Tinys World of Technology BS

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’m still not a millionaire.  Back in June 2013, I thought for sure one of my Tiny Inventions would be picked up for production.  Tiny Inventions II in March 2017 didn’t do any better, so I tried again in March 2019 with Tiny Inventions III.  You would think that I should have learned by now.

I haven’t so here are some more of my ideas for inventions to make those big bucks.
1) Battery technology has really advanced in recent years.  The problem is that they still have to be recharged.  You need to always carry cables, battery packs, solar chargers, etc.  The Tinarger will solve this problem.  This small device is a dongle that will connect to the phones USB port.  Simply speaking into the Tinarger will active a mini‑wind turbine to recharge the device.  Hot air blowhards can finally put their talent to a good use.

2) The Tinoilet is a modification to a standard toilet that will replace the flushing mechanism.  The tank lid that is usually used for storing odd things like decorative soaps will be replaced with a hand washing sink.  After using the toilet, users would wash their hands under running water that fills the tank.  When the users hands are cleaned, the waste wash water will then flush the Tinoilet.

3) Speaking of bathrooms, don’t you hate it when the mirror fogs and you have to wipe it with a towel?  The TinyWiper will solve that problem.  It works like a standard car windshield wiper and is powered by a small battery that is automatically recharged by light from bathroom fixtures.

4) The TinyMill is a needed exercise device.  Many doctors recommend walking.  Unfortunately, walking can be bad for your knees.  The TinyMill is a large tub with a revolving surface.  You can walk and soak at the same time.

5) The Tinife is an electrically heated knife with multiple settings and uses.  You can replace your toaster by toasting the bread while you slice it.  If you use pre-sliced bread, simply rub the Tinife over the slice.  If you’re slicing meat, you can warm it at the same time.  Hard butter pats are no longer a problem.  They melt as you spread.  The best feature is that the Tinife sanitizes itself.

I sure hope that someone will take my ideas and put them on the market.  I could use the money.  I’m also running out of ideas.

That’s all for this month.  Thanks for reading.

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I often wonder about a lot of things.  Lately I’ve been thinking about magnitude.  Does size matter?  No, I’m not writing a post with innuendos about things that you might find in someones bedroom.  I’m not thinking about how big your car might be or even the size of our President’s ego.  I’ve been contemplating the size of the various electronic stuff that I use.

It all began when I recently purchased a new tablet.  I’ve routinely used a tablet since the Nexus 7.  My portable needs were never very high.  I use my tablet mostly for reading library books and magazines, listening to podcasts and playing a few games.  I never needed high end performance or top of the line components.  My biggest requirement was always buying a 7 inch tablet.  I liked that size because they easily fit in the side pocket of my cargo shorts.  This time, I couldn’t find a decent 7 inch tablet for less than $100.  I opted to buy a Chuwi 8 inch.  It works fine and I like it a lot, except for the extra inch.  It fits in my pocket, but not quite in my hand.  The feel just isn’t there.  I often feel like it is ready to fall out of my hand.  I’ve found that size does matter.

I have the same problem with phones.  I’ve had phones smaller than 5½ inches and larger than 6 inches.  They just didn’t work for me.  I need a machine that easily fits in my shirt pocket but doesn’t overwhelm my hand.  Size does matter.

I once owned a 10 inch laptop that I gave away to one of my grandsons.  It was a good machine with decent specs, but I couldn’t use it.  It was so small that it didn’t fit on my lap.  The smaller size meant a smaller keyboard which made it extremely difficult for a touch typist.  My new laptop is a 15 inch, the perfect size.

Another item where size matters is desktop monitors.  I’ve got five of them on my desktop.  I look at the 32 inch monitor all the time.  I seldom look at the 16 inch screen.  Size does matter.

The minimum RAM requirement for Windows 10 is 2 gb.  I don’t think anyone will agree that is the right size.  You should run at least 8 gb.  Size does matter.  (This is probably the one time where it can be said that “bigger is better”.)

I usually have about 10 mouses in my electronics box.  Most of them are there partly because they are the wrong size.  I like a full size mouse that fits my hand and doesn’t cramp my fingers when I’m computing.  That’s why I won’t buy a mouse online.  I need to check the fit in the store before I use it.

This article is starting get get a little long.  Does size matter?
Thanks for reading.

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Here I go again with one of my A to Z articles. This month the A to Z of the SWLAPCUG.

