azzieblogs

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Switched at Birth season 4

I spread out watching season 4. Mostly because it was a bit annoying. You couldn’t go five minutes into an episode without hearing the words “Boyfriend” or “Girlfriend”.

There were some big moments in the season. When Bay realizes she was raped. When Toby realizes he and Lena are having a downs syndrome baby. And many more.

Switched at Birth is officially canceled. Season 5 is going to be the last season.

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Riverdale

I don’t really understand the point of Riverdale, but its a slightly interesting show.

It intends to be a modernized Archie Comics story. I never read Archie Comics, but that’s what it is.

Riverdale is a small town, and a murder has happened. There’s mystery, plus an annoying triangle, and a “witchy bitchy” mother and daughter.

Nothing supernatural has occurred yet, and it appears that none will ever occur. This is a positive, for me at least.

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The 100 season 1

This show is basically Lord of the Flies meets Lost, Star Trek, and perhaps Divergent. It is based off a book (now a series) of the same name.

Basically, Earth went nuclear, and the people of 12 nations went up into their space stations. The space stations combined into the Ark. Almost 100 years later and they realize that recourses are running out and need to see if Earth is habitable again. 

Everyone who commits any crime on the ark is sentenced to death, unless they were under 18. Youth were prisoned instead. However, the Ark leaders decided to send 100 juvenile delinquents to Earth to check its habitability.

This show demonstrates a lot of important leadership and survival skills. 

I haven’t finished the first season yet, but I didn’t want to forget to post. This show is still going on, and I was told to watch it two or three years ago but never got around to it until a few days ago.

https://simkl.com/tv/35919/the-100

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Life Unexpected season 1

A heartwarming show about a foster child that fails to get emancipated because she managed to find her birth parents. It is unfortunate that the CW canceled it after two seasons and 26 episodes.

This show is similar, yet exceedingly different from another show on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) called The Fosters. Life Unexpected describes what a real foster child would go through in an unexpected, mostly-positive situation against her goals, while The Fosters describes what most foster children hope for but don’t always find.

While I haven’t finished season 1 yet, I wanted to post about it before I forgot to. It has excellent acting and isn’t like other CW shows. I have nothing against the CW, CBS, or Warner Brothers, but shame on you guys for canceling this show. These networks need to create basic-cable channels to depend less on advertising as well as FCC limitations. Showtime is a premium cable network own by CBS, but isn’t planning to air content for the same audience as the CW.

https://simkl.com/tv/15583/life-unexpected

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The Fosters season 3 returns

So after waiting awhile, The Fosters is finally back, resuming season 3.

It is way too difficult to describe the show and the latest in the storyline, but it really emphasizes on the fact that justice is not black and white. Everything is gray, and you have to prove which side is grayer or pay for it.

Also, brain injury is something that can happen to anyone, so be careful with power tools and don’t judge people who are in recovery. They can be going through unbelievable situations and may have random temper issues.

https://simkl.com/tv/35141/the-fosters

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Raspberry Pi Guide

So I have been meaning to try out the Raspberry Pi, and someone gifted one to me for my 18th. It was a Cana Kit Raspberry Pi 3, which means it came with a plastic case, as well as a power adapter. Since I didn’t have a USB Keyboard, mouse, or HDMI cable, I ordered them on Amazon. But until those arrive, I was coming up with creative ways to use my Pi, as well as attempting and succeeding to get into the Pi’s interface remotely.

I have a habit of not looking at instructions or searching online for help for new devices. In other words, I wanted to do everything by myself. 

First, I attached the plastic case to the Raspberry Pi, which was to try, fail, try again, succeed. A groove was blocking the Pi so I needed to slide it under the groove.

Next, I knew that I needed to download the operating to a MicroSD card. I needed to clear space on my computer to download Raspian because I knew from prior knowledge that that was the “official” OS for Raspberry Pi. Once several gigabytes were free, I started downloading it. I started to clear up more free space because the ZIP was 1.4 gigabytes, but the OS inside was 4.4 gigabytes.

The file inside was an IMG file. The only time I used IMG files are when it was for flashing multiple partitions to a single device. I downloaded some random IMG  flasher called Win32DiskImager. Successfully flashed the image to the MicroSD.

