Copy of Facebook post.

In the stone age, before Facebook, when I wanted to share something, I would send it via email. In fact, I still have different mailing lists set up in gmail for sending out different kinds of content.

So what then is the value of Facebook? There is no guarantee that when you post something on Facebook that people are going to see it. I have read that maybe only 20% of posts are visible to people because there are too many posts, and Facebook itself tries to figure out which ones you might want to see.

The first thing that Facebook has done for me is that it is allowed me to connect with people that I would have otherwise had no idea how to contact. It turns out that the friends of my friends are also my friends or at least people that I would like to stay in touch with. And Facebook allows you to search for people. I created my account all the back in 2008, but rarely used it until certain people found me on Facebook.

The second thing that Facebook has done for me is that it is pretty darn entertaining. Not a day goes by that I don't see several things on Facebook that are amusing. Sometimes it is informative, but usually not, so Facebook is not how I get my news.

This also makes Facebook time consuming. It is interesting to see how many people have their face buried in their phones looking at Facebook. For many people, Facebook is the Internet.

Facebook is also a weird form of social interaction.

So I have spent much time on Facebook. In the last three years it has become an integral part of my life, whereas before it meant very little to me.

I am contemplating deleting my Facebook account for a week to six months. It would be interesting to see what life is like without Facebook. Go dark. This would save a bunch of time and make it easier to focus on other things. However, maybe I can no longer live without Facebook. It is almost a certainty that I will come back.

Youtube has also become a form of social interaction. It is interactive in a different way, where you subscribe to channels of things that interest you, and then people exchange comments on the videos posted to those channels. Plus, if you are ambitious enough, you can make your own videos. I am as much hooked on Youtube as I am Facebook.

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Decent result in USCF Online rated blitz tournament.

​I got a draw against one higher rated player and lost to a master.  My
chess.com rating went from around 1784 to 1800.  Lately I had some
trouble staying above 1800 on chess.com.

Although it is not like I won the tournament, but given the
competition I was just happy just to place 3rd.

--
Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

My Facebook post from 2 years ago.

If you want to install Windows 7 on pre-2012 Mac computer, then the
only way to do it is with a bootable DVD using the internal DVD drive.
Never mind running to store to purchase the flash drive that all the
instructions and Bootcamp tell you to use. It doesn't work. Neither
does an external DVD drive. If you want to make a bootable DVD from an
ISO, then your best bet is a Windows 7+ PC using the Windows USB-DVD
download tool. Not using the tool will fail. Also, Windows XP is
apparently not 64 bit enough to burn the disk successfully, and the
ISO I burned from the Mac didn't seem to work. Fortunately I had a
Windows 10 laptop. And as far as that internal DVD drive is concerned,
if yours never worked right from the time you bought the Mac (like
mine), or currently doesn't work right, then you are out of luck. I
just had a repair shop order me a new one.

I should add that if Bootcamp refuses to remove XP from your Mac, and
then tells you to boot up in recovery mode to remove the partition,
that this is an easy way to turn your Mac into a very big paperweight.
Likewise if something goes wrong with the bootcamp install, your Mac
may refuse to boot. If this happens to you, don't panic like I did and
spend $65 at a repair shop to get your operating system reinstalled
back to factory settings. It turns out that if you hold ALT (Option)
key on boot up that you get to a boot menu where you can get back to
your operating system.

The only reason I bought a Mac in 2010 was so that I could write
iPhone Apps. Otherwise, I can't see why anyone would want to own one.
The 27 inch iMac is a very beautiful overpriced computer with a pretty
operating system, but I find that operating system clunky and
restrictive to use. Also, I am too dependent on Windows to not have
that as well.

Hello, I'm a PC.

--
Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Garrison

I occasionally listen to old episodes of Greg Garrison, who has retired.

I especially liked this episode.

https://soundcloud.com/93wibc/garrison5-23-final-1

Galaxy Song - Monty Python Live in O2 Arena.

I was going to write a Facebook post about how absurd it all seems to
me, that we live on a big rock, rotating at 1037 miles an hour (less
as you move away from the equator), going around the Sun at 67,000
MPH, and moving around the galaxy at unfathomable speed, and all of
this is like a grain of sand on the beach of an immense cosmic ocean
that is forever expanding at an ever accelerating rate.

However, this video expresses it much better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqBThWK8rqE

Star Trek

Around 1989 I was having lunch with coworkers when one person asked what seemed at the time to be a reasonable question, "How does the computer on Star Trek know everything?", like maybe that would be impossible.  

