Thread Drift

[Trek420]

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.

Yay pools and easy jobs!

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.

[emily_in_nc]

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.

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.

[Catrin]

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.

[emily_in_nc]

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.

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!

[emily_in_nc]

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.

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!

[Crankin]

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.

[Pax]

... 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.

[smilingcat]

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.

[Catrin]

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

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.

[Crankin]

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.

[emily_in_nc]

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.

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.

[ny biker]

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.

[Catrin]

NY Biker, have you tried Chrome on your Samsung tablet? It seems to work well on both of my Android (all Samsung) devices.

[Crankin]

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 , 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.

[Catrin]

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 :-)