I have packing dreams right before my period. Like I’m packing stuff to go somewhere and I keep finding more and more stuff that has to get sorted and packed before I can leave. Totally random things like 20 pairs of socks that need sorted and folded into a box. I’m so used to the genre of dream my brain now recognizes it is a dream, so I’m not anxious about it. Everything relaxes in my head and my brain says “fuck it! just go with it!” Then the stuff I’m trying to pack turns all fun and fantastical. Have you ever tried to pack a dozen live 8″ high alicorns? How about a never ending collection of all the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other books you never read as a kid as you were too busy with your nose in adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy stuff? Or perhaps you need to unpaint some canvases and store the paint that was on them back in some bottles…..The down side of the packing dreams is that the next day I wake up and have cramps and my period.

Today marks a happy day as the 5000th image of ranch life goes live over at stega.org.

I never thought when I started that little project back in early 2016 that it would become such a big thing.

Of course I haven’t quite reached the 5000th image of wild life here at the ranch, as there are about a dozen pics of people on tractors or large trucks in the mix, but this week at some point the 5000th image of some of the wildlife here will go live there.

That makes me happy.

Here’s a few shots from that site that have made their way here.

On my last day on the island I proctored trivia night one last time. Took a while to get the questions posted here as I didn’t fly straight home, but met up with Agent Smith in Denver and we flew on to Montrose to pick up a replacement RV for the one stolen at the start of January from the mechanic’s service yard. After that trip I ended up flying out to Ohio to assist family and thus am only just now catching up on things.

So test out your knowledge on this round of questions and see how you go.

History 

1. Which French king, often referred to as the sun king, ruled for 72 years and is considered responsible for consolidating the power of the monarchy and creating a centralized state government? 
2. Which king of Spain and Portugal was also king of England thanks to his marriage to Queen Mary I in 1554 until her death in 1558? 
3. Who is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch?
4. Which Russian monarch imprisoned their own second cousin / spouse and reigned alone for over thirty years?
5. While not a real ruler, the titular character of what play receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland?

Islands

1. What is the largest island by area?
2. What island lying of the west coast of Scotland, is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides and is known for its whisky and colorful water front town named Tobermory.
3. For almost 2 years Georg Wilhelm Steller was shipwrecked on what island, during which time he made observations of the native fauna including the northern fur seal, the sea otter, Steller’s sea lion, Steller’s sea cow, and the spectacled cormorant.
4. What is the largest island in the Caribbean?
5. What island, located in the San Francisco Bay is the site of a former famous prison?

Fictional Islands

1. What fictional island mentioned by Plato in an allegory on the hubris of nations?
2. What island, home to a fictional group of people 1/12th the height of a “normal” person, was created by Jonathan Swift?
3. While not technically an island, the Middle Earth town of Esgaroth or Lake-town, was built out over a lake in order to protect its inhabitants from what constant threat?
4. According to legend, on what fictional island was Excalibur forged?
5. In the movie _The Island_ starring  Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, the promised paradise destination is just a ruse, as the residents of the decontamination center area really what?

Old Things

1. The monarchs of Russia developed a habit for what skillfully crafted knick knacks — often giving them to one another as gifts to celebrate special moments?
2. The invention and mass production of what is considered the largest contributing factor in the development of the Impressionist style as painters no longer had to make their own on-site?  Be specific.
3. The movie _Desk Set_ starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn chronicles the odd-couple romance between a librarian and an efficiency expert but a powerful early generation what now ubiquitous device almost comes between them?
4. What game traditionally for two players involves playing and grouping cards in combinations to gain points using a board for score-keeping, a separate hand for the dealer and two distinct scoring stages — the play and the show?
5. Contrary to popular belief, what term used for the configuration of a computer keyboard, which evolved directly from mechanical typewriters, was not designed to slow people down but rather to speed up typing, because it encourages alternation between the hands?

Bonus Birds!

1. What member of the Mimid family of birds is found through the continent  of North America and is well know for its ability to mimic sounds especially car alarms and sirens? 
2. What is the smallest member of the songbird family found in North America?
3. What is the largest member of the songbird family found in North America?

