Wow, this has been neglected. I thought my domain pointed to my G+ page, and rediscovered this. Anyway, nowadays most of my postings are on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shaunsnee/ Currently, I'm not sure if I'll resurrect this platform of just jump ship as it seems the "new" Google has changed focus.

Why my "Have You in Circles" number is not shared

The first reason dates back to when I started using G+.  Two of my first three circlers were, and still are as far as I can tell, bots.  Out of vanity, I decided not to display that number until the percentage of real circlers increased.

The second reason, and the reason the number remains blocked, is that it doesn't matter.  It may reflect on the quality of my posts, but it has no relationship to me as a person.  

This second point was brought home when I read a tweet from a well known figure in which he belittled someone's opinion based on the number of followers that person had.  He was equating a person's value with their popularity; and that is shortsighted.

I'll let my posts and comments stand on their own, without a circle count to give them validity.  It's simpler that way.

Review: Isotoner SmarTouch Stretch Leather Gloves

Isotoner SmarTouch gloves incorporate conductive thread in the tips of the fingers.  The thread conveys electrical impulses from the fingers to touchscreens.  There is a "small print" note on the packaging that states: "Fingertips must reach end of glove to properly engage conductive thread.

I decided to try these as the temperature started dropping a few weeks ago.  I had started walking (OK, playing Ingress ) during my lunch break, and didn't want to have to stop just because it was getting too cold to operate the phone.

These gloves are the same design as the regular isotoner leather gloves I have been using for the better part of a  decade.  I expect that if you have used Isotoners in the past, you can find a conductive version somewhere.  I suggest going to a retail store and trying them on for size.

The Stretch Leathers have conductive thread in the tips of the thumbs and forefingers.  The thumbs seem to work better than the forefingers, but they all work.  In general, you are looking at two-handed operation; both when holding the phone in one hand and tapping with the other and when using both hands for two finger operations.

The patches of conductive thread are on the large side; if your fingers reach the end of the glove they should work.  One issue I had was that the lining interfered with the contact in one finger.  It turns out that the lining, in the fingers, is not secured to anything. In the fingers with the patches, the lining is just folded back upon itself.  All I had to do to "fix" the glove was invert the finger and tuck the lining out of the way - since then... no problems.

Using the gloves is not foolproof. The pads have less accuracy than your fingers as they are stiff and have a sizable surface area. Sometimes it takes a few attempts to register an input and at least twice I have had to curse to get them to work.  Some patience is required and it can get a bit frustrating at times.

I am happy with the gloves and will continue to use them.

tl;dr They work, but it takes a bit of practice to figure out their limitations.

Griffin Moto X Vehicle Dock - Review

First Impressions in no particular order:

1) The phone plugs into the dock; and the charging cable plugs into the back of the dock.  One end of the cradle has a micro-USB plug which mates with the phone.

2) There are better mounting arm designs out there.  If you have to mount it on the dash, the display is going to be at an angle.  My current dock has a better suction cup, this one will work with glass or with a provided disk that you can attach to the dash.

3) Putting/plugging the phone into the dock activates car mode.  If you are on Verizon, it initiates Verizon Navigator - until you disable it.  (Disabling apps is super easy on the Moto X - unlike my previous phone.)

4) The cradle appears well designed.  It does not interfere with access to the control buttons.  While the micro-USB should hold one side in place, whether the other end will survive a bumpy ride is up in the air.  (They just repaved my commute route.  We'll see what happens after the winter when the road gets beat up a bit.)

5)  Car Mode ... who knew.  It isolates the icons for voice search and Google Now on the left side of the screen. It also puts the display in landscape mode; that's a plus.

Now to figure out where to mount it.

Long Island Diving YouTube Channels

Some YouTube channels that feature diving in the waters around Long Island, NY.  This is not an exhaustive list by any means; nor is it in any particular order.

How 2 scuba .com
https://www.youtube.com/user/how2scuba

OceanScubaJOE's channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/OceanScubaJOE

SQUALUS MARINE DIVERS
https://www.youtube.com/user/squalusmarine 

Paula Jerman
https://www.youtube.com/user/Pjseawitch 

deeplou1
https://www.youtube.com/user/deeplou1 

EastCoastWreckDiving
https://www.youtube.com/user/EastCoastWreckDiving

SteelTank100's channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/SteelTank100

Feel free to add any sites I've missed in the comments.

