An App for That! Plumber's Friend App Saves the World

I'm in the final throes of finishing up my Edgewood Secrets iPhone app. Today I'm beginning the job of submitting it for approval. 

I created Edgewood Secrets as a companion for folks hiking at Edgewood Nature Preserve, here in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. I hike at Edgewood quite regularly and I'm also a wildflower docent there.  In the app, I share stories of different experiences I've had in the preserve, as well as tales I've been told by other folks. 

As great as it is (and I should know!) Edgewood Secrets is a pretty straightforward app. Like most developers, I have plenty of plans for other mobile device creations along similar lines. It's not challenging coming up with ideas for great apps, it's challenging doing the work involved to get those ideas implemented. And despite the typical claims of the folks who create the software development environment I use, the technology isn't easy.

The ideas, however, spin away. I keep lists of course. Yes, I have lists everywhere on my laptop, and iPhone. Most of them are quite practical. It's a matter of getting on with them. Then there are those....hummmm what can I call them? Speciality apps, I guess.

One of my favorite specialty app plans is the Plumber's Friend App (PFA).   Here's the user experience I envision...

Have you ever been brought up short while speeding out the door - your laptop zipped into it's case, your lunch packed in that outside pocket (so the avocodo doesn't mash onto your keyboard),  your teeth (hopefully) brushed, your hair at least looking brushed, and shoes that more or less match on both feet - to the call of "Mom, the toilet's backed up again!". Why oh why, you wonder for the hundred thousandth time, are we stuck with the retro fifties, only-one-bathroom apartment model? (Surely it couldn't be affordability.)

What to do? The metro isn't going to wait while you get out the plunger. And the folks at work aren't going to keep a chair warm for you in the 8:15 meeting. In fact... if you arrive late at that meeting, you're going to get volunteered to put on the Friday night Management Achievement Awards banquet. How fun will that be in addition to getting your already-behind-goal project fully functional before the project status meeting next week?

PFA to the rescue. You simply pull out your iPhone - now which pocket did you put that in? - aim it vaguely at the wall, and with one swipe of your finger you launch the Plumber's Friend App. PFA does it all for your. As you streak along making a beeline for the metro station, you hear from the open window above, that blessed sucking of air, a mighty flush, and the noise of your teenage daughter cheering (I did say this was pure fantasy, right?) as PFA once more saves both the world, and your day.  

I haven't quite identified the foundation kit classes I'm going to need to write this app. Perhaps they haven't quite yet been created. But you can be sure once they're out there, you'll be seeing a new app in the store. 

Do you think I'll be able to charge more than 99 cents for it? 

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Hiking Edgewood http://www.hikingedgewood.blogspot.com/

Yes, many of my fantasy apps are inspired by other great thinkers. Like those of this author....Smithsonian Magazine - There Was an App for That: Apps That Changed the Course of History http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/there-was-an-app-for-that-75586616/?no-ist=

iPhone Apps Development https://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/index.action

A Checkered Past - Edgewood Checker/Chocolate Lily

Fritillaria affinis

Checker or Chocolate

Lily is my beloved

Fritillaria.

Are you more checkered or chocolate? Once the Lamishin people dug your roots and bulbs for supper. But they ate a lot of things I'm glad I don't have to.

I prefer just enjoying your exotic checkery blooms, that I see only occasionally along the Edgewood Nature Preserve's oak woodland trails in the early spring. I'm awfully glad I don't find the need to turn you into fritillary stew.

~ ~ ~
If English isn't your first language. "A checkered past" refers  to people who have done improper things in the past - either unacceptable social behavior or illegal things - but now are somewhat reformed.
~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritillaria_affinis

Edgewood Nature Preserve http://www.friendsofedgewood.org

Dark Side of the Force - Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing can be beautiful. In fact, it's got a touch of classic fantasy sci-fi charm about it. I'm thinking Alderon, before the Death Star (back in the first Star Wars release) blew up the entire planet.

Massive numbers of photos need the human touch.  A volunteer army of citizen scientists peruse these images working to differentiate cancer cells from normal blood and tissue cells. Can't you just see the people of that one-time tiny peaceful planet making similar contributions to those that are being made today in our own world?