Best wishes,

John Coffey

Intermittent fasting

A friend introduced me to an idea called "Intermittent Fasting." There are different kinds of intermittent fasting, but the easiest is one where all your meals are contained within an 8 hour window. Actually I am using a 9 hour window which is fine. Even a 10 hour window is okay, but maybe not as effective.

To do this, I skip breakfast, eat a good lunch somewhere between noon and one, and the last thing I eat is around 9 PM. That's later than most people, but I keep a pretty late schedule.

I still count calories to the best that I am able. I figured out a long time ago roughly how many calories I need to maintain my body weight, and if I eat slightly less than that then I lose weight slowly without going hungry.

Anyhow, using the 9 hour window seems to be more effective, and I am losing weight, although somewhat slowly.

The point of intermittent fasting is to have more time in the day when your body is not producing insulin. Insulin is the fat storage hormone, and gets secreted pretty much after you eat anything, but especially carbohydrates.  When your body is not producing insulin, that signals your body to use up your fat storage.

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

​P.S.  Also see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llwwKkuy5gI​

chess

I have been physically and mentally off since the state chess championship.   I've had some problems sleeping, but mostly last week. 

​My family

 and I ate Chinese buffet in Columbus on Saturday, which I normally love and it was our third time that week, but I then had diarrhea for 

​4​

days

​.  I'm still feel off and borderline sick.​

My results in the State Championship were good, and just slightly better than I would have expected.  I nearly lost to a 13 year old prodigy who was rated almost as high as me, but my experience enabled me to get a draw.  I also had trouble with another teenager, but my experience allowed me to barely squeeze out a win.  I also beat a chess master and former state champion.

I feel like age is a factor in playing in these long tournaments.   I took a bye in round 4, which you are allowed to do, because I thought that five games of four hours each would be too much in one weekend.  Against the current state champion, I was holding my own, but lost some of my focus about 3 hours into it and lost.  I enjoyed the tournament, but it was so long and so hard that it was also an ordeal.  I told my friends that it would be better for me to play shorter tournaments.

Apparently I have experienced some chess burnout after the tournament.  I have spent 20 months studying chess trying to get as good as I can and only got minimal improvement for my investment of time.  I normally take great enjoyment in going to the chess clubs, and to some extent playing online, but these last few days I felt like I was just going through the motions.  I lacked focus, which for me is normally pretty intense.

I wondered if I was experiencing some sort of personality change, because I wasn't feeling the same level of joy playing this game that I normally would?  Normally I really enjoy playing, but not so much this last week.

I think what is really happening is that I have developed an interest in writing computer code again, and this has been very much in my thoughts.  So my interests are shifting to writing computer code.  I don't want to abandon chess, but for the moment I don't want to give it the same level of intensity.

Best wishes,

​John Coffey​

I was a big fan of the Atari ST and wrote a videogame for it.

The Last Stand of Jack Tramiel: The Atari ST vs The Commodore Amiga

In the mid1980's we saw a ton of small computer makers that would quickly fall by the wayside.  Atari and Commodore were fairly large, but ultimately lost to more mainstream computers.

Solving Traffic

Got into some serious traffic problems in Greenwood today, including passing an accident that slowed traffic to a crawl.

There is a Diverging Diamond Interchange in Greenwood close to where I live.  I like it, and and I like Traffic Circles (roundabouts) because they are more efficient.

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4PW66_g6XA​

I saw Ramp Meters in Salt Lake City and Chicago, and I always hated them because they make you wait to get on the highway, but perhaps they help traffic.

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Leap PQ-9907

Somebody at the Columbus Chess Club has this little chess clock, and said that they only paid $18 for it.  For $18, I think that it is pretty terrific.

https://www.amazon.com/Compact-Digital-Chess-Clock-LEAP/dp/B00NIFO8FM/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_201_lp_img_2

Less than $15 on ebay:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/232118763370

Wholesale chess has their own version of this clock which costs more:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHgneZ-7GY8 

The clock has a low profile, which means that it is not as tall as most chess clocks.  It is also a little smaller than average.  For me, with a bad, and recently often painful shoulder, it took a little extra effort to hit the button.  I had to reach ever so slightly further, but my shoulder noticed the difference.  I don't think that it is noticeable for anybody else.

The clock has options for both increment and delay, but according to the manual you cannot use both at the same time, which is no big deal.  It also has a count up mode. 

The clock is really easy to set.    I thought it was easier to learn how to set the clock by just experimenting with it, than it was to read the slightly confusing English/Chinese manual.  The clock only remembers the last time control you set.  This is not as a big of deal as it sounds, because it is pretty easy to change the time control.  You reset the clock by turning it off and on.

