Category: Modern problems

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Yet another example of poorly thought out projects.

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In an earlier article, the LA Times mentioned in passing that several of the schools that iPads were being distributed at, didn’t even have internet. 

I’m not talking about WiFi, the Times article led the reader to believe that internet wasn’t available at all.

This is a situation where the school district is wasting money right from the get go for Political reasons not for the benefit of the kids.

Now it’s clear that the software is far less complete than the first article led the reader to believe.

Yes, That first article listed a plethora of issues

No interenet at schools

No WiFi

Software that was being rolled out but was incomplete.

Teachers with little or no training on the software, or how to implement it in their curriculum.

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Now this morning there is a report of 71 iPads missing albeit apparently from a pilot program. Followed by this article describing that the students had “hacked” the iPads.

This is not hacking. This is nothing more than kids being handed something that frustrated them. Their natural response was to say “fine I’ll really screw it up!” Then they discovered the hole in the software that let them actually use the device as it was intended to be used, sans incomplete buggy software.

Second, the sites that the children were accessing should have been blocked at the school district infrastructure level.

This is done in corporate America all the time, it’s no mystery and not magic. Sure the iPad would work normally at a Starbucks but who cares? The kids aren’t at Starbucks if they’re in class are they?

Another article in the Times said that the iPads weren’t allowed to be taken off school grounds when did that change?

And then lets not forget that LAUSD figured out that they’re probably going to need keyboards. D’OH!

I’m all for education.

But I’m more for having a plan. Technology can’t and shouldn’t be expected to fix all ills. Poorly implemented technology is worse than no technology.

There’s nothing wrong with a book, or a school library. Or for that matter computers in controlled educational settings.

This debacle is going to cost not only the tax payers in dollars, it’s going to cost the kids in time lost in the classroom fiddling with technology when they should be fiddling with learning.

The software company who’s developing the programs for LAUSD and their contract should be reviewed by an independent group to figure out what was agreed to, what was delivered, and how deadlines were arrived at.

If LAUSD rolled out the software and iPads prior to the originally agreed upon time, then the folks at LAUSD should be replaced.

Sorry, but rampant stupidity just spins me right up…

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Trying this again….

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Yeah I’m a glutton for punishment. Android malfunctioning chronically, I can’t really wait any longer.

So here I am in line again they claim they still have what I want.

It will be a close thing…

Fingers crossed.

I’ve been trying to think of any way to avoid this but I need a phone. I’m not really looking forward to the expense. <sigh>

Moreover, I’m not terribly thrilled at standing in line yet again.

The hell of it is I know what I want. I’m on a good no contract plan with my carrier and it’s a slam dunk transaction.

Been listening to the rumors and comments being made by the Apple employees. Apparently, part of this long wait is being caused by people that want a new phone, but that haven’t paid their bill.

Before the phone transaction can occur the Apple employee is having to sort out the customers billing and contractual issues.

To that all I can say is really? 

You’re so hot to trot to get a new phone that you’ve not paid the bill? Which begs the question… 

Can you afford a new bright shiny phone in the first place? How about going to the phone store and buying something that’s cheaper and more in line with your obvious budget constraints?

Then there are the folks from Hong Kong, or mainland China…

“You oh ah got unlocked phone? I want unlocked phone. ohh no unlocked phone? Ohhhh.“

Basically these folks are here to buy as many unlocked iPhone 5s units as they can in hopes that that will make big profits when they go home with their American booty.

While I was standing there in line from 4:20 to 6:00 before I got in the store, yes in the line pictured above, I saw at least 10 Chinese tourists trying to get into the store to buy unlocked phones which technically Apple isn’t selling yet.

Good for me, that the all the tourists weren’t doing their homework. Technically there are “unlocked” phones available. I bought one. It’s sitting happily on my desk beside my computer as I type this.

I started this blog entry while I was in line. I had my iPad and was hitting the Apple WiFi pretty easily once I rounded the corner of the building.

By the time I got to the door I was going crazy. They had limited quantities of what I needed and there were a lot of folks in the store who were doing “in store” pickups. I just knew with my luck that I’d get inside the store only to have a helpful Apple representative tell me “Sorry, we just sold the last one”

It’s my luck.

But, no. The helpful guy introduced himself and took me into the store. As we walked, I was rattling off the unit, options, and case preferences. That’s when he stopped and I thought “uh oh, here it comes”.

“Man, sorry we don’t have…” 

I was crushed and momentarily started to turn around to leave.

“…That color case.”

My brain reprocessed the information a couple of times.

Crosscheck…

Analyze. Global linguistic analysis routines running.

