Musty Odors and Ancient Objects

"Lady, you need to get you son out of there!" the docent said to my mother. When I was a young boy

California Automotive Museum

(about five-years-old) my mom took me to the oldest museum in the United States, the Charleston Museum. Although only the classical Greek columns of the building remain today, I can still remember that musty smell of antiquity. I also remember being apprehended by museum personnel that day.  It seems I had managed to get inside some ancient piece of armor. Was this a detriment to my quest of old stuff? Not a bit!

Museums are of all kinds, and many specialize.  As an artist I find art museums extremely interesting. The Mona Lisa, Sunflowers, Guernica, or The Third of May.  Just to be so close to the genius of da Vinci, Van Gogh, Picasso or Goya is inspiring. The  photographs in art books don't do them justice.

The Tate Modern, London.

Reproductions of art somehow always miss something. Perhaps it's the dimensional aspect of the art. With oil paintings you can see the dimensional quality of brushstrokes better and just maybe smell the hint of oil in the air. There is something awe inspiring about seeing the actual works.

Aviation museums are no doubt my favorite.  There is something about these machines that break the bounds of gravity and join the realm of birds that have always fascinated me.  In our travels I
have seen many types of aircraft, some famous and some infamous. Of course the most common historic aircraft is the Wright Flyer, or rather a replica.  The original first American airplane to make controlled powered flight was destroyed. The Spirit of St. Louis, which first was flown solo across the Atlantic, and the huge NC4 flying boat of the U.S. Navy, which was the first to fly across the Atlantic, claim aviation fame. The Messerschmitt Me-262 was the first jet aircraft flown in combat and was a marvel of German technology.  The Glamorous Glynnis was the X-15 rocket plane which Chuck Yeager flew faster than the speed of sound. Actually, Gen. Yeager named all the planes he flew after his wife. The Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb, which ushered in the nuclear age, and the fastest airplane to ever fly was the SR-71, Blackbird. I've been fortunate enough to see these famous aircraft and many more.

The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry

To me, the British Museum is the creme de la creme of museums.  There you will find the Rosetta Stone. Discovered in 1801, this seventeen hundred pound piece of black granite has inscriptions in three languages.  These inscriptions in three languages allow linguists to translate the hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians. Also in this museum are many Egyptian mummies and the mummified remains of one of the first humans.  There are the ruins from Greek temples on display as well as Roman artifacts.  It was said that the sun never set on British soil.  During this period treasures of many civilizations were collected by the British Museum.

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara, Turkey

Once upon a time I was an enlisted man in the U. S. Navy and therefore have an affinity for things naval other than oranges. I must say that the Spanish Naval Museum in Madrid is another favorite of mine, although I've been aboard a number of the American warships which are now museums. The Spanish National Naval Museum houses a map produced by the cartographer who sailed with Christopher Columbus to the Americas. A map shows some of the coastline of the new world. The museum follows Spanish naval history from early colonial days through World War One.  It was interesting to see a scale model of the battleship U.S.S. Maine, the ship whose sinking started the Spanish-American War and whose capstan is in White Point Gardens in Charleston, South Carolina. Another Spanish museum I favor is the museum at the Spanish Artillery School in Segovia. Spanish weaponry is traced from the crossbow and spear to the rifled and breech loading cannon. Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, The British Museum of Science, and the Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci in Milan are great science and technology museums as well. One of the most popular exhibits in Chicago is the German submarine captured during WWII. The Milan museum does a great job tracing technology from Leonardo da Vinci's machines to modern computers. The mammoth steam engines are unforgettable in the British Science museum.

The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, 

As a childhood fan of B-Western movies, I would be remiss not to mention my fondness for cowboys. The one museum that depicts cowboy life well is the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. There is a reason your ticket will allow you entrance for two days.  It's that big! And, to appease the artist in me, it has Frederic Remington's studio reproduced. Remington is one of my all-time favorite painters and sculptors. Throughout this country museums abound on almost any subject.  Whether it is a museum about teapots or Winchester rifles I'm sure everyone can find one that suits their fancy. That includes the Crawford W. Long Museum in Jefferson, GA, which commemorates the birthplace of anesthesia.

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of visiting museums is the opportunity to learn. Sometimes just to see an object as opposed to reading about it or seeing pictures of it can offer a completely

The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ

different explanation to its operation.  Nowhere is this more evident than in  science and industry museums. They show how stuff works. And musical instruments, which are machines of a different nature, are better understood when held in your hand. The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ, is great for this.  How do you play a gong anyway?

I will continue to immerse myself in the next museum I find, but I don't think I can get my torso into a piece of Greek armor anymore.

The Spanish Naval Museum, Madrid

Freaky Flyers

We recently visited the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. With over three hundred aircraft on display it is one of the largest aircraft museums in the world.  Exhibited are the fastest, SR-71, and some of the slowest, Scheibe, but I have decided to show some of the most unique, weird, freaky, or ugly.

The small yellow biplane was constructed to capture the title of "The World's Smallest Airplane".  The Starr Bumble has a wingspan of 6'-6" and is powered by a 85 horsepower engine.

The North American F-107 which never went into production has a unique design with the air intake over the cockpit because the Air force wanted a plane single engine attack plane with a bomb bay as opposed to bombs on pylons outside the fuselage. However, the F-107 design was not adopted. The Air force chose the Republic F-105. 

The aircraft pictured third from the left on the to row is a cargo plane designed and built by Budd, the BR-1 Conestoga.  Budd is well known a a manufacturer of subway cars.  The same technology is used in the manufacture of this aircraft.  Stainless steel is welded together as opposed the the normal technology of riveted aluminum.  The government was concerned about a shortage of aluminum and was investigating an alternatives.  Only a few of the planes were built and they saw service as commercial cargo carriers.

