GR8 Weekend With The Browns 28Nov20-29Nov20

Steve & Donna came to Summit and Kala & I enjoyed a number of events with them this weekend. On Saturday, Steve & I braved a weekend morning skiing at Keystone. It got crowded pretty quickly with limited terrain open but we got our rocket runs done before pinball, and finished with a decent rope drop run in the mank and tree stubble.

We closed the day with a progressive dinner - appys and cranberry cocktails @ the Nest then some awesome lasagna and dinner rolls @ the Lodge, and of course more totties.

On Sunday we chose to do some BC/cross-country skiing on a chilly but sunny day. We had an fine time romping up Salt Lick trail in the forest. Coverage was still a bit thin so we just we up. I found a friend with a similar haircut; Steve brought beers and I found a log and a cooler for the brew.

Again we capped the day together - we soaked in the Nest's spa overlooking Summit's splendor, enjoyed a fine charcuterie plate and bourbon mules from Donna, and partook of good tunes on the Nest Theater. My brother and his bride are a blast.

Happy Thanksgiving - Check Melville, Dickinson, Delores & Amy 26Nov20

Carve those turkeys well my friends; it's a special day. So, reprising the posit that originals have it over covers in so many ways, a good friend recalled a quote from Herman Melville - an American stud of the late 19th century we’ve all read. He said: "It is better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation.” An apropos notion, for me. Some have offered the alt view but I’m sticking to my guns here. After hearing a glorious version of "Dreams" from top Irish songstresses (click through to videos), I had to refer back to the original from Delores & The Cranberries. Delores is the scream goddess of her own words… IMO. Baited and won again. Next effort.

 

Ok, with Melville settling that one another poet’s story comes to mind as recounted on Apple+; it prompted me to dive again on her work. Dickinson is the show and Hailee Steinfeld as Emily is awesome, as are the other players. So funny and so revealing. Then go again to her works: really just one book crafted from her locker of poems from home. It’s a very heavy trove of death & love & wild things. So cool. I highly recommend both.

On with the modern show however... I’ve taken in the very recent works of the fine Scottish contralto Amy Macdonald. “Popular,” especially in Europe, she recently has sung some songs again for us, released an album and even dropped a pandemic offer. She’s awesome.. great songwriting & spectacular voice:

• 19Nov20 The Hudson
• 19Nov20 Mr Rock & Roll
  

• 03Nov20 The Human Demands
• May20 A Piece Of My Heart

FlacBox iOS Field Review 26Nov20

With some experience with FlacBox now under my belt I offer some observations good and bad. Overall, this audio client for iPhone is excellent - gone is the constant offer to connect to AppleMusic, gone is the clutter, arrived is flac file support, arrived are custom EQ filters, arrived is streaming from any connected location.

The biggest initial glitch in my usage was my dependency on SMB for transferring music onto iOS from within the app. I searched and found external schemes for loading files directly within macOS's support for iPhones but that doesn't exist for Linux. Fortunately FlacBox directly supports WiFi Drive where I can simply use a browser on my server or Linux system which very quickly downloads selected tracks to the right location in the iOS file system. Whew, SMB took 20 hours for the same size as WiFi Drive took 10 minutes.

FlacBox quickly went to the Internet to scrape album covers, images and other metadata for my tracks and synchronize. I was quickly able to add custom EQ filters for various output devices I use with my iPhone: Ski Helmet, Crusher Too, wireless earbuds, etc. Very cool.

I know many use streaming apps from their iPhone and use services like Spotify or Apple Music but if you want to use high def files from iOS; if you want to not be bothered by streaming offers or ads; if you want to customize equalization for your various output transducers; if you want to be pleasantly surprised rather than often irritated ~ try FlacBox. I paid $5 for the PRO version.

UPDATE - Combining With The ODT Chips 2.0... 

I own these stellar Bluetooth ski helmet "headphones" (they actually are walkie-talkies, answer cell phone calls & provide notifications, etc.). I was struggling with the pause-play UI interfacing with FlacBox but got it all working. I need that feature to easily prep to hear my ski-lift mates babble on as we ride - having to go the the phone for pause sucked. :) FlacBox and the ODT Chips 2 are highly recommended.

 

Decent Vert And A Rope Drop With Sheldon 25Nov20

Dave Sheldon ran nearly his normal play leaving COS very early to meet me for runs in Summit Co. The variant on this occasion was our meeting at Keystone - a choice we made from early season experience at all the Summit Co resorts. Keystone does a great job, and did again today despite a little crowding mid-day. We still scored 8 runs and some decent vert but we really scored as we hit a rope drop on a new run opening and got to ski some fresh on our last run down the hill. It was very nice and there were other lucky folks spilled all over in front of me - apparently less aware of the necessary techniques in such a situation. The 6" or so of new stuff on this day (after 10" new yesterday) was needed and heavy. Thanks for joining Dave and congrats to him, after summiting the final of his CO 14ers two years ago he embarked on the 13ers and climbed some tough ones like Meeker and Ice Mtn, and at least 10 others. 

