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Powell: "It was among the most welcome phone calls I've ever made. I was calling to tell Frontier or Verizon or whatever it is they currently call themselves that after 21 years ... I was done with what in my estimation is the worst phone company ever." https://ofb.biz/sa1402

Dennis E. Powell writes about an ugly #scam: "Instead of describing how well my cool new Starlink-based phone-internet setup is coming together, I'm obligated to detail how I fell for a swindle so obvious that there's no escaping the fact that my mind must have got disengaged for a while." https://ofb.biz/sa1400

@HolosDiscover follow

Dennis E. Powell writes, "After experimentation I've come to the conclusion that #Starlink is actually *underselling* how good its system is. As to its price . . . that seems oddly fluid, and not in a good way." https://ofb.biz/sa1398

This week, @trbutler@mastodon.faithtree.social writes, “A few hours away from me you can visit Silver Dollar City — a scenic, wooded theme park in the Ozark Mountains where craftspeople blow glass and mill flour 19th-century style. It’s charming and memorable. It’s also not the way I buy glassware or food normally.” How does that help us understand #AI today? https://ofb.biz/sa1397

The writer Ernest Hemingway lived alongside the avatar of the same, through some of the most consequential times in history. @kettingerjason@threads.net reflects on this #AshWednesday. https://ofb.biz/sa1395

.@trbutler@mastodon.faithtree.social on #Budweiser's #SuperBowl triumph amid #AI backlash: "I get it: it’s beautifully filmed and feels good when so much is angry, ugly or both. It is also real to a surprising degree [...] filmed with cameras, not constructed with computers." https://ofb.biz/sa1393

#CGI #JurassicPark #AnheuserBusch #GenerativeAI

@kettingerjason@threads.net: "The gala which precedes the tournament is not a ball, but exhibition tennis, which featured legends Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter, and 2022 women’s champion Ashleigh Barty..." https://ofb.biz/sa1391

#Tennis #RogerFederer #AndreAgassi #PatrickRafter #AshleighBarty

Dennis E. Powell writes muses amidst the cold, "I won't be able to say for sure until things get warmer, if they ever do. Hope is found in it always having gotten warmer before. But we live in strange and troubling times." https://ofb.biz/sa1392

#Weather #Politics #Winter #2026

Dennis E. Powell reflects on the year that already feels long: ”Are you happy with 2026, now that the first month is almost half over? Me neither.” #Venezuela #Greenland #ICE #DonaldTrump #JDVance #MarcoRubio https://ofb.biz/sa1386

#MikeTomlin, head coach of the venerable Pittsburgh #Steelers for the last 19 years, has resigned. He coached them to a Super Bowl championship after the 2008 season, and represented the #AFC in the #SuperBowl after the 2010 season. https://ofb.biz/sa1385

#NFL

"Simba-sama made it to 2026, but just barely. It matters. His real name was just Simba, but he was wise, so it made sense to add 'sama,' an honorific signifying high rank and wisdom, to that name." https://ofb.biz/sa1384

#CatsOfMastodon #Cats #Death #NewYear2026

"Hook, the absolutely star-studded film directed by Stephen Spielberg, has received mixed reviews from critics since its release in 1991. I still can’t figure out why." https://ofb.biz/sa1383

#Movies #MovieReview #PeterPan #Disney

Dennis E. Powell writes, “Just over a year ago I got my #Unicomp #ModelM Mini, a newly manufactured version of what is in my estimation the best computer keyboard ever, the #IBM Model M #SSK. […] I wrote a bit about it at the time. It is the only keyboard I have used since then. It has been a delight.”https://ofb.biz/sa1382

#MechanicalKeyboards #Keyboards

“Ahead of Christmas, I heard a lot of ads for a company that digitizes old photos and videos [to keep them secure],” @trbutler@mastodon.faithtree.social writes. But security is an elusive thing with data and with life. https://ofb.biz/sa1381 #TwelveDaysOfChristmas #NewYear2026 #Christianity #Jesus

Dennis E. Powell writes, “Has there ever been a less Christmas-y Advent? I sure can't remember one. Even during times of great sadness and crisis, we've always allowed -- I daresay welcomed -- the season to comfort and encourage us.” https://ofb.biz/sa1380

#Christmas #Advent #News #2025 #WorldNews #politics #ChristmasMemories #TwelveDaysOfChristmas

Christmas Day has passed, but the Twelve Days of Christmas are just beginning and our @trbutler@mastodon.faithtree.social has just the thing for you to help savor the time ahead. https://ofb.biz/sa1379

#TwelveDaysOfChristmas #Christmas #Epiphany #Christianity #Devotional #BibleStudy

Dennis E. Powell reflects re: #POTUS, etc.: “The last week has been like one of those bizarre times in which you notice that nothing makes any sense, so you must be having a dream. With that realization, you awaken. Except that for the last week, it has been no dream.” https://ofb.biz/sa1378

#BrownUniversity #RobReiner #POTUS #DonaldTrump #Venezuela

“One of my all time favorite brands is Metadot’s #DasKeyboard. They typically don’t include all the bells and whistles, but they are built _so well_. But what if a Das Keyboard had all the current extras?” #MechanicalKeyboard #QMK #Via https://reviews.ofb.biz/sa1377

Dennis E. Powell reflects that 35 years ago, #RIME and #BBS es felt like modern marvels. Today, technology delivers news of a Japanese "mega quake" threat at the speed of light. That can be both helpful and cause for more worrying. https://ofb.biz/sa1376

#earthquake #communication #internet #worry

The latest #TestyTim review: “#Satechi is a long-running name in stylish computer accessories, but one that comes to mind for, say, a Thunderbolt hub, not a #MechanicalKeyboard. The SM3 is a strong argument the time has come for them to be a part of the keyboard discussion.” https://reviews.ofb.biz/sa1375

#MagicKeyboard #keyboards