Tralfaz

Category: blog

  • California Living

    For those new to this channel, I relocated back to California after a 11 year detour through Arizona. Having been back now for almost 6 months, I have some observations as a new outsider.

    California in general, and Silicon Valley in particular is like no where else in the world. Great climate, diversity of cultures, high tech and ghetto all blended together.

    Some thoughts:

    • Apartment dwellers with nice cars – I have little choice but to park my car (a Honda S2000) in the parking lot at our temporary apartment. But walking through the lot, there are plenty of BMW 5 series and 7 series cars, as well as Mercedes. These are people living in crappy, 40 year old, 2 bedroom, and 3 bedroom apartments, that are decidedly budget for the area. I guess the adage car rich, house poor applies.

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  • Drugs Inc. – An at times brutal view of the drug trade

    Drugs Inc. – An at times brutal view of the drug trade

    Life with Netflix Streaming is never dull. As they increase their library, and more importantly, improve their algorithms for matching what I would like, I get some great recommendations. One such recommendations is a show on the National Geographic Channel called Drugs Inc.

    Netflix is missing the first season, but I practically binged on the two seasons that are available. In a nutshell, it is a behind the scenes view of the narcotics trade from production, transportation, trafficking, and a look on the users and communities that are the end users.

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  • Saying goodbye to an old friend

    Saying goodbye to an old friend

    Today, I lay to rest an old faithful friend. She joined our household for Christmas in 2007, and has been a faithful servant ever since. Alas, the end must come for all, and that day is today.

    Of course, I am talking about our Capresso coffee maker. Back when I bought her, it was the “best” insulated carafe coffee maker for the domestic market. At least according to what was available (not many options), and what the reviews were.

    Your typical cone filter drip coffee maker, it had a timer (which we never once used), a charcoal filter, and it made great coffee.

    My recollection is that it cost about ~$110 back in 2007, so for about $15.71 a year, + coffee it made over 2,500 pots of coffee. Not a bad life.

    However, the base of the unit was beginning to corrode (ok, rust), and the stainless of the carafe was also beginning to rust.

    I was happy to live with those blemishes, as it still made great coffee. Yet, as the end drew near, I began to notice that the full pot cycle wasn’t brewing a full pot, leaving 3-4 cups in the reservoir. A deep cleaning and descaling failed to rectify that condition, and thus her fate was sealed.

    She can go to her recycling bin rendezvous knowing that she was appreciated.

    Betsy, our new coffee makerThe replacement maker, a Bonavita unit, with a vacuum carafe (keeps the coffee hot longer) arrived yesterday. This morning it brewed its first pot. Ahhhhhh. The reviews on Amazon were right. It does make an awesome pot of coffee.

    It is a bit more minimal than the Capresso. There is no timer, no small batch mode, and it doesn’t even have a pause and serve mode. It has an on button (with auto off), the vacuum insulated carafe, and that is it.

    But it makes fabulous coffee.

  • Spam – The SEO Expert

    Spam – The SEO Expert

    More in the Spam files. This time, we have a jackass trying to tell me how to better do SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Of course, the best suggestion is to hire them to help me.

    Oh boy.  I get 2-3 of these a week across my wordpress sites. I really don’t do this for money, fame or notoriety. I do a little SEO, but in general, I don’t give a damn.  I write to scratch an itch.

    Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is is missing a few factors, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization. On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda. No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO. So what is good On-Page SEO?First your keyword must appear in the title.Then it must appear in the URL.You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page. You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword….wait there’s even more Now what if i told you there was a simple WordPress plugin that does all the On-Page SEO, and automatically for you? That’s right AUTOMATICALLY, just watch this 4minute video for more information at.

    Yeah, I am gonna call you right up (roll eyes)

  • Spam – Persistence…

    Spam – Persistence…

    More in the series on comment spam. Some people keep at it, against all odds. Meet “Vivienne Westwood Dragon Lady Shoes”.  She seems to think that aficionados of Greyhounds (and my “GreytBros blog) would want to buy some shitty knock off shoes (that are often made with PVC instead of leather).

    From the dashboard of the Greyt Bro's blog.
    From the dashboard of the Greyt Bro’s blog.

    Persistence pays off, so says everybody. Particularly if you are in the comment spam game. It is a business model that requires a lot of impressions, so the perpetrators cast their net far and wide.

    Obviously, enough people will click on and buy this crap so it must work. But that doesn’t mean that I will perpetuate it. So, I will delete and report as spam all these comments. Vivienne needs to phish elsewhere.

  • Spam – the Suck Up

    Spam – the Suck Up

    Spam filters like Akismet do a phenomenal job of keeping the trash at bay (if you ever want to see how bad it can get, create a web forum, make it open access, without moderation, and watch the spam fill your hard disk). However, one type of message is very likely to fill the filter. It is – The Suck Up

    Short, it is highly congratulatory. It praises the content (yet never anything specific, just generic), and how they will be sure to read more from you in the future.

    It can also mention the awesome style, and quality of your writing. Hey, I know I am a talentless hack, so that is totally bullshit, but it does fool the filters. On to this edition of comment spam:

    constantly i used to read smaller posts which as well
    clear their motive, and that is also happening with
    this article which I am reading now.

    Note that this has hard line breaks into smaller lines. I suspect that indicates to the filter that this is written by a breathing human.  Sigh, so easy to fool.

    As with all spam, this user points their “web page” to an online store. Cleverly disguised as a spearphishing link to a faux Youtube channel.  Sigh.  Delete, and add to the Akismet learning set.

