Vacations come and go!

Went up to Lake Tahoe for the week. Every day was spectacular weather wise. Honestly..no matter where I went, it was just downright gorgeous. Just crystal clear the whole time. My camera app was working constantly. Had a great time, made some new friends (always a fun thing), ate like the proverbial horse at some fabulous places and collected pine tree seeds. I'm determined to grow a pine tree on my balcony.  There was ALOT of knitting going on. Almost finished my sweater, just need to do the second sleeve and I'm done. A LOT of reading was done, the deck was perfect for that most of the day. Baked two apple pies just because I could. I basically just sat back and relaxed. I rarely got online on my computer-even though the wifi is now installed. I did text quite a bit. The lake is now 4G almost all the way around it. There are some spots on the western side of the lake that are zero signal but just a few now. (Dear Rubicon Bay...get with the program, a mobile signal is needed!)

From about 8000 feet up overlooking Lake Tahoe

Looking down at Emerald Bay

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe..again

From the 15th Hole at the mini golf course. I want BIG trees now!

Lake Tahoe done in granite.

Wind surfers on the lake. There were some guys surfing as well.

The cabin. Rather roomy and walking distance to four casinos! The North Shore rocks.

Travels to Lake Tahoe are always fun

Yesterday, I drove from Portland to Lake Tahoe. I cut down through Kalamath Falls down to Susanville to Reno and up over Mt. Rose to the lake.

I passed Crater Lake, and went through about six National Forest. I saw the Pumice Desert and some of the most beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, I also saw a fatality. It was on a section of winding highway were the signs literally said 25 or 30mph or even 15mph around them. Someone didn't obey the signs and someone died.  Someone on a motorcycle didn't make it around the bend totally. Their motorcycle which originally looked like what I call a "crotch-rocket" looked like shredded cheese. Whomever was driving, I have no idea, there was a full covering over them.

While I love motorcycles, they are dangerous. Either the driver of the bike was swinging really wide to take the bend. Usually if they are speeding, they will swing wide to take a bend. Unfortunately, there was a vehicle coming along the opposite direction. One with four wheels. Law of gross tonnage will always win.  Never fails.

Besides the fatality, there were road works. The kind of road works that requires a car to lead the line of cars through it. While I love the fact that Oregon takes care of it's roads, I have had enough road construction this summer to last for a few years. Counting the two I drove through yesterday, the one I drove through today, I have had six road works to deal with this summer. Three of which were near my house and were dealt with on a daily basis.   If I never see an orange road cone till summer next year, I will be rather happy.

I do admit, the road works were worth it. The lake is positively gorgeous this time of year. The tourist have all gone home at least till ski season kicks in. It's quiet, the traffic is not bad at all and the winds have picked up a bit, so the rustle in the trees is so nice at night.  Plus, it's cooler. In fact, it's cool enough tonight...I might have a fire going.

Hmmm, knitting by a fireplace, something just so cozy about that.

I'm being rather Lazy

Instead of packing...I'm debating a scarf. I've decided that after knitting for ten years, it's time to make a pattern of my own. Now mind you...I have never attempted anything like this. Hell, there are still patterns I can't even begin to follow.  I know, it's strange. No idea what has come over me, but I figure what the hell. It's a ten hour drive to Lake Tahoe, I'll have time to think it over, that's for sure.

I have managed to find wifi service near the cabin, only 1.7 miles away! All is not lost. While I have stocked up on ereaders, patterns and other assorted things I simply can't live without, there is always something you need. I am not looking forward to living off my phone connection for nine days.  I'm afraid I'm spoiled rotten when it comes to tech/gadgets and stuff like that.

I do plan to play #Ingress while I'm up there. A whole new bunch of portals..I'm hoping to submit some new ones as well. It's a greek thing..to me, it's relaxing.  I do plan on laying around the cabin reading and doing much of nothing. I might do laundry before I come home, we will see.

What sucks is I just started a binge on the show "The 4400". I had started watching it but then slowly stopped watching for some reason. Yay for netflix! I know the show got cancelled, but Netflix has all  forty-three episodes. And me without wifi for a week! Oh well, it will be here when I return.  I do have cable up there though, so there is that. 

Let's face it, between end of August and beginning of snow season, there is NOT a lot to do up there but relax. The temps are supposed to drop into the low 30's at night.  Ooo. fireplace!!! Hello! There is that. I know the dog will love that part.

I'm going to go scrounge dinner up..I'm starved.

The Copyright Wars

You have to love the internet. Stuff is posted, stuff is shared, stuff is claimed. Every now and then, I see something and it makes me laugh because it's so stupid you have to look twice.

Today, I read an article on a popular weblog. It had a graphic attached to it. Naturally the first comment was "nice article, you could have credited me with using my design". Attached was a similar design but not the same one.  The graphic...was text in speech bubbles. 

I've seen people getting in "troll fights" because of graphics. Once, a person was demanding a picture be taken down because it was hers and she created it. Um, she created it out of images that were copyrighted by someone else. The pictures were owned by a television studio. I'm sure she was careful to get the copyrights to use the photos. 

Is using a graphic you found online bad? I don't think so. You put it on the internet so people can see it. If someone says, "hey this is great" and uses it...and GIVES YOU FULL CREDIT WITH A LINK. Why not? More exposure for your hard work. That's why you put it up in the first place, right? 

Copyright gets bantered ALL OVER the place now days. Everyone is an armchair lawyer. Just because you manipulate a few things does not mean you own the elements of it.  If you create a blue bubble with pink words in it that are left hand center and have a .02mm drop shadow..yes you own it. You do not own the blue bubble, the words nor the drop shadow.  

If you create a knitting pattern, yes it's yours. However, what people knit from it...you do not own. For instance...you build the schematics for a television set. That's yours by law. Does that mean you own the tv that is made from it? No. The person that bought the tv owns it. 