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Trivia

History 

1. Which French king, often referred to as the sun king, ruled for 72 years and is considered responsible for consolidating the power of the monarchy and creating a centralized state government?  Louis XIV
2. Which king of Spain and Portugal was also king of England thanks to his marriage to Queen Mary I in 1554 until her death in 1558?  Phillip II
3. Who is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch?  Elizabeth II
4. Which Russian monarch imprisoned their own second cousin / spouse and reigned alone for over thirty years? Catherine The Great 
5. While not a real ruler, the titular character of what play receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland? Macbeth

Islands

1. What is the largest island by area?  Greenland
2. What island lying of the west coast of Scotland, is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides and is known for its whisky and colorful water front town named Tobermory. Isle of Mull
3. For almost 2 years Georg Wilhelm Steller was shipwrecked on what island, during which time he made observations of the native fauna including the northern fur seal, the sea otter, Steller’s sea lion, Steller’s sea cow, and the spectacled cormorant.  Bering Island
4. What is the largest island in the Caribbean? Cuba
5. What island, located in the San Francisco Bay is the site of a former famous prison? Alcatraz

Fictional Islands

1. What fictional island mentioned by Plato in an allegory on the hubris of nations? Atlantis
2. What island, home to a fictional group of people 1/12th the height of a “normal” person, was created by Jonathan Swift?  Lilliput
3. While not technically an island, the Middle Earth town of Esgaroth or Lake-town, was built out over a lake in order to protect its inhabitants from what constant threat?  Smaug
4. According to legend, on what fictional island was Excalibur forged? Avalon
5. In the movie _The Island_ starring  Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, the promised paradise destination is just a ruse, as the residents of the decontamination center area really what? Human Clones

Old Things

1. The monarchs of Russia developed a habit for what skillfully crafted knick knacks — often giving them to one another as gifts to celebrate special moments?  Faberge Eggs
2. The invention and mass production of what is considered the largest contributing factor in the development of the Impressionist style as painters no longer had to make their own on-site?  Be specific.  Premixed Paint in Tubes — bonus for tubes
3. The movie _Desk Set_ starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn chronicles the odd-couple romance between a librarian and an efficiency expert but a powerful early generation what now ubiquitous device almost comes between them?  Computer
4. What game traditionally for two players involves playing and grouping cards in combinations to gain points using a board for score-keeping, a separate hand for the dealer and two distinct scoring stages — the play and the show? Cribbage
5. Contrary to popular belief, what term used for the configuration of a computer keyboard, which evolved directly from mechanical typewriters, was not designed to slow people down but rather to speed up typing, because it encourages alternation between the hands?  QWERTY

Bonus Birds!

1. What member of the Mimid family of birds is found through the continent  of North America and is well know for its ability to mimic sounds especially car alarms and sirens?  Northern Mockingbird
2. What is the smallest member of the songbird family found in North America? Golden-crowned Kinglet
3. What is the largest member of the songbird family found in North America? Common Raven

Apparently I was good enough to be allowed to run trivia here at the resort a second time (and then once more next week!)

Here are the questions I drafted….see how you do.

New History

1. What international organization condemns all forms of capital punishment?
2. What Southeast Asian island country gained independence about one year after the end of WW II?  Hint, the answer to who circumnavigated the globe died here.
3. What vast asian country has been multi-party democracy since the early 1990s. Hint 30% of its population is nomadic or semi nomadic?
4. Besides the UK, name another  European country that is not part of the EU.

Pretty Old History

1. In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral “discovered” and claimed for Portugal the land that in 1822 would become what independent country?
2. Who was the first European naval explorer to reach India by Sea?
3. Who was the first European naval explorer to lead an expedition across the Pacific Ocean, and after his death, his crew continued on to complete the first circumnavigation of the planet?
4. While this high office is real, the propensity of any of its past holders to seek to cut out the hearts of their enemies with spoons is fabricated.  To what office, by it’s formal name and location, am I referring? 

Old or Ancient History

1. What Ancient Greek king has a large city in Egypt named after him?
2. Historic records indicate individuals executed by what, now-considered barbaric method that was beloved by the Romans, usually died of a combination of cardiac rupture, heart failure, hypovolemic shock, acidosis, asphyxia, arrhythmia, and/or pulmonary embolism.  Sometimes sepsis and dehydration were contributing factors as it could take several days for the condemned to die?
3. The great 4th or 5th century Indian poet and playwright Kalidasa best known for the play Shakuntala also known as The Recognition of Shakuntala also known as The Ring of Recollection, wrote said play in what language?
4. It is estimated that what well known animal was brought to Australia just 8000 years ago rather than evolving or originating on the continent like much of the other fauna?

Cartoons

1.   Tom and Jerry are a popular cartoon.  What animal is Jerry?
2. Jerry is famous for dancing with what star of the golden age of cinema in _Anchors Aweigh_?
3. What animation studio originated the Tom and Jerry cartoon franchise? 
4. What director, synonymous with the golden age of Looney Toons produced 34 Tom and Jerry shorts in the mid 1960s? 

