May 9, 2014
I’ve mentioned LastPass a few times in the past as a way to manage the many passwords that our online presence requires and it still looks like a good option. Over the years things change, so I was interested to read “The Best Way To Manage All Your Passwords” article in the WSJ by Geoffrey […]
Filed under: Audio, Cloud, Computer, Software, Technology by RichC | 5 Comments »
Tags: audio, Computer, mp3, passwords, security, wsj
May 2, 2014
I’m not a big fan of animated GIFs primarily due to the hosting and viewing overhead (large file size), not to mention their usually annoying content. But GFYCAT.com resizing web site which significantly reduces the size and associated overhead with such large files can make sharing them a tad bit easier. The simple web app […]
Filed under: Computer, Technology by RichC | 1 Comment »
Tags: animated, eggs, gfycat.com, gifs, robin, techfriday
April 25, 2014
You’d be hard pressed to find those looking into investment ideas not mentioning companies developing or researching drones, quadrotors and UAVs. Over the next decade I confident that we will see advancements and debate on how and where they should be used. The technology patents will be fought over and money will be made and […]
Filed under: Aviation, Financial, Innovation, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: drones, investing, quadrotor, stocks, techfriday, uav
March 28, 2014
Will Burrard-Lucas has been at the cutting edge of African wildlife photography using his BeetleCam and now BeetleCopter Camtraptions. The above video is from a GoPro Hero 3+ … but there are some excellent stills from the BeetleCam using a DSLR after the launch of his company in January 2014. Some great innovations. Click image […]
Filed under: Nature, Photography, Travel, Video by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: africa, burrard-lucas, photography, quadrotor, techfriday, wildlife
March 21, 2014
Before I renew my current VPN service it is time to keep them honest when it comes to their subscription pricing. I’m testing the lower cost AnchorFree’s Hotspot Shield Elite using their trial program before renewing my more expensive, but easy to use VPN service just to see if there is any difference. So far […]
Filed under: Advice, Computer, Technology by RichC | 1 Comment »
Tags: hotspot, internet, security, vpn
November 1, 2013
There are 3rd party options which redirect long strings for URLs, but most users prefer grabbing the official personalized ones when they are available. Facebook offered user names a couple years ago and Google is slowly getting it together by including real names. You should probably claim your name now if you want a custom […]
Filed under: Advice, Computer, Social Networking, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: g+, google, url
August 30, 2013
According to Scott McCartney who writes for the Wall Street Journal, rental car companies are keeping cars longer and accumulating more miles than in years past. The slow creep of their aging fleet is a result of the long recession and the improved quality of today’s vehicles (industry spokesmen say), but from a car renter’s […]
Filed under: Automotive, Computer, Travel by RichC | 2 Comments »
Tags: gifgrabber, rental cars, techfriday, Travel, wsj
February 15, 2013
A friend of mine recommended adding the PrivacyFix plug-in to Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome browsers. The install was simple on both and checks a variety of user adjustable privacy setting on Facebook and Google. After completing the 3 minute multi-step check, there is a option to install a small monitor icon on the browser […]
Filed under: Computer, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: browser, chrome, firefox, online, privacy, security
March 29, 2024
Computer backups and synchronized cloud data storage are topics I’ve addressed previously too many times. Last year I was pushed into tightening my subscription-belt after losing my free 1TB Miami University Google Workspace account and opted to give the economical iDrive a try. So after using it for a while now, I’ve concluded what I […]
Filed under: Computer, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: amazon, aws, box.net, cloud storage, google drive, icloud, idrive, microsoft, odrive, onedrive, tech friday, techfriday
November 3, 2023
For years I’ve been running Parallels on my iMac after switching from Bootcamp on the old Mac Mini. It has been a love -hate relationship, but I’ve sort of always needed to run Microsoft Windows. Since adding the MacBook Air M2 without Parallels or a Windows10 option, I’ve learned to function fairly well without “at […]
Filed under: Apple, Computer, Productivity, Software, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: imac, m2 chip, macbook air, macmini, parallels, tech friday, techfriday, virtual, windows10
September 29, 2023
Decades ago when I was in graduate school, I taught classes at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio as a GT, I continued to stay connected to the university. As a student I was given an alumni email address (an alias at the time forwarded to another email address) and as part time faculty was granted […]
Filed under: Cloud, Computer, Financial, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: backup, cloud, drive, google, idrive, miami university, microsoft, onedrive, pricing, storage, tech friday, techfriday, workspace
August 2, 2023
Not my photo, but I’m not sure how comfortable the average passenger flying this “budget” airline (???) are when seeing the tape on the wing? Also while sitting on the back porch a little Praying Mantis came to visit (video below).
