Home alone
Just like I did on 18 July, 2014, this one is mostly for keeping a record of a first time activity or occasion. This time it was Kent’s first home alone day. He is almost 15 years old, and for the first time he spent eight hours home alone, while Kim and I were at work.

Happy “graduation” step, Kent! ⌘ Read more

Amazon Cloud Drive feedback
This is not merely a technical problem, but I did not have the choice for multiple selections. Anytime I use the word “you” down below, I mean Amazon.

First the good. I love you, I have used AWS S3 for a long time, no complains. I do much of my online purchases on you, although I am not a fervent shopper. I rent my movies on Amazon Video. I am signed up for Flex. I want you to succeed even more. I love you!

Now the bad. Amazon Cloud Drive is bad. The OS X client i … ⌘ Read more

American parenting is killing marriage
This article sounds very true, although I would not go as far as generalizing it for all Americans.

Mothers must devote themselves to their children above anyone or anything else, but many wives would be offended if their husbands said, “You’re pretty great, but my love for you will never hold a candle to the love I have for John Junior.”

Mothers are also hol … ⌘ Read more

Dumping dollars left and right

“DOD charged the American taxpayer $43 million for what is likely the world’s most expensive gas station.”

That’s what Special Inspector General John F. Sopko found when he looked at the construction of a natural gas station in Sheberghan, Afghanistan.

According to the report, at most that station should have cost about $500,000. But in this case, the Department of Defense’s Task Force for … ⌘ Read more

Standard and daylight savings time
Standard Time. When I was a child, an old lady I loved as my own grandmother used to tell me this time was “God’s time,” and that she never changed clocks when everyone else switched to “Daylight Savings Time.” I wish I could do the same, unfortunately I am not old enough not to care.

I am part of the growing [group] … ⌘ Read more

China’s two child policy
This one is worth documenting, as it doesn’t happen every day. As a matter of fact, it hasn’t happened for over three decades.

“It is the latest twist in the most ambitious and ruthless social-engineering program ever undertaken by a modern state: Beijing announced Thursday that the Chinese Communist Party will officially abandon it … ⌘ Read more

Big Red Bus
“Hi guys, don’t forget to donate today!” says the lady with the oneblood.org t-shirt. The Big Red Bus parks on campus often, sometimes they seem to be here every day. “We’ll give you a t-shirt and a cookie!” She says. That’s the price of your donation, but is it?

A typical pint of blood costs $130-150, and sometimes [even more](http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-04-05/news/os-blood-cost-anne-chinoda-201 … ⌘ Read more

Apple on encryption
Apple mobile devices—iPhones, iPads, iPods—are used everywhere. The US smartphone subscriber market share highest percentage is dominated by them. As an American company, they are bound to comply with U.S. laws and regulations. So, when the U.S. Justice Department [requested](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/us/politics/apple-and-other-tech-companies-tangle-with-us-over-acce … ⌘ Read more

Walking and using the phone
Walking around with your head stuck on the phone is like playing the chicken game. The fully aware pedestrian walking in your opposite direction—and on the same path—is forced to play the game. Not as dangerous as driving but still very annoying. When you walk, please pay attention, look where you are walking, and leave the phone in your pocket. ⌘ Read more

Neighbors
Our neighbors are moving. The ones on the left, that is. They have been our neighbors for fifteen years, and lived here for seventeen, since the community was built. Quiet neighbors, the best kind. Now we roll the dice, and hope for the best, for whoever comes next.

The house on the right has had three owners; we have known them all. The first were the previous owners of our house. They left within two years. The second occupants came, and lasted a little longer. Then emptiness. For a while. The current ones … ⌘ Read more

Reminders
“What did you have for lunch?,” the father asks while driving home. “Same as usual,” he replies. “And that is?” “I just eat random sandwiches of what comes to whim.” The father processes that for a bit. “I see.” Later, at home, “what’s there for homework today?” “No much,” he says. “Brush your teeth,” he is reminded. Later, in the evening. “Take a shower.” A few times.

Just before the father goes to sleep, and sees his bedroom lights on. “What are you doing up so late? … ⌘ Read more

AP classes
Yesterday (15 October) Kent told me he doesn’t want to take AP (Advanced Placement) classes next year. He also told me he might not want to be a neurological surgeon after all, and that he really doesn’t know what he will want to be, professionally. We talked more, but the rest of it has no place in here.

Amongst the many feelings I am experiencing, regret is one of them. If only my parents were alive. I can’t express with words how very sorry I am for the many bad times I made them go through. ⌘ Read more

Backing up and restoring GPG keys
If you use GPG to occasionally encrypt and/or sign your email, or to encrypt your files before placing them on the cloud, you will understand how important it is to have a backup of your GPG keys. Similarly important will be to know how to restore them as well.

