Web browser cookies, especially so-called third-party cookies. The subject of great controversy, because they can be abused. But sometimes they can be useful. Last year I’d contacted a couple of local contractors about replacing the walkways in front of the house, and along the side of the garage. I wasn’t happy with either of their proposals, so I waited until this Spring to try again.
A house around the corner had some work done that looked all right, and using Google Chrome I contacted the contractor. I met with him and the quote came in at almost exactly the amount I’d guessed it would. That’s good, but it’s not for all of the work that needs to be done, which includes replacing the driveway. I’d have to find somebody else to do that work. As I contemplated the walkway estimate, an ad appeared for a contractor who can do all of the work. I clicked on the phone number and left a voice message.
Follow-up: That second outfit is a no-go. A lot of aggressive sales talk that boiled down to them wanting so much money for the walkway it was obvious to me they only want to do the driveway. A neighbor had his driveway replaced last week by a different outfit, so I called them. Once again I am reminded of how comparatively easy it was finding good contractors in Arizona when getting my late parents’ house ready to sell.
The IOGEAR GWU637 802.11n WiFi-2-Ethernet adapter that I have on the Logitech Squeezebox Touch is an excellent and affordable product. IOGEAR even includes a quality, Cat 5e 3-ft. Ethernet cable, which is perfect for my installation.
There, Logitech Squeezebox Touch. You’re on Ethernet.
Feeling better? I hope so.
If you forget you have this network interface, then I’ll know there’s something seriously wrong. I’m going to guess it’s either with your hardware or software.
Putin continues his mad destruction of Ukraine, and I can only hope that Trump is collateral damage. Having reaffirmed that he is still Putin’s boy, I don’t know how any American can favor Trump’s return to elected office. But of course many do.
Meanwhile, extreme weather rages a path of destruction across Tornado Alley, and well beyond. People are being killed and, in an instant, families are losing every physical possession. With all of that going on, my trivial concern was… can a piece of home audio equipment be jealous?
The A/V receiver’s Music Server application for UPnP/DLNA is barely acceptable. I needed something better, and I found it with an Android application called Hi-Fi Cast. I think my purchase set a new personal record for the shortest time between trying and buying. The fact it’s only $9 helped.
Thanks to Hi-Fi Cast, I now understand why casting SiriusXM from the phone wasn’t working with the receiver. A feature called Eventing Mode, “for efficient monitoring of the renderer status,” needs to be disabled. None of other casting-capable apps on the phone offer control over Eventing Mode. Once it’s disabled in Hi-Fi Cast, it works with the receiver, without relying upon the Google Home app.
Hi-Fi Cast screenshot
Hi-Fi Cast takes control of the Music Server renderer in the receiver, as dutifully reflected in Onkyo’s own controller app. Very nice.
Onkyo Controller screenshot
Giddy with success, I went upstairs to try Hi-Fi Cast with Chromecast Audio and, uh oh, the screen on the Logitech Squeezebox Touch for LMS (rather than DLNA) looked very wrong. A quick check revealed that not only was it off the network, it thought it didn’t have a network interface. WiFi was completely dead, and cycling power didn’t bring it back. From happiness downstairs, to despair upstairs!
My immediate suspicion was the Touch was mad at me for adding Chromecast Audio to the stereo receiver. The timing was too coincidental. After ten years of loyal service, it was like a child being jealous of a new baby in the house. I sternly informed the Touch that if it didn’t start working again, then Chromecast Audio wouldn’t be supplementing it, but replacing, and the loss of gapless playback wouldn’t stop me!
I took the Touch downstairs, where I could put it on Ethernet. Before doing that I started it up again and confirmed it was still helpless. I warned the Touch it had better behave, or it would find itself back in its original packaging. I plugged in the Ethernet cable and WiFi came on! Everything was working! Ethernet hadn’t even been selected as the network interface, but it too worked when tested. Good boy!
Back it went upstairs. Properly chastened, the Touch further redeemed itself by continuing to work.
Logitech Squeezebox Touch and Chromecast Audio
Perhaps the Touch is just trying to tell me it’s sincerely feeling its age, and needs help rather than discipline. With that possibility in mind, I have ordered a WiFi-to-Ethernet adapter.
IoT. Internet of Things. Not something that holds a lot of interest for me. If package thieves were a concern, then I could see getting a webcam for the front porch. But as I recently learned, Google has rolled streaming media into its Home concept.
This is the Cast tab in the Google Chrome browser on my desktop PC when I am not using Chromecast.
This is the Cast tab when I am casting. Not from the PC, but from my Pixel 4a phone, going to Chromecast Audio on the upstairs stereo.
So of course this is how it looks when casting from the phone to the Onkyo A/V receiver downstairs.
When Google Chrome is running it finds compatible devices on the local network and maintains connections to poll for changes.
TCP 192.168.1.179:63387 Chromecast:8008 ESTABLISHED
TCP 192.168.1.179:63388 StreamingStick4K:8060 CLOSE_WAIT
TCP 192.168.1.179:63390 RokuStreamingStick:8060 CLOSE_WAIT
It makes sense to check casting devices, but it raises thorny questions. What else might Google be monitoring, now that it considers everything to be part of an IoT Home, and are there vulnerabilities in the casting protocol that hackers could exploit?
