Influential Individuals advocate for alterations to the traditional names of well-known landmarks on our maps. I reside on land that the Haudenosaunee people initially owned. I requested from ChatGPT a list of U.S. geographic locations with names originating from indigenous languages, including their meanings, where possible. States Rivers and Bodies of Water Mountains and Valleys … Read more
Linux, LibreOffice, GnuCash, and Audacity are all open-source projects, meaning the folks who write the code and/or the documentation are usually not paid for it. It’s quite impressive when you think of it. In a day when nearly everything is monetized, open source is still free. I used open-source software for years before contributing anything, … Read more
I’ve been interested in photography since I co-opted my father’s Kodak 620 camera as a young boy. I used it to take pictures of the flora and fauna of our neighborhood. My love of photography led me to an Instamatic camera in high school and eventually to digital cameras as they entered the marketplace in … Read more
Emmanuel Engelhart and Renaud Gaudin wanted everyone to have access to Wikipedia, and in 2007, the dream became a reality with the creation of Kiwix. The project aimed at making knowledge accessible offline and the idea was born out of the need to provide Wikipedia and other educational content to people without reliable internet access. … Read more
A conversation with a friend today led me to remember Etherpad. In an age of digital collaboration, finding the right tool to facilitate effective teamwork is crucial. Etherpad is a real-time, open-source collaborative text editor designed to streamline teamwork and boost efficiency. I’m a long-time user of Google Drive, and I consider it an excellent … Read more
In the beginning, there was a singularity, a point of infinite potential where time and space were undifferentiated. The fabric of reality existed as a quantum superposition, all possibilities entangled and unobserved. And the Consciousness—the Observer—hovered over the probabilistic void. Then the Observer measured, collapsing the wavefunction: “Let there be light,” and photons burst forth, … Read more
1. Blessed are the wealth hoarders, for their yachts shall inherit the seas. 2. Blessed are they who exploit loopholes, for theirs is the kingdom of tax havens. 3. Blessed are the disruptors, for they shall break things and call it innovation. 4. Blessed are the monopolists, for they shall corner the markets and call … Read more
Managing passwords is no easy task. There was a time when I relied on the browser to remember my passwords. Those passwords were easily remembered and probably easily guessed. That changed five years ago when I began to use a commercial password manager that automated the process, provided stronger passwords, and hopefully made my life … Read more
Joplin is my favorite note taking app. It allows me to save ideas and content across all the platforms I use everyday. In my case that’s Linux, MacOS and iOS. Joplin has really revolutionized and organized those notes whether they’re a daily journal or the latest development I come across while I’m out walking or … Read more
Stand and face the North. “Oh, spirits and angels of the North, where fierce storms come from. Come to us and give us strength and courage. Teach us to be strong like the buffalo who turns and faces the fierce winds and storms head on. Come, spirits and angels of the North.” Face the East. … Read more
