tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73658563782419441422024-03-13T07:42:59.532-07:00Martin's Senior Tech Site (snrtech.org)-----------------------------Empowering Seniors with New Technology---------------------------Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.comBlogger539125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-8547426418969741802022-12-10T12:52:00.002-08:002022-12-10T12:52:25.258-08:00Best advice on in-home projectors<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Projectors as an alternative to other means of accessing internet are extremely cheap. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are a dizzying number of new brands out there with strange names, each one with a variety of models. The projectors vary greatly in their capabilities.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So there are pitfalls in choosing and installing the device. And there are a lot of other things you need to do in preparation for the device.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most important you first need a dark room. That means equipping the room ahead to make it dark in an effective way. That means an easy and quick way also.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blackout curtains are a start.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then you will be fumbling around in the dark trying to operate your remote unless you mirror your screen from your smartphone to the stick you will be using. Or from your iPad, my preference.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You may want to dedicate a smartphone to the purpose. Search phones can be had from QVC for way under $100 even with a Year's service. But you won't need that service.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also use a targeted lamp where I am viewing, PLUS Alexa to switch the room lights off and on.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then you need to choose a short or long throw projector. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What does that mean?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It means you need to size the projector to the room. Otherwise you may have a projector that you need to place in the middle of the room in order to get a small enough picture.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A short by throw projector has a throw ratio between 0.4 and 1. The throw ratio is calculated using the distance from the projector to screen divided by the maximum projected width of the image.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you need a short throw projector. Newer projectors have adjustable lenses down to 3.8 ft from screen to device.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These were formerly very expensive but now are dirt cheap.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I bought a short throw Vankyo for $35 with nothing on the back side so that I can stand it up and display to the ceiling.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also bought a large RCA for $29 which was luckily able to work in my 8-ft wide rim.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next you need to provide a stick which works well with your particular device. I also wanted to use both speaker and headphones with the stick.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Roku Express worked well with everything, except for headphones. I needed to substitute the standard Roku remote for a Roku remote which enables plug-in to remote for headphones.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Amazon fire stick does have the ability to connect with headphones by Bluetooth but did not work with my RCA projector. The Google TV stick also has the ability to connect Bluetooth.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The TiVo 4K stick worked well with my RCA except for headphones.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Projectors are getting better and better. The Yowick projectors are probably the most promising new ones. I have not ordered one yet. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This product has the best user guide I have seen for projectors. Using the controls is going to require some effort and this guide simplifies the process. You can download this guide from Amazon for the Yowick DPO2W.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This device promises 1080 resolution for the number of dots per inch. Generally though you will not find inexpensive projectors with this resolution. Inexpensive projectors do run 1080 but they do it by downsizing to 720.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 720 only falls short when you are looking at a travel video showing a vista of scenery. Standard TVs up to 32 inch have only 720.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You certainly don't need high definition for talking heads. You also do not need 720 for motion pictures which generally are not that high definition anyway.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Expect to spend a lot of time just figuring out your best arrangements and choices. Not as simple as hanging a flat screen on your wall but nowhere near as expensive.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-47946679535832581002022-11-08T08:02:00.003-08:002022-11-08T13:31:49.687-08:00Listen to Text on Your Android Phone While Doing Something Else<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">A much underused and very useful capability on smartphones is the ability to have text read aloud from the screen.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1911f9c8-7fff-e97c-f53a-5941fbf9b7af"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This capability can be used to read Kindle books.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The gestures to activate this capability vary from phone to phone.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They may require sliding two fingers up, or sliding two fingers down, or simply tapping on a “bubble” which appears on the screen. Tapping the bubble, brings up the play or pause or quit options.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The capability needs to be installed. Installation for Android is tricky.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, it is important to install the proper text to speech software. You want to be able to toggle the capability on and off simply.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That means you do NOT want the talk back capability, which reads back screen commands, unless you are sight impaired. That can be very confusing and require a lot of effort. Also, you do NOT want the requirement to select text first.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You want to be able to turn speech off and on, or toggle it, easily when needed and when not wanted</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Set up requires going to the accessibility options in settings, and also the general options, in settings for android.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Text to speech needs to be enabled and then voice data installed. Then the speak text on/off toggle action needs to be installed.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some devices require the android accessibility suite app to be installed first before the above actions, in order to accomplish the above.