Here is a list of Technology Blogs ordered by Last Post Date, posted by members. A Blog is a journal you may enter about your life, thoughts, interesting experiences, or lessons you've learned. Post an opinion, impart words of wisdom, or talk about something interesting in your day. Update your blog on a regular basis, or just whenever you have something to say. Creating a blog is a good way to share something of yourself with others. Reading blogs is a good way to learn more about others. Click here to post a blog.
Lies and lying as a topic.
We all at one time or another speak of lies and of liars, known and suspected.
There is no shortage of persons that will offer their opinion that they despise liars and would call lies among the worst if not the very worst things in the world.
Less often and as a seeming taboo are lies and lying taken on as a topic.
Something to be analyzed and understood as an important object of perception.
I wondered about lies many years ago and I am still astonished at the poverty of material on the subject. Dare I say, it is almost suspicious.
Perhaps if my feeble wit may illuminate, I may cast some shadows behind me on the threshold of this blighted mansion.
There is no shortage of persons that will offer their opinion that they despise liars and would call lies among the worst if not the very worst things in the world.
Less often and as a seeming taboo are lies and lying taken on as a topic.
Something to be analyzed and understood as an important object of perception.
I wondered about lies many years ago and I am still astonished at the poverty of material on the subject. Dare I say, it is almost suspicious.
Perhaps if my feeble wit may illuminate, I may cast some shadows behind me on the threshold of this blighted mansion.
Internet Speed Test...
I'm at my home house in Miami for the weekend.
Plans include sorting through 2 closets and 2 dressers of clothing to determine what I get to keep, what gets donated and what becomes rags for cleaning.
My laptop came for the ride and I've got a Wi-Fi hotspot signal from my phone to get internet.
I've done this lots of times, but today the bandwidth was crawling and I cannot link to my computer in the office to do any work. I switched to my tablet that also has hotspot capabilities and it was streaming along very well.
So, I switched back a forth a few times checking bandwidth with a few services and called my cellphone provider to complain.
My phone has unlimited 4G, but 3G if I set it in hotspot mode. The tablet gets 4G with a 2gig ceiling and drops to 3g... or slower depending on conditions.
For $10 I can upgrade the plan so my hotspot has 4G with a 10gig ceiling then drops to 3G. I can add or remove the plan as needed with no penalty.
I was told it would be about 2 hours for the system update and to reboot my phone for it to take effect. I rebooted and about 15 minutes later I had a 4G hotspot out of my cellphone. The bandwidth was so good it, out performed my Comcast internet at my condo.
Not sure how long 10gig will last if I play a YouTube movie, but I can set it on low bandwidth and see how that goes.
Plans include sorting through 2 closets and 2 dressers of clothing to determine what I get to keep, what gets donated and what becomes rags for cleaning.
My laptop came for the ride and I've got a Wi-Fi hotspot signal from my phone to get internet.
I've done this lots of times, but today the bandwidth was crawling and I cannot link to my computer in the office to do any work. I switched to my tablet that also has hotspot capabilities and it was streaming along very well.
So, I switched back a forth a few times checking bandwidth with a few services and called my cellphone provider to complain.
My phone has unlimited 4G, but 3G if I set it in hotspot mode. The tablet gets 4G with a 2gig ceiling and drops to 3g... or slower depending on conditions.
For $10 I can upgrade the plan so my hotspot has 4G with a 10gig ceiling then drops to 3G. I can add or remove the plan as needed with no penalty.
I was told it would be about 2 hours for the system update and to reboot my phone for it to take effect. I rebooted and about 15 minutes later I had a 4G hotspot out of my cellphone. The bandwidth was so good it, out performed my Comcast internet at my condo.
Not sure how long 10gig will last if I play a YouTube movie, but I can set it on low bandwidth and see how that goes.
Android 9 update...
Yesterday, my cellphone carrier pushed through another update, from OREO, Android 8 to their current version PIE, Android 9.
Maybe you're familiar with some of their previous versions... they all have to do with something sweet. Names like Donut, Eclair, Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich, Marsmallow.