Filed under: Aviation, Photos, Social Networking, Video by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: aircraft, airlines, airplane, insect, mantis, mp4, praying, tape, twitter, wings
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 […]
Filed under: Cellphone, Gadget, Tablet, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: charging, ipad, iphone, magfast, tech friday, techfriday, testing
January 20, 2023
While watching NFL playoff football this month, I started looking for a app like Blogsy or BlogPad Pro that was available “in the old days” in order to post from my iPad. Unfortunately it is looking as if fewer and fewer app developer are focused on blogging software. My preferred software “was” Microsoft’s Windows Live […]
Filed under: Blogs, Software by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: blogging, ios, ipad, mac, tech friday, techfriday, wordpress
September 26, 2022
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Filed under: Music by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: bill medley, classic rewind, cleveland, mp3, museum, music monday, musicmonday, rachel steele, righteous Brothers, rock and roll, siriusxm, studio
June 27, 2022
It is officially summer … and what’s better in warm weather and sunshine than songs from Jimmy Buffett on Music Monday? So here’s “Slack Tide” off Life on the Flip Side album (as heard on Radio Margaritaville). I just happened to be listening to it streaming on the SiriusXM app on my new noise-cancelling Wyze […]
Filed under: Music, Technology, Video by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: headphones, jimmy buffett, kubota, lawn, life on the flip side, mowing, music monday, musicmonday, radio margaritaville, siriusxm, slack tide, wyze, youtube
June 13, 2022
My “go to” Sirius XM channel for easy listening 1970s music has been The Bridge for the past decade now and it never fails to sooth my soul. The Music Monday pick for this week is another Doobie Brother song, this one from 1973 call “South City Midnight Lady” from their 2006 remastered album titled […]
Filed under: Music by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: doobie brothers, music monday, musicmonday, siriusxm, south city midnight lady, the bridge
June 10, 2022
A semi-disaster struck as my iMac choked on a Parallel 17 "virtual Windows" update on Thursday. It reminded me of the movie "Blackhawk Down" or perhaps "White House Down" … hence the subject line for Tech Friday. The virtual Windows 10 side of my computer booted, but everything from the connected drives to the display […]
Filed under: Apple, Computer, Financial, Movies, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: apple, blackhawk, crash, imac, lenovo, m2, macbook air, parallels, stock market, tech friday, techfriday, timemachine, white house down
April 25, 2022
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Filed under: Archive, Nature, Personal, Photography, Photos, Video, Weather by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: apple blossom, ellerie, family, goacamole, granddaughter, iphone7plus, mp4, portrait mode
April 12, 2022
While ordering Titebond III glue in the 16 oz size (best choice for wood glue) from Walmart.com ($7.98) instead of Amazon, who happened to only have other sizes and bulk packaging (although gone is $67 Prime shipping), I needed to add another item to my order to avoid the shipping charges. The Kubota ZD326 zero-turn […]
Filed under: Archive, Hobby, Shopping, Woodworking by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: amazon, fwp, grass seed, kubota, maintenance, mower, prime, sanding, service, spindle, titebond3, walmart, wood glue, workshop, zd326, zero-turn
December 10, 2021
The surprise increase in blog traffic corresponded to my taking a few more security measures such as locking down more of the personal content to only logged in readers … but I’m not sure that had anything to do with increasing earnings? Still, I noticed upward change (more than doubling) of Google Adsense earnings and […]
Filed under: Archive, Blogs, Financial, Marketing, Personal, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: adsense, advertising, bitcoin, blog, cryptocurrency, fonzi, google, hodl, hodling, taxes, tech friday, techfriday, traffic, web
November 29, 2021
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Filed under: Business, Music, News, Video by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: Business, cavuto, ccr, creedence clearwater revival, foxbusiness, have you ever seen the rain, mp3, musicmonday, News, siriusxm, varney, youtube
