magic | My Desultory Blog

Friday Filler: Probably the cutest thing you will see this week

RichC | October 16, 2020

Watch what happens when this “magic hat” is put on a baby duckling …

Category: Social Networking, Video | No Comments »
Tags: cute, duckling, filler, flower, hat, magic, mp4, video

A little Computer Mouse history … and then some #TBT

RichC | November 21, 2019

Hello World! It is frightening to think that I’ve been using computers for FORTY years and have used and have seen the slow evolution in input devices clustered around a device called the Computer Mouse. So for ThrowBack Thursday #TBT this week, the above is a photo of the original “mouse” in 1964 by Douglas […]

Category: Archive, Computer, History, Memories, Photos, TBT, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: alto, apple, ball mouse, compaq, Computer, History, imac, magic, miami, mouse, onu, tandy, TBT, throwback, thursday, trs-80, university, xerox

Music Monday: A one hit wonder – Oh, Oh, Oh It’s Magic

RichC | July 15, 2019

Heard this one-hit-wonder this past week and thought it would make a great addition for Music Monday. The once Bay City Roller members, David Paton and Billy Lyall, formed the group Pilot in 1973 and in 1975 “Magic” hit the charts.

Category: Music, Video | No Comments »
Tags: magic, music monday, musicmonday, pilot, youtube

TechFriday: Magic Mouse Mac users and Google Calendar

RichC | February 13, 2015

Judging from the suggestions complaints to Google from users making an accidental “mouse swipe” through their online Calendar app, it looks like I’m not the only one frustrated. The problem of scrolling to the wrong month has existed for years and is most noticeable when using the Apple OS and their Magic Mouse. The sensitivity […]

Category: Apple, Cloud, Computer, How-To, Software | 2 Comments »
Tags: apple, calendar, google, magic, mouse, techfriday

