Welcome to Eric Piehl comments on a wide range of topics

To help 👪︎ family, friends and 👥︎ colleagues, and keep myself organized, I record and maintain ( about ) information on …

About this site

It's a work in progress, but so's life.

― #DoctorWho 13 premier.

Since 2015, major edits to this website contain:

navigate to pages or documents in this website.
navigate to pages or documents in other websites.
navigate to pages or documents in a sister website.
buttons explain a concept or term, in a few sentences.
Grayed-out buttons (if present) are placeholders for links that will appear in the near future.
Buttons with navigate to pages or documents that are responsive/mobile-first/mobile-friendly.
Pages that are also part of this or sister websites (the green or intermediate buttons with white text) are built using a homegrown static website generator, into a format that responds/auto-adapts to different:
◦ platforms (📱︎ smartphones/mobiles/cellphones vs ▯ tablets vs 💻︎ computers vs 📺︎ large-screen TVs),
◦ orientations (▭ landscape vs ▯ portrait), and
◦ window resizing (pinch-in, pinch-out or drag border).
Buttons with navigate to pages or documents that are not yet 📱︎ mobile-friendly.
While probably awesome on 💻︎ large screens, these pages or documents may be difficult to use on ▯ small screens.
Pages that are also part of this website (the green buttons with black text), I will convert as requested or found useful.
To see the destination of a link, do a long-press or mouse-hover.

Green topics

💡︎ LED lighting 🚗︎ Honda Fit/Jazz cars (.pdf)

🚶︎🚼︎ Hike it Baby group hikes for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, and their parents! #DiscoverTheForest Family articles from REI

Day Hiking Checklist Cold-Weather Hiking Tips

To learn more about our outdoors,
identify your local trees and shrubs,
using educational web app
I Can See Nature! Facebook page for
I Can See Nature!
Landscaping with native plants Mowing my 🌾︎ grass lawn Deer-exclosure plant cages for areas of extreme predation (.pdf) Smart Gardening to Deter Deer

Reporting invasive species Handling invasive plants using an herbicide applicator dauber wand (.pdf)
Getting your Commercial Certified Pesticide Applicator license (.pdf)

Rain barrel installation, use and maintenance
Ice dams (not yet 🚧 under construction)

Sustainable Business Practices:
The 👥︎🌏︎📈︎ Triple-Bottom Line (3BL) Ethic ☑ VOTE, in your next election!

The 🔥︎ prescribed fire/controlled burn plan for my own area is 🚧 under construction. Until published, please see 🔥︎ Prescribed burns ignite Michigan wildlife habitat growth and ~~🔥︎ prescribed burn video from TNC.~~ 🔥︎ prescribed burn videos. If you are still serious, contact your local agencies, and study applicable parts of NWCG training courses S-130 🚒︎ Firefighter Training
and S-190 🔥︎ Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior and S-212 🔥︎ Wildland Fire Chain Saws student handbook (.pdf).

💡︎ LED lighting

LED lights are awesome — an amazing transformative technology:

There is no reason to ever again buy a fluorescent, CFL, incandescent or halogen bulb.
There is no reason to ever again buy a 💡︎ lightbulb (they had a good run for 120 years), unless your bulb is an LED replacement bulb for an existing fixture.
There is no reason to ever again buy a lamp capable of 💡︎ holding a lightbulb (they had a good run for 120 years) — just buy a lamp with its LED light source built-in.
There is no reason to ever again buy a recessed lamp fixture (they had a fair run for 30 years) — just buy the new drink coaster/hockey puck lights no thicker than wallboard. No "can" needed — doesn't even disturb the insulation above.

Just be very careful to buy the exact light source you want …

Q: How many Lutherans does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: 25:
One person to screw in the NEW lightbulb, and
24 people to talk about how much they liked the OLD lightbulb.

― A Prairie Home Companion, as heard by EP a while back.

Carefully choose the color temperature for your use:

2700 K "Soft White": favorite reading chair or other intimate area.
3000 K "Warm White" "Cool White" "Soft White Glow": general use, including kitchens, bathrooms and hallways.
Some say 4000 K is better for kitchens and bathrooms, but I prefer 3000 K.
4000 K "Bright White" "Daylight Glow": desk or work surfaces.
Some say 4000 K is good for kitchens and bathrooms, but I prefer 3000 K.
5000 K "Daylight" "Crystal White Glow" - 5500 K - 6500 K: 💎︎ sorting diamonds or specialized task lighting.
Too blue for most uses.

