Fact checking the State of the Union address...
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Posted:Jan 31, 2018 7:43 pm
Last Updated:Feb 6, 2018 9:35 am 32918 Views
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I caught part of Trump's speech last night and have to say, if you are a Trump supporter, it was certainly mesmerizing... he had their attention like the rats following the Pied Piper.
I give him lots of credit as the speech was well rehearsed.
Unfortunately, as the words were leaving his lips, the Associated Press had teams of workers fact checking everything he said. the way I see it, he would not have passed a polygraph.
For example:
Trump: "We repealed the core of the disastrous Obamacare - the individual mandate is now gone."
FACT: No, it's not gone. It's going in 2019. People who go without insurance this year are still subject to fines.
Congress did repeal the unpopular requirement that most Americans carry insurance or risk a tax penalty, but that takes effect next year.
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Chinese man bites smartphone battery...
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Posted:Jan 24, 2018 4:37 am
Last Updated:Feb 3, 2018 11:34 am 33489 Views
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I read in the news this morning that a Chinese man took a bite into a smartphone battery this week and it exploded!
He was in a phone store in the city of Nanjing when attempting to see if the battery was authentic, so he bit it and it immediately flared up in an explosion.
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Tom Petty's autopsy...
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Posted:Jan 23, 2018 3:38 am
Last Updated:Jan 25, 2018 7:30 pm 31954 Views
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Autopsy results are in from Rock Legend musician Tom Petty and it doesn't look good. The coroner said a number of his organs failed due to a mixed drug toxicity.
"Tom’s autopsy report shows the singer was on several pain meds, including Fentanyl patches, oxycodone, temazepam, alprazolam, citalopram, acetylfentanyl and despropionyl fentanyl. The reason doctors prescribed the meds was because of a number of medical problems, including emphysema, knee problems and a fractured hip."
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Pull your pants up!
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Posted:Jan 7, 2018 6:03 pm
Last Updated:Jan 22, 2018 4:20 am 33639 Views
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I was shopping in WalMart one night and the guy in the checkout lane next to me had his pants intentionally pulled down so the waistband was below the bulge in his buttocks. Interestingly, he had 2 women shopping with him and they were all casual about his appearance as though it was intentional.
I know this was a fad 10 years ago and I heard it was a 'calling card' for gay men in jail looking for other gay men. since I don't have the answer, I can only say they are keeping up with tradition.
A pawn shop near me has a sign on the front that your pants need to be pulled up. Good for them.
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Internet Reversi...
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Posted:Dec 30, 2017 5:17 pm
Last Updated:Dec 30, 2017 5:18 pm 31069 Views
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My wife's computer stopped working last night. It boots and a minute later shuts off. Rebooting and checking the BIOS indicated some thermal trouble. That's more than my pay-grade can troubleshoot... except I have a nearly identical model pulled from service with a hard disk problem. So, I'll do some part swapping... tomorrow.
In the mean time... I retrieved an old computer from storage that I didn't have the heart to put in the garbage. Good thing. It's running Windows XP... a favorite. I did some file maintenance and uninstalled outdated programs, updated a free anti-virus selection and are ready to see how well XP handles Chinese language. Her computer was running Windows 10 free upgrade and supported multiple languages.
It's been a while since I ran XP and I remember all the years I played my favorite game Internet Reversi. So, I tried it and was surprised to see it still works. Yeah, mostly people from Poland and Hungary were online playing. I'm guessing they are keeping the XP operating system alive in Europe. I have no problem setting one up only to play that game.
Coincidentally, I ordered a refurbished computer this past Wednesday that runs Windows 7 Pro on an Intel i5 processor that will arrive Tuesday.
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Apple slowed down your older iPhones...
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Posted:Dec 29, 2017 5:08 am
Last Updated:Jan 6, 2018 2:23 pm 31519 Views
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If you believe your iPh is running much slower now than a few ago when you bought it, you're probably right.
In the news this week, the apology came through that Apple has been slowing the performance of phs with older batteries.
To compensate for the negative user backlash, they have lowered the price of battery replacements until December 2018.
While the damage has been d, the Apple statement:
“First and foremost, we have never and would never do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades,” the statement read. Apple also insisted that it designs iPhs to “last as long as possible.”
Never degrade the user experience... ??
I can only imagine how many new iPhs they sold because they had no idea their performance had been throttled back.
