Subj : Bluetooth To Ethernet To : Ky Moffet From : Barry Martin Date : Sun May 10 2026 08:16:00 Hi Ky! KM> Are you there? Well, I'm here, but if my here and your there are the same I haven't figured out yet. > > > And as I mentioned some time before, make sure the review is about h > KM> The problem is then you have no idea what the product is really > KM> like, because often you can't tell what the random reviews are > KM> FOR. > Well, that's true! Some reviews are written for mindreaders: "I really > like it! Works precisely as it is supposed to!". So is this a butcher > knife or a pen? KM> Yeah. Especially the ones we suspect are paid... "It was worth everyp enny I paid!" ....I can across a strange one the other day: "This item has a very high return rate - see reviews" (paraphrased). Scroll down. Bunch of 5's, handful of 4's, few 3's. ...No 4's. No 5's. (??) Scan through the reviews - nothing derogatory. I did not purchase this item only because it did not come with a fan guard -- another did. > KM> For a brief moment there was a button to "only show reviews for > KM> THIS product" and it was so nice. > Bring back that button! ...Actually, hide the button but keep it > pressed! Do it right and just show the reviews for the product. KM> Amazon doesn't listen to customers. Amazon only listens to what KM> Amazon wants. Millions of Kindle users are about to discover this KM> when the big policy change comes on May 20th. KM> https://euroweeklynews.com/2026/04/16/heres-what-will-actually-hap KM> pen-to-your-k KM> ndle-on-may-20/ Nice. :( On one hand I can understand the lack of support -- too old and just isn't able to run the updated processes/functions. I had that problem with my cell phone and had to get a new one. (At least Kindle offers a 20% discount.) From the article the Kindle annoucement phrasing was misleading, which is bad customer relations. KM> Also, this is expected to remove the ability to back up books to KM> your PC. That one I could sort of see: might have something to do with unauthorized/unoaid for copies and copyrights. OTOH probably more to do with forcing the customer to re-download (and pay for!) a new copy from the source instead of from their personal backup. > > KM> I did find a nice mug warmer. Now trying to find a mug that works > > KM> with it! Ceramic is too self-insulative and glass is worse, and > > KM> steel burns the lip... > > If only you had asked a year ago so you could have gotten the non- > > electrical fire version I have! > KM> The one I found seems decent, and it has a big obvious Working > KM> Light. And it doesn't get hot underneath. However, the cup.... > That was the one detail I found missing on my original mug warmer: lack > of an indicator it was powered. Well, it did have a tiny red dot on the > rotary in-line switch on the power cord. KM> Yeah, that was the selling point -- it's OBVIOUS when it's on. KM> And it doesn't have the stupid pressure switch on the back that KM> only works on a perfectly flat surface. I have my mug warmer on the desk so flat but I have had stuff accidentally shoved under a corner of the warmer, preventing the switch from engaging. > KM> https://www.walmart.com/ip/LED-mug-warmer-black/16944371201 > Ooo! Yours changes colour with the amount of heat output! ...And why > does the woman seated at the desk have the mug warmer backwards? The KM> Chinesium causes mutations. Ooo! Maybe she looks into a mirror and can read backwards! > cord isn't draped over the desk which is nice but the display and > controls are away from her. And what's that cereal stuff with > the Oreo cookie? At first glance I thought it was some sort of a soup, > which would make more sense to me -- keep warm while working, etc. KM> I have no idea. I think now they AI-generate images and don't KM> bother sanity-checking. Quite possibly! ...It could get quite entertaining to spot and identify the quirks! > As for your steel mug burning your lip -- anything I can think of as a > work-around isn't practical. Silicon or plastic insulating ring -- > finding the right size would be near-impossible; probably leak and > they're already invented dribble cups. ...Straw -- now the roof of your > mouth is burnt but at least gives the lips time to heal! KM> Yeah, and I don't like plastic cups. Melamine is okay but cracks KM> when repeatedly heated. Plus a plastic cup on your mug warmer it going to make a mess! > KM> The other problem with steel is that now there's a lot of NOT > KM> food-grade stainless coming from China, and it can be a health > KM> hazard, especially with constant use of hot liquids. > Ah! Dip the whole thing is a food-grade