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once you have the capability, you can listen to any reading material while your eyes are involved in doing something else.</span></p><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka5AdeLt43o&t=79s">(114) How to Turn On Text To Speech Read Aloud on Android/Samsung - 2022 - YouTube</a><br /><br /><br /><br /></span>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-14613514089353693452022-10-25T09:21:00.004-07:002022-10-27T09:15:54.977-07:00Getting it Read Out Loud<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The very best way to have a book read aloud.Is Alexa. Once the book is available from audible.all that is necessary is to.ask Alexa to read it. There are free books available from Audible on Amazon. This is best for the sight impaired. Those with good eyesight will find the audible app most helpful.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-48c3d0be-7fff-4b0e-ee52-3c3dabe1b638"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next best is to use.text-to-speech on a Kindle Fire. .Swiping up from the bottom of the screen.presents a speaker.and arrow to be clicked to start. Simple. The iPad can be set to read aloud by swiping down with two fingers.</span><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also available on the Kindle Fire and eReaders is Voiceview. The problem with Voiceview is that it makes navigation much more difficult.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Audible books are then the next easiest on many devices from their app. Just click to start reading.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then there is Librivox with loads of free books. Similarly Audiobooks app.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beyond that is the Gutenberg app and.The Internet Archive.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last, is your local library online. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.lifewire.com/free-audio-books-the-15-best-sources-online-1357952">16 Best Free Audio Book Websites (October 2022) (lifewire.com)</a></span></div></span>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-68168462806887137642022-10-20T09:29:00.002-07:002022-10-20T09:29:29.453-07:00Updating for Better Tech for Seniors<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things I have been selling or giving away…</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><ol style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">PC tower, eliminating clutter, cables, awkward hubs and wires, slow drives, and obsolescence, Windows 10</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Landline phone - too expensive, too many nuisance calls</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kindle eReaders - Paperwhites too hard to navigate, books and media much too expensive</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conventional speakers and sound systems - take too much space, are nowadays included in devices</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Old headphones - cost, confusing controls, poor fit, old bluetooth</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most news and magazine subscriptions - far too costly on Amazon</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many individual book purchases - available now with services and especially Calibre searches</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Older streaming TV “sticks</span></p></li></ol><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And replacing with…</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><ol style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HP $200 Win 11 15” laptop, also 17” with touch screen at $400</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ethernet phone service with Obihai adapter - $40 a .year</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Latest 8” Kindle Fire for easy ebook reading (with read aloud voice)</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alexa Echo wall plugins with distributed speakers</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New $20 folding swivel bluetooth headphones with simple controls</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Moto smart phone WITH year’s service for under $100 total (HSN)</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Old overstocked but still new top Nexus 5x phone now under $100 on eBay (with separate free TextNow phone number and service)</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple News on old iPad with VAST reading access, nothing else gives such broad reading access</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Calibre app on Mac or Windows for books - with broadest media searching and access at least cost (see wikihow)</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Google Chromecast TV with remote control and ease of use, best searching by far, though limited apps</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Roku Ultra for ethernet, 4K, and vast app/channel library</span></p></li></ol><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-77581453601831436202022-06-17T09:33:00.001-07:002022-06-17T14:24:21.113-07:00Thrifty Tech for the Aging<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Proper tools can overcome some of the limits of aging. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-412d6e06-7fff-97c6-e9c7-1cda6f99294d"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are those limits and tools?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The KEY and basic limitation is limited ACCESS. We start to lose access to many of our normal pursuits.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BUT there is technology out there to help.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consider where you live as to whether it gives you the access you need to services and resources. Can you get to what you need easily?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The newest universal access resource is of course, Internet, which brings us closer to everything. A simple Kindle Fire 8 inch tablet at less than $50 it’s all we really need if cost is in question.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Fire does offer a subset of capabilities which can be largely offset by adding four files which give access to the entire Android library of apps and tools.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are other access tools…More about non-Internet tools and technology below.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You really don’t need anything else but it is very handy to have some other internet access. You don’t need Windows or Macintosh unless you really really want them. (Yes I have a big HP touchscreen Windows 11 laptop.)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A much underused Internet resource is YouTube, which I always consult when trying to figure out how to do something or enter into someone else’s world for a time. Or for going to a concert online. Also much underused is the Internet Archive. Want to listen to the old radio programs from the 30s. They are there with much music and video</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Kindle Fire TV at $100 will provide a larger dkisplay but your own TV can probably receive casts from the above tablet.