TECHNOLOGY: Wyze or Eufy Cameras should be disconnected NOW!

Friday, December 9, 2022

https://www.reviewgeek.com/138235/why-review-geek-cant-recommend-wyze-or-eufy-cameras-anymore/

Why Review Geek Can’t Recommend Wyze or eufy Cameras Anymore
Josh Hendrickson @canterrain
Dec 2, 2022, 1:24 pm EST | 8 min read

*** begin quote ***

But that’s not the same thing as recommending them to anyone else. No recommendation should start with, “this is a good option, but first, you should know some things.” And that would be a requirement. The only safe bet you can take is to not place security cameras in your home at all.

*** end quote ***

Wyze or Eufy Cameras should be disconnected NOW!

After you review the article, you may decide it’s worth the risk.

But I wouldn’t advise it, UNLESS you’re very confident in your risk / reward decision.

IMHO neither company has earned any trust.

In full disclosure, I don’t have ANY cameras operational or otherwise.

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TECHNOLOGY: You Don’t Own Digital Content! — That’s not fair

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

https://www.reviewgeek.com/137285/you-should-still-buy-blu-rays-and-dvds-heres-why/

You Should Still Buy Blu-Rays and DVDs, Here’s Why
Danny Chadwick @jdannychadwick
Nov 23, 2022, 10:18 am EST

*** begin quote ***

You Don’t Own Digital Content, Even if You “Buy” It

The digital movies you buy on VUDU, iTunes, or Amazon are subject to the same nonsense as streaming media. When you buy a digital copy of a movie, you don’t really own it. You’ve simply purchased a license to play a movie or show through a platform, whether it be Amazon, Apple, Google, or whoever. And if those platforms ever lose the right to provide the titles you’ve bought, they’ll disappear from your library. Maybe you’ll be notified, maybe not.

It may seem unbelievable for such prominent companies to lose distribution rights, but it happens. And in the coming years, it could happen more. Amazon can’t come into your home and snatch your copy of The Dark Knight from your shelf because they had a licensing dispute with Warner Brothers.

*** end quote ***

Much like “not your key; not your coin, so to you don’t own “digital content”.

I have a ton of self-help cassette tapes (I still need a lot of help), that the publisher would be happy to sell me another copy on a CD.  But I already paid for a copy.  But it’s NOT “mine”. Argh!

My SO feels the same way about “her” music on iTunes.  (I still haven’t figured out how to recover her account.)

Seems like NFTs could be a “solution” to this problem.  I buy an NFT of a book and I get to treat it as mine … FOREVER.

Argh!

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TECHNOLOGY: Building a community ISP — Comcast and AT&T should be concerned

Friday, October 21, 2022

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/10/comcast-wanted-210000-for-internet-so-this-man-helped-expand-a-co-op-fiber-isp/#p3

Building a community ISP —
Comcast wanted $210,000 for Internet—so this man helped expand a co-op fiber ISP
Fed up with Comcast and AT&T, Silicon Valley residents started their own network.
Jon Brodkin – 10/17/2022, 8:48 AM

*** begin quote ***

Sasha Zbrozek lives in Los Altos Hills, California, which he describes as “a wealthy Silicon Valley town,” in a house about five miles from Google’s headquarters. But after moving in December 2019, Zbrozek says he learned that Comcast never wired his house—despite previously telling him it could offer Internet service at the address.

Today, Zbrozek is on the board of a co-op ISP called Los Altos Hills Community Fiber (LAHCF), which provides multi-gigabit fiber Internet to dozens of homes and has a plan to serve hundreds more. Town residents were able to form the ISP with the help of Next Level Networks, which isn’t a traditional consumer broadband provider but a company that builds and manages networks for local groups.

Zbrozek’s experience with Comcast led to him getting involved with LAHCF and organizing an expansion that brought 10Gbps symmetrical fiber to his house and others on nearby roads. Zbrozek described his experience to Ars in a phone interview and in emails.

*** end quote ***

Remember that cable tv started as a community effort to get better TV reception.  Perhaps this is a way to escape cable companies and their contracts and high prices.  

Now with these folks it wasn’t about money.  For us poor folks, that’s too much of a capital expense. 

I wonder about the possibilities.

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TECHNOLOGY: TNF picture isn’t very good

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Watching Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime.  I think the picture stinks.  Is it just me?

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TECHNOLOGY: Virtual Influencers — why would anyone be a fan?

Saturday, October 15, 2022

https://archive.ph/NDbgt

Technology sector
Ageless and scandal-proof: Chinese tech groups bank on virtual influencers

 

*** begin quote ***

Ageless and scandal-proof: Chinese tech groups bank on virtual influencers (3 minute read)

Virtual celebrities are becoming more attractive to companies in China as the Chinese government cracks down on human celebrities deemed to be politically outspoken or morally questionable. China’s virtual idol industry is predicted to increase to 48 billion RMB by 2025. Companies like Tencent and ByteDance have spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing digital influencers. While virtual celebrities are more controllable, they aren’t completely immune to scandal and they are currently earning far less than what human influencers used to earn.

*** end quote ***

How does a virtual influencer get involved in a scandal?

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TECHNOLOGY: “your GPS is wrong!”

Friday, September 30, 2022

https://vtdigger.org/2022/08/19/the-deeper-dig-how-to-get-a-truck-unstuck-from-smugglers-notch/?mibextid=n6J8b8&utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

The Deeper Dig: How to get a truck unstuck from Smugglers Notch
By Riley Robinson
Aug 19 2022

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The Vermont Agency of Transportation has an internal word for when a tractor-trailer wedges itself on the windy mountain road between Stowe and Jeffersonville: a “stuckage.”

