Daniel E. Markle's Blog

South Williamsport to Route 44 via Route 654

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:30:08 -0400

Another ride video from my weekend scenic drive, this one from South Williamsport to route 44.

I enjoy the lighting on this one. While riding I was concerned the sun was too bright for the camera, but it turned out well.

Yamaha Vstar 950 First Posted Video

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:41:06 -0400

Having not posted any ride videos on my Yamaha Vstar 950 yet, I made some recordings on Saturday. This one shows construction on route 15 near Williamsport and concludes with a ride over the grate metal arch street bridge.

I used to be terrified to ride on these, but now I rather enjoy them. The sensation of the motorcycle wavering underneath is interesting. Unfortunately this bridge is about to be replaced, the almost finished replacement visible on the right.

Free of Burdens

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:48:35 -0400

This is undoubtedly the most ominous fortune cookie I've ever gotten. Good thing I don't believe in these things.

Sonic Fuel Economy and Premium Fuel

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 06:44:56 -0400

My 2012 Inferno Orange Chevy Sonic 1.4 Turbo LTZ Manual From Miscellaneous

Back in January I ordered this 2012 Chevy Sonic with the 1.4 Turbo engine and a manual transmission. I liked the motorcycle inspired design, the color, the opportunity to try a manual transmission, and the fuel economy. I usually ride a motorcycle to work, but some days it is more practical to take an automobile due to weather and/or hauling requirements.

One of the interesting aspects of this car is the made in Europe turbocharged engine. They have a different market over there, being primarily manual transmission cars whereas most drivers here want to chat on their cell phone and shave while driving instead of actually enjoying the drive, so manuals here are stereotypically sold on the cheap. As such, Chevy decided to list this car as running 87 octane gasoline, using a control chip to detect the type of fuel added and retard the engine as appropriate. A fascinating side effect of this unusual measure is a car that actually does perform better with premium gasoline.
Continue reading "Sonic Fuel Economy and Premium Fuel"

Java Enum Override

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 08:38:07 -0500

I get a lot of use out of Java 5 enums:

enum Galaxies { MilkyWay, Andromeda, NGC4414 }

But here's a nice trick; as enum members are actually classes, you can override the member functions they contain. I find this most useful overriding toString:

enum Galaxies {

    MilkyWay {

        @Override

        public String toString() {

            return "Milky Way";

        },

    Andromeda,

    NGC4414 {

        @Override

        public String toString() {

            return "NGC 4414";

        }

}

RC Helicopters

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:56:32 -0500

My first RC helicopter; a Syma 108g From RC Flight

At the Greensburg Train show in York last weekend a vendor was flying these RC Helicopters around his booth. Impressed by his precision and the low price, I purchased this one. About the length of my hand, it's designed for indoor use only.

I have been interested in RC aircraft for a while and was considering getting into the hobby this year. Although I was thinking airplanes, flying these around the house is surprisingly fun and not tied to good weather conditions. Helicopters I have looked at in the past were either ridiculously expensive, hard to fly, or both, but modern gyro technology now common in cell phones has made these quite reasonable in price and very stable to fly.

Now to land one of these on a train flatcar . . .

Thanksgiving Ride to Ohio

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 11:47:00 -0500

From Motorcycle Adventures

On Thanksgiving Day this year I rode over 300 miles to Cleveland on my VStar motorcycle to visit my sister. The picture at the left was taken upon my arrival at Crocker Park in the evening.

Heading out at 10:30 in the morning it was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny, a beautiful day for a ride. I decided not to put the windshield on the bike as it reduces my ability to control airflow with layers of clothing and is too hot with my winter gear on at those temperatures.
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Last Day at the PA Capitol Preservation Committee

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:46:18 -0500

Today was my last day of full time employment at the PA Capitol Preservation Committee. Thanks to everyone who made me feel welcome over the years. To commemorate my many commutes, enjoy this motorcycle video including part of a favorite route to work on my 2008 Honda Rebel.

