Recently, I've gone somewhere, done something, or seen something amazing I've shared in these pages. Here, you'll find my most recent posts, covering a wide range of topics that pique my interest. Whether you're passionate about travel, captivated by photography, enchanted by music, or intrigued by computer programming, there's likely to be something here for everyone!

Dive in and explore the latest insights, stories, and adventures that I have to share. Enjoy your stay!

GPU Shortage Causes AI Fail; Millions Riot

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 3/26/2026		Page Views: 260
Hashtags: #AI #Humor #Satire #Technology #GPU #Infrastructure
A satirical news report from the future, when the GPUs run out and civilization discovers it has forgotten how to boil water.
Estimated reading time: 5 minute(s) (1090 words)

When I read this article, I laughed so hard I thought I was going to need my own AI to call 911. Then I realized it hadn't been written yet, so I wrote it myself. The old-fashioned way. With an AI.

The Mark of the Web

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 3/26/2026		Page Views: 103
Hashtags: #Windows #Security #Development #Programming #VisualStudio #OneDrive #MOTW #MarkOfTheWeb
Windows' Zone.Identifier alternate data stream flags downloaded files as untrusted, causing endless headaches for developers.
Estimated reading time: 7 minute(s) (1442 words)

If you've ever downloaded a file in Windows and then had something mysteriously go wrong when you tried to use it, you've been bitten by the Mark of the Web. It's a hidden piece of metadata that Windows attaches to files it considers "untrusted"—and its definition of "untrusted" is far broader than you might expect.

The Fisetin Burst

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 3/25/2026		Page Views: 143
Hashtags: #Autobiography #Aging #Longevity #Supplements #Science #Senolytics #Fisetin
On periodically clearing out your zombie cells with a flavonoid and a dream from the Enterprise D.
Estimated reading time: 8 minute(s) (1779 words)

Back in the 1980s, I had a dream. I was on the Enterprise D—because of course I was—and Geordi had figured out a way to use the transporter as a medical device. The idea was elegant: beam a person out and back in, but put a filter on the rematerialization circuits that could identify cells with damaged DNA and simply not rematerialize them. The body would then fill in the gaps naturally with new, healthy cells. Instant rejuvenation. I woke up thinking, that is the best idea I have ever had, and then spent the rest of the day slightly annoyed that I did not actually have a transporter.

Dating The Universe

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 3/24/2026		Page Views: 162
Hashtags: #CosmicDistanceLadder #Parallax #CepheidVariables #Redshift #HubbleConstant #CosmicMicrowaveBackground #StellarEvolution #HertzsprungRussellDiagram #TypeIaSupernovae #AgeoftheUniverse
How astronomers measure the age of the universe and its celestial objects, from nearby stars to the edge of everything.
Estimated reading time: 8 minute(s) (1674 words)

In a previous essay, I wrote about how scientists date things on Earth—bones, pottery, volcanic ash, the occasional fossilized trilobite. But at some point the question shifts from "how old is this skull?" to "how old is that star?" And then, inevitably, "how old is everything?" The methods change completely, but the detective work is just as layered.

Aspecta

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 3/23/2026		Page Views: 113
Hashtags: #Software #Images #Conversion #Photography #Tools
A free image conversion and cropping tool with live preview, aspect ratio presets, and support for 30+ formats.

Aspecta is a free desktop image conversion and cropping tool with live preview, aspect ratio presets, and support for over 30 image formats.

Myths That Turned Out To Be True

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 3/23/2026		Page Views: 150
Hashtags: #Archaeology #History #Troy #Schliemann #KingDavid #TelDanStele #PontiusPilate #Vikings #GiantSquid #AntikytheraMechanism #GobekliTepe #AmazonWarriors #GreekFire
A tour of legends, tall tales, and scholarly eye-rolls that archaeology and science eventually proved embarrassingly real.
Estimated reading time: 11 minute(s) (2405 words)

Scholars are supposed to keep an open mind. But scholars are also human, and humans love the comfortable story—the one where we already know what's real and what isn't. So when somebody shows up waving a dusty artifact and claiming the fairy tales were true all along, the establishment tends to react the way cats react to baths: with hissing, claw marks, and eventual, grudging acceptance.

Applications

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 3/23/2026		Page Views: 4
Hashtags: #Software #VBNET #NET #OrganizicaLib #Tools #Applications #Free
Free software tools by Paul, built with .NET and OrganizicaLib.

These are free utility applications I've written and am happy to share. They're all built with VB.NET and my own OrganizicaLib library, and none of them contain ads, telemetry, or any other nonsense.

Claude Tools

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 3/22/2026		Page Views: 7
Hashtags: #Claude #AI #MCP #Automation #Windows #Screenshots #NET
Custom utilities I've built to help Claude see and interact with my Windows desktop.

When I started using Claude Code as my primary development partner, I quickly discovered that while Claude is brilliant at reading and writing code, it's essentially blind and deaf when it comes to the rest of my computer. It can't see what's on my screen, can't click a button in a desktop app, can't tell me what a dialog box says. So I set out to fix that.

If This Is An Emergency, Please Hang Up!

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 3/22/2026		Page Views: 79
Hashtags: #Humor #Reality #GetUsedToIt #Healthcare #Aging #PaulKnowsItAll
The modern medical phone system: designed by people who have never been sick.
Estimated reading time: 7 minute(s) (1604 words)

I am seventy-four years old. I take more pills than a Pez dispenser at a children's birthday party. I have doctors for things I didn't know had doctors. And I spend more time trying to make appointments than I spend at them. Not trying to make it on time—trying to get the appointment to exist. Because somewhere in the last twenty years, every medical office in America fired its receptionist and replaced her with a phone system apparently designed by someone who has never been sick, never been old, and never been in a hurry in their life.