Since there were two phone calls today

It is time for some practical advice on what to do when your internet connection is not working. Today two of my Mom's friends called to ask questions about how to fix a broken connection. The steps are straight forward and worked for both people, even if one of them did not call back to say it was working and be thankful for the solution.

Step One: Unplug the power to your modem (the box where the TV or phone line goes in and the cat5 computer cable goes out).
Step Two: If you have a router (the box where all the cables for different computers go), unplug it.
Step Three: Wait thirty seconds and reconnect the power to the modem.
Step Four: Wait for the lights on the modem to return to normal (usually all the lights are solid green) and then reconnect the power to the router.
Step Five: Wait for the lights on the router to return to normal, then retry the internet connection.

It is important for the router and modem to be off before reconnecting either of them. I have learned about this from personal experience on the telephone talking to Comcast service personal while dealing with irate roommates. Why someone was angry at me when it was not my responsibility to manage the internet is another story.

Also in the practical knowledge category, I have another drink recipe.

English Highball

1 oz brandy
1 oz gin
1 oz sweet vermouth

Fill with club soda

My response to the swine flu

There has been a lot of talk about the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu, in the last few months.

My first response to this sensationalism is the same response I have when I hear about a new computer virus. I do nothing.

H1N1 is similar to other flu viruses. It is transmitted in the same way. If you want to avoid getting H1N1, do the same things you should do to avoid getting a flu virus.

These include:

• Sneezing into your shirt sleeve instead of your hand.
• Sanitizing commonly touched surfaces, including door knobs and avoiding touching your face if you do touch these surfaces.
• Washing your hands with soap and water anytime you get close to a sink and before eating.
• Avoiding close contact with people who exhibit flu symptoms.

I refer to these measures, perhaps pejoratively, as common sense.

Since some people insist on being in a state of frenzy and repeating the dangers over and over, I have had to implement a second level response to the swine flu.

Eat Pork!

I found a great recipe for Western South Carolina style BBQ sauce. This recipe is in a few different places online, I do not remember on which site I found it.



Western South Carolina Style Barbecue Sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 medium onion, minced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup ketchup

Heat oil in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté‚ until softened, 4-5 minutes. Stir in all the remaining ingredients except ketchup; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, then add ketchup. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes.

I put this sauce on pulled pork I purchased at Costco and made sandwiches. They were delicious!

This is one of many different barbecue sauces. I will follow with more recipes as I try them.

The invention I am waiting for

There are many possible inventions. One I want is a neural computer interface.

This invention I have imagined looks like a thin helmet or a hood. The Nucompi, the best name I could think of in a couple of minutes, will sense electrical impulses and changes in the brain of the user. This will be connected to a normal desktop computer with interface software. The software will detect changes in the working of the brain and interpret them as commands to type words and execute basic commands on the computer.

With this setup, the user will be able to type sentences and control the computer with their mind. Since people can think much faster than they can type or use a mouse, this will be much faster than current methods.

After these functions are perfected, the Nucompi can be expanded to handle more things. With miniaturization, it can take on many attributes of an MRI. If impulses can be associated with words, figuring out the changes that make up basic emotions is the next step. The Nucompi will scan the user's feelings and give a complete readout of what is being felt, even if it is at such low levels the user is unaware of it.

Once the Nucompi has been engineered to do all this, the next logical step is for it to input signals into the brain and not just output them. Instead of the user writing in a letter "I feel sad," the feelings can be scanned and the pattern transmitted online. The recipient of the letter can put on their Nucompi and open up the letter and feel the same emotions the sender felt.

The technology is out there
There is technology which allows people who have lost their hands in accidents to manipulate a mechanical hand. Studies have been done which show the brain is very adaptable and can learn to manipulate things as well as interpret signals. There are possibilities, people need to realize them.

If this became reality, I could make posts faster and better.

Two weeks later

On Tuesday I had another appointment with the Red Cross to donate platelets.

The movie and numbers are:

Catch me if you Can
BP: 130/70
Machine time: 91 minutes

One of the great moments in the movie is when the no nonsense by the book Agent Handratty (played by Tom Hanks) tells a joke. I will not repeat it here, but if you want to watch the YouTube clip, do so at your own risk.

