PinnedMember-only13 tips to extend the lifespan of your phone batteryHow to preserve a smartphone’s fastest-degrading component It’s harder to replace your phone’s lithium ion battery than it is to treat it right in the first place. Many smartphones don’t provide easy user access to their batteries. That includes all iPhones and many flagship Android phones from brands such as…Android11 min readAndroid11 min read
Sep 16, 2021Member-onlyChange iPhone search to DuckDuckGo for better privacy protectionPrivacy-conscious friends prefer DuckDuckGo over Google Some of my friends are quite privacy and security-conscious. They put protectors over their desktop and laptop cameras. They worry about the cameras on their iPhone. An iPhone is already a more secure environment than an Android phone, I reassure these friends. DuckDuckGo is…IPhone2 min readIPhone2 min read
Aug 30, 2021Member-only3 ways to solve iPhone “Could not open the page, too many redirects”Cached data in Safari can prevent pages from opening My coworkers and I fill out an online covid-19 declaration before we physically enter our workplace. Many of us keep a link to the questionaire on our iPhones. Occasionally, the page will not open on an individual phone, and Safari will…IPhone3 min readIPhone3 min read
May 17, 2021Member-onlyLearning French with AlexaMy experience using the Amazon AI’s multilingual mode Amazon introduced a multilingual mode to its Alexa AI in 2019, starting in three countries: Canada, India, and the United States. …Technology6 min readTechnology6 min read
Mar 4, 2021Coffee with Ms. Patricia Lee Smith702Paul MyersVery nice!Very nice! I am currently reading Patti Smith's memoir Just Kids. What a creative force! The book is giving me a window on... evoking a world I've not seen depicted before. Not so successfully anyway. The Chelsea Hotel in the late 60s. Max's Kansas City and the Andy Warhol crowd. Loving depictions of brilliant, damaged artists such as Jim Carroll and Janice Joplin.1 min read1 min read
Feb 18, 2021Member-onlyGeorge Orwell’s 6 Rules for Writing — Improved!“Lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia” in politics inspired cranky clear writing manifesto The following is based on a presentation I give to students in a college writing composition course.Writing10 min readWriting10 min read
Feb 2, 2021Member-onlySubscribe to an iCalendar feed in Google Calendar, and solve update issuesMy work recently moved to a new online shift scheduling and calendar system. The work calendar can generate a URL linking to an .ics file — an iCalendar feed — making it possible to subscribe to my work schedule with calendar services such as Microsoft Outlook, Apple Calendar, and Google…Google Calendar8 min readGoogle Calendar8 min read
Oct 4, 2020Member-onlyMy Grade 9 Book Report on “The Stranger” by Albert CamusA standup comic, I recently had a scheduled 7-minute set extended to 15 minutes at the last minute. Fortunately, I had just found my Grade 9 Book Report on The Stranger by Albert Camus. My teacher Mr. Gravelle gave me an A+. That grade, however, hides a shameful secret which…Philosophy4 min readPhilosophy4 min read
Jul 27, 2020Member-onlyTasker: Find a Phone using BluetoothGetting Started with Android Automation, Part 2 An easy but useful Tasker recipe that locates an Android phone by causing it to emit an audible beep when it connects or disconnects to a paired Bluetooth device. …Android8 min readAndroid8 min read
Feb 21, 2020Member-onlyFilm Review: Color Out of SpaceNicolas Cage is ideal choice for Lovecraft story adaptation There is an episode of the TV comedy Community where Greendale College’s resident drama professor tells his class it is impossible to say if Nicolas Cage is a good actor or a bad one. Film student Abed, who has obsessive-compulsive tendencies…Lovecraft6 min readLovecraft6 min read