Vavroom’s Bits & Bobs

Silly Electoral Pledge

We're headed towards National and Local elections here in New Zealand. As a results, we see a lot of posters popping up, and receive the odd flyer in our mailbox.

Last night's flyer was for a currently elected Councilor seeking re-election. One statement on the flyer says:

I pledge to practice positive politics through respectful discussions and behaviour and democratic and non-disruptive meeting procedure

I must admit, this amused me greatly.

You see, I had the "chance" to work with many of the people currently in Council, and also attended more Council meetings than I care to remember. I know how things are happening in our council.

That means I understand why this person would make that pledge. But...

Come on people! That pledge, it should be the very minimum proper behaviour of an elected official. It should go without say. It shouldn't be a point of difference.

Getting Back Into Gmail

So, I'm in a bad spot. My Keepass file managed to get corrupted. The header of the file is - which contains the encryption for the file. Which means that repairing it is useless. That file is GONE. My most recent backup appears to also be corrupted. The only backup file that isn't corrupted is over a year old!!! Useless.

I funnel all my email through Gmail. But I can't login to gmail because I don't know my password (didn't write down the 24 alphanumeric+symbols password, I was relying on my backup).

I did mess up by not keeping my gmail secondary address up to date. The domain is gone. Which means I have no way to retreive the instructions they sent to reset my password.

I setup security questions with Gmail. But they will not let you use the security question until the account has been inactive for 24 hours. TWENTY FOUR HOURS. Clever, eh?

So, before I can ask them to let me answer my security questions, I have to leave my gmail account alone. That means, I cannot get to email on any of the multiple accounts I need, for 24 hours. This also means I can't use my Android phone to check mail, because it's account activity. Oh, waitaminute. I can't use my phone AT ALL because it uses my gContacts and my gCalendar.

I understand and appreciate the need for security. But the 24 hour waiting period seems abritrary.

I'm F***ed.

Unless someone has a suggestion as to how I can get that password back, or reset, from the Android phone itself. Can't seem to find info that is possible.

Any help would be highly appreciated.

Some Days, It Would Be Wiser To Stay In Bed

Today has been a bad day already. Bad, as in BAD. I should have stayed in bed. But at the rate the day is going, the bed would have fallen apart, or the ceiling squashed me, or something!

Woke up from a bad night's sleep.

Then I went to get some passport photos done. The printer smudged my face on the first run! Jammed on the second run. Finally, third time lucky, I got my photo. I look like a psycho-axe-murderer, but that seemed to be the least of my problems at that point!

Next stop - Petrol station. I filled up, and when I came back from paying, I realised some nitwit had parked his car about 75cm from my driver side's door. I couldn't get back in the car. So I went to ask inside if the driver could kinly move his car. The guy said "hold on, I'm just getting coffee and a muffin, it'll be a moment". A moment turned into FIFTEEN MINUTES. Annoyance indeed.

Got to work, and a bit frazzled, I let my wheelchair escape me. See, the parking lot is at an angle. As a result, my wheelchair took a nice long slow stroll across the lot and landed against a colleague's car. I had to call someone for help. They, of course, were laughing at me so hard I thought they were going to bust a gut. Can you see my chair in that photo? All the way to the other side of the parking area? Uh huh...

Yeah, shoulda stayed in bed today...

Sketching - What I Would Like To Be Able To Do

I like watercolours and sketching. Or rather, I would like it better if I were any good at it!!! Let's be honest: my drawing skills are barely above the stick figure level. But I'd like to get better.

Many times over the last several years I've gone to Russel Stutler's website and admired his work. He shows a lot of what he's done on his site and it is easy to get lost for hours. He shows some of his quick sketches, many were done on a train platform, waiting for the next train to arrive - 2 minutes interval he says.

Sketch done on a sports field.
© Russel Stutler. Used with permission.

I wish I could do that. I love the idea of being able to produce a "simple" sketch like that in a few minutes. I find people particularly challenging. Postures, which are perhaps easier. But faces, and hands. I don't want to be able to do picture perfect drawing, far from it, but I like the idea of sketching, of evoking the idea simply.

