#211 August 1, 2016 from http://www.don-guitar.com
I always thought that being retired meant you got to lay back and relax a
little bit. Guess I fooled me didn't I? Aside from the never-ending mundane
stuff like washing dishes, doing the laundry and mowing the lawn there are
random demands like leaking roofs or vehicles that suddenly won't start.
Then there's the hobbies that you took up because you're gonna have so
much free time now, except that the hobbies can become extremely
demanding. Fun, sure, but still demanding. Here in central Texas the
number one question at all social gatherings is 'When is it gonna rain?'
but you won't catch me asking that. Rain just means I'm gonna have to
mow the lawn again. I got better things to do, I'm trying to be retired
over
here. Sure, I'm ok if it rains on cow pastures and farms, let's just try
to keep
that stuff off my lawn. :)
Thus begins another exciting issue of the web's favorite, anachronistically
quaint little ezine. Here we go...
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My grandsons love to read and, as a lifelong avid reader, I want to support
them in that ambition and I know that ebooks are far easier to get, more
plentiful, and less costly than printed books but they're both pre-teens and
she doesn't want to give them unsupervised access to the internet so an
ereader that doesn't have wifi. I went looking a couple of years ago but
couldn't find an affordable new one. This year I can find them easily
enough, and they're quite affordable, but nobody has them in stock. :(
http://ematic.us/readers.html
This is just in Hawaii I think, and I made a modest contribution, but it
really
needs to be everywhere. http://www.musicforlifefound.org/
Having said that, I had to google it and here are some things I found.
https://www.nammfoundation.org/
http://tipitinasfoundation.org/
http://therootsofmusic.org/
http://www.nomrf.org/index.html
http://www.fendermusicfoundation.org/
http://www.mhopus.org/
http://www.vh1savethemusic.org/
https://www.arts.gov/
https://www.musicforall.org/
http://www.nafme.org/
This site maintains download links to a collection of popular free software
for Windows users. http://www.winappslist.com/
This article, from the Wall Street Journal, is intended to help you become
more secure in our increasingly digital environment.
http://goo.gl/I0F02k [wsj dot com]
Love 'em or hate 'em, drones (flying video cameras) are everywhere and
some of them are even using Open Source software.
https://www.dronecode.org/
This fellow's DIY projects are pretty darn fancy.
http://www.mrlemieux.com/
So, these two guys decide to start makng videos of their favorite comic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx68TPu4dCk
Leonard Nimoy's son is making a wonderful documentary about his dad.
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/fortheloveofspock/
(if they get around to putting it on Amazon I'll buy a copy)
Historical photos of San Francisco, California. http://opensfhistory.org/
What if a bone marrow donation from you could save someone's life?
https://bethematch.org/
I just bought some kids I'll never meet some ice cream. Very cool.
https://squareup.com/store/creamcycle/
Would you like to know some details about your browser?
https://www.whatismybrowser.com/
Here's a bunch of stuff from Lisa (thank you dear).
Jim 'Kimo' West, Hawaiian slack-key guitarist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkmKf80xZsI
The concept of 'holding space'.
http://heatherplett.com/2015/03/hold-space/
http://goo.gl/QEucSz [heatherplett dot com]
http://goo.gl/dyWUip [elephantjournal dot com]
Want to read a little something every day?
https://dailylit.com/
Before the 1800s, all artists compounded their
own paints. http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi831.htm
The history of technology is a history of us.
http://www.uh.edu/engines/
I wanted to receive reminders to listen to a short radio
program every day, but there was no option to have it sent
to me. I scheduled a daily email with the link via the
Boomerang extension for Gmail. It has many useful features.
http://www.boomeranggmail.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89u-tMzOlcw
The life story of Leon Theremin reads like a novel,
but he was quite real, brilliant and prolific, as well
as being the inventor of the Theramin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Léon_Theremin
There's ample evidence fasting is good for health.
https://goo.gl/26MQtL [sott dot net]
The Engines of Our Ingenuity is a radio program
celebrating human creativity. http://www.uh.edu/engines/
Since I'm approaching 60, I check out age-appropriate
sites about health and positive aging. This is a good one.
http://sixtyandme.com/
Boredom seems to fuel creativity.
http://goo.gl/3KSc7f [99u dot com]
Need to sort a list alpabetically? LibreOffice can do that.
http://goo.gl/ZezDi4 [guide2office dot com]
The John Deere site has a cool timeline and inventions page.
https://goo.gl/GVfcMv [deere dot com]
At last! A simple screen recorder for Linux.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c5dbe8N0Gg
In 2006, Netflix hosted a competition to improve its
prediction algorithm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netflix_Prize
Today, Kaggle, Drivendata and CrowdAnalytics
are among the top crowdsourced data competitions.
https://www.kaggle.com/
https://www.drivendata.org/
https://www.crowdanalytix.com/
How to get rid of things. http://www.getridofthings.com/
The difference between bias-ply and radial tires.
http://goo.gl/vQoV5w [michelinag dot com]
Synesthesia is a fascinating subject.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar01/synesthesia.aspx
There are some successful communes out there, the most
successful being the Twin Oaks Community.
http://www.thefec.org/communities/twin-oaks-community/
Ever suspect you have big holes in your education? Same
here, so I got this book on Amazon for $7, shipped.
https://goo.gl/R5cSND [amazon dot com]
Ivan Pavlov revolutionized our view of physiology.
http://goo.gl/Mks9Ws [nobelprize.org]
On naming planes.
http://goo.gl/Mt7G0S [todayifoundout dot com]
If you don't already play an instrument, here's a great
reason to start. Your brain will thank you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JKCYZ8hng
The Traveling Salesman Problem is the most studied on the subject
of optimization. There's a million-dollar prize for the most elegant
solution.
http://www.wired.com/2013/01/traveling-salesman-problem/
Like to doodle? Here's some inspiration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXbHnM2B7aE
Do you overthink things? Here's a little therapy.
http://www.100daysofoverthinking.com/about/
I love my food, and I want to be slim, so here's what
I do. Love the name of this site!
http://healthyenough.net/intermittent-fasting/
OpenCulture wants to give you free stuff. Yes, please!
http://www.openculture.com/
Love words? This learning/game site is some serious fun.
https://www.vocabulary.com/
Choir!Choir!Choir! is a drop-in, no commitment singing
event for everyone. Check out their site and videos.
http://www.choirchoirchoir.com/
Doodle art is very popular these days. Here are some of the best.
http://goo.gl/euIiP [creativeblog dot com]
Everyone needs heroes.
http://goo.gl/a66l0w [lindt dot com]
Gloria Steinem doesn't drive.
http://goo.gl/Q0xt1o [newyorker dot com]
---
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with occasional help from my wife, Lisa Miller.
At the time this issue was posted, the current
subscriber count for this publication was 313.
---
That's it for issue number two hundred eleven. Tomorrow (and every-other
Sunday) our band, Turnabout, will be hosting the 4 PM to 8 PM Open Mic
at Pats bar in Buchanan Dam, Texas (Population: 1688 - Saaalute!).
I'm still very serious about it but these days I regard playing music as
more
of a hobby and I seldom go looking for gigs on Friday and Saturday nights.
I prefer to leave those, more lucrative, gigs to younger folks who need the
income a lot more than I do. :) As a Social Security recipient I'm a lot
more
affluent than most working musicians in the area. Of course that might be
mainly because I don't have any kids at home. It's amazing how much
difference that can make in your budget.
Wishing you all love, luck, health, happiness and financial independence.
See you next time,
Don
---
The Internet: A Weapon of Mass Instruction.
