To Feature Image or Not

I have been debating lately whether feature images are a good idea. I think they are, because I am a very visual person. Even though I often read materials without pictures, an image grabs my attention and interest first. I first discovered feature images when I started learning WordPress. The feature image option was one of the only parts of WordPress I liked, even though I struggled with the block editor. The challenge was always finding the right image. Now, with AI, I can usually get about 95 percent of the way there. I have received some pushback about using...

Free Streaming TV and Pesky Ads

If you’ve been following or reading my blog over the years (and many people probably haven’t), you know I like watching TV. I love Star Trek (all the iterations except TNG) and older shows like Green Acres, All in the Family, MASH, Bunker’s Place, Barney Miller, and British series like Doc Martin, Grantchester, and Foyle’s War, along with many others. I really enjoy how new streaming services like Amazon (MGM), Pluto TV, Tubi TV, and Plex make so much of this content available for free. One of my favorite features is when they turn a show into its own channel....

My Battle with Subscription Fatigue: Mid-Year Update

I figured I’d give an update on my ongoing battle with subscription fatigue. This is a mid-year check-in, and I might start doing these quarterly just to keep myself accountable. Over the past few months, I’ve whittled down my subscription list by several more services. Most were dropped by choice because of price or lack of use, while one disappeared on its own when my cell phone plan changed. Gone by choice are Netflix, SiriusXM, Yahoo! Mail Plus, Mail.com, Pocket, Peacock, and Protopage. The only one I lost due to my Verizon Wireless legacy plan was Google Play Pass. Why...

Old Tech, New Posts: My Most Productive Blogging Year Yet

I have so many ideas running around in my head. I've been blogging more than ever this year, and it's been my most productive stretch since I started blogging and building my own website—23 years ago. Although I don’t think I have many readers, and what I write may not be interesting enough to spark much interaction, I still enjoy doing it. I remember when ISPs gave you what seemed like generous personal website space. My first real ISP was GTE, now Verizon. Before that, I had dial-up with AOL and those limited minutes, but I mostly used it for...

Ed Zitron Might Be Right, But I’m Still Using AI Every Day

Lately, I’ve been listening to Ed Zitron and his podcast Better Offline. He’s not shy about his views: he believes that most AI companies are burning through cash and are likely to fail because they don’t have viable products. I respect his perspective. He clearly understands the tech industry and sees AI as mostly a kind of “magic trick”—a system that assembles words in ways that appear intelligent, but in reality don’t demonstrate real understanding. That’s my paraphrase, not his. As for me, I don’t claim to fully understand the business models of these companies or whether they’re financially sustainable...

Capturing a Rare Visit

Some of my cousins came by with my aunt and uncle to visit my parents. It’s not often we’re all in the same place, so I gathered everyone for a photo: my parents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. We don’t see each other much these days, and moments like this feel more meaningful with time passing. We're all getting older, maybe a little wiser too. 📸💚 I’m not in the picture since I was the one behind the camera. The only editing I did was to clean up a bit of clutter on the counter. #CherishedMoments #MemoryLane #GenerationsTogether #FamilyPhoto

What Am I Even Blogging About?

I’ve been thinking lately about what to blog about. I’ve had several ideas. The reason I’m blogging about this is because I’ve been trying to figure out what should be a blog post. I tend to think posts should be medium to long in nature. But people aren’t reading my stuff anyway, and honestly, do I really care? I’m blogging for myself, just to get my thoughts down and out of my head. I use Sharkey and Micro.blog for what I call short-burst posts and reactions to things happening in the moment. Kind of like I did back in the...

Tracing Roots Lost to War

I’ve been wanting to blog about this for a while. This will probably be a long one—and it might even turn into a series of posts around a central theme. My mother—more than me, but me too—has always wondered about her mother’s family. A Childhood Cut Short My grandmother was born in Poland in 1926, before World War II. She was just 13, almost 14, when Germany invaded. According to my mother, my grandmother was at school in Kraków when the invasion happened. She was taken away from her parents, older brother, and sister. The last time she ever saw...

My AI-Assisted Workflow for Sharing Blog Posts on Sharkey

I’ve written extensively about how AI has changed the way I interact with computers and brought my ideas to life. Let me restate something I’ve said before: I’m not a software developer. But I do have ideas—and I’ve always wished I could bring them to life. Well, thanks to AI, that’s starting to happen. I recently started a Sharkey instance for myself. Honestly, I like it better than Mastodon. But I’m not quite ready to give Mastodon up entirely, and I wanted my blog posts to automatically be shared on Sharkey. When I post to my blog on Micro.blog, it...

Happy 21st Birthday Landon!

