Category: Tech
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Reparable Laptops and Cell Phones
2/21/2022:The planned obsolescence of modern devices concerns me. We are drowning in tech waste, but the manufacturers are happy to sell us phones and computers that are obsolete and not able to be updated after relatively short periods of time. The recent Make magazine issue, number 80, has the theme “How to Win the War…
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Minecraft
2/17/2022:Recently, my grandson and I switched from playing World of Warcraft on Sunday afternoons back to Minecraft, our original game. We host our server on an Amazon World Server (AWS). I tried to update our Minecraft server from version 1.17.1 to 1.18.1, but the AWS had apparently gotten too bloated for upgrades. I had substantial…
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WordPress Hosting v. GoDaddy WordPress Hosting
2/10/2022:I have a website hosted by GoDaddy. When it was time to renew the managed WordPress site and I saw the cost of renewal, I opted not to renew. I still have the domain but there is nothing on the website. On the GoDaddy site I do not think I got one legitimate comment or…
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Out-of-Date and Replacements
2/9/2022:I have a 2015 Dell XPS desktop. It was a pretty high end machine when I bought it, plenty of RAM, large drives, gaming video card. Last year, the C: drive and video card both went. I replaced the C: drive with a ssd drive, but decided that a new video card was too expensive…
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Shallow v. Deep Work
2/9/2022:The book Deep Work has a number of interesting ideas, many of which I had explored when I was working. One of the ideas that I do not think works is his idea of approaching your boss with the goal of agreeing to a percentage allocation to deep and shallow work. I have tried something…
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Distractions
2/7/2022:For many years, one of the very first things I did was go through emails. I wanted to see what was facing me that day. I still do that, but the amount of stuff I need to deal with is a fraction of what it was. I am usually at my computer by 5:30am and…
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Notifications
2/6/2022:I am becoming more aware of the constant notifications from my devices, including my truck. I turned off Outlook notifications on my laptop and trying to respond to other notifications by turning them off. My truck, a 2020, did not come with a printed owners manual. I can get to the manual on the dashboard…
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Note-taking app
2/1/2022:I had installed Joplin on the Raspberry Pi (Raspian). I had a little trouble figuring out how to get it to start again, but got it going and went to sync using Dropbox. I get a syncing error. I had installed a two-year old version of Joplin on the Pi. Makes sense, since I was…
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Big Tech
1/28/2022:I use a Google Pixel 2. I just discovered that security updates are sent out by Google for only three years. The last security update happened in October 2020. I verified this by trying to get an update on my phone. Samsung likewise guarantees updates for only three years, though they have extended the security…
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Tech Fundamentals
1/27/20202:I recently started reading The Knowledge – How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm by Lewis Dartnell. It covers similar ground that a book I previously read, How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by Ryan North. I had backed Ryan’s Kickstarter. It is one of my…