Run toward opportunity
A couple sayings that I’ve bookmarked recently: “You can lie down for people to walk on you and they will still complain that you’re not flat enough.” Oof! “Don’t run away from problems, run toward opportunities.” This was in the context of working on your career. If you feel like you’re being ignored, before you...
The Raspberry Pi Zero webcam works!
Here’s my final working cam! The only improvement I’d make is to add a longer cable. And possibly buy the 8 MP camera (this is 5 megapixel one). It’s an incredibly easy project, thanks to the Linux firmware you can get from https://github.com/showmewebcam/showmewebcam. Processed with MOLDIV Next up: Automating LED strips!
The difference between streaming and live performance
The first time I finally had my sound interface properly connected to OBS (One Broadcasting System, open source software for live streaming to any platform) and played a show, there was a moment in the middle of it where I felt a surge, a flash, that delicious sense of improvisatory daring that you get when...
A few points to remember about CPR
I recertified for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) this week with ICE Safety Solutions in Fremont and the two hour, virtual reality-and-Zoom class flew by. The night before, a box containing all sorts of props for us to practice with came to my doorstep. Pamela Isom, the president and founder, participated in the training. She told us...
America’s first Native Secretary of Interior
I have been following Rep. Deb Haaland since she won her spot in 2018 as one of the two Native American women elected to Congress (the first two in history). Now she is in confirmation hearings to become the Secretary of the Interior. It’s incredibly moving to think that an indigenous person would hold this...
Landing on Mars
My 14-year-old and I had a great time watching the live coverage of the Mars Perseverance Landing. Since my sister-in-law and brother work as NASA engineers, there was a lot of fun texting going on during the event (obviously, they weren’t involved in the landing or I assume they wouldn’t have been texting us)! Sometimes...
My Raspberry Pi webcam prototype
I am building a second camera for livestreaming. Here’s my prototype using a Raspberry Pi 3 and camera. Pretty funny, no? I got it to work as a streaming camera with OBS pulling in the video via a browser link to the Raspi IP address. However, it’s not that great quality and it’s fairly latent....
Enjoyed Oakland’s newest skating spot today!
Brooklyn Basin and the historic Port of Oakland 9th Avenue terminal there are now mostly complete. It’s a gorgeous place to roller-skate, which is the sport everyone took up during the pandemic! Here’s an article in the Mercury News that alerted me to this spot.
Your amazing body
A few weeks ago while training for a half marathon I tripped in the dark running downhill on the sidewalk and hit my knee straight on the hardest I’ve ever done. I had no choice but to keep running to get home but the next day my knee swelled up and I knew I had...
Sing Us a Song You’re the Tendieman |GameStop stock parody
So, if you have followed any of the crazy news a few weeks ago, there was a stock mania around the nearly defunct retailer GameStop (#GME). Sadly, my son and I were sucked into waiting for the short squeeze to be squoze (and still holding our shares, LOL!). I wrote this parody of Billy Joel's...
RIP Chick Corea
Digging into the memory banks, I realized I saw Chick Corea live when I played the Jacksonville Jazz Festival with Pacific Mambo Orchestra in 2017.
