Hot, rainy, humid, and more humid. Yesterday was typical Houston, depending on where in town you were, and when, you could have had sun most of the day. Or gully washer thunderstorms. Or both. I was driving around and most of the east and south east of Houston were sunny while I was there. Most of the west and NW got hammered.
Stopped in at my ‘industrial’ auctioneer, and he had left a few items off my last auction. We got that straightened out, and they are in the current one. I’ve got a huge pile of stuff for him, and I can’t even talk to his scheduling person until the 12th… I think I might have to try another local auction house for some bins of stuff. In person contact seems to work much better than anything else for the auction guys in town. Meatspace, it’s important.
Speaking of weather, it looks like TS Elsa is slowing? The last track I saw had it hitting Tampa later than I thought. I can watch it come in on my sibling’s newly installed Nest cam, if I want to… but I don’t think it will be too interesting at this point.
————————————————————————
Lot’s of violence reported this past weekend. NYFC, Chicago, the numbers are getting so high that MSM can’t ignore them. Even my wife made a comment in disbelief about the Chicago numbers, and she’s been purposely avoiding current news lately. Keep your eyes open if you are moving around in the wide world. Go armed if you are able. Have some trauma response first aid nearby.
————————————————————————
There’s a lot of stupidity going around too. More reason to keep your eyes open and your head down. The polarizing elements in our current situation haven’t gone anywhere, they are just getting ready for the next phase, and the next incident.
————————————————————————
I don’t know if we’re having too much water, too much heat, or too little of something else, but I read in different places that there are issues with food production and crop growth again this year. Previous years ate into any stores, bad crops will increasingly have a more immediate effect on the US and by extension, the world. Remember that there were food riots when US producers switched from food production to ethanol production. We still export a lot of food, but every farmer knows that no crop is guaranteed.
————————————————————————-
I am seeing a bit of ammo hitting the market, and even a few guns. Prices are still crazy high, but I’d be sorely tempted to buy anyway, because there are a number of things that can cause prices to rise and supplies to decrease, and little that would cause them to drop.
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I think you know where all this is going. We’re already having floods, famine, storms, and plagues, war is next – in some form or another. Keep stacking. Or end up lacking.
nick
The media is not going Hurricane Crazy here in south Florida for a change.
I came here to South Florida from a non-hurricane state in early 1981. By the time Hurricane Andrew came through in 1992, we were so used to the media crying wolf every time a low-level disturbance materialized in the Atlantic that after more than a few of these, we were inclined to ignore the warnings. For 11.5 years after I moved here, every hurricane season we were inundated with the media’s “The Sky Is Falling” predictions that seemed to never occur. They were just addicted to the attention that they brought to themselves.
By the time Hurricane Andrew hit us in 1992, a very large percentage of Floridians had moved into the state and had no experience with hurricane preparedness except for the checklists given out by the local grocery stores and Home Depot. So we did not know what to expect when they predicted a very strong storm heading straight for Palm Beach County. What happened is that the largest, strongest, and most costly hurricane slammed into Homestead at over 175mph. (It took a turn to the south at the last minute.). And we were not prepared for it.
Never again!!!
ps. Bryan Norcross was the lone voice of sanity in all of South Florida then and now.
Before Hurricane Andrew, the insurance premium on my $140,000 home was $305.00. Now try and get it for under $5,000.
All those
poordead people on the lower stories.Fixed it for you. No one that was in that building when it collapsed is still alive. The news keeps saying “search and rescue”. It should be “recovery”. All that is going to be located is bodies, parts and pieces of bodies.
News does the same here when ANYTHING happens. Gloom and doom. If the event is located in another state far away or even in another country the news stations will try and find some connection. “The second cousin, who moved from the area 10 years ago, has a brother who knew the wife of the husband whose child was in the area”. You get the drift. How the news stations find these people is unknown. I strongly suspect the people contact the news stations themselves. In the never ending pursuit of ratings the stations will interview the person.
I would like to see a news stations where the reports are not some smiling, always chuckling, bimbo whom only has the job because they are popular. Their intelligence is questionable, their knowledge of the world, even their local area, is questionable. Then have the news stations hire someone to do the lower graphics that can spell.
