OnePlus 5t Review

Life is what happens when your cellphone is charging.

Unknown

I’ve been the proud owner of the OnePlus 5t since November 26, 2017 and I couldn’t be happier. Truth be told, I was a little nervous when I ordered it online because I’d never made such an expensive “sight unseen” purchase before, but I couldn’t be happier.

Price: At $649 Canadian, it’s half price of the other flagship phones I was looking at. And, it has everything I want or need, so there is no compromise.

Size: I was an early adopter of the phablet so a big screen is a must have for me. The OnePlus 5t has a 6 inch screen.

Feel: It’s very thin, very light and feels great in my hand.

Display: I can’t believe how crisp and clear the display is.

Camera: The camera takes wonderful photos. The colours are incredibly vibrant and true to colour.

Battery: In a 24 hour period I haven’t gone below a 50% charge and I use the phone a lot.

Charging: I can charge it in about ½ hour which means that I can charge it in the morning before I leave for work.

Responsive: I’m shocked at how responsive the phone is. I’m sure the fact that it doesn’t come loaded with bloatware has a lot to do with it.  

User-friendly: The phone is simple to use and intuitive. The only thing I found odd is that to answer the phone you swipe down. Unfortunately I hung up on my friend Pam several times before I figured it out.

I would absolutely recommend the OnePlus 5t. I can’t find one negative thing to say about it, which is a complete shock to me! The only drawback that I can see for some is that you have to buy the phone outright from OnePlus; you can’t pay for it with your plan.

Everybody in society these days just walks around with their heads down, staring at their phones. Chiropractors must be making a fortune!

Keith Wynn

Make someone smile today.

Geri

How to Make Free Long Distance Calls on Your Smartphone

The telephone is a 100-year-old technology. It's time for a change. Charging for phone calls is something you did last century.

Niklas Zennstrom

Not long ago I wrote a blog about Canadians being held hostage by cell phone providers. I was livid at the cost of mobile long distance rates. My provider really got my goat after jacking up my rates and not crediting my account in compensation, so I had the Canada to U.S. long distance portion of my plan removed – saving me $20/month. Now unfortunately, if I make any Canada to U.S. long distance calls on my Smartphone these bandits are going to bill me $0.50/minute. Anyone that knows me can tell you that there is no way on God’s little acre that I'm ever going to pay $0.50/minute to call the States.

And so, the hunt began for how to make free long distance calls from Canada to the U.S.; but I had criteria:

• To call anyone – many companies will give you free long distance ONLY if you’re calling someone who uses the same app

• Keep my phone number - most of these free long distance companies give you a special number that you have to use

• Dial directly – no access numbers, PIN numbers, etc.

• My phone number shows up in call display

Quite frankly I couldn’t find anything that met my criteria until my Techie Guru told me to use Google Hangouts. I’d completely dismissed Google Hangouts because when it first launched you had to connect with people who were also using Google Hangouts. Now it’s all changed. You can call anyone, anywhere in North America free. Once you have Google Hangouts all you do is download the Hangouts Dialer (there’s one for Android and Apple) and make your calls. I talked for 54 minutes yesterday with my friend in San Diego and it was totally free. I checked my long distance usage with my cell phone provider and there is no record of the call. International calling is also available; it’s not free but the rates are drastically cheaper than the cell phone provider bandits.

Stick it to the cell phone provider bandits and stop paying them for long distance plans. Use Google Hangouts instead.

I hate it when people text: Call me.

Funny Pictures

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Has Texting Made Us Forget How to Write Proper English?

What do people do with all the extra time they save by writing “k” instead of “OK”?

Unknown

I don’t know about you but text message shorthand drives me nuts! There are books about it and websites dedicated to it. It’s bad enough that I have to look at these coded messages in a text, but text message shorthand has now crept into emails as well. If I get another email with “CU soon” instead of “see you soon”, I’m going to vomit.

I suppose that my aversion to the bastardization of the English language is due to the fact that I’m an old fart and a writer. I love language – the language of William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Bob Dylan. At the age of 62, I come from the “letter writing age” which sadly has gone the way of cassettes, VHS and floppy discs. Personally I don’t give a hoot about cassettes, VHS and floppy discs. In fact, I embrace the cloud and on-demand viewing! But language is hallowed ground. I’d love to know what Oscar Wilde would have to say about text shorthand.

Another pet peeve from our new “age of abbreviation” is people that send you an email and only sign their first initial. I don’t know anyone whose name is so long that writing it would represent a hardship.

I suppose that this new fangled form of writing is considered progress. Although I embrace technology, I’m devoted to my Smartphone and I cut the cable cord and stream television, I can’t get on board with text message shorthand. I suppose that’s my line in the sand. I will continue to love language and to express myself with whole words, spelled out – even in a text message. So please if you’re texting me or emailing me, write out the words and write your name at the end of an email.

Was that semi-colon some kind of flirty wink or just bad punctuation?