My plan was to get terminal access over a network connection. I had two choices that I could come up with: Either setup the WiFi configuration directly to the SD card before I insert it, or use an ethernet connection.

I realized I could only access the boot partition from Windows, so I decided to go with Ethernet, and then when I get access to the terminal I would setup WiFi.

So I plugged it into my WiFi repeater’s ethernet port (and powered it too), and tried to find it using MobaXterm (the program I use for finding IP addresses of local devices) and failed to find a device with SSH enabled. None came up.

I then remembered that because of a security flaw in Raspbian, they disabled SSH from default installs. Raspberry Pi’s website suggested creating a file called “ssh” in the boot partition. Doing that and trying with the repeater still failed.

I gave up trying on the repeater tried plugging directly into my computer. Nothing came up. I realized I needed to have some sort of server running to get local ethernet ports to show with an IP and SSH. I installed a DHCP server and got SSH access. I knew from prior knowledge the username was "pi” and the password was "raspberry”.

I attempted to set the wifi configuration using standard Linux methods but failed. So instead I decided to get into the GUI desktop and set the WiFi configuration from there.I turned on a VNC server, which was apparently RealVNC. When accessing it, the resolution was terrible, but it worked. Connected to WiFi successfully.

Later, I downloaded xRDP so I could access it using Windows Remote Desktop and needed to remove RealVNC from the system to use it. xRDP used a regular screen resolution that wasn’t a pixelated mess and presented it somewhat nicer than RealVNC.

Will update with another post when my hardware that I ordered from Amazon comes in. Just by the way, it’s an AmazonBasics 10ft HDMI cable, and a wireless keyboard and mouse combo.

[azzieblogs]

Jane the Virgin season 2

Just finished season 2 of Jane the Virgin.

So apparently, the show got renewed for another season because *spoiler* Jane is still a virgin on the wedding episode. The wedding happens, and basically, there was a standard plot twist. The fiance/detective discovers something wrong by mistake, fiance/detective gets shot, lesbian women finds old, dead, murderous lover who was impersonating her new lover, an investigator.

To be honest, I am just watching the show to learn Spanish.

[azzieblogs]

Turning 18

Needs to be done before turning 18:

Earning all requirements of Eagle Scout rank.

Things that need to be done after turning 18: 

Set up PayPal

Apply for credit card

Apply for checking account

Check for a credit report (if there is one, identity was stolen)

I turned 18. Let’s see what I got done so far:

Done! Earning all requirements of Eagle Scout rank.

Done! Set up PayPal

Failed! Apply for credit card

Procrastinated! Apply for checking account

Error! Check for a credit report

More about my credit issues in another post

[azzieblogs]

Pure Genius

This was a good show while it lasted. I was flipping channels on TV when the pilot originally aired, in which I started watching it. It is about a tech billionaire who runs an advanced hospital with the best-of-the-best Doctors. They do impressive and impossible stunts with technology that only exists in their hospital.

Unfortunately, not enough people watched the show, and it appears to have been canceled after 13 episodes. They closed up the storyline to end it. Honestly, I watched the last episode without realizing it was a finale until I saw later online that CBS didn’t order any more episodes.

https://simkl.com/tv/586092/pure-genius

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Java Programming on Android

I currently have a Dual Boot setup on my PC. My main OS is Windows 10, and I have RemixOS (Android) installed as a secondary system. 

I have done Java programming before, but have never tried doing it on Android. For this semester, I will be attempting to use RemixOS (Android) for all the Java projects. I have no idea if it will be efficient or not, but that is the key.

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Black-ish

An African American man living with the whitest people on earth… his own family.

More coming when I finish season 1.

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Goodbye, Ubuntu (Story)

So I had a dual-boot setup with Windows 10 as my main OS and Ubuntu 14.04 as my backup. Previously, a Windows 7 update failed with a boot loop and I was stranded with no time to find a way to fix it. Ubuntu was a great help for the time. I learned a lot about Linux, and it booted really fast. 

I tried to install Windows 10 technical preview, and it failed. Got stuck at a boot logo. Later, I tried installing Windows 7 and 8.1, both got stuck at the boot logos. I found it unusual that even Windows 7 failed, because the PC came with Windows 7 installed.

