Things Which Burn My Toast

Hi folks. This is simply a post going over things which annoy me. First of all, generally I’m an easy-going mild mannered non-confrontational soul and I don’t get mad all that easily in general. However, there are some things which burn my toast, harsh my mellow, burn me up, any other metaphors to that effect apply here. I am going to make this list more general. I want to point out my annoyances, only two have them out there. The world and humans in general may not change, but at least you know if you are reading this and feel similarly about much the same things other people do, in our everyday lives, in order to show us how clownish they can be in public, outside of an entertainment settting. Sadly,some of my kind also do the same thing to our detriment.

To start things off, it is those who are on their phones, talking on speakerphone while they are out and about. First of all, I have an iPhone and I could go on speakerphone if I wish to do that, but I don’t. The reason is because the voice on the other end sounds tinny and I have no wish to hear both sides of one’s conversation, other than the one I may be having with someone calling me. Plus, both the caller and receiver tend to speak in a loud voice and this occurs at various times of the day, whether it is in my building’s hallway or Weather I’m out and about. It also happens sometimes with people who are on business and who are clearly doing work in our building.

Speakerphone is a great idea (in theory) in that you do not need to hold the phone in your hand while talking to whom ever you are conversing with at the time. I like that, but there is a time and a place for that and it is not while you are on an elevator, in the hallway of an apartment building complex, while doing laundry, or on public transit. There are such accessories as headphones and if used properly, you can still safely navigate while sporting them and you can still talk to your friend, without annoying other people. That I can deal with because I’m only hearing one side of the conversation, but I do not wish to be privy to hearing both sides of something, which is none of my business. Leave me out and leave everybody else out too, who could potentially hear what you’re saying, or what your friend is saying on the other end. Got it?

Next, those who live in group homes and not necessarily of their own accord. Actually, they make me sad, but what really annoys me is that these people were put in there against their will. They are only allowed certain freedoms and that’s it. They are expected to be happy, living in a place which is protected and they have everything done for them. So, they live in a perpetual cartoon, until reality comes crashing down on them.

I know this because of my 5 years in an institution for the blind and the slow and I am not just saying this out of hand either. Not everyone who lives in a group homes should be in a group home, as most of the people where I lived were taught to be independent. They were taught to cook, clean and do everything that you and I can do. However, because of various circumstances some people are put in group homes, or lodging homes and thus, thrown away from society and kept in the dark. They are only allowed certain freedoms to navigate throughout the day and they have nothing else to do except programming, which means nothing except it’s something for them to keep them busy while the world moves on without them even having a care in the world. So, can we change this? Probably not and I have more related comments about how some of us are being short changed.

Next, maybe it is just me, but I get rather annoyed with people who don’t explore their iPhones and especially those of my kind. I will grant that it took me a while to learn some things about the iPhone, like certain touch gestures I would eventually learn in the past four years. this is thanks to a recent option in the accessibility section of the iPhone “Commands” and I certainly take advantage of this because I can set things as I want them to be, for various functions and it has made my life easier.

You don’t need to only walk around with just a single compact default voice on your iPhone all of the time. There are some people who are blind, who just use the one voice and that’s all they know. They don’t realize that they can take advantage of many different voices and dialects and why not explore all the voices instead of using just the same one all of the time? If you have Wi-Fi, download a voice or two or three, if you have room on your iPhone and use an enhanced voice, because the compact ones sound just plain awful.

I also notice that people like myself have the voices on their computers or iPhones sped up, as they believe that it is better that way, in order for them to read what is on the screen faster. It sounds more robotic than it did at 50% or slower. I keep mine at 50% because it is the average pace of speech and we hear voices normally at that speed. If you don’t believe me, just listen to yourself talk, or maybe listen to your friend, or someone on either the radio, TV, or on Youtube doing one of their videos. Listen to the speed and then, slow your phone down to 50% and tell me that your friend, you, the person on the radio, TV, or on Youtube talk too slow. This is directed squarely at my blind folk. If your iPhone is too slow (at the speed I recommend), I guess that the average person is talking too slow for you too. Well? Are we talking too slow? Can you understtand every single word being said as it is spoken faster than my speed? You may at 60 or 70%, but it sounds less human and more like a robot, no matter what voice you use. Also, if you like to listen to speech that fast, I challenge each and every one of you who do, to repeat exactly (to my face) what was said, word for word… … without mistakes.

Sorry folks, but I have had just about enough with fast phone and computer speech and crappy sounding voices being used for VoiceOver, by people who do not know better. I choose to use the enhanced voices because the actually sound listenable and the ones which sound human, sound like living people. It’s sad that a voice like Alex has been wrecked by a synthesizer, because he actually breathes. There is a similar female voice named Donna, who was around for years and she also would take a breath sometimes, before a specific word and that is “Sunday”. I don’t know why, but she isn’t available for use by iOS at this time. Maybe unless there is a new version of the voice in the future, we can get her back. Meanwhile, we are stuck with Ava and she isn’t all that bad. Altho, my crush would currently be an Australian voice called Matilda and specifically, the enhanced version of her.

