Orange Sky Buddha

Pillows on the cot

Baby Buddha happily smiling

Nothing is missing

Walk away into the orange sky

They Burn

They burn down the world for one witch.

Trees never lie

“Trees never lie. The deer do not deceive. The sky is honest. Nature is not easy. Nature is pure and true. You live by her hand and you die at her foot.”

Android vs Apple Irritations – Keyboard Text Replacement

I’m going to describe some very specific problems & irritations of moving from iPhone to Android or even Android to Android. This could take more than one blog entry, so I’ll start with first on my mind…

KEYBOARD TEXT REPLACEMENT / SHORTCUTS

On iOS, you can create “Text Replacements” that allow you to enter a shortcut like “abt” to get the word “about.” If you get tired of entering your address, you can make one like “addr” and up pops your whole address.

Now, you can do this on Android too. The problem is, YOU CAN’T SAVE YOUR DICTIONARY! If you upgrade from the S7 to S8, all your text shortcuts are gone even if you use their Smart Switch app. You can have months, even years, of valuable shortcuts lost with no way of transferring them to your new device.

Some will say, just use the SwiftKey keyboard! Hey, it’s a great keyboard. Love it. Been using it for a long time. Guess what?? Can’t save your text shortcuts there either! Many have asked for this feature. The company’s reply is they don’t offer that feature because many people are concerned about security so they don’t save them. What?! OK, we’re already trusting you with every keystroke and entry by using your keyboard! Also, shouldn’t you be encrypting that stuff anyway?! Fail.

People familiar with iOS come to expect their Text Replacement to work. Not only that, they bitch and complain when it doesn’t automatically sync between all their devices! If only Android had something remotely as functional!

Granted, for years, iOS has had such a basic, shitty keyboard without swype that it’s a major pain hunting and pecking on their tiny keyboard for anything, especially before Apple decided to build an iPhone big enough to actually use for heavy media and social networking capability.

Now, you can finally use a 3rd party keyboard on your iPhone, but you are given a serious warning of the dangers of using such an app… Uh, they can capture everything you type. They obviously knew this and have obliged people who wish to “hang themselves” this way.

In all my searching, I’ve not found a comparable solution for Android. You can find keyboards (if you trust them with your data) that allow you to add text replacement shortcuts, but none that save them so you can restore them on a future phone upgrade. Even more significantly, there’s no comparable program like iTunes for backing up everything on your Android to make it easy to change phones. Not even people who root their Android devices, I have, can succeed at this. Going to a new device with a backup of a previous and different Android device won’t work. I don’t even like iTunes, but at least it backs up your phone–even the details. Apple’s cloud backup isn’t as detailed, btw. If you upgrade your device, you can restore your old apps and data on the new phone. Android has this but in a partial way. It’s open to the 3rd party app developer but many don’t take advantage of this. So, you end up losing valuable data from specific apps. Apps like a keyboard or a GPS program with hundred of waypoints. Then you have to go in one by one to restore that data in each app. For text replacement shortcuts, there’s no solution. The idea of pressing one button to backup it all is a luxury Apple users take for granted and demand, while Android uses are used to taking a “back seat” and can expect to do countless hours of restoration. If you accept being treated like second class citizens, you probably will be.

This leads me to the next, and broader topic, of backup solutions for Android compared to iOS. I’ll cover that in another blog to come!

If you have found a solution to the above problem, I’d love to hear about it in the comments section!

Fenix 5s Differences I Don’t Like

First I’d like to say that all the smartwatches and other high technology is amazing!

With that out of the way, I’ll get right in to the more personal, user experience side of things with the Fenix 5s compared to the Fenix 3.

I was luck enough to get my hands on the new Fenix 5s a few days ago. What sold me? The smaller size and thought that everything else would basically remain the same or get better. Well, not everything has gotten better. Here’s what I’ve noticed:

1. Lots of my favorite Fenix 3 watch faces and widgets just aren’t available/compatible with the new Fenix 5s. I’m sure many developers will update their apps/faces to accommodate the new 5s, but it’s unknown. With the Apple Watch, 38mm and 42mm are basically interchangeable for all apps and watch faces–they thought it out better than Garmin. Some of the watch faces and widgets not available significantly reduces the daily enjoyment and usefulness of the new Fenix 5s. One watch face I’ve really come to enjoy that is not available on the 5s is the SuLu-24. One widget is a handy calendar app. Garmin seriously needs to have some professionals design watch faces.
2. The Stopwatch is not as intuitive if you want to check the time while using it. With the Fenix 3, you can press the Back button to check the time and leave the Stopwatch running. The Fenix 5 version does have improved functionality by allowing you to review all the laps you record, the trouble is that it uses the Back button to start a new lap. So how do you exit to check the time? I discovered by chance that if you hold down the Down button (lower-left) you can see the time screen again. Nothing indicates that this is how to do it. I’m sure this annoyance will be ironed out eventually.
3. The watch looks boring! If you want the 42mm size, you sacrifice all the personality of the watch imo. The 5 and 5x versions still look good enough. I know the 5s was designed with ladies in mind, but considering that the average man watch these days is about 42mm, Garmin should offer one that size that’s more appealing to men. It really looks like a cheap fashion watch they put in a bin at Walgreens or some such store. They do offer a black bezel version, but it’s lacking the screws and angled contours of the 5 / 5x (and 3). You can buy a few overpriced bands from Garmin currently, but putting your own band on it is not much of an option the way the lugs are made. Also, the design of the watch isn’t like Apple’s where you may be able to put a protector on it to make it look like a G-Shock or something else.
4.  There’s no obvious way to turn off Bluetooth! This one really mystifies me. On the Fenix 3 you go to Settings > Bluetooth > Status Off. There’s no such option on the Fenix 5s / 5 / 5x. You can select Do Not Disturb, but the Bluetooth connection stays on. It seems that in an attempt to make the watch more “lady friendly” they’ve taken away “confusing” techno jargon like Bluetooth in the menu (and of course Wifi doesn’t exist in the hardware). When I sleep at night, I don’t want Bluetooth or any other wireless device near my head. Since the Fenix has sleep tracking, keeping it on at night is presumed.

