Posted By RichC on February 14, 2025
I’m not much of a TikTok person (actually anti-TikTok) and you might want to take this with a grain of salt, but it is interesting to contemplate where computer development is going in the next 75 years?
Posted By RichC on February 13, 2025
Brenda and I have been thoroughly enjoying the surprisingly nice early February weather and escape from winter up north — and we are living The Life of Riley (a previous reference that I can’t get out of my mind).
I’ve finished “Killing the Rising Sun” and have picked up a Annie Jacobsen book (previous was her “Nuclear War: A Scenario”) after reading about Operation Crossroads and atomic testing in the Pacific after World War II. The 2011 book is a Kindle copy of, “Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base,” and introduces readers to scientists and engineers who worked in Area 51 in Nevada. The book addresses the Roswell UFO incident and covers a few of the explanations we’ve all heard through the years (still questionable). After the first couple of chapters, it has grabbed my attention … and even knowing that there are plenty of critics … I’m looking forward to learning a little more about this base and part of our country’s secretive Cold War history.
Google Maps view of Area 51 in Nevada – 75 miles north of Las Vegas
Edit add: After finishing this “books” post, my daughter sent me a “bloggable” topic on putting aside distractions. A quote from “Gen Z, Fight ‘Brain Rot’ by Reading Books” is probably pretty fitting for all of us with smartphones: My phone addiction took away my ability to sit in silence, focus for any length of time, or engage deeply with anything meaningful. As Oxford Press might put it, I was a victim of “brain rot.”
Posted By RichC on February 12, 2025
Excellent speech by US Vice President JD Vance on artificial intelligence in a summit in Paris, France. He told European and Asian leaders that the United States will dominate AI. Worth watching.
NEW: JD Vance speaks at an artificial intelligence summit in Paris, France, tells European and Asian leaders that the United States will dominate A.I.
Imagine VP Kamala Harris giving this speech.
"The Trump administration will ensure that the most powerful A.I. systems are… pic.twitter.com/dowLVks1wd
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 11, 2025
It will also probably come at no surprise that my “right-column” commentary over at TheHustings.News is starting to become the 
norm — see “Trump’s First Three Weeks” heading — but it has Brenda asking, “are you getting paid?”
Posted By RichC on February 11, 2025
Brenda and I enjoyed watching Super Bowl LIX on Sunday February 9, 2025 in Florida this year (summary below) after a enjoyable sunny day and walk on the 
beach. It sure is a great way to escape the winter (see Oostras skating below the break)!
One of the lowlights of our beach walk (my antonym for “highlight”) is that some ship or barge must have leak or dumped oil waste that is washing up on Florida’s Atlantic beaches as tarballs. 
I remember “tarballs” from my childhood on Lake Erie and occasionally when visiting Brenda’s parents in the 1990s in Florida. In those days we would use “tanning oil” (ugh!) to clean the tar off our our feet.
As for the Super Bowl, it was a bit of a dud of a game, but “highlighted” just how good the Philadelphia Eagles were this year. They clinched their second Super Bowl victory, beating the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 on Sunday. evening to 52% of the country’s delight (only 48% favored the Chiefs “again”).
The Eagles took control early, leading 24-0 by halftime. Jalen Hurts was outstanding, both throwing and rushing for touchdowns, including a 46-yard pass to DeVonta Smith. The defense was also dominant, with rookie Cooper DeJean snagging an interception and returning it for a touchdown. The Chiefs tried to rally in the second half, with Patrick Mahomes throwing two touchdown passes, but the Eagles stayed strong and held them off. Despite Mahomes’ 300 yards passing, the Chiefs couldn’t recover from the Eagles’ relentless pressure and defense. This win gave Philadelphia its second Super Bowl title, adding to their 2018 victory.
Posted By RichC on February 10, 2025
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Posted By RichC on February 9, 2025
Several decades ago we took Brenda’s father, Fred Howard, to the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio and seeing the Martin B-26 Marauder on display triggered an emotional response. 
Having flown 50+ bombing missions as a navigator in Europe during World War II and seeing his “ship” (similar) after so many years brought back strong memories and a pivotal time in his life.
We took note and since my CPP business was in Cuyahoga Falls near Akron, Ohio where I occasionally flew a Cessna 172 in and out of AKR, I knew about the Maps Museum and the B-26 rescue project. So we planned the trip and a tour of the restoration project and it gave my father-in-law a chance to see (touch and climb though) one of the very few Martin B-26 Marauders surviving — this one was recovered from a crash site in Canada (much had already been stripped for parts). He really enjoyed seeing and 
remembering the innards of the plane, showing us his station and talking with a few of the volunteers who were helping to restore it. I learned just how “it protect him” and how he had been trained to destroy the Norden bombsight in the “likely” event they were shot down or hit by flak — thankfully the planes he navigated to and from targets were not downed (grime image of B-17 below).
