Be Careful What You Text

On Sunday I felt inspired to visit my parents. My son had returned a TV he no longer required and I needed to bring it to my dad who had a use for it. I called me parents to make sure someone would be home and discovered that earlier in the day, my dad had slipped on the ice and fell down. He had so much pain he couldn't get up to walk. My wife and I headed right over.

We had a good chat with both my parents and I came up with a nickname for my dad that referred to a female ice skater from the 1976 winter Olympics. Three of us had a good laugh at my dad's expense. We all wondered if any ribs were broken but my dad assured us that they were not.

Monday morning I got up and went skiing with my wife but had to leave after an hour so we could go help my son move to a larger apartment. Shortly after we started carrying furniture I received a text from my mom about how she had taken my dad to the hospital because of the intense pain he felt. Sure enough, he had 7 broken ribs with 1 broken in 2 places. Fortunately my son's old apartment is right next to the hospital where my dad was admitted. We finished loading the moving van and quickly unloaded it at the new apartment. Then we headed to the hospital to visit my dad.

Both of my sons headed to the hospital in one car while the rest of us followed after unloading more stuff. I forwarded the hospital room number and information so they could find their grandpa without having to bother any of the medical staff. Naturally I sent the information to the family text group we have set up but did not provide any other information about who was in the hospital because most of the family helped with the move. Unfortunately my oldest daughter had to work and didn't have any context.

About 2 seconds after I sent my text, my daughter shot back a message asking who is in the hospital. Naturally I filled in a few details as we still had some stuff to unload and wanted to get to the hospital ourselves. She immediately followed up with a phone call asking for more information and I provided them while finishing up the job at hand.

This short experience illustrates a very important communication problem. Sometimes we don't provide enough background information in our conversations. This is especially true with text messages where we are trying to provide as short a message as possible.

The Biggest Shopping Day of the Year

Some people think the biggest shopping day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday. Actually it is the day after Christmas. That is when people bring back the wrong size gifts and exchange them for the right size. It is also the day that everything goes on sale and you can find a great deal on something you may have wanted for Christmas but didn't get.

Naturally I try to avoid being anywhere near a store on this day. I don't want to get trampled. I also know that today is one of the busiest ski days of the year and so I even avoided skiing at a ski resort. Once again, I don't want to get trampled. Instead I grabbed my youngest son and we went for a hike . . . with our skis on. We headed out just North of Alta ski area and headed up Grizzly Gulch for a morning of hiking and bottomless powder. We had quite a nice time and avoided the crowds.

After skiing there are some things I needed to pick up. I recently bought a new truck and certain items will make the pick-truck more useful. My oldest son showed up at the house shortly after I did and was more than happy to help me spend money. Remember that I didn't want to go anyplace as the stores can be chaotic. Instead we looked online. I started with a bed cover as I hate shoveling snow and don't want to have to shovel it out of the bed of my truck. I found one online before Christmas but had trouble finding it for the same price after. My son suggested Amazon. Sure enough, a name-brand cover that I wanted was even less expensive than I had seen it previously.

Next I needed to get a ham radio for the new vehicle. I had done my research several weeks ago and went to my usual source: Ham Radio Outlet. I loaded up my virtual shopping cart with the radio, antenna, and antenna mount. Then my son suggested I look at Amazon. This time, the radio cost significantly more and so I stuck with my original source.

Amazon has great prices on certain things and can be a great place to shop. Sometimes there are better prices elsewhere and so it pays to do a bit of looking around. Fortunately it doesn't require driving to a different store or even any walking. You can do it all from the comfort of your couch.

Merry Christmas

I hope you had a very merry Christmas this year. Mine felt a little different this year as my kids are all getting older and have families of their own. My wife and I woke early with our youngest daughter and opened a few gifts. Then we all got ready to go skiing. My daughter is an instructor up at Alta and left before me and my wife.

Eventually my wife and I got out the door and thought we would head to Alta as well (Snowbird is also an option). That way if our daughter didn't have any kids to teach, we could take a few runs together. Ultimately we never got to ski with our daughter but we did have some great runs in the fresh snow.

For the past few years we have had snow on Christmas eve which makes for a great day of skiing. Today was no exception. The funny thing is that the snow prediction for the week was only a couple of inches at the resorts. Fortunately we got a lot more than that. While I looked at the weather the report last night, I made sure to double check Alta's website this morning. Sure enough, the 1 to 3 inches predicted turned into 9.

While skiers used to be able to call resorts for snow reports, the Internet has made things much easier. We can look things up at the resort website and find out the latest weather reports. If we want more information, we can look at webcams and see the conditions first-hand. Today those conditions looked pretty good and it made for a very merry Christmas.

A Real-Life Santa Story

Last night we had just finished up with my wife's family Christmas party and several of us gathered back at my house to prepare for the week's coming activities. It was a leisurely Sunday evening at home when my wife's sister got a call from her husband. He had decided to make the 4-hour drive back to Twin Falls, Idaho with his daughter, her husband, and two kids. Unfortunately they started having car troubles and it seemed to be the alternator. With the alternator not charging the car's battery and driving at night with the lights on, it was only a matter of an hour or two before the battery could no longer provide enough electricity for the car to run. Shortly after the first call, we got another one and the car had died 26 miles from the Utah-Idaho border.

Hearing half of the conversation, I decided to call my buddy Brett who loves to rescue stranded motorists. He has a giant trailer and corresponding tow vehicle. He will drop everything to help someone in need. As luck would have it, he just got home and when I asked what he had planned for the evening he responded with, "Where we going?" I told him and without hesitation he exclaimed, "Let's go." I confirmed with my wife's brother-in-law that they could use our help and then headed over to help Brett connect the trailer.

Knowing the problem with the car, we thought we would stop at the local auto-parts store to see if we couldn't bring out a new alternator and fix the car on the spot. Brett loves to go Jeeping and often that means doing trail-side fixes in some of the most adverse conditions possible. Unfortunately it was already 9 pm on a Sunday and all the auto-parts stores in the Salt Lake area had closed. We had the trailer and decided to continue toward the stranded motorists.

100 miles and 2-hours later we pulled off the I-84 to the Howell exit 26 miles from the Idaho border. Brett jumped out from the driver's side wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and a Santa hat. We then proceeded to put the cold passengers in Brett's beefy SUV and make arrangements to get the busted minivan on the trailer. While it is easy to drive a lifted and working 4x4 up the trailer ramp, approach angles and low ground clearance makes putting a non-functioning minivan on the trailer nearly impossible. Fortunately Brett has done this before and we created really long ramps. We also parked the trailer strategically so that we could reduce the approach angle and make it easier on the undercarriage of the vehicle. Then we had to figure out how to push or pull the car up the ramp.

Once again, Brett had done this before and had 2 different systems for getting cars up the trailer ramps. We used a simple chain windlass to get the minivan part way up the ramp. Then we used a second windlass when the first ran out of chain. We continued to pull the car up the ramps and onto the trailer. The process took about an hour as we also had to strap the car down so it wouldn't go anywhere while we drove North on I-84 all the way to Rupert, Idaho. We decided that Rupert was close enough to home that they could get the car the rest of the way home in the morning yet not make me and Brett drive too far.

The rest of the drive went painlessly and we easily removed the minivan from the trailer with the help of a small push and gravity. We pulled the battery from the car and I told my wife's brother-in-law to charge the battery which would allow him to come back and get the car in the morning.

My friend Brett performed a true action worthy of Santa Claus last night. We drove 400 miles and burned through 40 gallons of diesel fuel to help someone in need. Of course, I made sure to refill his tank for him. It is stories like this that remind us all of what Christmas is all about.

The Perfect Gift

One of the best things about this time of year is family gathering together. That is unless it is your in-laws and then it is one of the worst things about this time of the year. Last night my wife's sister showed up at our place with her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren. Neither my wife nor I knew that they would be staying but we have the space and so it is not that big of a problem. We can host them for a couple of days without any difficulty.

This morning at 5 am, a two-year-old girl did not want to sleep any longer and started making noise. So as I sit here this morning thinking about the upcoming Christmas morning and gifts that will be exchanged, I have one suggestion for those looking at any last-minute gifts: noise-cancelling earphones. Both Sony and Bose have some excellent ones that do a really good job. I have an inexpensive pair that do great at drowning out plane noise, but not crying babies. For those with visiting children, I would suggest the more expensive models. They work very well and I recommend a set. Sure they may set you back a couple hundred dollars but how much is your sanity worth?

If you find yourself looking for something a little less expensive, you can get a 50-pack of foam earplugs from Home Depot for less than $10. They may help you sleep through the night. I know I could have used them this morning.

Playing Video Games

Yesterday my youngest son called to tell me that he just got 100% completion of the video game "Horizon Zero Dawn." That is a lot of work and I congratulated him for a job well done. My wife overheard part of the conversation and wanted to know where my son got 100%. He is in his last year of college and so she thought it might be for one of his final exams. I had the break the news to her that he completed a video game.

I could tell my wife's excitement for my son's 100% came to an abrupt halt and she started to say, "Playing video games won't help him get a good job." I actually finished the sentence for her and then laughed as I work in the video game industry and while some companies pay better than mine, my paycheck has supported the family nicely for the past 9 and a half years. We all had a good laugh and it created a funny moment that we will share with others for quite a while.