But then I finally had the time to look at the virtual recovery disk and it had a pure Windows 7 install optimized for my machine in a Wim format. I had Hiren’s Boot CD which had an app to process Wim files and install them to disk. It was a success, and the best part is, I didn’t have to install the crapware that was on the partition (those were in a separate file, possible a .wim file).

The reason why I finally got around to fixing the Window 7 partition was because I was trying to get it ready for Windows 10. The Windows 10 technical preview (as it was called at the time) didn’t work. It would always get stuck at a logo. After I got Windows 7 working, I transferred all my Ubuntu files to that partition and shrunk the Ubuntu partition to the minimum. I set the GRUB bootloader to load Windows by default, and basically rarely/never touched the Ubuntu install again.

At the time, Microsoft was notifying users to approve the upcoming Windows 10 update ahead of time. I wasn’t getting that notification and kept running Windows update until I had all of the latest updates. I tried all the tricks and couldn’t get it to show. Eventually, I decided I would let it show on its own, which it did. Likely, Microsoft didn’t roll it out to my region at the time.

Previously, I mentioned the technical preview didn’t work. I tried again, multiple times and versions, all getting stuck at the boot logo. I thought, maybe it will be fixed by the time Microsoft rolls out the “RTM” 10240 build.

Guess what? On release day, I tried everything, it refused to accept the fact that it should be downloading something. What I did instead was the Windows Media Creation Tool to try to get it updated. It failed, both times. Boot logo.

I finally realized that the problem was that I had an older BIOS and it needed to be updated. I went into Windows 7 one last time, downloaded a BIOS update from the Lenovo website.

Then I successfully updated to Windows 10!

Today - I have had Ubuntu available, rarely/never using it. I finally got around to “fixing” the Master Boot Record using Windows to skip the ugly GRUB and go to the Windows bootloader. I deleted the partitions using Windows, and installed System Rescue CD to a USB because I knew it had GParted (partition tool). I booted the USB, entered “startx” at the terminal (remembered that Linux trick to get into the GUI), opened GParted, and made my Windows Partition bigger from the free space from the old partitions.

Next story: I transition myself from TrueCrypt 7.1a

[azzieblogs]

James Mattis

Be a good Secretary of Defense, we need strong forces.

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White House Press Briefing 1/24/2017

So it appears that the new President is actually being productive.

Plenty of talk about the environment, voter fraud, energy, voter fraud, pipelines, taxpaying workers, and of course... voter fraud.

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President Trump Joint Press Conference with UK Prime Minister

Good to know, US and UK have good hopes. This was a short conference but it is good to know that we want to have good ties with the United Kingdom. Mostly irrelevant topics were referenced (Mexico, for example), but Brexit was talked about. 

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White House Press Briefing 1/23/2017

I watched this a few days ago and didn’t remember to post about it on Tumblr.

Off to a start, the White House has its first briefing since Donald Trump has been sworn in. People were unsure if Sean Spicer was going to be as popular as Josh Earnest. He promises to the public to be as truthful as possible, to the best of his ability. Hopefully, he will keep that promise to the public.

Mostly, it is a bunch of annoying questions about the promises Donald Trump has made and if they will be kept, and also a question about the total viewers of the inauguration. Since it’s the first business day of the presidency, they are kicking off to a start.

[azzieblogs]

A Series of Unfortunate Events

I never read the books. Not likely gonna happen. However, the new Netflix show starring Neil Patrick Harris was something I had on my calendar for January 13th. As I type this, I realize, the release date was an easter egg (the number 13). 

The show was okay, with unusual satire that I am not particularly used to. They might be typing on typewriters and driving ancient cars while talking about credit cards and cell phones. The acting is menial for the children (a good resumé though) and the side-characters, but Neil Patrick Harris and Patrick Warburton do an excellent job at portraying this unusual story.

Season 1 tells the first four stories of the 13 book series (notice the 13), each story in two 50 minute episodes. Netflix has renewed it for a second season to tell the next five stories (and presumably renew it again for the last four). Honestly, I feel like they should have just made it a single season and released it in portions (say one story each month, on the 13th), or like The Ranch, where the first 10 episodes were released, and an additional 10 episodes were released half a year later. Generally, Netflix releases 13 episodes per season, and some examples include shows like Marvel’s Daredevil and Orange is the New Black.

https://simkl.com/tv/622640/a-series-of-unfortunate-events