Confirmed.

Accessing sarcasm database… No sarcasm detected.

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Implication… Device in question is still available. 

Conclusion – Case color choice irrelevant, priority is hardware …

Yeah, my internal systems are weird…

“It’s just the case you’re out of?” I ask incredulously.

“Yep, sorry we don’t have black in stock.” He replied with a genuinely apologetic look on his face.

“Screw the case!” I said

He just smiled… ” Come this way, here are the cases we do have in stock.

Remember that if the case says it will fit an iPhone 5 it will also work for the 5s.

I’m going in the back to get the phone for you. I’ll be right back.”

Then he was gone and I was looking at a bewildering array of cases, some of which I was too short to reach.

A few moments later he was back. A shiny white box in hand that said iPhone 5s written in black on the side. I pointed to the case I couldn’t reach and asked for help. He grabbed the case and suggested that we go to a quieter location he’d scoped out.

A few questions, scans, & card swipes later and we’re unboxing my new phone. 

He leads me through the power-up sequence and I’m answering the questions the phone is asking. 

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Then he realizes I’m coming from an Android and grimaces.

“Do you know the login and password for your gmail account?”

“Yes, but there will be no need for that. I spent last Thursday transferring my contacts and calendar to iCloud and verified the transfer here on my iPad.”

He grinned a big grin.

“Great! That will make this easy.”

“I know, I had a plan. The intention was to have a phone on Friday but after standing in line twice I was left in the cold.”

He smiled, “That was a madhouse wasn’t it?”

“Yep. Ahh there are my contacts. Glad I remembered to turn on the WiFi.”

We stood there waiting for the remaining information to come in via the cloud and my new phone churned away happily digesting the information.

At 6:17pm I made a call to make sure that the phone was capable of it’s primary function.

By 6:22pm I was walking to the door with my happy, helpful Apple representative and my bag / badge of honor.

So today it’s about the phone, getting all the fiddly bits of software loaded that I’ll use. Some software I’ll want on the iPad exclusively and others I’ll want only on the phone, still others will be on  both devices.

But… and this is probably most important. I’ll be able to talk on the phone and even answer incoming calls. Wow! what a concept!

The case?

I chose a baby blue Apple case.

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A Total Bust… Sigh!

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Alright, you can call me a moron. It’s OK.

Today was the release of the new Apple iPhone 5S. Apple stores opened at 8am as opposed to their usual 10am. I arrived at 8:20am to my local Apple store and joined a line of people that stretched from the door of the store, around behind the building, then wrapped down another building and spilled out onto another sidewalk adjacent to yet another store.

Hummm. This does not bode well. Of course I completely forgot to take pictures. And once you’re in line… you don’t want to exit the line for fear that you’ll be send to the back of the line again.

Waiting, & Waiting. Finally I get to the door and they tell me that they don’t have any phones for my carrier Damn! Additionally the helpful store person tell me I can’t go in the store right now because today it’s all about the iPhone. Double Damn! A very nice lady nudged me and said “Come in with me” 

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So I’m in the store, and the iPhones are very cool. The 5s is gorgeous and the 5c phones are solid and feel good in the hand. I’d feared that they’d be cheap feeling.

I enjoyed the chance to actually feel the weight of the phones in my hand. OS7, I’m becoming familiar with. It works well and is fast and smooth.

Then I hear one of the employees mention a second shipment coming in just a little after noon. Another shipment? Hummmm.  It’s 10:45 I could go take a walk, then grab a bite to eat, then stakeout the Apple store.

I was sitting outside the Apple store editing my contacts, transferring them to iCloud and away from Google. I’m doing the same thing with my calendar and dialing down the Google interactions.

I look up and notice that there is activity at the side of the Apple store and a new line is forming. I put away my editing and go take my place in the 2nd line of the day.

Why was I being so tenacious? Well….

This morning my existing phone was flakier than usual in that I was on an active call and it suddenly decided to start randomly dialing other contacts. Thankfully those calls were simply beeps in my ear instead of actually dialing contacts. I have to power the phone down to make that stop. 

The existing phone is simply telling me that it’s time to replace it. I noticed a lot of folks in line were trading in phones that were 2 and 3 years old.

Another hour in line… hour 2, the Apple folks start us moving again. (I have to say Apple was really nice. They were providing water and iced tea to those of us waiting outside the store. I thought it was a nice touch.)

I get to the gatekeeper. “I want a phone of thus & such specifications for Carrier X.”

The lady looks at me sadly. “We didn’t get anything for that carrier in this second shipment. I’m so sorry.”

Sigh.

