The Technology Vent and Rant Thread - Page 66

Hitch · 10-20-2021, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Tell us what it is? I use an assortment of deprecated programs, and have often found replacements for others that just didn't run any more.
______
Dennis

Really. I have several hundred programs on my 'puter and I have scads of replacements for stuff that ran long, long ago and far away, in Operating System years.

Hitch

ownedbycats · 10-21-2021, 04:50 AM

MasterCook 9. Got the CD-ROM out of a discount bin some dozen years ago and still use it to this day. It still works perfectly fine, but between the documentation being in a deprecated format and a UI designed for far smaller resolutions it's definitely feeling its age.

I've tried pretty much every non-subscription alternative I could find (for years) but none of them really have the features I'm looking for; admittedly, I'm far fussier than most. One program came close, but the company went out of business so I couldn't buy a license.

Hitch · 10-21-2021, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

MasterCook 9. Got the CD-ROM out of a discount bin some dozen years ago and still use it to this day. It still works perfectly fine, but between the documentation being in a deprecated format and a UI designed for far smaller resolutions it's definitely feeling its age.

I've tried pretty much every non-subscription alternative I could find (for years) but none of them really have the features I'm looking for; admittedly, I'm far fussier than most. One program came close, but the company went out of business so I couldn't buy a license.

Oh, crap. Yup, MasterCook. I have software of that around here, too...I think I still had it running on my Win7 box and of course, on my much-older XP box, but...I confess, I haven't tried figuring out what to do with it on my Win10. I kinda gave up the ghost.

No interest in upgrading it to the current V15 or so?

Hitch

ownedbycats · 10-21-2021, 09:31 AM

Unfortunately, MasterCook went subscription-based a few versions after 9.

They still sell a digital version of 14 on their site, and they say it's standalone, but I'd feel silly if I burned 10 dollars only to find out there's not really much difference.

Uncle Robin · 10-21-2021, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Unfortunately, MasterCook went subscription-based a few versions after 9.

They still sell a digital version of 14 on their site, and they say it's standalone, but I'd feel silly if I burned 10 dollars only to find out there's not really much difference.

One difference that might be worth the $10 is longer lifespan in terms of compatibility with current and future OSes, perhaps?

4691mls · 10-21-2021, 10:33 AM

Google Maps for Android really needs the ability to drag the route like you can on a computer.

In a few weeks I plan to move to a new home on the other side of town. I've tried checking directions from the new home to various places to get travel time estimates. Google always wants to send me by the shortest route, which involves an unprotected left turn onto a busy 5-lane road. In reality, I will go a few minutes out of my way in the opposite direction in order to access the 5-lane road at a stoplight with a left turn signal.

I've tried the "add a stop" option, selecting a "stop" along the longer but safer route. However, although it supposedly adds it to the route, the added stop is actually missing from the direction steps and Maps still shows a total trip time based on the original unprotected-left-turn route.

I don't want to find a different maps app because Google's app has a "driving mode" that provides a useful interface for handling any phone call or text that might come in while I'm driving.

Now, I know as a workaround I will be able to start driving on the road that leads to the stoplight and Maps will recalculate. I will just have to add a few minutes to the estimated time when planning a trip.

But it would be so much easier if Google would just let me drag the route!

Hitch · 10-21-2021, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

One difference that might be worth the $10 is longer lifespan in terms of compatibility with current and future OSes, perhaps?

If I had a database full of MC, I would be willing to risk ten clams to see if 14 worked. And do they, or do they not, have a money-back guarantee on the software? If they do, even better. But for $10? Yeah, I'd try that.

Hitch

ownedbycats · 10-21-2021, 11:21 AM

No refunds given. Still might be worth a try. Hopefully the UI's a bit bigger.

ownedbycats · 10-21-2021, 08:38 PM

On another rant: Overnight, the screen of my mobile phone started bulging a bit. I pulled it open and the lithium-ion battery had swollen up. (Turns out leaving it on the charger all the time isn't such a good idea. Now I know.

)

Thankfully I was able to track down an OEM replacement online, but it'll be maybe a week before it gets here. Hilariously, the shipping cost more than the battery.

badgoodDeb · 10-21-2021, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

On another rant: Overnight, the screen of my mobile phone started bulging a bit. I pulled it open and the lithium-ion battery had swollen up. (Turns out leaving it on the charger all the time isn't such a good idea. Now I know.

)

Thankfully I was able to track down an OEM replacement online, but it'll be maybe a week before it gets here. Hilariously, the shipping cost more than the battery.

My year old M1 MacBook has been used as a desktop, and never unplugged. I was surprised (and then pleased) to see that the software lets it drop to 80% of battery charge occasionally, before charging it back to full again. I presume that’s for battery health reasons.

Solitaire1 · 10-22-2021, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

My year old M1 MacBook has been used as a desktop, and never unplugged. I was surprised (and then pleased) to see that the software lets it drop to 80% of battery charge occasionally, before charging it back to full again. I presume that’s for battery health reasons.

It sounds a bit like a feature on my Walkman (NW-A55). To extend the battery's total life you can set it to only charge the battery to 90% of its capacity.

gmw · 10-22-2021, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

On another rant: Overnight, the screen of my mobile phone started bulging a bit. I pulled it open and the lithium-ion battery had swollen up. (Turns out leaving it on the charger all the time isn't such a good idea. Now I know.

)

Thankfully I was able to track down an OEM replacement online, but it'll be maybe a week before it gets here. Hilariously, the shipping cost more than the battery.

