slow n easy

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slow n easy
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  • Leviton's second-generation Decora Dimmer review: Wi-Fi connected HomeKit switches

    slow n easyslow n easy
    stulaw01 said:
    Had one of these, the model just on/off and not a dimmer, and it lost connection once a week.  Had to hard reset and re-add it in the app and Homekit.  Ended up returning it.

    The router base is 8-10 feet away with no walls or obstructions. It was not a WIFI issue.

    If you google the issue Leviton wifi switches are notorious for disconnecting issues over the years. Not "no response" but disappears from the app totally cannot connect no matter what you do.

    I have only heard good things about Lutron Caseta; and they aren't THAT much more expensive per switch than Leviton really; $10ish more per switch (once you have the hub).  I will likely be going that route here.
    I just now checked Amazon. I saw the “Standard” Lutron Caséta dimmer switch and a remote bundle for $64.95. The “Expensive” version is listed as $115.95. When I bought my switches last year the “Expensive” version was $109.95.

    The “Standard” version does NOT require a neutral wire but also does NOT have a “favorite” button which is very useful to have.
    The “Expensive” version DOES require a neutral wire but also DOES have a “favorite” button which I wouldn’t want to be without.
    kurai_kage

  • Lack of 'creativity and enthusiasm' prevented big tech antitrust law overhaul

    slow n easyslow n easy
    physguy said:
    It would be nice the the interviewee actually said something substantive. “ They've been allowed to acquire competitors, destroy competitors, favor their own goods and services, engage in very anti-competitive conduct”. Every company in the world does that. It’s called competition and running a business, successfully. It’s only deigned to be a problem when one company has a monopolistic position in a given market. No where in this article, and presumably in the interviewee’s responses do they address why any of these companies are monopolies, and in what market. I believe a good argument can be made that Google is a monopoly in search, that FB is in social media. Beyond that I don’t see it for the tech companies. Amazon certainly isn’t in online retail as there are numerous competitors large and small. Walmart is a significantly bigger company in retail than Amazon. Apple certainly is not a monopoly in phones or apps as they remain the smaller player in both markets. They just provide such service that they get the profitable sectors of those markets. AWS might be in web services,  but I doubt it given google, Microsoft, Salesforce, Rackspace, etc. 
    I think you are wrong about Google being a monopoly in search. There are a large number of search engines and I don’t think it’s Google’s fault that everyone gravitates to Google. I use Bing myself and no one is forced against their will to use Google. I believe Facebook almost needs to be a monopoly. I tried Google+ for a while but it doesn’t work if you are the only one you know that uses it. I kind of feel like it would be similar to AT&T having their own telephones that only work with other AT&T telephones and Sony telephones that only work with other Sony telephones etc. It wouldn’t work. At first MySpace was dominate and then Facebook took over because I guess everyone thought Facebook was better. Then for a while Google+ was an alternative to Facebook but it never caught on. I don’t see how it would work very well to have alternatives to Facebook. Maybe if there was a way to post something on Google+ and everyone on Facebook could see your post or if you posted something on Facebook and everyone using MySpace would automatically see that same post. But that is probably not possible.
    fred1williamlondon

  • Intel CEO doubles-down on multi-year chip shortage

    slow n easyslow n easy
    GeorgeBMac said:
    As  U.S. downstream production is being affected, Trump's sanctions need to be looked at very closely -- especially those targeting Chinese chip production.  Weirdly, these sanctions were supposedly put in place for "National Defense" -- but are now working against us as U.S. prices go up and U.S. factories shut down.

    U.S. sanctions on chipmaker SMIC hit at the very heart of China’s tech ambitions

    • The U.S. government has reportedly imposed restrictions that require suppliers to get an export license to sell certain equipment to China’s biggest chipmaker SMIC.
    • The move threatens to hit at the heart of China’s plans to boost its domestic semiconductor industry, a need that has been accelerated by the trade war with the U.S.
    • SMIC is seen as a critical part of China’s ambitions and the commerce department’s sanctions could hold back the company’s development for several years.
    https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/28/us-sanctions-against-chipmaker-smic-hit-china-tech-ambitions.html


    I strongly support sanctions against China. I think that opening up China back in the 70’s may have been a huge mistake. It looks like China is the enemy of the West. The idea behind opening up China and making them prosperous was that after the Chinese people became wealthier, the people would demand that the country become more democratic and commit to the rule of law and behave more like Western countries. Well, that never happened. It won’t be long now when China will have the most powerful military in the world. That prospect worries me a great deal because China is absolutely not our friend. I think we should stop building factories in China and maybe instead help out other countries to build up their economies.
    williamlondontmay

  • Google's final release of Android 10 is coming soon, with new branding

    slow n easyslow n easy
    Apple does number their releases. For example; the current release is 10.14 and the one coming up is 10.15. Maybe a lot of people don’t realize this.
    netrox said:
    I am actually glad they chose that branding. Apple needs to do the same with MacOS too. Preferably YYYY and MM for major updates so it will be easy to know which OS is the most current. I am just so done with Panther, Leopard, blah blah blah... that has to stop. 

    MacOS 2001, MacOS 2002, MacOS 2003, and so on has a nice ring and more logical. If Apple does with iOS 1.... 14, then there's no reason MacOS cannot have the same versioning. 


    Rayz2016watto_cobra

  • Apple in 2019 and the future of PCs

    slow n easyslow n easy
    It seems absolutely ridiculous to me to lump iPad and PC sales numbers together. The iPad is not a PC and it seems so bizarre to me that some people would came it to be so. What makes an iPad not a PC has nothing to do with the processor. It's the lack of a real file system and peripheral support with actual ports you can plug into that make an iPad not a PC. I have both a PC and an iPad because there are things you can do with a PC that are not practical with an iPad. I have a large number of files on my Personal Computer but basically all I have on my iPad are a collection of Apps.
    KITAdavgregtobian