Dalton
@gdaltonbentley.bsky.social
Retired electronics application engineer, software design engineer, IT business owner (retired, Southwest PC Solutions), former musician and recording engineer (Dalton Bentley Music).
This Christmas, when we think about the Creator manifesting in human form (avatara) in order to help us find our way to heaven, let us pray that God will intervene to save what can be saved in the current descent into evil worldwide, leaving a world where we can live in peace, joy and fulfillment.
December 21, 2025 at 4:10 PM
This Christmas, when we think about the Creator manifesting in human form (avatara) in order to help us find our way to heaven, let us pray that God will intervene to save what can be saved in the current descent into evil worldwide, leaving a world where we can live in peace, joy and fulfillment.
Nature article "Prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in the community." Research shows a lessened risk for Alzheimer’s disease neuropathological changes for those with more than high school education. How will US care for the millions of MAGA who are incapacitated with dementia as they age?
December 19, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Nature article "Prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in the community." Research shows a lessened risk for Alzheimer’s disease neuropathological changes for those with more than high school education. How will US care for the millions of MAGA who are incapacitated with dementia as they age?
1971 I was playing a 1955 Gibson Les Paul jr. at a gig at a Holloman AFB teen club. As I recall we were playing Black Sabbath's song "Sweet Leaf," which our drummer sang. I was running an Ampeg 100 watt head and 4 12-inch speaker bottom, while the bass player ran Acoustic 371 1 18-inch folded horn.
December 18, 2025 at 9:36 PM
1971 I was playing a 1955 Gibson Les Paul jr. at a gig at a Holloman AFB teen club. As I recall we were playing Black Sabbath's song "Sweet Leaf," which our drummer sang. I was running an Ampeg 100 watt head and 4 12-inch speaker bottom, while the bass player ran Acoustic 371 1 18-inch folded horn.
Ran across a useful website (by William J. Claff, a retired software engineer who helped develop Lotus123 in 1989) for optical lens analysis, photonstophotos.net
It offers an Optical Bench where you can display parameters of lens files, complete with ray tracing:
It offers an Optical Bench where you can display parameters of lens files, complete with ray tracing:
December 15, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Ran across a useful website (by William J. Claff, a retired software engineer who helped develop Lotus123 in 1989) for optical lens analysis, photonstophotos.net
It offers an Optical Bench where you can display parameters of lens files, complete with ray tracing:
It offers an Optical Bench where you can display parameters of lens files, complete with ray tracing:
Watched the video of Ahmed al Ahmed apply a rear choke with right arm and simultaneously pull the shooter's rifle away during the Sunday Bondi Beach attacks. This fellow must have had some tactical training, as well as courage. Well done!
December 15, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Watched the video of Ahmed al Ahmed apply a rear choke with right arm and simultaneously pull the shooter's rifle away during the Sunday Bondi Beach attacks. This fellow must have had some tactical training, as well as courage. Well done!
Arwa Mahdawi took note of Trump's Fifa "peace prize" and suggested another:
"Humpty Dumpty prize for eggcellence in the American language,"
“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” [Through the Looking-Glass]
"Humpty Dumpty prize for eggcellence in the American language,"
“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” [Through the Looking-Glass]
December 9, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Arwa Mahdawi took note of Trump's Fifa "peace prize" and suggested another:
"Humpty Dumpty prize for eggcellence in the American language,"
“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” [Through the Looking-Glass]
"Humpty Dumpty prize for eggcellence in the American language,"
“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” [Through the Looking-Glass]
Appalling: "13.1% of US youths...approximately 5.4 million individuals, used generative AI for mental health advice, with
higher rates (22.2%) among those 18 years and older... 65.5% engaged at least monthly and 92.7% found the advice helpful." jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
higher rates (22.2%) among those 18 years and older... 65.5% engaged at least monthly and 92.7% found the advice helpful." jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Use of Generative AI for Mental Health Advice Among Adolescents and Young Adults
This cross-sectional study surveyed US adolescents and young adults on their use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) for mental health advice, including frequency and perceived helpfulness.
