As of this moment, my website is being hosted on a new service provider. It has taken me ten days to fully implement the migration, delayed primarily by the release and transfer of my domain name by my previous provider. For most websites, such a migration is not a big deal. Mine, with a twenty-year repository of daily photos, however, is considered quite large (40GB). Moving files of this size proved more than most common tools could handle and often triggered bandwidth or time-out limits on the hosting server. It is difficult to convey the frustration of having a transfer or backup fail after 20 hours of operation, with no clues as to why. I am a hardware engineer by training, and my software skills are modest at best. Suffice it to say that I’m not very comfortable editing PHP files, searching for and replacing old URLs with new ones in my SQL database, or re-indexing the Permalinks on my site. AI proved a helpful guide, but also offered some very questionable recommendations. I hope and trust that I will never have to undertake such a migration ever again.

Kyle shared this photo and map of his running group/route after completing their morning workout. Not recorded was the temperature or wind chill, which was brutally cold. We are informed that he followed the run with a long soak in the hot tub at his gym.

With early morning temperatures dipping into negative numbers, it was a good day to spend indoors. I made use of the time to sort out all of the computer and phone tech issues in the house. This involved updating and optimizing five Apple computers, two of which I had to erase and reinstall the operating system, and two iPhones. I easily spent 8 hours involved with the work, with 80% of the time spent waiting for downloads or reboots to complete. Jeanine was the major beneficiary of the effort as she got a new desktop computer with a 34″ ultra-wide, curved screen display for her office.

In the evening, we joined another couple for a movie night to see Hamnet. If you are looking for a feel-good flick, this is not it. If you are in the mood for an emotional rollercoaster about love, loss, and redemption, then this is your ticket, a really well-crafted story with exceptional acting.

I spent the better part of the day setting up and migrating data to a new Mac Studio computer. My laptop has all but run out of its 4TB of storage, and I prefer to keep my entire photo collection on an internal drive. The new computer is configured with 8TB, which should last for some time. My laptop will now be used exclusively for consulting work and travel.

Earlier in the week, I experimented with some photo-to-sketch rendering software and was amazed by the results. It helps to start with a high-quality photo.

Note to Maya: I need to take an updated professional headshot of you.

When I learned that our good friends who live down the street would be returning from the airport at 1 AM, I joined a neighbor to clear the snow from their driveway. I worked the driveway with my snowblower while she handled the walkway with a shovel. Having cleared our own driveway in four passes over two days, this was my first encounter with the full accumulation of the last several days. It pushed my battery-powered machine to the max and left me feeling no need for a trip to the gym.

Strenuous physical activity has a way of motivating my kidney stones to depart their temporary residence in my bladder. This morning, I produced the seven dwarfs pictured above, ranging in size from 1mm to 5.5mm. Passing kidney stones is no fun, but I would much rather have them outside my body than growing larger inside.

Speaking of snow clearing, the last pass on our driveway was done by Jeanine, who wanted to learn how to operate the snowblower. She did a very good job.

Pictured above is the first piece of furniture I ever made, admittedly a rather ambitious project. I was guided by an article and plans I found in Fine Woodworking magazine. During the ensuing 25 years, I would be hard-pressed to single out anything quite so challenging to build.

Last week, my brother sent me the image below of a nearly identical table built by the father of professional photographer Chris Gotz (https://www.chrisgotzphotography.com/). Either he was the author of the article in Fine Woodworking or was similarly inspired by it. My brother made this connection when he purchased some used turning tools from him. What are the odds? His son’s photographs are phenomenal, and I encourage you to visit his website. It appears that we have travelled to virtually all of the same locations in search of natural beauty. As I looked at his photographs, I felt an unexplainable connection to a person whom I had never met. I believe we are kindred spirits and hope to one day make his acquaintance.