Lastly is the C-119.  These were produced in great quantities but I have chosen to feature this one because of the jet engine attached to the top of the fuselage  for additional lifting power. The C-119 was featured in both versions of the film "Flight of the Phoenix". This had the Pratt and Whitney "corn cob" engines.

On the next row we find this small airliner with pusher engines and a canard wing up front. The Beechcraft Starship, although very innovative with  pusher design and pressurized cabin, was a commercial failure.

Next is the Fairey Gannet.  A quit unusual appearing aircraft.  The bulges for electronic warfare equipment don't give it many points for beauty.  It's powered by a turbo-prop engine with contra-rotating propellers.  This aircraft is usually recognized as the most unattractive airplane ever built.   Simply put...it's ugly!

No one can dispute less than pleasing appearance of the Aero Spaceline 377-SG Guppy.  Built to carry out sized equipment it has spawned other oddly shaped aircraft to carry unusual payloads.

Lastly, is the Bell P-63 Kingcobra.  It is an up scaled P-39. Although it is sleek and attractive I've included it because of it's unique engine placement.  The 12 cylinder Allison is mounted behind the pilot.  Also note the cannon barrel protruding through the propeller hub.

View all the aircraft and more at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona

Are You Smarter than Your Phone?

We live in an era of smart stuff.  Our televisions remember our favorite shows, our automobiles remember and adjust the seat to fit us, and our microwave ovens pop every kernel of popcorn to perfection. And then there is the smart phone. I remember those heavy black rotary dial telephones. They didn't have many automated features and they didn't have the time.  You actually had to call a certain number and a nice female voice would tell you how nice it was to shop at some local business before announcing the time.  She always  gave the time in the briefest manner. Never "20 minutes before eight"or "20 'til eight" but seven-forty. And never "quarter after six" or "quarter past six" but six fifteen. She had a very nice voice. and sometimes I would call just hear her voice. But I was young then and had a fixation on Annette Funicello. Now I can see Annette in full color on my Samsung Galaxy SIII but somehow she looks different. I think I'll check out Carly Foulkes.

Do you remember the old portable phones? Boy, were they cheesy! We saw a lot of them in old TV shows.  I had a boss once that had a phone in his car that had dial-up.  Then we had those huge hand held things that very few people could afford.  Of course now folks on Medicaid can get a cellphone. 

I was somewhat reluctant to purchase a cellphone.  There are times when I don't want to be disturbed. With some cellphones you can lose all anonymity   There are times when I don't  want to be known. However, with some encouragement of my spouse, I became a part of the cellphone owning hordes. She convinced me I need one by using the old "What if I need you and you're not around" argument.  Now I carry a smartphone, and it's always within reach. Now it's as much of my everyday life as the belt which holds up my trousers. 

By definition a smartphone is a portable phone that is built on an operating system with advanced computing and connectivity.  In other words, these phones are not just for talking. To truly utilize the power of the smartphone you must use certain applications or "aps".  This is cell phone jargon for programs.  The aps have made me a true fan of smartphones. Here are a few of the ways I use my phone, and this is by no means stretching the capabilities of it. 

Evolution of the cellphone

While visiting a son in Phoenix he requested his Mom make him a banana pudding. We knew not where to find bananas in Phoenix, but by speaking the word "bananas" into the phone a kind voice directed us to the nearest Safeway store.  While in northern California we used the GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) feature to determine our location and dictate a route.  While on vacation in Turkey we used our smartphones to update our Facebook pages with photos and comments. At one attraction photographs were not allowed, but I was able to make sketches on the screen of my smartphone and used the drawings as illustrations on my blog. We frequently check our email as well as airline flight schedules. Photos and video shot with our phones are often used in my YouTube videos, on Picasa or Flickr, and/or in our Blurb or Shutterfly books.  At the gym I plug the earbuds into my phone and listen to my favorite music on Pandora or tunes downloaded from the internet. This list of uses is by no means complete, just some of my favorites. Literally thousands of applications are available. 

The technology of a smartphone is awe inspiring. The same technology in a smartphone is used for automatic pilot in airplanes, controlling military drones, anti-theft devices for our automobiles, and a host of other applications. 

 Am I smarter than my phone? Probably, but sometimes I'm not sure how!

Land of Blackjack and Pancho

The desert air was cool on that morning of March 9, 1916. It was well before dawn in the sleepy border town of Columbus, New Mexico.  But not for long as the thundering hooves of horses were heard down the main street. Amidst gunshots riders were yelling "Viva Villa!"," Viva Mexico!" The residents were awakened along with the soldiers in the garrison there. The 13th Calvary of the U.S. Army had three hundred soldiers there.  The soldiers with their machine guns and rifles, along with armed citizens, repelled the Villistas.     Major Frank Tompkins led the Americans as they pursued the Mexicans back across the border.    The Villistas lost about eighty of their five hundred man force, the Americans eighteen.  While on their raid the troops of Pancho Villa looted and burned quite a few buildings in Columbus.

