Daynotes

Previously set up the blogroll using the blogger category of my account on feedland.org but not all of the feeds I have in the category are appearing, so I have decided to switch the blogroll to feedland.com. Let's see how this works. #

That didn't make a difference. Not all of the feeds are appearing. I am going to remove the category value and see whether that makes a difference. #

When I remove the category then all feeds appear. Looks like something unexpected is going on with blogrollCategory. #

Monday, April 15, 2024

I wish that Biden would incorporate basic civics lessons in to his campaign because we need clear reminders about what is exactly at stake. #

Dave has published information about how connect Old School blogs edited using Drummer to a category in FeedLand that is rendered as a blogroll. I created a new category in feedland.org that I call bloggers and assigned feeds of weblog sites I follow. Finally, I added the head level attributes as Dave describes and built the blog, with the result appear to the right on this page. I notice that only the sites updated in the last 24 hours appear in the list. #

Friday, April 12, 2024

Decided that I wanted to provision a local instance of River5 in a lxc container running on my Proxmox host. I downloaded the Turnkey lxc template for nodejs and then built a new container with 1 vCPU and 2 GB of RAM. Cloned the River5 repo from Github and confirmed that it runs as described. To simplify access I switched the port from the default of 1337 to 80 but before that will run I had to stop, and ultimately disable, nginx, which is provisioned by default in the template. #

I did some editing of my RSS feeds today, using feedland.org. I went to my feed list and scrolled down to the bottom of the page, and unticked all of the feeds that have not been updated since 2022. I've also added feeds for some new blogs that I have just found and are interesting to me. The feed OPML file I manage using FeedLand is included in my River5 site, which I am thinking of moving to a local server and taking off the public Internet.#

Updated the header graphic here to a spring time picture.#

Reading the Google post regarding the first release of the public beta for Android 15 and the App archiving section lead me to check the storage used of my Pixel 7a. The Pixel 7a has 128 GB of storage and I am using 62 GB, most of that storage is used by apps (35 GB) and the system (22 GB). Only 3.3 GB is used by pictures, suggesting that I am probably not the normal smartphone user.#

Monday, April 8, 2024

We don't live in the path of totality, but did get 99% coverage and that was cool too. #

It's eclipse day! The sun is shining and it is a beautiful morning. We won't really start seeing the eclipse here until around 2:30 PM and we have our eclipse glasses ready. #

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

We Need An Emoluments Amendment#

I don't think it controversial to say that much of what ills the government of the United States is caused by money. What may be controversial is that I do not think giving money is an expression of free speech, rather I think the act of giving money is an emolument. Limiting the amount of money a corporation, committee, or individual gives to an elected official is not an infringement on free speech. Common sense tells us this and yet in 1990 SCOTUS in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission said otherwise. In order to make a more perfect union, as Madison wrote in the preamble to the Constitution, I think we need clear definition that giving of money to elected officials in our republic is an emolument rather than an express of free speech.#
The difference between money and speech lies in how much the person receiving either needs what is offered. Today elected officials, particularly federal officials, need a lot of money. The amounts of money needed by a person to be elected to office makes it something more than speech because it enables a smaller number of people to influence the person elected. One's need of money and the receipt of that money is a quid pro quo; the giver of the money expects something in return and that expectation makes the giving of money an emolument. #
In Federalist 39 James Madison wrote, "If we resort for a criterion to the different principles on which different forms of government are established, we may define a republic to be, or at least may bestow that name on, a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior. It is ESSENTIAL to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it; otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans, and claim for their government the honorable title of republic."
#
The founders knew how emoluments could lead to corruption because they lived in a time when it was common practice for foreign countries to gain favor from monarchs by gift giving. Emoluments are not given as an act of generosity, they are given with the expectation of something in return. If you think about it, you could say that emoluments, the giving of gifts of large sums of money, is simply capitalism at work, and here in lies the circumstances we find ourselves in today. #
We in the United States, so accustomed to our highly capitalistic society, have become numb to the corrosive nature of money and thus think little of emoluments. If we were to write the Constitution today we might not even include emolument clauses in it because they have become such a part of everyday life. The other side of that coin, however, is that everyone in our capitalistic society knows full well that when one person or one committee or one corporation writes a check for thousands, hundreds of thousands or more dollars to a politician it is done with the expectation of something in return. Enough money from a small group of people gains more influence than a citizen could ever hope to gain through exercising their right to free speech. Isn't this how elected officials pretty much ignore what their constituents say?#
Why is it that emoluments from "any King, Prince, or foreign State" is worse than emoluments from citizens, corporations, or Political Action Committees?
#
Today, like many things, many tend to take a literal view of corruption and emoluments. Huge election donations and lobbying come with expectations that effectively buy votes, but we don't think of this as corruption, at least not legally. However, I don't know how anyone can deny that huge part of our lack of trust in the institutions of government, or media (journalism), or medicine, is not due in large part to an awareness of how much influence on decisions is being bought. The growing lack of trust in government is the corrosion (corruption) of the Republic in plain sight. (Further, if you think about it, much of the lack of trust in Biden or Trump is due to money!)#
The founders of the United States knew full well the affect emoluments can have on a republic, which is why they included clauses in the Constitution to limit that affect. Unfortunately, the ideology of originalism says that literal words, not the meaning or intent, only matters. (Taken to its logical conclusion, originalism can mean that Supreme Court Justices could be replaced by AI.) Originalists will say, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 only has the words "from any King, Prince, or foreign State" and there is no such prohibition of emoluments given from citizens of the United States, even if the very thing that clause was intended to prevent, which is the corruption of the government through quid pro quo, is what is happening.#

