RANT: Member service advocates — > “go away”

Monday, July 27, 2026

*** begin quote ***

Contact us
Help with your plan
Member service advocates are ready to answer your questions and provide helpful information.
Call 1-866-460-8856 to connect with a member service advocate.
TTY users, call 711
8 a.m. – 8 p.m.localtime: Monday – Friday

*** end quote ***

And what happens when <synonym for excrement> happens outside of those times?

On Friday, I spent THREE HOURS on a joint call with TWO people from UHS (Brenda was fantastic) and at least three different people at BOA.  

If it wasn’t serious, (i.e., no medical insurance on 7/31), then it would have been a funny CATCH-22.  At least twice, the BOA person said “not my department, call 1-800-EAT-SHIT” which when called routed right back to her. Argh!

Of course, there was no “supervisors” or “managers” available during this entire THREE hour call.  (Hard to believe!)

Another interesting facet: my zip code 34787 is not recognized.  I’m told that I am “not in the United States”.  (The Governor of Florida might disagree!)

(NOTE: Many address selections on website put 34787 in OAKLAND; not WINTER GARDEN.  Which I wouldn’t mind, if they would at least recognize that their lookup table might be wrong or incomplete.  Of course, there is NEVER a way to contact a REAL human to get it fixed.)

So here I am on a Saturday night, in absolute frustration, with nothing to do but share with any readers, if I have any, my complete and utter disgust of technology, AI, and “Use Cases”.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” — attributed to Einstein

— 30 —

Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: Maybe your backups are corrupt?

Sunday, July 26, 2026

https://www.makeuseof.com/old-files-may-already-corrupting-nothing-warns-you-until-too-late/

I checked my old files and found corruption silently destroying them before I ever got a warning
Windows file system
By Afam Onyimadu
Published Jul 24, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT

*** begin quote ***

Afam’s experience in tech publishing dates back to 2018, when he worked for Make Tech Easier. Over the years, he has built a reputation for publishing high-quality guides, reviews, tips, and explainer articles, covering Windows, Linux, and open source tools. His work has been featured on top websites, including Technical Ustad, Windows Report, Guiding Tech, Alphr, and Next of Windows.

He holds a first degree in Computer Science and is a strong advocate for data privacy and security, with several tips, videos, and tutorials on the subject published on the Fuzo Tech YouTube channel.

When he is not working, he loves to spend time with his family, cycling, or tending to his garden.
Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents:

One of my favorite photos that I had kept for years wouldn’t open. The filename was right, and the size seemed unchanged, yet it was somehow corrupted. Even though I hadn’t touched it in several months, that file was no longer the photo I had taken.

Sadly, computers don’t warn you when a file changes. Maybe it’s because, as far as they know, nothing has changed. But there’s a real chance that your old backups or folders that sat untouched since you saved them have changed.

*** end quote ***

Ouch, this really scares me.  You mean all my time, attention, effort, and dikw into “backing up” and stuff may still be lost?  I’m not a “happy camper”.   Argh!

3 is 2! 2 is 1! 1 is none! Look for redundant capability; not redundant gear!

— 30 —

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

POLICY: Amish Families in New York should have the Religious Vaccine Exemption

Saturday, July 25, 2026

https://thevaccinereaction.org/2026/07/amish-families-in-new-york-lose-religious-vaccine-exemption-case/

Amish Families in New York Lose Religious Vaccine Exemption Case
by Carolyn Hendler, JD
Published July 23, 2026
Federal & State Courts

*** begin quote ***

Yoder held that even a neutral and generally applicable compulsory education law could not override Amish parents’ religious objection to sending their children to high school. After Mahmoud, that exception applies broadly to any school policy that interferes with parental religious exercise.

The Second Circuit found the New York vaccine law to be a different kind of burden than set forth in Yoder. The court wrote that the law “does not regulate what children are taught, does not require them to affirm any belief, does not expose them to state-selected instruction contrary to their parents’ faith, and does not enlist school officials to displace parental religious formation.” The burden, the court held, “may be serious, but it is not the kind of state interference with a child’s religious development that triggered strict scrutiny in Yoder or Mahmoud.”

