The current free ebook is located at this link:
http://haggishell.com/ridgeproject.pdf

For details about the ebook, click here.

140312. I grew up in an area that had semi-rural patches. There were plenty of bees around. Both honeybees and bumblebees.

As a boy, I had the impression that honeybees had pushed aside bumblebees. I encountered the first type more often than the second.

But now honeybees, or at least the wild ones, seem to be endangered. Wild populations in the U.S. have dropped dramatically. Theories about the issue range from pesticide use to viral or fungal infections.

Bumblebees seem to be less affected. So I've gotten used to seeing them around instead of honeybees. But here's a busy bee that's similar to the honeybees I remember. She looks happy, in a bee sort of way. I noticed her the other day and took a macro photo.

She's slightly different from the honeybees that I remember. I can't tell if she's the same breed or a variation.

Processing for this photo included: 1. Crop and very slight sharpen using the Gimp. 2. Adjust colors using NetPBM pnmnorm. 3. Create a final JPEG using ImageMagick convert.

The photo is distributed under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works 3.0. For attribution purposes, the rights holder is OldCoder. For more information about the license, click here.

140312. The illustration used below is distributed under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works 3.0. For attribution purposes, the rights holder is Chomz-Athena. For more information about the license, click here.

I visited Twisted Time in another Hospital at the start of March. I didn't write about the visit until now. Thought was needed.

1. Twisted Time's pain level was 7 out of 10 during the visit. You might not understand what this means.

He didn't comment on the pain issue until I asked him about it. We talked more about people and the “choices” that they make.

2. He spoke for the first time, in the years since I'd returned, of one thing that had happened after he fell ill. How people had reacted.

He'd known hundreds. A fraction sought him out. Then, as he was out of sight and therefore out of mind, the fraction disappeared.

The identities that he'd built were gone. He built new ones but the lesson remained.

What people are, how they think or don't think, some parts are simple.

On some occasions, Twisted Time waited in his wheelchair in public places. Children came up to a man who could not move. Whose arms, even his arms, did not function.

“What are you?” they inquired. Before he could reply... parents intervened. It went beyond normal reactions. This was the part that was interesting.

“Don't speak to those who are different. Even those who can't move. Those who are different; they're not to be perceived.”

3. I asked Twisted Time to discuss the visions that he has had. Here's my interpretation of what was said:

I'll mention a moment that he told me of. Actually, two moments. One, where he watched rain falling, and the scene became a frozen moment, all of the drops falling forever at once.

And another... Where he perceived the rain, an arc of time in which rain fell, the sequence, as an equally eternal moment.

I asked him if he'd been transformed by the visions. As nearly as I can tell, we've both been transformed. By what, and into what, remains to be seen.

140312. Ositha offers you this screenshot of a 3D game that he has been working on for a couple of years. I played a small role in the project in 2012. I had to set it aside due to the Kiraly Cases. It was one of a number of things that Jim Kiraly took from me.

The screenshot is distributed under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works 3.0. For attribution purposes, the rights holder is Ositha. For more information about the license, click here.

140311. This is a Kiraly Family oddity. It's a sound recording, regrettably of very poor quality, that appears to star Grace Kiraly's long-dead Brother Edward with a brief appearance by Grace Kiraly herself.

The Edward in question is Edward Kmeta, also known as Edward Mayton. He is separate from Edward Kerechanko. In fact, he is Edward Kerechanko's nephew. Additionally, he is the father of Puzzle, but Puzzle was not born until many years after this recording was made.

I can't be sure that it's Edward (the Younger) because there's nobody to ask.

Edward Kmeta, like all of the Kmetas in Grace's family, is dead. If I remember correctly, cancer got him.

Grace is familiar with cancer. It killed both of her Brothers, Anatol and Edward, her Mother Olga, and other people both related and unrelated. Grace might have had a brush with it herself. However, she lied about part of that. Therefore, the truth isn't clear.

The recording, which was probably made in the late 1940s or early 1950s, is primarily a trumpet solo. I think it's a trumpet; I don't know much about musical instruments. After the performance, Grace speaks one sentence and Edward adds a few words.

