| Way Too Late Last Night Stardate 2026.0216: So yesterday I decided to make what I thought would be a quick, harmless, "ten-minute improvement" to my main database. You know the kind. The little tweaks you do just to smooth things out. Streamline a process. Make it cleaner. More efficient. Cross all the i's and dot all the t's. Yes, I know that's backwards. I say it that way on purpose. It's tradition at this point. Anyway, this... |  |
| I Broke Stuff Stardate 2026.0215: Hey folks, just a quick update. I was doing some maintenance on the website, adding some stuff, making some changes, poking around where I shouldn't have been, and I broke some stuff. Everything on the website is working just fine, except credit card processing is down. I'm working on fixing it right now. It might not be fixed until morning, so if you go to place an order and nothing happens,... | |
| Dinner & Conversation Stardate 2026.0215: I'm off to have dinner with one of my favorite humans today... Sami Shamma. Always a great time! LLAP RR |  |
| When Policy Overrides Science Stardate 2026.0213: This morning's reflection came to me the way many of them do. Coffee in hand. News feed scrolling. Brain booting up somewhere between "system check" and "engage warp drive." And then I hit a headline that made me stop mid-sip and just stare at the viewscreen. The current administration has reversed the EPA's long-standing "Endangerment Finding" on greenhouse gases. In plain English, that's the... |  |
| But I'm Not Finished Playing Yet! Stardate 2026.0212: This morning's musing came to me the way many of them do, somewhere between the first sip of coffee and the moment the day officially boots up. I found myself staring at the clock, not with dread, but with calculation. Not "How long until I'm free?" but "How much time do I get today?" And that distinction hit me harder than expected. It made me realize just how differently time feels depending on... |  |
| The AI Developer Reality Check Stardate 2026.0211: I've been saying this for a while now, and it's finally starting to play out in the real world. A couple years ago, the tech industry was running around like Chicken Little screaming that AI was going to replace 80% of developers by 2025. Companies bought into the hype hard. Massive layoffs, hiring freezes, "AI-first" mandates. The narrative was that we'd have tireless digital co-workers cranking... |  |
| The Problem With Concentrated Power Stardate 2026.0210: Recent events have forced me to rethink a couple of long-held assumptions, and anyone who knows me knows I don't do that lightly. Not about parties or personalities, but about power itself, how it's structured, and how easily it can be stretched beyond what feels healthy for a democracy. First is the power of the presidency. Over time, the office of President of the United States has... |  |
| Manage Your Techhelp Free Monthly Classes Stardate 2026.0208: While I was working on things today, I also added a new feature that lets you manage your TechHelp free monthly perk classes yourself. For example, if you're a Silver member, you get one free Beginner class each month. Since about 95% of you are here for Microsoft Access, the system has always defaulted to sending you the next Access class. Once you finished all nine Beginner lessons, it would... |  |
| Manage Your Learning Connection Courses Stardate 2026.0208: Took some time today to add a much-needed feature to the website. You can now manage what courses you're enrolled in on the Learning Connection account management page. |  |
| Superb Owl Anyone? Stardate 2026.0208: All right, so who's watching the big game today? The wife and I will have it on. I'm mostly there for the commercials. I'm not a huge football fan. I do enjoy going to a game in person... unless it's in Buffalo in the winter. I've done that several times and I can confidently say I have no interest in repeating that life choice. Why they didn't put a dome on the new stadium is beyond me, but I... |  |