RV_

Out of state still needs to charge EVs. EV owners I know have no problem paying our way. How states collect it is the reason the DMV are paid positions. I really don't care how they do it. If it is not equitable, as EVs become the majority, if Texans with EVs are treated unfairly, because big oil wants to discourage EVs by penalizing Texans who own/want to own one, then it becomes a Texas problem. Reporting the news or interesting investment opportunities doesn't mean I have their answers. I don't have a dog in that fight.😉

Jim all I can say is to keep up with Windows updates on that Windows 10 unit. Since I answered you both my Win 11 and Win 10 machines work properly again with misspells. And both got out of cycle updates. I have two Windows 10 machines I am selling that will not do Windows 11 and both will be getting a version of Linux (Mint /Cinnamon likely) I will test as a dual boot since most folks are afraid of Linux, so they can switch back and forth. Linux is free and may work on your older machine. Linux has many "Lite" versions made to use less resources like for older machines. Start a thread on the computer forum here and ask about Linux versions for older machines and start with the brand, model number, processor/RAM/Hard drive or SSD and size. Windows 10 loses all security updates in 2025. However they have stopped all "Feature" updates which are improvements you may or may not have noticed. After 2025 it may be risky to run without any security updates which stop then.

Hal 9000 also has an ignore button, goodbye!

Dutch always a pleasure to have you in a thread. And as usual you're right. They were, but now don't think they are made in S. Korea. They make some there, but those are for their local Korean market. Last updated: May 2nd, 2023 at 23:14 UTC+02:00 Samsung actually shut down its last remaining smartphone factory in China this year. As of 2019, the company is not making any phones in the People’s Republic. It previously had two factories in China but as Samsung’s market share fell below 1% in the country, it had to scale back production. It no longer makes financial sense for Samsung to manufacture phones in China. Which is why it has now stopped doing that. Vietnam Vietnam is actually where Samsung phones are made, most of them anyway. Samsung’s manufacturing facility is located in Vietnam’s Thai Nguyen province where two factories are churning out smartphones, tablets and wearable devices. The company is in the process of adding another factory to the facility to further increase its production in the country. The existing factories produce 120 million units per year. Most of Samsung’s global supply, including for markets like North America and Europe, comes from Vietnam. India India not only has Samsung’s biggest mobile factory, but it’s also the largest mobile phone manufacturing unit in the world based on production capacity. Samsung had announced in 2017 that it would invest $620 million to double smartphone production in India. It inaugurated the factory in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India in 2018. The production capacity of this factory is now at 120 million units per year. Much of the supply is meant for the Indian market. It is one of the most lucrative smartphone markets for Samsung. Given the import taxes in the country, Samsung needs local production in order to effectively compete against its rivals on price. The company has been manufacturing its Galaxy M and Galaxy A series handsets here as well. However, Samsung may also export Indian-manufactured smartphones to markets in Europe, Africa and West Asia. South Korea Samsung does operate manufacturing facilities in its home country of South Korea. That’s also where most of the components that it sources from its sister companies are made. However, its smartphone production factory in South Korea accounts for less than 10 percent of global shipments. The units manufactured here are primarily meant for the company’s local market. Brazil Samsung operates a manufacturing facility in Brazil as well. It was set up back in 1999. More than 6,000 workers are employed at the factory from where Samsung supplies its smartphones to all of Latin America. With Brazil having high import taxes as well, local production also allows Samsung to offer its products in the country at a competitive price. Indonesia Indonesia is also a country where Samsung phones are made. It was a fairly recent decision by the company to start making phones in this country. The factory was opened in 2015 and has a production capacity of around 800,000 units per year. That’s sufficient enough for Samsung to cater to local demand. How Samsung’s manufacturing priorities are changing The smartphone market has significantly changed over the past decade. Chinese smartphone manufacturers have become highly competitive in all segments of the market. Samsung has had to adapt as it comes under increasing pressure. This has led to a shift in the company’s manufacturing priorities. Samsung released its first ODM smartphone, the Galaxy A6s, in 2019. That device was manufactured by a third-party for the Chinese market. The ODM solution allows Samsung to improve its margins on affordable devices. It’s now expected to ship 60 million ODM smartphones in the near future to markets across the globe. A larger shift to the ODM model would mean that Samsung won’t be utilizing all of the available production capacity that it has at its own factories. That’s unless shipments increase for the smartphone market overall and it’s able to increase its market share. Where are original Samsung phones made? There are some misconceptions about “original” Samsung phones based on the country of production. The abundance of misinformation online doesn’t help. To put it simply, all Samsung phones made at the company’s own factories or its ODM partners are “original.” It doesn’t matter if the factory is in South Korea or Brazil. A smartphone made at the factory in Vietnam isn’t inherently better than the one made in Indonesia. That’s because these factories are only really assembling the devices. They all get the same components and follow the same manufacturing and quality processes. You don’t have to worry whether your Samsung phone is original or not based on where it was made. Unless it’s an obvious fake that says “Samsang” or something at the back. That’s another problem altogether. Source: https://www.sammobile.com/where-are-samsung-phones-made