Before Hurricane Andrew, the insurance premium on my $140,000 home was $305.00. Now try and get it for under $5,000.
And your Florida chartered carrier is insolvent. It doesn’t matter who wrote the policy. They all are dependent on the state borrowing money to backstop their losses in the event of another Andrew, but I doubt the storm will even have to be that large.
In the meantime, the $5000 premiums pay the sinkhole claims, Florida’s welfare for the middle class white demographic.
I don’t miss the game.
I would like to see a news stations where…
Very unlikely. Just ignore them. I do that mostly, and feel much better. They represent a world that is very different from mine. I have always learned the most from reading, Internet sites lately. The local nooz shows just do fluff. Some of the national news stations mention topics that are best read more deeply, and at leisure. They typically devote at most two minutes to topics that really need a lot more depth. I get a lot of leads right here. Following them takes work. The Internet is the greatest reference library.
Gaia is competing for attention. Last evening there was a 3.6 tremor about 9 miles away on the newly discovered fault that produced our 7.1 on July 5, 2019. We felt and heard it for a few seconds. We still average 20-30 mild tremors a day, and few are noticeable.
The nooz people don’t cry wolf because earthquakes can only be predicted a few seconds before they happen. Suits me.
Indeed. When the station runs a story about a girl with a lemonade stand who is raising money to help her brother get orthodontic braces, I tend to hold back the spewing of chunks. Of course you can guess the skin color, mother big as a small hearse, no father, living in the projects, coherent English non-existent, claiming the system’s not fair, while showing gold teeth, hair extensions, expensive nail treatment, wearing a gold chain. Of course reported by a female person of the same skin color as if male whitey is incapable of reporting such a heart rendering (cough, cough) story.
Well, only 75F at the moment, but 97%RH so there is that…. mainly because it’s drizzling.
—
weren’t we supposed to see LESS wuflu over time, because natural viruses become LESS lethal as they mutate?
–so how could “the experts” be so wrong? unless they don’t really know what they’re talking about, or wuflu isn’t a natural virus, or it’s not getting worse…
n
Drizzle has turned to downpour.
0,44 inches in just a few minutes.
n
now 0,54
My vote is for all three with the added item of “controlling the population”. Thus all four.
Nice summary of radio transmissions from various IoT devices:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-tIK3Fk-bLA
Haven’t watched Tob Braxman in a couple of months. His vids tend to be long, so I watch at higher speed. This one has a good summary of how our keepers are watching us. Might want to take some steps…
I’m in the market for new phones (wife and me,) so I found this of interest:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IPrugkYJpO8
I don’t think any of his suggestions would work for us, but they point out the futility of resistance. Any phonies (!) care to comment? I will stay mainstream, probably a Samsung Note 20 or S21 series. Cameras are important.
Barely scratched the surface. Been with AT&T for many years, and a friend is suggesting Consumer Cellular, but mostly to save money. I don’t have many choices in our area, and AT&T has been good to us. Wouldn’t go with Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile has no presence. Judging from others’ experience, the independents are iffy.
Don’t know if I would buy an unlocked phone or take a carrier deal. Our present phones are too old to have any trade-in value.
Go unlocked as unlocking is sometimes difficult. iPhone 12 Pro has the best cameras.
Die In A Fire
If you have friends or family upgrading their phones, ask if you can have their old one if you like it. When I upgrade my iPhone, I usually donate it to a family member without or needs a better one. I’ve never had a problem unlocking with ATT. We are using Mint cellular now and save a lot over my ATT plan. Service is “good enough”.
I just got a Galaxy S21 Ultra – it was on sale at Amazon on Prime Day. Very happy so far. The Verizon people did the transfer painlessly. Took a while to get all my apps transferred and installed, but it went smoothly.
The camera’s low light mode is great.
We have had Consumer Cellular for a few years now, and we really like them. Service, when needed (rarely) is a real person with a clear voice and is always helpful. My husband uses a Samsung Android phone he bought from them… it was not expensive but I don’t remember the price. He likes the camera on it, but does not take many photos. His “extra line” with data only costs us an extra $10 per month, and there’s a thing where if you exceed the data (he never does), it rolls you up to the next plan, so no crazy charges. I think all texts are free. I have a basic flip phone. Just got the bill today: $56.75 ($2.50 AARP discount). He used 2,492 minutes of “Free Wireless Web Megabytes” last month.
