So, I bought a stolen smart phone?
You don’t own devices you buy if they are network connected. This is the story of a screw-up followed by massive 2-factor authentication problems and more. Continue reading So, I bought a stolen smart phone?
Author: Mark Cathcart
Formerly an Executive Director of Systems Engineering and a Senior Distinguished Engineer at Dell. Prior to that, an IBM Distinguished Engineer working for the Systems Group in NY and Austin. I'm currently "retired until further notice".
Drug Costs and Medical Charges Are Out of Control
Navigating the US healthcare system can often feel like an exercise in frustration, especially when it comes to understanding the barrage of statements, bills, and charges that seem to come out of nowhere. Despite opting for email communications, the paper trail doesn’t seem to end. It’s a good thing I’m generally healthy, just dealing with the usual wear and tear that comes with getting older. Continue reading Drug Costs and Medical Charges Are Out of Control
Car Registrations pay for Roads? Nope.
This old nugget came up on social media again. At least here in Boulder County there is a belief that the number of unlicensed vehicles are the reason that the roads are in such a poor state of repair. Boulder … Continue reading Car Registrations pay for Roads? Nope.
When Windows Is No Longer…
Over the years Microsoft has continued to turn it’s flagship operating system into a bloatware nightmare. I still like Windows, despite being one of the biggest advocates for IBM’s adoption of Linux some 25-years ago, yes really. That said, Microsoft … Continue reading When Windows Is No Longer…
NYTimes: America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow
America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow It would indeed be ironic if the capitalist juggernaut that is America for the last 100-yeats came crashing down because it failed to heed the warning of Elinor Ostrom, Nobel … Continue reading NYTimes: America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow
Smog Free Engine Ignored
While researching a music project for ctproduced.com, I stumbled across this article by Anita Poirier in the Los Angeles Free Press, December 28th, 1973. It’s a fascinating read given how we are depending on electric Vehicles to save the planet from an impending planetary melt-down. Both pages of the newspaper can be read here (PDF) – the pages also contain an interesting article on the EPA. Detroit and the federal government have turned their backs on the discovery of a low-cost, smog-free engine. This amazing machine, perfected by a Van Nuys engineering firm, actually operates on four wet cell, 6-volt … Continue reading Smog Free Engine Ignored
Passport Palooza
Turns out I’ve had two valid passports for most of my adult life, this is the first time I’ve two from different countries. It turns out that once you go to Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia, China and a few other … Continue reading Passport Palooza
When Stories Go Bad
I post from time to time about segments or whole This American Life shows. The program is remarkable both in content and durability. In a recent program, Act 1. was about Ghost stories. Specifically, it was about ghost stories in … Continue reading When Stories Go Bad
More Backwards Banking
I regularly post here about how backward, slow and relatively useless the American banking system is. This post is another in that series, but one that potentially impact’s you every time you use your bank or credit card. How so? … Continue reading More Backwards Banking
The Innovators Dilemma – Google
This isn’t a post about AI, and chatGPT has a very long way to go before it becomes factually useful, if you want to see a recent experiment I did with it, see this thread of mine on twitter. Until … Continue reading The Innovators Dilemma – Google