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Aide-Memoire

Author: sergneri

The Miner’s Band of Downieville

April 3, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Sacramento Daily Union, October 2 1851. The echoes of the midnight air were awakened on Tuesday evening last, by an instrumental performance by the Miners Band of Downieville. We do not remember ever having heard in California music equal to that with which they regaled the few who were fortunate enough to be in the … [Read more…]

Posted in: California History, California Newspaper Archive, Faits Divers, Thinking about Tagged: 1851, California, Downieville, Miners Band, October, Sacramento, Sacramento Daily Union

Fertilizer on farm fields is a major source of California smog, researchers say

February 3, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Sacramento Bee – Fertilizer on farm fields is a major source of California smog, researchers say By Dale Kasler And Ryan Sabalow

Posted in: Science, Thinking about Tagged: air-quality, California, farmers, nitrogen oxide, NOx, SMOG, UC Davis

Correcting Texts for the CDNC – California Digital Newspaper Collection

January 29, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Introduction I’ve been correcting the texts in the newspaper articles on the CDNC for almost 4 years, I am now 12th in the Text Correctors Hall of Fame on CDNC with over 160,000 lines of text corrected. During that time, I’ve come up with some techniques I’d like to share. There are no real guidelines … [Read more…]

Posted in: California History, California Newspaper Archive, Thinking about Tagged: California Digital Newspaper Collection, CDNC, Correcting Texts, Editing, Style Guide, Tips, Tricks

RISK FACTOR

January 27, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Here is a listing of the RISK FACTOR blogs by Robert N. Charette in the IEEE Spectrum. Others will be added as discovered. Great to have Mr. Charette back online in the Specturm. Michigan’s MiDAS Unemployment System: Algorithm Alchemy Created Lead, Not Gold Will U.S. Corporations Ever Take Cybersecurity Seriously? 2018’s IT Failures Already Have … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, IT Failures, Politics, Science Tagged: cyber-security, IEEE, IT Failures, RISK FACTOR, Robert N. Charette, Spectrum

MiDAS Failure

January 27, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Another massive, expensive, and painful IT failure was reported in the IEEE Spectrum of 24-JAN-2018, this time, it was the MIDAS Unemployment system in Michigan. Not only did this system fail to deliver, its managers refused to admit that it failed. The system was to replace the legacy software used by the State of Michigan … [Read more…]

Posted in: Finanace, IT Failures, Politics, Science, Thinking about Tagged: AI, Algorithm, artificial intelligence, Automation, automation software, Computing, ethics, IT Failures, Risk Management, robot, Systems, unemployment

The Legend of the Geysers

January 24, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Reading the Healdsburg Enterprise of Feb. 21, 1878, I came across a feature article titled “The Legend of the Geysers”. It is a story about how the geyser area east of Healdsburg between there and Calistoga was discovered by the local Indians. You can read the article here and, for another take on the same … [Read more…]

Posted in: California History, California Newspaper Archive, Faits Divers, Thinking about Tagged: 28 February 1878, Ashochimi Indian tribe, Grizzly Bear, Healdsburg Enterprise, Independent Calistogian, Legend, Russian River, San Francisco, the Geysers

Trump’s Debt to Ron Paul’s Paranoid Style

January 21, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

A post in the New York Review of Books by James Kirchick sums up Trump’s penchant for the weird (conspiracy theories) and his far-right beliefs. We can read it here.

Posted in: Politics, Racism, Thinking about, Trump Tagged: Alex Jones, conspiracy theories, gad-fly, libertarian, Paranoid, Ron Paul, Trump

NSA – ‘sincerely regrets its failure.’

January 21, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment

I love stories about IT screw-ups and this is another that boggles the mind. Imagine a group that has access to every email, phone call, and text message sent today, “accidentally” deleting data. Credibility? Trust? Expertise? None in my eyes, read about it here in Politico. “It’s really disappointing,” said David Greene, an attorney with … [Read more…]

Posted in: IT Failures, Politics, Thinking about Tagged: National Security Agency, NSA, Presidential Surveillance Program, PSP, surveillance

The Day After

January 17, 2018 by sergneri Leave a Comment
Posted in: Politics, Thinking about, Trump Tagged: nuclear war, Television

Trashy Day at Salmon Creek

January 12, 2018 by sergneri 1 Comment

Today was a lovely day between rain storms. A quick call to my friend Jeff and we decided to meet up at Salmon Creek Beach South to pick trash for a couple of hours. When we arrived at 13:30 it was calm with a misty sun, high tide was at 14:00, about 4 feet, which … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Sea Stories, Thinking about
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