Tinys World of Technology BS

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Way back in October 2009, I wrote an article about things I hate about technology.  I’m not going to regurgitate the whole thing, but I will say that I still hate: 1) having to use several different types of USB cords and connectors; 2) End User License Agreements; 3) SPAM and forwarded e‑mails; and 4) buying a water filter for my refrigerator.

In fact, buying a water filter is what caused this months rant.  I recently went to a popular home store to buy a new filter for my Whirlpool refrigerator.  This is the same one I owned back in 2009.  After that experience, I learned to keep a file in my Evernote account listing serial numbers, product codes, manufacturer information, and most importantly, replacement part numbers.  The only problem, none of the numbers on the filters in the store matched the one I needed.  It turned out that the filter manufacturer had changed the numbering system.  The employee told me I should have brought the old filter in to the store.  I asked why since I had the number.  They were polite, looked up the new number on their fancy computer and promptly sold me the wrong filter.  After another trip the next day, I got the correct filter.  I have noticed this problem on many other items in the past.  I wonder if manufacturers think that people will buy the wrong part and just lose their money?

Maybe hate is to strong of a word, but I’ve always disliked how companies almost always have to use a proprietary document format.  The perfect example is word processing.  Why must each program have a different extension?  Is it good for business to make consumers remember “.doc”. “.odf’, “.wps”, “.docx”, “.odt”, “.txt”, “.rtf”, “.abw”, “.abi” and hundreds of others?  Almost all word processing software has a save as feature to convert files to other formats.  They can’t be that much different.  Why isn’t there a standard where all programs save in a standard format?  After all, this idea seems to work pretty well for HTML internet files.

Have you ever heard how technology brings the world closer together?  Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and many other social networks supposedly are the main reason.  Personally, I dislike how technology does the opposite.  Have you ever been in a conversation and the other person is busy fiddling with an electronic device?  Did you ever notice that many younger people don’t have simple skills like making change, telling time, following a map, etc.  These and many more are because they rely on technology too much.  I would suggest that we are moving farther apart.

I guess that I’ve done enough complaining for this month.

Thanks for reading.

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Four years ago, in October of 2012, I wrote an article about companies that I won’t do business with if I can avoid it.  You might recall my vitriol towards the Sony Corporation for the evil they did by installing a root kit on my computer.  I still haven’t forgiven them and likely never will.  I’ll just smirk when they get hacked again.

Instead, I’m going to talk about some other companies that haven’t done a very good job of retaining customer loyalty.  Some have a long track record of errors and I’m surprised that they have stayed in business.  Others probably will not go out of business but probably should.

Yahoo! has recently been sold again (maybe) to Verizon.  This is a company that once was once the most popular website in the U. S.  Once worth over $100 billion dollars, it started to decline about fifteen years ago.  Verizon is reportedly going to purchase it for about $5 billion.  Over the years, Yahoo! Missed out on chances to buy Twitter, Facebook, Google and YouTube.  The latest news is the hack of more than 500 million user accounts.  Rather than inform customers, the company didn’t do anything for two years.  They must be lousy hackers, since Yahoo! has between 2 and 3 billion users.  I think we’ll be hearing more in the future.  I don’t have to worry.  I deleted my account about five years ago.

Another company recently in the news is Samsung.  If you haven’t heard about the Galaxy Note 7 problems, I hope you’re enjoying your vacation on Mars.  I think that Samsung initially did a great job of responding to the exploding battery reports by recalling all of the phones, no questions asked.  Now it appears that the replacement phones are having the same problem.  As I write this article, Samsung has ceased sales of the device.  I don’t think the story is over yet.

I could write several pages on how badly Sony has treated their customers over the years.  If you are interested, feel free to do a search on my website and review my past thoughts.  They haven’t changed.

There are many companies that unfortunately are able to stay in business even though they don’t give a rat’s you know what about their customers.  I’m mainly thinking of communications companies.  Have you heard of any positive customer service stories about ComCast, AT&T, Verizon, etc?  I have.  They almost always get a lot better whenever some competition enters the market.  Often they end up buying the new companies, take a market loss and then return to their past ways.

It is beginning to look like we might soon lose other organizations.  Both of our major political parties are in danger of putting themselves out of business.  Neither bear much resemblance to their roots.  Maybe it is time to resurrect the Whig or Federalist Parties.  We could also turn to the Dixiecrats, the Progressives or the Natural Law Party.  The Know-Nothing Party could be the most appropriate choice.

Thanks for reading.

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I was watching television when an advertisement was aired for My Clean PC.  My first thought was that this might make a pretty good Whatchamacallit topic for the club newsletter.  I opened a virtual desktop and went to the My Clean PC website.  Bravely I ignored the Web Of Trust warning and enabled all scripting.  I downloaded and ran the free diagnostic tool.  Oh No!  My computer has a dangerous start up item, 110 registry irregularities and 12 repairable security vulnerabilities.  My internet settings aren’t optimized and there is 38.61 MB of internet clutter.

