Housekeeping

tahanson43206 · 2023-09-09 08:35:36

For SpaceNut ....

The weekend arrived, and with any luck, you may have time to report on developments in New Hampshire, or anywhere your interests may take you.

kbd512 advised you to do nothing about your furnace. I recommend removing the old furnace, as a first step toward finding a way to heat the house this winter. So far, kbd512 appears to be winning the advocacy race.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2023-09-09 17:12:26

It's been plenty hot here for sure, had quite the storm to drive in last night from work where I had never seen so much lightening. Had one so close that it flashed, and the sound was immediate seeing the ground where it struck send up debris. For sure that was too close for comfort.

Still battling the overheating of the forester 2.5-liter engine and while I am not able to break the engine down to rebuild it, I am making it survive. Of course, every time I get some cash saved for the repair it's got to go elsewhere within the family.

So far, the furnace is taking a back seat to replacement or repairs.

tahanson43206 · 2023-09-09 17:31:46

For SpaceNut re #3102

Thanks for the update on challenges in New Hampshire!

***
Best wishes for resolution of all those items!

***
We ** just ** received some encouragement that someone at North Houston NSS might be interested in GW Johnson's course. Please keep thinking about how you might like to promote the course to the Mars Society, if there seems to be some interest outside the small group who are currently aware of it.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2023-09-10 16:55:45

Yes, I have been keeping up on the posts for the GW topic even if I have nothing that I can add to them.

tahanson43206 · 2023-09-10 22:33:06

For SpaceNut re #3104 ...

Thanks for keeping an eye on things, and in particular, developments for GW Johnson's course.

I have asked GW Johnson to provide me with text he would like to see included in a Press Release about the course.

My tentative plan is to give the material that GW Johnson provides to ChatGPT, and ask it to make a Press Release suitable for the Mars Society.

When we have something for you to review I'll post it in the forum. At that time, I am hoping you will have the time you need to evaluate the proposed Press Release to be sure you can support it before I submit it to the Mars Society for their review.

We need to get the word out about the course, because we need live students and instructures to help Dr. Johnson to fine tune the class. I believe it is capable of preparing a student to advance to training/education on how to use the sophisticated software that performs actual navigation computations for complex flights around the Solar System.

The current Japanese Lunar Landing probe flight is an example of the state-of-the-art navigation. In one of the recent posts in the forum, a member showed us an image of the complex flight path that uses several fly-by maneuvers (past the Moon and Earth) to reach the Moon with minimal expenditure of propellant. That leaves the maximum amount of propellant for the landing.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2023-09-25 17:55:44

The daily report of Posts contributed by forum members crossed 214000 today, so I ran a scan over the last 1000 posts. The preliminary results seem to indicate there were no potholes at all, which is good to see. I'll double check.

Double check revealed no potholes! Yay!

(th)

Steve Stewart · 2023-09-26 12:18:15

If anyone is wanting to check the Email function, feel free to send me an Email with the words "Email Test". I'll respond here that I received the Email.

tahanson43206 · 2023-09-26 12:27:20

For Steve Stewart ... re Post # 3107 and Generous offer!

Thank you for offering to participate in the problem resolution. Our webmaster is buried in in End of Year responsibilities for his employer, and in any case this is probably NOT our problem. We see in our forum logs that the email processing is going normally, which would imply that emails are being sent to the input queue of the dreamhost facility. What we have no way of knowing is what happens after that. By studying the detail of an email (posted in the email outreach topic recently) I noticed that Yahoo appears to be involved.

I'll add your login name to the daily test file.

Thanks!

PS .... I was about to write you to (at least try to) encourage you to consider loading Zoom onto your laptop. If you are running Windows the installation is fairly smooth. Installation on Linux (which I use) is a bit more difficult, as (of course) is as it should be with Linux. I have friends with Macs who tell me installation is smooth as silk.

We only have a few days to prepare images for RobertDyck's talk, and there are some details to be worked out, which would be quickly dealt with over Zoom.

I can set up the Zoom while we still have it, at any time that works for you, as long as you give me some advance notice to arrange my schedule.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2023-09-27 19:59:38

Sorry that I have been absent from conversation, but I have had vehicle problems that have taken my time to resolve with knowing a pending federal shutdown loaming. As the Subaru heads have finally failed after the coolant sensor was reading air and not coolant as it had passed through the point of no return.
I have an option of a 2004 Volvo station wagon, rebuilding/ replacing once an engine is found, of course there is another 2006 that would need parts to clear salvage title back to fit for use and more but we will go with the 2004 volvo and hope its stay working without issues.

NewMarsMember · 2023-09-27 21:14:52

For SpaceNut re #3109

Sorry to hear of the transportation problems and of worries about the possible shutdown!