A Japanese gentleman.
© Russel Stutler. Used with permission.

Using ink and wash seems to give the results I like best. Stutler uses that media and makes sketches of his surrounding in Japan. He has a really portable setup - which is something I like as well, even if I don't go anywhere! A lot of his sketches are of "exotic" locations, which creates interest to the Western eye.

A Japanese candy store - not too exotic, but still more exotic to the non-Japanese.
© Russel Stutler. Used with permission.

Of course ink & wash works well everywhere. It is up to the person wielding the brushes to do what they need, and render what they see! On Flickr, Adolfo Arranz shares a lot of his work. His style is somewhat different from Stutler's. But it is in the range of what I'd like to do. Arranz sketches in Moleskines, which I also like.

A wilderness scene. It is not hard to see how the New Zealand landscape could lend itself to this kind of sketching.
© Adolfo Arranz. Used with permission.

Arranz sketches a lot in nature or urban areas, in Spain. Spain is exotic in many ways, and is quite different from New Zealand. Yet the style of sketching of this church could be used for Kiwi churches.

A church
© Adolfo Arranz. Used with permission.

Paul Wang, also on Flickr, shares sketches from his "SketchCrawls". In Asia, and in mainly urban areas, his style is quite different, maybe "looser" than Stutler's or Arranz'. I don't like it quite as much, but I certainly wouldn't mind being able to achieve the kinds of results he achieves!

A small shop, sketched on location with reference photo.
© Paul Wang. Used with permission.

I also found Pete Scully on Flickr, but his website is also full of great information. I like the page on Pete's material & setup, for example. Pete does a lot of different things, but again his style appeals, and it is easy to imagine how New Zealand would look like sketched in that style.

A toy store.
© Pete Scully. Used with permission.

One of the subjects that I think would be interesting to do, although probably rather difficult, are many of the houses in New Zealand, including several Victorian ones.

Victorian houses, with reference photo.
© Pete Scully. Used with permission.

My ideal sketching "studio" at the moment would consist of:

• Moleskine watercolour notebook (pocket, or large depending on circumstances)
• Waterbrush(es) (different sizes)
• Winsor Newton watercolour sketcher pocket box (though Russel Stutler's setup with Koi kit is appealing)
• Pen with permanent/waterproof ink.

I have all these - except for the pen with permanent ink. But that's the easiest to get. So in theory I could get "on the road" and do it.

I do have an advantage over many of these folks - my wheelchair is probably one of the best seats in the house!

What I need now is to get better at drawing. This means a lot of practice. The more you draw, apparently, the better you get! I admit, I get discouraged. I want to be good, and I want to be good NOW! I come back to it every so often. I am drawn to it (horrible pun intended). I must keep it up, take the time. I must.

I would like to be able to fill at least 1 Moleskine with sketches I am happy with. Before "wasting" Moleskines, though, I think I need to teach myself drawing a bit better.

Practice, practice, practice. :)

American Checks Are A Nuissance, And Their Banking System Is Archaic

If you're an American and owe someone money overseas, don't send them a check! Unless you really want to aggravate them. Setting aside the issue of not *wanting* to pay, I want to point out to my American friends, acquaintances & business associates that cheques are a really bad option if you're not US-based.

A business I've had dealings with finally sent the little bit of money owing. The business sent me a cheque, despite me asking them to use a different method of payment. It took a couple weeks for the mail to get here. Then when I banked the cheque, my bank put a freeze on the funds for 30 business days. That is apparently how long it takes for an overseas cheque to clear. 30 business days, that means 6 weeks!

The cashier informed me that for my own benefit, I would be better off not touching the funds for up to 6 MONTHS anyway. Apparently there is a growing number of US banks that dishonour US-written cheques that are cashed outside of the US. So even though the cheque may have cleared, a few weeks/months later, the bank can change their mind and decide that as the cheque had been cashed outside of the US, they would "recall" the funds.