Truth be told, playing video games probably won't help you get a good job, especially if you prioritize games over schoolwork. I didn't get hired because I have the high score in any game or am known on YouTube as a celebrated gamer. I got hired because of my strong engineering background and years of industry experience. This moment still makes a funny story though.

Airport Delays

I am at the airport waiting to catch my last flight of the year and it is turning into a little adventure. One would think that the San Francisco airport would be able to handle a little bit of rain. Nope there is a comedy of errors that are working against it and I find myself in the middle. Normally I would have a fellow travel buddy to share the grief but this evening is a day earlier than my regular weekly flight and so I will have to share my adventure with you.

For those that don't know, Tuesday is generally the best day of the week to purchase airplane tickets. I have a regular routine where I go through my existing flights and make sure I have the best prices on existing flights and then book any additional flights so that I have travel booked 3 months out. Yesterday was that day and I had to book a number of flights on Southwest due to schedule conflicts. Then I got into the office this morning with an e-mail from Southwest letting me know that one of the flights I booked in March is now cancelled. They rebooked me on a much later flight that doesn't get me home until after 1am. What they didn't tell me is that the original flight I booked was twice as expensive as this new flight nor did they offer me a refund of the difference. No offense Southwest, but that is a bit underhanded. I cancelled the rebooked flight and got my money back. I will look at other options on other airlines as getting in after 1am is not an option.

With that as a background story, let me now move onto today's flights. After getting my Southwest flight cancelled, I got another e-mail. This time from Alaska Airlines letting me know I had been upgraded to First Class. I thought that strange as I am not scheduled to fly again for the next  several weeks. When I looked closely, the upgraded flight is for today and scheduled to leave out of San Jose instead of San Francisco. Then I got another e-mail from Alaska explaining that today's flight would now be leaving out of San Jose and I had to arrive at the San Francisco airport 2 hours early. If I did that, they would make arrangements for me to get to San Jose. There was only one problem, I had a meeting that I needed to be in and couldn't be at the San Francisco airport 2 hours early.

I had arranged a ride to the airport and managed to move my ride to 45 minutes earlier. This enabled me to be at the airport at the appropriate time for the airline to get me to San Jose. Next I headed to my meeting and explained to my visitors from Japan that I would need to cut the meeting in half so I could accommodate a change in departure airports. It worked out and we finished just as my ride showed up to bring me to the San Francisco airport.

I arrived at the airport with 15 minutes to spare and walked up to the ticket counter. The agent politely helped me check in and started to arrange an Uber ride to San Jose. Then a supervisor came up and explained that traffic would prohibit me from making my flight. "Oh crap," was the only thing I could think of as I knew I would get home but knew when would be measured by a calendar instead of a clock. The last time this happened, I got routed on a late flight to Seattle where I slept in the airport before catching a 5:30am flight to Salt Lake. Fortunately a different supervisor intervened and they put me on a Delta flight leaving out of San Francisco an hour earlier than my original flight. The only downside is that I would have to give up my First-Class seat. In my mind I am just happy to be getting home an hour earlier than I originally thought.

I ran next door to the Delta counter and got a seat assignment. I headed through security and made it to my new gate just as the plane was supposed to start boarding. Then I saw that the Delta flight was delayed to a 5:57 departure. That is about the same time as my original flight. I had no luck on the seat assignment but I did have a window seat somewhere in the middle of the plane.

So now I find myself hanging out in the San Francisco airport waiting for a delayed Delta flight to Salt Lake City. I'm sure my departure will get moved out at least once before I board but I am happy to be going home this evening. Let's hope it actually is this evening.

Your Actions May Come Back to Haunt You

Last week one of my coworkers asked if I had ever done anything when I was younger that has come back to haunt me. I told him that I had. After all I am a father and those little people you helped create will haunt you the rest of your life. He had a chuckle and then said that is not what he meant.

I didn't want to know too much about what he had done but figured it out fairly quickly. He may have taken some pictures that would now be considered less than flattering. I had to laugh as the person that has them is trying to blackmail my friend.

A little while ago I posted a message about someone trying to blackmail me. The person supposedly had compromising pictures of me at my computer. One of my thoughts was that nobody would care enough to look at those pictures. If they did, I doubt it would embarrass me enough to pay any ransom. I shared this insight with my coworker and then asked who he didn't want to see the pictures. He gave me the classic response, his mother. I have to admit that there are probably a number of pictures you don't want your mom to see. Then again, your mother has probably seen you at your worst. I think changing a dirty diaper is as bad as it can get.

I don't think I helped my coworker much but it did remind me that you need to be careful about what you do electronically. Those Friday-night pictures may eventually come back to haunt you. Rants about your previous coworkers could keep you from getting your next job. So be careful about what you do online, you will be glad you did 10 years from now.

Helping Christmas Gift Giving

One of the perks to working in the video game industry is that I get certain discounts on games and hardware. Once I walked into GameStop and mentioned the company where I am employed. The salesperson gave me a professional discount right on the spot. I didn't even ask for one. The discounts I get through my company can be even nicer, especially during this time of year.

Last Friday night I attended a Christmas party for the law firm where my wife used to work. I think we got invited this year simply so several of the attorneys could take advantage of my discounts. Actually that is not true, we got invited because it is a close-knit law firm and my wife left on good terms with everyone. I did have fun though playing a joke on one of the paralegals and her husband.

Several weeks ago the paralegal reached out to my wife and asked if I could pick up a game from a company that I don't even work for. I have a contact that can get me games there for a huge discount and so I picked up the game. When my wife delivered it to the paralegal, she was told that I should not mention the game to the husband at the Christmas party as it is a gift for him. Naturally I had to have a little fun with that.

I arrived at the venue and started talking with all of my wife's former associates. When I got to the paralegal and her husband, I said, "I'm not supposed to mention the next generation console your wife had me pick up for you."

The husband's face lit up and he asked, "Really?" excitedly.

I had to come clean and let him know I was joking. I then explained that none of the consoles will be ready until next year and we all had a good laugh. The paralegal then covered things up by asking me to pick her up a few more things for her boys. We all laughed about the exchange throughout the rest of the evening and it made for an enjoyable party.

Taking the Stairs Instead of the Elevator

My office is on the 5th and top floor of our building. When we first moved into the space, I took the elevator and didn't even know where the stairs could be found. Then I had someone move to the desk next to me and he always took the stairs. His reason was for fitness. I started following his good example for a different reason: I was tired of stopping at all the floors every time I got in the elevator. I began to see people that take the stairs from the first to the second floor as being lazy. Eventually I started having feelings of hate towards those that held up the elevator for a single floor change. Fortunately I recognized that the problem was not with other people, but with myself. I have been taking the stairs for about a year now and I think it makes me a better person. I am kinder towards others and my legs are getting stronger in the process. I can now get up the stairs faster than most people in the elevator.

Recently I discovered a new benefit of taking the stairs: mobile phones work in the stairwell but they don't work in elevators. An elevator is effectively a metal cage and it can kill all but the strongest radio signals. A stairwell lets in those radio waves and enable conversations not possible before. Now I use my trips up and down the stairs as an excuse to return those calls that have come in during meetings. It is as if I have found an extra 20 minutes in my day.

I have grown accustom to climbing the stairs to the point where I don't sound like I have been exercising when I reach the 5th floor. Recently I had a visitor in the building and she willingly joined me up the stairs. At about the 4th floor, I noticed my her breath had become labored and I realized I probably should have taken the elevator.

Yes the stairs are better for your health and I highly recommend them. Also don't forget your phone works on them and take advantage of the extra time you have. You can even have a phone call without anyone evesdropping on your conversation because very few people use the stairs.

A Late Christmas List

Normally I am much more together and have my Christmas Gift Idea list put together long before now. This year I have been procrastinating it. Part of the reason is that I have pretty much all of the material possessions I could want. Getting more just means I have to find a place for it all. My house is overflowing with stuff to the point that it is time to start getting rid of some of it. Perhaps it might help you to know what things I would keep as I mentally catalog my computer equipment.

One of my favorite gadgets is my color laser printer. You can find them for around $200 and I highly recommend one. A lot of people don't print because they think it is bad for the environment. I agree but sometimes you need to print something and if you are going to use a sheet of paper, you might as well print it in color. In this day and age, I think a black-and-white printer is a waste of money. There is probably a joke in there about how it will practically print money. Just don't try that at home or the secret service will come after you.

Sticking with the theme of printers, my next favorite gadget is my 3D printer. If you have someone on your Christmas list that loves building prototypes or playing with computer aided drawing (CAD) programs, a 3D printer should be on your list. They can get rather expensive and so I only recommend one if you can get away with a less-expensive model. I still enjoy my Creality Ender 3 and think it is a great beginner printer. I must confess though that my son uses it more than I do but that is why I got it.

My next recommendation would be for dual monitors if you have someone on your list that doesn't already have them. While in Japan this past week I did not have the luxury of dual monitors on my laptop and I really missed it. With a bit of searching you can find a second monitor that will work with most computers for only around $120. I suggest a minimum resolution of 1920x1080p. All of my computers have dual monitors at work and at home.

Another peripheral that is often overlooked is a USB CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc drive. My last several laptops have not had internal drives and that is fine most of the time. However every once and a while you really need one and when you do, you need it badly. I have one that I keep on my desk at home and another one that I have in my office at work. They both come in handy every so often.

