RichC | February 20, 2026
Amazon ($AMZN) surpassed Walmart ($WMT) as king of “sales.” It is amazing to me that the 1990s online bookseller had the staying power to over come years of no profit to become such a retail powerhouse 30 years later … not to mention so many other technology areas from streaming to a dominate cloud services […]
RichC | February 15, 2026
This could have easily been a technology post for a Friday, but it will be a holdover for the weekend. Brenda and I have been thoroughly enjoying the improved weather in Florida for our walks on the beach. Amazingly my foot, which has bothered me for the past year seems to be getting better every […]
RichC | February 13, 2026
I don’t know much about Crustafarianism or The Church of Molt besides what I read in a financial newsletter, but decided to ask Grok to fill me in. Yikes … we’re living in a brave new world. Hmm … a reminder that I’ve never read Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel from 1932, “Brave New World.” The […]
RichC | January 29, 2026
While digging through a box in the basement, I stumbled across Brenda’s old Palm OS phone: Sprint-based Treo 600 (I think). I had a few different models as well and recall my Palm Treo 700p (one of my favorite smartphones in the day) that I posted as a ThrowBack Thursday entry a few years ago. […]
RichC | January 23, 2026
I’ve tried a variety of scam/spam phone look-up options as well as a TrueCaller app on my iPhone. Still, those who want me to pick up my phone are still finding ways to get through. Unfortunately artificial intelligence still seems to struggle in developing tools to help … as commenting like this: The phone number […]
RichC | January 18, 2026
After gifting Brenda AirPods a year or so ago and seeing her enjoy them so much … buying a new pair was a no-brainer after she forgot to bring the old ones along on a trip. Since the newer ones were on sale at Costco for $148 (and elsewhere) after the holidays, we pick up […]
RichC | January 16, 2026
Can you tell if this “Cow Jumped Over the Moon” image has been manipulated (Photoshopped), AI generated or is a real photo? You are exactly right. From the human eye alone, it is now often impossible to be certain, especially with images like this that sit right at the boundary between coincidence, editing, and AI […]
RichC | January 13, 2026
The WyzeCam came through in trying to figure out where a letter disappeared to. After tracking her steps, Brenda could not find a letter and check that needed to be delivered. She knew that she had taken it with her, but couldn’t find it (it happens to all of us). So after checking multiple times […]
RichC | January 9, 2026
Those of us using the Apple ecosystems have been a little bit frustrated as AI seems to be a bit slower in coming to our iPhones and devices than others. Competitors are leaping ahead when it comes to developing LLMs (Large Language Models) that most assume are the bedrock of developing artificial intelligence. Time and […]
RichC | January 2, 2026
The years sure do start to melt together and numbers in the thousands of daily posts doesn’t seem possible? But the stats don’t lie and neither do the years. So as I did last year, I’m archiving MDB numbers. Personal blogging for most has given way to social media and podcasting and video “shorts” these […]
RichC | December 19, 2025
Here’s a Tech Friday item: The lidar maker Luminar for self-driving cars has filed for bankruptcy according to The Verge. Unfortunately for them, technology changes fast even when you have a great product and are innovative; in the real world, companies are still required to have a profitable business plan that keeps the lights on. ☹️ […]
RichC | December 12, 2025
What is Vibe-coding … and an interesting CNBC segment on Google partnering with Replit. Vibe-coding is an informal term for a newer style of software development in which the intent, flow, and natural language “vibe” of what a developer wants matters more than writing detailed, line-by-line code. Leading companies and platforms
RichC | December 5, 2025
If you’re like me, having an online calendar that automatically keeps things up-to-date has been super convenient. I’m referring to things like airlines and hotel reservations showing up when emails arrive after purchasing tickets or making reservations. It has also been helpful with personal events like invitations from my daughter for the events in their […]
RichC | December 2, 2025
From regular reading of rumors, the Apple M5 MacBook Air is likely a spring of 2026 event … but besides a faster chip, CPU speeds and GPU, the display will likely stay the same until 2027. Who knows though, if the price and specs are right, it could be an upgrade option for me? BUT […]
RichC | November 28, 2025
Since I’m still “admiring Brenda’s 2019 Tesla Model 3,” but I’ve also been intrigued by some of the impressive navigation and realtime data. The other day on a trip to our local Costco, the Sentry Mode security recorded all the carts and people who were around the car while parked. I now know why so […]
