Miles A. Curry

Exploring How to avoid ‘Unrecognized Application’ on Windows

2024-05-17T19:00:00+00:00

Recently, I started writing a small video game usying Python Arcade. In order to distribute it to my friends I started compiling it into a single .DLL using Nuitka. In fact, you can download an early version here.

If you do download the game, and try to run it on Windows (sorry Linux and Mac users), your Windows defender will produce a “Windows Protected Your PC” warning and prevent the application from running (if you click ‘More Info’, you’ll be giving the option to run the application).

This mechanism is driven by Window’s Defender’s SmartScreen.

A bit of annoying warning from a developer’s perspective, but it’s a warning I think we can all agree is needed for preventing malware execution.

But the question then comes, what are the steps that are needed to be preformed to become a ‘recognized’ app in Microsoft’s eyes?

In this blog post, I will go into the research I’ve done to preform such a task. While, I have not come to a solution now, I wanted to have a place to hold my research and have a place to share it with others.

I’ll provide as much links to documentation as I can, so you can find it on your own.

Likewise, I plan on updating this document when I return to this topic.

TLDR
Running an Unrecognized Application via ‘Run Anyway’
How Window’s Defender determines if a Executable is ‘Unrecognized’ - Reputation
Submitting your Application For Review by Microsoft
Certificates
Is there any easy way, like through Let’s Encrypt?
Other things I’ve found…

TLDR

TLDR: You application gains reputation as it is downloaded and ran by people. You can increase the reputation by submitting it to Microsoft for malware evaluation, but this takes time.

Extended Validation (EV) certificates cost a crap ton of money and can only be issued to organizations, but they allow the SmartScreen warning to instantly go away.

Organization Validation (OV) and Individual Validation (IV) certificates cost less (but still a lot), but don’t automatically remove the SmartScreen. You still need to gain reputation organically; however, your certificate will gain reputation alongside your application. Thus you can use it to sign other applications, which will gain reputation from your certification.

Running an Unrecognized Application via ‘Run Anyway’

First, I wanted to make a note about allowing an application to run by clicking on the ‘Run Anyway’ button on the ‘Windows protected your PC’. Mainly, I wanted to see if there was a way to undo this action.

However, from a decent bit of searching, I have not found a way to undo this action. Google has found nothing of use, and I’ve searched through the Window’s Registry Editor and haven’t found anything related with applications that I’ve clicked ‘Run Anyway’ on.

I know I should at least have some applications that I’ve allowed, but perhaps Microsoft has hid the ability to undo to disable people from repeatedly accepting an executable to increase it’s reputation (we’ll get into reputation shortly).

If anyone does find a way to disable it, let me know. It would be nice to have a way to test locally if a Window’s Defender SmartScan accepts an application or not.

How Window’s Defender determines if a Executable is ‘Unrecognized’ - Reputation

Note: Here, I referrer to executable and application interchangeably. By executable/application I refer to a program that executes commands on a computer without the need to be compiled.

Application’s and executables are accepted based upon the executable’s reputation and the reputation of the certificate that has signed it.

From what I’ve discovered, this reputation is based on the number of times Window’s Defender/Microsoft has seen the executable and the number of times that application has been submitted and identified as malware.

Microsoft provides a way to submit an executable for malware analysis. From what I’ve seen, this site is the same for when you want to report a malware executable or you want to submit your application to be flagged as not malware. You can submit your application yo microsoft here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/filesubmission/. See, here for more submission guidelines: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-xdr/submission-guide

It appears that this site will automatically scan your application and will probably make a determination on that scan. After that scan, it is placed into a queue, and based on priority, it will be analyzed by a human at Microsoft to determine if it is malware or not. If your application is accepted here, it will gain reputation.

On top of that, the reputation of your application is based on the certificate that was used to sign it. As we will go into detail in another section, this certificate must be purchased. The certificate itself has reputation. If a signed executable is found to be malware, other executables signed with that certificate will be negatively effected.

Using an Extended Validation (EV) Certificates on your code will automatically allow your executable to pass the Smart Screen Scan. See the Certificate section for more info.

See:

Submitting your Application For Review by Microsoft

To gain reputation for your application, you can submit your application to Microsoft to gain additional reputation, but it appears this can take a long time. I believe if you are an enterprise customer (i.e. pay to play) you will go faster through the priority.

Submit your application here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/filesubmission/ Additional Guidelines: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-xdr/submission-guide

Certificates

Extended Validation (EV) Certificates

Now, onto certificates. There are a number of certificates out there for the choosing, but again, only executables signed with a Extended Validation (EV) Certificates will immediately pass the SmartScan. However, the EV Certificate comes with some caveats.

First, an EV certificate can only be issued to an Organization, so single individuals cannot get obtain an EV certificate. However, I’m guessing any individual with an LLC should be able to obtain one.

Second, your issued EV certificate private key it’s self is shipped and must only be stored on an encrypted USB hardware token (such as a Yubi Key). This is to prevent keys being stolen. (There also appears to be a way to sign from the cloud).