*** and ***

New York legislatures voted to eliminate the religious exemption in 2019 after an alleged measles outbreak centered in Rockland County among the Orthodox Jewish community. New York is now one of five states that does not permit religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements. The other states are California, Connecticut, Maine and West Virginia.

*** and ***

The current and past justices serving on the U.S. Supreme Court have given very little indication that they would be willing to overturn the pivotal 1905 Jacobson decision that has underpinned U.S. public health law for more than century. To have the utilitarian Jacobson decision reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in the 21st century could deal a fatal blow to medical freedom in America with repercussions that could last another 120 years.

*** end quote ***

For as much as I admire the Amish for their commitment to their beliefs, I don’t understand their choice.  But that’s my problem; not theirs.  While I don’t want to live that life style, I stand firmly as a little L libertarian with them in the resistance to the Gooferment’s tyranny.

Hard to imagine that “rights” are held in such disrepute.

The principles of little L libertarianism are Life, Liberty, and Property which all flow from the natural right of self-ownership.  I can’t imagine that the RIGHT to self-ownership doesn’t extend to the RIGHT to raise your children as you see fit.  

While it maybe debated as to exactly WHEN the RIGHTS of the child inure — to take or have effect —  the parents’ RIGHTS are paramount.  (Probably, at least when they can assert them, or have their rights asserted for them by a Guardian ad Litem as in cases of physical or mental abuse.)

Clearly, the the New York vaccine law interferes with parental religious exercise and as such should be subject to the strictest scrutiny. IMHO

Argh!

— 30 —

 

Leave a Comment » | Policy | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

ConspiracyTheories: COVID-19 vaccine-induced ALS-like neurologic syndrome?

Friday, July 24, 2026

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/actor-eric-dane-of-greys-anatomy?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1119676&post_id=207775847&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3snn7d&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Actor Eric Dane of Grey’s Anatomy Dies of Rapidly Progressive Post-COVID-19 Vaccination Neurologic Syndrome

  • ALS-like illness takes a more rapid and fatal course then previously understood

Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
Jul 21, 2026

*** begin quote ***

One of the most tragic deaths in my practice over recent years was a man in his seventies who died from a COVID-19 vaccine-induced ALS-like neurologic syndrome. He came to mind when I heard about the death of actor Eric Dane—the man millions knew as Dr. Mark Sloan, on Grey’s Anatomy.
The Cruel Irony of Dr. McSteamy: Eric Dane, Rapid ALS, and the Silence on Vaccination

Eric Dane—the man millions knew as Dr. Mark Sloan, “McSteamy” on Grey’s Anatomy—died on February 19, 2026, at just 53 years old. His death certificate reads amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. What it doesn’t say, and what the celebrity obituaries won’t touch, is the timeline that raises questions the medical-media complex would prefer nobody ask.

Dane’s case was not the typical slow-burn ALS familiar to pre-pandemic neurology. It was a freight train.

*** end quote ***

It would appear that this is a distinct possibility?

Checking the Conspiracy Theorist Taxonomy “thermometer” (i.e., Type, Veracity) 

Conspiracy Theory Type
• Health

Conspiracy Theory Veracity
• Plausible

I don’t know how this gets confirmed or disproved.

— 30 —

Leave a Comment » | CONSPIRACYTHEORY: | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

DISCOURAGING: No one ever seems to have tried my idea?

Thursday, July 23, 2026

I’m a retired IT guy. I personally have always been surprised that “newspapers” didn’t figure out and implement a micropayment system.

Imagine if you were asked for 0.0001 of something (i.e., a dollar; a bitcoin; a ruble; a yen) for an article. Not some number of dollars for a year, or month, or such.

When you get on internet scale, it’s not hard to imagine getting 50k readers each paying say a penny for an article. That translates to 500$ for that one article.

The current payment technology doesn’t pay to scale that price point.

But now, a paper could collect a fraction of a bitcoin from someone’s public key and encrypt the article so that only the person’s private key could decrypt it. At that level, it wouldn’t be worth pirating it or sharing you private key to deprive the sender of the revenue.

I think that would be the way to save the “local” paper with digital distribution of content.