Crowdsourcers contribute vital genetic information to Alzheimer research by contributing their own memory and attention test data. Other folks share information that is pooled in a database used by breast and ovarian cancer research. This isn't fantasy. It's reality.

Thousands of volunteers scour detailed satellite photos of the Indian Ocean, helping hugely in the effort to find a missing Malaysian Airlines jet. Crowdsourcing helps rescue workers to both avoid less likely search zones, as well as target areas where they are more likely to be successful. It's not just in movies when people come together in response to the suffering of others.

Other folks are involved in massive translation efforts. The goal of Duolingo is to “… get millions of people worldwide to translate the Internet.” (*). C-3PO himself, couldn't have done better.

People in Santa Cruz – ten percent of the population in fact – pooled their ideas and abilities to eliminate a $9.2 million shortfall for their city. The plans these people made continue raise money for the city and benefit local programs. Several other cities, both large and small, follow these same successful citizen government crowdsourcing patterns. Government of the people isn't a leftover from old time films.

Crowdsourcing sounds like a wonderful dream come true. We’re harnessing the good energy of thousands or even millions of people to create a righteous universe. It's something Star Warrior heroes like Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia would totally get behind. We are talking the power of The Force here!

So what’s not to like about crowdsourcing?

How about the ability to send work offshore to be completed by desperate people earning a dollar or even pennies an hour? The author of the “Digital Sweatshop” Wikipedia page says “…digital sweatshops represent a phenomenon in a recent trend that offers workers and the employers the freedom to accept and request services. However, some believe that completing repetitive tasks for very small amount of money is an act of exploitation, hence the term sweatshop. A notable example is the Amazon Mechanical Turk, a marketplace dedicated to crowdsourcing.”

With Mechanical Turk, amazon has access to an unlimited labor pool that will almost literally work for peanuts, doing basic tasks a machine can’t do, but that doesn’t require skilled human labor. And amazon isn’t the only player in this outsourcing field. Crowdsourcing of cheaply paid labor, has become a huge part of the digital economy. 

Who’s doing the work? Desperate people who’ll do whatever is required to survive. And yes, the potential for slave labor and child labor is there as well. Oh of course it isn’t only these folks. Skilled digital laborers in a number of third world countries are just as determined to make money. It’s not too hard to figure out that a lot of our software development, and tech support have been driven off shore. 

I can hear some funny breathing headed down the hall. Darth Vadar is on the loose. This kind of energy harnessing isn’t drawing Earth’s citizens into a collective sense of accomplishment. Nor is it a righteous universe we’re building here. It’s more like we’re headed straight into a real life sci-fi fantasy world, complete with an evil emperor.  

Do previously well-paid western workers plan to go to battle with their determined competitors in other countries? We all 
need to make a buck, a rupee or a yen. It’s a matter of coming together and figuring out how to we can all earn a decent living. 

Sounds like we need to get busy on some citizen-of-the-world crowdsourcing techniques to kick Lord Vadar and the dark side of The Force right back into fantasy land.

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Thanks to Fantasy Planet Art for making this postings image freely available http://www.mrwallpaper.com/Fantasy-Planet-Art-wallpaper/

3 neat ways to participate in crowdsourced cancer and Alzheimer’s disease research http://medcitynews.com/2013/11/3-ways-participate-crowdsourced-disease-research/

Crowdsourcing volunteers comb satellite photos for Malaysia Airlines jet
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/11/us/malaysia-airlines-plane-crowdsourcing-search/

* Five Ways Crowdsourcing Can Transform the Public Sphere
http://www.governing.com/columns/mgmt-insights/col-government-crowdsourcing-five-models.html

GovFresh – Crowdsourcing Citizen Ideas
http://govfresh.com/2009/11/6-government-sites-crowdsourcing-citizen-ideas/

Wikipedia: Digital Sweatshop discusses not the concept, and also names names of companies who make use of the unlimited workforce of very low cost crowdsourcing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_sweatshop

Amazon’s Mechanical Turk 
http://www.utne.com/science-and-technology/amazon-mechanical-turk-zm0z13jfzlin.aspx#axzz2xlJMsraK

Yerba Santa: Just What the Doctor Ordered? (Hiking Edgewood)

Yerba Santa, the Holy Herb, is once more in bloom,

 at the Edgewood Preserve. 