This is apparently happening more and more often, especially in the last few years with the intensification of "the war on terror".

Oh, and if the cheque is dishonoured after having cleared, there is a minimum fee of $60 for the "bounced" cheque, *and* the funds are taken out of your account.

I was also talking with a Paypal business client based outside the US. Paypal had notified them not to touch any funds wired to that business Paypal account from the US for at least 3 months, as the transaction could be reversed for that long - again an issue of "American funds going overseas".

I find it interesting that while major banks in the United Kingdom voted to stop honouring cheques by 2018, the US is still so stuck on this archaic method of payment. I find it even more interesting that Fiji is seeing a "Mobile Money" service being deployed between the largest cell phone provider of the island and the Fiji Reserve Bank - Yes, Fijians will have a "cellphone wallet".

Wait! What? You mean that in Fiji, a small Pacific Island with less than 850,000 people, you will be able to get money (such as your wages) paid to your phone, and get cash by TXT'ing, while in the United States, a country with a population 400 times bigger than Fiji, you still need cheques?

Ok, so it's a far cry from the mobile banking being established in Japan where with some banks you can open/close accounts through your phone, or apply for loans, etc. Still, I find it impressive that a country considered by many to be "third world" is making such a radical and cutting-edge move in banking, while a majority of Americans still carry their check-book with them.

Note: This is NOT an anti-American post, even though it is a rant against the archaic US banking system.

Genealogy - Referencing Your Sources (and a Family Anecdote)

I've been digging into my ancestry these last few weeks and finding a lot of fantastic information. Unfortunately, most of the information I've found isn't referenced. I find that annoying.

It's really great to find so much genealogical information on people's websites and ancestry files. For instance, I was able to trace a Robert Crevier, who was a master baker in Rouen, France in the 1500's. He died somewhere before 1583. I've found this information on several different sites, which leads me to believe it is most likely accurate. Or mostly accurate at any rate. But I can't find *sources* anywhere. Nobody is saying where they found the information, let alone providing copies of primary sources, or even secondary sources. Heck, for all I know all the sites that are talking about Monsieur Crevier could all be referencing one another, with no further proof.

Yes, I'm having a good old rant! :)

Seems to me that if you're going to put up your genealogy online, it's because you want to share knowledge. But if you don't support knowledge with some evidence, without referencing your sources, you could be saying just about anything. Heck, I could be saying that Angelina Jolie, Jean Chrétien, and I are related. After all, I saw a site saying that we three share the same ancestor: Robert Crevier, the French master baker...

It wouldn't be entirely surprising if Chrétien and I were indeed related. He comes from the same area my grand-parents come from. Heck, family recent history says that the Chrétien family lived across the courtyard from my grand-mother's childhood home. The same family history further says that my grand-mother and her sister often walked "Ti-Jean" to school. Apparently my grand-aunt was close friend with Aline, Jean's wife.

But don't take this as gospel. The only source I am citing for this is "family history". Which is notoriously unreliable. But at least, I *am* saying where the information came from! Unlike too many people putting up their genealogy and ancestry files online!

Rant over.

Data Security vs Personal Safety

As some of you may know by now, I spent the entire day in hospital this Monday past, due to a fall on a wet floor at work. As I lay on the gurney in A&E, sending a Flickr snapshot of myself to the world at large, it occured to me that there is a potential conflict between my phone's data security and my personal safety.

My phone is "locked". That is, nobody can get into my phone that doesn't know the series of on-screen gestures I use to get to my applications. This is good. Not perfect, of course, but it limits the chances of someone finding my phone and being able to get at my data.

A few years ago, I read about putting an ICE contact in my address book. ICE standing for In Case of Emergency. This started out of the UK in 2005, but quickly became something recommended the world over. In fact, when I did my 1st aid renewal course last year, they spoke about it. The idea is that if you are hurt, emergency services can quickly and easily find out who to contact by looking up your ICE contact in your address book.