Afterward I picked up some things at Costco and then stopped at 7eleven. I was going to get a Slurpee, but the cherry flavor had the do not use light lit up. As I know from personal experience, this light should be heeded. Instead I had a mocha iced coffee, which I recommend.

If you want to donate blood with the Red Cross, go to www.givelife.org and make an appointment.

When you give blood, you are told to refrain from consuming alcohol for 24 hours afterward. Do not try the drink below on the same day as a donation.

Penguino

This is the recipe I had written down in my log:

1.5 oz gin
1.5 oz triple sec
fill with tonic water
cherry

However, the first half dozen recipes I found on Google had run instead of gin. I must have written it down incorrectly or found a little known variant. My suggestion is to try it both ways and decide which one you like better.

Seaon opener, which reminds me

Today is the start of college football season and the home opener of the Bears. This reminds me of several things I want to do but have not yet done.

Launching the Newman Alumni group
I have all the official paperwork and the website in place. I have planned 75% of a contact plan for which facebook groups will be messaged by who for the initial outreach.

Pictures on facebook
I have a couple albums worth of pictures to put online. I would like to get them up before I forget the names of the people in the pictures and before all of them graduate. One advantage of my laziness is I can organize the pictures thematically from the entire year. I am planning a retrospective on the Yee Tenement House, a CCR and Disneyland album, and a last days in Berkeley album.

Writing people emails and paper letters
I have four letters I want to write and get in the mail by Tuesday. I also want to email a few people, check on them, and obtain their physical addresses.

I am pleased to mention California beat Maryland 52-13 today.

As part of my effort to post drinks recipes, today I enjoyed a Leap Frog Highball.

2 oz gin
juice of half a lemon
ginger ale

I just used lemon juice since lemons were not sitting around in my house. The ratio of gin to ginger ale can be changed to taste. I often use one shot for half a can of the mixer. In this case 1.5 oz gin to 6 oz ginger ale.

Finding things

Last week I was looking for my camera charger. After an exhaustive search I could not find it.

This is distressing to me. It is not in my nature to lose things. In fact, I think finding lost things is one of my strengths.

I started to think, how did I become so good at finding things?

This could have developed from looking for lost things for my Brother and Dad when I was growing up. I could have this skill from my Mom and her way of finding things. Alternatively, my skill could stem from my logical thinking. As my Associate once told me, most people do not think with the same logic you use to run your life.

If I ever do find the charger, I think there is a 75% chance it is in my room right now within ten feet of me.

Summer "Reading" Program

This past summer I took part in the adult Summer Reading Program at the Huntington Beach Public Library.

The last time I participated in a summer reading program I was eight years old. I also lived in a city of approximately 38,000 people, as opposed to the 192,000 residents here.

Before I go into specifics about the program, take a moment and think; what is the most important aspect of a summer reading program?

According to this program, it is not reading.

Participants are given a reading log to record every book read that is over 250 pages or every audio book listened to that is 4 hours or longer. For every entry a person receives a ticket for a drawing for one of six prize baskets at the end of the summer.

I might be old-fashioned, but I think a reading program should involve reading words.

Perhaps if I counted the hours I spend watching Stargate SG-1 over the summer I could have won a basket. If listening to an audio book is close to reading than watching a television show should be close enough for the purpose of the program.

If reading is not required in a reading program, where has it gone?

Different Clothing Sizes

It has been over a week since I last posted, so I will post on a few of the ideas I mentioned before.

A few years ago I was at Sam's Club. I saw some solid colored t-shirts and liked how they looked. I picked up a few different colors in my size XL. When I got home I tried on the new shirts. All of them were larger than I expected, but they were still wearable. A few days later I was at another store and saw a few solid colored shirts again and picked up a few in XL. When I tried them on at home there was a similar result, the shirts where huge.

I wondered why these shirts from two different stores were so big. Then I had a realization. Some clothing manufactures have implemented Fat Ass sizing. In this new system clothing is labeled as a smaller size than it is. For example, a shirt that would be 4XL in a normal size scale is now labeled as an XL. This prevents people from realizing how big their clothing actually is.

Now when I look at the labeled size of clothing I ask myself "Is this a normal size or a Fat Ass size?"