The clock only supports one time control.  If you had more than one time control with the same level of increment or delay, then maybe you could use the count up mode, or for something like 40/2 d5 followed by G/60 d5 you could set the time to 3 hours.

At this price it was for me a no brainer to order one.  The clock appears to be well made made enough, although a little on the cheap side, naturally.  However, even if it wears out in a year, I still will have gotten my money's worth.

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

21 Photos Only Baby Boomers Will Understand

​Although these photos are from the 1950's, midwest small towns in the 1960's weren't all that different. https://www.pinterest.com/archive_project/21-photos-only-baby-boomers-will-understand/​

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

I would disagree.

Response to someone studying "education equality" in college.

Took my last college course almost 30 years ago, so I may not understand the nuances of modern education, but equality sounds to me like a liberal buzz word.  The reason a person goes to school, gets good grades, and then works hard, as I did for 30 years, is to produce inequality, i.e. Get ahead.  My take is that people worried about equality are the ones who didn't work as hard.  However, I understand that there is this concern over inherent unfairness, but this is mostly a false narrative.  There is, and has been for some time, ample opportunity for people to get an education.  We educate too many, because 40% of graduates have to take jobs that don't require a degree.  And despite those who try to stir racial tension in order to divide us, race relations are better than they have ever been. 

Best wishes,

John Coffey

1st place in online speed tournament.

Against tougher competition, I wouldn't have expected to come in first, and would have been pleased with 3rd place, but I scored 3 upsets to come in first in the USCF Online rated Chess.com speed tournament.

​First, I beat a National Master, who was the top player.

​[Event "Live Chess"]

[Site "Chess.com"]

[Date "2017.09.06"]

[Round "?"]

[White "john2001plus"]

[Black "Dare-Dare"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "A04"]

[WhiteElo "1777"]

[BlackElo "2135"]

[Annotator "Coffey,John"]

[PlyCount "91"]

[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

[TimeControl "180+2"]

1. Nf3 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Ng5 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. Nxe4 e5 6. Nbc3 Bb4 7. Bd2 O-O 8.

Be2 d5 9. Nxf6+ Rxf6 10. O-O Nc6 11. a3 Bxc3 12. Bxc3 Bf5 13. Bg4 Qd6 14. Re1

Raf8 15. Bf3 Be6 16. Qe2 d4 17. Bd2 Bd5 18. Bxd5+ Qxd5 19. f3 Qd6 20. c4 Rf5

21. b4 Nd8 22. b5 R8f7 23. Bb4 Qg6 24. Qe4 Qg5 25. Qd5 Rxf3 26. Rxe5 c6 27.

Rxg5 cxd5 28. Rxd5 Rxd3 29. Rxd8+ Kh7 30. Rf1 Rc7 31. c5 b6 32. c6 a6 33. Rd7

Rc8 34. a4 axb5 35. axb5 Rb3 36. Be7 Rxb5 37. Bf6 Rg8 38. Bxd4 Kh8 39. Rff7

Rb1+ 40. Kf2 Rb4 41. Rxg7 Rxg7 42. Bxg7+ Kg8 43. c7 Rc4 44. Rd8+ Kxg7 45. c8=Q

Rf4+ 46. Kg3 1-0

Then I beat Mohamed Elshazy, who is a local FIDE member.

[Event "Live Chess"]

[Site "Chess.com"]

[Date "2017.09.06"]

[Round "?"]

[White "Coupra"]

[Black "john2001plus"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "A46"]

[WhiteElo "1977"]

[BlackElo "1794"]

[Annotator "Coffey,John"]

[PlyCount "68"]

[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

[TimeControl "180+2"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 cxd4 5. exd4 Qb6 6. b3 Nc6 7. c3 d5 8. Bd3

Bd7 9. O-O Rc8 10. Nbd2 Be7 11. Re1 O-O 12. h3 Na5 13. b4 Nc4 14. Nxc4 dxc4 15.