First Motorcycle Commute in Fall Fog

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:28:00 -0400

My Rebel Parked at Work on a Considerably Warmer Day, From Motorcycle Adventures

Headed to work today, it was 32.7 degrees F with fog. I was convinced, seeing the sun starting to poke out, all would be fine once I got to the top of the mountain and out of our valley of perpetual fog.

I started up the Rebel and after warming up a while, I lurched out the lane (still wasn't warm yet, had to increase choke and putter along; pretty common below 50F). Even though visibility was less than ideal, the roads were clean and dry. After puttering along across the valley, half opening my visor as needed to clear it and at times so I could see at all, I made it to the top of the mountain, but alas, the fog continued in the next valley.

Continue reading "First Motorcycle Commute in Fall Fog"

Liferay 6.0.6 CE Editing Toolbar Bug

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:39:05 -0400

In Liferay 6.0 GA4 Community Edition there is an error in the CKEditor configuration; different configuration files are used to define the editing toolbar for the web content and other areas depending on the browsing path. This results in an issue where the toolbar changes seemingly at random. This is fixed in the Enterprise Edition and for future versions, but for those of us using the current Community Edition, the following workaround is useful.

The most problematic disappearing item for my use case is the spell checker; the same method can be used to restore other buttons as necessary. Back up, then apply this ckconfig.jsp patch to the Liferay root web app. For the tomcat download this is located in the liferay-portal-6.0.6/tomcat-6.0.29/webapps/ROOT/html/js/editor/ckeditor/ directory. Shut down Liferay, remove the tomcat work directory to clear the cache, then restart Liferay.

Lemon Blueberry Cake

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 12:06:56 -0400

From Cooking

Items we had on hand at the time and Karen's suggestion of using instant pudding as icing resulted in this delicious combination.

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Google Maps Clark's Ferry Bug

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:53:00 -0400

View Larger Map

For a few weeks now Google Maps has a bug where 22/322 at Clark's Ferry is impassible via through route directions. This is not the first time I have found bugs in Google Maps, but it is the first one I have seen involving a major highway.
Continue reading "Google Maps Clark's Ferry Bug"

2011 Loyalsock Valley Antique Machinery Association Show

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:03:47 -0400

Loyalsock Valley Antique Machinery Association Show

Although rain from the previous day resulted in the cancellation of the tractor parade and poor attendance, there were still many tractors on display at the 2011 Loyalsock Valley Antique Machinery Association Show. One advantage to going on Sunday is hearing and seeing them pull out, which was a reasonable substitute for the parade.

An operating steam-powered sawmill was at the event, along with a selection of other operating pre-gasoline tractor motors.

Other features of the event include food vendors and a flea market with a wide variety of interesting items from wooden tool handles to fine china.

Carlisle Bike Fest 2011

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:21:50 -0400

From Motorcycle Adventures

Attended Carlisle Bike Fest 2011 this year. Enjoyed looking at the rides people came in on; much of the show is the bikes people bring which they park in the middle of the show in wide enough aisles to easily wander up and down.

Other enjoyable attractions included the demo rides (which I didn't qualify for this year due to only having a permit, but watching and listening to new bikes was still cool), Biker Billy's cooking show (watch out if you're in the audience at one of these, he actively seeks victims to roast), and the Disc Connected K9's.

I drove in via a cage this year, scared off by the threat of rain which never materialized. By next year I hope to be more adventuresome.

Airprint to an Office Workgroup Printer

dmarkle@ashtech.net (Daniel E. Markle) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:55:26 -0400

Although Apple uses standard protocols for Airprint, the service is very picky about the exact broadcast settings before the printer will show up on iOS devices. The easiest way I've found to Airprint to an office workgroup printer:

Configure the printer to be printable via a Linux / CUPS server. On Debian install the cups and cups-pdf packages then log in via port 631 and configure the workgroup printer, making sure a test page prints.

Add ServerAlias * in /etc/cups.conf; this prevents "Request from x using invalid Host: field" errors.

Install avahi, on Debian use the avahi-daemon package.

Run this handy airprint-generate script. Copy the resulting file to /etc/avahi/services/ and restart avahi and cups.

Airprint should now be working for your iOS devices on the local network.