u/SuperGr00valistic

Rums of Puerto Rico published this recipe booklet in 1976…. discovered in my parents’ basement bar.

Rums of Puerto Rico is a collective marketing program started in 1948 to increase PR rum sales in the U.S. (and continues to this day).

I may be brave enough to try the Marshall Dillon (rum, red wine and white wine).

Lots of amusement and potential…

If there’s interest, I’ll share the other pages with more cocktail and food recipes.

First accessed the "Internet" in 1988 at the age of 10, after installing a modem on the family Tandy 1000 and dialing into a local BBS from a flyer at the Radio Shack. Text-based RPG, DARPANet, learned about programming, etc.

1993, the graphical browser Mosaic/Netscape hits which I'm using in the high school computer labs.... then onto college in 1996 with Sun machines and then the colorful iMac G3s.

The recent Google Chrome updates made me realize that I've been using the same simple, effective workflow for deep research/reading sessions for 30 YEARS!

The Process:

Search. CTRL-click to open the results in a new tab. Read through the tabs.

I can't be the only one that does this.
It's an efficient cognitive processing sequence.
Reading through Search Results is one cognitive task.
Scanning and Reading the individual articles is a different, second cognitive task.

-----

I'm here because, for the first time in 30 years, a browser is regularly CRASHING with just 5-6 open tabs.

I'm running a decent machine - 16G RAM; Researched and ran all the hacks (e.g., delete extensions, task mgr, turn off AI, turn off background crap, etc)....

A few posts in here say "Change Your Habits" --- Reading List or Bookmarks.

--- I'm open to the concept of the "Reading List" feature they added -- however, there is no keyboard shortcut. Adding to a "reading list" takes 5-10 seconds of navigating with a cursor and 2-3 clicks.

--- Bookmarks are for pages regularly visited; Everyone has at least 10-20 bookmarks already locked in. Adding a dozen bookmarks via the keyboard shortcut creates a long jumbled mess -- a poor UX and adds time to navigate, open the single page, read and then go back, navigate and delete the page(s).

To keep using Chrome essentially means they (and you) are telling me to ADD TIME and MENTAL WORK.

Why should I do that? Brave, Firefox and Opera allows my preferred, proven workflow?

---------
EPIPHANY - I'm Old and Not the Target User

It dawned on me -- 30 years of internet... At 48, I'm older than half the population.

I am NOT Google's target market -- and my workflow is NOT what they want to support.

Google's financial incentives and development priorities clearly changed.

2005 to 2015 -- Delivering the *best* search results and winning the browser wars was critical to their consumer market share capture strategy.

Today, Google SEARCH prioritize targeted advertising, information shaping and data harvesting over delivering accurate results for optimal user experience.

Chrome's bloat reflects a the same strategy shift -- Google is counting on the ecosystem lock-in effect and the frictionless benefits of Android, Gmail, Drive, Google Logins, etc to keep people on Chrome.

Shape user behavior to interact with Gemini/AI instead of engaging sources directly.

Google doesn't want users to go directly to any website.

They want us to use Gemini, Google Assistant or whatever.

Want to vacation in Florida? Want to buy a new bicycle? Want to research your business ideas?

They don't want you going to 10 different websites with information hosted/owned by other companies.

Instead, interact directly with Google Gemini. Even better if they can make you feel like the AI truly *knows* your preferences and needs. Even better if you just SPEAK it into your Android device.

You don't need to go to the Delta or Hilton websites. Google will have your information, book it for you, etc.

That's their long-game --- be the "visa" or the middle man on *all* of your life accessed and executed through via the internet. Which, today, is the majority of our lives.

The sales pitch is attractive until you realize that you're trusting a corporation to literally shape your world ---- and are they really going to be doing it for your best interests and benefit?

Or just like how Search has eroded, isn't it likely that they'll shape your world for their profit?

None of this is new. I'm not Mr. conspiracy sounding alarms.

Google Chrome's constant crashing converted my abstract awareness of their business model into a tangible, physical direct experience.

Chrome isn't the product. Our data and attention isn't even the product anymore.

The product is shaping and monetizing behavior.

After using Chrome for 15 years, (with Brave on the side for Youtube) - I'm out....

All I want is a browser with the primary goal of accessing information stored elsewhere.

That's not Chrome anymore - so Brave, Mozilla and/or Opera it is.

Any other suggestions?

**********

This made me think back to the early days of the Internet

From 93 through ~2010, I probably changed browsers at least every 2 years.... And we'd talk about it with our fellow office workers. Our heads were popping all over the cubicles when Opera first came out.

Perhaps this rant burst forth bc I need to talk to someone about my browser change, it's been 15 years and now there's no office anymore.

Any other Elderly Internet folks like me out there?

What do y'all think?

****

PS - Google isn't alone in their strategy and it's resulting software bloat.

MSFT recently updated Notepad with a crapton of features, including AI.

So Dave Plummer built a 3KB version of Notepad that does what it's supposed to do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG91c7xsNMc&t=32s

My first trip to the marine wood Mecca did not disappoint.

The team is great.

Extremely knowledgeable and helpful.

They are not interested in just selling you the wood.

They went deep with me on my project, viewed pics and guided me on solid next steps

They could’ve just sold me $500 in teak — but after their guidance and advice, I will be doing a little more prep work to ensure the ultimate success of the project — which may also mean that they sell less $$ on this project.

After over 100 years in business, looks like they adhere to the traditional model for success — customer loyalty.

Even if you can’t visit, I would absolutely trust them to work over the phone and ship.

I wish I had known about them before my first project 3 years ago — so wanted to share (www.boulterplywood.com)

Large variety of exotic hardwoods as well.

Happy 4th of July everyone — good luck with all your projects this weekend.

Twin Peaks, opened in 2012, closed with no notice.

https://williamsonsource.com/twin-peaks-in-franklin-closes/

This little game forced me to learn positions in basketball.

That and reroll strategy…

Since I got roasted for not understanding a used impeller photo question was a sarcastic joke — here’s one of the impellers I pulled during my first spring maintenance on my dual CATs.

This was 6 months and ~200 miles after purchase.

No wonder why she ran a little hot….

10 km offshore from Shanghai

Planned capacity = 24 megawatts (20k households)

The small size does not discount the significance — it’s a successful POC demonstrating real-world feasibility of the location.

Using seawater for cooling reduces electricity consumption by 22.8 percent, eliminates freshwater use entirely and cuts land use by more than 90 percent.

The undersea location has efficiency, environmental and social benefits.

When real environmental, public resource and quality-of-life concerns drive protests against data centers in Utah, rural Michigan, etc — many here responded dismissively saying things like:

- Where else are we going to put them?

- Better Utah with less people…

This demonstrates a viable alternative — superior as a sustainable long term strategy — especially considering the U.S. vast coastal regions, naval capabilities and the potential advantage further north in Alaska or, dare I say, Greenland.

Look forward to the discussion here

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202606/01/WS6a1cde48a310d6866eb4bb64.html

In the fore bilge area of my 36’ 1984 Egg Harbor

The sole electrical cord running to it was cut by previous owner

There’s nothing referenced in the manual that I can find

My Internet searches failed.

My dad and a couple other guys at the marina also have no ideas.

Any insights or guesses here?