Most Recent Posts

06/26/22: U.S. Supreme Court ruling changes abortion in America
Friday’s Supreme Court decision has us all pondering where our country is heading? We’ve had 65 million legal abortions since 1973 and now after 50 years of “abortion being a protected right” since the Rowe… »
06/26/22: Never a dull moment for parents no matter their expertise
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06/25/22: Stay on your retirement planning track and consider iBonds
It is stomach-churning to follow the often heard “hold tight” and “stick with the plan” advice often given by financial advisors. If you are currently retired and living off of a fix-income and nest egg, or… »
06/24/22: Tech Friday: Ultrasound detection and the 4th gen Echo hub
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06/23/22: Words to think about before speaking negatively about others
Really, I’m just sharing a couple leftover photos from the past couple of days, but thought the sign below offers some pretty good advice. Also a tidbit: Rice boiling over creates a sticky goo … and my new… »
06/22/22: A neighbor playing practical joke with a plastic armadillo
I’m sure what I think about this, but when I heard about it on Twitter from someone in Texas, it did make me laugh. As the story goes, it seems a couple of neighbors enjoy joking with each other as they attempt to… »
06/21/22: Interesting information on Summer vs Winter Solstice
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06/20/22: Music Monday: “So Many Paths” by Little River Band
Just another Music Monday song from the 1970s, as heard on the relatively new SiriusXM Yacht Rock, Deep Cuts, Xtra “app-only” channel (from what I can tell?) Today song is from Australia’s Little River… »
06/19/22: Wishing all the purpose-filled dads a Happy Father’s Day
I enjoyed a very nice Father’s Day on “Saturday” yesterday with Taylor, Megan and their long time friend Meredith, who was “dog-sitting” her sister’s dog “Chase” (below). They enjoyed the nice weather… »
06/18/22: Leftover “Tech Friday” thoughts for Saturday morning
Not that I was bored or anything while running on generator power for 24 hours, but last week’s outage had my small load-sharing Raspberry Pi “server farm” (semi-joke) that I run at the house (see Brenich.com), in… »
06/17/22: Tech Friday: Replaced my old MPOW Bluetooth headphones with discounted Wyze Noise-Cancelling headphones
When it comes to a headset/headphones, I wear them all the time and am pretty much an Aftershokz guy. I find that I rarely take them off during the day, ever since getting my first “bone conduction” Bluetooth… »
06/16/22: Astrophotography is an interesting but expensive hobby #TBT
As the warm evening and nights of summer arrive, I catch myself looking up at the sky again. It may have started with a purpose back when Charlie (Kamikaze) and I were locally sailing the “Fiberpile” and studying… »
06/15/22: Big storms ripped through SW Ohio and knocked trees down
Big storms ripped through our area on Monday night and left a mess of things in much of SW Ohio. Lots of tree damage and even a loss of power for 24+ hours in our neighborhood. I spent the lunch hour working with a… »
06/14/22: Books: “Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America” by Douglas Brinkley
Although I once enjoyed reading biographical and history oriented books by Douglas Brinkley, as well as enjoyed interviews with him on TV, I’ve recently noticed a bit more political partisanship in his commentary and… »
06/13/22: Music Monday: “South City Midnight Lady” – Doobie Brothers
My “go to” Sirius XM channel for easy listening 1970s music has been The Bridge for the past decade now and it never fails to sooth my soul. The Music Monday pick for this week is another Doobie Brother song, this… »
06/12/22: Sunday thoughts: A rainbow photo and delicious fish dinner
Thank you Drew for sharing this amazing backyard rainbow photo from last week! “I set My rainbow in the cloud … and I will remember My … every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a… »
06/11/22: Inflation hits a new FOUR-Decade High, with food and energy increases hurting those who can least afford it
CPI up 8.6% driven by a 35% jump in energy prices and 12% increase in groceries This is what a “sea of red” looks like for investors and stock market traders … and I can only imagine the “red” those living on… »
06/10/22: Wishing my son Taylor a very Happy 33rd Birthday
Taylor last weekend at the Cincinnati Zoo with Megan While typing the subject line of this post, I wondered at what “age” is respectful to NOT mention a number when sharing a Happy Birthday greeting? Hopefully not… »
06/10/22: A movie remake, with a twist? "iMac Down" … stocks down too
A semi-disaster struck as my iMac choked on a Parallel 17 "virtual Windows" update on Thursday. It reminded me of the movie "Blackhawk Down" or perhaps "White House Down" … hence the… »
06/09/22: In all of God’s magnificent creation, mankind is unique #TBT
There are days we humans need to be reminded that we are small in relation to the universe, but unique (Genesis 1:27) and loved (John 3:16) in relation to God’s magnificent creation. TIDBITS: Voyager 1 continues into… »
06/08/22: Audiobook: “Land Of Big Numbers” by WSJ’s Te-Ping Chen
In keeping with a previous book, I downloaded another book: “Land Of Big Numbers” by Te-Ping Chen. It is a collection of stories … on the “diverse and legion Chinese people” and according to a review, this… »
06/07/22: Weekend yard chores, painting and corner desk update photos
Brenda and I enjoyed our anniversary weekend staying around home, working in both the yard and for me painting on Sunday afternoon (Brenda helped out at a store short a pharmacist in Dayton). Slowly I’m making… »
06/07/22: Weekend Family updates: Dress-up and Taylor’s new iPhone13
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06/06/22: Music Monday: The Leonard Skinner and Lynyrd Skynyrd story
I was tuned into a television morning news show a few weeks ago and was shocked that two of the three hosts didn’t know “the band” Lynyrd Skynyrd … in fact one commented, “but I’ve heard of ‘him.’” … »
06/05/22: We hit a big milestone: Our 40th Wedding Anniversary
A poor quality scan of our 1982 wedding with DadH, MomH, MomC and DadC Often a 40th Wedding Anniversary triggers a husband or wife to make the comment “thanks for putting up with me” or something to that effect.… »
06/04/22: A riddle by Dennis Prager got me thinking …
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06/03/22: Tech Friday: Souring on backing startups with great ideas
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06/02/22: My old bowling ball: A memory-triggering time capsule #TBT
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06/01/22: Are you a Coffee or a Tea drinker? Coffee for me, please!
Who doesn’t enjoy of teasing friends back and forth over foodie items? Here’s one that I’m going to debate with my friend Jeff … as he has always been a “Tea drinker” and I’ve been a “Coffee guy.”… »
05/31/22: Katya Nikiforova: Juggling skills extraordinaire #video
Russian Katya Nikiforova has amazing juggling skills. Wow! Katya Nikiforova Born into a family of non-circus artists in a small town in Ukraine, as a child Katya performed gymnastics and dancing. At the age of 10, she… »
05/31/22: Archive: A few family photos from Memorial Day weekend
