fortunately, I had already ordered a plastic greenhouse to go behind the garage; it went up in an amazingly short time Wednesday afternoon. Yesterday I ordered a pop-up tent, which is supposed to arrive Wednesday sometime. Should have put the greenhouse up next to the house; I may try to move it.

Notes & links:

0129Mo
  * up 8ish; ;
    % back much better -- p=2.5 -- but I can tell it's dicey.  This isn't going to be fun
    -> took two naproxen, and sensibly asked for a bellhop to take stuff out to the car.
  @ Peter Mayer - Minnesota Folk Singer-Songwriter "Blue Boat Home" 
  % massage from N. when I got home, plus some time with a heating pad.  Helped a lot.
  $ $1086.61 on AX for Conflikt.
  % 6ish - very sleepy
  @ The Immortal Myths About Online Abuse – Humane Tech – Medium 
  * Experimented with using "xdotool get_desktop" for determining which workspace is
    showing on a monitor.  Doesn't work, because it returns the workspace that has focus.
    xmonad doesn't appear to set the property that says which workspace a window is on.
  . Honu - put workspace color-coding functions in .xmonad/lib
  x using xdotool get_desktop, could use dzen2 bars for color coding
    -> fails because xdotool  get_desktop returns the desktop that has focus.
  x could also use xdotool for bash history instead of $WS

0130Tu
  * up 6:15; W=205.4;
  @ Transcript: The standard you walk past is the standard you accept 
  @ Sylvia's Mother - Wikipedia Sung by Kathy Mar and Andrew Ross at the open filk
    Saturday night, with an extension presumably written by one or the other of them, most
    likely Andrew, about abuse and calling it out when you see it.  But see previous link
  @ Kat Savitzky - So, this is an Alex, posting on Kat's FB, I did a... video
  * pay * car loan, * amex
  * went through my profile and added people who give me access.  Should probably grep
    through their profiles looking for people I've missed.
  * add .xmonad/lib/ws-utils.sh
  * SL: chicken, ground beef, ground cinnamon, roll butter, spanakopita, dill pickle
    spears, juices, eggs, marinara sauce, egg noodles, broccoli
    -> turns out I already had ground cinnamon; hadn't found it last time I looked. :P
  * guitar practice:  
  @ Mycroft in the News? Press Coverage on the Mark II Launch - Mycroft
  @ Mycroft Documentation - Mycroft
  * Tuesday:  baked chicken, salad, broccoli or asparagus
    -> started a little late:  5:30.  Done at 6:15.  About half an hour on the chicken.
       broccoli five minutes in the microwave.
  @ LANDR: Instant Online Audio Mastering Software
    LANDR - Wikipedia
  @ Explaining DHCP Server 1.1.1.1 — Revolution Wi-Fi 

0131We
  * up 6ish; ; 
  * early morning - total lunar eclipse.
    -> went out to bus stop with g and N; moon was behind clouds.  They had seen it for
       about 15 seconds earlier.  There will be others.
  @ Eclipses visible in Seattle, Washington, USA - Jan 31, 2018 Lunar Eclipse
    totality begins 4:51, ends 6:07.  Partial eclipse ends 7:11
  * guitar:  Gentle Arms of Eden, QV in different keys.  D doesn't work well, but A does;
    it puts the high note, A, on the high E string (the chord I often call A*)
  @ Nalbinding; getting started with the Oslo stitch. – Viking Lady Aine (catsittingstill)
    a single-needle technique similar to crochet but done with short pieces of yarn that
    are pulled all the way through, and doesn't unravel.
  @ Swing Left | Take Back the House (catsittingstill)
    Washington's 8th District
  * am: teaching (science) - swapped with N so she could get to a Wed. am appointment
  * 9am make sure N is awake
  @ Conflikt 2018 two fers - YouTube
  * (cat sitter) Pia came by to report, collect her check, and pet the kitties.
  * 2:15 Greenhouse frame all put together except for attaching one wall, putting the skin
    on, and tying it down.  The last wall will require help to keep from bending things.
  % 2:30 much more tired than I think I ought to be.
  * 3:30ish enlisted V to help with the greenhouse.  Took longer than I expected, but got
    it put together and two of the three tie-downs that go to the wall of the garage
    installed.  Should keep it until tomorrow.
  * music lesson.  Went by myself because g had homework and N hadn't had enough sleep.
    Sang Keep the Dream Alive and Riverheart.