RichC | November 26, 2025
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RichC | November 21, 2025
I’ve been using an Apple iPad the same way for nearly the past decade or so (yikes, 2011); using it has been pretty much a habitual rut for me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy using every iPad for reading, browsing, note taking (typing as I don’t have an Apple Pencil) and answering emails … […]
RichC | November 20, 2025
Wednesday evening was a big “hold your breath” moment for nearly every investor who still has Nvidia stock in their savings or retirement portfolios (nearly all mutual funds, ETFs, index funds, etc). I suspect all portfolio managers were concerned that $NDVA’s quarterly earnings and guidance might show some sort of chip order and AI buildout […]
RichC | November 19, 2025
In keeping with last week’s smart home fixes, the Wyze Palm Lock was one of those spontaneous purchases (a discount offered) that I really should have added to my Christmas list, but with a recent theft event in our neighborhood, it seemed “wyze”to add it sooner rather than later (it’s ok if you rolled your […]
RichC | November 16, 2025
While several people sent in Northern Lights photos to the Cincinnati Local 12 meteorologist John Gumm, I didn’t spot anything either with the naked eye or the somewhat enhanced photos taken by today’s smartphones. Here’s my quick look up at the northwest sky last week … is there a hint of pink and green? Most […]
RichC | November 14, 2025
If you’re like me and thousands of frustrated smart home users, you’ve probably hit the wall with Sengled bulbs, their Hub and Alexa. For the past six months (and officially since Amazon axed the integration on August 1, 2025), the Sengled Home app error codes with NSURLErrorDomain -1202 — thanks to a flaky SSL certificate […]
RichC | November 12, 2025
Today’s earlier post had to do with Tesla (“Musk’s $1 Trillion Is Not Guaranteed” – so I wanted to archive it since it was also posted on TheHustings). Also, the weather has vastly improved and it seemed like a good time to add another Wyze Cam driveway video highlighting the disappearing autumn colors. Besides, I’m […]
RichC | November 8, 2025
In keeping with yesterday’s “a day behind” theme, the Tech Friday post for this week will be “a day late.” Instead of on Friday … it will be on Saturday this week; I’ll hopefully catch up and will try not to make this a trend. 😊 As the dawn of the automobile did to the […]
RichC | November 4, 2025
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RichC | October 31, 2025
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RichC | October 24, 2025
After a few days of owning/driving a “previously loved” 2019 Tesla Model 3, I’m learning a little more about it each day … and as the 2003 McDonald’s jingle goes, “I’m lovin’ it.” 😊 So far the Tesla has surpassed my expectation as for driving pleasure. It is solid on the road, very fast when acceleration […]
RichC | October 17, 2025
Not that this Tech Friday update is at all important … because it is not … but I’m thinking about changing the encoding of clunky video on MyDesultoryBlog.com … and perhaps elsewhere? The time it takes to re-encode, upload and save video to archive has improved as computers and internet connections are now faster, but […]
RichC | September 19, 2025
Artificial intelligence with Grok, Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc has been a real help for rookie computer and server problem-solvers like me. It may be one of the best ways to learn if you’re not in a classroom, have an experienced teacher or coworkers handy? Occasionally I run into questions in “how to best use” AI. […]
RichC | September 5, 2025
This is not really new, but my ongoing battle with bots and blog bloat … especially the logs. Some of it is due to my aging WordPress theme … but most of it is due to the constant hammering of the server by bots from around the world. One option that I’ve been experimenting with […]
RichC | September 2, 2025
Last month the artistic skills of ChatGPT’s “Sora” artificial intelligence was experimented with in an attempt to emulate a favorite oil painting by my grandmother, Ruth Bluhm. It was “ok” but nothing to really get too excited about … after all, I have the original. 😉 But … after looking at the 2024 post “May […]
RichC | August 29, 2025
Finally with a little help from Grok one of my Raspberry Pi computers I use as servers, is up and running again. In 2024 after upgrading our home Internet to fiber and a new router, I realized all ports were blocked that I once used for three Raspberry Pi servers: Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. Charlie […]
RichC | August 22, 2025
Although this may be late to the game (YouTube video is 1 year old) this was impressive. I guess there is more to an expensive Apple USB-C Thunderbolt 4 cable than meets the eye?
