The Downside Of Using Social Media For Troubleshooting

For the past couple of months, one of our cars - a 1999 Honda - has been giving us trouble. It idles rough and struggles to get up to speed. My father-in-law checked it out and changed the spark plugs but the problem remained. Thankfully, we have two other somewhat functional vehicles, so we parked the Honda and asked friends, family and coworkers for advice either on how to fix it or where to take it.

After a couple months of using a gas-guzzling 4WD as the alternate daily driver, I finally made the decision to bite the bullet and pay a professional mechanic to fix the Honda. Keep in mind that doing so required me to drop off the car at the shop after work and get a ride home after my wife got off work. And since the shop was closed by the time I got there, it also required me to sacrifice the next day's lunch break to drop off the key and tell them about the symptoms.

Yesterday I got a call from the shop telling me what they found and how much it would cost to fix. And then I made the mistake of revealing this info to family, coworkers and Facebook friends, etc. Suddenly I had shade tree mechanics falling out of the sky opining on how easy that problem is to fix and how badly I got screwed by the shop. How could it be that in the two months the car sat parked in the driveway - nary a peep from anyone, but I pay someone to fix it and suddenly everybody's an expert?

Needless to say, some of the comments (both in-person and online) made me feel like a certified dumbass. I'm sure most of them weren't trying to make me feel bad, they were simply taking the opportunity to stroke their own ego. And that's okay. If you're the kind of person who knows how to work on your own car and has the time, tools and facilities to do so, more power to you. Far too many of us lack any kind of skill set these days. Just remember that none of us is a master of ALL trades.

After I had a few hours to cool off, it dawned on me that some of the very same people riding my ass about paying too much for an auto repair are the same folks I've seen break down and buy a new TV because they didn't have the motivation to crack the manual and learn how the TV or remote works. People who won't hesitate to spend $500-$1,000 to replace a smartphone, tablet or laptop when the problem could have been corrected by reinstalling the operating system.

There's nothing wrong with having a self-sufficient attitude but we all need to remember that it's physically impossible for any of us to become proficient at using/maintaining/repairing every single tool/device that we use on a daily basis. There's also nothing wrong with a guy who is good at fixing X but horrible at fixing Y to trade his time and labor (sometimes, in the form of money) to another guy who may be great at fixing Y but may be a total idiot when it comes to X. It's called voluntary exchange of goods and services (you may know it by its evil nickname: the free market), and it's absolutely essential to human survival.

Win8 App Store, Laptops, Desktops and Tablets - Oh My!

Looks like some shady stuff may be going on in the Windows 8 app store. There's an app for $1.49 called Google Chrome Browser but the listed developer isn't Google. One called Adobe Flash Player for $2.49 but it's not issued by Adobe.

And while I'm thinking about it, why do we need standalone Mac/PC apps for services (like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube) that were designed to run inside a web browser?

If the future of the laptop/desktop OS is to mimic our smartphones, why not just give people a wireless keyboard/trackpad to go with their tablet... and HDMI-out for when they need a bigger display... and some sort of overpriced case gizmo that can support the tablet, keyboard and trackpad for when they want to prop it all up on their laps. You see where I'm going with this, right? Maybe just buy a laptop and be done with it instead of allowing these guys to nickel-and-dime you into the poorhouse?

I still maintain that the most useful function of the tablet was to encourage laptop manufacturers to increase battery life and decrease start-up/resume times. Before the iPad, most laptops were little more than portable desktops/thigh-warmers but with recent improvements in performance and technology, I can't make a good argument for why a tablet would be preferential to a laptop for the average Joe - especially when he already owns a smartphone.

Windows 8.1 on MacBook Pro

It's been about a week since I installed Windows 8.1 on my 'Late 2011' 13" MacBook Pro. Here's a little review.

First let's clear up some confusion. Basically, there are two ways to install Windows on a computer: a fresh, new install which requires a full version of Windows, or the cheaper 'upgrade' version which requires you to have a licensed, compatible version of Windows already installed on your machine. If you don't already have Windows installed on your Mac, you'll need the full version. I paid about $126 for the full version of Windows 8.1 at Best Buy.

