COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Tripps]

Google has given up thinking I live at Princes Risborough - where is that anyway? - and they are now trying their luck with Bolton-le-Sands.

Childish I know, but it gives me some satisfaction.

[PanBiker]

Google is asking me about my shopping experience at Barlick Coop to day, I called in for some milk.

[chinatyke]

When Hotmail upgraded to Outlook, or whatever they did, I did nothing and kept my Hotmail email addy. The service has definitely gone worse and I often got messages like "unable to send your email, please try later" or "unable to load your message". Possibly it is at my end as I use ad-blockers but when I searched the net I found others in different locations were complaining about the same thing. Yesterday I wrote a long email to my sister and Hotmail lost it. I usually manage to recover the message but this time I couldn't and the little arrow kept spinning! I've had enough of them and will now use Yahoo as my email client, they do a better job of sending emails even when they send it using my Hotmail address which I will keep. Maybe it is the Great Firewall of China that interferes with Hotmail?

[Stanley]

Email like everything else on the web is a mystery to me China. Talktalk is usually very reliable but every now and then throws a wobbly. I just leave it to heal up....
If I open a new tab in Firefox it gives me a useful list of my usual sites. A few days ago Amazon and Google added their logos.

[PanBiker]

You could write books about email protocols and many people have. Thankfully all that I learned during my CISCO training at Lancaster Uni has now mostly been forgotten. I say thankfully as you can lose sleep over the intricacies. I have various email addresses running via multiple providers, in the main they all seem to work fine.

[Tizer]

As well as my main Plusnet account and personal domain, I've used Operamail (now Fastmail) since it started and find it very good. Never been let down by it, insignificant spam. I think Tripps uses it too.

I don't have google asking me anything - am I missing out?

[Tripps]

, I've used Operamail (now Fastmail) since it started and find it very good. Never been let down by it, insignificant spam. I think Tripps uses it too.

Yes - I've had Fastmail.fm for at least 15 years. Started as Fastmail, then Opera took it over - then fastmail took it back. I even pay for it for more storage space. That doesn't happen very often and is a measure of what I think of it. It's about $50 every three years.
Sometimes people doubt the 'fm' suffix, and I have to explain it stands for Federation Micronesia. I think they are based in Australia.

Google is asking me about my shopping experience at Barlick Coop to day

That's what made me take disruptive action. They asked me how I enjoyed Sainsbury's in Thetford. Mind your own business thought I.

[PanBiker]

I don't mind being asked, I just don't reply. Comes off the back of location services on the mobile phone of course. I use that for the sports tracking apps that I use. Too much hassle to keep switching the service on and off so you have to take the rough with the smooth. Some of the requests can be quite amusing. I was asked to review the meal I had in the "Slug & Lettuce" shortly after I had finished my dinner in ward 25 of LGI one day.

[Tizer]

When I wrote earlier how little spam email we got I should have said that M&S is our biggest source of spam (not a pun). Every time Mrs Tiz buys something, down come the promo emails!

[Stanley]

"I don't have google asking me anything - am I missing out?" Same here Tiz but reading further I think it may be because I use my mobile so little outside the house.
On a philosophical note, I don't take my computer for granted. It's a constant source of wonder to me that something as complicated as this can work so beautifully and be so useful. I wonder if young people ever think like this or is it just taken for granted like breathing?

[Tripps]

I wonder if young people ever think like this or is it just taken for granted like breathing?

I think if you have grown up with computers and smart phones as being routine, then there is no sense of wonder in it all. I still can't really believe the phenomenon that is a Google search - so many results, in rough order of relevance in such an impossibly brief time.

Chinatyke praised the international postal system recently - I'll second that. I've had three clutch pencils from The Philippines, a book from Philadelphia, and a Bluetooth transmitter from China in the last few days. All reliably delivered in reasonable time.

The Bluetooth device handbook says - "enhanced signal transmission circuit commected faster father and more stable" The fact that I can't get it to work at all is just a minor irritation .

[PanBiker]

With your previous employment Tripps you will recognise that Bluetooth is probably one of the "dirtiest" transmission methods as far as RFI is concerned. I have two such devices designed to work as USB dongles, one purports to be Belkin and the other, Newlink which doubles as an FM radio. Both work seamlessly on Windows 10 which just fetches any required drivers when plugged in. Almost certainly both from Chinatykes country of choice.

