My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on July 27, 2018

If you have any vested interest in the stock market, Thursday’s huge drop for social networking’s behemoth Facebook ($FB), demonstrated what go up, can come down … and can come down fast! The "biggest ever one-day loss in market value for a U.S. listed company" happened yesterday and saw investors in $FB (or any pension fund, mutual fund or ETF holding shares) losing a whole lot of the gains they have seen this year.

The hugely successful tech company lost nearly $120 BILLION in market value in one day as shares of $FB fell 19% to close at $176.26 on Thursday. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, "technology stocks have ripped higher, outpacing the broader market" all year and were the place to be invested for 2018. At some point the optimism for growth never-ending was bound to change and DID after Facebook reported slower than expected revenue growth was reported on Wednesday after market close; those paying attention knew Thursday was going to be an ugly day. Perhaps the question for many after Netflix’s miss Q2 miss a week ago and now Facebook’s tumble … is whether the FAANG stocks are now out of favor?

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Category: Financial, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: FAANG, facebook, fb, investing, netflix, nflx, stocks, tech friday, trading, wsj

Posted By RichC on July 26, 2018

We been enjoying summer and mostly great weather around the house and yard so far this year in 2018 and Brenda’s growing landscape mounds are all flowering and looking really nice (she has been working on them although her current Grand Jury duty is cutting into her free time). The last few days of slightly cooler weather has given way to sunshine and hotter weather now and so was finally able to get the backyard cut again. It is unusual to still have the lawn so green this late in July.

I’ve been outside each evening that the sky has been clear viewing planets and the larger than usual Mars. Last night, I was hoping to get a glimpse of the International Space Station (ISS) as it might have been possible to see it for about 10 minutes as it arced across the west-northwestern sky (red arc below), but unfortunately the high level clouds or perhaps lack of sun reflecting off of it kept me from seeing it. BUT … Venus and Jupiter were brilliant.

Photo left was edited to highlight, where photo on right is straight from my iPhone

Category: Archive, Personal, Photography, Space | No Comments »
Tags: court, duty, flowers, grand jury, grass, iss, mounds, pool, skywatching, venus, yard

Posted By RichC on July 25, 2018

While doing a bit of server housekeeping on the CPP servers and preparing for the eventual push to make all websites secure for users, I ran across a helpful Qualys SSL Labs site to check on certificates, etc. If you are working to get websites updated and compliant for the day ALL site will need to be secure, check out their free scan.

Since I also run a couple WordPress sites (including this blog), I’m looking at a few simple plug-ins, including WP Hide & Security Enhancer to see if it might be worthwhile in adding an additional layer of simple security for clients … although have not tried it yet (only researching).

NEARLY TWO YEARS ago, Google made a pledge: It would name and shame websites with unencrypted connections, a strategy designed to spur web developers to embrace HTTPS encryption. On Tuesday, it finally is following through.

(more…)

Category: Blogs, Business, Software, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: browser, chrome, consolidated, cpp, cppnet.com, google, plugin, qualys, servers, wordpress, wp hide

Posted By RichC on July 24, 2018

Having owned a several pairs of different branded sandals and flip-flops over the years (decades), I’ve settled on my boatshoe brand of choice, the Sperry brand, as the flip-flops I prefer. Some of the more inexpensive brands wear out too quick, others, like the ones I really like from Eddie Bauer, are slick when the surface or your foot is wet (including Crocs) …  and others like my toe protective and durable Keens are just less comfortable (they also continue to click).