Broken hearted I trudge away. Rejected twice in one day!

No phone for you!

Now in addition to saying that I’ve stood in line for the grand opening of an Apple Store. I can also say I’ve stood in line for a new iPhone, on the first day it was available.

Oh and by the way…

It’s not something I’m likely to do anytime in the future.

I should mention that where I was, the crowd was very nice and there were no fights. Unlike the Pasadena Apple Store where arrests were made.

I’ll wait until Tuesday next week to try again. I’m not holding my breath.

To those of you who may attempt to call me… Don’t hold your breath! I honestly don’t know whats wrong with my Android and I’m past caring. As the phone has become less and less reliable I’m carrying it less and less. Quite often lately I’ve left it completely behind as I took off to run errands. Why carry something that only works some of the time?

Even as I type this, the phone is muttering to itself. saying it’s receiving email or text messages that it is not. 

By the way… The iPhone 5s color “Space Gray” is Gun Metal gray and it looks great. 

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The weekly roundup…

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No War! (Well, no additional war)

The Syrians claim a victory. The Russians show diplomacy, The Americans show??? What?

I’m still amazed that the possibility of us going to war, (regardless of what the White House says it would have been a declaration of war to bomb or fire missiles in to another country during their civil war) over what was clearly an internal conflict was ever a matter of discussion.

I’m glad that cooler heads prevailed. I’m somewhat stunned that the cooler head apparently belonged to Vladimir Putin. But I’m glad nonetheless.

Apple announced new iPhone

Wallstreet unimpressed. Microsoft takes advertising pot shot at Apple and demonstrates yet again that they are completely disconnected from the real world. As an ancillary point they demonstrated that their sense of humor is somewhat childish.

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Windows Surface? How’re those sales guys? I saw Microsoft is offering a $200 trade-in for iPads if you purchase one of their tablets. Talk about not being able to give ’em away.

iPhone 5c phones have not sold out during pre-order. That’s a bit of a first for Apple. I find myself wondering if the smartphone market is saturated. None of the smartphone offerings from any manufacturer have been particularly dazzling.

I take that back, Samsung had a dazzlingly bad, perhaps embarrassing is a better term for it introduction of the galaxy s4.

But the smartphones in & of themselves have become somewhat homogenous.

Yes as I’ve mentioned, I’m probably going to go iPhone, but this time around it’s not because its an iPhone, but because I’m heavily invested in Apple tech and it’s just a lot easier to have a single environment to deal with.

Colorado

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Colorado in addition to the flooding also recalled two politicians from the state government over gun control.

Whats amazed the hell out of me in this is that Twitter came alive with Gun control discussions but very little was said on either side of that discussion about the flooding or loss of life.

This re-ignition of the gun control discussion is rather like an endless repetition of a bad Gilligans Island episode. The discussions have begun to bore the hell out of me because they’ve become formulaic.

Gun Control Advocate: Guns are bad, there are too many children dying, guns don’t make us safer, the 2nd amendment is dated and no longer relevant, we need more gun control, no-one needs an assault rifle that can spray bullets to kill people, Only the military needs guns… on and on they regurgitate the same tired and more often than not erroneous sound bites that the media and politicians have spun to reinforce their position on gun control.

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Pro Gun person: Criminals are bad guns are not, yes there are too many children dying but it’s not because of responsible gun owners. Guns do make you safer if this were not so why then are “Gun Free” zones also places with the highest national crime rates? Existing Gun control laws would be sufficient IF the state & federal governments would enforce the laws already on the books. Define assault rifle. So called assault rifles do not “SPAY” bullets they are not machine guns, the fire one bullet with each pull of the trigger. The 2nd amendment is not outdated, The 2nd amendment was about providing the ability of the people to protect themselves from a tyrannical government. And on & on until the cows come home.

In point of fact gun related deaths are by the FBIs & CDCs reports overall down. The CDC report really disappointed the Obama administration because it took the legs out from beneath their arguments for stricter gun control.

But since the CDC report refuted the “Collective Wisdom”, very little media attention was given to the CDC conclusions. And the beat goes on…

There’s a saying… don’t confuse someone with the facts.

I’ve gotten bored with the whole gun debate because it’s not a debate. It’s one side misrepresenting one set of facts and the other side trying to refute specious arguments.

At this rate, the politicians will remove the 2nd amendment provisions while no one is looking and screw us all for a couple hundred votes.

Then they’ll wring their hands and rend their clothing when the whole country has a crime rate like Chicago’s and ask what went wrong. I’m sure at that point we’ll hear calls for stricter penalties, laws and god knows what else.