Finally I have one more recommendation for those of you that might have a really tight Christmas-gift budget. I do not have enough phone charger cables. I use USB-C for one of my phones and a Lightning connector for the other. I carry all sorts of spares and am amazed at how many times other people need to borrow them. On occasion I need them too. A couple of each would make great stocking stuffers.

I don't think there is any big surprise in this list. Perhaps you might not think about how important a color laser printer is or how useful a spare phone charging cable can be. My experience has taught me that they are and you really miss them when you don't have them.

My Wife's New Favorite Trick

I had a rare occasion today where I got to ski with just my wife. I had planned to go hiking and skiing with my son but the place we intended to go did not have enough snow. My son decided to take his wife and just hike with snowshoes instead. So my wife and I woke up at a relatively late hour (I am still fighting jet lag from Japan) and got ready to go skiing. Fortunately we made it to the ski hill just as the lifts started running and discovered a very uncrowded ski resort.

On our 3rd chairlift ride of the morning my wife excitedly showed me her new favorite trick. We had tried to contact my brother when we arrive in the morning but he did not pick up his phone. So on the chairlift, my wife said, "Hey Siri, read me my last text message." Her phone woke up and read her the last message she had received. She didn't have to take it out of her pocket and get her hands cold. She didn't have to press any buttons. She just had to say, "Hey Siri."

I had to admit that I knew about the voice activation feature of iPhones. I also know it works with Android phones. Both require a fairly simple set-up procedure but I have yet to do it on any of my smartphones. Knowing about a feature and actually using it are two very different things. My wife showed a practical application of technology that would save me from very cold fingers. Perhaps I should get around to setting it up.

Killing Time at LAX

Today I flew back to the United States from Japan. That makes for a very long day as I crossed the International Date Line. So instead of a 24-hour day, today will be more like 48. This is especially true since I worked a full day at the office in Tokyo before getting on a plane and I have been working in the airport lounge since I arrived in Los Angeles. Throw in a couple of conference calls this evening as soon as I land and it makes for a really long day. I think I am going to take tomorrow off. Oh wait, I have a conference call at 11am.

In any event, I find myself in an airport lounge killing time while waiting for my next flight. I had a 4-hour layover, which allowed for plenty of time to get through customs and immigration. In a rare stroke of luck, my flight actually left Japan early and we arrived in Los Angeles an hour early. Throw in my Global Entry privilege and I practically walked off the plane and through re-entry into the US. So how to best use that time?

Naturally I attacked e-mail and knocked that out pretty quickly. During the course of going through my messages, I worked with my team in San Mateo to upgrade one of our servers. I also put together a survey for a workshop I helped organize in Tokyo this last week. With all that completed, I had some free time. While there is probably more work I could do, I am in a public place and can't do too much research work. I couldn't think of any B-Movies I wanted to watch on YouTube, but I did think about that. I had one movie that a colleague from work loaded onto my computer a few weeks ago. I started watching that earlier and finally finished it in the lounge. The only downside with that is I have been on a plane with access to a large movie library and so I am sort of movied-out. I listened to a few favorite songs but I am really looking for something else to do.

It feels like I have been working on electronic devices for the past 36 hours and so I think I am going to leave the lounge early and walk around the airport a bit. I may just need some exercise and it will be good for me.

YouTube: My Source for all Those B-Grade Movies

Last night I found myself with an evening without anything to do. Earlier I had done a search for one of those old movies I used to watch as a teenager and discovered that you could watch "Better Off Dead" on YouTube. I spent the evening watching the movie and enjoying it.

There are several other movies from my formative years that I have been unable to find on any type of disk (DVD or Blu-ray). That makes it tough to add to my movie collection at home. This morning I have been wondering what other movies are available on YouTube. I have an old Dirk Benedict one that I have been trying to find for years. I knew a poor copy existed on the Internet but thought I would see if a better one existed. Sure enough, it does.

Unfortunately the quality of both movies is not that great. It makes me appreciate the DVD copy of "Better of Dead" that I do have in my movie library. However this second movie I only ever saw on VHS video tape and the quality was never good to begin with. So if you find yourself trying to watch an old movie that never really became that popular, check on YouTube. You might be surprised at what you find.

The Problem with Working in Research and Development

One of the perks of my job is that I get to visit Tokyo around this time every year. While I have been to Tokyo more times than there are days in a month and so it has become a bit routine, I do enjoy one aspect of this trip: being able to see new technologies currently investigated by other research and development groups. The downside is that I can't talk about any of it. I take my confidentiality agreement very seriously and so I don't even tell my wife about the neat things I get to see.

Yesterday I did a lab tour and saw some very interesting research projects. As I viewed some of the projects, I thought how the technology can be applied and wanted to share the ideas with close friends and family. Unfortunately I can't say a thing. I can't even hint at what I have seen. Today will be more of the same, only on a larger scale. I have to admit that I am looking forward to it. I only wish I could share more.

The Internet Does Not Work the Same Internationally

Once again I find myself in Japan this week. When I travel internationally I try to keep my body as close to Mountain Standard Time (MST) as possible. That makes it easier to readjust when I get back to the States. It also means I go to bed at 8pm and wake up at 4am every morning.

This morning I started doing early-morning e-mail and got several from my son. He knows I am looking to replace my 20-year-old car and sent me listings for a few potential candidates. What he doesn't realize is that the Internet does not work the same internationally and I cannot see the listings. Some sites look at the IP address you are using and if you are not located in the United States, block traffic. This is a good way to keep malicious events from happening. Fortunately there is an easy fix. I cannot get my company e-mail without using a virtual private network (VPN). To external websites I now look like my computer is physically located in California even though I am on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Another thing that doesn't work as well is the Pandora streaming music service. I have written about this in the past and have to switch to Spotify when I am outside the US. It is not a big deal as I have my Pandora and Spotify accounts set up with similar playlists but it is something to be aware of.

Finally, there is a big difference with Google. Google and all of its consumer services such as the search engine and YouTube are giant advertising places. That means they need to know where you are physically located to serve you the correct ads. They also use your location information to do things like set the language and character set. When I am in London, that isn't a problem because I speak the language. In Japan it does become a problem because the character set is different.

This blog site is maintained by Google and so when I log in from Japan to create an entry, all of the instructions and buttons are in Japanese. Fortunately the placement is the same for all of the buttons in both English and Japanese so that I know what buttons mean even if I can't read the language. Google also allows you to set your language. To do so, just go to https://google.com. If you have a Google account, you will see your avatar in the upper-right corner of the webpage. Click on it and you will be able to manage your account settings. Simply click on "Manage Your Google Account" and you will find the language setting under "Data & Personalization." Now it doesn't matter what country you are in, Google won't try to translate everything into the language of the country you are visiting.

Most of the time, the differences you will experience with the Internet while traveling internationally are easily surmountable given a bit of preparation. Hopefully this little post helps.

Disc vs. Streaming

Recently I mentioned the Disney+ video streaming service. After playing with it for a while, I now have to ask myself what to do with all of the Disney DVD and Blu-ray discs I have. This is not a new problem as I originally owned them all on VHS video cassette. Over the years I have systematically replaced all of my favorites with the DVD and Blu-ray equivalents. Now I don't need any of them as I can get them all on Disney+ wherever I am in the world.

The move from physical copies of media is something the music industry faced over the past decade. Go try to find a CD of your latest favorite song. It can be tough because people have stopped buying CD discs. For a while, people were buying individual songs on services like iTunes. Now everything has gone to streaming. If you want to listen to a specific song, you just go to YouTube and pull up the music video which may or may not actually be a video.

I don't plan to get rid of my Blu-ray collection of movies any time soon. There are a number of my favorite movies that are tough to find on any streaming service. I am still looking for one of my favorite movies on disc that I used to have on VHS. Most people would think it is not that great of a movie but I really enjoyed it as a teenager.

I am also waiting how long it takes for people to tire of paying the monthly fee for access to movies. If you watch a movie several times a week, then paying for the streaming service makes sense. However if you only watch once or twice a month, there are some people that will justify pay-per-view, owning a disc, or owning the digital rights to favorite movies.

Ultimately I think the movie industry will follow the music industry and we will stop purchasing physical discs. While my current preference is to own physical media, I may be in the minority soon. The writing is on the wall.

Things I am Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Generally I don't take the time to write in my blog on Thanksgiving but today I find myself with a bit of extra time by myself. My married kids are spending time with their in-laws and so I find myself alone on this peaceful Thursday. I thought I would write about some of the things I am thankful for. Naturally I am thankful for family and friends but I wanted to highlight some of the technologies that make our lives better.

We live in a marvelous time with a lot of modern conveniences such as refrigerators and microwaves. When I first started spending time on my boat in California almost 10 years ago, I didn't have a lot of these modern conveniences. In fact, my fridge didn't really work that well and I often had food spoil over the weekend. I have since fixed that. I also didn't have a microwave. I do now and use it every morning I stay on the boat. That is how I cook my oatmeal. I also use it to heat up water to clean my breakfast dishes. These are wonderful technological devices that make my life a lot easier.

I am thankful for computers. While they may actually complicate our lives, they do make certain things a lot easier. Connect one to the Internet and you have an infinite source of information. Of course, not all of it can be believed but if you know where to look you can find out anything.