To add to the confusion, the last few versions of Windows (going back to at least XP) have been broken up into a basic consumer version called 'Home' or 'Premium' (or something similar), and a version called 'Professional'. The 'Professional' version costs about $200 and according to the comparison chart, it didn't really offer anything extra that I couldn't live without. Contrary to what your Best Buy salesperson may tell you, the installation of Windows on a Mac does not require the Professional version. Buyer beware!

The other thing I needed for the install was a USB stick for installing Windows hardware drivers. I never did find any minimum size specs listed for the USB stick but mine only had 2 GB of free space and everything worked fine. The first thing that you'll need to do is plug the empty USB stick into your Mac and format it to the FAT filesystem (this will allow both OS X and Windows 8.1 the ability to read/write to the stick).

Now go online and find instructions for installing/running Boot Camp and Windows on your Mac. Read Apple's tips before beginning so that you'll understand the process and know what to expect. The short version is that you'll use Boot Camp to partition your Mac's hard drive, download and install the necessary driver files onto the USB stick, and dedicate space for the installation of Windows. Once the Windows installation is complete, you'll hold down the Option key during reboot or power-up to choose whether you want to run OS X or Windows.

As far as installing Windows goes, this was one of the simplest installs I've ever done. All of the hardware drivers were on the USB stick so there was no barrage of third party installers competing to get their stuff installed and set up.

The bad news...

If, like myself, you'd planned to install Windows 8.1 on your pre-Retina MacBook primarily so you could take advantage of Windows' ability to adjust your display's DPI settings to do a system-wide increase of the size of icons, text, etc, forget about it. The option is grayed out. This option is only available when the MacBook is connected to my 24" 1920x1080 external monitor.

The Thunderbolt port does work on the Windows side but it isn't hot-swappable (it requires a reboot to begin working).

Battery life isn't quite as good on the Windows side. The MacBook's fan runs a bit more as well. Display brightness seems a little harder to adjust. Same for the keyboard backlight.

The Boot Camp Control Panel (in the bottom right next to the clock) is essential for adjusting settings for things like the built-in keyboard and trackpad.

After digging around in Windows 8.1's settings, I have yet to find a button or icon to turn off (or on, for that matter) the Bluetooth radio. It says it's on and searching for devices but gives no option to switch it off when not needed. I haven't had a chance to try using Bluetooth or the FaceTime camera, so I can't comment further on these options.

All in all, Windows on a Mac is interesting to say the least. The new Start Screen (it's not just a Start Menu anymore) takes some getting used to. Had I known that like OS X, Windows 8 wouldn't allow me to adjust the built-in display's DPI setting, I probably wouldn't have bothered. There a few minor things that prevent me from giving up Windows entirely but my biggest disappointment with OS X is how small it renders buttons and text throughout the OS. Seriously, trying to read a fine-print EULA on a Mac is like trying to read the last line on an optometrist's eye chart... from the parking lot!

In the past, there were two reasons someone might want a bigger computer display: to increase space on the desktop for multiple windows, or to increase the size of everything on the screen. Sadly, it seems that us folks in the latter camp have been abandoned. Oh well, live and learn. At least I'm once again able to batch-rename files without the need to google a refresher on how to create a Workflow.

Pocket-Friendly, Cellular Data-Only...

APPLE: "Introducing the iPhone!"

CUSTOMERS: "Wow, amazing device! Too bad it requires a monthly service contract, and worse yet, with one of the most horrible carriers in the nation."

APPLE: "Introducing the iPod touch!"

CUSTOMERS: "Cool, but too bad it doesn't have cellular data for when you're out and about."

APPLE: "If you need cellular data, get the iPhone instead."

CUSTOMERS: "Yeah, but the whole AT&T thing. Look, we don't wanna cause trouble, we just want a pocket-friendly device with cellular data (preferably from a selection of carriers) - no voice, no text, just the data."

GOOGLE: "Introducing Android!"

CUSTOMERS: "Promising... but no. Again, pocket-friendly device. Cellular data. No phone service. No text service."

CARRIERS: "Introducing Mi-Fi portable hotspots!"

CUSTOMERS: "No! We don't want a third device to worry with. Listen closely: pocket-friendly, cellular dat...

APPLE/ANDROID: "Introducing smartphones with built-in hotspot sharing capability!"

CUSTOMERS: "No thank you. Once again, don't need a smartphone."

APPLE: "Introducing iPad and iCloud!"

CUSTOMERS: "Wait... What? Did you not hear us say 'pocket-friendly'?"