RichC | August 21, 2025
Flaw in AI assisted research (404 links). Artificial Intelligence generated segment below for a recent blog post — and all are broken/non-existent links: Record-low unemployment rates for most demographics, including native-born workers Historic median household income growth, reaching an all-time high of $68,703 in 2019 4.9 million Americans lifted out of poverty in a single year […]
RichC | August 19, 2025
Noticing that my name was mentioned in TheHustings right-column today, I felt it was imperative that I at least voice my conservative concern over the Trump administration wanting taxpayers to become non-voting shareholders in Intel ($INTC). Here are my thoughts; we’ll see if the editors include them? Intel: When Government Becomes a Shareholder The Trump […]
RichC | August 19, 2025
It is the time of years that summer storm whip through the area and occasionally the lightning gets pretty close. It happened last week and then I notice that my fairly new surge protector power strip wasn’t working (below). I reset the little breaker switch and the 110v ac plugs came back on, but the […]
RichC | August 15, 2025
Last month I had a discussion with a friend and we debated how much of what we read on the internet these days is being created by … or at least assisted by … artificial intelligence. It was more concerning to him since his children are old enough to be regular users of AI (unlike […]
RichC | August 13, 2025
Initially I blamed a “failing to charge“ problem on a recent iOS update from Apple (updated the previous night), but after a little trial and error testing, have concluded something isn’t working with my relatively new Peak Design wireless charging stand. Up to this point, it has been just fine and sits next to my […]
RichC | August 9, 2025
Since someone commented to me online, knowing that I’ve been tinkering with AI chatbots, “How much should everyday non-business users be paying for artificial intelligence?” I thought to myself and then decided to test the new ChatGPT4o … better known as ChatGPT5 … what “it” thought we should be paying (BTW, ChatGPT5 “really likes designing […]
RichC | August 8, 2025
For years, Google-served ads have appeared in the headers and footers of My Desultory Blog. Each time removing them seems appealing, the realization hits that they generate enough income – though far less than in the early days — to cover server costs, so they remained. Early this summer, tweaks were made to lessen their intrusiveness, […]
RichC | August 1, 2025
It has been too long between truly “desultory” posts, so I’ll add one on the topic of iOS photo editing and iOS apps. Ever since I updated my iPhone from the long-lasting iPhone 7 Plus almost a year ago, I’ve been missing the magnifier highlighting tool that was part of Apple’s previous iOS. Now that […]
RichC | July 25, 2025
Since today’s post was a little weak for Tech Friday, I’ve decided to add a second post updating my battle against DOS attacks on my server. Half the battle is fending off BOTs that originate overseas and I’ll give you one guess as to the country hammering my server the most? Since the WordPress plugin […]
RichC | July 19, 2025
The Ohio automotive registration was delayed as long as I dared this month just in case I could convince Brenda this might be a good year to sell her 2010 Acura RDX. Unfortunately she was not convinced before the license plate renewal date inched closer. So another $56.59 has been spent and we’ll go another […]
RichC | July 18, 2025
Really this is a “to be ignored” post that is to test MarsEdit after a big update and Linux server issues. I’ve cleared out a bunch of bulk, cleaned up and hopefully secured a few more things and am trying (without all that much success) into combatting the Chinese BOT that hammer the site everyday. […]
RichC | July 18, 2025
The rise of AI in search and browsing is a double-edged sword. On one hand, AI-powered tools offer efficiency, delivering quick, synthesized answers without the need to navigate multiple websites. For users, this can feel like a leap forward—why sift through links when a chatbot can summarize the best information? However, this convenience comes at […]
RichC | July 11, 2025
The Bombardier beetle is a remarkable insect known for its unique and powerful chemical defense system. Belonging to the family Carabidae, these beetles are found on nearly every continent and are especially famous among entomologists and naturalists for the way they defend themselves from predators. Key Characteristics: Chemical Defense:The Bombardier beetle can eject a hot, […]
RichC | July 5, 2025