Lastly, EV certificates are expensive. This is because they require a higher standard for authenticating the identify of the certificate requester’s legal identity. Hence the name, Extended Validation.

EV certificates seem mostly geared towards truly enterprise organizations.

NOTE: EV certificates a required for developing a Windows 10 Driver.

List of Code Signing Authorities (There’s probably more):

EV Requirements

From what I’ve found going through a few different sites, CA’s require the following when applying for an EV certificate (It looks like there are some differences between different issuers):

Organization Name, Trade Name, etc.
Business Address
Telephone numbers
Verification of the Business owner
Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) number
Attestation letter from a licensed professional

Some requirements listed above appear that they can be substituted for each other (e.g. DUNs number instead of a letter from a licensed professional).

See:

https://www.ssl.com/faqs/what-are-the-requirements-for-ssl-com-ev-certificates/

EV Expiration

Like all good Certificates EV’s expire. Any renewed certificate will require you to go through the same validation as you did with the first one.

I believe using an expired EV certificate to sign code decreases it’s reputation.

EV Cost

Here are some costs I grabbed from a list of CA’s. They all offer discounts for longer certificate duration.

Digicert 1 Year - EV w/ DigiCert-Provided Hardware Token: $648.00
Entrust 1 Year - EV w/ Entrust-Provided Hardware Token: $399.00
GlobalSign 1 Year - EV w/ GlobalSign-Provided Hardware Token: $410
SSL.com 1 Year - EV w/ SSL.com-Provided Yubikey: $628

For the SSL.com, the YubiKey’s are $279 each…

Please see each site for a further breakdown. Also, these prices are probably out of date by the time you read this.

Some Links to More Info on EV:

Organization Validation (OV) and Individual Validation (IV) certificates

OV and IV certificates are similar to EV, but are not as rigours in their validation. They are also similar to a Domain Validation (DV) certificate, but require more validation.

OV certificates are issued to organizations, while IV certificates are issued to individuals

It appears that, OV and IV certificates offer the same amount of trust to the user, but they just

When compared to EV certificates, OV and IV offer the same amount of trust, and have similar needs for validation, the only difference is varying a business vs an individual.

These certificates are cheaper since they require less validation then EV; however, they do not offer the same trust as EV certificates and thus, unfortunately, do not grant immediate Window’s Defender SmartScreen acceptance.

However, they allow the ability to use a certificate to help your applications gain some reputation, but SmartScreen reputation still has to be obtained organically, by the number of downloads.

It seems that over time, as your application becomes reputable, so to will the certificate become reputable. Thus, new applications signed with your certificate will gain some reputation just from being signed from a ‘trusted’ certificate.

As quoted from this Microsoft Article:

Reputation is also generated for digitally signed downloads based on the digital certificate used to sign the file. Digital certificates allow reputation to be assigned to a single identity (digital certificate) across multiple files. If you are not signing your programs, reputation will be built independently for each file you distribute. In contrast, signed programs may inherit the reputation of your digital certificate.

For some real good information on the difference between all three certifications see this ssl.com article.

Requirements for OV and IV Certificates Validations

Requirements for both (I’m only listing some here for brevity):

Identifiable information
Physical Address
Phone Numbers
etc.

Requirements for Individuals:

A Scan copy of a government-issued photo ID
Photo of yourself with your ID

Requirements for Organizations:

DUNS number
Other records of Organization existence

Renewing OV/IV Certificates

New OV/IV certificates will lack reputation, essentially they start over. To give new certifications reputation you can sign your applications with both the new certificate and the old one. (Taken from this stack over flow answer).

OV/IV Cost:

Digicert 1 Year - OV w/ DigiCert-Provided Hardware Token: $648.00
Entrust 1 Year - OV w/ Entrust-Provided Hardware Token: $299.00
GlobalSign 1 Year - OV w/ GlobalSign-Provided Hardware Token: $289
SSL.com 1 Year - OV w/ SSL.com-Provided Yubikey: $408

Again, this is just from a quick glance of the above website. Please see their sites for real and current pricing.

Is there any easy way, like through Let’s Encrypt?

Let’s Encrypt is a non-profit Certificate Authority that allows individuals and organization to obtain free SSL/TLS certificates. For those not familiar with Web Development, it’s the easiest way to obtain an SSL/TLS certificates to enable secure communication over HTTPS. Fun fact, this website is using a Let’s Encrypt verified SSL certificate!

However, to quickly answer the header of this section, no, Let’s Encrypt does not provide, or plans to provide, EV certificates.

Other things I’ve found…

Creating Temporary Certificates for use during development - Apparently you can use development certifications, but I think this is mostly for testing, and for distributing your code as you develop it through an intranet. Those who use your application during development can probably add the certificate to a trust store.
Windows Win32 Certification - There apparently used to be a Windows Certification program, but it now appears deprecated.
Window’s Sign Tools - I have not included any information on how to sign an application, but it should be pretty trivial if you have interest in this page. But it appears on windows you can use the SignTool command line-tool to do so.