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 […]
Filed under: Advice, Cellphone, Cloud, Computer, Privacy, Software, Tablet, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: cybersecurity, encryption, nordvpn, privacy, protonvpn, security, subscription, tunnelbear, vpn
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 […]
Filed under: Cellphone, Gadget, Innovation, Marketing, Shopping, Tablet, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: charger, ipad, iphone, magfast, segnet, seymour, smartphone, thingcharger
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 […]
Filed under: Apple, Cellphone, Computer, Privacy, Social Networking, Tablet, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: apple, bgr.com, delete, facebook, fb, instagram, ios, meta, privacy, tech friday, techfriday, tracking, whatsapp
September 30, 2021
Currently, Amazon Prime costs $119/year if you opt for an annual subscription and after the charges shows up each year on our credit card, I ask the same question: “Is Amazon Prime worth it?” (where are those 2015 prices) Eventually the irritation passes, the bill gets paid and we’re off to ordering and streaming for […]
Filed under: Shopping, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: $AMZN, amazon prime, annual, membership, online, Shopping, subscriptions
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.
Filed under: Cellphone, Human Interest, Social Networking, Tablet, Technology, Tidbits by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: friday filler, graphic, internet, mobile, smartphones, tech friday, techfriday, traffic, worldwide
September 16, 2021
Here are a few leftover project photos from the weekend for Throwback Thursday #TBT to add to the personal archive. Normally we make banana bread in the full-size Bosch oven when our bananas go soft and brown, but I keep trying to get the convection baking setting correct on our toaster oven – not bad […]
Filed under: Archive, Computer, Memories, Misc, Personal, Photos, TBT, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: boxes, cable, ceiling, cracks, drywall, fiber, fioptics, home, house, internet, isdn, office, oven, paint, painting, patching, project, repair, satellite, starband, TBT, toaster, water putty, wiring
August 13, 2021
Years ago (2015) it was a struggle to get Apple’s Magic Mouse to play nice with Google’s Calendar app. Since I was not the only one who had this problem, I shared a browser extension fix for Chrome that at one time I thought might be just temporarily needed (but it is still needed). It […]
Filed under: Apple, Computer, Productivity, Software, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: apple, brave, browser, calendar, chrome, disabler, extension, google, magic mouse, maps, scroll, scrollmaps, tech friday, techfriday, zooming
August 6, 2021
For those setting up their Mac to automatically start-up applications after rebooting the computer, using the “open automatically on log in” settings in very helpful. I have found that the programs I want running most are cloud-based data storage services, but it can also be helpful for apps you may just want running all the […]
Filed under: Advice, Apple, Cloud, Computer, Productivity, Software, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: apple, apps, cloud, computing, delay start, google drive, mac, Software, startup, tech friday, techfriday
June 18, 2021
Generally, I don’t use a VPN connection at home, but since I’ve been having slow connections on my laptop and iPad with VPN connections (both TunnelBear and ProtonVPN), thought I was test at home. ProtonVPN has been working pretty well and doesn’t restrict as much as the “warm and fuzzy” Tunnel Bear, but I’ve not […]
Filed under: Computer, Technology, Travel by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: email, encryption, proton, protonmail, protonvpn, security, traveling, tunnelbear, vpn
April 2, 2021
We have not had many Internet connectivity issues since switching to Cincinnati Bell Fioptic fiber and then added a mesh network instead of traditional router (although the Netgear Nighthawk was pretty good – we move it to the condo). Perhaps a lot has to do with companies building out the infrastructure with fewer buggy devices […]
Filed under: Computer, Productivity, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: cincinnatibell, condo1718, connectivity, fioptics, idiom, internet, iot, mesh, netgear, network, nighthawk, smarthome, speedtest, tech friday, techfriday
