Boomer / Millenial humor

Heavy sigh... I just ran across this baby boomer self-deprecating humor, on a local Word Of Mouth Facebook page. Maybe it's as true to the mark, as it seems... Which reminds me, I also ran across this basic network tutorial recently, when searching for "how to not be such a newbie on the Internet," and it was well-enough-written, that I thought it might be worth sharing, even though some of my friends and family could have written it themselves. Enjoy!

Dark Web overview

Here’s a fairly understandable rundown on the Surface Web, Deep Web, and Dark Web, in case you’ve been wondering. It’s presented by InfoArmor, which sells info protection services to companies. The existence of the dark web is a driving reason for keeping your login credentials secure, by using a different username and password at every site, and for considering signing up for one or more of the identity protection services out there. Y’all be careful out there!

About USB connections

Here's a pretty good article about the evolution of USB connectors, ending with the USB-C connector that some of the newer phones and laptops have. I wasn’t aware of the bidirectional power feature, which sounds like something cool that will soon be well-exploited. I forgot what the old USB-B connector was - it was nice to be reminded.

Getting to sleep

I can only hope that the suggestions in here for dealing with a racing mind before sleep are helpful, as I tend to have the opposite problem. I hope it‘s helpful for my sleep-challenged friends!

Cool Mars Rover mission video

I’m so glad I found this Mars MER video again! I thought it was gone forever. This was the best and most fun video simulation of a Delta II rocket launch and its associated Mars Exploration Rover (MER) spacecraft mission that I’d ever seen. There‘s no narrative, so you get to figure out the technical details of the launch and trans-Mars injection, and appreciate the clever aerobraking and landing approaches, from what you see, which is quite a lot. Enjoy!

Worst user interface

I feel so fortunate in many ways, to have been in the middle of it, as a software developer, when the first graphical user interfaces (GUIs) were being designed and standardized. I read the documentation! I understood the purpose and idiosyncrasies of modal dialog boxes, checkboxes and radio buttons, and so much more. Then, when the Web came along, a new set of UI standards emerged, and has continued to evolve. Smart phone apps have continued to push the evolution, as they desperately try to support working user interfaces on teeny tiny screens. Those people who care about having their websites and apps easy to use, have worked hard to follow those standards. And then, there are those people, who are determined to “think outside the box“ (often without really knowing what’s *in* the box), and continue to present their clunky, difficult-to-navigate UIs to users around the globe. I just ran across this hilarious website, that explores the idea of doing almost everything wrong, according to established web UI standards. I confess to having dabbled in this dark humorous art, early in my app development years. Enjoy!