Technology Blogs (216)

Been busy for a while.
Got 2 data breachers last Seotember 16.
Reported to Hong Kong police.
They say they will take no action.
(Bluff! The report have been filed & recorded w/ a case number.
2nd email requests for recording & further information. Ok)
But they asks me nonstop.
For further information.
Gather evidence & come up with a positive suspect I.D.
Case is closed.
Now I can blog it

Apple Helps Chinese Communists Suppress Protests – Removes Crucial Tool of Dissent on iPhones and Does Not Tell Mainland Users.

Sadly, the freedom protesters were not able to use AirDrop, a file-sharing feature on iPhones that allows users to share content in authoritarian states.

Apple removed the feature in their latest update in China and did not notify users.

Apple is working with the communists now.

Anti-government protests flared in several Chinese cities and on college campuses over the weekend. But the country’s most widespread show of public dissent in decades will have to manage without a crucial communication tool, because Apple restricted its use in China earlier this month.

AirDrop, the file-sharing feature on iPhones and other Apple devices, has helped protestors in many authoritarian countries evade censorship. That’s because AirDrop relies on direct connections between phones, forming a local network of devices that don’t need the internet to communicate. People can opt into receiving AirDrops from anyone else with an iPhone nearby.

That changed on Nov. 9, when Apple released a new version of its mobile operating system, iOS 16.1.1, to customers worldwide. Rather than listing new features, as it often does, the company simply said, “This update includes bug fixes and security updates and is recommended for all users.”

Hidden in the update was a change that only applies to iPhones sold in mainland China: AirDrop can only be set to receive messages from everyone for 10 minutes, before switching off. There’s no longer a way to keep the “everyone” setting on permanently on Chinese iPhones. The change, first noticed by Chinese readers of 9to5Mac, doesn’t apply anywhere else.

There seems to be some politics going on with app stores Apple and Google and their relationship with Twitter. Maybe a threat or dare if those stores no longer support the Twitter app.

Elon Musk dreams up manufacturing his own alternative phone if "...there is no other choice"

Google says there are over 200 million smartphones in America... Does Elon think introducing a new phone to support Twitter to be a viable enterprise?

What percent of America would run out and buy an "alternative" $700 MUSK phone that isn't compatible with all the existing Apple and Google apps just to run Twitter?

Elon, take a hint... offer your own app that supports Apple and Android, available via Twitter. That's got to be a viable solution as manufacturing and distribution of an entirely new product could be light years into the future!

New computer this week running Windows 10 Pro and updated Microsoft Edge started some things I didn't notice on my older computer it replaced.
I'm online making a purchase and when I get to the cart to review, banners fly out to show the same items elsewhere at a lower cost.
Amazon and Walmart, but the savings were less than a dollar per item.
Since my purchase with this vendor has free shipping over $100, it makes no sense to break an order up to 3 vendors. Kinda like spending a dollar to save a dime. Triple billing, triple deliveries, triple order tracking.

Actually, the annoying part is Microsoft getting into my online purchasing. It may have been there in my previous computer (running Windows 10 with Edge) but I never noticed the banners before.

My computer is spying on me...

I should heed my own advice about changing out old computer parts. Two computers failed last month and are being replaced. The good thing is the hard drives are intact and I'm able to save most of the data contained on them.

Unfortunately, some licensed programs I got free cannot be replaced or would now require payment.

I found a 2gig spare video card and installed into a spare computer I haven't used in a while and now, it's giving error messages. The drivers are updated but I'm unable to troubleshoot... for lack of time. It's quicker to remove the video card and revert back to the onboard video.

I tried removing 4 gigs of RAM from a dead computer and put into a computer with 4gigs expecting 8 gigs... it won't boot now, so I reverted back to a working computer with 4 gigs.

If it's not broken... don't (try to) fix it.

Okay, Okay... no more swapping parts and upgrades... for today.
Tomorrow is a different story!

I bought a new cell phone a couple of weeks ago. My old one was going out on me as far as the screen goes. The screen started fading and doing some weird stuff. My old phone was a LG Stylo 5. I got it last year when my other LG Stylo 5 phone went out on me since I just made it before the one year warranty went out on it. This time I just missed it by about three week over. I'll never buy a LG phone again.

My new one is a Samsung Galaxy S13. So far I'm happy with it. We'll continue seeing how this one will go....

Different than my previous blog about a flying car, a quad copter is a large-scale drone with sufficient lift to carry a person and not be flown remotely.
Toyota has a SkyDrive prototype and claim to be the first. That's not accurate as other companies have been testing prototypes for several years.

Only good for 5 to 10 minute flights, it's far from being practical.

My work computer is rebooting... It stays online 24/7 and I only reboot when necessary.
The video refresh hasn't been right for a few weeks now and I went to the manufacturer of the video board to install new drivers.
Almost done. We shall see.

I will say the reboot process has improved since I switched to Google Chrome, as all my resources come back online after the reboot. Email, Calendar and business apps via Streak and Asana.

This is worse than a disease... People are spending more on appliances than the kitchen that goes around them.
$10,000 for a refrigerator?
It can Wi-Fi to your phone, so if you want one with a camera to see what's inside without having to open the door... they cost that and more!

Appliances are now linked to the internet so you can access your appliances anywhere.

Washers and dryers also fall into the remote control category. You are alerted by the app on your phone when the dry cycle is done, no need to run downstairs to the laundry room to check.

One drawback: they can be hacked in the same way people are hacking doorbell camera systems.

Smart appliances... maybe not smart enough?

US Withholds Licensure From US Companies & Lets ChiComs Produce The Technology ...


The story was 1st Broken a day ago by NPR ...

What The Freakin' HELL?!?!