Or to list it another way:

Favorite reading chair or other intimate area: 2700 K "Soft White".
General use, including kitchens, bathrooms and hallways: 2700 K - 3000 K "Warm White" "Soft White Glow" - 4000 K.
Some say 4000 K is good for kitchens and bathrooms, but I prefer 3000 K.
Desk or work surfaces: 4000 K "Bright White" "Cool White" "Daylight Glow".
💎︎ Sorting diamonds or specialized task lighting: 5000 K "Daylight" "Crystal White Glow" - 5500 K - 6500 K.
Too blue for most uses.

Or see for yourself at a friend's house, or lighting or hardware store with excellent displays (I find Lowe's has a better selection of lighting and PPE v. Home Depot).

Get your lamp brighter — measured in lumens (lm) — than your existing fixtures. You will like it.

Spend the extra US$2 each and get them dimmable. If you later decide your lights are too bright, you can correct by installing a modern US$25 LED-compatible "C-L" dimmer switch.

Get a lamp that gives light in a good angle:

100°-120° is great for filling walls and dark corners with light, in your hallways, kitchen and den.
20° is great for a spotlight, perhaps over a sink or a particular piece of art.

If getting a "recessed" "can light" "downlight" retrofit insert, consider whether you need a gimbal "rotatable" "eyeball" to illuminate your subjects.

An E26 adapter means your unit contains an electrical connector for your can's existing E26/E27 standard lightbulb base.

If your LED light comes with a Color Rendering Index CRI, get it High=90+, so it doesn't mess with your ability to see color.

For my laundry/work/storage room project, I handled each of these issues by replacing humming florescent tube fixtures with new LED lamps, each with:

its own with onboard motion sensor,
changeable color temperature (I like step 2 from red to blue) and
brightness (I like all the way up).

Pretty inexpensive, too. Better light, no more hum nor replacing ballasts, and no more light switch — replaced the switch with a blank switchplate cover!

Best wishes for success with your lighting project!

📱︎ Very-low-cost mobile cellphone service

If you want 📱︎ very-low-cost mobile cellphone service, for use in the 🇺🇸 USA-only, I highly recommend the low-data plan at Republic Wireless. If you tell your 📱︎ phone to get data for YouTube and most apps only-over-Wi-Fi (.pdf page 5), the lowest-cost plan is fine, and even returns a huge rebate, so it costs only US$12-16 a month, out-the-door. And if you don't need Google Maps or email while on the road, you can get the base-plan (even cheaper!), with data over Wi-Fi only, and voice and SMS text over that or 📶︎ cell towers.

I bought my phone, a mid-grade, which I like a lot. If you don't need a flashlight and a screen that big, the bottom-of-the-line also works well.

When I traveled overseas, I could NOT make phone calls, so we borrowed a burner phone and got a temporary SIM card onsite. Worked well.

I also hear very good things about price, and coverage in 🇨🇦 Canada and 🇺🇸 USA, about TracFone. I also hear very good things about Ting Mobile and Cricket Wireless. Other possibilities.

After you get your phone, harden your 📱︎ phone against threats (.pdf page 3).

📱︎💻︎ Computer use (and programming)

📱︎💻︎ Computer use for
ordinary and tech-savvy 👥︎ computer users

📱︎💻︎ Computer programming for
ordinary 👥︎ computer programmers
📱︎💻︎ Computer programming advanced topics:
⚠ safety-critical, ✈ aviation, 🏭︎ industrial-quality, internals, build, install

📱︎💻︎ Computer use for ordinary and tech-savvy 👥︎ computer users

Like nuclear radiation, cyberwar doesn't make you bleed, but it destroys everything.

If you are not paying for the product, you are the product.

― R. David Edelman, as heard by EP on 2018-01-19.

Protecting your 📱︎ smartphones, ▯ tablets and 💻︎ computers from spam and malware, via antivirus (.pdf) 📱︎ Very-low-cost
mobile cellphone service
Preparing and showing ▭🌄︎ presentations (for 👥︎ people who do this sporadically) (.pdf)
Setting up a Facebook Page, such as to publicize a nonprofit organization, such as Discover! Parks Event (.pdf)

📱︎💻︎ Computer programming for ordinary 👥︎ computer programmers

Any useful code must be modified.

― Eric's first law, first described by me, as far as I know.

📱︎💻︎ Computer and programming tools (.doc)

Leave something for Release 1.1.

― Eric's second law, until I get better attribution.