I am thankful for smartphones with cameras. I don't know how we survived in the days before mobile phones. Then they added cameras and now I can take pictures of the beautiful mountain scenes I have experienced every day this week as I have ventured out to do some backcountry skiing. I get to brag a little bit as I send the pictures to my friends back in the Bay Area. I also appreciate being able to look up driving directions and answers to important questions such as if my flight is still on time.

Finally I am thankful for jet planes. Without them I would have to leave the mountains that I love and live full-time in the Bay Area for work. I tell people that the Bay Area is a great place if you are into shopping and good restaurants. It is horrible if you like spending time outside in the mountains. Locals there claim they have mountains but those are really just hills with very limited access. If you like rock climbing and skiing, you have to drive somewhere else or catch a plane.

Yes, there is a lot to be thankful for. Hopefully you are reading this after Thanksgiving and had the time to create your own list of things you are thankful for.

Replacing My Avalanche Beacon

My oldest son loves to research outdoor equipment. This past weekend he came to me and told me it is time to replace my current avalanche beacon (or transceiver as it is sometimes known). The company that made my mine is recommending I replace it with a newer model. The justification is that mine is an older 2-antenna model and the latest 3-antenna models have faster search times, are easier to use, and are more efficient.

That begs the question: What do I do with my old one? After all, I haven't used it that much and know it still works well. We make sure to test our beacons all the time. It helps reassure us that they function as advertised and that we are not learning how to use our equipment when we really need it. You don't want to be fumbling around with a new toy when someone's life is on the line.

With Christmas just around the corner, I am in no hurry to replace my current  transceiver as Santa may have one for me under the Christmas tree. If I don't get one a month from now then I will go out and purchase one and have to do something with the old one. My wife suggested that we use it for practice. That is not a bad idea. Another idea I had is to use it as a loaner for someone coming along with us on an adventure who may not have one. It sounds like a good idea but I am afraid it will promote a false sense of security.

I think the best course of action is to do what I do with all other outdated electronic devices and that is to utilize the services of an e-waste company. Our local Best Buy has a number of bins at the entrance of their store where you can drop off old electronic devices and they will dispose of them in a way that is better for the environment than just putting them in landfill. As with old climbing ropes that should be cut into unusable sections, I may take a hammer to mine so that nobody is tempted to used the antiquated device. If I have tears in my eyes as the hammer comes down, it is probably just allergies . . .

Christmas Lights on the Boat

Tonight is my last night on the boat until after Thanksgiving. Then I won't be back in California the following week because of a trip to Japan and so I thought I would put my Christmas lights up. It is something I do every year. Some people may think it a waste as I won't be around to enjoy them. The reality is that I put them up for others and not myself.

In years past I have only turned on the Christmas lights while I am at the boat. Last year I tried to put the lights on a timer but the one I purchased came broken. I didn't have the chance to replace it until after Christmas. I have the new one on the boat this year and I know it works. I plan to keep the lights on the boat until I get back from the Holiday break in January. Every night from 6pm until midnight, the lights should come on.

I got done putting the lights up and sent a picture to my wife. She responded that the boat looks festive. I also sent a picture to a friend here in San Mateo who said the exact same thing. Another word one of them used was "cheerful." That is the spirit I am going for and so I consider the lights a success. As we enter the Holiday season, remember that most of the things we do are for others and not ourselves.

Quantum Computing

A few days ago I had an old friend reach out to me on LinkedIn. He asked if I knew anything about Quantum Computing among other topics and I had to confess that I didn't really know much. Today I came across it again as it relates to machine learning and so I did a bit more research.

There is a different vocabulary associated with Quantum Computing and that takes a bit of getting used to. With traditional computing you have a bit which represents either the number 0 or the number 1. Quantum computing uses qubits which can be either a 0 or a 1 at the same time. Now string a bunch of bits together and you can represent things like numbers or letters. If you have two numbers you want to add together, you can add their bit representations and you have a single number as the result. With qubits, you add two representations of numbers and have all possible sums for all possible inputs with a single operation. So if you have an 8-bit number, you can count from 0 to 255. Assuming you have space for the results, adding all possible 8-bit numbers results in 512 operations. With Quantum Computing you can get all 512 results in a single operation.

Now start thinking about really large numbers. The larger the numbers, the more operations it takes to come up with all possible outcomes. This idea starts to open up a number of very difficult problems that can now be solved.

If you can do addition on a computer, you can also do multiplication. If you can do that multiplication very quickly then you have something that will help with encryption and decryption of confidential information. Some worry that Quantum Computers can be used to hack into secure banking systems. Fortunately there are secure encryption and decryption techniques using Quantum Computing that are unbreakable and so the moment the technology becomes viable, we will just need to change our current security protocols.

Some scientists believe that Quantum Computing is still a ways off. Others see it as being much closer. The real question is what will the applications be. If we go back 50 years and try to come up with possible uses for traditional computers, we couldn't possible imagine how they are being used today. The same will be true for Quantum Computing and that is what makes it interesting.

Content is King

The new video streaming service "Disney+" recently launched. This afternoon I looked at Disney's stock price and it rose $10/share. Coincidentally I looked at Netflix stock and it dropped $10/share over the same period. You have to wonder if there is a correlation.

I currently don't have any streaming video subscriptions nor do I plan to sign up for any but I have to admit that if I did, I would start with Disney+. Why? They have the most content I am interested in watching. If you look at my movie collection at home, I have a ton of Disney movies. Not just the animated ones but also most of the Marvel and Star Wars collections.

So what is Netflix going to do? Well I have to recognize that Netflix is fairly nimble and has done a great job at adjusting their business strategy based on market changes. I think they will be able to come up with content through their own efforts or through acquisition. There should be a lot of companies merging content in the near future because it doesn't make sense to subscribe to CBS's streaming service and then pay more money for NBC's or a number of other smaller providers.

Today at the office we had a discussion about who is signing up for Disney+ and if they are ditching another streaming video service. Everyone that is signing up for the new service is cancelling something. My own son sent me a message saying that he was getting rid of Netflix for Disney+.

I will be interested to see how Disney+ changes the video streaming market and hope that is spurs collaboration among the smaller players. That is probably the only way some of them will survive.

Obsession

Lately I have been dealing with a powerful obsession. My own father has remarked then when I pick up a new hobby, I jump in with both feet and immerse myself in it. This has happened with sailing and more recently rock climbing. It consumes my spare time and pretty much every waking moment until I accomplish some specific task. Then I can relax to focus on other parts of my life. Many years ago, this is how I got through college.

Obsessions can be bad if one focuses on a harmful thing like alcohol or drugs. They can also be good if one is trying to make the world a better place. This is how wonderful technologies have been invented. It took sincere devotion for two guys to work in their garage to create a new device that revolutionized the computer industry and brought personal computing to the masses. We know the company they created as Apple.

Fast forward a few years and a software engineer working at CERN in Switzerland saw a need for people to share information. In order to solve the problem he developed 3 key technologies that are ubiquitous today: hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), web addresses, and hypertext markup language (HTML). Because of his obsession we now have the World Wide Web which greatly simplified the Internet and made it usable for the masses.

There are countless other examples of engineers working tirelessly to solve problems that have changed the world for the better. They are able to focus for long periods of time, not worrying about food or sleep and end up accomplishing the seemingly impossible. So when you see someone obsessing about a technical problem, know that there could be tremendous good that comes from concentrated thought. As for me, my current obsession won't change the world but it also isn't hurting me either. I'm just hoping ski season gets going here pretty soon.

AI: The Next Big Tech Trend

About 30 years ago everyone thought that artificial intelligence (AI) would be the next big thing. Companies invested in expert systems only to discover they didn't have much power and we had a long ways to go before we could do anything really spectacular. Now it seems like you can't click through a website without hearing about AI, machine learning (ML), or deep learning (DL). This leads one to ask if AI really is the next big thing.

This morning I came across 2 articles on AI that I felt merited reading. The first talked about a new form of machine learning where the program or agent is given the freedom to explore new ideas randomly instead of being rewarded for achieving some goal. Should a goal be reached, the agent stores the steps necessary to repeat the process. If a more efficient way of achieving that goal is found, the memory is overwritten with the better steps. The reason this is of interest to me is that is has been used to play several computer games successfully when other AI agents based on reinforcement learning have failed. Interestingly this is how some of our most successful innovations have emerged: thinking about novel ways of solving an existing problem.

The second article I read today came from a consulting organization talking about how AI is going to revolutionize our economy. While they admit that a number of jobs will be replaced by AI, they also point out that a higher number of jobs are being created to implement it than those being lost. The article then went on to estimate the amount of money being spent developing and using AI. It is not a small number.

My takeaway from both articles is that the field of artificial intelligence is getting a lot of interest and is showing the same promise that the personal computer industry had 30 years ago. There are also a lot of new ideas in AI and it will be an area of tremendous innovation. If I had a son or daughter headed off to college and wondering where the money is, I would definitely steer him or her towards AI.

Continuing Education and Bad Math

This last Saturday my wife and I attended the 12th Annual Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop put on by the Utah Avalanche Center. It is the first time I have ever attended and felt it worth my time. It is always good to be reminded of the dangers of winter travel in the backcountry. The moment you become too complacent is when it becomes dangerous.

