Finally Time for A New Phone?

First, an update - on a recent colonoscopy post I indicated I needed something biopsied.  Results are negative and I am grateful for that.

Now to today's post:

My spouse and I both own iPhone SE first editions (mine purchased in 2016, his inherited from his late mother in law when she passed in 2018).  Both of our phones need to be replaced, but we are both the kind of people who keep devices until long after they have become obsolete.

We know, when Apple releases its next operating system this fall, neither of our phones will be able to handle the upgrade.

I use my phone as a camera that also can make calls and texts.  My spouse wants to use his to identify birds.  The software is too big for the free space on his phone.  My mother in law had only purchased 16 GB of memory to save money - totally inadequate in today's world.

Also, we've been on the same cell phone plan since 2016.  

Sometimes, you need a push. We've now received it.

I had read, the other day, that major cell phone carriers were raising monthly charges on "legacy plans", plans no longer offered. Turns out that's true. That is what is happening to us.  Our rates are going up in August.

So, we are preparing to shop for new phones.

As my regular readers know, I use my phone mainly for still photography.  My son recently recommended (once again) that I don't get an iPhone with the latest and greatest camera equipment.  Instead, he recommended, get the current iPhone SE and spend the difference on a "real" camera.  

The one certain thing is we are all going to stay with iPhones.  It's just a matter of "which one", which carrier, and which plan.  Both of us have used iPhones for years and would rather not try to learn Android.

Now it's time for some shopping for a new plan and possibly a new carrier.  It's going to be a learning experience.  At least I am still working part time.  I'd really rather not buy an older phone due to my habit of keeping electronics going "forever".

Oh, the time spent on technology that could be spent on other things...sigh.

Sustainable Saturday - Still Doubleplusungood

In July of 2009 (the first year of my blog) I blogged about an incident where Amazon.com "disappeared" Kindle copies of the book 1984 by George Orwell.  This book, written in 1949 by the late George Orwell, was a warning against totalitarianism and the ability of governments to manipulate information.

In the world of 1984, there was no Internet.  But there were telescreens in each home that had to stay on constantly and they were two way - you watched them but Big Brother (yes, that was where that name came from) watched you, in turn.  There was constant emotional manipulation in a daily ceremony called the Two Minute Hate, where Party members had to watch a film about the Party's enemies and scream out their hate in a period of two minutes.

Constant surveillance.  Information manipulation.  Sound familiar?

Think about our modern world for a minute.  Websites and their contents can disappear or change in a minute.   We ponder these questions:  Are our virtual assistants, Siri and Alexa (among others) secretly listening to our conversations?  Recording our questions? (The answer to this last one, incidentally, is "yes" for both Siri and Alexa.)  Is there tracking software that can follow what we say on Facebook or Twitter, ready for the future use of a totalitarian leader?

I just read today that Microsoft is about to shut off its ebook DRM servers.  They are getting out of that business and the books ("protected" by a technology called DRM) will no longer work.

Customers will get refunds but - if books can be turned off, their readers can be monitored.

What does privacy mean anymore in our electronic world?  Or ownership?

Here's my post from 2009, with some edits:

Doubleplusungood, dudes

This gives me a bit of that Big Brother feeling.

For all of you lucky enough to study the book "1984" in high school back in the 1960's, there are certain things in this book that stuck with you forever. The present generation would not be impressed but this book was absolutely chilling in its depiction of a world where a dictatorship totally controlled all sources of information, complete with a Ministry of Truth whose bureaucrats labored to continuously revise all written records to reflect the current Party line. To control thought, a new language called Newspeak was introduced. Words and thought were so short in Newspeak that one could spit sentences out without giving a thought to what one was actually saying.

Of course, nowadays we manipulate photos with ease via programs such as Photoshop and can manipulate electronic records with just as much ease.

And, apparently, we can buy an electronic book and download into our Kindle, and Bi...I mean, Amazon.com, can take it back for whatever reason.

When's the last time your local bookstore knocked down your door to grab back a book you legally paid for?

