Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own.
– Carol Burnett
The first 35 of 3,287 pages to print this website are complete, hole-punched and placed lovingly in a three-ring binder for safekeeping.
Right away, I noticed there are formatting issues such as a small blurb of an article takes up only 10% of the page. Wasted space. I had to discard of three blank pieces of paper as a result.
So re-formatting, or allowing the printer to cover both sides of the page, for example could help save space, ink and money.
As first-run test print, I am pleased to see a small portion of my written words on a black and white paper as opposed to a screen.
Since the early 1990’s I have had a fascination with the ancient Khmer Empire in modern day Cambodia. There is a story there waiting to be told. Over the years, I have researched and tried to keep up with the archeological news. Four years ago I offered a hypothesis regarding the Angkor Wat temple complex and another temple in the mountains to the north. I haven’t read or heard anything related to it so I still make my claim here.
In the meantime, I have decided to do a re-write on a story I started years ago regarding this area and its hidden secrets. The original ideas were too grandiose in my head and it was a challenge to sort it all out. I’ve kept some main ideas but simplified it somewhat. Also made it more relatable and relevant.
When wrapping up a chapter in my writing software (Ulysses), I noticed a feature that allows me to publish in various formats. “What the hell” I thought, so I exported my draft (NOT a final release) in the e.Pub format and figured why not, and sent it to my Kindle.
Moments later I was reading my own writing on an e-book reader!
This was a fun discovery and encourages me to keep going, press publish and read in its entirety. Someday.
The iPhone, iPad and MacBook software upgrades are complete and I have had a chance to integrate and play a bit. One new feature I’ve been exploring is the ability to connect the laptop and the phone together, it is called “iPhone Mirroring.”
The iPhone 15 Pro Max controlled from my MacBook’s desktop. Neat?
I’m not sure of the use-case for this feature but it could be helpful in the future- controlling your phone remotely. This will play well with connecting my MacBooks together too.
MacBook desktop screenshot with a remote window into the Mini’s desktop
The exploration of my server’s capabilities and limitations are ongoing. I’ve found a new home for Headless Minnie underneath the bed in my home office. She’s quiet, gets lots of shade, unseen and responds when I dial into her.
Limitations
The Mini is a refurbished Mac from a third-party seller with 1TB of storage. There are two partitions with the Mac OS taking up a lot of storage space. I can remove those partitions easily enough but do not have an OS image to install. I’d take it to the Apple geniuses to but this model is no longer supported. Also, it has an older processor therefore making the processes slower than I’d like.
Capabilities
File sharing, printer sharing, host my website and podcast files and eventually host my own private email mailbox. By generating its own static IP address, I can remotely access files from my phone or iPad while away from home.
Conclusion
The Mac mini provides a robust and flexible set of server functionalities, making it suitable for me. Its ability to handle file sharing, backups, web and mail hosting, remote access, media streaming, and more—all from a small, energy-efficient device—makes it an attractive choice for me when I need reliable server features without the overhead of a dedicated server.
I attempted to print a few pages from the Archives .pdf last night at the library. It would not accept the 485MB file. I didn’t want to print all of it but the printer didn’t give me a chance to tell it which pages to print. Need a better solution.
My second attempt at scrap collage work. I grabbed a discovered post card from Germany, some scrap and used an index card for the backing. It’s simple, it’s fun. Need more scrap that suits my tastes and take it from there.
I have not had full access to my file server inside the MacBook Mini (aka Minnie)1 since I packed it up for her relocation to Florida. After running an update and backed everything up from my MacBook M1 to Minnie, it was time to find a spot for her, the monitor and keyboard.
The desk is already consumed by the laptop and the iPad so there was no room for a server and its peripherals too. So after making some settings changes, bumped up the file and screen sharing options, I took her head off.
The file server now sits alone, without a monitor or keyboard, patiently, in the corner of the home office waiting for me to remotely access it from the laptop when she is called upon.
It is an elegant, essential and utterly macabre solution but it’ll do for now.
Over the previous years, online search engines have become overwhelmed with advertisements and results that may somewhat be relative to the original query you typed into the search field- it is maddening.
Even Boolean searches with tools such as “and” “or” “not”, plus signs, minus signs, quote, endnotes, etc are rendered useless. I’ve tried advanced library search strategies to no fruition that benefitted my search query.
I suggested awhile back that Apple should build their own search engine but they are content by taking Google’s $1 billion annual payout to make their search engine the default inside the Safari browser instead.
When I read that Apple Intelligence (brilliant marketing, by the way,) was going to be included in the next software update sometime later this year, I signed up for an OpenAI account to feel out how well it’s ChatGPT could help. I’ve been using it as a research assistant to answer the same questions I would ask a standard search engine.
The results are night and day. Instead of providing thousands of websites that may point the way to an eventual answer, ChatGPT provides an answer back to me in the form of a conversation. If I have a follow-up question, or ask for specifics, the reply is lightning quick. Of course, all information has to be verified. I won’t accept answers blindly without a second opinion. 99% of the information I checked and rechecked have been spot on. Nothing is 100% when it comes to research, especially from an LLM (Learned Language Model) such as ChatGPT. You cannot call it A.I. simply because it is not sentient. It is not intelligent on its own. It has retained and provides data based on human data. Everyone knows we are flawed and make mistakes.
ChatGPT will too, but for now, it does a damn better job of providing information better than all the other search engines do. Even though that is why they exist.
Recently, a review for the constellation of Orion’s Belt only gets three stars. Another review says it is a “waist” of space.
Siri told me this joke early this morning and what was the very first constellation I see immediately after? You guessed it. Had to grab a shot of course.
I wonder what the universe is trying to tell me today? Is it written in the stars?