CSharp C# programming, under 💻︎ Visual Studio .NET (.doc)
Java programming (including ▯ Android), under 💻︎ Eclipse or Android Studio (.pdf)

Any computer development project takes longer and costs more.

― saying at Smiths/GE.

Apache web server, MySQL database, and PHP http scripting language (.doc)
VBA Visual Basic for Applications programming, under 💻︎ Microsoft Excel (.doc)

👩︎👩︎👩︎👩︎👩︎👩︎👩︎👩︎👩︎ Nine women can't make 🚼︎ a baby in one month.

― saying at Smiths/GE.

📱︎💻︎ Computer programming advanced topics: ⚠ safety-critical, ✈ aviation, 🏭︎ industrial-quality, internals, build, install

Test like you fly; fly like you test.
— The way I learned it
writing ✈ aviation software. (I guess lots of us hacked in
machine language, to good effect!)

Train like you fight; fight like you train.
— The way I heard some of our customers learned it.

Plan your work; work the plan.
— The way I learned it in chainsaw safety training.

Fail early, and pivot.
— The way I learned it in entrepreneur startup seminars.

Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.
— Elon Musk, quoted in "In 2 Sentences Elon Musk Explains Why the Key to Success Is Failure." Inc. 2015-07-14.

Most other topics refer to particular employers, so I cannot cover in a public forum. 🚧 Under construction. As I find suitable content, I will post here.

Until then:

I am pretty proud of the technology behind I Can See Nature.
To keep your mind busy for a while …

🚼︎🎠︎ As children, we had fun playing on the merry-go-round. But one day, as adults, we will live in one.

If brute force isn't working, you aren't using enough.

Live forever, or die trying.

— Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur SFIA,
excellent discussion of humanity's future.

Personal topics

🌏︎👥︎ On spaceship earth, we are not passengers — we are crew.

― Marshal McLuhan, slightly reworded by me.

🌏︎🏠︎ Earth is our home. … Earth is not just our home, it is also our house. It's our residence, and we are the owners. We are not renters passing through. We are not tenants who can complain to the landlord and eventually move on to live somewhere else. We live here — on this 7,900-mile-wide (13,000-km) ball of rock, water, and air — and we are responsible for its upkeep.

― Bill Nye, Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

― Teddy Roosevelt.

☑ VOTE, in your next election!

If you are scheduled to do something hard, and you don't yet feel ready:
◦ Prepare. Hard. Over-prepare.
◦ Center yourself, using whatever works for you: exercise hard, yoga, long walk, play your favorite instrument, whatever.
◦ If you are reasonably-young or -urban, listen to Eminem's Lose Yourself a few times.
◦ Eat a good dinner.
◦ Get a great night's sleep.
◦ Get your game face on.
◦ You are ready. You own it!
◦ And if it still doesn't feel right …
Fake it until you make it!

― various sources, some me, 2018-03-26. (If you still really feel like a fraud.)

You don't have to behave perfect, just meet the reasonable-person test.

Don't do anything you don't want to (or know how to) explain to a judge.

― Eric's fourth law, first described by me, as far as I know.

When stopped by the 🛂︎ police:

If driving:
◦ Put on a turn signal or otherwise acknowledge the stop.
◦ Turn off the radio.
◦ Continue driving to a safe open location, pull over, Park, turn on the flashers, lower the driverside window (or whichever window you expect the officer to approach), and turn off the engine.
◦ Tell any passengers to remain silent and do not reach for anything — you are the driver and will do all the talking. They may record video of the encounter (just like any encounter in a public space), but don't be a nuisance, and start way before the officer comes to the window.
◦ Put your hands on the wheel, and leave them there. Don't reach for any paperwork nor anything else, until (A) the officer requests them, (B) the officer and you verbally confirm their locations, and (C) the officer instructs you to proceed.
At all times:
◦ Be polite.
◦ Be respectful.
◦ Keep your hands visible, and movements slow and calm.
◦ But …
Do not disclose information to the police:

