Men Blogs (29,426)

The first people to populate New Zealand were the Maoris approx 1000 years ago. They made their way from Polynesia by canoe and were a warlike tribe who liked tattoos especially on their faces. Since then, the main skill of New Zealanders has been throwing a ball around, called Rugby, which somehow they learned from the British. Herding sheep is the other main occupation. Wearing masks is also popular.

This corresponds uncannily to transformative events in U.S history.
Each event involved a prominent person - the Indispensable Man, one might say.

Each of the men was born in/near the sign of Aquarius and each birth date was progressively earlier by 10 days or so.

1776 ... Revolutionary War ... Washington ... born Feb. 22
1860 ... Civil War ... Lincoln... Feb. 12
1944 ... WWII ... FDR ...Jan. 30

2028 ... ???? ... ???? ... ????

Possible Candidates for Indispensable Person -
Nikki Haley - Jan. 20
Michelle Obama - Jan. 17

With all the phones, tablets, laptops and computers I go through, I should be used to upgrades/changes by now. Last week, I took delivery on the Samsung S24 Ultra with 1 terabyte of memory. It's their flagship model that boasts a 200 megapixel camera.

Using Samsung Smart Switch app, I backed up the old phone to my computer.
The new phone came with a double end USB-C connector for direct transfer phone to phone which s faster than using Wi-Fi. Smart Switch is resident on both phones but it took a few tries to connect.

Nearly everything transferred and all the the apps and screen settings are identical. Passwords didn't sync and I had to setup Google, Gmail, Samsung, WhatsApp and Signal again. I lost my most cherished app called Gesture Search. Someone else is making a version of Gesture Search that is no better than a first year computer programming homework assignment. Hopefully, they will listen to the user comments and make an update worthy of calling it Gesture Search.

I'm estimating nearly 2 days lost for research to set the phone up where it actually functions to my liking. A handful of calls to T-Mobile support and so many calls to Samsung customer care and technical support I lost track. I had a 'needed to fix' list or the phone goes back to Samsung and I get a refund.
Some features are no longer supported so I have to do a 'work around' to get what I want.
Notifications both visual and sound are nearly there. I would have preferred to see a flashing indicator or flag to let me know there are unread messages or emails.
The phone will give a reminder beep after 3 minutes and briefly vibrate when I pick up the phone. Always on display is the cure, but that eats into battery time.
Most of my text messages are converted using the microphone... Well, they were on my old phone, but the icon wasn't on the top row of the keyboard as expected. A call to Samsung and I was told the microphone is no longer supported. WTF? microphone not supported.
They had me download and install Gboard which is Google's keyboard app. It worked fine and quick, but the top row with numbers (found on the default Samsung keyboard) required a function key and extra keystrokes to achieve the same results... just like my BlackBerry phone 20 years ago!

Not accepting the Samsung Tech Support solution, I reverted back the the Samsung keyboard. An internet search revealed, you can toggle the microphone on and off via a separate menu. It now appears on the lower corner and not along the top row of commands like the previous 4 cellphones did.

Now for the camera that cannot default to low resolution images. I guess Samsung thinks it's beneath the S24 Ultra and forces them to only shoot high-res images.
Images were distorted and out of proportion. I reset the phone settings to default, rebooted the phone and most of the camera aspect issues went away. Photos sent by text messages are large, but the file size is manageable. Probably 2.5 times larger than my old phone.
The phone has a serious problem with images appearing like a fisheye lens. Vertical lines appeared curved, especially noticeable when looking at buildings or geometric objects having straight lines. I downloaded Samsung's Camera Assistant that has a setting to cure that. I'll test it tomorrow when I'm out on appointments.

While my experience and product review with this phone has been mostly negative, the speed of functions and menus is amazingly fast. It does automatic translation when texting. A very powerful feature.
I'm holding the screen resolution at it's lowest setting of HD+ 1560 x 720. maybe later I'll experiment with the QHD+ 3120 x 1440.
All the drawbacks to using anything more than the basic settings is reduced battery time. I'll have to test it with lots of use, calls, photos, GPS and see if I need to activate battery saver.
(note to self: phone doesn't come close to rated battery life)

Cellphone hell...

Wait For It! .....................................

Vampires and Werewolves are based on a true story.
So how they are portrayed in movies is almost accurate but a twisted version of the origins of Vamps. For example they are cold blooded and have no heart beat. The reason they are cold blooded is beccause they lower their heart beat to almost a standstill rate makes it seem like they have no heart beat. They were masters at lowering their heart beat to the point where the blood flow makes their body go cold majority of the time.

They drink blood, this is very very true but it was not humans or any other flesh animal. NO they drank the blood of Christ, because they had access to the Heaven Realm and its treasures through the blood of Christ, which could only be done with a lowered heart rate and a soul.

They had heightened senses because of the lowered heart rate this allowed ultimate Chi state which enhanced their strength hearing and because they used a magnifying technique to see the Realm of Heaven., naturally they had enhanced sight as well.

Where do werewolves come from? They were children of Heaven who also had the same gifts as their brothers and sisters but used against their own. The were known as wolves they hunted in groups to kill their own. I dont know where the full moon story comes from but I guess its an added fiction to misguide the already blind.

To differentiate between the two vamps and wolves, the vamps NEVER harmed anyone unless they were attacked first EXCEPT agains their own so when the wolves attacked they sat there and let ther family kill them.

HIGGS was the scientist who believed in a substance that would enable light to be converted to matter. So, in the beginning of creation of all elements there must have been something to enable matter to be formed.
The Hadron collider confirmed the existence of such a substance and Higgs name was given to it, hence the Higgs boson.
A simple explanation, I know. A boson is a sub atomic particle.

Breaking news.....

O.J. Simpson passes away at 76 years old.

Terriers, Shepherds, Dalmatians, Chow Chow, mutts... whatever. I never owned a dog that needed haircuts. My mother did. One of her friends had a shit-zoo and connected her with a lady who bred and sold pedigree 'little white dogs' that needed to be groomed at places that charge lots of money. The dog came back with a bow in her hair. Pampering was required. The dog had no desire to fetch a ball, run or do things that normal dogs do. She would just sit in the chair next to my mother and watch TV.

I'm living in a community where the sign on the main gate states NO PET COMMUNITY and security will turn you away if you have a dog in your car. Well, that didn't work. Probably 10% of the residents here have a dog. Some... have 2.
If you get a doctor's note, you can keep a comfort animal that is on file with the condo association.

While walking this morning I passed a resident who was out with his Schnauzer. Leash in one hand and pooper scooper bag in the owner. Fido wasn't well groomed. I guess the owner wasn't concerned about keeping status with his dog.

Years ago, a friend owned a sheepdog who enjoyed jumping in the pool. When he got out and shaked off, water went everywhere. They had his fur/hair trimmed short to solve the problem. That breed is actually skinny under all that mess!

23 year old conjoined sisters Carmen & Lupita have been in the news recently. Always asked lots of (stupid) questions, they did some social media videos. Two heads, separate brains sharing one body. Carmen has a boyfriend, Lupita doesn't date.

This brings up 34 year old former reality stars Abby Hensel and Brittany also conjoined twins. Abby married Josh.

I haven't seen anything mentioned about polygamy... after all is it really 2 women?


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Five Bulgarians have been jailed in the UK for the biggest benefit fraud in history. 54 million pounds were claimed fraudulently by using false names and scams.