Excerpt: "As AI mania accelerates into the summer months, a tale of two markets facing investors is becoming more extreme. Last week, the Nasdaq 100 Index (^NDX) — which is comprised of the 100 largest tech stocks on the Nasdaq — jumped over 3% while the Dow Jones Industrial Index (^DJI) languished in the red. That's only the fifth such occurrence since the dot-com bubble popped two decades ago. Meanwhile, looking under the market's hood, on both Thursday and Friday more stocks listed on the NYSE hit new 52-week lows than new 52-week highs. Yet on both days the Nasdaq 100 surged over 2%. Each of these signals says something slightly different, but they all occur nearly exclusively during times of market stress like bear markets and early-stage bull markets when doubts are still top of mind. Broadly speaking, investors have soured on the overall market and are piling money into the much-hyped artificial intelligence trade, which is feeding the concentration of market gains into only a few companies. Or as Bank of America strategist Michael Hartnett calls these stocks, the 'Magnificent Seven' — Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), Tesla (TSLA), and Nvidia (NVDA). Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, speaks during a press conference at the Computex 2023 in Taipei on May 30, 2023. (Photo by Sam Yeh / AFP) (Photo by SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images) All told, the top seven Nasdaq 100 components are up $3.35 trillion this year, while the bottom 93 are up only $635 billion. This means Hartnett's 'Magnificent Seven' account for 84% of the Nasdaq 100's $4 trillion growth in market valuation in 2023. Apple and Microsoft have each gained more in value than the entire bottom 93 stocks. Nasdaq 100 — $4.0 Trillion Gain in Market Cap YTD Although the lion's share of valuation gains are concentrated in a few large stocks, several software and chip companies also riding the AI wave are producing outsized returns in May. Chipmaker Marvell Tech (MRVL) is up 65% this month after surging 30% on Friday alone. The chipmaker expects to at least double its AI revenue in fiscal 2024. Cloud-based security company Zscaler (ZS) is up 45% — second this month in the Nasdaq 100. And American Micro Devices (AMD) managed to best Nvidia's impressive May return having gained 42% so far this month. The graphic below shows the month-to-date return for Nasdaq 100 stocks during May (y-axis) versus the year-to-date performance for 2023 (x-axis). Bubble size grows with the 2023 change in market capitalization. Dots are colored based on sector. Unsurprisingly, the big blue dot in the far upper right is Nvidia, the top gainer for the year and one of the top gainers for the month of May. It's market cap is up over half a trillion dollars — as is that of Apple and Microsoft. The next four biggest gainers in market cap this year are Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Tesla. After that, the valuation gains drop off. Meanwhile, retail names in both the consumer discretionary and staples sector have gotten whacked in May as former areas of strength once again collapse, another pain trade reversing on investors. Meanwhile, retail names in both the consumer discretionary and staples sector have gotten whacked in May as former areas of strength once again collapse, another pain trade reversing on investors. Much more in the article here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-magnificent-seven-tech-stocks-drive-markets-higher-as-ai-mania-grips-investors-123029634.html

