Jekyll2026-06-02T21:42:24+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/feed.xmlNathan WyandNathan Wyand's websiteTransferring files from Debian GNU/Linux to Android phone with rsync2024-07-09T00:00:00+00:002024-07-09T00:00:00+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/2024/07/09/transferring-music-to-phone-with-adb-and-rsyncTransferring data off of an Android phone with ADB and rsync is straightforward, but rsync issues appear when transferring files onto the phone. Tl;dr use the --size-only option with rsync. Android does not allow the “mtime” or modification time of files to be updated on copy, so when it looks at the files already on the destination, it sees that the mtime does not match and tries to copy again. This defeats the purpose of rsync and seems to result in errors. Thanks to StackExchange contributor Greg Alexander for this upsight. Full script below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y jmtpfs rsync fuse3

read -p 'ENSURE ANDROID IS CONNECTED WITH USB AND SET TO FILE TRANSFER MODE' ;                              
mkdir -p /tmp/phone ;
jmtpfs /tmp/phone ;
sleep 5 ;

rsync --recursive --force --size-only --info=progress --verbose ~/Music/ /tmp/phone/Internal\ shared\ storage/Music/ ;
echo 'LOADED MUSIC ONTO PHONE' ;

fusermount -u /tmp/phone ;
echo 'UNMOUNTED PHONE'"
]]>Beacon Credit Union software suite2024-04-11T00:00:00+00:002024-04-11T00:00:00+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/2024/04/11/lynchburg-virginia-beacon-fcu-software-suiteEDITED 2024-08-09

Overview of the software used by Beacon Credit Union, a local financial institution.

  • Online banking registration form hosted at beaconcu.financialhost.org. financialhost.org domain seems to be in use by many credit unions across the country, and all lead to a registration page with a copyright notice for a company called Access Softek. Access Softek provides registration software, but does not appear to develop core banking software. They feature the following partners on their website:
    • Synergent - IT ingtegrators of Jack Henry Symitar core processing/banking system
    • allied Payment Network - Payment technology provider
    • corelation - Core processing/banking and surrounding software
    • DeepTarget - CRM and marketing software for banks and credit unions
    • Jack Henry payments - Payment technology provider (company also major provider of core proccessing/banking software)
    • glia - CRM for financial institutions
    • Larky - Notifications for financial institutions
  • Based on the published partners of Access Softek, which is in use at Beacon Credit Union, it seemed likely that the credit union used core processing software from Jack Henry or corelation. An email I receved from noreply@visasecure.jackhenry.com much later confirmed that Jack Henry is probably their provider of core banking.
  • Some of the enrollment PDFs that new customers sign are generated by Oak Tree Business Systems.
  • Access Softek appears to provide online banking technology for the credit union as well.
]]>Stages of development in Lynchburg, Virginia2023-06-15T00:00:00+00:002023-06-15T00:00:00+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/2023/06/15/stages-of-development-in-lynchburg-virginiaHere’s a map I made in QGIS with data from the Lynchburg open data portal that visualizes different phases of the city’s development. The colored area represents the entire parcel, and the color is derived from the YrBuilt field in the parcel data, which seems to represent the year the main structure on the parcel was built.

Lynchburg Development Phases

]]>Non-profit newsrooms targeting US states2023-01-14T00:00:00+00:002023-01-14T00:00:00+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/2023/01/14/state-based-newsrooms-filling-journalism-desert
  • The Center Square FISCAL CONSERVATIVE/CENTRIST
    • 50 states, but some state pages are sparse and mostly have articles involving multiple states
  • Courier Newsroom LEFT
    • 8 states
  • States Newsroom CENTER-LEFT
    • 29 states

    • findyournews.org is also a cool search engine for independent news sources.

    ]]>    Transit fleets of Central Virginia2022-10-21T00:00:00+00:002022-10-21T00:00:00+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/2022/10/21/central-virginia-transit-fleetsThis table isn’t exhaustive. I’m just recording them as I find them like a trainspotter.

    Operator Number Manufacturer Doors Seat Count Seat Color Notes
    GLTC 0803 Gillig 2      
    GLTC 0809 Gillig 2 28 gray w/ confetti pattern  
    GLTC 0811 Gillig 2 28 gray w/ confetti pattern  
    GLTC 1002 Gillig   37 gray w/ confetti pattern  
    GLTC 1004 Gillig 2      
    GLTC 1701 New Flyer 2   blue/yellow  
    GLTC 2002 Gillig 2   silver  
    GLTC 2003 Gillig 2      
    GLTC 2004 Gillig 2 31 silver male announcement voice
    GLTC 2005 Gillig 2   silver  
    GLTC 2007 Gillig 2      
    GLTC 2008 Gillig 2   silver much longer than 2004
    GLTC 2201 Gillig 2   gray/black  
    GLTC 2202 Gillig 1   gray/black  
    GLTC 2203 Gillig 1 23 gray/black  
    GLTC 2204 Gillig 1 23 gray/black  
    CAT 110 Gillig 2      
    CAT 111 Gillig 2 30 blue w/ colored squares  
    CAT 116 Gillig 2 31 blue animal art wrap
    CAT 401 Gillig 2   blue w/ colored squares  
    ]]>    Assorted thoughts on “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera2022-06-26T00:00:00+00:002022-06-26T00:00:00+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/2022/06/26/thoughts-on-the-unbearable-lightness-of-beingThe book repeatedly discusses the themes of lightness and weight.