Some Runs & Some Food 23Nov20

I got out to KS for some more runs on a weekday... always fun. I also stopped at ORB & Brid Cafe for lunch... again, always fun. At the Nest I finally cooked up a sesame, peppercorn & cabbage Asian thing I wanted... my cooking is sometimes good, as it was on this day.

Hittin' The PT With The Hit Squad 18Nov20

The day was nice, hitting 70° in late November in Pueblo. I got to take Andy and Yoho in the new Crusher to the PT and while the day was far from epic fishing, and it was pretty crowded, we caught some fish like these (looks like I smuged my camera). I did best during a trico spinner fall but also caught 'em on purple reign midge. and Andy scored with a bling midge. "The Hit Squad" hit Brues for sloppers with Pueblo chilies and beers afterward. It was great outside on the Riverwalk. We'll do better next time.

Renewed Danner Boots & Field Use Report 17Nov20

Some know I've had issues with prior Patagonia wading boots. I loved the fit and the aluminum bar grabbing but the longevity of uppers was suspect and replacing the bars was a challenge if one waited too long. While I waited too long again, I did get my Patagonia-Danner boots' aluminum replaced. Sure I used a Dremel tool and vice grips to replace some of the bars but I did get it done. As for the new boots durability - awesome thus far. The fit and the hiking feel are good though they are heavy, but most importantly they are sturdy. It's an upgrade for sure that Patagonia went to Danner to design and build the new boot; I guess I can't get a new pair under warranty every year now. ;(

I Got It - New Drops & More 13Nov20

Happy birthday Kala! I got the Phoebe & Maggie Rogers cover of Iris (1998 Goo Goo Dolls) dropped today... it will evaporate. I also scored some RdC oldies and got here from Summit before the storms.

 

All proceeds went to Fair Fight... "Fair Fight promotes fair elections in Georgia and around the country, encourages voter participation in elections, and educates voters about elections and their voting rights. Fair Fight brings awareness to the public on election reform, advocates for election reform at all levels, and engages in other voter education programs and communications. "

But better yet is Atlanta's/Nashville's Katie Pruitt - complete emergence with songrwriting and much more on NPR... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDJWmG7d0AM or debut in NYC here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqljCaDBPK4 or her 1st album Expectations on Bandcamp here... https://rounderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/expectations or at SXSW emerging here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqljCaDBPK4. Amazing writing, playing and singing.

Snow On Schoolmarm 10Nov20-11Nov20

Earliest season skiing continued on Schoolmarm with surprisingly good conditions over the last couple of days. We had several inches anew to ride each day. Brown and I scored plenty of runs by arriving early, and didn't go lame, by also leaving early for ORB or elsewhere. Yeah, it's just Schoolmarm thus far but the lesser inclines, yet decent speeds over good distances, allowed us to get some legs under us. Steve and I got about 50Kft of vert over several early season mornings at Keystone (and Steve added more while I fished) - November runs typically bode well for a season for me and with a knee holding up, it's even better. Keystone's wide runs allowed us to spread out and take different lines on each run down the mountain. On the last day we started taking Montezuma a bit more with Summit crowding, and the softer seating there. The one downside with the new season is the lack of edit-ability on the EpicMix lift tracking. The app is all new and there's no website access any more; further, the app doesn't discretely list the lifts taken. My tracking was lower than Steve's by a number of lifts but I can't true it up anymore. Small issue but feature deprecation from prior EpicMix.

That was day #2 and now day #3, Steve's always got new outfits, what a fashion maven. Me, I've got one (very good) look.

It's actually starting to look like real winter up in Summit. Woohoo.

Pursuits Of Privacy ~ Converting To Linux 07Nov20

With so many Linux builds with fast and efficient GUIs now available, and my mac hardware looking grim, I set out to build another Linux laptop. My first attempt was abysmally slow and I attributed that to the dated IBM Thinkpad. I found a cheap Lenovo T440P (Core I7 Pro Dual) and set out. I needed to replicate a rich daily driver from my MBP which allows normal surfing, email, strong calendaring, RoboForm password manager, and Photoshop editing but also a high end audio client driving my desktop DAC/AMP setups. Challenging but I have MLC as somewhat of a guide; he does often respond RTFM ~ and you know what that means: I am on my own. My starting point on Mint/XFCE was quickly disposed for Manjaro/XFCE due to core and package maintenance currency. Here are the (big) steps to converting from macOS to Linux:

1. Download Manjaro/XFCE .iso file and write it to a 4GB USB stick as a bootable image. Reboot target hardware and mount & install Manjaro from boot USB drive - I used a CowButt.
   
2. Reboot again and use update Manjaro capabilities to assure, apps & drivers are up to date. My T440P was decently recognized, so drivers were pretty clean (more later). I had external mouse, external keyboard, external and WiFi networking and external monitor all of which worked 1st time. Issue command "sudo pacman -Syu" to completely update your installation to most recent; this make take a while initally. Note - this is the only command you will likely need again to update Manjaro ArchLinux to current.
   
   
3. Assure your peripherals like, drives, external monitors, USB hubs, keyboards, wireless mouse, etc. are all working; adjust drivers as needed to make it clean.
   