Rust On The Hill#

Over the course of history we have accepted precedent that limits can be placed on free speech when it does harm to others. In my opinion, the SCOTUS Citizens United decision makes that precedent murkier because it expands speech to spending money. #
The problem with equating money to speech is that money corrupts. Consider, why is it that there is such lack in trust with news organizations? We know that all of the major news organizations are owned by corporations and we know that corporations primary objective is to make their owners money. Consequently most people expect news organizations to bias their reporting toward what makes money; whether or not this true doesn't matter, the widely held perception corrupts trust in news organizations. #
Every institution and its participants in the United States uses money, and perception exists that the institutions and participants will do anything for more money. A good amount of the lack of trust with institutions is caused by money, and the lack of trust in government is corroding democracy. Nearly everyone knows that lobbyists give money to politicians to get something back, this is a quid pro quo that common sense tells us is corrosive. Like rusty pipes, corrosion left unchecked leads to failure, in this cause failure of democracy.#
The founders of the United States knew of the corrosive nature of purchasing favor from elected officials, although they appeared most concerned about quid pro quo with foreign governments. The Constitution has three emoluments clauses: foreign, domestic, and ineligibility. Originalists will avoid the purpose behind these clauses and therefore not see how money spent by lobbyists is an emolument, rather they will relate lobby money to free speech. #
Lobby money is quid pro quo of the same type as the founders feared at the time they wrote the constitution and I think they would expect us to recognize this and prevent it from happening, but alas nothing will be done because it requires action from the people who benefit from the status quou. SCOTUS upheld the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 in United States v. Harriss (1954); the act enables Congress to know "who is being hired, who is putting up the money, and how much." Rather than prevent lobby money the act only shines light on who is giving money to whom. I wonder whether the founders would consider that sufficient in the spirit of the emoluments clauses they put in to the Constitution?#
Democracy in the United States is on the brink because rather than protecting it as defined in the Constitution, which means knowing and upholding its meaning, Presidents, members of Congress, and Supreme Court justices use original words to get away with as much as possible. The later is an ideology that leads a candidate for President (later elected President) to claim that Section 2 of the Constitution gives the President great power while the very purpose of the Constitution is to limit power. #

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Pugnosticating The 2024 Chicago Cubs#