Dinosaurs

1. Which dinosaurs’s genus means tyrant lizard?
2. What oil company features a silhouette of a dinosaur as its logo?
3. What  armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic is infamous for the plates on its back and spikes on its tail?
4. Current scientific theory is that the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by what?  (Comet or meteorite impact)

Bonus

1. What woman, the penultimate ruler of China prior to the Communist Revolution ruled as dowager empress for 47 years, has had her life and legacy re-evaluated over the last quarter century and is no longer seen as a cruel despot but a complicated intelligent and efficient ruler? 
2. What Manchester band is famous for such hits as “She’s a Star,” “Laid,” “Sit Down,” and “Come Home”.  Hint the band shares its name a popular translation of the Bible.
3. I drove to Ohio from California and covered 5600 miles round trip. “How many days each way?

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New History

1. What international organization condemns all forms of capital punishment? (United Nations)
2. What Southeast Asian island country gained independence about one year after the end of WW II?  Hint, the answer to who circumnavigated the globe died here. (Philippines)
3. What vast asian country has been multi-party democracy since the early 1990s. Hint 30% of its population is nomadic or semi nomadic? (Mongolia)
4. Besides the UK, name another  European country that is not part of the EU. ( Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Albania, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro). 

Pretty Old History

1. In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral “discovered” and claimed for Portugal the land that in 1822 would become what independent country? (Brazil)
2. Who was the first European naval explorer to reach India by Sea? (Vasco de Gaia)
3. Who was the first European naval explorer to lead an expedition across the Pacific Ocean, and after his death, his crew continued on to complete the first circumnavigation of the planet?  (Fernidnand Magellan)
4. While this high office is real, the propensity of any of its past holders to seek to cut out the hearts of their enemies with spoons is fabricated.  To what office by it’s formal name and location, am I referring?  (Sheriff of Nottingham)

Old or Ancient History

1. What Ancient Greek king has a large city in Egypt named after him?  (Alexander the Great)
2. Historic records indicate individuals executed by what, now-considered barbaric method that was beloved by the Romans, usually died of a combination of cardiac rupture, heart failure, hypovolemic shock, acidosis, asphyxia, arrhythmia, and/or pulmonary embolism.  Sometimes sepsis and dehydration were contributing factors as it could take several days for the condemned to die? (Crucifixion) 
3. The great 4th or 5th century Indian poet and playwright Kalidasa best known for the play Shakuntala also known as The Recognition of Shakuntala also known as The Ring of Recollection, wrote said play in what language? (Sanskrit) 
4. It is estimated that what well known animal was brought to Australia just 8000 years ago rather than evolving or originating on the continent like much of the other fauna? (Dingo)

Cartoons

1.   Tom and Jerry are a popular cartoon.  What animal is Jerry? (Mouse)
2. Jerry is famous for dancing with what star of the golden age of cinema in _Anchors Aweigh_? (Gene Kelly)
3. What animation studio originated the Tom and Jerry cartoon franchise?  (Hannah-Barbara)
4. What director, synonymous with the golden age of Looney Toons produced 34 Tom and Jerry shorts in the mid 1960s?  (Chuck Jones)

Dinosaurs

1. Which dinosaurs’s genus means tyrant lizard? (Tyrannosaurus)
2. What oil company features a silhouette of a dinosaur as its logo? (Sinclair)
3. What  armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic is infamous for the plates on its back and spikes on its tail? (Stegosaurus)
4. Current scientific theory is that the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by what?  (Comet or meteorite impact)

Bonus

1. What woman, the penultimate ruler of China prior to the Communist Revolution ruled as dowager empress for 47 years, has had her life and legacy re-evaluated over the last quarter century and is no longer seen as a cruel despot but a complicated intelligent and efficient ruler?  (Empress Dowager Cixi)
2. What Manchester band is famous for such hits as “She’s a Star,” “Laid,” “Sit Down,” and “Come Home”.  Hint the band shares its name a popular translation of the Bible. (James)
3. I drove to Ohio from California and covered 5600 miles round trip. “How many days each way? (Four)

Stega is currently on vacation on a foreign island far far away from Purgatory. For part of the past week she was actually the only guest — technically there were two others staying here but only because one got a positive test result and had to wait two days for a more accurate test which was of course negative before they could depart. Partly because I was the only guest and partly because I’ve stayed here in past years, I got to run the weekly trivia quiz at the bar on Thursday night.

Below are the questions with the answers beneath them and you’re welcome to test your knowledge. Let me know if you answer more than 16 correctly, but be honest….