jamanetwork.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Appalling: "13.1% of US youths...approximately 5.4 million individuals, used generative AI for mental health advice, with
higher rates (22.2%) among those 18 years and older... 65.5% engaged at least monthly and 92.7% found the advice helpful." jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
higher rates (22.2%) among those 18 years and older... 65.5% engaged at least monthly and 92.7% found the advice helpful." jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
The three most evil things created by man:
1. ear buds with cables (guaranteed to tangle and catch hands to rip out of ears)
2. Walmart plastic bags (guaranteed to flop the two carry handles back into the bag before you can populate it)
3. Search autokeyword complete
1. ear buds with cables (guaranteed to tangle and catch hands to rip out of ears)
2. Walmart plastic bags (guaranteed to flop the two carry handles back into the bag before you can populate it)
3. Search autokeyword complete
December 9, 2025 at 8:37 PM
The three most evil things created by man:
1. ear buds with cables (guaranteed to tangle and catch hands to rip out of ears)
2. Walmart plastic bags (guaranteed to flop the two carry handles back into the bag before you can populate it)
3. Search autokeyword complete
1. ear buds with cables (guaranteed to tangle and catch hands to rip out of ears)
2. Walmart plastic bags (guaranteed to flop the two carry handles back into the bag before you can populate it)
3. Search autokeyword complete
Watched "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" (1962) again last night. Vera Miles was simply beautiful. Lee Marvin was menacing. Stewart was himself, as usual---and endearing. John Wayne was believable, for once.
December 8, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Watched "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" (1962) again last night. Vera Miles was simply beautiful. Lee Marvin was menacing. Stewart was himself, as usual---and endearing. John Wayne was believable, for once.
"Late last night and the night before
Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers
knocking at the door.
I want to go out;
don't know if I can,
'cause I'm so afraid
of the Tommyknocker man."
[1987 Tommyknockers, Stephen King]
Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers
knocking at the door.
I want to go out;
don't know if I can,
'cause I'm so afraid
of the Tommyknocker man."
[1987 Tommyknockers, Stephen King]
December 8, 2025 at 9:28 PM
"Late last night and the night before
Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers
knocking at the door.
I want to go out;
don't know if I can,
'cause I'm so afraid
of the Tommyknocker man."
[1987 Tommyknockers, Stephen King]
Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers
knocking at the door.
I want to go out;
don't know if I can,
'cause I'm so afraid
of the Tommyknocker man."
[1987 Tommyknockers, Stephen King]
Read interesting case history: 73-year-old man presenting with hypotension of 95/73 mm Hg, reduced left ventricular ejection fraction 30%. Severe adrenal insufficiency and depressed HPA via idiopathic hypophysitis. Resolved with hydrocortisone.
doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6324
doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6324
December 2, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Read interesting case history: 73-year-old man presenting with hypotension of 95/73 mm Hg, reduced left ventricular ejection fraction 30%. Severe adrenal insufficiency and depressed HPA via idiopathic hypophysitis. Resolved with hydrocortisone.
doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6324
doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6324
"...EW [electromagnetic warfare] ...can degrade command and control, disrupt GPS and targeting systems, intercept and spoof communications, and safeguard against similar attacks ..essential for digitalised militaries..." [RAND]
www.rand.org/pubs/comment...
www.rand.org/pubs/comment...
Electromagnetic Warfare: NATO's Blind Spot Could Decide the Next Conflict
The war in Ukraine has revealed a critical weakness in NATO's defenses: electromagnetic warfare (EW). While Russia dominates this invisible battlespace, Ukraine is learning in combat what the West neg...
www.rand.org
December 2, 2025 at 10:10 PM
"...EW [electromagnetic warfare] ...can degrade command and control, disrupt GPS and targeting systems, intercept and spoof communications, and safeguard against similar attacks ..essential for digitalised militaries..." [RAND]
www.rand.org/pubs/comment...
www.rand.org/pubs/comment...
Kept hearing Joni's 1974 hit "Help Me" this afternoon (in my head, dunno if everyone has this mental radio playing spontaneously, but been with me for years). Brought back fond memories of my first wife, who had all of Joni's albums and played them frequently.
youtu.be/edUhlRxyGOY?...
youtu.be/edUhlRxyGOY?...
Help Me
YouTube video by Joni Mitchell - Topic
youtu.be
December 2, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Kept hearing Joni's 1974 hit "Help Me" this afternoon (in my head, dunno if everyone has this mental radio playing spontaneously, but been with me for years). Brought back fond memories of my first wife, who had all of Joni's albums and played them frequently.
youtu.be/edUhlRxyGOY?...
youtu.be/edUhlRxyGOY?...
Was cold out here in the southwest desert this morning. Was absentmindedly singing scraps from "Pancho and Lefty" (the Townes Van Zandt song covered by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard in 1983)..."the desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold...and so the story ends we're told..."
November 30, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Was cold out here in the southwest desert this morning. Was absentmindedly singing scraps from "Pancho and Lefty" (the Townes Van Zandt song covered by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard in 1983)..."the desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold...and so the story ends we're told..."
I watched “2000 Meters to Andriivka” last night on PBS. The documentary used bodycam video from the Ukrainian soldiers, of actual combat as well as moments of reflection on their existential state. It was humbling to see men of such honor and duty fight and die for their country without complaint.
November 27, 2025 at 11:45 PM
I watched “2000 Meters to Andriivka” last night on PBS. The documentary used bodycam video from the Ukrainian soldiers, of actual combat as well as moments of reflection on their existential state. It was humbling to see men of such honor and duty fight and die for their country without complaint.
c. 1903 you could still get a gas-powered slide projector.