Has anyone watched the news with the copyright battles between Apple and Samsung? They are suing each other on everything from technical aspects to superficial things. The technical aspects are close but the superficial stuff has been laughed out. "Oh, they have a white phone?" Sorry, color is not copyright-able.

Intellectual property is a very specific area. Once you start trying to copyright an idea, you're already on the downhill slide. Take the pyramids. The Egyptians built then, the Mayans built them. According to current historical thinking..they had no contact with each other. So..they came up with the same ideas independent of each other. Who came up with it first? Who holds the copyright to the pyramids? 

I believe that if you invent something, yes it's yours. In that configuration. But that's all. If you take a photo...it's yours. If you paint a picture, yes it's yours. If you invent fictional characters, yes they are yours. See the connections, here? If you create a logo from scratch, it's yours. 

If you create a logo from common every day graphics, you own the configuration, not the elements. If you manipulate a photo, the manipulation is yours, not the elements. If you write a story with someone elses characters..the story is yours..but the characters..no. 

See the differences?  

Avoidance Successful!

I avoided the "stove on a hot day" syndrome. I opted for the "drive thru" choice. I always include a few "drive-thru" days in my monthly budget. They are for just such emergencies! When one lives in a home with no A/C...one has to allot for such days as it's just too hot to turn on the stove to cook.

I didn't even knit on my sweater today! Not one single stitch! Nary a one! *laughs* You know it's hot, if I'm not knitting.   At least it didn't get as hot as they predicted, although tomorrow is supposed to be another scorcher of a day. After that it's dropping back down into the low 70's which will be nice. However...I will be up in the mountains enjoying..wait for it... 30 degree nights!   Yes...you read that correctly, 30 degree nights! I'm so damn happy it so makes up for the fact there is no damned internet up there.  

I'm going to read and knit, drink and gamble and then do it all day after day! It's nice having a place that is walking distance to a casino..less chance of a DUI. Since I can cut through the back way, there is little chance of a WUI *walking under the influence* either. *snickers*

Casino is due east and the lake is due south...both by foot. Correction, two casinos due east of me. I'm just glad I'm headed up AFTER tourist season has ended. Not that I mind tourist...just don't like them crowding it up while I'm there. *grins*

Hmm, I think I hear a video game calling me? No..wait is that yarn? Nope, it's a video game.

Heat Wave Ver 4.8

Hello second week of September and hello return of the summer heat wave.  See anything wrong there...besides any grammatical errors? The words "September, heat, wave" should never be on the same side of the period. Never.  It's September 10th and going to be 92 degrees today. That is just wrong. I'm a winter type person and I live for the cold, the dark, the rainy and the cloudy. This heat and sun stuff gets old after day three of it.

To add to the joy of the day, we got a notice by the city that our water will be off from 10am to 2pm, due to construction across the field. Yay! Hot day and NO water. Lovely. I filled up the tub, several pitchers, some huge bowls and such. My babies (the pets) need a lot of water in this heat. Right now, they are lounging in front of a fan. Poor things.

And I have a confession, I'm now on episode 25 of the original Hawaii Five O. Don't ask me why I've gotten hooked on this thing, but I have. As hokey as the story lines go, they actually are well written episodes. The language is very out dated since was produced in the late 60's and the 70's.  It's rather amusing to see them get around with no mobiles or any truly modern technology. The stories though are kind of riveting. Kind of makes me miss tv shows. What is really sad...I have over 400 channels and the best thing on is a show that is over thirty years old!

I'm still knitting on the big red sweater. It had horrible beginnings. It was going to be a hoodie, but I scratched that pattern, then it was going to be a top down and I messed up on the increases. Now it's top-down version 2.0 and working perfectly. I was lazy and didn't frog the other efforts, I've just been knitting from them and frogging it as I needed the yarn. I'm just now getting to "unused" yarn on it.

I really love this pattern, easy, not a lot involved in it. I think I'm going to knit it in other colors. Change up the yarn, maybe go for some wool-ease, or maybe 100% wool? Either way, my sweater needs will be met for years to come.  The irony of sweater planning on a 92 degree day does not escape me at all.

Speaking of heat, I'm considering making myself a frappucino? Or maybe an iced coffee since I have a pitcher of chilled coffee in the fridge. Yummy!

No idea where this graphic came from, I am not claiming to have created it. Someone is creative however and they are a genius!

Happy Extended Weekend!!!

Yeah, today is a "bank" holiday. In the US we refer to it as Labor Day. It's a nice long weekend, sort of a last hoorah for summer before school and fall hit.  Me, I'm glad summer is winding down. While we were blessed with a relatively cool summer,  a lot of people were not.  It will be nice to have cooler/cold weather back. I'm sorry...I'm just a cold weather kind of person. Must be genetic, after all my ancestors hailed from the far cold northern areas! *laughs*

Today they announced that Charlie Hunnam will be portraying that Grey dude in Fifty Shades. While I deplore the book on so many levels, I love his acting abilities. Now I'm totally torn, will I watch it? Probably, but not for awhile. It will have to be on dvd and be on sale. The only reason I would watch the damn thing is cause he's in it.

The red top down sweater is coming along nicely. I'm on the never ending increase section of the yoke. I swear the entire body of the sweater knits up faster than this damned yoke. Still it's my absolute fave pattern for sweaters. No seaming, no calculations...just pure knitting. I love the fact you can knit the sleeves and just use the Kitchener stitch to attach them to the sweater. Easy..and yes, still NO SEAMS! Life is good.

I have homework out the wazoo today/tonight. I slacked off all weekend and now it's time to pay the piper, so to speak. But for now..I'm fixing more coffee and eyeing that sweater.  Knitting is calling to me.