Me And My Smart TV

Within the last month, I have purchased a "smart" TV.  It's a 60 inch plasma TV made by Panasonic.  I had searched extensively for the right TV to replace my 2002, HD ready projection TV.  That TV worked fine and held it's own for well over a decade.  But it was time.

Now there has been extensive talk about the LCD and LED televisions.  They use less electricity, are thinner and are much lighter in weight than plasma TV's.  However, the plasma TV's still produce an excellent picture, cost less and their life spans are equal to most LED/LCD televisions - at over 100,000 hours of use. One added bonus - they have faster refreshing rates and therefore capture action motions much, much better than the lower and mid-level LED/LCD's.  For those of you who already own and LCD TV, like  I do in my upstairs bedroom, then you know what I'm talking about, when you have a slight picture breakup on action scenes.

As far as power consumption goes, I have florescent lights all over my house.  I have energy saving appliances, fixtures and electronic devices everywhere.  I just got rid of a projection style TV, which used a lot more power.  So no matter what - I know that I will still be seeing less electricity use with this energy star rated plasma TV.  The picture on it is nothing short of spectacular.  Deep blacks and bright contrasts.  I feel sorry for the modern actor or actress who skin blemishes can now be clearly seen...even past some of the makeup attempts to cover it.  Nothing like the TV I grew up watching movies and TV shows on.

The "smart" part of the TV comes in when I can watch Netflix, Hulu Plus, or Amazon Prime on it.  In addition, it has Internet based games and about 2 dozen other apps (and growing) that I can fiddle around with.  I can also synchronize my smart phone with the TV screen and watch my favorite YouTube videos, or wirelessly share my pictures or videos from my phone to the TV screen.  Amazing.

When I was growing up, being the youngest person in the house, I was always drafted to go stand by the television and move the "rabbit eared" portable TV antenna around to get better reception.  Today such family sacrifice has long been a thing of the past.  I guess there's nothing wrong with smartening up with modern times?

"Samsung Galaxy 4 Active IS NOT A Sony Xperia ZR Ripoff" (update 10/31/13)

Okay...I have a short comment for yet a new Samsung Galaxy that has entered the smartphone competition. That phone is - the Samsung Galaxy 4 Active.  I saw it being advertised on AT&T and wanted to look up some information on it.  But as soon as I did that, I began reading some negative commentary by potential buyers who dropped their thoughts in the comment section of various tech blogs.  I honestly think that this rise in arguing in comment sections of blogs, videos and news articles has gotten out of hand.  But that's a discussion for another day.  My thoughts here will pertain strictly to the new Galaxy 4 in the Samsung Galaxy family.

First off, I read someone's criticism of the phone as a knock off of the Sony Xperia ZR, an Android phone that is waterproof for up to five feet of water.  The Samsung Galaxy 4 Active that shows it submersed in a glass of water and is "IP67-certified" and can stay submerged "in a meter of water for up to 30 minutes".  Well, immediately the negative comments start in the comment section.  "It's a Sony ripoff" "It's this, it's that."  It's crazy!  Quiet honestly, who cares "if" Sony came out with the first waterproof phone?  Does it really matter?  It's NOT for consumers/users to judge whether or not something is a ripoff or not.  It's up to us to reap the benefits of advancing technology.  These companies have very well paid lawyers and attorneys who are quite capable of representing their clients best interests.  I feel quite secure in letting a judge and jury DECIDE on who's ripping off who.

Second, this Galaxy 4 Active, is just the latest in a line of water and dust proof, shock proof phones that Samsung has been building on for several years.  Long BEFORE the Sony Xperia line even started.  Apparently those online commentators had no idea that Samsung has been developing their "Rugby" phone line for the past few years.  Those phones include three flip models and now two Android models.  The Rugby 1, 2, 3 and now the Rubgy Smart and Rugby Smart Pro, have evolved a line up of phones that could take falls, water splashes and submersion.  This latest Samsung Galaxy 4 Active, is simply now the apex in that evolution of this particular lineup of rugged phones.  It's built for those people who want the high tech app level of a Galaxy 4 in a phone as rugged (if not more so) than the Rugby Smart Pro (which is technically slightly inferior to the SG4).  Some folks need to read a little first, before they burst out with comments about a company.

Third and last, I can see the other side of the coin.  I can see how Samsung appears to be knocking off some subtle ideas from the other competitors.  Hmm...I wonder if during the automobile booms of this past century and the tech boom of this century OTHER companies aren't sort of feeding off of one another?  Hmm...I wonder?  Some of Microsoft's and Blackberry's (formally Research in Motion) histories are filled with complaints about tech ripoff.  Hey...there aren't any angels anywhere in the tech industry.  They've either been bought up, ripped off, or crushed, or a combination of all three.  Doesn't make it right, but it's been happening since the Industrial Revolution.

