Category: Technology

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Thursday/ under the UV lamp 🚿

My little ultraviolet lamp arrived today: one that is specifically designed to inspect postage stamps. (My pictures below).

Starting in 1969, South Africa began to add phosphorescent frames to stamps from its first definitive series of stamps*. Starting in 1971, the phosphorescent element appeared throughout the paper. It is almost impossible to distinguish between these two types of stamps without the aid of an ultraviolet lamp.

*Definitive series of stamps for the Republic of South Africa. The Union of South Africa became the Republic of South Africa in 1961 when it gained its independence from Great Britain.

Republic of South Africa First Definitive Series, Redrawn
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14×13½ Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
282 168 ½c New blue, carmine-red and yellow ochre | African Pygmy Kingfisher
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Republic of South Africa First Definitive Series, Redrawn
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 13½x14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands (LEFT, 1969, bands badly misplaced!) and without (RIGHT, 1971)
277 169 1c Rose-red & olive brown | Coral tree flowers
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Republic of South Africa First Definitive Series, Redrawn
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14×13½ Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
284 132 1½c Red brown and light purple | Afrikaner bull
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Republic of South Africa First Definitive Series, Redrawn
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
285 133 2c Ultramarine and yellow | Pouring gold
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Republic of South Africa First Definitive Series, Redrawn
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
286 134 2½c Violet and green | Groot Constantia wine estate
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Republic of South Africa First Definitive Series, Redrawn
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
287 135 3c Red and deep blue |Burchell’s gonolek
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Republic of South Africa First Definitive Series, Redrawn
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
293 138 10c Brown and pale green | Cape Town Castle gate
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Republic of South Africa First Definitive Series, Redrawn
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
294 139 20c Turquoise-blue, carmine and brown orange| Secretary Bird
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]

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Monday/ the Lynnwood Link🚆

Here are my pictures of a ride today on the new northbound extension of the  Sound Transit light rail system to downtown Lynnwood.

Here it is: the $3 billion extension from Northgate to Lynnwood with four new stations, 16 years in the making.
Voters approved it with along with Obama’s election in 2008; planning was done from 2010-2016, design from 2016-2019, and construction from 2019-2024.
The 1 Line extension hugs 8½ miles of Interstate 5 and crosses over it north of the Mountlake terrace station. A fifth station will open in 2026 at NE 130th Street.
[Map from Sound Transit website]
Northbound and approaching the existing Northgate station here. Interstate 5 traffic on the left. Much of the extension is elevated compared to Interstate 5, though, due to the uneven terrain there.
Here is the view from the elevated rail and platform at the Lynnwood City Center station. There is a large parking garage at the back (not visible here), a parking lot on the left, and the canopies and bus stops of the Lynnwood Transit Center. Buses can be taken from here to Everett in the north, or to either of the ferry terminals at Edmonds and Mukilteo.
Glass mural artwork on the boarding platform at the Lynnwood City Center station. The artist is Preston Singletary. The art was inspired by his Tlingit heritage and family, and influenced by his father’s recent death.
Here’s the train at the Lynnwood City Center station, with the parking garage at the back of it.
One of two identical sculptures called “Shift” down on the grounds below. The artist is Claudia Fitch and are a nod to the lamps from Lynnwood’s Interurban trolley system, which operated from 1910 to 1939.
Here is Claudia Fitch’s “City Hummingbird” and “Kitchen Window Curtain” at Lynnwood City Center Station, to honor the history of neon road signs that once lined Highway 99 as well as the nature Pacific Northwesterners see in their own backyards.
[Description of artwork and text from Seattle Times]
Getting ready for the 30-minute ride back to Capitol Hill train station. The overhead graphic of the 2 Line (blue) and 1 Line (green) shows that more stations will open in the near future. Stations have numeric identifiers as well, which should make it easier for foreign language speakers and visitors to find the stations that they need to use.
A peek into the future, looking at a little section of rail north of Lynnwood City Center station that has already been constructed. The next push north is scheduled for 2037 with stops at West Alderwood near the mall, Ash Way, Mariner, Highway 99 in South Everett (possibly) and Southwest Everett Industrial Center near Paine Field. Two final stations at Evergreen Way and downtown Everett are aimed for 2041, depending on funding.
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Monday/ Cybertruck spotting ⚙️

We spotted this Cybertruck at noon today, at the junction of South Alaska Street and Rainier Avenue South. (Looks like a black Tesla Model 3 on its right, in the second picture. It could also be a Model Y).