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Moto G cell phone with a year's service from TracFone is available on HSN for $70. It could be an alternative to the Kindle Fire above.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Expensive phones have stunning graphics and photography for those who want it. I won’t pay for that, but it can be impressive.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can also get free cell phone service from Textnow using an unlocked phone. Data service will cost you $10. Ting offers service at $10 a month for phoning but charges only when you use data.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A more expensive and elegant alternative to these is an iPad, often selling for $250-330. A benefit here is widespread use and help. There are less expensive folding chromebooks for laptop and tablet use.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What about physical access in the world around you?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Light weight scooters and walkers have much appeal if you cannot walk safely. Easy transfer to car is desirable as is the ability to carry items.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many seniors are unaware that there are walkers which prevent you from falling, such as the Lifeglider or Zeen. I find the conventional walker to be a bad choice because it fosters bad posture and strain on muscles. I fell backward one day twice with one.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Note that some wheelchairs come with removable wheels for easy transport. There are also lightweight wheelchairs with magnesium bodies.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now to smaller “access” tools.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alexa is dirt cheap and makes it easy to access information without a computer as well as control lights and other devices remotely.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With Alexa one small lamp in the bedroom can illuminate from one percent to 100% of a 100 W bulb and so illuminate the whole room or just light faintly at the bedside when getting up at night. That just takes a cheap programmable bulb and does away with too many lights taking space in one room.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Battery lamps are portable. These are handy if you have a less than $100 big screen projector which works only in a dark room.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Simple things such as stick-on door handles at the center of doors make it easier to open and close from a wheelchair.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I might add that any of these Internet devices will access TV with the proper apps. I use Watchnewspro for the networks. Podcasts offer recorded shows. TV channels and networks have their own apps.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the Internet being so important, our apartment is under a carpet Ethernet cable line to provide fast Internet wherever it is used, including on laptops. Wi-Fi is just plain too slow.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To accommodate so many devices I use a plug-in which extends one non switched outlet to six sockets. General Electric makes it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back to other devices. The latest electric blankets can even be voice or phone controlled.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I use enclosed bamboo boxes to enclose surge strips and cabling and make cleaning easier.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To conserve space, a bedside table can serve for storage and as a laptop desk, as done in the local hospital. That is also a good place for a projector, in a good room with blackout curtains for projection. Cheap blackout curtains slide along a simple pole rod.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speaking of cheap, I consult Amazon, Walmart, Costco, and eBay whenever I buy anything. I also sell on Amazon and eBay. Replacements is a good place to sell china.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With eBay it is a good idea to correspond by email with the seller before buying or bidding. With some trepidation I bought a very lightweight mobility scooter directly from the factory in China through eBay. It is great but all the instructions are in Chinese.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have found eBay to be a good source of such items as stretch socks, toothbrush inserts, polo shirts, even iPhone, but checking out the latter very carefully. I am very fond of the iPhone SE but unwilling to pay the normal retail cost. eBay has always made good when something has been unsatisfactory, but take care.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are devices to assist with hearing. Sennheiser TV headphones are the Cadillac. They look cheap, cost a lot, but work very well. There are some good cheap alternatives…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the hearing impaired some hearing aids enable sending and sound from TV or Internet or even from a smartphone itself.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do see internet devices out there advertised as designed specifically for seniors. Forget them. You cannot beat an iPad for ease-of-use. Windows 11 is improving and a must for a new Windows user. </span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-48942435399034259172022-06-17T09:18:00.001-07:002022-06-17T09:18:45.222-07:00www. snrtech.org is also www.snrtech.blogspot.comMake a note that you may in the future need to access this website as follows:<div><br /></div><div>www.snrtech.blogspot.com</div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-7140748962424590352021-12-08T12:49:00.001-08:002021-12-08T12:49:58.784-08:00Free Phone ServiceIf you're connected to Wi-Fi, free phone service is available from Textnow. The app is installed on your tablet with a free phone number to receive calls.<div><br></div><div>For free cell service Textnow supplies a SIM card at $4.99.</div><div><br></div><div>The services are supported with advertising. Without advertising the cost is $9.99 per month.</div><div><br><div><div><div><br></div></div></div></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-14130904192911145692021-02-08T10:24:00.001-08:002021-02-08T10:24:09.094-08:00What to do when Internet FreezesRecently I have experienced the Internet situation where the speed drops to zero.<div><br></div><div>In other words no service. Dead.</div><div><br></div><div>So what to do when you have an urgent need such as communication with the doctor.</div><div><br></div><div>You reach for your cell phone of course.</div><div><br></div><div>So how do you get cell phone data cheaply?</div><div><br></div><div>I have been using Tello. Not only do they offer plans and less than $10 a month, but for $25 you can get eight gigabytes a month.</div><div><br></div><div>That might be enough to handle all of your internet without any other service.</div><div><br></div><div>Even better you can modify your usage at any time.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-48598665434636422732021-01-29T14:43:00.001-08:002021-01-29T14:43:37.171-08:00WhoopsIn my last In my last posting I indicated that it was difficult to find a satisfactory medium size tablet.<div><br></div><div>In the meantime I have found that the Kindle Fire 7 9th Version is pretty satisfactory and can be had on sale for as little as $35.