0201Th
  * up 5:45; W=205.4;
  * wikipedia dive into (mostly) acoustic guitars.
  * ordered Raspberry Pi 3, microphone array for PiCroft
  * WiFi repeater for g
    Ideal would be to run CAT5, but a quick fix would be to move the bridge and put lp on
    the mac.  Go into garage and look in the "routers" box, bring in the "long cat5" box
    -> starting with the quick fix.  Investigating mesh routers.
  * fun helping j make his bedroom into a camera obscura
  * Thursday: burgers
  @ Science History Institute | Home (formerly Chemical Heritage Foundation)
  * guitar.  Totally random noodling; C said it was "very pretty".
  * search for latest invoice from builders; pay if necessary
  : the Humira and the container store order arrived, plus a few items from the Amazon
    subscription
  * humira (1 day late)
    
menu
  * Tuesday:  baked chicken, salad, broccoli or asparagus
  * Wednesday: sandwiches/scrounge
  * Thursday: burgers
  
0201Fr
  * up 6:35; W=204.2;
  * guitar:  Desolation Row, October Country, Threes.  OC is coming together pretty well.
  ~ set up whitewood as a bridge to lp
    -> not working.  the procedure to set up a *real* bridge on the mac is complex and
       notes are contradictory.  What Apple calls internet sharing is really NAT.
    -> apparently bridging a WiFi connection doesn't work without additional magic (which,
       apparently, OpenWRT can perform, in client bridge mode)  It's 4addr mode in other
       linuces.  Probably impossible on a mac.
       https://serverfault.com/questions/152363/bridging-wlan0-to-eth0/554663
       https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-to-create-bridge-interface-ubuntu-linux/
    -> found a cheap travel router with Open-wrt preinstalled.  Score.
  * leave 10:15 - I'm going to be flying low.
  * 11am j swimming
  * 11am Colleen Connect Hearing. - odd; they're closed until 2/8.  Did we get the date
    wrong?  Or did something come up on their end?  Weird.
  * 11am Dr. Sumitra; Freeland Clinic -> very short follow-up.  Things going more or less
    ok now.  I still have problems, but drugs aren't going to help with them.  Whether I
    can find a therapist who can help is unclear at this point.
    -> checked on the surgery referral -- I have to call them.  Have the number.
  * the wrt54g (the older one, out of its package) was already set up with p/w for wap1.
    -> installed dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic.bin and reconfigured as client bridge.
       or at least trying to.  comedy of errors with wrong ip address, but it now has the
       right IP address and I can talk to it.  Probably needs a hard reset.
    -> reset, upgrade, reconfigure from scratch.  No dice.
    https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Bridged
  : The two boxes of shed are labeled 2/3 and 3/3.  There is no 1/3.  I strongly suspect
    that I'm screwed.
  & kids to 6pm ferry
  % Been beating my head against the wrt54g all damned day.  Giving up.
  % also, my eyes hurt, especially the left.

0203Sa
  * Up 6am; W=203.4; shower
  * spent a little too much time with the wrt64g.  Nothing wrong with the radio; it simply
    won't connect as a client.  Foo.
    https://dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Mode_Wireless gives a rather elaborate
    procedure for setup.  Apparently have to "save", and only "apply" at the end.
    Might barely be worth a try.
  & dumped both wrt64g's (the boxed one is a V2) into the donation bin.
  & found the USB-to-SATA-and-IDE converter, in the Routers box.
  * put the pi3 together.  Need to track down and burn a PiCroft image, and maybe also
    track down my raspbian card.  Although that's almost certainly in the pi, which is
    also missing.
  @ How To: Wifi to Ethernet Bridge(Updated for RPi 3) - Raspberry Pi Forums
  * garage with G; loaded up Rosie with his share of the garage contents.
  @ AbcCanopy Commercial 10x10 Ez Pop up Canopy, Party Tent, Fair Gazebo with 6 Zipped
    End Sidewalls and Roller Bag Bonus 4x Weight Bag (navy blue): Garden & Outdoor
  & beef stroganoff for dinner, with the 1.5lbs of tri-tip.  Yummy, though with G here I
    cut it a little close on quantity.
  * downloaded Raspbian, NOOBS lite, and Picroft; copied to uSD cards.
  : C's sewing machine is a total loss -- the motherboard is fried.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Although I'm an Epsilon level user compared to you, I so relate to the time sink of uncooperative technology.