November 26, 2025 at 11:46 PM
c. 1903 you could still get a gas-powered slide projector.
Read an essay by an M.D. about dealing with the death of a patient: "I do not think that grief is a professional failing. It is a sign that we have not yet given up on seeing whole people, even as the system prizes throughput and templates."
doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6314
doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6314
November 24, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Read an essay by an M.D. about dealing with the death of a patient: "I do not think that grief is a professional failing. It is a sign that we have not yet given up on seeing whole people, even as the system prizes throughput and templates."
doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6314
doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6314
Read a 2023 article on AI in medicine: journals.lww.com/academicmedi...
"They generate responses by predicting the most likely next word —without comprehension. They are unreliable given their stochastic nature...producing seemingly confident responses that are not factual."
"They generate responses by predicting the most likely next word —without comprehension. They are unreliable given their stochastic nature...producing seemingly confident responses that are not factual."
journals.lww.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Read a 2023 article on AI in medicine: journals.lww.com/academicmedi...
"They generate responses by predicting the most likely next word —without comprehension. They are unreliable given their stochastic nature...producing seemingly confident responses that are not factual."
"They generate responses by predicting the most likely next word —without comprehension. They are unreliable given their stochastic nature...producing seemingly confident responses that are not factual."
Read "The INs and OUTs of FOCUS" by Harold M. Merklinger this morning. I was grateful to separate myself for a time from my own little sorrows (my ongoing deterioration, the natural heritage of all men...and the unexpected ongoing collapse of the Republic) in a technical treatise on depth of focus.
November 23, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Read "The INs and OUTs of FOCUS" by Harold M. Merklinger this morning. I was grateful to separate myself for a time from my own little sorrows (my ongoing deterioration, the natural heritage of all men...and the unexpected ongoing collapse of the Republic) in a technical treatise on depth of focus.
A final AI complaint (for the day): Was relieved to see someone (Deepak Varuvel Dennison) finally realized that AI-generated content has created a knowledge collapse, only to find the author twisted that into a complaint about Western bias, value of primitive viewpoints, etc.
November 18, 2025 at 5:36 PM
A final AI complaint (for the day): Was relieved to see someone (Deepak Varuvel Dennison) finally realized that AI-generated content has created a knowledge collapse, only to find the author twisted that into a complaint about Western bias, value of primitive viewpoints, etc.
Another complaint of rampant stupidity regarding AI: Read a JAMA editorial this morning suggesting AI medical tools might be licensed as practitioners---then went on to hedge and say basically that it would be unfair to hold such tools to the same licensing test standards as humans!
November 18, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Another complaint of rampant stupidity regarding AI: Read a JAMA editorial this morning suggesting AI medical tools might be licensed as practitioners---then went on to hedge and say basically that it would be unfair to hold such tools to the same licensing test standards as humans!
I admit I am a stranger in a strange land (I am hoping 3I/ATLAS is a rescue mission), but the AI stupidity is still jaw-dropping. Sundar Pichai (Google) admits to BBC that "some" of the AI investment is irrational and that AI tools are prone to errors, but continues to advocate for AI at Google.
November 18, 2025 at 5:29 PM
I admit I am a stranger in a strange land (I am hoping 3I/ATLAS is a rescue mission), but the AI stupidity is still jaw-dropping. Sundar Pichai (Google) admits to BBC that "some" of the AI investment is irrational and that AI tools are prone to errors, but continues to advocate for AI at Google.
Read a RAND study today on "how the United States reduced the federal debt burden in the three decades following World War II, increased the debt over the following 50 years, and could once again bring down the debt burden." Excellent.
www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
Strategies for Reducing the Federal Debt
The U.S. federal debt is projected to reach 156 percent of GDP by 2055. Using the RAND Budget Model, researchers identify how the United States reduced debt following World War II and demonstrate ways...
www.rand.org
November 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Read a RAND study today on "how the United States reduced the federal debt burden in the three decades following World War II, increased the debt over the following 50 years, and could once again bring down the debt burden." Excellent.
www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart [1927, Metropolis].
November 12, 2025 at 9:06 PM
The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart [1927, Metropolis].
Enjoyed Rocky Bleier documentary segment on NBC Football Night In America last night (Chargers vs Steelers). Hadn't realized how badly he was injured in Viet Nam while serving with the US Army in 1969, and the subsequent remarkable physical fight to play again with the Steelers. True character.
November 10, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Enjoyed Rocky Bleier documentary segment on NBC Football Night In America last night (Chargers vs Steelers). Hadn't realized how badly he was injured in Viet Nam while serving with the US Army in 1969, and the subsequent remarkable physical fight to play again with the Steelers. True character.