My vision is improving, but my eyes aren't fully healed. My right eye, the first to be operated on, just hit the one-month mark. The left is about two weeks behind. I have one more doctor visit to get a prescription for reading glasses and maybe fine-tune my distance vision. Distance seems okay, but reading and intermediate vision are tricky. The intermediate could use some fine tuning, and my short-distance vision is definitely worse and needs more correction. With this better vision, I'm trying to blog more, get more done, and make progress before the next hurdle.

Catching up feels overwhelming. I keep trying to do five things at once, so I need to slow down and focus. On top of everything else, I have a backlog of podcasts to listen to or watch and a pile of unread items in my RSS reader. I'm slowly whittling the list down.

I'm trying a new program called Wispr Flow to compose this post and see how it works. I've always wondered if composing this way, using my voice, would be easier than typing and then refining. I'll give it a shot for a little while and see if it helps me focus. If it goes well, I might use it more for quick drafts.

#blogging #personal

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I remember being introduced to Google Voice when Mr. Dvorak and Leo talked about it on a show. I can't recall the exact show or episode, but Mr. Dvorak talked about how he and his son used it to save on phone costs. If I remember correctly, it helped with long-distance charges, though I'm not certain. I also remember reading the articles he wrote for PC Magazine.

What I didn't know until he passed was that he came from a semi-famous family, the inventor of the Dvorak Keyboard (never used one).

It's getting to the point where some of the pioneers from the internet era are starting to pass, and that's a sad reality. I knew of John C. Dvorak more than Om Malik, even though Mr. Malik and I were closer in age. These losses feel like the end of a chapter.

Praying for his family to have strength and resolve.

#personal #technology

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A thoughtful couple contemplates the evolving intersection of creativity and technology, symbolized by a brain merging artistic tools with digital circuitry under a spotlight.

I was browsing topics and titles on bubbles.town when I came across a post by Panagiotis Vryonis, AI-generated blog post images are not cool any more. It reminded me of another post I read a few months ago, On AI Images and Feature Images in General by Kev Quirk. I have been meaning to respond to his piece.

Last year, I wrote a post about using featured images called To Feature Image or Not. That post surprised me by getting a couple of responses. I usually get almost no feedback, so the email replies were unexpected.

The readers who responded basically said the same thing: It is your blog. You can use featured images if you want.

When I first started using Blogger back in 2001, finding images for posts was a real chore. You had to search for them manually while being careful not to use someone else’s image from their site without permission. Using pictures was not very convenient.

I later used WordPress for quite a few years. During my last couple of years with it, I learned that it had a featured-image function and started using it.

Two things almost always draw me in when I am deciding whether to read something, even though I know they probably should not: the title and an image that goes with it. That seems to be true for most people I know. Not everyone, but most.

Then AI came along and made it easy and affordable to create an image from a prompt. I could describe what I wanted, or I could say, “Read this blog post and provide me with an image.”

That was amazing to me because I really like having featured images.

I compare this to using Typora to help write my blog posts. I also had AI help me create a homegrown program that formats, edits, and publishes posts to several blogs at the same time. I designed a featured-image routine as part of that program.

I still create and shape the post. The thoughts, opinions, and meaning are mine. AI acts more like an editor. It helps make sure the post is formatted correctly for publishing, and it creates the featured image.

Vryonis writes:

But AI-generated images in blog posts are no longer cool. Everyone does it. And with the exception when an image is a really good fit, it looks like a 2000 PowerPoint using animated transitions and WordArt.

I disagree. Some of the images AI creates look fantastic. Many of them seem unique to me, although I admit that I am not an art expert.

He advocates using an Open Graph card style, like the type of card you might see when a link is shared on social media. It could include the post title, summary, date, tags, and blog name. That is certainly one way to present a post, but I still prefer a featured image.

Kev Quirk, as usual, takes something closer to the middle road, which is where I tend to be as well.

He writes:

Like I said in my previous post about AI, I don't think it creates art, but it can be useful for diagrams and some imagary. I listed some examples of my usage in that post, go take a look.