A filing from Tesla on June 24 for a recall revealed that there was a total of 11,688 trucks ‘in the wild’ or shipped to customers.
There might be 25,000 out there by the end of the year, with production volumes still being ramped up.

Tesla sees as its full-volume production total at 250,000 units per year.
Will there still be buyers for a truck that sells for more than $100k, at that point?
(The Foundation Series starts at $102,235, but cheaper trims such as an All Wheel Drive for $96,390 and Rear-Wheel Drive for $76,390 could be on the way.)

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Thursday/ a freebie 🍊

These little mandarins from Peru are sweet, seedless and plump, and I got them for free at Amazon Fresh. 🤗

As I attempted to scan the barcode and put them into my smart grocery cart, the scanner did not recognize the barcode. There was no 4-digit produce code to type in on the bag, or on the shelf. Searching for ‘mandarin’ on the cart’s lookup menu also yielded no result.

The store clerk in the aisle could offer no other solution either, and just tucked the mandarins into the back of the cart, saying I don’t have to pay for them.

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Saturday/ setting it up 💻

I had my grubby paws on my pristine machine yesterday and today, setting it up with my preferences and applications.
Nicely done:
—Easy to sync contacts, notes and settings shared with my iPhone.
—Super easy to set up use a non-Apple mouse via bluetooth (for now, using a Logitech Signature M650 L).
—Easy to add widgets to the desktop.
—Added Google Chrome, YouTube, YouTube TV and Netflix browser links onto the task bar for quick access to Chrome, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, YouTube, YouTube TV and Netflix.
(I don’t use Safari nor the MacOS calendar).

Not so nice/ not possible to do:
—As of 2024, there is no Netflix app for MacBook!
So it’s possible to login & watch online at netflix.com, but I cannot download movies to watch offline on the plane on my MacBook Air the way I do with my iPad.
—I will have to get a hub to expand the connectivity options (the machine only has two USB-4 ports). My 2017 Canon digital camera needs a USB-A port to connect to the MacBook, for example.

Here’s the desktop with the widgets I have added. (The big world map only appears if the clock widget in the right corner is double clicked).
I have also added several browser links to the task bar: Google Chrome, YouTube, YouTube TV, Netflix, and others. I should remove some app links from the task bar.
There is a ‘launch pad’ link on the taskbar (second from left) that will bring up a screen with all the apps on the MacBook Air.
The launch pad screen is similar to a smartphone or smart pad screen, with the apps arranged on one or more screens per the user’s preference.
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Thursday/ a new machine 🍎

My Windows notebook computer is 7 years old, and it so it was time for a new one. I am making the leap into the world of macOS, though, by replacing it with an Apple MacBook Air.

Yes, I have long had iPhones and iPads, but those don’t have the menus and file management and applications that Apple’s notebook and desktop computers have. So I have a lot to learn.

*MacOS, originally Mac OS X, previously shortened as OS X, is an operating system developed and marketed by Apple since 2001.

Fresh out of the box. This is ‘midnight’— a very dark gray gun-metal finish that is said to be a fingerprint magnet. I could have gone for the classic Apple silver, but no, I really wanted this one. This is the 13″ (13.6 in) Macbook Air M3. I bumped up the base 8 GB of memory to 16 GB and the SSD from 256 GB to 512 GB for my machine.
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Wednesday/ a ransomware attack 👾

Seattle Public Library suffered a ransomware attack on its network just before Memorial Day weekend.  (Libraries in Toronto and London also suffered cybersecurity breaches recently. The disruptions to their services lasted several months).

Services at the 27 branches of the library are slowly returning, but have still not been fully restored.