I had always found this battle, or raid, fascinating. It occurred over one hundred years after the last invasion of the United States of America, the previous being by the British in 1812.  I was able to learn a great bit about the battle by visiting the Museum at the Pancho Villa State Park. We enjoyed the park.  Like many parks in the southwest it had a shelter with metal roof. Desert plants were in bloom when we were there. I think the main attraction of the park is the museum. The building is  a pale yellow with a tile roof.  I could tell it was something special  by the artillery pieces outside.  To me, the early 1900's are a fascinating time in history, especially technologically. The armored car out front was a great example. It was slab-sided with a gun turret on top and was mounted on hard rubber tires. I suppose locomotion was provided by an early gasoline or diesel engine. If you ever saw the old John Wayne western, "The War Wagon", you would have a good idea what this armored vehicle looked like, sans horses of course. The armies of the world were transitioning from horse oriented armies to those of machines.  Although the Americans had chased General Francisco "Pancho" Villa back across the border, president Woodrow Wilson wasn't satisfied.  He sent his best general, John "Blackjack" Pershing to invade Mexico and apprehend Villa. There were many technological advances in warfare used in that Pancho Villa Expedition.

As I entered the Museum, the building dates from 1916, I immediately was taken aback by the Jenny biplane hanging from the ceiling. This was the first armed conflict in which aircraft were used. I should clarify that by saying airplanes, because observation balloons were used in the American Civil War. A Dodge touring car is on prominent display with bullet holes courtesy of Pancho's raiders.  There were other relics and artifacts as well.  I was quite interested in the  French Chauchat  machine gun.  It was a light weight  gun  capable of about 240 rounds per minute.  I'm not sure how successful Pershing's troops were using it, but I know that in WWI most doughboys preferred to use it as a club! It jammed frequently and would not fire.  Colt's 1911 model .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol was on display, a well designed  gun that is still manufactured today. There was  an army truck as well, a four-wheel drive model.  It should be noted that many of these innovations were less than perfect. The airplanes had difficulty flying over the mountains. The trucks would mire down and get stuck in the desert sand. The firearms would jam and refuse to fire. But, it was a great opportunity to test new technology under battle conditions. The Expeditionary Force did not capture Villa.  One grizzled veteran of that expedition told a friend of mine, "Don't know what Blackjack was lookin' for, but me and the boys was lookin' for them hot Mexican women!"

We had a good visit at the Pancho Villa State Park. It wasn't quiet at night though; the road to Palomas, Mexico, was busy all night.  (We could see the lights of the city from our campsite.)
They advertise  360 days of sunshine in this part of New Mexico.  It rained while we were there.  And, Claudette got stung by an ant. I think it was a Mexican ant that had sneaked across the border, maybe Pancho's revenge!

Seeing Is Not Believing Any More.

Someone once told me to "believe only 1/2 of what you hear, 3/4 of what you read and all of what you see", but that is no longer true. The advance of technology continues to destroy the axioms of the past. You can no longer believe 100% of what you see. Nowhere is this more evident than in electronic media. Electronic media has become the lifeblood of modern society. In a cursory view of communication this is obvious.

In personal communication we use the cellphone for verbal conversation and the same device for written conversation via texting.  We send images both static and moving with the same device.  Not only do we communicate person to person on a social level but we also conduct our business this way.  When I was in the sign business the fax machine was an important part of my business.  I could send a client renderings of a proposed project for approval before beginning construction. Recently, when my wife was curious about the appearance of tissue after minor surgery, she used her phone to take a photograph of the suspect area and send it to her doctor.  Upon analysis by a medical professional a prescription was emailed to a local pharmacist for a topical medication.  Within the last year I attended the Citizens Police Academy at our local police department. The officers explained how dash cameras in patrol cars and body cameras worn by officers were used to collect evidence in potential court cases.  Documents in our judicial and banking systems depend on transmission via fax machines.

Imagine, if you will, that you have been stopped by the local police for driving erratically. Your driving skill has been impaired by prescription medication.  You fail the rudimentary tests for sobriety. You fail to touch your nose, walk a straight line, and so on.  All this is recorded by the policeman's body cam and the patrol car's dash cam. You are arrested and released on bond awaiting trial. Later the police write their reports and submit them, along with video evidence, to the proper authorities.  You are upset and feel that you have ben unfairly charged and decide to call an old college classmate for help. When you appear in court at the appointed date you find that all charges have been dropped.  What happened?

Your old college classmate is a hacker. He has penetrated the police department files of video evidence and contaminated them so that they are no longer useful.  The images of you are no longer recognizable, you have a different face. When the written documents were faxed to the proper authorities, he hacked into the fax network and changed the wording in the documents.

The preceding is fiction, but completely possible.

The Department of Homeland Security is well aware of video hacking and its ICS-CERT recently issued warnings concerning a particular brand of security camera.  The Industrial Control Systems-Cyber Emergency Response Team  issued an advisory concerning Hikvision Cameras. These particular cameras, with over 16,000 in use, are easily accessible to hackers. This is but one security camera that can be easily hacked.

It would stand to reason that if hackers have access to the video images they could also alter them. In a recent August Article in Wired, covering the DefCon conference in Las Vegas, a senior policy analyst with the ACLU said, "The fact that some law enforcement evidence-collecting devices can be hacked evokes some true nightmare scenarios". Also in the article a hacker showed how easy it was to hack into a body cam and replace the actual footage recorded. A Fortune, August, 2018, article states that all hackers need is the phone number of a fax machine to hack into it and gain access to faxed documents.  If it is an "all in one" printer connected to the office through wifi, then the hackers have access to any device on the network. In the same vein home security systems are easy targets for hackers and associated malice.  An often overlooked security camera is the nursery cam or baby cam. Parents frequently use these nursery cams to monitor baby's activity. A hacker close by can access this camera corrupt the image, perhaps luring an unsuspecting parent into a precarious situation.

All electronic media can be hacked.  By definition hacking is the unauthorized gaining of access  to a data system via a computer. Secure systems remain secure only as long as no one hacks them. Therefore we can no longer be confident that what we read, hear or see is true, i.e. factual. Government agencies as well as private individuals and businesses must remain vigilant against hackers. Manufacturers must continually improve the security of their products. Perhaps future generations will see security as something of which myths are made.