March 5, 2021
A couple of weeks ago, someone asked me about using Strikethru coding for a WordPress blog (or for that matter, almost all webpages) .. and of course it is a simple html code solution and is fairly easy … just add: The html coding started me thinking about a few other potential problems since we […]
Filed under: Advice, Cloud, Computer, How-To, Productivity, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: code, cross-out, google calendar, How-To, html, Productivity, script, strickthru, tech friday, techfriday, tip
January 21, 2021
Both Brenda and I enjoy the hundreds (if not thousands?) of photos from our albums and digital archives that I’ve uploaded to the the photo section of the Amazon Prime storage cloud. We likely enjoy it more since it sits on our kitchen countertop (great for Alexa Echo messages to Annalyn and Ellerie too). So […]
Filed under: Gadget, Personal, Photos, TBT, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: album, Alexa, amazon, echoshow, Photos, slideshow, TBT, throwback, thursday, tootsie
January 14, 2021
While shuffling through a bunch of old scans and photos and uploading stuff to my Miami University .EDU Google Drive account for free cloud storage after downgrading my subscription to OneDrive (they refused to renew the 1TB of space at my previous 4-years of discounted service), I ran across the window sticker from my black […]
Filed under: Archive, Automotive, Memories, Misc, Personal, Photos, TBT by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: 4runner, cars, condo1718, dadh, family, great white whale, TBT, throwback, toyota
December 11, 2020
Not that it would ever be noticed in my “rarely proofread” blog, but for the past year I’ve been using a plugin app called Grammarly (it unfortunately doesn’t work with Open Live Writer, the aging software I use for blogging ever since Microsoft abandoned LiveWriter). So far it has been helpful in checking my emails […]
Filed under: Computer, Technology, Tidbits by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: brave, browser, chrome, chromium, firefox, grammarly, lenovo, livewriter, microsoft, tech friday, techfriday, vocabulary, windows, writing
December 4, 2020
Although I only have one address accessible IP at the house, I can split it up via “Port Forwarding” on the cheap Cincinnati Bell router, rather than the home “mesh” network. After a little tweaking (ok, A LOT), I do have a work-around solution using a variety of ports to access different devices. For the […]
Filed under: Computer, Gadget, Hobby, Raspberry Pi, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: apache, cincinnatibell, hugo, network, pandora, pianobar, port forwarding, power brick, python, raspberry pi, router, servers, siriusxm, ssg, tech friday, techfriday, tinkering, usb
November 20, 2020
It has been a while since I’ve compared scanning format and compression option when it comes to down and dirty document scanning. For the most part I either scan straight to PDF and live with the document (or shrink it, but that’s another post) … or go straight to the old fashion universal jpeg or […]
Filed under: Advice, Computer, Photography, Photos, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: compression, epson, format, gif, heic, images, jp2, jpeg, jpeg2000, jpg, lossless, png, scanning, scans, tech friday, techfriday, tiff
August 19, 2020
Since I spent most of the weekend outside again doing chores and projects as the weather has been great … I spotted a couple of insects enjoying summer as well. The normal bugs don’t grab my attention, but the brightly colored and unusual ones are worthy of photos (still impressed with the camera on my […]
Filed under: Cellphone, Nature, Personal, Photography, Photos, Weather by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: barrons, iphone7plus, kadydid, orchard, pool, reading, spider, summer, swimming, tweet, twitter
July 31, 2020
It has been a while since reviewing the stats of My Desultory Blog, but realized that one Tech Friday post in particular was getting quite a few looks. It is obvious that I’m not the only Apple Macintosh Magic Mouse user to have scrolling issue when using the popular Google Calendar and stopping the infuriating […]
Filed under: Advice, Computer, How-To, Productivity, Software, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: brave, browser, delete, deleting, disabler, email, gmail, google, Productivity, scroll, selecting, tech friday, techfriday
June 22, 2020