    As used in the book, if one is experiencing lightness, they are approaching life with nonchalance, flippancy, or easygoingness. Nothing is all that important, and nothing has to happen a particular way. A million paths open up to you each morning, and you can take whatever one you feel like. Lightness abounds when commitments are few. Tomas’ philosophy is that “the only relationship that can make both partners happy is one in which sentimentality has no place and neither partner makes any claim on the life and freedom of the other”. Erich Fromm espouses a similar idea in Escape from Freedom, though I can’t remember what he calls it (something like “voluntary cooperation of free agents”).

    Weight in this context means gravity, fate, purpose, or duty. Things must happen. Things must be done. Love is possible when actions and events have weight. Commitment becomes viable, because the parties in a relationship have something heavy preventing them from leaving on a whim. Weight doesn’t guarantee fun, but it may make deeper fulfillment possible.

    I am hopelessly biased, but Kundera is as well.

    There is a time for lightness–a time for merrymaking, enjoying the smell of the ocean, and being spontaneous. However, from my experience, I must reject this flippancy as being the main theme of human life. While Kundera acknowledges that his characters have a need for love, meaning, constancy, and worship in their lives, I get the sense that this is only ‘one weird trick’ for living out one’s days with minimal despair. In his broader view, nothing appears to mean anything. The title of his book could be rewritten as Life Has No Meaning and You Will Never Quite Come to Terms with that Fact.

    The parts I found most valuable, aside from his striking character sketches throughout, were in the chapter “Lightness and Weight”, sections 2-7 & 13-15. These detail Tomas’ interactions with authorities in Soviet Czechoslovakia, and discuss how honest upbringing is a liability during secret police interrogations. The later sections deal with the movement resisting Soviet occupation, which Tomas’ son is a part of. There’s a lot of agonizing over whether signing a paper does anything. Tomas at one point loses his job as a surgeon for refusing to sign a statement condoning Soviet power. Later, he refuses to sign a public statement being put out by the resistance. Another character Franz, in similar predicaments, eventually decides that when there is no possibility of action against evil, playacting is better than inaction: “His true goal was not to free the prisoners; it was to show that people without fear still exist.”

    Kundera also makes a lot of funny assertions about creation, original sin, the Imago Dei (whether God has intestines), and whether animals have souls. For most of his rambling inquiries he presents what he believes to be the two possible answers, but they seem like false dichotomies.

    All in all, The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a very peculiar book.

    ]]>    Search operators for libraries that use the TLC library management system2022-03-27T00:00:00+00:002022-03-27T00:00:00+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/2022/03/27/search-operators-for-libraries-that-use-the-tlc-library-management-systemToday I was trying to build a list on Letterboxd of movies on my watchlist that are also available at my local library. My library uses a library management system from TLC (The Library Corporation). If your library’s online catalog url ends in .tlcdelivers.com, that means yours uses it too.

    The “Advanced search” feature allows some complex searches, but omits important attributes like media format. To search for only DVDs, enter film name format:"DVD" in the search box. This should filter out books and other recording types. I’m sure other undocumented search flags exist. Please email me if you know of any. I thought there was a hidden -format flag, but it turns out that whatever I put after -format was just being interpreted as part of the search. Therefore, searching with -format:"DVD" would favor results that had the word “DVD” in the metadata.

    Check out this obscure documentation on actual TLC search flags.

    Because TLC search reveals a lot of URL query parameters, I believe it would be possible to make an unauthorized CLI client…maybe even one that has a -format flag!