Workstations at the Capitol Hill branch of Seattle Public Library were still offline as of today.
From the magazine rack: the latest issue of Analog magazine.
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is a renowned magazine that combines captivating science fiction stories with scientific exploration. ‘Established in 1930, it has become a premier publication for enthusiasts of imaginative storytelling and cutting-edge science’. -magzster.com.
After the ransomware attack, Seattle Public Library issued books and items in analog mode for awhile, using pen and paper to record what was lent out.
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Sunday/ back to the city 🛳

Our weekend on Kitsap Peninsula was over, and we took the Bainbridge-Seattle ferry to get back to the city late this morning.

The Agate Pass Bridge (steel truss bridge built in the 1950s) on Highway 305 connects Kitsap Peninsula with Bainbridge Island.
Here is our departure from the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal. The new overhead pedestrian walkway for walk-on passengers (on the right, middle of picture) opened in February. The seismically safe steel-fortified walkway set on concrete and steel columns replaced a 50-year-old wood-supported walkway.
We could see this seagull’s nest from the ferry (in one of the terminal pillars) but it was hard to see all of the spotted chick/s in the nest.
Approaching the Emerald City and there is the rainbow flag on the Space Needle.
The annual Pride Parade was underway in downtown as we arrived at the Seattle ferry terminal.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the first Pride parade in Seattle in 1974.
🌈 Happy Pride!
A view of the city skyline from the lower car-deck on the ferry.
We sailed on Marine Vessel Tacoma. She is a Jumbo Mark II class ferry, constructed in 1997, and can accommodate 2,500 walk-on passengers and 202 vehicles.
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Wednesday/ curbside charging ⚡️

The City of Seattle has set a goal to reduce transportation emissions by a whopping 83% by 2030.
Providing more public charging options for EVs is part of a comprehensive portfolio of transportation electrification investments.

This wood pole charger on 15th Ave East on Capitol Hill is one of the first batch of 24 such chargers that had been installed around the city. These chargers are open to the public, available on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be reserved. 
A Tesla supercharger* it is NOT: these are Level 2 EV chargers that can charge at rates up to 9.6 kilowatts (kW). Fast chargers in off-street locations such as parking lots can charge up to 50 or 60 kW. 
*Most V3 Tesla superchargers can charge at rates up to 250 kW.
The charging rate is $0.21/kWh.
Let’s do the math:
For an Electric Vehicle (EV)
To ADD 30 mi of range to a small EV, it takes about 1 hr of charging at 9.6 kWh.
Therefore $0.21/kWh x 9.6 kW x 1hr comes to $2.02.
For an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)
In Seattle, gas is close to $5/gal.
Let’s say a compact ICE car gets 30 mpg.
To ADD 30 mi of range to the ICE car, it would need 1 gallon.
Therefore 1 gallon x $5/ gal comes to  $5.00.
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Sunday/ 👀 Tesla spotting

Three amigos went out to Bellevue South station to ride the 2 Line light rail train today, and to check out the parking lot at the Tesla Service Center nearby at the Tesla Service Center in Bellevue.in Bellevue.

The current end of the 2 Line, Redmond Technology Center station.
Hey! I spotted my first Tesla Cybertruck in ‘the wild’.
This is on Bel-Red Road between Overlake and Bellevue.
At the Tesla Service Center in Bellevue. (Red, white and blue for Memorial Day weekend, right?).
The Cybertruck has a custom after-market matt black wrap on that goes well with the black trim and wheels of the truck.
Heading back home, and crossing Lake Washington with Interstate 90’s floating bridge. The thick blue line on the display means the Full Self Driving (Supervised) function is active.
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Sunday/ no turns! ⬆️

I walked by the East Madison St – 14th Avenue intersection this afternoon where my Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) function made a boo-boo yesterday (just to check it out again).

The green light shapes are ‘Straight Ahead’ arrows, and there is a NO TURNS sign on the beam as well.

Even so, as the car approached the intersection from Madison Street, the FSD turned on the turn signal, and turned left onto 14th Avenue.
There was no oncoming traffic, and I should have tapped the brake or held the steering wheel (to override the FSD controls) to keep going straight.

 

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Wednesday/ look Ma, (almost) no hands 👐

Tesla enabled a 30-day trial for me on my Model 3, of the car’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) ability.