Next, people who talk on the elevator when I am trying to hear it go up or down and I could tell, by how many beeps it makes as it goes from floor to floor. Also, I can press the button for my floor thank you very much…… as I can read the numbers in both raised print and braille. Also, no need to tell me when I have reached my floor, because our elevator talks and she speaks when it reaches a specific floor, as directed by the users. It is not a courtesy, it is simply needless and not good elevator etiquette either. You get on the elevator, go to your floor and get off, without talking. Unfortunately, most people in our building do not realize this etiquette for riding in the cage. They may be way too involved in a conversation, which nobody needs to hear, either on their phone or to each other. They talk loudly or argue and as a result, I can not hear that I have reached my floor. The fact that they are telling me that I am there misses the point, that they should shut the fuck up, while they are in a lift, along with myself or anyone else. Nobody needs to hear your conversations or music, but more on the latter below.

As for listening to music, it depends whether or not I am on an elevator or somewhere else. That doesn’t bother me as long as it’s not overly loud that it drowns out the sound of the cage going from floor to floor. If one has chosen to blast music that is where I draw the line and if I wanted to, I would knock their phone out of their hand and turn it off. However, I wouldn’t do that, because I know that isn’t the right thing to do and I don’t want karma to bite me in the ass one day.

Speaking of music, I love music too and I like trying to listen to what everyone else is playing on their phone, because I can hear it. However, that is not the right etiquette and to be honest, nobody needs to hear what you’re listening to and nobody cares what bands you like. Then again, I’ve done it too in the past so, I’m guilty as charged. However, I have reformed my ways and I don’t listen to music overly loudly on the elevator anymore. I actually have stopped listening to music while going up and down because I have had no reason to do that now. Besides, I have other things on my mind, depending on where I am going and I have no wish to distract myself, with my favourite bands on my phone. Even watching TV was something I had no problem doing years ago and I leave that, for the bus or at home.

The only problem I have with other people listening to their music on phones is those who listen to songs loudly, with no regard for anybody else’. If you listen to music, listen to it at a volume, where it can not bother anyone. The other alternative is to listen to your music on EarPods, or the newer AirPods, which could be dangerous because you may not watch where you are going and hurt someone and yourself, because your music was turned up too loud. Again, I have no problem with music as I am also a musician, but be considerate of others when you’re out and about. Not everyone cares that you happen to be in love with the latest hip-hop star, or the best new metal band besides me. You see? I am willing to listen, but not everyone else may wish to hear that you may like a band like Slipknot, or The Rolling Stones, or Tool, or even Frank Sinatra. I like all of them, but not everyone does and I am okay with that and I am also considerate when it comes to listening to music, unlike some people.

Going back to the use of phones as phones for this next complaint, please put your phone on some sort of “Do Not Disturb” if and when you are in an important meeting, unless you really can not do that. In that case, that is why the newer versions of iOS has a feature called Focus, which allows only a chosen amount of people and apps to be let through the filter, in order to notify you that someone is trying to get a hold of you. You create a focus such as “Do Not Disturb” and you add only the people you must allow through, when meeting time comes. Also, make it only for business if your iPhone is used for that purpose. Getting a call from your mother or other family member on your business phone is not exactly the best thing in the world and should not be allowed during important meetings, unless family members work with you in some capacity. Let’s try to keep the calls to a minimum during these meetings as well. Nobody wants to hear a ringing phone, or a text coming through so, do not disturb. Got it?

Now I’m going to talk about people who are simply dim and who do not think outside the box, when it comes to simple situations and solving simple problems. For example: yesterday I was doing my recycling and somebody else was in there doing his and things seem to be okay and I was out of his way, while he had made attempts to put his stuff in an overflowing metal recycling box, which is about as tall as me and is on wheels. I had to deal with a similar situation by myself and it was nothing to sweat. Unfortunately, dimbow tried to dissuade me from doing my own recycling because the box was full. Yes it was, but I found the way and before that, he asked if I needed help I said “no we’re good” and I had to keep repeating the same phrase again because apparently, he didn’t understand. I needed no help and by saying “I’m good” or “we’re good” should have been a clear sign that I have this under control and I had gone through this before. Unfortunately, there seemed to be some sort of brain barrier as I had to yell at the guy a little bit and he continued not to comprehend that everything is fine, as long as this dumb dumb leaves me alone and goes on his way, to do whatever else he has to do. Unfortunately, this guy also had light fingers and tried to move my cart and I had to go “NO….. don’t touch” and at least that worked. I did what I had to do and went on my way, without his dimness following me to the elevator, like a bad smell and I went up to my apartment, with no further incident. By the way, I did manage to get my stuff in there and I did find a way, without anything falling out or on the floor, unlike the other guy. I simply felt around and found space that he simply couldn’t, or didn’t notice was available and put my recycling in the box. Now, it’s not my problem or his when it comes to taking the recycled material outside.

Next, people who leave things around or open where anybody can run into them and hurt themselves. No, not everybody runs, but those who cannot see can easily walk into things and hurt ourselves, with or without our mobility device. Also, what about a child who runs amok throughout the room and just happens to walk into something lying around, or is sharp? That does not teach a lesson, that hurts somebody.

I have much the same contempt for people in apartment buildings, who leave the garbage chute open or leave a mess of garbage on the floor, in front of or blocking the shoot. Some people leave garbage in the shoot, and don’t push it all the way down where it should be going. That is disgusting and could attract unwanted pests. Stop that and put your garbage down the shoot, where it is supposed to be. I shouldn’t have to touch your crap, when throwing my own garbage down. Got that?