A is for Apple – a company with products that our club doesn’t talk about much.
B is for Bits & Chips – the club newsletter.
C is for Coppermine – the software that powers member photo galleries.
D is for Damn – a word that Tiny often uses when updating the club web site.
E is for Education – what we attempt to accomplish.
F is for From the President’s Desk – a monthly section in the club newsletter.
G is for GTPCC – our sister club until they disbanded.
H is for HostGator – our web site provider.
I is for Internet – whatever that is.
J is for Jande Street – where we hold our meetings.
K is for Kernel – because every member of the club works together
L is for Libre Office – the word processor used by many members.
M is for Monday – when we have our monthly meeting.
N is for Night – because it coincides perfectly with the M.
O is for Operating Systems – we discuss them all.
P is for phpBB – the software that powers our forums.
Q is for Quiet – with shy and unassuming describes the member with the longest drive.
R is for RAM – or ROM, RSS, RTF, RJ45, RGB, RAID, RPM, RTN, etc.
S is for Scribus – the software used to create the club newsletter.
T is for Tiny’s World of BS – nothing to do with the club but a shameless plug for me.
U is for Utilities – programs often discussed at club meetings.
V is for VLC Media Player – used by many club members.
W is for WWW.SWLAPCUG.org – or .com, the club website address.
X is for Xyloid – where we go to meet for a SIG group.
Y is for Yaud – Tom’s function in the club.
Z is for Zettabyte – amount of info to accumulate before the club disbands.

Thanks for reading.

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Lately, I’ve been at kind of a loss on what to write for this months Whatchamcallit article.  Since the club domain is coming up for renewal, I decided to write about how lousy member participation is.  I wrote the article and then realized it was probably not a nice thing to print.  I wrote some stuff that could be pretty embarrassing to some club members.

I can’t imagine anyone not knowing about the Mueller Report.  It has been on the news everyday.  The final redacted report was recently released.  For those that might not know, redacted means edited or censored.  I realized that this was the perfect solution for publishing my article without compromising anyone or hurting their feelings.  I hope you enjoy my redacted message.  Most redacts are several words or names.

Last month, ℜeedacted the newsletter for a ℜeedacted I had hoped to ℜedacted this month.  I will admit that part of the reason for the ℜedacted to make more use of the club website.  ℜedacted. I told them they would have to find out by ℜedacted.  I thought sure that everyone would check ℜedacted.

As I write this on the afternoon of April 19, ℜedacted to the web site to ℜedacted.  Even though I was wrong, I was not really ℜedacted.  Here are some website member statistics.  These numbers are since ℜedacted.  I don’t want to single out anyone so I won’t ℜedacted.

MEMBER DATE LAST ACTIVE NUMBER OF POSTS
ℜedacted Fri Apr 19, 2019 5:16 pm 823
ℜedacted Tue Apr 9, 2019 5:18 am 477
ℜedacted Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:01 pm 5
ℜedacted Sat Jan 12, 2019 7:44 pm 3
ℜedacted Sat Feb 21, 2015 5:09 pm 0
ℜedacted Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:55 pm 10
ℜedacted Never 0
ℜedacted Mon Apr 8, 2019 5:24 pm 0

Do we really need a club website when only ℜedacted and many members hardly even bother ℜedacted?  A forum based website could be a vibrant place where ℜedacted are really “users helping users”.
There have been several ℜedacted.  The site administrators have often ℜedacted. ℜedacted a suggestion was made to ℜedacted.  The site was changed ℜedacted the idea.  ℜedacted.

Then there is the club newsletter. ℜedacted useful part of the club.  I still think so, ℜedacted members do.   Other than some ℜedacted, hardly anyone has bothered to ℜedacted for content.  A ℜedacted articles, I was told that it was helpful.  If someone had ℜedacted the newsletter then.

My point is that it is the CLUB newsletter, not the Tiny newsletter.  It is the CLUB website, not the Tiny site.  (I already have four sites).  Everyone has knowledge of something.  Is it so hard to write a short article and share it with everyone?  Is it so difficult to take a minute and share that link instead of e-mailing it?

There. I’m done with my ranting. I’m not trying to ℜedacted anyone, but I really think that ℜedacted give some thought to our club ℜedacted.  Are they necessary or should we change or discontinue them?

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’m not giving up!  After all, I’ve only tried twice.  In June 2013, inspired by Google Glass, I wrote an article about what I thought would make me some extra spending money.  Even though I didn’t raise any money, I tried again in March 2017.  This month, I’m back with some more great ideas for things everyone can use.

I still can’t believe that the “Tiny Monocle” didn’t catch on.  It so outdid Google Glass.  I can say the same thing about the “Tiny Belt”, but I’m still not giving up on inventing the perfect wearable.  There are all kinds of smart watches, activity trackers, health care monitors, etc.  You can even buy smart clothing.  Technology has even invaded jewelry.  You can purchase smart watches, earrings, necklaces and a ring for your fingers or toes.