[Stanley]

" The fact that I can't get it to work at all is just a minor irritation" Lovely David, I am a member of that club.....
I can remember when my letters to Australia took 3 months to get a reply and you had to book telephone calls days before at £1 a minute. This morning I have communicated with all my kids scattered globally and know that as soon as they log in I will have contact. Bob's Bits come in from the US every day. We take all this for granted now. Too me it's a constant wonder......

[Tizer]

I've just been reading about Reuter starting his news agency in the 1850s. He was held back by trying to be faster than the technology available at the time. He could get news sent quickly by telegraph but only where the lines and cables were available. So a message might go part of the way in an instant but take days for another stage of the journey. One trick he used was to have carrier pigeons available to cover those parts of the journey not covered by the telegraph lines.

[Stanley]

Tripps will attest to the fact that even now the system fails him! Perhaps he needs carrier pigeons?

[Tizer]

Perhaps drones have replaced carrier pigeons, at least for Amazon! Talking of drones, and seeing the chaos caused by them at Gatwick this morning, you'd think surely the military would have already developed an anti-drone system. `Interceptor drones' perhaps? Trump wants to set up a US `space force' but he'd be better off setting up an anti-drone force (that should be pronounced as `ant-eye-drone force' and it should be `bigly', the bigliest in the universe).

[Tripps]

Tripps will attest to the fact that even now the system fails him! Perhaps he needs carrier pigeons?

Indeed - I've been trying to inflict an email on Uncle Bob for a few weeks now without success. First it was pinged back and refused, because the attachment was too big - fair enough - but yesterday they sent it back because -

<rmbliss@umsl.edu>: host um-tip2.um.umsystem.edu[198.209.49.232] refused to
talk to me: 421 #4.4.5 Too many connections to this host.

I've checked he address with SCG,and it's correct. He's suggested changing the title. I shall not give up. (yet)

Meanwhile I'll listen to this A long way from St Louis whilst trying to source a transatlantic pigeon.

[Tizer]

Have you got `apron strings' in the title?

[Tripps]

Well - I changed the title from 'Fan mail' to 'Bob's Bits' and got a reply within a quarter of an hour. Perhaps the server has a 'flippancy rejection' filter.

He must start early as it was about 7.15 am where he is in St Louis Missouri.

[Tizer]

In this age of innuendo `Bob's Bits' might well trigger an innuendo filter.

[Stanley]

I knew David had got in touch because I got a copy of the reply. I'm glad changing the subject line worked, I knew about that trap from apron hooks as Tiz mentioned. Bob uses the university mail system and it was a similar system that foiled me. Perhaps they are more sensitive to certain keywords. I agree with Tiz that on an inuendo scale 'Bob's Bits' should trigger reaction but remember we are talking about a different language. I saw 'Men's Furnishings' as the title for the male clothing department in a big store in NY. That would have got a laugh in Wigan!
Remember the advert, 'Nothing sucks like an Electrolux'?



On the railway embankment at Primet Hill Colne in 1987.

One further thought. I wonder if the use of the word 'Echelon' still triggers the CIA computers..... Echelon was the name given to the 'secret' monitoring programme run at sites like Menwith Hill near Harrogate. If so, good morning America!

[Tripps]

I knew David had got in touch because I got a copy of the reply.

If you've had the reply - you may as well have the original. I've forwarded it.
Same terms as to Uncle Bob. Read or ignore as you wish. I won't ask questions afterwards.

Mention of Menwith Hill reminds me that my book Codes and Ciphers (and other cryptic and clandestine communications), an American published book, by Fred Wrixon was bought in a charity shop in Harrogate.

Quick check shows it easily available on Abebooks for not much more than I paid.

PS. I suddenly realise that if you've seen the reply then you must have seen the original since they are attached to each other.

[Stanley]

That's right David. Bob must have bcc'd me. You got his attention....

[Tizer]

Well, this is one thing I don't need to worry about!
`Hot tub hack reveals washed-up security protection' LINK

[Stanley]

I'll second that Tiz.
I'll bet nobody can hack my anvil.......