So Complicated!

Why has the world of technology become so complicated? All in the name of “we can do it”, right? But this is almost unfathomable. It really makes my head hurt.

  • In VMware, you have a choice of UEFI or BIOS mode. Good luck figuring out which one is the better choice, because there isn’t.
  • Ubiquiti has twenty UniFi products to choose from, not counting the new UniFi Dream Machine. This has become almost impossible for even a VAR to make the best decision of which product to recommend.
  • Ad blocking has become a huge nightmare battle as the content providers have become even smarter in their detection of ad blockers. Yet what is a privacy-conscious consumer to do? The choices are not clear at all.
  • Everything has a microphone and camera built-in and even the super-liberal Engadget and I agree that consumers have no privacy left.
  • The efforts to keep hackers at bay seem trivial compared to the massive horde of bad people growing every day. It’s like endless wave of zombies attacking your stronghold. Why does convenience come at the price of security?
  • Google Assistant is broken badly on my Android phone. I asked it “remind me when I get home to wash my car” but even using my most clear voice it just wouldn’t understand me. This is supposed to make my life easier but all it did for about 2 minutes was make my blood pressure spike into unhealthy levels.
  • My Dell PowerConnect broke a few months ago, so I “upgraded” to an HP ProCurve. It has frequent issues that require me to restart devices. So I am waiting for a Juniper EX2200 to arrive from eBay.
  • I need a new Android phone but there is definitely no clear decision. Instead I’m just going one day at a time wondering if something new will be released that will be the right decision.

I wish life was simpler.

Amazon Lists

Just a post of Amazon links that I don’t want to forget.

https://twentytwowords.com/31-handiest-gadgets-amazon

https://twentytwowords.com/37-inventions-thatll-make-say-dang-thats-clever-2

https://twentytwowords.com/31-gadgets-youll-want-try-instant-see

https://twentytwowords.com/37-interesting-gadgets-amazon-25-2

https://twentytwowords.com/35-handiest-products-amazon-30-youve-never-seen

https://twentytwowords.com/37-things-amazon-100-again

https://twentytwowords.com/33-things-i-dont-own-and-really-want-on-amazon

https://twentytwowords.com/37-brilliant-gadgets-somehow-5-amazon

Lockitron Bolt Installed

After much waiting (seriously waiting; I mean years worth of waiting) I think that Lockitron is finally setup perfectly and in a long-term method.  This is the second generation of Lockitron called the “Bolt”.  I waited for Lockitron to ship me the device (took a few months) then even though I requested a Kwikset “keyway” they shipped me a Schlage.  I complained and was sent a new keyway within a few days.  After that, I needed to find a locksmith to “key match” the keyway with our existing set of keys.  After making numerous calls from searching locksmiths, I determined that the only places open on the weekend was a mobile locksmith.  I was quoted $35 to perform the task however once it was said and done the bill was $75.  Fortunately everything works perfectly.  The existing keys are smooth, installation was perfect, the door aligns with the jamb perfectly, and firmware was up-to-date.  The only glitch was programming the Bridge module which was done via flashing the screen of my Android phone in a pattern to the sensor.  This did not work until I increased the brightness of the screen to maximum.  Hopefully everything continues to work for many months to come.

bolt-bridge