Amazon has a widely recognized symbol that is used on TV, on their boxes, on the internet… even used where Children can see it. They call it a “smile.” That is not a smile! The best spin I can put on it is that it’s a smirk. Smirk: a one-sided, Read more…
Have you ever thanked your coffee pot for doing its job correctly? How about your house plant for being pretty? (You have house plants, right? You know, oxygen, color and life inside the house? Clean(er) air?) When did you last say a big Thank You to your Significant Other or Read more…
Does it bother any body else that YouTube has a commercial for their commercial-free membership? That is, they offer a version of YouTube that has no commercials at start of or end of or even interrupting a video; albeit you have to pay for it. Advertising your commercial-free service? Does Read more…
This posting is more about America than any one else, though most everyone else gets mentioned, en passant, at least. It has come to my attention (as a computer professional) that America has the most expensive internet service on the planet, and that (in general) Americans enjoy the least amount Read more…
I just found out how to make even Microsoft’s software run like a champ. (Sometimes.) (That is, run fast; it is still full of bugs, and there’s no fix outside of Microsoft itself for that — but they seem uninterested in fixing bugs.) Buy a really fast computer. I’ve been a Read more…
I’ll make my part of this short, as the inclusion here is pretty lengthy, and makes my point far better than I can. Let me just say, this is what used to pass for an 8th grade education in America, or, at least, in Salina, KS. If you look carefully Read more…
A recent article from the New York Post declared that, while Elon Musk is just all about getting people to Mars, and getting the planet terraformed (made suitable for living without suits or artificial life support), NASA has concluded that terraforming Mars is impossible because there’s insufficient CO2 in the soil. Read more…
When most people speak of Artificial Intelligence (AI) they’re really meaning Artificial Consciousness (AC). Intelligence is considered a side-effect of consciousness. That’s not quite correct (consider a termite mound, for instance; very intelligent, sophisticated aspects to the design of any termite mound — ask a 3rd year architectural engineer — Read more…
I was there during the 60’s, but I was never a hippy. Not then. As I child and young person I was too conservative for such things. Also too driven by the lust for knowledge (about almost everything) to worry too much about life styles. The word “nerd” was not Read more…
I used to be a Barista, before the leading edge of the Recession (finally noticed by the news media around 2007) caught up with me and caused me to have to close that. It was great fun, until then. It was also depressing at times, because I was all about Read more…
I don’t get it. I just upgraded my edition of Microsoft Office, which I still use only because of Publisher for which, so far, there is no really good alternative, unless you go into the high-dollar range. Open Office and Libre Office are great alternatives to all the rest of Read more…
(This turned into an unexpectedly long posting; my perfunctory apologies.) There is no election happening this year. What do I mean? I mean that it’s not a campaign to select the best qualified with the best agenda to move the country forward in the best way. Nope… it’s a campaign Read more…
I’ve been bothered by something for years and years and years. (This will be short posting.) Why do movie covers (VHS, DVD, BluRay, movie posters on the internet… doesn’t matter, they all do it) consistently show the actors faces (when they do that) in a different left-right order than the Read more…
There is a long, long, long standing problem in the computer industry: the progress bar. They don’t work. Well, actually, sometimes they do, from some manufacturers. Others do not; they give you no real idea how long a thing will take. You may think this isn’t a problem; to a Read more…
I accidentally ate some MSG last night. It was in some food in a particular restaurant. I won’t be eating there again; the food was good, but the ingredients aren’t for me. Bad night: sweats, headache, aches especially in the joints. If I didn’t know the symptoms of MSG in Read more…
In 1966, Season 1 of Mission Impossible, on prime time TV, they said a very interesting thing. Watch the clip, then continue reading … That was Mission Impossible, 1966. The “team” was posing as a group of agents who were to infiltrate America, so were being coached in detail Read more…
Once upon a time in America [which was a good movie, by the way, but unrelated here] folks had to go outside to the well or hand pump to fetch in a bucket of water for use in the house. This naturally, lead to a very conservative (in the real Read more…
I talk a bit here and there about obedience just for obedience being a bad idea. However… I don’t mean to suggest that when I’m in someone’s private home or professional space that I do what I want regardless of that person’s wishes. It’s His Space, therefore it’s His* Rules. Read more…
I have had a report, that I can not verify, but from a source I trust — which means only I give the report the benefit of the doubt. The report goes: A woman was in Hospital, and, according to her doctor, dying of Corona. There was nothing more they Read more…
I have heard something that disturbs me, and I just had it corroborated by a Doctor. Doesn’t mean it’s true, your mileage may vary, etc… Friend of mine, his wife was in line to get a drive-by CoV test. They had given her a number (under the windshield wiper) and Read more…