The first speaker hailed from the National Weather Service and he talked about climate change and what it will do to our winters. For those of us that like to ski, he gave a very depressing talk in that he made the statement that in the next 50 years or so, winter in Utah will cease to exist. Now anyone that knows about long-range forecasts knows that they are always wrong and so it surprised me that there was such a dire prediction stated almost as fact. Anyone that knows anything about weather and statistics knows that you can't apply linear equations to non-linear problems. The long-range weather forecast came from linear regression but we all know that weather forecasting is a non-linear problem. The best you can do is predict weather for the next 7 to 10 days. While I don't dispute that our winters have changed over the past several years, I don't think that we can predict what will happen with the weather in the next 50 years. So in other words, I give the first speaker a failing grade for his math skills.

The next talk extolled the benefits of avalanche safety training but then told everyone in the audience that they are not using that training effectively. He then backed it up with statistics. This time, proper statistics. Interestingly I had to agree with him as did a few of the next speakers.

We next heard about the 4 fatal avalanches we had in Utah last year. We learned things like cause and warning signs to help us avoid similar problems. Then they brought up a panel of backcountry skiers that had been caught in avalanches on the same weekend last year but did not die. That took a lot of courage to go up in front of a bunch of people and talk about mistakes you made. One of the first speakers was the avalanche forecaster who provided an all-is-safe prediction. He felt bad and quite a few people had a false sense of security as we all now know. Then the skiers mentioned a number of red flags that should have had them turning around and not venturing out that day. The biggest was when a lone skier passed a group heading up. The lone skier had been swept downhill 1000 feet in an avalanche and had lost one of his poles. Before Saturday I might have continued up as well. After hearing what happened, I will definitely turn around should something similar happen to me in the future.

My wife and I attended the Workshop to improve our backcountry skills and we both found it to be well worth our time. The workshop cost only $45 and included lunch so we found it to be a good value as well. Furthermore I am an avid user of the Utah Avalanche Center's daily forecast during ski season and felt this helped pay them back for a free service they provide. I'll be back again next year.

I Guess I Wasn't Done

A few posts ago I mentioned that I was pretty much done with God of War for the PS4 as it stopped being fun. I had one last trophy to earn and felt like no matter what I did, I was not going to earn it. This weekend I talked to my son who completed the game and finished the last task that I found so difficult. He gave me some pointers and this evening I tried them out. Guess what? They worked and now I have finished another game and earned a platinum trophy.

So what is the trick to beating the last of the Valkyries? For me it all boiled down to weapons choice. I have played all of the main God of War games starting with the version on the PlayStation 2. In going through those games I really liked using the Blades of Chaos. The moment I unlocked them in this game, I started using them with reckless abandon. Don't follow my example. My son used the ax and that made all of the difference. The ax inflicts more damage than the Blades of Chaos. It also takes a bit more skill to use well.

Another thing I did that helped finish the game is paying attention to all of my meters and gauges. Before I would try to land large attacks only to discover I did not wait long enough for the power to refill. This evening I would quickly glance down and constantly check when I could use the larger attacks. Once the power filled, I would unleash the attack.

As I got towards the end of the final battle, I could see my health dwindling down to almost nothing. I noticed I had enough power to unleash 2 simultaneous large attacks and used them. That allowed me to defeat the final boss and I became elated. It has taken me weeks of getting my butt kicked and I finally triumphed. Now it is time to move onto another game. I have Spider-Man loading up right now and will start playing it shortly.

It's A Girl!

Yesterday we had all of my children and grandchildren (all 2 of them) at the house for Sunday dinner. We had a good party and then things wound down. My oldest son and his wife stuck around a bit while I entertained my oldest grandchild. Eventually it came time to put him to bed and so we put him in my wife's sewing room. Once he fell asleep, his parents headed home for one last night of good rest. This morning my son took his wife to the hospital and this evening my 3rd grandchild was born.

At about 3:30 this morning my grandson woke up and realized he was not at his own home. He called for my wife and worried where his mother might be. My wife calmed him down and then we got a few minutes of sleep before I had to get up at 5:15 to catch my plane to the Bay Area. My wife and I thought our grandson was asleep as we got ready to go to the airport. Sure enough, the little man came down the stairs before we could get out the door. He wanted to play. We took him with us to the airport where he helped "Nana" drop "Bampa" to catch a plane.

I knew my latest granddaughter would be born while I am away but I got on the plane anyways. Grandpas are not really needed at this stage of the child's life and I would just get in the way. I will fly back on Thursday and probably get to see the newborn on Friday. In the meantime I am relying on copious group-text messages and pictures to share in the experience. I sincerely appreciate technology and the ability to instantly send photographs for these very important life moments.

When to Give up on a Video Game

For the past several weeks I have been trying to complete one final task in God of War. I have one last Valkyrie to "free" but just can't seem to be able to do it. Last night I came as close as I ever have but still fell short. I am trying to decide this evening if I am going to try again or just give up on the game and practice guitar.

Looking back I can see that I finished the main story of the game back at the end of August. Then it took me another month to finish a lot of the side quests that I never got around to doing. This past month I have not had a lot of time to play games in the evening because of other commitments. That means I will have 30 minutes here or there to put into the game. That works because after 30 minutes of getting my butt kicked, I don't really feel like playing much more anyways.

I guess that is how you tell when you are done with a video game: it is no longer fun to play. I have played quite a few games and never got past some of the beginnings. Often times that is because I have so many other things to do. Sometimes it is because I just lose interest in the game and it is no longer fun to play. When that happens to you, feel free to stop playing.

Driving with Earphones

While riding my bike to work this past week I witnessed a near accident because the driver of a car was wearing earphones. The bike path I take to work runs alongside a dog park. That means it crosses the parking lot where drivers have to stop and watch for cyclists. On Tuesday a guy on a road bike passed me on my much slower mountain bike. He came to the crossing at the same time as a driver wearing earphones. The driver stopped but never bothered looking to see if any bikers might be approaching. He started going as this other cyclist, who was not required to stop, got to this minor intersection. The cyclist realized the driver was not paying attention and slammed on his brakes before getting T-boned by the much larger truck. The cyclist tried to yell at the driver but the driver couldn't hear a thing because of the earphones. The driver then proceeded through the intersection without yielding to the cyclist.

As a cyclist, you have to be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to all of the inattentive people driving cars. It is my experience that headphones make drivers less attentive and I think they should be illegal to wear while operating a bike or motor vehicle. The state of California agrees with me. Its law states:

Wearing headsets or earplugs in both ears is not permitted while driving or operating a bicycle, unless designed to aid hearing or specifically designed to attenuate injurious noise levels.

Not wanting to provide the wrong information, I looked up the law for Utah. There is no law against wearing headphones while driving. That really surprised me but I guess that explains why I see a lot of drivers cruising down the road listening to headphones and not worried about getting pulled over. If you are interested in finding out the law in your state, AAA has a great page that lists every state with its headphone law.

I found it interesting that my last blog post talked about headphones and then I had this recent experience. It made for a good follow-up for today. Fortunately I was glad I didn't have to help scrape the poor cyclist off the pavement on Tuesday.

Apple EarPods are Incredibly Uncomfortable

Last week I had a flight and forgot my comfortable earphones. They are the in-ear type that also have noise cancelling and I love them. I always keep a spare set of earphones in my computer bag and so I pulled out my spare pair of Apple EarPods. They seem to be incredibly popular as I see a lot of people walking around with the telltale white buds hanging out of their ears. Unfortunately I hate them as they are the most uncomfortable pair of earphones I own.

I am usually a fan of Apple products but I think this is one case where everyone has bought into a severely inferior product. Perhaps my ears are different than everyone else in the world, however I believe that a lot of people are really into pain. I just can't believe that people willingly put those things in their ears.

It also is not just a comfort thing. The sound quality from my less-expensive earphones is vastly superior to that of the EarPods. I used to not really be able to tell the difference between various sound products. Now that I am actively practicing the guitar, my ears have become significantly better at distinguishing between high-quality and low-quality sound. The EarPods have a very rattly sound. This could be because they don't fit my ears very well. In any event, I am not a fan of this Apple product.

So you may be asking which headphone brands I prefer. I have tried a number of products and suggest going with a brand that is known for higher-quality sound. I have several Sony headphones and enjoy them all. With Sony, you pay for what you get so spending more gives a better headphone. That being said, even the cheapest Sony headphones fit my ears much better than the EarPods.

I also have some Skullcandy headphones and think they are pretty good as well. I will confess that I did sit next to the CEO of Skullcandy once on a flight and we had a great time discussing the merits of various headphone manufacturers.

A Possible Uber Discount

I have been using Uber to get from my office to the San Francisco Airport recently and have noticed a steady increase in cost for the same distance. It has gotten to the point of me looking at other alternatives and today that may have worked in my favor.

Last week I used Uber to get to the airport and my cost was either $20 for Uber Pool (shared ride with other people) or $25 for Uber X (direct non-stop by myself). This is consistent with costs for the past few weeks. In going through my receipt, I noticed a $7 surcharge because of the airport. I know that there is a BART train that is non-stop and leaves from the Millbrae station, which is close to the airport. The cost is only $5 and so I checked to see how much Uber would cost just to get to Millbrae. When I saw the cost at only $10 for Uber Pool, I thought I would do that this evening. Just to make sure I did a fair comparison, I checked how much it would cost to the airport. Instead of $20, the cost came up at only $15 and so I booked Uber. After all, it saved me from having a train transfer.