He continues:

For feature images, I think it's fine, I suppose. I don't think it has a bearing on the writer's ability to write good content thought. I think most people can spot AI-generated prose these days. If my spider-sense starts tingling, I'll close the tab. But if I only see an AI-generated feature image, it's fine.

I agree with that distinction. An AI-generated featured image does not determine whether someone is capable of writing good content.

Gordon McLean of Happily Imperfect makes a similar point in his post When is AI image slop ok?.

He writes:

I have also been using AI to create the featured image for many of my posts here. I like having a featured image, I think from a purely visual point of view it helps make the blog post look better.

That sums up much of my position.

I do not understand why an AI-generated featured image automatically turns some people away. As long as the author of the blog post is a human, what is wrong with using AI to help create the image?

In his post, Gordon mentions reconsidering his use of AI images after reading Rhys Wynne’s Your crap is more memorable than your slop.

Rhys’s main argument is about AI-generated posters and designs. He believes imperfect human creations can be more distinctive and memorable than polished but generic AI-generated material. He also applies that concern to blogs, suggesting that AI-generated featured images may make readers question how much of the rest of the post was created by a person.

I understand that concern, but I do not think one necessarily follows the other.

Using AI to create an image does not prove that the words were also written by AI. A lack of artistic ability does not mean someone lacks creativity in every other area.

Someone may be a talented writer while having little ability to draw, paint, take photographs, or design graphics (personally I don't think I am any of them). As Kev says, a lack of creativity or skill in one area does not prove a lack of creativity in another.

I can tell you firsthand that the two do not always go together.

I am generally pro-AI, although I would not call myself an AI apologist. I think AI has useful purposes, and I believe it makes certain things more accessible to people like me. I like this democratization.

I am also upfront about what I do and do not use AI for. That is all I can reasonably ask from another blogger. Tell me how you use it, particularly when it has played a major role in creating what I am reading.

When I can hire a human, I do. I hired a contractor through Fiverr to create the avatar I use on certain social-media platforms and websites. When I want that human quality and can afford it, I am willing to pay a human creator.

Paying someone to make a new featured image for every blog post would be a different matter. If I post frequently, I could not afford to commission a human artist for every article.

Without AI, I probably would not replace those images with commissioned artwork. I would simply stop using featured images.

I do think we need controls on AI. Just because an AI can do something does not mean it should.

If we eventually let AI do everything, what will people do?

We have not yet reached the Star Trek ideal of a society where no one needs money, everyone has access to the same basic necessities, and people are free to pursue exploration, knowledge, and personal growth.

Even in Star Trek, computers are generally meant to augment and assist human beings, not replace them or make humanity unnecessary.

The danger comes when greed enters the picture.

Companies may try to use AI to replace as many people as possible, but they have to walk a fine line. If AI does everything, or almost everything, and most people no longer have jobs or money, who will be able to buy what those companies are selling?

Taken far enough, that could set the stage for a deadly future for human beings.

Here is some final food for thought.

At what point will AI be able to write entire blog posts without readers being able to tell?

Today, we can often recognize certain AI habits and patterns. There are still tells. Over the next few years, those systems will probably improve. Eventually, readers may not know whether a post was written by a person unless the author discloses it.

Will it even matter if the information or point of view in the post is one we agree with or one that confirms our own biases? Or will what matters most be whether it is factually correct, clearly presented, easy to understand, and able to survive a fact-check?

When that time comes, the featured image may be the least important part of the discussion.

#ai #blogging #opinion

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Celebrating 100 years of Moody Radio, connecting generations through timeless broadcasts and iconic moments captured in history.

This is a year of anniversaries. Moody Bible Institute turns 140 and Moody Radio turns 100. I listen to Moody Radio almost daily. I think Moody Church and Moody Bible Institute are the premier Evangelical Christian sword in today's world. You can find a great timeline with historical pictures here. Happy 140 years, Moody Bible Institute, keep turning out those Christian men and women. Happy 100 years to Moody Radio. Here's to another 100 years, unless the Lord tarries.

Links may be shortened via mtribe.link for cleaner formatting. All links redirect to their original destinations.