</div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-50989643930480055432021-01-27T09:41:00.001-08:002021-01-27T09:44:21.359-08:00Getting up to speedWith technology and our needs constantly changing, we are faced with the task of getting up to speed.<div><br></div><div>Speed is pretty much what it's all about when it comes to computers and internet.</div><div><br></div><div>So I have been in the process of doing what's needed so that I can do my activities in the least possible time.</div><div><br></div><div>After a long time I finally decided that Wi-Fi slows everything down too much.</div><div><br></div><div>When it came time to put down new carpet I had flat ethernet cable laid under it to make direct access to Internet available wherever I needed it.</div><div><br></div><div>Other efforts to speed up Wi-Fi really were just a crutch which did not work very well.</div><div><br></div><div>I have the latest routers now at the furthest distance apart.</div><div><br></div><div>I have adapters which enable me to plug in tablets.</div><div><br></div><div>I bought an Amazon Kindle Fire 10-in tablet on sale at $80 only to find that this device was way faster than any that I had ever used except an iPad.</div><div><br></div><div>I attributed that to the octocore processor which I also have in my Android phone.</div><div><br></div><div>That obsoleted my older smaller tablets. Trash.</div><div><br></div><div>I simply replaced them with an old iPad Air version 1 and a second Amazon Kindle Fire 10 for my wife.</div><div><br></div><div>I also resurrected an original iPad for use at the piano. I downloaded sheet music from the Internet Archive to Apple Notes where I can read it at the piano or print it out.</div><div><br></div><div>I switched to YouTube music and added VLC to play music from my digital library on SD card.</div><div><br></div><div>I got rid of some old large space taking speakers and replaced them with Echo Dots plugged into the wall with adapters. These these also enabled me to play to a tiny quality MP3 speaker.</div><div><br></div><div>I do play music through my hearing aids for a quality experience.</div><div><br></div><div>With Alexa I'm able to direct music to any of the plugin Dots.</div><div><br></div><div>The Alexa app also enables me to play music from a variety of sources, such as Amazon music, Pandora, and so on.</div><div><br></div><div>I use a Moto G4 older smartphone with its wider screen in addition to a narrower screen on a newer Moto device.</div><div><br></div><div>I am not changing from my great Apple iPhone SEs,</div><div>but I did drop expensive plans.</div><div><br></div><div>A new plan from Hello costs me just $5 a month for a 500 minutes and half a gig. I can buy a gig of data anytime I need it</div><div><br></div><div>At a price of only $70 I could not resist a projector, just for movies and TV shows available on line. it needs a dark room and a convenient place to place the projector.</div><div><br></div><div>One thing I could not do was find a seven to eight inch tablet that was fast enough for me. My latest Moto does have an octa-core processor and is the only alternative at 5 in.</div><div><br></div><div>I use Windows only in a pinch when nothing else will do, only because it is sooo slow.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-8209290435808159072020-11-17T10:43:00.001-08:002021-01-27T10:30:50.099-08:00Displacing the OldEvery now and then new technology is so good that it displaces the old. In other words it gets to be the time to throw the old stuff out.<div><br></div><div>When devices get a lot faster and easier to use, that time has come.</div><div><br></div><div>It is here with the latest iPad and Amazon Kindle Fire 10 9th Generation.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Both are lightning fast and have much approved navigation, the iPad with its stack and the Fire with its ability to emulate The Echo Show and do everything by voice without any keyboard or mouse.</div><div><br></div><div>I am doing away with my older tablets entirely. They are now time wasters.</div><div><div><br></div></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-4051048046443795852020-11-17T09:51:00.001-08:002021-01-27T10:28:11.024-08:00Cord Cutting and Navigation<div>For cable cutting and general navigation I created a guide for myself:</div><div><br></div><div>Normal cable channels except sports and local—Phllo<br></div><div>Local channels —Specific channel sites, PBS site, Newson</div><div>Networks live and On demand--Peacock, CBS All Access, ABC News</div><div>News channels--Watchnewspro on Laptops and tablets, Pluto</div><div>Channel guides--Pluto. TiVo 4K stick, Philo, elsewhere</div><div>Movies and TV--Acorn. Tubi. Amazon Prime, Netflix, Vudu</div><div>Music--Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, (on tablets and laptops use Alexa)</div><div>YouTube for videos, music, howto, 4K</div><div>News--Apple News Plus, Google News, Washington Post. Delaware and Lancaster Online, Philadelphia Inquirer, Alexa (selectively delivered to email)</div><div>Reading and Books--Kindle Unlimited, Google Play Books</div><div><br></div><div>Entertainment Tonight is CBS all access live</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-3825826033746065462020-11-10T10:54:00.001-08:002020-11-10T11:16:59.383-08:00What is the future of computing and how soon?The future of computing is not what you probably think.<div><br></div><div>The future is for computing to drop into the background.</div><div><br></div><div>We are moving towards the day when the computer will more and more anticipate what you need to do and set you on that track automatically</div><div><br></div><div>It will be another person in the room and you will not need to go to it.</div><div><br></div><div>It will enter into the conversation when it needs to and do what you needed to do.</div><div><br></div><div>That trend is obvious with the Internet of things.</div><div><br></div><div>Thermostats and lights are now controlled automatically with smart thermostats, smart bulbs, and smart switches.</div><div><br></div><div>Alexa answers your questions.</div><div><br></div><div>Amazon's Echo Show Mode points the way. Nearly anything can be done by voice with it.</div><div><br></div><div>(The new ability to use Show Mode on a Fire tablet greatly extends its usefulness.)</div><div><br></div><div>Such capabilities should become more and more preemptive by the computer with the passage of time.</div><div><br></div><div>The desktop computer, the laptop, even the smartphone, will fall into lesser and lesser use, as the invisible presence takes over.</div><div><br></div><div>I can already hear the panic about confidentiality. We always hear such about new technology. I guess that started when cave dwellers left the cave. Or when men learned to make fires.</div><div><br></div><div>Just go with it.</div><div><br></div><div>When? Starting now.</div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-77933814413751315662020-11-08T10:22:00.001-08:002020-11-08T12:45:46.204-08:00What is this for non-computer types.The other day we got a call from a friend who does not use computers at all, not even email.<div><br></div><div>Their son-in-law was setting up something for them to call us by video.</div><div><br></div><div>It turned out that that device was an Echo Show.