While going through the airport security I thought about it and wonder if the programmers at Uber recognize when customers are trying to save money. If I was a developer looking for ways to differentiate my rideshare application from others, I would look for little nuances like that.

Anyone that has used Uber for any amount of time know that there are a number of factors that determine pricing. Ever try to hail an Uber or Lyft after a concert? It is really expensive unless you can get a fair distance from the concert venue. It could be that my reduction in price today is reflective of a number of other factors and I just got lucky. Fortunately I will have many more opportunities in the near future to test out my hypothesis. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Time to Change my Password Again

This morning I got an automated e-mail telling me it is time to change my password again. I have been getting them for the past several days and if I wait until tomorrow it will be too late. I have written in the past about ideas for passwords and I got another good suggestion today.

The password for my laptop has remained relatively the same for the past 10 iterations. I use something like "ThisIsVersion1ofMyPassword." It is a long sentence and all I need to do is change the version number to the next one in the sequence. It works well except I didn't want to start adding 2-digit numbers. One of my colleagues suggested using letters. At first I thought that would be a horrible idea because "ThisIsVersionaofMyPassword" just doesn't make as much sense. Sure it is easy to remember and I definitely think it makes it more difficult for people to guess my password. After all, what does "a" represent?

I thought about it a bit more and remembered the line from the movie "The Martian" where Matt Damon has an epiphany with hexadecimals. For those that don't know, hexadecimal is a base-16 numbering system. Instead of creating new symbols for the numbers between 10 and 15, you just use the letters a, b, c, d, e, and f. The letter a is equivalent to 10, b = 11, c = 12, etc. If you ever take a peek at your computer or phone's MAC address, it is stored in a hexadecimal number. So to me, "ThisIsVersionaofMyPassword" is really equivalent to "ThisIsVersion10ofMyPassword" but with one less character.

While saving one character in a really long password is not that big of a deal, I have discovered that typing a single letter is significantly easier than typing a number. Don't get me wrong, I still include other numbers in my passwords to make them more difficult to guess. Reducing the amount of them makes my password easier to type. Hopefully you will find this trick useful with your passwords as well.

How to Beat the Unseasonably High Temperatures in the Bay Area

Today is one of those really warm days in the Bay Area and everybody seems to be dying from the heat. I don't have air conditioning on my boat and so I really don't want to spend a sweltering evening on the water waiting for the temperature to fall to acceptable levels. I could stay at the office and play video games. Instead I am going to spend the next several hours on planes gathering frequent flyer miles.

Every year I look at how many miles I have flown and what frequent-flyer level that puts me at for my most traveled airlines. Last year I lost all of my perks on Delta but didn't really care. When I went to Disney World in May, I just made sure the purchase first class tickets on Delta. Then I didn't need to worry about if I got upgraded or not.

I generally fly on Alaska Airlines between Salt Lake and the Bay Area. I discovered that I wouldn't make the most elite level this year without a little help. When Alaska ran a sale for really inexpensive flights between SFO and LAX, I snapped up a few round trips for $101. That will push me over the top and next year I will reap the benefits.

So how do I decide if making the next level is worth the cost in flights? Easy, I look at the perks and assign a price to each one. When the perks outweigh the price for these extra tickets, I buy some inexpensive round trips. It is important to assign accurate values to each of the perks otherwise you can convince yourself to spend $20 for $10 worth of benefits. One example is the bonus miles awarded at the higher frequent-flyer level. In my mind I figured it was worth about 25,000 extra miles for the year. That is the equivalent of a domestic ticket anywhere Alaska flies. Rather than use my estimation, I calculated how much the benefit was worth this year and it turned out to only be around 15,000 miles. That is significantly less than my initial guess.

There are all sorts of tips and tricks to getting frequent flyer miles and reaching elite levels for the various loyalty programs. You can't be an elite member in more than one (or for a very rare group of people two) so it is important to pay attention to what your travel will be like in the future. If I was to quit flying for my job then tonight's flight would be wasted money. Fortunately I don't see that happening any time soon.

Revisiting Agile Development

A few years ago I wrote about Agile Development. Earlier this week I had an experienced that reinforced one of its principles: quick iterations. I have a project and have been given six months to complete it. I have another developer helping me and so we are meeting often to work on the deliverables. I thought we had a good start to our plan and sat down with my boss to go over some details.

My plan included installing some new software and migrating hundreds of people to the new system. I knew it would be a tough sell but that is how I planned to incorporate one of the most important goals of the project: world-wide access for all teams. My boss suggested using existing software and making small tweaks to bring teams on-board gradually. Rather than trying to get everyone onto the new software in a big push, we will make minor adjustments to the software that teams in one geographical location are already using. Then we will add another team midway through the schedule. Rather than trying to get the third and final group onboarded to new software that they are not familiar with, we will just copy data from our system to theirs and vice versa on a nightly basis.

My plan is much more comprehensive but runs the risk of being impossible. There is a chance that we will get to the end and not have anything working. This will extend the project for an unknown amount of time and could end up being a never-ending project. The new plan is incremental and allows us to have something to show every two weeks, which is our sprint length. If we are late on any of our deliverables, stakeholders will see the delays as they happen and be able to plan accordingly.

This weeks experience reminded me that even though I know software development principles, there are many ways to put them into practice and some are better than others. I need to remember not to focus on one goal at the expense of being able to get something done.

Setting up a New WiFi Access Point

My wife and kids have been complaining about the slow Internet at my house and so I had to take a look at it this weekend. When your kids are young, you can blow off their complaints about slow Internet access. When they know more than you do about computers it is time to listen and fix the problem. That is where I found myself on Saturday.

I couldn't understand what the family was talking about because my primary computer has a physical wire connected to our Internet router. Everything worked well for me. I even ran a speed test and got close to the physical limits of my hardware. Then I started running speed tests on other computers around the house that connect via WiFi. To keep things uniform, let's assume my max Internet connection is 100 Mbps (that's mega-bits per second, not to be confused with mega-bytes per second). Running an Internet speed test on my hardwired desktop results in a speed of 93 Mbps. The laptop next to my WiFi access point came in at a paltry 23 Mbps. The further away from my access point, the slower the speeds. That indicated I might want to update my WiFi access point. I headed down to the local Best Buy and spent $60 on a new piece of hardware.

Setting up a WiFi access point is not as simple as plugging in the hardware and turning it on. I had to turn off and on the cable modem and run a configuration program to let it set itself up. It only took a few moments and then I had things working to the point where I could run my speed tests. My hardwired desktop still had a result of 93 Mbps. Next I tested my laptop and it came in at 83 Mbps. That is significantly better than the 23 Mbps from before. Furthermore I was getting significantly better numbers on devices scattered throughout the house. The PS4 Pro in my TV room came in at 53 Mbps while the PS4 in my bedroom tested at 45 Mbps.

One thing I noticed is the degradation of the WiFi signal. My new WiFi access point actually comes with 2 access points: one at 2.4 GHz and the other at 5.0 GHz. The higher number frequency provides for faster speeds but has a range limitation. I can see the 2.4 GHz signal throughout the house but have to be fairly close to the access point to see the 5.0 GHz network. You'll want to remember that as you select where to place your WiFi access point should you be running through the same exercise. As my bedroom PS4 is furthest from the access point, it is stuck on the 2.4 GHz network as it can't see the 5.0 GHz one.

The final step for setting everything up was to configure my printers. I use IP printing with 2 laser printers (one black and white with the other color). All of the computers in the house expect the printers to be at fixed IP addresses and so I had to configure that in the new WiFi access point. It is easy enough to do and I completed it quickly. Now everything is set up.

I did all of this work while the rest of my family attended a wedding reception and so when everyone got home they noticed they couldn't get on the Internet. The old access point SID had disappeared. All anyone needed to do was look for one of the two new ones and reconnect. I do have to admit I chuckled every time I heard one of my kids exclaim, "Hey, what happened to the Internet?"

Hard-Working Uber Drivers

I spent the first couple days of the week at Disneyland. Yesterday I didn't want to bother my wife and make her drive me to the Los Angeles International airport at 4:30 in the morning and so I took Uber. I think the $50 cost was worth it to my wife and two daughters who would have hated taking me at such an early hour.

I got in the car and started up my usual Uber conversation. I asked questions like, "How long have you been driving for Uber?" It came out that the driver would soon be quitting. He has 2 kids in college and has been driving to supplement his normal income to help pay tuition. His son will be graduating in December. It impressed me that my driver would wake up at 4am every day, drive to Disneyland, pick up a customer, and drive near the airport where he works his regular job. Then he would do the reverse each evening. He did this for his kids and I have to admire that.

With ride-share services such as Lyft or Uber, anyone with a car should have a job if they need one. My Wednesday morning driver realized that he needed a bit of extra money to help with his kids' college and signed up with Uber. He doesn't drive all day, every day. Instead he drives one trip in the morning to near where he works and then one in the evening. He also confessed to driving a few people on weekends as well. So if you find yourself needing a little extra spending money, take a page from this playbook and consider driving for Uber or Lyft.

Avoid SFO for the Next 3 Weeks

Monday morning I flew from Salt Lake to San Francisco (SFO) for my weekly commute. As we got ready to board the plane, the captain came out and said we had a 2-hour delay. They unloaded the early boarders and then posted that the flight had been cancelled. My heart sank. Then the gate agent said that we would be heading to Oakland. So in the matter of 2 minutes, the flight went from on-time, to delayed, to cancelled, and then to a new destination. Personally I think the relief of not having the flight cancelled made the new destination much more palatable.

