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For many years in addition to my regular keyboard, I’ve used an additional keyboard for work. These are programmable keys that with one press can trigger a series of keystrokes. The keystrokes could be specific to a program, a password, credit card numbers or something like that. They are awesome when it comes to not having to type the same things over and over. They’re cheap at about $25 and not too technical for normal people to use. See image below.

There are two problems with these. One is security. The software and keyboard come from China and could phone home with private info like saved passwords. The other is that they’re physical. If I’m traveling, or in another office, to use one, I’d have to have one there or bring it with me.

Enter artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of claude.ai. I asked Claude (AI) if it was possible to create a virtual macro keyboard on my phone that wirelessly connects to my computer. Claude said yes and seemed almost as excited as I was to see this come to fruition.

With the help of AI, I wrote a program that turns my phone into into a virtual Bluetooth keyboard that goes with me on my phone. It is much more customizable and goes with me and the macros are encrypted and protected with my biometric fingerprint. I can add as many keypads as I want. So, one for Photoshop, one for passwords, one for Word, etc. I’m not suggesting this was super easy but it wasn’t even possible for me without the help of AI. Here are two screen shots. One is the rudimentary test version and the second is 4 days later which is pretty much finished.

For the last 4 days I’ve been dialoging with Claude (AI)

I’ve been updating things, downloading the latest version, installing it, running it and testing it — dozens and dozens of times. I printed the dialog and it consumed over 50 pages. But the results are spectacular! All this to replace a $25 keyboard, yes, and get an educattion (that’s a joke) on using software beyond Claude that downloads programs to a phone. I can’t do it justice to talk about all the features but I did want to post some screen shots and basic info.

In “Edit Mode” you can change and rearrange the buttons

It’s pretty straight forward. Add the text that will be transmitted to the computer. The beige keys are special keys that are unique to a desktop so you can include combinations like “[Alt+F]o” for “Alt+File Open” to open a file.

The toggle switch changes some keys to black. Rather than acting as a key inside the macro, they act as navigation keys to move the cursor around with the arrow keys or allow you to delete the text to the right of the cursor (something you can’t do on a phone).

The program allows for multiple key pads and each pad can have a different layout. For example here’s 1×8. Other options include 3×3, 3×4 and 3×6.

Key pads can be renamed and modified on the fly.

Key pads can even be password and biometrically protected. All data is encrypted when saved so the data cannot be harvested if you lose your phone. I can’t show you the protected screen as screen captures are not allowed on protected screens. So, here’s the unlock button. Very exciting.

The fly out menu allows access to various features.

The Settings dialog is where you can customize the app a bit.

You can backup and restore your data. This allows you to move all your settings to a new phone. The data when backed up is encrypted with a password so your secret keystrokes remain secret.

Help screen pretty much written by AI per my instructions.

This my vanity plate. Showing off the icon that is used on the phone.

it’s easy and accurate to talk to our phones and have it translate that into text. Now I can talk to my phone and have it send that text to my computer screen as if I typed it.

I’m not a fast reader yet I have a lot of material that I want to read each day. So, for years I’ve used a great commercial program called TextAloud. I simply highlight any text on my computer whether in a browser, word processor, PDF file, etc. and TextAloud reads is to me at 250 or more words per minute. This allows me to plow through the news really fast. Over the years, I wanted features that this program just doesn’t have.

Enter Artificial Intelligence. I set out to create my own screen reader intuitively named, “Text-To-Speech”.

This project took 5 days. Similar to the above, highlight text, hit a hotkey, and it’s read to me. Other hotkeys do the following:

• Stop Reading
• Pause/Resume Reading
• Skip a sentence or paragraph
• Speed Up
• Speed Down
• Quit

Within the program I can changed to a limited number for free voices and modify the speed, pitch and other characteristics.

One key feature is that I need to be able to modify the pronunciation of word that the voice reader doesn’t get right. So, I have a pronunciation dictionary.

That’s the whole program in a nutshell. I then did a screen grab of a website and had AI mimic some of the design features.