How ironic (not that this is exactly not my original thought) that the book they "vanished" was....1984. (Along with another Orwell classic, "Animal Farm".)

For the record:
1. This was due to a copyright infringement issue, not censorship and
2. Amazon.com duly refunded monies paid to the customers affected.

However, when they sent emails with the refund notices, some customers claimed Amazon never bothered to explain what was going on.

 Can amazon.com take stuff back whenever they want? Maybe we should just stick to the old fashioned books that clutter up the house?

If not Big-Brotherish, it is certainly creepy.

The Banana Slicer is Mightier than the Inflatable Toast

It's Friday!  It's time for a good laugh!  After a frustrating day at work, I need one.

I am a fan of actor George Takei on Facebook. If you want to learn how to be a Facebook Superstar, study this man.  Many people know him as the actor who played Mr. Sulu in the 1960's TV series Star Trek, but, in a future few in the 1960's envisioned, he is now a Social Media giant.  A social media giant at age 75, that is.  To those of us not of a "certain age", you have no idea how good that makes us feel.

His posts are authentic, mostly upbeat, and almost always relevant.

Today, though, he was actually posting something I had already blogged almost four months ago:  Amazon reviews.  Specially, Amazon reviews of certain  - well, unusual products.

The Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer is about to have its 15 minutes of fame.  And I was there first, reporting about it back in December.  Take THAT, George Takei!  (Please enjoy my post - I made sure all the links still work.)

In a way, I felt bad for the manufacturer of this banana slicer. There he is, trying to sell a product which is designed to - well, slice bananas.  And people are posting sarcastic, glowing reviews such as these:  (quoted from actual reviews):

I had to resort to carefully attempt to slice those bananas with my bare hands. 99.9% of the time, I would get so frustrated that I just ended up squishing the fruit in my hands and throwing it against the wall in anger. Then, after a fit of banana-induced rage, my parole officer introduced me to this kitchen marvel and my life was changed.

And how about this gem:

this is one of the greatest inventions of all time. My husband and I would argue constantly over who had to cut the day's banana slices. It's one of those chores NO ONE wants to do! You know, the old "I spent the entire day rearing OUR children, maybe YOU can pitch in a little and cut these bananas?" and of course, "You think I have the energy to slave over your... bananas? I worked a 12 hour shift just to come home to THIS?!".... The minute I heard our 6-year-old girl in her bedroom, re-enacting our daily banana fight with her Barbie dolls, I knew we had to make a change.

Now, THESE are the people who should be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, not me.  (I promise to blog about my progress soon.)  If I had half of those writing skills....

But, as it turns out,  the manufacturer is thrilled with the attention their slicer has received.  And, apparently, Amazon is beginning to realize that these reviews drive traffic to their site - especially when George Takei posts on Facebook about it.

There is a lesson here for business owners, business bloggers and social media experts, but you'll have to find it for yourself.  I'm too busy laughing.

Here are some more of my favorite products on Amazon.  I hope they become favorites of yours, too.

Inflatable Toast
The Wenger 16999 Swiss Army Knife (darn, would have made a perfect birthday gift for my son.)
The Three Wolf Shirt (stop making fun of this shirt! My spouse loves them!)

Do you have a favorite Amazon review?

Sustainable Saturday - Hybrids and Lifts

I had planned to use "Sustainable Saturday" mainly for food and agriculture, but am stepping a little out of my comfort zone for today's post.

Today, as part of the New York Heritage Weekend, venues all across New York State held open houses or festivals.  Since it was Sustainable Saturday, I visited a venue called the Center for Technology and Innovation.

This center is located just outside of downtown Binghamton, New York, in an industrial area.  They hold, I found out, several open houses each year.

One of the missions of this center is to preserve and restore technology that was developed in our local area.  (Did you know, for example, that innovative car companies operated in upstate New York during the early 20th century?) I will feature more about their mission in a future blog post.

Today, as part of Heritage NY, the Center was demonstrating the technology of tomorrow.  This included several types of hybrid or  vehicles and a hybrid lift that uses the downward motion of the lift to generate power back to the unit.