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Filed under: Archive, Audio, Music by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: csny, david crosby, graham nash, live, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, neil young, recording, stephen stills, studio
June 16, 2020
Like a lot of people during COVID19, we have gravitated even more to Amazon and online ordering for our “stuff.” We have not ordered groceries online yet, but are definitely doing more online shopping than ever before. I mentioned having issues with Amazon a few times before (1, 2, 3) during stay-at-home orders and find […]
Filed under: Business, Shopping, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: amazon, bags, bots, cancel, chat, complaints, coronavirus, covid19, customer service, dishwasher, e-commerce, garbage, grocery, kitchen, online, prime, refund, Shopping
May 9, 2020
Nothing like a little nature video with your breakfast cereal to start your day .. YIKES! I’ll never be able to look at my “Little Praying Friend” the same again. The latest news is that the giant 2 inch Murder Hornets (Asian giant hornets) are showing up in the western United States and threatening honey […]
Filed under: Environment, Nature, News, Video by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: bees, eating, hornet, insects, mantis, mp4, murder hornet, nature, praying mantis, video
September 30, 2019
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Filed under: Music by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: 1967, mp3, Music, music monday, musicmonday, pandora, rolling stones, ruby tuesday, siriusxm, spotify, streaming
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 […]
Filed under: Apple, Cellphone, Computer, Personal, Productivity, Tablet, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: apple, brydge, chromebook, device, gadget, imac, ipad, iphone, lenovo, tech friday, techfriday
March 1, 2019
This is an unusual Tech Friday post, but after being frustrated this week in clicking a dead link to an article that disappeared after a website was updated, I decided there must be a better way to ensure information, links and websites remained useful … WITHOUT having to archive them entirely on my computers, servers […]
Filed under: Archive, Computer, History, Human Interest, Recipe, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: archive, chili, cincinnati, coney, dixie, empress, food, goldstar, History, internet, library, ohio, skyline, tech friday, techfriday, virtual, wayback, webpages
February 22, 2019
TechFriday advice for those of us who enjoy using virtual assistants like those from Google, Apple or Amazon: 1. Change the Default Password on Your Wi-Fi Router 2. Set the Voice Lock 3. Decide Whether You Want to Shop By Voice 4. Understand that Privacy Rights in the US Are on the Way – but […]
Filed under: Alexa, Apple, Computer, Software, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: $SIRI, Alexa, amazon, apple, assistant, dark reading, echo, google, network, security, tech friday, techfriday, virtual
February 17, 2019
Like clockwork, it was time to either renew or cancel SiriusXM (again). I refuse to pay the month to month rate with them or the very few newspaper/magazine subscriptions I still use that does the same thing. Thankfully I marked my calendar with a notification as to the last day to cancel service … otherwise the […]
Filed under: Advice, Alexa, Audio, Cellphone, Entertainment, Music, Shopping, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: Alexa, amazon, deals, DOT, echo, prime, promo, siriusxm, streaming, subscriptions
January 19, 2019
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Filed under: Advice, Archive, Personal, Photos, Video by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, babysitting, career, drew, father, gender, granddaughter, husband, katelyn, life, mother, ohio, parenting, perrysburg, regrets, roles, wife
December 15, 2018
Although Brenda and I are making steady progress in getting things ready for Christmas, the iMac surgery mentioned yesterday did not go as smoothly as planned, but at least I do have backups to rebuild things from. Currently the “way too many” cloud services that I’m using are working overtime as my Time Machine archive […]
Filed under: Cloud, Computer, Holiday, Personal, Photos, Software by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: apple, christmas, Computer, Holiday, house, imac, lighting, mojave, parallels, surgery, time machine, update
October 24, 2018
