Technology

There is a lot of technology involved in using a laptop computer.  Thanks to my brother, who gave me a cordless mouse, I have that luxury and convenience.  I like it so much, I bought a second to use on the desktop computer that I now no longer use, as it is sooooo slooooow.

The last time the batteries died in the mouse, I did not realize what was happening. All of a sudden, I could not use the mouse.  And the computer seemed to freeze.  But, I changed out that mouse with the one for the desktop, and was back in business. It took me some to figure out how to open the mouse, but I even did that, changed the batteries, and I was back in business.

Obviously, I did not see the warning signs that the batteries were low:  the light on the mouse turned red instead of green.  And, there was an icon on the laptop that told me the batteries were critical.  So, this time, I was able to change out the batteries in a timely way!  YEAH!

An Extra TV Channel

I was surfing tonight looking for what is on the television...I have Suddenlink Cable (and Internet) http://www.suddenlink.com/.  They have what the employees call "an awesome TV guide;" you can get programming information online and with the TV.  I usually use the menu, and have forgotten about the revolving menu that I used to use...The thing is, using that menu gives an extra channel of programming.  Tonight, it includes a movie... Duh, use this more often.

Technical Help

I recently purchased a Crosley turntable that allows me to record music from vinyl or cassettes to CDs.  This has been fun, but then, the equipment started malfunctioning. I was able to coax it to work, until enough was enough, and I finally called the 24/7 help line.  The person I spoke to was very nice, but her suggestions were all I had tried.  She referred me to a "technical support person" who, of course, is only available during regular business hours.

I received a call during business hours yesterday, so today, I took some time off from work, and called back.  I spent more time (maybe 10 or 15 minutes) on hold than talking to the tech helper.  It turns out, based on questions asked about my purchase date and manufactured on date, that I need a software update.   So, I will be receiving a CD with instructions, and was encouraged to call if I needed help installing the new software.

So, why did the 24/7 technical help person not have this information?

In October, I wrote about the fact that my network went down...Well, it was really due to the upgrades by my internet service provider .  The modem I had, which I purchased in 2003, was out of date, and could not handle the updates by the ISP.

When I called for help, I was told I would have to wait 4 days for service.  I extended it a day on my convenience, and used public wifi to keep up with computering while my network was down.  The technician who came to my home did ABSOLUTELY nothing but look on the numbers on my modem.  I felt bad for him:  he was the bearer of bad news, and I am sure he took the brunt of a lot of angry comments, as he said he had seen this over and over.  He said he almost asked on the phone about my modem, but was required to make a home visit, so he did.

I responded to the ISP satisfaction survey and complained that the on call technician could have asked about the numbers on my modem, the in home technician did no other work, and I lost service unnecessarily because of the delay at getting the technician to my home.  I actually received a response, that acknowledged they could have the phone help people ask about numbers on modems.  Additionally, my bill was adjusted for the service time I lost.  The amount was small, but the principle was that my ISP is trying to provide good customer service.

What is a Segway, and When Did It Show UP?

So, what is a Segway?  It is a two wheeled transportation device.  I do not watch a lot of news on TV,  I flip through a local newspaper that is very conservative and not very informative about the rest of the world, and read a couple of online headline services, reading only the stories I am interested in.  So, when the Segway appeared in the world, I was quite unaware.

Mostly, I see the Segway http://www.segway.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segway_PT   on The Weather Channel http://www.weather.com/. It is a unique and interesting personal transportation device. I think it is a really interesting and unique transportation device.  The speed is probably not practical for anything other than urban transport, but that is what it is intended for.... Hmmm.

Hot Water

So, today I called Sears again to arrange for repair service on the water heater.   They schedule "between 8 and 5" and call you right before they are read to come by.  The person on the phone was very apologetic, and said things like the pilot light should not go out, I should not be without hot water, etc.

Well, I have not been thinking of it that way...When I start to, I think about the tent dwellers in Haiti, and I think I have nothing to complain about.

When I first shared the situation with my coworkers, one made the comment that I was saving gas... And, as I think about it, a shower from hot water in a 5 gallon bucket poured over me tells me really, just how much water I need for a shower.   Of course, what makes a shower from a bucket palatable is getting the bathroom warmed up.

I was looking on line to see if there are water saving shower heads, and there are.  But I could not find one that would shut off while you were lathering, and then, could be easily turned on when you needed rinsing. 

Well, I just am grateful that I have options.

Isn't Modern Technology Wonderful?

Or is it?