Typically, when a new version is available, Google will release a BETA version that goes out to select groups for field testing. After the bugs are worked out (notice things with sugar often attract bugs) they release them to the carriers who decide what to remove or add to the 'Pure Google' version to the (slightly) altered version that's installed in your Android device.
It wasn't broke, so why are you fixing it? I asked that to a technician and his response was not all phones running Android react the same way. When a new release gets installed they are already working on 'patches' to fix problems not encountered in previous releases or to resolve issues with different models. One (major) flaw is that applications (APPS) must be updated so they can work with new operating systems.
This is the way things are. Implement a new O/S and spend months updating apps to correctly work under it.
Back to the update...
I first noticed the icons have changed appearance. The top row of clock, battery power, Bluetooth messages got moved around a little. Many of the screen backgrounds are (battery draining) white. When will they learn? I had to put the phone in night-mode to get a black background. Text message banner now uses 40% of the screen to tell me I have no new messages. Colored dots appear in front of all my contacts. I haven't checked to see if they actually have meaning or just random colors. I could do without the dots.
The biggest drawback for me is connecting everything to 'clouds' and social media. I don't want to share what's on my phone with the world. Every time I open a photo viewer I'm being asked to sync (synchronize) my photos somewhere else (group messaging and friends list, etc.) and tag locations with story lines. Thanks, but no and I'd like not to have to decline every time I open the app.
It would be nice to see a menu option 'don't bother me' as I don't want to update all my apps monthly because some new data sharing service becomes available.
Category is Technology but the new update is leaning to lifestyle.
More later...
Maybe you're familiar with some of their previous versions... they all have to do with something sweet. Names like Donut, Eclair, Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich, Marsmallow.
Typically, when a new version is available, Google will release a BETA version that goes out to select groups for field testing. After the bugs are worked out (notice things with sugar often attract bugs) they release them to the carriers who decide what to remove or add to the 'Pure Google' version to the (slightly) altered version that's installed in your Android device.
It wasn't broke, so why are you fixing it? I asked that to a technician and his response was not all phones running Android react the same way. When a new release gets installed they are already working on 'patches' to fix problems not encountered in previous releases or to resolve issues with different models. One (major) flaw is that applications (APPS) must be updated so they can work with new operating systems.
This is the way things are. Implement a new O/S and spend months updating apps to correctly work under it.
Back to the update...
I first noticed the icons have changed appearance. The top row of clock, battery power, Bluetooth messages got moved around a little. Many of the screen backgrounds are (battery draining) white. When will they learn? I had to put the phone in night-mode to get a black background. Text message banner now uses 40% of the screen to tell me I have no new messages. Colored dots appear in front of all my contacts. I haven't checked to see if they actually have meaning or just random colors. I could do without the dots.
The biggest drawback for me is connecting everything to 'clouds' and social media. I don't want to share what's on my phone with the world. Every time I open a photo viewer I'm being asked to sync (synchronize) my photos somewhere else (group messaging and friends list, etc.) and tag locations with story lines. Thanks, but no and I'd like not to have to decline every time I open the app.
It would be nice to see a menu option 'don't bother me' as I don't want to update all my apps monthly because some new data sharing service becomes available.
Category is Technology but the new update is leaning to lifestyle.
More later...
Decibel...
Decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit to measure sound or electronic signal levels. For the purpose of this blog, I'll use it in audio... sound levels.
On another blog, a member will be going to a Formula One race and it's suggested they bring along hearing protection as often race cars develop noise of over 130 dB. Two weeks ago, I attended an outdoor concert and used ear plugs to lower the sound of the performance. It didn't bother my friend, but for me, the volume was louder than I wanted to be subjected to.
The decibel scale In basic terms: zero dB is the threshold of human hearing and a whisper would be 25-30 dB. Normal conversation is 60-70 dB and a lawn mower (at 6' feet) is around 100 dB. Most scales I've seen rate 125 dB as a level of pain and a jet engine at 100 feet away would be 140 dB.