I can’t vouch for the complete book (I’ve just starting reading it), but for those of us who appreciate first hand accounts of heroism, survival and World War II history … spending $2 on Alistair Urquhart’s "The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific," is well worth it. An amazing story […]
Filed under: Books, History, Millitary by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: Books, ebook, forgotten highlander, History, kindle, nanking, pow, prisoner, reading, unbroken, urquhart, ww2
October 14, 2018
As a business news junkie, I’ve been watching Fox Business since I "demanded it" (as Neil Cavuto would tell viewers in the early days of the expansion Fox network). They have steadily grown and have become serious competition for CNBC (watched/listen since it’s debuted) and BloombergTV. Fox Business has mixed in far more general news […]
Filed under: Business, Entertainment, Financial by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: bloomberg, cnbc, fall2018, fox, foxbusiness, foxnews, schedule
August 27, 2018
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Filed under: Music, Weather by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: cat stevens, cincinnati, dan fogelberg, mellow, mp3, Music, music monday, musicmonday, rain, twofer
August 2, 2018
I have, and do, support a few crowd funded projects — I’ve placied preorders taking on risk and see it as taking a small scale venture capital risk (without much reward). A couple bigger investments have been Elio and MagFast. The latter posts weekly, and relatively personal updates via YouTube video, on how the process […]
Filed under: Automotive, Business, Cellphone, Computer, Innovation, Technology, Video by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: capital, crowdfunding, elio, funding, magfast, motors, segnet, seymour, thingcharger, update, venture, youtube
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 […]
Filed under: Advice, Cellphone, Productivity, Tablet, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: aaa, carrier, Cellphone, data, hotspot, plans, smartphone, sprint, tech friday, techfriday, ting, virgin mobile, wireless
June 16, 2018
Frustration in tech land! Power out – now the cable modem or router won’t reboot properly! If you haven’t following along with my updating the progress on the Florida condo, I’ve been adding bits and pieces to “home automation” besides the normal “construction updates” to the kitchen (and eventually bathroom). Most of it has been […]
Filed under: Ideas, Innovation, Personal, Raspberry Pi, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: automation, Cam, deebot, gadget, gadgets, home, nest, programming, raspberry pi, smartthings, wyze
May 23, 2018
What a mess on everything outside. The yellow, dirty pine pollen covers everything each May … but thankfully Pine pollen doesn’t trigger allergies for me. Brenda on the other hand, either has allergies at the moment or a summer cold? (used the iPhone 7 plus portrait mode for the above photo – note selective focus […]
Filed under: Advice, Apple, Cellphone, Environment, Nature, Photography, Photos by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: allergy, iphone7plus, photography, pine, pollen, portrait, smartphone
May 18, 2018
Like most longtime savvy Internet users, I use Google more than I would like to admit. I try not to depend on them for everything, but just like with online shopping using Amazon … Google is simply the best at what they do: Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube and Drive/Cloud Storage. The latter has been a […]
Filed under: Advice, Cloud, Computer, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: amazon, apple, aws, box.net, cloud, comparison, drive, Dropbox, google, icloud, microsoft, odrive, onedrive, storage, tech friday, techfriday
March 29, 2018
After noticing once again my business email box pushing the limit on storage, I did the normal "sort by size" in order to delete old and unneeded larger emails with hefty attachments. This is a common practice for me as several times each month my servers automatically back-up databases and email a .ZIP archive and […]
Filed under: Memories, Personal, Photos, TBT by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: 2009, dadh, delray beach, florida, gmail, howard, katelyn, momh, TBT
March 9, 2018
Enjoyed the opportunity to ask questions and exchange thoughts with a Twitter management group working on improving online #health (safety/abuse). The live Periscopechat was a way for Twitter operate as transparently as possible. They will be opening an RFP process (request for proposal) from academia and the community. Twitter along with most of Silicon Valley […]