There's something about a tech-adjacent task that sucks all the attention and focus out of my day.

And to prove I actually read this: I think you there's a copy/paste error. Thurs/Fri/Sat appear twice.

[mdlbear]

Thanks for the proofreading - fixed. Given my usual (new) workflow I'm not sure how that happened, but I'm still working the kinks out. Don't think I can blame the cats this time.

[madfilkentist]

Can you address Mycroft as Mike? And if you ask it, "What do you know?" will it quote Genesis?

[mdlbear]

It uses an open-source wake-word recognizer, which you can configure phonetically. The default is "HH EY . M AY K R AO F T".

The whole thing is written in python; I assume that skills are easy to develop.

[we_are_spc]

...geeky geeky project. :d

We're curious enough to know what the voice would sound like... Or which one they'd use. If it's any one of the Microsoft ones (Which I doubt, but) Ug, I'm sorry for you.

-Fallon~

[mdlbear]

It can use pretty much any open-source text-to-speech package -- here's a list: https://jarbasai.github.io/tts_comparison/

The default synthesizer is Mimic; the default voices are British male and American female, with more under development. There are some examples of the default voice and a few clips from the other one in the Kickstarter trailer: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aiforeveryone/mycroft-mark-ii-the-open-voice-assistant?ref=3uf9kf

[we_are_spc]

This actually looks cool. :) I need to look more into it, but I do like the fact that the 'big chain' ones let you shop from them-I've not seen where this one can do that-but neither have we completely looked into that part of it either.

-Fallon~

[mdlbear]

Shopping certainly isn't one of its built-in skills, but I wouldn't be surprised if several such get developed. It may take a while, and if you shop from Amazon a lot you'd probably want to be able to use Alexa for that.

On the other hand, I can easily see developing skills for shopping on sites like Etsy, CD Baby, and Bandcamp.

Shopping

[we_are_spc]

Um, sign us up for that shit.

:d :d :d

If they put youtube in the screened version, well now...

-fallon~

Metal sheds

[markc1957]

Sorry to hear that one of the three boxes didn't show up. Beware of the instructions that come with most metal sheds, because you'll find yourself taking stuff apart because the assembly order is...confused. The directions look like they were written in Chinese, sent to Mexico for translation into Spanish, then that result was sent to France for translation into French, and that result was sent to Canada for translation into English, and that result was delivered to the packager of the sheds at a Tim Horton's.

Re: Metal sheds

[mdlbear]

I believe it! However, it wouldn't be the first metal shed I've assembled, so that may help a little.

[johnpalmer]

Thanks for sharing Mycroft! I like the digital assistant thing, but I'm really annoyed that IOT is always IntERnet of things, when in many cases, IntRAnet of Things is as good and sometimes better.

I envy you your music sometimes.... (Translated to human: "I admire your music and think you find joy in it.")

[mdlbear]

Yeah; all the idIOT devices you can buy operate by calling home, and then you control them with a phone app. Which of course is different for every manufacturer. :P

It does mean that you can control them remotely, but it also means you're limited to what the manufacturer lets you do. And lets Amazon/Google/et.al. do.

I do enjoy music. The trick to music is not to worry about what anyone else might think. I think it was Dizzy Gillespie who said "there are no wrong notes in jazz" (which is what our singing teacher told us last night).

ETA: Miles Davis. The full quote is "There are no wrong notes in jazz: only notes in the wrong places." It has no doubt been repeated with numerous variations (this is jazz, after all) elsewhere.

[johnpalmer]

Oh, it's not so much not worrying about what others might think - there's also joy in sharing the music, where it matters what people think. As you point out, Dylan wasn't the most beautifully voiced person, and that was okay but he was able to make a gift of his music where he wanted. And my inability to pursue music is mostly about energy. Chronic fatigue, while trying to maintain a high paying IT support job, is a bear that's eaten a live frog first thing in the morning, and is NOT about to let YOU be the "anything worse" that breaks the charm. If that makes sense (or even if it doesn't).

[mdlbear]

Makes perfect sense. Good point.