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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Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War (2026) brings intense espionage and action as Jack Ryan and his team navigate a deadly covert conflict in a high-stakes battle for global security.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐½ (3.5/5 stars)

I agree with the other reviews. I loved the whole cast. John Krasinski does a fantastic job as the lead, and he works well as a replacement for Harrison Ford in this whole new series. The problem was the format: as a movie it felt rushed and the story couldn’t properly develop. This would have benefited from another season or at least a limited one-season run so the characters and plot had time to breathe. The cast gave you everything, they just needed more room to do it.

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

#movies #review

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Why Gen X is the real loser generation Don’t cry for millennials or Gen Z. Save your pity for those in their 50s

— @daily-reads-TheEconomist on mastodon via Daily Reads

I am a Gen Xer, and I do not consider myself part of a loser generation.

I do think my generation came up during a time when the family was under assault from companies, the economy, and a culture that made it harder and harder for one parent to stay home. I know my mother and father resisted that pressure for as long as they could.

My mother was a stay-at-home mother for most of my childhood, and I am grateful for that. I also get to spend time with her now in her 70s, and I appreciate every bit of that time. My father worked and was the primary breadwinner for our household.

But after I graduated, my parents took on two more mouths to feed. My aunt on my mom’s side died young, and her two kids, my cousins, were being raised by my maternal grandmother. When my grandmother died, my parents took over raising them. That, along with other factors, eventually led to my mom entering the workforce.

So no, I do not think of Gen X as a loser generation.

We saw the birth of some amazing things, and we helped bring some great inventions into the world that today’s generations benefit from. I guess every generation can claim that in some way, but we were there for the rise of the personal computer, mobile phones, the internet, and so much more.

The things I do think Gen X lost out on were more serious. We saw the rise of latchkey kids. We saw families stretched thinner. And now, many of us are facing a retirement system that is much less secure than the one our parents expected.

We will probably have to work longer. We have less retirement security because corporate pensions largely disappeared and were replaced by 401(k) plans that many employers under-fund. The responsibility shifted from companies to workers, and a lot of people were not prepared for that. Social Security in a death spiraled only expected to pay full benefits until 2033 right when I will be drawing on it.

The article argues that Gen X has had slower income growth than other generations at similar ages, and I believe that. Even now, I am making the most money I have ever made, yet it still does not feel like enough. My spending is not up. In fact, it is down. But the cost of everything keeps climbing, and it feels like we are always trying to catch up.

So while I do not think my generation, or my siblings’ generation, are losers, I do think we have been more disadvantaged than people realize.

Gen X is not the loser generation.

We are a disadvantaged generation that has not been given the respect it deserves.

And there is a big difference.

#family #opinion #retirement

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People of all ages and backgrounds come together outdoors, connecting ideas and technology to illuminate the diverse and collaborative nature of AI innovation.

Okay, this will probably sound controversial, but that's not my intent. I'm just sharing my thoughts because AI is everywhere right now, especially on social media and in blog posts.

These views range from fairly neutral:[1] – Manton Reece – Tom Casavant – Paul Thurrott – Richard Campbell

To fairly positive, with the idea that you need to learn or use AI because... – Jim Mitchell – Numeric Citizen – Leo Laporte – Hey Loura – Ricardo Mendes

To more negative views, often focused on whether AI's value proposition can actually justify the money being spent: - Ed Zitron

People tend to frame the debate as two opposing camps: camp 1 wants nothing to do with AI, and camp 2 wants to hand it control over everything. I live in a quieter third camp. Most people are actually somewhere in the middle, but we don't shout as loudly. I see both the risks and the benefits. AI has let me try things I never would have had the courage to try, and it's helped me grow and learn about technology in ways I likely wouldn't have otherwise.

The loudest voices are camps 1 and 2, yet it's usually the middle camp that makes the real decisions when it counts. So maybe camps 1 and 2 should learn a little from us: camp 1 could be a little less rigid, and camp 2 could be more realistic and grounded.