We woke up this morning to 14″ of fresh snow with two more expected this afternoon. The ruler placed in the snow mound on our outdoor bistro table indicates 18″, but there was already a 2″ base before this latest storm started. Clearing all the snow provided a great workout. Digging out both of the boys’ cars proved the most time-consuming part of the job.

Kyle, Nico, and Teddy sheltered in place with us this evening as snow fell throughout the day and night. We watched the Patriots beat Denver for a ticket to the Super Bowl. It is the first football game I have watched all season, and it was quite boring. By contrast, the later game between the Seahawks and Rams was very exciting.

When I was in high school, I did math on a slide ruler and personal computers did not exist yet. The conduit of design communication was an engineering drawing, commonly prepared on a drafting table with pen and ink on velum. Pictured above is the set of 12 pens of various sizes that I used for such drawings. When I came across them today while organizing some drawers in my shop, I was immediately transported to my 11th-grade drafting class, where I have fond memories of perfecting my drawing technique, a skill that still serves me well today.

I have decided to migrate my website to a new hosting service provider. The one I am currently using has been the source of untold technical aggravation over the last 20 years. I am hoping that the transition will go smoothly, but I think it is more likely that it will not.

I would appreciate your patience if I am unable to make new posts for a period of time or if the site becomes temporarily unreachable. In the words of Arnold, “I’ll be back!”

Volunteering as the aerial photographer for our local newspaper, The Concord Bridge, has been very satisfying. Today, my assignment included three locations in town: the Middle School, the West Concord Train Depot, and an area known as Heywood Meadow. Between travel, flying, and post-processing, this job consumes less than 2 hours per week, allowing me plenty of time for my paid consulting work, travel, and hobbies. Increasingly, I have been thinking about other ways I can volunteer, something I have done throughout my life.

The first time I volunteered, I was in my early twenties. It was for the Special Olympics as a Hugger, possibly the best job ever, even if it has likely been retired in light of modern sensibilities. I would hug athletes of all ages and abilities as they finished their events. I wish I had saved my official shirt that had the word HUGGER printed on the front and back. Next, I did construction with Habitat for Humanity. Although I love building things, I enjoyed this less because I did not like taking direction from people who knew less about what they were asking me to do than I did. I moved on to volunteering as a soccer coach, first for an over-18 women’s team (6 years), and then for the youth soccer teams for all three kids.

On the professional front, I was a mentor for the MIT Gordon Engineering Leadership program and Vice Chairman of the Video Electronics Standards Association.

Most of my recent volunteering has been centered on photography for non-profits, including Open Table, the Bionic Project, and the American Amputee Soccer Association, where I also served on the Board of Directors.

Hopefully, readers of this blog will have recognized yesterday’s photograph as artificially generated. I provided the photo above and a two-sentence description of the scene I wanted. Three minutes later, I had “created” Moto Maya.

We now live in an era when virtually anyone can create a photorealistic image, limited only by their imagination. Although it takes more processing power and time, the same is true for audio and video. As with all new tools and technologies, this will have beneficial applications. My fear, however, is that the range of negative and unintended consequences is far more consequential and potentially destabilizing to society.

• Non-Consensual Imagery: There has been a massive surge in AI-generated child sexual abuse material and “deepfake” pornography, causing devastating psychological trauma, dehumanization, and reputational damage to victims.
• Democratic Instability: Hyper-realistic synthetic media are used in sophisticated disinformation campaigns to manipulate voter behavior, incite social unrest, and erode public trust in elections and objective truth.
• Financial Fraud: Cybercriminals employ AI video and voice cloning for “vishing,” romance scams, and elaborate corporate fraud, such as impersonating executives to authorize illicit payments.
• Institutional Crises: The “liar’s dividend” allows bad actors to dismiss genuine evidence of misconduct as fake, while fake clinical data and AI-generated doctors promote dangerous medical scams.
• Harassment and Surveillance: Advanced tools enable at-scale harassment, stalking, and “nudifying” individuals without consent, often disproportionately targeting women and minors.
• Economic and Legal Risks: The proliferation of synthetic content threatens to displace human creative labor, while widespread copyright infringement in AI training data has sparked extensive litigation.
• Psychological Impacts: Continuous exposure to indistinguishable fakes can lead to chronic distrust in media and a “crisis of knowing,” where individuals can no longer rely on visual evidence. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words; now, ten words can create an image for which no words can remedy the harm.

