My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on April 27, 2024

Towards the end of last year, I added a post titled “Semi-Depressing reminiscing about my childhood home” for Throwback Thursday #TBT in December 2023. A Zillow For Sale listing had me remembering good times AND a not so good photo that did not make me smile (see link).

My childhood home on Lake Erie in 1967

Fast forward to this past week and I noticed that there is now a sale pending on the property … which almost had me asking my brother … “did you make an offer.” 😊  

Category: Archive, For Sale, Memories, Personal, Photos, TBT | No Comments »
Tags: for sale, lagoon, ronc, sale pending, zillow

Posted By RichC on April 26, 2024

Making changes to the Apple MacOS, or my current MacBook Air M2 computer workstation setup, is something I hesitate to do when everything is working smoothly. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few things that I wouldn’t mind Apple addressing that “might” make my life easier. 

First my tiny gripe … is that there isn’t a way to extend my MacBook desktop to access/control the iPhone (left) and iPad (right) in the above setup. There are so many times that I’m working on the Mac and “think” that I can move the cursor over to the iPad screen to make a quick change … but instead it needs to be “touched” with a finger (touch screen) … something that can’t be done on the MacOS. It really doesn’t make sense since Chromebooks and Windows devices have been touchscreen for years. Again, not a big deal, but obviously a decision to keep Apple users owning more devices.

Second, I hesitate to add browser based extensions, but sometimes it is just necessary. For example, one of my new favorites is the tab-auto-refresh extension. I have several tabs open on a Firefox browser all the time that I either keep alive and refreshing content on my older Intel-based iMac (off the photo to the right in the above) or a hidden tab or different desktop on my MacBook Air.  For example, I enjoy keeping an investment website “alive” as it will log out automatically if no actions are detected. The extension can be set to refresh the tab on whatever interval needed to keep it alive. Also I track an online portfolio of an advisor that I follow and the auto-refresh can be set to update these spreadsheet prices or changes.

The Third is another extension that I use on both Firefox and Brave (Chromium-based) browsers that will pop open a browser-based Text Editor. Simple and easy to use.

Category: Computer, Personal, Photos, Software, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: brave, browser, chrome, extension, firefox, ipad, iphone, macbook air, tab auto refresh, text editor

Posted By RichC on April 25, 2024

It has been a while since I’ve posted anything amateur radio related, so this is a blast from the ThrowBack Thursday #TBT past … and it reminded me of my teenage years and learning Morse Code visually (chart below the break).
  

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Category: Education, Radio, TBT, Video | No Comments »
Tags: amateur, ham, learning, morse code, mp4, radio, visual

Posted By RichC on April 24, 2024

An icy comet with a demonic sobriquet is now visible to the naked eye for the first time in 71 years.

Look for the “Devil Comet” in the hour after sunset in the Northern Hemisphere. The fuzzy blob can be glimpsed in the western sky, down and left from Jupiter’s bright orb. Using binoculars or a telescope will make it easier to spot.

“You’ve got a chance for the next couple of days,” said Jonti Horner, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland.

The comet is brightest in the sky this week, having just made its closest approach to the sun. With each passing day, it gets lower on the horizon and will soon disappear from view for skywatchers north of the equator. In the Southern Hemisphere, the comet should remain visible to the naked eye for another month or so.

Read More

Category: News, Space | No Comments »
Tags: astronomy, comet, space, wsj

Posted By RichC on April 23, 2024

As a “non-artist,” I’ve always admired (or had someone on the CPP payroll) who have had the ability and training to create art. Here’s a social media video tip for those of us who would just like to draw a car. 😊 

Category: Art, Social Networking, Tidbits, Video | No Comments »
Tags: car, drawing, mp4, tips

Posted By RichC on April 22, 2024

In 1990s, well after I was focused on listening to whatever new songs were popular, the Irish band “The Cranberries” was making music that caught my ear.

Previously, I posted on the alt rock song “Linger” for Music Monday, but today will highlight their music video for “Dreams” after hearing it as FoxBusiness segment music.
 

The Cranberries – “Dreams” | 1992

Category: Music, Video | No Comments »
Tags: dreams, foxbusiness, linger, music monday, musicmonday, the cranberries, youtube

Posted By RichC on April 21, 2024

The social group that I waste too much time in reading and replying to each week on X.com (a bunch of car enthusiasts and a few automotive journalists) posted a photo of a 1984 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport last week. It was exactly like the second company car I had when working for Portage Newspaper Supply Company in the 1980s (the first was also a Chevrolet Celebrity –  a White1982). The photo brought back good memories and was the car I drove Brenda from Aurora, Ohio to Mayfield Heights, Ohio to give birth … and the car we brought Katelyn home from Hillcrest Hospital. 

Speaking of Katelyn, she sent me “An Ode to the Bug” link she thought was “bloggable” about Volkswagens … so I’ll honor those thoughts with a couple photos and a LINK to the article — enjoyable if you like VWs! 

Personally I’m anxious to check out the ID.Buzz … when it arrives. 

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Category: Automotive, Blogs, Financial, Tidbits, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags: beetle, bug, celebrity, Chevrolet, cincitdi, eurosport, katelyn, portage, Tim Hunter, volkswagen, vw