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

Planning a bLog

June 17, 2023 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #750 June 17, 2023 Planning a bLog episode is like planning any other project. I use the following method and so might you.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdMFKklFqkg   First, figure out the theme.  What is the goal?  What will you say when the project is finished and you step back to admire it? The theme of this bLog is: “How to plan this bLog.” Next, break down the idea. What are the elements of the theme? Write down of list of the aspects of the story you will tell. How the list is ordered is not important. There need be no...
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Laurel Canyon

June 10, 2023 Uncategorized 4 Comments
Episode #749 June 10, 2023 Laurel Canyon profoundly influenced my life.   Some of my favorite musicians came out of a group of singer-songwriters and bands that lived and worked in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Laurel Canyon scene was known for its laid-back, bohemian lifestyle, and its music reflected that sensibility. Among these musicians were: The Mamas and the Papas whose popular California folk songs were "California Dreamin'" and "Monday, Monday." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8I5vDewcZo The Byrds had a jangly, folk-influenced sound with unique vocal harmonies. They were an influence on...
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Pain

June 1, 2023 Uncategorized 4 Comments
Episode #748 June 3, 2023 Sometimes it has to hurt.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgxsFL7-psI I have tried all the methods of opening a jar. There is the “tap on the lid before you open it” method. This method loosens the vacuum seal and only works some of the time.  If you are at a higher altitude the pressure inside the jar is greater than your air pressure. If you don't have to reseal the jar you can poke a hole in the lid with an awl to release the pressure and the lid comes right off. In my kitchen I have...
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Minimalism

May 27, 2023 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #747 May 27, 2023   Less is more.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRxW8alHJCM The Universe is a perfect example of minimalism. Everything is mediated by gauge bosons which mediate the fundamental forces of nature (such as the photon, which mediates the electromagnetic force). These invisible particles are so simple that they are elemental. All energy and matter from quarks to complex molecules exist at the whim and design of these minimal forces. I believe in minimalism because it is easy to execute. A minimalist approach speaks to the function of the project. For example, when I set out to build raised...
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Comments

May 19, 2023 Uncategorized 6 Comments
Episode #746 May 20, 2023 The iMentor Hints and Rants blog has become inundated with spam comments from foreign countries.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxtsa-OvQLA&list=RD_bW4vEo1F4E&index=8 Luckily I have editing and approval privileges over the comments that are submitted. I can label the comment “spam” or simply trash an undesirable one. The comments don’t go live until I approve them. I receive a dozen foreign spam comment submissions every week. The most common country is Russia. These Russian comments are not always political. Most are links to the dark web for illegal software or pharmaceuticals. Recently one comment linked to a crypto trading company,...
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Cold and Snow

May 11, 2023 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Episode #745 May 13, 2023   South Bend, Indiana, is the target of an artificial snow belt.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSe6iZF_UfE The snow belt is created when cold air blows over Chicago encountering cloud making thermal pollution from power plants along Lake Michigan. Those clouds are seeded by the coke smoke stacks of Gary, Indiana’s steel mills. This dumps snow directly on the University of Notre Dame. BTW, don’t eat the brown snow. For this Southern California boy the snow was interesting, entertaining and sometimes annoying. My fellow midwestern students laughed at me when I made my first snowman. I knew nothing...
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