4. Add your password manager into Firefox or as a separate app. I use Roboform and you should use something more than a scratchpad in your desk.
5. Use definitively Mozilla Firefox as your browser. Use the Mozilla VPN (just in beta right now on Linux) or Cloudflare VPN to assure traffic is masked from your ISP and others. Do this on your iPhone as well. Sure you aren't a perv who has anything to hide - but why give up your info to some company not paying for it, yet who would exploit it.
   
6. Configure Thunderbird email. Use Thunderbird... it's just "OK," but ok. This entails adding email accounts you use - use IMAP accounts to assure synchronization between devices (as IMAP email is kept on the server). [I own my own domain "irys.com" so no-one directly tracks it and I can own it forever - rather than having to shift from @yahoo.com to @gmail.com to @earthmail.net, etc. to @whatever-the-F.whatever-the-domain.]  I added my gmail accounts (used for spam-likely) and other accounts as useful.
   
7. Configure Thunderbird calendar. Again, use Thunderbird... it's just "OK," but ok. My main personal calendar is on Google (I know, work for another day). I used the tbsync add-in on Thunderbird to access my Google Cal account as CalDav. [I did it directly in TBird initially but found this add-in more flexible in read-write situations.] 
8. Subscribe to other key calendars whether .ics or CalDav: I add NAmerican Holidays, Astronomical Events, and Kala's Home calendar so I know when election day is coming or a meteor shower or when Kala has an appointment. Use TBird's +Calendar capability for this; you must know and have credentials to the network locations of the calendars.
   
9. Synchronize Thunderbird "address book" to cloud-based "contacts" you have. Again here I used tbsync to "scrape" my "contacts" on iCloud (synced with my iPhones and macs) and sync them to TBird AB. Then, add Birthdays scraped from the TBAB to another subscribed calendar in TBird Calendar.
   
10. Download and install Signal messaging, if you use it, and validate to your iPhone. If you don't use it, begin to so do - fully secure, fully open messaging. This is underappreciated and underused and that's unfortunate as iMessage is bollocks on Linux. You cannot do it reliably or well as yet.
11. Get your file server working on you home network with your new machine. I use a Win7 SMB server to keep files & images for, keep backups for, and record TV for every client in the house. Plex is the TV recorder and subject of other threads. Here I had to actually edit Win7 registry entries (rarely a good idea) to have the Win7Pro server advertise it's SMB1, SMB2 and SMB3 capability to Linux as I browsed over there. It's worked fine without these edits for macOS and iOS but WTF. Ultimately fully operational with full R/W/E access both on the LAN and remotely. I also set it such that these servers would mount automatically at each boot.
    
12. Add your printer and printer driver. Ok, this was strangely obtuse on Manjaro/XFCE IMO. I was super user in the terminal emulator to compile and install the printer package. I found, added, and tested postscript, etc. to my networked Brother laser printer after this but WTF? UPDATE - After doing a full system update I saw a new printer manager and adding subsequent printers and their drivers was simple and done via a simple GUI.
    
13. Test your skills with GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation) app for image editing, including loading and saving of remote (network server) files. Done with some pain in finding features - compared to Photoshop, but it is richer and more powerful. New blog entries feature images moded here.
    
14. Assure USB audio out works well. For me, my T440P does not have fiber out so I need for the USB ports to work high speed and bit-perfect with my WooAudio WA7 Fireflies @ the Nest and my Schitt Gungnir MB @ Blodgett DACs. It does via transcoding on PulseAudio for YouTube, etc. and my main HF audio system of JRiver MC didn't have an Arch Linux distro so I had to build something from their Debian package... damn it but I got it done! Full flac streaming, locally and remotely, from the library server @ Blodgett, on a repackaged build for ArchLinux, is running sweet.
    

You can't mess with me and I probably have more work to do but I am well down the road to a righteous conversion from macOS to ArchLinux. Features lost in the conversion seem to include iMessage, AirDrop (circumvented with iOS's recent CIFS additions), and Thunderbolt display support (big issue for me which I am still investigating).

UPDATE 21Nov20... Lost Features Update

• There is no directly or externally viable way to connect the T440P running Linux to an Apple Thunderbolt display... sheesh. Using the AT display with anything other than macOS on a mac is very elusive. This could be a blocking factor to a switch. Grrr...
• There is no viable way to run or receive iMessages on Linux (except for a virtual terminal like scheme). Not the end of the world but a bummer. Hmmm...
  
• There is no clean way to transfer music from Linux to iPhone (for the Apple Music client, due to it's obtuse file organization). One might be able to run Wine and some iTunes or iTunes-like thing in there to do it but I want a direct transfer. Yet...
• There is a way but I had to switch audio players on the iPhone, which uses its own and a simpler file organization, under iOS into which I can transfer the files. I chose FlacBox and use SMB to directly download to iOS from anywhere really: my Linux machine, my Win7 music store, my mac, etc.. There are even upsides from this switchover (though I did have to download the albums/tracks to iOS again) as I have more control over organization and playback and the player supports many formats, including high def (like flac).