I use xfinity wireless as am a Comcast internet customer. Three phones, unlimited talk and text, 3 GB of shared data is $36.00 a month with taxes and fees. xfinity uses Verizon towers so I generally have good signal. All three phones are iPhones, unlocked. Service has been good.
MIL had an AT&T flip phone when she died. I think she had almost 1,000 minutes. She was on a plan that was $100 a year and was 1,000 minutes, limited data, don’t know about text. Limited data was not an issue on a flip phone.
When the MIL passed we gave the phone away to another person on limited income who did not have a phone.
We did get her an iPhone about a year ago so she could receive pictures of grandkids, great grandkids and such. She never could learn how to use the phone. The concept of a simple touch, which resulted in her darn near pushing her finger through the screen, the ability to double tap, etc., were all lost on her. Watching her dial as she mashed each number was painful. Her flip phone hung up when she closed the cover. Her iPhone did not do that so she would leave a call connected for hours when she closed the protective case.
Thus I see the appeal for Consumer Cellular for older people for whom technology escapes them. About the furthest the MIL got with technology was a manual typewriter where mashing buttons was the norm. MIL did destroy a TV remote because she was pushing the power button too hard. I don’t know if it was inability to learn or a stubborn streak where she did not want to learn. I lean heavily toward the latter.
I have a Sears Craftsman all rubber heavy-duty garden hose that is probably at least 12 years old and still serviceable. Back when the Craftsman brand meant something.
The gist I always got from guys who use tools a lot more regularly than I do is that Craftsman always made quality mechanics hand tools (wrenches, sockets, etc.). However, pretty much everything else they made was hit or miss (more misses than hits the last 20 years). Sears took Craftsman’s shining reputation and slapped it on everything to drive sales.
Upgraded my phones lately. Changed from MetroPCs (now Metro by T-Mobile, after they were bought) to T-Mobile. Since I was a ‘new’ customer (even though both companies are owned by T-Mobile), I got their 55+ “Magenta-55+” plan – two phones, unlimited data/text/phone for $70/month ($35/line) (with auto-pay, which gave an additional discount). They have similar discounted plans for veterans/military/first responders.
Got a Galaxy A32 5G, with a significant discount. Picked that one, because it’s a true 64-bit OS. (Some phones have 64-bit processors, but run in 32-bit emulation mode.) That full 64-bit OS is not apparent on the spec sheets, so I used an app called AIDA64 (free) which tells you all the hardware/software details of a phone. (I installed it on the sample phones at the store, so I could ensure getting a full 64-bit OS. The store techs don’t always know…and the phone web specs don’t tell.)
Nice phone, good plan. Camera’s good. Apps all work. Techs at the store did the data transfer; got all my old pix, and my old apps. Some tweaking involved on some apps to get my preferences set up.
Got the same phone for SWMBO. Makes tech support easier for me.
When I upgrade my iPhone, I usually donate it to a family member without or needs a better one
Any iOS device which no longer receives OS updates from Apple should be considered to be a security risk away from a home WiFi network.
The old NeXT hands who still run things in CoreOS (upstream release of iOS and Mac OS) have a dangerous delusion of being capable of a diy approach to crypto which has burned the company on occasion.
iPhone models older than the 3GS are really unsafe. Any iPhone incapable of being upgraded to iOS 5 should simply be recycled at this point.
The MSM is just reporting what the spineless politicians are saying. And those pols are just worried about their next reelection, hence none wants to be the first to say there will be no more survivors. I heard Wolf Blitzer yesterday trying to get the mayor of Surfside to utter the “recovery” word but he just wouldn’t go there. You’ve got to feel bad for all these rescue crews risking injury and potentially breathing toxic who knows what just to put on a ‘show’.
I would go further and say that any iPhone incapable of being upgraded to IOS 14 should be discarded. Such a phone is long past it’s useful life. My aged iPhone 6S was able to be upgraded to IOS 14 and that phone is 6 years old. That is a long time in phone life. iPhone 6 and below should be considered for the recycle bin. Those devices max out at IOS 12. Lot of security and privacy stuff has been added since IOS 12.
