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We ran into the same thing back in IL, it was infuriating; so I canceled all our service with them, got a tablet with 4G on it, and upped our cell data plan to 10gigs, saved a bunch of money and never looked back. Comcast is the devil! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by rocknrollgirl
That's what we have! :D Ours happen to be flip phones, but they were the super cheap LG ones. Only reason I prefer this type is when I had the flat one with buttons, I found I was butt-dialing a lot, and I didn't want to lock the phone, which makes it a pain to answer and call. I use my phone very infrequently anyway, never been a phone person (much to my mother's chagrin). It's mostly just for safety on rides and to talk to DH when we are apart for whatever reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by rocknrollgirl
And its demon twin, Time-Warner! :mad: SO glad we don't have to deal with them now. As full-time RVers, we do have a Verizon MiFi device and data plan, but that's IT for utilities now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pax
We get basic cable provided by our HOA through Brighthouse, we had to get broadband for my honeys work at home gig, when she's done we'll go back to the basic "free" service and our phones for connectivity.Quote:
Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
My presence on the web has decreased dramatically since we moved to FL, I'm outside a lot more and when I'm home I just use my chromebook to check TE, and my fake FB account to see if our favorite restaurants are offering any specials. It's really nice; I used to be heavily involved in a couple of motorcycle forums, spent literally hours every day reading/writing on them. Very glad that's in the past now.
One reason I can't wait to see retirement arrive (+/-4 years now). So we can become RV fulltimers too and be free of way too many things related to a home/costs. Staying in such small environment and traveling/staying 6 months in winter 6 in summer somewhere forces you to think about plans and other junk we think we MUST have but realize we DON'T need. Viva marketing and the likes to work our heads in the needs.
Personnally, I would not have a tv and my goodness I'd save tons of money on the tv itself, and the cable fee, and the roku plan and.... and.... In Quebec, I think we have the highest fees for such services in north america. Can't wait to get out of here. But it is what it is for now....too close to early retirement to make such a move.
If the latest update bricked your iPhone it might not have installed properly. If you installed over wifi I think the fix is settings > iCloud > back ups > manage storage and see if you have iOS 9.3 in there. Delete it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pax
Then wait for Apple to re-release it. I never get the software when it first comes out. Nor rush, no reason to. I update before things start crashing for sure but never the first on the block.
Can't wait to retire. About 01/21/18 but who's counting?
So far I haven't had tv for last 5 yrs., before that he had tv and was paying cable for 8 yrs.
Prior to that I didn't have tv for about 25 yrs. Admittedly if it weren't for a tv in Vnacouver, I would be out of touch...with foodnetwork, HGTV, etc.? Latter has not influenced my own quality of living. It hasn't changed my taste..since on the food side I was already eating broadly and trying different things without foodnetwork.
I'm pretty certain once he finishes his contract job, he will cancel his cellphone plan. And write off the iPhone as business expense..which you can in Canada.
I am more connected than I used to be when I was teaching. The day in school didn't allow me to surf the web!
I am on FB and TE and that's it. However, I do check them a lot.
I started texting when I got my I Phone when I got my first counseling job. It was the best way for in home therapy clients to reach me. Now, I tell everyone to text me to cancel/reschedule appointments, or if they need to talk. I don't talk about their private stuff by text, but if they need to reach me, it's the fastest way. Sometimes, my VM at work takes hours to go through. I give everyone my cell number and no one has abused it. DH and I do text during the day, but, it's mostly around cooking dinner, or other things like that. I also text my older son for initial contact; he never answers his phone or listens to voice mail.
We have a Comcast monopoly, too as our town refuses to put in underground wires for FIOS. The town now has it's own system, but I don't want a different email, and it's only for Internet, not TV. But, we always get good deals, so we are now back to the phone, Internet, and cable with them. I actually don't watch a lot of TV, except for news, but I still want to have it.