AFTERTHOUGHT
The entertainment industry has manipulated media for years whether the media is read, heard or seen. In many cases the news industry has followed the same trend but to a lessor degree. Bias in news reporting is not always obvious to the consumer, but Hollywood is in the business of creating illusion. We expect it whether it is creating Brad Pitt's aging face in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button or the enhancement of William Shatner's derrière in the Star Trek movies, but it does not necessarily stop there.

Butt First

“You gotta get in butt first,” he said as he entered the automobile.  

“ Okay,” says I as I maneuvered  my seventy-eight-year-old body into the sleek machine. Flexibility is one of those things that fades away with age. 

I settled into the body hugging comfortable seats. It was a four passenger vehicle and I was riding shotgun. Tiny colored icons appeared on the glossy sections of the instrument panel bathing interior with another worldly light. Patrick touched some of these hieroglyphics as the Porsche moved into the street. There was a slight whine and motor sound from the engine. He maneuvered the machine through light traffic in the onset of evening. I felt the gear change which surprised me. He noticed my surprise and said unlike most vehicles of this type the Tayman had a transmission. There was also the sound of an internal combustion engine which I was told was included in the design primarily as a warning device for pedestrians. (Electric vehicles are silent.) The automobile accelerated quietly and moved deftly through light traffic until we turned into a wide street (I think all streets are wide in Phoenix.) and he stopped the car. I looked through the windshield over a slightly sloping hood of which Porsches are famous for a view of the desert sky. It was lit with fiery orange accented with streaks of purple against an advancing darkness. Patrick was tapping icons on the touch screen  putting the car into which I would learn was “launch mode”. “Are you ready?” he asked and added, “I always ask everyone this. They say they are, but usually aren’t. Are you ready?”  I answered in the affirmative and had a mental flashback to an event of nearly sixty years ago. The car seemed to be attempting to move but was being held back. In my youth I would watch Torqueflite equipped Dodges and Plymouths on the starting line at the local drag strip rev up their wedge head and hemi engines. The entire cars would twist due to the tremendous torque of their engines. But I wasn’t at a drag strip in the 1960s, I was on a street in Phoenix, Arizona. And then it happened. I was slammed into my seat as the low profile tires on twenty-one inch rims grabbed the asphalt like a bulldog grabbing a bone. I was one with a projectile shot from the cannon.  It has to do with eight hundred volts of electricity delivered from a battery to an electric motor driving the rear wheels. A perfect system developed and produced by the German company created by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche many years ago. I’m sure this launch had Dr. Porsche turning over in his grave.  Indeed the epitome of German automotive technology. Patrick continued to extol the features of  his electric four door sports car as we drove along. However, no other features compared to what I would call the “blinding acceleration” demonstrated. Patrick’s smile was bathed in the light of the instrument panel .

It was a  sho nuff electric hot rod. 

Abbey on the Danube.

We disembarked from our river cruise ship for Melk and its grand abbey. From the Danube it appears as a fortress high on a rocky outcropping complete with turrets. After a short bus ride through local farm land we reached the abbey and its surrounding village. I found it amusing that we walked down a stairway from the bus parking lot to an abbey which had appeared to be on the top of the mountain when viewed from below. It was founded by the Benedictine monks in 1089, and the current structure was built beginning in 1702.  It has been a school for many centuries and currently serves as a school for local children.  As you would imagine, the massive structure has over one thousand rooms with chapels  and a baroque style cathedral.  Through the halls and rooms you learn the history of the Abbey. There is a scale model of the entire complex which allows you to become more oriented. 

The displays in some of the rooms are of the old artifacts presented with new technology. The Kaisergang, Emperors' Gallery, was a 658 foot long hallway with, of course, portraits of rulers.  A personal favorite room of mine was the library.  As we stepped into the library of the Melk Abbey I said.

"Can't you almost hear the sheep bleating?"

"What in the world are you talking about?" she queried.

"Look around. There are hundreds of bound manuscripts here," I responded, indicating with my raised arm walls over twenty feet high full of books.

"It's the monks' library. Of course there are a lot of books.  The guide said there were about one hundred thousand. But she did not say anything about sheep," she said.

"Sheepskin, dear. Books were first made of vellum, sheepskin. Only about four pages could be made from one sheep's skin. Look around, many of these old books have vellum pages, and that was a lot of sheep!" said I.

"I thought vellum meant 'calf skin'?" she asked.

"Well...it does, literally.  You got me on that one. But when someone graduates from college we say 'They got their sheepskin', not calf skin!  Did you know that vellum is more permanent than paper?" I was still trying to impress her.

"Look at these book shelves.  They must be twenty feet tall, and the gilded wood carvings are awesome. I can't believe that this library is still in use," she mused.

"I wish I could take some pictures in here," I commented.

"You know they are forbidden! You shouldn't have taken those in Nuremberg where the sign said: 'No Photos'."

Wikipedia photo

There was a sculpture in the center of the library representing wisdom. Also, there were antique globes representing the earth that were true works of art.   The largest was over four feet tall. There was a spiral staircase to the other floors of the library which were off limits to tourists.  We did not see a scriptorium, which is where the monks would have copied manuscripts by hand. However, we had seen one at Mont Saint Michel, France.