I leave my current favorite Sperry flip-flop sandals, the Baitfish in Florida, so really needed a new pair for home … and will try a new lighter duty Wahoo flip-flop first at home to see how they hold up. So far I like them. (more…)

Category: Advice, Archive, Misc, Sailing, Shopping | No Comments »
Tags: amazon, baitfish, boatshoe, boatshoes, ceramic, flip-flops, footwear, keen, kitchen, knife, sharpener, shoes, sperry, topsider, topsiders, wahoo

Posted By RichC on July 23, 2018

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Category: Memories, Music, Video | No Comments »
Tags: folk, idiom, jonathan edwards, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, protest, sunshine, war, youtube

Posted By RichC on July 23, 2018

The moon and Jupiter circled from my iPhone on Sunday night July 22, 2018

I have fond memories of sitting out with Katelyn when she would get out her telescope and was learning astronomy … but I do also still enjoy special nights like last night to "try" to capture the amazingly bright and large planets and moon (sometimes I wish I had a telescope but the iPhone skywatching apps are great).

Mars on the left and Jupiter with some lens refraction on the right

Sunday evening with Mars as close as ever gave a great opportunity to see the "red planet" in all of its color. Saturn at 11:30PM was sharp as could be just to the left of the 3/4 moon here in Cincinnati before the clouds moved back in. Jupiter (mentioned and photographed before) was also as bright as could be … and if it was not for bedtime, I’m sure many other celestial bodies could be check off as well. What great viewing.

Mars in all of its "red" beauty from a short Lumix video – 400mm.

Category: Cellphone, Photography, Space | No Comments »
Tags: astronomy, cincinnati, jupiter, mars, moon, nighttime, planets, saturn, skywatching

Posted By RichC on July 22, 2018

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Category: Ideas, Misc, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, backyard, drew, family, frustration, hudson, katelyn, little tikes, michigan, ohio, oostra, project, swing

Posted By RichC on July 22, 2018

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Category: Personal, Photos, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, drew, drone, family, katelyn, michigan, oostra, quadrotor

Posted By RichC on July 21, 2018

As a filler post, a couple random or desultory tidbits crossed my path this week; I found them mildly interesting:

1. The "bison," which can weigh as much as a ton, can "race up to 40 mph, jump up to 6 feet vertically and quickly pivot," so don’t try to out run them.
2. The "peloton" is the main group or pack of bicycle road racing riders.

@Jared_Max Thanks for the “word of the day” lesson on @MorningsMaria @FoxBusiness: peloton pic.twitter.com/Pj8rPPDXPW

— Rich Corbett (@RichC) July 18, 2018

Category: Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: bison, desultory, filler, peloton, random, tidbit, wikipedia

Posted By RichC on July 20, 2018

I’ve been using the Wyze Cam to keep an eye on our Florida condo for a couple of months now … and besides an issue with a low-cost router overheating, it has been excellent. I’ve been thinking about adding a second one with the adjustable viewing angle, but it is not on the high priority list.

Although I don’t have an Amazon Echo in Florida, I can see a day the “habit forming” Alexa device will be nice to have at the condo for a variety of home automation tasks.  Now that Wyze Cam is working with Alexa, there is yet another reason to set up an Echo in Florida too. If you are in need of an inexpensive security type camera, you won’t regret buying the $25 Wyse Cam.

The Wyze Cam has long been a strong contender for the best deal in connected home security. I haven’t actually tried the thing out, but Greg was “surprisingly impressed” with his hands-on time with the 1080p camera. That’s probably enough in and of itself to justify the $20 price tag.

Now the dirt-cheap camera’s getting some added features, courtesy of a software update. Starting today, owners of the Wyze Cam v2 and the $30 Wyze Cam Pan will be able to use Alexa to summon live video feeds on the Echo Show, Spot and through the Fire TV Stick (using the voice-enabled remote). Sorry, no luck for those who picked up the first-gen device. Hope that $20 camera is working out for you, otherwise.

The feature is available this week as a free update to the Alexa app. Wyze joins Ring, Arlo, Nest and Canary, along with Amazon’s own security cameras, of course. But if nothing else, its option is certainly the cheapest of the bunch. One of these and an Echo Spot will set you back $150 — not too shabby for an on-the-fly home security system.

TechCrunch

Category: Advice, Alexa, Technology, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: Alexa, automation, condo, condo1718, delray beach, echo, florida, home, tech friday, techfriday, wyze