Thanks, I'll try that, I am one that got bricked. My other issues with Apple are an Apple ID that is linked to an old hacked and no longer accessible yahoo account. I've been all the way up through senior apple tech support and apple engineers and they say they cannot unlink the eleven apple products from it, so no access to my account/itunes/music/anything, well anything except updates that brick my phone. :mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by Trek420
You should be able to link a second email to your Appleid and you use that one. Just do not create a new Appleid. The only issue with the old one would be if you change your password or need to reset it. Since you can't have Apple send you an email you'd just use security questions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pax
I hope you set those up and or remember who you considered your favorite teacher at that time :D
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203983
I knew all my security questions, I could answer every question they threw at me, but without the original receipt from the macbook I bought back in '07 or '08 (where I created my original apple account), they won't change my account so I can get into it. Told them I was going to move to another brand and all they could offer me was "if you buy a new iphone and simply say you do not have an account, you can set up a new one using a different email". I asked them if they'd give me a credit for the current, barely two year old iphone and they replied "well we can't wipe it without your ID/password, so no".Quote:
Originally Posted by Trek420
So, I'm done.
So sorry Pax - I would fire Apple as well :mad: It isn't like they are cheap - and that would be an excuse either but it does add insult to injury.
Beyond all the cost and annoyance, it's so wasteful!
On a happier drift, I'm enjoying my switch to an android phone, our condo pool is just warm enough that I can start swimming regularly again, and my new job is the easiest money I've ever made. ;)
Yayyy Pax! Glad to hear you like the new phone. I switched from the iPhone to Android years ago now and have not regretted it.
As for me, I'm stopping group KB training next month. Well, any form of group training and I am sad about that. I've so many broken bits and problems that I can't do much of the class. I really need one on one with him but I can't afford that.
I do, however, know what I can do. I've my own KB gym at home, can still hike (this is improving all the time) and still have my gym membership that isn't expensive. So I will work on my own and meet individually with him every 5 or 6 weeks to check my programming.
I will miss the group social interaction, but it's the best thing to do given my situation and tendency to do things I shouldn't when surrounded by others doing those things. That probably comes as no surprise :)
It also feels a bit like I'm giving into my age and that has me a bit cranky with myself but will get over it. The point is to stay active in a sustainable way.
Yay pools and easy jobs!Quote:
Originally Posted by Pax
On a happy note I have some kind of training today so will not be fielding calls about problems caused by the new iOS. I still love Apple. Apparently Knott's ordered me the SE and the camera kit for my 60th BD. Maybe they will have the Knicks out of 9.3 by the time it arrives.
Never ever ever ever ever ever be the first on the block to downloaded the software. You don't have to, don't bother, wait. I always wait till I can go a week, maybe two since talking to someone whose phone's been bricked. Then back up the phone and update. Let someone else be the crash test dummy.
We do have two flat-screen TVs in our motorhome (it came with them) but only an antenna for picking up over-air stations. Some locales give you all the major networks; others, you're lucky to get one or two channels. It's fine for our (minimal) TV needs most of the time, though we are pretty unhappy that the NCAA basketball tournament final 4 is being broadcast only on cable for the first time ever, since my alma mater (UNC-CH) is in it. Sigh...can't have everything, I guess. The price we're paying (free!) makes our set-up fairly sweet, despite its occasonal shortcomings. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Helene2013
Free is good Emily! Pity you can't see the NCAA games though...but good luck to your team! I don't have cable either, but do stream Netflix to my tv.
Awesome all around! I'm here to say that a perfect good life can be lived entirely without Apple. I have never owned an Apple product and am getting along just fine! :rolleyes: :cool: :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Pax
Since we have metered internet, Netflix and that ilk is not an option. I can watch (occasionally) an hour-long show after the fact online, but I have to watch the bandwidth. Fortunately, I don't watch much, so it all works out. We may have enough excess bandwidth this month to watch a little of the games, or we can watch at my mom's (DirecTV) if we feel like it, but they are on so late, we probably won't. We'll be fine no matter what! First world problem for sure -- I guess living in Mexico with nearly no US TV has helped cure me of any lingering TV addiction I have! :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Catrin
I am an Apple fan because I find all PCs and Android products very difficult to use. I have a PC at work, which I only use to connect to our e-medical notes/scheduling software and email. And frankly, most of the time, even though I am sitting at my desk, I check my work email on my IPhone! I have only received 240 emails in 2.5 years, so it's not a major thing. If I have to type a Word doc on my PC at work, I don't know how to do anything. One day I had to call DH and ask him how to cut and paste, as I am so not used to right clicking.