The Chicago Cubs have completed the 2024 Cactus League spring training "season" and will start the 2024 MLB season tomorrow at the Texas Rangers. As many questions exist about the 2024 team as did for the 2023 team, so it is hard for me to expect them to be too much better than last year. Will Greg Counsell as the new manager make a difference? Perhaps that is the main question going in to this season. #
One cannot read much into what happens at spring training, although I attended spring training games in 2016, which is when the Cubs won the World Series, and have not attended a spring training game since nor have the Cubs returned to the World Series. Read in to that what you will.#
For me what stood out most during spring training is that Seiya Suzuki continued hitting as well as he did in the second half of the 2023 season, and hopefully that will translate to a hot start for him in this season. Most Cub fans will say that Suzuki has not yet lived up to his potential, but we saw signs of that at the end of last year. I think it interesting that Suzuki may be hitting second to start the season so that he and Bellinger get as many at bats as possible during games. (Bellinger must bat no lower than third all season so he gets as many at bats as possible, something that David Ross refused to do last year.)#
The two biggest (or three biggest depending on how you count) questions for the Cubs going in to this season are, will Morel and Busch succeed at third and first base and how will the starting pitching perform? Morel will get his best chance to prove he can be a reliable third baseman and Busch will get a chance to prove that he can produce at the plate. The Cubs have been searching for the next players at third and first ever since they traded away Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, and from fans' perspective that search has taken too long.#
Many more questions exist about the pitching staff, but I think they start with will Jameson Taillon live up to expectations? Taillon was the Cubs big pitching pick up before the 2023 season and he did not pitch well and had several injuries. The fact that Taillon is starting the 2024 season on the injury list does not bode well. I think the Cubs need Taillon to meet expectations for them to have a chance to win the N.L. Central.#
Will Justin Steele and Kyle Hendricks repeat their performances in 2023? We will find out soon given that Steele will pitch against the defending World Series champions on Thursday night and then Hendricks will follow him on Saturday. Finally, will Shota Imanaga meet expectations in his first season or falter as many players do when moving from Japan to the United States?#
Finally will the youngsters, Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad, improve upon their performances in 2023? The long term view for the Cubs relies heavily on their ability to promote pitching from within, and while Steele is a success story the MLB teams most successful over long periods of time have nearly their entire pitching staff come up from their farm system. #
The 2016 World Series team had an established pitching staff so going in to that season there were more questions about their hitting and fielding than pitching. The 2024 team has significant questions in all three areas, which means the probability for them to have playoff success, if they make the playoffs, is lower than in 2016. Given that the Cubs have a new manager it might be more fair to compare this team to the 2015 team that made it to the NL championship, which is the first year Joe Maddon managed the team. #
Despite the first year manager comparisons, I think it might be better to compare this team, or rather the entire Cubs organization, to the 2014 team. Back in 2014 many of their future stars were still in the minor leagues but on the brink of making it to the majors. During the 2024 spring training we saw many of the Cubs' future stars like Matt Shaw and Pete Crow-Armstrong perform well but sent back to the minors for further development. We probably will see some of those young players this season, but expect them to really push to start the 2025 season with the big team. #
The 2014 team finished with a 73-89 record but the 2024 team has better players and a better manager, so I do expect them to compete for the NL Central division championship in September. On paper the Cubs should take control of the division, but I am not confident the Cubs have enough consistent batters to prevent the team from having long losing streaks. I therefore expect the 2024 team to be about the same as last year's team. The main problem with how David Ross managed the team last year is that he kept players who were not hitting in the line up too long. I am not sure whether Counsell will have less patience than Ross had, but his impatience may be what leads the team to win the division. What I do know is that I am going to have fun watching to see how they do. Let's play ball!#

Friday, March 22, 2024

I can't help but wonder about how much of the DOJ lawsuit against Apple is driven by Apple's refusal to cooperate with the government in providing back door access to the iPhone and encrypted messages. Apple has been continually making it more difficult for government to gain access to iPhones. #

Thursday, March 21, 2024

It's hard for me to imagine how anyone can think Apple has a monopoly on a legitimate market. What I mean is, Apple does have a monopoly on the market of people who want and use iPhones because Apple is the only company that provides iPhones and Apple controls the applications that can be bought and installed on those iPhones. But, does an 'iPhone Market" really exist? It seems to me that this is the key question, and if the answer to that question is no then the government's case falls apart.#