</div><div><br></div><div>I knew about the Echo Show before but had no idea of what value it had to anybody.</div><div><br></div><div>It basically provides a display for the Amazon Echo and Alexa.</div><div><br></div><div>So what good would that be to anybody?</div><div><br></div><div>Turns out that it provides completely voice-controlled computer without any keyboard or other input device.</div><div><br></div><div>Especially it keeps old folks in touch during this covid-19 time.</div><div><br></div><div>Newly you can use your Amazon Fire Kindle device as an Echo Show.</div><div><br></div><div>Takes just a bit of learning to learn how to do things even simpler than ever before.</div><div><br></div><div>You might pick up a Kindle Fire 10 for $80 to use as a computer and also for someone who doesn't want to use a computer at all except by voice.</div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-41071307497521284852020-11-03T08:42:00.001-08:002020-11-03T08:55:04.462-08:00Do it all by VoiceIn the past we've gone through developments in how we use computers.<div><br></div><div>In the beginning we did all of our computing at a desk. Then along came the laptop and the ability to sit in an easy chair and do computing.</div><div><br></div><div>The smartphone then extended our ability to be more mobile about using a computer.</div><div><br></div><div>But there is a new way nowadays: talking to the computer.</div><div><br></div><div>That can extend our access away from any of the above devices.</div><div><br></div><div>The idea is to speak to the computer and get the answers you need while doing other tasks entirely which are unrelated.</div><div><br></div><div>I have stationed Echo Dot or Google Home devices so that I can talk to them anywhere in the apartment.</div><div><br></div><div>That way I can be doing any other kind of activity while also availing myself of computing.</div><div><br></div><div>I also have a very small waterproof speaker I can station where I am working.</div><div><br></div><div>I can turn lights on and off or adjust the temperature just by voice commands, of course. </div><div><br></div><div>But I can also browse the internet and get answers to questions quickly. I can send and receive emails. I can make phone calls. I can have books read to me. I can even do a posting like this.</div><div><br></div><div>All this without having any computer anywhere nearby.</div><div><br></div><div>And as I am writing this I just learned from my wife that some of our friends who have none of the devices above have told us that their son-in-law is installing an Echo Dot for them as their main computer device, nothing else needed.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-14465175244425943022020-10-30T09:19:00.002-07:002020-10-31T08:19:45.922-07:00Internet Joins Together What Covid19 DividesWhile Covid-19 divides us, internet is bringing us together.<div><br /></div><div>Indeed Covid-19 is the <i>driving force</i> now behind the growth in the use of computers.</div><div><br /></div><div>That was brought home to me by a phone call from a friend in another retirement community.</div><div><br /></div><div>A resident there had resisted use of computers all together until recently she could not get to a doctor's appointment without having a cell phone to be notified when she could enter the office.</div><div><br /></div><div>The question from the other community had to do with the least cost cell phone plan.</div><div><br /></div><div>So with Covid-19 it is very difficult to get on without computers and internet.</div><div><br /></div><div>New users actually benefit by not needing to unlearn the old ways of using computers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Like Windows. No need for that complexity anymore.</div><div><br /></div><div>Recent advances have made the iPhone an iPad even more easy to use than before.</div><div><br /></div><div>Apple has now concentrated on easing navigation.</div><div><br /></div><div>The new iPhone and iPad smart stack makes it easier than ever to get around and find what you need. And the latest iPad comes in at just $249.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not only that, but all the features of online TV come easily to these devices.</div><div><br /></div><div>WatchNews Pro lets me watch all the networks for just $5 a month.</div><div><br /></div><div>Full subscriptions to NBC and CBS are just about the same price each but extend access.</div><div><br /></div><div>Apple News gives me access to a huge bundle of publications for $10 a month.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then there are plenty of advertising based sources of movies at no cost at all.</div><div><br /></div><div>Computer shopping cuts the cost of going to stores.</div><div><br /></div><div>Email and video meetings are free.</div><div><br /></div><div>I really don't need cable anymore.</div><div><br /></div><div>So now computing and internet are finally coming into their own for everyone.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not sure how to use all these new tools? Just learn how to search for tutorials on internet and especially YouTube.</div><div><br /></div><div>And don't forget to forget the old ways.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, except the library, now online at home for all your books and media, even read to you out loud.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-14448128800176484442020-10-22T15:01:00.001-07:002021-01-27T10:31:25.519-08:00Lighting our Way AheadIn the old days, before covid-19, lights in our apartment were either 60 or 100 watt and were left on on dark days.<div><br></div><div>Now almost all our lights are controllable with voice via Echo.</div><div><br></div><div>They turn on automatically to daylight with breakfast and by evening with warmer color temperatures as we need them</div><div><br></div><div>At sunset the lights come on in our living room and dining area.<br></div><div><br></div><div>At bedtime the lighting switch is automatically to the bedrooms at a low level.</div><div><br></div><div>No longer do we need to think about and abuse the use of power for lighting.</div><div><br></div><div>Mostly it was done with Wi-Fi smart bulbs and cheap switches.</div><div><br></div><div>No more changing bulbs as the new ones last 20 years.</div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-77383267808321345272020-10-22T14:29:00.001-07:002020-10-23T09:36:14.809-07:00Better Hearing with Better SoundStaying away from exposure to covid-19 plus also a renovation of our living quarters both launched me on a pursuit of better sound.<div><br></div><div>As good as they were I needed to do away with old bookshelf speakers which required an amplifier, along with wires.</div><div><br></div><div>I needed a small and portable and unobtrusive solution. Sound is better as you get closer to the source.</div><div><br></div><div>Technology has newly offered some remarkable improvements and what can be had at a low price.</div><div><br></div><div>The Echo Dot series 3 was a starter. These dropped as low as $19 a piece as the new series for was introduced.</div><div><br></div><div>Not only do these connect you to Amazon Echo but they are valuable without Amazon Echo</div><div><br></div><div>They can be mounted with an adapter directly on the wall in multiple places.</div><div><br></div><div>They can receive Bluetooth or send Bluetooth to other speakers.