Bc2 Nd5 16. Bd2 Bf6 17. Ne5 Bxe5 18. Rxe5 a5 19. a3 axb4 20. axb4 Ra8 21. Rb1

Ra2 22. Be4 f6 23. Rh5 g6 24. Rxh7 Rxd2 25. Qxd2 Kxh7 26. Qe2 Kg7 27. Bxd5 exd5

28. Qf3 Qe6 29. Qg3 Ra8 30. Qc7 Qf5 31. Re1 Ra2 32. Re7+ Kh6 33. f3 Qg5 34. g4

Qc1+ 0-1

​Finally, I beat  a higher rated player to come in first.​

​[Event "Live Chess"]

[Site "Chess.com"]

[Date "2017.09.06"]

[White "john2001plus"]

[Black "SpeedyChess11"]

[WhiteElo "1809"]

[BlackElo "1877"]

[TimeControl "180+2"]

[ECO "E17"]

[Termination "john2001plus won by checkmate"]

[Result "1-0"]

[CurrentPosition "1Q6/8/8/7B/R7/6K1/k4P2/8 b - - 10 81"]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.c4 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bg5 Bg7 7.e4 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.e5 Qe7 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.O-O O-O 12.Qc2 Kh7 13.Rfe1 Na5 14.Ne4 d5 15.exd6 cxd6 16.b4 Nc6 17.Rad1 Rad8 18.d5 Ne5 19.Nxe5 dxe5 20.d6 Qe8 21.c5 Bxe4 22.Bxe4 bxc5 23.bxc5 Qb5 24.Bd3 Qc6 25.a4 a6 26.Be4 Qe8 27.c6 f5 28.d7 Qe7 29.Bd3 e4 30.Bxa6 Be5 31.c7 Rxd7 32.c8=Q Rxc8 33.Bxc8 Rc7 34.Qd2 Bc3 35.Qd7 Bxe1 36.Qxe7+ Rxe7 37.Rxe1 Rc7 38.Bxe6 Ra7 39.Bb3 Kg7 40.Ra1 Kf6 41.Bc4 Ke5 42.Bb5 Kd4 43.Kf1 Kc5 44.Ke2 Kb4 45.Kd2 Ka5 46.Be8 g5 47.Bg6 Rd7+ 48.Kc2 Rc7+ 49.Kd2 Rd7+ 50.Ke2 Rd4 51.Bxf5 Rc4 52.Ra2 Rd4 53.Ke3 Rd1 54.Bxe4 Re1+ 55.Re2 Rh1 56.h3 Kxa4 57.Kf3 Rc1 58.Kg4 Rc7 59.Kh5 Rf7 60.Kxh6 Kb4 61.Kxg5 Kc5 62.Kg4 Rg7+ 63.Kf3 Kd4 64.Ba8 Rf7+ 65.Kg3 Kd3 66.Bf3 Rg7+ 67.Kh2 Rf7 68.Re3+ Kd4 69.h4 Rh7 70.h5 Rh6 71.g4 Rf6 72.g5 Rf4 73.g6 Rh4+ 74.Kg3 Rxh5 75.Bxh5 Kd5 76.g7 Kd4 77.g8=Q Kc5 78.Qd8 Kb4 79.Re4+ Ka3 80.Qb8 Ka2 81.Ra4#  1-0​

​I thought that my first round was amusing just from a tactical perspective:

[Event "Live Chess"]

[Site "Chess.com"]

[Date "2017.09.06"]

[White "JoeKempsey"]

[Black "john2001plus"]

[WhiteElo "1250"]

[BlackElo "1777"]

[TimeControl "180+2"]

[ECO "C01"]

[Termination "john2001plus won by resignation"]

[Result "0-1"]

[CurrentPosition "1b2r1k1/pp1n1pp1/2p4p/8/7P/Q4BPK/PPb2q2/8 w - - 0 25"]

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bd6 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Re1 Re8 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Qd2 Bg4 12.Rad1 Nd7 13.h3 Bf4 14.Qd3 Bf5 15.Ne4 dxe4 16.Qa3 exf3 17.Bxf3 Bxc2 18.Rxe8+ Rxe8 19.Rf1 Bb8 20.Rc1 Qf4 21.g3 Qxc1+ 22.Kg2 Qd2 23.h4 Qxd4 24.Kh3 Qxf2  0-1

​

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Columbus (movie). Copy of Facebook Post.

So somebody made a movie in the hometown where I grew up, staring of all people, John Cho. I have always felt a strong bond to Columbus, Indiana, a town of 45,000 people, which has some national fame for its architecture. Every week I go to the Columbus Chess Club where I started playing chess 42 years ago. I actually wanted to move back to Columbus, but for various reasons chose a house about 30 miles away, closer to Indianapolis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3dcnV6Z9Zs

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Read Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis on GoComics.com | Jul 21, 2017

http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2017/07/21

Stargate Atlantis Season 3 Episode 4 (and Star Wars 40th anniversary.)

Stargate Atlantis Season 3 Episode 4:  What a fantastic episode!

Stargate Atlantis seems to be the most fun of all the Stargate series, but I thought that Season 2 was a little slow.  Season 3 seems has gotten off to a great start.