I can’t believe that no one but me as thought about inventing and marketing a smart nose ring.  I’ll call it the “noseTring”.  My noseTring would do many of the same things that other wearable technology does, only better.  Sleep tracking would be improved because the Tring would be much closer to the brain enabling better tracking of waves.  The best part of wearing a noseTring is that the embedded camera would take much better pictures of people.  After all, their eyes would be pointing directly at the wearer’s nose.

Another of my ideas that didn’t catch on was the “Tiny Pet Mouse Registry”.  The idea was to recycle old computer mice into official pets.  I would then make money by selling pet accessories.  I’m pretty sure the reason it wasn’t a success is because I picked the wrong item for a pet.  That’s why I’m going to introduce the “Tiny Old Phone Registry”.  Instead of trying to make money selling accessories, I’ll just charge a small annual fee.

Everyone I know has an old phone or two lying around somewhere.  Now they can put them to use and turn them into pet(s).  Members will register their new pets by the IMEI number and upload a picture of their new pet.  I’ll add it to the database and assign it a name.  Of course, one of my old phones would be the first pet.  My HTC TP2 would be named Tipi.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) bots are fast becoming the latest and greatest technology.  They are quickly taking over the world and anticipating what we humans will do.  That’s why I’m going to invent an “Artificial Stupidity System”.  This system will help people decide what is the stupidest thing they can do in any situation.  You might wonder why you would want to make stupid responses.  The answer is simple.  It will be perfect training for later years when you might be in a position of authority.  Don’t many business leaders and politicians constantly do and say stupid things?  Probably the best thing about my Artificial Stupidity System is that it would have a great acronym.

Don’t worry, I plan to share the millions that I will undoubtedly make from these ideas.  Thanks for reading.

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

King Charles I said, “Never make a defense or an apology until you are accused.”  Things sure haven’t changed much since the 1600’s.  It seems like every day, someone in politics is apologizing for something stupid.  Who am I kidding.  It is more like every couple of hours.  My personal favorites are when they say they are sorry and then in the next sentence, explain that it was because they weren’t really at fault.

I could elaborate for hours on how the President is sorry he has to separate children from their parents because of the Democrats.  I won’t though.  After all.  This is a technology column, not political.

In the technology world, we have our own “Apologizer in Chief”.  Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 and made his first privacy apology in 2007: “We simply did a bad job with this release and I apologize for it.”  In 2010 he made another apology: “We just missed the mark,” he said.  “We heard the feedback.”  Then there was an apology in 2011: “I’m the first to admit that we’ve made a bunch of mistakes.”  There have been many other apologies from Mr. Zuckerberg.  Maybe his apology tour will be the culmination.

Of course, Facebook isn’t the only tech company that has recently made a confession and an apology.  Apple is sorry they slowed down older phones.  Uber didn’t know their drivers did naughty things.  Sony is always regretting something.  Wells Fargo is so sorry that they re‑invented the company.  I can’t remember if Equifax apologized or not.  One of my favorite apologies was when the Twitter CEO was sorry that he ate at Chick‑fil‑A.

With all of the apology fever going around, I thought I had better make an apology or two myself.  After all, apologies are serious business.  I’m more or less a serious guy.

I’d like to apologize to the computer club for publishing last months newsletter on Thursday.  I know that everyone expects it on the Monday before the meeting.  Although I’ve attempted to find someone or something to blame it on, it was late due solely to my own laziness.  I hope that no one was too severely inconvenienced.

I would like to apologize to the Golden Triangle Computer Club for the bad joke I made at one of their meetings.  When a Norton Utilities Disk was the featured door prize, I told them I hoped I would win it.  Then I could throw it in the trash and there would be one less Norton program in the world.  Although I made the comment in a moment of complete lucidity, I certainly regret offending any Texans.

Lastly, I would like to give a sincere apology to all of the companies whose EULA’s I claim to have actually read.  As everyone knows, “End User License Agreements” are very important in the computer world.  Like many other people I have many times clicked that little box that says I have read and understand everything in their short documents.  Actually, I have never read them.  I use a program and a couple of websites that do it for me.  I’m so sorry that I deceived the affected companies.

I was going to apologize to the reader for writing this article, but I’m not sorry I did.  I started with a quote and I’ll finish with one from Jim Bouton: “It never hurts to apologize, especially if you don’t mean it.”

Thanks for reading.