A couple years later, we gave him a book that reviewed the history and missions of this “hot” medium sized bomber during WW II and asked him to make notes in the margin detailing his memory of the missions — shocking just how much he could recall.
For those of you like me who enjoy military history AND aviation, the video archived on YouTube by PBS Western Reserve is worth watching (as has become a habit, I’ve archived the mp4 file just in case the YouTube link disappears — sadly becoming the norm).
Posted By RichC on February 8, 2025
An interesting article caught my eye on my social media feed this week from History Facts. The topic was “Which came first: Beer or Wine?”
Alcohol has been a part of human existence for thousands of years, dating back to the dawn of recorded time. The fermentation process, which creates ethanol, likely occurred naturally when sugar met yeast in grains or fruits. Early humans may have discovered the intoxicating effects of fermented substances by accident, leading to the development of beer and wine, with beer and mead being the earliest forms of alcohol … but for the answer, read the post … or for a quick cheat, look below the break. 😉
Posted By RichC on February 7, 2025
MarsEdit has been my WordPress blogging software of choice for 2 years now and although there have been a few disappointments since moving from the non-supported Windows Live Writer or Open Live Writer software (both PC only), it has been great to be able to work from my MacBook Air M2 … but more importantly, it is supported and updated by Red Sweater software.
Since I likely use it somewhat differently that most (a couple different image servers), the ability to use macros improves adding content. One disadvantage for those who keep their eye on bandwidth, load speeds and storage (plus backups) of increasingly more and more data, is not automatically including “thumbnails” for images. This isn’t as big a deal today as it was 20 years ago as the overall Internet speed and lower cost data has accommodated bigger files. I generally still resize images and video to smaller sizes … but this isn’t usually noticed in day to day blog reading.
Looking forward, I have been rethinking the how I have always used images on a page … meaning that images are often placed on a post to be read on a computer … not a mobile device. BUT … content is now consumed on phones and tablet more often than on computers … so I may have to adapt image us to full width images rather than including them in a layout (problem in example screenshot above and below the break … and probably this post)?
Old habits die hard, so I’m not sure if it is possible for me to change. 😊
Posted By RichC on February 6, 2025
TheHustings.News – Commentary by Rich Corbett
In a time when government spending often raises concerns about waste, fraud, abuse and inefficiency, Elon Musk and the DOGE team’s use of “read-only” access to Treasury data can be viewed as a proactive step toward enhancing accountability. The fundamental argument rests on the premise that taxpayers deserve transparency regarding how their funds are being used and managed.
Those concerned about hearing “read-only” access and knowing computer “whiz kids” are even dipping their toes into Treasury computers containing that much personal data and information have reason to be concerned. If I were “dictator” and allowing this kind of access, it would only be copies of the data, on a system not actually used to process payments and to engineers who have security clearances.
Public funds are, by nature, meant for the benefit of all citizens. When government agencies operate with a level of secrecy that conceals mismanagement, external scrutiny becomes a necessary check. Musk’s team, leveraging AI assisted auditing resources and expertise, aim at shining a light on possible fiscal inefficiencies, and holding each government department or agency to a high standard of accountability.
Actions of DOGE underscores the importance of reviewing public spending, particularly when traditional oversight channels, sorely missing in Congress, prove inadequate no matter which political party is in power.
Elon Musk and the DOGE team’s initiative to scrutinize runaway government spending, when viewed through the lens of public accountability, represents a necessary measure to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not squandered. By shining light on how public funds are being used, Americans clearly recognize Washington, D.C. needs more effective oversight than the business as-usual status quo.
Published commentary for the right-column in TheHustings.News – 2/5/2024
Posted By RichC on February 5, 2025
While sitting down after our long beach walk with a warm breeze on a sunny day while in Delray Beach, Florida, I commented to Brenda that we were living “The Life of Riley.” I assumed she would be familiar with the reference and meaning that we were living a comfortable and carefree life. She surprised me by not being familiar with the phrase and of course didn’t believe I knew what 
I was talking about — a logical conclusion!
Of course the next few minutes I did what all of us do these days … pull out my smartphone and looked it up … saying, “see, told you so!” (BTW, image above is my current wallpaper … a photo of the path we walk to get to the beach — almost always whisks all my worries away)
To be fair, I did not know that there was a 1940s situation comedy radio show, a comic book and two television series with the same reference.
The real point is that “right now for us” … life is wonderful and we are so blessed to have this time to enjoy extended vacations … or semi-retirement if the term fits … together.
A couple photos of Pelicans on Pilings with rain coming — iPhone 16 Pro Max 5x