the never-ending struggle

 Me vs. TECH

As usual, I came in second.

I spent the entire last week in skirmishes with technology. Mostly it was the 5g home internet system.

I have three computers and a few phones/tablets. And a printer - and oh yes, a 'smart' television. These all conspire with each other in frequencies I cannot access, and choose which among them will take it turn in my torment.

This past week it was the computers taking turns. They mostly communicate with the internet, but very rarely with each other. All are in the same workgroup and use the same WiFi - but shared files often don't, and the internet keeps flashing in and out.

First up was the traditional tricks: reboots, network resets, even reworking the outdoor antenna that supposedly helps it all work. Finally, I descended to a network full reset - then things really went mad.

Two of the computers plug directly into WiFi box ethernet ports, meaning they should not be bothered by anything WiFi at all. Yet they were. After several attempts of varying types I recalled the 192.168 opening to the network internals. I rebuilt a 5Mhz and a 2.4Mhz channel and began reconnecting things to WiFi, removing the ethernet connections. Hooray, it all works!

Until the next day. OK that wasn't fun or effective.

The last two days found me trolling the web for newer WiFi drivers. I found an updated driver for the i7 box yesterday, and it's continuing to work via WiFi. Today I found a driver for the i5 box - but I couldn't get the file to the right computer. It's on my phone, it's on the i7 - but the i5 won't connect so neither google drive nor network connections will push it across! Finally a thumb-drive did the job. Now the i5 can't install it, as the driver needs to be uninstalled. Well I did that three times, but rebooting just reloaded the familiar old driver. At last I broke down and pulled the WiFi card from the i5 and restarted with ethernet, a clean WiFi slate and no drivers..

And now it works great on the ethernet port! OK I'm not feeling compelled to reinstall either card or drivers now. We'll see how long this lasts.

In the meantime the i3 box has been functioning again via ethernet for the last two days. 

Yippee?

And today I found a $30 4g+ phone with a smaller screen, a USB3 charging port, and all the features I liked in my old Moto E5 Play. I'm really tired of juggling (and dropping) the larger Moto 5G Ace UW, or somesuch long name. 

The tech world will make a Luddite of me yet.

Back story:

My favorite cell phone was the Moto e5Play. A nice size and screen ratio, nice performance, a good bit of memory, microSD capable and acceptable battery life. It even took a quick dunk with no repercussions!

With every new upgrade, I've missed it more. Actually it's still here, used as a voice recorder for music lessons - but it's not the same.

After dropping my 5G moto Ace yet again, I made a quick stop at eBay in search of a reasonable step down. I don't need 5G and would prefer something like.. well, a modern e5 play! And to my surprise I found one rather quickly.

It's an LG G5.

• Nearly identical size to e⁵play
  
• Android 8 (I liked Oreo :)
• μSDXC card slot!
• USB C port! 
• Speed charging!
• Higher spec chipset!
• Improved screen specs!
• NFC capable 
• Better user ratings!
• Used for .. $30?!

I'm looking forward to stepping back!

a wee new thing

 Several months ago I learned of the microcomputer form factor. I was at the doctor's office and noticed the monitor cable led to a box little larger than a dollar bill. What?!? Yep, just the processor, memory, a small hard drive (likely SSD =solid state drive) Ethernet and a few USB ports. Really amazing.

Well now I have one.

The mini i5 box that I've been using is pleasantly small and can take a few cards when it's important (i.e. video) - but its size was not the problem. The i5 box just wouldn't stay wi-fi connected. I even direct-wired it to the network box, and added an antenna.. but still it was not reliable. Worse yet, its delays spilled over to the mouse, which meant I couldn't accomplish offline stuff as long as the connection was being rude. Not Good.

I decided to check the micro form to see what was available. If you already have USB items to do some of the work, it's a really cheap way to go. I picked up an old Dell with Win10 on a 500G SSD, an i7 processor and little else - for about $160. The power supply is an external brick, and it has six USB3 ports, a DP monitor and HDMI outputs, and audio in/out. Done.

