Me-nooooo... Really?

First, there are clearly goings-on with Blogger, tinkering under the hood again, for the late delivery of posts to the reader has been frustrating beyond words this past week or two. Where I have been able to, I have backtracked and found posts, but, frankly, that's a bit tedious. One of the clues as to the goings-on is that, occasionally, one hits that "error in posting comment" signal, which just requires patience and persistence to get past. Then there is the mysterious appearance of "newer post" at the bottom of most blogs, which loops back to the current post being read, even if there is, in fact, a newer post. Heaven (and Google) alone knows what they are up to. I've tried digging around, but can't identify anything specific, so it may not even be within Blogger that things are happening, just that there's an 'echo' from work elsewhere in the G-verse. Sigh... It'll iron itself out sometime, I suppose. Meanwhile, sorry if I may seem absent from comments at times. I have seen a couple of comments around the place that show others are experiencing this, and that it's not just me.

In other news...

You may recall I put The Grey in for service on the fifth of this month. Other than the first-year dealer check, this is his first official visit to the van vet. He hasn't hit the 10k miles yet, but it has been three years now, and in the UK, once a new vehicle has been running for three years, it must be submitted for the Ministry of Transport Roadworthiness Test (MOT) on a yearly basis henceforth. The said test cannot be carried out without a service having been undertaken. In addition, there were a couple of repairs required...

An aside: the damages I have not reported here before, because they didn't matter - until now. The rear near-side lamp cover was shattered when we were parked at a supermarket some two years ago. Someone had clearly not been looking where they were going - or had just been in a bad mood. I got back with the groceries to find the perspex cover in shards. I managed to retrieve all but one small bit and, like a jigsaw, pieced them all together, fixed with clear gaffer tape, and then gaffered back into place. The bulbs were intact and operational, so this has served just fine. However, an MOT would not pass that, so a new cover was required. Then there was the driver's wing mirror. Two Decembers ago, coming home from Aberdeen (yes, from that last visit with Gail), we were travelling the pretty Tay lochside route. It's not a wide road, and there are walls on both sides. To my horror, there was another van heading towards us... in the middle of the road! I slowed down and pulled as much to the left as I could (very limited), flashed my lights, blew my horn, but that driver was clearly out of it - maybe pre-festive liquid lunch? Anyway, by some miracle, it didn't hit The Grey full-on, but the wing mirrors jousted, and I lost all rear view on that side for the rest of that road. At Killin, I parked up and let the shock run through me. 

The lower magnifier was completely gone, and the persepex indicator cover was shattered, as was the main mirror, although due to it being wired up for proximity warnings, it had held onto the housing. 

Out came that clear gaffer tape again, and I was able to fix it together enough to at least know there were vehicles behind and overtaking, but broken into multiple images. I did manage to obtain a replacement for the wide-angle, which simply clicked into place and provided adequate visibility to drive safely. However, I wasn't able to do anything about the main mirror, so that was going to have to be fixed before MOT, too.

It was a scary moment, and I found myself folding the mirrors in on narrow roads when oncoming traffic appeared, for quite a while after that! When I recall it - like telling you about it just now - I can feel my body tensing as it did when I realised that b***** van wasn't getting back on its side of the white line... yeeccch...

Anyway, back at The Hutch in April 2026, I was getting notifications reminding me of the impending MOT, and it was imperative that I got organised. I had not had the best experience on the first year check back at the dealer's in Glasgow, as the van had clearly been handled disrespectfully... all the stuff in the back was off shelves and thrown about. There was no sense of personal service at all. Also, Glasgow is an hour's drive away (and a half, if you include the ferry ride). I had also not had good experiences with the two Dunoon garages, when I had the wee red car, both those places being deeply mysogynistic and also dragging the chain by keeping me, in one case, waiting for two weeks before getting the car done, despite having had a fixed appointment. I ended up going over to Edinburgh to use the place dad always used.

I was wondering if I might have to do the same for The Grey... but just before my birthday, when taking a constitutional around the block, I decided (for no particular reason) to cut through an alley I hadn't used for a few years. It's a private culdesac with a pedestrian cut-through at the end and runs up the side of the terrace where The Hutch is. Talk about serendipity! 

As I emerged on the Edward Street end of things, beside the scaffolding workyard, I spotted a fellow in overalls standing beside an open work unit that was clearly nothing to do with the scaffold place. Getting to the gate, I spotted a sign...

Say what?! That wasn't there last time I was... The fellow in the overalls looked my way with a fine smile on his dial. 

"Are you the garage?"

"Yes, ma'am."

I walked right up and started enquiring. Ralph had opened up there only a little over a year ago. Being tucked away down the lane, he was working purely on word of mouth and FB for business. He was Polish-born and raised, having received his vocational training there, qualifying as an auto-engineer, working in that industry before coming to the UK in 2012... to Dunoon, of all places, where his brother was working in a now closed hotel. Ralph liked the town and got work at one of the aforementioned garages. He hadn't liked their style, so went and worked at the other garage... where he had also found disatisfaction at their standards. He'd taken to driving buses for a while, having met and married a local lady and deciding to put down roots here. Then he'd taken the plunge and decided to start up his own business... for which, I say, thank heavens!

He was happy to spend that 20 minutes with me, discussing this and that, including lots of vehicle talk, and I was reassured that he was trustworthy and, what is more, reasonably priced. An hourly rate that was perfectly within expectation. 