</div><div><br></div><div>The Oontz series from Cambridge Soundworks are also small and portable to where you are listening. I find their sound remarkable, and as good or better than a larger system much further away.</div><div><br></div><div>Even smaller and still remarkable are tiny Fiodio resistant speakers Modek F-130.</div><div><br></div><div>We're talking about very small and very low priced technology.</div><div><br></div><div>You really don't need the big bulky equipment of the past, however good it was.</div><div><br></div><div>And it costs very little to try it out, less than $30.</div><div><br></div><div>So where does this all get me?</div><div><br></div><div>I can go anywhere in the apartment and to any speaker and access any of the sources of music or audio directly.</div><div><br></div><div>That includes everything from my old digitized 78s and 33s plus everything from Amazon and Pandora and Google and also have any of my books read to me.</div><div><br></div><div>The highest quality sound at the least possible cost.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-30291425550116949872020-10-05T13:43:00.000-07:002020-10-05T13:45:57.126-07:00Speakers and Speaking are Changing<p> I pride myself on keeping up-to-date on technology.</p><p>I was busy using speech recognition technology in industry 30 years ago.</p><p>However some of the most recent achievements got ahead of me.</p><p>Remember those big speakers we used to use with hi-fi systems. I still have a set of KLH speakers which are still really great.</p><p>But better tech is here with Alexa and with Hi Google.</p><p>Both have simple microphone and speaker system which plug directly into a wall outlet.</p><p>Both are unobtrusive and handy and cheap. The latest versions have very good audio and can be placed near where are you need them.</p><p>No need anymore for the old bulky hi-fi unless you have a lot of space you don't need for anything else.</p><p>And now they can be controlled entirely with your voice.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-34040692452304174942020-10-02T10:22:00.002-07:002020-10-03T10:48:50.015-07:00Wiring NightmaresComputers and technology create more and more needs to plug in more and more devices into our old electrical outlets. In the old days we had a few outlets in a room and that was it.<div><div><br /></div><div>Our apartment is not that old but it still has only one outlet in each wall, usually in the middle.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of those outlets is switched, which makes it undesirable for many uses.</div><div><br /></div><div>So a single outlet was needed to service a TV, a cordless phone, a modem, a router, wireless headphones, power for various TV sticks, and a power recliner which has two plugs, not to mention an Amazon Echo.</div><div>So nowadays you too may need to power six or more devices from a single outlet.</div><div><br /></div><div>That can be complicated by an outlet in the middle of a wall where furniture is usually placed in the way.</div><div>I prefer outlets in corners at about chair height for easy access. I required that at work as a management information director.</div><div><br /></div><div>Having also been director of a company which was accredited as a hospital, I also prefer nothing on the floor, which accreditation mandated. That avoids electrical exposures and also infection control problems.</div><div>But the way as technology has developed, over the years there's a tendency in homes to add surge bars and then plug in surge bars to surge bars and create a disaster. It is a very bad idea.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, facing a renovation, I needed to figure out a better way.</div><div><br /></div><div>My first effort was to eliminate plugins wherever possible. That meant doing away with smart home hubs for smart home switches and bulbs. I switched to smart bulbs and switches.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was also desirable to plan for plugging Amazon Echo directly into an outlet as opposed to using a cord. The device hangs directly on the plug.</div><div><br /></div><div>So now I need an outlet adapter which plugged into the hot receptacle to provide six outlets.</div><div><br /></div><div>I went through several such devices until I found one which could accommodate the sometimes bulky plugs associated with various devices.</div><div><br /></div><div>The best solution was a Phillips adapter which provides plugins at the side and on the face along with slots for charging a cell phone and tablet or laptop.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since I would be out of the apartment during a short renovation, I needed to label power plugs for the appropriate device, to avoid getting them confused.</div><div><br /></div><div>I picked up a Dymo computer labeler which spits out labels quickly.</div><div><br /></div><div>The end result was that I could accommodate nearly everything off the ground directly from the outlet.</div><div>Where I needed to plug more than six items in, I added a surge bar on the shelf or table.</div><div><br /></div><div>I needed to throw out all the old surge bars which could only accommodate a very narrow plug, and replace them with newer surge bars which offer plenty of space.</div><div><br /></div><div>One such surge bar is used for my modem, router, and ethernet hub which then plugs into a remote switch which reboots the system remotely.</div><div><br /></div><div>That makes it easy to restart the system after an electrical outage, which happens often in a storm..</div><div>More frequently our cable goes out in a storm, and I need to rely on internet to watch TV.</div><div><br /></div><div>In doing all this I realized that the future is likely to offer outlets with many widely spaced receptacles and more devices which plug in without an extension cord like the Amazon Echo and Google Home.</div><div>That will free up shelf and floor space for everybody.</div><div><br /></div><div>The side effect of getting everything off the floor is that our Robovac does not get snarled up in wires.</div><div>I no longer need to place something in the way so that the Robovac does not get into trouble. That was a nuisance.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-48128708806586566992020-09-15T10:21:00.004-07:002020-09-15T13:56:01.674-07:00Upgrading While "Covid19-Safe" at Home<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-a9f5634f-7fff-5315-ac2f-63a1bff0db0a">Many of us are upgrading our living space while being confined to home for safety from covid-19.<br /></p><p dir="ltr">Having done this extensively, I may be able to save others some mistakes.</p><p dir="ltr">Here we go:</p><p dir="ltr">I upgraded our light bulbs throughout our living space with smart bulbs.My mistake was an upgrading too early. Some bulbs got obsolete quickly.</p><p dir="ltr">It is safe for me to say that there is only one choice anybody should make. That choices for Wyse smart bulbs that work without a hub.</p><p dir="ltr">They work remotely by voice to adjust schedule and hue and brightness. What a difference in our living space.</p><p dir="ltr">I upgraded our computers in four different ways to find the best solution.