Grace says, “Well, Edward, that certainly sounded beautiful.” Edward responds, “That was horrible. It was horrible.” Note: He might be saying “terrible” instead. Edward goes on to joke about the future:

“I'll cut this someday. I'll cut these records in a good way. Grace and I will become very popular on records.”

To download the entire recording, use this link. For just the exchange between Grace and Edward, use this link. The part where Edward talks about his plans is at this link.

Warning: The recording, again, is of very poor quality. I've used Audacity to filter out some of the pops and clicks but only some.

I used to have photos of Edward Kmeta. Due to the actions of Jim Kiraly, Grace Kiraly, and Tom Kiraly, I can't find the photos presently.

Charles Artisan says that nothing is lost. So does Neil Gaiman. “Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost.” It isn't true.

I've substituted a generic Creative Commons piece as an illustration. It represents Edward Kmeta's dreams and my own as well.

The illustration is distributed under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works 3.0. For attribution purposes, the rights holder is DpressedSoul. For more information about the license, click here.

140311. I See IRC: Lighter Side:

1. Shiing Shen had a Birthday recently. Regrettably, I had no gift to give the Diffie-Hellman Kid except for the following nonsense. However, Shiing Shen indicated that, as nonsense goes, it was acceptable.

I don't usually do virtual cake I fear
But wish you a productive next year
Full of maths and not wraths
As you seek the right paths
Through key exchanges you'll cut swaths

2. To mark the occasion, Mr. Meow contributed the Cat Intensifies animation displayed to the right. Note: It might not move until the page finishes loading.

Intensifies is a new meme. Doge is more interesting. There are Doge Intensifies animations that combine the two memes. But the Doge Intensifies example that I've seen isn't for the faint of heart.

3. Heisenberg and the Old Coder discuss Flask:

<heisenberg> I was working on a project for the last few weeks, and now found out that someone beat me to it :(

<heisenberg> I can confirm that that is a very bad feeling. Not all hope is lost. This project taught me how to make websites. A month ago, I had no clue where to start. I may move on to django... the big leagues. Although a love for flask will always remain in my heart.

<OldCoder> All You Ask of Flask is Love
<OldCoder> In the Warm Glow of Flask You Bask
<OldCoder> The Glories of Flask are No Small Task
<OldCoder> Its Wonders are Like Unto Heaven Above
<OldCoder> :P

<heisenberg> django rhymes may be a bit harder OldCoder !
<OldCoder> But with django you can tango
<OldCoder> On the drums for django bango

4. I asked Skittles if he might be like DNA in some respects. He replied:

I am unsure. I am me though, I know that. And I will have to work hard, just like he did. So I will have to learn myself. And learn to be the most productive and happy person I can be.

The way I see it is... We are the owners and maintainers to ourselves. We are also machines. So we must learn ourselves, and tune ourselves for performance and efficiency.

5. Metacognician's new official tagline is:

lazy kitten gentoo smitten

140312. Welcome once again to Transient Kitchen.

The photo below shows a yams snack that's so delicious even those who dislike yams will say, those yams are damns good.

The recipe is included. It's by Charles Artisan. For a large version of the photo, click here.

The placemat, as before, was one that Olga (Kerechanko) Kmeta gave me. Simply plastic with friendly meal-related images on it. But I've held onto it despite a number of transitions.

The spoon is part of what's left of my original cutlery. I believe that I have one spoon, two forks, and one knife left after decades.

This doesn't include a knife that Ken Young made for me in the 1990s to go with a cutting board that he also gave me. I don't use those items much as they are artwork to be appreciated as opposed to worn out.

Additionally, I've started to buy new silverware at the Dollar Store. It is not of the highest quality but what the heck.

Grace Kiraly's cooking was O.K., despite what Ken Kiraly used to say about it. Basic comfort food. But it wasn't especially novel or interesting. Stuffed Bell Peppers, admittedly filling, were about as far-out as she got. We could have used more things like these Damns Yams.

TRANSIENT KITCHEN: YAMS WORTH A DAMNS

Ingredients: One large yam. A small amount of soy milk. You can use whipping cream instead.

