iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 23/09/2026

Rest in peace, Mike Beigel. Inventor, musical electronics pioneer, genius, and a founding father of Musitronics Mu-Tron. His contributions have inspired so many artists to create music that makes the world “more better”. www.instagram.com/p/Ddmp3Aoy0Jn/

Instagram won't preview, so here is a screenshot of the linked post. Photo of Mike with his right arm upraised showing a muscle and fist, wearing a mutron t-shirt and a beard. Caption is same as post: Rest in peace, Mike Beigel. Inventor, musical electronics pioneer, genius, and a founding father of Musitronics Mu-Tron. His contributions have inspired so many artists to create music that makes the world “more better”.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 20/09/2026

I was pretty sure he'd block me for this and I was right.

quote of two posts: first: I'm engaging from a place of honesty. Don't be a cabbage in my pot.

2nd: Being "honest" and being an "asshole" are often difficult to distinguish.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 20/09/2026

We had a bit of a break in the storm right before sunset, and the clouds took on a nice color, w/great texture. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Golden colored clouds against a dark, shadowed horizon of some trees on the left and house roof on the right.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 12/09/2026

I haven't done any work on my word search game Paper Lantern, and it timed out of beta. I rebuilt it and resubmitted it so if you're interested, let me know ! This screenshot shows the Lindsborg puzzle. More info at paperlantern.app

Screen shot of the Paper Lantern word search game. The found words are highlighted in different colors.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 07/09/2026

Today I find myself looking at pictures of Aiko and not crying or even tearing up. So I thought I'd share perhaps my most favorite picture. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

White, long-haired, fluffy cat in a blue basket.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 07/09/2026

I know it's just me, but it seems all white, long-haired fluffy cats have that same *spark* in their eyes that I saw in Aiko. Haven't share his pic for a while, so here's the cat tax:

Long-haired, white fluffy cat sitting on a workmate work bench with vises to his left.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 27/08/2026

I got a new keyboard, a Ducky with Cherry Silent Red keys. It's pretty!

Still photo of Ducky RGB keyboard cycling through the color palette.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 25/08/2026

Very few individuals let their lovelight shine like Dolly did 💖

Dolly wearing a Grateful Dead Steal Your Face t-shirt with the sun and the moon in the middle.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 20/08/2026

This was supposed to be a reply to my post showing the screenshot I saw. That post is gone. I know I made it. I recall entering the alt text. Well, here goes again, though I forgot what I said originally.

Screen shot of you-tube page for podcast in question.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 20/08/2026

That button I could not have missed! I clicked on the You-tube link from the original link that was a list of podcast sources. This is what I saw, & after seeing your home page version, my first thought was "what have they done to my boy!" As you can see, the entire "transcript" line is missing.

Screenshot of Smashing Security podcast on youtube.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 10/07/2026

Nothing to see here, just a 200+ mile tall storm (stretching from southern Nebraska, across the entirety of Kansas and into northern Oklahoma) and Lindsborg is pretty close to the middle!

Radar map showing the described storm. It's got a lot of red, which indicates greater storm intensity.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 26/06/2026

This was kind of fun. I wonder who I would have been if I had answered my "not sure" questions slightly differently. britmonkey.com/2020s-politi...

My results: 67% woke/ 33% chud

48% techbro / 52% neo-luddite

59% hopepilled / 41% doomer

89% davos/ 11% dubai

Mark Carney is my closest match.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 03/06/2026

As for external links, well. Almost half are broken, no surprise. What's kind of fun is how my report presents the various failures. I've never seen some of these 4xx codes in the wild before! 3/3

Screen sho of broken link report showing total number of links, internal vs external and the error codes for the broken links.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 23/05/2026

To scratch a personal itch I've created a word puzzle game for iOS called Paper Lantern. To play, one searches for words hidden in a jumbled grid of letters. It's surprisingly fun & fun to replay :-) It's ready for testing; let me know if you want to give it a try! #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Screen shot of word search puzzle game called Paper Lantern. Display shows grid with marked words, list of words and usual title info.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 22/05/2026