You sure gave that Suburu a chance to survive but it wasn't meant to be, apparently.

It would be interesting to see a comparison of all the money you've spent trying to keep old vehicles running, as compared to simply leasing a new one, or a newer one, since I'm pretty sure that is an option in today's market.

I have no way of know how the numbers would turn out, but the aggravation must have ** some ** value.

***
Since we're in Housekeeping, I'll mention that I've been trying to port my email outreach procedure to a more modern computer than the Windows Xp where it runs now. Newer OS and browsers are giving me fits, due to all the protections built in to prevent hacker attacks. They are blocking me from reading the Address bar, which is a real setback. I can get to the address bar just fine, and when I ask for the contents I come up empty no matter what I try. The OS can (obviously) tell the difference between a human entering Ctrl/c at the keyboard, and an automated process doing the same thing. I suppose I should be grateful the hackers are being blocked, but it sure is annoying.

(th)

Last edited by NewMarsMember (2023-09-27 21:19:21)

tahanson43206 · 2023-09-28 11:05:35

For the record:

Inquiry for assistance sent to Dreamhost via their contact form..

Our webmaster has checked our fluxbb logs, and it appears we are sending our email out requests to the dreamhost server without problems. However, as the Junior Moderator responsible for email contact with our members, I am seeing lost traffic since the crash that occurred a month or two ago (July 2023). We are running an older copy of FluxBB, and we are planning to upgrade to phpBB. However, in the meantime, we need reliable service so our members can communicate among themselves. In addition, I am running an outreach campaign, in which I send a short email to one of our 1000+ members, inviting them to return to the forum. Since the crash in July, I am seeing unreliable service. On some days, no emails get through at all. On no days have all the test messages come through. The Executive Director of Mars Society is James Burk. Please do not bother Mr. Burk with this. Mr. Burk is right in the middle of preparing for the annual Mars Society convention. I am happy to serve as a point of contact for NewMars. (th) tahanson43206

Reply received:

Hello Tom,
Thank you for contacting DreamHost Support! My name is Jamie and I will
be happy to help.
I was able to locate the account and will need to escalate you to our
Account Verification team for further assistance as you are not an
authorized point of contact.
Thank you for your patience as a representative will follow up with you
as soon as possible.
Best,
Jamie

Update later:

Hello,
Your inquiry has been moved to the queue of a specific tech support team member (this is either because they are already familiar with your case or are the best equipped to assist you with this specific issue). They will respond to you as quickly as they can but depending on the complexity of the issue it may take longer than normal for them to get back to you (even in excess of 24 hours in some cases).
Thanks!
The DreamHost Ticket Moving Robot!

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2023-09-29 06:35:49

We have this helpful reply from Dreamhost ...

Hello!
Thanks for writing to DreamHost support. I'm sorry to read the trouble
with email issues. Unfortunately, as you are writing from an email
address that is not associated with an authorized user on the account in
question, I am unable to provide you with any account
specific-information. Still, I am hopeful that we can help you, but we
must involve the account holder in the process before proceeding further.
As a courtesy I have reached out to the account owner on your behalf but
I must point out that we are unable to compel them to reply should they
choose not to do so.
I appreciate your understanding of our obligation to protect the privacy
and integrity of our customers' accounts. Additionally, if another user
(other than the primary account user) needs to contact support for
account-related inquiries, an Account Privilege user can be created so
that support can provide assistance. Account Privileges -
https://help.dreamhost.com/hc/en-us/art … s-overview
Thanks
John L

My impression of Customer Service provided by Dreamhost is positive.

The protections built into their structure seem appropriate, so the reported problem will not be addressed immediately, but it seems to me we are on a path that will ultimately lead to problem resolution. I am concerned that we not place a burden on Mr. Burk at this time, so am content to wait as long as necessary.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2023-09-30 17:39:03

For SpaceNut ... this post is an attempt to recover from a glitch that occurred in a ChatGPT session on a Chromebook. Somehow during the interaction, I hit a key on this wireless keyboard that caused the graphics to reverse. When I saved the transcript the text collected by Google Docs is not visible. I am hoping that I can download the document on another computer, and hopefully recover the text. ChatGPT(4) worked out an ISP that was quite high, based upon discovery of an Ultra-Centrifuge that spins at 1,000,000 RPM. The highest RPM I had found using Google Search was 100,000 RPM , with one vendor offering 150,000 RPM. One million RPM is hard (for me at least) to believe. I'd be happy with 100,000 RPM if the swing arm is long enough.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cSt … sp=sharing

Update a few minutes later ... the file at the link above ** does ** contain the transcript text. I downloaded the file and saved it as text (without formatting).