I have talked about BAE Systems, late of my neighborhood, and relocated in nearby Endicott (ironically, on the former IBM campus - IBM having originated in Binghamton, NY as a time machine manufacturer and then moved to Endicott and eventually the world) due to flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee in September 2011 that destroyed their Westover facility.  This is one of the items that they manufacture - a hybrid truck

Another thing they manufacture is hybrid buses - they used to test these in my neighborhood and I would see them sometimes.

There were several electric cars on display:  a Chevy Volt (not made here but it was a local dealer displaying them) which is not a true hybrid; and an electric car that was once a regular "gas guzzler" 87 Dodge Daytona until modified by its owner, Jason Horak..  He explained the modification cost about $25,000. (not too cost effective, admittedly) but he can go 100 miles on a charge, which currently costs him about $2.00.  Here is an explanatory poster, and a picture of the back batteries.

Jason explained to us that although it appears that the batteries appear to take up most of the hatchback, in reality they are set pretty far down and he carries luggage, groceries, etc. in the back (with a cover, of course) easily.

This is a picture of the Chevy Volt, which, again, is not a true "hybrid" but does have a gasoline engine in addition to being able to run on electricity.

And finally, the lift, which is manufactured by local Raymond Corporation, a manufacturer of forklifts.

( here is a video demonstrating the lift in action).

Do you think a hybrid vehicle is in your future?  Does your home town use hybrid mass transit vehicles?  Or manufacture hybrid equipment?

TV Sets Then Vs. Now

About a month ago I blogged about nostalgia and it ain't all it's cracked up to be. 

Although I still believe in the point I made about the "good old days" not always having been as good as we remember, I may be rethinking that - just a little - after my experiences of the past few days.

Our old, old 19 inch TV set - with a picture tube, imagine that! - gave up after some 15 years of faithful service.  Nowadays, you have little choice but to buy a HDTV.   So, we did.

Which is better:  the "good old days" (THEN) or modern times (NOW).  You decide:


Picking out the set

THEN:  Go into the store.  Look at the picture quality.  Choose:  black and white or (only if rich) color.  Size:  19 inch portable?  25 inch console? Buy set.

NOW: LCD, LCD with LED backlight, plasma, projector, Smart TV, 32, 37, 40, 42, 55, 70 inch?  Ultra thin?  3D? 3D ready?   Buy from appliance store, electronics store, website?  Research using computer magagine, consumer magazine, amazon.com user reviews?  Allow 2 weeks.  Use email service that alerts you to sales or price reductions.  Buy set.

Setting Up the Set

THEN:  take TV out of the box.  Plug it in.

NOW:  take TV out of the box. Plug it in.  Hope you have all the right cables.  If not, run out to store and buy them.
Read the manual - if it came on a CD, boot up your computer and use $20 in ink to print it out.
If a smart TV, try to connect to the Internet.  Just try.  Nope, didn't work.  Try again.  Try again, try again.  Why isn't it connecting?
Kick furniture in frustration, break a toe.  Go to ER.
(I'm so glad I didn't buy a smart TV and got to skip that step.)
Find out your cable box isn't HD ready, so call cable company.  Find out they are out of HD cable boxes.  They will ship you one, should come in about 4 days.

How to Get Your TV Signal

THEN:  TV signals come over the air.  Buy antenna.  Wrestle with antenna.  Mount outside your living room window.  Every time you have to change the channel,  hang out the window and move the antenna so it points in the direction of your channel.  That doesn't happen too often, because you only have three channels.

If there is a storm, or if the elevator in your apartment building goes up or down, go to TV, turn the knob that stops the picture from rolling, and very carefully turn the knob until the picture stops rolling.

NOW:  Cable?  Satellite?  HD Antenna?  Hulu Plus?  Netflix?  Roku or other streaming device?  (If Roku or other streaming device see section "If smart TV".)

When to replace your set

THEN:  Give it 15 or 20 years.

NOW:  Hey, it's already obsolete!