We as consumers BENEFIT from this tech competition.  It drives prices down and allows us all to be able to embrace the advantages of the technology while enhancing our lives.  It doesn't really matter whether you use an iPhone, Android, Windows or Blackberry.  Just learn to use the devices properly and secure your private information and identity.  We are the audience in attendance   Let the giants fight it out in the ring with their high tech breakthroughs.  When both sluggers fail to answer the bell for the next round, then we get to go in and reap the rewards!

Don't fight folks.  Just...enjoy...

Update:  Sales for the Samsung Galaxy 4 Active have drastically fallen off due to the negative testimony of some purchasers.  It appears that the phone does not have equal the performance of the Galaxy 4 and has had complaints about it's camera, water leaks and overall function dysfunction.  Who knew?

"Another Smart Phone Convert"

I know, I know, this "news" is starting to actually get old, but yet another person at my job has purchased a smartphone.  He's another older guy - that is he's in his 50's - has purchased an Android phone.  More specifically, he's purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (just like mine) after he has observed me working with my phone the past few months.  What's so funny is that he gave up his old flip phone that he swore that he would never give up.  He couldn't see himself spending a few dollars more a month on a smartphone, while he had his flip phone and netbook.   He was happier than a pig in mud with his simple flip phone to make a phone call.  I told him that once he had a smart phone, he would drop his netbook like a bad habit.  Lo and behold, he now admits that I was right.  He leaves his netbook home now.  Instead he sits on his breaks and doodles on his phone.  He is absolutely marveled at all the apps, maps and information that he has access to now at the tips of his fingers and in the blink of an eye.

Well, it appears that he too has joined the Smartphone Darkside.  He stopped by and asked me to do some initial set up for him since the salesman in the store didn't do much to set him up, other than sell him the phone and upgrade his phone plan <snicker>.  The screen time out was still at 30 seconds, hardly enough time for an older man trying to learn a new trick to operate his phone.  I set that to several minutes and stopped the battery wasting "ripple" effect on his wallpaper.  I told him that wasting his battery on something like that will come back to bite him one day when he wants to make a phone call and can't because he wanted a special effect running on his cell phone.  Me and another coworker (who also has a smartphone) assured him that no matter how fast or brilliant the smartphone is - it will be as useful to him as a paperweight if the battery runs out of power while he's just driving/walking around.  He looked at us all (three of us) and said "Okay, take that off then". <we all cracked up>

I hope that what I put out here is helping you - or helps you steer a loved one to this blog and that this information here will help them.  Please do feel free to write a comment or question if you have one.

This smartphone evolution is pretty amazing. Whether you chose Android, iPhone, or Windows 7 (and yes, Blackberry is finally back in the game) I hope you do choose according to what not only works, but what also helps you in your life.

There it is...the 21st century...right out there in front of us.  Up, up and away...

UPDATE:

This post was originally written two months ago but not published.  Since it was written three other coworkers have purchased Android smartphones and one an iPhone.  Many others have already have Androids or iPhones.  Very few are holding onto their old Blackberries and the newer Blackberries have yet to be seen.  I've seen several Windows phones show up too, being used by people who I never would have even imagined would have even wanted a smartphone.  So the only debate here isn't if smartphones are here to stay.  The only debate is which one works for you?  That debate still continues as the smartphones and their user interface platforms evolve. 

Goodbye Apple! Hello Windows!

I made the switch!  From my iPhone 4 phone to my Nokia Lumina 920 Windows 8 phone.  I also have an Android.  Gone is the over pricing of Apple products and their developer apps, and I'm still getting an incredible device.  I don't need 500,000 apps to run my phone.  The apps I that it came with and the additional that I've installed work perfectly on my Nokia.  It is a "quick" phone by it's OS set up and hardware (1.5 ghz dual core).  Although you couldn't tell here, the picture quality is sharp and bright.  It's hard to believe that I use to get happy over a monochrome flip phone just 10 years ago, when compared to this.  This is a perfect phone for people who want a smartphone, but do not want to deal with the complications of setting up your Apple or Android screen/folders/access to applications.  Quick and easy is the Window phone motto.  Well done MS!

A Windows Phone Is On The Way

It's taken me a couple years now, but I've finally caved in and purchased a Windows Nokia 920 cellular phone.  I bought one for my sister two summers ago, a phone that was already 9 months old itself.  She loved it.  But it would only update to the Windows 6.5.  So I got her a Samsung Android phone as an upgrade.  She loves having more apps with the Android, but does miss the quick in and out access to her old Windows phone..  The older Windows platform was a little bit limited in terms of applications.  That world seems to be expanding.  With the big Windows 8 push a few months ago, I think my Windows phone will do well once it arrives and I set it up.  It seems to have access to most of the applications that I will need it for.  The prices on the Apple phones, when compared to the other phones available is outrageous.  I like Apple's concept and all, but not at the expense of my wallet and good sense.  These phones, as great as they are, are not timepieces that will sit on display at a museum.  No more than 4 months after they are released, they are "old" technology.  Sorry Apple, I guess I don't get a second bite?