I restarted my computer and ran Wise Registry Cleaner and CCleaner.  Then I opened another virtual desktop and downloaded the diagnostic tool again.  This time there were only 109 registry irregularities.  I wonder if Wise isn’t as good as I thought?  It looks like CCleaner did a fine job.  My internet clutter is all gone.

The dangerous start up item was HPservice.exe.  The diagnostic tool didn’t tell me how it would improve my internet settings.  All of the security vulnerabilities were related to Internet Explorer.  Not only would I never spend money on the technology, but I’d advise you not to purchase any of these types of programs you might see advertised.

My Clean PC isn’t the only technology that I’ll probably never spend my money on.  I haven’t had a land line telephone for more than ten years.  I don’t know how much telephone service costs these days, but I’m sure I’ve saved thousands of dollars.  I know I’m missing out on enhanced 911.  E911 wasn’t mandated until 1999, so I’ve lived most of my life without it.  I know I’m missing out on crisp, clear calls that don’t get dropped, even though I seldom talk on the phone.  The only thing I really miss about a land line is the satisfaction of slamming down the phone when I’m really mad at someone.

I will probably never spend any money on a 3D printer.  I really like the technology and think it would be cool to be able to print some items.  Then I get realistic and realize that I really haven’t any practical use for it.  I seldom print anything any more.  After all these years I still haven’t any need for a laser printer.  Maybe when three dimensional print advances enough that I can print a cheeseburger, I’ll rethink the issue.

If you’ve read any of my previous articles, you already know that I won’t be spending any money on Sony technology of any kind.  I won’t bore you again with my reasons, but will just restate Sony is not very reliable in their security.

Even though qualify as a senior, I won’t spend any money on technology that is designed specifically for “seniors”.  I have found that most of this stuff is mostly overpriced and outdated.  If I find I should need a keyboard with big lighted keys, I know I’ll be able to find one on Amazon or Newegg for about a third of the price.  I still haven’t figured out why anyone would buy a computer just to keep up with what their grandchildren are doing.  The answer is that they are probably busy hacking their grandparents computer.

I doubt if any of my dollars will ever be spent on a “smart” watch.  I just can’t see the need for having technology that doesn’t really do anything.  All that a smart watch really does is interface with a computer.     It is more of a small monitor on your wrist than anything else.  How many do you actually see whenever you are in a crowded area.  I don’t even need one for telling time.  When I retired from the Navy in 1989, I took off my watch and I never put one back on again.

Now that I’ve saved all of that money my by not buying useless technology, I can finally afford to buy that new computerized toilet seat.  Do you know the one I mean?  It connects to your phone via Bluetooth and you can adjust the temperature of the seat.  There are a couple of speakers built in to the seat lid so you can listen to your favorite music while sitting in the bathroom.  I’m pretty sure that future updates will feature technology that will tell you when it is time to change the paper roll.

Thanks for reading.

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Way back in 2009, I wrote an article for the newsletter where I ranted on things I hate about computing.  About the only thing that has changed is that I hardly ever get any forwarded e-mails any more.  Of course, it’s probably because hardly anyone uses e-mail these days.  People have found that it’s easier to just hit a “share” button.

Maybe hate is too strong a word, but there are still a lot of things that I really dislike about electronics, computing and the internet. For instance, “click baiting” seems to be getting worse every day. Simply put, click baiting is where an advertiser pays a web site to put in an article with an interesting headline that just turns out to be advertising. If you want to see a lot of click baits, get a Facebook account. Just make sure you hit the share button to pass it on to your friends.
After giving some thought to the subject, I’ve discovered that there are a lot of other things I hate about computers, the internet and electronics in general.  For instance, I really dislike all of the haters.  Microsoft fan boys are always running down Apple while the Apple fans do the same to Microsoft.  Of course, the Linux users are different.  They hate all the other operating systems.  It goes even further.  If you go to a camera forum, you will find Sony, Canon, Olympus, etc. users at each others throats.  Don’t you miss the old days of “FORD: Fix or repair daily”?  Personally, I’d rather fix a Ford than drive a Chevy.

I really dislike software that isn’t user friendly.  Some programs have windows that can’t be re-sized.  I’m getting older and my eyesight isn’t what it used to be.  If I can’t make the window bigger and re-size the font, I likely won’t use the software.  Then there is software that won’t let you choose where to install it.  I don’t install all of my programs into “program files”.  Lots of times, I don’t even install them on the C drive.  I’m not even going to talk about End User Licensing Agreements or unwanted offers.  One of the worst things is a question similar to: “Click this box if you like this article”.  Then you see a yes box with no alternatives.  You can’t continue if you don’t check the box.

I wonder if Microsoft will ever fix one little thing that has bugged me for as long as I remember.  Whenever you use file explorer to copy, move or delete a list of files, Windows makes an estimate of how long it will take.  Wouldn’t it be nice if the estimate was close once in a while.

Isn’t it amazing how many download sites have succumbed to evil ways?  In times past, CNETs download.com was the premier site to get software.  In recent years, the site has become riddled with malware, drive-by downloads, and other unwanted junk.  Source Forge has joined them.  Some days you can’t keep up with the bad stuff.

Since another thing I hate is long winded diatribes from complainers, I’ll just say, “Thanks for reading.”