Apple Macbook Pro Message App hanging

Recently, the messages app on my Macbook pro started hanging. I had no idea what caused it and thought it was related to a recent software upgrade (to El Capitan.)

The app would open, then go into the "spinning wheel" mode where nothing happened at all. It seemed to last forever and my only option was to do a "force quit." I had to rely on my phone to send/receive messages.

After several days of searching, I finally found the thread with the answer:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7408309?start=0&tstart=0

It turns out the problem is due to the Contacts app. I had contacts enabled for both my icloud and gmail accounts. When I turned off icloud (as I have over 1500 in gmail) then restarted Messages, the problem was no more.

Ralph, I don't know you but God bless you!

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.