Some sound ratings in the work force, like the noise from a wood chipper or jack hammer where used continuously poise serious problems of hearing loss. A blast from a shot gun could register 170 decibels. Although it's only a split second of noise, a few of those could permanently harm ones hearing. I know 2 people who lost most of their hearing... one guy had the job of refueling helicopters in Vietnam. The aviator hearing protection always fell off as they scrambled to get the helicopters back in the air and he now has dual hearing aids supplied by the VA. The same for my uncle who had the assignment to load bullets on the guns of a battleship during WWII.
When we were kids, it's was rare to have a car stereo more than 20 watts. It's become commonplace to see custom shops installing 1,000 watt systems in cars now!
When talking to one of those guys (with a megapower system), it won't be long before their first word is... huh?
On another blog, a member will be going to a Formula One race and it's suggested they bring along hearing protection as often race cars develop noise of over 130 dB. Two weeks ago, I attended an outdoor concert and used ear plugs to lower the sound of the performance. It didn't bother my friend, but for me, the volume was louder than I wanted to be subjected to.
The decibel scale In basic terms: zero dB is the threshold of human hearing and a whisper would be 25-30 dB. Normal conversation is 60-70 dB and a lawn mower (at 6' feet) is around 100 dB. Most scales I've seen rate 125 dB as a level of pain and a jet engine at 100 feet away would be 140 dB.
Some sound ratings in the work force, like the noise from a wood chipper or jack hammer where used continuously poise serious problems of hearing loss. A blast from a shot gun could register 170 decibels. Although it's only a split second of noise, a few of those could permanently harm ones hearing. I know 2 people who lost most of their hearing... one guy had the job of refueling helicopters in Vietnam. The aviator hearing protection always fell off as they scrambled to get the helicopters back in the air and he now has dual hearing aids supplied by the VA. The same for my uncle who had the assignment to load bullets on the guns of a battleship during WWII.
When we were kids, it's was rare to have a car stereo more than 20 watts. It's become commonplace to see custom shops installing 1,000 watt systems in cars now!
When talking to one of those guys (with a megapower system), it won't be long before their first word is... huh?
The US and UK's relations with 'Huawei' are going sour.
The US and UK are placing either restrictions or bans on 'Huawei's' development of 5G phone coverage in those countries. Are those actions to ultimately protect their network security or will the impact be far greater for the UK with the erosion of further trade development with China?
We've been trying to reach you...
A few times a day I receive (robotic) phone solicitation calls to my cellphone offering me discounted healthcare programs and the recording starts with "We've been trying to reach you..." along with that is their takeaway "This is our last attempt to offer this discount..."
If that were true, I wouldn't receive so many calls.
I stopped using a land line years ago and switched to VOIP service provided by Vonage. It was my backup to a cellphone and served as a FAX line. I haven't used it in months and decided the $30 fee could be used elsewhere.
Since I'm a T-Mobile customer, I decided to switch to their VOIP service for $10 and now that I'm at a location 45 miles North, I selected a new phone number in the local exchange.
The device with new number has been installed for a little more than a week and the first message on the voicemail system is:
"We've been trying to reach you..."
If that were true, I wouldn't receive so many calls.
I stopped using a land line years ago and switched to VOIP service provided by Vonage. It was my backup to a cellphone and served as a FAX line. I haven't used it in months and decided the $30 fee could be used elsewhere.
Since I'm a T-Mobile customer, I decided to switch to their VOIP service for $10 and now that I'm at a location 45 miles North, I selected a new phone number in the local exchange.
The device with new number has been installed for a little more than a week and the first message on the voicemail system is:
"We've been trying to reach you..."
Mankind's greatest inventions...
On April 10, 1790 the federal government of the United States enacted the fist patent statute. It was a concise law defining the subject matter of a U.S. patent as "any useful art, manufacture, engine, machine, or device, or any improvement there on not known or used. It granted the applicant 'sole and exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing and vending to others to be used' of his inventions.
Simply put... if you invented something unique and had it patented, no one could legally copy, sell or infringe on your patent rights.