Excerpt: "There are so many different AI tools that can increase your everyday productivity. Here are the ones I use. The generative artifical intelligence (AI) boom might have started with the launch of ChatGPT but the technology is now integrated into in all kinds of productivity platforms that aim to make your life easier. AI tools can help you complete small tasks every day, which adds up to lots of saved time. The result is you can spend less time on admin and more time doing things you enjoy. Also: This new AI tool will summarize YouTube videos for you in seconds I've been covering and testing AI tools for ZDNET for a long time -- even before ChatGPT blew up in popularity. As a result, I've incorporated many of these tools into my daily routine. So, here's my favorite AI tools that I use in my everyday workflow. And, interestingly, only one of these life-hack technologies is an AI chatbot." She goes on to review: 1. Bing Chat 2. Canva Pro 3. Otter.ai 4. ChatPDF 5. Grammerly The reviews of each can be found here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/these-are-my-5-favorite-ai-tools-for-work/?ftag=TREc64629f&utm_email=3b2e0f94e4947c973f63c5cf2d34603c24fe97fe01cb10979119da7270e034b9&utm_campaign_id=6938576 Grammarly

https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/newsletters/48579

https://www.hqafsa.org/springmagazine2023.html

Reported as scab advertiser.

Glenn I said that. And I believe his name is Rod. If he indeed lives in Canada he may have similar temps to here, and I posted the article about all Splits and suggested he check with LG and see if they have an extreme cold unit or if his is how to fix it and if not can it be upgraded. I posted: " Are you full-time living in your RV? Or are you talking about a stix n brix unit. I would think the RV units may be similar. I would contact LG by phone because either something's wrong or perhaps one component can be upgraded without replacing the whole system. I was surprised that some are rated to -15 F! " The takeaway is today Heat exchangers are made for 15 below zero F.

I think the takeaway is be aware they don't do refunds easily or in full if they can help it. So get in writing the 100% return time fences and time they will take to refund if you are a new customer to TM. If you love them I don't doubt you got great service. However, those of us that got very bad service and then had TM add insult to injury by coming up with re-stocking fees or others they never mentioned up front, and you did not get it in writing saying 100% or were told up front how much you would lose if their equipment they sold did not work as claimed, then no risk. I won't be back even though I later found they were transitioning to 5G and adding a new service lines/frequencies or some such. I won't go back and check the details although it is all posted here from they bought. You can look up the whole T Mobile SNAFU posted here Jun 2021. If anyone does they withdrew the no caps and true unlimited except for those of us that got in. Thanks to T-Mobile I have service with US Mobile with three unlimited lines they do cap at 75GB but no throttling before, and with one Perk which you get only with three lines paying me for my Hulu cost them of $14. So three limes are $25 each and -14 for Hulu makes it $61 bucks and change for three unlimited lines, one we hardly use and is a sim I use in my Surface Pro 7+ that also works in the smaller Surface Go2 M3 tablet. That give us Mobile Internet LTE with no hassle. So the TM fiasco had a silver lining after we were deprived of any phone service for almost three days. Of course our Internet at home is high speed with fiber to home coming later this year with synchronous 1GBps speed (Same speed up and down) that will cost what our 150Mbps costs now. By all means try TM but get their refund policies today before you pay.

Rod, I think you're in Canada. Are you full-time living in your RV? Or are you talking about a stix n brix unit. I would think the RV units may be similar. I would contact LG by phone because either something's wrong or perhaps one component can be upgraded without replacing the whole system. I was surprised that some are rated to -15 F! I was about to research them more as we will need a new A/C heating system in the next year or so. I like the idea of Mini Split heat pumps. We rarely get below zero her but do. Since Mini Splits replace both Furnace and A/C we have a backup vented/sealed from the inside gas fireplace and can heat with it if a mini froze on us. Here was my first stop: Excerpt: " Source: https://aircondlounge.com/do-mini-splits-work-in-cold-weather-climate-effectively/ I would check to see if LG or any RV systems can e upgraded for below 0°F weather.

