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Mon 30 Nov, 2020 02:27 pm
You appear to folks to be rather bright, but realize that you are not
One can be consistently told that he is 'bright' but one day he finds out that he has been fooling himself all the while. I got straight As in college (BS Accounting) but in high school I could not even figure out how to take notes.
For decades I have given massages to gentlemen and they have been my heroes in life. I NEVER could get a career going in my college study because I could never fully figure out how to do the work at the office.
At 70, I find myself protected from the elements because I have always lived like a church mouse and have saved what I could my whole life. And, having waited until 70 for social security was a wise and prudent decision. Even though I now get only about $1,300 per month, that is certainly better than the $850 I would have gotten at age 62.
Some say that I am simply putting myself down, but that is not the case. I am being real. I have always used a flip phone because it was familiar to me. Yesterday, I splurged and bought a Tracfone Smartphone. Despite having spent two hours with the Trafone rep through an extended chat session, and despite having read the manual carefully, I simply cannot understand how to work this thing. Certainly, not being smart enough to understand this is not going to cause my death, but the sense of embarrassment I feel is forcing me to come to grips with just why I give massages to gentlemen and could never develop a career. I see peers all around me who are successful, have beautiful homes and all the friends they could possibly want. Me? No friends, totally estranged from my brother, (who I do not think has any respect for me) and, I think, now I know precisely why I have this life long deficiency.
Simply imparting all this has given me a bit of needed respect for myself. There are those far worse off. Although I have no friends, I have no enemies either. But if anyone wishes to comment, I will try to understand your point of view. Thankfully, I have LONG passed the stage where people are capable of offending me, because I have done nothing worthy of being offended. What my life is, it is, and I cannot continue to deny its deficiencies. I am thankful still to be alive, but has anyone out there ever also had to come to grips with his/her inherent deficiencies? In a way, coming to such grips is usually cathartic and revealing and severely tames any potential out of control ego. We live once, we die once. Folks, I cannot learn how to operate a smartphone. I find that amazing and revealing and disturbing and forces me to admit my mental flaws without having excuses handy to buoy up the ego. - David Lyga
@david lyga,
Isn't the point of being 70 to relax and enjoy. You deserve it. You have lived through 7 decades... that should be OK for your ego. Hopefully you can find something that is meaningful to you. That is all that matters. I don't think that using a smart phone should be a source of meaning.
1. I don't think being able to use a smartphone is a sign of intelligence. This is something that young people grew up with, and old people didn't.
2. A Tracfone Smartphone is a cheap phone. It is almost certainly more difficult to use than a more expensive phone.
3. If you want any help here, I have experience with smart phones, including with a tracfone . I would be happy to provide any help that I can.
@maxdancona,
maxdancona, thank you so much for the offer and I just might be asking you something. This is truly driving me nuts.
No, I still occasionally work to earn some money. I do have enough to live on but in the Phila area things are very expensive, even though the City is largely a ghetto.
I get very annoyed when something that everyone has, even old people, cannot be done by me. I don't even understand what an app is, other than software that supposedly makes it easier to navigate one's banking website. Is that what an app is? I don't know how to down load it into my phone. Google play? Don't know where that is. This morning after MANY attempts, I was able to log onto my bank's actual website from my phone. Don't want to go through that again, because typing on such a tiny keyboard is nuts. I am right NOW typing on my old Chromebook. Xfinity is offering ON DEMAND WIFI only through 17 DEC. THEN I am without Internet unless I go to a Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks. Do not know how to set up a KIT that Comcast offers for home internet, but would rather have Internet wherever I go.
For the life of me, I cannot understand why I cannot press the keyboard with a pencil's eraser instead of my fingers. How does that keyboard know that a human touched it? Temperature? Can I heat a pencil eraser?
@david lyga,
1. An app is a little piece of software that runs on your phone (I don't know if it helps). It often does what a website does, but it isn't a website. It is a separate program. Often the apps are quicker and smoother than a website. (I don't know if this helps).
2. I don't have your phone in front of me. On my phone, there is a little icon called "Play store". I click it, and it gives me an ability to "search" for the apps I want. I click on the app I want, and it installs it for me. After that there is a new icon on the screen that represents the new App I installed.
3. You have a "capacitive" touch screen. That depends on the fact that your finger is somewhat conductive (it conducts electricity). A pencil eraser doesn't conduct electricity. I just checked. I am able to use a metal keyring... but not a metal key (I don't know why that is yet... I might experiment).
The first step to happiness is to find the "Play Store". Tell me if you can do that.
@knaivete,
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I hope it works with my BLU View 1 phone. Tomorrow I will view it. I rise early and am tired right now.
@maxdancona,
Yes, my BLU View 1 phone has the Play Store and tomorrow I will try to load something. I assume that I can load only so many before the phone is full (what I heard) but I assume that I can delete apps if there are too many.
Also, I would like to be able to check how much data and time I have left. Do not know how to do that. You are both a great help. Tired now ... tomorrow.
In a nutshell, does an app make navigating on the phone's small screen much easier? Is that primarily what it is for, or is that mobile app primarily for added security?
