Tech Friday: A new iPad Wallpaper and fix the Harmony remote

| January 5, 2024

While watching a couple of college football bowl games on New Year’s Day, I updated my “everyday carry” iPad with a new family wallpaper photo — slightly enhanced above. It was an opportunity to tinker with the new iPadOS 17 gadget feature (see stock and weather at lower left) anyway but the wallpaper photo needed […]

Tech Friday: New Brydge Keyboard for my 10.2 inch iPad

| October 6, 2023

This is really nothing new … it is just an exact replacement of the Brydge 10.2 inch keyboard for my iPad (new above and 2020 photo below). After a few years of heavy use, my second Brydge Keyboard, now out of warranty, was starting ot show some age. This well made keyboard has a couple […]

Tech Friday: Testing Magfast Extreme charging an Apple iPad

| May 26, 2023

This test is more for my own curiosity than any kind of controlled tech test, but since I’m often away from convenient 110VAC charging plugs, I would like to be able to recharge iPads and iPhones on the go. A few years back, I preordered a package of products from a startup company called Magfast […]

Tech Friday: A better way to filter and clean up iOS messages

| December 30, 2022

Prior to 2022, I managed phone numbers and contacts on my iPhone poorly – perhaps “the wrong way.” Every year I created a new A/SPAM list of callers and emailers and self-managed these lists. Of course this didn’t stop callers or text messages from new unknown phone numbers. So I tried a couple of different […]

Tech Friday: Waiting to hear about the low-cost iPhone SE

| March 4, 2022

On Tuesday, I received my Apple Event invitation for March 8, 2022 where tech watchers expect to hear Apple announce a new low-cost 5G iPhone SE. The current SE is $399 and retains the Touch ID which as me wondering if the new iPhone SE will remain similar? They are also expected to announce a […]

Paper magazines/newspaper delivery woes and shrinkflation

| February 17, 2022

Well, two doses of disappointing news in one week. First, the Bengals lose in Super Bowl 56, and then my Barron’s magazine gets smaller with even smaller type (requires a second pair of readers!). They call it “shrinkflation” in an attempt to save a few dollars and probably force subscribers into a 100% digital subscription. […]

Purchased a fair-priced 2-year subscription to NordVPN

| November 17, 2021

When it comes to privacy and security, especially when traveling or connecting in hotels and coffee shops, every cybersecurity expert recommends using a VPN … and especially when connecting overseas or to  unknown WiFi routers. I’ve used several different free VPNs over the years starting with my own private connection back in the 2000s, but […]

The LONG wait for a MAGFAST charging kit is near, well 2022

| November 14, 2021

Prior to 2017, I backed a ThingCharger Kickstarter project that was an excellent product. It was overpriced for what it did, but I ended up buying a couple extras for gifts (Brenda’s phone charging in photo at Katelyn and Drew’s house). In 2017, after the business failure, founder Seymour Segnit started a new company telling […]

Tech Friday: I removed Facebook (now Meta) from iOS devices

| October 29, 2021

It has been a slow process in giving up on Facebook … now Meta. I really never used it much as a social media platform, but stayed in touch with family over the years with it. The past few years I’ve tried to check in monthly and may have posted update every other month or […]

Tech Friday filler: Mobile Internet traffic worldwide

| September 24, 2021

Saved an interesting graphic posted on social media this past week. It is interesting to look at and contemplate how we use our smartphones and tablets … it also works as a Tech Friday filler.

Slow, but not necessarily steady, progress on my home office

| July 17, 2021

Slow progress on my home office as I continue to work in disarray; I am missing my accessory junk … including a small hanging TV. I don’t necessarily “watch” business television, instead listen to the stream via SiriusXM to my Aftershokz Aeropex headset. Occasionally though, do still find it helpful to have a video image […]

Tech Friday: Rumor says new Apple iPad and perhaps the iMac and Apple TV will be available on May 21st

| April 30, 2021

On April 20th I streamed part of the the Apple event to see what was in the works for 2021. We already knew about the iPad Pro, but I was interested to know about the M1 iMac and Brenda uses the Apple TV for streaming (well I do to, but can comfortably jump to other […]

Tech Friday: i-Device Wallpapers .. the Bompa edition

| May 29, 2020

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We’ve come a long way from “Reach Out and Touch Someone”

| April 14, 2020

Once upon a time, families who only snail-mailed cards and letters would on special occasions, like Easter, dial their corded rotary phones and pay for an expensive long distance call in order to “Reach Out and Touch Someone” as the marketing jingle would advertise (a 1970s commercial below the break). I remembered many phone calls […]

TechFriday: VPN yay or VPN nay? Free or paid? Which service?

| February 21, 2020

If you’ve been on the Internet for any length of time (post from 2007), you have likely used, or been marketed VPN services, as a way to secure your Wi-Fi connection (especially public hotspots) away from the office or home network. I’ve pitched them as a security precaution to my customers and use them when […]

