Arbustos en la primavera de Jena - día 1

Esta entrada es parte del proyecto que estamos haciendo con nuestro hijo Manu (7 años) para el cole, hemos decidido hacer fotos de los arbustos del jardín y ver como van cambiando cada día. Para este proyecto las fotos las va a hacer Manu y es la primera vez que utiliza una cámara reflex. Así que vamos a aprender sobre los arbustos y también cómo hacer fotos.  

Primer día.

Hoy salimos a dar un paseo y buscamos arbustos, en casa del vecino encontramos uno lleno de flores amarilas. Es una forsythia. La confundimos con un Winterjasmin, pero las flores del Winterjasmin tienen 6 pétalos y las de la forsythia tienen 4 pétalos.

cerca del rio encontramos bastantes zarzamoras (Rubus ulmifollius), en nuestro jardín también hay, pero intentamos quitarla porque es muy invasiva. Cosa curiosa, si las ramas de la de la zarza tocan el suelo pueden hacer nuevas raíces.

depués volvimos a casa e hicimos fotos en el jardín. Muchas fotos nos han salido un poco mal hoy, porque la cámara se estaba moviendo, pero tenemos algunas fotos buenas. Esta es del "membrillo japonés rojo" que hay en el jardín. El membrillo tiene flores desde la semana pasada y le están empezando a salir las hojas.

También tenemos varios Buxus, este es uno de los más pequeños, los buxus no tienen flores.

Tenemos un arbusto muy alto lleno de flores blancas, no sabemos todavía que es, el año pasado dio unos frutos como albaricoques pequeños.

Y terminamos por hoy con una canción de otro Manu, Manu Chao, cantando sobre las flores de su jardín

Fixing Saleae Logic 1.2.18 for Fedora 27

One of my favourite work tools is the Saleae Logic analyzer, since version 1.2.10 running it on Fedora Linux is not so straight forward. For example trying to run version 1.2.18 (64 bits) in Linux 27 will return the following error

$ ./Logic 
Root Path: /sandbox/opt/Logic 1.2.18 (64-bit)  [ /home/build/ob_logic/Source/Environment.cpp; Environment; 158 ]
Writeable Root Path: /sandbox/opt/Logic 1.2.18 (64-bit)  [ /home/build/ob_logic/Source/Environment.cpp; Environment; 185 ]
Temp Folder path: /tmp  [ /home/build/ob_logic/Source/Environment.cpp; Environment; 191 ]
Release Mode; analyzer path is /sandbox/opt/Logic 1.2.18 (64-bit)/Analyzers  [ /home/build/ob_logic/Source/Environment.cpp; Environment; 201 ]
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve CRYPTO_num_locks
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve CRYPTO_set_id_callback
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve CRYPTO_set_locking_callback
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve ERR_free_strings
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve EVP_CIPHER_CTX_cleanup
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve EVP_CIPHER_CTX_init
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve sk_new_null
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve sk_push
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve sk_free
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve sk_num
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve sk_pop_free
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve sk_value
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve SSL_library_init
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve SSL_load_error_strings
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve SSL_get_ex_new_index
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve SSLv2_client_method
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve SSLv23_client_method
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve SSLv2_server_method
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve SSLv23_server_method
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve X509_STORE_CTX_get_chain
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve OPENSSL_add_all_algorithms_noconf
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve OPENSSL_add_all_algorithms_conf
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve SSLeay
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot resolve SSLeay_version
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot call unresolved function CRYPTO_num_locks
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot call unresolved function CRYPTO_set_id_callback
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot call unresolved function CRYPTO_set_locking_callback
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot call unresolved function SSL_library_init
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot call unresolved function SSLv23_client_method
qt.network.ssl: QSslSocket: cannot call unresolved function sk_num
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

This error is related to the SSL dynamic library that Qt5 is looking for is not compatible with the version of libssl installed by Fedora

$ ls -l /usr/lib/libssl*
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 376184 Mar  9 17:10 /usr/lib/libssl3.so
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root     16 Apr  5 18:49 /usr/lib/libssl.so.10 -> libssl.so.1.0.2o
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 451552 Apr  5 18:49 /usr/lib/libssl.so.1.0.2o
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root     16 Apr  3 13:17 /usr/lib/libssl.so.1.1 -> libssl.so.1.1.0h
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 462000 Apr  3 13:17 /usr/lib/libssl.so.1.1.0h