Repost from 2015

2024-03-23T19:00:00+00:00

This is a post I made on Facebook clear back in 2015. I wrote it a little over a year after I had returned to College after dropping out to take a year off of school to seek mental health treatment.

I re-read it recently after perusing through my Facebook photos and wanted to share it here. I was struck by how well it was written, and, how well it articulated my feelings at that time.

The image I posted it with below also sums up how I felt. The panting is Joel Rea’s Resolution. A businessman, dressed in proper business attire, suitcase in hand, presenting a piece of paper, to a giant wave, crashing on the beach.

In the past, I’d sometimes have dreams like this. Where the water represented my emotion This image, and this post, completely encapsulated what I was feeling at the time. On the outside, I was I appeared as a normal student, but on the inside I was nervous, anxious, panicky, depressed and had thoughts of suicide and self harm.

I’m clear on the other side now, my anxiety and depression are non-existent. I still have those emotions for sure, but they don’t hold more space than the other emotions. They play their evolutionary role and that’s it. Anxiety prompts me to come up with a plan for things I’m worried about and that I can control or to identify the things that I can’t control and let go of them. Depression, not often felt, prompts me to make changes.

To anyone who is reading this who has had anxiety, depression or any other mental health struggle, know that there is a path through it and you wont be fighting it forever. Seek therapeutic help with a therapist you like and trust, read self-help books, meditate, move away from toxic people, journal, and exercise and exercise and exercise. It’ll take time, but you’ll chip away at it slowly, but surely.

Do you ever struggle to find the right words to say? Or are you ever not sure how to act or respond in a certain situation? Does it ever seem like things pass you by and you don’t even notice it? Imagine feeling so alienated and alone that you ignore everything around you. Participating in the things around you, but somehow your just not there. Your mind is elsewhere, not in some off in some fairytale of some fantasy, but it’s just not here. It’s not preoccupied, the present moment is just too much for it to take, so it rests its self elsewhere.

That’s how the last few years have been for me. I haven’t been here. I just want to disappear. I’ve been happy with the things I’ve done, the person I am, where I’m going and the things I’m doing, but my body and mind feel like they are elsewhere.

It’s funny when you feel some way, or struggle with something like depression or anxiety and you tell a friend, and they let you know they had no idea that was happening with you. And I’m not saying that is funny that they weren’t paying attention, it’s funny that I thought it was a trait everyone could see in me. It’s funny how something I struggle with every waking day, but is something that I don’t express outwardly.

To all my friends, I wanted to say how sorry I am for not being the best I can to you over these last few years. Life can throw some nasty curveballs that hit you right in the gut sometimes. But I wanted to say how much joy each and every one of you bring to my life just by seeing your face or being in your company and how much it pains me to be away from anyone of you at any given moment. Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so I’d figure I’d mention how thankful I am for all of you.

Vegan Mac N’ Cheese Recipe

2024-02-04T19:00:00+00:00

This recipe is adapted from The Complete Vegan cookbook by the Natural Gourmet Institute.

The vegan-cheese sauce for this can be used for any number of recipes. Here, I am using almond milk, you can also make your own oatmilk (which is significantly faster and easier to make), or you can also probably use any store bought nut milk.

If you use almonds you will need to soak them 12-24 hours in advance.

Ingredients

6 cups almond milk (or make your own, see Prepare the Almond Milk)
1 lbs pasta (Macaroni, bowtie, elbow)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons of oil - vegtable/canolia, but olive oil works fine too
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast - add more to taste
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Ground nutmeg (optional)
1 teaspoon garlic powder - add more to taste
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

Recipe

Prepare the Almond milk

2 Cups Almonds (Optional, see “Prepare the Almond Milk”)

For the homemade almond milk, the almonds will need to be soaked skinless; thankfully, removing the skin on the almonds is quite easy.

Blanch the almonds in a medium pot of water. Bring a medium pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the almonds and blanch them for no more than 60 seconds. After 60 seconds, drain the almonds in a colander and wash with cool water.
Once the almonds are cool to the touch, take an almond one at a time, and pinch the skin between your pointer finger and thumb, doing so will cause the almond to shoot out of it’s skin. The almonds come out with a lot of force so you’ll want to aim down into a bowl.
Once all the almonds are skinless, set them in a bowl or Tupperware and cover with water for 12-24 hours, adding more water if necessary.
After soaking for 12-24 hours, place the almonds in a blender with 6 cups of water (you may need to blend in batches). Blend well.
Once blended, strain the almond milk through a nut milk bag and/or a fine mesh strainer.

For the Vegan Mac n’Cheese

For the vegan cheese sauce, we’ll make a roux with the nut milk and combine nutritional yeast and garlic powder to get that cheesy taste.

