Technology catch-all thread

[iamshack]

Windows are huge on that. Ours is that our house was retrofit with AC and Blown Heat (built in 1883) so the high velocity system kind of makes the heating uneven upstairs. Not to mention uneven insulation. SO f***ing frustrating.

Yeah, most of the older homes in Las Vegas have virtually no insulation. Sometimes, just some sand. In my previous home, the previous owner had discovered this and ripped apart the entire home and rebuilt it from the studs and has foam insulation blown-in. When I was still in my bachelor days, and working 12 hour rotating shifts, I had to leave my back door open and turn the thermostats off and the back bedrooms would hardly have changed temps.

 

In our current home, it is just masterfully built with the huge exception that it is not energy efficient. The glass all needs to be replaced with something with better r values. I think that would make a huge difference.

[RockRaines]

Found this

 

http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-C7189R1004...ref=pd_sim_hg_2

 

Maybe that will work for remote temp sensor.

[RockRaines]

Ok after talking with someone I got this and a compatible honeywell thermostat

 

http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-REM5000R10...pd_rhf_ee_s_t_6

[StrangeSox]

The one thing its missing is the ability to have a remote module to detect temperature where a nest isnt located. I REALLY need that in my new house and havent found anything yet that I like. I think eventually with the google stuff maybe it will be able to use the phone to do this? Who knows.

 

Supposedly you can have multiple Nests work together. I'm not sure if they actually integrate with each other or if they are just wired in parallel (you could do the same thing with an old mechanical thermostat). It'd be nice if it could work with just a cheaper temperature sensor versus another $250. Plus I think they're missing humidistat control, which seems silly for such an expensive HVAC module.

 

Our schedule is predictable enough that a basic programmable thermostat works for us, but supposedly over 50% of people never bother programming theirs.

 

I can't see what the hell the point of something like the "egg minder" is, though. I don't need a wi-fi enabled egg tray to send me messages that I need more eggs. If I'm at the store and not sure if I need some more or not, I'll just spend the extra $.99

 

[StrangeSox]

Windows are huge on that. Ours is that our house was retrofit with AC and Blown Heat (built in 1883) so the high velocity system kind of makes the heating uneven upstairs. Not to mention uneven insulation. SO f***ing frustrating.

 

oh look at mr. moneybags over here with his fancy insulation.

[RockRaines]

oh look at mr. moneybags over here with his fancy insulation.

The walls in the 1883 part of my house are hilarious vs the 1990's part.

 

The previous owners did expandable foam in the attic but not between the ceilings. Its so strange.

[StrangeSox]

"Air is the best insulator!" I keep meaning to get more insulation for my attic, and it's really biting me in the ass this year. I can't imagine how expensive having someone come and inject/blow it into all of my exterior walls would cost, though.

[Jake]

http://www.androidcentral.com/motorola-may...-badly-it-seems

 

Google buys Motorola for $12.5 billion

 

Google values Moto patents at $5.5 billion, which are retained and licensed to Lenovo

 

Google transfers $2.9 billion in cash from Motorola to Google

 

Google sells set-top division to Arris Group for $2.35 billion

 

Moto racks up nearly $2 billion in operating losses during Google ownership

 

At this point, things don't look so bad, though they clearly seem to have taken a loss.

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/01/go..._with_mobility/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/20...le-1-5-billion/

 

They've made a buttload of money on tax losses, which many speculate is the only reason they really wanted Moto in the first place. I haven't seen anyone speak authoritatively on this, but some seem to think that keeping those patents will give them the right to continue benefiting from those losses until 2019

[StrangeSox]

poor motorola, they've been in a death spiral for over a decade now.

[Jenksismyhero]

I have a friend who works for Motorola. She was all excited to move to the Merchandise Mart office. Wonder if she'll still have a job in a few months.

[Y2HH]

http://www.androidcentral.com/motorola-may...-badly-it-seems

 

Google buys Motorola for $12.5 billion

 

Google values Moto patents at $5.5 billion, which are retained and licensed to Lenovo

 

Google transfers $2.9 billion in cash from Motorola to Google

 

Google sells set-top division to Arris Group for $2.35 billion

 

Moto racks up nearly $2 billion in operating losses during Google ownership

 

At this point, things don't look so bad, though they clearly seem to have taken a loss.