Replaced my iPad Air with iPad 7th Gen and Brydge Keyboard

| February 9, 2020

It has been a struggle to make a decision on updating my favorite tech gadget, but after the first generation Brydge Keyboard finally would not charge, I had to do something. I thought about going all out and moving to the iPad Pro series, but realized that all the functions that I appreciate are already […]

Tech Friday: How is your Cyber Awareness?

| November 22, 2019

So … you’ve survived pretty much unscathed after a couple decades of identity theft, credit card fraud and everything moving online … but at some point, you realize that you’ve been lucky. Most of us are pretty lax when it comes to locking down our data, securing our digital access points and devices. So perhaps […]

Tech Friday: Apple iOS 13.1.2 was a challenging update

| October 11, 2019

My conclusion is that some of my most recent Apple iPhone and iPad iOS update problems stem from having older mobile devices and having loads older apps? That said, the upgrade to the mobile operating system known as iOS 13.1.2 (current) did not go smoothly for me. My iPhone 7plus is a few years old […]

Tech Friday: The overused Hamburger Menu for desktop apps

| September 6, 2019

Perhaps it is just me, but I’m growing tired of the software development trend to make every piece of software resemble a smartphone app. I spend a significant amount of time using a desktop computer with plenty of display real estate, yet apps and webpages are all trying to make their mobile apps, notebook computer […]

Our new home Internet Mesh network is up and running

| August 14, 2019

Our current NetGear Nighthawk R7000 router has been exceptionally stable considering the issues I’ve had with cheaper routers and networked devices in the past. I’m pretty happy with it, but in order to get solid coverage, had to add a WiFi Range Extender to cover the detached garage and poolhouse (and yet still have weak […]

Tech Friday: Overcoming Paywalls with the help of Pocket

| August 9, 2019

Currently, I pay for a few subscriptions. Some pricey (Wall Street Journal, Barrons, etc) because I avidly read them. Others, like monthly magazines, I continue to pay for and rarely get around to reading, especially online only subscriptions. Several others, I occasionally receive a link or click on one from those annoying “reader apps” that […]

Tech Friday: Your photo apps are making a lot of “facetile” images

| May 31, 2019

If you are using Apple’s Photos app, you’ve probably noticed the software attempts to identify faces of people (not just Apple either). This can be helpful for “you” to sift through photos, but also seems a bit nosy when the app also builds a pile of “facetile” photos on its own. Most people likely will […]

Tech Friday: Planning on an iPad Pro upgrade in 2019, but …

| March 22, 2019

There is isn’t anything wrong with my current 2014 Apple iPad, it is just getting older as far as technology goes, and is a little sluggish (or so it seems). It is still the single most used tech device that I have … and the reason I’ll likely replace it with another when the time […]

Tech Friday: An update on the Samsung Chromebook Pro

| March 8, 2019

Chromebooks are not my preferred devices, but they are excellent for those with more limited computing needs. For the most part, they are relatively inexpensive, easy to update, very reliable and frustration free. They boot/start quicker than most devices and data, apps and setting are easily backed up on Google’s cloud … so as long […]

Fees increases ends my Freedompop LTE MiFi endorsement

| November 27, 2018

This may be the end for Freedompop, the low cost wireless "backup" hotspot service I’ve been using for years — at least it probably is for me (started with the Photon back in 2010). For the most part their hotspot service has been a decent value for me while traveling and giving me LTE connectivity […]

Tech Friday: My Brydge BT keyboard has a faulty USB socket

| November 16, 2018

The Brydge keyboard attached to my aging iPad Air2, which I love, has been slowly causing me a few irritation when it come to getting a connection while charging. The tightly sealed aluminum clad keyboard was much better than my original Kensington (left) and tested Zagg (right), both which were great. Still the Brydge is […]

Tech Friday: Brydge keyboards for the new iPad Pro 2018

| November 9, 2018

Having used a Brydge keyboard with an iPad from their first introduction, I can say that IF I were to update my current iPad Air2 to the 2018 just introduced iPad Pro that I would seriously consider waiting for the 2019 Brydge keyboard … they are that good. But with all current Apple updates to […]

Fighting back my desire to participate in the Apple upgrade cycle

| October 31, 2018

It is a favorite time of year for those who enjoy seeing the new product coming online from Apple. iPhones in September,new iPads and Apple Air notebooks this week and even a new Apple Mac Mini (used an older Mini for my desktop next to a Windows machine for years). This year it seems even […]

Tech Friday: Yahoo and AOL sift through your emails

| August 31, 2018

Tech news this week highlighted Yahoo and AOL brand email services. There are still plenty of users still using them and unknowingly being spied on (including me since I still use Yahoo for "junk" mail — I started with AOL & Yahoo in the early 1990s kept the simple rdc2@ addresses). The search algorithms and […]