In a sauce pot, heat up the on low to medium heat add the flour and combine, keeping the heat low so you don’t burn the roux. Stir the roux until it is a light blond color.
Then add portions of the almond milk into the roux stirring to incorporate after each addition of milk. Once all the milk is added continue on low heat and stir until sauce has thickened enough so that it coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Once thickened add the salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, paprika and garlic powder. Add addtional gralic powder, nutritional yeast and salt until you get your desired ‘cheese’ flavor. The garlic powder and nutritional yeast really add to ‘cheese’ flavor.
Preheat the oven to 350º. Cook the pasta in boiling water until al-dente. Drain and return to pot and remove from heat. Then, combine the cheese sauce with the pasta and stir to combine and then pour in an oil greeased 9-12 glass baking dish.
In another bowl, combine the panko with 2 tablespoons of oil. Using your hands, mix the oil with the panko. Season the panko with salt and pepper to your liking.
Sprinkle the panko mixture on top of the mac-n-cheese and then cook in the over until the cheese is bubble and the panko is golden brown - about 20 to 25 minutes. (You can use the broiler to get the make the panko golden brown if you’d like, but keep an eye on it as it will burn quick).

Vegan Carrot and Parsnip Casserole Recipie

2024-02-04T19:00:00+00:00

This recipe is adapted from The Complete Vegan cookbook by the Natural Gourmet Institute.

Wonderful recipe. The rosemary really brings the dish together, so it’s best to get fresh rosemary. You can over do it with the rosemary, so just keep it under 1 Tablespoon.

Ingredients

2-3 large carrots - Diced small
1-2 large parsnips - Diced small
Olive oil
1 Large yellow onion - Diced well
3-5 cloves garlic (depending on your preference)
4 roma tomatoes (or can of diced tomatoes) - Diced small
1.5 cups vegetable stock
1/2 tablespoon or so fresh rosemary - minced
1 15 oz can of great northern beans
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Fresh thyme and fresh parsley - diced (optional)

Recipe

Toss the carrots and parsnips in oil, salt and pepper. Then bake the carrots and parsnips at 400ºF for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. Stirring/flipping the diced root veggies once.
Once the roots are done, set the oven to 375º.
While the root veggies cook, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large deep pan (Cast iron pan works great). Add the onion and saute until translucence and just about to brown. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Then add the tomatoes, stock, and rosemary. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Stir in beans and simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes. If you have a lot of liquid you can simmer or boil for longer, but leave some liquid in, it will evaporate off in the oven.
In a another small bowl, combine the panko, parsley, thyme, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Additionally add a pinch of salt and pepper. Using your fingertips, combine the breadcrumb mixture (rubbing your fingertips together).
In a 8x8-inch baking dish, combine the root veggies and onion mixture and sprinkle the panko mixture on top. Cook at 375ºF until the bread crumbs are golden-brown, about 25 minutes. You can also use the boiler to brown the bread crumbs, but they can burn quickly so keep an eye on them.

Green Lentil Soup

2024-01-01T19:00:00+00:00

Here is my recipe for Green Lentil Soup. I just eyeball it so I’ve left some amounts off. As you make the soup, just taste the soup liquid as you go and add salt, black pepper, or stock to adjust the taste (Add plain water to if you have over salted).

This recipe would also be good with some Great Northern Beans. Likewise, you can add whatever extra vegetables in place of carrots and potatoes as you see fit. It also might benefit with some fresh thyme and/or fresh sage.

Ingredients

For the Mirapoix

2 Carrots - Diced small
4-5 Celery Stocks - Diced Small
1 White Onions - Diced Small

For the mirapoix I aim for equal parts carrot, celery and onion, but it really doesn’t matter to much.

For the Lentil Soup

2-3 Carrots - Cut into bit size pieces - 1/2 inch
2-3 Golden/Yellow Potatoes - Cut into quarters or 1/2 inch pieces
1-2 Cups - Green Lentils - Washed thoroughly with water until water runs clear
Vegetable or Chicken Stock
1-2 cans of Crushed Tomatoes or Tomato Paste/Diced Tomatoes
Splash White Wine Vinegar
Fresh Parsley to taste
1 Bay Leaf

Recipe

For the Mirapoix

In a soup pot heat up ~1 Tbsp of Olive Oil until warm on medium heat. Add the carrots, celery and onion and sauté on medium. Add a pinch of salt to the mirapoix to help the vegetables release their water. Sautue until onion and celery is translucent and the all vegetables are soft.
(Optional if preparing the Mirapoix ahead of time) Once the onion and celery are translucent and all the carrots are soft transfer the mirapoix into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer.

For the Soup

With the mirapoix in the soup pot and the heat off add the washed lentils, carrots, potatoes and bay leaf. Then, add enough stock to cover the lentils and vegetables (About a half-inch to an inch above the vegtables). If using bouillon cubes or bouillon concentrate, add water and then add the bouillon until the water is salty and taste like good soup. Add the bay leaf and pepper to taste.
Turn heat on high and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer until the lentils and the vegetables are the desired texture about 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. While simmering add additional stock/water if the level drops too low.
Once the lentils and the vegetables are at the desired texture, add the crushed tomato/tomato paste/diced tomatoes and a splash of white wine vinegar. Doing so will prevent the lentils from cooking down further as the acid strengthens the pectin in the lentil’s cell wall slowing their water absorption.
With the tomatoes and vinegar with the lentils, simmer for an additional 5-10 mins to ensure the flavors are well mixed.
Optional - To provide a little bit more texture in the dish blend 1/4-1/2 of the lentils (and some vegetables if you want) in a blender and pour back into the dish.
Finally, add the fresh chopped parsley to taste, stir and serve!