Filed under: Blogs, Financial, Social Networking, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: abuse, chat, Health, rfp, safety, social network, tech friday, techfriday, twitter
February 19, 2018
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Filed under: Music, Personal, Photography, Photos, Sailing by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: david gates, encore, florida, marina, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, sailboat, sunrise
January 16, 2018
Ok … this Google app is a bit personal … but curiosity and some appreciation for art has me interested enough to forgo my privacy concerns. Google updated their Art and Culture app that compares a persons selfie with their huge archive of art from museums and other institutions. The computer-vision technology compares points on […]
Filed under: Art, Cellphone, Technology by RichC | 1 Comment »
Tags: app, Art, cloud, culture, doppelgänger, google, selfie, Software, Technology, wikipedia
December 22, 2017
The big technology news this week if you are an iPhone user is that Apple has a "feature" that slows down older iPhones with older batteries in order to protect users from unwanted crashes. Yes … your phone older phone will actually run slower. According to CNET, the best option for owners of older iPhones […]
Filed under: Apple, Cellphone, Technology by RichC | 1 Comment »
Tags: apple, battery, feature, iphone, tech friday, techfriday
December 4, 2017
It is hard to believe, but I finally winterized the pool and in the same weekend brought home a Christmas tree, put the wreathes up and modified the lighting we use on the house in December. The first years we used 150 watt incandescent floods (also had halogens at some point), then I switched to […]
Filed under: Energy, Personal, Photos by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: christmas, closing, flood, house, led, lights, pool
December 1, 2017
Most Apple iPhone users (as well as Android users) have been using a smartphone as a flashlight for years with only a few innovations. The simple swipe up and click on has been relatively straight forward until the addition of brightness levels. With iOS11, the text description has been eliminated (???) but the brightness level […]
Filed under: Apple, Cellphone, How-To, Technology, Tidbits by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: apple, brightness, flashlight, ios11, iphone, tech friday, techfriday
June 27, 2017
Well so much for waiting for the new iPhone8 to arrive in the fall … as was the plan. On the other hand, the $1000 “rumored” price was frightening me anyway. Last week for a Tech Friday post I blogged on the VirginMobileUSA “Inner Circle” promo that offered unlimited talk, text and “almost” unlimited data […]
Filed under: Advice, Apple, Cellphone, Financial, Technology by RichC | 3 Comments »
Tags: apple, freedompop, innercircle, iphone5s, iphone7plus, speedtest, sprint, ting, virgin mobile
April 16, 2017
With the buds and flowers popping this Easter weekend around Cincinnati, a sunny morning was a great opportunity to put the lesser used prime lens on my new Four Thirds Lumix GX8 camera. The 14-140 stabilized zoom is usually on my camera for convenience, but today I suspect the slightly faster f1.7 prime lens might be sharper […]
Filed under: Holiday, Personal, Photography, Photos, Technology by RichC | 2 Comments »
Tags: camera, easter, flowers, lumix, photography, prime lens, speedtest, spring, yard
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 […]
Filed under: Advice, Cellphone, Computer, Tablet, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: Computer, device, hacked, iot, password, protection, security
February 1, 2017
After the stock market closed yesterday, Apple $AAPL reported their fiscal first quarter earning and shocked even the most bullish in the crowd. Their iPhone 7 sales help them deliver record earning, no doubt due to Samsung’s battery issues (Android users switching to Apple iOS). Considering Apple make a lot more than phones, it is […]
Filed under: Apple, Business, Cellphone, Financial, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: aapl, apple, finance, investing, iphone, trading
January 6, 2017
