Military during Thanksgiving

I’m a couple of days late reblogging this, but I still wanted to share it and add my own thanks to those who are serving away from their families during this US Holiday.

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If you are interested in the WWII era of history, you may find these three pages of interest.
* The”World War II Sources” page is a constantly growing collection of more than 340 links to museums, memorials, websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and other sources with information on the World War II-era in history.
* The “World War II Timeline” page expands almost daily and shows events leading up to WWII, as well as during the war. Events are broken down into the Pacific and European Theaters by date.
* The About WWII page is a collection of links to posts that I have made over the years that are relevant to WWII.

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Pacific Paratrooper

The Thanksgiving Day card GP Cox received from the National WWII Museum in New Orleans

I WISH TO EXPRESS MY THANKS TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU !!!  AND MAY WE ALL THANK THOSE VETERANS WHO FIGHT FOR US !!!

Thanksgiving during WWII…

They’re celebrating Thanksgiving on this very day,

My thoughts are at home, though I’m far away;

I can see everyone, eating dinner deluxe,

Whether it be chicken, turkey or even duck;

The fellows over here won’t whimper or moan,

They’ll look to the next one and hope to be home.

 

Truly and honestly, from way down deep,

They want you to be happy and enjoy your feast.

These holidays are remembered by one and all,

Those happy days we can always recall.

The ones in the future, will be happier, I know

When we all come back from defeating the foe.

_______Poem by an Anonymous WWII…

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Veterans Day 2019

I was going to write up my own Veterans Day post, but I thought that GP Cox said it well so I am just going to reblog his post. Please take time today to thank the veterans that you know.

Pacific Paratrooper

For each and every veteran – Thank You!!

For All Our Todays and Yesterdays

Armistice Day Becomes Veterans Day

World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The actual fighting between the Allies and Germany, however, had ended seven months earlier with the armistice, which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.  Armistice Day, as November 11 became known, officially became a holiday in the United States in 1926, and a national holiday 12 years later. On June 1, 1954, the name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all U.S. veterans.

For their loyalty…

War Dog Memorial on Guam.

US Military dog insignia

The Things That Make a Soldier Great

The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die,

To face the flaming cannon’s mouth…

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Home Front – Wartime Recipes (4)

(See my other WWII related posts) – I am glad to see GP Cox publish another list of recipes from WWII.

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If you are interested in the WWII era of history, you may find these three pages of interest. 

• The”World War II Sources” page is a constantly growing collection of more than 340 links to museums, memorials, websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and other sources with information on the World War II-era in history.
• The “World War II Timeline” page expands almost daily and shows events leading up to WWII, as well as during the war. Events are broken down into the Pacific and European Theaters by date.
• The About WWII page is a collection of links to posts that I have made over the years that are relevant to WWII.

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Pacific Paratrooper

Please thankCarolynon her website for putting these delicious meals on-line!       We often discuss the food our parents and grandparents dined on, despite rationing and wartime, they ate quite well – here are some of the recipes you might want to try out.

Carnation Milk ad, 1942

Recipe 101: Gingernuts

Recipe 102: Eggless christmas pudding

Recipe 103: Leftovers stew

Recipe 104: Vinaigrette dressing

Recipe 105: Apple pudding

Recipe 106: Irish omelette

Recipe 107: Potato cakes

Recipe 108: Glazed turnips (Canadian recipe)

Recipe 109: Carrot roll

Recipe 110: Wartime Bara Brith

Recipe 111: Bread and prune pudding

Recipe 112: Sausage stovies

Recipe 113: Malted loaf

Recipe 114: Toad in the Hole

Recipe 115: Summer berry jam

Recipe 116: Scones

Recipe 117: Mock cream 3

Recipe 118: Vegetable Pie

Recipe 119: 

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5 Productivity Suggestions

I came across the article “5 Simple Techniques to Boost Your Productivity” today and thought it was worth sharing. The recommendations in the article can be summarized as:

1. The Pomodoro Technique – break your workday into 25-minute blocks
2. The Two-Minute Rule – write down all the tasks you want to do, then tackle those that can be accomplished in 2 minutes or less first
3. Take an Exercise Break – exercise to stimulate your thinking
4. Block Digital Distractions – turn off distracting Apps (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and their notifications
5. Autofocus – write out your todo list, pick the one you are most excited or passionate about

If that short list intrigues you, read the full article. It will only take 10 minutes or so.

macOS New app release – NeoFinder 7.4.1

Product Announcements  – Norbert M. Doerner of New York, NY & Bonn, Germany has released NeoFinder 7.4.1, a smaller update for the Digital Asset Manager NeoFinder Mac 7.x. The new version adds more image file support (Canon compressed .cr3, Phase One EIP, Sigma X3F, Clip Studio “.clip”) , and nine more data columns for the List View. Also included are numerous improvements, also for macOS 10.14.

