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Re: Mobile devices and jargon
joemikeb #42726 11/10/16 11:53 PM
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Sounds like recognition is about as on the mark as auto-correct.

My personal choice would be "Yo, stupid!"


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Re: Mobile devices and jargon
grelber #43256 12/22/16 11:40 AM
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Returning to my lack of understanding and consternation and desire for elucidation vis-à-vis the costing of smartphone use:

I have asked friends and relatives about their use of such, and nary a one can explain the charges. This from people who would ordinarily comparison shop to save a couple of shekels on any given item. I must conclude that they are numbskulls when it comes to their communication needs.

Apparently whatever "data" is, it is measured in GB. Can anybody give me a sense of how one might calculate the various types of cellphone uses in terms of GB? By that I mean how many phone calls make up a GB? And how many/much of other things make up a GB? I have absolutely no sense or comprehension of how one might determine potential usage.
Everything I see tells me that service providers (eg, telecoms) are purely and simply fraud artists trying to scam people for as much as they can.

Re: Mobile devices and jargon
grelber #43257 12/22/16 02:43 PM
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Trying to measure the cost of cell phone usage by measuring GB is about as effective as trying to measure the cost of shipping a package by measuring gallons of fuel used. There are just too many other important variables involved to get an accurate number.


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Re: Mobile devices and jargon
grelber #43259 12/22/16 03:12 PM
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As an example of data when you open a web page on your iPhone data is transmitted to the host site requesting the page and data is received from the site containing the information and graphics on the page. How much data is involved is a function of the page itself, the graphics on the page, and in the end the skill of the site developer. There really is no way of knowing in advance. Think of data as anything used by the browser or for that matter any app on the iPhone that needs to access data from the internet. There are so many variables that any effort to predict the size of the data transfer is doomed to failure.


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Re: Mobile devices and jargon
grelber #43260 12/22/16 05:16 PM
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Originally Posted By: grelber
By that I mean how many phone calls make up a GB?


Phone calls do not generate gigabyte usage. Just about every major provider in the U.S. these days gives unlimited nationwide calling. There are some pay as you go type plans that have a limit on the number of minutes, not calls, you can talk.

As stated above, there are a lot of cell phone actions that generate GB usage, many of them unknown or unsuspected by the user. But if the actions are via a wi-fi network and not the phone company's cellular network, there should be no GB usage. There are some providers who offer plans that are exceptions to this last statement.

At one time an AT&T customer service person said I could stream 14 hours of music and consume "only" 2 GB. More recently, with the Internet down, streaming 3 hours of Netflix over the cellular network resulted in about 0.75 GB of data usage. Doing the same two activities over a wi-fi network, for me, would result in 0.00 GB of usage.


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Re: Mobile devices and jargon
Ira L #43262 12/22/16 06:29 PM
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Your last statement of course takes us into the realm of sketchy wifi networks and the possibility of having one's devices and personal information compromised. Decided downside.

And everyone's responses take me to my last statement in the previous post, namely that you are at the mercy of your service provider which is more than willing to screw you over for the sake of a buck.

So my reluctance to engage with mobile devices because I can never know what it's going to cost me until after the fact is completely warranted. Until a deal comes along which lays out all the whys, whats and wherefors in a solidly comprehensive and understandable fashion (such as buying car or a lunch), I can see no way of my entering the world of mobile devices or other such stuff.

Thanks to all for the information. And, of course, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

Re: Mobile devices and jargon
grelber #43265 12/23/16 04:53 PM
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If you have avoided mobile devices until now you can probably continue to do so. Kind of like automatic garage door openers—not necessary but at some point it makes things easier.

However, unlike garage door openers, as you have pointed out, there are potential downsides.

(Hmm, could the remote opener signal get hacked providing entrance…?)


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: Mobile devices and jargon
Ira L #43266 12/23/16 06:00 PM
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Originally Posted By: Ira L
(Hmm, could the remote opener signal get hacked providing entrance…?)

Short and sweet [sic]: Yes. There have been many articles on how that's down; it's basically a proximity issue — if someone is in range of your opener when you use it, they can capture and clone your signal.

Re: Mobile devices and jargon
Ira L #43267 12/23/16 08:35 PM
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Originally Posted By: Ira L
(Hmm, could the remote opener signal get hacked providing entrance…?)
We used to Iive near the final approach to an airport. Every radio transmission from an aircraft on final would open, or close, the garage door until we unplugged the door opener. Now we live near two major television stations and the only thing we have to worry about are the traffic copters talking to air traffic control.

Last edited by joemikeb; 12/23/16 08:36 PM.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Mobile devices and jargon
Ira L #43268 12/23/16 09:28 PM
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Originally Posted By: Ira L
(Hmm, could the remote opener signal get hacked providing entrance…?)

Originally Posted By: grelber
...it's basically a proximity issue — if someone is in range of your opener when you use it, they can capture and clone your signal.

No so much anymore. For at least ten years now (in two different homes) our garage doors have generated "rolling codes", which are used to prevent replays by people capturing a signal.

Last edited by ryck; 12/23/16 09:32 PM.

ryck

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Re: Mobile devices and jargon
joemikeb #43269 12/23/16 09:29 PM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
We used to Iive near the final approach to an airport. Every radio transmission from an aircraft on final would open, or close, the garage door….

Sounds like the old joke about the guy with the faulty pacemaker….every time he sneezed, his neighbour's garage door opened.

Last edited by ryck; 12/23/16 09:30 PM.

ryck

"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers

iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4
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Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software
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Re: Mobile devices and jargon
ryck #43270 12/23/16 11:29 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: ryck
Originally Posted By: Ira L
(Hmm, could the remote opener signal get hacked providing entrance…?)

Originally Posted By: grelber
...it's basically a proximity issue — if someone is in range of your opener when you use it, they can capture and clone your signal.

No so much anymore. For at least ten years now (in two different homes) our garage doors have generated "rolling codes", which are used to prevent replays by people capturing a signal.

Excellent. At least the industry recognized and dealt with the issue. Now if only others would follow suit to preclude "invasion" potential in their products.

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