Also, leaving the shoot open is not safe for anybody. Some people may not look down and walk into the shoot chest first. Once again, a small child may run around and hurt themselves on the open shoot Dore, or maybe even break the handle by the act of bumping into the door…… hard. Close the shoot and keep it closed for anybody else who wishes to open it up and throw the garbage down and then, that person should close the shoot and not leave it open for people to hurt themselves. Stop that, or you could hurt or kill somebody, if the worst does indeed happen.

Those in laundry rooms, please leave things where you found them. For example: if there is a garbage can out there which is meant for lint keep it in one place all of the time, where anybody can find it. Stop moving it around because anyone who does their laundry and empties the lint trap of a dryer, looks for the garbage can in order to throw the lint away. Why don’t people think of this stuff first before even setting foot in the laundry room? Are they truly narcissists, or are they just blissfully unaware or blissfully ignorant? So, if you find something laying around in a certain spot, don’t be moving it elsewhere so people can’t find it in the future. Stop that right now and consider others.

Finally, I also am at my wits end with people who just don’t give a shit. I don’t give a shit either, but there are people who don’t give a shit about anything but themselves. This includes the majority of the people I mentioned in this post. They do not think about others and they believe that they are the only people in the world and you could also call them the blissfully unaware or blissfully ignorant. They forget that they are not the only people in the world and there are others who are greater than them, or lesser than them. The people who don’t give a shit are people who go beyond the categories of people I have mentioned so far and are truly narcissistic and that it’s all about them and them alone. They are in their own little world and they think that they are the only thing alive that matters. I like to be alone, but I know I’m not the only thing that matters in my world. Radio, Youtube and TV keep me grounded on that level. That is why I don’t do what everybody else does, when problems arise. I tried to go as close to the source of who could fix the problem as possible. The reason? If you get to the source of the problem you can eliminate the problem easier rather than taking a more lengthy route, in order to nip something in the bud. When you go to the hospital and you have a problem, the doctor tries to find the best way possible to cure you of your ailment and not the most lengthy and painful process to stop whatever is ailing you in the first place. They want things to be as easy as possible Yet other people do not consider that they could go right to the source, or at least as close to the source as possible in order to get a problem solved.

I said that I don’t give a shit, but my level of not giving a shit goes as far as not hurting anyone, or not getting too close to peoples space and bothering them. The people I had mentioned do not understand the word no and frankly, they need to be back at school, to learn that there are two basic one word responses to questions and in most situations. If I wanted help I would say yes and if I don’t I would say no and that applies to other situations too, which only require one of those two words as a response, or any other words which may apply. I should not have to yell and scream at someone, in order for them to get the message and especially a fully grown adult. Yes and no are basic words we use every day, to answer some questions and what gets me, is how someone who is clearly an adult, can not simply comprehend that when I’m saying no, I mean no. I shouldn’t have to yell the word out loud for the whole world to hear and in the case of the person mentioned earlier, they did not work in the building and they were doing their own recycling. That was their business and I am not involved with their life, or anyone else’s lives unless something arises. Anyway, I hope I have made my point and I hope that maybe this post can change the world. Well… … maybe not, but I hope that enough people read this in order to make some sort of difference in not just my life, but others who may feel similarly, or those on the other end who may not realize that what they are doing is wrong.

My Refreshing Solution To iOS 17

Hi folks. In past Poasts I have talked about iOS 17.1 and .2 having this issue with sinking with two apps, namely the music and the TV app. Since iOS 17.1, Apple has decided to forget about that (for some reason) and naturally, this annoys me. I’ve been using the iPhone since 2012 and discovered the issue with syncing in 2017, quite by accident when trying to update apps to not just my current iPhone at the time, but also an iPod touch 6th Generation. I will get into how I resolved the issue and was able to update my apps in the App Store, on my iPod touch.

My solution for this problem is simply an option to refresh both TV and Music apps, in order to knock everything back into place when there may be issues with something which may be out of place. For example: a TV series not showing in downloads and only appearing as just a Button, in the TV app, when you are in the library going over every single TV show or movie you have purchased. Also, even if you have every single episode downloaded. This has happened to me with The Simpsons and I hope that with my recommendation, this will stop.

This is so simple and I do not understand why Apple has not even considered adding this little feature to both apps. We can refresh the Podcast app, so why not Music and TV? In the past when purchasing or receiving new music from iTunes, if I went into the main music app (showing me everything including downloaded music) there would be only the “More” option and not “Downloaded” when I have tapped on the latest addition to my music library. That was when downloading a TV episode, or a movie from the TV app fixed everything and made it alright again. With iOS 17.2, we can’t fix any potential issues like this on our own and fortunately, this scenario I had talked about before, is no longer present in the music app. I have purchased music in the past few days and I went into my new releases without going to downloaded music and fortunately, the “Downloaded” was beside my newly purchased albums by Matthew Good Band and that shows progress there. However, we still need an way to fix any syncing issues on our own, instead of having to run to the Apple Store and get a genius to do this for us. Most of the time, the solution proposes to basically throw everything away and start again. We can’t be doing that all the time because most of us have a large collection of music and TV shows, as well as movies and it takes days to get everything back. This issue also extends to downloading things onto a new device, or our current iPhone when starting again. Some songs will not download at all for a couple of days and it takes a while to get everything back anyway anyway. However, this issue needs to be nipped in the bud and that’s where refreshing comes in handy.