History records inventor Thomas A. Edison had a few thousand patents to his credit. You can also find that many claim some of his patents were stolen from his workers and colleagues. That's the case with many scientists and engineers who work for large corporations and are required to sign contracts, especially ones with non-compete agreements.
I met a man who claimed to have been working for General Electric and invented the rheostat... it's common name was a light dimmer. They got the patent, he got a paycheck.
Someone told me a story of the the guy who invented the intermittent windshield wiper control. He went around to a few car manufacturers looking for someone to buy his idea. He couldn't afford the patent. None of them showed any interest and a few months later, one manufacturer had a similar yet improved device was added to their newest model.
Jonas Salk was a medical researcher who discovered and developed one of the first successful polio vaccines in 1953. He never patented his discovery believing, like the sun, a vaccine for polio belonged to the people.
Some 200 years of patents and long ago it was recorded by one of the clerks in the patent office, that everything that could be patented already was!
I could see he was a man of vision... less than two feet from his nose.
I've always been impressed with some of the more simple inventions...
Amazed how the 2 liter bottle that Coke-a-Cola is made and more impressed who designed the slots on the threads so a pressurized cap doesn't harm someone when when unscrew it!
Simply put... if you invented something unique and had it patented, no one could legally copy, sell or infringe on your patent rights.
History records inventor Thomas A. Edison had a few thousand patents to his credit. You can also find that many claim some of his patents were stolen from his workers and colleagues. That's the case with many scientists and engineers who work for large corporations and are required to sign contracts, especially ones with non-compete agreements.
I met a man who claimed to have been working for General Electric and invented the rheostat... it's common name was a light dimmer. They got the patent, he got a paycheck.
Someone told me a story of the the guy who invented the intermittent windshield wiper control. He went around to a few car manufacturers looking for someone to buy his idea. He couldn't afford the patent. None of them showed any interest and a few months later, one manufacturer had a similar yet improved device was added to their newest model.
Jonas Salk was a medical researcher who discovered and developed one of the first successful polio vaccines in 1953. He never patented his discovery believing, like the sun, a vaccine for polio belonged to the people.
Some 200 years of patents and long ago it was recorded by one of the clerks in the patent office, that everything that could be patented already was!
I could see he was a man of vision... less than two feet from his nose.
I've always been impressed with some of the more simple inventions...
Amazed how the 2 liter bottle that Coke-a-Cola is made and more impressed who designed the slots on the threads so a pressurized cap doesn't harm someone when when unscrew it!
I'll never forgive you Google...
Four years ago, I went shopping for a Smart TV. The salesman explained (at the time) the current Smart models had a processor/engine that was slower than some models that weren't Smart. I asked if I buy a non-Smart TV, how do connect it to the internet and his reply was with an add-on device called CHROMECAST.
His whole focus was, I should get a TV with a faster engine. The analogy was watching a golfing event and the ball streaking across the screen. Did I want to see the ball clearly or or a with a tail like a comet? The slower engine has limitations on fast moving objects.
So, I bought the TV with a faster engine and a Chromecast. It was great. Easy hookup and I was able to 'cast' YouTube videos to the TV from my desktop computer!
My son-in-law complained that he had to rent another 'box' from the cable company so he could watch Netflix on the TV in the bedroom. I bought him a Chromecast for Christmas and he said it was the BEST gift he ever received.
He preferred to control it via his cellphone. iPhone to be exact.
It's been months since I moved and we hooked up the 4 year old TV via the cable box as part of my HOA package, but... I didn't get around to connecting the Chromecast.
Last week, we purchased a new TV for the living room... yeah, Smart TV. This time, we had the option of one with a faster engine, much better than the older models. It's not that I wanted to watch golf balls streaking across the screen, I wanted something new. So far, I only hooked up the cable box and bypassed the setup routine.
The old TV got moved to the bedroom and this weekend, I got around to connecting the Chromecast on it. What a pain. Google Chrome for desktop no longer supports Chromecast. I've got to link everything to a phone (or tablet) to make things work now. That involves logging in to create an account as the new app that connects to Chromecast is Google Home, as 'we' now have to power to connect any smart device to other smart devices via this app. I say, f'king great...