We have an old iPad (1st gen iPad Air circa 2013) that only supports up to iOS 12 (which initially rolled out in 2018) and they’ve actually pushed a few security updates over the last several months. So, it’s still getting security updates from Apple. It’s our loaner iPad we keep at the house in case the daughter has a friend over who doesn’t have a device to use. It’s wifi only (it’s cellular capable, but disabled) and doesn’t really leave the house.
Hagar The Horrible: Dying In Vain
https://www.comicskingdom.com/hagar-the-horrible/2021-07-06
Groan !
And yes, I thought immediately of Carly Simon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNir1anaVu4
Lot’s of violence reported this past weekend. NYFC, Chicago, the numbers are getting so high that MSM can’t ignore them. Even my wife made a comment in disbelief about the Chicago numbers, and she’s been purposely avoiding current news lately. Keep your eyes open if you are moving around in the wide world. Go armed if you are able. Have some trauma response first aid nearby.
Just wait until Biden gets all of his PRCs (public residential complexes) built in the suburbs for his ten million illegal aliens coming in over the next three years. The violence in those places will be simply breathtaking as they cannot find jobs other than day labor.
Before Hurricane Andrew, the insurance premium on my $140,000 home was $305.00. Now try and get it for under $5,000.
It is not just the hurricanes, it is also the cost of rebuilding has doubled in the last ten years. My last roof replacement for my old 3,540 ft2 house was almost $20,000.
“Illegal Migrant Charged with Stabbing Rabbi in Boston”
https://brigittegabriel.com/news/illegal-migrant-charged-with-stabbing-rabbi-in-boston
“An Egyptian migrant in the country illegally is accused of stabbing a rabbi eight times, as incidents of anti-semitic violence continue to rise across the country.
“Awad, 24, of Brighton, was arrested shortly after the attack outside the Shaloh House on Chestnut Hill Avenue,” CBS Boston reported. “Boston Police said he was armed with a knife and gun. He’s charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a police officer.””
I wonder what the crime rate from our new illegal alien friends is ?
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
did my pickup. Took the 10yo along, so we stopped at a thrift store I’ve never been in before. Picked up a couple things for the house and a TI 84 calculator for $4. I explained some of what I look for, we spotted a set of Star Wars figures, looked them up, did the math, and they were more than ebay prices. Good lesson about profit margin, or the lack thereof…
Just before I left the house we lost power in the neighborhood. It was out for about 2 hours. Flaky since the freeze. Time to change batteries in some of the UPSs. And of course, one machine started to update on shutdown… thought I killed all that but it must have turned itself back on. Don’t know if it completed before the UPS died.
On the other machine, The intel Manageability engine firmware recovery agent is asking to install. This is an 8 yo pc, and just now it wants to install?? WTF?
n
There’s a lot of stupidity going around too. More reason to keep your eyes open and your head down. The polarizing elements in our current situation haven’t gone anywhere, they are just getting ready for the next phase, and the next incident.
I get the feeling that they are putting plans together to move the stupidity out into the suburbs. It will not go well.
did my pickup. Took the 10yo along, so we stopped at a thrift store I’ve never been in before. Picked up a couple things for the house and a TI 84 calculator for $4. I explained some of what I look for, we spotted a set of Star Wars figures, looked them up, did the math, and they were more than ebay prices. Good lesson about profit margin, or the lack thereof…
Took the apprentice along, so we stopped at a thrift store I’ve never been in before.
Fixed that for ya !
I’m on the Mint Mobile 3 month plan 10GB/mo unlimited text and talk for $105. I’ve gotten close to 10GB but never exceeded it. $35/mo is not bad.
Psaki admitting if you are vaccinated, you are in a federal goobermint database:
Nothing to see here, just Jen Psaki admitting the feds will be going door-to-door to Americans who have not been vaccinated (watch)
I wonder how much plugs is spending to hire some PLT goons to knock on doors?
I’m probably in two dozen federal goobermint DBs by now.
