Last Viewed Technology Blogs (218)

For many years, I've been using Firefox for my internet browser and update usually once every 3-4 months. In the past few months, it's been nagging for weekly updates. Annoying doesn't say enough and now, last weeks update has been snagging when I open a new page. It usually takes 2 or 3 tries to get whatever link or bookmark to open.
Hopefully, they will realize that the last update wasn't quite right... and fix it on the next update.

I spoke to someone in the Samsung support about the last update they pushed through my cellphone. He agrees with me that they 'fixed things that weren't broken' and prefers the previous release. Unfortunately there is no easy way to downgrade.

Updates... good or bad, they're part of life now.

Forms that clear all the data if one detail was missed.

Lots of times we have to fill out forms online. When you get to the bottom and hit the submit button, you expect to move to the next page. MOST forms are programmed that when you are missing a selection it will let you know what needs to be completed in order to submit the form. But, SOME sites clear ALL THE FIELDS and make you start again without letting you know what was actually missing...

I can understand security fields like credit card numbers, but missing a zip code and having to go back and fill out an entire questionnaire makes it to my list...

I'm in the middle of a YouTube marathon viewing stories about some amazing inventions.

Thomas Edison patented (and marketed) the electric light that changed the way we live. No more candles or gas lights in the night. His lights were powered from generators that he built using direct current (DC) which is the same current created by batteries. DC current is good for short distance. The major drawback using DC is voltage drop over wires for any distance. This would require a power station every mile. Another problem was the generators themselves weren't efficient nor reliable.

Nikola Tesla, a young immigrant to America started working for Edison. Tesla told Edison he could fix the generator problems and Edison agreed to pay him a million dollars* if he did. Tesla redesigned the generators and Edison reneged only giving him a pay raise.

Angered he had been cheated by Edison, Tesla went off on his own and worked on a new invention of a generator using alternating current (AC) but he needed funding and struck up a partnership with millionaire George Westinghouse. His generators were in direct competition to Edison.

Edison announced to the public that alternating current was dangerous and began a smear campaign of publicly electrocuting dogs using AC. In response, Tesla gave a demonstration at the Worlds Fair in 1883 by shooting electricity through his body to produce light in the lights in his hands!

Alternating current being the superior method of transmission became the standard of electricity as we know it.

The more I learn about Edison, the less I like the man.

* note: one story claimed the deal was $50,000 and another said $1,000,000.

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.

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?

Here are two recently true stories involving human and technology and it not ending well for a human.

First story has to do with 2 people...a son and a father with two different first names and both of them have cable tv from the same provider. The employees plug in the payment received data in the wrong account where the son for a period of time is being credited with his father's payments until the father begins getting bills in amounts that are double the usual.

The father calls the cable company and they spot the error and it is quickly fixed for the father. However, the cable company's computer system that generates the billing statements does not provide the son who has been incorrectly being credited with his monthly bill for two months. The son being a busy guy only recognizes he never got a bill for one month and figures he will pay next month when the current bill comes in. It does not work that way. By the time the next month rolls around, the son's cable has been turned off by the the cable company's computer system. In addition, his account has been hammered with late fees and rehook-up fees. A bill that was suppose to be a little over $200 is now nearly $600 and if he wants his tv back on, he is to pay that amount. The son paid that and now his tv only works half of the time. Now that the son understands what is going on...he is in the process of getting things straightened out. He has been on the phone for hours and all of the cable company's employees are not sure how to fix the problem yet. Who knows how it will all end...but nearly a week without tv and possibly out about $350.

Second story. A huge online company allows people to sell on their venue. Everything that happens on their site is part of a computer system. In this case, a recent seller was penalized an increase in seller fees of 40% that could lead to expenses for the seller raising over $10,000 per year. This selling venue allows returns to be freely done and unquestioned. In many cases, the seller that would get a refund would relist the item exactly as previously described and as pictured...nothing changed. The new buyer would leave a positive feedback and very pleased with the purchase. However, the selling venue's computer system only weighs in on the fact the item was returned for a refund. When the seller contacts the venue and asks the question...who is right here...the first buyer returning it for a refund and blaming it on the seller for them returning it....or the second buyer who buys it exactly as it was sold the first time around and is very satisfied with their purchase. No real answer becomes of that question. Because...there is nothing they can do, the computer system recognizes what is was designed to do. The seller is left with an increased expense of $10,000.

A friend once said....sometimes you can be the dolphin that gets caught in the tuna net.

...lets hope as we become more and more technology dependent and driven...not too many dolphins get caught in the net.

There are few public parks with model aircraft flying sites provided by Palm Beach County - Parks & Recreation where people go to visit and fly airplanes, helicopters and drones.

One problem is many are within 50 miles of president Trump's Mar-a-Lago retreat and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has banned all model aircraft on days when he's in town.

I believe the normal restrictions are 400 feet maximum altitude and no flying within 5 miles of a commercial airport.

So any Palm Beach modellers who only fly weekends and holidays get shut down when the president is at Mar-a-Lago on those days.

Happy flying... !

Google is Watching you

I am quite thankful for the real ones I get. But many come in without photos, and in black and white, and never seem to really exist. Not being a cyber hero, can't figure it all out. But seem like scammers.

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."