Educator, Thinker, Consultant
The 52Frames challenge this week is “centered”. This is basically ignoring the rule of thirds and centering the subject.
The Extra challenge is “leading lines”.
This week, I think that I was able to meet both challenges. The lighthouse works centered and the pathway forms the leading lines.
This is the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse in South Portland, Maine, USA.
This was taken with Canon R8, f/5.0, 85mm, 100 ISO.
Harishankar has a terrific write up about a Smart Vacuum. His curiosity turned into quite the revelation. It is always fun when someone uses their skills to learn and share with others. So, what do all of the “smart” IOT devices in your home do? Here is the story of one such device.
This is definitely worth a read.
It all started innocently enough.
As these things often do. We frequently learn quite a bit not by being intentional, but being curious.
I decided to monitor its network traffic, as I would with any so-called smart device.
We may guess as to what is being sent, but with a little bit of skill, we can know.
I noticed a steady stream of packets being sent to servers located halfway across the world. My robot vacuum was constantly communicating with its manufacturer, transmitting logs and telemetry that I had never consented to share.
For a few days, everything seemed fine. It continued to clean, map, and obediently avoid the furniture. However, one morning, it failed to power on.
Coincidence?
I sent it for repair. The service center assured me, “It works perfectly here, sir.” They sent it back, and—miraculously—it worked again for a few days. Then, it died once more.
This became a surreal cycle:
- I shipped the robot off.
- They “fixed” it.
- It worked briefly.
- It died again.
I began to feel like I was losing my mind. How could a simple IP block disable a vacuum cleaner that is supposed to work offline as well?
Then, one day, the service center refused further service.
“Out of warranty, sir.”
Once it is out of warranty, with nothing to lose, a complete disassembly and review take place. It is well worth the read to learn about what a smart vacuum does.
In the end, he provides a completely documented experience and a github repo.
The challenge this week was shadows. I had a few options, but this was the one that I liked best.
The shadow is cast from another gravestone. The shadow reminds me of a pawn in chess.
The past couple of weeks have been spent dealing with the passing of my mother-in-law. I’m aware of the classic mother-in-law jokes, but we actually had a positive relationship.
Things went much faster than anticipated. I had originally flown out to Michigan with the idea of staying four days. I had figured that we’d get some things arranged (my wife had flown out a couple of days earlier), and then I’d fly back. Quite frankly, I figured her passing was coming, but that we probably had a month or so. However, I ended up staying for almost two weeks. (Special thanks to my Superintendent for his support.) While I was able to do a good bit of my job while away, I focused on the really crucial things, as my mindspace wasn’t really conducive to working full days.
I also have a couple of observations. My kids drove out. Since I thought that I’d be flying back, I hadn’t brought a suit. It quickly became clear that things might not go as expected, so I asked the kids to bring my suit. So, I went out to grab the suit from the kids’ car and put it in mine. Upon approaching the car, I noticed that the right rear tire looked “odd”. Upon further examination, it was low. Upon closer examination, there was a large screw in the tire. Great. I look at my watch. 16:30 (4:30 p.m.) on a Friday. I quickly look up tire stores around me. (I want to note that 40 years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible, so, yeah, technology.) Anyway, I see a couple of shops close, but then I think that I’ll check to see if a Belle Tire is close. Thankfully, there was. I head off to Belle Tire. The counter tech (who turns out to be the Store Manager) reassures me that they can get it taken care of right away.
I did notice that when he asked for my phone number, I hesitated at the area code. See, in Maine, there is only one area code (207), so I’m in the habit of saying “area code”, then waiting as they delete out the 207. However, I was in Michigan, where they have lots of area codes, and don’t assume one. It was then that I realized that I didn’t really have a sense of place. I had been in hospitals and the hospice center and had really lost where in the world I was. If anyone had asked me to go to spot in Maine, I would’ve thought that we could just head there. Same with Michigan (though that would work).
My mother-in-law passed away. There is tons of work to do. Clearing out a lifetime of stuff, even if it has been sorted down a few times by moving from a house to an apartment to another apartment, can take a while. Doing this while not living in the same spot can be that much more overwhelming.
I’m so extremely proud of my wife. She managed to take care of so many things while dealing with her own grief. I’m so glad that I found her.
There are still some things to do. However, the things that are left can mostly be accomplished from anywhere.
This is a reminder for me to better prepare for my own end of life. I want to make things as easy as possible for my wife and kids.
The latest episode of Middle School Matters is now available. This one has a deep dive on how Shawn has created a Special Education Support Resource to help his students out (and the overworked Special Education teacher.
Shawn walks us through the process of using Google’s Gemini to create a chatbot that students can use for support.
This is my submission for 52Frames this week. The challenge is time.
I wanted to capture the turning of the leaves. Here, the trees have obscured a telephone pole next to the railroad. A couple of the glass insulators are still intact on the pole. The poles have been overgrown with trees. These trees are showing their color as another year turns to winter.
Troy Patterson
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