Category: Tech

Onkyo Lives and Updates

Another nice tech surprise. Onkyo, operating as a unit of VOXX/Sharp, has updated its phone app, and it’s a significant improvement. Unwanted sources listed for my versatile TX-NR676 receiver, that I enjoy using very much, can now be hidden in the app. Yes, I want to keep AM radio as an option!

A major functional fix is the Music Server client now works as it should with my DLNA server, which runs on an old Windows netbook concurrently with Logitech Media Server. The receiver still can’t play the lossless WMA format, but almost nothing outside of Windows and LMS does. I’m in the process of re-ripping those CD’s to FLAC anyway.

The BIG enhancement is the addition of — be still my heart — GAPLESS PLAYBACK! Yet another niceness is the ability to play albums by either track number or by the song title. A very good job by Onkyo.

Mem Drive and Mass Ave.

I first thought about mentioning my peripheral connections to MIT after reading this item in Technology Review at the end of June.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/06/29/1053303/how-mit-ended-up-on-memorial-drive/

My conversation this week with an MIT astrophysicist has nudged me into action. Did we discuss cosmic rays? Black holes at the center of galaxies? Or was the topic her particular area of expertise, the search for dark matter?

No, it was something quite Earthbound and mundane. A contractor had sent her to me for a reference.

Unknown to me for many years, when my family moved to Massachusetts, my father’s cousin Jane was at MIT, getting her PhD in Political Science.

Dr. Jane Pratt, 1943-2013

In the 70’s my father worked at the MIT Sloan School of Management for a few years. In the 80’s my twinster Jean worked at MIT while I was working at a nearby company named after MIT, founded by a couple of its grads. A friend who’s reading this is an MIT grad.

A AA Miracle!

I was going to post this last March, when the miracle ended. I’ll do it now before forgetting again.

For Christmas, way back in 1995, Santa delivered a Nordic Track machine. The classic low-tech design that simulates cross-country skiing. I don’t know if they’re even made anymore.

After becoming a dad I gave up running for a few years, to happily meet the demands of being a dad. When I wanted to start getting back into some sort of shape, Nordic Track seemed like the best the way to do that. The machine’s nifty exercise tracker required two AA batteries.

As was typical for Duracell at the time, the batteries were dated five years ahead.

That January, 2000 date was somewhat prophetic. Not because it was the millennium, but because at that time I was stuck face down in a vitrectomy chair, after the second surgery to repair the detached retina in my left eye. What’s a vitrectomy? Trust me, if you don’t need one, you’re better off not knowing.

After being allowed to get up from that blasted chair, my doctor wouldn’t let me run again until he was sure my eye had healed, which took a long time. I had his okay, however, to use the impact-free Nordic Track, and it felt wonderful. The ski machine was an essential part of my recovery.

I continue to use the Nordic Track to vary my exercise routine, and as therapy for my weak ankle. Last March, after more than 26 years, the original Duracell AA batteries were showing their age. The LCD display would work for a while but then turn itself off. So it was finally time to replace the batteries, and I was pleased to see they hadn’t leaked. Which newer Duracells seem to have more of a tendency to do.

The One, True GPS

Somebody I know needs a GPS for a trip, but doesn’t want to use phone navigation software. Do I have something that works directly with the Global Positioning System satellites? Why, yes I do. A now-idle Garmin nüvi 58 that I bought six years ago, along with a nice beanbag dashboard mount, for getting around greater Phoenix.

After repurposing a 32 GB microSD card to make it possible to update the maps, the Garmin is now ready to go.

Fun fact: The Internet and the Global Positioning System were both created with American taxpayer dollars, under the auspices of the Defense Department, formerly the War Department. Reminding you and all Americans to take the right route and DON’T BE A SUCKER!

That Does Not Commute

Today’s big thrill, after a prostate check during my annual physical, was getting a new case for my Pixel 4a. With the phone now being an ancient model from two years ago, Best Buy has the OtterBox Commuter on clearance for $17.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/otterbox-commuter-series-for-google-pixel-4a-black/6422287.p?skuId=6422287

I don’t commute anymore, but my pal Denro and I will be seeing Joe Sinnott’s family this weekend in New York. The OtterBox case works well with the Topgo phone holder I have in the car. I’ll probably use the Waze app for navigation.