I just put crap out there. Even my mom doesn't like my posts.

Garbage Out. Mostly out. :-P

Congratulations Android. geez - I thought it was "easy" to hack Android. Guess not any longer.

Variety is now a tech source?

Last year my iPhone 5 was falling apart and I waited with anticipation (for the last 2 years believe it or not) to see what the great new phone would be... and WHEN it would come out (the screen was literally coming off).

So I upgraded to a brand new ....iPhone 8 last year. Deciding that the phone hasn't really changed all that much (although I'll admit the new portrait feature looks nice). But I took Cheap and Works over Latest and Greatest.

I love it. And really don't care what the new iPhone is. nor when it comes out. There will always be a new one next year, and the year after that. When my 8 stops working I'll probably do the same.

It's like buying a used car - works just as good but without the new car smell.

So true. I felt I was becoming dependent on it -- taking pictures when I should be observing, checking messages when I should be present etc. Being a more seasoned adult I imposed my own "cold-turkey" method. It took a while, like any bad-habit, but I am starting to rely less on it. At work I make sure to leave the browser closed (except for true work stuff).

Now I know what my kids are doing. Interact more directly. I even go for walks/bike rides WITHOUT the phone (try it sometime - it's hard). Even though I don't use it -- not having it felt like walking without a net. I don't need a million photos when instead I should be remembering it myself.

I'm even starting to question my FB account. Swiping through a bunch of articles that I don't really read is a crutch of some kind. Why do it?

Oh -- that could be dangerous for FB et al. We might all realize we don't need it and go back to flip phones.

My wife and I work from home on occasion - VPN & video/audio conferencing at times. In the evening we have as many as 3 "netflix" streams running on HD devices (TV, and iPads). While I'm sure we rarely use much of the 175Mb/s down from Comcast -- the one place I know get's exceed is UPLOAD !!!!

I would love to pay less and move down to the "75" tier - but the Upload drops to 4Mb/s. I'm at 175/6 right now. If they had 75/6 I'd switch ! 6 really isn't enough.

I've used LTE at times to get faster upload (although I'd blow my data quickly). When in a hurry with an urgent need - it's worth it (plus I have to drive downtown to get that signal).

My laptop syncs with OneDrive and I dumped 4GB (4GB !!) of photos on last night. It took HOURS to sync. It's miserable - I have to leave my PC on for days at times - for example when sync raw video from the HD camera.

Uploading content really interferes with video/screen-sharing and voice calls can stutter. Somebody can WATCH a movie (or two) without causing problems. But that darn upload restriction sucks.

Nothing lost. The idea that AOL "had discussions" pretty much sums up the life of AOL. I can't remember - did AOL own Netscape back in 2006? I remember passing on an opportunity to work at NS back in 1996 (NS bought a company I worked for) - I took the money and ran. But my friends went to CA and were laid off by the next year. Then the internet bubble popped.

so I'm thinking -- was AOL a concern by 2006? I owned NS stock -> AOL -> Time-Warner and pretty sure I didn't break even until 2008. I considered it dead stock and held on to it just-because something was better than nothing, taking the "very long" view on it. Sold it, bought Enron :-D (j/k - I bought Apple). At one point TWC devalued AOL and shoved it to the back burner (even though AOL bought TWC).

"They had discussions" -- would anyone have listened to them? AOL was gasping for air.

I know somebody who is a victim of this. I told her to get a new credit card, buy a new cellphone and switch providers (check, check, check). Her "owner" had changed her passwords, setup her email (so he could read it), locked her phone onto the family plan, installed location spying (he'd call her at work when she arrived late). He even showed up at restaurants when she began dating again.

Essentially she had to start over. New accounts, new passwords., new address (although he figured that out). The most difficult hurtle thus far --- getting to the point of understanding that she was allowed to change all of this and become independent (although I think she's still only 70% free). We still dread finding her in a ditch.

But I'm just a hack trying to figure this out.

A previous kindergarten our child attended had a "FB like" app were they could post photos of the day. One could order a picture book (added money for the school). My gosh I had to press snooze on the alerts. Nice pictures. Too much info.

Ignorance is bliss. The summer camp carts my son all over the area going Rock climbing, caving, kayaking. I only hope that the driver is over 18.

I rank a camp by whether my child falls asleep on the car-ride home !

Our son acts out occasionally (an overly ~free~ spirit). My wife picked him up and noticed he wasn't participating in afternoon free climbing. So she asked and the response was "he wasn't following the safety rules, wouldn't team up with a spotter, was warned twice, and then told he had to sit out" - Yeah baby!! Lesson taught (maybe not learned yet :-) ) It isn't just climbing - it's learning how to act "normal" in society.

I'm good. I don't need a phone call. They handled it. Done. The rest of you parents - suck it up. I'll stick with low tech.

Free service offering to hook customers. Years later they realize it costs money and needs to charge for it.

Kind of like offering Free Battery Charging with purchase of a car. And discovering "free for life" only applies under certain conditions.

I've had many things where the program conditions change. I had a "all updates included" product once where the company decided they needed to charge more. So they offered a new product with new terms and discontinued the one I had...while continuing to offer free updates to me...and never made any. But if they ever do -- it'll be free!!

I agree - the Grand Tour was released once a week and I always have great anticipation for the next installment ("oooo - is Friday already?!")

There are shows that i binge in small chunks - only because I like to do other things (like sleep). But when I'm bored I know that the next one is on deck. Although for some shows I really wanted to see the next one, like a good book I can't put it down.

For shows that don't have a hook to them - building anticipation is terrific. And pacing. It's like driving the kids in the car "are we there yet?" -- no sorry - just look out the window. Not everything needs to have immediate gratification.

but !!! what the hell is the purpose of this "news" article?!

I'll still die of Heart disease, but my hair will be great !!!

Reading the article I don't see (or understand) the other applications of this. Is this easier to do, such that we learn something that can be applied to a future problem? Or is it only vanity?

I've heard about this Ring-a-ding thing before, which is what piqued my interest when I saw a "free raffle" offered by our local Police dept for Ring devices. We could all come in for a presentation.

The "come in for a presentation" and "free raffle" had the ear-marks of a Vacation Condo Rental pitch.

But I didn't look anymore closely at the offer.

All these years I thought that Car pooling, riding trains and buses, was all good !! And that driving my single-person car was bad.

So now you need to pay an Offset tax to make up for the inefficiencies of car pooling -- which in themselves seems to Offset single-person cars?

Look - if the mass-transit option is polluting - invest and clean it up. Put the "tax" on the company that is driving the dirty buses and trains and planes. Make more HOV lanes and then inspect cars to make sure they are non-polluting. Don't Tax Me -- I can't make a choice. It's not like I can wait for the Next bus hoping it's electric and pay a smaller fare. I just have to pay another damn tax and stretch that paycheck thinner.

More taxes. That's why we had a tea party over here ! Stop drinking tea, we did :-P