‘Free’ digital bulletin board

Last year I was trying to figure out how to build and display a ‘digital bulletin board’ on Main Street USA. The idea being that it would be remotely updated with text, video, graphics, AND would pull from RSS feeds, or just show scheduled content, and be easily updatable. The idea was to mount a flat-panel monitor or TV against a large window where there’s lots of foot traffic to catch the eye of visitors and residents when they were in town. It took a while, but I …

In 1996 – 25 years ago – I got my first website ‘award’

25 years ago today, on Friday July 26th, 1996, MSN chose my website – Bodie.net – as “MSN Pick of the Day”. My passion for Bodie State Historic Park started on a multi-week, summer high school camping trip, where we ended up making a quick stop at a pinpoint on the map to see the ghost town of Bodie. Bodie was a gold mining town in the late 1800s, located at 8,375 feet in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. I still remember the van rattling like it would fall …

Scamming Senior Citizens

A friend recently told me the story about how his father was scammed, and ended up in a spanish prison for drug smuggling. My own grandmother had been scammed (multiple) times, eventually causing my grandparents to lose their home. In this age of the internet, seniors are huge targets for being taken advantage of, for two main reasons: a) many of them come from an era where they tended to trust people more easily, and b) they are minimally familiar with the internet and how it works. Seniors …

Fascinating Must-watch: Tim’s Vermeer

I am not into art… or painting… or art history. But I am into technology, and history, and stuff that’s just cool and amazing. The documentary “Tim’s Vermeer” is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen the video at least 10 times, and I’m still amazed, and in awe that a random (albeit brilliant) computer tech-guy, figured out something that no one else had figured out in over 300 years. Johannes Vermeer was a dutch painter, baptized October 31, 1632 — buried December 16, …

Test Driving… Mattresses

I’ve had the same mattress for more than 10 years now. I literally bought it (new) from a Big Lots store. It’s a Serta Perfect Sleeper Courtland mattress. I’ve been a fat guy for the past 10 years as well, so I’ve definitely put the mattress through its paces. I’ve also had somewhat bad neck pain for several years, usually when I wake up. I’ve tried several different pillows… different brands, different styles, different thicknesses. Nothing has seemed to help. It occurred to me recently than I’ve stayed …

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