Another Day Another Java Attack - This Time It's Facebook Techs!

As I rolled over in my sick bed this morning and read my usual incoming daily news messages, one messages immediately stood out: A handful of Facebook engineers had their machines hacked after simply visiting a website that itself had been compromised.  In this case, the engineers had no idea that merely visiting the site, (not even downloading anything from the site) they had infected their machines.  Here is a recent quote from Facebook on the matter:

"Last month, Facebook Security discovered that our systems had been targeted in a sophisticated attack. This attack occurred when a handful of employees visited a mobile developer website that was compromised. The compromised website hosted an exploit which then allowed malware to be installed on these employee laptops. The laptops were fully-patched and running up-to-date anti-virus software. As soon as we discovered the presence of the malware, we remediated all infected machines, informed law enforcement, and began a significant investigation that continues to this day."

Now I hope this will really get people's attention.  I posted about this over a month ago (just scroll back) and even though fixes in the form of "patches" have been made, the fixes haven't fixed all loopholes.  Millions of people, billions of computers are open and subject to the security loopholes in Java.  Since I posted about this, I've deleted ALL Java from my computers and haven't missed it.  Yet Java is freely installed in most machines and we get weekly if not daily messages to update it.  Java is built into our browsers (phones, tablets and pc's) and basically helps us view certain websites.  Java is an old, old code, that in today's world has a lot of security loopholes.  Steven Jobs hated Java for this very reason.  Most websites use other code (HTML) now for viewing.  Even if you happen upon a site that needs Java to open properly, you won't even need it, because it will open just enough for you to understand what you're seeing.  For those of you who will argue "Oh but there are patches to fix that" and I argue back "Don't you think those Facebook engineers knew that, and had patches installed on their machines?  And look at what happened to them?  If you're as smart as a Facebook engineer, then you probably don't need to be reading this blog."  

Today visiting websites is like going to a watering hole in the wild outdoors in the jungle.  If the water is tainted everyone drinking from it can get sick.  You don't even need to download anything.  My antivirus warned me about a certain tech website that had been temporarily compromised.  Thank goodness!  Had I landed on that site, just by merely visiting I too could have been infected.  I value my machines.  I try to take care of them as often as possible.  I'm sure that many of you out there value your smartphones, tablets and pc's too as well.  We are compelled to protect our personal information, contacts and identity.  Well, today's tech world demands that you'll need to read up and become a little more vigilant about avoiding any mistaken steps into the world of computer hacking and identity theft.  Good luck!  Feel free to write me back.  Now back to sleep I go.

Read the link below from a fellow blogger with more detailed, technical information.

www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/01/14/java_zero_day_exploit_don_t_patch_just_disable_java_in_your_browser.html

A New Member of the Smartphone Darkside

I know, I know, this "news" is starting to actually get old, but yet another person at my job has purchased a Smartphone.  He's another older guy - that is he's in his 50's - has purchased an Android phone.  More specifically, he's purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 just like mine after he has observed me working with my phone the past few weeks.  What's so funny is that he gave up an old flip phone that he has had for at least six years.  He actually swore and argued with me that he would never, ever "waste" his money on some crazy phone like mine.  He was happier than a pig in mud with his simple flip phone to make a simple phone call.

Well, it appears that he too has joined the Smartphone Darkside.  He stopped by and asked me to do some initial set up for him since the salesman in the store didn't do much for him other than sell him the phone and upgrade his phone plan.  The screen time out was still at 30 seconds, hardly enough time for an older man trying to learn a new trick to operate his phone.  I set that to several minutes and stopped the battery wasting "ripple" effect on his wallpaper.  I told him that wasting his battery on something like that will come back to bite him one day when he wants to make a phone call and can't because he wanted a special effect running on his cell phone.  Me and another coworker who also has a Smartphone assured him that no matter how fast or brilliant the Smartphone is - it will be as usuful to him as a paperweight if the battery runs out of power while he's just driving/walking around.  He looked at us all (three of us) and said "Okay, take that off then". <we all cracked up>

Now I know that there aren't a lot of people really following this blog too tough, and that's okay.  But for those that are following, I hope that what I put out here is helping you - or helps you steer a loved one to this blog and that this information here will help them.  Please do feel free to write a comment or question if you have one.

This Smartphone evolution is pretty amazing. Whether you chose Android, iPhone, or Windows 7 (and yes, Blackberry is finally back in the game) I hope you do choose according to what not only works, but what also helps you in your life.

There it is...the 21st century...right out there in front of us.  Up, up and away...