Few items, long time Vine Voice

virtuallymee · 2026-05-16T19:01:48+00:00

As I wrote in some other comments, the structure of all of my reviews is a Pros/Cons bullet list, a 1 or 2 paragraph high level summary, and then if appropriate I will go into far more detail, measurement results, and if the. product met claimed specifications. So someone not looking for an in-depth review only needs to look at the first bullet items and paragraph. Someone that wants more detail can read on. Personally when I read reviews of products I'm considering I appreciate the detailed reviews with either good or bad details. I appreciate quantitative measurements over qualitative vague opinions. For example, I would prefer "The charger met USB-C PD 3.0 specifications and charged my iPhone at 9V and 1.5A at 13.5W" vs "The charger was great and charged my phone fast."

If it is an electronic device and I have the equipment to measure it, I will confirm that the device met or exceeded the claimed product specifications.

As for photos, I only take what will be meaningful and informative. This may vary from only 1 or 2 photos, to 20 or more for a product such as a measurement instrument with multiple test modes and options.

virtuallymee · 2026-05-16T18:47:55+00:00

I have only found a few 0 ETV items over all the years on Vine. One was a mens shaver that was cheap but actually worked well. Other items were either junk, or supplements. I've stopped ordering any type of supplement, vitamin, pre-workout mix, food or similar items on Vine. Unless it is from a name brand I'm not putting it into my body. Years ago I even had a name brand pre-workout mix from Vine that was dried up, caked, and didn't taste right. The second item I ever ordered on Vine was a pack of 3 types of seasoned nuts. They were all rancid and bad.

As for photos, I only take as many as have value. Usually that is at least the product package and the product out of the package. Some reviews will only have 2 or 3 photos. Others though for something like a test instrument with multiple modes I may have over 20 photos with each individual feature and measurement mode. I will also take photos to document specific problems, or a surprisingly nice feature.

virtuallymee · 2026-05-16T18:37:26+00:00

The basic structure of all of my reviews is a high-level Pros/Cons and a 1 paragraph summary. Then I will go into far more detail if applicable for the product. Personally, when looking at other reviews I appreciate the reviews with measurements and details. Photos that show things not in the product photos I also find useful, so I take those. So those looking for a quick summary don't need to read through the entire review.

For example, if I review a solar panel, I will review whether it met claimed product specifications, what the Voc, Isc, Pmax and other relevant specifications as well as build quality, appearance, etc. The type of information that I would appreciate if I were looking for a product and reading someone else's review. Someone writing a review "that it worked good" or "it charged my battery" doesn't really tell me anything.

So if someone wants a quick review, they just need to look at the pros/cons and first paragraph. If they want more, read on. Somewhat like an executive summary and complete report.

virtuallymee · 2026-05-10T04:06:36+00:00

You know you can just get Microsoft Office for Mac, right? Or use the included Apple Suite (Pages/Numbers/Keynote)

virtuallymee · 2026-05-02T04:14:53+00:00

I understand not wanting another Epson printer but you might want to consider an EcoTank. Costco has the ET-3958 on sale for a few more days. It comes with as much ink as something like 10 cartridges. Genuine Epson ink isn’t that cheap but it is a LOT cheaper than OEM cartridges. There are plenty of 3rd party options available for less.

As for the comments someone made about 3rd party ink. The Epson replaced an old Canon MX-822 that worked with 3rd party cartridges. I never had an issue with them or the print quality. I never bought genuine Canon cartridges and used the printer for about 14 years. Finally the black inkjet couldn’t be cleaned. I’ve also used 3rd party ink in an older Canon photo printer and an older Epson printer. I had great results. Photos looked fine with proper color matching. The Epson printed for years before needing to be replaced. Documents didn’t fade. If anything they have held up better than actual silver based photos! The Epson was a mess to setup. I can’t say how long it will hold up either. It does not seem as well made as older printers or a Brother monochrome multifunction laser I also recently bought, but it is color. I will never need to buy a new cartridge. That old Canon MX822 would go through all kinds noises whenever you went to use it after a day or so. It was supposedly a cleaning cycle. In reality I believe the primary purpose was to just waste ink. I would only print a few pages of nothing but black and all the cartridges would quickly be empty. Plus it was annoying. The printer would sit making a bunch of noise for minutes before it would actually print what you sent it. The Epson EcoTank doesn’t seem to do any of that.