On the last two docent hikes I led, a lot of folks have been asking my questions about how Yerba Santa was used historically. The following is extracted from a report that I wrote for a CA native plant class. 

Yerba Santa has long been used in traditional medicines by people in California. This information, however, is for interest only. I have no idea if any medical research supports using Yerba Santa in any of this ways, or if the plant is safe to chew, swallow, or apply to your skin.

What do you call it? Well for starters, It's a Hydropyllaceae, a.k.a. That's the Waterleaf family to those in the know.

The plant itself may be called... Eriodictyon californicum Yerba Santa, Mountain balm, Palo Santo, Holy Plant , or Holy Herb . “Yerba Santa” translates from Spanish into English as “Holy Herb’. 

Yerba Santa has been used locally as a medicine, both by pre-contact (native) peoples, and the Spaniards who came after 1769.

It’s scientific name Eriodic'tyon comes from the Greek erion, "wool," and diktuon, "net", because the undersides of some of the leaves have a fuzzy look. The species name simply means it’s found in California.

Physical Description
This plant is an evergreen shrub that grows to about waist height at Edgewood, though it can grow to be 3 meters tall. When Edgewood Yerba Santa begins blooming, preserve visitors on my docent walks take quite an interest in it. They ask me, "Why is it all black like that?". The black part they're asking about is leaves have a faint odor and  are typically infected with a black fungus, Heterosporium. The virus is not thought to hurt the plant, but it makes the leaves look ugly. 

Preferred Habitat
Yerba Santa is a typical chaparral plant. It grows profusely in this preserve on serpentine soil, in colonies that grow from shoots of shared underground roots.

Animal Uses including Human
Butterflies find the nectar of Yerba Santa very attractive.

“Yerba Santa was highly valued by many California tribes including the Salinan, Ohlone, Miwok, Pomo, and Yokuts who continue to use it for various medicinal purposes. The Spanish who came to early California were so impressed with the plant that they gave it the name Yerba Santa, meaning holy plant. Yerba Santa was introduced to the Spanish Padres 
at Mission San Antonio de Padua by the Salinan tribe and it became one of three major medicinal herbs used at the mission. The plants can be harvested at any stage, but are best in the fall when the leaves are sticky and aromatic. 

The Kashaya Pomo recommend gathering the leaves just before the plant begins to produce flowers. The leaves, stems and flowers are used . They are either eaten or made into a tea, decoction, or poultice. The flowers and the bitter, aromatic leaves may be used fresh or dried. The leaves and flowers were made into a “bitter or sweetish-soapy” tasting tea that was drunk to relieve headaches and other symptoms of tuberculosis. 

Infusions of Yerba Santa  leaves and flowers were used to treat fevers, coughs, colds, stomachaches asthma, rheumatism pleurisy, and to purify the blood. The Kawaiisu drank Yerba Santa tea instead of water for a month to treat gonorrhea. The Salinan used an infusion of the leaves as a balm for the eyes. Later, those at the San Antonio mission made eye balm by placing the leaves in corked glass bottles and allowing them to sweat in the sun.

Leaves were smoked or chewed to relieve asthma, coughs, colds, headaches, and stomachaches. Heated leaves were placed on the forehead to relieve headaches and other aches and sores. The sticky leaves conveniently stay in place upon the skin. Mashed leaves were applied externally to sores, cuts, wounds, and aching muscles. Mashed leaves were also used to reduce the swelling and relieve pain caused by bone  fractures . Yerba Santa, used alone or combined with other herbs, was applied to infected 
sores on humans and animals. The branches and leaves were burned in steam baths to treat rheumatism. 

Other Uses
The Ohlone wove the leaves into skirts and aprons. I wonder if they included those pretty purple flowers into the designs :-)

Wildlife: Bees visit the flowers of Yerba Santa, which make a deliciously spicy amber honey. Seedlings and young plants are relatively nutritious and palatable but the bitter compounds in mature Yerba Santa shrubs discourage most large herbivores. However it is an important forage crop for black- tailed deer in the winter when other food sources are unavailable. Birds and small mammals eat the seed capsules.

Livestock: Goats will sometimes eat the leaves and stems. Cattle will avoid Yerba Santa in favor of more palatable plants, which can be a problem in highly grazed areas where it can become the dominant plant. Because of it's nature preserve status there are no longer livestock here, but the Spanish certainly grazed cattle in local meadows.