#Christianity #history #inspiration

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Me with my glasses for the last time full time pre-surgery.

I just shared good news about my heart journey, and now I can finally share another medical milestone for 2026: my cataract surgeries are done and my vision is back.

For the last couple of years, my sight kept slipping, no matter how many times I got new prescriptions from the ophthalmologist or optometrist. A new prescription might clear things up for a few months, then the blurriness would come back. I found myself contorting my face and doing all kinds of facial tricks just to see. It was soul-sapping. Anyone who knows me knows I don't get depressed easily. At 57, I've had low moments before, but nothing like this. The vision loss pushed me into a prolonged low spell. I stopped wanting to read and lost enthusiasm for work, except as a way to pay bills. Even blogging suffered. After my most prolific year in 2025, I barely posted because I literally couldn't see well enough.

My glaucoma doctor mostly saw senile cataracts and told me my eye pressures looked fine. Early this year, he said the cataract in my right eye had progressed from a 1 to a 2, which was probably causing the problems. He offered two options: try another prescription or remove the cataracts. I chose surgery.

On June 22, 2026, I had the right cataract removed. The surgeon did a great job, although the anesthesiologist's nerve block caused bruising and left me with a black eye for almost two weeks. Still, that eye improved noticeably. I had the left eye done on July 9, 2026, and it went much better. A different anesthesiologist gave a smooth block, and the same excellent surgeon operated. The day after the left surgery I was seeing 20/20; after the right surgery I was at 20/40. The team also placed iStents in both eyes for my glaucoma. Those seem to be doing fine so far, though time will tell and my glaucoma specialist, who is different from the surgeon, will follow up.

Surgery day. 1st surgery of the right eye you can see the catarct.	Post surgery rigth eye
Pre-surgery no glasses left eye.	Post surger left eye and still blocked.

Some expected trade-offs are already showing up. I need readers for near work and some help with intermediate tasks. My distance vision was corrected, and so was my astigmatism. They corrected the right eye's astigmatism with a laser, but the left needed a toric lens upgrade, which I paid for because insurance didn't cover it. My natural, God-given lenses are gone and replaced with implants, basically eyeglasses inside my eyes. It's been life-changing. I didn't realize how dulled colors and whites had become until the right eye was done and whites looked truly white again. Before the left eye was operated on, I could compare the operated and unoperated eyes and everything in the unoperated eye had a yellow tint. Now that both eyes are done, colors are clearer and whites really pop. The left eye is still a bit inflamed since it's only a few days post-op, but distance vision already feels nearly perfect, like the first time I put on glasses at 16.

I didn't expect to need cataract surgery until my 60s or 70s, but I'm relieved it's over and I can see clearly again. Now I have to heal and figure out what kind of readers I'll need and whether I'll need permanent glasses again though for distance at this point and time I don't. I was scared going in. The right-eye surgery felt strange because the nerve block didn't fully take, though I experienced no pain. The left-eye surgery was much calmer and less noticeable.

Being only 57 and needing cataract surgery before my parents, who are in their 70s, felt odd. But I simply could not function properly before the surgeries, and I'm very thankful that God gave me a skilled surgeon and the strength to get it done. I'm glad to be able to see clearly again.

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A man reflects with quiet satisfaction as he reviews positive echo results, surrounded by reminders of gratitude, strength, and progress in a warm, sunlit room.

I wanted to share a long-overdue health update about what has happened this year and why I can finally talk about it. I recently had my second Camzyos cardiology echo and doctor’s visit of the year. I normally go every six months, and this visit gave me my best numbers yet.

On Camzyos, my obstruction is much better controlled. My echo looked fantastic, so I included a table below comparing my results before and after starting Camzyos.

When I first started Camzyos, I was not getting my refills consistently because of REMS requirements and the timing of my echoes and doctor’s visits. This created gaps in treatment. Once my refills became consistent and those delays stopped, the treatment began working much better.

So yes, I am in a much better place. My heart is working with far less obstruction than it has in years. Between Camzyos and taking Metoprolol ER 200 mg twice daily, I am cautiously optimistic that I can remain on this path.