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05/30/22: Music Monday oriented Memorial Day: Vietnam vets likely remember singing “We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place”
This Memorial Day reflection is a bit different than previous posts. Instead of an overall encompassing remembrance on all those who died in armed service to our country, it is a combined Music Monday twist that is a… »
05/28/22: Buttercups photo and reflecting on another school shooting
We are enjoying my late mother-in-law’s transplanted Buttercups (Ranunculus) that we brought home from the Jamestown, NY farmhouse (winter pics). Initially, Brenda’s sister Chris asked me to bring her some home for… »
05/27/22: Tech Friday-ish: Van Gogh virtual world artwork filler
Although I appreciate the talent of artists in all mediums and have plenty of artwork in our home, I’m not sure where this Vincent van Gogh “virtual world” art fits in??? Maybe it is just fitting for the blog?… »
05/26/22: The Pain at the Pump is even worse when it comes to diesel #TBT
I have put off buying diesel fuel for the Kubota mower and John Deere 330 as long as possible … but inevitably the reserve of 25 gallons stored in fuel jugs gets used up. It looks as if it is time to pay $$$ the… »
05/25/22: Blog database backups and WordPress 6.0 <= done!
Generally I don’t rush to updated software or computer operating systems, but noting that WordPress 6.0 has “400 bug fixes” had me deciding to backup the current MDB install and updating. So far, all good.… »
05/25/22: Reworking my old corner computer desk for the home office
Now that the desk and hardwood floors are complete, and floor finish has cured enough in my home office, it is time to tackle the trim painting, putting the closet and bookshelves back. Another project I’ve been… »
05/24/22: Birthday Book: “The Old Man and The Boy” by Robert Ruark
My buddy Jeff Pitts is my go-to source for interesting books to read. For my birthday this year (we had lunch last Friday … a Mexican restaurant, of course), he gave me an older 1950’s era book by Robert Ruark… »
05/23/22: Music Monday: “Where Do The Children Play?” – Cat Stevens
While reading in the evenings I’m often sitting with my headphones on listening to music while Brenda is watching one of her streaming series … I think she is watching the Bridgerton TV series on Netflix before we… »
05/22/22: Archive: SpaceX rocket launches and successes continue #video
It is difficult to ignore the success of the private space industry and admire companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX as it launches and re-launches rocket after rocket. From satellite launching to shuttling astronauts to… »
05/21/22: Archive: What was once hard work, is now much harder work
It is likely an age thing, but once upon a time, I didn’t think twice about trenching and digging. Now, I’m tired out by lunchtime (this was a Saturday (5/21/2022) morning project) and I didn’t even finished the… »
05/21/22: The office desk chair mat and hardwood floor protection arrived
The new Lorell brand glass desk floor mat for my home office arrived and so I temporarily set it up in the basement since the painting and last few modifications are yet to be finished before moving back upstairs. All… »
05/20/22: Tech Friday: What is all this Web3 decentralized internet about?
While discussing the ever-changing way in which we use the “web” with a friend, he shared an “explainer“ video from Harvard Business Review earlier this month on Web3 (Web 3.0). It is also on… »
05/20/22: Katelyn found a new version of Lucky Charms for Annalyn
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05/19/22: My road warrior days and remembering 1960s bowling alleys
Posting a couple of memory photos as a Throwback Thursday #TBT filler post after a conversation with friends last week. One had to do with text messaging, “distracted driving” and remembering my road warrior days of… »
05/18/22: Working towards my 10,000 step per day Fitbit Versa target
When the weather finally warmed up and I was motivated to head outside to work in the yard and start cleaning things up around the house, it was good for my activity level. Let’s see if this will correspond with… »
05/17/22: A test post due to slow uploading. AWS server problem?
Testing Internet speeds on my end after struggling to upload to AWS servers this afternoon. All seems normal for both 4G and WiFi in my temporary basement home office due to painting and getting thing put back together… »
05/17/22: Birding outing for Katelyn with the family for her birthday
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05/16/22: Something to think about – Truth For Life
See “Loving Community Part 3“ — Truth For Life… »
05/16/22: Music Monday: Slipping in an automotive-triggered 1990s country music song with “Backroads” by Ricky Van Shelton
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05/15/22: Refinishing home office desk project and cutting the lawn
My weekend chores and projects are in full swing as I cut the lawn longer than usual since it grew fast and thick while we were on vacation. Hopefully after a few cuttings, the thatch will disappear (I’m not fond of… »
05/14/22: Wishing the mom to my granddaughters a Happy Birthday :-)
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05/13/22: Stocks, bonds, crypto all down. What to do, what to do?
FoxBusiness/WSJ graphic For the good or bad, whenever I’m away from my daily routine, it seems like the financial markets lose stability and investors go into crisis mode? The past couple of weeks, those invested in… »
05/12/22: Cleaning stainless steel cookware, mostly Wirecutter advice
Who else hates cleaning up stainless steel cookware, especially stainless steel frying pans? We opted to upgrade the mishmash pots and pans at the Delray Beach condo back in 2018 with a full set of IKEA stainless steel… »
05/11/22: An ideal use for my MicroJig dovetail clamps #woodworking
Since I use these dovetail MicroJig clamps for woodworking in my workshop, it seemed only logical to archive a photo so I can build a "jointer jig" or perhaps more appropriately just a jig to use with the… »
05/10/22: Enjoyed a Mother’s Day beach week of R & R in Florida
Depressing as it may be, our vacation in Delray Beach is over, but it was a perfect and needed rest and relaxation trip. Our old 2002 Honda Odyssey is still surviving … although I did pondering a new Florida vehicle… »
05/09/22: Music Monday: Zac Brown – “Let It Go” from YGWYG album
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05/08/22: Happy Mother’s Day to a couple of wonderful moms
It is difficult not to recognize what great moms both MomC and MomH were to me … but since they are no longer here, I want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to a couple of great moms — my wife Brenda and… »
05/07/22: KDAE looking at their property prior to ground breaking
It is definitely spring and as with many growing families working hard and fortunate enough to be living in the United States, ours are pursuing the American dream of building or owning a home. Katelyn and Drew sent… »
05/06/22: Tech gadget guy mixed with someone who likes knot tying
This is what you get when you continue to use leftover chargers from old phones (my Palm Pre) and continue to rely on sailing knot tying skills. Really just a filler post for a Tech Friday after noticing just how unique… »

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