Y'all carry on! All your answers are there ^^^^^^^. Google who makes Android is an American company as is Apple who makes iOS. Foxconn, a Chinese company, makes a majority of Apple tablets and phones and their computers are outsourced to them and other Chinese companies. Better stop using your phones at all unless they are made in the US. Oops! Where is my Google Pixel made? Excerpt: "If you only got 30 seconds: Google, which is having a majority of its Pixel 6 smartphone made in China, is considering shifting orders for its future phones to its manufacturing partners’ plants in Vietnam to avoid the risks from the ongoing US-China trade tensions and China’s. Google has been making Pixel 6 smartphones in China because that is where the phone’s components are sourced from. However, the company is looking to move away from relying on China for future phone orders because of the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China. The US has been putting tariffs on Chinese goods, which has made it more expensive for Chinese companies to do business with the US. This has led to companies like Google shifting their phone orders away from China in order to avoid getting caught up in the trade conflict. Google’s decision to move away from China is likely to have a small impact on the company’s overall profits. However, it is likely to have a larger impact on the company’s reputation. If Google is seen as being aligned with the US in its stance against China, this could help strengthen the company’s position in the Chinese market. By moving away from China, Google is also signaling that it is willing to take a stand against the Chinese government." https://www.techfow.com/where-are-google-pixel-phones-made-expert-guide/#Is Google Pixel Manufactured in China Where are Apple phones made? Except from 2015: "This is an iPhone factory in China. Seventeen of the company's workers have committed suicide. Is it our fault? It's hard not to look at the nets. Every building is skirted in them. They drape every precipice, steel poles jutting out six metres above the pavement, loosely tangled like tennis-court nets in winter. The nets went up in May, after the 11th jumper in under a year died here. They carry a message: you can throw yourself off any building you like, as long as it isn't one of these. And they seem to have worked. Since they were installed, the suicide rate has slowed to a trickle. My tour guides don't mention the nets until I do. Not to avoid the topic, I don't think -- the suicides are the reason I am at a Foxconn plant in Shenzhen, a bustling industrial city in southern China -- but simply because they are so prevalent. Foxconn, the single largest private employer in mainland China, manufactures many of the products -- motherboards, camera components, MP3 players -- that make up the world's $150 billion consumer-electronics industry. Foxconn's output accounts for nearly 40 per cent of that revenue. Altogether, the company employs about a million people, nearly half of whom work at the 20-year-old Shenzhen plant. But until two summers ago, most Brits had never heard of Foxconn." https://www.wired.co.uk/article/my-gadget-guilt Lenovo in China makes Motorola phones. My Microsoft Surface Devices are all made in China since 2017 after trying to compete with a US factory: Excerpt: "Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China Microsoft is closing its Surface Hub manufacturing facility in Wilsonville, Oregon, barely two years after opening it. Instead of being manufactured in the US, future Surface Hubs will be built in China." https://www.extremetech.com/computing/252743-microsoft-closes-us-surface-factory-moves-production-china Back in 2010 when I tried to tell folks the American brands are just the customer service end, and all computers are made in China. Even Japanese and Korean brands have their factories in mainland China in addition to their original factories because of the cheap and educated tech-hip workforce. When I posted that IBM Thinkpads were made in China for years folks here on SKPs went nuts denying that. Then when Lenovo uncloaked that they had been making them all along, they kept the brand name Thinkpad but came out of the closet and put their brand on them. It is getting a bit silly at this point folks. Saying Huawei makes the components is like saying all cell phones have AMD chips in them. Or that all computers have Apple M3 chips in them. AMD makes no cell phone CPUs that I know of and no Windows computer uses Apple M3 chipsets. Tech and engineering have something about them called facts. I don't care if the opposite were true and all the components were made in the US and assembled in China which is not the case, any spy devices can be installed anywhere along the line and after in Software phone OS' and apps, as we have seen be an issue for Apple and Google store App security." Good day ladies and gentlemen – Safe Travels.