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/01/go..._with_mobility/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/20...le-1-5-billion/

 

They've made a buttload of money on tax losses, which many speculate is the only reason they really wanted Moto in the first place. I haven't seen anyone speak authoritatively on this, but some seem to think that keeping those patents will give them the right to continue benefiting from those losses until 2019

 

You don't make money on tax losses, that's a complete bastardiization of reality. If that was the case, company goals would be to lose money and declare losses, OR keep companies like Motorola around so they could keep doing it...which obviously isn't the case. Not to mention, those tax losses are gone as of now, since you only get to write down so much per year while you own the company, and the patents alone don't give them that right, the corporate umbrella of Motorola did. A tax loss doesn't really net you a gain, it simply offsets what you made, so less of your profits are taxable. A lot of these spinsters are glossing over quite a few things with this garbage reporting. Yes, Google inherited their cash, but they also inherited Motorola's massive debt, which exceeded their cash at the time, but let's call it a wash anyway. Then they ignore that Motorola hemmoraged billions over the years google owned them. Let's keep in mind Google had an effective tax rate of about 3% if I'm not mistaken...it's not like they needed tax write offs since they hardly paid any taxes in the first place.

 

Google took a hit here, but they knew they could afford it, and that's all there is too it. They don't need spinsters defending what clearly ended up being a terrible purchase. Google also expected more out to those patents, as their sole patent win requested billions from Microsoft and were awarded just 1.5 million, while a mass of other cases were outright dismissed because it's a portfolio of frand patents. Google decided to cut its losses and retain as many sep's as they could in doing so, to protect the future of Android, which at this point in this debacle, was a no brainer. Unload what you can while you can, accept the loss while you have 50 billion dollars in the bank and move on with some patents that could potentially help in the future.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Y2HH

[iamshack]

You don't make money on tax losses, that's a complete bastardiization of reality. If that was the case, company goals would be to lose money and declare losses, OR keep companies like Motorola around so they could keep doing it...which obviously isn't the case. Not to mention, those tax losses are gone as of now, since you only get to write down so much per year while you own the company, and the patents alone don't give them that right, the corporate umbrella of Motorola did. A tax loss doesn't really net you a gain, it simply offsets what you made, so less of your profits are taxable. A lot of these spinsters are glossing over quite a few things with this garbage reporting. Yes, Google inherited their cash, but they also inherited Motorola's massive debt, which exceeded their cash at the time, but let's call it a wash anyway. Then they ignore that Motorola hemmoraged billions over the years google owned them. Let's keep in mind Google had an effective tax rate of about 3% if I'm not mistaken...it's not like they needed tax write offs since they hardly paid any taxes in the first place.

 

Google took a hit here, but they knew they could afford it, and that's all there is too it. They don't need spinsters defending what clearly ended up being a terrible purchase. Google also expected more out to those patents, as their sole patent win requested billions from Microsoft and were awarded just 1.5 million, while a mass of other cases were outright dismissed because it's a portfolio of frand patents. Google decided to cut its losses and retain as many sep's as they could in doing so, to protect the future of Android, which at this point in this debacle, was a no brainer. Unload what you can while you can, accept the loss while you have 50 billion dollars in the bank and move on with some patents that could potentially help in the future.

I'm not an accountant, but couldn't they offset some of their own liabilities with Motorola's losses?

[Y2HH]

I'm not an accountant, but couldn't they offset some of their own liabilities with Motorola's losses?

 

There is a limit as to how much you can do that with per year -- but you can continue doing it year after year so long as you own the entity in question. Just like an individual, when you declare a loss (to a maximum of a set amount), all it does is subtract your taxable income...it's not like you're getting a refund on that amount. Yes, it can save you some money in losses, but it won't make you money.

[Brian]

Is there a way to sync up my email so when I delete on off my phone, it'll delete on my ipad as well? I always have to delete an email twice.

[Jake]

Totally different subject now and I'm looking for some insight into whether this is a brilliant idea or a terrible one.

 

Right now, I have a new AIO desktop. I love it. I also dropped about $1400 on it.

 

I have a mid-range ultrabook that I also love, I dropped about $500 on it.

 

I also have a Galaxy Note 8.0 Android tablet, and (guess what) I love it. I paid $280 for it, which is quite a steal given its original $399 MSRP.

 

However, I'm not getting enough mileage out of this stuff. I feel like I can eliminate at least one of these devices. Right now, I hardly use the laptop. It gets used when I go on vacation or the rare occasion that I need to do work and I am staying at my girlfriend's place. I use the desktop a lot - it has a 27" QHD monitor that is awesome for the multi-tasking I do. I can put up several documents to read, an open document to write in, and something else like a browser window or an early draft as well. I spend a lot of time on this, though I get sick of sitting at my desk here and there.