“US Army Directs Commands To Prep For Mandatory COVID Shots For Troops; Report”
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/us-army-directs-commands-prep-mandatory-covid-shots-troops-report
“The US Army is preparing to enforce mandatory coronavirus vaccinations for service members from the beginning of September, according to an Army Times report.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/07/01/prepare-for-mandatory-covid-vaccines-in-september-army-tells-commands/
The report published Saturday notes “The Army has directed commands to prepare to administer mandatory COVID-19 vaccines as early as Sept. 1, pending full Food and Drug Administration licensure.””
Looks like everyone is going to make the vaccines mandatory.
What kind of University just offers someone tenure:
Nikole Hannah-Jones humiliates UNC, accepts tenured position at Howard University instead
Oh, that’s right, a *woke* one looking for a POC with *1619* fake history cred. What a joke. I guess this woman can’t get anymore grift out of fake history for Blacks, so lifetime income from PLTs will have to do.
As Mr. OFD said, “the commies took over without firing a shot.”
Psaki admitting if you are vaccinated, you are in a federal goobermint database:
Nothing to see here, just Jen Psaki admitting the feds will be going door-to-door to Americans who have not been vaccinated (watch)
I wonder how much plugs is spending to hire some PLT goons to knock on doors?
I’m probably in two dozen federal goobermint DBs by now.
I am right there with you. I testified against the FTC in a monopoly lawsuit in 2000 or so. I made some new friends then.
Add in soy rations and we will have an all *female* Army in no time. Next up, goose-stepping in heels, like the Ukranian Army.
I watched The Tomorrow War last night. An OK popcorn movie, but has enough plot holes that is looks like plugs’ brain. I think Chis Pratt will do anything for a buck.
Jeebus, there is no end to ProgLibTurd lunacy:
California endeavors to do away with ‘white supremacy culture’ in the mathematics classroom
I like the comment: 1 + 1 = racism
The PLTs will eliminate themselves by eliminating the kids who should grow up to make all their gadgets for community organizing. We’ll be back in the Stone-age in a generation.
“Cetaganda (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures)” by Lois McMaster Bujold
https://www.amazon.com/Cetaganda-Vorkosigan-Adventure-McMaster-Bujold/dp/0671877445/?tag=ttgnet-20
Book number seven (in chronological order) of a sixteen book space opera series. However, some people call this a military science fiction series. There are several other books and short stories in the Vorkosigan Universe. This series won the Hugo and Nebula awards for best series in 2017. Also, several of the individual books in the series have either won awards or been nominated for awards. I have read this book several times as it is one of my favorite books. I reread the well printed and well bound new MMPB published by Baen in 1996 that I just rebought on Amazon. I have rebought the rest of the books in the series in various formats, mostly MMPB.
Lord Miles Vorkosigan and Lord Ivan Vorpatril have traveled to the lead world, Eta Ceta IV, of the Cetagandan empire to represent their planet Barrayar at the Empresses funeral. Communications between the two empires are still stressed due to the attempted invasion by Cetaganda fifty years earlier which resulted in the deaths of five million Barrayar citizens, mostly due to planetary bombardments using nuclear weapons. As usual, Miles is in the middle of a conspiracy, this time at the center of the Cetaganda Empires internal politics.
Vorkosigan Saga (Chronological) by Lois McMaster Bujold
https://www.goodreads.com/series/98254-vorkosigan-saga-chronological
My rating: 6 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (311 reviews)
For the kinds of bucks they’re paying him so would I. Please someone give me $25M to act in a crappy movie!!! 🙂
Well, if you’re looking for silly popcorn, the new Herbie the Love Bug movie certainly qualifies. Lindsay Lohan was a hottie before becoming the national poster child for why sobriety should be considered as a lifestyle choice. 5 different effects houses were involved, including ILM, and there are a bunch of cameos that I’m sure someone who follows racing and car customization would recognize. It had my 10yo bouncing up and down in her chair with joy and laughter.
And that right there made it worth watching.
n
Question about iOS whatever version. The security problems are because of what? Using some stranger’s wi-fi connection? I mean, if the Starbuck’s or some Evil Person is sitting there and spoofing the Starbuck’s wi-fi with his laptop and is sniffing your wi-fi, that’s on you for trying to get something for free.