Yerba Santa can be used for rehabilitating and stabilizing disturbed areas. The seeds germinate readily in disturbed soils. The shallow, spreading root system can help to stabilize areas subject to erosion caused by runoff. 

Three bitcoins in the Fountain

What kind of happily-ever-after is there for the bitcoin?

"Three Coins in the Fountain" was a regular post-war, classic oldie, on late night television when I was growing up. When it's heroines, Frances, Anita, and Maria tossed their lucky coins into the Trevi Fountain, they were wishing for diamond rings. Actually, they were supposed to be wishing to return to Rome, but every popcorn snacker in the 50's theaters knew they were intent on love - the kind of love that ends in marriage. A girl of that time wasn't supposed to have much on her mind other than traditional marriage.

With all that "glorious technicolor",  and the romantic lure of handsome fellas like Louis Jourdan and Rossano Brazzi (yes, the ultra-suave Emile De Becque in South Pacific), viewers 
just knew any coin - whether it was American quarter or a five lire piece - that got pitched into that much-visited Roman landmark 
was a guarantee of a happily-ever-after ending.

Not so much with todays not-quite-mainstream bitcoin. 

With twelve and a half million bitcoins in circulation, however, we've come to a point where it's not just a select group of digital know-it-all, hacker types controlling this crytopcurrency. Nowadays, the IRS and Wall Street are taking an interest. The IRS has issued tax guidelines for virtual currencies. Agencies in other countries are making similar moves. Banks and speculators are investing in Bitcoins*.

Oh and various criminal types are focusing on bitcoin transactions as well. Gotten in on any good Ponzi schemes lately? Ponzi masters are only one style of robber barons misusing Bitcoin technology. Who knows what other trolls are hanging out under bridges, persuing bitcoins on the dark side of the web.

Government agencies, financial mavens, and calculating criminals are all interested in getting, keeping and enhancing the value of Bitcoins. Well we all know who comes next. Yup, us regular folks just may be thinking about slipping bitcoins into our virtual wallets any day now. I'm starting to get a vision....

There I am, hopping up on the elliptical at the gym, strapping on my Oculus glasses for that virtual ride through Disneyland, an experience that's bound to keep me entertained while I pedal the virtual miles away. Just up ahead is Snow White's wishing well. 

I'd really love to see the monthly sales figures go up on My Heart Beats Faster  ebook at amazon.  What could be a better investment in my sales futures than a Disneyland wish?

Is my digital bitcoin, like it's more traditional 1954 cousin,  going to guarantee me my own happy ever after ? Let me just reach  on down into that digital wallet.....

* Note the capital "B" - which 

refers to the technology and management of the currency, versus 'bitcoin' - the actual currency.

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Three Coins in the Fountain - The movie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Coins_in_the_Fountain_(film)

What's a bitcoin? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

San Francisco Chronicle Bitcoin Politics and Business Changes http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Bitcoin-supporters-clash-over-ideological-5360314.php

Facebook and Oculus - What about those 3D glasses? http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_25426490/biz-break:-harsh-reality-for-facebook-after-2b-oculus-acquisition

What's Crytopcurrency? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency

Where might digital trolls hang out? Dark Web/ Deep Web - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_web

Hiking Edgewood:Western Bluebird Succeeds

 Before the 1940's, Western Bluebirds were a common sight in places like Edgewood .

After WWII, large-scale building development seriously impacted the ability of these avians to reproduce. Back in the 1960's and 1970's, it was rare to spot a bluebird around here.

 In the 1970's people across the western United States, began efforts to bring bluebirds back. Edgewood is one of a number of places where nesting boxes help this effort. There are currently twenty three nesting boxes for Western Bluebirds in the area of Edgewood Preserve. Bluebirds nests are monitored by Friends of Edgewood volunteers in conjunction with the Sequoia Audobon Society. In 2013, 77 baby bluebirds were born in nests their parents built in park bluebird boxes. 

~ ~ ~

 Wikipedia: Western Bluebird - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Bluebird 

       

      

Ench By Sew-018 Boning Up on Bustiers: Part 1

I printed a bunch of this image
on postcard stock to make
bookmark/luggage tags I
slipped in big bags and pattern bags
associated with this project

Hey! 
The latest Enchanted by Sewing Podcast has been published!