1/4 to 1/2 stick of butter. One capful of vanilla extract; this works out to about half a teaspoon. Either real or imitation vanilla extract will do.

1/4 cup brown sugar. A pinch of salt. Some walnuts.

Tools: Microwave oven, mixing bowl, whisk, and measuring cup.

1. Microwave the yam for 8 to 10 minutes. Stop when it's slightly soft to the touch.

2. Mix the yam with the butter, a bit of soy milk or whipping cream, and the vanilla extract. Whisk the mixture thoroughly. Continue to add soy milk or whipping cream until the mixture reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes.

3. Warm the mixture slightly in the microwave. Just slightly; don't overdo it.

4. Stir in the brown sugar and the salt. Break some walnuts up into pieces and add the pieces.

5. Yum.

The photo is distributed under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works 3.0. For attribution purposes, the rights holder is OldCoder. For more information about the license, click here.

140311. This is just a quick snapshot of Diamond Dog. She seems bemused today.

For a large version of the photo, click here.

The license for the photo is CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Also known as Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works 3.0. For attribution purposes, the rights holder is OldCoder. For more information about the license, click here.

140311. I hope to film videos, over the next few years, of a number of people in connection with legitimate and reasonable research connected with the Kiraly Family and other threads of interest.

If you'd like to see my first attempts at significant videos, come and meet DNA, an engineer, attorney, and former CEO with an unusual background.

DNA and I have things in common. For example, he's neurodiverse and a generalist. But he “comes across” as more commanding and polished than I do.

There are four screenshots below. Each is followed by an embedded YouTube video. In the videos, DNA discusses the early days of tech, what it was like to grow up disabled and bullied, education, and feelings related to respect and independence.

Two video tips:

1. The videos are hosted at YouTube. So, if you're using an old copy of Christ Follower, the video page may or may not still exist.

2. If you have a Google or YouTube account, you may not need Flash to watch YouTube videos. You can try HTML5 instead. To try HTML5, log-in to your account, come back here, and click on this link. Look for a button named Request the HTML5 player. If you see one, press it. If you see The HTML5 player is currently used instead, you're already set up.

140311. This painting is street art in a style similar to that of Banksy, an artist in the United Kingdom.

For the Banksy Wikipedia page. click here. Additionally, Artsy has written to me and suggested that people visit Banksy's Artsy page at:

https://artsy.net/artist/banksy

Note: Artsy pages may load slowly. Allow about 10 seconds for each page.

The piece below isn't by Banksy. The artist's name is unknown but he or she might be somebody who uses the tagline “I Heart Street Art”. The subject is social media. The boy is distressed because he has not managed to acquire “likes” or “followers”.

140311. The exchange with Guido van Rossum regarding Dr. Michael Aivazis has moved to the following link:

Spring 2014 exchange with Guido van Rossum

140311. Blue Dream's Father has an old Dell Desktop. It was working but the man read that Microsoft is dropping support for Windows XP, the type of Windows that was on the machine. So he asked Blue Dream to install some other OS.

Blue Dream's Father was “antsy” about the fate of his computer. Like most users, he just wanted things to work.

It might have been better to leave things as they were until viruses ate Windows XP then purchase a new machine with a new Windows on it. This is the usual upgrade path for Windows home users.

On the other hand, the current Windows is “8”, and Windows 8 is untidy. The interface is clumsy, users complain that programs slow down, and the update system is problematic.

Additionally, some users don't actually need Windows. They just need to do basic things. Browse the Web, send email, watch videos, simple photo editing, maybe work on DOC files or spreadsheets. Linux can do all of this for free.

Windows is needed for commercial games and large proprietary programs such as Photoshop. But not everybody runs programs like these.

So, as old copies of Windows die from the usual causes, corrupted registries, trojans, planned obsolescence, etc., maybe the time is right to move some users to Linux.

There is a problem, though. Quite often, devices such as printers, scanners, and wifi don't work under Linux. Or setup is complicated.

In some cases, Microsoft tries to discourage manufacturers from supporting Linux. In other instances, manufacturers are reluctant to provide FOSS developers with information that is needed to make devices work. License issues or similar concerns are typically involved.

