Category: Geeky Stuff

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Hmm if you want an Apple Watch Ultra be ready to wait!

Apple fw22 watch ultra1

I want to see and hold one before I plunk down my cash. I’ll probably only get $50 for trading in my Series 5 anyway so there’s no rush.

I’ve been watching the delivery dates stretch out. Two weeks ago, if you ordered an Ultra you’d get it somewhere near the end of Sept or beginning of October. Now it’s all the way out to the first week of November.

Maybe I’ll wait to actually buy one until December. I’ll make it a Christmas Gift to myself. 

I would like to try one on, I can do that easily in a store without having to purchase one. Then I’ll make a decision and either get one or not.

I’m still ambivalent about getting another Apple Watch. The extended battery life of the Ultra seems to be the main driving point of every single article I’ve read. I suspect that is part of what’s pushing the delivery dates further out. The other parts are probably the supply chain and China continuing to lock huge swaths of their population down due to COVID.

Hey Apple, learned anything yet???

I have a sneaking suspicion that there are going to be a lot of returns/exchanges from early adopters. I’m betting that at least some of them will get their shiny new watch and decide it’s too big for their wrists. I wonder if that will work to folks who waited advantage.

Apple sells refurbished A.K.A. returned products at a discount and still provides the full warranty.

I’m ambivalent because there’s a part of me that really likes not having to think about a watch. I like knowing that as long as I’m wearing it, it’s going to automatically be wound and tell me the right time.

From a conspiracy theory perspective, having an Apple Watch is a liability. It’s connecting to the cellular network and the GPS location can easily be broadcast. With the FBI showing up at people’s homes, businesses, airports, and Hardees drive throughs to serve warrants, perhaps broadcasting our location at all times isn’t the best idea. Just a thought…

The same is true of a cell phone or even modern automobiles. My car routinely sends service data to it’s manufacturer, and GPS coordinates in the event of a crash.

There is a part of me that wonders about disabling the cellular modem built into the car. I sometimes wonder what that would entail.

I could still revert to a Thomas Guide.

Screen Shot 2022 09 19 at 1 17 10 PM

Yes, they still make maps.

With a reasonable compass and a map you can navigate as the ancients did 50 years ago. 40 years ago even an outdated Thomas Guide could get you into the general vicinity of a new housing development or urban area and you could bird dog it from there. I say that from experience!

For giggles on one of my old Thomas Guides I marked where I worked, which was in an area the map showed as farmland with the phrase, “Here there be monsters”.

I forgot about it until I loaned the guide to a friend who asked WTF??? He was coming to an interview one morning at the same company. We had a good laugh over lunch, he also got the job. I later found out that he’d shown the map to our boss during the interview. Our boss gifted me a new Thomas Guide for Christmas that year.

This was back in the dawn of time, when Bosses could be human, have a sense of humor, and appreciated hard work with merit raises, even if some of their employees were clowns.

I guess I long for the ancient world. 

Back then, we could do the math. We knew how far we had to go, how long we’d been driving and at what average speed. It was oddly accurate. Even on long trips, you’d pull over at a rest stop, take a leak, inspect your tires, and do a map check. The rest areas were clearly marked on the map so a little bit of math would allow you to find your location and you’d chart the next leg of your travels.

I personally found that on long trips, I’d drive from one fold of the map to the next, then flip the page, or refold the map to better show me the next leg of the journey. It was a simple system, and after all that’s how map lights got their name. When was the last time you actually turned on the map lights in your overhead console?

I find myself wondering if reverting to the “old ways” is such a bad idea.

Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate the convenience of smart devices. I just wonder if I’ve become too dependent on the bright shiny digital readouts.

I have an appreciation for some of the “Old School” ways because there is beauty in simplicity and minimalism.

If I’m looking at a couple of months before I can simply walk into an Apple Store and try on one of their Ultras. This is probably a good thing.

I’ll be able to see how many bugs Apple let go by on the product and make a more informed choice.

FYI, in addition to the bugs being reported on the iPhone 14 hardware. There have also been a number of bugs reported in the new IOS. I stumbled upon one just yesterday.

