For reasons beyond this god damned Nest thermostat drives me batty. I set it to 72F it goes to 80F. So I tried reseting it but no go. I think maybe tomorrow I’ll unplug the thing and let it reset.
Tag: Google
Uh oh Google having issues
So I note YouTube is fucked up. Being it’s a Google property as is the Chrome browser I’m using it indicates that Google is having bigtime issues today. I’ve tried in Chrome, Edge, etc. to no avail. Cannot watch YouTube videos. Also note commenting is in restricted mode on YouTube.
YouTube Getting Annoying
So as you all might know I run a couple add-ins in Chrome – AdBlock+ and ScriptSafe. Well YouTube must have made a change because I have to allow the ad servers on their site. On a regular basis to the point where it is annoying.
I conjecture that it’s because YouTube is pushing the ad revenue thing a bit far.
Here’s America’s Test Kitchen on YouTube. Why it’s trying to hawk insurance to me and why it thinks I’m in Cranston is interesting.
To the point where I guess I’ll just go play some games and make sure I tag google and youtube in this post. Not too the clearly labeled as Ad to Remove Eye Bags with Dr. Oz. Sorry – calling him a Doctor is an affront to M.D.’s the world around. But you see my point. Here’s what I get just using Chrome:
Also too note the little yellow marker in the timeline – that’s an ad that played before the video and annoyed the piss out of me.
Notice what is missing.
Notice no ads at all.
**UPDATE**
So I decided – let’s be patient and wait. Sure enough – there’s a 5 to 30 second wait before videos start playing. Right at the point where I guess I’d see ads. Then in the videos about 3-10 minutes in the video will repeat the last few seconds. That’s where an ad would have been. Ha!
See -patience pays off.
Google Voice
So I’ve long had a Google Voice account. I use it mostly for filtering out recruiters and work.Plus the number I got is has the first two groups starting to 40.
So the other day I went to make a call and it gives me a message that the call couldn’t be completed. So I log on to Google Voice and they tell me my account has been suspended for Terms of Service (TOS) violations.
What the hell? I sent them an appeal and got this back:
Hello,
We have reviewed your request and have determined that your use of Google Voice is in compliance with our Google Voice Policies. Your Google Voice service has been reinstated and will be accessible soon.
If you have any further questions, please consult the Google Voice Help Center.
Thanks,
Google Voice Support Team
Logged on and even tried a test call on the phone and it works again. This worries me because it means that Google’s automated TOS scanner just randomly suspends accounts for no real reason.
I suspect it’s an automated system and perhaps my call blocking might have pissed it off. But here’s the thing, my phone is an Android platform which is a Google product. And it’s running Google Software for the Google Voice service. And one of the features in this particular version of Android is call Call Block. Call black says nobody but your contacts can ring your phone. I like it a lot. It’s a global white listing essentially but based on only those you’ve added as contact. Got to wonder if that’s not what cause the consternation on Google’s part.
Want to try an exercise in annoyance – try turning off Talkback on Android
So somehow Talkback got turned on on my Android phone. Touching anything started the phone reading the description of what I’d touched to me. Really annoying. I suppose it’s for the visually impaired but then a touch screen phone is sort of a lost thing on the visually impaired in the first place although at this point in time I doubt you can get a phone that isn’t touch screen these days.
But it wouldn’t let me swipe across screens – then I googled – you have to use TWO fingers to swype.
I disabled the talkback app anyhow. It’s stupid. Bad on you Google for including that in Android. You should have thought that through.
Nicholaus Copernicus 540th Birthday
If you hit Google today you’ll note that their doodle is a rotating model of the Copernican view of the solar system. Pretty cool.
Copernicus would be 540 years old today. Yes, the heliocentric view of the solar system and really of the Universe is over 500 years old now.
Google jumps into the Apple v. Samnsung case
I knew this was coming. I mean, why else would Google, the producer of Android, buy Motorola Mobility? And as I had foreseen, it was to crush Apple.
The suit would ban the import of iPads, iPhones, and Macs. Yup, it’s all made in China and if the Google/Motorola suit is upheld, it means Apple stores will be empty, just in time for the holidays.
When Google bought Motorola Mobility I knew what they really wanted, the treasure trove of over 15,000 patents having to do with cellular telephony.
And sure enough – here they go! I also suspect we’ll see Google/Motorola branded handsets with the latest Android coming onto the market shortly.
It’s funny -I heard about Apple going after Samsung. And I have a dog in this fight as I own two Samsung product and two Apple products. When the news then broke that Google was buying the assets of Motorola Mobility and those assets included a trove of patents, I knew it wouldn’t be long before Google moved in for the kill.
And Apple – they could have played nicely and licensed the tech. But they told Motorola/Google to go get fucked. And then they turned around and sued Samsung.
If I was an Apple shareholder I’d be asking some very pointed questions right now. Because this really could be the death knell for Apple.
