Remote access isn’t a perfect substitute for a KVM switch for a computer/”monitor” that’s across the room (and nor would a KVM switch be absolutely ideal *heh*), but with a lappy sitting on my, urm, lap, it’s *meh*-semi-OK. . . Switching between use of the computers is juuuuust a wee tad cumbersome from time to time, but what’s a guy gonna do? It’s slightly better than two different kybd/mice in one lap. 😉 Yeh, yeh, I could access the “TV computer” with my lil tablet, but that’s no better than via the lappy.
Ebook Problems
Well, not all that many, but. . .
I keep forgetting to return library books. Now that a majority of the books I read are eBooks, it’s just a pain to have to get in the car, schlep six miles and mosey on back.
Reading too many different books at the same time. No, not simultaneously. I’m not that fantastic. *heh* But a several open and “in process” on one computer (in browser, in Kindle app), another on my Kindle Fire and maybe another one or two on one or more other computers on top of a hardcopy book or two sometimes becomes a bit cumbersome. *meh* It’s a problem I can live with.
Buying too many books. Yeh, yeh, that bundle of seven eArcs is tempting. OK, bought. Free books? I’m in. What? Amazon’s running a deal with a few hundred eBooks at “up to 85% off”? Sign me up for the marathon shopping spree.
It’s too easy to buy more books. Too easy. What? I’m complaining? *heh*
When Sucky Tech Turns. . . Semi-Almost-OK. Maybe
Several years ago, back in the olden days of the rough edges of wireless printing, I purchased a “Wireless Upgrade Kit” from HP that. . . sucked. Not only would the software not properly install on an OS it was supposedly designed for without sprinkles of small animal entrails and a vigorous application of a chicken bone rattle, when the software installed, the thing didn’t work. No, not “didn’t work well” just “didn’t work”.
I could’ve returned the thing, I suppose, but the PC end of the thing did work as a USB wireless adapter. . . in Linux, though, not in Windows. *shrugs* Fo gigure.
Fast forward several years (urm, 7 or so?). I ran across this thing while leaning out old techie junk and thought to myself, “Self, why not see if HP has finally made some workarounds or new software or whatever available?” I didn’t hold out much hope. After all, I had purchased an HP “wireless network capable” printer in the time since I had had such a wonderful experience with HP’s wireless printer upgrade kit (yeh, yeh: sucker), and it worked soooo well. Not. Decent printing, just could NOT hang onto a network connection. Period. But what can I say? I had low expectations but high hopes. *heh*
After an hour of messing with the thing. . . it worked! Color me bumfuzzled. . .
Now a down version of the wireless HP printer (exactly same AIO printer but w/o the crappy wireless “feature”) in the other room is connecting wirelessly to at least one lil notebook. Now I need (for values of “need” that include “Oh, heck that’d be cool” *heh*) to see about getting the other three computers in this room to also connect to it. If that works, then the several computers downstairs can be connected as well. Since I’m more or less off and today’s “small projects day” (in lieu of actually heading outside to do Big Projects Day ;-)), that sounds like a plan.
How Are Your Passwords Holding Up?
The problem with most folks and passwords is that not only do their chosen passwords suck dead bunnies through a straw and that folks typically overuse the same password and even keep their password(s) written down on post-it notes and suchlike, but most folks also NEVER CHANGE THEIR PASSWORDS!
*sigh* Rookie mistake. 😉
I try to rotate/change passwords on an irregular basis. I’ll just feel like changing all, most or some of ’em and do it. Here’s the result of running one of my email passwords (only 32 characters, but still not all that bad) through Steve Gibson’s “haystack” password checker:
[Just click on the image to pop it up.]
Across a Crowded Room. . .
Nah, not South Pacific, just a reference to playing with putting this post up with the LED TV/WMC compy across the room from the couch while avoiding yet another re-run.
I also like the Logitech MK320 wireless keyboard/mouse combo I’m using to write this. The combo says “MK320” but the keyboard’s a slightly updated K330 and the mouse is an M315. Sweet. Here I am 12′ away from the computer, my laptop sitting on my lap (lappy desk-then-lappy) with the keyboard for the “remote” compy sitting on the wrist rest of the lappy. Just perfect response.
Fun. And a bit easier than managing the thing via TeamViewer.
PC Sales: Doom and Gloom from Hivemind Tech Writers
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! It’s the end of the world!
Bloomberg noting a “causation” that. . . may be just in the “mind” of Bloomberg’s editorial staff:
Microsoft Windows Weak Demand Spurs Worst PC Slump on Record
Correlation does not equal causation, Bloomies. Try to keep that in mind.
How about some breathless hyperbole?
Oh, *yawn* IMO, just as a casual observer with access to the same sets of facts as the authors of the two articles linked, this is just a blip. I fully expect PC sales to stabilize after a while at a very naturally lower level than in recent years as more and more causal “content consumer” users find that tablets and dumb phones work just fine for their casual web browsing, listening to mind-numbing mp3 crap, watching cute cat videos and sending/receiving one-line emails that might as well just be text messages, complete with iPho-nono typos.
Folks who need to do more will still buy and use PCs, and more and more users who were once destined for Assisted Computing Facilities (“Here, dearie, let me make that mouse click for you. . . “) discover that their meager “computing” needs can be met with meager computing devices.
Of course, that could put a dent in the livelihoods of folks who assisted those “meager needs” users in fixing problems they’d caused themselves, but in days of yore buggy whip makers had to find other ways to make a living, too.