In order to refresh the Music and TV apps, it should be the same easy as pie process in refreshing the Podcast app and in the case of VoiceOver users, we just do a Three finger swipe down the screen, in order to do a refresh. Yes, we can also scroll up, but you can also refresh the Podcast app and we should also be able to do the same, with both the Music and TV apps alike. I also believe that the Mail app needs the same option as sometimes, it takes time to get a new message in the inbox and a good refresh may speed things up.

So, I believe that Apple should consider this simple and rather small option before the next iOS update for 17.3. It would be a nice change and would help everyone with everything and we would have to rely less on the experts and we can fix any syncing issues ourselves. I pride myself on being independent and I do not wish to lose that. This goes from my iPhone and any issues which may arise and have arisen, with iOS 17. I hope that if anyone reading this who writes articles about Apple will help me by providing the same solution to them and by all means, use this post in a future blog post or article. This needs to be talked about in the mainstream, as well as in minority communities who use accessibility features VoiceOver for those of us who are blind, such as myself. We need to get people talking and not just let this issue die so, if you are reading this please consider showing this post and my past posts on iOS 17 and hopefully, others will understand where I’m coming from and how Apple has dropped the ball and needs to be given a nudge, in order to get back to the way things were, before iOS 17 came along. Many thanks in advance.

iOS 17.2, After A Few Days

Hi folks. This is a post about my love and hate relationship with iOS 17.2. I had said that the update was a piece of shit, but I have changed my tune as time has gone on and I had adapted to at least one change in particular.

First of all, the battery life is improved for me and the software doesn’t overheat my iPhone all that much, except when I am charging it to 80 percent at the limit, for a few hours. I am trying this experiment in order to trick the battery into aging slower, while eventually switching the charging setting to optimize charging, bringing it up to 100%. Otherwise, the phone has been at a normal temperature everywhere I go, including while in my apartment when charging past 80 percent and using a power bank.

Next, I’m so happy that the album sorting option in the Music app has been brought back to the way it was (sort of) before iOS 17.1 came along. We now have “Recently Added” back again and I like that, as if and when I’m downloading music onto my iPhone and a new device, all I have to do is go through the recently added albums one by one and download to my hearts content, provided that the album will actually download. For some reason, some albums in my library will not download from the Music app and I need the iTunes Store to do that from my purchases. Again, I have no idea why and this is obviously very weird. Hopefully with iOS 17.3, we will get compilations back in the Music app as I will be a nice touch too.

Now, I have to talk about the elephant in the room for me, which is a switch for the TV app. I do not like it because for me it is way too compact and in some cases, it only shows what I haven’t purchased, as it sees it. For example: my phone thinks that I haven’t purchased a few seasons of The Simpsons, when I actually have every single episode so far. It doesn’t show what you have purchased except in the library, which is not necessarily good. For one thing you can’t control whether you get high definition or standard definition downloads when purchasing new episodes or new seasons of TV shows. In fact, I don’t believe that I’m guaranteed to get standard definition of any new TV show I purchase in the future, because of this change. However, I am willing to give it a chance and I am not going to declare this change with the TV app bad, for the sake of slagging it off as something we didn’t need. However, we were given no warning about the change. The exception is Youtubers, whose main focus is on technology and Apple. They had talked about it and I knew what was going to happen and unfortunately, others are probably happy with the iTunes Store no longer allowing for TV and movie purchases from the store app itself. I think we need that back as the iTunes store is kinda important, to help us keep tabs on what we have and have not purchased without going back to iOS 17.1.3 or earlier. The store and what was Purchased” in the “More” extention is needed, in order to give everything a backbone. By removing TV and movies the backbone is gone and all we have is the skin and when something goes wrong, there’s nothing to knock things back into place, with either TV or music. All we had to do is delete a download of our choice in the TV or Movies and redownload them again and everything was alright again. With the removal of the bone, you no longer have structure and with the Books app, you cold do this, but not with TV or Music. I also used the iTunes Store and my purchases to help me with one of my blogs, so I knew that a new episode was certainly on the way to me, when checking out the latest season of The Simpsons.

I have a solution for this problem with what I’ve discussed in past posts with syncing downloads. This applies to both the music and the TV apps as there are some albums in my music library which are broken up into pieces and with the TV app, The Simpsons doesn’t show in my downloads. There shoule be an option to refresh both apps, in order to knock everything back into place. It is so simple and I do not know why Apple has not even considered adding this little feature to both apps. We can refresh the Podcast app, so why not Music and TV?

If you are wondering how this can be done, it is the same way you can refresh the Podcast app and in the case of VoiceOver users, we just do a Three finger swipe down in order to do a refresh. Yes, we can also scroll up, but you can also refresh the Podcast app and we should also be able to do the same, with both the Music and TV apps too, along with mail as it needs it sometimes, with new messages taking time to upload, or download. So, Apple should consider it before the next iOS update for 17.3.