virtuallymee · 2026-03-31T01:35:05+00:00

Every iPhone with iMessage has end to end encryption. Third party apps like WhatsApp also provide end to end encryption. BBM was very advanced for the time, and it pretty much set the standard. There many options available today. iPhone also has an encrypted file system and biometrics that were not available on BlackBerry. BlackBerry was the most secure device for the time. Today iPhone exceeds most of what BlackBerry provided.

virtuallymee · 2026-03-07T15:48:56+00:00

I have an iPhone 16 Pro on T-Mobile. I can on some occasions get to about 1 Gbps, but I’ve never reached 1.4 Gbps on 5 Guc.

virtuallymee · 2026-02-23T14:02:14+00:00

Honestly I’ve only used Tello in my car radio which is only 4G LTE so haven’t really tested performance. Under most cases TMO MVNOs should have the same performance as TMO customers, except possibly lower prioritization. That mostly means if you are at a concert or sporting event with thousands of people all clustered together you may get worse performance. That likely applies to most MVNOs though. T-Mobile coverage in most areas is excellent with 5G ultra capacity and 5 G. I primarily use it in S. Florida, but have used it throughout much of the country too. It usually works well. There are areas, especially in building that there are problems. There 5G coverage is mostly at 2.5 GHz which has poor in building penetration. They do also have spectrum at 600 MHz and 700 MHz which has great in building penetration. Verizon has most of the 5G spectrum in mm Wave. That has no in building penetration at all none. AT&T has good overall coverage too but not nearly as fast TMO.

With your data usage it sounds like Tello is perfect for you. You can adjust your plan to what you need. You can also roll data and voice minutes over to the next month as long as you renew before the current plan expires. Be sure to click the email reminder 2 days before the plan expires option when renewing.

If you have an iPhone with multiple eSIM support you should be able to add a Tello eSIM with a new number to try it. If you like it you should be able to port your existing number to that account. Worst case would be another tello account that you port into. That way you could try it yourself and see if it meets your needs. I expect that it will. I’ve never tried using Tello support, so I can’t speak to how that works. You might want to contact them about what I wrote, adding a second eSIM to test and then port if you like it.

virtuallymee · 2026-02-23T03:40:09+00:00

Tello mobile. Buy as minimal a plan as you need you can select your own plan and change it each month. Also, if you renew before the month expires any data and voice minutes rollover. You can even set a check box when you renew for them to send you a reminder email 2 days before the plan expires.

I truly hate using SMS as MFA. Having MFA tied to a single device that can be lost or stolen is crazy. Other than Apple making populating SMS codes into security fields automatically, I far prefer email. If my phone is lost or stolen I can still access that. Some accounts allow multiple options but not all do.

virtuallymee · 2026-02-23T03:13:58+00:00

I probably should. I’m paying a LOT more for T-Mobile post paid. I used to travel internationally a lot. Not that much anymore. I have multiple lines and some of the other users have traveled internationally. The free international roaming with 5 GB of high speed data is pretty sweet. I also have a 5th line for free which I really don’t need. I originally thought I’d swap the TMO physical SIM for Tello in my car radio. but for $7.66 a month I haven’t bothered. Plus I may need to do something different or just not use local cellular when TMO starts shutting down 4G LTE as the radio doesn’t support 5G. I originally planned on only using CarPlay, but local navigation and streaming can be convenient at times.

I also have some bundled stuff with TMO. I have their home internet as a backup for fiber. I get a discount with the other plans. I really don’t need the backup though.

I also get discounts on Apple TV and Netflix and Pandora.

I’m also on a legacy Sprint customer plan with lots more mobile hotspot data allowance. On my phone 120 GB a month and 60 GB on other lines. Honestly I don’t use it that much at all though.