In Ancient Greece, Socrates had a great reputation of wisdom. One day, someone came to find the great philosopher and said to him: - Do you know what I just heard about your friend? - A moment, replied Socrates. Before you tell me, I would like to test you the three sieves. - The three sieves? - Yes, continued Socrates. Before telling anything about the others, it's good to take the time to filter what you mean. I call it the test of the three sieves. The first sieve is the TRUTH. Have you checked if what you're going to tell me is true? - No, I just heard it. - Very good! So, you don't know if it's true. We continue with the second sieve, that of KINDNESS. What you want to tell me about my friend, is it good? - Oh, no! On the contrary. - So, questioned Socrates, you want to tell me bad things about him and you're not even sure they're true? Maybe you can still pass the test of the third sieve, that of UTILITY. Is it useful that I know what you're going to tell me about this friend? - No, really. - So, concluded Socrates, what you were going to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor useful. Why, then, did you want to tell me this? "Gossip is a bad thing. In the beginning it may seem enjoyable and fun, but in the end, it fills our hearts with bitterness and poisons us, too! Did you know human trials are approved and are being done right now to read our thoughts to control devices but already can form some images and subjects about which one is thinking rudimentary on thoughts but working, and that is what is being improved as I type. If these things terrify you from conspiracies passed along by non-engineers in each industry, or at least techies willing to read and comprehend technical articles. However for all these fears protective gear is available: https://www.amazon.com/tin-foil-hat/s?k=tin+foil+hat Me I am fine using and understanding my tech. If you want no danger disconnect all devices from the Internet, go back to non WiFi digital cameras, get a landline (yes you still can in some places,) Use CB radios or 2 Meter handhelds for communicating on the road, get an old typewriter as they are cheap today at yard sales, and mail docs as the US postal service still operates, only do business with mail order catalogs or in person. Some companies still send them out or you can order by phone, do not use credit cards send checks by mail and only use cash you get at your bank's drive in windows with paperwork slips. Or learn your tech. Tech gossip is rampant. Risk? Sure, walking down the street is more risky today from gossip too. So if you record your voice and video wit a non WiFi DashCam or have WiFi off on it, then record only to a micro SD card and use it for playback on your phone using Bluetooth or SD Card reader and USB cable to view the Dashcam video and audio, it is not phoning home. Unless you save them to your phone and are connected via cellular.

Does Huawei make dashcams???

Payroll a great military wartime heritage in your family tree. Thanks for the stories!

Pat checked yours out and bookmarked it for later learning curve. Good info there as well. Thanks!

I thought so too Linda! It is bookmarked

Excerpt: "Danger Season 2023 2,126,465 people in the United States currently face extreme weather alerts Updated Monday, May 29, 2023 Climate change is making weather more extreme. This tool shows how many people across the United States face risks right now from wildfires, flooding, tropical storms, or extreme heat. More about this tool "Danger Season" is the period between May and October when North America experiences its worst climate impacts. This tool tracks the severity of Danger Season by collecting daily alert data from the National Weather Service. Climate Central provides the data that directly connects heat alerts with climate change. Alarmed? Join us or take action to play your part. The tool and interactive map is here: https://dangerseason.ucsusa.org/

Ken, I would be very proud indeed.

Beware: Malware lurking in branded search ads In recent months, numerous incidents have shown that malvertising is on the rise again and affecting users’ trust in their favorite brands and search engine. Update now! Apple issues patches for three actively used zero-days Apple has issued information about patches against three actively exploited zero-days in WebKit, the engine of the Safari web browser. Identity crisis: How an anti-porn crusade could jam the Internet, featuring Alec Muffett: Lock and Code S04E11 This week on Lock and Code, we speak with long time security researcher about the eerily similar attempts across the globe to weaken the Internet to achieve one specific, social goal. 8 cybersecurity tips to keep you safe when travelling Unplugging isn’t always an option, so here are some tips to keep you safe while you travel.