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

The Atlantic has an interesting article (subscription required) about Computer Science degrees in U.S. universities. The article raises a concern that the elevation of computer science to the college level at universities may lead to students not gaining a broad education. I have a B.S. degree in Computer Science that I earned from Michigan Technological University in 1989. Back when I was in school Computer Science was a department under Mathematics. Michigan Tech now has a College of Computing that offers 12 undergraduate degrees, so basically the change described in the Atlantic article occurred at Tech since I left. When I was in college Tech only had 2 computer related undergrad degrees, Computer Science and Management Information Systems. #

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

One of the big challenges we have in the United States is that our founding documents that were written more than 200 years ago do not, because they could not, take in to account technological and society changes. Back when the Constitution was written there really was not a concept of "national security" in the manner as it exists today. Consequently, the founders never considered the risks of allowing a person to run for President who is deeply in debt and therefore could be tempted accept gifts from adversaries for access or favoritism. #

Well, that is not entirely true because while there is actually very few qualifications for POTUS the constitution does have emoluments clauses because the founders were aware of how external influences affect government. One ought to think about the spirit of the emoluments clauses is it relates to lobbying and election funding. The foreign emolument clause is particularly important...#

The purpose of the Foreign Emoluments Clause is to prevent corruption and limit foreign influence on federal officers. The Clause grew out of the Framers’ experience with the European custom of gift-giving to foreign diplomats, which the Articles of Confederation prohibited. Following that precedent, the Foreign Emoluments Clause prohibits federal officers from accepting foreign emoluments without congressional consent.

Monday, March 18, 2024

To Be Disturbed By Ideas Is O.K.#

From "The Problem with Defining Antisemitism" by the New Yorker#
Stern tells this story in “The Conflict Over the Conflict,” a work that is unlikely to please partisans. The book makes the case for bridging differences and recognizing nuance. It also describes Israeli-Palestinian history as an “ideal subject” to teach at universities, precisely because it is so divisive. At the West End Temple, Stern reiterated this belief. “On college campuses, students have an absolute right to expect they’re not going to be harassed, they’re not going to be bullied,” he said. “But to be disturbed by ideas is O.K.: we want students to be disturbed by ideas and to figure out how to think about them.”
#
When I read what is written about campuses today I find it hard to relate to my own experience between 1984 and 1989. I think an in-depth study of what has happened to U.S. universities since the mid-80s may be illuminating. One aspect that I recall from my experience that may be related is a focus on getting a degree in order to get a job. Even back then going to college was becoming less about growing up and becoming a more complete person but rather most students I knew were focused on the goal of obtaining a high paying job. In such a climate I can see where college not being a place where one is disturbed by ideas might be expected because that climate put no value on such a thing.#

Friday, March 15, 2024

I don't think the blogroll on the right side of Scripting News is visually appealing. To my eyes the page is now cluttered and that affects readability, and for me the reason to go to a blog is to read what the author has written and published. I like that both of my blogs just display my writing with no other distractions. If memory serves me right, blogrolls came before RSS, and for me RSS feed readers replaced the need for blogrolls. If you want to see what blogs I am reading or advocating look at the content of my RSS subscriptions.#

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

After reading an article about setting up Proxmox Backup Server I decided to try and set one up for myself. I provisioned a VM in Amazon Lightsail with Debian 12 and followed the steps in the article. I can't figure out how to login as the install process doesn't provide any steps for creating a new ID and the root ID of the VM doesn't have a password. #