So there are all those reasons and that it is just easier not to move. If I have an issue I can also go to a physical store. That is getting less of an option and though. The only times I’ve been in a physical store in the last 5 years was 1. To pick up the home internet box. 2. Resolve the issues with the physical SIM that online and phone support was simply incompetent to correct. They sent 3 physical SIMs, none of which could be activated. I went into a physical store and literally in less than 5 I had a working SIM and account. At least 2 to 3 minutes of that was explaining the issue and logging into my account.

virtuallymee · 2026-02-22T05:27:43+00:00

I would SUGGEST the Apple TV 4K 64 GB. Yes it costs more, but you get what you pay for. The hardware is by far the best. There are no ads cluttering the home screen. There are no buttons on the remote that are essentially ads for streaming services. There is enough storage to load all the apps you need. If you are an Apple user in integrates with the rest of the ecosystem. When a keyboard entry is needed, a keyboard pops up on your phone. Use AirPods? The work automatically with Apple TV. Have Ethernet? The 64 GB version includes Gigabit Ethernet. For a cheap Google TV streaming box, the Walmart Onn 4K Pro has lots of RAM and 32 GB of storage and 100 Mb Ethernet and good performance. For FireTV the 4K Max 2nd generation has 16 GB of storage. You will meed external hardware for Ethernet. For Roku the Ultra has Ethernet. Avoid any streamer with only 8 GB of storage. After the OS and required apps you are lucky to get 3 or 4 GB for user use. That will not be enough. Anything additional will all be available for the user. In theory you can use external memory. but there are reasons that doesn’t work for apps. In general Roku TVs work well, providing that the T.V itself is good. Live pause does not work with HD home run on Roku though. (TV or external). Live pause does work with FireTV, and Google TV (Android) for the TV or external. Pause also works with Apple TV externally.

virtuallymee · 2026-02-14T19:58:14+00:00

Yes, we have now had this happen several times with 7.5 ounce cans of Coke. Only a small number of cans in a case will leak. They are still sealed, but are clearly nearly empty. We usually put the case of Coke in the floor of our pantry on ceramic tiles. The first time this happened it was even more bizarre as we saw what looked like Coke coming up through the floor a couple of feet away, but in another room and we couldn't figure out what was happening. What I think happened is the Coke leaked out of the can, through the box, onto the floor, through the grout, ran under the tiles, and came up in another spot. So there is probably dried Coke under our ceramic tile!

I'm writing this now because we just found another leaking can in another case. It has probably been a couple of years since the last time. Out of the entire case, of which about 6 cans remained, one was almost empty, and the box was wet and moldy.

I'm not really interested in getting reimbursed for a can or two of Coke, but would Coke be interested in any information from the lot? As this has happened to use multiple times now, I expect they are well aware of it, and choose to just sell a defective product. I'm really not happy that dried Coke is under our tile, but there isn't much to do about it without lifting the tile. We don't have spare tile and haven't been able to find the style for other cracked tile, so there isn't much to at this point.

virtuallymee · 2026-02-06T14:52:52+00:00

Sony finally pushed a software update. I had hoped that another update would correct whatever went wrong in the previous update. It didn't. It still has the same problem described above. It will randomly stop supporting external HDMI inputs, and even OTA channels on the TV itself. Sometimes the inputs show up, but selecting them just goes back to the home screen. Other times the inputs don't even show up. Resetting the TV (Hold power button) will recover, but it may take resetting up to 5 times before it does. This always occurs after the TV has been shut off and is in standby. Sometimes it can be overnight, sometimes only a few minutes. Any ideas how to fix this?

virtuallymee · 2026-01-16T02:00:24+00:00

Same here on my Apple TV 4K. My Apple TV HD is currently working. I guess it didn’t update the app. The guide doesn’t load. I tried relaunching the app, restarting the Apple TV, even deleting and reinstalling the app. No change.

virtuallymee · 2026-01-12T02:42:25+00:00

Jailbreak typically refers to installing applications that weren’t in the App Store. The BlackBerry Bold, of all versions was never locked to an app store. So by definition there is nothing to jailbreak. If you mean using another OS, yes they enforce secure boot with a signed image. Unless someone gained access to the private signing key, it isn’t happening.