Ralph knew in advance that I was aware of the two repairs needed, but could only assess the parts required once he had The Grey on the mat. Being a small operation, he naturally does not keep stock on hand, so the parts were ordered from Ford, the main service was done and dusted, and then the wait was on for those parts. Ralph did warn me that being Ford official, they'd cost, which I was perfectly accepting of - although we did get a surprise when it turned out that there is no such thing as a cover for the rear light stancion... the whole unit needed replacing and golly did that shoot the bill up! Deep breaths, it had to be done. As I said in a previous post, the parts took a tad longer than planned to get here (add a ferry into the delivery mix and things can get silly), but that was finally seen to late last Thursday. I settled the bill for the service and the parts, knowing that both the van, and myself, had been given due respect and quality work. Then the MOT had to be booked, and that was for Monday this week. 

MOTs generally come in aroun the fifty-sixty quid mark. Shopping around can mean finding cheaper, but then one has to add in the cost of travelling to where that might be and from here, that also means factoring in the cost of the ferry ride, so swings and roundabouts. Ralph quoted £55 and I was happy with that. 

After receiving the call to say The Grey had passed and been logged online, I went to collect the key and pay up... but Ralph refused payment. 

Yup. Gratis. Nada. Free... offered quietly and with that lovely smile. No fuss, deflecting into more talk about where I was planning my first trip and what it was like to spend long trips in The Grey... and I was introduced to Michael, who has been taken on as a help, due to business really picking up for Belmont Garage. I'm not surprised. When I had checked the Google reviews for it, there were nothing but five stars... and I have added mine to that! 

Of course, he had earned a decent amount with performing the service and repair work, but that really was above and beyond. I almost can't wait till next year to take the van there again! 

At the weekend, then, I shall be prepping Grey for a short trip, over to Edinburgh for a week, the a slow trip back this way to spend a couple of weeks, then sort out a much longer trip again...

Toot! Toot!

Menomoria - And An Etherwobble

Twelve months since Gail's passing. At once it seems like yesterday, yet so very long ago... Still deeply missed.

Meanwhile, Nobby may not be missing Gail quite so much, if this latest little message is anything to go by!

Now, apropos the intermutts... is anybody else having trouble with the timely arrival of friends' blog posts on their readers? I am discovering that quite a few posts are getting missed because they are not arriving. I know others have been having issues with comments. Then, when updating my profile picture, I discovered that my profile only showed Nobby's blog under my name, not my own! Sortable, but what a pain. Clearly, there has been some more tinkering going on under the hood.

Anyway, if I don't seem to be commenting at my usual sort of time on any of your posts, please don't fret - I'll find you eventually.

Love you all!

Menorgitek: A Final Friday Feature

Is anyone else finding Blogger eating part of their page... my sidebar is not showing, even though it is there in the layout... disappeared yesterday... (though, stupidly, it displays when in preview mode)... sigh......... and there it was back again, mid-arvo same day....double sigh...

A tech talk for FFF? Yes, and you can blame Sandra, the MadSnapper, for this one! I have always edited my photographs on my laptop. Since getting the Gopika (Pixel7) earlier this year, I have retained that habit but had, only in recent weeks, taken to making minor edits (such as exposure or cropping) directly in the phone before then downloading via Google Photos. Clearly, the phone model one has makes a difference as to whether you use this or, as in Sandra's case, "gallery" - you will all have your equivalent of this. You are therefore encouraged to go digging for it.

What? The collage tool! This got me a little excited because once I had to give up using Voovoo the Vaio, I also lost quite a bit of photo processing power, and to create collages, I had to fire up PixlR. Which is fine, I really like that app, I pay the annual fee and use it a lot. I shall continue to do so. However, for speed and fun, creating a collage directly from Photos is a neat little trick that I can now do due to Sandra having pushed that button! So, I have taken some screenshots showing how it goes in the Pixel7 with Android 14... it will not be much different everywhere, just terminology may vary.

In Photos, click only the batch selector (1), 

then deselect the items NOT wanted by their individual tick boxes (2)

Then go down to the bottom of the screen and select the "add to" link (3)

Note that, for my phone anyway, there is a maximum of three images per collage permitted.

I note that there are possibilities of other image manipulation here ... movie, animation, cinematic...

It will have to wait until I get a lot more images gathered before I explore what they are about.

For our purposes here today, select the collage option.

As stated in the help pages given above, being a Pixel owner means I get to play with some quite fancy formats, as well as a standard collage layout.

You can see examples at the bottom of the screenshot.

And now, here is a finished one!

Menodgetry; An Update Came Riding...

Android updated to version 14... aka "Upside Down Cake". The Gopika came with Android 12, "Snow Cone", and upgraded to 13, "Tiramisu", only at the beginning of this year. I had not really explored it that much before this one came through on Saturday. Most of what is in the coding remains hidden from user view insofar as it pertains to improved security and solid-state operation. 

However, I have to say there are some very snazzy interface updates. Starting at the lock screen - the bit I can't screenshot, so this image is from the Android website.

I've stopped this demo on the clock face I have chosen. I have selected shortcuts of torch and wallet on the lock screen, too. Changing from PIN to pattern for unlock is also an improvement for me, and the whole thing seems a lot more intuitive. The weather app got a makeover; I love it!

