Posted inWeb/Tech

How to get MacOS Big Sur to show a flag next to emails

After installing the MacOS Big Sur upgrade, I was dismayed to find that the beloved red flags in the left column of Mail, which I'd used a lot to indicate messages I needed to do something with, had disappeared.  When I clicked on "Flag" in the menu bar, a flag would appear in the email message itself, but not next to it as was the case before Big Sur. Thankfully, a bit of Googling revealed a simple fix. Just right-click the "Subject" box near the top of the screen and make sure "Flags" has a check mark next to it. …
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Posted inHome life Web/Tech

Starlink app shows how good my view of the northern sky is

I live in a rural area near Salem with crappy CenturyLink DSL the only broadband option -- if you can call about 7 mbps download and 1 mbps upload "broadband." CenturyLink has told me that they are going to bring fiber optic broadband to our neighborhood exactly never.  And fast 5G wireless likely will be available in our area in the wilds of Oregon (six miles from the Salem city limits, the state capital, but it might as well be six hundred miles) at about the same time -- almost never. So Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network is my best…
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Posted inEntertainment Web/Tech

In one day, I’ve become a 71 year-old TikTok addict

This isn't a cry for help, even though I'm addicted. To TikTok, the video-sharing service that has aroused Trump's ire -- which led me to download the iPhone app this morning, in part because my default position is that whatever our Idiot-in-Chief is against, I'm for, since Trump is almost always wrong. Last Thursday Trump signed an executive order aimed at TikTok.  In the order, which takes effect in 45 days, any transactions between TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, and U.S. citizens will be outlawed for national security reasons. In practice, experts told NPR the order likely will mean the viral…
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Posted inHome life Web/Tech

Apple can’t tell me why my MacBook Pro Touch Bar stops working

OK, of all the problems in the world right now -- which includes the coronavirus pandemic -- having the Touch Bar stop working on my almost brand-new 16 inch MacBook Pro ranks fairly low. But it's still irritating. That black strip at the top of my keyboard is where the Touch Bar is supposed to light up. offering all kinds of nifty shortcuts, along with basic controls like changing the volume and brightness. For three years the Touch Bar on my 13 inch MacBook Pro that I bought in 2016 worked perfectly. However, the keyboard had the dreaded problem where…
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Posted inHome life Web/Tech

After a string of 13-inch MacBook Pros, I’m enjoying the new 16-inch

I can't remember how many 13 inch MacBook Pro laptops I've owned. Five, maybe? I've used this marvelous computer for so long, they all blur together in a blend of great design, excellent software, and pleasing ergonomics. Well, my late 2016 13-incher, shown on the right, is a notable exception in one regard: the keyboard. Along with countless (more or less) other MacBook Pro users, I encountered the dreaded repeating keystroke problem about six months ago.  This common problem was caused by Apple inexplicably changing from a scissors-style keyboard that worked well to a butterfly-style keyboard that didn't -- apparently…
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Posted inHome life Web/Tech

Printers are the Achilles heel of personal computers

I love my MacBook Pro. Like most Apple products, almost all of the time it works great. I no longer fear major operating system upgrades, like I did when I was a Windows user many years ago.  The "blue screen of death" is an almost forgotten memory. I trust Apple software to do its thing without fuss or bother, and usually that trust is rewarded. But Apple stopped making its own printers decades ago. The apparent reason is that no one makes much money selling printers. The big bucks is in selling the cartridges needed to keep the printer functioning. Which…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

July 2018 DirecTV update changes user interface from bad to horrible

A few months ago DirecTV sent out an update to our Genie DVR receiver that sure wasn't an upgrade, because my wife and I found the user interface harder to use than the old version. But now, July 2018, DirecTV has managed to screw up the user interface even more. Last night, June 10, I fired up the receiver to see what was available for us to watch.  It took only a few seconds for me to realize that a bunch of our recordings had disappeared. The menu looked different, also. But there on the left side it said "All…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

Don’t trust Google’s “security issue found” alert if you use Apple Mail

Google caused me a lot of frustration last night. I got an email from Google that warned of a security issue. After I dealt with it, I couldn't use Apple Mail to access my Gmail account.   Bottom line: don't trust a Google security alert if you're a Mac user. Here's the disturbing details of what happened to me. First, I got this email from Google. At first I thought this could be a scam. But after Googling "Google security issue found on your account" I became convinced that the email message really had come from Google. So I decided…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

iOS 11.0.2 just froze my iPhone 8 plus. Here’s how to restart it.

Last night I dutifully updated my new iPhone 8 plus to iOS 11.0.2. This morning it froze up after I checked my weather app. No response to any touches. Of course, I can't be sure this was due to 11.0.2, since iOS 11.0.1 is causing problems. Regardless, I called Apple Support because i couldn't restart the phone. My previous phone was a 6 +. I guess I should have realized that the restart process might have changed over the past few years. So here's how you restart an 8 plus: (1) Press the up volume button on the left side(2)…
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Posted inHome life Web/Tech

My changeover from iPhone 6s to 8 plus went smoothly. Thanks, Apple.