FSD (Supervised) means the car can drive itself to almost any address with lane changes, fork selections, navigate around other vehicles and objects, and make left and right turns at traffic lights and four-way stops. The driver is still responsible for all driving and need to be able to intervene at all times, though.

Driving with FSD turned on is very impressive— and a little hair-raising at times. FSD is instantly disengaged if the driver taps the brakes or hold the steering wheel to override what the car does.

Here’s 15th Avenue East on Capitol Hill (in Seattle), across from Volunteer Park.
I have my hand on the steering wheel, but the car is driving itself at 23 mph towards an address on Roosevelt Way in U-District, sticking to the 25 mph speed limit and reading all the road signs and steering clear of obstacles and other cars. The car’s cameras picked up the pedestrian on the sidewalk up ahead in the shadows (shown as a speck on the left on the screen). If there were pedestrians in the cross-walk or about to enter the crosswalk, it would have stopped in good time. As I passed the white car parked up ahead on the right, a careless driver flung open his door into the street to get out of his car. My car gave him a wide berth, going into the open lane as there was no oncoming traffic. (It would have stopped or completely slowed down if there were oncoming traffic).
There are three general settings for the FSD function: Chill, Average or Assertive.
Average is probably were one wants to be. Chill might frustrate drivers behind you, or at intersections (the car will react with more caution, and wider margins of safety).
I am not sure how aggressive ‘Assertive’ is (shorter following distances, sharper braking), and I don’t particularly want to find out by driving the car with an assertive FSD attitude! 😱
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Monday/ the magic is back 🪄

Packets of zeroes and ones* started coming in through the fiber optic modem into my house again this morning (a technical way to say my internet service has been restored).

I can again watch TV & tennis & Netflix on the big screen downstairs (instead of on my phone).
I could download and install iOS 17.5 for my iPhone and iPad,  and watchOS 10.4.
I regained remote control of the thermostat, the garage door, and the car in the garage.
It’s also sooo much nicer to use the 24-in. computer monitor upstairs to search for stuff on Amazon— or for stamps on Ebay.

*IPv4 was the first internet protocol deployed for production on SATNET in 1982, and on the ARPANET in January 1983.
It is still used to route most internet traffic today, even with the ongoing deployment of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), its successor.

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Friday/ lost in cyberspace 👨‍🚀

Happy Friday.
Joe Biden arrived in Seattle late in the afternoon.
I hope he raises lots of money for his campaign because he might (will?) need it.

I have had no internet all day, and it is still out. (There is an outage in my neighborhood).
Plan B is to use my mobile phone as a hotspot, which I did, until AT&T texted me late morning and said I had used 75% of my hotspot data for the month.
I guess I will go read  a book now and go to bed early.

YouTube letting me know that I am offline. Yes, that’s how it feels.
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Saturday/ the new 2 Line 🚄

Eight new light rail stations opened today, on the Eastside. I went out to ride the train and take a few pictures.

The new 2 Line will connect to the existing 1 Line by end 2025. The extension of the new 2 Line to Redmond will come on line by early 2025.
I started at the South Bellevue station. The festivities and crowds of the morning had died down somewhat, but the train was still very crowded as we left Bellevue Station.
Here comes the train! This is South Bellevue station. The trains had only two cars today (I’m sure the platforms can all handle four cars).
Here’s Bellevue Downtown station— close to downtown, but not right in downtown. Bellevue Square shopping mall is a good distance away. There is a Microsoft office tower visible on the left side of the picture.
After leaving Bellevue Downtown station we are now crossing Interstate 405.
Hey look! A reflection of the train in a mirrored pillar. This is somewhere in the Bel-Red district between Bellevue and Redmond.
Part of a large mural art installation called “Dragon and Phoenix,” by Seattle artist Louie Gong, located above the light rail tracks at the new Spring District station.
Passing the other two-car train at the Overlake station.
There are several level crossings, and places where passengers have to cross the tracks to get to the other platform— never the best solution safety-wise, but as long as people don’t clamber over the gates and fences and ignore the giant red lights, it should be fine, right?
A level crossing at a street intersection.
Here’s the end of the 2 Line that opened today, at the Redmond Technology Center station.
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Wednesday/ EV sales slow down 📉