This is actually my third time through the series, but it has been a few years, so I don't remember all the details.  When you have a series this entertaining, it is worth seeing again.

Star Wars is approaching its 40th anniversary next month.  What other movie has such a serious social impact 40 years after its release?

How many times have I seen the original Star Wars?    My guess is 18 times.  Maybe five times in the first couple of years.  How did I arrive at the number 18?   I don't know.  I have been sort of keeping a running count, but maybe I have overestimated.  Maybe not.

Star Wars helped give rise the video game industry.  In the years after its release, there were an explosion of "space" video games.  In the late 70's, I was playing a space game called "Tail Gunner", which has to be the first 3D shoot-em-up.  For its time, it was amazing.

If Star Wars helped shape the video game industry, then the video game industry helped shape me.  I was already interested in computers in the 1970's, but because of my interest in video games, I was writing and selling games by the mid 80's.  Eventually, I was employed at a major video game development company working on all sorts of games.

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Third place.

I'll take what I can get.  I still have some difficulty in the chess.com USCF rated speed tournament.  Usually, I am lucky just to place.  I don't think that I have ever won the speed tournament, although I have on rare occasion won some of the slower online tournaments.  (Sometimes, we get strong masters who show up and win the tournaments.  Sometimes we don't.)

I also need to either replace my mouse or get a mousepad and see if that helps.  My mouse is not as responsive as it should be.  When trying to play tournament speed chess online, it makes a difference.

ACLU 1 | Trump 0

In response to:

ACLU 1 | Trump 0

​I wrote:

I don't want to stir the pot more than I already have, but I feel compelled to say something: American people: 0. This reminds me about the pre-911 debate about racial profiling. That pretty much went out the window after 9-11. Do we need another 9-11 to make people worried about terrorism again? I say NEVER FORGET. What happens when somebody sets off a nuke on American soil? It will make this whole debate look pretty silly. Every September 11th I watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1gpJyFHETw&t=46s (I'll shut up now. People are entitiled to their opinion. I understand people's desire to be compassionate and I completely sympathize. I just think that the world is an extremely dangerious place right now.)​

What is good about the Star Wars Prequels.

In response to this video ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vda_mfq6sVA

I made the following comments ...

I was 17 when the original Star Wars came out. I have seen it maybe 18 times, but my favorite movie of all time is The Empire Strikes Back. But I also think that The Phantom Menace is the second or third best Star Wars movie. It is very good. Every Star Wars movie has been different. Each one has had a unique flavor to it. It is a testament to how strong the Star Wars movies are. However, some people are disappointed when a particular movie doesn't turn out like they expected. I can't imagine why anyone would dislike The Phantom Menace, but I suspect that it is because they dislike the character of Jar Jar. Every serious move needs some comic relief to relieve the tension, so I enjoyed the character of Jar Jar quite a bit. From a science fiction point of view, if you had two sapient races sharing a planet, it might make sense for one to be less intelligent and/or less sophisticated. It would be unlikely that both species would have the same level of intelligence and sophistication.

Copy of My Facebook post

​Events in recent years have impressed upon me the fragility of human life. I have lost friends, family, and associates. This happens with greater frequency as we get older, because most everyone we know is getting older too. However, I have also seen young people die from accidents. For example, a young couple I worked with were hiking in the mountains during a storm and were killed by lightning.

Cancer has claimed the lives of a few people I know.

What can we do about? I think that the first rule of living should be don't do stupid stuff. Stupid stuff can get you killed. Don't take unnecessary risks. Obey the law. Don't do drugs. Drive defensively. Obey the speed limit. Keep your vehicle, especially your tires, properly maintained.

Keep fire extinguishers and working smoke detectors in your home. Get at least two carbon monoxide detectors, because if both alarms go off at the same time then you know it is not just a defective detector. This happened to me, but I also know a whole family that got carbon monoxide poisoning and had to be treated at the hospital.

I think that the second rule of living should be to take reasonable steps to protect your health. Don't smoke. Drink in moderation or not at all. Eat as healthy as you can. Consume more plant based foods and less red meat. Eat fewer processed foods and more fresh foods.

​​

​Exercise.​

By the way, there is much research to indicate that sugar is very bad for you and addictive. For this reason, I don't keep any sweets in my home, otherwise I know I would eat them.

This is all common sense, but humans in general have a tendency to ignore common sense. We think that nothing bad will happen to us, but I have seen bad things happen to too many people. There is potential disaster around every corner. This is the reality we live in.​

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com