Tech Friday: Closing out the week with an update to WordPress
RichC | July 10, 2026
Front lawn cut before the rain starts. MyDesultoryBlog backed up. Linux server updated and installed WordPress 7.0.1 … and all is still working! 😉
A couple Tesla updates: Charging EVs and Future Model Ys
RichC | July 10, 2026
Besides admiring the new 2027 Tesla Model Y L with truly functional 3-row … and space behind it … this past week, I began contemplating what might be an eventual replacement for our 2019 Tesla Model 3. Currently it’s a bit pricey in my opinion, but might trigger better selling prices on lightly used 2023-25 […]
Music Monday: Pink Floyd and “Obscured by Clouds” from 1972
RichC | July 6, 2026
Besides being a Music Monday (Pink Floyd and “Obscured by Clouds” from 1972 below), it was time to get an early handle on my cloud storage and backup accounts. I was planning on holding off in making the “cloud storage” switch until my Microsoft OneDrive was up for a yearly renewal in August, but the […]
Tech Friday: Changing the screenshot saved location on a Mac
RichC | July 3, 2026
How many years have I been using a Mac and saving Shift-Cmd+4 screenshots to the desktop (although MacOS has changed over the years)? That said, there’a simple solution for those running newer Apple Macintosh operating systems. Personally I’ve never really given it much thought until consolidating my cloud storage this summer … although more on […]
Tech Friday: Reflection on “The Same Ol’ Siri and AI Promises”
RichC | June 12, 2026
I’m an Apple guys from way back, so I watched the WWDC 2026 conference this past week — as usual, lots of marketing hype, but is the same ol’ same ol’ promises. That aside, I did purchase scripting software from the developer who created MarsEdit, Daniel Jalkut at Red Sweater: FastScripts3. 😉 The promises felt […]
Tech Friday: An old Chromebook, LinuxMint and ChromeFlex (plus MacBook Air, Claude.AI assistance and the Moom app)
RichC | June 5, 2026
As usual, there are a couple of odds and ends photos left in MyCubby 2026’s May folder that I need to either toss or stick in a filler blog post. So today I’ll add them here. Last month I toiled … and I mean toiled overtime … with Brenda’s older Samsung Pro Chromebook while attempting […]
Tech Friday: Good long lasting LEDs vs poor quality LEDs bulbs
RichC | May 29, 2026
After updating my workbench shop lights to LED “tubes” 10 years ago, I can say unequivocally that it was a worthwhile $22 “low tech” upgrade (the cost in 2016). They have performed flawlessly and work without a flicker in warm or cold weather. I really don’t even think about them anymore. As for power savings, […]
Added a Phone mount and magnetic charging puck to the Tesla
RichC | May 27, 2026
My Tech Friday post for the last week of May 2026 has already been written and saved, so today’s Tesla Model 3 “techy” addition will be a mid-week “gadget” post instead. We no longer pay for the Tesla “Premium” Connectivity since our older 2019 car is primarily used by Brenda for “around town” errands and […]
Some Android phones and iPhones are AirDropping each other
RichC | May 22, 2026
Since we have a couple of Android users in our family, it will be fun to give this Quick Share feature a try … since most of us are iPhone AirDrop users. Here are the devices that currently support AirDrop: Samsung Galaxy S26 series Google Pixel 10 series, 9 series, 8a OPPO Find X9 series, […]
Tech Friday: OpenCore has given new life to my Late2012 iMac
RichC | May 8, 2026
As great computers get older, it’s a challenge to know when they need to be replaced – as it was when I replaced my G4. For me, on my tweaked Late2012 Intel-chipped 27” iMac, it was not being able to move beyond MacOS Catalina (2019) that was an issue. No longer could I run certain […]
High gas and diesel prices have us planning Tesla EV road trips
RichC | May 5, 2026
After a Tesla Mobile Service upgrade for our 2019 Tesla Model 3 last week, we made a couple of test stops on our weekend trip. The DC CSS Fast Charging at an interstate Wawa IONNA near Lima, Ohio (non-Tesla SuperCharger network) made an excellent stopping point for our slightly older “standard range” EV. Since we […]
Another minor Tesla Mobile Service call: CCS charging upgrade
RichC | May 2, 2026
After having a positive Tesla Mobile Service call on our 2019 Tesla Model 3, I opted to schedule another “not all that important” upgrade. This particular improvement switches out a circuit board in the rear of the car, near the NACS plug, that will allow us to charge at non-Tesla DC Fast Chargers. I say […]
Tech Friday: Embarrassed to mention a simple Apple Watch fix
RichC | May 1, 2026
For over a year, my Apple Watch occasionally changes the look of the face and created a frustrating restart “fix” for me. Over our beach walks this winter, I noticed that it was happening a bit more often — which starting me thinking that it might be my jacket sleeve or bumping my arm into […]
Does too much Artificial Intelligence hinder Christian growth?
RichC | April 19, 2026
Our daughter sent ;us some thought provoking reading from The Gospel Coalition regarding Artificial Intelligence and the “uncomfortable or even disturbing truths about ourselves” last week. “Are You Ready for the AI Apocalypse” was written last summer, but noting the rapid evolution of AI, it is equally eye-opening today. AI presents us with a vision […]
A follow up to Friday’s post: Updated MacBook Air M2 to the M5
RichC | April 18, 2026
Today’s update is a follow up from yesterday’s Tech Friday post on “Contemplating an Apple MacBook Air update” … done. I was able to convince Brenda that she needed to switch to an Apple computer since her Chromebook has reached end of life status. I suspect that she will continue to stick with her limited […]
Tech Friday: Contemplating an Apple MacBook Air upgrade?