To back your private, and public keys, as well as your trust database, you will do1:

gpg --armor --export-secret-keys > ~/Des ... ⌘ [Read more](https://collantes.us/2015/10/13/backing-up-and-restoring-gpg-keys/)

Good office slave manual
Yegor Bugayenko has a few tips—a short manual, per se—to help us be good office slaves.

Don’t Nag. No matter what is happening, you should never criticize your direct manager. The boss is always right. Everything else may be wrong — the situation, colleagues, suppliers, computers, the CEO, investors, the market, or the weather, but not the boss you directly report to. The word of this person is the law. The boss is the god. … ⌘ Read more

Enticement
Someone decided to entice us to fill out a survey, by sending us a “lucky” two dollars bill with it. Normally we do not fill out any type of surveys, unless proper remuneration is provided. Two dollars isn’t really worth the effort, and normally would not be accepted as a fee. Yet, since there is no way to send it back with assurances it will reach the original sender, we have a small dilemma on hands.

Thus, as the survey is only two page … ⌘ Read more

The Martian
We just came from seeing the movie “ The Martian.” Minus the obvious, very predictable, Hollywood scenes, the movie was quite alright. It made me wish I could live to see the first few missions to the Red Planet. Being the selfless guy that I am, thought, I would be willing to settle if my child gets to see them instead.

While on the topic of movies, and theaters, it is amazing how expensive it is to see a movie these days. For three tickets we paid $36 … ⌘ Read more

Russians and Syria
We bomb. From the air, from the ground, from afar, from ships. And so do the Russians now. We target what we belie … ⌘ Read more

Prediction
Next year we will have our Presidential Elections. Everyone knows that, of course, because the politicians have been campaining for almost a year now.

Below is the name of a file with my winner’s prediction on the United States 2016 Presidential Elections written on it. It is a hash algorithm of a file containing a sentence with my prediction. I will refer to this post the day after elections, as the results are known.

2016-Presidential-Elections-Prediction.txt

eeb872df145294d1c7c2547 ... ⌘ [Read more](https://collantes.us/2015/10/05/prediction/)

Of no use

A farmer got so old that he couldn’t work the fields anymore. So he would spend the day just sitting on the porch. His son, still working the farm, would look up from time to time and see his father sitting there.

“ _He’s of no use any more,_” the son thought to himself, “ _he doesn’t do anything!_”

One day the son got so frustrated by this, that he built a wood coffin, dragged it over to the porch, and told his father to get in. Without saying anything, the father climbed inside. … ⌘ Read more

Space for the dead
I read an article today on The Guardian, which showed up on the eight page of Hacker’s News. It talks about the lack of space for the dead, in the world of the living.

“Some 55 million people are reckoned to pass away each year (about 0.8% of the planet’s total population – equivalent to 100% of England’s). Yet urban planners and developers focus overwhelmingly on accommodating and making money from the living. Ceme … ⌘ Read more

Tempus Fugit
Time seems to be passing by too fast. Way too fast.

A week starts and then it is over when I blink. Same applies to weekends. It used to be that time seemed to pass quick only when engaged in something. Lately it is the same, whether I am busy or not. I am afraid I will blink again, and I will be gone.

Amongst the many things we can’t control, time is the one that hurts the most, especially as we grow older. I think I am having a déjà vu. ⌘ Read more

On a rock

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From our last vacation—which occurred four months ago—to Colorado. This one was taken somewhere around Pikes Peak. Kent was daring, and Kim was afraid. I took the photo. ⌘ Read more

Disappointing

Pope Francis “thanked her for her courage” and told her to “stay strong”, Mr. Stavers said.

— BBC News

If this truly happened, it is disappointing. A person as charismatic as Pope Francis, who has been so politically careful, should have known better. She is a government employee, fulfilling an official task. She must abide the law, or simply le … ⌘ Read more

Presidential Elections 2016
Back in 2011 was the last time I wrote about Presidential Elections (2012). I can’t believe we are about to get into them again. In 2012 I knew exactly who to vote for, but in 2016, with the selection we have thus far, I really have no idea about who is the most viable—if there is one. Certainly not [this one](http://ballotpedia.org/Donald_Trump_presid … ⌘ Read more

Saturday
Respect others, seek peace, do not be irascible. Give, help, construct; never the opposite. Turn lemons into lemonade. Hard things to do, most of the time, even more so all the time. We are so recalcitrant by nature!