Pacific North West Recommendations

2023-07-30T23:23:00+00:00

Portland and Surrounding Areas

Portland and Surrounding Areas

Portland Proper

Downtown / West of the river

Downtown has changed since the Pandemic. It’s not as active as it once was, but it’s still worth a visit.

Forrest Park - Huge, beautiful park near the city.

Lots of great walking and running trails all under beautiful huge Oregon trees.

Powell’s City of Books - Giant Book Store Downtown

Books! Lots and lots of Books!! They’ve got like 10 huge rooms of books. Pretty much mandatory that you go! How could you not?

I recommend getting coffee at Courier Coffee and then heading into Powell’s.

Courier Coffee - Quaint Coffee Shop Near Powell’s

My favorite coffee shop ever and right next to Powell’s. Cool staff and just a cool vibe, though there isn’t much seating space. Go here first then into Powell’s

2025 UPDATE: They now sell Japanese food! Really, wonderful Miso soup and hand rolls!

Food Trucks at Washington and 3rd - Great variety of food trucks!

Washington Park - Nice little park

Great place for a run, by the west side of the city. Great views, big trees, lots of trails for easy hiking. Also check out the [rose garden][Rose Garden], Japanese Garden and Oregon Zoo here too.

[Rose Garden] - See Washington Park

Japanese Garden - “Most beautiful and authentic Japanese Garden outside of Japan”

Beautiful Japanese garden. Really worth a visit. You can get tea too, but you have to get a reservation.

Oregon Zoo - Can’t beat the Zoo!

McMenamins (any of them) - Oregon/Washington Retaurant/Brewery Chain

McMenamins are all around the Pacific Northwest with 56 locations of pubs, restaurants hotels and breweries. The food is reliably good and the beer is pretty unique.

They have some quirky places that they have turned into restaurants. I recommend going to the Kennedy School as it’s probably the most unique in Portland (see [East Side of the River][#east-side-of-the-river]).

They often brew beers that have the same gravity (alcohol %) so you can mix beers together!

My Favorite Beers:

The Ruby - Unique fruity beer
The Terminator Stout - Solid Stout
The Rubynator - Half Ruby, Half Terminator Stout

There is always one somewhere nearby, just take a look at all their locations in the Portland area: https://maps.app.goo.gl/hUHBFKDHJrvSTKZp9.

East Side of the River

The East Side of Portland has perhaps a bit more life then downtown. My favorite part about Downtown is that there are all these different neighborhoods with a life of their own. No matter where you are in Portland, there is normally bars and restaurant near you.

Mt Tabor - Popular Butte to watch the sunset

Easy to ‘hike’ butte on the east side with beautiful views of Mount Hood and Portland. Popular spot to watch the sunset in the summer.

McMenamins Kennedy School

Literally a school that they turned into a bar. Walk around the lockers, into the boiler room and grab a beer!

Mississippi Ave - Nice, fun Neighborhood on the East Side

Got some good Restaurants, coffee shops and bars. Watch a show at Mississippi Studios.

Surrounding Areas

The Gorge & Multanoma Falls

Columbia River Gorge - East along the Columbia River

Beautiful river and driving!

Multanoma Falls - Beautiful and Famous Water Fall

Beautiful Waterfall in the Gorge, you’ve probably seen photos. Nice hiking!

Vista House - Viewpoint in the Gorge

Mount Hood Area

Timberline Lodge - Famous Lodge on Mt Hood

Great place to go Ski, of course, but if you’re in the area it can be fun to go visit. They do have skiing all year round due to the glacier.

Government Camp - Mountain Town with Bars/Restaurants/Breweries

If you’re in the area this is a great place to get lunch or a beer!

Mt Hood Ski Bowl - Ski Resort in Winter - Biking/activities in Summer

Fun little ski area with great night skiing. In the summer they have downhill mountain biking and loads of fun activities: Go Karts, Disc Golf, Mini Golf, and one of those Alpine Slides.

Ski Bowl’s Website.

Old Salmon River Trail - Beautiful and easy Hike near Mt Hood Village.

Trillium Lake - Beatiful Warm Mountain Lake

Pretty busy, but a beautiful, warm mountain lake with amazing views of Mount Hood. I heard they started to charge for parking…

The Coast

I haven’t been to the coast much around Portland in a long time, but anywhere on the Oregon Coast is beautiful. In my opinion the coast is the prettiest part of Oregon, and often forgotten.

If I had to choose where to go out of these places I’d choose Astoria, it really has some wonderful charm and I’d like to explore it more.

There are also plenty of places on the coast that have tidal pools. Lots of fun to go explore when the tide goes out (but I’m not sure of any specific parts, google or locals might have some good intel).