Sales of electric vehicles grew only 2.7% to just over 268,000 during the quarter, far below the 47% growth that fueled record sales and a 7.6% market share last year.
The slowdown, led by Tesla, confirms automakers’ fears that they moved too quickly to pursue EV buyers. The EV share of total U.S. sales fell to 7.1% in the first quarter.
– Reporting by Associated Press

Pete Buttigieg (Secretary of Transportation in the Biden cabinet) was asked today by some Fox News Channel (purveyor of right-wing propaganda) interviewer why President Biden was “pushing electrical vehicles down Americans’ throats”.
Buttigieg’s reply: 1. that is what car buyers want (more EVs are still bought every year), 2. that is where the auto industry is headed worldwide, and 3. the US should not fall behind China and import their EVs but rather manufacture them here in the USA.

A Polestar 2 electric car (manufacturer: Volvo) that I spotted on my walk tonight. I think it’s a 2022 model.
Mainstream buyers are wary of the limited range of EVs (in some cases it’s a perception) and charging times, or a lack of charging stations. 
The U.S. has a $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill President Joe Biden signed into law in November 2021.
More than two years later, though, only four states — Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Hawaii — have opened stations funded by the program.
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Thursday/ a text from a strange number 😠

DSCC stands for Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
They should write it out to make the message appear less cryptic, no?
I wonder where they got my phone number.
And why is the link for a Yes or a No reply the same?
That looks suspicious.
Maybe they are phishing for me to confirm my phone number, even if I text back STOP?
No. I’m not responding.

I think the Biden-Harris Administration should do much more to stop Israel from killing and starving Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
But whoever the Democratic candidate for President in the 2024 General Election will be (Joe Biden most likely, of course) already has my vote.

But here came a text Tuesday and again today, wanting me to say if I ‘approve’ of Joe Biden.

The problem is that I assume that texts from strange phone numbers out of the blue are spam. Even after checking online and on Twitter, I’m not 100% sure this one is not.

 

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Tuesday/ the bridge is out 🌉

Here are pictures and reporting from the New York Times that document the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse:
The ship, a 948-foot-long cargo vessel called Dali, was about a half hour into its journey toward Colombo, Sri Lanka, when it hit a main pillar of the bridge. All crew members are safe, according to the ship’s owners.
(The mayday alert from the ship allowed authorities to stop traffic from crossing the bridge just before the impact.  Eight workers on the bridge fell into the water. Two were rescued from the water and six are still missing).
The Francis Scott Key Bridge was opened in 1977 and carried more than 12.4 million vehicles last year. The bridge was one of the three major ways to cross the Patapsco River and formed part of Baltimore’s beltway.

 

 

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Friday/ sun ☀

It felt like spring today, with the sun out all day long.
Here in the city of Seattle we touched 60 °F (15 °C) at the high.

I got a set of USA stamps from one of my amigos (thanks, Steve!).
Here is one of my favorites.
Lindbergh Flight Issue
50th Anniversary of Charles A. Lindbergh’s solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, May 20, 1927
Issued May 20, 1977  Photolitho. Perf. 11
1710 A1099    13c   Multicolored   Spirit of St. Louis over Atlantic Ocean
[Source: Scott 2003 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 1]
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Sunday/ the long shadow of the bomb ✴️

Artwork by Musubu Hagi.
It is featured with the guest essay called ‘Oppenheimer,’ My Uncle and the Secrets America Still Doesn’t Like to Tell’, by Ariel Kaminer in the New York Times.

The film honored at the Oscars told a very specific story, but countless other lives trace back to that day, too.
In one way or another, no one emerged untouched.
We are all living downwind of that first momentous blast.
– Ariel Kaminer referring to the opening scene in this year’s Best Movie Oscar winner ‘Oppenheimer’, in a guest essay in the New York Times print edition that is due out Monday.

Her uncle had worked for the US Army and became an atomic veteran many years after 1946— veterans developing radiogenic health issues that may have been precipitated by their exposure to ionizing radiation while participating in a nuclear weapon test detonation, or a post-test event.

Of course: in the year before 1946 there was Hiroshima and Nagasaki.