When I purchased the Saturn Vue, I purchased On Star, which is an interestign option... It can offer many things:  electronic diagnostics, hands free phone, emergency call in, even GPS services... Some are included in, some optional and extra. 

I get a monthly diagnostic report, which has told me about need for oil change, low tire pressure, and recently, an emissions problem.  

Just this week, I took the car in for what I thought was a starter problem, but turned out to be a fuel pump problem. This was warranty work, required two days at the shop, and a loaner vehicle. On the way home from the dealer, the check engine light came on, and my monthly diagnostic arrived in email... I checked in with Onstar, they ran a diagnostic, and even offered to call the dealer for me!  Wow!  Well, it is a hassle, but I have another appointment to have the car serviced (under warranty.)

So, while On Star did not detect the original problem, it did detect a subsequent problem (and since it might be simply a loose wire, I am wondering if it happened during the repair work.)

Is technology wonderful, or this "Big Brother is Watching?"

New Technology

I was looking at the new phone Sprint has advanced:  the EVO4G http://now.sprint.com/firsts/?id9=SEM:Google:C:Sprint:HTC and am amazed at how many functions it offers.

Technology is amazing, and this is just one example of it. 

I am seriously thinking about upgrading to the EVO4G.

Ignoring Consequences

I know that it is important to be an informed member of society, especially in respects to world events, political events, weather events, environmental events, and national events.

I am finding it very difficult to listen to the detailed events in connection with the BP oil spill from a collapsed off shore drilling rig..

It still makes me sick, and I am becoming more angry at what allowed this type of drilling rig to be used.....

I hate Technology

I really do not hate technology, but find it frustrating and confusing.  Having said that, I have programed remote controls before, set up my wireless net work, and tonight, have started the process to have a digital converter box for my TV.  I waited until after the 12 inning Red Sox game, so got a late start.  I activated the converter box, and it says it may take up to 2 hours for it to be activated, so I may attempt it tonight, with the expectation that I will have to attempt to finish the set up tomorrow, early enough in the evening so I can call (live) tech support, if need be...Just thinking about this makes me want to cry.  Yet, everyone I know who has digital converter boxes tells me programming and using is very easy... I hope.

Other technical mysteries:  Some months ago, I could not spell check in English on my email.  I do not know why, it just would not happen.  I would set the default language to spell English, but all I got was French... After being frustrated at not having English spell check, I stopped trying to use it.. A few days ago, I tried it, and the English spell check had returned...

On February 7, 2010, I decided to start posting regularly.  Yet, I was frustrated, because I could not find the spell check.  I knew there should be a spell check button on the editing bar above the blogging area, but there was not.  I have been SO frustrated at the lack of spell check,  I tried changing all kinds of settings, but to no avail... I just did not have spell check.

Well, tonight, I opened up the blogging area to submit this blog about how I hate technology, and lo and behold, there is the spell check button....I wonder if I edit some older posts, it will show.. I will experiment, before I publish this, and let you know.

Ah yes, I only went back a few posts, but the spell check was there.  Project:  to go back to February 7, 2010, and spell check every post.  If I do two or three a night, it will not be bad.  I will let you know when I am done.

The Influence of El Niño or The First Day of Spring and It Is Snowing!

Okay, so the title gave it away. Last night was one of those what used to be very common but now are rare nights for me, in which I just could not get tired enough to go to sleep, and it was well after 3 AM when I finally crashed...

Consequently, I heard, when at about 1230 or so, the sleet and rain started, and within 30 minutes there was snow, starting to cover the grass. Eventually, it covered the concrete, but by morning, it was melting, and while, at about 2130, there is still some snow around, it has mostly melted.

I grew up in New England, where the saying was "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."  I moved to Lubbock, Texas and guess what?  The saying is "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." I do not think I ever told anyone we said the same thing in New England. (Texans are so egocentric, I think they would be insulted to know someplace else, with a LONGER history of settlement, people say the same thing.)

Weather is just a fickle thing...With good instrumentation, computer models, human observation, and knowledge of past history, meteorologists do a fair piece of making predictions.  But predictions are not statements of fact, they are just conjectures based on lots of information... If you want to know the weather go outside and look up. 

I have written this before:  One of the things I like about living in West Texas is the wide open sky and horizon that allows me to look at what is happening in the sky... Being an informed observer, sometimes it is possible to predict what will be happening with the weather... Like yesterday morning, which had a very low percent chance of precipitation.  I looked at the clouds, and knew something might happen.  I was driving to an appointment when the sprinkles happened. Not much, no long, but it happened.