One thing concerns me: eavesdropping if I do banking or purchasing. I know that everything is encrypted, but when I log on, I notice (unlike with a Chromebook) that the phone shows each ACTUAL password character for about one second (I guess so that you know that you typed correctly). It is that split second that worries me ... a brief time where if someone can electronically 'see' your screen, that the password will not be safe.
Also, when you enter into a public WiFi area, the phone automatically converts to that stronger WIFI. But that public WIFI is not secure, as you well know. These things cause me to worry.
@david lyga,
OK...
Yes, you have a limited amount of memory on your phone. Apps take memory. However, generally modern phones have enough memory for many apps. It is videos and photos that eat most of your memory.
You almost certainly will have the ability to load a bunch of Apps before you have a problem.
Most phones also allow you to buy an SD card to increase your memory.
You can check the data you have left in your "Settings" app (it should look like a big gear).
@david lyga,
I just checked the BLU View 1
You have 16GB of internal storage. That should be more than enough (as long as you aren't storing a bunch of videos on there).
I will look into this tomorrow. When I am tired I am more prone to err. I feed the chickadees whole wheat bread outside my Center City door at about 6 AM. There are about ten who wait for me. - David Lyga
The video that was presented adamantly states NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, to use smartphones for either purchasing or banking. Am I supposed to believe this? Also, I read repeatedly that banking apps should NEVER be obtained from stores. Always, banking apps should be obtained from the actual bank. So Google Play seems to become irrelevant here.
The video is extremely confusing because, first, his phone is very different from my phone, and, when he shows the phone's screen, the screen is completely washed out and of no use to me because I cannot see the icons. It really is a bad video. Unlike his phone, MY phone does not allow insertion of a micro SD card.
I am more confused than ever about both security and ability to navigate. My Chromebook is much easier to use.
But I do have a question which I would like addressed: Does Comcast (Xfinity) have any way to be able to connect, securely, to their wide range of WiFi hot spots? This way, Internet would not be restricted to my apartment. Since Comcast is based in Philadelphia, this might be the most feasible. I have been using their Xfinity ON DEMAND and was very happy with it. I simply paid online for a month at a time and was able to access Internet throughout the Philadelphia Metro Area. Now, they are discontinuing this as of 17 DEC. But their hot spots still exist. Does anyone know the answer to this frustrating question? In sum, I seek Internet which is both SECURE and AVAILABLE WHEREVER COMCAST HAS HOT SPOTS. Thank you.
The Internet is replete with warnings about using phones for banking or purchasing. As confused as I am, my old Samsung Chromebook seems to be the best alternative rather than wading through the layers and layers of learning which smartphones present to me. My Chromebook cannot download apps (it is model XE303C12-A01US.)
@david lyga,
I am a software engineer. I use my phone for both purchasing and banking. The main risk is if my phone is stolen (encryption is pretty secure). I do have two levels of security on my phone.
The banking apps are more secure than websites. Even if you are connected to a bad guys wifi, encryption keeps you safe on these apps
The most important thing is to have secure passwords for your bank and for your email. Both of these passwords should be strong, and unique (don't reuse these passwords anywhere else).
I write my passwords down on paper. I am not worried about people breaking into my house. I am worried about hackers.
@david lyga,
I am pretty sure that tracfone offers 4g. This will allow you to use the internet from anywhere there is cell service.
You have to pay for it. Often some amount comes with the basic plan. If you are frugal (i.e. don't watch videos when you are not connected to wifi) I had no problem living with 2G of mobile data a month.
According to the online specs the BLU view 1 should have a slot for an SD card. Sometimes they hide this slot behind the battery. If this is the case, you need to pry off the back and remove the battery to insert an sd card.
That being said.... You may find that 16gb is perfectly fine for now.
@maxdancona,
OK, let me qualify something that is not readily evident. As far as passwords are concerned, I am probably the most sophisticated on this board. About two years ago I spent several weeks developing a rational way to encrypt passwords and, as a result, I have not had to memorize a single password, ever. My passwords are NEVER words with actual meaning. They are simply gibberish whether in encrypted and decrypted form.
All I have to do is know how to decrypt each password which uses the same paradigm for all passwords. I have at least 50 different passwords; the only need I have is to know how to decrypt.
This mastery has allowed me to have endless passwords and each encrypted password has some indication (I am not telling what) of the entity that represents that encrypted password. So, as far as secure passwords go, I am not afraid of anyone getting my encrypted password list. This list is regularly updated on an Excel worksheet, which is then emailed to me as an attachment, in addition to being printed for easy use. Case closed on passwords.
I have looked for the gear (settings) button and cannot find it, but, being that I already KNOW that this symbol is for settings, I would know it if I saw it. I DO remember seeing this button when I fist got the phone, but I can no longer remember where I saw it. I want to be able to see how much data balance I have. This is getting to be a heroic feat.
@david lyga,
Quote: This list is regularly updated on an Excel worksheet
This makes me nervous. If I can read your email, I get all of your passwords.
@david lyga,
Can you move from page to page with swiping?
On some phones... swiping down (or maybe up) shows you a search box that lets you search the phone. You can search for "settings".
@maxdancona,
If you could decrypt them you would be something out of this universe. I promise you.
@maxdancona,
The swiping part I am still trying to get used to. Yes, in a nutshell, I can, but not yet very effectively.
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