◦ Do not lie.
◦ But unless you called them, consider not disclosing the truth, either!
Do not consent to a 🛃︎ search.
◦ Not your 🚗︎ vehicle, 🏠︎ home, 📱︎ phone, 💻︎ computer nor 🎒︎ backpack.
◦ If searched anyway, speak loudly enough to be heard by witnesses, carcams and bodycams that you do not consent to this search.
Do not hand over your 🛂︎ ID.
◦ Unless, of course, you are crossing an 🛃︎ international border, in which case you are legally obligated to provide your travel documents.
◦ Or you are the driver in a traffic stop, in which case you are legally obligated to provide your (1) driver's license, (2) registration, and (3) proof of insurance. But do not reach for them until (A) the officer requests them, (B) the officer and you verbally confirm their locations, and (C) the officer instructs you to proceed.
Do not take legal advice from a cop.
◦ Police are allowed to lie to you about almost everything — and do!
Good answers for police requests include:
◦ "Am I legally obligated to answer that question?"
◦ "Am I legally obligated to provide my ID?"
◦ "I think I will consult my attorney on that."
◦ "Am I free to leave?" If Yes, calmly and silently walk away.
More details at 🇺🇸 ACLU series Know Your Rights If You're Stopped by the 🛂︎ Police, Immigration Agents or the FBI 📄 printable card (.pdf) 📄 printable sheet (.pdf).
If you expect 🛂︎ police contact, what to do with your electronics (.pdf page 16).
If you expect 🛂︎ trouble voting.

Between encounters with 🛂︎ police, 💳︎ pay your 📝︎ parking tickets and citations, and ⚖📅︎🚶︎ attend all court dates. Attending to these things may be a pain, but they are far is easier to unwind early on, before getting muddled up with other offenses and eventually turning into an 🛂︎ arrest warrant.

And while we are at it, you know how 🚼︎ children need a parent when they go to the ⚕ doctor — a guardian or patient advocate? I think that we all — educated adults included — need a second with us — an advocate — for all important encounters with ⚕ doctors, the 🛂︎ police or ⚖ courts. A family member or friend, who:

is organized,
can 📝︎ take notes,
can notice stuff that you miss, and
can continue thinking after your brain shuts down upon hearing keywords cancer or jail.

Maybe we can catch all this information the first time, without having to resurrect everything later.

If you want to know even more, attend the Citizens Police Academy CPA with your local police or sheriff department. We did, and are very happy with the experience. We learned a lot! If you are family or a friend, ask us for details — we will talk your head off!

Test like you fly; fly like you test.
— The way I learned it
writing ✈ aviation software.

Train like you fight; fight like you train.
— The way I heard some of our customers learned it.

Plan your work; work the plan.
— The way I learned it in chainsaw safety training.

Fail early, and pivot.
— The way I learned it in entrepreneur startup seminars.

Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.
— Elon Musk, quoted in "In 2 Sentences Elon Musk Explains Why the Key to Success Is Failure." Inc. 2015-07-14.

Preparing and showing ▭🌄︎ presentations (for 👥︎ people who do this sporadically) (.pdf)

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.

― Dory.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.

― aphorism commonly attributed to Voltaire, slightly reworded by me.

If you have identified a near-optimum solution, it may be OK to implement this one, instead of continuing the search for the optimum solution.

― not sure I've ever heard it said this way, said by me for years, recorded 2018-06-30. Understood instinctively by single parents.

It gets better!

― I first heard this used by people trying to reduce death 🔫︎ by suicide in gay teens. Later, I found it applicable for all young people, and anyone trying to find there way in this world. True. Partly because you get better at solving problems. Partly because you meet more people who can help you out, know that one nugget of information that you need right now, and so on. Partly because you slowly acquire more assets to help you along the way. It may not look that way now, but if you can avoid dying, I've found it generally does get better!

Preparing for and seeing a 🌑 total solar or lunar eclipse! (for 👥︎ people who do this sporadically) (.pdf)

We are all only temporarily-abled.

― Source unknown, I heard it a long time ago. Although on 2018-10-02, I heard Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee say that ⚕ doctors understand very well that they will soon be on the other side of the exam table.

Lesson Learned: Design everything for your future self:
◦ Build your websites with text large-enough, contrast high-enough, and all that accessibility stuff.
◦ Design/acquire/modify your 🏠︎ house with your ♿ future abilities and limitations in mind.
◦ Etc.

Eric Piehl resume (.pdf) Eric Piehl resume (.doc) Eric Piehl LinkedIn

Not knowing something is fine.
Not wanting to know,
or refusing to know, is the problem.

― Eric's third law, first described by me, as far as I know.

old 🏠︎ home page (under 🚧 reconstruction)

If you don't ask, the answer's No.

― MM, about 1998.

I have other articles, not for public use. Some articles are just for me. But a few articles may be in the old private version of this page; if you are a on how to access it.

The purpose of life is to hydrogenate carbon dioxide.

― Michael Russell, Astrobiologist at JPL.

Or on other worlds, perhaps hydrogenate acetylene or ethane.

― Chris McKay, Astrobiologist at NASA Ames.