RichC | April 17, 2026
A recent drop in price for the MacBook Air M5 notebook computer has triggered my tech shopping interest. Earlier this year, my MacBook Air M2 started showing signs that the 8GB of memory is struggling to run the multiple browsers, tabs and 5 spaces/desktops.I also run an external USB-C powered display that runs my Interactive […]
Tech Friday: Some interesting information on online security
RichC | April 10, 2026
Have you ever given thought to how much data is being collected when you are using computers, tablets, phones and devices these days? The answer would be A LOT! If you’ve never thought about it … just ask the question, why do so many Internet companies give away their services for free?
Tech Friday: Can you (should you) still plug into wired Ethernet?
RichC | March 27, 2026
This past week my New Hampshire friend and “once upon a time” my Twitter (X.com) “godfather,” Scott Bilik, mentioned that he turned off the wifi and cellular connection on his Android phone and “on a whim” tested the wired Ethernet connectivity. I was sitting near our home’s router, disabled WiFi and cellular data on my […]
Tech Friday: WordPress 6.9 update and Apple Watch followup
RichC | March 13, 2026
On Thursday evening I updated WordPress to 6.9, a few plugins to current versions and addressed a couple apt-update & upgrades on the Linux server; it was more just to keep things up-to-date rather than addressing any problem. I’ve yet to do a full Linux version update since there are too many problems with old […]
Debating Artificial Intelligence use in Government and Military
RichC | February 28, 2026
I’ve been watching the Anthropic (ClaudeAI) vs the U.S. Government and Military use of AI carefully (story link). Personally I’m siding with our government base on knowing adversaries of freedom (ie. China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, etc) have no problem advancing AI to help in attacks against the west. Here’s how I discussed it with […]
Two big retailers competing to be #1: Amazon vs Walmart
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 […]
More on our winter walking and Delray Beach restoration #video
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 […]
Tech Friday: What do you know about The Church of Molt?
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 […]
Found in a box: Brenda’s old beat up Palm Treo 600 #TBT
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. […]
Tech Friday: Is there “better” AI help for questionable calls?
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 […]
Shopping: Brenda’s new AirPods 4 w ANC are a disappointment
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 […]
Tech Friday: How can you tell real from manipulated images?
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 […]
The Wyze Cams helped us track down a missing letter and check
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 […]
Tech Friday: Why is Apple so far behind in bringing out AI?
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 […]
Tech Friday: Time to take account of My Desultory Blog life
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 […]
Tech Friday, sort of. Tying a few loosely saved items together
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. ☹️ […]
Tech Friday: What is Vibe-Coding? Who will lead in this area?
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
Tech Friday: Spammers adding events to Google’s Calendar
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 […]
Still love the MacBook Air M2, but I’m looking 1 or 2 years ahead
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 […]
Tech Friday: Tesla’s navigation and Sentry Mode
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 […]
Photography: Lumix GX8 Camera test post in November 2025
RichC | November 26, 2025
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Tech Friday: Learning to be more productive with iPadOS 26.1 Windows and SlideOver features
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 … […]
Almost every serious investor is watching Nvidia report earnings
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 […]
Tesla M3 charging and a Wyze Palm Lock for the detached garage
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 […]
Some were seeing the Northern Lights last week, but I did not
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 […]
Tech Friday: Fixed my Alexa smart home Sengled lights headache
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 […]
Hm, I’m starting to really admire Brenda’s 2019 Tesla Model 3
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 […]
The future requires our accepting AI and technological change
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 […]
Archive: Personal home projects and talented granddaughters
RichC | November 4, 2025
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Tech Friday: A personal leftover for a spooky Halloween
RichC | October 31, 2025
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Tech Friday: A few days of Tesla ownership and charging
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 […]
Tech Friday: Changing Handbrake video encoding for the blog
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 […]
Tech Friday: Continuing long AI threads vs starting new ones
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. […]
Tech Friday: Still combatting the Bots and Log Bloat on Server
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 […]
Emulating my grandmother’s oil painting artwork with Sora AI
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 […]
The home networked Raspberry Pi 3 is up and running again
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 […]
Tech Friday: Are all USB-C computer cables the same?
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?
A problem when using AI for research – 404 links
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 […]
Commentary: When Government Becomes a Shareholder $INTC
RichC | August 19, 2025
Noticing that my name was mentioned in TheHustings right-column today, I felt it was imperative that I at least voice my conservative concern over the Trump administration wanting taxpayers to become non-voting shareholders in Intel ($INTC). Here are my thoughts; we’ll see if the editors include them? Intel: When Government Becomes a Shareholder The Trump […]
Could a lightning strike damage my surge protection power strip?
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 […]
Tech Friday: Should students do their work with or without AI?
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 […]
The Peak Design charger has failed after an iOS iPhone update
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 […]
How much should non-business people be spending for AI?
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 […]
Tech Friday: To cut ties or to continue with Google AdSense?
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, […]
Tech Friday: A “desultory” lunchtime post highlighting Annotable
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 […]
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.