Every time I look at this image of Maya, I am bothered by the fact that she is not wearing a helmet. Riding a motorcycle is dangerous enough. Doing so on a winding road next to a sheer cliff only adds to the risk. Failure to wear a helmet is where we cross the boundary into recklessness and questionable intelligence. On a positive note, the leather suit and gloves are a good choice.

UPDATE: Make sure to tune in tomorrow for an explanation of this image.

I woke up to the first proper snow of the winter. Overnight, we received four inches, adding to the two inches that fell earlier in the week. After clearing the driveway, I ventured out for a second day of photography. Second only to fall foliage, snowscapes are one of my favorite things to shoot.

Essentially by accident, I may have discovered a pleasing photographic perspective on downtown Concord. I managed to capture three churches, two cemetaries, the town flagpole and rotary, the post office, and several of the quaint shops and restaurants that make up the place.

Jeanine and Lauren got an early start on their drive to Burlington, VT, where they will spend the next couple of days visiting with their sister. Closer to home, we had a dusting of snow that was enough to get me out of the house for some photography. I managed a blurry shot of a Bald Eagle that was perched right in front of the house; he flew off before I could get my camera properly stabilized, and I took advantage of the nice reflections off the river to get a winter scene of the house with my drone.

In the evening, I attended a winter solstice party at our neighbors’ just up the street. It was originally scheduled for the celestially correct night last December, but had to be postponed due to the illness of one of the hosts. The evening included an outdoor fire lighting ceremony and sing-along. I retreated to the back of the circle, performing a thoughtful public service by ensuring my “singing” remained a strictly personal experience.

My recent auto-upgrade to the Tahoe operating system left my MacBook seriously compromised and me supremely irritated. I spent several hours backing up my nearly full 4TB disk, doing a full reset and clean install, followed by restoring all my files and applications. It is not the way I like to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Much more to my liking was a visit to Maya’s new apartment located close to Inman Square in Cambridge with her Aunt Lauren, Jeanine, and Kyle. Later, we walked to a nearby Portuguese restaurant where we enjoyed a delightful meal together.

To support our church, Jeanine donated her cookbook and dinner for six as an auction item. She partnered with one of our neighbors, who provided the wine and served as sommelier. The winning bid was for $1000, and after the auction ended, a matching bid was made for a second dinner. Jeanine teamed up with her sister, Lauren, to create a veritable feast.

• Apéritif and Appetizers
  • Brie Bites with Tart Cherry and Pistachio
  • Roasted Vegetables and Pesto Dip
  • Warmed Nuts and Olives
• First Course
  • Sizzling Rice Soup
• Second Course
  • Brisket & Mushroom Bourguignon
  • Roasted Crisp Potatoes
  • Broccolini
• Salad Course
  • Arugula, Beet, Orange, and Fennel
• Cheese & Fruit Course
  • Assorted Cheeses, Sliced Apples, Grapes, and French Bread
• Dessert
  • Swedish Almond Torte
  • Chocolates

I kept busy as a server, dishwasher, kitchen cleaner, and salad garnisher. These jobs kept me so occupied that I was unable to photograph all of the wonderful dishes, which is a shame because some of the presentations were just as exquisite as the food.

Today, I upgraded my MacBook to Tahoe, the latest Apple operating system. To say that it has been a disaster would be an understatement. It has left my computer in a near-unusable state. I spent the bulk of the day trying to debug the various issues. I have made some progress, but many apps are still working oddly or locking up intermittently, and opening certain files can take tens of minutes.