Astoria - Where they filmed the Goonies

Astoria has a really unique charm that I really love. Perhaps this charm comes from the Goonies, but I love how the houses look and the town feels.

Seaside - Popular Coastal Resort Town

A popular resort town. Loads of little tourist traps to do downtown (including an arcade). The beach is nice and there are some fun things to do.

Cannon Beach - Where Haystack Rock is

You’ve probably seen photos of Haystack Rock. I haven’t been here in ages, so I don’t remember much, but it’s worth noting!

Oregon Wine County - SW of Portland

Fan of wine? Well, Oregon has some of the best wine in the World, in my opinion. There are tons of wonderful wineries in near Dundee.

Try the Pinot Noir, I have been told that the Willamette Valley Soil is perfect for growing Pinot Noir wines.

Stuck

2023-07-18T23:23:00+00:00

“We live in a world illuminated by the sun and the moon; if you poke your head down a well, don’t complain that you’re in the dark.” - Rumi

I wrote it over ten years ago, and when I first re-read it I knew it was a lie.

When I wrote it at the time, I didn’t actually know that it was a lie, but I could feel it. I was too young, too dependent on my parents, too naive to comprehend the extent of the it, the lie, but deep down my body knew.

I wrote it as a journal entry on a summer bike tour when I was seventeen. Starting in St. Louis Missouri and ending in Seaside Oregon I joined a teacher and three other students on some 3,500 miles and roughly 50 days following roughly the same route as the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Following a map produced by Adventure Cycling (Non-profit tour cycling map creator) the trail follows mostly on unpaved, less-traffic routes that mostly follow the path of Lewis and Clark, with a few unpaved sections to make things interesting.

The trail was wonderful and beautiful, from Saint Louis, the trail cuts west to Kansas City and then follows the Missouri river north into states such as Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota, and then cuts west over Montana. After crossing Montana and the Continental Divide, the trail follows various rivers until it reaches the Oregon Coast.

We got to experience the country in few ways people do. Slow and steady. Watching the scenery change from rolling hills of corn, to great expansive grass planes, to the continental divide to our forested home in Oregon.

We learned about Lewis and Clark almost the whole way, but the trip was mostly for the experience. The greatest pieces of learning came from the graciousness of strangers, and realizing how simple life could be.

We were at least thirty days into the trip when I wrote that particularly entry. My family, my grandparents, my mother, and my mom’s partner joined us. As avid bike riders, my mom and partner, Robert, joined us for a few days of riding.

For everyday of the trip, we posted a blog entry to a popular bike tour blog site to keep our parents (and a lot of other interested teachers, students, family and friends) involved. Depending on the day, we rotated who wrote the entry, favoring some people if they had experienced something that day that was worth sharing.

For both the days that my family joined us, it made sense for me to write the journal entries for both days.

More than ten years on, I still distinctly remember the campsite where I wrote the entry.

We had crossed over the divide at that point and we were starting to enter into the rain part of the rain shadow. It was one of the first campsites that reminded me of the forested back home in Oregon.

The camp ground road curved a large egg shape circle forming a large open oval with shaded grass field and a bathroom at one end. On the other side of the road were the tent and RV sites. The edges were packed full of leaf filled summer treas. So much so that little of the direct afternoon sun penetrated all the way to the ground, instead it created that soft, green-yellow glow of chlorophyll filtered sun light.

Riding or hiking for such long stretches of time effects the body and mind tend to let go of anxiety, tensions and worry from everyday life ‘back home’.

Riding or hiking for such long stretches of time has a strange, wonderful effect on the body and mind. Free from the stressful daily routines, relationships, homework and out more ‘in nature’, the mind and body feels like they reset. Life becomes simple. Wake up with the sun, go to bed with it. Eat food, ride bike, take shit, take shower (if you can find one). Filled on the endorphins of constant moving, the body and mind feel light and free.

By day four I had felt such a change. My mind and body felt light and the anxieties and depression I had had been replaced by the serene feeling of freedom and contentment. Life was simple and filled with wonderful, fun surprises.

As avid bike riders, my mother and Robert joined us for those two days and consequently, my feelings started to change. Riding with my mother. I immediately sensed the change. My body felt tight and constricted and my voice felt like it was hidden in the bottom of my stomach; I become quiet. She wasn’t outwardly mean, or rude, but her prescience extinguished my feelings of freedom. I was back at home, and it was back, but I didn’t know what.

That night I wrote that I was happy my family was joining with me and that I had missed them. But this wasn’t true. Apart of me dreaded her presences and the constricted feeling I was having. A feeling that was all too familiar back home.

I have always looked back on the moment as an indicator that something about my relationship with my mother was off. Shouldn’t I have been filled with her presence? Shouldn’t we have talked non-stop about my encounters rather than having our conversation be short and me being quiet? Shouldn’t I have missed her and been excited to see her?

In our relationship, for me, there was just no bond. No joyful bond at least. Just the “I’m you’re son and your my mom” bond.