We had a Netflix plan for years, like 2 movies a month. It was so cheap, they never publicized it. Finally, when it got to the point we didn't watch even 2 movies a month we dropped it. We can get it on our TV, along with Hulu, and Amazon, and now we have the Comcast movies, too. But, I can't sit long enough to watch. Once in awhile on a Friday night we might watch a movie, but otherwise I am either sleeping, eating, or riding.
Kinda jealous pf the sleeping part, my new job is hella easy, but switching around from evenings to days for the quarterly breaks is wreaking havoc on my sleep. After working days for the last 25 years, I'm finding I prefer working evenings, love the relaxed mornings, the lack of people around in the evenings, and the very quiet and easy commute.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crankin
speaking of iPhone, It's very unlikely that FBI managed to break Apple security. Brute force approach to finding the passcode would require tens of millions of try. Each try requires the iPhone to respond and even with month of time on FBI's hand, they would not have had enough tries to have gotten the passcode. Other methods people have suggested are pretty far flung not to mention the need of very best tech's to pull off the required engineering feat.
So nada. What I think and so does some of my techie friends is that FBI to have said what it did was to keep the bad guys from thinking that iPhone is secure in hopes that bad guys will not use iPhone.
Encryption and security features will reach a point where it becomes economically unrealistic to break the code. And the only way in would be through the back door. Usually back door is available while the product is in development to aid in debug/testing. On a very secure system, such back door self destruct (erased) upon product release or have a time bomb.
And to Pax, I'm really sorry to hear about your "bricked" iPhone.
Sounds like a fun change Pax, if challenging transition where sleep is concerned. Between hiking/kettlebells, knitting, reading, and church activities I'm tempted to keep pushing back my bedtime - but I get up at 4:30 am and I need at least 7 hours of sleep to focus properly at work. I just re-read that sentence, I guess I really shouldn't be sad over the end of group training for me - it isn't like I'm tied to the couch :cool:
Smilingcat - that's an interesting thought on the iPhone security. I wouldn't put it past them, chances are we will never know if it was actually broken or not.
Nothing would surprise with cyber security. Our close friend is a cyber security expert for a company that does all government contracts. What he can tell us is maddening.
Pax, I also like my different schedule, in that I don't go to work until 9 or 10 and I work until 6 or 7. I get a lot of stuff done in the morning on the days I work. However, despite that, I still get up at 5:30, and 5 on the days I go to the gym. If I am very tired, I give myself the liberty of sleeping later, though. It doesn't happen often. I have been trying to get 8 hours of sleep and was doing well until the move, DH's job stuff. I have been having trouble either falling asleep or waking up in the middle of the night and having trouble getting back to sleep. But, I am not tired, and it will pass.
Crankin, I think one reason I've always been a Windows person rather than Apple is that is what we used at work for most of my career. So it was always the norm for me, and I was surrounded by IT folks who were able to help with obscure stuff, so I learned a lot from them.
I agree that everything in Microsoft Office is overly complicated, and I have cursed all those products many times. But the basic Windows, I do like and feel comfortable with. Our company often had deals with Dell or HP or both to give us better pricing on Microsoft systems, so I just never saw the need to try an Apple product. I am sure they are lovely, but being very budget-conscious, I can't bring myself to find out. Had I ever gotten started with them, I would probably be an Apple cheerleader.
I must say, I do love the right click! So much you can do with it. :D
I also find Android challenging, because it's different than Windows; just something new to learn, and anything you use infrequently is going to be more difficult.