Once we arrived in Oakland, the airline paid for Uber to deliver me to my office. While the distance from Oakland to my office is significantly longer than from SFO, I thought the airline did a great job of taking care of their passengers (it is Alaska for those interested).

San Francisco is repairing one of their runways over the next 3 weeks. Unfortunately the repair cuts through 2 other runways and so they are down to a single runway instead of the usual four. The construction is expected to be completed on the 27th of September and until then air travel in and out of SFO is going to be painful.

Knowing about the construction I have been checking arriving flights from Salt Lake and departing flights in an attempt to guess where my flight this evening would depart. All the flights have left Salt Lake and gone to Oakland so I know that is a constant. Monday night's flight flew out of Oakland. Tuesday's flight made it out of SFO. Then last night's flight departed from San Jose. When I woke up this morning I didn't have a clue where I would be leaving from. I got to the office and got word that my flight was cancelled. I immediately called the airline and was told I could get on a 1pm flight through Portland. While I rebooked the flight, I got an e-mail saying my flight had been changed to San Jose. I got put back on my original flight and then figured out how to get to San Jose. The airline helped significantly and so I can't complain about them at all.

Ultimately the problem is that the runways in San Francisco need to be fixed and they determined now is the best time to make the fix. That has airlines scrambling to accommodate delays and cancellations. So if you can avoid SFO for the next 3 weeks, do yourself a favor and avoid it.

Using my Chromebook with my Ham Radio

Last weekend I had the pleasure of staying up all Friday night and helping with the Wasatch 100 ultra marathon. It is something my wife and I do every year around this time. We volunteer our evening and help provide the race officials with the times that runners enter and leave our checkpoint at the 63-mile mark known as Scott's Peak.

I have a portable ham-radio box that contains 2 different radios. One radio we use to communicate with race officials using voice. The second radio is connected to some additional equipment that allows us to send data to a server. Using both radios allows a lot of flexibility. Rather than tie up the airwaves speaking racer numbers and times, we just enter that into the computer and transmit it more efficiently. We still make a few mistakes and have to correct them but it is a lot better than doing everything by voice.

In years past, I have used a full-blown laptop as the computer to connect with the ham radio. This is because I have needed special software to interface everything. I started noticing others talk about using tablet computers and figured I could probably get away with using my Chromebook. While my laptop has a good 5-hour battery life, my Chromebook has more than 3 times that amount.

Using some spare time over Labor Day weekend, I connected my Chromebook to my radio gear and worked through all of the bugs to get everything functioning properly. I had to run through a number of different terminal programs as some will not interface directly with my USB connection but eventually I found one that worked. After using it for the evening, I will try to find something else for next year as it did have a problem or two. The most glaring one is that I could not set the backspace key to control-h like the radio software expected. Any time I made a mistake typing, I had to use the control-backspace combination and sometimes that didn't work. Given a bit more time, I'm sure I could have found a terminal program that worked better and will look into that for next year. On the PC I can just use Putty.

I have to say that I am happy I did a bit of playing around before the race. My Chromebook is significantly less expensive and much lighter than my laptop. It worked almost as well and we got our runner times entered efficiently. I wonder what I can do next year to improve our setup? I'm sure I will come up with something.

A Second Ending to God of War on the PS4

I think I have decided to try and earn all of the trophies in God of War on the PS4. During the course of the game you need to collect a few artifacts and I know I missed a few from the beginning of the game. Last night I decided to go back to the beginning and see what I missed. I battled a few bad guys and collected a few of the artifacts. Then I walked into my home and had the option of taking a nap. I decided to give it a shot and discovered the 2nd ending to the game.

When I finished the game a few weeks ago, I watched as credits scrolled and then quickly dismissed them so I could continue playing. I thought I had completed the main story and patted myself on the back for a job well done. So imagine my surprise when I saw the second set of closing credits. Considering I work in the video game industry, I probably should have watched the credits to pay homage to any friends I know that may have worked on the game. Full disclosure: I probably know at least one or two people that worked on the game as that is just how this industry works.

The second closing scene before the credits makes it very clear that the developer, Santa Monica Studios is planning a sequel. I don't want to give away too much and so if you enjoyed the game but didn't see the second closing, go back to the start of the game and take a nap. You won't be disappointed.

Mobile Phone Etiquette

I'm in the San Francisco airport waiting for a delayed flight to Salt Lake City. I always try to use this time to do something productive and so I thought I would put together a quick blog entry. I have been wondering what to write about when a flight attendant pulled out her phone and had a quick video call with her husband. It got me thinking about mobile phone etiquette and what behavior is acceptable and what is not. In looking through old blog entries, this is not the first time I have been intrigued by this topic.

Last week I had an experience where I was the one having the video call in public. I was at a restaurant when I got a video call from my 2-year old grandson. Had it been anyone else, I would have politely asked to reschedule the call so I could take it from the privacy of my boat or office. My grandson wouldn't have understood and I knew the call would only last a minute or two. So is it OK to take a video call if you know it is only going to be a few minutes?

I was at dinner with a friend from work and he asked me if I needed to step outside to take the call. Obviously he didn't want to hear my phone call, but he also didn't know it was my grandson. Should that make a difference?

Ultimately every situation is different and we need to be respectful of others when we take phone calls in public. Especially video calls where everyone can hear both sides of the conversation. It is not appropriate to start a video call from a public place like the flight attendant next to me. If someone initiates a call when you are in public, you have the option to decline the call or answer and quickly schedule a return call. And finally if you are in public and it is your 2-year old grandson, just ask forgiveness like I did at the restaurant instead of permission. My friend understood and he knows it is not something I do frequently.

Game Review: God of War on PS4

Last week I finally finished playing God of War on the PS4. This is a different game than God of War on the PS3 or PS2. In the first 3 games, Kratos runs around killing all of the Greek gods so that by the end of the 3rd game there is nobody left to kill. So he moves up north and starts taking care of those evil Norse gods. This time he has his son to help him and the son makes a good accomplice as you run through the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing the game and put in something like 70 hours to complete the game. I would have done it sooner but decided to spend a bit of time honing my battle skills and ranking up so I wouldn't have a problem with the final boss battle that is so common in these types of games. I'm glad I did as I completed the event in one take and didn't die several times in the process. Now I am going back through the game finishing side quests that I missed earlier.

I have to warn you that God of War is one of those games that you don't want to quit. You'll find yourself justifying a few more minutes of play until it is 3 in the morning. If you lack self-control, you may want to avoid this game as it is one of the more addictive that I have played.

God of War is only available on the PlayStation platform and so if you are a fan of PC games or other consoles, you will be disappointed that you can't play it. I also have to say that it is the best of the God of War games and I have played most of them.

The game has an ESRB rating of M for Mature. This is because of violence and strong language. Earlier God of War games had cartoon nudity and so I couldn't really recommend them. This one I can for older teenagers and young adults as well as middle-aged men looking to spend their evenings killing bad guys.

I do have one more warning for you if you plan to play this game. Budget getting a new controller. I played God of War 3 remastered on the PS4 and ruined a controller in the process. This version of the game has put a lot of wear-and-tear on the left analog stick of my new controller and I will probably be replacing it in the near future as well. Those things are not cheap!

I got my copy of the game using my industry discount but think it is well worth the $30 you can get it for at most retail outlets.

Everyone Should Learn Python

If someone who wanted to learn a computer programming language asked me which one to learn, right now I would recommend Python. Back when dirt was new, dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I first started learning how to program a computer, BASIC was the language everyone learned. Then I moved onto Pascal before tackling C and C++. Nowadays I find that most of the coding I do is using Python and I love it.

I am currently working on a project where I need to display the size of a file on a web page. Most languages would require me to use IF..THEN logic show GB for gigabytes, MB for megabytes, or KB for  kilobytes. In Python, I just need to use the "filesizeformat" filter. It automatically converts the number 2600000000 into 2.4 GB (don't worry about it not being 2.6 GB as 1 KB = 1024 Bytes, not 1000).

Python is a very compact language and doesn't require a lot of coding to get a lot done. Chances are that someone has already figured out how to do something that used to require thousands of lines of code and reduced it to a single line in your program. The only problem with that is you need to know what line to use. That is an easy-enough problem to solve though. Just type a short description of what you are trying to do into your favorite search engine and you will get a number of suggestions. Most of the time one of them will work perfectly.

Python also has the advantage that is the computer programming language of choice for data science and data analytics, which is what I do a lot of. For a while, people used R but now Python has overtaken it.

Yes I still remember BASIC and Pascal really helped me understand a lot of fundamentals for computer programming. But if you are starting out on the path of learning your first programming language, my recommendation would be Python.

You Can't Rely on Phone Service

I spent this past weekend on a backpacking trip in the Uinta Mountains. Before heading out, my son sent me a map that he created from CalTopo.com and I printed it on waterproof paper. Actually I printed 3 copies of the map: one for me, one for my son, and another for someone else on the trip. As my son and I have been to the exact same place before, the maps really were not that necessary, or so I thought.

