Last year I was happy to have my speed increase to 100Mbps down when switching to CincinnatiBell, but then after losing promotional perks was disappointed to have my bill rise by 35%. After complaining and several calls, my account was mildly adjusted (still 25% higher than the 2017 promo) and a promo tweak boosting Internet speed from 100Mbps to 300Mbps. Unfortunately we’re hitting a speed where "tripling" doesn’t make much of a noticeable different.
This week a promotion arrived offering to increase speeds from 300Mbps to 500Mbps … just as my computer, router, network and MIND are slowing down.
A new Amazon Alexa Echo voice command improvement now makes it easier to string together a series of commands without repeating "Alexa" over and over again. The back-to-back commands will need to right after each other AND you must turn on (off by default) the Follow-Up Mode under settings in the Alexa app.
After switching ON each Echo device on your network from the list of devices under Settings, you can then string requests together without getting Alexa’s attention each time (you need to activate each device you want to use in Follow-Up Mode). My test was simply to switch on an off a couple of house lights and to play a favorite Pandora station. Everything worked smoothly … almost as if I created a Group command (but that’s another feature – "Alexa, turn on all lights" … after you put your sunglasses on – HA!)
*** Currently you cannot use the Follow-Up Mode while PLAYING audio or music.
It was a crisp and cold night for March in Cincinnati and with a pitch black sky at 6 AM (after the Daylight Savings time change), the Waning Crescent Moon (see Lunar Phase) gave me a chance to see if my Lumix GX8 and 100-300mm lens was up to the task.
I’ve tried still photos several times before (other cameras) but this was the first attempt photographing the moonat night in video. I’ve heard sensors do a better job with video than still photo (photo right).
Anyway, the video below is a very short clip (it was cold) … and it is still a tad bit fuzzy full screen, but far better than my experience of trying to take long or short exposed still photos of the moon (and even harder with an iPhone!)
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 is aware they their immediate community has an innate "progressive" bias which has come under attack this past year. Politics and issues bring out abuse by users, some far more dangerous than others. They seem sincere about welcoming questions, thoughts and ideas and what to rapidly address the "health of the community," has they refer to it. Hopefully those of us that use Twitter as a "newsfeed" and appreciate having an exchange with others can be helpful in refining Twitter without draconian measure — a recent "broad based banning" was not received well, especially by conservatives.
On an investment note, solid a few shares of TWTR close to $36 as it became a "double" for me on Wednesday this past week even though I’m still confident Twitter is on the right track (nothing wrong with booking a little profit).
We’re committing to helping increase the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation around the world, and to hold ourselves publicly accountable toward progress. By measuring our contribution to the overall health of the public conversation, we believe we can more holistically approach and measure our impact on the world for years to come.
Encore lost her slip last year at Harbortown Marina when I haul for some TLC during hurricane season in 2017 and I was glad Daniel our dockmaster made room for us last month when we relaunched. It’s great to have Encore is back in the water, but I miss the quieter dock we had previously. I’ve been hoping that as the snowbirds headed back north that we could move nearer to our previous location … so as long as we could maintain at least 5 foot of water (Encore’s draft and questionable on B-dock).
Earlier in the week, I received an email from Daniel who thinks B-26 will be opening up in April and thought we might want to move there. So, I’m planning to grab it … even if it is further from the showers, bathroom and lounge … and hopefully can modify my contract to save a few dollars (Brenda will be happier too, since she was upset I gave up our previous dock). I know you are reading, so what do you think, Mark?
excellent. Their Internet speed continues to rise (currently checking with DSLReports/speedtest).