Anyway, that is my feelings on the update and unfortunately, nobody is going to actually hear about it from a dissenting view, making Apple think twice about going too fast and too soon with changes. As I said earlier, we were given no warning about this change with the TV app and right in the middle of the current iOS software year? Sorry, but I feel that Apple needs to hear about it from not just the user, but someone like a Youtuber who has many followers and I hope that at least one such person makes some sort of mention of my comment, even if I am not acknowledged during the comments section of a weekly video. I sincerely hope that somebody says something out loud on YouTube and not just me writing about it in a blog.

iOS 17.2, Piece Of Shit

Hi folks. iOS 17.2 is out and it sucks. Like Bart Simpson once said, “this both sucks and blows”. That is how I feel about iOS 17.2, as it has progressed from iOS 17.1. I have some very good reasons for my bitching about this update and why this is potentially bad for Apple and they don’t seem to care about it.

Like I have said in past posts, the Music app is missing “Compilations” as a sorting option in plain sight. We have: playlist, artist, albums, songs, music videos, genres, composers and in between genres and composers, we should see compilations. However, it has ben hidden and frankly, this is dumb. It is dumb as there are all sorts of greatest hits albums out and they are categorized as… … you guessed it: compilations and not a studio or live album. Why is Apple doing this? Are they trying to direct us to eventually stream and forget about buying music altogether in the future? This could be one step towards this and I do not like it and I am going to complain, until people actually wake up and take a look at their music apps. Stop downloading songs and playlists and start downloading albums of all kinds. Then you will see why an album such as a greatest hits package belongs in Compilations and the same for tribute and movie soundtrack albums.

With the TV app, I guet what they are trying to do, to streamline everything and move TV shows and movies to one app. However, there is a problem with that and that is, iTunes as a link to everything from music, to books, to TV shows and movies, as well as anything we may purchase in the App Store. Putting everything in one place makes some things more difficult to find and in the case of the TV and movie app, it has eliminated compilations of TV shows and I can tell you that any of the compilations of The Simpsons I had purchased in the past, are in my library, but not in the store. The store is two messy and with the iTunes Store, everything was a lot neater and was categorized. By moving TV shows and movies to the TV app, things are harder to find and there is something not enough real estate on iPhone screens, to accommodate this change and make it as simple, as it was with the iTunes Store. I know there are people who don’t like iTunes, but it is an essential link to everything and removing TV shows and movies from there is a mistake. Retiring the iTunes Store will be a bad move, when it does happen and when it goes, there will be no iTunes anymore. Won’t be able to buy music anymore from one store which also accommodates TV shows, books, movies and apps and if it is in Apple’s plans, everything will have their own individual stores, without iTunes as a link to payment for purchases. This could possibly require us to have multiple Apple IDs and money in different accounts. I hope I’m wrong, but I have a bad feeling that this can happen if Apple gets their way and destroys the iTunes Store completely.

The bright spot with this update is the ability to change the default ringtones. Frankly, I did not like rebound because it’s too quiet and because of tradition, I went back to the old ringtone which I usedwhen I got my first iPhone back in 2012. Even when iOS 7 got new alert and ringtones, I still stuck with Marimba and Tri-tone as my default ringtone and text tone respectively. Yes, I went back to Tri-tone for my default tone and as I said, I’m all about tradition here. This goes with how I configure my screen with phone, mail, safari and music all on the bottom from left to right. I put Messages at the top left because that is how it was back then and Settings always has to be the last app before the doc and page option.

If you enjoy the new iOS update, that is fine and I will continue to piss on it because nothing has changed for the better and it has only gotten worse. I am not looking forward to the next updates and I am considering removing music and TV shows from my iPhone, thus cancelling the majority of my blogs. However, I’m not going to do that yet unless things get so bad that they are no longer tolerable to my liking. Funny, that the Books app hasn’t been all that bad with updates and such, while Music and TV has been a royal pain in the ass. If anyone who works for Apple sees this, I am sorry, but I am not happy with what has gone on with iOS 17. It has created a mess with two important apps for those of us who like to be entertained and who may also have an inclination, to play a musical instrument and or sing. I am and having my music library in pieces does not suit me fine at all. It is a mess and this must stop, or people will eventually become so frustrated that they may consider removing the Music app from their iPhones. I won’t, but this simply must not continue and I can not standby and watch the world burn. If I don’t say anything, nobody else will and frankly, nobody else has as they are too happy and frankly too stupid, to explore everything and how it works. That’s we’re having multiple devices comes in handy which may be on various software updates. For example: if you have an iPhone on iOS 16, compare that to what you have on your newer device with iOS 17 or newer. There is a difference and if you have enough music, movies and TV shows to experiment with, download a bunch of each and watch what happens with either the iTunes app, or the TV app and Books app. With the ladder, you have the babysit and with the former, you could do the downloads and close the app if you want and walk away, or do something else on your iPhone while things are being downloaded. Yes, I close my apps because I don’t leave my toys on the floor and my drawers open. I treat the apps like drawers and closing them is equivalent to either putting things away, or closing the closet door, or dresser or desk drawer. That is what Apple do not understand, when they tell you not to close apps. If by doing this the iPhone takes away 20% of battery power (even with a new battery) then I might consider keeping apps open and letting them sleep in the background. In the meantime, I put my toys away and close the drawer so I don’t walk by it and accidentally hurt myself by banging into it. Anyway, enough of my bitching and I hope you enjoy iOS 17.2, the shittiest update so far.