So, reader:  Which do you think is better? TV THEN or NOW?

Adventures in Modern Technology - TV and Roku

Today is a special occasion for this technophobe.

Well, my name isn't Frank, although I did have a friend, growing up, whose last name was Frank.  But I do love Weird Al, and now I can sing his song "Frank's 2000 inch TV".

Today, I joined the majority of people in the United States.  I have ditched my old 19 inch Hitachi tube TV (well, it ditched me - I would have kept it another few years if I could have) and purchased a 42 inch HDTV from amazon.com.

There is a lot of "modern technology" I have not adopted.  I don't have a smart phone, I barely have a cell phone, and I've had a digital camera for only the last 3 years.  I freely admit that some modern technology, such as digital cameras, are way superior to what they replaced.  (I also have an MP3 player).  But TV - eh.  I spend a lot more time on my computer.

Our cable company was out of HD cable boxes, so we are having one shipped to us.


So here I am watching "regular" TV on my (to me) giant set.

The other thing we purchased is a Roku.  This streaming player was so highly recommended by someone at work that three other people I know went out and purchased Rokus.  Everyone loves them.  So I decided to get one.  Because I don't have my network password (long story) I probably won't be able to hook it up until Sunday.  If I don't lose it, that is - it is so tiny, the remote is bigger!  We don't have subscriptions to Netflix or Hulu Plus, so we will probably start out with the free channels and see where it takes us.

So, now, as I've sold out (well, not really, but in a way I feel like that....)

Over the years, I've learned an important lesson about technology:  it's only as good as the times when it works properly.  So I will hold my breath, hope the cable box comes soon, and hope that I can get hold of my network password so we can hook the Roku up.

And then....world watch out...AM has a 42 inch TV!  (will a Kindle be next?)

Shopping for a TV

Saturday we turned on our TV....the 19 inch model we bought at Montgomery Wards as a floor model back in, what, 1998?...and Old Faithful showed us just a bunch of weird lines, followed by a funny smell.  When we tried to turn it off it wouldn't turn off. 

So now we are in the market for a TV.

Every year for the past several years, we would play the game of TV Agonization every Thanksgiving Week.  This consisted of looking at every Black Friday ad on the Black Friday tracking websites, selecting one or two sets we might want and going almost to the brink of purchasing.  Last year I literally had the TV order all set up on Amazon.com, then decided to do something else and chickened out at the last minute.   This year I said to ourself, "how much longer is that TV going to last?".

It was almost a point of honor, not going the modern HDTV route.

So now, if we want a TV, we need to shop for one, right in the middle of the holiday shopping rush.  And that shopping experience has changed greatly since 1998.

Shopping for a TV - in the old days - would consist of looking at the pictures at the local appliance store, then reading Consumer Reports and bringing home a set.  Total effort - a couple of hours?

Today shopping consists of answering hundreds of questions....screen size?  refresh rate?  LCD or Plasma?  2D or 3D? Number of HDMI hookups? Internet ready? Store brick and mortar or online?  and then browsing lots of websites, and ending up with one gigantic pounding headache. 

So far I could care less about the lack of TV because I have my trusty computer but dear spouse is having major withdrawal symptoms.  I lost track of the number of complaints about not being able to watch the Giants game yesterday.

Thinking back to our newlywed days when we lived without a TV set for months (more than once) on end for various reasons, it's tempting in a way to do that again...but we are too hooked on instant information, The Weather Channel's Waking Up with Al and watching DVD's.  So we will get that TV.

And maybe we'll even enjoy the experience, once we get over the shock.

Technology or Magic?

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Arthur C. Clarke.
In the last 24 hours, two things have happened that show us just how much technology has changed us.  What was miraculous when I was born is commonplace now.  Or, thinking about it another way, it's - magic.

First, there is the revolution in Libya - live on Twitter, live online with streaming feed on Al Jazeera English and other sites - I watched, transfixed, last night, leaping from Twitter to the live feed, while CNN on TV blared in the background.  And why? Besides the obvious wanting to know what was happening, I have a Facebook friend who lives in Tunisia.  I messaged this friend in Tunisia and was reassured that things are peaceful in Tunis right now. 

