Most Viewed Technology Blogs (217)

Last week it was a leaked rumor. This week it's been confirmed. Motorola is bringing back the legendary RAZR flip-phone. Introduced in 2004, the RAZR was such a hot item that Motorola sold more than 130 million units in 4 years making it the best-selling clamshell phone in the world.
Eventually sales slumped as touchscreen phones became popular and Samsung took the market lead. In 2011 Motorola resurrected the RAZR until 2013.
On November 14, 2019 Motorola released details that an Android based RAZR will be released for 2020 exclusively through Verizon Wireless at a price of $1,500.

I don't have a crystal ball, but I'll make a prediction that the initial review will be slower than expected. Those who have service with other providers won't be willing to jump ship and there will be a market for cracked/unlocked phones, but I suspect at $1,500 you can buy a flagship Samsung S10+ and have enough money left over for 65" Samsung 4K UHD TV.

Motorola may have priced themselves out of the market.

Still many broadcasting to many (developing) parts of the world. In dozens of languages. The cutbacks, with the internet, seem greatest in Europe and North Merka. But the (FINALLY) rising sun spot cycle index, making for improvements in reception and transmission, is improving things everywhere.
This morning, after a few chats on the ham frequencies, I switched from SSB to AM, and cruised on up to 49 meters. Radio Marti, Havana, Beijing, others, and the usual God squaders, were coming in strong. On a lark, I sauntered up to the higher reaches of the band, usually not very active. Only to find radio Japan, NHK, booming in with news, etc, in Portuguese! Sure, it had a bit of the Brazilian dialect, after all, it was there that the antenna engineers focused their signals. But what a treat for a Gnome struggling with this tongue, so close to Spanish, yet sometimes, so far away.
As I've blogged, listening to these programs can often be just listening to propaganda, on many sides. Yet often, from what's said, it is possible to ferret out a good deal that;s not only likely valid, but inportant, for effective world citizenship.
Used to be that it was necessary to spend large on radio receivers to add this to our knowledge base But those thousands who read my rants, know, what a cheap bastard I am. Just ordered a great AM, FM, SW receiver---with an MPV card reading decent music and voice recorder, for USD 17, delivered, direct from the one party stat of the PRC. Reviews say its terrific, but I'll blog if it's the usual Chinese cheap consumer trash. Pressing my thumbs.
Keep it valid, folks, and if critical, and even a tad bit acerbic, try to do so only as to obvious signs of lower class.

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1152...wise . Dna. Sage.
..only the A student can pass thru the Arch...the Numbers give physics & form to the meditation..
Only the Completed musical med. Will yield any fruit. Why ? ..simple; his creative word shall not come back to him empty or wanting. This method is therefore a certain block-chain: family friend ly...& bored Certified hot....
...the calculation remains incomplete to frustrate A. I...{ or the sp...
The A student will recognize the Text being used is the standard Hebrew Dictionary, circa 1890. 8,674 strong Entries. ...it is a test of Strength...& If you complete the journal you will be changed forever...)
7 6 9 2..a rambling poem...... { .and trumping Entropy.
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7509...Yah..( is ) ..~cure........4 2 0.....
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..............4616..( 2 ).....................1966.....( Rumored to be...
.............3 0 9 1.....[ 3068&3467 ]..1126..son of my sorrow.
7707.................1966.................[ Isa. 14...) ...theme - falling.
1966................ 1002...castle.
5741...................964...contempt of ..{ 3050.
.....p e a k. strength. radio...net....} The keys...
1234....open...........................3 0 6 8...
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4321...who is like yah ?..........6 1 5 9..... consider the Ravens...
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................. 1540..( 2 )....tablet... mirror.
..................1 5 1 0...the ] decree.

For years, I had a personal website that I used to display photos and drawings of my work. They raised the price a few times while other sites were lowering theirs. For years I put this off. It's time... more than. I switched to another hosting company last night and by paying for 3 years, I was able to do it for around 75% less than my yearly rate with the other host.
I backed up the menu, data and HTML codes, unlocked the site to capture a code needed by the new host so they can transfer the domain name.
Tech support said to check back in a few days to confirm the transfer went through so I can upload my website at a new host.
The entire event should take an hour here and an hour there and maybe a few more hours to add some updated photos.

Like most hosts, they have 'site builder' software that should make the job go quicker. It's been years since I built a website.

I scanned an old photo to send to my brother last night and my computer wasn't connecting to the email server. I tried to access the main website and it too appeared to be offline.
They sent messages a few days ago about upgrading to an entirely new system!
So much for the improvement.

The main page was functioning this morning but most of the links didn't work and the email doesn't respond. Hopefully incoming messages aren't lost while this issue gets resolved. I'll send some test messages from my corporate account.

No doubt some heads are going to roll by this foul up.

You've probably heard of 3D printing where a filament of heated plastic is extruded to build up layers creating dimensional objects. Yes? They are used to create toys, mechanical gears, tools and medical supplies such as prosthetic body parts.

