Google sent a message with a security warning about a new login from an unknown device. Was it me? I didn’t know, because the device was identified as “AFTMM.” What the ding-dong heck is an AFTMM?
For a moment I wondered if, perhaps, there had been a security breach — until seeing that AFTMM is the build code of a 1st generation Amazon Fire TV 4K Stick from 2018. I have one of those plugged into an HDMI port on my Onkyo home theater receiver.
I had logged into YouTube on the Fire TV stick, but a full day before the warning was sent. This is the first time I’ve seen a “login from new device” warning delayed for so long.
This picture I used recently shows the setup I’m working on right now.
That’s my new Samsung Galaxy A9+ tablet. Best Buy had a too-good-to-resist Black Friday price for the model with 8 GB memory and 256 GB storage.
It was either that or a Lenovo Idea Tab Plus with 8/128. But, as you may recall, I have vowed to never again buy a Lenovo product. That is, unless and until the trackpad failure on my 2-year-old laptop PC is resolved.
A big surprise with the new tablet is the way it works with the 1byone Bluetooth keyboard. I bought it for $25 back in 2018, for the Lenovo tablet that’s in this other recent photo.
With both the Lenovo tablet and the Amazon HD10 tablet from 2022 (that’s now in my bedroom), I had to type slowly to prevent characters from being dropped. I thought it might be a problem with the keyboard. Now I see the tablets were simply too slow to keep up. With the A9+ I can type without worrying about lost characters.
I have a new appreciation for the humble 1byone. It’s a perfect little gadget, with an excellent trackpad that works the way the Lenovo laptop’s should be working. If you leave the keyboard idle it turns itself off, and the battery charge lasts almost forever. I checked Amazon, and it’s no longer available, at least not under that brand name.