The i7 chips beats an i5 in general, even more so when it's two generations newer. The SSD means no platter to spin: it's like a memory card for your camera but with massively more space. Windows loads in a hurry and every process is faster than I've experienced elsewhere. I plugged in a USB wi-fi thingy and found some issues on the 5G wi-fi, but since I connected to the slower broadcast all has worked really well. 

Now to clean up the i5 and set it free..

Tech Check

 

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Test Drive Success!

We are able to capture a decent 5G signal from our hill-top, and a mobile-carrier switch to T-mobile is under way. Their Magenta plan does more for us at the same price we're paying now, and adding internet this way will save us quite a bit. The risk is out there for signal clogging in bad weather or too many trees, but for now we're giving it a shot!

It should be noted that we had ~5Mpbs with the old landline internet, and 5g to wifi isn't much faster here on the edge of civilization. Since access is more important than absolute speed, we feel no need to go for 5g phones on this system. Let competition increase¹ and prices fall, at once that happens we will likely dip our toes into the highest ends of tech speed on the road.

¹ In fact, my primary reason not to go 5g is that all manufacturers have decided to adopt 7-inch screens with a 20:9 screen ratio. Most people dislike it - I however, pretty much detest it. I've ordered a Moto e5 Plus for $39 with 4g,  a 6" 18:9 screen and a mix of specs that suit me better. It might have a decent camera and a bit less battery life² but I don't care. I'd like a small-body 5g Android phone, and I'll wait for someone to introduce one. I'm not the only person seeking a phone that doesn't reach my knees when in a pants pocket!

² No surprise since it's a smaller device. It needs less power to drive the smaller screen and also has less space to add a monster battery. It uses the prehistoric µUSB port but still has a speedy recharge cycle. Oh no, no USB/c.?!?  Surprise: I don't care.

geek reconciliation

It isn't just cameras. I've overdone other tech purchases as well! 

Phones are today's topic. 

My wife and I used to get matching phones, but as her iPod aged she thought we should become Apple-ites and we picked up 4c twins. I could not handle the Appleisms after a brief time, but she continued with it, and now has an XE or somesuch (like a compact iPhone 10.5?).

I had somehow managed to get into Mototypes and liked them. I cannot recall how I ended up with a white and a black E:2nd-gen, though somehow it made 'sense' at the time. Update! I believe the white E² went into our hot tub for 10-15 seconds, so I deemed it dead. It got better, going for a walk!

Team Moto - E² on top, e5Play below left,
G Power2020 below right

At that point I joined Home Depot and needed to use their app - frequently! Our local Target sold phones for my carrier, and I got a decent price on an e5/ Play. It's a bit larger than E² but not much, and it holds its own for power and storage. Not really much faster on the HD wifi though, as both are 4G capable.. but easier to read fine print on the larger screen!

Then I bought a camera with a usb:C port.

My wife was already transitioning from the wide port of the iPhone4 era to Lightning, and now I was in the USB micro-to-C changeover? Ugh! 

Beyond that, I was finding storage to be a problem on the new/improved phone, as more and more space is used by Android OS and updated apps. So I found a Moto G Power with more memory, more battery life, usb:C, and .. well to be nice, it's a large skinny beast that isn't in my comfort zone.

As Bill the cat said so well, and so often: GAK.

Long story short: the usb:C-ported camera is gone for now, and I'm back on the µUSB phone (in this case, the E5p). I'll also let the usb:C tablet go away as it's now the odd duck out of luck.

My wife and I are still trying to puzzle out how to get her CD xfers along with the Apple Music system to port across to the new phone so the iPod Classic can fail without a sonic catastrophe.

Ah the progress of technology. What did I learn profanity for, other than such times as these?

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2nd Update - the software for the eM1 will not function with Android 5.1 on the E², so the E5/play will take over instead. So close..

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3rd update! I found an archived copy of the v4.2 Olympus APK (it went to 4.4x before becoming OMD 1.0) and it works OK on the E²+eM1 - so I'm back at it again with the 'tiny' phone. I forgot how much I liked the Lollipop era of Android, where changing bluetooth/network devices wasn't four button presses away.

geeky things recently learned!

We took two separate-yet-same trips north this past week, and we learned a few things. 

