And the Beat Goes On

More "smart phone" antics.

Mrs. W's smart phone has taken to rapping.  No, not that kind of rapping, but rather the kind Poe observed in "The Raven."

"Knoknoknok."  Seriously.  For no discernible reason.

She fusses with it for, oh, a long time. (Remember the "time saving" mantra when computers were being foisted on introduced to us?)  And then she called tech assistance, who, long conversation reveals, knows no more than she does.  She lays phone on table and goes about other more pressing business.

The dog is lying on his rug.  "Knoknoknok."

Dog jumps up, "Barkbarkbark!"  Which is his normal response to someone at the door.

"Growl!"  Which is my response to this whole business.

Your Tweets Can Be Subpoenaed

"Twitter's license to use the defendant's Tweets means that the Tweets the defendant posted were not his," the judge wrote in a decision filed Friday. --Yahoo News

Which is to say, even if you have deleted them, your tweets can be subpoenaed. That is, you can hide them from yourself, but you cannot hide them from Big Brother.

Oh, Please Give Me a Break

Heard today that a group of "parents" is suing Apple because their kids are addicted to games on the I-Phone and it is costing them "a lot of money."

Question: Who bought the kids the dern phones?

Resolution: Take the dern phones away and give the kids something to do. Or lock them up until they magically become independently wealthy.

Sheesh!

Riddle Me This

How is it that pharmaceutical companies in advertising must list the possible negative side-effects to the use of their products,
but
Electronics gadget purveryors are not required to caution you of the negative side-effects to the use of their products?

"For buyers of Apple’s new iPad, ‘4G’ can quickly turn into ‘4 grand’

"Users quickly are discovering the new iPad gobbles data from cellular networks at a monstrous rate. Some find their monthly allotment can be eaten up after watching a two-hour movie. That has left consumers with a dilemma: Pay up for more data or hold back on using the device’s best features." --WaPo 3/23/12

AT&T drops bid to acquire T-Mobile

Check. Check.

Trojan Horse, Anyone?

Spouse, watching a "Life Lock" commercial: Do we have our computer protected to where people can't get into it?

I: We have it protected to where even I can't get into it, I've installed so many layers of protection.

You've Heard It; Now You See It

Bicycle

Niece got a new bicycle. I am happy for her. More speeds than Baskin-Robbins has flavors, more money than I have in my checking account. So I was thinking as I rode my bicycle to town. Same protocol as my first bike. 26" one-speed, coaster brake. You wanna go faster, you pedal faster. You want to stop, you pedal backwards. Simple. I can understand that. And I can still do the mechanical work.*

*Although last time I lubed her, I dropped the little balls out of the front race. Had a dickens of a time finding them all on the garage floor.

T-Mobile, AT&T, and DoJ

The U.S. Department of Justice sued to block AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA, saying the deal would "substantially lessen competition" in the wireless market. The complaint was filed today in federal court in Washington.


The which I sort of alluded to in a post on String Too Short to Tie several weeks ago.

Hurry! Hurry!

email is the new snailmail-- far too slow for today's whippersnappers.

...and did you know that phone etiquette now requires that you text in advance to let someone know you are going to call them?
Yeah, right. That'll be the day, ooh, ooh, ooh, uh.

Lemon Aid

The Missuz and I, listening to the not-yet two-year-old washing machine clunking and clanking and wheezing:
I: Something seriously wrong with that thing, or is it supposed to be that noisy?
She: I think we got a lemon, like everything else we buy.
I: No doubt. I think we were put on this earth to absorb the lemons so someone else wouldn't have to.

Computering

Okay, is it solar flares messing with me, or is this just another of Xfinity's "Constant Guard" screwups?

Progress

$278 to replace a car key. Computer chip, you know. And the car won't start without it.

My first car: flip up the switch on the steering column, press clutch to floorboard, thereby punching starter button. No key needed, unless, of course you wished to lock everything up, and then a coat-hanger would work as a substitute if you lost the key. But no one locked anyway.

Isn't progess/technology wonderful?

(Of course, when you were buying your used car for $35, it can hardly be compared to the $60,000 set of wheels you have now. But a stranded car is a walking driver, no matter how you look at it. No, wait. Take you phone out of your pocket and ...)


Daddy, what's a clutch?