But Blue Dream was familiar with Linux Mint, so he took a shot at installing it on his Father's Dell Desktop. He ran into wifi problems and tried Windows 7 next. This led to the following exchange:

<BlueDream> Hello
<OldCoder> Hi!
<OldCoder> You are UP LATE!
<OldCoder> Don't hate your fate to IT Late
<BlueDream> lol

<BlueDream> Windows sucks
<OldCoder> And it costs bucks
<OldCoder> :P

<BlueDream> OldCoder I had windows 7 working in trial mode the Internet worked fine all my dad had to do is get a product key i jump in the shower not even 20 mins virus some how i'm not sure what my dad clicked but some how it got a virus called mysearch dial or something

<OldCoder> Yes, it happens
<OldCoder> Heh
<OldCoder> Tell Father patience is good and you have hackers to help you
<OldCoder> An intrepid band. Let him imagine A-Team. He will remember that.

I asked Metacognician for his thoughts about continuing with Windows 7 or trying another Linux distro. He replied with the animation shown below. Note: If you're using a web browser as opposed to a printed copy, the picture should move.

Metacognician's response is obscure. The turtle represents Microsoft Windows. But does the dog represent the user? The power of the software that ought to run under the OS but is limited by its slowness?

Or is this praise for Windows? Does it mean that a Windows user is carried, surely though ever so slowly, towards his or her goals and will arrive someday?

:P

140311. This is a copy of an email exchange between Harmeet K. Dhillon and myself. Updated on 140312.

Letter #1. This is a letter from me to John Perrott that was copied to Harmeet K. Dhillon.

This is a courtesy copy of a letter to John Perrott, Family Law Attorney, of Thomas Chase Stutzman in San Jose, California.

1. John, I've received a note from you that seems positive.

To be clear, the next step for me, as far as you and I go, is to review your recent letters and to draft respectful responses. You've been kind to offer your thoughts. I regret the fact that responses have not been provided in return.

If I were to comment on the reasons that I haven't completed responses, it's possible that you'd shrug. However, the reasons are present and significant.

I've made progress in some areas regardless. For example, you should have received a separate letter from me regarding a new YouTube channel.

Videos related to the Kiraly Cases may ultimately go there. But I'm considering separate sites for them instead. I have the experience needed to set up small YouTube-like services in various countries. It might be an interesting experiment.

2. The next step for me, as far as Michael Bonetto of Hoge Fenton and I go, might be to ask Michael if he is presently representing either of his former clients from the Kiraly Cases; i.e., the abuser Jim Kiraly, former V.P. of Transamerica Corporation, and his Son Tom Kiraly, former V.P. of Humana Corporation.

The last time that I checked, I found a minor public notice related to the issue. However, I'm not sure that I read the notice correctly.

If Michael and/or Hoge Fenton is/are representing either party, he and/or they will need to be in the loop as I proceed publicly with sensible steps related to “agreements” that I feel are unenforceable for a number of reasons.

There are, of course, other legitimate and reasonable steps to be taken whether or not Michael and/or Hoge Fenton is/are representing the parties in question.

3. Documents of interest, photos of pets and babies, artwork produced by transients, and recipes that transients prepare will continue to be posted at the Haggis Hell and Christ Follower sites; i.e., Michael Bonetto Dot Com.

Regards, Robert (the Old Coder)

Letter #2. Ms. Dhillon sent me this letter subsequently.

Mr. Kiraly:

Do not copy or share with me, any correspondence to your actual or potential counsel. This is not appropriate.

I am not your attorney, and I am unable and unwilling to receive your correspondence seeking legal advice.

Harmeet K. Dhillon
Dhillon & Smith LLP
177 Post Street, Suite 700 San Francisco, CA 94108

Letter #3. I sent this letter to Ms. Dhillon in response.

This is a courtesy copy of a letter to Harmeet K. Dhillon, “Super Lawyer”, of Dhillon and Smith, San Francisco, California.

Dear Ms. Dhillon,

1, As you have expressed concerns, and I do wish to ensure that the concerns are addressed, please confirm that this letter has been received.

2. You stated, “Do not copy or share with me, any correspondence to your actual or potential counsel. This is not appropriate. I am not your attorney, and I am unable and unwilling to receive your correspondence seeking legal advice.”