Azadeh Aalai

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Geri

I “Flipp” for Grocery Savings

When it came to finding deals or making deals, my late father was your guy. I’m sure he never paid retail for anything in his life and his ability to find bargains on anything was uncanny. When he retired, grocery shopping became his main outlet for finding deals. My mother retired from grocery shopping and devoted her considerable culinary talents to the creation of splendid meals while my father set off like a big game hunter to the wilds of the supermarkets. The amount of money that he managed to save on groceries was astonishing, but this endeavor was akin to a fulltime job. 

After my father passed away I began to take my mother grocery shopping on Saturday mornings. I shopped at what she considered “an expensive grocery store” and would have none of it. She began scouring flyers like a detective in search of deals. Working fulltime I don’t have the time or the inclination to run from store to store for bargains. But, there are a few stores that take competitor’s coupons, so we decided to do our Saturday morning shopping at Superstore because we were both impressed with the quality of their produce and meat and their selection. On Fridays my mother would diligently go through the weekly flyers and make her grocery list which would include the name and page number of the flyer where a coupon could be had. 

Saturday mornings we’d set off at 9am for the weekly grocery shop at Superstore. At the cash, flyers and list in hand my mother would get stressed out to the max trying to find the right flyer and the right page and the right location in the page to get her discount. I was convinced that this process was contributing to a high blood pressure. One day in the checkout line there were 2 guys behind me looking at their Smartphone and discussing the deals. They saw my mother preparing her flyers and asked if I had a Smartphone. I whipped out my Smartphone and they showed me a free app that they were using called Flipp which is available in Canada and the US for iPhone and Android. It has all the flyers in your area in several categories:

·         Automotive

·         Baby & Kids

·         Electronics

·         Fashion

·         Groceries

·         Home & Garden

·         Office

·         Pets

·         Pharmacy

·         Sporting Goods

After you download the Flipp app you put in your postal code and Flipp provides you with all the digital circulars in your geographic area. As an example, I live in mid-town Toronto and there are 125 available flyers in my area. When I select the Groceries Category, I have 43 available flyers. You can either search the flyers individually or search for the item that you’re looking for and Flipp will provide you with all the deals for that item. Once you’ve found an item in the price you want to pay you simply tap on it, which sends it to your “clippings” page. When you go to the cash you tell the cashier that you are price matching. You go to your clippings page which has all your deals. When the item comes up that you are going to price match you show the cashier the deal on your phone (which has the store and the price) and the cashier gives you the discount. It easy, fast and saves you a ton of money. My mother and I estimate that we save at least 25% on our groceries every week by using Flipp.

I know that I’m still not saving as much as my father would, but Flipp is the next best thing. 

600 grocery carts in the grocery store and I keep picking the one with the front wheel that likes to pirouette like a ballerina on speed.

Laughtard.com

Make someone smile today.

Geri

The Old Fart’s Guide To Technology

 Firstly, I should tell you that this old fart is 61. As you now have figured out, I don’t come from the computer age. In my day a calculator was the height of sophistication. When my father bought me a solar powered calculator in Hong Kong (which I still have for sentimental reasons), it was considered a wonder of modern technology. When I was a student at McGill, if you took a calculator into an exam, you were immediately expelled for cheating. Now, it’s a virtual impossibility to find anyone walking around without their electronic appendages, me included. 

Growing up, the family shared a single phone line and some families shared a “party line”. Now land lines are a thing of the past, even for old farts like me. I’ve been exclusively mobile for over 5 years now. Kids have technology DNA and innately know how to operate the most sophisticated electronic equipment. It’s second nature to them and as natural as breathing. A new survey by vouchercloud.net reports that most children get their first cell phone when they are just 6 years old. The study also found that parents also purchased other technology for their kids:

• 96% have a cell phone
• 83% have a TV or sound system
• 75% have a tablet
• 71% have a handheld gaming console
• 65% have an eBook reader
• 51% have an Xbox or Playstation

It’s no wonder that technology represents no challenge to them. They don’t know life without it. The old farts on the other hand struggle with new technology. I remember when I got my first smartphone and asked where the user manual was. The sales guy laughed at me and told me to go to YouTube. I had no idea what he was talking about and why I would want to go to YouTube. I left the shop with no clue about how to operate this contraption. Soon enough I got my first call and couldn’t answer it. I kept pressing everything in sight and no luck. So in desperation I went to YouTube, asked how to answer the phone, and eureka! I had a plethora of how to videos explaining how. 

I can’t even imagine how many hours I spent on YouTube learning how to use my smartphone. But I can tell you that I have no idea what I would have done without YouTube and my friend Erik. If you’re an old fart who wants to stay sane in this techno-world, in addition to YouTube, find a super smart techie guru friend like Erik who will tolerate old fart friends that are techno-imbeciles (and I am their Queen).

This old fart’s guide to technology is in 2 words – YouTube and Erik.

Make someone smile today.

Geri