Well, I'll start out this note with the tax form comments since it's Tax Day 2017 (April 15 fell on a Saturday this year). Maybe I've become used to fillable pdf forms; I really didn't anticipate any issues when I downloaded my part-year Arizona resident form (I moved from South Carolina in July)--until I got to the point of trying to print my completed form. I then saw some form of form trigger which displayed a message to the effect "if you are seeing this, it means you haven't completed all of the required form items. Look for the red-bordered form elements and complete them". I couldn't find any such items. Finally, I went to the state website and downloaded the non-fillable pdf form--and had to re-enter all the information from the original form (which of course I couldn't print for convenience). I absolutely hate duplication of effort. I can understand the logic of form triggers, but apparently this one had a bug and didn't allow me to manually override it.
As I've probably described in past posts, I now have 4 PC's--3 notebooks and a desktop. I had brought 2 notebooks with me to Arizona; the desktop was sent with my household goods. I discovered the bag for my first notebook become wet and the notebook wouldn't start at my first night's stay in Alabama. I had purchased the second as my backup, an inexpensive one. I had purchased that one because I had been unable to start up my desktop which had been buried in storage in WV when I moved to SC. Some months later, I discovered a flicker of life in the desktop just when I was thinking of junking it. There were complications with power sockets and a bug with Rollback RX (a second licensed copy), software I was using to enable snapshot resets. (I had run into repeated issues trying to reset the first workhorse PC which for some reason did not tolerate Rollback RX--after about 4 or 5 system resets to factory settings in 3 months, I finally stopped using Rollback RX--and had no other reset issues (until recently, over 2 years). And then on my second night in Texas (I think I've written about this in earlier posts), I tried to startup my backup notebook and was in the process of trying to attach a USB of backups (e.g., of email files) when the notebook went black. Not even the power charge indicator was lighting up and the power button refused to work. I was totally demoralized: I had lost 2 laptops in 2 days. Plus, my desktop wouldn't be available for at least a couple of weeks. So I ended up having to buy a new notebook at WalMart when I got to Arizona with all the fun and games of updating Windows, reinstalling all my applications, etc. In fact, I'm still using that one as my current workhorse, which means I now maintain 3 backup PC's. Well, the battery on the first laptop is shot, and occasionally the second gives me problems on startup--which I can usually resolve by pressing on the power key for about 45 seconds, release, and press again. (A few months I tried to restart my first 2 laptops and was pleasantly surprised to find both computers come back to life.) The downside is that I have to constantly update the Windows and security software on all the PC's.
So finally the first notebook (I'll call 'Alabama') started balking, hour-glassing to the point it was unusable. So I had to revert to factory reset. Which meant going all the way back to Windows 8. So then you have to sit through over 100 Windows updates plus. And when it finally gets there, you get a sales pitch to upgrade to Windows 10? What the hell? I had upgraded to Windows 10 some time back when it was free. Did that mean they now expected me to buy an upgrade just to get back to where my system failed? I soon became convinced through my Microsoft Support page that Microsoft "knows" the PC had been previously upgraded to 10 so all I had to do was download the upgrade software and install it.
I don't have the full installation of applications on each PC, although I maintain the latest core applications on a USB hard drive, and I have individual thumb drives with updated key portable apps.
So I could easily reconfigure, say, my Thunderbird email client, within a matter of minutes.
Then over this weekend, I was able to apply the latest cumulative 1607 patch to Windows 10 to all my PC's--except "Arizona", my current workhorse. I got one of those generic "we were unable to reinstall; we'll try again later." I tried running Upgrade Troubleshooter, etc. I'm not sure what exactly did the trick, but I think it was switching off the advanced option to let Windows download other patches--plus a system reboot.
Just a small tip to users of Chrome-like Slimjet (I occasionally download key video clips for my political blog): it looks like logging into Youtube and/or Google will toggle off the "download video" option.
Monday, April 17, 2017
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Tissue Paper, a New Phone, etc.
One of my favorite themes in the blog is natural design, and as Norman notes, this includes the psychology of everyday things (even things not involving information technology). That even includes things like trying to find things on my shopping list at WalMart. It often surprises me how often I'll find myself befuddled in trying to find things, based on association, other store item placement, etc. It's not just me; there have been other shoppers asking me. I think at the time WalMart had things like trash bags and paper products in a neighboring set of aisles in the back of my aisles, not in the grocery aisles themselves. I've run into issues at various times finding honey (not in the sugar/sweetener aisle), lemon juice, powdered sugar-free beverages, etc. Another time I needed to buy a ream of paper for my printer (I don't use my printer daily). Think I could find paper in the printer section? Nope. (Office supplies. I'm not saying that's unreasonable, but they didn't have printers in office supplies; I would have placed some reams in the printer section if for no other reason than add-on sales in buying a printer.)
I've been relatively lucky to be free of colds and the flu for most of my life; I've rarely had runny noses, etc. It suddenly struck me the other day I don't even have handkerchiefs in my dresser. A few weeks back, of all things in southern Arizona, I caught a nasty, vicious cold and repeated coughing with some flu symptoms; it's possible I caught it from co-workers or maybe it had to do going from cold server rooms to a hot sun The worst was over probably over a weekend, but the cough and runny nose dragged on for 2-3 weeks. (I just realized I've only had an occasional cough this week. My boss had suggested trying honey. The coughing may have run its course, so I'm not sure a teaspoon of honey a day cured me.)