To downgrade to the previous operating system, I will need to completely erase my hard disk, which will require a full backup of my photos, videos, and data. Given how slow my computer is working, this could take days, if not weeks. I ordered a 4TB drive, which is expected to arrive on Saturday for this purpose.

During the past year, I’ve been volunteering for The Concord Bridge, our local newspaper, using my drone to capture aerial photographs on assignment. On my latest outing, I was approached by a security officer contracted to patrol the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord — the state’s oldest men’s prison, which officially closed on June 30, 2024.

The officer politely inquired about my activities, and I politely explained that I was working on an assignment for the local paper. We enjoyed a brief and civil discussion about airspace, property lines, and who actually controls what. In the end, he requested that I leave the parking lot, and I complied, relocating to a nearby public area where I relaunched and completed my photos, careful to stay well outside the prison boundaries.

Afterward, it occurred to me that it might be wise to obtain some form of press credential to confirm the purpose of my flights. I made my request to the Editor-in-Chief, who promptly mailed me a bona fide press pass — which arrived today. I plan to wear it with pride and, hopefully, with just enough authority to spare me from further impromptu civics lessons in parking lots.

On the home front, Jeanine’s sister Lauren flew in from Indianapolis and will be visiting for the next several days. I picked her up at the airport and returned home just in time to meet up with Jeanine, who gave her the grand tour, including a stop at the exercise bar I recently installed for her.

For several days now, we have been visited by a flock of Common Merganser ducks. They often fly very close to the water, and watching them do a water landing is very entertaining, something I have yet to get a picture of. Also hanging out in the neighborhood was a very well-nourished beaver and a red-tailed hawk on the look out for lunch.

Warmer temperatures have caused the frozen Sudbury River in front of our house to begin thawing from the middle out. As the sun was setting this evening, it made for an interesting linear reflection strip. We are expected to enjoy a few more days of warm weather before the mercury is expected to plummet next week.

I took a break from working in my shop to book travel for my trip to Bolivia in March. I had been considering including an excursion to Guyana’s Kaieteur Falls on the adventure, but threats of further military action in nearby Venezuela have led me to drop it from the plan out of an abundance of caution. As it stands, I will be flying through Bogota, Colombia, which may be equally risky.

While Maya was visiting over the Christmas break, she knitted a pair of booties for a colleague who was expecting a child. That baby arrived on Christmas Eve, and today Maya shared this photo of the new arrival in his cozy footwear.

I made the initial version of the pictured pocket hole drilling jig 25 years ago. Ten years ago, I added significant upgrades. Today, I replaced a component that I created on a Markforged 3D printer with one printed on a Formlabs printer. It is the grey block, which is a bracket to support the pneumatic cylinder that clamps a workpiece into the jig when a foot pedal is pressed. Although the original bracket worked adequately, it flexed more than I liked. The new part, printed with a very rigid resin, doesn’t budge at all.

Having completed the two drawers for my new workbench earlier in the week, I spent the afternoon placing layout and measurement tools in the top one. Most of my time was spent organizing the tools to maximize space utilization and placing my most frequently used ones front and center. This photo represents only 2/3 of the drawer width, so I will have to give some thought to what will fill the remaining third. Each tool has a “nest”, so they will not move around

This morning, we had visits from both a red fox and a coyote, both likely on the prowl for a mate. Red foxes are generally monogamous, often forming long-term pairs, though males may seek extra mates once the primary female’s brief heat ends. Courtship starts in winter and includes hunting together, chasing, and playful interactions.​ The dominant male mates with the dominant vixen; pair bonds can last for life, but high mortality means many breeding pairs are newly formed each year.​ After mating, the vixen uses a den system; gestation is about 49–58 days, with typically one litter of 4–6 kits per year.​ Males often provision the female while she is confined to the den, then both parents may help feed and protect the young as they grow.​ In areas with abundant resources, one male may mate with multiple females, and subordinate females may share the territory and sometimes help rear kits.​

