MindFuel Blog – One guys take on life

Global Stocktake

A golden lab mix pooch sitting smugly atop a mound of cash and social media icons

The Giant Dog-Pile Economy Turd

July 5, 2025 No Comments

#DogPileEconomy I am not a fan of the “Dog-Pile Economy.” I think it is as…

2 businessmen meeting at a rug bazaar, one is receiving a box and asks "Was it produced sustainably?" while the man handing off the box states, "Of course, sir, to exacting standards"

De-carbonizing Fashion

April 24, 2024 No Comments

Last week, even after Earth Day 2024 came and went, SOSV continued, like so many…

planet earth with a bunch of candles at the north pole and siting, like a cake on a table in a nice flat overlooking the ocean

Happy Earth Day

April 22, 2024 No Comments

Of course, everyone knows Earth Day is far more than one day. Like a birthday,…

A couple is in an art gallery looking at a painting on the wall. The painting shows a series of reflections of them surrounded by a crowd. The couple is looking at reflections of themselves in a crowd of people who are also looking at them.

AI, the Social Mirror, and One Hand Clapping

January 21, 2026 No Comments

AI is my “Friend” OK, we all know that AI is math. And. . ….

A sand art version of the solar system with planets looking like stylized marbles and a extra large fuzzy sun in the center

Another Spiral Around the Sun

May 23, 2025 No Comments

Life is a Spiral Long ago I took a sociology class, and my professor would…

Hiding in Plain Site: My Little Pony and a New Theory on the Illuminati

September 10, 2024 No Comments

What? It is the attention economy. An economy a truly advanced species should be well…

Trekking Through Python’s “DLL Hell”: Versions, Packages, Virtual Environments

September 13, 2024 No Comments

PYTHON DLL HELL On my local system (Ubuntu of some flavor), I had Python 2.7….

padlock and computer screen - cartoonish on a blue background.

Overcome the Bitbucket Authentication Blues

July 31, 2024 No Comments

TL;DR Although it was my fault, GitLab has been completely unhelpful getting me back into…

A tomcat meditating on a small island in the middle of the ocean. Though bubble reads "To become a better version of myself (and receive bug fixes and security updates), I must upgrade from my current version

Finding Tomcat Version on Linux

April 17, 2024 No Comments

OK, there are a bunch of different ways, but it depends how Tomcat was installed….

AI generated black and white image featuring a young man in a plaid shirt sitting on concrete in front of a brick wall. On the brick wall is a light-bulb marquee lit up with the word "no" and next to it is a much smaller sign that reads "no iinovation"

Progress…

April 26, 2009 No Comments

I just saw a hysterical advertisement in the May issue of “The Week” magazine. It…

I bright sun is blocked by a heavy, dark storm which is raining down on an angry ocean washing waves onto the shore of a calm, empty beach.

The Unexpected Arrival of Debby

August 14, 2024 No Comments

This entry is part 1 of 5 in…

Old Yamaha V50 Music

October 17, 2010 6 Comments

History My first job was at Taco Bell, in high school. I worked the whole…

Nocturnal Condo

March 11, 2009 No Comments

I had a weird dream (OK, that was stupidly obvious). I dreamt my oldest daughter…

No Camp Vote Here

October 14, 2008 No Comments

I am really getting frustrated. We live in the information age and we aren’t USING…

How to Remove Silly Putty From Fabric

January 6, 2011 10 Comments

We’ve all seen the articles about WD-40 and alcohol…but I did an interesting test. Actually…