And, so it is now officially spring, and we move into another cycle of renewal, growth, decline and dormancy.   This is the way of life.  So doggedly predictable, yet many people seem to be surprised by the decline and dormancy phases of life.  They are inevitable. And, the reality is, some year, we will not be around for spring. But while we are, ENJOY!

Pulling the Plug

I was struggling with my Hewlett Packard printer, copier, scanner. It all started a couple of weeks ago when I had to change the color ink cartridge. The first printer I had was a Cannon, and I always dreaded changing the ink cartridges for the Cannon. It was messy, and required commodious resetting of the printer. Well, that dread has persisted, and, although changing the cartridges in the HP PCS is not hard, it evokes an emotional response from me that is illogical, and, up until now, uncalled for.



So, as I said, a couple of weeks ago, I had to change the color ink cartridge. Although I had the correct cartridge as identified by number, the message from the printer was that the cartridge was not the correct one. I double checked, and number on the box, the number on the cartridge and the number on the printer all matched...But the message persisted. After trying several jigglings and wigglings, I turned off the printer, turned it back on, and was able to have the printer do the self test and align cartridge test. And print what I needed to print: a card. About a week later, I had a project consisting of printing about 25 post cards. I made mistake after mistake that I attributed to user error but maintained, unfrustrated.



Sunday, the 9th of March, I tried to work on another project: but the HP PCS informed me the color printer not the correct one. I tried the jiggling and wiggling trick, the shut the printer off and turn it on trick, but nothing. Just an awful noise, and the paper would not feed correctly....



Okay, so now I was frustrated. So much so I could not do anything more with the printer that day. But I decided okay, there is the possibility I got a bad cartridge. Replacing a cartridge is certainly less expensive than replacing a PCS. So, Monday, after work, I purchased another cartridge. After loading it into the machine, I had the same results. I tried the jiggling and wiggling trick, the shut the printer off and turn it on trick, but nothing...



I did not think I would end up with two faulty cartridges... What are the odds?



I was about to walk away from the printer, frustrated, when I remembered my very own saying about electronic equipment: "When all else fails, pull the plug."



Pulling the plug is something I learned in the early 1990s, long before I had a computer. At that time I had an AT&T (that's how old this equipment was, before AT&T equipment became something else) LED answering machine. I did not want an LED answering machine: when I replaced my answering machine, which had a mini-cassette cartridge, I wanted another one just like it: there was a LARGE red light on it, that blinked when I had a message. The mini-cassette cartridge kept the message even if the machine was unplugged, or the power went out... But, I could not find one like that....



So, I opted for a cordless phone LED answering machine combination. It had a tiny, tiny little light that blinked when I had a message, but the light was hardly noticeable... I did not like it. And, I did not like the interminable number of "beeps" before the caller could leave a message. I called customer service, and learned the interminable beeps was a flaw in this type of equipment... But, to reset the "chip" in this equipment, it needed to be unplugged for about 2 to 3 minutes. It worked. The number of beeps decreased... I had to do this regularly, because for this answering machine, every time someone called and hung up, the beeps increased. Evidently, telemarketers hang up when they hear the beeps, because almost every day, the number of beeps increased. But I had very few telemarketer messages. (What a wonderful way to discourage telemarketers, that piece of equipment had a saving grace.)



Actually that piece of equipment had two saving graces: I learned about pulling the plug. Just shutting off the equipment does not work. Actually disconnecting it from the power source was the key, and still is. Over the years, with computers, printers, DVD players, or what have you, this trick has worked. It has worked with the very expensive office printers at work. It has worked with my wireless network, when it needs to be rebooted, only both the modem and the router need to be unplugged. It worked when I dropped my television (don't ask) and although the television still worked, the color was off. The instructions said that when the color was off because of a changed electro-magnetic field, (what possessed me to read the instructions?) to "degauss" the TV, unplug the set for 30 minutes. Thirty minutes was not long enough, but overnight worked. What possessed me to think overnight would work? Who knows?



Well, degaussing a TV because the color is off is not remotely akin to replacing a color cartridge of the correct size, twice, in an HP PCS, only to have it not work and make an awful noise when I tried to print. It sounded like something physical was wrong. But, pulling the plug is a lot less expensive than buying a new PCS (or even a new cartridge, darn it.) So, pull the plug I did..



Lo and behold, the printer worked as it should: it printed in color, it did not make an awful noise, the paper fed correctly... I do not know why pulling the plug worked. But it did....Ah, the mystery of it.