Tech Friday: The wireless carrier blues with a positive ending

| July 6, 2018

It is never fun playing plan games with wireless carriers, especially if you have been 100% satisfied with everything "as is." After switching to VirginMobileUSA last year due to a SUPER promotion, I could not be happier with Virgin’s special price and service … but all good things seem to come to an end. This […]

Tech Friday: What is going to be new in Apple iOS12

| June 22, 2018

It has been a while since posting on “what’s new” with Apple. As we approach the convergence of mobile operation systems and desktop, the maturing lightweight phone OS on all platforms is growing in power, size and use. The writing is on the wall. Microsoft has announced Windows 10 will be the last Windows operating […]

Tech Friday flashback: A technology blog post from 12 years ago

| May 25, 2018

Noticed a blog post from 12 years ago discussing “portable” computing and how things have changed. In 2006 the average laptop weighed about 7 pounds with batteries, compared to 20 years prior where my Compaq was 28 pounds … and required 110VAC power. LINK to post Now an iPhone or iPad can run circles around […]

Tech Friday: Played with AMP plug-ins for blog but gave up

| January 5, 2018

In order to improve efficiency on WordPress sites (my customer installs) I often experiment with updates on my personal MyDesultoryBlog first since very little on this site really matters for paying customers. So over the Christmas and New Years holidays I fiddled with a few highly recommended updates to the LAMP server and WordPress installs. […]

Tech Friday: Making power adapters last longer

| October 20, 2017

Here’s a short tip for making power adapter wires last longer when traveling or packing them in a computer bag: When winding the cord, don’t wrap the first loop too tight. The usual fail points when cords are coiled over and over are where the wires enter the power block or the plug, so allow […]

As my weekly travel decreases, data connectivity is finally good

| October 17, 2017

My mobile life is FINALLY working the way it should, just as my road life is slowing down. I’ve been monkeying around with the "mobile office" for A LOT of years starting with a 1999 AWD Chrysler Town & Country back in the late 1990s before mounting my Palm Treo in my great little Volkswagen […]

It might be time to update to Apple iOS11 on your iDevice?

| September 20, 2017

If Joanna Stern (WSJ) moves too fast, check out this longer list of iOS11 features by David Pogue at Yahoo.com.

TechFriday: Larger screened iPhones flipping to landscape

| June 30, 2017

Switching from an iPhone 5s to an iPhone 7 Plus has a few surprising pluses and minuses that need to be address by new users. One such negative adjustment has a fix that on the surface may not be found by everyone. The annoyance: The larger iPhones (currently 6 Plus & 7 Plus) go into […]

TechFriday: Twitter updates their mobile look

| June 16, 2017

We’ll see how the new iOS Twitter update is received by users, but since it is my go-to social network for all things news, I’ve download the hefty update to my aging iPhone5s and will see how bogged down it feels (very sluggish of late on most apps). Hopefully it will continue to run reasonable […]

TechFriday: Apple announced iOS11 at the WWDC17 conference

| June 9, 2017

Along with all that is happening with hardware and innovation at the Apple developers conference — WWDC — one of the more anticipated upgrades to the mobile operating system was announced. Along with the likely "millions" of suggestions from daily users, my iOS11 suggestion/request was probably lost in the shuffle … although I’ve made the […]

TechFriday: Apple iPhone8 and iOS11 as WWDC 2017 nears

| June 2, 2017

Who doesn’t love anticipating "the next big thing" when it comes to tech, especially the mobile tech we used everyday? I for one am ready to replace my iPhone5s with some new hardware — if for nothing else, a snappier interface (it just feels slow). The plan for about a year has been to wait […]

Panorama while taking a break from yardwork #MemorialDay17

| May 31, 2017

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Tips on making Gmail easier to use by Joanna Stern, WSJ.com

| May 18, 2017

Great tips from tech writer Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal on dealing with a few Gmail nits most of us using Google’s free services have. See her article at WSJ.com. 1. Priorities, Priorities You may not know it, but Google’s email bots have not one but two ways of automatically organizing your messages: […]

Passwords and protecting your digital data

| March 29, 2017

We all struggle with ease of use and security when using a computer and online services … what’s the best way? That’s likely a debatable question since we want easy access, but don’t want our data compromised – "how easy is too easy?" What we do know is that a simple or "no" password is […]

TechFriday: Lots of hype, lots of early backers for MAGFAST

| March 24, 2017

A couple years ago I backed Seymour Segnit’s ThingCharger project and was very pleased with the “plug-charger” gizmos. After learning from his previous launch, the sharp marketer is giving a new “system project” a try. Take two, if you will. This time he has added and improved the earlier design and added a “kit” worth […]

