Open for Business

Dennis E. Powell: "You might have heard of an article published [...] late last week in which after extensive research and what I guess they’d call shoe-leather detective work they identified the famous British stencil-graffiti artist known as 'Banksy.'" ofb.biz/sa1404

"If you’ve been conscious at all the last 10 years or so, it’s been pretty tough in politics. Many people think they cannot have a conversation across the political aisle, so to speak, without harming or ending friendships, and even family relationships." ofb.biz/sa1403

Powell: "It was among the most welcome phone calls I've ever made. I was calling to tell Frontier or Verizon or whatever it is they currently call themselves that after 21 years ... I was done with what in my estimation is the worst phone company ever." ofb.biz/sa1402

Two AI-related events over the past week — the Chardet licensing controversy and legendary computer scientist Don Knuth's shock over AI helping discover a theorem for a problem he'd not yet solved — demand a reckoning: precisely how creative is AI? reviews.ofb.biz/sa1401

Dennis E. Powell writes about an ugly scam: "I'm obligated to detail how I fell for a swindle so obvious that there's no escaping the fact that my mind must have got disengaged for a while." ofb.biz/sa1400

Remember when everyone on the Right was rightly upset at the government censoring opinions it found distasteful? Somehow that seems forgotten in the other war of this weekend between @AnthropicAI and @DeptofWar @SecWar. #AI reviews.ofb.biz/sa1399

"After experimentation I've come to the conclusion that @Starlink is actually *underselling* how good its system is. As to its price . . . that seems oddly fluid, and not in a good way." ofb.biz/sa1398

.@trbutler writes, “A few hours away from me you can visit Silver Dollar City [...] where craftspeople blow glass and mill flour 19th-century style. It’s charming and memorable. It’s also not the way I buy glassware or food normally.” How does #AI relate? ofb.biz/sa1397

The writer Ernest Hemingway lived alongside the avatar of the same, through some of the most consequential times in history. @JasonKettinger reflects on this #AshWednesday. ofb.biz/sa1395

.@trbutler on @Budweiser's #SuperBowl triumph amid AI backlash: "I get it: it’s beautifully filmed and feels good when so much is angry, ugly or both. It is also real to a surprising degree [...] filmed with cameras, not constructed with computers." ofb.biz/sa1393

.@JasonKettinger: "The gala which precedes the tournament is not a ball, but exhibition tennis, which featured legends Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter, and 2022 women’s champion Ashleigh Barty..." ofb.biz/sa1391

Dennis E. Powell writes muses amidst the cold, "I won't be able to say for sure until things get warmer, if they ever do. Hope is found in it always having gotten warmer before. But we live in strange and troubling times." ofb.biz/sa1392

My latest @OFBMag: “The political forces tell us we must choose. Either the ‘ICEstapo’ executed a heroic nurse this weekend […] or ICE is the most elite law enforcement agency ever assembled and anyone who dies had it coming...” ofb.biz/sa1389

Dennis E. Powell reflects on the year that already feels long: ”Are you happy with 2026, now that the first month is almost half over? Me neither.” #Venezuela #Greenland #ICE #DonaldTrump #JDVance #MarcoRubio ofb.biz/sa1386

Wow, @Grokipedia’s “mind” added an entry for @ofbmag. It has some shortcomings (it doesn’t focus enough on Dennis E. Powell and @JasonKettinger’s work), but it’s leagues better than the semi-abadoned Wikipedia page I always hope someone will update. grokipedia.com/page/open_for_…

Mike Tomlin, head coach of the venerable Pittsburgh Steelers for the last 19 years, has resigned. He coached them to a Super Bowl championship after the 2008 season, and represented the AFC in the Super Bowl after the 2010 season. ofb.biz/sa1385

"Simba-sama made it to 2026, but just barely. It matters. His real name was just Simba, but he was wise, so it made sense to add 'sama,' an honorific signifying high rank and wisdom, to that name." ofb.biz/sa1384

"Hook, the absolutely star-studded film directed by Stephen Spielberg, has received mixed reviews from critics since its release in 1991. I still can’t figure out why." ofb.biz/sa1383

“Just over a year ago I got my Unicomp Model M Mini, a newly manufactured version of what is in my estimation the best computer keyboard ever […] I wrote a bit about it at the time. It is the only keyboard I have used since then. It has been a delight.” ofb.biz/sa1382

“Ahead of Christmas, I heard a lot of ads for a company that digitizes old photos and videos [to keep them secure],” @trbutler writes. But security is an elusive thing with data and with life. ofb.biz/sa1381 #TwelveDaysOfChristmas #NewYear2026 #Christianity #Jesus