OMG, catching up here after being swamped at work and traveling over the Easter weekend. I am becoming known among my facebook friends as the person who can't handle technology, because I'm always complaining about my tablet dying suddenly and the new one being impossible to use and the brand new PC won't work right and what were the people at Sansa smoking when they redesigned their awesome little mp3 player into a useless piece of junk. I am convinced that all the people who design technological interfaces are 13 year olds who never actually use the stuff they're designing. My friends keep telling me to just give in and buy Apple products. Clearly that is not the answer, even if I could afford them.
These days I try to buy everything tech related from Micro-Center, because their technical support is fantastic. I never would have gotten my current pc to work without their help. They also helped me find the right cable to hook my parents' old DVD player into their new TV. In fact now that I think of it I should call them and ask if they can help me find a browser that actually works with my Samsung tablet.
We have a new microwave oven in the kitchen at my office. I cannot figure out how to set it to heat up food for a specific period of time. It's either 1 whole minute, 2 whole minutes, 3 whole minutes, etc. There's no "time cook" button to set it for 1:15 or 45 seconds. Why would they not include this necessary feature on a microwave???
I live in fear of the day when I will have to replace my oven or washing machine. Or get a new car. I simply don't have the time or energy or space in my brain for more complicated things.
NY Biker, have you tried Chrome on your Samsung tablet? It seems to work well on both of my Android (all Samsung) devices.
Yes, although I had a couple of old PCs when I taught, it was mostly Apples. My first Apple laptop, courtesy of a grant I worked on for 2 years (they gave us 20K :eek:, I really had to work!), I used for a very long time, from 2002 until 2007. If I had taken it home, no one would have known, since it was not in the school system's inventory, but I gave it to a younger teacher, who is now a principal. My first computer at home was a Mac clone desktop (yes, there were a few), which cost much less than the real ones. I had that until about 2005, when I got an I Mac desktop. I think I got my first laptop in 2007, and I gave the desktop to my son, who used it to watch movies... I had the heavy, white laptop for only a couple of years; when I was in school, I really needed something better. I got the computer i have now in 2009, which makes it old, but it is perfectly fine for me.
Ahhh, the migration between computers. My first few were Macs, I remember in particular the Performa 475 for which it cost me close to $500 to double the RAM...which was only 4 megs. Moved to Windows because I got good deals at work. My current one is a 24 inch all in one Sony that I bought in 2008. It was advanced for the 2008 and still does pretty well but Sony seriously customized thier all-in-one desktops. SO much that the drivers can't be updated which means I can't upgrade from Windows 7. I like Windows 7 but they will stop supporting it. Eventually I will need to decide if I will ever replace it or simply get a more advanced tablet when it eventually dies. Time will tell. I don't see a return to Apple products for me.
Heh, I remember logging onto bulletin boards with a modem, paying by the minute AND long distance charges long before I heard of WWW access. Glad those days are behind us but it was also fun at the time :-)
I prefer my penguin over raspberry, blackberry and apple. Really don't care for Dos 3.0 and all the way up to win 10. currently running win7 on this computer just too lazy to load up another penguin.
And yes there is such a thing called Raspberry Pi and Propeller (parallax propeller) and few other odd ball stuff with healthy followings. Oh, Arduino from Italy is pretty hot. These require that you are a bonafide geek and speak BASH, C++ or CPP or other giberish. Even Arduino can hack into your computer.
here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI
meh I need to go hug my penguin. How about a Hackintosh?? hmmm that's pretty dated as well. One thing I do really like is Puppy(linux) its foot print is around 100Meg. If you have a 8G memory stick its more than happy.
I'm not fond of google keeping tabs of me through android and uncle MS thought windows or uncle Bezos through that internet big box company. They all keep tabs on you. So does Facebook, Twitter and other social media. They know more about you than you!!
I like the old tag line from ATT when ATT was THE phone company. Tag line was "Reach out and crush someone". Isn't that how it went? that's the way my techie friends and I remember the tag line.
Yes, I stopped using the google search engine and google maps. One reason was that they moved everything around on maps and started to use incomprehensible icons for everything. But the other reason was that Google is already far enough up into my business. I also do not use chrome for that reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by smilingcat
Right now I'm using the firefox browser on my tablet. I've looked into Dolphin and Opera because they get good reviews, but when you read the details all you see is some version of "this used to be great but the latest update wrecked it." So I stay with firefox. The main problem is with facebook -- I can't type anything, and it crashes frequently.
