Where would life be without fascinations? Where would life be without exploring the different aspects of our world through laughter, amazement, curiosity, and that childlike glee when we see something anew for the first time? I only wish that I could somehow bring many of the different treats that arrive on my web doorstep to your attention. Of course, through the magic of the Internet, there are few constraints to this excitement.
On the last workday of the week (usually Friday), we will bring you something at 12:00 noon Pacific Time (that’s late afternoon on the East Coast, so you have something before leaving the office). It’s here to tickle your fancy, entice you to learn, entertain you, or simply explore your funny bone. It may not always be humor, but it should never be boring. It will be clean, safe for work and the family, and will be related to our core topics at Computer Talk Radio, that’s computers and technology, and occasionally just plain nerdy.
Further, like many of the other things around here, if you submit something that we use in our Friday Fascinations, I’ll also send you something from the grab box(es).
Benjamin Rockwell
Freedom of Speech is disappearing.
This isn't about left or right. I would scream about this no matter who is working to keep our voices silent. I despised the efforts years ago to censor music. I was against the censorship of a certain comedian who I found to be foul and obnoxious, as it made him more...
SpaceX Road Closings May Be Criminal Acts, Authorities Say: Report
SpaceX has started shutting down public roads to prevent access to their facility. This has created a bit of a concern with local law enforcement. The local District Attorney staff went down and found themselves detained by SpaceX armed guards. We'll see how that...
Southwest Airlines hit with internet outage amid cancellations, delays
Southwest Airlines turned 50 this past week. It also suffered from serious computer and tech issues for the first part of the week. Starting with stopping all flights for 2 hours on Monday due to weather computers being down, the problems continued on Tuesday with a...
Chicago’s Speed Cameras Churn Out Hundreds Of Thousands Of Tickets After Rule Change – CBS Chicago
Chicago found a way to make an extra million dollars a month off their residents. Dialing back the threshold for speeding tickets to 6mph over the speed limit for camera tickets instead of the previous 10 mph. That resulted in an increase of about 11 times the...
Voilà AI Artist: What You Should Know About the Latest Viral Selfie App | WIRED
I've been concerned over this latest program, Voila AI Artist, because it's yet another 'forced viral' approach into our phones, our wallets, and our information. Defining "forced viral". The various guilt-trip encouragements, the cute approach, the not-really...
World Wide Web code that changed the world up for auction as NFT | Reuters
While this is a novelty, owning the NFT of the original source code of the World Wide Web seems exciting, but also extremely out of reach for most of us. Tim Berners-Lee's creation is likely to outlast all of us at this rate, and because of that, I think this auction...
Microsoft Windows Event – Watch the June 24 LIVE stream
Join in the fun next Thursday, as Microsoft covers the road ahead (yes, title of Bill Gate's book from the '90s). Expected is Windows 11, and who knows what else. It promises to be exciting, or scary. I knew that Windows 10 wouldn't be the last version, even when it...
Computer Talk Radio Broadcast 06-12-2021
Computer Talk Radio Broadcast 06-12-2021; Workers spying, electricity, more; Questions on SSD power, smartphone; auto WiFi connect; worst workday; Kindle reading; brain wave readers; PC performance; abandonware morality; learning coding; cancel or not
Computer Talk Radio Broadcast – 06-05-2021
Computer Talk Radio Broadcast 06-05-2021; Amazon, hackers, supercar, and more; prepping for the camera; what to expect next week; church video streaming; burning down; learning tools; sleep mode; reset a router; learning to code; debt reduction scam
King County is first in the country to ban facial recognition software | KOMO
In King County, Washington, facial recognition software is now banned. Home to Seattle, Bellevue, and this quaint little town called Redmond, AKA Microsoft City. I like the idea that governments are starting to take a chance on restricting the overreach, but I also...
Something Bothering You? Tell It to Woebot. – DNyuz
Decades ago, one of the early attractions of simulated artificial intelligence was Eliza. Eliza was a pretend therapist. Now, Woebot comes along, and it's much the same concept. It tries to determine your issues, and serve as therapy, based on far more responses than...