The other bit that interested me most was the upgrade to the camera app. Aside from adjusting to the fact that operations have been switched right to left or left to right (no obvious benefit, so one of those done-for-the-sake-of-it 'improvements'), there are aspects available that were not before and make it a stronger tool, competing even more with a stand-alone item such as my Hisstix. There's a Long Exposure, Night Sight, Active Pan, Panorama... as well as more robust on-unit editing. My first go with the panorama shows I need to keep more level. It's not a tool I have ever used a lot but can be handy for landscape.

I wanted to see what difference the Night Sight would make over standard photo setting, and flash setting - here are three in a row, then; standard, flash and NS.

I like it! (It's very slightly fuzzy, which I take to be that I need to keep a bit more steady and less hasty to finish the shot.) There are times when flash is the better option, but for something like this, the more natural appearance with the NS option is quite pleasing. Previously, I would have to go into manual and fiddle a bit to bring the exposure up to something similar, so am happy with the one-stop shot.

I am still taking photos with the Hisstix, but significantly less, it must be admitted. The one thing it wins shutters down on is when zoom shots are required. The phone still lacks significant zoom capability, and that is a hardware, not software, limitation.

Now - here's your one-week warning that we are yet again approaching Final Friday!!!

Menoloopal; Head Knots

Last week, Tigger's Mum, F, sent me a screenshot from her inbox spam folder. Apparently, there was a considerable number of such messages...

The devil's in the small print below the warning box.

Before I get into that, let me say that the timing of the message had me chasing a small ghost as I had just shortly before been doing my daily run of checking the comments folders on the Blogger dashboard. I had not seen any comment from F on the blog for the Monday post to which this particular message referred. So initially, I thought this was about F's comment being rejected entirely. The illusion was compounded when, after I had deleted the notification for myself, that comment and another appeared on the dashboard/blog. I reset the notification, and F's next comment still got posted, so it had only been a matter of our crossing each other in timing (and slightly tardy work by the intermutts). Anyway, this message was purely about the blog's notification by email aspect.

What's this gobbledegook? Let me start from the beginning. We've been here before, but as we know, Google is always tweaking things, so there is no harm in covering this again. Here is a screenshot from my original post at the end of April about the change to email notification (and for those who are wondering what that is even about - this is the choice you make to have any comments made on your blog sent in email form to your inbox so that you don't always have to be going into your dashboard...)

Now here is a screenshot as of today, three months later. The difference is that the first one arose in 'pending' because that was Blogger's way of alerting us to the change and forcing us to confirm, but the action to get notifications is as stated in that post (and scrawled with a finger on this);

This, you may recall, replaced the very straightforward "get email notifications of comments" box... why keep it simple when you can bamboozle 'em, eh?

Most of us probably are working with Gmail addresses if we opt for the notifications. I have noticed - and some of you may have also - that a few of our commenters while appearing on the dashboard and blog, do not actually get forwarded to our inboxes. I have long pondered why this should be, and this message from F has clarified it. She is operating with a Yahoo email address. Now, a couple of other folks don't reach me via email, and I wonder if they have been getting mail daemon alerts like this but not twigged as to why?

What that small print revealed is that, in order to minimise spam and other nefarious activity, there are protocols in place that prevent the different platforms from 'handshaking'. Your email address must be authenticated with a Domain Key Identified Mail (DKIM) and Sender Policy Framework (SPF). This coding is part of Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC). 

What has my head a bit in knots is that F sent me this alert via the very same email address from the other platform, and my Gmail inbox had no issue with it. This shows inconsistency of checking within Google's different parts - and as this DMARC was set up primarily for email messaging purposes, it confounds me. 

There are steps that can be taken to sort this out, but they are very much within the domain provider's IT admin purview rather than something the end user can fix themselves. (Read here to glimpse what I mean.)

So, for now, it is a case of those of you not using Gmail for posting comments on Blogger, to prevent getting mail daemon bounce back, you'll need to alert your email provider/domain holder of the issue and get them working on their DMARC compliance. If you don't know who that is, it is status quo, and you'll just have to deal with these alerts. 

Of course, most of us using Gmail and the notification by email option could cancel the notification request so that the handful of people using other email platforms don't hit this issue... I have been pondering this recently because, as mentioned at the top of this post, I check comments on the dashboard daily anyway due to the nonsense spamming of comments that Blogger continues to perform - so notification is a double dip. Though, as almost all my email is blog comments, it would mean a very empty box to face each morning!

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IS IF THE ONE OR TWO OTHER COMMENTERS HERE WHO ARE USING 'NOT' GMAIL WHETHER THEY HAVE HAD SIMILAR ALERTS TO THE ONE UP TOP? If the common denominator in such cases is Yahoo... well... (if you are not already aware, despite its 'best' efforts to be otherwise, it is the source of a great deal of the unauthorised activity DMARC has been set up to prevent). Consider changing platforms - and if you object to Gmail for any reason, then perhaps Outlook would be the alternative for you. The security standard there is about equal to Google.

While my daily visit to the dashboard comments page reveals the comments I have not been notified of, it is not about that so much as it is to continue checking for the comments shoved into the spam folder. Blogger continues to do this, frustratingly. It also remains very erratic as to when and who. Occasionally, a comment from almost the beginning of time gets spammed. More commonly, it is comments made within the previous week. I also note that, while there are others, the most regularly spammed comments are those from my Canadian readers! The Blogger Forum is surprisingly lacking in posts about this issue - though last year there was a rash of threads about it - so I think this is a situation that Blogger can't sort out itself, and deleted all the complaints and left only one single thread - in which the solution given is the one we all ended up doing anyway, which is to go and mark them as 'not spam' and publish them again. Sigh...