It's always scary for me to switch to a new iPhone. I think I've got post-traumatic Windows disorder, given my memories of encountering the "blue screen of death" when I tried to install a new version of that operating system during a time of my life I'm now ashamed of -- a few years when I stopped using an Apple computer because I (wrongly) thought it would be better to be part of the much wider Windows world than the much smaller Cult of Apple. Actually, almost always the changeover to a new iPhone has gone glitch-free for me. But…
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Posted inHome life Web/Tech

First day with Pictar iPhone camera grip: I’m impressed

I was a Kickstarter supporter of the Pictar camera grip for the iPhone, which isn't really an accurate name for the gadget, since in addition to being a grip it also offers an easy way to control the basic iPhone photo features while adding new ones through some software magic. Having recently gotten my Kickstarter reward, I tested it out on a dog walk here in rural south Salem, Oregon. Before sharing some of the photos I took and my first-impression review of the device, here's what the Pictar grip offers: Well, you don't get an iPhone with it, obviously.…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

BrianHines.com gets a much-needed makeover, thanks to Adobe Spark

Being an early Internet adopter, I was fortunate to snap up the domain name www.BrianHines.com way back when. After all, there are a lot of Brian Hines' in the world. (However, I was a bit behind the times with Gmail; some other Brian Hines got his Gmail email address first, so I'm stuck with BrianHines1 -- which is better than BrianHines999, admittedly.) I've ignored my BrianHines.com web site for many years. My blogs, Facebook pages, and such have occupied my cyberspace attention. Plus, even with an easy to use website builder, maintaining a site isn't my idea of a fun…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

No Typepad for past five days, so no blogging or blog

It's been a frustrating five days or so for Typepad, my blogging service. Also, for me and other Typepad customers who were taken offline by a nasty DDoS (distributed denial of service) hacker attack.  Actually the attacker jerks are worse than ordinary hackers, since apparently they made a ransom demand to Typepad which led to an FBI investigation.  I just noticed that my blog is back, so wanted to get an explanatory post up as soon as possible.
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Posted inSalem Web/Tech

I’m a web site creator! Now, tell me if it works.

Wow. Now I kind of understand how a genuine web site creator geek spends his or her evenings. Having fun. Obsessed. Being frustrated. Happy. Worried. Yet in the end... feeling good. I just spent a couple of hours with a template-based web site creation service, Wix. I had the idea that a service like that could be a good way for Salem Community Vision to put up a functional web site quickly and cheaply. So I Googled "web site creation service," or something like that. After a few minutes of looking at Ten Best listings and such, I got intrigued…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

New York Times kicking Oregonian’s online ass

TO: Peter Bhatia (pbhatia@oregonian.com), Jerry Casey (jcasey@oregonian.com)FROM: Brian HinesRE: New York Times is kicking the Oregonian's ass Mr. Bhatia and Mr. Casey, you are the Editor and Director of Digital Operations for the Oregonian, our state's largest newspaper.  I have written you before about how, to put the matter succinctly, your online edition sucks and I hate the digital Oregonian. However, I hold out hope that one day, perhaps, just maybe, I will actually be able to read the newspaper that I pay to get seven days a week but can only read on four -- since Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

I hate the useless MyDigitalO Oregonian

Ten days after I said the new online Portland Oregonian that replaces the print newspaper for screwed-over subscribers three days a week sucks, I am not pleased to report that... it still sucks! Why my subscription price hasn't been reduced by 3/7, or thereabouts, baffles me. There is absolutely no way I can read the Oregonian on my Retina MacBook Pro laptop or iPhone 5.  At least, not without experiencing so much frustration, any interest I have in the newspaper's content vanishes within seconds.  Early in October, right after the dreadful digital rollout, I expressed my dissatisfaction to the powers-that-be…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

I get love for saving some wet iPhones

I've been blogging regularly for about ten years. That's about 100 years in Internet time, since most bloggers either haven't been at it for very long, or don't keep on blogging for very long. Early on I learned that when I labor at writing something seriously profound on a meaningful subject, it isn't going to get much attention. Yawn, say the denizens of cyberspace. You're not a cute kitten video.  Or a tip about how to save your iPhone if it gets dumped in water. But hah!, last year I covered that base in "My iPhone speaker survives toilet water.…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

Tips: if Reeder isn’t working for you after July 1

I've been using Reeder on both my iPhone and MacBook Pro to peruse blog updates, along with Google Reader when I'm at my computer. After Google Reader died on July 1, I've had to turn completely to Reeder and The Old Reader, a web-based Google Reader look-alike. I like The Old Reader, but prior to July I found that Reeder updated feeds automatically more often than The Old Reader. So I'd decided to make Reeder my main replacement for Google Reader.  Only problem was, and it took me a few days to notice this, I wasn't getting any blog post/RSS updates.…
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Posted inWeb/Tech

Watch out for “Please verify your information for your Apple ID” scam

Close call. And I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to recognizing phishing schemes -- attempts to collect log-in information via a fake communication from a normally trusted company or website. If you're an Apple customer and get an email like this, beware. Title of email was "Please verify your information for your Apple ID." Maybe because of late night grogginess, I actually clicked on the link. Which led to a page that looked like the Apple web site. There were boxes to put in my account ID and password. Fortunately, an alarm bell went off in my brain. …
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Posted inWeb/Tech

Black menu bar on Retina MacBook Pro: how I make it go away

This can't be a common MacBook Pro problem, or I would have found a solution more easily. But fairly often my 13 inch Retina MacBook Pro presents me with a black OS X menu bar at the top of the screen after I've closed and opened the cover. About all I can make out is the American flag on the right side. The black pixels that comprise the other icons are almost completely hidden, being black on black. When I'm using Safari, I have to visualize where the File menu, or whatever, is, then fiddle away in the dark to…
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