Questions

1984 Summer Olympics

1. What country hosted the 1984 Summer Olympics?
2. What is the name of the Track and Field Athlete who equaled the 1936 performance of Jesse Owens?
3. Name two of the 18 countries that boycotted the 1984 Olympics and did not send any athletes to the games.
4. What American cereal brand is synonymous with Olympic gold medals, as numerous medal winners have appeared on cereal boxes.

  Movies

1. Ester Williams popularized what sport which made its debut at the 1984 Olympics?
2. What 2016 animated movie co-stars Ed O’Neil as the voice of a seven-armed octopus that suffers for Thalassophobia?
3. What 2016 animated movie features a giant crab who loves to sing about how shiny he is?
4. What 2004 release directed by Stephen Chow features said director portraying a loser who aspires to join the axe gang?  Other notable characters include the Landlord and Landlady of Pigsty Alley, Coolie, Taylor, Donut, and the Beast.

Music

1. At the 1984 Olympic Opening Ceremony, a new original piece of music “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” was premiered.  Who composed it?
2. Ester Williams and Ricardo Montebaum plus Red Skelton and Betty Garret all sang what song in the movie _Neptune’s Daughter_ ?  Hint, this duet, which became a Christmas/holiday standard, was recently a source of much controversy.
3. What Polish composer had a long term affair with French novelist George Sand?
4. What Manchester band is famous for such hits as “She’s a Star,” “Laid,” “Sit Down,” and “Come Home”.  Hint the band shares its name a popular translation of the Bible.    ALT What singer is now infamous for popularizing “Gangnam Style”

Birds

1. The Caymans Islands are the seasonal home to three of the six species of Boobies.  Name one of the three species that does not visit the Cayman Islands.
2. What non-native bird is now common throughout all of North and South America, is spotted in the Cayman Islands and even in some parts of Asia.  Urban legend has it that this species was introduced into NYC by Eugene Schieffelin in an attempt to have every bird species mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare also reside North America.
3. Frigate birds get their name from the French, but before they were officially named as such, what were they called by English language speakers?
4. What family of birds native to New Guinea and Australia are famous for the males habit of building complex structures that they adorn with sticks and/or brightly colored items in an attempt to attract mates?

Women

1. Women were finally “allowed” to compete in what event for the first time in Olympic history at the 1984 Olympics?
2. Which of Jane Austen’s novels, that were published during her lifetime, has been adapted into a film or tv/mini series the least number of times?
3. The writer who wrote about the need for female writers to have a  _Room of One’s Own_ in the early half of the 20th century and committed suicide at the age 59 was portrayed by what actress in the film _The Hours_?  (Hint:  With the help of a prosthetic nose, this actress won the 2002 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Actress award for the role.)
4. Back in the early to mid 1800s when women could not vote, hold public office or attend university let alone join scientific establishments, what British woman did much to advance the field of Paleontology by combing the beaches  and cliffs along the English Channel before dying of breast cancer at the age of 47?

1. Jays and Magpies are members of what bird family?
   1. What poet from Maryland wrote an ode of sorts to the largest species of bird found in this family?
   2. Brandon Lee starred in the titular role of what 1994 movie that is named for a bird in this family? (Skipped this question during the quiz)
   3. What Canadian city fields a professional baseball team named for a bird in this family?
   4. Lastly what member of this family shares its name with a chess piece?

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The random images were taken long ago at the Camera Obscura in Edinburgh.

Answers

1984 Summer Olympics

1. USA
2. Carl Lewis
3. Soviet Union, Bulgaria, East Germany, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, Hungary, Poland, Cuba, South Yemen, North Korea, Ethiopia, Angola, Albania, Iran, Libya
4. Wheeties

Movies

1. Synchronized Swimming
2. Finding Dory
3. Moana
4. Kung Fu Hustle

Music

1. John Williams
2. Baby It’s Cold Outside
3. Chopin
4. James     ALT Psy

Birds

1. Nazca, Peruvian, Blue Footed
2. European Starling
3. Man-of-War
4. Bower Birds
   

Women

1. Marathon
2. Least: Northanger Abbey — Most: Pride and Prejudice
3. Nicole Kidman
4. Mary Anning

Bonus

1. Corvidea or Corvid
   1. Edgar Allen Poe
   2. The Crow
   3. Toronto
   4. Rook

As mentioned a while back, I moved over from Aperture to Capture One for my DAM needs.  (Digital Assist Management).  In addition, a year ago I upgraded my Mark II to a Mark IV and jumped from my old 8GB CF cards to 128GB cards.  Mix in the fact that I’ve been working on my camera skills and experimenting with the burst image options while shooting at high shutter speeds and the result is that instead of 100 or so images a month to comb through I now end up with 1000 or so.

