Troy Patterson

Host Moving

I’ve already writtten a bit about my experience moving to Bluehost, but I’m still feeling the impact of that. I have learned more about WordPress security and capabilities ( a good thing), while also feeling the angst of whether everything is “right” or not. That’s taken away from posting.

I also posted recently that I’m retiring from Cape Elizabeth School Department. So there’s lots of work to do to tidy things up before June 30th. Plus, there’s planning on what I’m really going to do. I’m not sure exactly what I want to do yet, but I’ll be doing something. There are a couple of volunteer situations to check out. I’m going to reach out to a local school to see if I can become their sports photographer (they don’t appear to have one). Plus, I’ll probably sub in a couple of schools.

Home Work

I’ve installed a whole house water filter in the basement. This is actually the second one that I’ve installed. The first one doesn’t filter for lead. Thus, back to the drawing board and one that does. The new one also filters for PFA’s as well. Now that I have experience working with PEX piping and Sharkbite connectors, things went pretty smoothly.

AI use

The more that I’m using and trying out AI, the less impressed I am. I’ve been using Google Gemini to set up a Moodle instance and a Gravity Forms workflow. Although Gemini did well with formulas for spreadsheets, it’s lacking in Moodle and Gravity Forms. It frequently tells to make selections of things that don’t exist, or that things can be done that just can’t.

Speaking of AI, I found AI SLOP is like Cocomelon for Boomers and Gen X? Oh, no, it’s way worse really good.

Reward

I did have a chance to enjoy a bottle of one my “treat beers”. I rarely have these, but I like to take some time and enjoy a really good bottle. This was a bottle by Goose Island Brewing:

2024 Bourbon County Brand Original Stout
After crafting the very first bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout, we’ve learned that to have the best beer, you start with the best possible ingredients. Barrels are such an important ingredient and we continue to use only the best our friends on the bourbon trail have to offer. 2024 Bourbon County Brand Original Stout is aged in a mix of freshly emptied bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Four Roses and Wild Turkey distilleries. Barrel-aged for an average of 12 months, Bourbon County Original Stout boasts deeply developed flavors of fudge, vanilla and caramelized sugar with a rich, decadent mouthfeel.

STYLE
Imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels

TASTING NOTES
Vanilla, cherry, cocoa, toasted almond & caramelized sugar
ABV
14.7%

Podcast

The podcast this week was a good one. Shawn is always up for a good discussion.

Other Stuff (Links I found)

• Holding kids back in 3rd grade can raise test scores — but a new study shows a long-run cost – …a new study offers a warning about the downside risks of retention. Third graders who had to repeat a grade in Texas were far less likely to graduate from high school or earn a good living as young adults, nearly two decades later. The harmful effects were quite large and came despite initial improvements in test scores.
• AI autocomplete doesn’t just change how you write. It changes how you think – …the people in the study didn’t tend to think the AI autocomplete suggestions were biased or to notice that they had changed their own thinking on an issue in the course of the study. Warning the participants that they might be exposed to misinformation by the AI didn’t temper the persuasive effect either.
• AI Isn’t Coming for Everyone’s Job – About 130 years ago, the job of pianist was automated when Edwin Votey created the first player piano. The machine worked by reading music that was encoded by holes punched into rolls of paper, which in turn directed airflows to levers that depressed piano keys. The human’s task was relegated to pumping a foot pedal to create the pneumatic pressure that drove the automaton. Things got worse for the human pianist from there.
• Something Big Is Happening – I know the next two to five years are going to be disorienting in ways most people aren’t prepared for. This is already happening in my world. It’s coming to yours.

Photography

I’ve continued on with photography. I’m now doing two challenges a week. I’m still participating in 52Frames, and have added my local photography group. Unfortunately, they use Facebook for the challenges, but then Facebook is pretty standard in Maine.

52Frames Submission

This week was “chair” .

FLCC (First Light Camera Club)

This week was “photographers choice”.

Motor City Brewing

So, Motor City Brewing is closing down their restaurant in downtown Detroit, MI. We generally visit at least once when we return to Michigan. Alas, no more.

We invite you to join us through Sunday, February 8th, to spend some time reflecting on the last three decades. Until our final day of taproom service we will be displaying a digital montage of historic brewery photos and events pulled from the many chapters that have lived inside these walls.

After February 8, the taproom will pause while we figure out what comes next. Beer distribution to our retailers will continue during this transition as we take a thoughtful look at the future of the building and the brand.

This pause comes down to something very real and very Detroit. The brewery runs on the city’s historic thermal steam system. After more than a hundred years, our section of steam line that powered the kettle and much of the brewery reached the end of its life, and service was permanently shut off on December 31. While that change forced our hand, it also gives us a moment to step back and consider longer-term possibilities.

We’re using this time to explore next steps, whether that’s reworking infrastructure, finding the right partners, or identifying a succession path that respects the history of this place while giving it a future.

We know there will be questions, and we appreciate your patience as things come into focus. We’ll share updates as decisions are made.

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AI Training

• Common Sense Two Truths and a Lie.
  Interesting idea. However, what is now coming forward is more finding sites that you can trust as human created rather than sussing out AI generated stuff. In reality, we’re going to need both.

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Discountinued Tech

I listened to a recent Clockwise Podcast where they talked about “outdated tech” that they still use. I started thinking about what “outdated tech” that I use. I was coming up empty. Then they brought up that one of them drives a stick shift. Ouch! That’s me. I like driving a manual. I’m guessing that my next car won’t be a standard. (For those unaware, a standardi.e. transmission, a stick shift, and a manual all refer to a manual transmission.)

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Quote from Josh Ritter:
“You can always have too much, but just enough keeps you working hard and doing what you love. Past that, I don’t know if it’s useful.”

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Homepod minis

Spend some time with the Homepod minis as the Mac wouldn’t stream to them (previously, this had been no issue). Streaming from my phone worked fine. A simple restart of the Mac fixed the issue. I had resisted that (why?) and spent too much time researching and changing settings.

Perspective

Fact of the day: the Ford Edsel (“a 1950s flop so notorious that it’s taught in business schools to this day”) outsold the Cybertruck 2:1, “in a country with half the population.”
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/ford-introduces-edsel

• Ford sold 34,481 Edsels in calendar year 1958. Production ended in November, 1959, with total sales of 109,466 cars.
• Tesla CyberTruck 20,237 units sold in the U.S. in 2025, a 48.1% decrease from 38,965 in 2024 (full year 01/30/2026 12:27g)
  Tesla:
  2025 Total (U.S.): 20,237 units.
  2024 Total (U.S.): ~38,965 units.
  Total Sales to Date (approx.): ~59,000+ units, falling below initial targets.

AI Use

One thing that AI can be useful for is creating Spreadsheet formulas. I used AI to create a few complex spreadsheet formulas. I could’ve written the formulas myself, but it was much faster to have AI create them. Since I do know spreadsheet formulas, I was able to quickly review them, make changes, and implement.