Some Catfood updates - WebCamSaver has been migrated to .NET 4.8 and has a code signing certificate (less nagging from Windows during install) and updated notifications. The list of webcams has also been updated. Catfood Earth for Android now supports Material You. This was so painful that there is a companion 'making of' post so I can whine about it.

With all the news about San Francisco's crime tsunami I decided to look at the data. Here's an animation of all the crime from 2003 to 2021. Spoiler alert, the only really interesting trend is that there is less of it, and 2020 was a massive dip which makes all of the year on year increase statistics being paraded around at the moment a little less interesting. There is a good contrarian take in The Atlantic as well: The Great Shoplifting Freak-Out.

A few hikes in southern California: Sawmill Flats (in Mount San Jacinto State Park), Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon (amazing) and Barker Dam and Wall Street Mill (in Joshua Tree NP). One in Sonoma: Creekside Trail to Big Leaf Trail Loop.

Windows 11... it's great except for the bits you need to use.

Also a Barn Owl.

Previously:

• 2020: Accessing Printer Press ESC to cancel
• 2019: Winter Solstice 2019
• 2018: Pulling the plug on Facebook and Twitter, Tweet Archive

Links for December 2021

(All Etc Posts)

Continuing my Catfood Software refresh I have added a detailed WebCamSaver Guide as a companion to the Catfood Earth post. I also released Catfood Earth 4.20. This is a minor feature release (with the 2021d time zone database) but has a lot of upgrades behind the scenes. I've migrated to .net 4.8 and renewed my code signing certificate both of which make it much easier to install on Windows 10 (and 11). Upgrade notifications died when I moved Catfood Software to ITHCWY, with this release there is a new web service so Earth can tell you when thee is a new version available. Similar changes will come to WebCamSaver soon.

Are US schools too obsessed with sports?

Some fun with crystals and Adobe super resolution - I don't think they trained the AI on crystals.

Hikes: Adobe Creek, remnants in the sunset, Twin Peaks and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.

I might buy more of your podcasts if you stop making them too long.

A milky way timelapse from Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.

Fleet week came back to San Francisco. Photos and timelapse.

Previously:

• 2020: California November 2020 Propositions
• 2019: Bangalore Timelapse

(All Etc Posts)

ITHCWY voter guide to the 2021 gubernatorial recall. Keep Gavin!

Improving my storage habits with folder insights.

Time lapse of stars over Redding, California.

Adventures growing crystals from a National Geographic kit.

A small WebCamSaver update.

Hikes - around the perimeter road of Angel Island, Teague Hill Preserve, and Echo Lake in Lassen.

ITHCWY interviews every coronavirus expert.

Previously:

• 2020: West Portal Sunset
• 2019: Life, Non-locality and the Simulation Hypothesis
• 2018: Draw the rest of the Hummingbird

Links for August 2021

(All Etc Posts)

Catfood Earth has been missing a detailed guide since I shut down the Catfood Software web site. That has been fixed with this somewhat epic post which covers every feature of the Windows and Android versions.

Two new timelapses: stars over Columbia State Historic Park and another sunset. I also started working on a longer term project, it will be a few weeks until I get to see if it's going to work.

Hike posts have been upgraded with route maps and a chart showing elevation profile.

Also, some egrets and a ship.

Previously:

• 2020: Visualizing Coronavirus Cases and Deaths by Country and US County
• 2019: Bay View and Shoreline Trails at China Camp State Park
• 2018: Animation of a year of Global Cloud Cover

Links for June 2021

(All Etc Posts)

Timelapse of three trains of Starlink satellites. It's getting crowded up there. Another timelapse of the super flower blood moon eclipse which wasn't Musk's fault.

The Guardian's long read on free will is a disaster, but possibly not their fault. Also my tips on doing news right.

Photos from Marshall's Beach in San Francisco. And some fog. And sand.

Lastly, a nice hike near the Carquinez Strait.

Previously:

• 2020: Summer Solstice 2020
• 2019: Tire Chalking Constitutional Amendment
• 2018: I just want to get rid of Windows 10 Notifications with one click

(All Etc Posts)

Some changes to the ITHCWY coronavirus visualization page.

For reasons that I'm struggling to understand California's cap and trade system adds a discount to my energy bill.

Catfood WebCamSaver 3.24 released.

Previously:

• 2020: Using the Azure Monitor REST API from Google Apps Script
• 2019: Improving the accuracy of the new Catfood Earth clouds layer
• 2018: How does the Nest Learning Thermostat work?

Links for April 2021

(All Etc Posts)

Spring Equinox 2020 in Catfood Earth

On productivity: Out of Office Hours and why I still love email.

Some Great Horned Owlets.

San Francisco tides animated over the course of one year.

A deep faked me. Just needs hooking up to Teams...

Previously:

• 2020: Backup locked files on Windows 10: Volume Shadow Copy Update
• 2019: Age and Life Expectancy Weighted Voting
• 2018: Facebook shouldn't own your social graph

Links for March 2021

(All Etc Posts)

It's been a while since I put out a newsletter after a fairly quiet end to last year. Here are some recent highlights.

How to Save a Planet (with an Infiniti QX55)

Lock up the Flexible Spending Account Administrators

Software: Catfood Earth 4.10 updates to the latest National Weather Service "API" and also 2021a timezones. Photo Sorter 1.10 helps control the scourge of duplicate JPEGs.

Timelapse: Sunset #6, what would happen if you used a style transfer neural network on every frame of a timelapse? This (instructions).

Hikes: Abrigo Valley, Grabtown Gulch and Mariposa Loop.

I'm not sure why during the pandemic I've used way more electricity but the same amount of gas.

Some thoughts on the results of the election, written before the Capitol riot.

Previously:

• 2020: Book reviews for February 2020
• 2019: 3D Printing a 72-58mm step down Camera Filter Adapter
• 2018: Export Google Fit Daily Steps, Weight and Distance to a Google Sheet

(All Etc Posts)

Endorsements: Biden, California Propositions, San Francisco Ballot Measures.

What is up with Android 11?

Hikes: Coastal/Julian loop in the Marin Headlands, Richards Fire Loop in San Mateo (with Hyperlapse!), the end of coronavirus (hikes).

Previously:

• 2019: ITHCWY Newsletter for October 2019
• 2017: End the Electoral College: Amendment, Compact, or Supreme Court?

(All Etc Posts)

July has been very nature focused for me: rattlesnake, whale, ospreys, bald eagle and comet NEOWISE. Hikes include Bumpass Hell and the Devils Kitchen at Lassen Volcanic National Park.

I did fit in a whinge about Android usability.

Previously:

• 2019: How to backup Google Photos to Google Drive automatically after July 2019 with Apps Script
• 2018: What if the Senate Voted Proportionally to Population
• 2017: Email Alerts for new Referers in Google Analytics using Apps Script

(All Etc Posts)