These results do not mean that my hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is gone, but they do show that the treatment is doing what it is supposed to do. After years of seeing much higher numbers, I am grateful to finally be able to share some genuinely encouraging news.

#faith #health #personal

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In “Project Hail Mary” (2026), a lone astronaut awakens to an uncertain mission, fighting for humanity's survival amid the vastness of space and the unknown.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐½ (3.5/5 stars)

Okay, first thing: overall, it wasn't a bad movie. The pacing drags at the beginning, and several scenes could have been explained more clearly or cut shorter. The second half and the ending are much stronger. The first half felt slow, and the premise is kind of stupid, but the story between the two main characters at the end is the best part.

Ryan Gosling was okay in this movie. The film was definitely too long. It's a so-so movie and not worth buying, but I'm glad it's included with my Prime subscription since it gave me something different to watch.

This product uses the TMDb API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDb.

#review #movies

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Celebrating 250 years of freedom and unity with fireworks lighting up the night sky above the U.S. Capitol, as the American flag proudly waves in honor of the nation’s milestone birthday.

Happy 250th birthday, United States of America!

What a strange moment to mark a birthday, given everything going on in the world. Even so, I believe the U.S. has done enormous good and has served as a beacon for the world since at least World War I, if not sooner.

I remember being about 7 years old in 1976, during the last major milestone, America’s 200th birthday. My aunt, uncle, and cousins lived in Lakeland. I was staying with them, and we went to the train yard in Lakeland to see the Freedom Train. It did not stop in Lakeland until December 1976, but I still remember it.

Now it is the 250th anniversary, and this year just feels different. It should be a big celebration, and I hope it is. For all our problems, this is still one of the best countries in the world, and possibly the best.

We will probably stumble at times. When we do, I hope we correct course and keep moving forward, becoming stronger and truer to the ideals that brought us into being. No kings, no queens, no nobility. Our representative government endures. I believe it can be even stronger over the next 250 years.

So happy birthday, America. Let’s keep driving forward. And to my fellow citizens, enjoy the day and celebrate responsibly.

Related Post from last year and still stands true too: Happy 249th Birthday to the United States of America 🇺🇸

#currentevents #history #USA

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Celebrating 70 years of USF's rich history and vibrant campus life, where tradition meets innovation under the open skies.

As you get older, anniversaries and milestones hit you differently. I don't know why. I don't regret anything in my life, but I do feel nostalgic sometimes. The other day, driving to work, I learned that the University of South Florida is celebrating 70 years this year. That surprised me, because the first founding class attended in 1960, so the 70th anniversary is actually a few years off.

I attended USF from 1987 to 1990. I didn't graduate; I would have had about two years left. 1991 would have been my graduation year, but I was taking it nice and slow. Most people were taking five years, so 1992 would have been my year if I had stayed on track. What would have been my degree? Hold your chair and keep seated, but it would have been Music Education with a minor in Florida History.

Money ran out, I was loaned out, and I decided to join the workforce. Funny enough, I never moved very far from USF. I now work at a non-profit hospital on the USF campus, so for almost my entire adult life I've been connected to the university in one way or another. Technically I guess I can't call myself an alum, but in every other sense I am one.

Here's to USF, 70 years, and all the good you've brought to the community. Go Bulls! 🤘

#history #local #personal

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Star Trek: Outposts Unknown – Official Announcement Trailer – IGN To boldly go… and build in Star Trek: Outposts Unknown. Check out the Star Trek: Outposts Unknown announcement trailer for this upcoming narrative-driven outpost builder game set in the Star Trek universe. Build complex research facilities through the mysterious X’Lehari System. Explore strange new worlds, guide your crew through dangerous encounters, and uncover a cosmic force threatening all life in the system. Set alongside the era of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, your journey will take you across hostile environments, abandoned ships, ancient ruins, and a fragile civilization in desperate need of aid. Star Trek: Outposts Unknown will be available on PC. A demo is out now on Steam.

— @video-game-and-movie-trailers-ign on mastodon via Video Game and Movie Trailers

This looks very interesting. I will be following this closely.

#opinion #gaming #StarTrek

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