Another favorite room for visitors is the Marble Hall.  This hall, that was originally used for meetings and dining, was empty during our visit. It was a thing of beauty with sunlight streaming in illuminating the interior. The floor is parquet style marble with colored stone in various colors. You can detect the wear of centuries in its unevenness. But the center is dominated by a huge ornamental iron grate which allows for heating of the large hall. The ceiling was spectacular not only because of the fresco by Troger but because of the design. Following the idea  trompe-l'oeil  the artist created the illusion of a domed ceiling.  Another bit of visual trickery is in the wall decor.  Some of the wall treatments are actually painted on to represent carved marble. (see photo above) However, the Marble Hall at Melk Abbey was definitely worth our time and shouldn't be missed by a traveler in that part of Austria.

We exited the building through the church. Since mass was in progress we did not tarry, but did take a few photographs of this beautifully decorated church.  Built in the baroque style, ornamentation is lavish. This style was encouraged by the Catholic Church in rebellion against the Reformation. Much of the ornamental stone work was covered with gold leaf.  Having done some gilding as a signmaker, I particularly enjoy good examples of the gilders craft.

Once back aboard ship, we sailed for Krems. Some of our shipmates went to a wine tasting tour of a local winery. But, Claudette and I did some window shopping, because most of the stores were closed. There was a street entertainer, a one-man band, rendering American folk songs. He was good.  We dropped a few euros in his cup.  I did a few sketches, and we enjoyed ice cream at a sidewalk cafe. Soon we were back aboard the Kara and enjoying hearing of our friends' visit to a local winery at dinner.

I am fast becoming a fan of Viking River Cruises.

Who's That Knocking At My door

Who's that knocking at my door?

With the new doorbell cameras you‘ll always have the answer to that question.  Once a novelty of electronic hobbyists the doorbell camera is now available for all homeowners. These are sold primarily as security devices. When used with your home wifi you can easily determine who’s at your door from your smartphone, PC, tablet or laptop. Sounds great doesn’t it? You can tell when that pesky neighbor that always wants to borrow something is at the door.  Or maybe a political candidate that you despise is at your door with that insincere smile and a hand full of flyers. You don’t have to confront these people; just ignore them.

However, not all clouds (No pun intended!) have a silver lining. Doorbell security cameras operate with your home’s wifi system. Wifi systems can be hacked. Virtually  any electronic signal , i.e. radio signal, can be hacked. Hacked, meaning it can be received or intercepted, usually with bad consequences. In doing so a hacker will know who your visitors are and, with proper facial recognition software, identify them. He will also know if you have packages  delivered such as UPS. By having a view of your street they will know what happens in front of your house. 

One of the most popular doorbell cameras is the Ring Video Door Bell.  This is sold by Amazon.  The initial product was very easy to hack but the company says that changes have been made that make hacking more difficult. The Ring is accessible via an app for your phone or computer. Ring also suggests that you share the information from your doorbell camera with your neighbors, thereby improving neighborhood security.  Local police departments endorse this. They say it is a deterrent to crime. The Ring camera can be linked to Amazon’s Alexa.  

It is most interesting that Amazon would offer such a product produced by a company owned by, you guessed it, Amazon. Think of it as Amazon’s own private view into your world. If you shop at Amazon, and who doesn’t, the company has quite a comprehensive customer profile according to your shopping preferences and, of course, your credit information.  If they choose to collect data from your doorbell cam, and who says they won’t, your profile will be enhanced. Actually, anyone can hack your wifi and get all this data. This does not mean to imply that hacking is easy. It's not. Hacking requires considerable computer skills and tenacity.  

Recently, an Arizona homeowner received  a phone call from a hacker in Canada.  The hacker informed the homeowner of considerable personal data. He told thenhomeowner how many visitors he had received and described them.  When asked why the phone call, the hacker said he meant no ill harm he only wanted the homeowner to know how vulnerable he was. 

It could have been you.  What can be done? Since all our electronic devices are accessible via wifi it is imperative that  we have proper wifi security.

According to the experts  at the National Institute of Standards and Technology a password containing numbers, letters, and non alphanumeric characters is no longer recommended.  Currently they recommend a passphrase. A simple phrase that is from eight to fifteen characters and is easy to remember is sufficient. And if it is effective, it is unnecessary to constantly change these passphrases.  However, a different passphrase is recommended for each account you have. 

Remember to take proper precautions if you only need to know whose been knocking on your door.  

Jaywalking Not Allowed

"€80,"  said the man in the flat brimmed straw hat with the striped shirt.

We were standing by one of the lesser known canals of Venice. I had done a few sketches as a gondola was tied up close by.  Claudette and I had talked about a gondola ride but thought it too expensive. I decided to see if I could get a better price.

"How about €70?" I asked.

"Eighty!" he said adamantly.

"Okay, okay, seventy-five," I said begrudgingly.

"Eighty."

"Seventy-five or nothing!"

"...seventy-five," he finally said.

I looked at Claudette.  I could see the calculator working in her head. Yes, it was a lot of money.

"It's Venice,  We'll probably never be here again," I said almost apologetically.

"You're right, we'll never have this chance again," she relented.

The gondolier helped us board his thirty-eight foot watercraft. All gondolas are black and usually have red upholstered seating much like the chairs or loveseat you would have in your living room.

The flat-bottomed boats are rather stable and actually designed to be rowed with one oar from the right side. A gondola can take six passengers for the standard fee.  Sharing is an easy way to cut the cost. However, that was not for us.

The oarsman, or gondolier, expertly maneuvered the boat into the narrow canal. Within minutes we were going under the first bridge. Tourists looked down at us and waved. There are over 400 bridges in the city. The canal we move silently down is not as wide as the gondola is long.  Although in some places there are sidewalks, many canals have nothing except the vertical masonry walls of buildings. The sky becomes a ribbon of cerulean blue outlined by the jagged rooftops. Our gondolier occasionally muttered something in a language resembling English. We thought he was describing landmarks but we didn't care. We were in the "City of Romance", in a gondola, with each other.