Thoughts On The Pending iPad Announcements#

Any day now we should see Apple announce new models to their iPad line of tablets and the announcement is highly anticipated because it was unusual of Apple to not announce new models during 2023. Even though the iPad has existed for more than a decade, there are still debates of its usefulness, mostly when framed in the context of replacing legacy personal computing devices that have keyboards, mice, and large monitors. #
Twelve years ago I wrote about the tablet style of personal computing and its emphasis on simplicity and mobility, and I think what I wrote then still holds up. I've been a tablet user ever since Apple started selling the iPad, buying several models of iPads through the years along with Android and Chrome OS tablets. For a period of time I even owned a Windows Tablet PC "convertable." #
In recent years I've mostly used two tablets, the iPad Mini (fourth through sixth generations), and the iPad Air (second and fourth generations). I am not typical in my ability and willingness to buy and use multiple models. The iPad Air is used for work related notetaking using OneNote and the Apple Pencil and for watching video, but I use the iPad Mini the most every day for reading eBooks and RSS feeds, reviewing email, and social networking. #
Over the years I've thought about what I would do if I only could afford one iPad, and given how often it used, that answer is the iPad Mini. I could write notes on it with OneNote if wanted and it certainly can play video. The one use case in which the Mini is not good is for sheet music, and for that alone I imagine hanging on to my current iPad Air for some time, but if I am to buy another iPad, which one? #
Right now the most likely answer is another iPad Mini, but I honestly find nothing wrong with the sixth generation that I am currently using and so I doubt I will be buying a replacement soon, except for one reason, which is that I could get enough trade in value on the iPad Mini 6 to make the replacement nearly a no brainer. Replacement value of iPads decrease as they age so it is reasonable to think how much Apple would pay today is greater than how much they will pay next year. #
Even still, given that the iPad Mini 6 is only two years old, I am wondering whether a new model will have enough changes to make it worthwhile. I honestly don't think an improvement in the screen is enough to entice me and I double that Apple will ever produce a Mini with an M-series chip, I expect Apple will also pair the iPad Mini with the higher end iPhone, A-series chips. Most likely the new iPad Mini will come with the A16 BIonic chip that is used in the iPhone 14 and 15. #

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

From reading this article about how a journalist used chatGPT to analyze audit reports, I can see how LLMs are useful for analyzing a defined set of a large amount of data. #

A problem that I see about reporting on inflation is there is little understanding nor explanation for why inflation is occuring, only assumptions. Gas prices are clearly rising, but why? It seems that gas prices always rise in the spring and summer and most assume that is due to demand. A related and important question, what can be done about it, and what could a President of the United States even do about it? My personal suspicion is that contrary to popular opinion, there is little that a Preside can do about most economic factors like inflation because they are driven mostly by the private sector. #

What is Realtime? "Our automated engine continuously tracks public data feeds, detects key changes in real-time, and uses AI to distill them into bite-size stories to keep you informed." I learned about Realtime by reading Zach Seward's presentation on journalism and AI at SXSW.#

Monday, March 11, 2024

Looking at some old blog posts I wrote, I note that the last Android tablet that I have owned is the Nexus 9 until my recent purchase of the Boox Note Air 3C, which some might recognize as a truly Android tablet. I also have the Lenovo Duet 3, but that is a Chrome OS 2-in-1 that supports Android apps and not a true Android tablet. #

During recording of the MobileViews podcast yesterday Todd asked me whether I have always been using Android phones ever since the release of the first one, the T-Mobile G1. My answer is yes, but I have to admit that I didn't remember exactly which phones that I have owned over the years. #

Today I did a search on Google and found this article by Android Police that lists every Google Nexus phone made and from this article I believe the phones I have owned were the T-Mobile G1 (2008) to the Google Nexus One (made by HTC) (2010), to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (2011), to the Moto X (2013), to the Google Nexus 6P (2015), to the Pixel 2 (2017). to the Pixel 4a (2020), and then my current Pixel 7a (2023). #

I am not sure whether I did by the Galaxy Nexus as soon as the it was released in 2011 or waited until 2012. I do know that I dropped and badly damaged the Galaxy Nexus and so would have bought the Moto X as soon as it came out. You might recall that Google bought Motorola's mobility division and the Moto X was the first Motorola branded phone sold by Google, and it was unique in allowing for custom colors (mine was green and yellow for the Green Bay Packers) and assembled in the United States. The Moto X was probably the smallest phone that I've own and then I replaced it with the largest phone that I have ever owned, the Nexus 6P.#