One way to overcome this issue is to create a symbolic link to the right library verison in the same directory where Logic is installed When I look into my lib I have these versions of libssl installed

$ ls -l /usr/lib64/libssl*
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 340880 Mar  9 17:09 /usr/lib64/libssl3.so
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root     16 Apr  3 13:18 /usr/lib64/libssl.so -> libssl.so.1.1.0h
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root     16 Apr  5 18:48 /usr/lib64/libssl.so.10 -> libssl.so.1.0.2o
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 449536 Apr  5 18:48 /usr/lib64/libssl.so.1.0.2o
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root     16 Apr  3 13:18 /usr/lib64/libssl.so.1.1 -> libssl.so.1.1.0h
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 451880 Apr  3 13:18 /usr/lib64/libssl.so.1.1.0h

As you can see linssl.so is pointing to version 1.1 of the library but Saleae Logic expects to link to 1.0, so finally I create a symbolic link to the 1.0 version of the library in the same directory where I run Logic, and Logic will find it first.

$ ln -s /usr/lib64/libssl.so.10 libssl.so

Las cosas sin importancia

Decía De Quincey - si un hombre se decide un día a matar, muy pronto llegará a considerar el robo como algo sin importancia, y de ahí pasará a la bebida, a no observar las fiestas de guardar, después a comportarse de forma mal educada y a no respetar los compromisos, una vez metido en esta pendiente no se sabe donde irá a parar, y muchos deben su propia rutina a este o aquel asesinato, al cual en su momento no concedieron demasiada importancia. -- extraído, más o menos de "La cabeza cortada de Damasceno Monteiro" --

We are unaffected by cool

It was last summer that I had the chance to see the Shibusha Shirazu Orchestra for the first time. I had never heard of them before and they provoked the greatest impression in me. From the very same moment the concert started I was in shock, and the shock lasted well beyond the concert finished.



I have said concert, but it would be a bit limited to qualify their show just as a concert. Shibusha Shirarzu (that according to Wikipedia can be translated by "We don't understand / are unnafected by the cool"), is not just a band comprising some of the best Japannish free jazz musicians, it is a group of performers, musicians, painters, dancers; that put together an integral show that blows all the spectator senses. They make of every performace a party and they make sure that their public enjoy it as much as they do.

A show of Shibusha Shirazo mixes the surreal with the finest arts. The contention of the Butoh dancers with the bursts of free solos. The woman with the bananas at the top of the ladder and the painter improvising on a never ending roll. And of course the dragon. As limited as I am, I always try to put what I see in the frame of my own references; I remember telling a friend that was with me at the concert: "It is as if Frank Zappa and Fellini had put together this show". But it was not Zappa, and it was not Federico's circus, it was Daisuke Fuwa and the outrageously good Shibusha Shirazo Orchestra.

Pynchon and me

My relationship with Pynchon books has always been funny. I bought my first one in Barcelona, I was there on holidays with a friend and there was one of this street book fairs, it was 1992, Barcelona was just refurbished after the Olympics. I bought "V" because of the portrait caught my eye, it took me a good few years to read it. I did start it several times but I never seemed to pass from page 100, then suddenly, a few years later I read it twice in nearly a week.

"There is more behind and inside V. than any of us had suspected. Not who, but what: what is she. God grant that I may never be called upon to write the answer, either here or in any official report." (Thomas Pynchon, V)

My second Pynchon was "Gravity Rainbow", I bought the two volumes for 100 pesetas in Valladolid, from a store shop that was being closed (Galerias Preciados 1995). It also took me a couple of years to read it.

"But it is a curve each of them feels, unmistakably. It is the parabola. They must have guessed, once or twice — guessed and refused to believe — that everything, always, collectively, had been moving toward that purified shape latent in the sky, that shape of no surprise, no second chance, no return. Yet they do move forever under it, reserved for its own black-and-white bad news certainly as if it were the rainbow, and they its children." (Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity Rainbow")

The next one I bought, I have not started it yet, was "Slow Learner", I was in La Crosse, WI visiting a friend and she showed me this second hand library, I got an almost new copy of the book for 25 cents. This was 1996. Early in 2000 I was preparing to move to Ireland, I bought "Mason and Dixon" almost fresh from the print, I though that a such thick book would keep me busy during the rainy Dublin evenings. I started this book several times, but it was not until this year (now living in Germany) that I have really got into reading it. I have already read 700 of its nearly 1000 pages, and I was waiting to finish the book before writing this post, but...