The Ongoing History of New Music

Hi folks. Today I am going to talk about a radio documentary show which has been on the air for 30 years. It’s the only show of its kind, which lasts in the day of music format radio stations playing nothing but music and less talk and context to what is being played, or even issues which relate to listeners. The Ongoing History Of New Music is such a show, which did the first broadcast on February 28th 1993 and to give you more of an idea of how the show came about, take a look at this link to Alan Cross’s website. Alan Cross is the host of this show, by the way! https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/25-years-ago-today-first-ongoing-history-new-music-aired-radio/#google_vignette

I first discovered the show some time in 1994, when I was more into classic rock and less into alternative music, with the exception of bands being played on the radio. I would learn that David Bowie is an alternative rock icon and I would also learn about such sub genres of this music which are too many to name here. However, Nine Inch Nails is part of a sub genre of alt rock called industrial music and if you wish to learn more about that, I will give you details on how you can hear all sorts of episodes over the years (for free) later on.

Anyway, when I came on board in the summer of 1994 one of the first episodes I heard was on the hidden tracks. You know? Those hidden songs at the end of CDs and on many digital releases of albums which had them originally? Never Mind by Nirvana has the most famous example of this, but there are other famous albums with hidden and or unlisted tracks, such as London Calling by The Clash, or even Undertow by Tool, or even Broken by Nine Inch Nails. Alan has done a few episodes on hidden tracks over the years and let’s just say that some artists have a sense of humour that they may not show as much, throughout the rest of the album. For example: Cole Chamber’s debut album has them talking and some stupid studio chatter and shitty playing at times, which is in stark contrast to the band’s music in general.

Alan Cross has also done interviews from time to time, with artists in a series of shows entitled “In Their Own Words” and it is mostly Canadian bands. My personal favourite has to be the one he did with singer Matthew Good, which is probably the most honest interview he’s ever done and if you’ve heard Matthew Good’s music, you know that he is a straight shooter and not a bullshitter. He tells it like it is and he was very candid about having bipolar disorder and he also told some funny stories, like a guy in a panda suit being tackled by the audience. Again, I will tell you where you can hear the episode further down this post.

Their are episodes on all aspects of music and the music industry, such as: the recording studio, writing songs, record producers and their roll in recording an album, going on tour and Road stories, band names, B-sides which have become famous and about a year ago, Alan did an episode entirely on TV themes. Yes, the Simpsons TV theme by Green Day was one of the songs during this episode. There is even an entire episode devoted to James Bond themes, despite that alternative rock doesn’t have all that much of a foot in the door, when it comes to James Bond. Although in more recent years, we have Chris Cornell, Garbage and Billie Eilish, among others who are relevant to the show who have had songs in Bond movies. Alan has mentioned The Simpsons from Time to Time, as well as Monty Python. He has done complete histories of bands and in some cases, divided such episodes up into multiple parts over a period of weeks such as various times he has done a complete history of U2, The Smashing Pumpkins and many others who have had long careers which have either ended, or are continuing today. In some cases, Alan has done episodes on 10 unusual facts about a particular band and years ago, there was a 10 part series on 100 Weirdest Things In Alt Rock. Alan has also done episodes on the history of vinyl, compact discs and streaming and how we got to where we are today with all of those formats. Recently a series on the 2010s and how that particular decade got us here as well, minus the pandemic. With most of these episodes, we got to hear audio from way back before 1900 and I don’t know about you, but I enjoy hearing that from time to time and as a fan of old-time radio, I don’t mind it sounding all dirty. At the same time, I have no problem with it being cleaned up for today’s audio standards when possible. I like to hear what a person really sounds like, as opposed to mentally guessing what they sound like, if you know what I mean.

Unfortunately, we’ve also had episodes on people that have passed on too soon, who have made an impact on our lives. There have been episodes on David Bowie, Chris Cornell, Taylor Hawkins, Sinéad O’Connor, Michael Hutchins, Chester Bennington, Scott Weiland and Gord Downie, among others. Alan had even done an episode on the life of Neil Peart of Rush, after he had passed in January 2020, at least as a podcast episode. This also speaks to Alan being a drummer and so am I. I am also a guitar player and a singer, as I am better at the latter two instruments.

To lighten the mood, there is also an annual Christmas episode where we get to hear the strangest Christmas music out there and it gets weirder every year. The episode has ended since 1995, with Henry Rollins reciting the classic Christmas poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas . I wish it was available digitally, but it isn’t and you can only hear it on YouTube right now. So, where can you hear all these episodes and more? Well, you could find various YouTube channels dedicated to the show, put together by fans. Officially, there is a podcast dedicated to the show which has less than half of the episodes which have aired, but you do have a good idea of what the show is about Despite this. The podcast came to fruition in 2017 and thankfully is still highly rated. I rated it five stars and why not? What hooked me was the stories and over the years, I had warmed to a bunch of alternative rock bands that I could never accept as a listener of mainstream rock music. I never would’ve thought I would be into such crazy music as Shooby Taylor, Wesly Willis, Jandek, Captain Beefheart, The Shaggs and many other musicians who seem crazy, or are (or were) legitimately off their rocker. In case you ask, yes I discovered the album Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart, a favourite of Simpsons creator Matt Groening and I wish this albums was available on iTunes and streaming services. I hope that day comes in the future, because I want it, like I managed to find Hamburger Lady by Throbbing Gristle. Yup, I discovered this song and band through the show too and many other weird types of music which is outside the mainstream. I also became fond of more conventional alternative rock band such as: The Smiths, Depeche Mode and The cure among many others which have pop leanings and are palpable for the mainstream rock audiences.

