thebaldgeek

I try and keep a super low profile on Facebook.
Mostly for the reason that it is the one application (directly after Google +) that I have absolutely no idea how manage. I have heard far too many stories of people posting stuff that they think only one person or only ‘their friends’ will see, but in fact it ended up on ‘their wall’ and every one saw it.

Anyway, I just thought this was interesting…. It is now so widely used for both good and bad that (at least in USA) the courts have ruled you can be charged for what you post.

http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/17/facebook-tagging-violates-protective-order/

You don’t have to physically get close to a person or to call and text them to end up violating a protection order. According to Acting Westchester County Supreme Court Justice Susan Capeci, tagging the victim, which sends them a notification, is enough to breach the order and ultimately land the perpetrator in jail.

There is a distinct difference between the two, though: protective orders are the maximum protection the law can grant to victims of family violence.

Gonzalez has been charged with second-degree criminal contempt for the status updates, which could land her in prison. Her side tried to argue that she wasn’t explicitly banned from contacting Calderon via Facebook. The judge, however, pointed out that Gonzalez was ordered not to contact Calderon via “electronic or any other means.”

Granted this person had a reason to keep their distance, but it was encouraging (and sadly surprising) to see ‘the law’ quickly back up the victim in this case.
The digital world is a mess, just like the physical world. People are going to do and say things in both, it is good to see that in some cases the law is keeping up.

It has been a little while since I have blogged about anything IoT….
But I just read something interesting enough to share with you on the topic.
(Quick recap, IoT, or Internet of Things is when things (devices, people) become connected (and smart)).

Amazon is pushing this concept and for once it makes sense.

http://www.cnet.com/news/your-printer-went-on-a-shopping-spree-while-you-were-reading-this/#ftag=CAD590a51e

The online retailer announced Tuesday that the first devices compatible with its Dash Replenishment program, which lets gadgets and appliances reorder their own supplies, can be set up to make purchases on Amazon.

That means many more Internet-connected devices could soon be able to reorder their supplies, without having to wait for a person to do it for them.

People, meanwhile, could gain from the new program by never running out of printer ink again and avoiding pesky errands to buy more soap or coffee. It’s part of a broader trend to smarten up devices so they’ll take care of some of the menial tasks so you don’t have to.

“This is not shopping people love,” said Daniel Rausch, an Amazon Devices director. “No one wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Man, I want to buy laundry detergent today.’ “

They have a point. I never once, in my entire short life, woke up in the morning really excited about buying printer paper…… I do however recall a few times when I have been annoyed that we have run out.

Personally, I love the idea. I’m all kinds of excited about this concept.
Having things order supplies for themselves only when they need it and only the amounts they need… gold….

Turns out that smart watch makers have been tweaking the rules a little…. What is a standard rating of water and dust proof has been cheapened.
I can understand why, they are looking to sell as many watches as they can and very few people want to pay for quality, so, rather than build up for quality, they watered down the standard.
Long story short. My watch leaked sweat and shorted out.

Sweat leaked under the rear cover and entered the watch via the heart rate LED’s, from there, it was quick and easy for the battery to soak up that nice salty fluid and well…. you can see from the photo what the result was.

Enough to say I really missed having the features of a smart watch, so try as I might, I just could not chose to live without one.
After putting in a bit of time looking for a replacement, I came to the sad place that there was just nothing out there that ticked all the boxes for me, so no matter which way I went, I knew it was going to be a compromise…… As such, I figured I may as well try something totally different….

It was a case of trying to figure what was the most annoying aspects of the old watch and trying to find something to that addressed most of the pressing issues.
Size. All the current crop of watches are very small.
Always on. Most of the current crop of watches are off until you twist your wrist.
Battery life. Most of the current watches barely get through my typical day.

So. As much as it pains me, I figured I would stray from the Android Wear and try something totally different.

I picked up a Samsung Gear S referb off eBay.
It runs Samsung’s Tizen’s operating system…. Which simply means it is not open or very friendly with its data. (We will get to that in another blog).
Because Samsung have no policy or clue about how to make a smart watch, they made about 8 different ones in very short order. Enough to say with each new model, they abandon the past one(s), so yeah, I bought an old unsupported smart watch. No, I have no idea what I was thinking either.

It is however, a really sweet smart watch.
Big enough to see when I am running.
It is always on.
It goes an easy 2 of my days.

While it does not have the huge range of different watch faces and apps that the Android does (did), it does the basic function of notifications really really well.
Long story short, as long as it does not leak sweat or get broken, it should last me a year or two till someone gets a clue about what active people need in a smart watch and make one.

The only thing I don’t like is the big chrome highlight all the way around it….. Watch this space…
(Heee.. watch is space… see what I did there…..)