COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[PanBiker]

My broadband is auto throttled back down to 14Mbps, all in the last few days. Seems like the line doesn't like heat as well as damp. Next visit will be Open Reach engineer eight I think, lost track actually.

[Stanley]

That's a nagging fault! I hope you get a cure soon Ian.

[PanBiker]

Alluded to in Household Tips, I ordered a replacement battery for Sally's Nexus 7 tablet. I could have sworn it was the 2012 version! I ordered a battery from a UK supplier and it came the other day, looked the part. , I opened it up last night to find a completely different beast inside. Head scratching time, model numbers are a bit scant on these devices nothing on the outside but a few stickers inside. Unusually no plainly marked FCC compliance number that used to habit all IT peripherals, That would have spilled the ID, probably hiding somewhere.

Anyway, I noted what were the likely suspects and scanned the Q Code sticker inside (which led nowhere). Only one thing, Google "Nexus 7 models". Straight away, images of the difference between the first 2012 and second generation 2013 models, identified by the case design and the rear camera. It's a second generation 2013 Nexus 7

Different battery design and shape, the one I have is a rectangular Lithium and I need a square version. Fortunately I checked the delivery note and the Ebay shop of the supplier. They have a 45 day no quibble returns policy and instructions to email them via Ebay. I will have a go at that today. How long was I in electronics, should know better?

Could have gone in The Gumption Trap

[Big Kev]

it happens to the best of us...

[PanBiker]

One thing I noticed between the two batteries. The earlier rectangular one is plastic bodied and is shrouded in a loose black plastic jacket that remains on the battery when it is installed. Second generation battery is the same electrical specification but is square and metal encased with no jacket. I assume the former is for if there is any leakage which I didn't think was a particular problem with LION batteries.

[Stanley]

I note that T May has overridden the experts and many in the Cabinet to allow Huawei some access to the new 5G network. Since when has she been a qualified IT technician? This is about aspirations on trade, not security.

[chinatyke]

Stop worrying about the Chinese, they're going to rule the World anyway!

[Tizer]

Talking of batteries, we received a promo letter from EDF's solar people offering £2000 off if we buy a battery for our solar panels. We don't feel the need for one but it got me thinking; how does it work out with the tariffs when you have a battery as well as the panels? We use relatively little electricity and a battery would quickly be fully charged and stay that way. I can really see a benefit in it for us (unless we had to decarbonise and heat the house with leccy.)

[Stanley]

They already do China.....
Tiz, I'll bet Pluggy has some input on that!
Canonical sent me a big update this morning. Very reassuring the way they keep adjusting the OS....

[Pluggy]

Easy answer, a battery makes no difference to the FIT payments. You're paid for what you generate + you're deemed to export 50% of it. It makes no odds whatever if your export drops as mine has done with the batteries. Unlike the panels with a feed in tariff, a battery is unlikely to pay for itself. Its cool to not to import electricity during the night, when the panels are asleep but recouping a lot of money just by the electricity savings is a non starter0. if they are offering a £2000 discount it suggests they want a huge amount. Mine is homebrew and I'be spent around £3000 with numerous false starts and experimenting. What I've settled on now would be around £1800 to buy new. Much of it in the battery itself. The battery can store around 2.5kWh which if its fully charged during the day will last overnight at this time of year. During the winter, it tends to have to charge with paid electric sometimes to maintain the battery and it rarely turns the battery inverter on as there isn't sufficient charge to warrant it. I do have around 20W of stuff running all the time purely on battery. (Internet router, a business VOIP box, phone charging and the system itself). Its been fun and I would do it again, but I'm mot expecting it to pay for itself.

[Wendyf]

Colin is having fun re-jigging our battery system at the moment. No idea what he is doing, but the wind turbine is out of action and he is spending a lot of time in the old hay loft where all the equipment is. There was a recent trip to somewhere near Cambridge to collect an eBay purchase of 2 solar panels which will be purely for battery charging and 2 visits to Denholm Gate to buy a new inverter and bring home a broken one to fix. Someone left with a stock of new and failed units from a wind turbine business gone bust.