AI is not going away. It may become less democratized. We are already seeing token, credit, and time limits, but those feel like temporary bumps. Many limits are at least partly artificial, and they may ease as the tech and business models evolve.

Given current politics here and abroad, tearing people down doesn't help. If AI isn't being used to create false narratives or spread “fake news,” people should be free to use it or not. I don't support blanket punishments for anyone who used AI to edit, help, or build something. That kind of hard-line stance, and labeling anything non-factual as “slop,” isn't productive.

The larger economic issue is real and has been building for decades. Automation started with the paperless office and industrial robotics. Robots and AI will continue to displace jobs, and that's a societal and political problem we need to solve now, not shrug off with “it's not my problem.” It's not necessarily tomorrow's crisis, but it's coming in the not-so-distant future.

Job losses mean less tax revenue, and corporations and wealthy individuals are skilled at finding legal ways to reduce taxes, wages, and benefits. We should rethink corporate structures and the single-minded focus on shareholder value. A shift toward an employee-and-business-first model would make more sense. After all, without a functioning business, you don't have shareholder value, and without employees, you don't really have a business unless you fully automate. If companies replace workers with machines and still expect high shareholder returns, they may under-invest in the equipment and long-term stability that would make that strategy sustainable.

That's my two cents. I don't think we should be tearing people down for using technology that helps them, that they pay for themselves, and that helps them communicate and complete their vision.

For full transparency, this post contains my thoughts and my opinions, and it was edited and proofread with AI. I made, directed, and approved the changes. AI helped organize my wording and corrected my spelling and grammar. It did not write this post, create the ideas behind it, or shape my feelings or thoughts. That, to me, is responsible AI usage.

I could not afford to hire an editor or an artist for this post, or every other post, to make a feature image. I told the AI what I wanted for a feature image, and it made it. I think it did an amazing job bringing my prompt alive.

1. I am using “views” broadly here. Some examples come from specific blog posts, while others come from podcasts, videos, comments, or general public statements I have seen or heard. ↩

#ai #opinion #technology

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Why 1980s Meals Were Always Garnished With Parsley – Food Republic

From steak dinners to bowls of soup, 1980s restaurants topped nearly every dish with a sprig of parsley. But why was this garnish so ubiquitous?

— Food Republic (@foodrepublic.bsky.social) on bluesky (source) ___

I saw this Bluesky post come across my timeline because I follow Food Republic, and it got my attention. When I was a kid and teenager, I did not like parsley. But now, in my 50s, I actually do not mind it. I started using it after following some recipes from Chef Jean-Pierre, who has a YouTube channel. It really did make my pot roast pop and helped brighten the dish after a long cooking time.

It is strange to think that this may be why parsley was used so often in the 1970s, when I was growing up.

Parsley signaled sophistication. During the decade, French cuisine was particularly in vogue among American cooks, and the herb served as a marker of European plating habits. Subsequently, a sprig of it functioned as a quick and accessible way to inflect a dash of color and Old World charm.

I just thought this was interesting, especially since I used to really hate parsley. It made me think about how our tastes can change as we get older, and how something we once disliked can become something we appreciate later in life.

#cooking #food

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#comedy #entertainment #tv

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My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5 stars)

Highly, highly unbelievable yet very entertaining. Great cast. If you want to kill about two hours and are after a fun, fast-paced movie, this delivers. It’s not profound, but it does exactly what it sets out to do, entertain.

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

#review #movies

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I love her work and wish I could do, or get an AI to do, what she does. I have tried. I am still working on a 4th of July theme, but I can't get it to see my vision.

Anyways, great job, Loura! I can't wait to see what you come up with next.

#opinion #webdevelopment

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What really caught my attention, though, was KSI. I had never heard of him until this year's BGT, but he seems to be famous in the UK. He connected with the boys instantly, and their reaction was so funny. They immediately understood what he meant, so I had to look it up. Since I don't use TikTok, I discovered it was a TikTok meme and that's why I had never heard of it.

Here it is, watch the interaction. They get the joke right away, and the whole group visibly relaxes.

I like that a little internet meme can create that moment of connection.

#entertainment #music

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