Yet, our existence would be idyllic if we could manage to, at least, try to do all of the above often. ⌘ Read more

Glowforge

We all need this. Watch the video and tell me if you do not feel amazed. It is pricey, but oh the fun one could have with one of those!

Glowforge is a wireless 3D laser printer that fits on your desktop, works with your favorite design programs, and stores your designs & data on a cloud.

— What is Glowforge? ⌘ Read more

Selling out
It seems iOS 9 ad blocker, Crystal, will allow some ads to go through for a fee. From an article on the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Murphy said he has taken Eyeo up on its offer, and plans to implement an option within his app whereby “acceptable” ads will be displayed to users. The feature will be switched on by default, Mr. Murphy said, and he will receive a flat monthly fee from Eyeo in return. Mr. Murphy declined to disclose the fee, but said he expects to make less money from Eyeo’s payments th … ⌘ Read more

Autumnal Equinox
Today marks the beginning of one of my two favorite seasons, Autumn—or Fall, as it is commonly called in the United States. Living in Florida makes the season a very, very mild one, with temperatures still quite high (it will be 90°F today), yet it brings the solid certainty that summer is being left behind.

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Join me on celebrating the Autumnal Equinox today, at 04:21 US … ⌘ Read more

Protecting Francis
The Pope has recently been to Cuba, and today he will be arriving to the United States. Like any other dignitary, the Pope needs protection from both, bad people, and adoring crowds. Yet, doing so is not easy feat.

“The crowds throw things,” Mr. Clancy, who took over as the head of the Secret Service last October, said in an interview. “They throw flags, dolls and, obviously, babies towards him. It� … ⌘ Read more

Shogi
Kent’s latest hobby is to play Shogi. That makes me an obligatory player and fan as well since, just like chess, Shogi requires two players. We bought a cheap board from Amazon, but he has already stated that a better quality board and pieces is what he would want for Christmas (yes, he is already planning for it).

The game isn’t difficult to play, but I am having an excruciating hard time remembering each piece—labeled with kanji characters—and how they move. Ah, the j … ⌘ Read more

Microsoft Visual Studio Code
Microsoft launched its free (non open source), cross-platform, code editor early this year (April, 2015), at its Build Developer Conference.

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I have been tempted to try it, as I read its file comparison is very nice, its intelliSense, and it’s based on the [same platfor … ⌘ Read more

I loathe emoji
I despise Emoji and emoticons, specially graphical emoji, or people who continuously abuse them, and interject them in every single sentence they type, sometimes even more than once. I thought that I hated “LOL,” which I do, but I would rather see LOL — when justified, not the moronic “LOL” without reason you see often — than see the utter idiotic smiles, winks, etc., continuously, all the time. “ _I am an elitist asshole, but here, have an Emoji! That way you will perceive me differently. … ⌘ Read more

Secrets of living to be 200 years old
This article refers to ageing as not being an inevitable fact of life. It goes to describe the marvellous capabilities that some animals have to live, seemingly, forever. Yet, do we really want to? With all the problems we are having with over population, do we want to pursue the holy grail, and extend life to last hundreds?

We have … ⌘ Read more

About the removal of garbage apps
Tim Cook answered a few questions for BuzzFeed, while they talked about things iPhone, iPad Pro, and many other Apple–related things. This part got close to me, as I am sure it might be to anyone who likes iPhones. Why can’t we remove certain apps?

Why are there apps on the iOS that I can’t delete even though I never use them? Why does Apple insist that I keep Tips and Stocks”on my iPhone when I’d like nothing more than to delete them? For Cook the … ⌘ Read more

Never-ending homework
Ever since Kent started the 9th grade he has been having to do an unusual amount, and I mean really unusual, of homework. I might be getting too old, but I do not recall having to do that much, so early into high school. It is really messing up his sleeping schedule, and–kind of–mine.

Going to sleep really late each day, and waking up when sun still sleeps is wearing me out too. ⌘ Read more

Huckabee offers his support
Mike Huckabee, a christian pastor turned politician has offered his support to the Court clerk in Kentucky who, against Supreme Court order, [refuses](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/supreme-court-rejects-county-clerks-request-in-gay-marriage-case/2015/08/31/6ec094bc-4ffd-11e5 … ⌘ Read more

Jekyll and Git
I have been using Jekyll for a while now, but all this time I have been generating it on the server, That is, I had had a directory on the server holding the Jekyll files, in which I would run jekyll build to generate the website. Not too streamlined.

Before hosting this weblog on Vultr, I had it on GitHub, and their Pages would do the publishing for … ⌘ Read more

Using Atom
I have used many editors in the past, either under Windows or OS X. Too many, I have really lost the count. The last one I used was Sublime Text. Great editor, cross platform too, but pricey. Each time I would get the nag, I would feel guilty for not buying me a licensed copy.