Two Ways to Listen
Option I)You can listen to the show right on the web by clicking on this link 

~ OR ~
Option ii)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes
Did I miss any links mentioned in the show? If so, please post here and let me know, or else email me EnchantedBySewing AT gmail DOT com
~ ~ ~

A bustier is an alluring garment, one many women would like to wear - if they dare. When I began to notice that women of all shapes, sizes and ages sewed and wore their bustiers with pleasure and pride, I decided to take a chance and learn to sew this very structured garment, that can be designed to flatter a wide variety of figure types.

- FIRST What is a bustier? It's not a corset, for one thing.

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/01/bustiers-not-corset-plus-free-printable.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bustier

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_(clothing)
 • A soft torsolette is a bandeau
• A long torsolette is a corselette

   Class I’m taking is from Lynda Maynard, an instructor at Cañada College, San Francisco City College and also an instructor at Craftsy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEb9bypLWqE

Lynda’s “Fit” Class on Craftsy, which I plan to take.
http://www.craftsy.com/class/sew-the-perfect-fit/173

This posting I wrote for Me Encanta Coser, includes a number of links to
other bustier posts I wrote about this project, in the Web Resources section
http://www.meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/02/bustiers-excuse-me-arent-those-your.html

- NEXT Pensimientos Primero:  Who might wear a bustier? Who do I want to create one?
- ENTONCES/THEN Where I am,  in the process of creating one. How long it’s taking me
-
- FOLLOWED BY Technicos: Cut, Cloth, Construction

o CUT Pattern Selection and Alteration
• Simplicity 5006 http://www.meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/01/bustier-class-pattern.html
• Can’t skip the muslin stage
• Fit  No 1 the pattern
• The squish factor – add one inch, ¼ inch up from waistline to new pattern
• New paper I’ve found  for pattern paper – not tissue now but artists tracing paper. Mostly Transparant .
          Not Tissue. Kind of like waxed paper. I use it with a soft lead pencil (#1?) – also an artist supply.
• Staedtler Artists/Draftsperson’s Sketch Paper Rolls,
    Also found a brand by Bee

 o Cloth – 4 kinds of fabric, some choices – definite types, NO WOVENS
 o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coutil

• Review warp and weft
• Why warp and weft are especially important for Bustiers
• Stay stich – Why not just skip it?
• The layers
• What each layer is
• Why certain fabrics are important
coutil/coutille
Use all WOVEN NO KNITS

1) Lining (bottom layer) must be super soft on your skin comfortable. You don't wear with an undergarment
My Lining is vintage Liberty of London Tana Lawn http://www.meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/02/bustiers-excuse-me-arent-those-your.html
I love Tana Lawn so much, I have a Pinterest Board just for that ! http://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/gorgeous-fabric-liberty-of-london/

Lynda Maynard likes silk charmeuse for lining bustiers

2) Coutil provides support for boning
• Where to buy coutil

o Richard the Thread - Mail Order. Our fabric came really fast
Rumors - Minimum order 5 yards? Will they sell you less if you call?
o Brittex - Field Trip To Brittext http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2013/05/sir-douglas-of-brittex-san-francisco.html
o Lacis -  Field Trip to Lacis http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/03/field-trip-lacis-field-berkley-ca.html

3) 100% cotton flannel protects against bones pushing through to top layer
4) Fashion Fabric (top layer). What people see. Denim for me! Duchesses Satin?
Silk Dupioni? Men's Wear Woolen? Find the perfect fabric.

One of these images I"ve pinned on Pinterest may give you ideas for that perfect fabric
http://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/sewingbustiersinspiration/

o Construction
Dem Bones Gonna Walk Around - Focus on Boning
Thanks to my study partner "Dave" for providing the music :-)
NEXT MONTH I will summarize construction more

o PENSAMIENTOS FINALES/FINAL THOUGHTS
- Completion and goal setting tie in with other non-sewing projects
- Less temptation to stray :-)
- The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter  by Susan Wittig Albert
http://www.cottagetales.com/index.shtml
"Many a little makes a mickle, many a mickle makes a mile"