This means my DAM workflow had to get a bit of an overhaul.  I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to refine and simplify while also getting ready to move file servers and learning some of the the finer, more powerful points of Capture One .

And on top of all of this, we finally planted a garden outside my window with….a birdbath. 

All of this, compounded by some pretty large projects at the ranch is why photo posting over on stega.org has been on hiatus for the last month, but never fear, posting resumes tomorrow morning!

The title of this post should really be do not;trust your data to Skype. I was so naive when I started my little journey into support hell as I actually thought my issue would be resolved. I thought my data was marginally protected and maintained. Oh how wrong I was.

To back up tiny bit before I inundate you with the gory details, Skype is a service that allows people to make phone and video calls no matter what sort of device they use: be it a traditional phone on the PSTN networks, a personal computer or their cell phone. Skype maintains a database with some pretty personal information and they charge for many of their premium services so they have financial information on their users as well. We know they’ve been in bed with the NSA for years thanks to the documents released by Snowden, and Skype, as of 2011, is owned by Microsoft.

On with the saga: a few weeks back I wanted to get Skype running on a new machine, but because Skype doesn’t use a normal username/password framework that allows storing said information in OS X’s Keychain management system, I can’t just retrieve my password from said app and be done with it.

I went to the Skype site to try to reset my passwd: now because ONE computer I own can actually login to the Skype App, I can actually login to my Skype profile, but I cannot change the password without knowing the password. I tried to do the “put in your email address here and we’ll send you the steps to reset your password” step.

This is what I got.

skype@ is a simple alias that routes to one of my email accounts which is then listed as my second acct with Skype. It too has the same issue.

Did you know in order to contact Skype for support about an issue like this you have to fill out this form on the left with questions like: “When were you born?“ “Give us some of the numbers on the CC you used when you created your account,” and “Provide five people on your contacts list.” Needless to say the first time I had to fill out the form I was angered by the process. I just wanted my password reset.

Thirty years ago today my grandmother went outside to use up the last few shots on a roll of film.

As the New Year approaches and I try to clean up my to-do list of all the not quite done stuff, I noticed that yesterday FB suddenly became more interesting.  People stopped reposting so much random crap and click-bait Instead they were generating their own content.  It was very pleasant and I think we need more of this.  To that end, my “NY Resolutions” will be to limit the amount of crap content sharing I do and to increase the amount of meaningful content I create.

I will thus make it my habit to:

A) Post at most five links to something someone else has created/posted/shared per week.

B) Refrain from any selfie taking unless said selfie is integral to a crafted post* (i.e. I will write a short description of why I am posting this image.  Is it a shot of Agent Smith and I riding on a tractor?  I will tell you why we’re on the tractor and include any other pertinent details.)

C) Vacation posts will be exempt from rule B, but that still doesn’t mean self-editing isn’t important. Thus only ONE picture of me holding a giant octopus/space alien/dangerously sharp instrument of torture/etc will be posted.

D) Make constructive updates: IE I will not post “I hate life and that Darth Vader Wannabe”.  I will instead include a short description of whats going on in life and thus avoid the whole passive/aggressive attention seeking ploy which is only resolved after 5 people comment/ask what is going on before I finally respond.  (Of course if I have been posting regular about job  interviews and one morning I make a short post that “I can hardly contain myself!” friends will understand, but that’s because context already exists.)

E) If I find humor or discover something thought provoking out there in that big expansive world, or if I myself create something humorous or thought provoking, I will share it and not expect any of my friends to comment and pat me on the back for my awesomeness.

F) Try to encourage friends to do the all of the above as well as let’s face it, the people I really enjoy connecting with on social media are the friends who do more than share boiled cabbage recipes, post the same funny videos that  five other friends just reposted, and take stupid “Which Harry Potter Broomstick are You” quizzes.  I, and I suspect many others, like reading about each other’s lives and trying to connect with far flung friends and acquaintances. So instead of bemoaning the death of hand written letters and the commodification of our personal lives, I will thus accept the state of things and technology in a constructive fashion.

* By crated I mean actually taking a few moments to formulate my thoughts so that any friend/contact reading said post will not have to ask for clarification.

If you aren’t reading the updates over at purgatory.org, my life has been totally consumed by the work required to get our new house ready for move-in.  So much work has been done, but so much more work still needs to be completed.

In one week’s time the movers will arrive and I will leave my little house in San Francisco for the big ranch in San Jose.  I will be sad to go and I will miss visiting with the neighbors at the daily mornings coffee time (we are next to a cafe) and the fruit trees in our upper garden, but a new adventure of extreme proportions awaits.