My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on May 4, 2019

We added yet another Echo Dot and so it only makes sense to ask Alexa a few more questions. Here’s list that has been floating around the Internet and so just wanted to archive it on My Desultory Blog.
 

100 Funny Alexa Tricks for the Entire Family

For music lovers:

1. “Rap for me!”
2. “Sing me a song.”
3. “Beatbox for me.”
4. “What is the loneliest number?”
5. “How many roads must a man walk down?”
6. “Do you know the muffin man?”
7. “Who let the dogs out?”
8. “What is war good for?”
9. “I shot a man in Reno.”
10. “Hello. It’s me.”
11. “What’s your favorite style of music?”
12. “Who is your favorite Marvel character?”
13. “Who put the bop in the bop-she-bop-she-bop?”
14. “Happy birthday!”
15. “Play that funky music white boy.”
16. “Who killed the radio star?”
17. “Why do birds suddenly appear?”
18. “Have you ever seen the rain?”
19. “Twinkle twinkle little star.”
20. “Never gonna give you up.”
21. “What is love?”

For movie & television lovers: (more…)

Category: Alexa, Archive, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: Alexa, amazon, archive, assistant, echo, questions, virtual, voice

Posted By RichC on May 3, 2019

You are not alone in wanting the Trump-Russia collusion story and investigation to end. Americans in both parties are tired of this investigation and "thought" that after finally getting the summary from the US Attorney General William Barr (right), and the release of the full $30 million Mueller investigation report (with security redactions), that it was done? Nope … it seems the political hype is just beginning.

As we recall, the initial investigation was started to see if the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the results of the election — to that end (after 2 years), the investigation turned up that it did not (if anything, it discovered that the Democrats running the Hillary Clinton campaign paid a UK spy to create a dossier that was used by the FBI to secretly wiretap their Republican adversary).

Since the wheels of the investigation didn’t stop at "collusion," Robert Mueller also looked into the charge of "obstruction of justice" after President Trump took office. In other words, there was nothing on the original "collusion" charge, but perhaps there wass an attempt by POTUS to prevent further investigating that "might" turn up something?

The full report was not complementary for Donald Trump … but neither Mueller or Barr saw evidence of the original "collusion charge," nor did they believe the "obstruction" could be successfully prosecuted. So Why are Democrats in congress continuing to pursue charges against William Barr or wanting to impeach President Trump? Answer: Politics.

President Donald Trump – National Day of Prayer 2019

With a strong economy and reasonable success in handling political leaders on a world stage, President Trump has a good track record heading into the 2020 election. The GOP tax reform and cuts have stimulated jobs, hiring and strengthened American businesses while the rest of the world struggles. Hopefully even Democrats will even recognize that having strong US companies, low employment and rising wages is a good thing for our country. About the only complaints that come from both parties about the president are his thin-skinned tweets and abrasive personality. His success in the face of this investigation, left wing media bombardment and Democrat resistance at every possible turn is amazing. Imagine how great America would be if we "could" work together?

Category: News, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: barr, collusion, democrats, investigations, mueller, obstruction, Politics, russia, trump

Posted By RichC on May 2, 2019

A tweet from an online friend and an automotive journalist reminded me (Throwback Thursday) that my photography hobby helped me adapt to a new high school back in the mid-1970s when we moved from the Toledo area to Sidney, Ohio. It was at a time when friends were already made and connecting with others was not all that easy (thankfully I connected with a few other transplants).

Besides that, I also was taken under the wing of a teacher, Dana Stahlman, who oversaw our high school newspaper and school yearbook. He knew I was interested in photography and loaned me the school camera so as long as I would take care of it (my first 35mm) and made me responsible for the school darkroom ordering and clean-up (gave me the key so I could use it whenever I wasn’t in class and after school). Eventually I purchased my own camera – a Canon FTBn – which was a big expense for me; I continued to add off-brand lenses and gear until I had a decent setup. The equipment and experience also helped me start earning money working for two local papers and taking prom portraits, etc.

Interestingly, this early experience and hobby interest, gave me a unique hobby in college and experience beyond most of my peers. It even opened the door to fill in for a professor who was on sabbatical when I was in graduate school at Miami University — I was a stipend paid graduate instructor and taught Intro and Advanced Photography as well a Printing class (Gaskill Hall). The knowledge and skills eventually gave me the confidence to start a printing and publishing company … and as they say, "the rest is history."

The first apparent use of the term, as ‘the rest is history’ seems to appear in 1839, in John Wade’s British History, Chronologically Arranged. That said, it is hard from the context to discern whether the writer, who is talking about Napoleon, is being literal or figurative. However the use picks up and figurative examples certainly start appearing in the 1850s. — link

Category: Education, Memories, Photography, TBT | No Comments »
Tags: camera, Canon, cpp, darkroom, ftbn, high school, miami university, ohio, photography, sidney, TBT

Posted By RichC on May 1, 2019

Those of us invested or following the stock market either with individual stocks, mutual funds or ETF index funds have to be pleased with the rebound in the economy since December 2018. The first quarter has rewarded those who remained invested (so as long as they have been diversified) for the long haul.

