Most Commented Technology Blogs (217)

Who invented it?
Who owns it?
How does it work? (what makes it possible)

I was talking with a gentleman the other night. Out of nowhere he starts talking about today's society. He says in his opinion, we were introduced to too much technology, too soon.

What do you think?

Google has just informed me they are updating their privacy policy, not to worry, they say nothing will change! Well of course not! They will continue ripping off our private details and following us wherever we go. Use Duck Duck Go instead people.

My computer did 2 updates yesterday. Virus protection and Firefox.
Now, all the websites are hesitating to load.
In the bottom corner of the Firefox window I see: Performing a TLS Handshake...
Searching Google I see there is an issue with the TLS Handshake causing it to 'hang' when loading pages. So, I opened Google Chrome and I'm getting the same delay.
Explorer has the same issue.
Three different browsers and they are all acting the same. I suspect it's related to the virus software update and since I have it installed on a few computers, I'll go around and check to see if they are all running with the same update.

Like I have time to troubleshoot computers this week...

Google has this to say about it "The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Handshake Protocol is responsible for the authentication and key exchange necessary to establish or resume secure sessions. When establishing a secure session, the Handshake Protocol manages the following: ... Authentication of the server and optionally, the client."

I think that many people have this phobia without even realizing it.

Do you suffer from NOMOPHOBIA?

The term NOMOPHOBIA or NO MObile PHone PhoBIA is used to describe a psychological condition when people have a fear of being detached from mobile phone connectivity. The term NOMOPHOBIA is constructed on definitions described in the DSM-IV, it has been labelled as a “phobia for a particular/specific things”.


I doubt very much if I could fire on all cylinders without my phone.

..w/ notes...
To daze x ray... yesterday once more..
....make this go ON ..For ever .} ..snow patrol
.b...play @ your own risk .} .planet patrol..
C......pop quiz.| . guess who .?.
..2. .stwy 2 heaviness .) .landing Zone.
1...all the Above. } Maino.ft. T pain
...also ran.} .please stand by. | .the outer . limits...
.. Parkinson bumps into Color. Ordinates...pt.2
( Despite simplification, technical gain improves...
....gold. .} . Interference...[ .dan..7:1
Daniel ./ Elton John.....
C.............{ ..dan.6:2....
2... Listen, learn..read On.} .deep . purple
1...Leap of faith. } .I Q.
...daniel says it's the best place he's ever seen...he
. should know, he's been there enough....
... having convinced my self it's a live Exercise, eYe now remind you. ) .. evidence screams continuously that the Recording Industry cannot let go of bible stories..) ..and the reverse Engineering thereof...
Isis & Osiris./ Ayreon.
The statue got me high .) .they might be giants.
Secret history of the human race.) Blood Incantation
..also ran.) Standing on the shoulders of giants.) Oasis
..Liner note. see. Enoch book one.

What's the best way to produce electricity at home , does anybody have a solar system for home ?

In the United States for 5 decades the standard knife of the working man was of two basic types. One either carries a multi tool which is similar to a Boy Scout knife in concept but also includes a reasonably sturdy folding plier such as the Leatherman, OR, one carries a folding knife of the Buck 110 type (or a clone of).

Some working men have one of each type
.
The Buck 110 has earned a place as a classic. They retail for about $35 on Amazon.com The 3 3/4" stainless steel blade is that of a small sheath knife and it can be honed to razor sharpness. When opened the blade locks into the open position so that it will not slam shut on the owners fingers when doing heavy cutting or slicing tasks. The handle to which the blade folds is made of Rosewood with brass bolsters. The clip point blade allows fine detail cutting while the 0.12" blade thickness allows some force to be safely applied when levering. There have been literally millions of them sold. Although initially intended for outdoorsmen who wished to have a reasonable hunting and camp knife without wearing a sheath knife, the design gained immediate acceptance amongst the construction tradesmen as well as other industries in which a good knife is often an important accessory to the workman's kit or tool belt. You will find these knives in a belt pouch or a pocket of construction workers, mechanics, farmers and outdoors workers across the nation. In addition to the Buck brand name stamping on the ricasso of the blade there is also a date code which allows collectors to identify the year of manufacture. Some folks care about that, even though a Buck 110 made in 1963 is otherwise identical to one made in 2018. The complaints about the 110 design are only a few, but they do exist.

A) Learning to open the knife one handed requires a fair amount of practice and a blade pivot mechanism that has been opened and closed enough times so that it is no longer stiff. Once the technique is mastered though any Buck 110 requires only a soft flick of the wrist to open and lock the blade into position.
B) The knife is not light. It ways 7.2 ounces, almost half a pound. The handle is 0.6" thick.
C) The locking mechanism can wear and fail with time. It usually takes about 5 years of daily use 3 or 4 times a day, but eventually the edges of the locking notch can become rounded enough to fail under pressure along the spine of the blade. If your Buck 110 is razor sharp this can result in sudden pain and blood (and or finger) loss.
D) The knife's edge can be used for shaving insulation off wires, and if a copper wire is thin the knife can cut through it. However, the knife was designed for slicing softer materials and cutting wires or cables will place nicks and dull spots on the blade's edge and resharpening is probably needed after a day spent cutting phone wires or picture hanging wire.
E) There is no way to disassemble the knife for thorough cleaning. Usually however a spray of hot water can be used to flush debris out of the channels.

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...

Now that millions of people are home under lockdown, it's safe to say the internet is on bandwidth overload. Many sites cannot handle the amount of increased traffic. I heard (on local radio) some streaming services (like Netflix) will be limiting/restricting their High Definition signals during peak hours.

I usually obsess on YouTube during the weekends and noticed EVERY video I clicked had an error message that required a second try to get the video to play. High bandwidth problems is suspected.

It took several tries to logon to CS this morning as I received HTTP Error 503.2 - Service Unavailable and a few errors while navigating around the site.

A friend who is a regular at the county park where we fly model aircraft said ALL the parks are now closed. One of the local flying clubs website stated local and regional parks are closed until further notice! The field video camera confirmed no cars in the lot and the airstrip is devoid of pilots.

My plan was to catch a few helicopter flights in the schoolyard, but someone told me under city lockdown I could be jailed and/or fined. No one around me for 200 yards... I promise to wear an N95 mask.