Testing an Apple Shortcut script that pulls formatted text from the Apple Notes app that I often type something in. I’m starting to use Notes more and more since it is simple, synchronizes between all Apple devices and works pretty well on Apple’s iCloud, the iPhone, iPad, my iMac or MacBook Air M2. The Hustings.news […]
RichC | July 4, 2025
One of the problems with monitoring user signups for a small WordPress blog is determining who should be granted access to ALL content or just public content. In the old days, I allowed whoever wanted to sign up to sign up and clean up the list later. But as time progressed, most were spammers or […]
RichC | June 28, 2025
The “pet detected” (???) as the WyzeCam tells me everyday is likely not going to be long for the world. She is a young and a bit too bold in walking around the yard in the afternoon each day. Perhaps it is the heat or just no predators this time of year? Anyway, I enjoy […]
RichC | June 20, 2025
Grok AI and I have become good friends over the past few weeks. I’ve been using artificial intelligence — with some success — in order to fix a few ongoing issues with MDB and the Linux server that has served me well for the past decade or so. No … I’m not updating or doing […]
RichC | June 13, 2025
The heavier metal backed credit cards being issued by some banks these days seemed like a good idea when they first came out, but in reality (at least mine) … they don’t seem that much more durable than the plastic versions? The Capital One SAVOR credit card that I carry primarily for “restaurants and grocery […]
RichC | June 6, 2025
When you supply personal data to ChatGPT, it may be accessed by OpenAI’s AI trainers, service providers, law enforcement (if legally required), or third-party apps (if integrated). Data is stored and potentially used for training unless you opt out, and breaches or model outputs could expose it further. Other AI clients follow similar patterns, though […]
RichC | May 30, 2025
This past week, regular readers may have noticed MDB going down. I battled with it instead fo relaxing on Wednesday night — wasting time building an entire new Digital Ocean Droplet/Server with an overnight (automated while sleeping) older “snapshot” set to
RichC | May 21, 2025
My daughter shared some photos from her new bird feeder birthday present, from Drew and the girls, and access last weekend through the BirdBuddy app. BTW, today is my brother’s birthday, Happy Birthday Ron! (poem below) The WiFi camera connected birdfeeder (see previous non-smar homemade birdfeeder) for the Oostra backyard which is full of “everything […]
RichC | May 18, 2025
Decades ago I struggled mightily with Meniere’s Disease (and I was looking for an excuse to use the word “mightily”) 😊 … but after having a surgery under the stress of the time to improve my vertigo … the hearing in my right ear is nearly gone. It is a known problem for both the […]
RichC | May 16, 2025
Having tested and used ElevenLabs “text to speech” artificial intelligence software in the past, at newer “Voice Changer” (and clean up) application came available recently. I’m not sure where it might be useful, but I especially liked the “clean up” (removing background noise) and “speaker boost” filter … but unless there is a reason to […]
RichC | May 12, 2025
Before leaving Florida and driving back to Ohio this spring, we waited a little longer in able to update and install fiber for our Internet and TV at the condo in Delray Beach. Although Xfinity has been stable, the BlueStream Fiber combined services was newly contracted by the HOA — it’s actually a big improvement […]
RichC | May 11, 2025
Because my mom loved birds and Brenda loves the beauty in nature, for Mother’s Day this year it is not flowers or a card, but a technology assisted Happy Mother’s Day with a beautiful cardinal. Of course this isn’t the first time he or his friends appeared on our Wyze Cam (they come every year) […]
RichC | May 2, 2025
Having both an interest in Value Investing and AI, I decided to do a side by side comparison between ChatGPT and Grok3 for “stock trading advice for value investors” (highlighted in my request) … and “recommend three dividend stock buys that limit risk of loss but offer the highest chance of gains over the next […]
RichC | April 11, 2025
Just a bummer of a Tech Friday and shopping post after our “fairly new” 65” TCL Smart TV failed to light up the screen when we were at the condo in Florida. It was a great buy and the image quality was excellent … but it didn’t last. After looking around on the Internet, it […]
RichC | March 29, 2025
The talk from most in the media this past week as been about several in the Trump administration’s team discussing plans to strike Houthi targets in Yemen … and that they used the encrypted app Signal to communicate with each other on a group chat titled “Houthi PC small group.” The Atlantic published a story […]