My response is simple: What are you talking about? I do not presently have any recollection of seeking legal advice from you. Nor, unless we enter into a legitimate and reasonable agreement in the future, do I presently have any plans to proceed in such a manner; i.e., to seek legal advice from you.

3. I feel that your characterization of a letter that did not “seek legal advice” as “seeking legal advice” is questionable. Are you attempting to move towards false and fraudulent actions, for reasons that are not clear, or even Abuse of Process, which I had believed was almost unheard of?

If this is the case, perhaps we should discuss, at your discretion, how such actions would most likely play out.

4. To be on the safe side, future correspondence will most likely be posted in public venues that I believe you might be aware of.

In fact, your letter and this response go up tonight. It is my hope that it will not be necessary to convey such documentation of possible steps towards Abuse of Process to entities that have jurisdiction.

If there are concerns related to the sensible step of posting correspondence from you, such as intellectual property concerns, kindly state the concerns. It is possible that I might be able to address the concerns to your satisfaction.

5. Regarding whether or not it is “appropriate” to “share correspondence to actual or potential counsel”, to be clear, I will most likely share, quote, distribute, blog, and/or otherwise make public all materials of every type, past, present, or future, that is connected to litigation, past, present, or future, that I have been or might become involved in.

On public websites in a dozen countries. I trust that the point might now be clear. You have no basis for points that you are suggesting.

Regards, Robert (the Old Coder)

Letter #4. I sent this additional letter to Ms. Dhillon as a follow-up.

This is a courtesy copy of a letter to Harmeet K. Dhillon, “Super Lawyer”, of Dhillon and Smith, San Francisco, California.

Dear Ms. Dhillon,

1. On Monday afternoon 140310, you wrote to me and expressed concerns. On Monday night, I sent you a letter in which the concerns were addressed. If you did not receive the latter letter, you may view it online Tuesday morning 140311 circa the start of usual business hours at 9:00am.

If you do not see the material online at 9:00am, wait a few minutes and press Reload or restart your browser.

2. You are encouraged to confirm that the written response was received or that you have viewed the online copy.

3. For your convenience, the online thread will include other relevant correspondence such as a letter from me to John Perrott, the letter that you sent to me, this letter, and future letters in either direction.

4. The primary purpose of this letter, which I view, as I do other letters, as legitimate and reasonable communication, is to clarify minor points so as to reduce the possibility of confusion.

It is important, when one is communicating, to minimize confusion or to avoid it altogether when possible. I trust that you agree.

5. I stated, in one of my letters to you, that I did not recall “seeking legal advice” from you. However, in another letter, sent on an earlier date, I stated:

“I'm interested in pursuing torts actions myself against multiple people.”

This was followed by the two paragraphs:

“It's possible that Dhillon & Smith will not be able to represent me as I'll be alleging that family members of one of its clients are impolite and/or unpleasant, have lied under oath, are involved in multiple prosecutable crimes, and/or have committed spousal and/or child abuse, and are liable, as a group, for damages of multiple types totaling in the hundreds of thousands or possibly millions of dollars.”

“However, I see no problem with requesting a referral, from either of your firms, to an appropriate torts specialist. On the other hand, requests for referrals of other types have led, with the people in question, to confusion in the past.”

This text could be read as suggesting that I either was seeking at the time, or might seek in the future, a referral from your firm. I assert that the text is not “inappropriate” under either interpretation.

I trust that this addresses one possible source for concern.

6. I copied a letter to you. You seem to be asserting, though it is not clear, that to copy a letter to an attorney is to “seek legal advice” from the attorney.

Is this, in fact, what you are asserting?

7. The term “seek legal advice”, in the context where you employed it, has a specific meaning. Is this correct or incorrect?

Attorneys are aware of the specific meanings of the terms that they use. And, at the same time, they are trained in the steps needed to introduce fog so as to suggest that the terms apply when they do not.

I am not as patient with fog as I might have been in the past. The destruction of one's life tends to bring about changes of this type. If fog is introduced, I take notice.

If you feel that any of my letters to you thus far was “seeking legal advice” in a context that permits you to use the term “inappropriate”, spell out what you mean.