Really, doing online banking on free wi-fi is retarded. Doing e-mail, yeah, no, nor anything that needs a password. Everyone knows where to find sympathy in the dictionary.
I’ve tried a few public spots. WhatABurger, HEB, and the laundry mat. After you get through the “I Agree” web page, why bother? Can you say “slow”?
My cell plan gives me 6 GB a month. It has always been faster than any public spots I have tried.
Just wondering.
New neighbor across the street has been tearing stuff out for several days. Filled a very high sided dumpster already. Had a crew working on the trees today. BIG crazy loud chipper running half the afternoon.
I think they just thinned and “lifted” the trees. Might have removed something in the back yard.
Loud AF though.
n
“Tesla AI chief explains why self-driving cars don’t need lidar”
https://venturebeat.com/2021/07/03/tesla-ai-chief-explains-why-self-driving-cars-dont-need-lidar/
“What is the technology stack you need to create fully autonomous vehicles? Companies and researchers are divided on the answer to that question. Approaches to autonomous driving range from just cameras and computer vision to a combination of computer vision and advanced sensors.
Tesla has been a vocal champion for the pure vision-based approach to autonomous driving, and in this year’s Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), its chief AI scientist Andrej Karpathy explained why.”
Wow, scary stuff. If the self driving system screws up, people die.
My brother has a number of Craftsman mechanics hand tools, plus a steel toolbox, at least 50 years old, all a bit shopworn from use, but all fully functional. Those were the days, all quality made in the USA, and anything with an issue replaced, no questions asked (No “Gee, looks like you used that screwdriver as a cold chisel”).
The Craftsman rubber hose is of excellent quality by the way.
I have a chipper for my tractor. A BearCat model whatever, PTO mount. You can stuff a /freshly/ cut 4 inch tree branch into it. Old dried stuff, 2 inches max, esp. oak…. drag that stuff to the burn pile.
Wear gloves and pay attention because it will pull the brush in. And wear ear plugs. With cranking the Yanmar to 2500 RPM and the PTO on high speed, the chipper is noisy. Impressive as all get out. 🙂
Denis Phillips has been, and still is, the same on the Gulf coast (based in Tampa).
https://www.abcactionnews.com/denisphillips
And if the human driver is in a hurry, or has a phone, or had a bad day, or is a crappy drive, people can die.
This afternoon I was almost in two accidents because traffic was heavy and people were in a hurry and cut in front of me because I was leaving a safe distance behind the car in front of me, which translates as enough space for another car to squeeze into. And, for added fun, one of them stomped on the brakes immediately after cutting in front of me. Today’s drivers did nothing to convince me that cutting humans entirely out of the control loop would be a bad thing.
(I have front-and-rear cameras, so if I had been unable to avoid the morons’ cars I’d have had pretty good evidence that they caused the accident.)
Producers and assistant producers.
PSA: And it’s all true 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DZbSlkFoSU
Lidar and radar have problems in heavy rain and snow, so dropping them makes some sense. A huge problem in the self-driving car software is handling people on bicycles. Not easy to recognize and unpredictable behavior.
Seems to be getting worse in Missouri (and other states with low vaccination rates)…
Missouri leads the nation with the most new COVID-19 cases per capita
https://www.kmbc.com/article/missouri-leads-the-nation-with-the-most-new-covid-19-cases-per-capita/36939786
Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, runs out of ventilators as COVID cases ravage the area
https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/health-care/article252579068.html
Adventureland accident: 11-year-old boy dies, 3 others injured after a raft ride at an Iowa amusement park overturns – CNN
Want to place bets the kids, or the entire family, were doing something stupid to cause the raft to flip? Regardless, to the family it will be as good as winning the lottery. Unless the amusement park has video evidence.
Hopefully this just confirms something you already knew was true.
No soup for you, move along please.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryNxl-lpOME
One named after him or is it him?
She just wants more than her ’15 minutes of fame’.
Now @nick, tempting as it might be, no dumpster diving until after dark.
no dumpster diving until after dark
— given the number of cats, and the lack of maintenance and cleaning for the last 5 years at least, I’m not going NEAR that dumpster…
–since it’s only 84F and the sun isn’t out, I trimmed and cut the back yard. Still not letting the lawn guys back there.