It was, and is, a relationship with no intimacy, no vulnerability, and no sharing of joy and delight with almost constant strife. My experiences, thoughts, emotions, problems and issues did not have any space to be brought up and discussed. My lack of progression in sports, my struggles in school, my struggles with relationships, or anything that interested me shared no space in our relationship. Instead, our conversations were dominated by my mother’s anxieties and uncontrolled emotions. I had learned early that it was best to just avoid any deep conversations, as any perceived criticisms would result in no actions and criticisms returned onto me. I was always quiet around her.

She wasn’t alone in this as my dad shared the same lack of interest in getting to know and understand my internal world. All of my conversations with my parents were pale, awkward and short. I was quiet and shy, but my parents never probed. Tangents were never followed and they seemed fine with the one word responses I gave them. They never asked why I was so quiet.

Both of them could not take any sort of criticisms or responsibility for a wrong deed towards me. Any criticism was met with either a dismissal (“Oh that’s not true, I’m a great father.”, “Oh I do listen”) or taken as an emotional betrayal and a personal attack (“You should be grateful you have it so good!”). There were never any apologies and efforts to change.

I felt like a young kid struggling to breath in a swimming pool all while being told that I should be grateful for the fact that I had the opportunity to go to the pool. I was both trapped and frustrated, but had no way to communicate it.

But my parents did loved me (and do) and were proud of me (and still are) and both worked hard in their own ways to provide for me and my brother. We always had great food and baked goods from my mother and plenty of money from my dad.

I could (and can) see that they loved me, but I can never remember a time that I felt it. The only attention I received by them when I was in trouble or if my grades were failing. I never remember them telling me that they were proud of me despite a lot of achievement.

And this was it, I knew that no matter what my mother wouldn’t try and uncover the deeper, vulnerable parts of myself that I wanted and needed to share.

By the time I left high school and entered collage at 18, I felt like an ugly, unattractive, not very inserting or unique kid. I had little hobbies and never felt like competent at them. I was a virgin, couldn’t hold down a relationship and struggled to even maintain friendships that I wanted and had kissed maybe two girls. I was depressed and hated most of who I was.

The worst part of it was the self blame, but even worse, was the single thought that I was stuck. That I was an unattractive, ugly, uninteresting failure of a kid and that I was stuck.

Miles’ Sourdough Starter Creation and Feeding

2022-04-14T14:53:00+00:00

Introduction

This blog post is how I create and then feed my starter.

Creating a sourdough starter

Creating a sourdough starter is super easy. I’ve done it a number of times as I’ve killed my starter a few times. So don’t be afraid!

In the past, I’ve used this King Arthur blog post on how to create my starter learned how to make my starter, but I’ll transcribe the steps I use below.

The article above says that it will take 5 days to get your starter up to strength, but I’ve been able to get it ready in 3-4, but your results may very!

Recipe

Day 1 - Combine equal parts water and flour, 100 g of each. The combined mixture should weight 200 g. Place in a covered container where the starter will have room to grow and expand and let sit for 24 hours at room temperature.
Day 2 - After 24 hours, you may or may not see any expansion or bubbles in your starter. Regardless, discard half of your starter (100 g). And again add equal parts water and flour 100 g each.

Again, place in a covered container where the starter will have room to grow and expand and again let sit for 24 hours at room temperature.

Day 3 - You should start to see your sourdough start to become active. It will have expanded and you’ll see bubbles and it might have an aroma. At this point the aroma may smell a little alcoholic, that’s totally normal at this point (also see note on aroma below).

With the starter active, you can switch to the normal feeding schedule which is listed below.

Feeding your starter

Once you have an active starter, you’ll need to feed it. There will be two reasons you feed your starter, the first to keep it alive and the second is to prepare for baking with it. These feedings use the same ratios of ingredients, but I’ve broken them up into two separate sections for simplicity.

Regular Feeding - Keeping your starter going

The frequency at which you feed your starter depends on the temperature that it is stored at. If it is stored at room temperature, I recommend you feed it once per day. I have been able to feed a starter once every two days, but any longer than that is pushing it!

If you’re storing the starter in the fridgerator you can feed it once per month.

Ingrediants

25g sourdough starter
25g whole wheat flour
100g all purpose flour
100g water @ 85°F-90°F (29°C-32°C) - (Just ensure the water is not too cold or not to hot.)

Recipie

If your sourdough is stored in the fridgerator, take it out 30-60 mins before you feed it and allow it to come up to room temperature. If your sourdough has seperated, stir it before feeding.
From your previous feeding, discard all but 25g of sourdough starter. This may seem like a little, but it’s all you need!
Combine the 25g of starter with 25g whole wheat, 100g all purpose flour and 100g water. Ensure you scrape all of the flour/starter on the bottom of your container.
Cover your starter at room temperature or in the fridgerator in a container where it will have room to expand. If you’re storing your starter at room temperature it will be ready for another feeding at 12 hours. It should be at least doubled its sized at that point and the aroma should smell sweet, fregrent and sour.