The above were my personal daily drivers, but I also carried a variety of work provided phones over the years that included Blackberry, Windows Phonne, and a variety of Samsung Android phones. I have never used an iPhone.#

Thursday, March 7, 2024

I think that what I have thinking is a keyboard shortcut problem in Readwise Reader is really some form of disconnect in the highlighting function because even if I highlight text with a mouse, that highlight does not "stick." I managed to capture output from the Chrome Developer Tools console and sent that along with repo steps to the Readwise team. #

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

The future of democracy in the United States is on the ballot in November, not because it's Donald Trump running for President, but because the Republican party has demonstrated it is anti-democracy. We need to stop voting for Republicans.#

Monday, March 4, 2024

Really dislike how Arstechnica breaks up articles across multiple pages as it defeats my reading flow. The ongoing war between me, a user, and the web sites I want to read is tiring.#

Friday, March 1, 2024

The Norm Of Civilization#

The prevailing world view is what John Dominic Crossan calls the norm of civilization. The norm of civilization is that peace only comes through violence, and it is this world view that drives the world as we know it. You will also see this world view defined as retributive justice, and is summarized in Latin as Pax Romana. #
What might go unsaid is, peace for whom? As the norm of civilization is hierarchical, generally with God at the very top and a monarch/dictator/authoritarian/oligarch immediately below, the norm of civilization is only concerned for peace for those at the top of the pyramid and not for the majority of the population of the world. The population generally benefits from those at the top of the pyramid being at peace, but it is a trickle down effect most concerned about peace of those at the top of the pyramid.#
Most people, regardless of whether they believe in God or not, and regardless of whether they practice a faith tradition or not, accept this norm of civilization as "just as how things are" because they know nothing different. My reading of the first creation story, and in particular my reading of what is often considered the "fall of man" or the "original sin," is that as we grow in to consciousness (eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil) we develop a dualistic view of the world in which nearly everything outside ourselves is an object. Dualism ultimately classifies everything as for or against me and that ultimately leads to violence. Cain killing Able is the first time we see the word "sin" used in scripture.#
The good news that Jesus taught is that we don't have to accept the norm of civilization, he taught and described a view of the world that can and will exist when God reigns, when we live in what Jesus called the kingdom of God. Crossan describes the world view of Jesus as distributive justice, or perhaps Ted Grimsrud's term restorative justice is better. In Latin, Pax Christus. Jesus' teaching was built upon a very different understanding of God, as like a relationship between father and child rather than as dictator. Jesus taught in the tradition of the Jewish prophets who called out Israel's lapse into the norm of civilization and failing in its vocation to be a light for the nations. Israel failed to heed God's directive to not become like Egypt from which they were liberated. #
For me the shorthand for the norm of civilization is empire. You can look back through the histories of empire, including the most recent British and American empires, to see how the norm of civilization plays out. You see how even the United States came in to existence through the violence of revolutionary war, expanded its land through the violence of displacement of indigenous people, and continued its existence through the violence of a civil war. The American empire declared itself in the ultimate act of violence of atomic weapons dropped on Japan, and maintains existence through its current military and economic might. #
It may be most obvious that empire derives its power through military and economic might, but less obvious but perhaps most important is that empire derives power by religion. Religion binds the adherents and victims of empire to a God they believe pre-ordains a group of people superior over others. What is most important to adherents of empire is a world hierarchical order, as God intended, so that there is peace, a peace that provides the adherents of empire the freedom to be as wealthy and powerful as they can imagine. #
With the knowledge that empire, the norm of civilization, always seeks out and uses religion, it is understandable how some evangelical christians, Roman Catholics, and Orthodox Christians, align with dictators, real and would-be. In the world view of all these people they are simply striving for how everything is supposed to be, the norm of civilization and it's retributive justice and peace through violence. Those of us who grew up during the Cold War that pitted the American Empire against the "evil empire" of the Soviet Union find it mind boggling to see U.S. politicians, past Presidents, current members of Congress, and political pundits aligned to and in support of Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban until we recognize how all these people are working to maintaining the norm of civilization.#
Empire is always about enforcing the norm of civilization for the whole world. Over the centuries technology has expanded the definition of the whole world from regions to every square inch of the globe, thus empire aspires to truly rule the world, forcing would be empire builders to work with each other. Unfortunately, empire does not share power easily and therefore in a world in which nuclear weapons exist and economic power trumps climate change, empire building will always be a threat to our survival on this earth. #