Speaking of audiences, the next new episode will be the 1000th episode and it will be done in front of a live audience. There have been other episodes done this way, but this is special. Sadly, I won’t be there because I had no idea about a contest to show up at this particular event and I would’ve liked to have been there, to meet Alan in person and for him to put a face and a voice, to the guy with an email address, beginning with blindgordie. Yes, I am obviously blind and if you are a long time reader you know that and I had told Alan the same thing, back in my first ever email to him in 2011, when he had taken a hiatus from the show, to another company. I wish I still had it, but guess it is gone now. However, I will never forget all my kind words for Alan and I meant them. I could have shown up to an event at a radio station I listen too, on December 22nd 2011, but getting there would have been a challenge and I do not drink. Basically, Alan was there to take apart that same classic Christmas poem I had mentioned earlier and I at least, got to hear it on the radio. Then I went to a store, to get a radio scanner and got sick with strep throat over the Christmas holiday.

So, where can you hear any of the episodes I had referenced earlier and most of the great stories from Alan and the bands behind them? The Ongoing History Of New Music podcast on any platform where you can find podcasts, except for Youtube where it has a 1 minute segment and not a complete episode. I know that there are fans of the show, who have created channels with complete, or nearly complete episodes, but the sound quality is not always the best. I love it, but I want to direct you to the podcast and sorry folks, I’m not going to link you to it directly. Just do a search for Ongoing History Of New Music on either Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else where you can get podcasts except YouTube. Even iHeartRadio and TuneIn Radio also have the podcast so, there is no excuse for not being able to find it on your own. It’s not the complete series, but at least you have a great idea of what this wonderful show has offered us since 1993.

You can also hear it on a bunch of radio stations across Canada and at least one or two in the US and hopefully more, throughout Canada, the US and the rest of the world. I believe that the show has also inspired Youtube channels to spring up, which focus on either a music genre, a song, or on an event or band as done by Youtubers. I had included some here in this blog, including some Simpsons channels in a post on YouTube I did in early 2021.

Alan Cross has kindly put some posts from this blog on his website and that is because I would email him, with a link to the post and when he could, he would put it in a nearly daily Poast called Random Music News. Many thanks to Alan for kindly helping me to get an audience for my blogs and of course, for doing what he was told by his boss back in the day. If he didn’t, we would all be dumber and we would have no incentive to look up information on our favourite bands on our own, using Wikipedia. By the way, Alan once said in an episode of Ongoing History Of New Music that if there is that dreaded “citation needed” phrase in an article, that means that the information may not be completely correct and needs updating.

The event of the 1000th episode will air on the 17th and I’m looking forward to hearing it, both live on the radio and on the podcast the next morning, as I have paid early access to the show. You’re welcome Alan. Finally, thank you Alan for teaching me about how streaming music works in that you should always listen to at least 30 seconds of a song, in order to help artist get paid for writing songs for us.

There is a new podcast put together by Alan Cross, all about true crime in the music industry. If you do a search for UNCHARTED. CRIME AND MAYHEM IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY (anywhere you get your podcasts) you will learn about the darker side of the music business, including the mob getting involved, inside jobs with various heist, killings, plane crashes and all sorts of bad shit going on in the entertainment industry, which we do not see, unless it is in the news. This (I believe) is an offshoot of The Ongoing History Of New Music and to another level. Anyway, check both podcasts out anywhere you can hear them.

iPhone 15 Pro, Accentuating The Positives

Hi folks. Since I have upgraded to the iPhone 15 Pro, I thought I would talk about what I like about the new phone, after that cautionary comment on the potential danger I found. Any comments you see here are strictly my own and not end all be all for everyone.

The new action button replaces the ring and silent mode switch on the Pro and Pro-Max models and I find a fun to play with sometimes. Besides it being a convenient button to toggle on and off ring and silent mode, it can be mapped to do the same with other features like: focus, shortcuts and there is an option for no action. I keep it on the traditional setting because I like to stay within tradition as much as I can, when it comes to the iPhone. This even goes down to how I configure the home screen. On a similar note, we can turn mute on and off through Control Center and scroll down to where you can toggle mute mode on and off, like you can do with the action button. Pretty cool huh?

I also discovered that VoiceOver even says that I am plugged into EARPODS, when toggling on and off SOUND CHANNELS, for both audio and phone sounds. Besides, now I know for sure how the word “EarPods” is spelled, altho in this case it is in all caps. What I am getting at is that what I like is that it is letting you know what you are listening through, as it may or may not be a third-party accessory. I expect the same thing with a Bluetooth speaker, AirPods, or any other headphones so that doesn’t bother me either way.

For those of us who care, we can also see the cycle count when it comes to battery charging and to be honest, I don’t look at the cycle count regularly and I don’t feel the need to do so. Speaking of charging, in the battery setting, there is optimized charging and there is an 80% limit setting, which I haven’t tried yet and I will do so today. I don’t expected to work right away, because the way optimized battery charging works doesn’t always work immediately anyway.