Coyotes are strongly monogamous, with alpha pairs usually staying together for life and forming the core of a territorial family group. Breeding occurs once per year, mainly mid‑January to mid‑February, because females are monestrous and fertile only during a short, roughly 10‑day estrus.​ Courtship includes play‑wrestling, chasing, grooming, and food sharing, which reinforce the pair‑bond before and during mating. Gestation lasts about 60–65 days, with pups born in spring; the pair chooses or excavates a den mainly for this season, otherwise living and resting above ground.​ The male commonly provisions the pregnant and nursing female, and later the pups; older offspring or pack members may also help rear the litter.​

Mild temperature and minimal wind made for good conditions to burn off our Christmas tree, which took all of ten minutes. Once I had the fire started, I added wood scraps from the shop and broken-down palettes to create a lovely spire.

I completed two drawers for my new workbench today. They are by far the largest I have ever built, easily four times larger than anything to date. This brings my drawer construction total for the house to 122. I have grown weary of building drawers, and I sincerely hope these are my last, although history suggests not. The drawers are shallow, and one will be primarily used for layout and marking tools while the other will contain scrapers, planes, and chisels. Frequently used tools will be placed at the front of the drawer, with less frequently used ones at the back. The heavy-duty, full-extension drawer slides are scheduled to arrive on Friday, and I plan to install them this weekend.

The vise for my new assembly table arrived today, and I made quick work of installing it. Designed for a 3-1/2″ benchtop, I had to glue and screw a 2″ spacer to my 1-1/2″ top to make up the difference. I also notched one of the table legs to create clearance for the vise’s sliding rails. Alternatively, I could have located the legs on this end of the table further from the edge, but I preferred this approach to minimize the tabletop overhang and to maximize the width of the drawers yet to be installed.

Pictured in the foreground of this aerial photo is the New England Baptist Hospital. Jeanine had an MRI there this afternoon and requested that I drive her to the appointment. I brought my drone with me to help pass the time, and if not for the positively frigid temperatures, I would have spent more time flying.

Not satisfied with the structural properties of this year’s Christmas popovers, Jeanine enlisted Maya’s help to try new recipe refinements and variations in cooking temperature and time. The pair spent hours in the effort and finally produced what I, an official taste tester, deem to be the best popovers ever. Once the optimal outcome was achieved, Maya documented every aspect of the formulation and process. Regretably, she rejected my suggestion to name these creations – Momayas, a concatenation of “mom” and “Maya.”

After recent street work, downtown Concord’s pedestrian crosswalks got a bright new coat of paint. I like the bold color, but I question the need for a trapezoidal outline to define a “T” shaped intersection. Try as I might, I have yet to find an aerial perspective that “captures” the essence of our downtown area. Perhaps that is what makes it so quaint.

It has been two years since I last made improvements to my shop, a process I call shoptimization. Over the last few days, I have completed another round triggered by my desire for a larger assembly bench. The new bench is 72″ x 39″ compared to my previous bench which was 60″ x 30″. The top and legs are made of solid oak, and the bottom shelf has poplar sides and a Baltic birch surface. I have yet to complete two massive full-extension drawers (53″ x 30″ x 3-1/2″) that will sit immediately under the top. The legs and drawers will be set back from the edge by 3-1/2″ to allow for clamping, and I will add a 10-1/2″ vise to the back left corner. The legs are fitted with ratcheting levelers that double as mobility casters.

Because of the increased bench width, I decided to relocate my tool chest from the “clamp wall” to the northeast corner, reclaiming 20 inches of clearance for the back side aisle. I added two low-profile shelving units (made from remnants of a kitchen island we replaced while living in Indianapolis). The one on the left will be used to store sanding and pneumatic nailing consumables. The one on the right will be used for frequently used hand tools and hex shank bits for my cordless drivers. Finally, I will relocate all of my layout and measurement tools from the tool chest to the bench drawers, making them immediately accessible.