I will now attempt to upload it in readable form.

And here is the same file in readable form:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dw3gky0g … 61rl3&dl=0

(th)

Steve Stewart · 2023-10-03 08:23:11

FYI, I have gotten Email's, so the Email is working.
Also, I just saw this on NPR. Since there are 3 of us that need a new furnace, thought I'd mention it.

This Maine home can stay 70 degrees without a furnace, even when it's freezing outside

tahanson43206 · 2023-10-03 09:43:27

For Steve Stewart re #3114

First, thanks for confirming you've received at least one email. The email server is not reliable, but I'll take you off the test send list. The server needs to be able to deliver every email sent without fail, and I currently have no confidence in the email server whatsoever. It is supposed to deliver three test emails to me every day and there are days when it sends none at all. About once a month I receive all three emails. I will not trust the email server until I get all three emails for a week in a row.

Second, thanks for that terrific article about the Passive Heating house... That is something SpaceNut would surely like to have, but he's sunk his investment and we'll be hearing about 50 degree days again next winter. At least SpaceNut will be working for the next 45 days!

In the Mars context, numerous proposals have attempted to direct the dim sunlight into underground living quarters, and a bit of heating would come with that. A wealthy Mars resident might arrange multiple mirrors to accumulate enough photons to approximate Earth level illumination for a few moments every Sol. Most folks will make do with LED lighting, I expect.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2023-10-03 18:20:48

Extra thick walls with more than normal insulation within them. These are commonly known as an Envelope build. Notice the outer wall depth to the window casing...

tahanson43206 · 2023-10-08 19:21:13

For SpaceNut re #3116

I would imagine walls like that would work well in New Hampshire, in the winter ahead.

The idea of staying warm without a furnace is intriguing.

***
For kbd512 and RobertDyck ... the 2023 Mars Society Convention is over ... theoretically we could request use of the Professional Zoom License.

It appears that only the three of us have any interest in the service.

With that in mind, I'm curious to know if either of you are interested in having the Zoom account available.

I'd like to see progress on forum issues, and it seems that the Zoom account helps to move them along.

We have an outstanding email failure issue to deal with. I'm wondering when is the right time to ask for assistance with that.

We have an opportunity to begin preparing for conversion to phpBB. I'd like to see if the little php script that ChatGPT prepared will work. I can start collecting topics if we can prove it works and get it installed.

I'd like to see duplicate systems running in all three of our locations.

Each of us has bits and pieces on hand, to make a working backup site, but we don't have a coordinated procedure in place to help each other with configuration of a backup system.

RobertDyck may be able to resume forward progress on Large Ship.

GW Johnson has another course ready to go up on NewMars, but our attempt to advertise the course on Basic Orbital Mechanics was a fiasco at the Convention.

It is only due to intervention by RobertDyck that we got any fliers in any hands, and I don't actually ** know ** that any fliers were printed and distributed, or if they were, if any were picked up.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2023-10-09 19:57:05

The rain of the last few days meant that the tower for the cell phone tethering to wifi uplink was anything less that emergency calls only, not good...

Have been working on the house to clean up the grounds and building to satisfy code enforcement which had a complaint from the new neighbor.

This bad neighbor also complained that the road drainage ditch was to be cleared by the owner across the street, but little did they know the stone wall marks the toowns property and right of way for the road and ditch.

tahanson43206 · 2023-10-10 18:40:45

For SpaceNut re #3118 and furnace ...

Best wishes for success dealing with this new neighbor. Think of all the good years before this person moved in!

Question .. did you get a chance to read RobertDyck's saga about repairing his furnace?

http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 35#p214635

I bring it up because I understand the budget is tight, but winter is coming. Perhaps there is something in RobertDyck's example that would match up with your situation.

Is there any part of the furnace that still works?

We can't help directly (of course) but we can follow along as you examine the situation, and perhaps offer encouragement or sympathy from time to time.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2023-10-18 17:44:45

Gave images to the town planning code office and seeing the amount of work 1 more month of e-waste removal is all that they need to close the neighbor's complaints.
This will allow for the breakdown of items to circuit board, plastic and metals so that I can remove some of the cost to turn them in to the dump.
Also noted in the poverty topic how the value of the property continues to rise even when nothing is done to it......

tahanson43206 · 2023-10-18 18:05:13

For SpaceNut ...

Nice to see you back on the board, and all the posts you've added to a variety of topics.

Glad to see you're making progress in cleaning up after the complaints by your new neighbor.

Hoping to hear you're able to do something about the furnace while you're in the mood.

Winter's coming, and 50 degrees in the house may be better than outside, but with a bit of effort, and a bit of luck, you might be able to bring it up to 55.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2023-10-21 09:22:15

For SpaceNut re Email Outreach Campaign ...