This one is in the medications reminder portion of the Health app. It turns out that if, for example, you go wandering through the app and specifically tell it you’ve taken a medication a few minutes prior to the appointed time, and then respond to the notification, you’ll have entries in the medication log that look like you took the medication twice. I haven’t found a method to delete the erroneous log entry yet. I’ve also not been able to find a method to delete a medication entirely. 

After I stumbled upon the bug, I decided to go back to my tried and true method of using the reminder application with a daily reminder at a specific time. Sometimes I take my medications 15 to 20 minutes early. I’ll open Reminders and check the box and I’m done. Easy!

It looks like once you’ve used Medications in the health app, there isn’t a way to clear it. 

I’m certain that the Medications function was throughly tested using automated testing, but it appears that Apple didn’t bother to actually do real world user testing. If the user has already taken the medication, then don’t present the notification and for God’s sake don’t double log the medication entry.

I could see this creating an issue for people who are distracted while going about their morning routine then later trying to check if they’ve taken their meds. I’d bet that with some medications, there will be panicked calls to doctors asking about over doses and what to do.

The Medications app is not ready for prime time. I’d say avoid it for the time being

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Hey Apple, here’s a thought…

I saw that you were having some trouble getting people to come into the office.

It’s in The Wall Street Journal today.

You know what? I’d come into the office. I’d work for a reasonable salary, and not demand much of anything.

Give me some reasonable medical coverage, and enough cash after taxes to pay my bills and I’d be a happy camper. Put me in a cubicle and give me software to test. I’d keep my head down, do my job, and leave at the end of the day.

I’ve got 40 years of experience in technology. I’m not particularly political, (at least not at work,) I don’t give two shits about catching COVID, been there, done that.

I’m not interested in social justice, or trans rights, all I want is a job. In my view none of the politically charged stuff has a place in the workplace. That’s stuff that each employee can pursue in their personal time.

Oh I’ll be polite, I’ll be Politically Correct, I’ll listen to people decrying the injustices they’ve endured but I’m not going to comment or engage with it.

I’d come into work, do my job, and that’s it. I’m not interested in office politics or becoming management. I’ve done both, and am old enough now to recognize that neither is my cup of tea.

I’d like to just work in the trenches.

You’d know that if you’d ever bothered to respond to the multiple applications I’ve filled out seeking employment in my field with your company.

Honestly, my offer seems like a reasonable one. A trouble free employee who shows up on time, does their job, and collects their paycheck.

I have zero social media profiles except for this blog and LinkedIn. I’d not be Twittering, Facebooking, Instagramming, or posting on Tic Toc, during working hours.

Seems like that would be an employer’s dream.

Given that you’ve ignored my applications for years, I can only assume you’ve become far more interested in Social Justice Work than making reliable products and software.

Nonetheless, if you change your mind, fire off a comment to this post. I’m sure we could talk.

I’m even willing to relocate. Bear in mind, if you’d want me to move to Cupertino or Northern California it would affect my base pay requirement calculation. The rents up there are wicked high. One thing though, I’m white. Hiring me could negatively affect your diversity quota.

Just a thought Apple…

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Can we please cancel Ezra Miller?

It’s not like he was all that good in Justice League

I may be a bit biased because even as a little boy I didn’t like The Flash.

I don’t think I’ve seen anything else that Miller has appeared in. If I have, since I don’t recall Miller, his roles must not have been all that large or his acting compelling enough for me to remember him.

There are some actors, who make an impression on the screen even in minor roles. These are the folks you watch during the movie, then you watch the end credits for the actor’s name, then you IMDB their name to find out what else they’ve been in.

After that, you rent the other movies to see if their acting holds up. If they turn in compelling performances in other things, you’ll keep an eye out for them and spend your money to see them.

Jason Mamoa, for example. I liked him way back in Stargate Atlantis. I know there are people who don’t care for him, but I’m expressing my opinion.

I wasn’t sure that he’d be able to pull off Aquaman. Lets face it, Aquaman was always a generic Lilly white, blond, blue eyed dude. I remember thinking… Mamoa as Aquaman????

Now I can’t think of any version of Aquaman except Mamoa.