So I went to WalMart with the idea of buying some tissues. (I also tried to find handkerchiefs but if they stock them, I couldn't find any.) So I'm thinking they stock some along with ears, nose, and throat medications and accessories: I mean, you can find baby wipes, acne pads, tampons, etc. Again, if you are selling products for nasal decongestant and cough syrup, why not tissues? They sold them, of course; I found them in the paper products aisle (next to the paper towels, of course). Let's just say if I was a store manager, I would handle things differently.
On a separate note, I recently had to replace my smartphone. Granted, I had encrypted the phone, but I've unlocked my phone literally hundred of times without incident. I hadn't used my phone for a few days (I have an iPhone work phone), and when I went to use the phone again, it rejected my password. I went to factory reset the phone, but the end result was the same decryption password challenge, which again it rejected. I went to my mobile carrier; it boiled down to my cellphone was no longer under warranty and if factory reset didn't work, I was out of luck: buy a replacement phone.
To be honest, the battery sucked on the old phone; I almost never used it and the battery would need to be recharged every few hours. My workphone goes for days without a recharge. However, I had no desire to spend hundreds on a smartphone. I settled for a low-end Samsung model
This provided me with an interesting experiment of testing the usability of a new cellphone. I will often something like a new minor kitchen appliance by how long it takes for me to use it practically; the learnability and intuitive nature of its initial use. Little did I know the decision would be forced on me. The phone came with its battery packaged separately. No real "quick start" guide, e.g., how to insert the battery, etc. I knew I had to pry off the back the phone; it didn't take long to figure it out. Next, it was fairly easy to figure out where to insert the battery, but there were no visual cues on how to mount the battery (e.g., side and direction). Sometimes, e.g., with credit card insertions, you get tactile feedback on proper insertion. I inferred it had to be mounted a certain way and was relieved when I plugged the USB charger/converter in to see the phone register a charging icon.
Incidentally, I discovered a battery-saving mode and I can go days without a charge on light call volume. Another big plus over the prior phone: I am not crazy about tiny smartphone keyboards, which I all too frequently fat-finger (even the iPhone). But the Samsung keyboards, in my experience, easily handle things like my passwords with my thick fingers.
I've been relatively lucky to be free of colds and the flu for most of my life; I've rarely had runny noses, etc. It suddenly struck me the other day I don't even have handkerchiefs in my dresser. A few weeks back, of all things in southern Arizona, I caught a nasty, vicious cold and repeated coughing with some flu symptoms; it's possible I caught it from co-workers or maybe it had to do going from cold server rooms to a hot sun The worst was over probably over a weekend, but the cough and runny nose dragged on for 2-3 weeks. (I just realized I've only had an occasional cough this week. My boss had suggested trying honey. The coughing may have run its course, so I'm not sure a teaspoon of honey a day cured me.)
So I went to WalMart with the idea of buying some tissues. (I also tried to find handkerchiefs but if they stock them, I couldn't find any.) So I'm thinking they stock some along with ears, nose, and throat medications and accessories: I mean, you can find baby wipes, acne pads, tampons, etc. Again, if you are selling products for nasal decongestant and cough syrup, why not tissues? They sold them, of course; I found them in the paper products aisle (next to the paper towels, of course). Let's just say if I was a store manager, I would handle things differently.
On a separate note, I recently had to replace my smartphone. Granted, I had encrypted the phone, but I've unlocked my phone literally hundred of times without incident. I hadn't used my phone for a few days (I have an iPhone work phone), and when I went to use the phone again, it rejected my password. I went to factory reset the phone, but the end result was the same decryption password challenge, which again it rejected. I went to my mobile carrier; it boiled down to my cellphone was no longer under warranty and if factory reset didn't work, I was out of luck: buy a replacement phone.
To be honest, the battery sucked on the old phone; I almost never used it and the battery would need to be recharged every few hours. My workphone goes for days without a recharge. However, I had no desire to spend hundreds on a smartphone. I settled for a low-end Samsung model
This provided me with an interesting experiment of testing the usability of a new cellphone. I will often something like a new minor kitchen appliance by how long it takes for me to use it practically; the learnability and intuitive nature of its initial use. Little did I know the decision would be forced on me. The phone came with its battery packaged separately. No real "quick start" guide, e.g., how to insert the battery, etc. I knew I had to pry off the back the phone; it didn't take long to figure it out. Next, it was fairly easy to figure out where to insert the battery, but there were no visual cues on how to mount the battery (e.g., side and direction). Sometimes, e.g., with credit card insertions, you get tactile feedback on proper insertion. I inferred it had to be mounted a certain way and was relieved when I plugged the USB charger/converter in to see the phone register a charging icon.
Incidentally, I discovered a battery-saving mode and I can go days without a charge on light call volume. Another big plus over the prior phone: I am not crazy about tiny smartphone keyboards, which I all too frequently fat-finger (even the iPhone). But the Samsung keyboards, in my experience, easily handle things like my passwords with my thick fingers.
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