</p><p dir="ltr">Simplest and cheapest and most efficient in space usage was the addition of a 24-in Insignia TV from BestBuy, which also serves as a computer display or monitor.A primitive browser even comes with it, but a cheap Intel Windows 10 PC stick makes the most of it. A caveat is that the stick has somewhat limited memory. That just means you need to store most things in the cloud.</p><p dir="ltr">Meanwhile I upgraded our router and moved it centrally.</p><p dir="ltr">Then phone arrangements needed to be upgraded to avoid nuisance calls.</p><p dir="ltr">Why? Because we all pay triple for our phone service. We pay for the landline, we pay for internet, and we pay for ourselves service. What a waste.</p><p dir="ltr">I bought it cheap VOIP device which gives me equivalent to landline service for $50 a year as compared to my previous over $300 a year cost.</p><p dir="ltr">I put in a Panasonic cordless system which extends cell service throughout the apartment.</p><p dir="ltr">I changed my cell service to Tello at $8 a month.</p><p dir="ltr">Next, I upgraded our printers with a Brother wireless laser at about $70 open box. Less than buying a replacement toner for an older printer.</p><p dir="ltr">I also obtained a Dymo label printer now available at $50.</p><p dir="ltr">So I did spend some money, but the savings offset all of the costs by a wide margin</p><p dir="ltr">It was also pretty cheap to obtain the latest Roku and Amazon sticks which enable us to watch a lot of movies absolutely free.</p><p dir="ltr">I did subscribe to Peacock and CBS services, along with Acorn TV. We do use Tubi a lot which has a lot of great movies and TV series free with very limited commercials.</p><p dir="ltr">If we had over the air TV service here I would have done away entirely with our cable service which costs only about $30 a month anyway</p><p dir="ltr">I did not need to upgrade iPhone or iPad. Older Chromebooks also still work quite well.</p><p dir="ltr">Both Windows and Chromebooks have some really severe limitations which I found a way of overcoming. Windows has very annoying problems with constant upgrades and exposure to viruses, while Chromebooks do not work well at all with printers.</p><p dir="ltr">The simple solution was to install Endless Linux which immediately recognizes any printer automatically and has painless upgrades.</p><p dir="ltr">With more time to play piano, I obtained fake books and sheet music collections free on the Internet Archive.</p><p dir="ltr">To avoid the moving cost of upgrading the whole place with repainting, I simply had touch-up done, with partial carpet replacement.</p><p dir="ltr">I also went through everything and disposed of things we just don't need or use anymore. I sell what we do not need on eBay.</p><p dir="ltr">And finally, I rearranged so that everything has a place and there is a place for everything. Things we always need in hand are now close by, and other items are in storage.</p><p dir="ltr">Closet type drawer storage units helped with all this rearrangement.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-18145823371560458352020-08-06T12:45:00.001-07:002020-08-06T12:45:37.256-07:00Goodbye CableCable TV is dying.<div><br></div><div>All the big players are shifting over to internet.</div><div><br></div><div>The big shift is occurring as we speak. </div><div><br></div><div>Consumer Reports makes the point that you can get all you need in media for $25 a month.</div><div><br></div><div>We have seen an explosion in content just over the last month.</div><div><br></div><div>More and more services provide channel guides in addition to selected sources.</div><div><br></div><div>Even Plex has introduced channel guides, following Peacock (NBC), and Roku.</div><div><br></div><div>In Germany you can already access any program and any TV station or schedule with the YOUTV app. Access over here is free.</div><div><br></div><div>The hardest part is finding your way around in the jungle of available media.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-34803724975330504722020-07-28T13:33:00.001-07:002020-07-28T13:58:32.902-07:00The best Computing and TV for SeniorsStaying at home has launched me on a mission to work out what would be the best computing and TV station for a senior.<div><br></div><div>It worked out that I needed to abandon cable and Windows and a PC and their many annoyances and costs.</div><div><br></div><div>Instead, I needed to adopt what is new and more advanced, and a lot cheaper.</div><div><br></div><div>That consisted simply of a 24in TV which also served as a monitor or display, an assortment of so-called sticks, and a Chromebook with a 15 inch screen.</div><div><br></div><div>I could find only two such 24in TVs out there and both are fine. One is an Insignia Fire TV from Best Buy and the other is an LG. I also put to use an old HDMI display.</div><div><br></div><div>The Chromebook is an HP.</div><div><br></div><div>To make efficient use of space, this equipment sits in a bookshelf with one shelf extended out to accommodate a keyboard. I sit three feet away from the screen.</div><div><br></div><div>All are connected direct through ethernet and avoid slow Wi-Fi where possible, such as Roku and Amazon Fire.</div><div><br></div><div>I run online media on the display while at the same time also using the Chromebook for computing. I can also deliver the Chromebook screen to the larger display.</div><div><br></div><div>This arrangement then opened up a whole new world for me.</div><div><br></div><div>The Roku Ultra stick especially opened up a huge array of services. </div><div><br></div><div>I decided to go for broke by adding a Fire stick and a new TiVo stick, which applies TiVo tools to ease navigation. I dispensed with the Chromecast because the other sticks perform the same functions.</div><div><br></div><div>The array of services was dizzying at first. It took a while to find out what I really wanted and then weed out what I did not want, such as subscription costs.</div><div><br></div><div>I was able to get free all the local TV channels plus also the Philadelphia channels, both live and on-demand. Newson is</div><div>an app which gives access to local channels.</div><div><br></div><div>I did subscribe to Peacock, which offers a wonderful library of NBC and associated media. I did that also to eliminate commercials. I needed the Tivo stick for that.</div><div><br></div><div>There have been more and more services offering a cable like program guide. These include NBC above, and also Pluto, and as I say more and more others.</div><div><br></div><div>A favorite service is Acorn, along with Hulu Amazon Prime.</div><div><br></div><div>There are also many other services which offer media with commercials, especially movies and TV series.</div><div><br></div><div>I had used many of these services on my cell phone and simply had to activate them for the large screen.</div><div><br></div><div>These included music services such as Amazon and YouTube Music and Pandora, along with Spotify.</div><div><br></div><div>it is possible to subscribe to services such as Sling which give access to TV shows on demand. These cost $20 a month and up. I avoid such costs. Sling does have some free content.</div><div><br></div><div>If you want to watch nearly all German TV series and movies it is possible to get them both live and on-demand via Youtv. That is NOT YouTube.</div><div><br></div><div>You can get two shows at a time free or for less than $10 hundreds at one time which are downloaded for access. Wish we had that here. Yes, there are subtitles in German. Just tap on UT at the bottom of the screen.