Ten Tired Traffic Myths - still alive and kicking

Our region is home to one of the top 6 transportation boondoggles in the country right now - the I-77 toll lanes project.

While the contract itself appears to be fraught with problems and penalties, such as penalties for building nearby projects that take traffic away from the toll road, the opponents keep touting Myth 1 as if it is the obvious answer.

The answer to me is actually in Myth #7, get a little bit of traffic off the roads, and you get a significant reduction is delay times. This is because traffic delays are non-linear. I don't expect the toll road opponents to understand that because they have problems with Myth #1, which is kind of math dependent as well.

http://www.citylab.com/commute/2015/12/10-tired-traffic-myths-that-didnt-get-a-rest-in-2015/422274/

iPhone 6 Dead Microphone

I didn't post an update but I finally fixed my dead microphone problem. What I did was take my iPhone to the Apple store. One of the geniuses ran an audio test which confirmed the microphone was bad. Since my phone was still under warranty they swapped me with a new one and I was on my way in about an hour. It took that long to make sure I had a fresh backup and update the OS on the fresh phone.

The many microphones of the iPhone 6

Siri stopped hearing me when in speakerphone mode right after my last software update to iOS 9.1! However, I can still talk to people and do other things normally. 

Working:

• Voice memos
• Siri via headset
• Voice dictation via headset
• Speakerphone voice

Not working:

• Voice dictation via phone itself
• Siri via phone

I haven't resolved the problem and have a case opened with Apple Support. However, during troubleshooting, I learned the iPhone actually has 3 microphones as shown in this diagram from Apple:

Siri went deaf. She couldn't hear me nor could I do voice dictation.

I upgraded (?) my iPhone 6 to iOS 9.02 the other day. I didn't realize Siri wasn't working until this morning. Here's what I did that didn't fix her:

1. Power on/off
2. Toggle Siri on/off.
3. Toggle Cellular data on/off.
4. Soft reset (hold down power and home button simultaneously for 10 seconds.)

Here's another procedure that did not work:

Try resetting your network settings:

WARNING: These steps will make you lose any entered passwords in already joined networks. SAVE ANY IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS OR WEBPAGES, YOU MAY LOSE THEM.

1. Open Settings
2. Tap General
3. Go down, tap Reset
4. Tap Reset Network Settings
5. If prompted for a pass code, enter it.
6. Tap Reset Network Settings
7. A series of different screens will show. This is normal.
8. Once this is done, unlock your phone and try connecting to a network or cellular network.
9. Try using Siri.

Problem adding GMail Account to Outlook MS-Office 365

This threw me for a loop this morning for a couple of hours. I logged in via the web browser just fine. I set my GMail account for IMAP. Still couldn't add it to Outlook.
Kept getting this error message despite several attempts and triple-checking my spelling, etc.

Your IMAP server wants to alert you to the following: Please log in via your web browser:
http://support.google.com/mail/accounts/bing/answer.py?answer=78754 (Failure)

Finally found the solution here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2984937

Cause

This issue occurs when you try to sync to a Gmail account after July 15, 2014 and Basic Authentication has not been enabled for your Gmail account.

Google has increased its security measures to block access to Google accounts after July 15, 2014 if those accounts are being set up or synced in apps and on devices that use Basic Authentication.

Resolution

To resolve this problem, enable Basic Authentication for your Gmail account. To do this, go to the following Google website, and then select Enable when you are prompted about whether to let less secure apps access your Gmail account:

Allow less secure apps

For additional security, consider enabling Google’s two-step verification and app passwords as documented at the following web pages:

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/180744?hl=en

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833?hl=en&topic=2784804&ctx=topic


Note The workaround described here takes you to the page in the following screen shot. You click Enable to work around the issue.

Gun-free zones and gun bans will not decrease mass shootings

I would support both a gun ban and gun-free zones if I thought they would work. But for numerous reasons including the sheer number of guns out there, it won't work.