In other Gun News…

The idiots in the California legislature have sent a bill to the Governors desk that would ban kits designed to make rifles look like assault rifles.

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Yep, you read that correctly. It will now be illegal in California to BOLT on plastic or metal bits designed only to make a legally owned rifle LOOK like an assault rifle.

They’d have done more of a public service making people with face lifts gone wrong illegal in public.

This does nothing but demonstrate how almost incomprehensibly stupid the people running this state are. Or it demonstrates that these people do actually understand the difference between and “Assault Rifle” and a regular hunting rifle and have an agenda to remove both from the hands of the public.

NewImageThey’re also after removable magazines, I have no doubt that they will broaden their focus from rifles to pistols leaving the only legal option for Californians a revolver.

After all a revolver is “old timey looking” and therefore not nearly as dangerous.

They’ll be forced to legislate more when they realize that a .357 magnum is a revolver that contains 8 rounds. Or that a .44 magnum is a revolver too and it contains 6 rounds.

Harry Callahan: I know what you’re thinking, punk. You’re thinking “did he fire six shots or only five?” Now to tell you the truth I forgot myself in all this excitement. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and will blow you head clean off, you’ve gotta ask yourself a question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do ya, punk?

The point is, much like a Ferrari vs a Hundai, it’s not so much what the gun looks like… its how it performs.

Our legislators don’t understand this.

Condoms in Porn

These have been some back page articles.

Another porn actor has been diagnosed with HIV. And the CONDOM heads are all a dither pointing to this as reason that their NewImagecondom law in pornography should be extended from just LA to all of California.

What they didn’t point out is that the two porn performers recently diagnosed with HIV 1 man , 1 woman were romantically involved in their private lives. Also not mentioned is that the porn industry required medical screening turned up the HIV before these folks had a chance to spread the infection on set,  and that the screening is routine, broad spectrum (looking for HIV and other STDs)

LA County is noticing a drop in the number of permits for Porn film shoots as well.

While surrounding counties are noticing an increase in permits. Additionally more porn studios are filming completely outside California.

Miami, Phoenix, and Las vegas seem to be popular destinations.

Other studios are noticing that condom porn isn’t necessarily affecting their bottom line. However for aficionados of bareback it’s likely bareback production studios will be leaving LA if not California.

For that matter other studios may simply leave the state “preemptively” anticipating onerous laws and regulations. After all why NewImagespend money on permits, in California when you can go to Phoenix or Las Vegas and do your filming unimpeded.

Then there’s this, while you can force condoms to be used in a film… you’re not going to be able to force people to use them in their personal lives. So are these laws really doing all that much good? Or are these laws nothing more than a renewed puritanical movement?

The actors themselves are pretty free to choose how they engage in sex.  I know of several male actors that do solo shows only. The same is true of using condoms or not.

I find myself questioning again and again how many laws like the LA Condom law are about “public safety” and how many are simply about puritanical squeamishness.

So that’s it folks.

These are the odd bits of news that penetrated my thoughts this week. On the plus side I managed to miss all of President Obamas speeches. On the minus side… HEY! There is now down side to that!

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Whee it’s here! Whaaat?

 

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The new phones were in line with what a month of media leaks said they were going to be, and there were no surprises.

Looks like the pundits, wags and Wall Street are not impressed.

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I guess I understand that they wanted to be WOWED again. In their disappointment they’re perhaps being unduly snarky. 

The new iPhones are beautiful, all of them.

I don’t really give a shit about what the pundits and wags from PCMagazine say (I haven’t paid them any attention at all since they savaged the Newton and then embraced the Palm Pilot. WTF? I liked my Newton a hell of a lot more than any Palm or Handspring device I ever owned.)

My bottom line is that I need a new phone… It’s not just that I want a new phone, my current phone is full of so much bloatware from my carrier that it’s almost useless. 

I normally only use 6 features on my phone.

I call people… sometimes.

I like having a calendar

I use text & messaging.

I will sometimes use the phone to look something up on the web, but since I often have a computer or tablet at hand I’ll go to one of those before I use the phone.

I take pictures with my phone (if it’s the only or most convenient camera I have at hand.)

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My carrier seems to think that I want games, and internet radio, and more games, and to be reminded to restart my phone and billing reminders and honestly a bunch of shit that I don’t even have a clue about. More importantly, its stuff I have no desire to learn about.

The stuff they think I need cannot be removed. Unless I play their “lets unlock the phone game“. This is apparently as “easy” as giving birth to Rhinoceros twins… through my penis. Frankly I don’t have the time.