[PanBiker]

Another note on the Nexus 7. I have contacted the battery supplier but have no reply yet. What I did notice was that in taking the case off, I managed to damage the mini USB / charge port on the beastie, I have one of those on order now. So small and partly SMT design, I will have to use the desk magnifier to swap that out when it comes. £1.60 so not breaking the bank.

A bit later...

The battery supplier (Ultimate Browsing) has contacted me and offered to replace it with the correct 2nd generation battery. They will send me a returns envelope for the one ordered in error also. I will give them some good feedback when it's all sorted.

[Stanley]

I'm impressed by all of you....
Sounds as though Colin is earning his corn......
Isn't it amazing how many different skills are resident on OG.....
Another big update from Canonical, this time for the Linux part of the OS. Thanks lads.

[PanBiker]

Replacement LION battery and the micro USB charge port from a different supplier both turned up this morning. The battery supplier even provided a pre-paid postage return label for the one I ordered in error. A lot of the online retailers fight hard for their custom and go the extra mile. I will give full marks on feedback for both of them.

I had occasion to order some new toners for my laser printer yesterday. I ordered them at 15.30 yesterday on a free delivery option. They came this morning at 10.15.

[Tizer]

The solar batteries won't be a benefit to us and the total cost before discount was something like £5500.

I'm glad to heat you had good service from your battery supplier, Ian. We ordered a new set of patio table, chairs and parasol a couple of days ago from the gardeningonline web site who we've used before. We paid for next day delivery too. Got a phone call yesterday saying they won't be available until end of May so we told them to cancel the order because we can buy them elsewhere from stock. No problem, the man said he'd process the return of our payment. We asked him to send an email saying when they'd processed it. Got the email saying they have returned the money. Mrs Tiz then noticed it stated only the amount of the price of the items and didn't include the extra for delivery. She sent an email and we are waiting for them to confirm the full amount. You have to watch these online companies!

Stanley, our Thunderbird settings have been altered by an update. When we compose an email message it now marks up English spellings such as -ise as incorrect (underlined in red). The Thunderbird language setting has been changed from UK to US English. Changing it back was not as straightforward as I expected. If you have the problem, here's what to do. You can't do it in Preferences and you have to go into Account Settings, click Composition & Addressing, then click Global Composing Preferences. You should be able to change it there.

[PanBiker]

The repair to the Nexus 7 went quite well. I managed to remove the damaged micro USB and clean up the pcb pads reasonably easily. The socket is about 0,25" square an has 2 mounting lugs at each side, connections for the socket are 5 straight pins from the back of the socket these connect with corresponding 5 pads on the PCB they are tiny and I reckon on less than a 0.5mm spacing. I tinned everything up before refitting, bedding the side lugs first and then just running the iron over all the pins at the back simultaneously. I had a good look under the magnifying glass for bridges but made sure by applying a quick wipe with the iron and the smallest desoldering braid that I have.

Once that was sorted I continued and removed the old battery which is fitted in a carriage secured by 4 tiny screws. You have to remove two multi-way flat ribbon connectors that are over the battery assembly so that you can gain access. No real problems here, one was a plug/socket arrangement and the other a multi-way push fit slot ribbon connector. When I got the battery carriage out I found that the LION battery was secured in the carriage using double sided tape. I proceeded to carefully lever it out of the carriage but should have used a plastic tool really. I managed to puncture the battery enclosure with my small screwdriver and it started to smoke and burn! This despite the battery previously showing complete discharge on the display. I took it into the bathroom over the sink in case I needed to dump it fast and managed to get it out without further drama. A salutary reminder that even a 3.8v battery can be dangerous if mistreated. It's rated at 15W so that equates to just short of 4A that it can dump.