plastic bath to coat the steel > from contact with the hot liquid, plus shoudl allow some degree of > thermal insulation to your lips! Don't coat the bottom where the cup > contacts the warmer. KM> Ceramic would be fine if I could find a flat-bottom ceramic mug. Good luck!!! The ceramic mugs I've used on my mug warmer have the usual slight indentation in the center; they seem to heat decently. KM> Choices in glass are either really thin crap Chinese mugs that KM> break if you breathe on them wrong, or some made in Kurgystan KM> ("Europe" they call it) which I have, and they are heavy and nice KM> (tho the handle is too small), but VERY insulative. Above the KM> base doesn't even get warm. Right now I'm using a glass mug which is a minature Bunn carafe! Was shopping with a friend at Walgreens for stocking stuffer-type of gifts last Christmas. > KM> ====== > KM> Enough of a problem to be toxic to people and animals, especially > KM> when used as cookware. > KM> 95% of China’s Stainless Steel Cutlery is Fake The Whole Nation > KM> Is Eating Toxic Products > KM> (China Observer, run by Chinese expats) > KM> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BCP0m0mNAg > KM> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manganism > KM> ======== > It's probably figured no worse than disassembling batteries and > electronics and inhaling all those toxins. KM> Not by much. Manganese is just slower. Let it slowly envelope your body...... > > KM> XWayland shoiuld run automagically, if it's installed. So is my > > KM> understanding, but I haven't messed with it. > > OK.... Well, it is installed on my Ubuntu system and I'm pretty sure I > > never manually installed it. I'll have to check on some of my Raspberry > > Pi's. Would be nice ot use current versions on some of my projects. > > Might still run into the requires a 32-bit OS issue. > KM> Alas, no idea. > I did do a quick check: the system my Kaffeine is running on is X11, > also the OS is a hare older so probably default. Also it didn't seem > there was a version compatible with the Raspberry Pi's ARM processor. KM> Grrr. Yes. slightly frustrating but the good news I don't need the update now. Hopefully they're working on it. > KM> It was all one line when I posted it... try this: > KM> https://tinyurl.com/npnf2u5y > That one works! KM> Yay! KM> Now if I could remember where I'm sending you. Kizaikstan, Kurtisstan, ice cream stan'.... > KM> I like simple, straightforward, and not "modern" which usually > KM> means unusable. > The problem is what looks simple and straightford to one person appears > as a complictaed mess to another. :) ...As for the 'innerds', I do KM> Yeah, I hear that from people who don't like KDE. It's too KM> complicated! It's almost identical to Windows, you ninny... Sometimes it's just a mindset: 'x' is easy ('cause I'm used to it); 'y' is hard ('cause it's not something I'm used to). ... Better might be handing someone a TV remote control: if it's the one for their TV they can push the right buttons almost without looking. If it's a different remote they will struggle for a tiny bit: "where's 'Input'??" It's called 'Source' on the new remote. > generally prefer the utility does one function/small affiliated groups of > functions well as opposed to the one which tried to be a Swiss knife. KM> That's a common argument, but it depends. If the functions belong KM> together, great. If not, why are they shoved together? KM> Alternatively, if they belong together and they work together, KM> why are they scattered from hell to breakfast? Yes, and 'together' can also be an interesting concept: why would I want my word processor to edit pictures? OTOH it would be nice to be able to put captions or otherwise lable my pictures, so I would have a small word processor in my picture editor. KM> BTW that is the problem systemd was built to solve -- init wasn't KM> one thing, it was dozens of things that were developed separately KM> and had to be delicately script-managed to avoid killing each KM> other, and if one failed the whole system fell over. Just like everything else. Tinker to get to work, and works with what was available then. Might not be the best for what is available now. > KM> [Famous Last Words... tho what showed up are not humans.] > > Brain popping off old themes: > Orson Wells' War of the Worlds > Planet of the Apes > MST3K take on that Zombie movie. The ROTFL for me is the Zombie > trying to deliver the telegram. KM> LOL. The ones that showed up want to EAT us. Worse, they eat us KM> alive.... In that case I hope they swallow me whole! At least that way I have a chance to come out