16 May 2023 | Gizmos, How to, Networking |
These days, darn near everything is censored – for your protection, of course!
While you may be able to read whatever web sites you want from home, mobile operators are particularly fond of blocking certain sites.
This is obviously particularly annoying for those of us who like to choose what we read and, ya know, make up our own minds. We’re not ALL brainless zombies.
While you could use a VPN, it’s often a PITA to set them up and use them. The best ones are also paid…
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an easy, free option to view what you want? Turns out, there is!
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17 January 2023 | Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Wireless Wonderland |
These days, streaming is all the rage.
Whether you have a smart TV, a streaming stick, Blu-Ray player, soundbar, or even some projectors, many of these gizmos come with Android TV built in.
Too many of them also only have WiFi – no Ethernet jack to be found! This is particularly irritating for those of us who want to go wired and avoid the Wireless Wonderland.
So, how to get Ethernet? Well, you just buy a USB-Ethernet adapter, right?
Yes – sort of…
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9 August 2022 | Gizmos, Video, Wireless Wonderland |
Ah, the eternal battle: iOS or Android?
These days, there’s a big war going on where both sides are trying to prove that their mobile OS is the safest and most privacy-friendly.
So, which is it?
Join me for a deep dive into the wonderful world of smartphones…
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10 May 2022 | Computers, Gizmos, How to |
This one’s a lot of fun!
You connect your Android phone or tablet with a USB cable to your PC. You expect to be able to browse the files on your phone, or transfer photos/video.
Nope! Nuttin’. Nada. ZILCH.
It worked before, so what happened? Better yet, how do you fix it?!
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10 March 2020 | Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Video |
I’ve been using dumbphones for awhile now, but I started to miss some smartphone features.
Then a friend of mine mentioned LineageOS again. I decided to take the plunge… And I’m glad I did!
It IS possible to have a relatively private smartphone without all the Googley madness – even in this day and age.
But it does take a bit of time, patience, and some technical know-how.
Note that I don’t walk through the entire installation process here since it’s particular to your specific phone…
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12 November 2019 | Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Video |
This one’s a double header!
First, I quickly review the new Nokia 2720 Flip 4G dumbphone.
Then, I talk a bit more about exactly why dumbphones that run KaiOS are really NOT smartphones.
Did I mention that the 2720’s HUGE buttons are an absolute joy to use?
Or that it’s the first phone (of any kind) that I’ve had in years that actually fits in my pocket?
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24 September 2019 | Gizmos, How Does it Work? |
Last week, I published a video entitled 4G Dumbphones: Get one with KaiOS!
In that vid, I talked about why KaiOS is a great OS to have on a 4G dumbphone.
Quite a few people asked various questions, like:
But hang on, isn’t that just a smartphone disguised as a dumbphone? But if it has Google, how is that different from an Android smartphone?
And so on.
So this week, I want to dig into some of the details of KaiOS and why it is NOT your daddy’s smartphone.
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4 June 2019 | Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Programming |
Ah yes, the Mobile Revolution!
It’s fabulous – unless you actually create web sites and other stuff that use JavaScript.
In desktop web browsers, you generally get a web inspector / debug console that lets you do all kinds of fun stuff, including debugging your JS code.
But on mobile, well, no such luck.
In fact, most mobile browsers give you absolutely nothing! Fortunately, there’s a neat trick that fixes everything.
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9 April 2019 | Computers |
Well, okay, that’s not entirely correct.
It would be more accurate to say it’s the #1 piece of advice that no one ever remembers to take – at the right time.
I’m talking, of course, about the Almighty Restart.
But I don’t just mean rebooting Windows…
Or linux, or Android, or macOS, or whatever…
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27 November 2018 | Gizmos |
As regular readers/viewers know, I’m not a terribly big fan of smartphones.
For more info, see my video Why I ditched my smartphone.
In response to my musings, many people have said that they don’t think people buried in their smartphones all the time is causing any real harm.
After all, they argue, people used to just bury their noses in newspapers – right?
Well, yes… But no.
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These days, darn near everything is censored – for your protection, of course!
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