As we floated along the narrow ribbon of water we saw a  man and woman sitting on a window ledge three stories up with wine glasses in hand waving to us. After zig-zagging along several canals, the streets of the city, we were on the Grand Canal which runs the length of the city. Unlike the small canals we had been on this one was bustling with activity. Gondolas were in the minority of watercraft. There were vaporetti, water taxis, gondolas, and boats carrying cargo. Nothing moves throughout the city but by water. There are no wheeled vehicles. It was noisy on the Grand Canal, and the acrid odor of diesel exhaust irritated our noses. After passing under the Rialto Bridge we went back into a quiet canal, under many more bridges, and past entrances to restaurants and shops before returning to the place of our voyage's origin. It had been delightful. And, yes, at such an expensive price, I would do it again.

After returning to terra firma, or solid ground, which may be a misnomer in Venice, we wandered the narrow alleys window shopping.  Shops have everything, including clothing, leather goods, jewelry, and virtually anything else you would want. A very popular item are carnival masks. Most are made of paper mache, and many are quite elaborate. These shop windows frequently exhibit the "No Photos" sign. Could they be of copyrighted designs, or is there some other reason to disallow photos? Fortunately, we did find an uncrowded cafe for  cappuccino.   All these tiny alleyways near the Grand Canal were crowded with visitors.

Piazza San Marco is one of the most popular attractions in the city. Saint Mark's basilica is one of

the most popular in Italy, and for that reason there is always a long line for admission. We looked at the statues of the four horses above the entrance and I told Claudette about them. "Those are copies of the originals," I said.

"Where are the originals? she asked.

"It's a rather interesting story," I said, as I began my explanation. "When the Venetians ruled the waves, so to speak, or rather the Adriatic Sea and the eastern Mediterranean, they brought back the horses from Constantinople. The four bronze horses are thought to be Greek. Remember the Hippodrome in Istanbul? We were there last year.  That's where the horses were.  When Napoleon conquered Venice he took the horses to Paris. Later they were returned to St. Mark's, but those aren't the real ones," I was enjoying telling the story.

"They look real to me," she said.

"They're copies.  They discovered that air pollution  was deteriorating the bronze and moved them to the museum and made these copies," I said.

"That's quite a story, she said.

"Yep!"

We entered the basilica, passing through security where a guard searched hand bags.  There was a large sign stating that backpacks were not allowed.  It amazed me to see some people grumble and complain when the guards turned them away. Did they expect the rules to be changed for them? This cathedral is probably the best example of the Byzantine architectural influence in Italy. The vast use of mosaics is obvious. We were reminded of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The floors are inlaid marble, and all walls are covered with polychrome religious images. It was beautiful; but, quite frankly, I think I've seen about enough fancy churches. After a while, the architecture and art seem to get repetitious.  However, Piazza San Marco and Saint Mark's Basilica are a "must see" in Venice.

After leaving the piazza we thought we would like to see the island of Morano, famous for its blown glass manufacturing. We decided to walk to a vaporetti stop opposite the Grand Canal on the Venetian lagoon. It was an interesting walk along the back canals as opposed to backstreets. We stopped at a small shop and bought an apple each. All produce is priced by the kilogram and sold by weight. The narrow sidewalks were deserted as we ventured far from tourist attractions. Here we found small piazzas call campis.  Colorful laundry hung overhead to dry. Students were hanging out at the University of Venice. Eventually we made our way to the vaporetti stop and boarded it for Morano, 1.5 kilometers away. We passed the cemetery island on the way and were soon at the pier of Morano.

The first thing you see is shops selling ornamental glass. Virtually anything you can imagine is crafted in glass. We entered one of the showrooms. (I thought the factory was in the back of the showroom.) There was a beautiful display of ornamental glass.  We noticed well dressed men in business suits sort of "attaching themselves" to customers and ushering them to a waiting boat. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. Customers would be transported to the factory for a glassblowing demonstration and then the salesmen would put the pressure on to buy.  Needless to say, that wasn't our cup of tea, and we just continued to window shop. One thing we found were some beautiful meringue puffs in a bakery shop window. We bought two and consumed them with an €,80 bottle of water. This was quite cheap.  We've found in Europe that the farther you are from a tourist attraction the cheaper the bottled water.  In Venice the price range seemed to be between €,80 and €4. Morano is a city of canals as well, and we strolled along window shopping. We had some lunch at a waterfront cafe. I had lasagna and Claudette tried the gnocchi. In Italy  the food is vaguely similar to its American counterpart. We were back in Venice and at Piazza San Marco by twilight time.

The piazza at night is almost a magical place. People peer into shop windows at jewelry, clothing, leather goods, and the ever-present masks.  The brilliantly decorated masks, some non-human appearing, stare back sans eyes. The crowds move slowly.  It seems that all people are represented

here.  The young; hugging, touching, kissing, and the older; many reliving their youth. We walked slowly absorbing the ambiance. We heard the sound of a piano accompanied by a cello. The musicians played under a canopy surrounded by tables decked with white tablecloths and flickering candles. On the opposite of the piazza another band was playing slow jazz with a lot of brass.  Children chased each other in the waning light, and Pakistani peddlers threw baseball-like objects into the night sky where they would glow in multi-colors before returning to earth. We found a bench from which to people watch for a bit.

We caught the Number 1 vaporetti back to the island of Lido and our hotel. Of course there was that stop at the gelato stand for a cool treat. Gelato, like hotel rooms, is less expensive on Lido.