TraceWords is now Paper Lantern. I did my due diligence. No app was using the name. The domains were available. No trademarks. BUT. Someone registered the name at Apple and now it's gone. That's ok. I like Paper Lantern better anyway. #MikesOccasionalDistraction #iosdev

Screenshot of my app, called Paper Lantern. A grid of letters is displayed, and one uses their finger to select the words embedded in the grid. The list of words is displayed, and when a word is found, those squares change color.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 21/05/2026

Two days ago I looked for a word game on the app store. Not finding what I wanted, I set out to make my own. Within 24 hours I had a functional prototype, w/display issues. Now, less than 48 hours later, I have a functioning game and am working on all the details. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Screenshot of my app, called TraceWords. A grid of letters is displayed, and one uses their finger to select the words embedded in the grid. The list of words is displayed below, and when a word is found, those squares change color.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 21/05/2026

Another chapter in: Why Do Designers Hate Their Users? See if you can tell where to click to change font size in this image. The issue is that there is a slider for adjusting font size, & the "grabber" is essentially invisible. Fuck 'em. Wait til they get old and can't even read their own works.

screen shot of BBEdit's appearance setting screen, w/options too numerous to list. The issue is that there is a slider for adjusting font size, and the "grabber" is essentially invisible, due to this gray on gray design thing folks have had going for the past decade. Fuck 'em. Wait til they get old and can't even read their own works.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 15/05/2026

Why do designers hate their users? I had to ask the friggin' AI how to use this app, as the tickboxes are INVISIBLE. If you know they are there, you can click them. Otherwise? Argh! The app is "Actual Budget" which is otherwise pretty good.

Screenshot showing payee selection screen. Each line is selectable via a tickbox, but the tickbox is invisible even to the sighted!

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 08/05/2026

But now she has another one, and it's not clear if further treatment over the weekend will save it or not. Still, w/out FIV, she has a chance to live a good life for quite a bit longer. It's not ideal, but blind cats generally do OK, so ... Here's Princess, teetering on an unstable platform. 2/2

Gray tabby with green eyes, white front mittens and white back boots, with a white middle, looking off to the side.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 28/04/2026

This flock of seagulls(?) appeared over the house, flew around like shown for 3-5 minutes and were gone!

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 26/04/2026

Clouds so dark the street lights just came on! Central Kansas, 11:40am.

Cloudy, rainy day. Big tree with street light behind it. The light is on, even though it's almost noon.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 24/04/2026

It's been reported that Kansas wheat is at least 2 weeks ahead of schedule this year. I think our peonies are closer to a month early! Traditionally Memorial Day flowers, ours are in bloom now! So lovely. And a wonderful fragrance! #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Large peony flower, fully open with a ruffled interior. Fairly bright pink in color.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 23/04/2026

In honor of the new photo limits, here is a picture of the Grand Canyon. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Grand Canyon looking across to the other side and down to barely visible Colorado River. The sides of the canyon are varied shades of pinkish color far away, and more orange with scrub close up.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 19/04/2026

From an early version of Comes a Time, Grateful Dead, 10/22/71

The words come out

Like an angry stream

Hear yourself say things you could never mean.

When the heat cools down

And you find your mind

Got a lot of words you got to stand beside.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 18/04/2026

The kittens turned 4 on April 10th. Here is a photo from a couple of weeks after they were born. Princess was so proud to show them off. She just strutted back and forth as we checked them out. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

3 tiny kittens held in a woman's hands. One champagne colored, a calico, and another champagne.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 15/04/2026

My recent positive search experience using Google AI search. I have thought about this story off & on for years! I was motivated to search for it today by two things: * a recent post * recent search experiences The story: "It's Such a Beautiful Day" The text of the image is in the alt text