Menorkulating; Tech Talk

Yesterday I mentioned how the MadSnapper and I tend to write to each other behind the blogs... Well, we were swapping notes at the weekend when I suddenly thought, "Why the heck don't we do video chats??!"

So, I emailed Sandra to ask if she would like to do that. 

A while later, we were yabbering away like we were sitting in the same room. Donchya jus' love modern technology that allows you to talk this way?

I've been using Google Meet for a few years now, so I had no need of jumping on the Zoom bandwagon. Earlier this year, it was integrated with Gmail as part of that whole levelling out of the Google suite of tools into a more cohesive, interchangeable stable of goodies. It's not a new idea, of course. Still, it is to be remembered that Google began only as a search engine and has been buying out small things and hooking them onto their network (including Blogger!). What they have been doing over the past few years is bringing everything properly together under one banner. 

This has meant some nuisances along the way. We know all about that here, don't we? But overall, it is hard to beat when considering the whole thing is free software.

Anyway, Meet appeared on my sidebar back in January rather than having to go search for it. If it is not there for you for any reason, you will likely find it in the add-ons section (far right of the Gmail screen).

It's really easy to use - though you do need to have pre-arranged a time with whoever else is going to be on the meetup, be that just one other or several, so not quite as direct as a phone call or text message - but, then again, it is free!

It was PHUN to be face-to-face with our dear Blogville Bloviator. Is anyone else up for a live natter???

Meanwhile, on my wee sojourn last week, Tigger was grabbing all the F time he could, having sussed that things were changing! When F and Mr B left on Friday, he had a face like fizz. I am pleased to report that it only took one night for him to recognise that I was an adequate substitute and served perfectly good food as well as providing company when he required it. 

Menoturals; Saturday Sounds (and a Stop Press; Comments)

Today's bird choice is that of the Cockatiel. These and the Budgerigar (soon to appear here) are surprisingly common outback birds. When one knew of them as pets and cage birds in one's youth, to see them in the wild transforms the thinking! 

Still, it has to be said that Aunty Jenny's Cockatiel called Peter (who knows why), was a character and then some. Often permitted to fly free, his favourite trick was to sit on the washing line and remove the pegs! In windy Scotland, that made him a tad unpopular. And entertaining. When it was decided he required a mate, along came Gem. Let it be said that Peter and Gem were not a match made in heaven. With no sign of any nesting tendencies, the pair created quite the mess of not just pegs but curtains, ceilings, and cabinets... Gem was eventually rehomed, and Peter settled back into bachelor life and had the sole attention of Aunty Jenny. Spoiled brat,,, er bird that he was! I don't recall his voice being quite as sweet as these sounds, either. Ear-piercing, more like.

STOP PRESS - RE COMMENTS

As many of you will have noted, this week's Blogger comments have been playing up yet again. The business of the spamming of comments, both current and historical, continues, although somewhat reduced in frequency.

If you had the setup such that you received notification by email of comments on your blogs, that function appeared to cease... then suddenly, one or two still slipped through. It was only by going to one's dashboard or to the blog posts themselves, that we could see who had left a trace of visiting. (I will note here that there are two regular commenters at DoWY whose comments never came through by email for some reason, so I often didn't know you had visited - Molly and Tigger! I wonder if that will change now I've made the following adjustment?) 

Anyhowzers... desperation took me burrowing for workarounds. My initial thought was to go to the settings and remove my email notification, then enter it again (which had worked after the big overhaul back in 2020 - remember that fiasco?) Imagine my dismay, then, to discover that one can no longer enter one's address for that request in that section! Why even leave the option there, is my next question? 

The usual support network has not apparently picked up on this current situation. However, I opted on Friday just to leave a comment on my own post and tick the 'notify me' box before publishing it - which worked. For that post.

Persistence paid off, though, and experimenting with another part of the settings has proven to be the answer. Go to your dashboard;

settings > page down to the 'email' section > select 'pending comment notification emails' > enter your email address.

You will receive a notification in your inbox inviting you to 'subscribe' to these email notifications. Choose to subscribe, and it will confirm that on a separate tab. THIS WORKS! Comments that were placed after that alteration came through to email promptly.

Now if we could only sort out that spamming nonsense... sigh...

UPDATE ON "THE GREY"

For my van supporters, the news is not brilliant. Though some minor movement, insofar as the invoice came through yesterday, and I have commenced payments. However, the government department responsible for authorising the Electric Vehicle grant that is provided on commercial vehicles (even though I am private, it's a van, so...) has been dragging the chain. It is out of the dealer's hands as well, and we just have to play the patience game. Send up your requests to whatever higher power you choose that I am on my wheels before too much longer! If it doesn't manifest before next Thursday, I am going to have to wait until the end of May due to an impending rather large trip - about which you will read in due course. 😎

Menowercogitatus; Cognitive Liberty - The Micro

This is the second of a two-post focus on how our technology is increasingly inveigling its way into our brains. Part one was yesterday's post (hint hint). 

Okay, we know that virtually everything we do on our computers and, particularly, our oh-so-smart telephones now has the potential to be tracked. It would be easy to get depressed about it all, dump it, and head for the hills. That solves nothing, however. 