A few years ago I had this happen with a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). These use sealed lead-acid batteries and unit is supposed to be left on the power all the time, so the fact that it swelled was ... interesting. Thankfully it blew a fuse or something before the battery burst, but I think it must have been a close call: the battery had swelled so much the unit itself was distorted and the battery was stuck and could not be removed. I suspect the unit must have overheated (not because of load, which was only light, but because there was not very good airflow where it was situated).

Which is totally different to your phone situation, except the scare of realising that things could have been considerably worse.

I have wondered about leaving my phone on charge, because it's a minor nuisance to remember to connect and disconnect it, but I have been reluctant to leave it unattended while charging after reading various scary stories about li-ion batteries.

ownedbycats · 10-27-2021, 03:30 PM

Well, I upgraded to MasterCook 14. Certain UI changes (not sure what they were thinking with the colour scheme...) will take some adjusting, but the help file is in .CHM!!!

Minor rant: I hate it when installing a program and they shove shortcuts to the the uninstaller, the documentation, links to the website, etc... in the Start Menu. I hated it years ago and I hate it today.

Bradles · 10-27-2021, 05:59 PM

The MobileReads site regularly fails to connect on one particular computer, in fact the one I'm using now. If I

Code:

ipconfig /flushdns

it starts working again.

Every other computer and device on the network works fine. I do have ad blockers (pi-hole and uBlock Origin) but like I say every other device is fine.

Any ideas?

gmw · 10-27-2021, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bradles

The MobileReads site regularly fails to connect on one particular computer, in fact the one I'm using now. If I

Code:

ipconfig /flushdns

it starts working again.

Every other computer and device on the network works fine. I do have ad blockers (pi-hole and uBlock Origin) but like I say every other device is fine.

Any ideas?

I've had similar problems here, although generally just hitting refresh (sometimes takes a few tries) eventually gets it going again - and mostly it keeps working, although I've noticed that some avatars will show up as broken links from time to time. From what I've seen the initial load problem (at least) does seem to be DNS related. I've been using CloudFlare for DNS and I've been wondering if I should change, but most other sites have been working okay.

10-21-2021, 04:50 AM	#977
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,622 Karma: 61176603 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	MasterCook 9. Got the CD-ROM out of a discount bin some dozen years ago and still use it to this day. It still works perfectly fine, but between the documentation being in a deprecated format and a UI designed for far smaller resolutions it's definitely feeling its age. I've tried pretty much every non-subscription alternative I could find (for years) but none of them really have the features I'm looking for; admittedly, I'm far fussier than most. One program came close, but the company went out of business so I couldn't buy a license. Last edited by ownedbycats; 10-21-2021 at 08:47 AM.

10-21-2021, 09:31 AM	#979
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,622 Karma: 61176603 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Unfortunately, MasterCook went subscription-based a few versions after 9. They still sell a digital version of 14 on their site, and they say it's standalone, but I'd feel silly if I burned 10 dollars only to find out there's not really much difference. Last edited by ownedbycats; 10-21-2021 at 09:34 AM.

10-21-2021, 08:38 PM	#984
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,622 Karma: 61176603 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	On another rant: Overnight, the screen of my mobile phone started bulging a bit. I pulled it open and the lithium-ion battery had swollen up. (Turns out leaving it on the charger all the time isn't such a good idea. Now I know. ) Thankfully I was able to track down an OEM replacement online, but it'll be maybe a week before it gets here. Hilariously, the shipping cost more than the battery. Last edited by ownedbycats; 10-21-2021 at 08:41 PM.

10-27-2021, 05:59 PM	#989
Bradles Connoisseur Posts: 70 Karma: 21074 Join Date: Nov 2020 Location: Perth, Western Australia Device: Apple Books & Kobo Libra H20	MobileReads Site Timing Out on ONE Computer Only The MobileReads site regularly fails to connect on one particular computer, in fact the one I'm using now. If I Code: ipconfig /flushdns it starts working again. Every other computer and device on the network works fine. I do have ad blockers (pi-hole and uBlock Origin) but like I say every other device is fine. Any ideas?

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10-21-2021, 10:33 AM	#981
4691mls Wizard Posts: 2,776 Karma: 30081762 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: US Device: ALL DEVICES ARE STOCK: Kobo Clara, Tolino Shine 2, Sony PRS-T3, T1	Google Maps for Android really needs the ability to drag the route like you can on a computer. In a few weeks I plan to move to a new home on the other side of town. I've tried checking directions from the new home to various places to get travel time estimates. Google always wants to send me by the shortest route, which involves an unprotected left turn onto a busy 5-lane road. In reality, I will go a few minutes out of my way in the opposite direction in order to access the 5-lane road at a stoplight with a left turn signal. I've tried the "add a stop" option, selecting a "stop" along the longer but safer route. However, although it supposedly adds it to the route, the added stop is actually missing from the direction steps and Maps still shows a total trip time based on the original unprotected-left-turn route. I don't want to find a different maps app because Google's app has a "driving mode" that provides a useful interface for handling any phone call or text that might come in while I'm driving. Now, I know as a workaround I will be able to start driving on the road that leads to the stoplight and Maps will recalculate. I will just have to add a few minutes to the estimated time when planning a trip. But it would be so much easier if Google would just let me drag the route!

10-21-2021, 11:21 AM	#983
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,622 Karma: 61176603 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	No refunds given. Still might be worth a try. Hopefully the UI's a bit bigger.

10-27-2021, 03:30 PM	#988
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,622 Karma: 61176603 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Well, I upgraded to MasterCook 14. Certain UI changes (not sure what they were thinking with the colour scheme...) will take some adjusting, but the help file is in .CHM!!! Minor rant: I hate it when installing a program and they shove shortcuts to the the uninstaller, the documentation, links to the website, etc... in the Start Menu. I hated it years ago and I hate it today.