Even with the inversion signal and long running bull market, the US economy continues to power higher. The trigger this spring was the Fed returning to a neutral from rising rate position. The longer term reason is that America is no longer punishing companies with higher taxes and onerous regulations making it more attractive to do business overseas. In fact, with President Trump’s tariffs and trade war, it is now far more attractive to manufacture in the US than most other countries. Add the tax cut, wages rising and low unemployment, consumers have a few more dollars to spend and less fear that another long lasting recession is on the immediate horizon.

The pessimist in me still worries. Our economy has always gone through up and down cycles and statistically we are overdue for a move down … hopefully small and painless. My biggest fear is from our heavy spending central planners in Washington DC be they Democrats or Republicans. President Trump for his part loves "easy money" and wants to goose the economy even more as the 2020 election approaches … and ridiculously is encouraging the Fed to lower rates by a full percentage point. Several Democrats (list of 23 below) running for president are far crazier in their rhetoric and obviously want even bigger government, higher taxes and some even a socialist takeover of some businesses. While I’m with them in being frustrated that healthcare is currently broken and the costs are ridiculous (as is higher education), a socialist takeover will not make it better or cheaper in the long run. Without competition, there’s no incentive to build a better or more efficient mousetrap.

As for now, those with an IRA or 401K … or investing in equities rather than fix income low interest accounts … have to be happy. If you own real estate in the right areas of the country, you’re also feeling pretty good. Let’s remember what worked in getting us to this point over the past few years and not rock the boat come 2020.

(more…)

Category: Financial, News, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: 401k, economy, Financial, investing, ira, markets, stocks, trading

Posted By RichC on April 30, 2019

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Category: Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, babysitting, family, filler, Photos

Posted By RichC on April 29, 2019

Category: Archive, Recipe, Video | No Comments »
Tags: cooking, grilling, recipe, ribs, smoking, youtube

Posted By RichC on April 28, 2019

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Category: Automotive, Personal, Photos, Video | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, cincinnati, delivery, drew, family, katelyn, model 3, mp4, tesla

Posted By RichC on April 27, 2019

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Category: Archive, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, babysitting, drew, family, house, katelyn, swing

Posted By RichC on April 26, 2019

Likely I am not alone in constantly reevaluating the pros and cons of participating in social media. I’ve purposely limited my exposure to only a couple of platforms even though I enjoy staying in touch with friends and acquaintances … and generally don’t have a problem with people respectfully debating news and politics.

Facebook as a platform is NOT my favorite as I really don’t like much about it, but it has been a way to stay in touch with friends and  family through the years. The younger crowd (my kids) have move away from the it, likely because their network grew too large and politically heated … or maybe because it became the social circle for older generations (aunts, uncles, parents, etc)? Nevertheless, I purposely have kept FB limited to family and closer friends … even as I’ve added a few personal interest groups, which in hindsight may have been a mistake … but that’s how clubs and organization have decided to communicate? My rule of thumb has been to try to post something family related once a month … and to comment or at least give my extended family and friends a “like” or two in order to stay in touch. So far so good … and thankfully I’ve avoided most things political with some success. I can’t say the same for the ads and forced posts in my feed … what an annoyance.

My second social network is Twitter and it is pretty much the opposite. Not all that much is personal with this feed as it is my newsfeed and a place where I can politely exchange real time business news and stories of interest to me … including some political opinions and debate. Generally I have no problem mentally turning off the “hate” and “fake” news … but I do get sick and tired of watching some people do more to try and divide our society and country that to unite it. Very sad. 

Over the years I’ve participated daily and can say that I’m not alone. It’s an ego boost to hear people appreciate my thoughts or to tell me why I’m wrong – nothing wrong with an educated thoughtful exchange. Very few of are are right 100% of the time and all of us could learn something if we would listen twice as much as talking (which is why God gave us 2 ears and only one mouth). HA!

Speaking of Twitter, his week Jack Dorsey (Twitter’s CEO) was invited to talk with President Trump, who uses the platform to communicate directly with people. There are pluses and minus to this “straight from the horse’s mouth” communication. I’m not sure where I come down on it as it is far too easy to put one’s “foot in their mouth” when a Whitehouse communications department doesn’t have a chance to polish a president’s tweets. What came out of the meeting from what I could tell is that  both the President and Jack Dorsey were able to talk about improving the platform. It is great to have real time information from a lot of smart and educated people, even if that information is surrounded by real time information from a lot of idiots and propogandists.

Unfortunately, just as with any free or open society, Twitter (and other social networks permitting all the ability to share),  they are walking a tightrope between authoritarian heavy handed moderation and permitting open ended hate filled and destructive chaos. Finding that safe and sensible middle ground is near impossible … but at least Twitter seems to be trying (BTW, I’m likely biased since I use Twitter and also own $TWTR stock, which has had a pretty good week).

Category: Business, Financial, News, Personal, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: facebook, idioms, opinion, social media, tech friday, techfriday, techonogy, twitter, words

Posted By RichC on April 25, 2019

We’ve had many bonfires and parties in our backyard over the years and once again the spring clean-up is building up another pretty good sized pile. An interesting “how to light it” video gave me a ThrowBack Thursday #TBT post idea (photo from a YoungLife party in 2007).

Hm … not sure this looks like the smartest or safest way to light the bonfire? (see video below)

(more…)

Category: Humor, TBT, Video | No Comments »
Tags: bonfire, Humor, Photos, TBT, video