 

Now I'm wondering if it would make more sense to sell both the desktop and the laptop, assuming I can get something like the value I paid for them (bear in mind I got good deals on both and therefore selling at these prices is potentially doable). I could then buy a better laptop that can handle a heavy graphics load and dock it at my desk along w/ external monitor when I need it while also having a great laptop I can use when I am away or just don't want to be at my desk.

 

Is this docking-a-laptop solution something legitimate, that people do, seems possible without losing a bunch of money? Am I overlooking something? I would have to buy a good monitor and possibly a USB docking station. Would having my laptop sitting there and plugged in for extended periods toast its battery in short order?

[StrangeSox]

A lot of people at my work have laptops with docking stations. It works well for them.

[chw42]

A lot of people at my work have laptops with docking stations. It works well for them.

 

I love the Thinkpad dock I have at work, wish I can get one to use at home too.

[chw42]

Totally different subject now and I'm looking for some insight into whether this is a brilliant idea or a terrible one.

 

Right now, I have a new AIO desktop. I love it. I also dropped about $1400 on it.

 

I have a mid-range ultrabook that I also love, I dropped about $500 on it.

 

I also have a Galaxy Note 8.0 Android tablet, and (guess what) I love it. I paid $280 for it, which is quite a steal given its original $399 MSRP.

 

However, I'm not getting enough mileage out of this stuff. I feel like I can eliminate at least one of these devices. Right now, I hardly use the laptop. It gets used when I go on vacation or the rare occasion that I need to do work and I am staying at my girlfriend's place. I use the desktop a lot - it has a 27" QHD monitor that is awesome for the multi-tasking I do. I can put up several documents to read, an open document to write in, and something else like a browser window or an early draft as well. I spend a lot of time on this, though I get sick of sitting at my desk here and there.

 

Now I'm wondering if it would make more sense to sell both the desktop and the laptop, assuming I can get something like the value I paid for them (bear in mind I got good deals on both and therefore selling at these prices is potentially doable). I could then buy a better laptop that can handle a heavy graphics load and dock it at my desk along w/ external monitor when I need it while also having a great laptop I can use when I am away or just don't want to be at my desk.

 

Is this docking-a-laptop solution something legitimate, that people do, seems possible without losing a bunch of money? Am I overlooking something? I would have to buy a good monitor and possibly a USB docking station. Would having my laptop sitting there and plugged in for extended periods toast its battery in short order?

 

If your ultrabook is good enough, it'll be a decent solution.

 

[TaylorStSox]

A lot of people at my work have laptops with docking stations. It works well for them.

This

[Y2HH]

Is there a way to sync up my email so when I delete on off my phone, it'll delete on my ipad as well? I always have to delete an email twice.

 

That depends on how you have your email service configured -- from the sound of it, you are using POP for email. Use IMAP instead, as it solves this issue.

 

iOS will do this for you if your email provider exists on their config screen, such as gmail, outlook.com, yahoo!, etc...if you are using an unknown party, configure it as IMAP instead of POP (if they support it).

Edited January 31, 2014 by Y2HH

[Y2HH]

Totally different subject now and I'm looking for some insight into whether this is a brilliant idea or a terrible one.

 

Right now, I have a new AIO desktop. I love it. I also dropped about $1400 on it.

 

I have a mid-range ultrabook that I also love, I dropped about $500 on it.

 

I also have a Galaxy Note 8.0 Android tablet, and (guess what) I love it. I paid $280 for it, which is quite a steal given its original $399 MSRP.

 

However, I'm not getting enough mileage out of this stuff. I feel like I can eliminate at least one of these devices. Right now, I hardly use the laptop. It gets used when I go on vacation or the rare occasion that I need to do work and I am staying at my girlfriend's place. I use the desktop a lot - it has a 27" QHD monitor that is awesome for the multi-tasking I do. I can put up several documents to read, an open document to write in, and something else like a browser window or an early draft as well. I spend a lot of time on this, though I get sick of sitting at my desk here and there.

 

Now I'm wondering if it would make more sense to sell both the desktop and the laptop, assuming I can get something like the value I paid for them (bear in mind I got good deals on both and therefore selling at these prices is potentially doable). I could then buy a better laptop that can handle a heavy graphics load and dock it at my desk along w/ external monitor when I need it while also having a great laptop I can use when I am away or just don't want to be at my desk.

