Wednesday, January 20, 2016

How to build a pyramid in modern times

In 2013 archeologist Pierre Tallet made an incredible discovery, papyrus rolls, largely intact, written in hieratic, the cursive script in Egyptian writing. The oldest known papri in the world contained a how to, for building the great pyramids. 


Using the knowledge contained in the scrolls, Don Eyles was able to create a floating pyramid, pyr2014, around Boston.

Fast forward to August 1, 2016 SANS is coming to Boston with how tos in Security Management, Technical CyberSecurity, and Forensics.

Is it a coincidence that a NASA space mission discovered a pyramid shaped mountain on dwarf planet Ceres about the same time as Tallet’s discovery?  And, Variety reports, “ABC is bringing back long-running game show “Pyramid,” this time with host Michael Strahan and with more money on the line.”

http://pyr2014.tumblr.com/
http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/pyramid-game-show-abc-michael-strahan-1201675892

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Personal best, speed and distance

Today I took my trike from one end of the phase 2 multi-use path to the other. 32 minutes on the return trip, probably could have been 30, but I was sharing the path. Only saw one whale blow, no breaches. Tried to sign up for the whale count this year. Not sure the website worked.

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Riding into a rainbow

I try to ride my trike every day. Today, I took the time to stuff my phone into a ziplock bag because it looked a bit ominous :)


Then it brightened up a bit and there was a rainbow in the distance.

But, then it got darker and windy again, no complaint, the whole way to Kealia I got to see rainbows.

Then my trike and I received a freshwater wash down, courtesy of God.

Friday, January 1, 2016

You can negotiate with Comcast and lower your bill

Kathy and I do not watch TV. The sales guy told me that we had to have it to get their alarm service, (which I like).  He said I could cut it off after a year. It has been over a year so I called 888-966-7542. I was on hold for 1 hour, ten minutes and 16 seconds. However, the story has a happy ending.

(continued) 12/31/15 I called 1-800-934-6489They said I had to speak with a licensed bonded person since I had the home alarm. Soon Pearl appeared, she and I had a good talk. I explained the salesman said I could drop TV after one year. Pearl said I would run afoul of early termination fees. She said she might be able to get me a different package. This involved being on hold a number of times. I was on the phone with Pearl 30 minutes. We were both very polite with one another. She was amused by the sound of the chickens in Kauai. It appears there was no way to ditch TV, but she said she was able to lower my price by $20.00 monthly by finding a different deal. Works for me. I give myself no credit, these are two of the most important articles on dealing with subscriber services I know of appear to be willing to offer deals to keep you, (great post). 



And if you are interested, here is the backstory, I have been on hold for an hours.
The background music is ok for the first fifteen minutes, then it gets painful. Customer service suggestion, use a SirusXM radio station, classical music or jazz is pretty non-offensive. There are also many music tracks that allow you to have varied music. I finally hung up thinking I must have gotten lost in some queue and dialed back.
"Thank you for calling. Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received. Again, thank you for calling Comcast."
Of course I tried online first. The screen shot is the manage your TV service. There are buttons to add service, but not to take it away.
"Thank you for calling Comcast. Currently, all of our customer service representatives are  assisting other customers. Please hold so we can give you the same special attention."
Sometimes you wonder if it is just you. So I posted on Twitter: "You can't drop TV using Comcast website. Been on hold 1:16:10, they could at least change the music." Got a reply:  "@StephenNorthcut if you call and say you would like Comcast service they will answer in under a minute. :0"
Hmmm, wonder what they say on the web about this. I found and xfinity blog post. It says: Calling in is the most sure way to do this. Either the 800-COMCAST or your local office.  Hmm, I called my local office first and they said  I needed to call 888-966-7542. Well this time I have been on hold for 33 minutes, fifteen seconds, maybe 800-COMCAST, (800-266-2278) has different elevator music. This time the robot said they were closed their hours are 7 AM to 7 PM but the robot doesn't tell you what time zone. However, the robot says they have live chat.
So I logged into the web page, found the live chat under contact us. Started as position 13 in the queue, was position 2, 1 .....

I was greeted by Analyst Macjacqueline. May I set expectations that cancellation of service is done through our Cancellations Department. Here is our Cancellations Department contact information 1-800-934-6489 and press 4. They are available Mondays to Fridaysat 8am-5pm.
Other Comcast numbers appear to be: 800 266 2278 and 800-945-2288. 
(goto continued). . .


Thank you for restoring the bike path Mayor Carvalho

The seawall in front of Pono Kai had been failing for a while. It was almost certainly dangers to walk on or under it. They finally had a plan to repair it, but to do that meant damaging the multi-use path I ride my bike on every day while I am here. They built a detour across the lawn of Pono Kai, but right after a rain it was really hard to pedal through and you got sand all over you. In the picture below Kathy and Kevin Cabreira are standing on the edge of the detour, (bottom left corner of photo with Pono Kai behind them).


This photo and movie was the last section of the pour to restore the path. I am very thankful!