1) EV data

Our new Niro EV is a great driving computer. That's the best way I can describe it: a computer that rolls and behaves like a car. We're still getting accustomed to the new way of doing car things, but it's going pretty well. It claims 235 miles per charge by EPA standards, but when 100% charged the reading is generally above 280 miles. Coming down from our hill-top home it tries to add power with the brakes but we generally get the too-full-to-regenerate message every time.

The trip north to Anacortes is about 215 miles via I∙5, and we made it up on trip #1 with no recharge. The in-laws' home only has 110v so recharging is slow - but the local Safeway has higher-amperage charger (with 2-hr parking limit) so that helped to get us ready to come home. That trip was notorious in its huge delays in both directions; a 4-hour trip was about six each way that time. Thank goodness we weren't burning fuel while stopped, and regenerated a good amount with all the braking..

The night before heading north again we visited my mom in Portland, and we did not quite have a full "tank" going north. We still made it up on trip #2 in one charge - but only about 40 miles was available upon arrival! The mileage numbers on ev-odometers is definitely not a given fact, more like "guidelines". Going uphill and downhill, turning on climate controls and lights.. pretty much any given hour of driving will give a different result. We returned on a partial refill and stopped in Olympia for a boost at a high-kWh charger, and stopped at 125 miles for the 75 mile drive home. 

We almost didn't make it! With lights on the whole time and both stereo and climate in nearly full use, we hit Kelso with about 15 miles on the meter. With the last miles uphill, I turned off the headlights and fan and went the last mile or so with running lights. We reached home with 4% battery life and six miles of available range.

What we learned: the Niro EV range is accurate and is dependable nearly to 0% charge. Knowing this is good, but I don't ever wish to drive like that again!! Assuming about half the maximum range will be a new practice as darkness and cold descend on us. We've found faster chargers on US30 at the PUD south of Deer Island and in Rainier, plus some at Three Rivers Mall off I∙5. Costs vary quite a bit (the Deer Island site is a clear winner there!) but it's still pretty inexpensive compared to our former Fiat, which would need a full tank on that trip (at least $25-30, and more as gas prices rise). 

p.s. Charging at home gives us about 5kW at 220v, Safeway was close to 7kW, and the two CCS chargers in Olympia and Deer Island were about 70kW. The in-laws have 110v outside and it conflicts with the waffle iron! They are contemplating options that could give us a stronger option, while we consider how to repay them :^)

2) portable 'power station'

We recently picked up a 300W power station for remote camping or star-gazing. It can run our cpap device without an adapter (though it needed a cable adapter to work directly) plus AC converter, cig-lighter adapter and multiple USB plugs. It can charge from 110v, car battery or solar panels (definitely Not Included).

I brought it up on the trips to evaluate; the first time I did not have the cable adapter so it wasn't used, but I had what was needed the second time! The cpap came along too, but not the heater/humidifier - just the pump, which is definitely the lower power draw of the two.

The first night started with 100% screen readout. I had left a small cig-lighter flashlight on in the tent to find it more easily at bedtime, but it died before I went to bed. I also drained the phone while driving and it needed about 70% of charge. I plugged in the back of the flashlight and turned on the DC controller (far-right black button), plugged my phone into one USB port and my old CPAP used the 12v DC output port (lower right). I slept for 9-ish hours with the cpap and awoke with fully charged phone and flashlight - and it took 20% off the station. Yay! Night two was just the cpap and the next morning we were about 70% of original charge. 

What we learned: Apparently one cpap machine could work for 4 days or more with a phone charge or two thrown in - and with solar panels or other form of recharging it could go for longer! It won't be going backpacking, but a good night's rest is generally a good thing. It's a fine substitute for our kind of camping; we recently cashed in our RV/trailer and won't miss it much.  We were getting very little use from it since 2014, and paying a good amount for the privilege of parking it in our driveway..

We bought this particular model because it has both 12v and 24v DC inputs, so if my next cpap takes the higher voltage it should still provide a couple of good nights' rest. Some day we'll add the solar panels.