Sweaty.
n
Thanks for the phone suggestions. Been busy today, and just looked. Here is my reaction and background. I didn’t want to bias anyone, so kept my question simple. This will be quick as dinner approacheth.
I will shop for a possible change from AT&T to Consumer Cellular. I will look at others, but in the past there have been problems with service here.
As for unlocked phones, I have never had one. I will admit to liking one vendor in case of problems. I had a problem with an update to my present phone when it was only a few months old, and AT&T replaced it. I told the agent that was ridiculous: just nuke and start over. He said AT&T had no way to do that without me sending the phone to them. They shipped me a new phone, and after I was satisfied, I sent the old one back. I don’t know what they would have done if I had an unlocked phone. Once I settle on a provider, I don’t change unless they really screw up. I have been with AT&T since the beginning. My wife had an early Verizon (before “Wireless”) phone, and we weren’t impressed.
Our phones are our only splurge items, in that cost is somewhere down the list. My wife actually uses her phone as a telephone, me not so much. I average one or two calls per month; she averages a couple hundred minutes a month, so we are considered light users. I DO use mine as a small tablet, and that’s why I sometimes make typos when posting here. I have all auto correction and spell checking turned off because it annoys me. I spend more than three hours a day on my phone doing email and web surfing. I would consider a tablet, but we travel about ten times a year, and a phone is my preferred solution because it has everything in one device and fits in my pocket. I really want one of the Galaxy Z Fold phones, but they need to mature more. Haven’t seen the v3, but still would wait.
As for suggested hand-me-downs or other trades, I want the latest so it can last a while. And, no one would want our old phones.
The reason we haven’t changed phones in almost eight years (really, has it been that long?) is we haven’t found anything my wife or I like, and the old ones keep working. I really wanted to stay with a removeable battery, a SIM card, and a microSD slot, and almost all of these are essentially long gone. Of the three, the battery is the most important to me, and I will miss it sorely. My wife sometimes goes with me to look at phones in the store because she likes seeing things in the flesh. She always walks away saying the phones on display don’t even work. I try to explain… We have always had the same phone models. As RickH says, it is easier for me to support.
And, @ech, I am also impressed with the S21 Ultra.
Dinner. I will read your comments more in depth later. Thanks all.
@jimb
A few years ago I switched to Asus phones, from Samsung. At the time, I needed to have two SIM cards as I used different carriers for business and personal. The current Asus phones allow 2 SIMs, or 1 SIM and one microSD (note these are both in the SIM carrier, so the phone has to be off to install/change/remove the SD card). There’s no removeable battery available, but there is a headset jack, if that’s useful to you.
I’ve had no issues with either of the Asus phones I’ve had, but I don’t exactly stress them, and I seldom take pictures more critical than “this is the tire I’m selling” type.
My $0.02, hope it may be useful.
@Ray Thompson
“Want to place bets the kids, or the entire family, were doing something stupid to cause the raft to flip? Regardless, to the family it will be as good as winning the lottery. Unless the amusement park has video evidence.”
The parents have given at least one interview to tv. There is no mention of what went on before, no “We were floating along and suddenly…”, only a description of being trapped upside down in their seat belts.
The ride has been in operation for 38 years and had no accidents until 5 years ago, when an operator started moving things prematurely and knocked another employee into the water where he hit concrete and sustained a fatal injury.
As it happened Saturday July 3, enough time has passed for any other incidents of raft flipping to come to light.
Prayers for the child’s older brother, who is still in the hospital in a medically induced coma.
@JimB
Three hours a day on the tiny screen would leave me blind.
Many if not most phones now have “hot spot” capability–you can connect a tablet via bluetooth and work off the tablet. I don’t use that feature much, but have used it to good effect at times. Might be worth looking into.
Warning for the haters:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-releases-mandatory-windows-10-updates-to-fix-printnightmare-exploit/
Question about iOS whatever version. The security problems are because of what? Using some stranger’s wi-fi connection? I mean, if the Starbuck’s or some Evil Person is sitting there and spoofing the Starbuck’s wi-fi with his laptop and is sniffing your wi-fi, that’s on you for trying to get something for free.