It had been a good day, and we were ready for a good night's sleep. Fortunately, the singer at the bar down below had a good voice. I guess it's good to fall asleep with a crescent moon beaming through the window and the sound a singer accompanied by a guitar wafting through the night.

We slept late.  Eight o'clock is late for us. We had breakfast at the hotel, brioche and cappuccino. Breakfast was included with  the price of the room.  I was excited about visiting the Italian Naval Museum. My wife is fortunate to get to visit many aircraft, automotive, naval, and technology museums. But then, I get to see a lot of Shakespeare and such. Museo Storico Navale is located in Campo St. Biagio in  a building that was once a grainery. The museum was created after WWI and is near the Arsenale, the famous Venetian shipyard. In the forty-two rooms on the three floors of the museum Italian naval history is represented. Venice controlled the eastern Mediterranean and Adriatic sea and at one time had over 3000 ships and a shipyard that could produce one ship per day! There are  literally hundreds of ship models representing watercraft through the centuries. Cannon are there from the earliest to WWII vintage. A ship requiring 130 oarsmen is represented in model form. But the two-man submarine from WWII is an original. There 

is one room dedicated to the vessel most often associated with Venice, the gondola. I could have stayed in the museum all day. It takes a bit longer when you have to translate display captions. The museum is quite similar to the Spanish Naval Museum in Madrid. Both are owned by the respective navies.

We walked the city the rest of the day and took a cruise on the Grand Canal at night. Many of the buildings are illuminated at night. It was a warm night, and we sat back on the fantail of the boat.

It was a good visit to Venice.  Like other attractions it was crowded with tourists, even in the "off" season.  But I had seen Piazza San Marco and the basilica and taken a gondola ride with a woman who puts up with all my eccentricities.

Internet Portal

Are you using a patient portal.

If you regularly visit a physician or just get periodic health check-ups, patients portals provide a unique insight into your healthcare. 

What is a patient portal?

A patient portal is a secure online website that gives patients convenient, 24-hour access to personal health information from anywhere with an Internet connection. Using a secure username and password, patients can view health information such as:

• Recent doctor visits
• Discharge summaries
• Medications
• Immunizations
• Allergies
• Lab results

Some patient portals also allow you to:

• Securely message your doctor
• Request prescription refills
• Schedule non-urgent appointments
• Check benefits and coverage
• Update contact information
• Make payments
• Download and complete forms
• View educational materials

With your patient portal, you can be in control of your health and care.  Patient portals can also save your time, help you  communicate with your doctor, and support care between visits.

I’m 74 years old and have congestive heart failure. Through my patient portal I can see record of all medications I take and when they were prescribed and income cases removed from my medication schedule. After each doctor visit I log on to my patient portal and check to see the results of the test I was given.  this way I can see trends in my health.  By looking at this data i can determine if any changes in life style have affected my health. My next appointment is also indicated and I can request prescription refills if necessary. The portal also gives me direct access to my doctor via email and I can schedule and appointment if needed.

My general practitioner brought  patient portals to my attention several years ago and I use a portal with each doctor I visit.  It is simply a way modern technology can make our lives better. 

Ask your physician about a patient portal.

A Little Bit of Kindness, Please.

Recently, I was in the checkout line at my local grocery when a somewhat unusual incident occurred.  The line was getting quite long and was not moving. It seems there was an elderly lady having a bit of difficulty scanning her credit card.  The more the cashier tried to help her the more frustrated she became. Customers in line were beginning to get unruly. I overheard some saying such things as: “She ought to be in a home”, “poor old thing”, and “why don’t they do something about her?”  Soon a young man with a necktie joined the cashier.  Slim in stature and with a young-man-on-the-way-up attitude he took over the cashier’s job.   His nametag said he was a management trainee. The young man had an air of condescension toward both cashier and the elderly customer. He quickly took charge by grabbing the plastic card from the elderly woman’s hand and swiping  it.

“See,”  he says, “there’s nothing to it! Now move along!”

I felt a bit of empathy for the elderly lady. It occurred to me that one day we would all be old and much like her and probably have a problem with modern technology. Yes, one day every frustrated person in that line would be having problems too. Growing old is a gradual process and not necessarily one easily adapted to.

I remember when I was a child attending a rural school, one of the treats of the first day of school was a new ruler. It wasn’t very fancy or anything.  Just a wooden ruler with a metal straight edge. The local Coca-Cola bottler would give every student a new 12-inch ruler. On the back of that ruler was printed: “Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You”.  I don’t guess they give them out to students anymore, or maybe that young management trainee just didn’t get one.

M I M

Jake Shimabukuro's tenor ukelele is displayed in the Artist Gallery.  This Gallery Displays instruments made famous by specific people or events.  Here you'll find guitars played by Eric Clapton, Dick Dale, and Carlos Santana as well as a drum set of the Black-Eyed Peas.  The is a drum from the Olympic Games held in China and the piano used by John Lennon when composing Imagine.

M. I. M., the Musical Instrument Museum of Phoenix, AZ, uses unique wireless technology to inform you about exhibits.  As part of the ticket price is an electronic device, about thesize of a cell phone you wear around your neck.  The device is activated  when you come near an exhibit.  Not only to you see the instrument, you hear it as well.

The carved head of a sitar

A thumb  piano, a mbira.

Almost every exhibit has a flat screen video display about the instrument you are viewing. Some show the actual manufacture by primitive methods of the instrument. And of course there are many performances by native people and ethnic groups.