Third time's a charm... Chromecast was willing but Google Home failed. It's amazing how I b*tch and send out service tickets and 'right after' it miraculously works!
Anyway, I have it connected to an old phone using Wi-Fi. What I didn't experience on my desktop is advertisements. I'm unable to play YouTube videos in Chrome, it routes to the YouTube app that not only plays commercials before each video, it's got them jumping up around the selections. One wouldn't go away until I made a selection.
Next time around I'll be looking to download ad blockers for YouTube and Chrome.
His whole focus was, I should get a TV with a faster engine. The analogy was watching a golfing event and the ball streaking across the screen. Did I want to see the ball clearly or or a with a tail like a comet? The slower engine has limitations on fast moving objects.
So, I bought the TV with a faster engine and a Chromecast. It was great. Easy hookup and I was able to 'cast' YouTube videos to the TV from my desktop computer!
My son-in-law complained that he had to rent another 'box' from the cable company so he could watch Netflix on the TV in the bedroom. I bought him a Chromecast for Christmas and he said it was the BEST gift he ever received.
He preferred to control it via his cellphone. iPhone to be exact.
It's been months since I moved and we hooked up the 4 year old TV via the cable box as part of my HOA package, but... I didn't get around to connecting the Chromecast.
Last week, we purchased a new TV for the living room... yeah, Smart TV. This time, we had the option of one with a faster engine, much better than the older models. It's not that I wanted to watch golf balls streaking across the screen, I wanted something new. So far, I only hooked up the cable box and bypassed the setup routine.
The old TV got moved to the bedroom and this weekend, I got around to connecting the Chromecast on it. What a pain. Google Chrome for desktop no longer supports Chromecast. I've got to link everything to a phone (or tablet) to make things work now. That involves logging in to create an account as the new app that connects to Chromecast is Google Home, as 'we' now have to power to connect any smart device to other smart devices via this app. I say, f'king great...
Third time's a charm... Chromecast was willing but Google Home failed. It's amazing how I b*tch and send out service tickets and 'right after' it miraculously works!
Anyway, I have it connected to an old phone using Wi-Fi. What I didn't experience on my desktop is advertisements. I'm unable to play YouTube videos in Chrome, it routes to the YouTube app that not only plays commercials before each video, it's got them jumping up around the selections. One wouldn't go away until I made a selection.
Next time around I'll be looking to download ad blockers for YouTube and Chrome.
Drop a dime...
I remember the old style pay phones and maybe you do too.
They had a coin slot at the top and it was ten cents to make a local call.
This was more than 40 years before they invented caller ID.
Doing so, made it easy to be in informant of illegal activity and not having the call traced.
A simple call to the Police to let them know of some suspicious activity and hang up.
That's where the term 'Drop a Dime' came from.
Pay phones have become a thing of the past.
Hopefully, no one reading my blog has money in a pay phone company.
I knew of a guy was was on the front technology for phone cards that offered low cost long distance service. That lasted a generation and all the competition made rich men poor men if they didn't get out when 'everyone and their grandmother' was selling phone cards.
Soon after, low price cellphone plans put the 'kibosh' on calling cards.
I still see pay phones everywhere I go.
Unfortunately, if I didn't have a cellphone, it would be a long walk to find a pay phone that actually worked!
They had a coin slot at the top and it was ten cents to make a local call.
This was more than 40 years before they invented caller ID.
Doing so, made it easy to be in informant of illegal activity and not having the call traced.
A simple call to the Police to let them know of some suspicious activity and hang up.
That's where the term 'Drop a Dime' came from.
Pay phones have become a thing of the past.
Hopefully, no one reading my blog has money in a pay phone company.
I knew of a guy was was on the front technology for phone cards that offered low cost long distance service. That lasted a generation and all the competition made rich men poor men if they didn't get out when 'everyone and their grandmother' was selling phone cards.
Soon after, low price cellphone plans put the 'kibosh' on calling cards.
I still see pay phones everywhere I go.
Unfortunately, if I didn't have a cellphone, it would be a long walk to find a pay phone that actually worked!
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