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Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Electronic Gadgets



It’s a good thing I don’t keep track of all the time I spend sorting out electronic gadgets. If I did, I’d probably chuck them all in the landfill and go live in a cave.

It certainly feels like I wasted most of the day on them. Nothing is ever simple. A friend gave me a nice little netbook computer that’s perfect for traveling. It came with a version of Linux similar to the versions I’m familiar with. All I wanted to do was to install Skype on the computer as it’s a nice way to communicate.

Well, there was a software problem in the operating system. Fixing that took some time but I sorted it out -not exactly sure how. That’s the nature of computer issues sometimes. Once that was fixed Skype installed just fine. Then, just to make things interesting, the mike volume is way too low. That could be either a software problem or a hardware problem. The only way I’m going to know for sure is to pick up a cheap mike and bypass the installed one.

Moving on, I tackled trying to bring my Inreach device to full function. That requires a phone app and bluetooth pairing. Of course, I couldn’t just download the app. Nope, had to sort out some stuff on the cell phone first. After the app downloaded, it would not pair with the Inreach. Then I started to wonder if the Inreach was working at all. That required going outside and connecting it to the Iridium satellite system and running some test functions. Those were fine, so I can use it for preselected messages and the all important SOS feature. I’ll get back to other issues a bit later. No sense waiting until I hit the boiling point.

At that point, not having yet my fill of frustration, I decided to look into reactivating my Straight Talk hotspot device. We are going to need Internet while traveling. Installing the phone app went well. Trying to activate it, not so much. It gave me two types of errors, pretty much at random. One seemed to indicate the problem was on their end. The other error said I had a bad SIM card. Lovely.

So yeah, I’m done. A good part of the day went down the rabbit hole.

-Sixbears

8 comments:

  1. Our toys can be frustrating at times, that's for sure!

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    1. Indeed they are! It's the price we pay for modern life.

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  2. Hey, if the technology always worked and was easy to understand, life would be so boring! (and my retirement account would be much smaller...)

    Oh, you might look at Signal.org as a secure alternative to Skype. I see there is a Debian Linux version, probably another multiple day project getting that running.

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    1. Everyone who wants to talk with me are on Skype so I'm kinda plugged into that for now. However, I will have to check out Signal.org.

      One of my Linux computers is sorted out on Skype so I'm good to go right now.

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  3. Hubby's answer to things not understood is to buy a new ..something. I'm so frustrated with his frustrations! It's gonna bankrupt us, I'm afraid, but far be it from me to get him to change.

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    1. My dad was like that. He also refused to ever take anything back to the store.

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  4. Yeah my wonderful wife presented me with a new tablet a few daze ago...
    I say daze instead of days. Simply because new devices these days , do not come with operating instructions ! It seems the whole world assumes everyone understands how each operating system works.
    But no , it is a discovery process...
    Any who, I no longer must use my old HP Desktop. Just as I was starting to remember how to do things again on Windows ten...
    Now I need an Android for dummies book lol

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    1. I wonder how much time we waste using our labor saving devices?

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