And I do have an ICE contact in my address book. Except that nobody can get to it, because nobody other than me knows how to unlock my phone... And I don't want to leave my phone unlocked because, well, I don't want to risk some nefarious bastard reading my TXT, looking at my PXT, or getting into my email, or running up my phone bill, etc...

What we need is an application that displays contact details and ICE details when the phone is turned on, without needing to unlock it. Or something like that, because it's a real conflict for me...

Obviously, I can list my ICE contact on a piece of paper and put that in my wallet. But precious time could be lost if the emergency crew just looks at the phone and finds it locked...

Inflation, It Works For Me

First, let me warn you that this blog is not about economics or the state of the world's financial affairs. This post is about something much simpler, and in many ways more important!

For the last couple weeks I've been really noticing that my wheelchair tyres were flat. I mean - REALLY flat. I could use my (arthritic) thumb and press down on the tyre and reach the rim. Oy! No good. Turning was sluggish. I could see the tyre bulging. I was worried about a blow out. What I hadn't realised is how much the chair had slowed down on straight lines.

I had been wanting to get the tyres pumped up, unfortunately one of the tyres has a Presta valve, which almost nobody can inflate. I used to have an adapter, but don't anymore. I have a manual pump that can handle that type of valve, in a box somewhere, probably where the adapter is as well. Can I get a big "D'OH" please?!?

I took a different route on my way to work this morning, and drove in front of a bicycle shop. Suddenly I thought I should stop and see if they could inflate my tyres. I turned around at the round-about, went into the store and asked if they could "pump me up". They asked how much I usualy like in the tyre. I said "110 PSI". He said it was no wonder I felt deflated, the tyre was down to 20 PSI. Yikes.

Now that I'm inflated again, or rather my tyres are, pushing my wheelchair is MUCH easier. I can go faster with less effort. I can turn much more sharply.

What a difference a bit of pressure makes :)

Unexpected Problems Organising University Examinations

My "real" job involves organising final examinations for students at a university. We have approximately 25,000 students, collectively sitting approximately 38,000 exams. Yeah, it keeps us busy! Exams start next week!

Recently another university was talking with us about how they had issues with snow falls, and how it complicates their lives - up to 75% of their exam supervisors can be stuck at home unable to get to the venue because of snowfalls.

My boss laughed and said:

We do have to worry about snow, floods, pestilence, civil war and erupting vulcanoes! We haven't had tsunamis, or earthquakes yet!

Indeed. We have extramural students, people studying through distance learning. We offer dozens of venues in New Zealand. So these leave us exposed to the elements (pun intended): snow in the South Island last year meant students & supervisors unable to get to exams. Flooding in the North Island last week caused worries - a truck containing critical examination papers was delayed 24 hours. More floods could conceivably disrupt exams starting next week.

As for pestilence, well, there were many students quarantined away when the H1N1 virus was breaking out. And then there are more mondane but quite "effective" bugs such as Norovirus that occasionaly decimate our students (decimate - hitting one tenth of the students).

Our students sitting exams in Thailand have to go to the New Zealand embassy, which until recently was in the middle of a "war zone". We weren't sure we could rely on that venue, nor that it would be safe for students to get to it!

Another question has been "will the DHL planes be able to deliver the exam scripts to the UK and Europe?" considering the volcano eruption and occasional ash belching still occuring.

These are things that are not immediately obvious when one thinks about organising examinations for students at a university. Hmmm, makes one think...

Vegetarians Should Not Eat Mushrooms

I watched QI with Stephen Fry last night, and learned something that made me go "huh?".

The question was about whether mushrooms were animal or plant. Well, I knew they were neither - they are fungus.

What I did not realise is that apparently fungus are closer to animals than to plants!!! In fact, according to eHow.com:

Because animals are closer in evolutionary history to fungi than plants, it could be said that a mushroom is closer "kin" to a human than to vegetables on a salad bar.

I got to thinking, perhaps vegetarians really shouldn't eat mushrooms, if they are closer to animals than plants. Think of all those vegetarians who love mushrooms, do they know they are almost eating almost animals?

Of course, this is pure sillyness... :D