Hey guys – Android exists
I’m so sick and tired of seeing people who go all ga-ga on apps developed for IOS (Apple’s iPhone OS) but then they don’t have an Android version?
Even the city I live in – they rolled out ProvConnex for iPhone first, but about a month later they did the Android version. Thanks guys!
But there’s a lot of cool software out there and they completely miss the Android market.
Yet the market is now split pretty evenly between IOS and Android.
All you have to know is some Java to develop for Android. And download and install the SDK and hope to God your phone OEM or carrier didn’t completely fuck up the Android deployment. I’ve written about that part before and it irks me that Google didn’t retain TIGHT control over the Android system. If Google ever does manufacture a phone I’m probably going to buy theirs, as they’ll be the ones to least mess with the Android OS.
But to all those cool software people – we exist too. And at some point we’ll probably overtake IOS. There’s a sobering thought.
And if anyone else is like me – I don’t recommend the iPad. It’s got serious flaws that I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone. I do like the Asus tablets and they run, you guessed it, Android.
One of the biggest reasons I don’t recommend the iPad is simply the price. It’s a ripoff. For less money you get more feature with the Asus for example, including a keyboard dock that turns it into what is pretty much a laptop.
And my next computer – while I got some serious usage out of my current Dell computer I want something better. The Samsung Series 9’s look pretty nice. Granted, they’re short on disk space as they only have a 128GB SSD. But then I realized, I can spend a couple hundred on a Buffalo NAS device. That shares over the cloud now too. And the Series 9 – it’s sleek as hell:
Nice isn’t it. And cheaper than MacBook Air. And it runs Windows – sadly I’m sort of married to the Windows platform. I could go MacOS-X Mountain Lion but even that would limit me.
Carriers just don’t get it
I’m talking about Cox and Verizon in this one.
Last night I attended MoDev-RI (And upon reflection I believe it should be MobDev) and we had a hellish time getting Google’s Android SDK up to snuff on the computers there, and then to further irk us, those with the HTC Thunderbolt had issues. And to top it off, I found out that the Sparkfun Electric Sheep I won won’t work with my Samsung SCH-R910! I think Google really needs to get the act together – and get tighter control on what vendors and carriers can do to the Android distro on the phones.
For example, I had the Samsung SCH-R910 Indulge, Keyron has the LG Optimus. Both Android phones – but completely different UI’s. Maybe I’m fussy here but Microsoft and Apple didn’t get where they are by putting an OS out there and letting OEM’s and cellular providers muck with the user interface. A prime example, on my phone you swipe left/right. On Keyron’s it’s up/down. Bad move Google.
But this brings me to the point of this post. I note both Cox and Verizon offer watch instantly apps for IOS, but nothing for Android. Yet Android is moving up there. In fact if last nights group was any indication I saw but one iPhone yet the computers were majority MacBooks.
This not having it for Android has come up in the past. When the City of Providence rolled out the ProvConnex app it was only for IOS. I raised a small stink and suddenly there’s an Android version. Not to say that you can try to register for ProvConnex and get your credentials, only for the Android app to say it can’t log you in. Ut si!
It’s that human propensity to go for just good enough. I understand why Google let OEM’s and carriers fuck with Android, but it’s not going to serve them well. And Cox and Verizon both need to get their shit together and offer an Android watch instantly app too.
Because for the prices Cox and Verizon charge, just good enough isn’t going to fly.
Google Comes out against Proposition 8
Some good news out of Google HQ, they’re coming out against California’s Proposition 8.
This is utterly amazing to me that a company as large as Google is would come down on our side. As many times as I’ve faulted Google for their blog policies, etc. sometimes they do something that pretty much washes away their sins.
This is one of those occasions. I feel a bit badly about leaving Blogger but I do enjoy some of the features of WordPress so I won’t be going back soon. But to my friends on Blogger, now you have a reason to forgive some of Google’s transgressions.
It’s common sense here. One thing about the Google blog posting by Mr. Brin that occurred to me is interesting. Google is a company comprised of highly educated and motivated people. I’ve noted that the more educated one is, the more socially liberal they are later in life. This also seems to be very prevalent in the sciences and engineering fields, and not so obvious in the business and soft sciences fields with the exception of psychology.
So those that are for Proposition 8 are the uneducated and ignorant masses. Consider that only 27% of U.S. adults hold B.A. or B.Sc. degrees and you have your answer. The rest of them depend on their church or pastor to educate them, and we all know that those pastors have an agenda.
I see this regularly with my father. I’ve caught him in some outright ridiculous shit that I can trace back to his pastor and his pastors affiliation with white supremacists groups.
That’s the other thing, white supremacists. If you’ve studied anthropology in any way, shape or form you have to know that we white people aren’t in any way superior to any other race. In fact race is a human creation.
And if you really want to make a white supremacists head pop, just mention that our distant ancestors more than likely started out on the African continent and had skin that was quite a number of shades darker than ours. It’s actually been genetically proven at this point.
Spewing Truth in the face of Lies 