The simple truth is that we, as individuals, are highly unlikely to be targeted by any 'superpower' seeking to wage war upon us. In our daily interactions with our tech, the main issue is basic privacy and the attack upon our ability to make our own choices. In the great move to user-friendly interfaces, there has been a standardisation that is both a boon and a bust. The boon is that we can pick up virtually any instrument now and find our way around it due to the standardisation of touch and swipe. The bust comes when we realise how many permissions are snuck in that we may not be aware of. What is required is that we take action to the best of our ability to minimise the impact of those permissions.

Among the various things that came to my notice in this little flurry of technological research was a YouTube channel. "Payette Forward helps solve problems with iPhones, Macs, and [Android] devices, through easy-to-understand articles and helpful videos." They have PLAYLISTS for a lot of the basics I am talking about. Interesting, informative and entertaining.

Yesterday I mentioned 'master and tools'. This is the thing that is perhaps getting a little forgotten as we become ever more immersed in the online world. The chosen instrument is clearly a tool - but so is all the software contained therein. There is a lot of connectivity that simply cannot be switched off by the user, but there is also quite a lot that can be. We have control over the 'permissions' - even when, sometimes, the machine throws back lines such as "if you switch this off, other things might not work." That is a tactic to keep you alive in the system's eyes. Over-ride it. Now I will give you examples from my own stuff - bearing in mind that the OctoKan and the Gopika work in Android mode and are 'synced'; every system works similarly. So you will all be able to find your way to the settings for your laptops, tablets or phones. You will all be able to locate the apps and permissions - they may not always be in the same order or layout, is all. (David and David, in the tubular link I just gave you, have stuff for IOS and Samsung, so give them a watch!) Anyway, here are screenshots from my couple to give you an idea.

A note on incognito mode - if you are unaware, you can select to open each tab in this mode to be more private.
This should definitely be used if you are not on your own machine, regardless of what you are doing.
I use it even on my own machine for things like online shopping, as it helps to cut down the excess cookie activity, and one's browsing cannot be tracked back in the event of someone else thinking to have a gander at your screen.
In Chrome, go to the three dots far right of the tool and search bar; click the incognito tab from the drop-down list.

The top four are from the laptop. Clearly, as it is a Chromebook, the OS will be Chrome - but as mentioned, every OS and browser will have settings you can investigate. Seek out all labels with Privacy, Security, Site Management and such. The last four images are from the phone. Same but different. As you see, every app will have notifications and permissions, and you can choose which ones you wish to have access to these things and by how much. You'll note here that I opt for the location to be requested each time I open the app - because it will not always be necessary to use my location if I am simply browsing. 

Most apps do not need your microphone, camera, or location, so moving these all to the full 'don't allow' or 'ask every time' position is worth it. Also, on the laptop, be sure to sign out of applications and sites not in use... I am thinking of places like Amazon, Quora, Reddit, and any other place that would love to keep you signed on permanently. It is in those that there is an increased risk of privacy being compromised.

Anyway, you're getting the gist by now! Note that you need to go through the procedure with everything; Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook/Instagram... it is worth spending a morning digging into what's on your machines and seeing what permissions are open. When downloading any new apps, you may have to allow permissions to initiate it - but then go into settings immediately and cancel the demands for access to your mic, photos, contacts, location, and whatever else you wish to remain silent. When challenged that adverts may not now be selected for you - say all the better! Don't allow yourself to be funnelled. I mostly don't face ads on the laptop due to using Adblock Plus (other ad-blocking software is available). I will be seeking something similar for the Gopika now.

In a related matter, as one who does a lot of search and research online, it is increasingly important that the suitability and authenticity of the sites I reach as verified. Google is currently updating the search functions it offers to enable a more reliable system. Read about it on The Keyword. There you are, a new site for you to browse!

Circling back to the start of this duet of posts, you'll recall I mentioned the Gopika wanting to monitor my every breath, movement, probably even my 'stooling'... you can well imagine my response to that! That all harks back to what Ms Farahany discusses in her book. While it can seem like a positive, it is also something which is currently unsupervised. This can be problematic. Then there were those earbuds that I was prompted for two or three times before being allowed to actually go to the checkout. Think how close to your brain they are. When I read about the phone alerts the UK government is planning, I couldn't help thinking that if you have earbuds in, that could be painful. Then I thought back to that report from the Chinese Journal of Traumatology. If UKGOV has all our numbers...

Menowercogitatus; Cognitive Liberty - The Macro

This is going to be a two-part post today and tomorrow. Continuing my posts to challenge you to deeper thinking and increased technological awareness (hence also an 'etherwobblies' post). 

Put the kettle on...

As so often happens, the prompts for these posts arrived all within a matter of days of each other. It is difficult to say which arrived first, but I will arrange them in what I hope will be a cohesive and definitely more narrative order than just a jumble of links. Therefore, for argument, it began with the arrival of the Gopika (the pocket tablet, remember?) As good a starting point as any - tomorrow's post will bring more related discussion.

Today, though, let me bring the big stuff. Some of you know that for all my geekiness, as an ex-programmer, I have also chosen to not get too wrapped up in stuff that allows the tech to dominate life. I have thus far managed to keep all things computery at master and tool levels. You have seen the title. You are, I am sure, also aware of the multiple ways that the internet presents itself to you as if it is your closest friend. It is almost unavoidable as we become ever-more reliant upon our online connectivity. Algorithms are the rulers now.

