Is Yelp relevant in 2026?

 After my adoptive mum died in 2011, I joined Yelp and started contributing.  I made such a splash that the Community Manager bumped me up to Elite status.

 I've spent time making truthful reviews.  I don't like surprises the first time I visit a restaurant or store, so I would rather avoid places that have a negative experience attached.

 A few times when I've written a review, I've been threatened.  It's a little surprising because I didn't cause the business to treat me poorly or serve me bad food.  It happened for whatever reason, and I was just telling about my experience.

Yelp had some heavy-handed tactics about advertising and I found that when I moved to my current location.  The furniture store where I bought some furniture was marked Closed.  My review suggested that they were quite open.  My spending a few hundred dollars confirmed that.

The other day, some local friends, an elderly couple and I went to an Italian restaurant.  I've been wanting Italian food since I left Philadelphia, where there are probably 150 mom-and-pop Italian restaurants.  It didn't quite work out.

 

 I wrote my review and tried my best to be nice.  The restaurant got 8202 views since my review, and 2659 views since my three photos were uploaded.  How did I have that much of an impact?  I have a handful of Yelp friends and a few more Followers but none in the thousands.   Only one of my Yelp friends even noticed it enough to respond.

 I have around 1800 reviews all over the country and around 2300 photos, none of which has gotten more than a few responses.  Maybe, it's a calculation error, 10 times what really happened.

I'll continue to write reviews.  Who knows what will happen? 

Windows 11 Pro to SteamOS on a laptop computer?

 For just more than two years, I've been running Windows 11 Pro on an ASUS ZenBook Pro.  With each update, the performance becomes worse.  The newest releases are invasive in the name of AI.  I have little interest in AI.  I've generally been using that computer for photo processing, gaming, and watching videos.  I have an M1 MacBook Air that is more capable for processing photos and videos from previous years.

I'm considering switching the ZenBook Pro to SteamOS, as I've found SteamOS on the Steam Deck to be quite capable with a keyboard and mouse.  I'm a little concerned that the combination of AMD 5800H and RTX 3050Ti may not be the best platform.

This week, I was reading that the latest Linux kernel has updated Nvidia drivers included.  I should probably wait for that kernel to be included in SteamOS.  Maybe obviously, SteamOS might run fine on the AMD 5800H and its inbuilt GPU but that GPU is far out of date and even had trouble with Unreal Tournament 2004.  I've been running much more intense graphics than that.

CachyOS seems to be the best choice for a Linux distribution that supports gaming AND Nvidia cards, although a few others like Nobara and Manjaro were mentioned.  I might just risk it.  I still have my MacBook Air but my Windows machine seems less capable because of Windows.  It was also running very hot today, while active CPU use was under 10%.

Update 2026.02.06: CachyOS looks like it's going to be a bit of "fun" to install.  I wonder if I should install Ubuntu or another easy distribution and then, install CachyOS.  I'm not quite as agile lately, and I don't want to make a huge error.  I've waited this long.  I can take more time to plan.

Panasonic Lumix 35-100mm f/2.8 Mk II is here

 In 2012, I bought the Panasonic GH3 and the Lumix X 35-100mm f/2.8 in order to get started with micro Four-Thirds.  It was a rough start.

The GH3 EVF had the wrong color and the 35-100mm f/2.8 was subject to horrible flare with the lens hood in place and the sun out of the frame.  The OIS also had terrible stutter during video recording, even after a specific firmware update designed to fix the problem.

 

Besides that, it just didn't measure up to the US$1400 price or my Olympus ZD SHG 35-100mm f/2.0.   $1400 vs $2499 makes it seem as though the Panasonic lens was priced too high.  It took time to come to terms with micro Four-Thirds but I was using the system most days in 2015 and 2016.

Today, January 15, 2026, I received a used Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 Mk II.  I spent about US$500 on it.  The Panasonic G97 isn't as big as the GH4 that I was using daily but it has similar capabilities and IBIS (in-body image stabilization) that the GH4 did not have.  With most Panasonic lenses using OIS (optical image stabilization), they will be combined in what Panasonic calls Dual I.S.  I considered the Panasonic 135 Format 70-200mm f/2.8 instead but it's over US$2000.

 

Ugly flare with sun out of frame 

The second photo was taken with the sun out of frame, similar to the first, but look, there is no ugly flare.  Hopefully, it's not just that it was later in the day.

 I took the lens for walk of about 5 miles.  It feels like the earlier lens and it also felt surprisingly like a brand new lens.  Considering that it was used and coming from a rental company, I feel that my choice was good.

 

Color cast is non-existant.  I'll see if I can do a video test because I've been told that the OIS stutter still exists, even in the Leica-branded lens.  I hope it's been eliminated. 

 

Update 2026.01.25: Yesterday, I was at the Korean church and the person who photographs for the church had the Sony body and 70-200mm f/2.8 out on the dinner table.  I took out the G97 and 35-100mm f/2.8 Mk II.  There is a slight difference in size, and yes, I know, it's a lovely photo.  I took zero minutes to arrange things.  I didn't put the lens hood in place and the Sony has the lens hood in place.

Mozilla Monitor and removing your personal information from the internet

 Since time began, people have been trying to get the most out of someone else's misery.

I remember people saying that J. Edgar Hoover (head of the FBI and a cross-dresser supposedly), had a file on each of us.  I didn't doubt it.  While we live in a free country, it has rules and spies.  Mrs. Pyle down the street from my grandmother used to feed me cookies and milk to learn all the secrets of my grandmother's household.  My grandmother did the same thing.  Spies were everywhere.

 A little over a year ago, I bought an annual plan for Mozilla Monitor to remove my information, as much as was possible.  The thing is, once it's out there, it isn't easily removed and there is always another to take advantage of your situation.

 Mozilla Monitor found my information in loads of places and sent requests to remove the information.  For each one completed, another two or three would arise.  It's like pulling weeds.

A few weeks ago, they renewed my subscription.  About a week later, they sent an e-mail to tell me that they were discontinuing the service.  I asked when I would get my refund, and they said that it would wait until the service was discontinued, about 3.5 weeks later.

 I got an e-mail from them after that to enter my PayPal information.  I don't have PayPal.  They sent that by mistake, apparently, and they sent me another form to enter my banking information.  They HAD my banking information when they took my money. 

It looks like a scam to clear out my bank account.  I never expected Mozilla to be so sloppy.  I'm not usually so protective but these days, it feels as though trust is also a commodity in short supply. 

Update 2026.01.21: Mozilla Monitor, which is supposedly out of business, alerted me to a data breach.  Sadly, my trust is gone.