For some time, I've been attempting to move Web Browser Automation to run on Windows 10 ... The anti-Hacker measures put into place in modern browsers as well as other changes to browsers (such as increased use of artificial intelligence to monitor activity) have resulted in failure of the original version of WBA.

WBA still runs reliably on Windows XP, but I wanted to be able to take advantage of some of the capabilities now available.

You will be receiving your confirmation copy of the Email Outreach email, with a new UTC time stamp at the top.

The presentation is still a bit on the crude side, but it is there in the first line of the message.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2023-10-21 16:38:37

I did receive an emailer for the 10/19 and for 10/22 from newmars.

tahanson43206 · 2023-10-21 17:51:03

For SpaceNut re #3123 ...

Thanks for confirming you received the email for the 19th and the 22nd.

I'm trying to get back on schedule, to do one candidate per day.

did you happen to notice the new Time report in the experimental Windows 10 sends?

I'm not sure if you received any of those. If you get one, it will have the UTC time report in the first line.

I'm running into surprising timing issues with Windows 10, and am having to adapt the program to deal with them.

Part of the complication is that I am now calling two web sites in the same script, so I suspect ** that ** is causing timing issues.

I'll keep using the XP system until the Windows 10 version is more reliable.

***
Any progress on your furnace project? Winter's on it's way! We got our first freeze warning here, but I think it is for locations well away from the city.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2023-10-23 06:51:48

This is primarily for SpaceNut, but it is also potentially of interest to the three other Admins, and to any member of the forum who is interested in ongoing efforts to upgrade the software that together provide the reliable functionality we enjoy.

Last night, kbd512 outlined his (tentative but solid) plan for (very carefully) making changes to the existing FluxBB package, to bring it closer to modern standards. The forum software is currently running in a conditional state. The old features that are no longer supported are being allowed for now, and (hopefully) for as long as we need them.

kbd512 has found a utility program that allows him to capture the current contents of the 12 tables of the existing database in CSV format. This means the data is captured in a form that can be read by humans. Each element of data is separated from others by a comma.

I asked ChatGPT4 to review the situation, and specifically I asked ChatGPT4 for help in understanding the adjustments that must be made in operation of the restore program. the short answer is that when restoring data, the feature of all databases that enforces sequential insertions must be turned off. After the restore the feature can (and should) be turned back on.

This adjustment is required because there are thousands of potholes in our database tables. I've reported on the number of potholes regularly in this topic, but it appears (with good reason) our members do not read those reports.

Here is a link to an excellent overview prepared by ChatGPT4:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fnD … sp=sharing

I'd appreciate it if anyone wishing to comment will take the time to read the summary by ChatGPT4. I am not interested in seeing comments that are added without reading the document.

The members of this forum have a long history of writing comments based only upon the text in a given post, without taking the time to read the document to which a link points.

I am hoping our members can resist the temptation to follow usual practice in this case.

We want to achieve an intact database at the end of whatever upgrade process we implement.

(th)

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#3101 2023-09-09 08:35:36

Re: Housekeeping

#3102 2023-09-09 17:12:26

Re: Housekeeping

#3103 2023-09-09 17:31:46

Re: Housekeeping

#3104 2023-09-10 16:55:45

Re: Housekeeping

#3105 2023-09-10 22:33:06

Re: Housekeeping

#3106 2023-09-25 17:55:44

Re: Housekeeping

#3107 2023-09-26 12:18:15

Re: Housekeeping

#3108 2023-09-26 12:27:20

Re: Housekeeping

#3109 2023-09-27 19:59:38

Re: Housekeeping

#3110 2023-09-27 21:14:52

Re: Housekeeping

#3111 2023-09-28 11:05:35

Re: Housekeeping

#3112 2023-09-29 06:35:49

Re: Housekeeping

#3113 2023-09-30 17:39:03

Re: Housekeeping

#3114 2023-10-03 08:23:11

Re: Housekeeping

#3115 2023-10-03 09:43:27

Re: Housekeeping

#3116 2023-10-03 18:20:48

Re: Housekeeping

#3117 2023-10-08 19:21:13

Re: Housekeeping

#3118 2023-10-09 19:57:05

Re: Housekeeping

#3119 2023-10-10 18:40:45

Re: Housekeeping

#3120 2023-10-18 17:44:45

Re: Housekeeping

#3121 2023-10-18 18:05:13

Re: Housekeeping

#3122 2023-10-21 09:22:15

Re: Housekeeping

#3123 2023-10-21 16:38:37

Re: Housekeeping

#3124 2023-10-21 17:51:03

Re: Housekeeping

#3125 2023-10-23 06:51:48

Re: Housekeeping

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