When I was purchasing the Gopika, there was a push offer for earbuds to go with - and also the Google Watch. No, ta. For a start, I have difficult ears and cannot wear anything that plugs. Full earphones are required. Mac1 was converted to wearable tech last year. That watch never stops beeping and tracking and interrupting... Mac3 loves to keep track of all his running stats, which couldn't be done without that wearable tech. One of the first things the Gopika wanted when I woke it up was to have me monitor virtually all aspects of my life. 

Click the image for Goodreads.

This leads me to the book I recently added to my reading list, which has jumped above others to actually get read. I am still getting into it, but the introduction alone captures the imagination.

It boils down to the fact that we are tracked in so many ways already and often unwittingly, as we agree to all sorts of personal data infringement; think about how all those apps seek access to this, that and the other. Think about the neurotechnological wizardry employed in those running apps, sleep apps, diet apps...

Yet so much of this is also for good. I have personally seen how a neuro-band on a young musician with cerebral palsy permits him, purely by brain power, to compose and produce music through his computer. There are so many applications for positive feedback mechanisms such as this. Ms Farahany tells us about the neural feedback equipment she uses to manage her migraines. Nita A. Farahany is a leading scholar on the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies at Duke University. The principal concern in this book is that of our Cognitive Liberty and how this is to be safeguarded and managed as we progress (very fast!) into this advancing technology.

This is not a book review, per se, but an alert to its existence and the warnings it contains (as well as all the positives that can be expected). So easily we agree to Ts & Cs when downloading, giving permission to use of camera, photos, contacts, etc. In many respects, we are our own worst advocates. It is natural to be curious about things; thus, when ChatGPT and Bard appear before us, it can look like a fun idea. My toes curl at the thought of those. The whole concept of the Metaverse gives me chills. They are not directly neurological (unless used via virtual reality tools)  but are part of the growing picture of mass market = mass manipulation. I know that one or two of you flirted with these bots and are aware of at least some of the controversy over plagiarism and outright fraudulence being perpetrated by them. Of course, the software itself cannot be blamed. It is only doing what it is programmed to do... seeking out all likely source material from its almost bottomless pit of information and regurgitating or reforming it. But, like your browser, it filters things according to your search habits. 

While the software clearly has faults and creates other errors, it is then the purview of the user to make wise decisions around that production. The very day of writing this post, The Guardian posted an article pertaining to the misuse of ChatGPT. For the bot to actively produce fake articles that are then online to mess up research is of great concern. We have enough trouble with such nonsense already. As many of you know, that middle initial of mine could just as easily stand for "Analyst" because, like a dog with a bone, I need to ascertain all source material and vet it thoroughly. The autobots are not interested in that sort of integrity - and, I suspect, neither are many who will use them in these early days. Most will follow their noses for sheer curiosity and fun, but a very dark side looms.

Personally, and as I commented to Sandra on her bot post, when Gopika tried to push Bard in my direction, I pushed it away, for I am pretty darned sure I can write way better than that Bardard! I am just glad that Nobby and his Gail failed to get registered!

The recent discussion of the risks with Tik Tok highlights the sort of thing that is of concern. While there is much that suggests that the platform itself may be 'innocent', the fact that our data is gathered here, there and everywhere is something about which we must become increasingly aware and educated. Especially as the move into the Sixth Domain of military assessment progresses. Five years ago, this report appeared with regard to Military Brain Science... from China.

The British Military are a tad behind if this concept note is anything to go by. Why bring up the militaristic aspects of neurological applications? Ms Farahany takes note of it, and there is the fact that a great deal of what we take for granted in our technical world even now has arisen because it was first researched and applied in times of war or anticipation and threat thereof. Make no mistake, a significant proportion of peacetime activity in advanced technology always has some background in how it might be applied in manipulating and 'guiding' the human domain. Second to the military comes the commercial. Everything now is about drawing our moolah from us.

Is the macro too big? Tomorrow we'll look at the micro - the close-up and personal of our tech.

Comments are off. This is a thinking post; take your time to absorb this and the info in the links. Bring your thoughts into tomorrow's comments.

Menoloopal; Ether Upheavals

A short one today. Just a bit of a rant review of recent 'upgrades' of Google things. I am not sure how global the changes have been. Some of this may pertain only within the Chromebook environment - let me know in comments if you are in Windows but still had the Chrome browser update that has now produced a fully functional calendar widget on the taskbar which takes one seamlessly into Google calendar. To be honest, I have not used that tool until now, choosing still to work with good old paper and pen. However, this is so nicely integrated, I can see myself being converted and that too, quite quickly. I did use the ColorNote app for reference when I got OctoKan, but may find that falls naturally redundant now.

There were other tweaks, the most notable (or the one most affecting my regular usage) was the launch tray where all the programs...sorry, applications... sit. I am not convinced that is an improvement as such, but it is definitely more showy.

Then, on Monday, I was gnashing my teeth because Gmail was playing up. I had been trying to send out emails and getting nowhere. I muttered to two pals on phone calls that I strongly suspected Google was tinkering under the hood yet again. On Tuesday morning, when I signed on, I was proven correct. Gmail has had quite a makeover with a new toolbar to the left of the page, typeface all changed, some fancification of the message tray. It seems that Chat has been upgraded somewhat, and is there to fill the gap left by Hangouts... which some may prefer to the Meet tool. But having become used to the latter over the past year, I shall continue to utilise that. 