</div><div><br></div><div>For $5 a month I subscribe to a service which provides Canadian and Australian news TV as an antidote for our local news. Newsy is an interesting free USA app which avoids opinions.</div><div><br></div><div>The hardest part about the whole effort was learning how to navigate to find the best content.</div><div><br></div><div>Both Roku and the TiVo stick and Amazon Fire have voice input to make that easier.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-25703293124407636422020-07-10T10:48:00.001-07:002020-07-10T10:48:40.149-07:00TV News Goes to InternetTV is now moving in a big way to internet.<div><br></div><div>If you don't believe that, consider that Disney and Comcast are now offering free TV on internet via the Pluto application.</div><div><br></div><div>It is a lot cheaper to offer TV on internet than to need to maintain cable systems and broadcast stations, as long as you have advertising income anyway.</div><div><br></div><div>I have Pluto, plus also a dozen other sources such as the Philadelphia TV stations online and a service called WatchnewsPro which offers MSNBC and both Australian and Canadian national news stations.</div><div><br></div><div>This allows me to watch news anywhere on my various devices.</div><div><br></div><div>I also watch our local WGAL TV news channel and a service called Newson.</div><div><br></div><div>In addition there is Reuters News and CBSN News Philly.</div><div><br></div><div>I mirror to TV with an iPhone and Apple TV simply by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.</div><div><br></div><div>I also use the Washington Post app which now mirrors the full printed edition on the TV screen. Embedded with that is also streaming TV.</div><div><br></div><div>To read a story in large print I just tap on it.</div><div><br></div><div>Our daughter shares with us the News Journal from Wilmington which works the same way.</div><div><br></div><div>Along with that comes USA Today.</div><div><br></div><div>To have print content read aloud, I just tap downward with two fingers from the top of the iPhone screen.</div><div><br></div><div>That capability is set up with accessibility settings.</div><div><br></div><div>All the news that's fit to print and then some</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365856378241944142.post-52511407341282095442020-07-08T09:39:00.004-07:002020-07-08T09:47:51.309-07:00Making the Most of Tech for Seniors<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So what does a senior need to make the most of technology in this day and age?</span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-c3ada621-7fff-25c9-9126-7bc69a9f6313"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The best space and cost efficient Technology setup for a senior in these days of covid-19 confinement might be the following: </span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-c3ada621-7fff-25c9-9126-7bc69a9f6313"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. We all need the best choice of hardware and it need not be expensive.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. You then need easy access to a whole host of information and media.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>For hardware I suggest the following:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a big display, such as a 24” TV like the Insignia Fire TV with 3 HDMI inputs </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a rugged cheap student type Chromebook laptop to use with it or separately on your lap or desk</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">two cell phones, one small and one large, such as a iPhone SE and a Moto 7, one always in the charger and one always in your pocket</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">TracFone service available for as little as $50 a year for each phone, or Tello</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a tablet, such as a Kindle Fire or iPad, even an iPad only with cell service</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a cheap wireless Brother laser printer</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sticks such as Roku and Chromecast, even Windows (see below)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For this Hardware you will have access in the most appropriate way wherever you are for about $500-$800 total</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To house the hardware I suggest a secretary desk with room for the TV/monitor and drawers</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>For accessing all the information you need, I suggest the following:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">first, use voice wherever possible to do your work, searching and launching, including Alexa</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">install video phone communication services such as Duo</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">activate the ability to have things read out aloud to you</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">have your news delivered daily via Gmail, including Axios, Microsoft News and Google News, and also reasonably priced subscriptions such as the Washington Post for $4 a month</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">install TV apps such as Pluto, Newson, CBSN Live, Reuters Live, and those networks which provide free online access such as ABC. I subscribe to WatchNewsPro, which provides MSNBC at $60 a year, which also includes National TV news stations from Canada and Australia</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> keep your photos online, only then print them to the nearest drug store photo service</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">use music services such as Amazon music or YouTube music, or free services such as Spotify and especially Pandora</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for reading, avail yourself of the free services such as Gutenberg and Internet archive, but also Amazon with its enormous libraries available for as low as $0.99 or even less</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for writing, use nothing but Google Docs (free) with ability to dictate and interface with any other software</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">avoid everything which interferes with your ability to get things done quickly, such as Windows, unless you have a special need for it and the time to do all the support to keep it working</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> if you do choose Windows I suggest a Intel stick coupled with a USB hub, along with care that you do not overuse the storage---although you can add huge micro SD storage cheap </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">be aware that with Chromebooks you can now run Linux applications such as Calibre, really the only application to access and organize documents and written media of all kinds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With all this technology available, make sure you USE it to get any information you need quickly to solve countless problems, by asking for a Google or YouTube solution. </span></div>
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<br />Martin's Snrtechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06538957173567961966noreply@blogger.com0