the iMentor

Hints & rants

This weB-LOG is about the musing of a technical consultant. It is the iMentor's thoughts on technology and the human condition.

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Author: Rick Thues

Selfish

May 19, 2025 Uncategorized No Comments
Episode #851 May 24, 2025 We have come to expect everything all the time for ourselves.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef9QnZVpVd8 Our expectations of others are so low that even with good intentions fall below our own self-image. Politicians are all corrupt. Teachers are brainwashing our children. Scientists are driving up the costs of manufacturing and, therefore, products with their fabricated pollution warnings. Climatologists invent the threat of global warming to justify higher taxes and fund expansive social programs.  Drivers own the road with their high beams and tailgating. Medication is a plot to make us sicker to sell more drugs. People...
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Audentis Fortuna Iuvat

May 15, 2025 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Episode #850  May 17, 2025 "Nona stamina ducit, Decima metitur, Morta secat." “Nona draws the threads, Decima measures, Morta cuts.” — Ovid paraphrase   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lweVp978_c The roles of the three Fates suggest the idea that aspects of our existence are beyond our control. But what of free will? Philosphers posit that conclusions like birth, major events or death might be fated, but fortune governs the path, opportunities, twists and turns along the way. Free will allows us to push the limits of what is achievable. “Fortune favors the bold” is a phrase used to encourage pushing the limits of what...
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Do Nothing

May 6, 2025 Uncategorized 5 Comments
Episode #849 May 10, 2025 Sometimes, but certainly not always, doing nothing is the right thing to do.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX2bE-OBtwk   Some weeks ago the smart light on my under-the-sink water filter faucet went out. The lights are meant to advise if the filter is OK, needs replacement soon, or must be replaced right now.  Green, yellow and red. It was the green light that extinguished. I could not remember how long ago I replaced the filter. I’m sure it was more than a year. The filter box claims that the filter is good for one year or 1000...
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Hawaiian Shirts

April 29, 2025 Uncategorized 10 Comments
Episode #848 May 3, 2025 Paula’s side of the closet is pink. My side used to be tie-dyed.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISkMx6b6K_c Recently, I’ve had a fondness for Hawaiian shirts and now my side of the closet is a cacophony of colorful patterns. Some have interesting, artistic patterns. One of the first Hawaiian shirts I bought was the pattern of Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.” Paula and I went to arts and crafts day in Idyllwild. People stopped me and said, “Oh! That’s Starry, Starry Night.” I had to reply, “Close, but that is a lyric from Don McLean’s song...
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Zero inbox

April 23, 2025 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #847 April 26, 2025 Some of my readers are overwhelmed with email.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZOqlYm1Vb4 My inbox has been filled with as many as 200 email messages. I have seen inboxes with 2000 or more. It drives me crazy. It makes me sad when readers ask me to remove them from my blog notification list. They say their inbox is so full that they cannot make sense of it. Their solution is to cut themselves off from part of the enjoyment, information, and quality of their lives by requesting to be removed from mailing lists. Please don't go. Do what...
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For Gail

April 14, 2025 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #846 April 19, 2025   Paula’s sister Gail died suddenly last month.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlY90lG_Fuw Along with so many things in her life, Gail was a politically conscientious force. She changed the people around her and through them changed the world. Just before her death we were on the phone lamenting the destruction being done to our democracy. I said that I had done right by voting correctly. "What more can I do at this point?" I asked her.  She asked me if I had participated in any of the protests. I had not since Vietnam.  During the Vietnam...
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