This selection comes from offerings on Nostalgic Investments.
More Digital Scans of Analog Art
Author: DOuG pRATt
On the Receivering End
My first receiver was a Pioneer SX-440, purchased when I was sixteen, with money I earned washing dishes.
The SX-440 gets a shout-out from Kevin, owner of Skylabs Audio, a vintage hi-fi store in Iowa. He likes the “black front” Pioneers, but says they aren’t selling very well.
Every so often I think about recreating my high school stereo by buying an SX-440, a Garrard 40B turntable and a pair of Realistic MC-1000 speakers. Maybe I’ll do it, but probably won’t. I already have a pair of my first headphones, the Pioneer SE-20A.
The Big Chili
If this isn’t the best chili I’ve ever had, it’s certainly the best I’ve ever made.
It’s also the first chili I’ve ever made.
We’re Moving to Serve You Better?
Fifteen years ago, I made what could be called a “strategic decision,” by moving this site from iPower to Bluehost. At that time the company, based in Orem, Utah, was owned by its founder, Matt Heaton.
Since then, Bluehost has been through a couple acquisitions and mergers. Ironically, along the way iPower became part of Bluehost.
My strategy in going with Bluehost was based on the premise that bigger is better. (My former employer’s refusal to embrace growth over quarterly profit has left it struggling to survive for more than ten years.) Bluehost, with its WordPress-centered business model, seemed poised for growth. I guessed right, as Bluehost is one of the largest WordPress hosting platforms.
Larry Ellison has announced that Bluehost’s parent company will be migrating to Oracle Cloud. We shall see if this will have an effect, one way or another, on ‘Prattling Before the Pratfall’.
Digital Scans of Analog Art
Selections currently under bid from Heritage Auctions.
A Hard Landing for Software
Massachusetts General Hospital is the anchor for the Mass General Brigham network, that was originally branded as Partners Healthcare. Layoffs were announced shortly before I was at MGH three weeks ago to have my afib corrected. The cuts are supposed to be in administration.
I wonder how much Mass General pays Epic Systems every year? The purchase price in 2015 was $1.2 billion, and that was just for the software. The University of Massachusetts Memorial System is in this list of the most expensive Epic installations.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/ehrs/most-expensive-epic-ehrs-ranked.html
UMass is having its own financial difficulties, made worse by what the Trump administration is doing.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/03/12/umass-medical-school-hiring-spending-freeze
Was the cost/benefit of Epic Systems worth the $700 million that UMass paid?
Speaking of healthcare IT, the government’s relevant website showed a lot of activity leading up to January 20. Since then? Only one item, and that was two weeks ago.