Google AI search can be very effective. I have thought about this story off and on for years! I was motivated to search for it today by two things:

the immediate was a post by a person in their late 40s comparing the relative (to ours) freedom of their youth to today's very highly structured life for most kids.

the knowledge and experience that google search can now easily handle free form narrative style questions such as my prompt below.
Prompt (typos and all):

science fiction short story about future society where kids were protected and didn't walk to school. they got theere somehow bny a means I don't recall. the protagonist, a. young boy , walks one day and experiences reality/nature. help me find this story please

Answer: (w/plot summary and more not copied)

The story you are thinking of is most likely "It’s Such a Beautiful Day" by Isaac Asimov, first published in 1955.

In this futuristic society, people rely almost exclusively on "Doors"—a system of teleportation that allows them to move between locations instantly without ever having to go outside.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 14/04/2026

The image show what happened next. Later in the convo, it was absolutely clear it was AI and it admitted it: Me: steve, steve, steve. you just outed yourself as an ai. a human would not have so grossly misunderstood what I typed. AI: Yeah, but at least I am honest :P :P :P 2/2

ME: I don't mind . I figure I'm still chating w/an AI bot, so whatever

AI: We do have an AI bot that answers How To's questions only
But here at Aftershoot, we have human support

ME: dark is fine, at night, my choice. but during the day it HURTS

AI: Absolutely. Noted.
P.S: Not AI BOT))

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 06/04/2026

We began the first day of our 53rd year of marriage with some welcome good news. Althea is getting better! She's had an upper respiratory illness & the meds finally appear to have kicked in. She's still a bit wheezy, but has a lot more energy compared to the weekend. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Calico kitty sitting on the chest of a gray bearded man wearing glasses.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 05/04/2026

I still miss someone. To underscore just how young he was when he died - he was only a year older than my daughter is now. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Jerry Garcia, with gray hair and full, but neatly trimmed beard, wearing a top hat and a black raincoat.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 04/04/2026

Black cats recreate classic 9/11 scene when the president learns of the 2nd tower. (I found the picture and added the caption) #MikesOccasionalDistraction

One black cat, looking ahead with wide eyes, as another appears to whisper in its ear.

The caption reads: Sir, a second bird is at the feeder.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 31/03/2026

Many of our bulbs came up with the early warm temperatures, then were heavily damaged by the recent late frost. But not all of them! This ragged edge tulip, one of the bulbs I planted last fall, did just fine! #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Almost top view of a red tulip with bright yellow fringing at the edge of the petals. There is the typical black lines in many tulips, and the center stamen(is that right?) is yellow and somewhat protruding. Behind the flower you can see some of its leaves, but the flower takes up most of the frame.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 22/03/2026

Another example of why one doesn't trust AI. If I had asked about the SEC I wouldn't have known the answer was wrong. (the initial query was about big 12 teams on Sunday. It did get that part right, but the volunteered info was wrong)

AI: Saturday Results Summary
On Saturday, March 21, the Big 12 saw mixed results:
(2) Houston defeated (10) Texas A&M 88–57 to advance to the Sweet 16.
(11) Texas (Men's) upset (3) Gonzaga 74–68.
(9) TCU (Men's) was eliminated by (1) Duke, losing 81–58.
NCAA.com
NCAA.com
+2

Me: texas is no longer in the big 12. (congrats, your streak of being wrong on the 1st answer continues)

AI: You are absolutely right—Texas and Oklahoma officially moved to the SEC in July 2024. For the 2025–26 season, they are no longer part of the Big 12.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 08/03/2026

That reminds me of a screen shot I took last time I watched this movie. I was mesmerized.