Just follow your wicked, unclean, evil, deceitful, blind, unjustified, fallen, dead, hostile, unbelieving, impure, defiled, detestable, disobedient, worthless heart.

Without Christ, you have a terminal heart condition.

(Gen 6:5; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 5:14-19; Isaiah 65:12; Jerimiah 13:23; Jerimiah 17:9; John 14:17; Romans 14:17-18; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12; Romans 14:9; Romans 8:7; Titus 1:15-16)

I’ve been assembling these verses for some time. All my life I’ve heard people incorrectly say that they are born good and that their heart will lead them Christ or to heaven (or some other phrase written on a refrigerator magnet). This is clearly not the heart that is described in the bible. The whole premise that we want to do good goes against what the Bible teaches. We are enemies of God, born in sin with hell as our destiny, but the miracle of God is that while we were yet sinners He died to set us free from that sin. Faith in the work of Jesus Christ is the key to salvation but it doesn’t come from our heart, it too is a gift from God. Without faith, nobody would repent and turn to Christ and be saved.

My mom passed and I was give her photographs to scan for my sibs.

I have a slide scannner I bought years ago but never used. I’m still waiting for a boring winter day when scanning slides is more attractive than cleaning the cat box. I digress.

The solution I’ve found is a Canon imageFORMULA RS40 Photo and Document Scanner. I thought it was going to be nice to scan pictures with the auto feeder. This thing is so much more than that. First of all, it will take anything from a wallet to an 8×10. And you can feed it different sized photos at the same time.

If you can stack them up, it will scan them. The biggest challenge was configuring it for black and white or color and then where to put the output files. Once this is done you basically have a button that you press for the type of photos you’re going to scan. The process goes like this.

Drop in a stack of pictures and scan them.

I’m scanning front and back at the same time to pick up on any info on the back of pictures (mostly dates and people’s names) and I end up with two images. Here’s where the cool stuff happens. When scanning completes, you are presented with a batch of images for review. Almost no images are cockeyed. The scanner straightens them although you may have to rotate them to be right side up.

You rarely have to crop anything to the size of the paper because the scanner uses magic to size the image to the size of the paper of that specific photo. Using simple point and click tools, you can rotate, crop, straighten, and minor color adjustments. So far, I found these simple tools were enough. While reviewing I select all the blank backs of photos and delete them.

When finished with the batch, you then save them.

At around 1000 photos the machine started feeding slowly or failing to feed. I just wiped the rollers down with rubbing alcohol. Works like new again.

It’s easier to scan loose photos because you don’t have to pull them out of albums. I did over 200 photos of various sizes in a stack in about one hour even though all the images had a curl to them.

By the grace of God, years ago my mom pulled all her photos out of the old paper albums and put them into 3 ring binders with plastic sleeves. I’m now doing my mom’s photo albums which require me to pull them from the plastic sleeve, scan, then return them to the plastic sleeves. There are 10 images per page and it takes 5-minutes to do a page. I did 600 images in a full day of scanning.

My own photos are still in the Fotomat envelopes (showing my age) so I should be able to scan them in bunches. Now if you happen to find a slide scanner with similar automation, please let me know.

Dad’s hunting trophy

Dated 1964.

The coffee mug of my childhood

To anyone else, this is just a coffee mug. Maybe from a diner or something. We’ve all grown up with certain kitchen items that bring back our childhood. This is mug is just that. I’d guess a few thousand cups of coffee and tea have been served in this mug.

Grandma’s Bear

This bear could only be found in one place — Gramma’s house. The eyes have been replaced and the fuzz is warn off. No bear has been loved so much.

Eulogy for Mom

Delivered at St. Bridgets Catholic Parish, Mesa, AZ

For those who don’t know me, I am “#4”

On behalf of my family I want to thank each of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to be here. Thank you to the choir members and to Father and Deacon, and the volunteers.

I grew up with 5 kids in the family. 6 children were never born. Yet mom named them because she knew that they were persons from conception. They were her children and like all her children she loved them.