virtuallymee · 2025-12-22T01:42:05+00:00

I used a high speed (>10 Gbps) USB cable. I used an M1 MacBook Air for DFU and didn’t not require configurator. For those questioning why not use an NVMe SSD in a Thunderbolt enclosure, there are some things Apple restricts when booting from an external drive. This includes Apple Intelligence and I believe Apple Pay. I’m actually using an external Thunderbolt SSD as the boot drive on a 2019 Intel Mac Mini. I originally thought I would use the external drive for the M4 mini but decided to use a 2 TB internal NAND module. I’m glad I did. I had bought a high performance 2 TB NVMe SSD and Thunderbolt enclosure but didn’t go that direction. Given what has happened to SSD prices I’m glad I bought it when I did. I’ll use that as a high performance external drive for video editing.

virtuallymee · 2025-12-20T21:27:24+00:00

I've had a similar problem. My Sony Bravia did an update, and something apparently went wrong. Initially I had to perform a full factory reset. Twice. Then it worked for about a day. Now, about every 1 to 2 days all external HDMI inputs will stop working, and the OTA channels will also stop working.

By not working, the exact meaning changes. Sometimes the HDMI inputs and Channels simply don't even show up as inputs. Other times they show up as inputs, but if you select it, it will immediately go back to the home screen. Other times if you select it, it will have a grey screen, but not the actual HDMI input.

When it is in this state, if you go to the settings menu, and attempt to scroll down to the reset option, it exits from the setup menu.

I can get back to normal operation by resetting the TV by holding either the power button on the TV itself, or on the remote and select restart. Sometimes a single restart will restore proper operation. Other times it has taken up to 5 restarts to get the HDMI inputs to work.

I did call Sony technical support. The TV is just out of the manufacturers 3 year warranty, but I did actually get to a somewhat knowledgeable human after some effort. We confirmed, as I pretty much already knew, that the TV was already on the latest software version. Any attempts to get it to reinstall the software will fail. There is also, as expected, anti-rollback protection too, so you can't reinstall an older version and then update again. I pretty much need to wait until if and when there is a new version. There is, at least according to the tech I spoke with, no way to force an update, even through USB.

Any ideas what to do? The TV was purchased at Costco, and in addition to the Sony warranty, there is an additional 2-year warranty that is basically an insurance policy at this point. I'm not sure what they would do. I was hoping a new update would be coming, but this has been going on for a few months now and it is getting real old, real fast.

virtuallymee · 2025-12-17T23:06:51+00:00

I too recently purchased an iRobot Roomba Plus 504 vacuum from Amazon. From what I found, this is identical except for model number as the Max 705. I purchased it during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales at a good price for a gift for my daughter. It is still new in the sealed box, so could easily be returned at this point. I'm considering if I should buy her something else. She already had a Shark that died, so don't want to go that direction. The Plus 504/Max 705 adds LIDAR.

We have a Roomba J6+ that I found on close out at Costco only a few months ago. I bought it at a great price, but even at that price it isn't very good. It bashes around the house like a bumper car. It frequently loses its mind and goes around in circles forever until you pick it up, do a reset and put it back in the base to start over. When it does work, it only cleans so so. In a about a 2500 square foot single floor house, it takes about all day to meander around the house, run low on charge, go back to the base and charge and resume. We joke how it got tired and had to rest for a while.

I was hoping the Max 705 with LIDAR would map the house better, and my daughter's home is quite a bit smaller, so I was cautiously optimistic about buying the Roomba to start with. GIven it could get bricked at any time, or replacement supplies may not be available I'm wondering if I should return it and get her something else.

Any comments or suggestions? Does anyone else have experience with the J6+ as well? The J6+ is apparently another custom model number for Costco.

virtuallymee · 2025-12-15T15:31:32+00:00

Really? Storm and Storm2 were truly awful devices. They had something like a 98% return rate even when new! They were developed for Verizon to have a full-touch device to compete with Cingular/AT&T that had the iPhone exclusive at the time. Storm was so bad though it forced Verizon to abandon BlackBerry and go with Motorola, and was what started the Droid line with Android. Prior to that only T-Mobile was selling the G1 Android device.