All new features and enhancements of NeoFinder 7.4.1:
* NeoFinder can now catalog thumbnails of Canon compressed RAW “.cr3” files
* NeoFinder can now catalog thumbnails SVG files
* NeoFinder now has nine new columns in List View: Camera Maker, Lens Name, IPTC Persons, ISRC, XMP Caption Writer, XMP Byline, Audio Channels, Audio Sample rate, and Audio Bitrate
* NeoFinder can now catalog Clip Studio “.clip” files
* NeoFinder can now catalog RAW files of Sigma .X3F format
* Preliminary support to catalog thumbnails of Phase One Capture One “.eip” RAW files
* You can now search for EXIF camera name, lens name, and maker name in the Find Editor and of course using the Label menu in the Inspector
* You can now also search for “has no XMP” and “has ISRC” in the Find Editor
* The improved Multi-Editor is now also available for Finder Tags and XMP People fields
* More Label menus in the Inspector for ISRC, FileCheck, EXIF values, XMP Keywords
* NeoFinder now catalogs the iTunes Producer description files “metadata.xml”
* NeoFinder now catalogs EXIF data contained in XMP records, in case the original file has none, or these cannot be processed
* Improved Export as Text and XML by having separate Height, Width, and Duration fields for Media-Info. That is helpful for Stock Photographers
* NeoFinder will now remember the sort order along with the sort type in the Sort menu for Icon View and others
* You can now prevent NeoFinder from sorting keywords alphabetically when displaying and saving them
* The contextual menu for one catalog is much better organised now
* Catalogs now save the date and time they were last Updated (not just modified!)
* Can now properly sort the List View by Path
* The “NoChangePlease” hidden settings is now honoured by the Wikipedia Inspector and the Map
* Fixes a problem with some Find Editor settings
* Fixes a problem with incorrect badge number displays for Album Groups in macOS 10.14
* Fixes a problem with Album and Smart Folders names containing a “.” in their name
* Fixes a problem reading certain audio files larger than 4 GB
* Fixes a problem cataloging certain JPG files created by a scanner (containing empty ISO arrays in their EXIF section)
* Fixes more visual problems in macOS 10.14
* Fixes a problem writing Finder Comments when leaving the text field in the Inspector with the Tab key
* Fixes a memory problem when cataloging very large numbers of compressed Fuji RAW files (.RAF)
* Fixes a problem with the CDFinder 2.x Importer
* Many small fixes and improvements

* NeoFinder 7.4.1 requires Mac OS X 10.8 or later

* NeoFinder 7.4.1 is a free update to all NeoFinder 7.x users

* NeoFinder 7.x is a paid upgrade to licensed users of NeoFinder 6.x and the old CDFinder, upgrade price starting at 19 Euros

* New licenses start at 29 Euros for a NeoFinder Private License

NeoFinder Highlights:
* Cataloging – NeoFinder catalogs metadata of songs, movies, fonts, and photos, including the MP3-Tags of several audio file formats, EXIF, GPS, and IPTC data of photos. NeoFinder also edits Adobe XMP data, including keywords, persons, and ratings. All these are arranged clearly in the user interface, and can be extensively searched. For numerous photo and video formats, fonts, text files, and even audio files, NeoFinder generates thumbnails during cataloging, displaying them in all list and icon views.

* Managing Metadata – The built-in XMP metadata editor with presets can edit and add keywords, ratings, persons, descriptions, copyright information, and more to photos and videos.

* Networking – Store your catalog database on a server for access from all Macs in the network, and with the sidekick product abeMeda (was CDWinder for Windows) even from Microsoft Windows.

* Mobile – Keep your NeoFinder database with you on your iPhone or iPad with the separate NeoFinder for iOS app.

* Integration – Offering a tight connection to major productivity tools, such as Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, Roxio Toast, FileMaker Pro, Apples Spotlight and Finder, and the extensive support of drag&drop into other applications, NeoFinder can support many workflow scenarios. The AppleScript support in NeoFinder allows custom integrations of all kinds.

* Geotagging – Only NeoFinder offers the integrated GeoFinder, which searches for photos taken near a spot, or the KMZ export for coordinates and photo thumbnails as a way to give geolocated photos to friends. NeoFinder can even geotag photos itself, no other software needed. And only NeoFinder displays important facts about any geolocation in the truly unique Wikipedia Inspector.

Since the initial release of CDFinder 1.0 in 1996, more than 88,000 customers in 102 countries around the world are using CDFinder and now NeoFinder to organize their digital library, and manage their data archive and backups, including NASA, IKEA, BBC, Mattel, Rand McNally, Pfizer, Random House, Oracle, and Warner Bros.
Language Support: German, English, French, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and Japanese

System Requirements:
* Mac OS X v10.8 – macOS 10.14. Previous CDFinder and NeoFinder versions for older Mac OS versions are still available.
* Separate app for iOS (iPhone and iPad) is available

Pricing and Availability:
The price for new users starts at 29,00 (EUR). Multiple user packs are available for network users. NewFinder can be purchased through the website. Cross-grades for users of similar applications (Cinematica, DiskLibrary, FileFinder, CatFinder, Canto Cumulus, Disk Tracker, DiskCatalogMaker, Atomic View, iView Media Pro, Extensis Portfolio, and others) are available. A free NeoFinder demo version can be downloaded from the NeoFinder website.

macOS New App Release – Color Ray

Product Announcements – 64BitApps of Craiova, Romania, the software company that brought Mac users apps such as Icon Plus, PDF Plus, and ImageSize, announces the release of Color Ray, a Mac app that allows users to visually enhance their photos by combining artistic color effects like Black & White, Sepia, Sketch and Oil Painting.