3) driving by Puget Sound

We found a new way to avoid the misery that trip #1 inflicted on us. For those of us who have no plans to stop in the Olympia-Everett metro corridor (other than the single rest area) driving through the area via I∙5 (with or without 405 'bypass') makes Zero sense. I've always preferred the Port Townsend to Whidbey Island ferry, but for several years now that route has had limitations and strongly-advised reservations needed. For trip #1 no ferries were available except the last one, and the system knew this several days in advance! That's no way to run a dependable ferry, so it had forced me to take I∙5 - although now and then we've taken the Mukilteo ferry, by then the damage of high-stakes driving has taken its toll.

What we learned: This time we turned left at Olympia and right at Shelton, which isn't a fast road* but leads to the Kingston-Edmonds ferry. That route is well populated with two ferries, and needs no reservations - well not at the moment. The total mileage is within 20 miles of the I∙5 route and brings only Everett into the high-density freeway driving. We went up and back this way, and it was far more dependable than the Interstate System. 

That's how I spell RELIEF.

* trip #1 had dead stops or sub-15 mph driving in Centralia, Tacoma and near Seattle northbound, and north of Everett plus many points from Seattle through the Fort Lewis area southbound.

curse the fuzzy earwigs!

To the creatures of the outdoors I've always been a fairly reasonable guy, for the most part. I've fed the birds for several years, and added corn cobs for the squirrels to keep them from raiding the seeds. Everybody's happy right? 

Well I'm sure not!!

A few weeks ago I noticed that the majority of our string of Christmas lights had gone out. Soon thereafter we had quite a windstorm blow through, and I noticed that a piece of the strand was lying broken on the deck. I figured that a part of our fence had fallen off the deck and the string was stretched to its breaking point. Then I remembered that part of the fence was already down so it wasn't the cause. Curious!

Then a day or two later, I saw a squirrel sitting atop a post on the deck. He was holding a rather large globe in his hands - a blue one. Yes, he had nibbled the strands off the perceived nut and was claiming it! I stode out furiously but he made off with it - perhaps I'll find it at the base of a tree soon? Part of me wishes the lights ran at a higher voltage so other squirrels would see the stunned or dead one and decide those nuts are poisonous..

I promptly stripped the remaining fragments of light from the deck, to prevent loss and to stop wasting the squirrels' valuable time eating wire and hoarding light bulbs. Damn idiot vermin.

I missed the lights though, so I moved a set of very not-bulbous LED lights to the fence. Your basic small and pointy white lights.

Yep, they're being stolen now too. Off they came!

I've re-ordered a new set of pointy white LED lights, and they will remain hooked on nails just beneath the gutter-line where the beasts cannot reach from above or below. Nice, but less personal.

And the corn-cobs are all distributed. Will I buy some more and encourage the beasts? 

Don't bet on it.

Trying a tech shift

I'm about to try something that surprises me!

Plenty of watch-type assistants are available now - as do genuine phone watches! 
I picked up a sub-$20 model which can take both a Sim card and microSD. It may work poorly as a standalone phone in some low-coverage areas, but if so it can just be tethered to my current phone. The microSD card makes for easy Bluetooth music playback, whether tethered or not; that could be useful at work!

When it arrives I'll explore the possibilities. I'm not certain that the SIM allows for more than data transfers, but wifi calling might function.. perhaps? I know for sure that facebook twitter and the like will Not be connected, as i will not allow such apps to intrude on my life uninvited. I also have no great sentiment for heart rate and other measurements, though steps are a good proxy for activity level.

The main advantage of a phone watch is that it will be crippled relative to a regular cell phone! Tiny screen + no 4G ability = no time wasted on apps and browsing. Limiting myself to just receiving phone calls and texts sounds mighty appealing. If this doesn't work perhaps I will mutilate my phone to that level instead?

More after the shipping break . .. ... .. . .. ... .. . .. ... .. . .. ... .. . .. ... .. . .. ... .. .

Well that didn't work - yet I have a watch anyway! Order was cancelled but my wife isn't a huge fan of the one I got her, so now it's mine. I have turned off messages and calls, so it's a smartwatch that counts steps and can do heart-rate checks. Maybe I'll turn on messages at some point. Its battery lasts about a week, which is nice, and the charging apparatus is easy compared to fitbit-style devices.