Archive of posts filed under the Technology category.

Get locked up for unlocking your phone

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Image: Herald-Dispatch

This is a long story. Let me get to the part you might care about so you can read it and go on about your business.

The Librarian of Congress has decreed that unauthorized unlocking of a mobile phone is a criminal offense. Not jailbreaking, mind you; that’s still legal. But unlocking the phone to use on another carrier.

It’s no longer an issue between you and your carrier. It’s now a federal offense. That’s authorized because of the part of the Constitution where the Founding Fathers were concerned about AT&T losing your business to Walmart. I’m sure it’s in there. Just ask any liberal.

Anyway, this could have impacted me late last year. And that’s the long story I’m gonna tell you. If you stick around for it.
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Getting your hack on

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The White House wants you hackers to hack.

Yep, on June 1 and 2, they want you to participate in a National Day of Civic Hacking. They’re wanting hackers to participate in all 50 states. As I write this, 27 cities are participating, including 5 in Georgia, counting Columbus (where I am).

I don’t see Boise on the list, so I don’t know if Frank is going to participate. I think Harvey is within 100 miles of one of them, but I don’t know if he’s going to participate. It’s a weekend, so people that have Monday-Friday jobs will be able to play along.

Am I going to participate? I don’t know. A lot, but not all, of the computer hacky types around here are goofy liberals. I might show up just to piss them off.

Anyway, if you were to participate, what would you do?

How would you “hack for a cause?”

Too late to get an iPhone now

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It’s over, iPhone. Pack it up. Throw in the towel. You’re history.

Well, to hear teens talk, that’s the story, at least according to Forbes:

“Teens are telling us Apple is done,” says Tina Wells of the youth marketing agency Buzz Marketing Group. “Apple has done a great job of embracing Gen X and older [Millennials], but I don’t think they are connecting with Millennial kids. [They’re] all about Surface tablets/laptops and Galaxy.”

The problem seems to be that parents are getting the newer iPhones and iPads, while giving the kids the older models. So, kids want the Samsung Galaxy S III phone or the Microsoft Surface tablet. That doesn’t mean they’re getting one of those, just that’s what the kids want. On the other hand, Apple has cut orders for iPhone 5 parts.

If you never joined the iPhone brigade, it’s too late now, if you want to be seen as one of the cool kids.

Because I always make my several-hundred-dollar purchases based on what some 14-year-old thinks.

RUR

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I have always been fascinated by robots. I’d laugh at the silly robots from some of the early science fiction films I saw on TV, although I loved the Class M-3 Model B9, General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot from Lost In Space.

I never thought of the Tin Woodsman from The Wizard of Oz as a robot, but I suppose he was. Maybe not. The chick in Metropolis was definitely a robot, though she didn’t look like it for most of the film.

The robots in a lot of Isaac Asimov’s stories and novels were always lots of fun to read about.

I even liked Johnny Five from Short Circuit — though the robot was cooler than the movie.

Of course, I had a Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots game when I was a kid.

I’m not sure what fascinated me about robots. Was it their near-human appearance that was both frightening and fascinating? Was it the idea that a robot could do work I didn’t want to do? Like Rosie from The Jetsons?

Not consciously, but maybe, in the back of my mind, that was there.

There has been an advancement in robotics. No, they haven’t turned a Roomba into Rosie just yet. They’ve made a robot that can vomit.

Seriously.

They’re studying how the spray can pass along viruses or something else just as disgusting.

That’s a pretty specialized use for a vomiting robot. But, it still has applications beyond the laboratory. If I had one, I’d have it sit in front of the TV and watch Obama, and then vomit in disgust, so I wouldn’t have to.

Roach, Democrat, but I repeat myself

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Technology is amazing. Sure, they come up with silly things, but the genius of technology isn’t just developing the new tech, but the applications for the tech.

For instance, there’s a technology that controls roaches. It’s called RoboRoach. Well, now there’s been an advancement in robotic roach technology. Seems someone figured out how to control RoboRoaches through the Twitterz.

During certain time periods, according to the article, they allowed tweets to control roaches, using hashtags like #TweetRoachLeft and #TweetRoachRight.

The next step? I suggest using Democrats. Shouldn’t be a big jump in technology to control a slightly (but only slightly) more complex life form than roaches. Democrats would be perfect.

Only, anyone who sends #TweetObamaLeft needs to be beat with a stick.

Cutting the Cord, Part 2: Devices

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When it comes to dropping cable (or satellite), you must find ways to replace the content. To do that, you need content providers, and a device to get the content to your TV.

Last time, we talked about content providers. This time, we’ll look at ways to view the content.

There are many ways to watch the content. I’ve used several, including:

There is also just watching on the TV directly. I haven’t done that in a while, but there are two reasons to use that method.

One is you go with over the air (OTA) antenna only. If that’s the only method you want to use to watch TV, you don’t need anything more than a TV. Now, if you’re helping someone on a fixed income, or have an older TV you just can’t bear to part with, you need a digital-to-analog TV converter box.

The other reason a TV might be enough is that some TVs come with apps built in. Usually, you’ll find Netflix, but you may also find Hulu Plus, Vudu, Amazon, or other apps for other providers.
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Cutting the Cord, Part 1: Content

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An unhappy Cable Guy.

Photo: Crown Publishing

For a couple of years now, I dropped cable and have gone to watching TV over the Internet. Oh, not on my laptop or on a desktop, but on my TV. But, I’m getting content from the Internet. Almost all of it. Some I’m watching from an antenna.

About three years ago, I wondered if there was a way to save money on cable. We already had the basic service, but that was kind of expensive still.

Cable TV runs a lot. And satellite packages do, too. More than I want to pay. So, I took a year, noted every show we watched, then looked up the various ways it was available, and how much each way cost.

What I looked at were:

Yes, there are other methods available to get content, but these sources allowed me to easily watch content on my TV. Hulu (not Hulu Plus, but Hulu; there is a difference) was a little more involved, as you’ll see.
Continue reading ‘Cutting the Cord, Part 1: Content’ »