Excerpt: " May 23, 2023 by Pieter Arntz Apple has rolled out security updates for Safari 16.5, watchOS 9.5, tvOS 16.5, iOS 16.5, iPadOS 16.5, iOS 15.7.6, iPadOS 15.7.6, macOS Big Sur 11.7.7, macOS Ventura 13.4, and macOS Monterey 12.6.6. Among the security updates were patches for three actively exploited zero-day vulnerabilities. All these actively exploited vulnerabilities are directly related to the WebKit browser engine. WebKit is the engine that powers the Safari web browser on Macs as well as all browsers on iOS and iPadOS (all web browsers on iOS and iPadOS are obliged to use it). It is also the web browser engine used by Mail, App Store, and many other apps on macOS, iOS, and Linux. Devices impacted by the identified exploits include: All iPad Pro models iPad Air (3rd generation and later) iPad (5th generation and later) iPad Mini (5th generation and later) iPhone 6s and later models Mac workstations and laptops running macOS, Big Sur, Monterey, and Ventura Apple Watch (series 4 and later) Apple TV 4K and HD The updates may already have reached you in your regular update routines, but it doesn't hurt to check if your device is at the latest update level. If a Safari update is available for your device, you can get it by updating or upgrading macOS, iOS, or iPadOS: How to update your iPhone or iPad. How to update macOS on Mac. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database lists publicly disclosed computer security flaws. The CVE containing the information about the new zero-day is: CVE-2023-32409: An issue where remote attacker may be able to break out of Web Content sandbox was addressed with improved bounds checks. The notes about the security updates also revealed some information about the Apple’s Rapid Security Response (RSR) update we reported about earlier this month. RSR is a new type of software patch delivered between Apple's regular, scheduled software updates. Previously, Apple security fixes came bundled along with features and improvements, but RSRs only carry security fixes. They're meant to make the deployment of security improvements faster and more frequent. We now know that the CVEs patched in that RSR update are listed as: CVE-2023-28204: An out-of-bounds read issue in WebKit was addressed with improved input validation. Processing web content may disclose sensitive information. CVE-2023-32373: A use-after-free issue in WebKit which was addressed with improved memory management. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. An out-of-bounds write or read flaw makes it possible to manipulate parts of the memory which are allocated to more critical functions. This could allow an attacker to write code to a part of the memory where it will be executed with permissions that the program and user should not have. Use after free (UAF) is a vulnerability due to incorrect use of dynamic memory during a program’s operation. If after freeing a memory location a program does not clear the pointer to that memory, an attacker can use the error to manipulate the program." Source with more: https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2023/05/update-now-apple-issued-patches-for-three-actively-used-zero-days?utm_source=blueshift&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=b2c_pro_oth_20230529_mayweeklynewsletter_v5_168505411681&utm_content=applepatches

Boy did I find a lot of fat finger typos in my posts here. I am sure I missed at least one, but got most of them.😊

Ken, you know. Mine were Americans at a stix n brix! No language issues and they still failed miserably. Exactly the same issues you had trying to get the refund. I actually had my credit card replaced because they kept insisting and trying to charge it. They beat me out of about 30 bucks in the end. Horrible company and store. I don't like their parent company at all, as we did biz with Deutsche Telekom when we opened the first private Internet Service in Bitburg Germany in 1995 and bought bandwidth from them. They did not like furriners (Auslanders) being tops in Germany. Like some Americans are about foreigners. My advice? If you have another service that does what you need/want don't try them with both your phones at once if at all. My I's were dotted and my T's crossed. I don't care if they offer free flip phones and 1TB unlimited for 25 bucks I won't bite again.

Lou, I don't trust any new service and asked them to show me in writing that I would get a full refund if not satisfied. Nevermind satisfied they never worked for more than a few minutes once a day and only after they fiddled with the new phones they issued. What we shared is having T-Mobile (TM) not honor the 3 day FTC full refund rules with full refund and having to fight with them to get them to honor their own contract. Mine was a free set of two Samsung 5G phones which we bought at one of their local storefronts on a Friday. We signed up and brought our Verizon phones in to be sure they could transfer our contacts and messages over and they activated them. That was the last time they worked. We got them home and no connection. No phone service and I made the mistake of getting both switched over at the same time. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday in their store, in good faith hoping they could get them working, they got them to connect in-store but when I got home they worked once. We live in town with full 5G and 4G everywhere. They did not connect when we brought them back. Deals made on a Friday have until Tuesday to return for a full refund by FTC three day return rules. When we returned them it turned out the guy goofed and had to return and re-trade-in our older trade in phones which was his error. Then claimed we owed them for the trade?? And he admitted they goofed but could not refund that? A total keystone cops comedy. I returned the phones and canceled the service within 3 days ( They can't count Saturday or Sunday) and had already set up an emergency Straight Talk (ST) account with our old phones from Verizon. They connected to ST first time every time. TM got our returns on Tuesday, five days, well within the 7 day refund time. It took hours over a month to get most of my money back but not all. Self inflicted? We both found TM loses their own paperwork, contradicts themselves, and try to charge our credit cards, and does not make returns easy. Funny how when we went to two other providers we had no issues, no glitches with our two year old phones. As I stated up front we know T-Mobile has fans out there and I do not try to say they fail 100% of the time. However any company can make a good impression when everything goes well. But a company shows its true colors when they have a problem. T-Mobile is a company I will not do biz with ever again.