Annalyn makes iPad and iPhone Wallpaper updates everyday

| March 18, 2017

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Tech gadgets add a new wrinkle to Cat’s in the Cradle message

| February 13, 2017

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Remapping a couple keys on the new Lenovo Yoga 710

| November 20, 2016

I couldn’t take the continued typos anymore and had to map the "right-shift" key on my new Lenovo Yoga 710 to the "arrow-up" key. So as not to lose my "arrow-up" key, I mapped that to the rarely used "right-ctrl" key. Now all is well with the world.   … although I really struggled coming […]

How does your monthly smartphone bill compare to Ting?

| August 6, 2016

After years (30 years to be closer to the truth!!!) of comparing the best cellphones and carriers when it comes to device and service, I can finally say that I’m satisfied. Back in 2014, as our kids (and parents) moved on to their own plans, I switched our two iPhone5s to Ting. From day one […]

TechFriday: What could a flexible screen do for the iPhone?

| July 22, 2016

With a renewed interest in the upcoming iPhone7 after Apple released the new iOS10 public beta, I’m wondering what’s really the next “big” (pun intended) thing for pocketable smart devices. If it were durable and possible, I’d love having an expanding screen on my iPhone that could do double-duty as an iPad!

TechFriday archive: Using your tablet or iPad on the boat

| May 27, 2016

Top ways to use your tablet or iPad on board your boat — Matthew Sheahan 12/15/2015 How are sailors using their iPad or tablet on board? Matthew Sheahan talks to cruising sailors, racers and industry professionals Photo: Tor Johnson As iPads and other tablets become a part of the arsenal of electronics on board, their […]

Impulse buy – 4 port 48W 12 volt USB charger

| February 27, 2016

Read an independent review about this IXCC 4-port IXCC USB charger with what it claims as “plenty of power” … although one descriptions says 48W and the other 36W (both claim 9.6 amp) … we’ll see. The Amazon reviews were a very high 4-1/2 stars and since our new “older” car doesn’t have an abundance […]

Tinkering with Blogsy and chimney chase home repairs

| December 21, 2015

Another excuse to try to get Blogsy, the blog posting app on my iPad, to include photos without posting them to Flickr or Google (the two options besides “normal WordPress media” built into Blogsy). Unfortunately the suggestion from the programmer was to use a separate sFTP client — very cumbersome and not the way to […]

My WordPress blog is still not back to normal

| December 6, 2015

Slowly but surely I'm rebuilding the archives and associated linked images from my old back ups for MyDesultoryBlog. There may be a reason to keep things in multiple locations BUT it does make upgrading servers a bit more difficult. The long story is that through Consolidated Printing and Publishing, I have worked with the same […]

Advice: Best promo for WSJ.com if you want to try it out

| June 22, 2015

For those of you who are NOT Wall Street Journal readers, but have always wanted to try it out, here’s your chance. The $1 price is about as cheap as I’ve ever seen from WSJ.com  … for a 3 month introductory deal. The yearly or normal monthly subscription is higher and can be hard to […]

Reading The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

| May 22, 2015

Out of sight, out of mind. Unlike a hard copy book sitting on my reading table, ebooks are easy to forget about … that’s one of the disadvantages of receiving the gift of an ebook (as is having multiple e-reading apps). My friend Jeff gave me David McCullough’s new book The Wright Brothers for my […]

TechFriday: My favorite new iPad app — Blogsy

| March 6, 2015

One of the reasons for adding the @Blogsyapp to my iPad is so I have an easy way to write and include the media items that I often post. So far, it is almost as easy as using my notebook computer and the “no longer supported” Microsoft Livewriter software. I say “almost as easy” since […]

First post with the new iPad app Blogsy

| March 2, 2015

Really, I’m just looking to make a test post and include a photo to see how a new app called Blogsy does from the iPad. The feature-rich app offer an excellent platform to post to a variety of blogs and has nearly every familiar feature from Microsoft’s dead or dying LiveWriter. Besides not having to […]

How to Use Blogsy

| March 1, 2015

Welcome to Blogsy! Let's get started. Set up your blog by going to the Settings Menu → Service Settings. Then choose your blog platform and fill in your information. Tap on the Post Info. button to get to all post information. Tap on the Plus button to start a new post or open a local […]

Borrowing 13 Hours in Bengazi from library on Overdrive app

| February 28, 2015

The Overdrive app on my iPad is one of my favorite reading and “listening” apps on any of my devices (previously commented). It is super for those who would love to spend more time going to the public libraries but have trouble finding the time to go. Have a “FREE” way to borrow from libraries […]

TechFriday: The movie Unbroken and ebook on Overdrive app

| January 16, 2015

It has been a few years since my wife and I have gone to the movie theatre, but when Katelyn and Drew were visiting they convinced us to go with them to the movie Unbroken. Besides being a history oriented true story based on the book by Lauren Hillenbrand, the WWII timelined story put to […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
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