"It is usually not wise to discuss matters of costume with people like this, — politics or religion being far safer topics." (Thomas Pynchon, "Mason & Dixon")

There is another Pynchon in my bag, "Vineland" I bought it in Dallas in 2007 and managed to read it nearly the very same year I bought it. Quite atypical from me.

"You don't die for no motherfuckin' shadows" (Thomas Pynchon, "Vineland")

Stolen From Strangers

Long time has passed since Miyake was originally recognized as a world class Jazz trumpeter, he was back in Tokyo after a few years of study in Boston and New York. Back then he recorded a few solo albums with musicians such as Michael Brecket or Ron Carter. Soon he started writing music for commercials and movies (Oliver Stone's "Any Given Sunday"). His work became so popular that he was writing over 300 jingles per year. He has not stopped working since then.

Stolen from Strangers is his 21st album. As Hal Willner, former co-producer of Miyake's work, puts it in the foreword to the record "...another audio road movie, this time directed by Pedro Almodovar". Recorded between Tokyo and Paris, the place where Jun has been living for the last few years. With collaborations in vocals from Arto Lindsay, Sanseverino, the "Cosmic Voice of" Bulgaria Choir, Arthur H., Lisa Papimeau and with the subtle but precious guitar of Vinicius Catania. What catches the ear of anyone listening to Jun's music is his capacity to blend seamlessly different styles of music while at the same being able to maintain a consistent line. This is one of these albums that can be listened from beginning to end without temptations to alter the order or to skip one song. It just flows.

Mind control

I was watching an interview with Noam Chomsky where he explains why he is not invited to night talk-shows. In the words of the producer of one of them this is because he is not concise. As a matter of fact this is true, I have watched several interviews with him and he is quite prone to argument for a long time any point he is trying to make. In the same interview he justifies himself with the following argument: you can state anything that goes inline with the current power structures and it will be immediately accepted - Samdam Hussein's was a terrorist that used chemical weapons against his own population - But what happens if instead I use the following sentence, - Samdam Hussein's was a terrorist that used chemical weapons against his own population and was widely supported by the government of G. Bush (father) -

Noam Chomsky argument is that meanwhile both sentences are probably truth, the first one won't require any argumentation to be believed meanwhile the second one will require to show a long list of facts supporting it before it gets even partially accepted.

I guess it does not scape to anybody that there is a always a big effort from the different power centers to create mainstream opinion; newspapers, think-tanks, lobbies, "intellectuals"... all shouting with a single voice and trying to gear our thoughts in the same direction. Propaganda creates those streams of thought that are useful to the power centers to steer people's opinion in their own interest. If this was not bad by itself, as I think it is a coercion of the freedom of thinking, it may get even worse when used by people with obscure intentions.

You may have receive a very popular viral email that shows pictures of massive weddings in Gaza, if you do a search in Google (link) you will find some examples. The bottom line of the email was that girls as young as 11 years were forced to get married with Jihadist and that Hamas was sponsoring the marries with $500. All normal right? The Muslims are these horrible people that when are not killing are raping girls, right?
That is the mainstream thinking, right?

It happens that the pictures are true and the wedding in question took place, but the girls in the pcitures are the daughters of Palestinian death citizens ( soldiers / fighters?, I don't know...) that were killed during the latest Israely invasion of the Palestinian territories. The brides were the mothers of the girls in many cases marrying the brother of their death husbands as it is the tradition in the Muslim word.

The "power" created the main line of thinking so Occident would engage in an obscure war, now it is used by wrecked people like the neocon Dr. Paul L. Williams that has no problem in twisting the truth or showing us the partial bits of his interest and then we may receive one of these emails and we may even forward it, with the best of intentions to all our acquaintances. And then a lie told 1000 times becomes the truth.

As you can see if you reached up to here, if your argument in not the main stream, it is difficult to be concise.