This unlocking procedure involves me contacting them, them looking up some information, me winking and nudging at the appropriate times, them asking questions, me answering questions, them sending me a code, me contacting them when I receive the code, them acknowledging the code, and my phone is unlocked.

Here’s an idea… How about them just sending me the damn code when the phone is paid for, and the contract expires. Better yet why don’t they simply remotely unlock the phone at the end of the contract?

I guess that’s just too easy…

My current phone is Android based.

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That was fine and dandy for me until I realized due to carrier interference I wasn’t getting the latest bug fixes and updates.

The reason wasn’t that the updates weren’t available it was because it takes time for the carrier to bundle all their bloatware into the version of the operating system & then push it out to it’s users. 

I hate living with crashes. I hate having my phone seize up for no reason when I’m trying to make or receive a call. I hate getting text messages 2 days after they’ve been sent. And I really hate that because of all the crap running on my phone all the time that my battery life is inconsistent as hell. One day the battery will last 8 hours (idle) and the next day it will last 3 hours (idle). But while I’m not using the phone and it’s supposedly idle. There’s some other process or processes just cranking away doing god only knows what. No matter how many times I terminate individual or ALL processes they restart and there’s no explanation as to why they’re running or what they’re doing.

Thankfully, there’s nothing on the bills indicating nefarious activities. The antivirus application running on the phone says nothing is going out or coming in. For all the world it looks like the phone is senile and just muttering to itself.

This has led me to the decision to buy an unlocked phone. NO CONTRACT.

I’ll jump ship to the next carrier, and the next, based on saving money, better coverage, or better customer service.

It’s that simple and this is why for so many years the cellular carriers fought the ability to take your phone number with you.

If a customer can take their phone number, their phone, and have no contract to boot. The onus is squarely on the shoulders of the cellular provider to provide not just mediocre service but to compete! They must provide excellent telephone service and their customer service has to be exemplary as well.

All of this leads me to the purchase of a new phone. 

The iPhone 5s is predictable in it’s sameness. The iPhone 5c is fun with it’s colors and it’s specs are remarkably similar to the 5s. Both phones are incremental improvements on the iPhone 5 itself. Perhaps with the iPhone 5 Apple reached the pinnacle of form dictating function.

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The Galaxy phones are beautify done, but they’re big. Too big to fit in my front pocket and we all know that if I have one in my back pocket I’m going to sit on it and snap that large expanse of glass right in half.

For me, the iPhone is just about the right size. I can slip it in a pocket, I can carry it in my existing holster. It’s got all the functions and applications that I want and I already have an app store account because of my iPad and computer.

Moreover I intend to OWN the phone from the get-go. I don’t intend to allow bullshit applications to reside on MY device. I’ll have the ultimate say. if I want to delete something I will.

I have considered the Galaxies I also was curious about the MotoX.

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As I mentioned the Galaxies are too big. The MotoX (build your own) is AT&T only at this time. I have no desire to ever darken the door of an AT&T store or see their logo again. We had a falling out several years ago and I plan to keep that nasty divorce final.

I was interested in the Moto X precisely because I could in theory build my own. The ability to customize the color combinations is cool. To be able to build one with a walnut back cover and choose other elements of the phone to make it uniquely mine is attractive. However it’s not attractive enough to make me go back to AtT&T

So I’m going to play with the iPhone when they hit the stores… OH HELL NO not the DAY they hit the stores, I’d have to crawl over salivating 18 to 25 year olds all of whom want to buy one, yet none of whom can afford it.

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I’ll wait a couple of days, until the youngsters have drooled and cooed. Then I’ll walk in ready to do business.

I plan to look at both the phones the 5s and 5c. There are slight differences… Fingerprint sensor, better camera functions, processor chips etc. 

For me it’s going to boil down to bang for buck.

I’ll probably go for the 5s due to the processor horsepower. 

I’d like to see an iPhone last as long as my Macs do.

Typically I get 4 -7 years out of a Mac on average. I’m thinking that the better processor may enable me to keep and use the phone by upgrading IOS versions longer. Only time will tell. 

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That’s a key issue for me personally. I want bug fixes and OS improvements on a regular ongoing basis. Apple provides that through IOS, Google/Android doesn’t.

I’ve been through a Blackberry, and two different Android phones.

In a very real way, I’m looking forward to going home to iPhone.

I’m sure my disentanglement from Google and Android will cause some bumps in the road with the attendant swearing.

But in the end fingers crossed, I’ll have a happier, simpler user experience.

That is what we want right? 

Ubiquitous technology that we don’t have to think about using?

I know at this point in my life that’s exactly what I want…