The 5 of us who were born are… #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5. Over the years we’ve joked about who mom loved most. Was it #1, Ken, #2, Lorraine, #3, Ray, #5 Paula or #4 myself. The answer is none of them. Spend some time with mom and it wasn’t long before you would learn who she loved the most — Jesus. She wrote songs, poems, painted pictures of and about Jesus. Mom wanted everyone to know him.

We are gathered here to celebrate mom’s life — a live well lived. The bad news is that life here on earth comes to an end, we die. The reason we die is sin. It started in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve sinned and part of the curse was death. It’s because of sin that we die. We’re all sinners.

You’re a sinner if you’ve:

• Used God’s name as a curse word.
• Stolen anything.
• Didn’t always honor your parents.
  …and this is just three of the 10 Commandments.

As a result, we’re all going to die as proof that we’re sinners. Our destiny without Jesus is Hell. Yes, I said hell in church. If you’re not happy with the show you can get your money back on the way out. While hell is not a nice word God made both heaven and hell. He’s not just a god of love, he’s also a god of Justice. The bible is clear that we who sin will spend eternity paying for our own sins that we’ve committed in this life.

That’s the bad news.

The Good News is the one mom loved the most — Jesus!

Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life. And because he was God, only he could pay for ALL our sins. Where we could only pay for our own sins, Jesus could pay for the sins of everyone.

Jesus died on the cross, and just as he rose from the dead — All who believe will rise as well.

MOM BELIEVED!

So the real celebration today is not for her short time on earth – no – we’re celebrating her life in heaven. By the gracious gift of God that was given to her, mom believed in the work of Jesus. That by his payment on the cross she could turn from her sins and trust in Jesus. So today she is writing songs, and poems, and celebrating Jesus with the six children we’ve never met. She is celebrating and worshipping the one she loved most.

If she were here, she would be praising God and telling each of us to put our faith in the one she loves most — Jesus!

Let’s pray…

Grandma Leo used to make pizzelle when I was a child. Usually around Christmas or Easter. They have a very unique anise flavor and crunch. I recently discovered that the pizzelle can be rolled and used as shells for cannoli’s. With that, I knew I needed a pizzelle grill.  But I hate single purpose kitchen utensils. Why not get one that also makes waffles. It seems impossible to find a new one that is both a waffle and a pizzelle maker. So, I turned to eBay and found what I needed, made by Rival. Tonight, it arrived and I was off to making pizzelle. Yum.

We’re not “car people.” We’re “Point A to Point B” people. It’s a simpler life than trying to impress people. 

My last car was a 2006 Chevy Trailblazer. My latest car is a 2008 Chevy Trailblazer. 

Jenny got a new(er) car. A 2015 Subaru Outback to replace her 2011 Subaru Outback. 

Here’s how it happens.

And life just goes on.

Growing up in Illinois meant that all things guns are bad. Bad people (and maybe a hunter or two) own guns. No consideration is given to self-defense of good people. So, moving to a conservative community with almost zero experience with guns has resulted in some conversations that I never thought I’d have… at church none the less. 

A gentleman approaches and says, “Do you shoot 40?” It strikes me as odd that A) someone is asking me if I shoot 40 caliber ammo in my gun; B) that I know what the term 40 even means. C) someone would think that I might the kind of person who shoots guns… at all. Who have I become?

It’s strikes me as odd that I said, “Yes, I do.”

He hands me a paper bag with something in it. It’s heavy. I shake it. It strikes me as odd that I know that sound. It’s ammo. 

He then says, “I got this as a white elephant gift at a party. I don’t shoot 40, so it’s yours.” It strikes me as odd that someone would think it socially acceptable to give ammunition as a white elephant gift.

When I got home from church, I looked in the bag. It’s strikes me as odd that I know right off that it’s not just any 40 caliber ammo, it’s hollow-point ammo that one carries for self-defense and that I know it’s quite valuable. 

This boy from Illinois is still trying to get the “Illinois” out of my very DNA. Thankfully, more and more, as I learn about such topics as this, I’m becoming more and more “Idaho.”