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Remember Lincoln Logs?

I read in the news today that some people who've have had their "Cybertrucks" for less than two weeks are already developing rust issues.  I guess the so-called stainless steel truck has very little chromium content in it's steel.  Now if that can happen in California after only two days of rain, what would happen in other places where it rains more?  I can envision a lot of time, effort and money devoted to maintenance, either that or many $80,000 "Cybertrucks" will look like they've been sitting in a farmers field since the 1950's.
 

Well, this is technically a game item... so anyway, I was recently introduced to a game called Sequence but I found the blue, red and green tokens a little plain, so I printed up a set of 50 in satin copper.

While this is a little alarming, I watched the episode.  The guy uses it for retro-gaming!  He said it is essentially a flat panel TV with composite inputs.  This is exactly what I would use this for! 

I think I've seen that one before.

Hey, I'm going to have my tombstone purposefully made with an error.  Other than my epitaph reading "Logged Off", I'm going to have my birth year start with an 18 instead of a 19.  If anyone even notices, they'll say, "Wow he lived a long life!"

Hey, I'm going to have my tombstone purposefully made with an error.  Other than my epitaph reading "Logged Off", I'm going to have my birth year start with an 18 instead of a 19.  If anyone even notices, they'll say, "Wow he lived a long life!"

Hey, I'm going to have my tombstone purposefully made with an error.  Other than my epitaph reading "Logged Off", I'm going to have my birth year start with an 18 instead of a 19.  If anyone even notices, they'll say, "Wow he lived a long life!"

I had a landline but even over VOIP I was still getting spammed with unwanted telemarketeer calls because I forgot to get an unlisted number, so I canceled it to also help reduce my cable bill.
My smartphone is only a necessity for work related purposes so I can use the scheduling app to find out what hours have changed and to call off work if an emergency comes up. Plus I also use it to keep in touch with my family members and for news & weather updates.  And yes it really helps if I have to call AAA for road service!
I do not do any social networking or play mobile games on it, so I only need a cheapo Android phone.  I much rather use my Windows 10 PC for everyday stuff or even my Samsung tablet for mobile usage.
 

We have a time traveler on the forum!  Lend me your time machine!  There are things I want to buy in the 80's so I can sell them for outrageous prices now!  😁

Related to this topic slightly....my mom, whose dementia continues to progress 😞  For a long time, we had a simple "ladybug" cell phone for her to use.  But she eventually lost the ability to use it...BUT we switched her back to a land line with the phone pictured below.  And she loves it.  She answers it and calls us successfully.  So thank goodness these are still available.  It costs more than a cell phone, but totally worth it for her situation.

I just found this video by chance.  It is from Star Trek Day 2021 but well worth a watch...
 

I kept my landline until 2022 and probably never had a personal call on it since 2015.  About the only time it ever rang was solicitors, politicians, or someone begging for money for the firemen, police or some other dubious outfit.  Now I'm strictly cell phone.  Heck, even the BBS I call (Heatwave) is via the Internet or the telnet APP on my cell phone.
As times changed over the decades, and magazines going the way of the Dodo bird, about the only solicitation calls that didn't increase in frequency were the magazines.  

Atari 2600+ Cartridge Slot Dust Cover from RetroTech3D.

I kept my landline until 2022 and probably never had a personal call on it since 2015.  About the only time it ever rang was solicitors, politicians, or someone begging for money for the firemen, police or some other dubious outfit.  Now I'm strictly cell phone.  Heck, even the BBS I call (Heatwave) is via the Internet or the telnet APP on my cell phone.
As times changed over the decades, and magazines going the way of the Dodo bird, about the only solicitation calls that didn't increase in frequency were the magazines.  

I still have a landline myself.  It is VoIP since it is through the cable company, but I still do have a home line. 

I'm no expert or fortune teller, sadly just a slowly fading super-fan of the TI-99/4A, which appears (in my personal assessment) to have "peaked".  Years ago there were hundreds of messages a month in places like the old Yahoo site and then AA.  Some very happy, helpful and influential people have passed away though, others were driven off for various reasons which may have affected the fun factor and contributed to the declining participation rate.  Along the way there was a fantastic Newsletter by a guy called "Sparkdrummer" that was called Yesterday's News" in it he covered the best of the best from older newsletters in a format that matched the Newsletters of the time.  I'm sure many of us are waiting for the day when Sparky starts uploading them again. 
Now there is a recently "reborn newsletter", but I caught myself asking, "Why"?   Yeah, I shocked myself too!  << THIS LINK >> will get you a free PDF copy of it, but after looking it over, for the rebirth issue, wondered what it had going for it that 5 minutes with a search engine on the Internet could not have provided.  I really hope this takes off for them and they get the new content they want and viewers and readers they want, because the TI community needs to be more diverse and inclusive, even of newbies or those who are not master programmers or hardware gurus or those that simply want to play games.
DON'T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET!  If an online community is declining, there may be a reason for it other than beloved members passing away, or people being banned, other things may be going on behind the scenes, attitudes, egos or whatever.  So, I hope this Chicago Times Newsletter takes off and brings more people to their website and can help inspire people to engage or reengage.  Whatever though, don't let people influence you to "stay put" and not investigate new things, especially if their format is no longer working.  Sometimes new faces and new ideas can start a whole new chapter... maybe that person will be YOU!

If you're not a big space nerd like me, you may not get this one.

I use Google Assistant to make calls, to make lists, turn lights on and off.  I even have routines for I get up or go to bed that turns certain lights on/off and it even asks me for when I want  my alarm. 

Sometimes, not always often you come across a video short that has a new concept or is amusing that was fun to watch.  Post video links here you deem worthy.  I'll start it off with this one...
 

If you're not a big space nerd like me, you may not get this one.

I don't use it to turn my TV on or off, but I do have it turn on and off lights and a couple of other items.  Just don't ask it to fart, trust me.

So one of the things I like about Alexa is adding things (by voice) to my "shopping list" as I think about them, then telling it to print my list when I'm ready to go shopping.  Well, it apparently Alexa keeps track of the toner levels in my printer as well.  Today, out-of-the-blue I got a notification on Alexa and an email from it informing me my cyan level was down to 15% and that I needed to reorder.  Wow, that was unexpected, but nice to know before I ran out.