(I also chatted with my friend last month, when I was visiting the Centreville/Chantilly, Virginia area (because he used to live in Vienna, VA) and asked him questions about traffic, and parking at the Vienna Metro station.  Just stop and think.  I'm asking someone in Tunis about the traffic on Rt. 23.  And complaining about the parking charge at the Dulles branch of the Air and Space Museum.)  Magic?

At one time the ability to do this kind of thing would have had you executed for witchcraft.  Now, we take it for granted.  Even when I was born, seeing live footage from across the ocean would have been totally impossible.  There were no satellites in orbit.  Transatlantic phone calls were difficult, had bad connections, and were tremendously expensive.

I could have called my friend (maybe) but I would have needed a bank loan to afford the phone charge.

The other "magic" moment of the last 24 hours is brought to us by Hurricane Irene.  We turn on the Weather Channel and everyone is talking about this killer storm heading for Florida.  On Facebook, my spouse's cousin posts about her preparations.

We so take for granted that we will be warned to get out of the way of a killer storm.  But if you could bring, say, Henry VIII into your living room - he would have thought it was satanic.

As an aside:  Do you wonder what hurricane forecasting was like before our modern technology?  You don't have to look too far.  History gives us one relatively recent example - the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.  Think here "between 8,000 and 12,000 dead." and that was before the major population growth of the last century in the Houston metropolitan area.  No Weather Channel, no storm-spotter planes, no enhanced satellite images, no ability to move large populations out of the way quickly.

Technology (or magic) can only do so much, of course.  Katrina took about 1800 lives for a variety of reasons and bad decisions.  And Irene, if it lives up to its billing, could do similar damage if people don't listen, or make the wrong decisions.

But still, we have the advantage of technology.  Or, if you look at it another way - magic.

QR Codes - Good or Bad?

It's funny how things reach a critical mass and suddenly they are everywhere.

You know what QR codes are even if you don't know their name. (The QR means "quick response". )  Six months ago I don't think I had seen one.  Now they are everywhere.   Everywhere...in ads, on product tags in stores such as Home Depot, and even in books.

They have actually been around for a while - since the 1990's.  I understand they originated in Japan.

So what are they?

You will see this square black and white thing with black squares and white spaces.  If you have the app on your phone, you snap a picture and...well, you are supposed to get video, or extra information, or whatever, on your phone.  It's optional right now ("additional content")  but I can see a time where t won't be optional.

And if you can't afford to access these codes, you will be marginalized.

I never knew what QR codes were called, until I read portions of a book called "I live in the future and here's how it works" by Nick Bilton.  It's fascinating:  to someone in her late 50's, both scary and exciting.

What I don't like about QR codes is that they may force me and others to get a smart phone.  I don't want to get a smart phone, as seductive as they can be.   I don't want to be tied down.  I want to be in control.

I like to live a somewhat simple lifestyle.   I don't want to be locked into a cell phone contract, be it one year or two year.  Nice prepayment penalties, right?  So instead, I use something called Trac Fone, which allows you to have month to month service, and doesn't require a contract.  Also, its phones are simple.  They basically make phone calls.  The newer ones have keyboards so you can text. (I don't text:  horrors! Well, my son thinks so.)

I will make this clear:  I don't think the Internet is frying our brains.  I welcome other forms of getting information besides the frozen print page. (Nick Bilton writes quite a bit about this).  But:   I want to be able to control my access to information.

And if I have to tie myself down to a contract (noting I do not have a contract for my Internet service-I can quit without a penalty - try that with a smart phone contract!) just to use QR codes:  well, no thank you.

But:  not so fast.  Recently I read a magazine article about something called Safety Tats.   If you have children, you may want to check this out.

So....I remind myself that technology is like fire.  Fire is neutral, neither good nor bad.  It's how you choose to use it:  cooking food (good), arson (bad).

So let's not be afraid "just because".