Ink printers is where it all started and they have been around more than 2 generations. Paper is only 2 dimension, X and Y axis. Later came laser or router in place of an ink print head and allowed companies to do engraving with the same 2D technology.

More sophisticated technology can be found in the woodworking industry were different router heads are used on a 3 axis machine using X, Y and Z for length, width and height. I've seen lots of videos of guitar making where a single computerized router can switch tools to cut the shape a guitar, curve the edges, drill for pickups, switches and hardware all without having the remove the block of wood from the bed it's clamped to.
This is Computer Numeric Control technology, CNC for short.
That technology only cut away existing material. There weren't any devices to build something from literally nothing.

On a large scale, they are making houses with a related technology using quick setting concrete from a nozzle to build walls.

Tonight, I hit a video of a 3D pen. Hand operated, it's a simple device similar to the way a hot-melt glue gun works and uses thin filaments that you can actually draw in 2D or build more complex shapes in layers in 3D. Prices range anywhere from $30 to $150 and filaments are available in 1.75mm to 3mm thickness. Some more expensive models have different nozzles so you can change the thickness from the same tool.

Here is a demo video explaining many facets on the 3D pen...

A Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) monitors the pressure in a cars tires and should it drop below a certain safe point, an icon on the dashboard will light up. This is a warning should a tire take a nail and lose air as driving on a flat can destroy a tire, especially the ones with a low profile.

Temperature changes will make air expand and contract and 2 cold mornings in South Florida (below 50F) made the warning light come on. A few minutes of driving and the tires warmed up increasing the pressure and the warning light went off.

The pressure is probably at the low reading so I'll top off with more air later today.

We've grown to rely of Google for everything... well, mostly everything. I'm trying to resist as Google is invasive to the Nth degree. If I have an addiction, it's using Google Maps. For years, it's been part of my job to research addresses of my sales leads. More than finding things with my GPS, it's also a way to scout out the access to buildings for kitchen deliveries making sure there's enough room for a truck as some condos have restricted access and a top view of the landscape helps a lot.
My brother is obsessed with genealogy and the neighborhood we grew up in. I was around 6 years old when we moved away so memories were few. With Google Maps, I was able to research the house. While the address is the same, the building changed. It's on a main street and many of the houses were rezoned and converted to use as business.
The garden where my grandfather grew fruits and vegetables is now an asphalt driveway and a truck is parked in the front of the building that a single door has been converted to a storefront.

From time-to-time, I've seen the Google truck driving around taking photos and I know some maps have archives so you can go back in time to see what was there on a previous Google visit. I've done that several times when an old house was demolished, the lot was empty and new house was built at the same location. Very interesting.

There was a landmark in North Miami Beach... it's the Krispy-Kreme doughnut factory. Opened in the mid 1960's and operated 24 hours a day. Where could you get something to eat at 3am? Krispy-Kreme! Business changed and a new building (with larger drive-thru) was built 1 block away. The old building torn down and a WaWa gas station is at that location, however Google Maps street view doesn't reflect a change made more than a year ago.

Images of my Miami house were dated 2011... I expect the Google Maps truck to be passing back sometime soon.

Maybe you are like me and have a long list of things that really piss you off. I'll start with websites returning a 404 message. Comcast is my internet provider and this week, they sent out a new gateway/router with minimal instructions that required me to download their app on my phone to set the unit up. I don't want to use my phone and was looking for a way to do this via desktop computer. Calling customer service is a process because they are resistant to allow me to speak to a person. Their system is designed to be fully automated, which is okay if you only need one of the 5 problems listed in their menu system.

I wasn't getting anywhere because my request wasn't in their menu and (stupidly) accepted instructions by text. That wasn't any better. I called back and waited for live assistance. It sounded like the woman had a dog and baby in the background... probably working remote. She explained I could go to their website and make the selection 'activate' that will give me the necessary details to setup the new equipment by desktop computer. That's when I received a 404 message.


Okay, I'll try this YOUR WAY and downloaded the app, but it was asking all kinds of bullshit questions like alternate phone numbers and email addresses. Just get me to the setup page! Well... that didn't happen.

I read about Tourette syndrome and guess an episode was beginning to take hold of me. Thinking of a logical way out... the gateway I've been using wasn't broken, so I didn't see a need to switch to a new one that could require me to setup passcodes of all of the 16 devises in my house. I dropped the new gateway in the shipping carton and went back to work.

Always expected... there's a survey after the call to customer service that I'm known to ignore. This time, I actually went through the process, trying not to use profanity when filling out the 'other' selection that gave me the opportunity to actually type in a 404 message ended my desire to install the equipment. The old gateway wasn't broken and there wasn't any need to fix it.

My guess is I'll get an email followup about the setup.

Maybe I should switch from cable at $90 a month to wireless 5G home internet from my cellular provider at $60 a month. That sounds tempting.

In the mean time, I'll be thinking of more things that reallypissme off...