Olivia de Havilland, maid Marian from the 1938 Robin Hood that also featured Errol Flynn.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 01/03/2026

I thought I'd try running an LLM on my Mac. It works, w/some problems, but that's not the point. The point is we've a long ways to go before they are generally useful tools. Look at the absolute BS shown in a recent exchange. Summary: it LIES. Flat out, "I did something" that it did NOT do.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 28/02/2026

I forgot I took this goofy picture a few days ago :-) #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Head shot of a man with thinning gray hair and a medium gray beard, wearing a dark gray shirt and also wearing headband made from Kaffe sharks tooth fabric.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 13/02/2026

It was probably around 150 times that this guitar contributed in the most inimitable way to my extreme joy & happiness. That would be the 10 year period when it was Jerry Garcia's primary guitar, with the Grateful Dead & the Jerry Garcia band. Close-up of Tiger; link to auction in alt.

Closeup of Tiger, showing corrosion from years of Jerry's sweat hitting it.

It's for sale:

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6573406

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 12/02/2026

Sweet Cassidy. She just sits quietly and watches me paint. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Champagne colored cat with blue eyes, looking straight at me.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 06/02/2026

Another chapter of: Mike's not getting older, he's just adopting their behaviors. Current meditation/distraction? Painting rocks. #MikesOccasionalDistraction #RockPainting

Kitty on black rock: pink ears, yellow eyes w/black pupil and white dot. Pink nose. White whiskers and chin.

Free-form self-designed "mandala." (probably not technically) Yellow random squiggle in middle, then pink circles with black circles around the inside perimeter and a white dot with a red dot in the middle of that. Green wavy line around all that. And, white and purple alternating dots around that. Plus some other dots I forgot to mention.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 04/02/2026

I've almost finished creating a new cover for my keyboard. After taking a few months break from sewing, I really got into it! Had a lot of fun making the design, choosing the fabrics, then modifying the design. Next up: actually quilting the piece! #MikesOccasionalDistraction #Quilting #Sewing

Image of top and bottom of MIDI keyboard cover. Top has vertical strips on the ends, white, greenish, and reddish. There are horizontal strips on the top, bottom and middle. The top is a gradient from blue to purple, the bottom is red and the middle is a bunch of white vases outlined againsts a dark background, w/some flowers. Above and below the middle stripe are alternating blocks of polka dot squares and Kaffe (Mobley) flowers.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 01/02/2026

Doing my small part to share positive posts - I just published the latest piece on my blog! See pictures and find out more about TRRA SW9 locomotive #1207 all dressed in its finest Bicentennial livery. #ModelRailroad #MikesOccasionalDistraction #ModelTrains allthepages.org/archives/202...

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 24/01/2026

I shared Lucinda Williams song, Joy, last week, & it rings true again this week. Painting & other creative outlets are part of my way of taking back joy in a dark, evil world. #MikesOccasionalDistraction #painting "I don't want you anymore 'cause you took my joy You took my joy, I want it back"

Acrylic painting showing yed and yellow flowers with dark centers and green stems. Also visible are some fan brushes and some paint in a palette.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 24/01/2026

I got ErsatzTV up and running! There's a bit of customization (icons for each channel, for one), but the overall setup is working. For now, I've created 10 channels, including, comedy, drama, cartoons, Star Trek and shows by decade. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Screenshot of ErsatzTV as viewed via Plex. There are 10 channels, and it's like any channel listing with time of show, and name of show. If one clicks (not visible) one can see the details for that show.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 20/01/2026

Had my first experience painting with acrylic paints tonight, using the Christmas gift from my daughter Lisa. Different, but fun. I think I'll enjoy exploring this medium. (art, beauty and joy are a balance to the ugliness of the world) #MikesOccasionalDistraction #art #painting

orange, red sunset, with streaks of yellow. in the foreground is a silhouette of some hills.

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 19/01/2026

It's common practice to warn of predators. If you don't have a whistle, cluck like hell! That's what these squirrels are doing, to warn about Princess being outside. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

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Mike Rodriquez @allthepages.org · 18/01/2026

Just came across this 3 year old photo. I hadn't realized just how young Princess was when she had her kittens. She's younger and littler in this picture than Althea is now, at 3.5 years old. #MikesOccasionalDistraction

Gray haired man holding two kittens in front of him.

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