Up through the last iOS supporting the iPhone 3G, Apple seriously botched the SSL implementation’s handling of digital certificates which allowed sniffing not just insecure traffic but “secure” web exchanges as well.
Prior to the iPhone 3GS, the hardware really wasn’t mature enough to allow third party app development so the company’s solution to the security problem was a forced obsolecence instead of a real fix.
Once they got away with that forced obsolecence, the policy has been to not make any guarantees about security fixes beyond the current iOS and the previous release.
Wow, scary stuff. If the self driving system screws up, people die.
We had a pure optical system for tracking and modeling vehicles traveling through the toll plazas at the last job, and, despite fixed locations, carefully controlled conditions, and surveys of the environment down to the cm, we were never 100%.
0.1% error was fine for what we were doing, but no one dies if a toll bill goes to the wrong vehicle or gets billed by the plate instead of the toll tag.
As of midnight ET tonight, Sloppy Joe’s was back to business as usual after Elsa passed earlier in the day.
https://liveduvalstreet.com/cam-2/
I thought I would make more comments on phones, but I am tired. Here are a couple.
RickH, that 64 bit OS is interesting. Hadn’t thought to check. I think I have narrowed my device choice to either the S21 or Note 20, but not sure of which sub model. As for store techs, there are none here, just cashiers. We used to have a good place with a pretty smart owner, but he sold out to the other AT&T store, and they are just cashiers. I have done all my buying except one phone online.
Also do all my own setup, especially after a “tech” deleted all my wife’s contacts some years ago. She went to the store by herself and exchanged her phone. She had a LOT of contacts, and was not amused. The guy just copied what was on the SIM card, and ignored everything else. That was before Google accounts, where everything is safe… right. By the time I learned what had happened, it was too late.
Nick, on Win 10, if there are updates waiting to be installed, my shutdown menu gives me the option to (I think) shut down with or without updates. I know it allows me to Hibernate without updates. I don’t know if that is some setting I did or just built-in. I have also had an optional update in the cue for days, and haven’t had time to install it. It awaits my permission.
I only restart Windows when it is mandated by some update. The rest of the time I just use Hibernate. I think it is one of the best features ever invented. On my wife’s notebook, she just uses Sleep, which is activated by closing the lid. I have no evidence that it has awakened from that state. I was paranoid in the beginning.
Windows 10 is so much more polished than my Linux experience. To be fair, I never tried one of the Red hat distros. I read about them, but by then was committed to Mint. Mint was the second best distro I used.
All operating systems, like all cars, have their annoyances. Never found a perfect one; just ones that I can live with.
The forced install of updates on shutdown is one of the most annoying ‘features’ of windows for well over a decade now. They consider the machine theirs to do what they want, and not that you might know better, or really need to just shut down.
The way they turn stuff back on after you’ve turned it off is sneaky as hell too.
n
The way they turn stuff back on after you’ve turned it off is sneaky as hell too.
Maybe I’m just too new coming back to Windows. Only been using Win 10 for about eight months, and haven’t experienced that. I did have a test system set up for about a year before deploying it, and made quite a few settings changes I didn’t document because I had intended to nuke and start over. Never did that, as everything seems to work fine. This is the first time I have not done a clean install of Windows. This was the upgrade from Win 7 Pro. My wife’s notebook runs Win 10 Home from the factory, and has been similar. I had thought I would upgrade it to Pro, but haven’t.
My volunteer work involved a custom version of Win 8 (yes, 8!) and that “feature” was turned ON. I didn’t like it, but have to admit the way the office personnel operated, it didn’t matter. The personnel were told to just sign off of their accounts and leave everything turned ON. The systems would go to sleep, do any maintenance over night, and go back into Sleep mode. They would wake up pretty fast, but some complained about slowness logging in. HQ did load a lot of stuff from the local server. That setup ran with no issues for about six years, maintained remotely. All I had to do was replace keyboard, mouse, and UPS batteries. Easy job. I didn’t have to train operators, something OFD and I always hated. My wife and I just “retired” after more than ten years. It was time.