We should be alarmed at the seeming increase in mass-shooting events. For the record, I prefer to call them "Mass Shootings" like the website www.shootingtracker.com instead of "Mass Murders" like the FBI.

There is one expert gun nut out there names James Alan Fox who states that the definition of a "Mass Shooting" is one in which 4 or more MURDERS are committed. This conveniently leaves out shootings in which people are merely crippled, paralyzed, or maimed but manage to survive.

For example, the shooting in a Layfayette, LA, movie theater on 7/23/15. In that case, 10 people were shot but only 2 victims died (along with the shooter). So, James Alan Fox would not call that a "Mass Shooting" event.

I'm not sure why James Alan Fox feels this should not be classified as a Mass Shooting. I suspect he is funded by the gun manufacturer's lobby (the NRA) or some such organization. But I digress.

Having said all that, I do sincerely wish we could come up with a solution to the problem of excessive gun violence. I don't believe we should just accept it as a fact of life and move on in denial. It's a complicated problem and simple solutions like "banning all guns" or "gun-free zones" don't address the root of the problem.

I believe the underlying root causes are societal and therefore harder to "fix." Look at the profiles of mass shooters. They are typically (not in every case) male, caucasian, loners, with demonstrated anti-social tendencies. Many are known for being video gamers or dabbling in fringe organizations. I suspect these are folks who feel disenfranchised from society. They may feel fear, loneliness, and victimization. I know it is dangerous to make sweeping generalizations.

So, what are the causes of such feelings? Mental issues could be both the cause and a result.

I believe it is due to the breakdown of our sense of physical community. Our generation spends a lot of time in self-containment. Whether in our cars, in our homes, or with our heads buried in our phones or on social media. We have replaced physical connections with virtual ones which are nowhere near as healthy.

Adding to this sense of alienation is the pressure to be as happy or as fulfilled or have as much stuff as we see others on social media. It is becoming a sickness and adding misery to those who already feel as if they're not getting their fair share. There's even a term for it, Fear Of Missing Out or FOMO (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_missing_out.)

The solution is to try and rebuild those bonds of community. It's going to take a massive grass roots effort. It's going to take outreach. We have to come up with ways to make people feel included and draw them back from out of their dens.

Denon AVR-S700W Review: Great features and sound, questionable reliability

This is a very nice receiver with impressive features and great sound at a great price. However, because I had an annoying repair (during the warranty period) you may want to be a bit cautious about the quality. Especially if you don't live near one of their repair centers.

I purchased my receiver new at Best Buy in June 2014. It was very easy to set up and configure. It even includes a nifty feature for optimizing the speaker volume levels for your specific room and seating arrangement. The sound quality was amazing and the power was plenty for a small to medium-size room. We enjoyed about seven months of trouble free listening.

Unfortunately, without warning the display stopped working. It went completely dark although the audio features seemed to work normally and the sound continued to be excellent. Since it was still under warranty I contacted customer service to find a repair center. This is where I have an issue.

First, the customer care line was a voicemail so I started a chat session. Without reading too much into it, let's just say the personality of my rep was "cold." I was just sent a pdf of repair center locations without so much as a "I'm sorry our product failed you so soon. Here's what we can do to help."

I boxed up the receiver and shipped it via FedEx Ground ($80!) The repair center in Rockaway New Jersey did a great job and shipped it back within a matter of days. I reconnected everything and M back to happy listening.

The packing slip in the box indicated that a bad 0.1A fuse was replaced. Knowing that fuses cost a few pennies, I really wasn't happy that this cost me about $100 even though the receiver was under warranty. I probably should have used UPS instead of FedEx Ground.

In summary, I love this unit but I am worried that the display fuse may go bad again out of warranty. At that point it may be cheaper to buy another product.

Here is the link to Denon's AVR-S700W product page: http://usa.denon.com/us/product/hometheater/avreceiversht/avrs700w