I tried Atom when it first came out. It was buggy and slow, really, really slow. Not anymore. I am using version 1.0.9 now, and it is a joy. So fast, so customizable, so complete, … ⌘ Read more

Me, but you, but me
On May 28, 2010, Mark Pilgrim wrote the entry below on his weblog. He has since long been gone, but I am keeping this entry, named “ Me, but you, but me,” which I liked very much. I really wish he would come back.

I’ve been active online for 9 years now. With one exception, nothing I’ve done online has brought me closer to m … ⌘ Read more

Gmail.app on iOS
I like Google and its services. Like is too little, I love them! Their mobile applications on the other hand — specifically those running under iOS — are horrible. The UIX is confusing and it does not follows Apple UIX design. Their choice of font is of poor taste and, again, does not match the rest of the OS. They lack of functionality and/or their functionality is limited by poor choices and, what is seems to be, a lack of common sense. I could describe and point out the problems on any of the … ⌘ Read more

The very last of something

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There hasn’t been an article like this for a while, that fills me with such feeling of sadness, and emptiness. For as long as I can remember, a cartoon I saw as a child started my attraction for rhinoceros. Such lovely animals!

And now, the one pictured above (CB2/ZOB/Brent St … ⌘ Read more

How to beat a polygraph test
“He used to advise trainees to clench their anus but has since concluded that terrifying mental imagery works better.”

When you get a control question, which is more general, envision the scariest thing you can in order to trigger physiological distress; the polygraph’s tubes around your chest measure breathing, the arm cuff monitors heart rate and electrodes attached to you fingertips detect perspiration. What is your greatest fear? Falling? Drowning? Being buri … ⌘ Read more

iCloud mess
Having lost many photos of certain sentimental value a few years ago has made me paranoid. Ever since I lost my child’s first four years of photographic memory I have kept copies of our family photos and videos in two different places. I keep a copy of photos and videos in our Synology NAS at home, which backup photos to Amazon S3 and videos to [Glacier](http://aws.amazon.co … ⌘ Read more

Finding little to talk about

The main problem with Jekyll is that is out of the way. Unlike other weblog engines, which are managed via the web, I come to the shell to type and process this. Perhaps I need to research a better workflow?

I am finding little to talk about lately, and that is keeping things here rather quiet. It is not only that I do not have much to write, but that when the desire arrives it gets lost in translation, mostly because of the way I have decided to handle this little space of mi … ⌘ Read more

Happy 2015!
Here we go again. Not complaining, as there is nothing to complain about. Just another year. It seems 2014 flew by quite fast, will you agree? Nevertheless, happy 2015 everyone! ⌘ Read more

iCloud Drive on standby
When Apple announced the iCloud Drive integration in Yosemite, I got really excited. As I was already part of the “Apple ecosystem” (iPhone, iPad, iMac), the iCloud Drive availability in all, specially on the desktop, seemed like the culmination of all my dreams: a Cloud to rule them all. I ordered the 200 GB for $4 a month right away.

As it turns out with products in infancy, the iCloud Drive is no yet mature. My single complain, but a very important one, is the lack of selec … ⌘ Read more

Where are you from?
In the States, looking different and/or having an accent will get you asked “Where are you from?” It doesn’t fail, it happens all the time.

Why are we so concerned about knowing someone’s country of origin? What difference does it make? If anything, it might be a knowledge we do not want to have. Knowing from where someone is from might spark stereotypical comments and behaviors that would jeopardize an otherwise perfect encounter.

“I know these questions often come from w … ⌘ Read more

On braces
This is mainly for our records. Today Kent got his braces on, and thus it begins a few months of uncomfortable chewing, special diet, fastidious brushing and everything else that comes with braces.

Now I must go to sell some blood, and place one of my kidneys for sale on the black market. ⌘ Read more

Microsoft and global cybercrime
From The Official Microsoft Blog:

On June 19, Microsoft filed for an ex parte temporary restraining order (TRO) from the U.S. District Court for Nevada against No-IP. On June 26, the court granted our request and made Microsoft the DNS authority for the company’s 23 free No-IP domains, allowing us to identify and route a … ⌘ Read more

Moved to a Droplet
Having wished for a while to run this little site on SSL —as well as having the freedom to do more things— which GitHub does not allow, I have finally decided to move to a virtual server of my own. At $5 a month per droplet, DigitalOcean was the provider of choice.

DigitalOcean droplets web interface is very clean, simple, responsive and functional. Spawning the server took 54 sec … ⌘ Read more