    ]]>    Alternative transportation in Lynchburg, Virginia2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:002022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/2022/02/15/state-of-the-sidewalks-in-lynchburgFor the month of January, I experimented with walking, biking, and riding the bus rather than driving everywhere. This is definitely not the happy path in 2022 Lynchburg. Here are a few things I noticed:

    • When it snows, it’s a hellscape for pedestrians. There’s a law on the books that requires property owners to clear the adjacent public sidewalks, but the fine for failing to do this is $5. This is not enough for anyone to care or for the police to bother with enforcement. Probably 2% of the sidewalks were shoveled during one of our January snow/ice storms. Many times I had to walk against traffic in the road because it was preferable to walking on the icy sidewalk and slipping into the road at an unexpected time.
    • GLTC bus stops are frequently a sign in the ground. There are no benches, shelters, or even concrete platforms at these stops. One of them on Lakeside Drive could not be accessed except by squeezing through a line of bushes or stepping into 40 MPH traffic.
    • The connectedness of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure is an afterthought. In the Timberlake Road area, there is frequently 1/4 mile of sidewalk, then nothing for miles, then another blip of sidewalk, then nothing. Fortunately, it appears that new developments are getting robust sidewalks. I even noticed some multi-use paths for pedestrians, bikes, scooters, and such along Wards Road around Walmart, by a southern portion of Greenview Drive, and along the majority of Odd Fellows Road and Liberty Mountain Road. It would be amazing if these sections could be conected with the Blackwater Creek multi-use trail.
    • People that ride GLTC buses (and the drivers too) are really nice. I suppose it helps that the bus users around here are a group that can’t afford to be in a hurry to their destination. The buses come once an hour to most stops, giving plenty of interstitial time to meet some new people and hear the local happenings.
    • Blackwater Creek Trail is a beautiful and low-effort bike route from Kemper Street Station to downtown. I stupidly forgot my gloves on a sub-freezing day, and still enjoyed my ride.
    ]]>    An index of Lynchburg, Virginia’s community gardens2022-01-16T00:00:00+00:002022-01-16T00:00:00+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/2022/01/16/an-index-of-lynchburg-community-gardensCriteria
    • Located in the city limits of Lynchburg, Virginia
    • Can be rented or borrowed by residents of Lynchburg, Virginia to grow food for themselves

    Gardens

    Name Location How to join Active?
    University of Lynchburg Community Garden (Facebook) Beaver Point by College Lake Unsure. Waiting on Facebook page manager to respond to a message I sent on 2022-01-16. Yes
    Hill City Master Gardeners Davis Instructional Garden at Humankind Humankind Way Call the Hill City Master Gardener Association help desk at +1 434 455 3743 for an application. Yes
    Daniel’s Hill Garden “The Veggie Spot” 904 Cabell Street Unsure. Waiting on Facebook page manager to respond to a message I sent on 2022-01-16. Yes
    Yoder Center 109 Jackson Street Be a resident of the neighborhood and call +1 434 485 8301. Yes (based on center website and recent satellite imagery)
    Daniel’s Hill Center 317 Norwood Street Be a resident of the neighborhood and call +1 434 485 8337. Yes (based on center website and recent satellite imagery)
    Diamond Hill Center 1005 17th Street Be a resident of the neighborhood and call +1 434 485 8339. Yes (based on center website and recent satellite imagery)
    Fairview Center 3621 Campbell Avenue Be a resident of the neighborhood and call +1 434 485 8302. Yes (based on center website and recent satellite imagery)
    College Hill Center 811 Jackson Street Be a resident of the neighborhood and call +1 434 485 8331. Unsure (center website says there’s a garden, but recent satellite imagery gives no evidence of a current or recent garden)
    Pierce Street Community Garden(Instagram) 1301 Pierce Street Unsure. Waiting for Instagram page manager to respond to a message I sent on 2021-01-21 Yes

    Other gardens that don’t meet the criteria

    • QMPC Community Garden (seems to only be accessible to members, and all food is donated to charities)
    • Grow & Give Community Garden (doesn’t seem like anybody can join and grow food for themselves…appears that it is more educational and charitable in nature)
    • Mt. Carmel Baptist Church Harvest House (can’t find much about this one, so it may not exist anymore)
    • Randolph College Organic Garden (manager of Facebook page said plots are only open to Randolph faculty, staff, and students, but you can email Riley Lorson about occasional volunteer opportunities)
    • Lynchburg Grows (a nonprofit farm with CSA programs)

    Interesting ultra-local food resources

    ]]>    Downloading high-resolution tiled imagery from museum websites2021-12-23T00:00:00+00:002021-12-23T00:00:00+00:00https://nathanwyand.com/2021/12/23/downloading-tiled-images-from-museum-websitesI’ve always admired Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus for its elaborate and sometimes whimsical drawings of machines, so when I went to locate high-resolution copies at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana website, I was surprised to find no simple download link. Instead, the site used a library called openseadragon.js to serve tiles of the image as needed and at the required resolution. Right-clicking save as on the image basically works, but zooming out to view the whole image results in lower-resolution tiles being used for stitching.

    Enter dezoomify-extension. When a tiled image is present on a webpage, it detects it and sends the user to dezoomify.ophir.dev to download it in the highest resolution available.

    Now I can get back to laying out those Codex Atlanticus placemats I was making for my kitchen table!

    ]]>