Lil (Very Minor) Techie Pleasure
There are a (very) few TV shows I really enjoy that are sometimes just not all that easy to fit into a viewing schedule. Fewer still are shows that fit that category AND are enjoyed equally by my Wonder Woman. Sure, we could have purchased (or “rented” *gag* from our cable provider) some sort of DVR or found some other sort of specialty device to serve as a means of schedule-shifting, but why, since spare computers abound here at TWC Central?
So, yeh, the Windows Media Center box I’ve mentioned here before several times.
But still, it’s a source of pleasure to use the thing, connected to a nice enough external sound system (thanks, Josh!) and our TV to view what we want, when we want.
Right now? One of our mutual favs: Sherlock, via Amazon Prime Instant Videos. The series is a really good adaptation, The irritations experienced in plot changes in stories cited aside ;-), of Conan Doyle’s tales. Sometimes, the little surprises (like musical choices) are sweet additions, too.
Kindle Fire Usability Fun
I’ve made no secret of the fact that my first gen Kindle Fire is just fine and dandy for the uses I have for it. One thing that did stand out, though, as a usability PITA from the beginning was the onscreen keyboard. For typing, not much fun. So, one of the first things I did was to locate some conductive foam in my stash of junk, urm, parts and equipment and make some styli. They worked and were a help, making “typing” on the Fire almost Good Enough, and easily OK for typing brief notes in books.
But actually buying a stylus? Fuggedaboutit. All of ’em I found on the web were too much money, once I’d made some from castoff junk, urm, parts and equipment for essentially nothing.
Page forward to today when I was standing at the checkout at our local “fell off the back of a truck” store and saw mini-styli (with handy lil 2.5mm/3.5mm plugin tethers) for a buck apiece. Since my home made styli have long since become well-worn, I picked up a couple. They work quite well, but “mini-styli” means using something about the size of a pencil nub, so. . .
At the same “fell off the back of a truck” I buy a particular ball point pen that has a Parker-compatible refill. A buck apiece. Cheap and useful, since I have more than a few Parker (and Parker compatible) ballpoint pens. While the barrels of these cheapies are fairly nice bamboo tubes, I junk the barrels and keep the refills handy. (Where “junk the barrels” means “put ’em in my stash of someday useful stuff” *heh*).
Do you see a convergence coming up here? Right. I just mated one of the mini-styli to one of those spare bamboo tubes (with a handy pocket clip already installed!) and have a pen-sized stylus that works a charm and even clips nicely to the leather case my Fire regularly occupies.
The smaller surface contact area of a stylus really makes a difference when using the onscreen keyboard, and the more normal pen size of the bamboo barreled (with the conductive part protruding for index finger contact) stylus is just right.
Rabbit trail: it’s also a wee tad easier using TeamViewer on the Fire with a stylus, well, for most things. Pinch-n-zoom isn’t all that improved. *heh* I do kinda enjoy accessing the Win8 Media Center compy with TeamViewer on my Fire. Comes in handy sometimes.
Kindle Fire, One Year Later
One and a quarter years later, actually.
Is it still the “Gee whiz!” tech toy it was when I got it? Yep. Do I use it in all the ways I had envisioned when I got it? Nope. For instance, I rarely use it to browse the web and almost never use it to check my email. So, how do I use it? In order of frequency:
-
1. To read ebooks.
2. To watch videos (movies/TV shows)
3. As an mp3 player.
4. One or two apps, besides the file management app. The most-used app? The bubble level. It’s a seriously useful tool on projects around the house. If somehow one could use the USB connection and a OBD-II app for automobile diagnostics on the Fire, that’d be killer.
Between #1 and #s 2 and 3 above, big gap. I read 7-10 books/week (7 has long been my base I have almost never fallen below since I first began reading), and since the advent of ebooks (on either computers or specialized devices), my reading has tilted toward that medium, simply because of space and convenience–there are no decent bookstores closer than a couple of counties away. Now, my reading is generally mostly ebooks, some hardcopy from county library and from our own library (fairly large private collection– some I’ve not read yet, some worth re-reading for various reasons)–some hardcopy from used bookstores, and a few (perhaps 10-12) hardcopy books a year bought at retail. So, the Kindle Fire has been a BIG help in saving space and feeding my “need to read”.
Given the brilliant sound (when using a decent pair of earbuds) and really, really nice display–even on this first gen device–I find watching HD videos on the Fire to be a delight, and listening to mp3s (again, when using a decent pair of earbuds) yields sound that’s as good as it gets with mp3s (mp3s are necessarily lossy, but with my tinnitus *sigh* it’s less noticeable than one might think).
I’ve not been all that surprised that I’ve not found more apps I’ll really use. As far as calendaring and scheduling apps–something many have found useful on portable devices–nah. I’m still more of a pen and paper kinda guy there. I thought one of the Bible reading apps might be appealing, but I really do prefer hardcopy there. An AV, a file management app and the bubble level app really do pretty much define my app use. *shrugs* It gets many hours of use every week anyway.
Yeh, I “rooted” it once to play with it but didn’t even try to make it permanent, so Amazon overwrote with an update, which was fine with me, as. . . see above usage breakdown.
Windoze Regression
So very much of the Windows 8 interface seems like running backwards. Bit at least M$ finally got the mullions and muntins* squared away–sorta–on the Windows logo. . .