Our group started the hike and everyone sped down the trail to our scenic destination while I pulled up the rear and enjoyed the journey. The first time I hiked this trail, I made a mistake on one section and left the trail because a lot of hikers before me had made a wrong turn at the exact same spot. This time I remembered the error and patiently waited on the correct trail while yelling ahead to the group to turn around and follow me. At that point several of the millennials in the group pulled out their phones and tried to use their map application. We were out in the middle of nowhere with no possibility of mobile phone service. Guess what? Maps don't work on your smartphone unless you have downloaded the maps before leaving mobile phone coverage. I just had to chuckle to myself as I watched this group of kids trying to figure out what to do without their smartphones.

There is a saying that "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." In my case, it is the dude with the paper map. Our hike continued uneventfully until we came to the area where we had to leave the trail and do a meadow walk to get to our destination.

For those that are not familiar with a meadow walk, it is a hiking technique to minimize damage to delicate alpine meadows. Creating a trail in such an area enables devastatingly destructive erosion so it is better for everyone to spread out, walk delicately, and take care not to trample the spectacular mountain flowers. We had three such meadows to cross before arriving at our campsite. Once again, the map proved its worth.

Our hike back to the car followed a different path around various picturesque alpine lakes and completed a loop as opposed to going back down the same trail we used to the previous day. We chose this path because neither my son nor I had traveled it and we wanted to see new places. The trail did not disappoint us and once again the paper map proved its worth.

The United States has great mobile phone coverage and sometimes we take it for granted. Unfortunately it is not everywhere and there is a good chance that it won't work when you are in the wilderness. Should you find yourself heading to camp in a remote area, be sure to print up a paper map before leaving home (or at least download the area to your phone). While it may not necessarily save your life, it may save countless miles of unnecessary detours.

A Fun Group Game

Saturday night I found myself at home with my youngest son along with my oldest daughter's husband. We probably should have been attending one of two family events happening that evening but rebelled and told our wives we didn't want to go. My youngest son suggested we find a video game that the three of us could play together. I had one that I had been wanting to play for a long time after playing it at work with some of my colleagues. The game is called Helldivers and is available for the PlayStation 4 console as well as the PS3, PS Vita, and the PC. We played it on the PS4.

We started up the game and immediately jumped into play without waiting for an update to load. That limited some functionality and so every time we completed a level, it wouldn't upload it to "Galactic Command." We didn't mind as we just wanted to spend a little time together killing time and bad guys.

The first time I played the game, it felt like being a part of the 1997 movie "Starship Troopers." You and up to 3 of your friends (if you have enough controllers) are sent to various planets with specific missions. As we just started the game, we had a number of really easy missions where we landed, cleaned out an area of bugs, robots, or cyborgs, and then got extracted. When we got that down, the missions got a bit more difficult and we had to do things like find some keys, get a black box, and then get extracted. For the most part, we kept the difficulty of missions to super easy while we got used to the top-down view of our players. As all 3 of us shared the same screen at the same time, we couldn't advance on the map unless we all moved in the same direction and stayed together. The moment one of us tried to go up while another tried to go down, scrolling stoped and we got stuck until we cooperated.

One problem that I experienced initially is that I kept losing track of which player was me. All of the characters have your name below them but I would get so caught up with one of the other players that I switched my attention to the wrong avatar and got scolded for not moving in the right direction. After about an hour of play, I figured it out and never lost track of my character again. It also took about that long for me to figure out the controls as I am more used to 1st-person views in the games I play.

I know I tell people to limit video game play to about an hour but we played for a couple and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. When my youngest son's wife returned from one of the family events for the evening, I suggested we might want to stop playing. My son pleaded that we do one more mission that would finish the planet and allow us to get some extra experience points. I gave in and it surprised him that he convinced me to play one more game so easily. Fortunately it was he who got in trouble with his wife and not me. We finished up the game and had an enjoyable evening.

Today I looked at what it would cost to buy the game today. You can get a basic version for $20 and that is well worth the price. The version I have is on disk and currently sells for $40 but we never got into any of the extra features that come with a higher purchase price. Helldivers is rated T for Teen by the ESRB because of cartoon violence with blood and gore combined with some mild language. I don't remember any language in the game other than the game's title.

My son, son-in-law, and I had a great time playing and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a family bonding activity with at least two other people. If you are by yourself, the missions are almost impossible and so you will want to partner with people online, which is also an option.

Video Game Addiction

I am at the airport waiting for a delayed flight and talking with one of the regulars on this Thursday evening flight. He is killing time by playing a casual game on his iPhone. It is one of those games with progressively harder levels. He has been playing it so long that he is up to something like level 2000 and having a bit of difficulty getting to the next one. I asked him if he has given up work to play the game and he responded that he has not. If he had, he might have a video game addiction problem.

Last week I ended up staying up until 2am playing my current video game (I will review in a future post). My oldest son suggested that I had a video game addiction. If I had given up sleep to play a game, then I would have agreed with him. Fortunately my schedule the next day allowed me to play the game well into the early morning hours without any negative consequences and so I took advantage of the opportunity. Usually I would not have done that. This week I continued playing the game and didn't have any issues with going to bed late, otherwise I might have a video game addiction problem.

I am not someone who is an expert on any type of addiction recovery. About my only qualifications for talking about video game addiction is that I work for a video game company. That makes me the least qualified person you should listen to. My job is to help create an experience so powerful that you give up sleep, food, and friends for it. In short, I am supposed to get you addicted video games.

Recognizing I am trying to get you addicted to video games, here are some signs that you may have a problem:

• If you constantly miss work to play a video game, you could have a problem.
• If you constantly give up sleep to play a video game, you could have a problem.
• If you would rather interact with non-player (or playable) characters than real people, you could have a problem.
• If you think visiting an online world is better than visiting a tropical paradise like Hawaii or Tahiti, then you could have a problem.
• If you eat more than one meal in the day while playing a video game, you may have a problem.
• If you would rather do a fun and wholesome activity online than in real life, then you may have a problem. I had to add "wholesome" as I would rather die in a video game than in real life.

I'm sure this list can be longer but it is almost time to board my flight. One thing I can add though is that if you only play video games for an hour a day, you do not have a problem. If that hour turns into more time than that, you may want to reconsider if you have a problem or not.

The Fortnite Phenomenon

This morning I attended a meeting where we talked about the Fortnite video game. It is one of those hugely successful games that has everyone scratching their heads wondering how they can repeat the process for their own titles. It is from Epic Games, which is also the creator of the Unreal game engine. As a side-note, if you want to try your hand at creating a video game, you can use the Unreal engine for free. You only have to pay Epic when you sell copies of your game and then it is just a small percentage.

So what makes Fortnite so successful? I can try to answer that question but the reality is that if I could explain it, then everyone would use the same formula to make their own games successful. So let me begin by saying that filling a need at the right time is part of the equation and that makes duplicating the game's success very difficult.

Fortnite is very simple to understand. When I played my first Fortnite match, I did so with a small description of the game. I didn't need any lengthy instructions nor in-game tutorials (as is often the first hour or two of many games). All I did was jump out of a flying school bus and try to stay alive as long as possible. I managed to do so more than half of the players in that match and felt pretty good about myself.

Fortnite allows you to play online with your friends. It is no secret that I started playing the PS2, thanks to the console as a birthday gift from my  brother who worked for Sony at the time. Then my Dad, brothers, and I would go online every Thursday evening from 7pm until around midnight playing with and sometimes against each other. Our favorite game was SOCOM 2 and we had a lot of fun. Our group eventually grew to include a brother-in-law as well as a few nephews. At the all-time peak of our gaming, we met together with our consoles at Thanksgiving and played in the same room. This is quite a feat given that one of my brothers lived in San Diego, the other in Portland, and me in Salt Lake City. Fortnite builds upon the ability to play with friends and does a pretty good job of keeping it fun for everyone.

Fortnite makes it tough to cheat. One of the reasons my brothers and I stopped playing online video games together is because of cheaters and campers. As Fortnite serves as a showcase for the Unreal game engine, Epic took care to make it very difficult to cheat. That doesn't mean cheats don't exist but they are few in number. Fortnite also developed a shrinking environment which makes it difficult for someone to find a hiding spot and stay there for the entire game. You may be able to hide for a few minutes but then a storm causes the playable area to shrink and not moving to the active area eliminates you from the game.

Fortnite does not require a huge time commitment. I just finished playing Red Dead Redemption 2 and it took me over 100 hours to complete. While I didn't play the game in a single sitting, sometimes I would play for several hours at a time. With Fortnite you can play in 10-minute increments. That makes it very easy to fill small blocks of time and doesn't require multi-hour commitments.

Fortnite is free to play. You can download it to your video game console, computer, or smartphone for no charge. Free is always an attractive price for any video game.

Finally, Fortnite levels the playing field for everyone. There is no advantage by paying for anything in the game. You all start out with the same inventory and are required to scavenge for weapons and supplies during each match. That means that your friend whose mom has spent hundreds of dollars in the game does not have any advantage. He or she may have a really cool outfit or be able to do a nice victory dance after killing you, but it is skill that ultimately wins the game.

Yes, People are starting to grow tired of Fortnite and it looks as if the number of active players is on a slow decline. Ultimately it will take quite a while before those numbers drop to zero and so Epic shouldn't worry too much right now. Besides that gives them time to think about what to create to replace it. I hope they come up with something equally spectacular.