The darktheme option has been expanded to work on everything over which Google has authority - so even the little pop-ups of right click are in black. I prefer this theme to white, as it is softer on the eyes of one who spends a ridiculous amount of time at the screen... I just wish that the Blogger comments issues had been sorted and more integrated but that one, I suspect, will have to wait for the next big 'upgrade' on that platform. 

Never-ending change, eh? Some of it good, some of it not, and a lot of it made simply because someone wanted something to look different, adding no value to the interface experience at all. Hey ho...

Now to move on with things and accept the inevitability of these tinkerings. 

Menodyoucayzhunal; A Little Tutorial

Earlier this week, Sandra the Madsnapper was lamenting issues with Feedly, which (apparently) a lot of folk use to access blogs they wish to read. There are other aggregators out there too. I never have used one - and do not foresee ever using one. I like fine the reading list in the Blogger dashboard. One can add sites other than Blogger - and indeed those Blogger blogs that don't have the 'followers' widget for convenience. I have written about this on 'etherwobblies' posts before, but Sandra went through the basics on her blog this week, so do have a look if you do not know at this point how to add a URL to your reading list on the Blogger dashboard.

In an adjunct to this, it is useful to have all the blogs you follow listed somewhere on your own blog. This is not only a backup for yourselves but allows other readers to follow their noses if they are interested to see the sorts of connections you make and to discover more in the network that is this wonderful medium. If you look to the footer of this blog, you will see I have my many connections broken into four categories... you don't have to do that, but it can also help if you have as many as I do (80-ish!) and with varying interests. 

I have them set up with a max of five on display, but you can click the 'show all' button to see the full list in each category. You may have as many as you like listed, but the maximum that can be displayed as the 'window' is ten. ... Sooooo... I hear you wonder... how did she do that? Well, allow me to show you... Press play and pay attention! (NB - use the exand icon on this to view it full screen - it really helps!)

So that is;

• dashboard - LAYOUT
• layout - PAGE TO SIDE BAR OR FOOTER
• SELECT ADD GADGET
• page down and look for BLOG LIST 
• click that and proceed to add selections from your blogroll.
• don't forget to save not just in the gadget itself, but on the blog at bottom right of the screen!

TAKE NOTE - to use this effectively you need to have ensured that all the addresses you wish to add are already added into your dashboard address list. That way they turn up in the reading list - and on the blog list on your blog if you have selected them.

As we all know, there are gremlins everywhere, not least in comments at the moment, but also in the reader. Sometimes things take as much as a day to post there - but mostly it is fine and this blog list on the blog is pretty much always up to date. 

That's enough for one day. Time for tea... 

Menoloopal; Disgruntlemumblement

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggnaasshhh!!!

Well - I had been lining up one post and now have to wing it with another. Why? Did I hear you ask? No? Tough. You know by now you are my sounding board and whipping lassos... It is important to be aware that the YAMster may have been a tad sleep deprived. On Tuesday, there had been a 24-hour prayer/chant/ meditation watch, and the six-hour kip that followed may not have been enough to balance the brain. ORrr... long-term readers will also appreciate that despite most of the menoplyxinaemia having finally passed, the legacy of menosoup remains. That said, it is pretty likely that the two things came together in a rare moment with what might, perhaps, be described as menogeddonwithit, which manifests in over-hasty actions performed with minimal brain engagement.

You need to know that I have discovered the one major fly in the Chrome OS ointment; there is no recycle bin. So when little old women start deciding to 'tidy up the files' in an unfamiliar home...

Experienced and as qualified as I am, infallibility is not part of the bio. The signs were there, but the brain juice wasn't and a kind of blindness set in. I just kept hitting the delete button in the images folder. A folder that is not present in any Windows applications. This alone ought to have alerted. Then the constant prompts to 'open a folder' ought to have been another red line. But now I was just in spring-cleaning mode, and nothing was going to stop me. 

The result was that all...every single one... of the photos I have been preparing for MY TAKE bloggy and for this one is gone forever because there is no recycle bin. No option of restoring whatsoever. It wouldn't be so bad, but since getting OctoKan, I have failed in my own constant advice. Backups have not been made. 

Ssssiiiggghhhhh...

I'll get over it, and a lesson has been learned. That's the way of life, heh na? I'll end the menoloop here and share this link, which offers the current exhibition of Scottish Academicians Arts for sale. If you browse the page, you will perhaps recognise stylistic correlations to my own humble works. 

🤪

On a slightly different tack, let me pick up yesterday's post, which begins this month's focus on music as therapy for midweek musicalisms. 

Most comments accepted and expressed positive experiences of music as therapy for elders. Quite rightly, though, Gail brought up the point that not everyone responds positively. However, her point pertained to the 'entertainment' aspect often offered in age care facilities. That is subtly different in that, mainly, it does not actively engage the audience, whilst the use of music in therapy does. Even those who have never touched an instrument in their lives to that date can gain great benefit from lifting a triangle or banging a drum. It is the action and the sound that brings some power to them. It can boost a sense of control that is often lost in those years and a sense of ownership for the sound value.

