More threads by Daniel E.

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

While most major sites allow authenticator apps, some are still stuck on phone numbers. But you have an option here too: Instead of your cellphone number, give them a Google Voice number.

For years, Google has allowed people to get free virtual phone numbers that can receive calls and texts just like a real number. (You can access it online or have messages forwarded to another phone.) Using them when you sign up for services is a great way to cut down on spam phone calls and also ensure that the company doesn’t have your real phone number forever. (A dedicated Gmail for spam is another good idea.)
 

David Baxter PhD

Late Founder
That does look intresting.

Amazon, like Apple, has always been ahead of the pack - or if not ahead they catch up quickly and do it better.

Now that Amazon and Best Buy off "Marketplace" sellers, I haven't bought anything from eBay for years. Among other things, there's no quality assurance other than a weak point system and no protection from the parent seller (Amazon, eBay) if things go wrong.
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

Cryptocurrency platforms, and the decentralized finance movement in general, have been plagued by security issues as the underpinning technologies evolve and mature. And the services that are coalescing to form the backbone of this new financial ecosystem are experiencing a trial by fire as the cryptocurrency gold rush plays out. Bridge attacks may be the new cryptocurrency exchange hacks, but they prey on the same issues, with high-stakes platforms that store massive amounts of value being thrown together quickly to meet new demands.
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit...

Claude E. Shannon first used the word "bit" in his seminal 1948 paper "A Mathematical Theory of Communication". He attributed its origin to John W. Tukey, who had written a Bell Labs memo on 9 January 1947 in which he contracted "binary information digit" to simply "bit".

Vannevar Bush had written in 1936 of "bits of information" that could be stored on the punched cards used in the mechanical computers of that time. The first programmable computer, built by Konrad Zuse, used binary notation for numbers.
 
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Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator
Great deal on Microsoft Office:


But the online version is free:



On the plus side, Office Online does include Add-ons, which is quite exciting because many of the missing functions can be added as third-party plugins. For example, there’s no Citation manager in Word Online, but you can add Mendeley, SmartCite, and others. The same goes for math equations and icons, as well as tons of Excel and PowerPoint features.
 
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Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator
Still free:


I’ve used TeamViewer hundreds of times over the years, and it’s always functioned perfectly. And in these days of ever-expanding bandwidth, it can be surprisingly facile. I’ve transferred files, helped out my sister, mother, and friends with nary an hiccup.

Used on a local network, TeamViewer also seeks the shortest route once IDs have been exchanged, so most data never travels outside the LAN, making control very quick.

Screen Shot 2022-04-22 at 10.44.40 AM.jpg
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

Tristan Harris, a former Google designer, even recommends setting your phone to greyscale mode, which dulls the bright colors designed to reel you in. Rosen says he hasn’t researched the effectiveness of this popular tip, but a colleague is hoping to soon.

To try it for yourself, on the iPhone, go to Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut and tap Color Filters. Then you can triple-tap the side button (or the Home button if you have one) and touch Color Filters to turn greyscale on and off. On Android, the process can vary from phone to phone, but these instructions should point you in the right direction.

Lastly, if you’re the kind of person that responds well to self-talk, try using one of these lock screen wallpapers that try to convince you to put your phone away. When you’re just opening your phone to “check in,” your lock screen will remind you that there’s probably nothing important behind it—beyond some meaningless Facebook likes—and that knowledge can be very freeing.
 
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Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

Generally, peak times on Instacart are from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday through Friday, and then all day on the weekend. Parents are picking up their little ones from school, and people are just getting home from work. The last thing they want to do is make an extra trip to the store for their groceries.
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator
Instacart has been amazing for Mother's Day. I think this is the first year they have really been promoting for Mother's Day as well, including on TV. My mom was extremely impressed. I used Instacart to deliver flowers and gourmet foods from two local grocery stores. Instacart even shows on their GPS map that they got the right address.

Though you do save a lot of money this way, especially by using Instacart for flower delivery, I do tip very generously -- at least $12 for a single small order. (All these gig delivery services like Instacart and DoorDash always find new ways to underpay for full-service orders -- shopping plus delivery -- despite gas prices going up.)

Just this week, I used Instacart for grocery pick up and that was great too. The shopper was an employee of the grocery store (Sprouts Farmers Market), and there is no option to tip in the app for grocery pickup. (I tipped anyway in cash since the smaller-chain grocery store allows tips, and the minimum-wage employee was very genial and did a great job -- better than I could -- with finding substitutions for my large order. She was also right-on-time when I got there for pickup.)
 
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Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

Breathing exercises via a mobile app help improve respiratory muscle strength and mobility in the diaphragm in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a study says.

The study, “Respiratory muscle training program supplemented by a cell-phone application in COPD patients with severe airflow limitation,” was published in the journal Respiratory Medicine by a team led by researchers in Romania.

Exercise training is a mainstay of pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD, with patients showing improvements in exercise capacity and quality of life, as well as an easing of shortness of breath (dyspnea).

Training usually includes respiratory muscle training, involving both inspiratory and expiratory muscles, and was traditionally conducted in hospital settings requiring constant monitoring...
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator
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Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator
Makes camping seem worthwhile and power outages more bearable :)

Screen Shot 2022-06-05 at 6.32.19 AM.jpg
Nearly identical to its larger, more powerful sibling, the Jackery Explorer 300 weighs just 7 pounds and has two AC outlets, two USB-A ports, and a USB-C port—more than most other lightweight options we tried. We like to bring it to a beach, park, or campsite to inflate an air mattress, run a fan, or charge a phone, camera, portable speaker, lantern, or headlamp. You lose some of the power and capacity you get with our larger picks—don’t expect to run an air conditioner or charge multiple laptops—but you save on space (and money).

Rated max output: 300 W
Rated capacity: 293 Wh
Weight: 7 pounds
Body dimensions: 9 by 5 by 8 inches
 
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