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docj

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Everything posted by docj

  1. X2. We own a smart Samsung UHD TV with very disappointing software. We get far better performance from the Roku we connected to it. Next time I'll save the ~$50 and buy a dumb TV.
  2. I think it is far more likely that your neighbor was doing something like using Kodi to stream illicitly obtained material. When you connect to the kind of peer-sharing sites that support that sort of thing, anything can happen. There is absolutely no reason to scare people with unsubstantiated references such as this. Streaming through the major streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu should be free of any risks to your device.
  3. Just to be very clear, we have been asked by exactly ONE credit card company with respect to wanting an address other than our SD PMB. We gave that CC company our daughter's Maryland address and they were totally satisfied. They didn't care whose address it was, all they wanted was an address they could use to fill in a blank on a form. IMHO, don't overwork that issue. It's not as serious as you may think. It's happened once to us in ~8 years of full-timing.
  4. It's not that the TV doesn't have a way for you to enter the wifi password, it's that the TV can't handle what is called a "splash screen" which is the pop-up at the beginning of wifi session. That's the screen on which you agree to terms and conditions and, possibly, enter your name and site number.
  5. I have a 43" Samsung 4K Smart TV and when I use it for streaming I almost always use the Roku that I have attached to it. My son, who is a computer scientist and techie-geek explains it this way: "the apps in smart TVs are rarely updated by their manufacturers and almost always are inferior to those available from Roku, FireStick, AppleTV, etc. which are updated continuously." I get far better performance from my Roku than I do from the TV itself so I wouldn't worry about the issue you report. My suggestion is to use your FireStick and not worry about the TV. If you are insistent on wanting to use the TV's apps, then, without making this a commercial post, you can buy a router, such as a WiFiRanger, that can handle the pop-up log-in situation for the TV.
  6. Just to clarify for those who haven't used induction before--make sure a magnet will stick to the BOTTOM of the pot. I've had some stainless steel cookware with bonded aluminum bottoms where a magnet would stick to the sides of the pot but not the bottom. Personally, we've had good luck with Cook's-brand pots and, of course, also with All-Clad. There is at least one dealer on the internet that sells All-Clad "seconds" which are (almost) affordable!
  7. Definitely sounds too restrictive for us! But what do we know; we're folks who think that the "higher quality" box wines at ~$15-20/3 liters are good enough for us! Our problem with wine isn't a question of making it through the winter; it's the fact that we like to spend the summers in Canada and the amount you can bring across the border without very large duties kicking in is rather small. Even with the current exchange rate, paying Canadian prices for alcoholic beverages will most certainly cause you to cry in your beer!
  8. What makes everyone act as if the Splendide is made for RVs? It is simply a made-in-Italy unit that is based on the many small combos sold throughout Europe and Asia. Just because its marketing company has targeted the US RV market doesn't mean that the device will work any better than any other unit that will fill the space. If our Splendide were to die I would almost assuredly purchase an LG which gets better reviews and has a larger washing drum. If you Google the subject you will find add there are, in addition, a number of other brands. This thread reminds me of the threads in which people act as if they need to replace their overpriced Jensen TVs with another Jensen because it is "made for RVs" rather than realizing they can get a better picture from a Samsung (or many other brands) for a lot less money.
  9. When we first got our SD licenses in 2011 they were Real ID-compliant but at that time they wouldn't issue my CDL to a PMB address. So for 5 years my license has had the address of the CG we had stayed at in Sioux Falls. But the DPS folks had no problem with using the PMB as the mailing address for the license. By 2016 when we renewed our licenses, the CDL issue had been resolved and now both of us have licenses which clearly show that our address is our PMB in Madison SD.
  10. And if I explore a destination and a routing on my laptop, my phone already knows that's where I want to go!
  11. FWIW Gord had previously posted that under the new FCC rules, these amplifiers only provide the boost necessary to get good reception and, as a result, might not appear to give the same kind of amplification we've all become accustomed to with older devices. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about how LTE systems choose cells, etc, but I've been reading what I can find on the topic so I can better understand the behavior of my new Maximum Signal amp. From what I've read it appears that we're oversimplifying the problem if we focus entirely on absolute signal strength, a parameter often labeled RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power ). In selecting what cell to use the phone also evaluates RSRQ (Received Signal Reference Quality) which is a measure of signal to noise and other factors. At my current site the RSPR is only ~-102dBm but the RSRQ is a rock solid -7dB which is representative of an excellent signal even though the absolute power is only marginal. Using SignalCheck Pro, the SNR ranges between ~17-22dB. By way of contrast, we were downtown yesterday evening where the RSRP was -82dBm but the RSRQ was in the -10dB range and the SNR was down around 10dB. So the absolute power level of the signal was higher but the overall quality was lower. If I understand this correctly, then these results would indicate why my Maximum Signal amp does not appear to be amplifying the signal at our site--it doesn't need to! If there's already an excellent RSRQ then, I would assume, there's simply no need to do anything. If I have understood all of this correctly, it would also explain why SignalCheck often sees a neighboring cell with a higher RSPR than the cell I'm connected to. I assume that the RSRQ of that cell isn't as good so it's ignored even though it's signal is usually stronger. OTOH if I've completely messed up this explanation of LTE signal parameters then I would welcome being corrected! I freely admit that this is pretty sophisticated stuff and my "training" is limited to what I can read on the internet which always is dangerous.
  12. We had our tanks professionally cleaned a couple of years ago when we were experiencing problems getting the gray tank to drain. For those who say this is a waste of money, my suggestion is not to criticize something if you've never tried it. The cleaning by http://AllProWaterFlow.com involves the use of a pressure washer with extremely thin hoses and small nozzles that can be "threaded" into the tanks from the outside drain port. Using this the operator was able to remove large chunks of calcified material that had built up in the tank over its then ~10+ years of use. The quantity of stuff removed was far greater than could have been removed by any other method IMO. Yes, calcified material will dissolve, slowly, in a strong solution of dishwasher detergent, but these golf ball size lumps would have needed quite a while to dissolve. I don't think that professional cleaning is needed on a regular basis, but every couple of years it might make sense. Unfortunately, the franchisees for AllPro aren't located throughout the US and I don't know of any other competing services.
  13. That's really interesting especially since my new Dell with Windows 8 came with a one-year Kaspersky pre-installed. I guess the anti-malware companies are hanging in there trying to avoid extinction if this new Defender does everything they do and is free. At least with MSE people had to make the conscious choice to download it, so most wouldn't. If it's already embedded in Windows then it will become the default option and the vendors will lose lots of business.
  14. This discussion prompted me to go to the Microsoft site to read the MSE information since I will have to make the same decision in a couple of months. One thing that surprised me is that MSE does not contain a firewall, but, rather, assumes you want to run the standard Windows firewall. In the past I hadn't been all that impressed with the Windows firewall and to my knowledge it only operates against incoming threats and does not monitor outward activity. Therefore, nothing prevents something like a key-logger from sending outbound information, assuming that it got in by some means. Since quite a few of you are using MSE, what firewall solutions have you implemented?
  15. I've been very pleased with Kaspersky Internet Security for the past several years, but that includes a lot more than just the Anti-Virus package you mention. However, I've been reading all the posts related to Microsoft Security Essentials and I may consider switching when my Kaspersky license expires.
  16. Hi Tom--

    I think you will enjoy this group; there are a large number of HDT owners so some questions will be a bit different than you have been getting. You can send me the oil sample info either through this forum or the other one. If you enjoy the group enough you may want to consider coming to our "Escapade" in Gillette WY in late August.

    Joel

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