Gail's comment has value too. It is an established fact that we form our musical tastes in our teenage years and can vary that readily throughout our twenties, but once into our thirties and beyond, we tend on the whole not to widen our musical interest (though a few of us - me being one such - remain musically curious). This is why, when entertainment is provided for elders, it tends to centre on the baseline demographic. Thus, for most of the people I had the honour to serve, it was war and post-war sounds that they responded best to. The predominant demographic now is likely to be more 1960s centred, so expect to hear lots of Beatles and Monkeys and Elvis... Then there will always be the group who refuse to listen to anything other than orchestral or opera. And there will always be those who think of music, generally, as just a load of noise. It is likely to come down to what they were exposed and habituated to in those early years. (Read further; this article is basic and 'light'; this one is focused on clinical research.)

It is also true that as we age, our ability to listen is altered. (Read further.) There is research also into the cognitively protective benefits of actively playing an instrument or being engaged significantly with music. (Read further. 1  and, read further. 2)

It is worth adding that some are musical misanthropes. Musical anhedonia is a neurological condition characterised by an inability to derive pleasure from music. People with this condition can recognise and understand music but fail to enjoy it.

Anyway, that's enough of that. While being deprived of one source of blog fodder, another was created. Be thankful for that, YAM - even if the readers are now bored out of their skulls!!!

PS - A very important one... this is not light viewing, but it is an essential message... it may ask you to click through to the tubular to watch it... which you can safely do - or use this link.

Menorlektrikul; New Tech

This post follows up on how things are going with OctoKan. I could keep it very, very short and simply tell you, "Fab!"

I could extend it by saying there is still some learning and practice required, as not all tasks previously undertaken on Voovoo have been emulated on OctoKan. For example, my favourite photo editing software (Irfanview) is not available for Chrome OS. The on-board gallery permits very basic edits, but I cannot add in my watermark or refine images to the same extent. I need to do further research on available applications.

The post can be further built by telling you how much I love that there was virtually no set-up needed due to the cloud-based nature of all things Go and Ogle... and that I have learned that if one sticks with Chrome OS, no matter what machine I opt for in the future with that OS, everything will be carried over. For those working in teams on multiple projects, the ability to so easily set up separate workspaces ('desktops') on the one screen and share those to local machines or in groups is a real bonus, particularly as one can set access permissions for each desktop. The crossover between Android and Windows-style working is seamlessly covered by Chrome OS. This is the sort of thing that Windows is trying to catch up on with Win 11. 

When I had that black screen incident a few days after its arrival, my searches brought up lots of sites with 'help' - but the one where I found the simplest and, as it turned out, the most straightforward solution was Schooled in Tech. Dave's a school teacher, so he knows how to get things across in short order! I love my How-To-Geek and Tom's pages, but Dave saved the day on this and one or two other basic matters.

In all the looking around for Chromebook inspiration, I happened upon the channel called Chrome Unboxed.

I have been returning each day to watch a few more of their extensive archive of footage and have now bookmarked their website, which offers a great deal more, including podcasts. This site is not so much about sorting out tech trubs but about keeping up with all the latest news, views and reviews regarding Chrome OS specifically, as well as Google/Android. For example, to discover that there are actually desktop (All-In-One) dedicated Chrome OS machines available, and that too at costs less than some of the higher level laptops was interesting. As was the news that Chrome Flex OS is now out, which will enable older PCs and Macs to convert to Chromebook-style running.

Interesting, to me at least, because this is how quickly I have adapted and LOVE Chrome OS. Within a matter of days, I said that I didn't think I would go back to Windows! So, the operating system checks out and meets my approval. The physical difference of a Chromebook, though? I still have to get the fingers fully functioning on the slightly different keyboard layout; resetting the search key to CAPS LOCK has helped a lot, and I really like the shortcut keys along the top taking the place of what would be function keys on PCs. The return key on this model is still frustrating me slightly, as the hashtag key is placed where my little finger used to reach, and it is still adapting to having to stretch just a few millimetres further! The speaker sound on this little thing matches Voovoo's heavier duty tech - and may even better it. Then there is the trackpad... I have a poor history with trackpads on laptops. Those who have been around here long enough may recall that I covered Voovoo's with cardboard to stop it making up actions for me. Then, when actually wanting to use it (or any other machine I may have borrowed), their control was erratic and problematic, to say the least. 

With OctoKan, though, I could be converted! The touch and feel are quite different to what I had grown to hate. In fact, I would say it is closer to the touch action one might use on the screen itself. While working on posts, in particular, I find that I love the opportunity for full dexterity to play out. I use the mouse, the trackpad and the touchscreen in harmonious sequence and union! This form of working has fallen into place naturally, and I only realised it a couple of posts back. It really has been smooth sailing.

image source Asus

There is still stuff to discover, of this I am sure. Even as I prepared this post on Wednesday afternoon, I discovered that there is a camera on the keyboard that I had just not noticed till now. Turns out I can flip into portrait board mode, and it has 5mp to it, so much better than the front-facing screen camera. Still not brilliant, but passable, as you can see on this image to the left. It wouldn't hold up to closely enlarged scrutiny, though!!!

Something new for me - but those of you who have updated long before this might find laughable - is that now I can roam around the Hutch with the OctoKan. In contrast, Voovoo was locked into place because her battery was long dead and needed to be permanently plugged into the wall. It's a novelty factor item, but it takes a bit of getting used to - as will remembering that OctoKan will require regular rejoicing!

That's the extended post, after all! I know of only two readers currently working with Chrome OS, but I hope that others might consider it an option in finding they need to update their tech. Apart from anything else, it is very cost-effective/budget-friendly, and you really don't have to have gained the computing degree to work the thing. Highly recommended!