Users will be able to edit both the background and foreground layers of their photo which allows them to color a certain area and turn the rest of the photo to black & white for a dramatic effect. Color Ray also allows users to keep a certain area of the photo sharp while blurring the rest in order to create a depth of field effect.

Color Ray uses an adjustable brush so that users can select the foreground area of their photo with precision and it also features an Eraser Mode that helps users fine-tune their photos. Users can save their photo in various file formats which include JPG, JPE, JP2, JPX, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and also the newer formats HEIC and HEIF.

Pricing and Availability:
Color Ray is priced at $4.99 (USD) and can be purchased from the Mac App Store and from 64BitApps online. More information about this app can be found at 64BitApps.

Apps & Sites for the Best Coffee

(See my other Coffee related posts) – I saw the article “5 Apps and Sites for Coffee Lovers and That Perfect Brew” this morning and thought it was interesting enough to share. So what were the recommended Apps?:

1. BrewTime (Android, iOS) – Free – how to brew the perfect cup
2. Omnicalculator’s Coffee Kick (Web) – Free – when and how much coffee should you drink
3. Home Grounds (Web) – Free – brewing technique, coffee beans, brewing gear, and coffee recipes
4. Barista Institute’s Recipes (Web) – Free – recipes
5. Coffee Geek (Web) – Free – coffee related encyclopedia

This article is not the definitive ‘how to’ for brewed coffee, but it does provide some good ideas.

macOS New App Release – GIPHY extension for Apple Mail

– Mailbutler GmbH of Berlin, Germany, provider of the leading email enhancing software, released a GIPHY extension for Apple Mail. The free, easy-to-install plugin allows users to search for, preview and add GIFs from the GIPHY library, which serves up more than 1 billion GIFs on a daily basis, to their emails. With the pressure to stand out in a crowded inbox, Mailbutler’s GIPHY extension makes it easy for anyone to create fun, meaningful content that instantly connects with the recipient.

“In today’s world full of distractions, it’s increasingly difficult to capture a reader’s attention. Whether you want to create a dynamic email newsletter, or just wish to have some fun with your colleagues, you can add your personal touch through a GIF when words are just not enough,” said Tobias Knobl, CEO and co-founder of Mailbutler.

A study concerned with Dell’s email campaign confirms the overwhelmingly positive impact GIFs can have on email marketing. It showed that emails with GIFs are 6% more likely to be opened and 42% more likely to gain clicks for an email’s embedded links. Emails with GIFs also experienced a 103% increase in conversion rate and a 109% increase in revenue for Dell.

With Mailbutler’s GIPHY extension, users no longer need to exhaust themselves googling for instructions or downloading and converting files to make them compatible with their email provider. The extension brings them a possibility to simply access the entire GIPHY library and add GIFs with one click within their inbox, thus creating more engaging content and ultimately increasing conversion rates and revenue for the company.

The Timelessness of July 4th

I think that GP Cox has done an excellent job in his post on July 4th and wanted to share it,

Pacific Paratrooper

SEEMS WE DON’T SAY IT ENOUGH – SO, I’M TRYING TO FIX THAT RIGHT HERE – GOD BLESS THE USA!!!

A 1940’s CELEBRATION WRAPPED AROUND A 1776 WAR SONG

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!

HARK, hark the sound of war is heard,
And we must all attend;
Take up our arms and go with speed,
Our country to defend.

Our parent state has turned our foe,
Which fills our land with pain;
Her gallant ships, manned out for war,
Come thundering o’er the main.

There’s Charleton, Howe and Clinton too,
And many thousand more,
May cross the sea, but all in vain,
Our rights we’ll ne’er give o’er.

Our pleasant homes they do invade,
Our property devour;
And all because we won’t submit
To their despotic power.

Then let us go against our foe,
We’d better die than yield

We and our sons are…

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Coffee: Which type of filter do you use? There is a difference!

(See my other Coffee and Food  related posts) – The University of California, Davis Coffee Center has been investigating the best ways to brew coffee. In March of 2019 the article “Flat vs. Cone: Basket Shape is as Important as Grind Size in Drip Brew Coffee” was published in 25 Magazine.

A very well designed [see the article for details] experiment was designed to evaluate flat versus cone shaped filters. The quick take from the article:

1. filter shape does affect the taste of coffee
2. grind size does not affect the taste of coffee
3. there is a taste difference between light and dark roasts

With light roast:

1. flat bottom filters “yielded flavor attributes with more dried fruit, sweet, and floral flavor intensities“
2. cone filters “yielded more citrus, berry, and sour“

With dark roast:

1. flat bottom filters “yield more pronounced chocolate, cocoa, and woody flavors“
2. cone filters “yield much more intense bitterness“

Which filter type is best? That is really up to the consumer because we each have our own taste preferences.