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David E. Ross

David Ross, one of the last living liberals

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Inflation

Estimates of inflation for June based on producer and consumer prices. Although inflation affecting manufacturers and service providers (PPI) declined slightly, it remains high enough to cause concern about how production costs might soon be reflected in consumer costs. August data will be available on or after 11 September. NOTE: The validity of these data is questionable, a result of President…

Problems with TV Commercials

Many advertisers on TV are wasting their money.

"Professional" Web Developers

Reviewed all table entries dated 2019 and updated them. Some appeared defunct and were deleted. A very few more recent entries were also updated.

My Garden: The Climate

Updated tables of winter chill, monthly temperatures, and rainfall. Clarified some text.

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights

Now that Thanksgiving is past, I revive my Web page about Hanukkah. The first candle is to be lighted on Sunday evening, 14 December.

Plain-Text vs HTML E-Mail: Sizes and Errors: 2025 Analysis

I last studied the amount of bloat and HTML errors in HTML-formatted E-mail in 2021. I repeated that study with new E-mail messages from September and October 2025.

Cooking with David: Desserts

Added my wife's recipe for blueberry buckle.

Review: 2023 Nissan Leaf

A new Web page where I review my electric Leaf.

Music on the Internet

Updated to relfect changes in Internet Software.

Internet Software

Replaced ClibGrab with 3D Youtube Downloader. Updated other entries.

Ending a Relationship

No, this is NOT about ending a personal relationship. This is about ending a 50-year relationship with a financial institution.

Surfing the Internet

Updated the section on newsgroups.

Financing My Retirement

Updated to reflect the liquidation of our holding in a real estate investment trust (REIT) mutual fund.

The CrowdStrike Global Disaster

The global disaster could have been avoided if only CrowdStrike adhered to some old principles.

Cooking with David: French Toast

Added a recipe for French toast casserole.

What's Blooming in My Garden Now

All year long, there is something blooming in my garden. Now that spring is here, changes happen quickly in what is blooming.

Web Browsers: Which Ones Are Most Frequently Used?

Updated from recent surveys by W3Schools, StatCounter, and a log of visits to my own Web site.

Cooking with David: Sourdough Bread

Updated the recipe for sourdough rye bread to reflect a successful procedure for getting a tall loaf with light slices. I also made some minor changes elsewhere on that Web page.

Why NOT Road Rage. Or Why Is There No Such Thing as Fast Enough.

Added another license plate number to the list of those who create road rage.

Surfing the Internet

Added a box with a critique of Twitter under Elon Musk.

Cooking with David: Eggplant

Added a recipe usinng Asian eggplant, which does not require salt.

Malaprops

I added new entries to "Malaprops From Absolution and Ablution to Mute and Moot". These changes represent only part of my accumulated but not yet documented examples of how some writers butcher the English language. I see such problems on the Web not only in amateur fiction but also in well-respected news sites. I think the problem is that too many have become far too accustomed to writing in…

Quips and Jabs

I added a comment about the Metaverse. The two latest quips are also found on my home Web page.

My Southern California Garden: The Back Yard

Added photos of my climbing 'Peace' rose and 'Study in Black' bearded iris. Made some minor corrections.

Malaprops: From Nana and Nano to You and Who

I added an entry for trail versus trial. Too often, a writer uses one when the other is meant.

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)

Major revision to the "Public Key Servers" page. Updated the main page, especially the links. Minor changes to six other PGP pages.

Internet Glossary

Added a definition for the cloud.

Malaprops

I added new entries to "Malaprops" in "From Nana and Nano to You and Who" and in "Tense, Number, and Other Peeves". These changes represent only part of my accumulated but not yet documented examples of how some writers butcher the English language. I see such problems on the Web not only in amateur fiction but also in well-respected news sites. I think the problem is that too many writers have…

Send Me E-Mail

I updated the Web page that describes how I would appreciate E-mail to me should be composed.

The Labor Shortage

Updated the section "Employers Earned Negative Reputations" to include the new trend to pay employees based on their living costs instead of on their value to their employers.

Cooking with David: Seafood

Added a recipe for for baked swordfish or halibut steak.

Patriotism

Updated to reflect the elapse of 12 years.

Proofread, Then Proofread Again

I added two new examples failures to proofread, each case being repeated words in a sentence. These changes represent only part of my accumulated but not yet documented examples of how some writers butcher the English language.

Malaprops

I added new entries to "Malaprops", in both "From Absolution and Ablution to Mute and Moot" and "From Nana and Nano to You and Who". These changes represent only part of my accumulated but not yet documented examples of how some writers butcher the English language. I see such problems on the Web not only in amateur fiction but also in well-respected news sites. I think the problem is that too…

My Domain

New Web page discusses my personalized domain.

Internet Glossary

Added definition for bookmarks. Updated some existing definitions.

Your Call Is Important to Us

Page updated to include Quest Diagnostics. I called to report a problem with their Web site, which does not allow someone to cancel an appointment, despite the facts that (1) the E-mail reminder I received had a link for cancelling and (2) the site has several links for cancelling. When I finally reached a live person (after more than 15 minutes listening to badly tuned music), I was told they…

Malaprops and Other Writing Problems

I fixed the references at the bottom of the main page and added new entries to the following: "Malaprops" (in both "From Absolution and Ablution to Must and Mussed" and "From Nana and Nano to You and Who"), "Homonyms", and "Tense, Number, and Other Peeves". These changes represent only part of my accumulated examples of how some writers butcher the English language. I am now seeing such problems…

That Flag ... and What It Symbolizes

Added a paragraph condemning President Trump's support of the Confederate flag.

The Future of Hong Kong

In light of China's recent attempts to eliminate the autonomy of Hong Kong, I resurrected my old commentary.

The Front Yard

Added 'Violet's Pride' to the list of roses growing in my front yard.

Cleopatra

I updated the page about our resident tortoise to include her latest visit to a veterinarian. I also made some other minor tweaks to the page.

Malaprops: Foreign Terms

I added two entries. "Prix fixe" [French] was misspelled in a story about a restaurant. With "shish kebab" [Turkish], "kebab" does NOT mean "skewer". Instead, it means "roasted meat". "Shish" is "skewer". I see "kebab" used incorrectly far too often. ("Fruit kebab" does not mean "fruit on a skewer"; it means "fruited roast meat".)

A Shipment to My Daughter: A Complaint Against United Parcel Service (UPS)

CORRECTED LINK TO E-MAIL MESSAGES. More than 20 years after I first composed this set of Web pages that complain about UPS, I still receive E-mail messages supporting my position. I just now added another such E-mail message to the page "Messages Supporting My Criticism of UPS -- Part 2: 2006-Present", which is at [http://www.rossde.com/UPS_sucks/support_mail2.html].

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)

I brought the main page of the PGP part of my Web site up to date, primarily updating links to external Web sites.

P:ublic Gardens

Updated to include two gardens in France visited in 2016.

Cooking with David: Lemons

Updated my recipe for lemon marmalade. Is anyone reading this feed? If so, please go to http://www.rossde.com/mail_to_me.html and send me E-mail.

Our Local Area Network (LAN)

Expanded the description of our LAN.

The 2018 Woolsey Fire

The experience of my wife and me evacuating our house and community during the Woolsey Fire. Now that the fires have been extinguished by heavy rain, this might be the last update.

Browser Sniffing: Detecting It, Dealing With It, and Defeating It

I deleted links to obsolete lists of user agent strings. I added a link to my own inputs to the PrefBar extension for spoofing user agents along with instructions on how to setup those input.