The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[JSWolf]

Using the same calibre library with two different operating systems (or with a could server) and then wondering why it doesn't work.

Also, installing calibre on a Linux system using the repository and then wondering why it doesn't work. Linux repositories, meh!

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

mediciation reminder/tracker I've been using on my phone went subscription-only. Yuck.

I always check if my problem has a free solution. Maybe this helps: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.futsch1.medtimer/

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

mediciation reminder/tracker I've been using on my phone went subscription-only. Yuck.

I've used "My Therapy Pill Reminder" https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ient.mytherapy for a long time; free; let's me set number of pills in stock; reminds me when I'm getting low. Also use it for a few non pill events, such as blood sugar testing reminders (and test strip tracking), and a reminder to ensure I take out contact lenses at bedtime (just a sanity check in that there were two occasions recently where I thought I'd lost a lens, due to not taking it out at night).

[ownedbycats]

I tested a few different pill-trackers and settled on MyTherapy - still, it required entering my medication over and over... sigh.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I tested a few different pill-trackers and settled on MyTherapy - still, it required entering my medication over and over... sigh.

Hope it works well for you The only thing I wish it had (and yes I did suggest it once) was the ability to export appointments from the Support menu to an external calendar (yes; I do have all the medical team entered in My Therapy, along with all the appointments).

[Comfy.n]

Why is SumatraPDF gay?

[pdurrant]

In the UK, the phone system is switching over from the old copper lines with analogue voice signals to full fibre-to-the-premises with Digital voice lines that go over IP from the house.

This does, of course, make old phones redundant. Except that the new broadband routes also include a socket (or two) that are compatible with the old phones.

Which is great if you want a phone right by your broadband router, not so great if you want one somewhere else.

So BT produced a neat little plug-in adapter that links wirelessly to the BT broadband router and provides a phone socket anywhere there's power and a wireless signal.

I had one. It was great.

But BT's broadband is horrendously overpriced. I have switched today to Vodaphone. So I have a new broadband router. And, alas, the clever Digital Voice adapter that worked so well with the BT router is completely incompatible with the Vodaphone router.

Vodaphone do not provide an equivalent.

I do have other options, which I'm using. But I'm annoyed that the technology isn't quite standardised enough to make this all just work seamlessly when switching provider.

[Quoth]

Dect phones.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Dect phones.

Yes, except that there are no nice DECT phones. I want to have a classic phone that has a base with buttons and display, and a speaker/microphone part attached by a cord to the base that connects wirelessly to the DECT base. Not a poor imitation of a mobile phone.

[Quoth]

I grant that there are less nice DECT phones than there used to be. There also used to be DECT adaptors for regular phones (RJ11).

In the past I ran a long cable back to POTS port and a T splitter for the DECT, so as to have a conventional desk phone. Actual analogue phone system uses CAT3. Likely 500m of CAT5 works. Best to fit UK to RJ11 adaptor with a capacitor in it if using a UK spec phone.

It's also possible to wire the gubbins of a desk phone to the internals of a DECT phone, except some additional electronics is needed.

A DECT extender for a FAX has RJ11 POTs port (never seen the UK BT version) and will work with a regular phone.

There even used to be 64K data adaptors, as DECT uses uncompressed 64K, hence a Fax worked.
Your actual POTS port (or DECT host) on a router connected to a fibre modem may or may not support Fax or analogue modems, depending on ISP and which codec they use for VOIP. I have managed in the past to use Fax and data modems (19.2K max) over VOIP on a microwave link, but the ISP had their own VOIP / PSTN gateway.
I got switched from that to fibre only in Oct 2023. The current Router is a Fritz!box with a built in DECT as well as regular POTS port. I have my DECT base (from 2008!) plugged in to the regular phone port as re-pairing DECT handsets is arcane and makes stupid BT seem simple.

Back in 2007 we tested loads of VOIP Wifi phones and compared with DECT phones. The DECT was superior range and standby and quality, so we supplied Dual DECTs free with every router as it was not Fibre or DSL modem (I worked for an ISP doing R&D) and we wanted folks to use our system for calls rather than analogue alandline. Ours was cheaper for national and free for local anyway.

Check German stores like Conrad online?

[PeterT]

With North American wiring I disconnected the house wiring from the incoming Telco wire, and then by plugging my VOIP blackbox into a wall jack was able to use any of the other jacks in the house with regular old fashioned phones. I think they have to be push button and not rotary.

Since then I've moved to a DECT / VOIP based home phone system which has worked great.

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

[Quoth]

And actually I give people my non-mobile local geographic number (transferred the one on microwave VOIP to fibre), because every mobile phone I've ever used is nearly unusable with my bad hearing. Also never flat and rings in two places in house. I never notice the mobile ringing.

Nice big buttons and big display with caller ID. Easy to hold and has handsfree speaker mode, so I ditched the desk phone.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by PeterT

With North American wiring I disconnected the house wiring from the incoming Telco wire, and then by plugging my VOIP blackbox into a wall jack was able to use any of the other jacks in the house with regular old fashioned phones. I think they have to be push button and not rotary.

Since then I've moved to a DECT / VOIP based home phone system which has worked great.

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

Back in 2007 the POTS port on the Thomson modem (used till 2022) supported pulse.

All older pushbutton phones for UK & Ireland had a pulse/tone switch for aged exchanges with no DTMF support. One company I worked for in 1980s sold DTMF decoders for specific old analogue exchanges to BT and Eircom.

[Quoth]

The UK uses a unique Master socket with a capacitor. Most of Europe uses RJ11. There are both kinds of Adaptor.

The RJ11 uses the inner two wires for Tip & Ring (the pair). The older UK 4 pole jack wiring was so pulse dialling would not "tinkle" the bell with the dialling pulses. So BT did their own weird connector and bell wiring is inner pair and T & R (voice pair) is outer pair, to make it even more incompatible.

Israel didn't adopt the RJ11 (used in Ireland and most of Europe), but the BT plug, without the capacitor in the Master socket and the RJ11 wiring. So phones bought in UK and plugged in, in Israel, don't work unless the cable is rewired or an adaptor used. Or two adaptors: UK BT to RJ11 (with a capacitor in it), then RJII to Israeli BT plug (only 2 wires direct).

Without the capacitor even a correctly wired real BT spec phone never rings, or fax never answers. Otherwise works.

Argos (in Ireland when here) gave out free UK BT to RJ11 adaptors (including capacitor, some don't have it). Currys didn't and they still sell gas cookers that don't fit Irish fittings at least 3 year ago.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I get a certain... joy out of marketing surveys asking me questions about a specific product category whether or not they actually make any sense. Such as whether my most recent purchase of cat litter was new or secondhand, and whether I'd be more likely to purchase it if it were labeled "gently used" rather than secondhand.

And 'a certain joy' means I'm pretty much doubled over laughing.