alive! > > KM> One of the interesting problems in a telepathic society is that > > KM> there is no expectation of privacy. Which leads to some very > > KM> unhuman behaviors. Frex, knocking on the door is rude (implies > > KM> your host didn't care enough to notice you were at the door) and > > KM> if it's not locked, you're expected to just walk right in. > > Both of which makes sense: if the beings are aware then both know of the > > pthers' presence and know if an appropriate time to visit. ...Sometimes > KM> Right. Did lead to a moment of comedy when one guy was unsure of > KM> his welcome... > > KM> === > KM> Any normal house, he’d just walk in. Here... he lifted his hand > KM> to knock. > > KM> The door opened, cold air flowed out. “Oh, come in,” said > KM> Bran... at least he thought it was Bran. Skinclad, dripping wet, > KM> leaning on a crutch. With narrow white lines, scar lines, running > KM> all through his bronze body coat. “Yes, it’s me. Come nsi KM> e. > KM> Get comfortable. I know I am.” Bran pointed at the entry > KM> closet. “You may want a coat.” > > KM> === > (Hi Bran!) Yes, that could be a bit of confusion: just walk in on a > superior? KM> Well, yes. Bran is high prince, there is no one more superior. KM> The confusion is that he doesn't live in the palace (well, when KM> he does, he sleeps on a cot in his office) -- he lives in this KM> tumbledown building, or sometimes in a shack out back. The KM> running joke is that when Bran goes hunting he can't be arsed to KM> take along a tent. (Old army guy with a lot of years slogging KM> infantry...) When one is rich/mighty they are endearing quirks. When poor/weak they're annoyances. > KM> Oh, HDMI over USB. No idea if that could be a problem. > No-no-no: I didn't give complete information. AFAICT the cables are > essentially a HDMI cable and a USB cable together -- separate cables > inside a package. One end (the computer end) has standard HDMI and USB2 > connectors. The other end has a special connector as the HDMI and USB > is combined (into the KVM switch box). KM> Oh. Then is it a sufficiently modern HDMI cable? Should be, yes. Cables came with the KVM, plus I purchased three more because I needed the extra length. The additional cables were purchased from the company. And no, I haven't noticed any relationship to switch misbehaving to long cable vs. short cable. > KM> If it's not getting quite enough bandwidth, it might downshift > KM> and get grainy. > As I remember the KVM's cables are not a USB conversion -- the cables > are sort of buried right now. LIS, more a hybrid of HDMI + USB2 just to > make a neater run. KM> Okay. Check HDMI cable specs. I didn't see anything specific on the cables. The _switch_ is "Resolution 3840*2160@30Hz" but that only implies the cables' capabilities. I'll e-mail the manual (PDF), etc., to you and see if you see anything. BTW, it comes with an IR remote which I don't use. Also tried covering the switch unit with a towel in case some mystery signal from outside. There is a wired remote panel -- I've unplugged and replugged that and no difference. > As I recall the video was clear (though I'm only using a 1K output), the > switch was randomly jumping from input to input,-- sometimes > sequentially, sometimes randomly (and I think to inputs not connected). KM> Oh. You mentioned grainy, so... sidetrack! Right now I don't recall mentioning grainy but won't say I didn't. And agree: a grainy video would imply some sort of resolution problem somewhere: computer, video cable, switch, ...another video cable, monitor. FWIW the switch has not switched inputs since I last mentioned 'it hasn't changed' -- a week or so ago? LIS, right now the output is not connected; I'm not sure whic inputs are connected --> over time disconnect/maybe reconnect to try to figure things out. When I restart the project will do one port at a time to try to figure out the cause. > > > KM> LOL. We live in a cartoon, now we know for sure. > > > Which for some reason reminded me of the cartoon panel of a cientist > > > peering through a microscope to amobae and the amobae peering up hro KM> gh > > > their telescope to the scientist. > > KM> That's not how it's supposed to work?? > > Actually it does make perfect sense! > KM> Are we the scientist or the amoeba?? > We'd like to think we're the scientist! KM> Now I'm not so sure. What was that somewhere earlier in this message about being eaten alive and pooped out?! > ¯ BarryMartin3@MyMetronet.NET ® KM> Remember to change your sig line! Oo yes!! BarryMartin3@MyMetronet.NET .... 3 blonds walk into a bar. 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