His portrayal is wonderful and he’s brought a humanity to Aquaman that has enriched the character for me personally. Aquaman in the comics always felt arrogant and elitist. He wasn’t really all that likable.

Mamoa’s rendition is generally humble with a touch of arrogance. He’s got a sense of humor and playfulness.

I really like the Polynesian cultural elements. They make so much sense in context of the character. Who better to protect the sea, than someone with a deep cultural connection to it?

I was honestly hoping for something better, more interesting, for The Flash. Instead what we got in Justice League was a neurotic selfish child. I suppose we got too much of Ezra Miller’s real personality translated into the character.

Given all the negative publicity and reporting surrounding Ezra Miller. I’m honestly hoping that the folks controlling the DC movie franchise just flush The Flash entirely.

Ezra Miller is largely forgettable and perhaps should be forgotten.

There are a lot of other super interesting characters in the DC universe. Perhaps we’d be better off with one of them stepping into the spotlight.

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Interesting, if you’re a Geek

I’ve been using Bitdefender antivirus for about the past 6 years. Generally speaking, I don’t have too many problems with viruses. Most of the people I know have enough sense to stay away from sites containing viruses, and they don’t as a rule forward email wily nilly.

There have been some emails over the past few years that were infected but generally speaking I maintain antivirus only as a safety precaution.

I started using Bitdefender because a couple of companies I worked at used it and it seemed pretty robust while not sucking up tons of system resources. Many of you may know of the product because it’s marketed mostly as a Windows solution. However they also have a Mac version of the software.

You have to buy their Total Premium package to get it, but that didn’t bother me because I also had Windows and that package gave me 5 licenses.

I just got the renewal notice telling me that another 3 years was going to cost $200. “Whoa!” That’s a lot of money. Not really a lot over the course of 3 years but I got to thinking about what I was really using.

I’ve not been doing a whole lot with Windows, so I didn’t need the Windows license anymore. I don’t use Bitdefender’s VPN, Parental Controls, or in fact any of their products except the Mac Antivirus.

I’d become disenchanted with even that product because it seemed to be really busy all the dang time. There wasn’t enough file activity, downloads, and email attachments, to justify the application constantly checking (something… I don’t know what). Don’t even get me started on what a royal pain in the ass Bitdefender was every single time Apple updated the OS. Uninstalling and reinstalling the application became a really common event.

That was an annoyance. But the bigger question was that the Bitdefender dashboard only showed that one license was in use, when I knew for a fact that there were 3 of the 5 available in use. This raised the question, did they really have as much of a handle on things as they said they did.

This led me to investigating alternatives.

To The Internet Boy Wonder!

There were tons of reviews of various antivirus products. Bitdefender was always in the top 3, even on the Mac side of things. Norton was another and well, to be honest, I didn’t even read the Norton reviews. Norton and I have a really bad history. So admittedly I’m biased. One other product popped up on the Mac side of things frequently.

It’s a Mac only product from a company called Intego. I’d used their product in the past until they got too expensive and honestly bloated beyond all reason. If I recall correctly I stopped using them about 8-10 years ago. In great part because they were sucking up all kinds of system resources on my Mac OS 9 system. Then they got super expensive and I was done.

I think they learned their lesson. Their current product reviews stated that the product had a light footprint and did what it was asked to do. Their suite of applications was nicely integrated and during installation the user had the option to install only those apps from the suite that were wanted.

Very unlike Bitdefender which installs everything and then forces the user to execute uninstallation utilities for applications that aren’t desired.

Intego is a Mac only solution. They’ve been Mac only right from the start. That means that their solution isn’t a reworked hack job converting a primarily Windows application to a Mac compatible version. It’s Mac to its foundations.

I read a ton of reviews, the only “Dings” I found were that some years Intego didn’t submit the product for “Professional Evaluation & Review” to various publications.

Also noted was that the installation process was a bit iterative. Meaning that if you install their entire suite of applications, you have to authorize each application for access when you bring it online.

I understand why some reviewers might be annoyed with this, but I see it as a plus. It forces a conscious choice on the part of the user to allow a product access to their system or not. I like having a touch more control over what applications have access to my entire disk, or my network traffic. Many other suites issue a blanket pass for such things and that has always made me uncomfortable.