SAMSUNG: "Introducing the Galaxy Note!"

CUSTOMERS: "Hey, Dipshit! We said no voice or text plans! This thing requires a full blown smartphone plan! And a stylus? Really?"

APPLE: "Siri voice assistant!"

CUSTOMERS: "No."

APPLE: "Thinner, lighter and taller iPhone?"

CUSTOMERS: "Nada."

APPLE: "Smaller iPad?"

CUSTOMERS: "Wait! You're getting warmer..."

SAMSUNG: "Oh! We know! An 8-inch phone with a stylus!"

CUSTOMERS: [face-palm] "Did you guys eat a lot of paint chips as a kid?"

VERIZON: "Introducing the Verizon Messages app! Receive your phone's text messages on your tabl..."

APPLE: "Fingerprint sensors!"

CUSTOMERS: "FOR GOD'S SAKE! ARE YOU GUYS EVEN LISTENING?!?!?!" You know that thing you do for the 'iPad Wi-Fi+Cellular'? We buy the device, then you activate a SIM card that only provides (and bills us) for cellular data? Yeah! But look... Alright, stay with me now... Instead of doing that for a big ol' iPad, we want you to do it for something the size of an iPod touch! Got it? We've only been asking for this for the last SIX FREAKING YEARS!

That glazed-over look in your eyes means... what, exactly?

Spare Batteries

KISS singer Paul Stanley once said "the best thing about being rich is never having to worry about money". I think a similar theory applies to batteries and cellphones.

Earlier this week I was put into a situation where my phone's battery was almost dead (mostly due to being in areas with poor reception) and there was no convenient way to charge it. Long story short, I needed to get at least 17 hours out of a 12-hour battery. Had I still been using an iPhone or any other phone with a non-removable battery, I would've been up the creek without a paddle.

Thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Note's spare battery and standalone charger (an accessory which costs less than most quality iPhone cases), I was able to swap out my battery and go, without dragging a charger around in my pocket and searching high and low for an available receptacle.

It's for this reason I've concluded that if a phone lacks a removable battery (and doesn't at the very least, ship with one of those battery pack cases), it's not a phone at all - it's a toy. All the worse if the phone now uses a proprietary connector that's nearly impossible to find outside of giant electronics stores. It seems crazy to me that the same company that prides itself on building laptops with amazing battery life is willing to compromise their phones, all for the sake of shaving a couple of millimeters off the overall thickness.

Seems to me the market for an 18-hour phone would be bigger than the market for a 12-hour laptop.

Android Update Hell

A few weeks ago, Verizon gave the green light to push out Android OS update 4.1.2 to their version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. I can't remember the exact date Google made this update available or when Samsung approved the Note 2 to receive it, but it's pretty safe to assume that Note 2 owners on Verizon were among the last to receive the update (which is more the rule than the exception when it comes to Verizon and Android). If that's not bad enough, some of the new features included in this update have been withheld, changed or limited by Verizon. As a former iOS user, this is a characteristic of Android that annoys the piss out of me, and to tell the truth, I'm not sure what's more annoying about it: the act or the complete lack of any explanation for it.

Of my 4.5 years with iOS, over 3 years of that time was spent using a jailbroken device. The subject of how I got into jailbreaking is too long to go into here but suffice it to say that my hand was forced by AT&T's crappy service in my area. Point being, jailbreaking gave me the opportunity to see the difference between what a particular iPhone model could do and what Apple was willing to allow it to do. Not to mention some of the shady tactics Apple was willing to use to force updates on us.

Despite all of this tomfoolery, one thing that iOS users have been able to take solace in is the fact that when Apple makes an iOS update available, the whole update becomes available to everyone (using an approved device) at the same time. Carriers are given time to field-test Apple's new software and hardware but once Apple sets a release date, the carriers (for the most part) must step aside. If a new feature is to be excluded by a carrier, it's typically announced before people line up in droves to buy the new device.

Additionally, iPhone users don't have to worry about carriers substituting Apple-tested, approved and supported apps/features with their own non-removable (and often substandard or poorly supported) bloatware. The relationship between a carrier and an iPhone user is no different from the relationship between say, an electric utility and its customer: that of a dumb-pipe. Unlike with other smartphones, carriers are forced to provide iPhone users with nothing more or less than the cellular connectivity with which to operate their devices. In my opinion, that's the way it should be.