And while they’re working on a handful of ways to prevent stuck trucks, it remains a persistent, vaguely goofy, problem. Earlier this summer, not too long after the Notch road reopened from its annual winter hibernation, two trucks got stuck in the Notch in less than two weeks.

*** end quote ***

Interesting that GPS is a technology that not only “captures” trucks but kills people who follow it into snowy forest roads or dry dessert washes.

Why?

As a “techie”, I know you can’t always trust the “computer answers”.  Having worked on Wall Street, I have seen traders lose obscene amounts of money because of their spreadsheet error. Say what they want about the old mainframe COBOL programs, there was not way to “inadvertently fat finger a formula”.

We don’t know what we don’t know.  And, that is our downfall.

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TECHNOLOGY: A great human skill found that leads to possible future important testing tool

Thursday, September 22, 2022

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/woman-who-can-smell-parkinsons-helps-scientists-develop-test/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=13-09-2022

Woman Who Can Smell Parkinson’s’ Helps Scientists Develop Test
By Andy Corbley – Sep 12, 2022

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In Scotland there’s a woman who can smell changes in body odor corresponding to the presence or onset of Parkinson’s disease.

Keeping with Scotland’s decorated history of medical discoveries, this “curse and a benefit” is now being used to develop a fast test for Parkinson’s that involves simply scraping a cotton ball over the back of the neck for examination.

More than 40 years ago, Joy Milne noticed an abrupt change in the natural odor of her husband, Les, when he was 33-years-old.

She knew herself to have a supersensitive nose, someone who couldn’t go into the cleaning section of a supermarket, but 12 years later, Les was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in an already progressive state, and it got her thinking it was the cause.

In 2012, Les, a former-doctor, went to find someone who could investigate further the connection between scent and Parkinson’s alongside Joy.

That initial inquiry led them to a professor at the University of Edinburgh who formed a team to put Joy’s sense of smell to the test.

*** end quote ***

What a great human adaption!  This could lead to a life changing test.

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TECHNOLOGY: AT&T reneges on its 5G commitment to older phones while still continuing to sell the older phones

Sunday, September 11, 2022

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/no-at-t-wont-let-older-phones-tap-into-its-full-5g-network-after-all/#ftag=CAD590a51e

No, AT&T Won’t Let Older Phones Tap Into Its Full 5G Network After All

  • Here’s why you shouldn’t buy an iPhone 12, iPhone 13 or any non-2022 5G phone on an AT&T installment plan.

Eli Blumenthal — Sept. 8, 2022 12:43 p.m. PT

# – # – # – # – #

This seems to be a consumer fraud issue.

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TECHNOLOGY: Jabra65t seems to be unable to bluetooth to my Mac Book Air

Friday, September 9, 2022

@reinkefj

I have the 65 and want to pair it to my mac. How do I do that?

# – # – # – # – #

@JabraSupport

Hello, thank you for the info. The Jabra Elite 65t is optimized for use with a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. Some users may have success pairing a Jabra Bluetooth device with a computer and then connecting to a softphone client such as Microsoft Teams. However, the full functionality of the Jabra device may not be available. For example, you may be able to send and receive audio, but the buttons may not work for call controls the way they would with a mobile device.

If you do pair with a computer or unsupported device, note that it must support the following:

The Hands Free (HFP) or Headset (HSP) Bluetooth profile.
The Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) Bluetooth profile.
In addition, ensure that all devices, including your Jabra device, are up to date with the latest firmware/software. When pairing your Jabra Bluetooth device, follow the same steps that you would for pairing with a mobile device. To troubleshoot challenges when connected to a computer or softphone client, try the following steps:

Check that the Bluetooth connection is active on the computer.
Remove the previous pairing and re-pair.
Reset your Jabra Bluetooth device.
Ensure that you have the latest version of the softphone client installed.
Ensure that your Jabra device is selected as the audio device on your computer and the softphone client.

# – # – # – # – #

@reinkefj

Wish had known that BEFORE I bought them!

# – # – # – # – #

@JabraSupport

Hello Ferdinand, I apologize for any inconvenience. You can certainly try pairing it to the Mac like you would your smartphone, we just cannot guarantee the full performance of the headset to be available. – Jeff

# – # – # – # – #

Argh!  And all the time I wasted trying. Argh!

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HARDWARE: Put EPSON on my “never purchase” list

Sunday, August 21, 2022

https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/22/08/11/181230/bricked-epson-printers-make-a-strong-case-for-user-repairability?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed

Bricked Epson Printers Make a Strong Case For User Repairability

*** begin quote ***

Epson has gained some scrutiny in recent weeks after the company disabled a printer that was otherwise working fine, leading to accusations of planned obsolescence. Epson knows its printers will stop working without simple maintenance at a predictable point in the future, and it knows that it won’t be cost-effective for many owners to send their home printers in for service. So why not build them to be user serviceable in the first place? The Verge:

The inciting post from @marktavern mentions that his wife was unable to use her “very expensive Epson printer” after an end-of-service error message appeared. This isn’t anything new for Epson printers, sadly. Reports going back several years mention an infamous error message that reads “parts inside the printer have reached the end of their service life.” Epson confirmed to The Verge that the error is related to the printer’s ink pads, which had likely become saturated through extended use and were now at risk of spilling into the rest of the printer mechanism.

*** end quote ***

Sounds like consumer fraud to me.  I never heard of such nonsense.

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