The museum has other galleries designated Geo Galleries which is to say therein are the instruments for music making from various countries of the world. It is fascinating to see some other instruments of primitive cultures hand crafted with primitive tools. In

one instance the manufacture of a thumb piano begins with the felling of a tree in an African forest. All parts are fabricated by hand with crude tools.  A video of guitar manufacturing from the Martin Guitar Company shows modern manufacturing methods used to produce musical instruments. In these Geo Galleries are also displays by musical instrument manufacturers such as Fender, Martin and Steinway as well as providing insight into cultures from around the world.

The Experience Gallery allows visitors to gain first hand experience with some instruments. There are guitars, drums, harps, xylophones and other instruments to play.  The gong is always a favorite. I suppose the loud sound feeds some primeval need in young boys and old men.

Also in this 190,000 square foot complex there is a special exhibition area, a music theater, classrooms, gift shops, and cafe. It is not a place for a quick visit. We spent the afternoon there and felt we should have planned on a longer visit.



Vielle a roue (wheel organ)

Rouen, Upper Normandy 18th c.

 There are more photographs or the Musical Instrument Museum here.
Check out the M. I. M. on line and the National Music Museum

Cosmonautica?

On our recent trip to Russia there was one place that interested me probably more than any other: The Museum of Cosmonautics. I'm sort of at techie at heart.  My wife, Claudette, can attest to this having visited many aircraft, railroad, automobile and naval museums with me.   What better to summarize Russian technology than a museum dedicated to space exploration? It was a "must see" for me in Moscow. The museum is located at 111 Prospekt Mira, VDNKh, and it was easy to find once you learned how to read the Russian metro maps. Like most subway maps the lines are numbered, named, and color coded. Moscow subways are world renowned for their uniqueness. Nearly seven million people a day ride the Moscow subway.  There are two ring lines with a male voice announcing on the clockwise train while the opposite is announced by a female voice.  875 direct current volts move the trains along the tracks at what seems to be extremely fast rate. Published rate of speed is only 25.9 miles per hour. I tend to believe that is an exercise in creative writing. The subway was opened in 1935 and has highly decorative Art Deco waiting platforms with arched ceilings decorated to celebrate the Russian worker. At the end of one of the platforms was a huge hammer and sickle. We queried our guide about it, but she said that was from the old Russia. Russian guides tend not to talk much of the communist ruled Russia or the days of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The columns are connected by archways, many of which have decorative statues. The statues are painted black, but there is a statue of a dog whose nose is shiny bare metal. Thousands of Russians each day rub his nose for good luck.  Claudette and I did too. You can never have too much good luck.

We had to change trains twice to get to our destination.  If you turned left when you exited the train, you were at the museum, but you may not know it.  A man pointed toward a giant monument when I finally got him to understand what we were looking for. This was the Monument to the Conquerors of Space.  It was very impressive.  There is a titanium rocket atop its trail three hundred fifty feet in the air. The base was over fifty feet long and had steps all around. We could see no entrance. I sat on a bench while claudette reconnoitered. While  I sat a few Hare Krishnas came by chanting and beating a drum. The were followed by what appeared to be Russian college students. I guess some things are the same all over. When Claudette returned we decided we would go back to the street and venture further away from the train station.  Sure enough, in less than a block we found the entrance to the museum. We had not turned left when exiting the train.

The Museum of Cosmonautics is sub-terranean beneath the Conquerors of Space monument.We paid an  entrance fee  of 200 rubles, or $2.95.  They wanted an extra 200 for the right to take pictures, and even more if you wanted to shoot video. I thought this was ridiculous.  Instead, I did drawings. Fortunately, I had my Moleskine sketchbook with me. Don't get me wrong, I love to draw, but it An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, all spacemen, whether astronauts or cosmonauts, must perform a specific act to insure a safe flight. When the vehicle which transports them to the spacecraft stops midway, they must get off the bus and urinate on the back tires to ensure good luck. This fact may or may not be listed on a caption in the museum.  My Russian is very poor.  

slows you down when visiting a large museum.   The museum is fascinating and had recently undergone a renovation. It traces Russian space exploration from its humble beginnings to the present day.  I remember when the Russians launched the first artificial satellite. It was called Sputnik.  It was only about the size of a volleyball with some antennae sticking out. People would go outside and look into the night sky and claim they saw it. In cartoons it always made a "beep-beep" sound. The U.S. was caught dreaming about space while the Russians were going there. As a result, American education systems placed renewed emphasis on science and mathematics. Soon the Americans caught up with the Russians and probably surpassed them in space exploration. Yuri Gagarin was the first man to orbit the earth, and his space capsule is on display.  Once he had entered the earth's atmosphere and was at a fairly low altitude he ejected from his capsule and parachuted to earth. The Russians, unlike Americans, always recovered their cosmonauts and their craft on land rather than sea. Gagarin, now deceased, started a pre-launch tradition the is still observed today. According to Chris Hadfield's book,

There are many space capsules and models of spacecraft to be seen. A model of a space shuttle very similar to ours as well as robotic moon rovers which were placed on the moon in 1971 were on display.  The moon rover was actual size.  All displays are extremely well executed. One diorama shows cosmonauts having landed in mountainous terrain during winter. It is a full size rendering of the event. Very realistic. There were two stuffed dogs representing the dogs that flew into space atop huge solid fueled rockets early in the space race. They looked like Jack Russell terriers. It was very interesting to walk through a mock-up of a section of the Mir space station.  It was a reminder of the space station at the Museum of Space and Aeronautics in Washington, D.C. My biggest criticism of the museum is the lack of English captions on displays. Unfortunately, I could not use the translator in my phone because it involves using the camera and I stupidly did not pay the extra 200 rubles for camera use. Also, there were very few direction signs in the multilevel facility.

Did I like it? You better believe it! Would I like to visit the Museum of Cosmonautics again?^ Absolutely!