Thursday, February 29, 2024

I am confused by Dave's renewed attraction to blogrolls. I know the history and I had a blogroll on my blog back in the day and then Dave released Radio Userland, which was my first exposure to RSS and from that point on I no longer saw the need for blogrolls. I really don't want to back to the old form of loading one's web site to see their latest writing, I would rather have that writing pushed to me via RSS. #

I am still trying to figure out why some keyboard shortcuts in Readwise Reader are not working consistently. I notice this mostly with the shortcut for highlighting, which is the H key. Oddly, not all shortcuts stop working and I can restore the functionality by reloading the page. How this appears is after reading an article, I press E to archive and move to the next article, then when I try to highlight a paragraph I press H and nothing happens. I reload the page and then press H and the paragraph is highlighted.#

I am beginning to wonder whether the problem is caused by RDP. I thought I would see whether the problem exists while reading using the Pixelbook and so far it has not.#

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

I use virtual machines hosted with Proxmox as remote desktops that I access using the Microsoft Remote Desktop app in Windows 11. I've been experiencing situations during which RDP session disconnects after displaying an message saying there is an encryption error. It can get to the point at which as soon as I connect it disconnects. I've seen similar behavior with VNC. I am starting to think this is something to do with Windows 11 rather than the VM or the computer hosting it because I can connect with no problems using RDP on my Macbook. #

So, I connected to the remote desktop from my Macbook and wrote the above, then disconnected and re-connected from Windows 11 and so far the connection is being maintained. Really feels like something related to Windows 11, but not sure what.#

Is there a browser that doesn't force sites to be loaded with HTTPS?#

Latest release of Chrome on Linux appears to be more aggressively preventing the load of web sites using HTTP. I am starting to have to explicitly allow "Insecure content" for sites that I know are safe. IMHO, this is going a step too far for Google. Changed Chrome's security settings from "Enhanced" to "Standard" security. Google appears to be making this process as painful as possible by not syncing site settings between instances of Chrome. #

Monday, February 26, 2024

I continue to be frustrated with using Readwise Reader because of how often it forgets keyboard shortcuts. I routine have to reload a web page in order to restore the shortcuts. That this issue has lasted so long has me concerned, this type of thing has happened in the past but the company eventually fixed it. #

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Dear Google. Please stop being hostile to users by switching Google Assistant with Gemini on Pixel phones. I rely on Google Home routines and because Gemini is not capable of triggering routines while Assistant can, I need to continue using Assistant. You should never replace something in Android with something that removes functionality and not seek the user's permission to do so. I get that you are excited about Gemini, but if you intend it to replace Assistant then table stakes requirements is that it provides all the functionality of Assistant.#

Friday, February 9, 2024

Temperature outside hit 62 degrees, a definite record high for our area. #

I installed the Google Gemini app on my Pixel 7a and found that it breaks the ability to initiate Google Home routines/automations via Google Assistant, so uninstalled. Gemini can't be used as a standalone app, it replaces Assistant. #

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

I've been receiving many "offers" from AT&T lately trying to get us to drop our landline and convert it to AT&T's VoIP service. My speculation has been that AT&T wants to get rid of landlines as it is probably costing them money, and this article about what is going on in California appears to support that speculation. One of the single biggest problems I have with VoIP is with what happens when there is a power loss. Landlines continue functioning when the power goes down, Internet connections do not unless you have a UPS, and even if you do that could be for a short amount of time. The article states that AT&T already received relief of its Carrier of Last Resort obligation in Michigan. I won't be surprised if sooner or later we get notice that they are dropping their landline service.#

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Happy birthday to me! #

Wednesday, April 17, 2024