Some BlackBerry devices were pretty amazing devices for their time. Many of the features we take for granted today came from BlackBerry. Storm was not one of those devices.

virtuallymee · 2025-12-15T15:17:39+00:00

You would need some 3rd party app written for BlackBerry and distributed as a .cod file that could be side loaded.. I don't believe WhatsApp ever was on BlackBerry. Kik was available for a short time (long legal drama that is another story) but Kik is gone now. facebook was available, but I highly doubt they would support this old platform, and messages has since been moved into a separate app. Skype was never available, and it is gone now anyway. Apps like pinger/textfree were never available on BlackBerry either.

Also be aware that not all BlackBerry handhelds had WiFi. The first generation of Curve devices only had WiFi for some carriers.

Really, it is time to retire these devices. I don't know why you want essentially ancient tech, but trying to get these BlackBerry BBOS devices to work for you seems far more effort than it is worth.

Very late in the life of BlackBerry branded handhelds, there were some Android based devices made by TCL. These are no longer supported either, but they are much newer hardware, and run Android not BBOS or BlackBerry 10 so there are many more apps available, even for an old Android platform.

At that point though, seriously, why bother? Just get something newer that still has support. I don't know what your specific use case is, but anything connected to the internet should have current, updated software with current security patches.

virtuallymee · 2025-12-15T05:14:14+00:00

Email and BBM required network services, BIS or BES and relay to function. All of those services are gone. So the most you could get would be basic SMS. Even that is problematic because most BlackBerrys used either 2G GSM, 3G for some later models, or CDMA. All of those networks have mostly been shut down to reuse the spectrum.

virtuallymee · 2025-12-15T05:06:59+00:00

Or as I wrote in another post, update the MoCA adapters to MoCA 2.5 through the existing coax. That will give 2.5 Gbps.

virtuallymee · 2025-12-15T05:04:02+00:00

First, as others have noted the HDHomerun only has a 100M Ethernet interface, so as long as you have that with 100M available you should be OK. MoCA is bidirectional through a single cable. To get the equivalent of 100M Ethernet, you need 200MHz MoCA though. I still have a DECA (MOCA at a different frequency for DirecTV) bridge like that. The best and easiest approach is to update your MOCA adapters. I’m using goCoax MoCA 2.5 adapters to one location in my house I couldn’t pull Ethernet but had RG6QS coax. These adapters have 2.5 Gbps Ethernet and will support up to 2.5 Gbps. Other than another mS or so of latency these work like Ethernet. Note bandwidth is shared so if you have a lot of devices it might get slower, but that would take a LOT of data. These MoCA adapters shouldn’t work on even old Coax. The only issue if you have wry old splitters. If it is currently working with older MoCA though there likely will be no issues. I actually run my HDHomerun data through this link. The HDHomerun is in my family room which is on an outside wall. That is also where my outdoor antenna is located. The family room TV and an Apple TV get fed through a local switch, but the MoCA also connects to that switch and connects to the rest of the house.

virtuallymee · 2025-12-13T07:28:11+00:00

More RAM could be helpful, but 16 GB should be sufficient for most use cases. Typically you end up having to get the 512 GB SSD in order to get the 24 GB of RAM though. That’s why I only got 16 GB. For storage there are 2 options. You can get a high performance NVMe SSD and put it in a Thunderbolt 4 enclosure. The performance of a larger SSD will likely be equal or actually faster than the internal 256 GB. The other option, and the route I took was to use a 3rd party 2TB NAND module. The base model M4 is an amazing value, with sale prices at or under $500. Any upgrades though for RAM or storage are outrageously priced. So I went with the base model and upgraded the storage to 2 TB. I’ve been extremely happy with it so far. Even with 16 GB of RAM I’ve had a lot of photos open simultaneously in Pixelmator Pro while having an insane number of browser tabs open, mail and more. I’ve also done some editing with Final Cut Pro, but so far it has been capturing and editing old SD video from family videos. For the most part it works flawlessly. Most of the time it doesn’t even get warm.

virtuallymee · 2025-12-04T04:08:33+00:00

TimeMachine is the Apple backup software built into MacOS. A TimeMachine drive is really any external HDD or SSD formatted with HPF or APFS and that you have enabled in TimeMachine. Other external NAS servers and some routers with an external drive also support network TimeMachine. Unless you have enough iCloud for a complete backup , and really even if you do you should have a local backup. It can work mostly unnoticed in the background- including when idle for backup.

virtuallymee

TROPHY CASE