🎉 Happy 21st Birthday to my nephew Landon! Enjoy your day, keep making us proud, and continue growing into the respectful man you're becoming. We’re all cheering you on as you step into this new chapter — you’ve got a bright future ahead! 👏 #21stBirthday #ProudUncle #FamilyMilestone

🎉Happy 57th Anniversary🎉

🎉 Happy 57th Anniversary to my Mom and Dad! ❤️ This photo was taken at Disney World last year when I took them for a few days. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort. 🏖️🏰  #Anniversary #Family #Memories #57Years #Parents

Weekend HomeLab Adventures

I woke up early today, determined to finally get Nostr up and running and join the network. After all, ChatGPT—my AI guide for most things—told me everything would be fine and estimated it would only take 30 minutes to an hour. You're probably thinking it should have taken 15–20 minutes tops. Well, I’m self-hosting everything. Little did I know what self-hosting everything really involves. Remember, I’m not a coder, network engineer, or anyone working in the computer industry. I have some basic computer knowledge and skills, but I’ve been branching out more with the help of AI. I’ve written about...

Publish an App?

I use Google’s Blogger as a backup for my main blog. I’ve had that Blogger account for over 20 years, and since it’s free and supports custom domains, I figured — why not use it for archival purposes? I used to rely on IFTTT to automate this. When I posted something on my main blog, it would trigger a webhook that sent the post to Blogger via IFTTT. It worked — most of the time. But lately, IFTTT has become unreliable. Since they use a shared API for Blogger across all users, even my modest 3 or 4 posts a...

🎓 Congratulations to My Nephew

My nephew Maxwell has graduated from high school! It’s incredible to see how much he’s grown and matured over the years. I still remember when he was little—there are posts and photos of him from those early days right here on my blog at mitchelltribe.com. I’m so proud of him and wish him all the success in the world as he steps into this new chapter. With this milestone, he now joins my oldest niece, Alexus, and my oldest nephew, Landon, as high school graduates. 🎉

Quest to Pare Subscriptions

In my continuing battle with subscription fatigue, I’ve decided to drop my SiriusXM satellite radio service — they wouldn’t match the rate I had before, so I let it go 👋. For two years, I paid just $6.98 total (taxes included). It wasn’t the top-tier plan, but it suited my needs, especially since I used it two to four times a week. That subscription ends next month. I’m also parting ways with my free Netflix access, which came bundled with a Verizon Peacock deal last year. That runs out in July, and honestly, I’m not sure I’ll pay for Netflix...

Learning Faster with AI

I’ve never been more productive with computers than I am right now. I have several projects in progress, and all of it has been made possible with the help of AI. I know AI is a hot-button issue depending on who you talk to—ranging from environmental concerns to broader ethical debates. But for me, it has made a real difference. It’s helped me get the most out of my technology, and honestly, if this had existed 10 or 15 years ago, I might have ended up in a completely different career. So, what has it helped me with? Well, I’ve...

Not a Throne, but a Cross

“Scripture Reading: Luke 19:28–48 (ESV) (Luke 19:28) And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. (Luke 19:29) When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, (Luke 19:30) saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.” (Luke 19:31) “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’”...

My Experience with MXRoute and MXGuardDog: Affordable Email Hosting Solutions

This post details my experience with MXRoute and MXGuardDog for email hosting and spam filtering. I've been using MXRoute for my email hosting since January 2025. When I started looking for a new web host, my previous host included email in its shared hosting plan, which worked well initially. However, I explored several alternatives, including Fastmail, but found it too expensive for my needs. I also considered using my paid ProtonMail account. While I could have used it for myself, it would have introduced complications for my parents, who are in their 70s and not very tech-savvy. Therefore, I began...

There’s nothing more frustrating than waking up and thinking, I’m going to do a simple task to start the day. 😤 I planned to clone my nearly full 2TB NVMe drive to a new 4TB drive. I grabbed my external drive case, connected the new drive, and launched EaseUS Clone Disk. The first 566GB copied without issue. Then, suddenly, the speed dropped to a crawl. 🐢 Around 70%, I got the dreaded blue screen of death and a reboot. After three failed attempts with the same result, I tried installing the new drive and cloning in reverse. One more blue...

Subscription Fatigue

I canceled my Paramount+ subscription on Saturday, just before the renewal day yesterday, and I’m thinking of dumping a few more. I canceled Apple TV+ a few months ago. There are TV programs I like on both, but I just can't justify it anymore. These subscriptions are like vampires, siphoning a few dollars here and there until my budget is bled dry. These little charges are starting to eat away at my budget. There have been numerous articles about how our society is turning into one big rental/subscription economy, where we don’t own anything—we just rent it. To keep track...