 

Is this docking-a-laptop solution something legitimate, that people do, seems possible without losing a bunch of money? Am I overlooking something? I would have to buy a good monitor and possibly a USB docking station. Would having my laptop sitting there and plugged in for extended periods toast its battery in short order?

 

For the most part you don't actually need a docking station. While they make things a bit more convenient for an additional cost, they're not necessary. All you really need to do is take your laptop and plug it into your monitor/keyboard/mouse. The only thing the docking station does is allow you to plug those things into it, and then put your laptop into the dock, so you don't have to repeat the steps of plugging those devices in over and over...but other than that it doesn't do anything.

 

If you are interested in anything highly graphically intensive, such as video, I'd recommend a desktop for serious work, and a combination of your tablet/phone to synch any necessary items on the go. Laptops always use mobile versions of their desktop counterparts, such as a mobile-gfxcard, a mobile-processor, which are always slower, and tend to run a LOT hotter. A laptop is fine for photo work, however, so long as it's color calibrated properly, and out of the box, almost no LCD is.

[Jake]

For the most part you don't actually need a docking station. While they make things a bit more convenient for an additional cost, they're not necessary. All you really need to do is take your laptop and plug it into your monitor/keyboard/mouse. The only thing the docking station does is allow you to plug those things into it, and then put your laptop into the dock, so you don't have to repeat the steps of plugging those devices in over and over...but other than that it doesn't do anything.

 

If you are interested in anything highly graphically intensive, such as video, I'd recommend a desktop for serious work, and a combination of your tablet/phone to synch any necessary items on the go. Laptops always use mobile versions of their desktop counterparts, such as a mobile-gfxcard, a mobile-processor, which are always slower, and tend to run a LOT hotter. A laptop is fine for photo work, however, so long as it's color calibrated properly, and out of the box, almost no LCD is.

 

I can't decide what I want to do.

 

FWIW, my work is academic research, which means that screen real estate and multi-tasking/RAM capability is more important than much else. My laptop has 4GB RAM and I believe that tends to be the bottleneck as I work. My desktop has 8GB and works great, other than the slow-ass HDD that makes it start up slowly. If I keep it, I plan to install an SSD in its mSATA port and keep the HDD in place for file storage.

 

The heat issue is one of the things that prevents me from feeling like the docking/plug-n-play-as-if-it-were-a-desktop solution is something I can just go and do. I can imagine many consumer laptops getting really hot with heavy usage while outputting to a big monitor/multi-monitor setup.

[Y2HH]

I can't decide what I want to do.

 

FWIW, my work is academic research, which means that screen real estate and multi-tasking/RAM capability is more important than much else. My laptop has 4GB RAM and I believe that tends to be the bottleneck as I work. My desktop has 8GB and works great, other than the slow-ass HDD that makes it start up slowly. If I keep it, I plan to install an SSD in its mSATA port and keep the HDD in place for file storage.

 

The heat issue is one of the things that prevents me from feeling like the docking/plug-n-play-as-if-it-were-a-desktop solution is something I can just go and do. I can imagine many consumer laptops getting really hot with heavy usage while outputting to a big monitor/multi-monitor setup.

 

While it's just personal preference, I'd go the desktop route for the screen real estate and power (not to mention cost savings, as a really high powered laptop will be quite expensive), along with extendability, such as being able to add a second graphics card. I just synch whatever I need to my ipad/iphone for "emergency" on the go purposes...it's not like editing photos/video or documents on a tablet or laptop is fun (no matter how big or small), while it can be done in a pinch, it's like using a wrench to hammer in a nail...the hammer just works better for those things.

 

I have a Windows 7 laptop for work, a iPad Mini Retina, and my iPhone for anything "on the go", but none of it comes close to working on my 27" iMac, which has 16 gigs of ram in it...and it's still fast as hell despite being 3 years old.

[StrangeSox]

FWIW the guys at my work are running 2-3 year old Lenovos with docking stations for dual 21" monitor outputs and are mostly working with internet browsers, excel/word, and AutoCAD. We're all randomly out on the road so that's why we need the laptops.

[Jake]

Hmm...Microsoft Surface Pro is $500 today at Best Buy. That could possibly take the place of both laptop and tablet? Active digitizer is a must for me and it has that. Battery life is huge concern though.