Really, does a network utility need access to my contacts? I think not.

Goodbye Bitdefender

I also found a coupon that got me a substantial discount. So I purchased 3 licenses for 2 years. Uninstalling Bitdefender took forever, installing the Intego suite took a little while, but it went very smoothly.

An interesting side note is that Bitdefender offered me half off the subscription price when I turned off “Auto Renew” I guess they thought if after 6 years this guy is turning off Auto Renewal we’re going to lose him.

They weren’t wrong… Trouble is, it was too little too late.

I’m going to be running Intego for about 30 days on my system, then I’ll put it on the other half’s.

Thus far, I’m liking what I see.

The various interfaces in the applications are clean and well laid out. I like the net barrier application’s visual firewall. I could see where net barrier could be annoying if you have a lot of applications that want to phone home. That being said, once authorized the application doesn’t ask again.

The Washing Machine application is a bit slow, but it wiped 4 GB of crap from my system. I haven’t even run its duplicate scan yet. I’m hoping that it’s as intelligent and informative about what it plans to do as the cleaning cycle.

The antivirus portion of the application is clean and simple. Some reviews said that it was a a bit slow, but my experience was on par with doing a full scan in Bitdefender. Yeah… it’s going to take a while.

If I find any weirdnesses or annoyances, I’m planning on updating this post. I’d recommend that everyone take a look at your subscriptions when they come up for renewal. Rather than just clicking on the Pay Now button, give it some thought. Do. You really like the application or service, or can you do better?

Have a great weekend.

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Calendar Cleaning! That’s better!

Where did all these observances come from?

A while ago, I subscribed to an online Calendar that neatly stuck all the US holidays into my digital Calendar.

It was nice at first. Everything that I wanted to know was there. I could plan long weekends and knew when it was likely to be a bad day to go to the bank or post office.

As is usual for me with these things, I simply forgot about it and was content that I wouldn’t have to enter holidays that moved around from year to year depending on Fridays or Mondays closest to the actual date if the holiday fell on a Saturday or Sunday.

Years go by. There was small additions to the observances, but they were pretty mundane. One here, one there, in a month. No big deal.

A few more years go by.

Today I opened my calendar to full month view for the first time in I don’t know when.

WTF?!?!

My once simple calendar was now loaded with all kinds of observances and holidays that mean nothing to me. There were literally hundreds of Civil Servants days. Obama Day? Librarians Day? 4 different wordings of Juneteenth? Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day, National Indigenous Peoples Day?

In some cases there were so many observances on a single day that the “All Day” section of the calendar was saying +9 more because it couldn’t display them all in the space provided.

There were also duplicates… So Many duplicates! (I hate duplicate data.)

Come on…

Unless it’s a national holiday and therefore a day off from work, or the banks are closed. I don’t care.

There was a time when it was nice to see “National Secretaries Day” but now, it’s become easier to find a day without some observance or another than to pay attention to all the observances.

It’s all become noise, a distraction. Is my calendar free for that day? Who can tell at a glance anymore?

After spending a few minutes trying to figure out the best way to flush all the random crap that had become meaningless. I decided instead to simply unsubscribe from what had once been a very useful service.

My calendar took 2 minutes to reconcile itself.

When it was done…

AHHHHH! Once again at a glance, I can see my schedule without having to open the day to specifically check.

My appointments, and mine alone show up. Their little green tags clearly show how much of my day they occupy. They’re not being overwritten by events and observances that don’t matter.

My historical calendar is visible again. This is a calendar that I created years ago with neat facts about the day in history. Amelia Earharts take off, the first man in space, the first woman in space, the date of the Norman invasion, that kind of thing. In each of these entries notes section I’d put detailed information about the event.

Suddenly Anniversaries, Birthdays, and my stuff is all there, with the original color coding I’d selected, instead of a muddy mess.

You know, it’s not so hard to enter “Real” Holidays into my calendar. There are some that require special treatment, but it’s a small price to pay for a clean readable schedule.

This is what happens when you pander to everyone.

Maybe we should pick just a few biggies and leave the rest to be observed by those who care?