Category: electronics

  • Sena Wants AI Dislodged

    Sena Wants AI Dislodged

    Well, the last couple of days have been entertaining with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) bots, at least for a while, to me. However, my wife, Sena wants AI dislodged. I thought I disabled it, but it just keeps popping up. Maybe the only way to protect ourselves from AI is with tin foil hats. On…

  • How’s It Hanging, Bard?

    How’s It Hanging, Bard?

    I read the experiences of Dr. Ron Pies and Dr. George Dawson with Google Bard (see my post Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence). So I had my own conversation with Google Bard yesterday. Hi, Bard; how’s it hanging? “I am doing well, thank you for asking! I am excited to be able to help people with…

  • Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence

    Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence

    Sena and I just read Dr. Ron Pies fascinating essay describing his interaction with Google Bard Artificial Intelligence (AI). As usual, this made me think of several movies with AI as a central theme. There are several: I, Robot (I wrote a post about this a couple of years ago), Blade Runner, The Matrix, 2001:…

  • Jim Learns About Induction Cooktops

    Jim Learns About Induction Cooktops

    I’m learning about induction cooktops. I know I’m way late in the game. The house we bought a little over two and a half years ago came with an induction cooktop. It’s the first one we ever had; we always used gas or electric stoves. The main topic here are the noises including clicking noises…

  • Evolutionary Thoughts

    Evolutionary Thoughts

    By now, you’ve probably read the digital news article describing how we’re all going to evolve into beings who resemble extraterrestrials (ETs) because of our preoccupation with digital technology. The authors describe us as eventually developing another eyelid that’ll protect us from the blue light emanating from our gadgets. Our hands will become claw-like and…

  • The Secret of Patience

    The Secret of Patience

    The secret of patience is to do something else in the meantime. Croft M. Pentz A few days ago, Sena noticed a noise in one of the sunroom window shade wand controls. She can hear noises I can’t hear, which is a good thing. She wondered if the wand battery needed recharging. We have 3…

  • Noisy Alien in Computer Removed

    Noisy Alien in Computer Removed

    Well, this afternoon the computer repair guy returned and fixed the computer in about 15 minutes. The noise was gone after he replaced the power supply unit, the fan of which was the source of the mini-helicopter noise. Obviously, this was a case of extraterrestrial invasion. Seriously, though, once we got past all of the…

  • Computer Crisis Progress Report

    Computer Crisis Progress Report

    The title of this post is supposedly about progress toward fixing my Dell computer, the one with a mini-helicopter noise in the tower. The Tech drove to my house yesterday from Ouad Cities. He had the parts the Agents ordered for fixing the noise in my PC tower. The parts were wrong. He drove an…

  • Another Computer Crisis

    Another Computer Crisis

    Another day, another computer crisis. I’ve been hearing this mini-helicopter noise from my PC tower for a while and finally contacted the manufacturer’s computer support center on the web. I have hopped through many hoops in the past couple of days, including resetting my computer. Remember I had to do that with Sena’s computer? How…

  • Dumbphone Making a Comeback?

    Dumbphone Making a Comeback?

    Here’s a side note on my recent post about using a smartphone to help you find where you parked your car. I just saw a few news items about something people are calling the “dumbphone.” I gather they’re making a comeback, and not just for old folks. Hey, I used to have one of those.…