U.S. employment increased less than expected in December, but wages are rising, ever so slightly after a long stagnancy. Most economists are positive since they say we only need to create 56,000 jobs per month to keep up with current levels of new entrants in the job market. Others will point out that our job […]
Filed under: Financial, Misc, Technology, Tidbits by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: djia, dow, economy, microphone, rode, tech friday, techfriday
November 19, 2016
I just couldn’t pass up burning my $280 Best Buy credit on a new mid-level Windows 10 Lenovo Yoga notebook computer. It is going to take some time tweaking it before I’m comfortable with it, but I decided that a new MacBook Pro was not in the cards for me (too expensive and missing so […]
Filed under: Business, Computer, Travel by RichC | 1 Comment »
Tags: Computer, lenovo, notebook, touchscreen, yoga
November 13, 2016
Surprise! At least that’s what I found out when I opened a couple virtual invoices from Amazon for my two AWS accounts (personal and business). After moving files for online web content to Amazon’s fast and reliable S3 cloud-based servers a couple years ago, I’ve been happily adding content regularly since then as the cost […]
Filed under: Archive, Blogs, Cloud, Computer, Technology by RichC | 1 Comment »
Tags: amazon s3, archiving, glacier, server, storage, webhosting, website
November 5, 2016
While I continue to struggle with the "do I need a new notebook computer" question, I continue to frustrate myself with the old 2007 Gateway, iMac desktop and iPad? It would really be nice to have a fast, lightweight traveling notebook computer (with more than 30 minutes of battery life!), but have found that a […]
Filed under: Apple, Computer, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: adapter, apple, dongle, gripe, macbook pro, magsafe, usb-c
August 10, 2016
One of the great things about working with Digital Ocean is the ability to spin up a new droplet server based on a previously saved image/backups within a few minutes. Due to recent improvement of adding volumes in order to expand storage, currently only a couple of their data centers, I opted to image an […]
Filed under: Archive, Business, Cloud, Computer, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: amazon s3, cloud, digitalocean, internet, server, speedtest, storage, volumes
July 15, 2016
It has been a long time in coming, but the PineA64 Kickstarter project that I backed in January finally arrived. As start-ups, this one was not as smooth as it could have been. The team promised deliveries in March, then April and finally no later than May. Eventually June and finally July for the last […]
Filed under: Computer, Raspberry Pi, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: board, Computer, kickstarter, micro, pine a64, remixos
June 28, 2016
I’m not sure how the whole "drone" future is going to turn out, but it is exciting to watch the improvements over a short period of time. The ease of flying, improvements in batteries and quality of video have really advanced. It will not be long before we’re "jumping" around town in a quadrotor. I […]
Filed under: Aviation, Innovation, Personal, Technology, Video by RichC | 2 Comments »
Tags: drew, drone, family, katelyn, quadcopter, quadrotor, video, wayzata
April 1, 2016
It has been a couple months since I backed the Pine A64 Kickstarter, but I did noticed my credit card was billed last month … meaning it was shipped??? Besides the hint of a March shipment in a previous email, there hasn’t been an update as to "if" the micro 64-bit computer board has left China […]
Filed under: Raspberry Pi, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: april, fools, gadgets, pine a64, raspberry pi
January 27, 2016
This little “toy” will be fun! (should receive mine in March) Specs: CPU: 1.2 Ghz Quad-Core ARM Cortex A53 64-Bit Processor. It has 64 and 32 Bit execution states for scalable high performance power – including a NEON Multimedia processing engine. I/O EXPANSION: Two I/O Expansion slots – the Pi-2 Expansion and Euler box – […]
Filed under: Computer, Raspberry Pi, Technology by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: Computer, kickstarter, pine a64
December 18, 2015
A couple improvement to our Internet connectivity at the house this past week as I quarreled with Time Warner Cable yet again about our service and our bill. Of course they once again wanted to schedule a tech to come out and look at things to determine why our paid for turbo speed was only […]
Filed under: Computer, Software by RichC | No Comments »
Tags: imac, internet, microsoft, parallels, twc, updates, windows, windows10