But I still don't think I will get a smart phone soon.

Them Changes

I'm trying to fool around with the best way to share a video on this blog.  I tried a couple of different ways and this one seemed to work best.  This is the Super Bowl ad created for Chrysler featuring rapper Eminem talking about the city he grew up in, to the beat of a song I love, Lose Yourself. (warning, explicit language.)

Ten years ago, if you had told me I would be praising Eminem in any context, I would have told you that you were sadly mistaken.  In those days of the early 21st century, parents of school aged children dreaded any mention of Eminem.  He was evil.  He corrupted the young with horrible, violent lyrics.

Later, as a teen, my son had his poster in his room.  I did not comment.  Wise parents pick their battles with their teens.

Then, I listened to his more recent music.  Especially "Lose Yourself".  Hmmm.....


This is one of the main lessons aging teaches us.  People change, and we change.   And, things aren't always what they seem to be.

The auto industry has had to change, just like so many of us here in America, to survive.  Detroit (which I have never visited, but I have been to Flint) has been through some very rough times, and this commercial can not disguise that their struggle has a long way to go.

You see, I live in a "burnt out industrial town", too.  Not on the scale of Detroit, but we've seem hard times here too.  Some places, especially nearby Johnson City, boast more crumbling, vacant factories than open, vibrant businesses.  If you want to see them (and trust me, you probably don't), just drive a block or two off of Main Street and there they are, in all their former glory.

Sometimes I get so frustrated that people here dwell on the glory days of Endicott-Johnson that they don't spend enough time in the present.  Detroit had to learn that the hard way with their auto industry, too.

A year or two ago, I  blogged about walking around downtown Binghamton during a First Friday (first Friday of the month "art walk") and overheard a young couple comparing Binghamton, not kindly, to Detroit.

So, in a way, I took this commercial very personally.  I can only hope that Detroit does rise from the ashes.  If it does, some Americans may be very surprised how, and also many be surprised at the ethnic groups that make it happen. But we will just have to wait and see.

There is one P.S., though:  my husband and I have only owned one American car (a Saturn) since 1976.  The other cars have been imports, ranging from Germany to Japan to Korea.  There's a reason for that.  We never found much to like in American cars.  Many of our generation felt the same way. 

But in the meantime....of the various relatives that condemned us for owning imports....well, guess what many of them own now.

Yes, times do change.

And soon, they are going to change even more.

It Isn't Easy Heating Green

The repairman left about an hour ago.

I had briefly blogged, earlier this week, about my concerns that our year old "green" heating system would not be able to cope with the minus temperatures of earlier this week.  Well it did....and fortunately for us, chose this afternoon (41 above) to break down, rather than a couple of days ago.

When spouse came home from work, he noticed it wasn't as warm as it should be.  Going down to the basement, he was greeted by a flashing light and a notification of "A6".  He whipped out the owners manual and "A6" was pump failure.  He called the contractor who put the system in (December of 2009) and a repairman came out - several hours later; apparently they were having a lot of "no heat" calls.

Wonder if we were the only A6's.

Not only that, but the tankless hot water heater associated with the "furnace" was down too.  So we had neither hot water nor heat, thanks to the wonders of modern technology.

Hmmm.  We got rid of an old furnace, almost 19 years old, last year because of a tax break, and a rebate from our gas/electric utility. That furnace never gave us any major trouble.  So we took the green plunge and....

It seems that these pumps have proved troublesome.  Apparently there is a newer version, and hopefully we will get one tomorrow. Right now we have a temporary pump, so at least we have heat.  And hot water.  The best part was, the unit was still under warranty.

I still like the idea of "heating green".  But my faith in any type of computerized appliance/system continues to fade, as does my faith in much that is modern (period).  We recently got rid of a washer, bought new about 5 years ago, that continuously had the same part break down.  We bought a used one, without the fancy bells and whistles.  So far it is working fine.

Now, to hold our breath about the heating system.  If it had broken down two days earlier, it would have been below zero. Two days later...we would have been out of town.

At least it had good timing.