technology

Windows 10 Rant!

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We have our computers set to automatically update their operating system – Windows 10.

Well, we woke up yesterday morning to John’s computer stuck with a weird “exit and continue to windows rollback” update prompt.  We thought it just needed a restart – WRONG.  Thankfully we have a second computer to research this madness.  Evidently there is an issue with Windows 10 update – gee thanks Microsoft.  You would think you would have fixed it by now!

Anyways, after spending HOURS trying to fix this issue, we ended up resetting it to an earlier version of Windows 10.  But now all the apps that were added over the last 2 years are gone and need to be reinstalled.  On top of that, the computer is “not secure”.  How long will it take to “fix” this issue?????

Since we were having an update issue with John’s computer, we decided to check the update status of Barb’s computer.  Lo and behold, hers is not up to date either.  Barb’s wouldn’t install the April update either.  Guess what the fix is – to uninstall the “defective” update.  BUT IT NEVER INSTALLED!  How do you uninstall something that isn’t installed????

So to attempt to fix this, we downloaded the Update Assistant onto Barb’s computer and tried updating to version 1803.  It didn’t work the first time – it was unable to install for some reason.  Tried it a second time after work today and it finally worked.

One computer updated and ready to go, 2 more to go.

Now we are going to try to update John’s all-in-one computer with the update assistant.  Wish us luck!

 

 

 

Old Computers

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We recently “inherited” 2 old computers within a week of each other.

“Inherit” probably isn’t the best word to use here.  Mother-in-law recently decluttered Father-in-law’s desk (he passed almost 3 years ago) and was going to just throw away his computer into the trash.  John grabbed it and brought it home for me to “clean out” and decide what to do with it.

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Now “cleaning” an old computer when you know what you have on it is so much easier – you just transfer everything to the new computer, digitally wipe it clean, and get rid of it.  I started going through files and quickly realized my time could be spent doing more enjoyable things (like decluttering my own computer!)  This computer hadn’t been accessed in the previous almost 3 years.  How much of it would I really want to download??  They didn’t have any photos saved.

My job became much easier with the decision to 1) remove the hard;  2) have John destroy (literally) the hard drive (I think he used a drill and hammer);  3) have John take the destroyed hard drive and rest of the computer to hazardous waste.

I know we could have sold some of the parts BUT it really isn’t worth the effort.  How much would we really get from a 3 year old computer???

After my Dad passed, Mom was decluttering some stuff.  She also wanted to throw out an old computer.  What’s with people just wanting to throw out computers????  This one was about 10 years old and hadn’t been used since she got a laptop about 5 years ago.  I didn’t even bother to turn it on – just removed and destroyed the hard drive and send the stuff on its way.

Now back to thinking about clearing out my own computer!

 

Trying to declutter a TV

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This is one topic that causes “heated” discussions in our home.  Barb would love to remove a TV (or 2 or 3) from the home.  John is against it – period.

Now to be fair, the TV we have in our bedroom is not connected to the cable system.  It is primarily used in the RV during the summer.  It spends the rest of the year in our bedroom to decrease the odds of the RV being broken in to.

Kiddo #1 (who has been married for 15 months now) “sacrificed” her room as the guest/extra stuff room.  We were “lucky” that the Great Flood of 2015 happened about a month before her wedding.  John really wanted a place to watch TV if both girls were home for an extended period without having to listen to us!

Last week we changed our cable provider and he had them add a cable box to this room.  I guess it is considered a win since our bedroom does NOT have a cable box any longer.

 

 

Phone scams!

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We just received our third call of the afternoon claiming to be from Windows Technical Department.

I know they are:

  • calling from outside the United States so they don’t have to follow the Do-Not-Call legalities
  • using phone numbers that are not from their “call center”
  • SCAM ARTISTS hoping someone is stupid enough to give them the information they are trying to get

Thankfully, we receive very few of these type of calls – maybe 2-3 per week.  It’s weird that they called 3 times this afternoon.  Also thankful the other 2 phone calls we received this afternoon were from kiddo #1 and kiddo #2.

Decluttering one email Account

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I made a realization – you can turn off the notifications for WordPress!  I was receiving an email every time someone we follow posted or commented.  It was driving me crazy!  This specific email is only associated with this WordPress account.  I had to check it each day due to the volume.  This account has been averaging about 150 emails a day.

How easy was it to stop the emails??  Just go to manage the followed sites, click the > to the left of each site, and move the notification button to OFF.

Life just got a little less crazy in our household!!

 

Integrated Headstones, oh my!

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Read this today!  From Roots to the Past

So now cemetery headstones can be connected to the internet!

“Each headstone has a brick with a QR code. If you have a smarthphone, all you have to do is put your phone over the QR code and voila! Up pops scads of information about the “resident” of the cemetery. These may be the only cemeteries in North America where each and every resident is identified in this way. Quite extraordinary when you think about it.”

…to continue reading this post, visit Sandra Phinney’s blog.”

Does it really need to be connected to the Internet??

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We recently read an article in the New York Times (Sep 6, 2015) by Allison Arieff titled “The Not Very Smart Home”.  (Online the title appears to be “The Internet of Way Too Many Things” – not sure why the difference)

Here’s the link.

She seems to hit certain dilemmas in our minimalist/simplification/environmentally-friendly quest right on the head.  We often comment about some of the same things she mentions in her article.

“…a night light that “listens” for your smoke detector to go off and then calls your smartphone to let you know your house might be on fire.”

“Technology is integrated not because it is necessary, but because the technology exists to integrate it.”

Wouldn’t it be better if the night light called the fire department??? Continue reading →