Another advantage to Apple's walled garden policy is easier troubleshooting. When an iOS user is having an issue or question, usually all they need to know is which model device and which version of iOS they are using, and a web search immediately brings solutions. Not so much with Android. In addition to the many different brands of Android devices, there appears to be a vast sub-category of different versions of the same make/model - many with their own exclusive features/capabilities. If all of that wasn't enough of a confusing mess, both the manufacturers and carriers have the authority to decide when or if your device will get the latest OS update, and in the case of Verizon, can choose to outright remove features from that update. It seems hypocritical to me that a company would cherry-pick OS features it's willing to allow, all while taking the position that it would rather lose all of my business than give me the option to pay for just voice/SMS service without data (or vice versa).

I guess my biggest problem with Android thus far has been coming to terms with the deception created and fostered by both manufacturers, carriers, tech blog writers and their fanboy supporters. Some would have you believe that every Android scenario is like picking up a Dell laptop from Best Buy that runs a full, bloatware-free version of Windows, and taking it home and plugging it straight into your Comcast cable modem. And it is indeed that simple in a limited number of scenarios that depend heavily on both the hardware and carrier chosen. But for most people, the options are more like this:

1. pick out the Dell laptop and tell the salesman you're a Comcast customer. Promise to stay with Comcast for the next two years in exchange for a 70% discount on the hardware. You turn on the laptop and it looks nothing like the same version of Windows running on your work PC. It's covered in apps, themes and branding from Dell, Best Buy and Comcast. Some of the apps and UI elements that come stock with Windows have been replaced by Comcast- or Dell-branded junk. Microsoft releases regular updates for it but you must wait for both Dell and Comcast to decide if/when to make them available, as well as whether or not to customize them when they do make them available. There are all kinds of tutorials on the web explaining how to revert it to a stock Windows PC, accompanied by disclaimers that it'll void your Dell hardware warranty, tip-off the Russian mafia to the secret coin collection in your attic, as well as result in Comcast murdering your first-born child, disconnecting your service and charging you an early termination fee. You also discover that some of the cool Dell-exclusive features of the laptop will no longer work if you do revert it to stock Windows; or,
2. buy a specific line of Windows Nexus laptops at full price and still be forced to wait for Comcast to issue the OS updates; or,
3. purchase said Nexus laptop and activate it with a more open-minded ISP then move to said ISP's service area; or,
4. buy a MacBook at full price, accept that it can't do everything that the Dell can do without a hack that gets overridden every six months when Apple releases an OS update, plug it into your cable modem and tell Comcast and Best Buy to kiss your ass.

I guess my gripe isn't so much with Android (it is a great OS) or even with the device makers, so much as it is Google's willingness to bow down to carriers who never seem to run out of new ways to shaft their customers. Yes, Apple makes me feel like the tween whose over-protective mother still insists on holding his hand every time they cross the street, but that momma bear sure has done a lot since entering the smartphone market to protect her cubs from those greedy carriers. All of the various Android manufacturers seem to be as weak-kneed as Google when it comes to standing up for the interests of their customers. I had assumed before switching that Samsung was big enough by now to have grown a pair, but I guess I was mistaken.

Data Plan Idea

I was thinking about the arguments between Internet providers like Comcast and content providers like Netflix. ISPs argue that content providers like Netflix and YouTube account for the lion's share of customer bandwidth, and that they should therefore pay up for the ISP's costs to supply that content to customers.

I suppose that to an extent, an ISP is akin to a trucking company that specializes in delivering 1s and 0s. If ISPs wish to be viewed in such a way, then it makes little sense why the end user is forced to pay a monthly service fee to these 'cyber trucking companies'.

Would it be better (particularly with regards to cellular data) if every time we used an app or downloaded a media file that we were required to purchase enough data to carry out the transfer (a sort of 'in-app-purchase' or cyber shipping charge) beforehand? Imagine a YouTube in which every video clip cost you so many credits and the ISP got a cut of that money directly from YouTube.

Imagine a setup in which basically nothing on the web is free anymore (every transfer would carry with it a cyber shipping charge) BUT you are no longer forced to pay a monthly fee to any ISP. Would you be better or worse off than with the current setup? Would it mean an end to the predominantly ad-supported websites we now have, with their annoying and privacy-invading tactics?