  • Spam – The Mulberry Outlet

    Spam – The Mulberry Outlet

    So begins a series of the comment spam I receive on my wordpress sites. Yes, I use the Akismet plugin (and have since 2009) to keep the spam comments at bay, and it does a phenomenal job, blocking literally thousands of spammy comments. But lately, there have been a steady stream of comment spam that sneaks by. This series of posts will highlight some of the insightful verbiage to get by the bayesian filters.

    Today’s contestant is someone selling (presumably knock off) Mulbury goods. He crafted a message to circumvent the filters, and here it is in all it’s glory:

    Or mulberry outlet do not need to understand, because they do not the same people of the world. Day policy camp has appeared in sight, mercenary embattled, without the slightest malaise is not following simple defense staggered during the District number baizhang the distance, I do not know the surprise trip, or a death march. Without wasting mulberry outlet to this was. The “Amherst Act finally spoke, the first sentence is to praise the enemy. Three hundred eligible thieves on horseback, see mercenary can only rear junction array to be only one person alone in front, and his heart laughed, single-handedly to resist the 300 horses in the open heaven’s I was just kidding!.

    Of course, it might be a social media expert from the Mulberry company, but I highly doubt it.

    Of course, the goal was to get the poster’s IP address and website in the comments, to lure unsuspecting rubes to click on his link to a knockoff shop.  But instead, I put a link to the real Mulberry site.  How is that?

  • Getting Old – the Signs are Everywhere

    Getting Old – the Signs are Everywhere

    There are plenty of symptoms and signs that you are getting old. And I am not talking about the harassment by AARP for you to join.

    Sign 1 – You have a pill box to organize your daily medication. Often this starts as one, but soon becomes two as you will have morning and night medications. Statins, Ace Inhibitors, Beta Blockers, aspirin, anti coagulants. Yep you are getting old when you are on a first name basis with your pharmacist (and I am not talking weed)

    Sign 2 – You give up your motorcycle endorsement on your drivers license. I have had that endorsement since I was 16 and got my license. I carried it with me to Arizona. But coming back to California, I let it drop. This is acknowledging I will never ride a motorcycle again. Sad day indeed.

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  • Getting Old – uh, what was I talking about…

    Getting Old – uh, what was I talking about…

    There is plenty of evidence of getting old. Having a heart attack. Finding out that you have arthritis in your hands. Chronic pain in various parts of your body that just don’t go away.

    A few weeks ago, someone mentioned that they were ignoring the advice of their physicians and abusing their bodies. I of course had to weigh in.

    As I approach the magic five oh, I am falling apart. Early in my life I had a similar belief. As a teen, I got heavily into motorcycles. Starting with off road, it was an every weekend practice. I was young, I was invincible. I would ride any trail, I would do anything. Hills, jumps, gnarly tree-filled trails. Absolutely bulletproof.

    Then at the ripe old age of 16, I got the first life lesson. Riding at Hollister Hills on the TT track, I was riding a friends bike. It was a 1979 Yamaha TT 500. Big single thumper. A natural slider. Not a lot of suspension travel, but a natural slider. I was flat tracking it that day like Mert Lawill at the San Jose Mile.

    Then in one corner, I got nailed. A rider on a Yamaha YZ400 hit me while I was sliding. Off, on the high side. Massive dislocated shoulder.

    Groan. 3 years later, it is popping out while I am sleeping. Right after I graduated high school, I get it repaired. A Bristow repair of my shoulder.

    Fast forward to today. Somewhere at age 26, it re-dislocated. Not worth describing how, but it was painful. Today, I have a constant ache. It isn’t agony. But it is getting worse. Since my heart attack, I have been on medicine that preclude taking NSAID’s, and oh boy, that causes pain.

    Have a heart attack (age 44), dislocate a shoulder (age 16, repaired at 18, re-dislocated at 26), have plantar fascitis at age 45, jam you knee badly (again off road motorcycling) at 38, and at 49 you are in a pretty constant state of pain.

    I wouldn’t recommend getting old.

  • Props to Microsoft

    Props to Microsoft

    It almost pains me to admit it, but Microsoft has gone a long way to restoring my trust in them as a brand and a company to do business with. From the bullshit around Internet Explorer 6 (that I still have to deal with on my websites), to the piss poor security model of pre SP2 Windows XP, they had a pretty big deficit to overcome. How did they do it (in my case at least?)

    Yesterday, I got a message that someone suspicious had control of my live.com account. I happen to have a couple, so it took me a while to realize that it was the one that is my Xbox Live account (and uses my gmail address). I haven’t actually logged into the account in a couple of years, and it was really just used to coordinate my activities on my xbox. No email, no other “goodies“, so low risk. Or so I thought.

    Sigh, so I go “reclaim” my account. Not too hard as the asshat who scammed the credentials hadn’t done anything to change the main security features. Phew. Fortunately, I have a pretty long history with Microsoft commercially, and I will admit that their business/billing systems are pretty good to work with. No real complaints, clearly they have a good grasp on dealing with the masses (unlike Google, cough. cough) when there are issues.

    As has become the custom, I turned on 2 factor authentication. Really annoying to do this for a lightweight use, but c’est la vie. There is an “app” that you can setup to provide the code (or you can just go with the SMS message to your phone”.

    Yep, Microsoft uses the Google Authenticator application. Kick ass.

    Who would have thought that MSFT would use the Google tool?

    Oh, and they acknowledge that a few people do want to use iPhones for their services, so there are really good setup instructions for Apple gear.

    Trust not completely restored, but well on the path. Credit where credit is due.