Also for those who were interested, there is always on display and because I’m blind, I don’t need that so I turned that off and all the features. I found that the phone burns through battery packs faster with it on and battery life is also affected with it on , even with screen brightness at 0% and auto brightness being turned off, as well as standby being turned off so, to make sure that this does not continue I turn everything off which has to do with display and brightness. Don’t forget, I’m totally blind so I don’t need it anyway.

Also, a faster chip helps when it comes to downloads and on the other side of that it also burns through the battery faster than my previous iPhone did so, now you understand why I turn off everything which has to do with brightness except for screen curtain. I keep that off because It’s rather redundant when keeping my iPhone in dark mode and with no screen brightness whatsoever. I take care of that when I’m show me my shopping list and that’s that, as well as turning off true tone and anything else which has to do with display and brightness.

There is also a matter of USB-C, replacing lightning for the charging port and I was at first reticent, but now I don’t mind it. I do miss lightning in a way, but not all that much. No, lightning isn’t bad, but if USB-C helps with Pushing data through faster than I have no problem with the switch. My only question is what is the use of the dynamic island? So far the only plus for me with that is with checking the timer when it comes to doing laundry, or charging my shaver every week so I can shave myself every morning when I wake up. I love having two timers on my phone so I can have one for each task With one for my shaver and one for the dryer, when doing my laundry.

So far, I love the new phone regardless of my last post and the issue I had and I hope I have it around for a couple of years and maybe even more than that with the same battery. I will be of course monitoring future iPhones and if anything stands out That I should know about in the future, I will consider upgrading in 2025 and until then, this is my new iPhone for a while and I’m loving living with it so far. I just hope that iOS 17.2 and beyond are better than iOS 17.1. If you don’t know why I say that, just scroll down through my past posts and it’s all there as to why I am going to be saying good riddance to this current update to this generation of iOS software.

iPhone 15 Pro Ahnd The One Danger Of Upgrading

Hi folks. Since my last post, I have upgraded to and am currently using the new iPhone 15 Pro and I love it. I have had to change a lot of default settings, but that goes without saying when you are going from a phone without an “Always On Display” option and a faster chip. Over all, I am quite satisfied and even with the occasional overheating issues, when composing a post like this in my notes.

There is one downside for those of us who use VoiceOver and prefer to listen on EarPods or even AirPods for the majority of the time. If for any reason you feel the need to restart the device, you obviously have to enter your passcode, which is not uncommon and under normal circumstances I would not have a problem with it. However, for us the danger lies in that people can hear you entering the numbers if you’re in a public place and you have to do this, or if you’re having problem with Face ID and it will not respond and you have no choice, but to tap the 6 digits in order to use your phone like normal again. Basically, what I am saying is that VoiceOver will not start to speak when the phone is being restarted unless it goes through the phone speaker and only after everything is secure, will you be able to listen privately again on headphones. At least, that is what I had experienced almost a week ago!

Fortunately, I have found the solution to the problem. The thing is, what if others complain and notice the same thing as me? I believe that Apple should be more honest about everything, including the fact that they throttle iPhones as the battery health goes down below a threshold. They should also put out a warning that for some users, your phone may speak more than usual when restarting it and others could potentially hear you typing in your passcode and could remember it, as a part of a gang of criminals who steal iPhones for their own nefarious profit.

There is a way to fix this potential danger to blind users which I didn’t figure out until the day after I had discovered this setting. You go into settings, Face ID and look for all the options. Turn on Accessories and everything is all right with the world again. I do not need this switched off, because I don’t have AirTags, or AirPods and I realize others may not wish to turn this option on, but I am so glad that I can in a case like this.

I don’t know if this is because of the switch to USB-C from lightning, but either way this is not good. Hopefully others will say something to Apple about this and maybe, this can be fixed for everyone, regardless of whether we use VoiceOver or not. Even if you do not, you should be aware of this in order to let others know about a potentially dangerous setting which has only come to light with the new iPhones and the switch to USB-C from lightning. Even when I plugged in my EarPods for the first time, I got the notification to unlock it before using it and it came through the speaker. This was from the wired EarPods and without a dongle. Okay? So, why aren’t more people aware of this? Even with AirPods my guess is that this also happens with accessories turned off in Face ID. It shouldn’t be that way and when you have headphones plugged in, they should go to which ever headset you were using by default, rather than the speaker when getting things going again. To me, it doesn’t matter whether you are using EarPods or AirPods, as you are using them both for the same reason, to listen to music and take calls, privately. The other thing is I don’t wanna know that somebody’s iPhone is being turned on as it is none of my business and by the same token, I don’t wanna hear speakerphone either as it is none of my business what the other person is seeing on the other end, unless it is between me and either friends or family. Anyway, I have fixed the problem and as for my previous comment, I may do a post on things which bug me in society today.

Having said that, if you wish to upgrade by all means, do so. I just gave you a warning and that’s all I’m doing here. I wanted the phone because of the new action button and because of the faster chip. My previous phone still works well, but the battery is Near its end of life and I don’t wanna be caught with my pants down left so to speak) with a battery below 80% and so, I decided to do the upgrade at my own risk. Go ahead and make the jump, but keep what I said in mind when you do so. Will do that for me?