FWIW YMMV

— 30 —

Leave a Comment » | DISCOURAGING | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

SURVIVAL: Dont pet the fluffy cows

Wednesday, July 22, 2026
https://www.malone.news/p/sunday-strip-great-balls-of-fire?utm_source=substack
 
​*** begin quote ***
 
The man was the unfortunate object onto which an already highly aroused rutting bull directed its aggression. Had another person, cyclist, vehicle, or even another bison occupied that same place at that moment, they might well have become the target instead.
That is one reason wildlife biologists often say that rutting bison are among the most unpredictable large mammals in North America. During the breeding season, their behavior can shift from apparently placid to explosively aggressive with remarkably little obvious provocation.
*** end quote ***
 
See the video!
 
Dont pet the fluffy cows.
 
“There are two kinds of bulls: the ones that have tried to kill you, and the ones that haven’t had the chance yet.” —  unknown
 
— 30 —
 
 
​​

Leave a Comment » | SURVIVAL | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

DISCOURAGING: I don’t want my orders sent by USPS

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

A chat with amazon

*** begin quote ***

ME: USPS deliveries are inconvenient and always seem delayed. Can I specify I don’t want my orders sent by USPS?

REP: understand your concern.
I can take this as a feedback so that our team will check the details and will try our best to deliver the items directly

*** end quote ***

Have to tell Puritan’s Pride the same thing. 

If they can’t deliver with UPS or FEDEX 0r something similar, then I have to take my business elsewhere.

Argh!

— 30 —

Leave a Comment » | DISCOURAGING | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

APPLE: In messages, all my contacts’ pictures are gone.txt

Monday, July 20, 2026

MAC OSX TAHOE 26.5.2 (25F84)

2026-07Jul-16 DIALOGUE in messages, all my contacts’ pictures are gone.txt

*** begin quote ***

Acknowledged unfamiliar software version, sought current informationAcknowledged unfamiliar software version, sought current informationThis is a known, recurring bug with Messages/iCloud Contacts sync — it’s been showing up across macOS and iOS versions for years, and there are recent reports tied to macOS 26/iOS 26 specifically. Not something wrong on your end.
Quick fix to try first:

Apple menu → System Settings → click your name (Apple ID) at the top
Click iCloud
Find Contacts and toggle it off
Wait about 30 seconds, then toggle it back on
Restart your Mac and check Messages again

If that doesn’t work:

Check iCloud.com → Contacts to confirm the photos still exist there. If they’re intact on iCloud.com but missing on your Mac, it’s a local sync/cache issue, not lost data.
Check your iPhone — if photos are still showing there, that confirms the photos themselves are fine and it’s just your Mac’s Messages app not pulling them.
In Settings → Apps → Messages on iPhone (or the Mac equivalent under Messages preferences), toggling Shared with You off and back on has fixed this for some people.

Unfortunately, honest heads-up: several people on Apple’s own forums report this is a bit whack-a-mole — the fix works for a while, then random contacts lose their photos again weeks later. Apple’s support has acknowledged awareness of it but hasn’t shipped a permanent fix as of the reports I’m seeing. If it becomes chronic, re-adding photos manually in Contacts (Mac) tends to hold better than relying on iCloud auto-sync.

Want me to walk through the manual “re-add photo in Contacts” steps too, in case the toggle doesn’t stick?

*** end quote ***

Shame on Apple. Argh!    

— 30 —

Leave a Comment » | APPLE | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

AI: CLAUDE and TEXTEXPANDER don’t seem to work well together

Sunday, July 19, 2026

*** begin quote ***

TextExpander note:
– TextExpander works in the Claude app/claude.ai input, since it operates at the OS/keyboard level.

Test message logged (2026-06Jun-14 0248):
“Test Book of Faces. 2026-06Jun-14 0248 idk IDK IDIDK GEIW FEIE FWIW fwiw Mother NatureSOME DONT WORK” – appears to be a TextExpander snippet test where some abbreviations did not expand.

*** end quote ***

Time to be an “unpaid ALPHA tester” for the nice folks at TEXTEXPANDER

— 30 —

Leave a Comment » | AI | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

AI: CLAUDE doesn’t have access to Google Maps or your saved places

Saturday, July 18, 2026

*** begin quote ***

User: Print it

Claude explained it does not have the ability to send documents to a physical
printer, and suggested the user open the file from Google Drive or download it
to print locally.

*** end quote ***

Well that’s annoying.

— 30 —

Leave a Comment » | AI | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »