Florida Accidentally Bans Computers and Smartphones

God damn it, this guy's creepy.
Image from source, Raw Story.

People often lament that even laws that might be good ideas, are usually taken too far. Abortion foes can't stop at banning post-20-week abortions, they have to shut down almost all of the clinics with "trap" laws, and mandate unnecessary trans-vaginal probes. Attempts to fight obesity end up being silly, by banning certain sizes of beverages. There are many examples like that, from serious to frivolous. But lawmakers--who are supposed to be experts at this--just keep going to far, or just being lazy with their language while enacting the law with zeal.

This time, it's downright embarrassing.

[Excerpt]

Florida Accidentally Banned All Computers, Smart Phones In The State Through Internet Cafe Ban: Lawsuit 

When Florida lawmakers recently voted to ban all Internet cafes, they worded the bill so poorly that they effectively outlawed every computer in the state, according to a recent lawsuit. . . 

Read more at: The Raw Story

Galaxy S4 Update, One Month In

There are some cons. . .

So, after lusting for a new phone for months, (torn between the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4), I've now had it for a month. Am I digging it? Is it just "my phone," rather than "my new phone," now that I'm used to it? Is it a hit or a flop?

Well, so far--mostly--it's a hit. The primary "con" I saw with the Galaxy as opposed to the One before I bought it was the design. The One has a sleek aluminum body, and the S4 has a thin plastic, snap-on back cover. I opted for the S4 anyway, because of its removable battery, and an expandable memory via micro-SD chip. But as it turns out, the design of the S4 didn't bother me. All of my phones have been primarily plastic, and it's never bugged me before. And, I keep it in a soft vinyl protective case anyway, so I rarely see much of the phone's chassis.

The other con was the fact that the One has some amped up front-facing speakers, and the S4 just has a tinny speaker on the back. This is rarely an issue, though I have to say, my protective case can muffle the little speaker when it sits on my desk. The little bump-out on the phone's back doesn't extend past the case, so keep that in mind, or prop your phone on one end to lift it off your desk. Other cons were discovered after purchase. One of them is the actual storage space available for apps. The phone is advertised as 16GB, but half of that is taken by the pre-loaded software. And even though you can pop a 64GB chip in there (maybe even 128?), you can't put apps on the chip (at least not with this version of Android). It's fine for me, since you can put all of your music, pictures and videos on the chip, and I don't have huge apps downloaded.

And there are pros!

Beyond that, I can tell you that the phone gets hot, rather randomly. Not enough to burn you, but enough to be a bit uncomfortable. Most of the time it's fine, and then you'll play a quick Words with Friends game, and wow! Hot! Other times you can mess with it for an hour and it's fine. So, I don't know. Another thing is the built-in pedometer, which only kind of works. I carry my phone at work and on my walks, and errands, and in any given day I might walk seven miles with my phone. And sometimes, it registers that. Other days, I'll go for a four-mile walk, and it registers 1.5 miles. I don't know if I'm walking with more of a stomp some days or what, but there you go. It might be helpful if their app included a GPS tracker that actually clocked miles rather than just steps.

And if it sounds like I'm complaining a lot, I should state that I really do like this phone. The screen is bright, clear and large. In the bright Las Vegas sun, you wouldn't want to watch a movie, but the screen is legible for advancing music tracks or other brief tasks. The sound through headphones is great, and adjustable to your hearing ability (with a one-time setup). Everything about tweaking settings I have found to be more intuitive, and easy. Setting up bluetooth has been a snap on each device I've tried. I've had success with pretty much everything I've tried to do.

My favorite find on the phone is the Google Search Bar, which I know, is not exclusive to the Galaxy S4. I've seen people use Apple's Siri, and I've personally used the Android Siri clone Iris. But I've never seen anything like this. Press the microphone and say just about anything, and up it pops. I haven't had it "mishear" a word yet. I've used voice commands on earlier phones to much more mixed results. I found it to be a seldom-used novelty. On this phone, it's just too cool to forget about. No more picking the app, typing a phrase, poking around. It's just, "show me a picture of Portia de Rossi," and up it pops! It answers direct questions well, like "what is the distance from earth to the moon," but doesn't engage you in conversation like Iris and Siri. I'm cool with that, I have Iris installed if I need to show of parlor tricks. Google Search Bar is much more useful. Needs a cuter name though.

And that's pretty much where we are now. I'll tip you off to something cool I discovered that goes great with smart phones though. We were always having to run through the house to answer our cell phones, and I always thought it was a step back to the days before we could have extensions in every room. I actually said out loud, "Somebody needs to invent a house phone that links up with your cell phone." I thought it would be impractical, because most households have at least two cell phones, plus the house phones. How would that even work?

Panasonic Link2Cell (so cool!)

Then, I remembered having seen phone sets at Sam's Club and Costco. Packages of 3, 4 or 5 identical handsets. So, I looked 'em up. And I'm not sure if all brands of them do this, but the Panasonic Link2Cell series hooks to one of your house phone jacks, and lets you put extensions wherever you want them (just a power cord). It synchs up with up to two cell phones and your land line (if you have one)! I replaced all of our mismatched handsets, set it up in the space of a half hour, and now we can answer any of our phones in any room without the mad phone hunt! The only sacrifices are that your cell phones need to be in range of the base unit (in our 1560 sq. ft. house, they always are), and answering a cell call on an extension takes a couple of extra seconds to connect. Other than that, it's the coolest invention since bluetooth.

Since Panasonic and Samsung don't pay me to review their items, I'm not linking to either of them. But take out your Android or iPhone, press either the Google Search Bar or Siri microphone, and say, "Panasonic Link2Cell," and find out all about them. Thanks for reading, I hope I've been helpful.

Apple Adds New Samsung Galaxy S4 Phone to Lawsuit

The phone on the left is not a Galaxy S4, and
no way is it that small, no matter what
PC Magazine might imply.

Wow, I didn't know you could do this. Apple and Samsung have been locked in suits and counter suits over alleged patent infringements. From what I've read of the cases, a lot of Apple's claims are fairly broad, to the point of ridiculousness, and yet they initially won a huge settlement. But the cases go on, and now, Apple--already claiming 22 different Samsung models violate their patents--is scrubbing one, and replacing it with a new one. My new Galaxy S4!

Now, I know I'm no patent expert, so I won't sound off too much. But I can tell you that my phone in no way resembles an Apple product. It doesn't function like an Apple product. There isn't a soul who would be confused, or fooled into thinking the S4 was an iPhone. And--unlike the picture used in this and other articles--the phones aren't even remotely the same size. The S4 dwarfs the iPhone in every way except build materials. Yes, both phones have a glass touchscreen, a button and are roughly the same shape. Both have icons you press to get to programs, a logical extension of any computer operating system. But the Android operating system (layered with Samsung's TouchWiz and each individual carrier's add-ons) has evolved in quite a different direction from iOS. They're now very different ecosystems.

The thing that annoyed me about my (admittedly) cursory examination of the cases, is that the claims on patents seemed to focus on what the hardware and software do, rather than how they do it. If I press a button and a program opens, you shouldn't be able to patent that. If you get the program to open via a patented code, and someone steals the code? Fine, you win. But that doesn't seem to be the case here. It seems like Apple wants to lay claim to concepts. Should they really be able to do that? I mean, dozens of manufacturers manufacture similar TVs, microwave ovens, printer all-in-ones, keyboards, lamps, speakers. . . Once a product exists, you don't get the only company allowed to make something like it. Should Apple really be the only company allowed to make a rectangular touch-screen phone, with applications and a camera?

[Excerpt]

Apple Targets Samsung Galaxy S 4 in Patent Case

Apple wants to add the Galaxy S 4 to a list of 22 Samsung devices its believes infringes on its patents. Cupertino said it is willing to drop one of those 22 gadgets and swap in Samsung's newest flagship smartphone. . .

Read more at: PC Magazine

Blast from the Past: The Past Repurposed as Ringtones

A good bit of my weekend has been taken up getting used to my new Samsung Galaxy S4 smart phone (and don't worry, I'll stop talking about it soon). But it got me to thinking--as I loaded it up with my usual ringtones and notification sounds--that it might make a good topic for Blast from the Past. In fact, it might make a good psychological study. New phone, same old tunes and sounds.

Notification: Samantha from Bewitched's nose twitch. This is from the old days of my Windows 95 computer themes. I found that this particular sound effect was one I never got tired of. And those themes were usually tiring. Ironically, it's paired in this clip with easily the most annoying sound on earth: Fran Drescher. And here's the Bewitched theme for the sake of it. I have it saved on my phone too.



Default Ringtone: Theme from Match Game '76. Though I can't claim I got half of the jokes (or even knew that the cast was shitfaced) on this classic, long-running game show (with PM and '74, '75, '76, '77, etc. editions), I loved it as a kid. The theme seemed to know it was cheesy, and that's what I liked about it.



The Other Half's Ringtone: Making Our Dreams Come True by Cyndi Grecco, the theme from Laverne & Shirley. I'd like to say it was because of the song's indefatigable spirit of togetherness and can-do friendship. But it's really because we both loved the show. For a while, I had Georgie Girl by The Seekers, but it seemed like a confusing androgynous tune for my husband, so even though it's a favorite of his, it had to go.



Mom's Ringtone: Is Three Dog Night's Mama Told Me Not to Come a little too on the nose? Well, at least I'm using that instead of the theme from Halloween 2 I once used!

Sister's Ringtone: Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode, which was always one of her favorite bands, and Brother's Ringtone: You're Driving Me Crazy by Squirrel Nut Zippers, because, well, sometimes he does. . .




Others on my custom list are my friends Dona and Lester (Puttin' on the Ritz by Taco and Green Onions by Booker T and the MGs, respectively), Jeff and Sandy (Top of the World by The Carpenters), Denny and Kardinal (Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones and Hit Me with Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar), my boss ladies (You're the First by Barry White and I Love the Nightlife by Alicia Bridges), and my other boss (Popcorn by Hot Butter). But putting all of these clips up would wreck your browser, so here's just a couple of them.



What I've found out over several phones (and others' phones) is that you have to pick songs that you'll hear clearly, you need to edit clips that have the good part of the song right at the beginning, and you need to make sure the sound level isn't too high, or the tinny cell phone speakers will distort. Also, I've found that putting songs onto an Android phone is fairly easy, and doing the same on an iPhone is a multi-step process that taxes your patience. Oh, also that downloading sound software--even from a reputable site like CNet.com is very, very risky. I was up until 3:30 am on Friday night purging the gremlins from my computer.

And with that, we'll end this week's edition, and wish you all happy Monday!

The Next Great Phone: Samsung Galaxy S-IV or HTC One?

My poor, dead, crushed Samsung Epic 4G

I've chronicled my evolution from luddite to flip-phone to dumb phone to smart phone, and now it's time for the next phase: state-of-the-art smart phone. See, last time we upgraded phones (after a little trial and error), we ended up with pretty nice phones, the Samsung Epic 4G. But it was toward the end of its life cycle as a product. Last summer, I accidentally killed mine, and ended up temporarily replacing it with an HTC Evo 4G, which I came to like better, but it's basically the same age, both having been produced in 2010. In that time, the Epic--also known as a Galaxy S phone--has been replaced twice, and a third sequel is set to debut this week.  By contrast, the Apple iPhone 3GS is the same age as our phones.

Because of random calamities, our two phones are due for a new contract in different months, March and May, with mine ready now. But I can't just get a phone now, unless I want to repeat the cycle of buying an almost instantly obsolete phone, and keeping it for two years. We've decided that the upfront expense of a flashy new phone is worth the price over the span of two years. So, I'm waiting. And I'm very glad I did, though I'm not sure which of the exciting new offerings I'm going to go for.

The gorgeous back of the HTC One, from Engadget

Already announced is the HTC One, a logical replacement for my HTC Evo, which I've already grown accustomed to. There is no doubt that the phone itself is gorgeous (as these things go), made out of a block of aluminum. It's got twin speakers. It has a nice curved back that looks like it would palm well. And to me, it just looks a hell of a lot more interesting than the iPhone's by now blah looks. It has the Android Jellybean interface, and likely will upgrade to Key Lime Pie when that becomes available. And it uses HTC's "Sense" interface along with Android, something I'm also familiar with. But, you can't take the back off, meaning I can't buy extra batteries or change the memory out. As something of a techie, that would be kind of irritating. I'm used to messing with shit!

The alleged new Samsung Galaxy S-IV, from ExtremeTech

The other option is the Samsung Galaxy S-IV (or S4). While this phone is highly anticipated, nothing about it has been 100% confirmed. It's having a big "coming out" party this Thursday, and that's one of the most highly anticipated events in techno-geekdom at the moment. A big bucket of cold water was thrown on the geeks today though, if my internet feelers are reading things correctly. An alleged leak of  photos and video of the new phone have cropped up everywhere, and it's. . .underwhelming. It's enormous, unless the Chinese dude's hands are small. It has a rather ugly back cover, and a same ol', same ol' face (though really, that's a fairly blank area anyway). I don't really know what I (and the internet) was expecting, but it wasn't this.

All that said, the unofficial leak could be just that, unofficial. And the fact that Samsung hasn't come out and shut it down could mean either it is the real deal, or that the real thing will so blow the fake out of the water, it's worth staying mum over. Who knows. Well, we all will soon. But as it stands now, I'm leaning heavily toward HTC, having already had the experience of comparing the same generation offerings from both companies. If Samsung's presentation is a wowser though, they could definitely win me over.

Complicating matters is the fact that we have Sprint as a carrier, and because of our plan and a corporate discount, it would be unwise to switch. But Sprint had an anemic 4G LTE network, and there is ridiculously scant news about it implementation. So any new 4G phone is going to be hobbled out of the box, with no indication of when the service will be up and running. And, it isn't clear when either the HTC or the Samsung are going to be released by Sprint! Such first-world problems, I know. It'll all sort out, and we'll be lusting over the next big thing after a few months. And I'm sure the iPhone 5S and 6 will both turn up the lust again.

Find out more about the HTC One at: Engadget
Find out (allegedly) more about the Samsung Galaxy S-IV at: ExtremeTech

Technology Woes: One More Smart Phone Bites the Dust (Or, Why Cell Phone Insurance is a Scam!)

I've had this blog since mid-2007, at which point I was on my second cell phone, a Samsung flip-phone with very little in the way of extras. Since I've been blogging, I've talked about my new ones, beginning with the Samsung Rant, a pre-smart phone with a slide-out keyboard. With that one, I learned how to text, but was frustrated with its other limited abilities. When it was unceremoniously drowned by The Other Half in the washing machine, I was pushed--finally--to join the smart phone crowd.

This was 2011, and I was holding out to see what the iPhone 5--which turned out to be the iPhone 4S--was going to be like, and if Sprint was going to carry it. But it was in May, and Apple didn't break into the Sprint store until September, so my choice was between Blackberry, Windows Phone and Android. But to make matters worse, we were leaving for vacation the next day, and I had researched nothing. So, I ended up with a Samsung Transform, a low-end 'droid.

In the ensuing three weeks, I struggled with the Transform's limitations, and read up a lot on what else was available, and ultimately paid the restocking fee, and traded up to the Samsung Epic 4G. To this point, I'd had five Samsung phones in a row, two flip phones, and three slide-out QWERTY keyboard phones. Other than the drowned one, I'd never had an issue with any of them throughout their contracts, other than quirks here and there that required reboots. And the persistent spotty Sprint service, particularly in central Ohio. The Other Half had drowned a flip phone once, but like my Rant, it was right about at trade-up time anyway.

My poor, crushed Epic 4G

My good luck with phones-without-insurance lasted from December 2004 to July 2012, when I stupidly left my phone on the hood of my car in the garage, and drove off with it there. Somebody ran over my Epic 4G, 8 months out of re-up time. My solution was to order a used one on eBay, take it to the Sprint Store, and activate it to my phone number. Nice plan, but the phone had been rooted, and would not activate. So, I paid Sprint $35, got my money back from the eBay vendor, and Sprint ordered me another Epic. By this time, I was up to 11 days phoneless by the time the order came in and it would not activate either! My only option was to wait for another one, or accept a substitute: an HTC Evo 4G.

The Evo was a contemporary of my phone, meaning a two-year-old, obsolete model. It was better in some ways, and lesser in some ways from the Epic, mainly in that it didn't have a slide-out keyboard for the first time since my flip-phones. But the upshot was, the screen may not have been as crisp, but it was easier to read outdoors. And, it seemed to be a lot less flaky than my Epic, which was a lemon compared to The Other Half's relatively stable Epic.

I couldn't wait for the iPhone 4S, so I got the Epic 4G.
Now, Apple has sued Samsung, partly over this phone.

Six weeks into the ownership of the Evo, I started to notice dust collecting between the layers of the screen. Very annoyed, I tried to tap it out, I tried to blow it out, nothing would budge the dust. And then, unexpectedly, the microphone stopped working, leading to a comedy of errors when my brother was trying to call. Nothing would make the microphone work, though if I shouted at top volume, it would register, barely, sounding like a blown speaker.

Could I have broken it when blowing and tapping it? Not unless it was on the edge of breaking anyway. So, I took it back to Sprint, taking an hour off of work so that this wouldn't push into next week like last time. They took it, charged me $35 more bucks,  and. . .couldn't fix it! So, guess what? I have another Evo 4G on its way, and I have to queue up at Sprint again Wednesday night. I am not confident that it will go smoothly, but I have no complaint with the Sprint people other than the tedium while waiting at the store.

But in all my travails in cell phone world, I can give a little advice:

- When buying a phone, don't cheap out. You're going to have it two years, don't start out disappointed. An extra $50 divided over two years is bupkis.
- Even if you like a slide-out keyboard, give an on-screen one a try. You might find you like it, and the phone will be slimmer and--let's face it--less dorky.
- Check your pockets before doing laundry, and never--never--put your phone on your car.
- I'm glad that I've never had phone insurance. It may have saved me a few buck in this case, right now. But if I'd paid $7 per phone per month since December 2004, I'd be up to $1488! Just in insurance fees. My total out-of-pocket cost for all of this so far? $70. Big whoop!

What Happens in Vegas: Las Vegas Gets a New Slogan

Oh, they're still using "What Happens Here, Stays Here."  But they're refining it, to deal with smart phones and social media. Sure you can share your experiences. . .just know when to say when!

It should be pointed out that those of us who live in the Las Vegas Valley are not allowed to use the "hey, it's Vegas, baby!" excuse when we misbehave. We don't think it's fair and just might document those things that "the code" disallows! So, watch yourselves. . .




Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.

Gay Phone App Goes Straight?

One of the unfortunate sad interesting things about having been with the same man for 13 years, is that I missed out on all but the earliest forms of technological dating. When I met The Other Half, AOL was chief way to "hook up" with the assistance of technology. The internet was not very widespread yet. And smart phones were science fiction.

So, I have no first-hand knowledge of the very, very successful iPhone (and Android) app, Grindr. Grindr lets gay men know how far away other (interested) gay men are, what they look like, and lots of other pertinent information. Since gay men aren't always obvious (and gaydar doesn't always work), Grindr eliminates the guessing games. I have no idea if I'd have had the nerve to use this back when I was single, but I did have that one slutty week back in '98. . .

Anyway, the creator of Grindr has come up with a version for the straight world, called Blendr. We know that most guys are capable of being sluts. But will the ladies sign up, or will it just be a sausage fest?


[Excerpt]

Grindr Creator Launches Blendr: Will Women Use A Random Hookup App?

Grindr, the wildly successful, male-only location-based hookup facilitator for gay, bisexual and gay-curious men, has registered 2 million users in two years. Now, the creator of Grindr has launched a new app Blendr that replicates Grindr's template, with one key twist: it allows women to register, too. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post