Additionally, be advised that any “inappropriate” remarks which you yourself make, such as threats, will be conveyed to the State Bar Association, to lawmakers, to the general public, and to such groups, entities, or individuals as I deem it legitimate and reasonable to communicate with.

8. You are invited, though not required, to convey hopes to your client Virginia Chang Kiraly and her husband, my Brother Ken Kiraly, that the weather in their area will be pleasant throughout the Spring.

Regards, Robert (the Old Coder)

Letter #5. This is a short P.S. that I sent to Harmeet K. Dhillon subsequently.

Ms. Dhillon, by the way, if your intended meaning was “seeking advice from other attorneys” as opposed to “seeking advice from me”, please be more precise in the future. To be clear, I wasn't “seeking advice” from John Perrott either.

Letter #6. Letter to Ms. Dhillon regarding lack of confirmation.

Ms. Dhillon, you expressed concerns recently in writing. Subsequently, I made a legitimate and reasonable attempt to address your concerns.

As I wish to be certain that communication has been accomplished, it is requested that you confirm receipt of letters that were sent to address your concerns or, alternatively, that you confirm public copies of the letters have been viewed on the Web.

Confirmation that I have responded to your concerns will conclude this particular thread unless you feel that there is more to be said. In the latter case, I will be diligent and do what is possible to respond further.

A lack of confirmation on your part will engender concerns on my part regarding the possibility that communication has not taken place. In this event, I will communicate with your office on a verbal basis to ensure that my responses intended to address your concerns have, in fact, been received.

Regards, Robert (the Old Coder)

140305. This painting is an experiment by Charles Artisan. It's a Impressionist scene done in acrylics. The working title, for the time being, is Christ was Sent for the Poor.

Charles had not worked in acrylics for years. But he found a painting kit that he thought his Mother, now dead, might have given him.

When he told me this, I imagined an old woman. She wandered up and down the aisle at an art store, hoping to be useful. Paused to look at different items and weigh their merits. Then selected the one she thought her Son would like the best.

It's how I used to select gifts. Sometimes I put hours into the process. I projected this onto a dead woman I'd never met and was moved.

Charles decided that his Mother hadn't given him the kit after all. But he was in the mood to paint. Therefore, he opened the kit and painted.

Half of the trees were added by me. I didn't draw the trees. Instead, I used a GIMP Resynthesize module to simulate work by Charles. He has reviewed the GIMPed trees and feels that they will do.

For a large version of the painting, click here.

The license for the painting is CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Also known as Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works 3.0. For attribution purposes, the rights holder is Charles Artisan. For more information about the license, click here.

140305. This video is old by Internet standards. Two years. But it's funny so here it is. The title is: GNU/Stallmanquest.

For non-tech people, the hero is Richard Stallman, also known as RMS, a significant and mildly controversial figure in the FOSS world. The story pokes gentle fun at RMS's vision of a world transformed by his principles.

Two video tips:

1. The videos are hosted at YouTube. So, if you're using an old copy of Christ Follower, the video page may or may not still exist.

2. If you have a Google or YouTube account, you may not need Flash to watch YouTube videos. You can try HTML5 instead. To try HTML5, log-in to your account, come back here, and click on this link. Look for a button named Request the HTML5 player. If you see one, press it. If you see The HTML5 player is currently used instead, you're already set up.

140228. This cat is named The Redeemer. He lives in a room with two other cats named River and Edward Scissorclaws.

The three cats don't go outside much. Their lives are quiet. They spend most of their time sleeping on a bed.

The bed is a water-bed. When people sit on the water-bed, or lie down, waves travel across the surface. The cats go up and down but are undisturbed. It's quite a sight; cats that sleep on waves.

The Redeemer is 19 years old. 19 years is old for a cat. Has he fulfilled his mission on Earth? I can't say. However, he seems to be in good spirits.

If I understand the story correctly, his room-mate Edward Scissorclaws was originally just Edward. But Edward visited one of his owners in a dream one night. In the dream, he stated, “My correct name is Edward Scissorclaws. Meow. Feed me.” He was Scissorclaws from that night forward.