I fitted the new battery in the carriage, screwed it back in and remade the ribbon connectors. Before I connected the plug from the battery I had another good look at the connections on the charging port to be as sure as I could that there were no shorts. I plugged the battery in and it didn't go bang! There was a residual charge on the new battery so I switched the Nexus on and it powered up OK, I had a feel around to make sure nothing was overheating. It's currently charging on the kitchen island still uncased so I can monitor it. I set it up on a plug in USB charger in case it went bang rather than the built in USB charging ports integral to the mains socket, cheaper to replace if it went bad.

I will have to drop off the old LION battery at the skips, you can't just dump them in the bin for obvious reasons, environmental and the fire hazard.

Repair looks good, I will charge it a couple of times through the day to make sure.

[Stanley]

Tiz, My Thunderbird version has always used an American dictionary. I tried to change it once before but it was so difficult I abandoned the process and simply correct anything I don't like adding my version to the dictionary. After a while it behaves itself!

[plaques]

Data mining and its use in millions of business operations some of which we never give a thought to or just shrug our shoulders as though it doesn't matter has been mentioned numerous times on this site. Well here's another slant on the whole business. What happens to all this data when we die?. For most of us its just another shrug of the shoulders for others it can become a very testing problem. Elaine Kasket, a very apt name, poses this problem in her new book. Has the internet become the new afterlife? Pick up your e-mails, listen to your music and look at your pictures are just a few of the things you may be able to do when you're dead.

[Stanley]

I heard something on World Service about this and decided that I quite liked the idea of my stuff being about in perpetuity (if that is what happens). Actually I doubt it, perpetuity is a long time!

[Tizer]

Don't worry, Joan Bakewell has it all under control!
`We Need to Talk About Death' LINK
`As we spend an ever increasing amount of time online, much of our lives, both professional and personal, have found their way onto the digital sphere. So what happens to it all when we die? Should we view our digital assets much like our physical possessions? And, if so, how should we manage our digital legacies?'

[Stanley]

My attitude is that my 'digital legacy' is a message in a bottle thrown into the sea. It will be washed up on a digital beach somewhere!
I listened to Joan's programmes and found that I have done everything she recommended. I think it has worked. When I bought my new shoes the two Micks (both have same size feet as me) sent messages to get Trickers and a spare pair of laces. They will be into my boot collection as soon as I shuffle off. Lovely!

[Stanley]

Back to computing.... I see that Talk Talk have come bottom again in the survey of customer satisfaction.... I have no complaints and will not be disturbed by this.
On the same day I get an offer from them to up my broadband speed to 80mps..... On reading the small print it is based on a minimum of 50mps and I am getting almost that now. In addition it isn't as cheap as it looks. This is an introductory offer and in 6 months it costs an extra £5 per month so no thanks lads, I am content with what I have and and if previous experience is anything to go by speeds will rise anyway in the next year. (Except of course for unfortunates like Ian. I haven't forgotten your difficulties.....)

[PanBiker]

Back to computing.... I see that Talk Talk have come bottom again in the survey of customer satisfactio

They must not have discovered the online chat support, always works for me and is painless. My line is solid at the moment apart from the odd wobbly when it drops completely, it has a spasm and reboots the router a few times and then settles down again. Days in-between events.

[Tizer]

A report from a group of about 50 experts on all aspects of driverless (autonomous) road vehicles says that, in contrast to our government's claims, we won't see such vehicles in normal use on our roads for another decade. I'm glad to see this has been said because I couldn't believe the promises and claims being made by politicians and the motor industry that we'd be using them in the next couple of years. The experts say the process of integration will probably have to begin with roads segregated for separate types - one for driverless and another for conventional vehicles and bicycles. I never did understand how the promoters of the vehicles expected them to be on the roads with conventional types so early.

Meanwhile, in China, a government project has shown that coloured sticky patches placed on a lane can cause a driverless Tesla to move sideways into oncoming traffic.

[Stanley]

Meanwhile, in China, a government project has shown that coloured sticky patches placed on a lane can cause a driverless Tesla to move sideways into oncoming traffic.
What would be the effect of litter?