Note on aroma - smelling alcohol in your starter is pretty normal. I’ve found that starter feeding where there are higher hydrations cause a more alcohoic smell. This feeding scheduler is ~80% hydration.

Preparing For Baking Feeding

The feeding schedule above will not give you enough starter to use in recipies, so this section has the amounts needed to give you enough.

Before you bake, follow this feeding 24-12 hours before you bake. That way you’ll have enough active and happy starter for your recipie! If your starter has been in the fridge and hasn’t been fed in a while, I recommend feeding it acording to the schedule above two days before to get it active before this big feed.

Again, these amounts are just is just 4x the amount of the one above, so you can use whatever amounts you want, as long as the ratio is the same (actually you can do other ratios, but this is what I use, see notes).

Ingrediants

100g starter
100g wholewheat
200g all purpose flour
200g water @ 85°F-90°F (29°C-32°C) - (Just ensure the water is not too cold or not to hot.)

Recipie

Discard all but 100g of your active starter (If you have between 50-100g you should be fine). Combine the 100g whole wheat, 200g all purpose flour and 200g of water, ensuring that you mix in all of the flour and starter. Let sit for 12 hours and use for baking.

Other notes/tips

The sourdough discard can be a lot to throw away, but there are a lot of great recipies on there where you can use it for yummy treats!
When starter hasn’t been fed in a while and is in the fridge, it can seperate and there can have a dark liquid. If it does, its still can be good. Just stir it feed it and see if it becomes active again.
Anything that looks like regualr mold (the mold that you see on normal
food) means your starter is gone and should you create another one. Don’t even attempt to salvage it! Make sure you clean out your container too.
I don’t always clean my container between feedings. It can be a good way to get some extra starter if you are low, but do clean it everyonce in a while.
There are a lot of different feeding hydrations/ratios you can use. This is just the one I’ve used (I haven’t tried anything different). There can even do a liquid starter, where there is more water than flour, but I haven’t tried this!
Have fun!!

Weather Resources

2021-10-08T13:30:00+00:00

Weather Forecasting
- NWS 7 Day Forecast - The best forecasts produced anywhere. The national weather service staffs 24/7/365 and produce forecasts using the output of almost every avaliable forecast model. This is different than any private forecast company, which does not nearly have as much staff.
- NOAA Storm Prediction Center - Pretty much everything you need under one roof especially for mesoscale convective systems (Thunderstorms, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes) throughout the country, but especially in the central US. Also includes fire risks and other hazards.
Air Quality, Smoke and Fire
- AirNow.gov - Basic Government created report of air quality.
- AirNow.gov Interactive Map - Current and forecasted map of air quality. Great resource for Ozone and PM2.5 and PM10, including contours and monitors.
- fire.AirNow.gov - Smoke and Fire location and air quality reports
- Basics of Air Quality Index (AQI)
- NOAA HRRR Smoke Forcast - 2 day smoke forecast
Satellites
- GEOS East and West Satellites - Not for mobile or slow connections.
Hurricanes and Tropical Stroms
- NOAA National Hurricane Center
Misc
- Mars Weather Insight - Currently offline
- Mars weather Curiosity

Simple-n-Easy Sourdough Potato Bread

2021-09-28T12:45:00+00:00

Ingredients

Makes 2 Loafs

430 g Room Temperature Peeled Mashed Potato at room-temperature (See Note)
740 g All-purpose white flour
(Optional) A few grams 10-30 g of Whole Wheat
530 g Water at room temperature water
135 - 150 g Starter or 3-4 g of instant yeast
22 - 30 g salt
Your choice of flavoring - Thyme, Rosemary etc.

NOTE: When cooking the mashed potatoes, ensure that the potatoes are peeled. As well, do not cook the mashed potatoes with salt, oil, milk or butter.

Recipe

Add the 740 g flour into a large mixing bowl. Next, add the 430 g of mashed potatoes and mix well with the flour, being sure to remove any large of clumps potatoes with your fingers or a fork. Then, add the 530 g of water and mix well. Let sit for at least 30 minutes to autolyse the flour (allow gluten to form).
After 30 minutes, add the starter/instant yeast, salt, and flavoring and mix well in your usual manner. After mixing, the dough will may be significantly hydrated and not have much shape, add additional whole wheat flour (or all-purposed flour) if you desire a less hydrated mix. Let the dough rise for 4-8 hours until about doubled.
During the bulk rise, the dough will need 3-5 folds. Use more folds (4-5) if the dough is significantly hydrated, it will help it have more shape, and develop additional gluten.
Once the dough has doubled, remove the dough from its bulk bowl and place onto a well floured cutting bored. Cut the dough ball in half. Each dough ball might still be significantly wet and shapeless, if so, knead and work the dough until it has more shape. Form the dough into balls and place in proofing basket in the usual way.
Let the dough proof for 30-45 minutes (or overnight in the refrigerator). Meanwhile, preheat an oven with a cast iron in it to 450 degrees F. Once the dough has proofed, cook the bread with lid on for 30 minutes, then remove the lid from the cast iron and cook until golden brown, 5-20 minutes.