Permitting: tl;dr

(Yes, another work related post.  You have been warned.)

At work, I write and issue permits operational permits to businesses.  To an extent these are negotiated permits.  What that means is that after we receive an application and draft an initial permit, the applicant gets a chance to review the permit, make comments, and request changes if necessary.

The goal is to end up with a permit that achieves our goal of having a permit that shows the applicant how to operate in compliance with the regulations and at the same time having a permit the applicant can live with.

This doesn't happen if nobody reads the draft permits.

Ideally, a permit condition will meet three criteria: it will have a purpose, it will be clear, and it will be enforceable.

Purpose:  There should be a reason that a condition exists.  Usually this will be a regulatory requirement of some type or it could be a means to achieve a policy goal.  One condition I ran into many years ago was a requirement for a trash handling facility to have a SCBA ( self contained breathing apparatus) on site - I still can't figure out why that was required.

Clarity:  Conditions should be clear as to what the requirements are.  If a condition confuses you or puts you to sleep before you can finish reading it, that's something that needs to be addressed before the permit is finalized.

Enforceable:  This is twofold: compliance with the condition should lead to compliance with the regulation, and non-compliance with the condition should clearly show non-compliance with the regulation.

As an applicant, it's important to focus on the purpose and clarity of any drafts you are sent.  If you don't understand why a requirement is in the permit or you are confused as to what you are being asked to do.... ask questions.  This is your chance, once a permit is final, it may be too late.

tl;dr:  Read!

Going Paperless at the Office

Well, sort of paperless.

A few years ago we saw that we would soon be running out of space to store paper records.

What we had was a storage room full of archive boxes and bulging file cabinets.  This wouldn't have been too bad except there was no uniform document management system.  Most of the files in the cabinets used an old record ID system that had been retired in 1995; the rest of the material had just been randomly dumped wherever anyone found an empty drawer.  All in all, every former employee's document system was memorialized in our records. (This is being dealt with ... slowly.)

In the mean time, we were generating a ton of new paper records; and there was (is?) no hope of a enterprise-wide document management system (DMS) appearing any time soon.

Luckily we had the ability to create PDF files.  The decision was to go with three basic identifiers: client ID, document date, and subject/summary.  These could all be easily incorporated into the file name.

We haven't achieved 100% buy-in, as some people are still not comfortable without paper;  but we have severely cut down on printing costs and the record storage issues are at least manageable.

We did have to ask IT for more disk space (to be expected); which we were granted - along with a side-note which showed that IT was not in tune with the rest of the organization.

It will be interesting to see what happens when an enterprise DMS gets introduced; but that's not for another day, month, year, decade...

A View of Social Media

It started back in 2001, when I set up a Yahoo Group for the Long Island Sea Searchers Scuba Club.  Since then, I've played around with a number of social media platforms (and participated in a few on-line forums); but nothing serious.

After watching a MKBHD vlog on Google Now, I thought, "why not," and jumped into the Google experience with both feet and Google+ is where I'm most invested.

Here are my thoughts on some social media platforms:

Facebook:  This is a necessity if you want to enter on-line contests.  Your news feed is, unfortunately, a popularity contest.  The posts with the most activity float to the top and other things get lost.  I keep in touch with a few (a few being three) friends on here; but that's about it.

Google+:  The service is well integrated with Picasa and Android phones.  There's a great selection of tech people to follow; and not all the post comments veer off topic.  I would be happier if more of my friends were on here, but most of them have limited on-line presences anyway.

Linkedin:  I do keep track of friends and family on here; although it seems to be more of a resume service than anything else.  At least one friend posts on here somewhat regularly, but most people I'm connected with seem to be building networks or connecting with friends accounts.  They seem to be promoting the service more than they did in the past; so, there may be changes in the future.

Tumblr:  A very nice blogging interface.  When I was using it regularly, it seemed to be heading toward pictures and minimal text.  I didn't keep up with it, but I liked it.

Twitter:  A very good news feed and a good place to follow people who can keep it short and to the point (comics mostly).  If you follow too many people it can get tough to manage; especially as people change their participation rate.  One possible improvement would be to allow people to follow discussion group sin addition to individuals.

Yahoo Groups:  I've found this service to be the best for administering a group "account".  Having a Yahoo account is not necessary; so, there is no need for everyone to set up a Yahoo account (unlike say ... Google).  It runs fairly smooth except for the usual user-related issues.

fini