In Troubleshooting, Question Your Assumptions

I will often use a large number of Internet browsers for a variety of reasons. For example, in my work as an Oracle DBA, I've generally found that Firefox worked better with Oracle web servers. Some browsers will block URLs they consider unsafe, even in a trusted intranet. My current client promotes Internet Explorer as their supported browser. Sometimes add-on's/extensions are exclusive to a particular browser. Others provide better privacy guards, have integrated support for video downloads, etc.

I've generally liked and use Google products; I was one of the earliest gmail users, I've got a Chromecast and Google Hub, I often embed multiple Youtube videos in my daily political posts, and I use Blogger for all my blogs. I was also an early adopter of Google Chrome. As familiar readers know, I have five PC's (long story: 3 of them were brought back from the dead)  plus a Chromebook. I use them for different purposes. But one of the nice features (also implemented by other browsers) is Chrome's Google Sync feature, which includes, but is not limited to bookmarks. I've gathered and organized literally thousands of bookmarks over the years. I like being able to use any of my devices and having and being able to tweak the same bookmarks everywhere. I routinely maintain backups on multiple external hard drives, I've got cloud backups, and I could quickly switch to a backup PC in the event my workhorse PC becomes disabled. Oh, don't get me wrong; I would still need to reinstall certain apps, like my licensed Microsoft Office suite, but I also have flash drives with portable apps (including free open-source office suites, not to mention there's Google Documents and other apps via my Internet browser).

So I had started a new position and quickly gathered a number of links, e.g., to a timesheet system, web-based work email and other applications, an HR URL for paperwork, etc., quickly organized in a company folder. The other day I had switched to one of my backup computers and was working on a blog post when I noticed incidentally I didn't see my new company folder in its expected place. I double-checked: Google Sync was on in Chrome on both PC's. I double-checked setups on my backup PC, thinking maybe it wasn't syncing with the cloud. Nope.

What was wrong? The reader may guess the obvious correct answer, i.e., my workhorse PC wasn't syncing my local bookmarks to the cloud, that the bookmarks sync option had been toggled off. I had initially rejected that notion because I didn't remember going into sync options to toggle off any default option, never mind knowingly turning off a desired option. Well, not only was the bookmarks option toggled off, but all the others as well! So I had the paradox of Google Sync was on but not syncing anything to the cloud since all the options were turned off!

Obviously when I turned everything back on, my bookmarks migrated to my backup desktop, still leaving the mystery of how my sync options were in an interim off status. I did have a Chrome update issue a few weeks back and did a deinstall/reinstall of the browser as per guidance. I'm not sure if my enigmatic situation is an artifact of the reinstall process, but I'm making a mental check to reexamine Google Sync options routinely in the future, including any browser updates or reinstalls.

On a separate Google-related note,  I remembered the Blogger Dashboard for a list of one's blogs and had a stored bookmark to it (see here for a mockup of what I'm describing). So a few weeks back I clicked on the URL--and no dashboard. Now I had noticed on my individual blog all-posts page there was a drop-down menu of my blogs (from the current/working blob ID), including an option to create a new blog. So it's fairly easy to switch among blogs; effectively the dashboard has been integrated into individual blog pages.

I think maybe this 11/22/2016 post explains it:

To kick things off, we’ve taken a crack at simplifying Blogger’s dashboard so that it’s easier for you to get right to the tools you need. Now, whenever you open Blogger, you’ll be taken right to your blog with the most recent post, putting you one click or tap closer to drafting something new

Um, yeah, except I had already bookmarked the posts page for my signature political blog. So I wasn't going to the dashboard to start a new post. I was using the dashboard for a more consolidated view of my blogs. Now I could easily set up an html page to mimic functionality.of the old dashboard; I just wish that Blogger had given us an option to retain the old dashboard.

Tiles and Integration with Google Hub

I love Google products and services. But there are some usability issues that drive me crazy. One recent issue which comes to mind is the Google Nest Thermostat which I described in a recent post. I've unsuccessfully tried to get apartment management to replace what I think is a defective unit (the actual temperature deviates, which I verified from a cheap handheld thermostat I bought from Walmart). Reseeding the device occasionally corrects the temperature but it'll climb (above the real temperature). So I have to do offsets. For example, if I set the heat for 68, and I wake up to 64, and Nest shows 72, I'll reset the heat target to (say) 76. I'll make similar adjustments periodically while I'm in the apartment. It gets particularly annoying because it'll reset your heat target in "energy saving" mode. (I routinely get  utility reports showing my apartment as the most efficient among neighbors, obviously unrelated to Nest.)

Sometime back I bought some Tiles. These are great for relocating items. Now at the risk of oversimplification, there are two types of Tiles, a flat kind (Slim) that you can insert into a wallet and a thicker, small plastic device with a keychain hole (Mate), which sort of reminds me of an iPod Shuffle. I originally bought 2 four-packs of the latter, one for my Mom (who didn't want it, found it insulting). These come with replaceable batteries (which you can buy in multi-unit packs for about $1 each). These need to be set up/registered with a cellphone app and an account with thetileapp.com.

So the Tiles have basically have two-way functionality. (Note the devices have ranges, depending on model from 150-400 feet.) Through the cellphone app, you can click to activate a noise from the target, say, my keys or wallet. And assuming your cellphone has battery power, the Tile app loaded and bluetooth on, you should be able to locate your cellphone from the tile by double-pressing the tile.

I didn't even realize it but my batteries had expired when I tried to use the tiles for the first time in months. I finally shipped my Mom's set and was going to brief my brothers on setup. For the most part, functionality works as expected in testing (e.g., for my wallet or keys). Occasionally it fails for unspecified reasons.

At some point I became aware I should be able to locate my Tiles through my Google Hub after setup, e.g., "Hey Google: ring my keys." I used documentation from the Tile App and Google, but I couldn't get functionality to work properly, and tech support from Google and the Tile App were ineffective (the latter was particularly obnoxious pasting the same setup 3 times, which had been done before my chat session). Somehow the Google Hub didn't think I had turned on the private results option through Google Home. Long story short, I found the Google Hub was linked to two of my gmail accounts. I delinked the less frequently used account, and that seemed to resolve my functionality issues.