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Questioning Alexa...
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Posted:Dec 28, 2017 6:45 pm
Last Updated:Jan 7, 2018 4:52 am 30094 Views
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I had time today to set up the Echo Dot device from Amazon that people refer to as ALEXA because the 'wake up' command is the name Alexa.
This unit is linked to my Wi-Fi signal and controlled via ph app and direct voice commands. If you keep your app open you can see a history with tranriptions of what commands you've told it to perform.
Echo currently only understands English, but working with it for a while I found I am able to open a linked app that does simple language translations from English. The app name is Translated and you tell Alexa to open translated and translate. I am able to get it to speak Chinese words that appear on the screen of the phone with the open app. Hopefully, the makers of Echo (Amazon) will do some upgrades and all for a more sophisticated language translation in the future.
It's perfect for line questions lie "What's the current weather" or "Who were the members of The Beatles.
If the questions are complex or the answer is obscure there is a good chance Alexa won't have a response.
I did poise the question "What is Trickle-down Economics...?"
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Alexa and the Amazon Echo...
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Posted:Dec 26, 2017 4:49 pm
Last Updated:Dec 27, 2017 3:45 am 27050 Views
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The newest technology into the hands of the average consumer is Artificial Intelligence devices. AI for short.
I haven't seen the numbers this season, but retail sales are probably in the millions.
Amazon is one company promoting their own line and has a few models starting with the Echo Dot that sells for $30. Also in the lineup with Dolby woofer speakers are the Echo at $80 and the Echo Plus $150. The Echo Spot has video for $130 an the top of the line Echo Show $230 does touch screen and interactive video.
The 'wake word' that unlocks the system for questioning is ALEXA
You start by saying "Alexa" then ask your question.
A few months ago the local radio station started using one for their morning show. They were getting lots of response from this device asking all sorts of questions ranging from trivia, sports statistics and movie data.
Ok, so an unexpected gift from my was the Echo Dot and a TP-Link Smart Plug. She bought the same combination for her husband and wanted me to teach them how to operate it.
The Echo installation worked successfully but the Smart Plug wouldn't link properly due to 2 Wi-Fi signals in the house. I ran out of time and had to go to another party so I wasn't able to finalize the installation. The purpose of the Smart Plug is to voice command your Echo to turn on/off any thing plugged into it. That is if the device normally activates with powered up. Lights and fans are perfect for this. I'm not sure if a TV will actually turn on when you apply the power as it really depends on the TV.
My first thought was to set it up to do translations to help my wife with English. She's on the computer for hours but all her sites are in Chinese... I understand her pretty well and not forcing her, but she needs to converse with other people to strengthen her speaking skills.
Reading some specifications and asking Alexa for translations, the answer was English and Klingon are it's only languages. Since it's a learning device, I believe it's a matter of time before Amazon incorporates other languages into their Echo series.
I did see and app called Translated that the Echo can access by requesting "Alexa open Translated" it's on my do list but I had other plans this week and Alexa wasn't in them.
Surely things will progress and I'll have to do a blog update to our progress.
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Thanks To President Trump, We Can Say “Merry Christmas” Again
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Posted:Dec 23, 2017 6:33 am
Last Updated:Dec 29, 2017 7:08 pm 30715 Views
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There's a new paid advertisement out that came to my attention: "Thanks To President Trump, We Can Say “Merry Christmas” Again"
I've been saying Merry Christmas for years and NEVER felt it was unlawful to do so.
Did you see it? Google "Thanks To President Trump, We Can Say “Merry Christmas” Again"
I see it was paid for by the pro-Trump organization America First Policies is making sure their Trump propaganda gets to the hearts of supporters. They produced a Christmas Card video.
Amazing...
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Stopping porch pirates...
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Posted:Dec 23, 2017 4:51 am
Last Updated:Jan 2, 2018 5:41 pm 28587 Views
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I read a story yesterday that comes too late for this Christmas season, but it was about ways to avoid thieves from taking packages delivered to your doorstep when you aren't around to bring them inside.
The story reports that as many as 20% of all packages sent out this holiday season will be stolen and complaints this year are up 500% shocking numbers considering more people are making purchases online than in previous years. The average price of a stolen package is reported to be $250.
In an attempt to discourage porch pirates, some police agencies have put out warnings that many packages are baited with GPS tracking devices and they will arrest and prosecute package thieves.
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