Watching Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. I think the picture stinks. Is it just me?
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TECHNOLOGY: TNF picture isn’t very good
Thursday, October 20, 2022
2 Comments | 
Technology | Tagged: amazon, Amazon Prime, Streaming Video, Thursday Night Football | 
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Posted by reinkefj
TECHNOLOGY: Virtual Influencers — why would anyone be a fan?
Saturday, October 15, 2022Technology sector
Ageless and scandal-proof: Chinese tech groups bank on virtual influencers
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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.
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How does a virtual influencer get involved in a scandal?
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Posted by reinkefj
TECHNOLOGY: “your GPS is wrong!”
Friday, September 30, 2022The 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.
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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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Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: GPS, Riley Robinson, Smugglers Notch, spreadsheet error, vtdigger.org | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
TECHNOLOGY: A great human skill found that leads to possible future important testing tool
Thursday, September 22, 2022Woman 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.
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What a great human adaption! This could lead to a life changing test.
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Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: Andy Corbley, body odor, goodnewsnetwork, Joy Milne, Parkinson, Parkinson’s disease, Scotland, University of Edinburgh | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
TECHNOLOGY: AT&T reneges on its 5G commitment to older phones while still continuing to sell the older phones
Sunday, September 11, 2022No, 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
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This seems to be a consumer fraud issue.
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Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: AT&T, cnet.com, Eli Blumenthal, non-2022 5G phone | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
TECHNOLOGY: Jabra65t seems to be unable to bluetooth to my Mac Book Air
Friday, September 9, 2022I have the 65 and want to pair it to my mac. How do I do that?
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@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.
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Wish had known that BEFORE I bought them!
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@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
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Argh! And all the time I wasted trying. Argh!
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Posted by reinkefj
HARDWARE: Put EPSON on my “never purchase” list
Sunday, August 21, 2022Bricked Epson Printers Make a Strong Case For User Repairability
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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.
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Sounds like consumer fraud to me. I never heard of such nonsense.
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Leave a Comment » | HARDWARE | Tagged: Epson, Epson Printers, User Repairability | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
TECHNOLOGY: IROMBA is a PIA
Thursday, August 18, 2022Got a new roomba
PIA
- Have to use their app.
- Have to verify email that times out by the time you get the pin
- Have to have a specific footprint for it to reside in
- App doesn’t use the system specific keyboards — so no short text expansions
I didn’t pick it, I’m just tech support.
Argh!
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Posted by reinkefj
TECHNOLOGY: Car windows in a flood; a new Gooferment diktat
Sunday, July 24, 2022https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/australia-car-flood-escape-safety/#ftag=CAD590a51e
Australia Wants to Make Your Car Easier to Escape in a Flood
Steven Ewing
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What’s happening
The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) will implement new safety regulations making cars easier to escape in a flood.
Why it matters
The rules would require a car’s power windows to remain operational for 10 minutes after going under water, making it easier for occupants to escape or rescue workers to get in.
What’s next
ANCAP’s new rules go into effect in 2023.
There’s a pretty simple rule of thumb to follow when it comes to driving in floods: If the water looks too deep, it is too deep.
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The Australian Gooferment want to make cars escapable. Doesn’t everyone have one of those windshield breakers on their car key reing? I give them to all new drivers and have them on my ring!
Depending upon the Gooferment for anything is foolish.
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Five bucks!
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Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: Australasian New Car Assessment Program, Australia, Steven Ewing | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Technology: Publishers seek a new form of monopoly; time to revisit IP and Copyrights
Sunday, July 10, 2022Internet Archive’s Controlled Digital Lending Program Is Lawful Fair Use That Preserves Traditional Library Lending in the Digital World
Press Release
July 8, 2022
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SAN FRANCISCO—The Internet Archive has asked a federal judge to rule in its favor and end a radical lawsuit, filed by four major publishing companies, that aims to criminalize library lending.
The Internet Archive, headquartered in San Francisco, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit library which preserves and provides access to cultural artifacts of all kinds in electronic form. The motion for summary judgment, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Durie Tangri LLP, explains that the Archive’s Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) program is a lawful fair use that preserves traditional library lending in the digital world.
The brief explains how the Internet Archive is advancing the purposes of copyright law by furthering public access to knowledge and facilitating the creation of new creative and scholarly works. The Internet Archive’s digital lending hasn’t cost the publishers one penny in revenues; in fact, concrete evidence shows that the Archive’s digital lending does not and will not harm the market for books.
“Should we stop libraries from owning and lending books? No,” said Brewster Kahle, the Internet Archive’s founder and digital librarian. “We need libraries to be independent and strong, now more than ever, in a time of misinformation and challenges to democracy. That’s why we are defending the rights of libraries to serve our patrons where they are, online.”
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When do we put a stop to BIG X (Pharma, Auto, Government, Medicine, etc.), in this case Big Publishing, from trying to monopolize everything?
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Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: Brewster Kahle, EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Hachette, HarperCollins, Internet Archive, Penguin Random House, Wiley | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
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