I hate Google. I am forced to use it now for my work email and calendar, but the email address didn't change, i.e. it's not a google address, just probably cheaper for the agency to use. I almost fell off my couch laughing watching the google webinar on how to use the stuff. Like a bunch of therapists are going to be sitting around chatting and sharing stuff? The voice of the woman reminded me of the people I hear when DH is doing conference calls. I am very happy with Safari at home. There used to be some things I do I had to switch to Chrome for, but not anymore.
NY biker, do you mean that Google is auto interconnected to your business applications and personal google?Quote:
Originally Posted by ny biker
Crankin, I suppose google calendar is used because it's cheaper or it's because of connectivity with clients?? I certainly wouldn't be comfortable using a business calendar via google calendar.
I don't mind google engine for initial searching if there's no specific database/good website with aggregate info if I believe the info. is available on the open internet.
Actually, the calendar is a moot point. It's just part of the package. I used Outlook calendar, and before that ICal, for my personal record of appointments, but we do our scheduling through an electronic medical record system that is for protected health information. So, that's the official scheduling mechanism, and I use the Google calendar as a backup and for my personal stuff. No one has access to it if we don't want them to. I only use first names when I put client names in the Google calendar.
I am one of the few therapists where I work that gives everyone my mobile phone # and tells them to text me if they need to change an appointment, or they need to talk on the phone. I don't do therapy by text, but if I depended on my office voice mail, I would not get messages in a timely manner. This makes life so much easier for me, I can respond quickly, which validates their feelings, and it's all good. In 5 years, I have never had anyone abuse this, either, even teenagers. So, I guess, this is a positive outcome of technology.
I meant that google is all up in my personal business, since I have an android phone and I know they're getting everything they can on me from that. So I try to use options like Bing on my pcs at home and work.
Some of my new teammates at work likes to call on the phone rather than email. I totally prefer email. I think I was actually left out of a meeting recently because they called my work phone when I had stepped away from my desk.
I will add another good thing about texting, Crankin. It is great for keeping in touch with relatives and friends who live thousands of miles apart. Last fall I watched the major league baseball playoffs and world series with siblings and nephews even though we were in four different cities at the time. By the time it was over we had racked up more than 500 group texts. It's also currently the only way I can communicate with a relative who is dealing with a controlling spouse.
I use a VPN for all work and related work net time and usually for personal use. It keeps work private and also stops sites especially phishing sites, spam sites and content farms from collecting data.
When google started to bring user data across its services and integrated their search, email, social and work sites I just started to not use google products much unless through the VPN.
I remember an ‘all things considered’ episode last year where the TorProject was discussed as a good way to keep your net interactions private without tracing or gathering personal, location data and it was free. Tor was originally developed for those in authoritarian/dictatorial countries to be able to use the net privately. I never looked into it because of the companies VPN.
Musings on condo living... Love never having to do any outside maintenance and having a sparkling clean pool to get into any time I want. Not a fan of living elbow to elbow with people who do not share my values and/or who seem to exist solely to create drama. Our condo is paid for and we hope to live here forever, but not 100% sure about the tradeoff of having to live in such close proximity to other people. hmmmmm
My husband was really concerned with exactly that. But, we found a place where we are in a group of 3 attached homes, in the middle. Our neighbors are perfect and we never hear anything. Plus, there are only 15 units in total. The back of our house faces woods/wetlands, and that helps, although you can see cars on the main road slightly off in one direction, if we are in our sunroom. Once leaves are on the trees, we won't see the cars at all. There's a big berm there and woods, so we don't see a lot.
The values thing would get to me more than living close to others.
pax...feel blessed you don't have Trek420's past crazy neighbor :)
I have some interesting people living in my building and have some good conversations and the occasional dinner. I just don't let negative people affect me and i have lots of other positive/productive things to do rather than socialize much in the building anyway. perhaps riding more and lesser crowds will help......and reading on the beach :)