This is my short list. Most of the issues could be addressed with a firmware update, but it’s unknown as of now if it would address these issues. As for the looks, maybe they’ll decide to design one that looks better on men and has some personality.

Up until the Fenix 3, you needed the arms of a gorilla to pull off wearing the Fenix as a watch. Now that Garmin’s done the impossible by putting all that cool technology in a smaller size, they’ve made the annoying mistake of “feminizing” it too much. I suspect it won’t just be men who aren’t looking for a girl’s costume jewelry watch for $600.

For now, I’ll keep wearing my “wall clock” Fenix 3 HR for workouts. Wearing it 24/7 just won’t work for me. The 5s is just to blah and the 5 isn’t so much smaller than the Fenix 3 that it warrants the expensive purchase.

All these devices are amazing technology, but there’s room to keep improving.

Notice anything I missed? Let me know!

Chapter of the Forest

This is the chapter of the forest on Deer Lake Mountain.

Just settling in for some time in Nature to heal, balance and be present with the Infinite.

All beings communicate both inwardly and outwardly. Still the noise within you while in Nature and you can perceive it. The Deep Silence opens up things we rarely hear.

Goodnight from the Forest.

-PMW

—

“Chapter Of The Forest”

(By Trevor Hall)

[Verse 1:]

I meet my Lord down by the river side

It hits me almost every time

Beauty runs so deep, that its hard to sleep at night

This is the chapter of the forest

Every line, and every chorus

From my heart it comes a pouring

Into every single melody

Flame without the smoke

Harness all the poetry

I swear I’ll never choke

Because I only speak of Narmada

Hara hara everyday

Make my love down at her waters

Calling on the mountain starter
[Chorus:]

No more books, no more empty words

No more running away from her

I now learn from the wind and rain

From the song of the lion’s mane

And as it touches and sun and moon

I sit back and behold that tomb

Of glory upon her name

We say hara hara hara Narmada
[Verse 2:]

Well the one simple perspires

With a face that burns like fire

That’s where I lay my body down

Yeah, and in my dream I heard the lesson

Of the vault that holds the heavens in

So now I gaze upon the crowd, yeah

You see my woman she is stainless

I slip her at the base

Touch the face, all the Gods come out the mountain

Sweet embrace

You see her song it can’t be heard

Unless you let go of the world

So I laid it all down

And I behold what I heard
[Chorus:]

No more books, no more empty words

No more running away from her

I now learn from the wind and rain

From the song of the lion’s mane

And as it touches the sun and moon

I sit back and behold her tomb

All glory upon her name

We say hara hara hara Narmada

Pine Mountains for This Walker

Not long ago, I finally got a piece of land in the mountains, filled with pines and many other trees, plants and animals–40 acres up against about 1000+ acres of timer and paper company land. The trails lead all around the mountains between two beautiful lakes in northeast Washington state.

Despite the piece of paper calling me the owner, from out here, I do not feel like I own the mountains.

Because I have not had this land for even one year, I do not know how she responds to the seasons. I visit often to learn how things change with the seasons, but so far we have only just met.

Before finding the right land, I made a deal not to so much develop the land, but tend it. So much of the earth today is seen as a mere resource–a soulless commodity. To me, the earth is a living being and we are Her children. If all I do is allow the land to heal and grow, my main objective will be accomplished. So I’m trying to take things slowly.

Often when city dwellers acquire land, they become overwhelmed with thoughts and ambitions. The vastness of the land, compared to their “postage stamp” yard in the burbs or city, creates a very expansive feeling. Having owned land in the past, and submerging myself with dreams and ambitions, I’m making my best effort to simply “be” with the land. It is hard indeed.

I have not made the move to the land as of yet. Camping is as far as it has gone. Because it is very rural, some common sense planning is required. For now, the land and I have some time to spend together.

Hiding in the Insignificant

This sounds very much like Dao philosophy. Taking the lower position like water, yet being stronger than all else.

Striving to display one’s own significance or greatness does not achieve the goal of the one seeking wisdom or enlightenment. Instead, it throws a veil over your true greatness–your Source.

Focus on simplifying being who you truly are,  but that also requires the lifelong work of discovering your true self. To me the true self is a river–always changing, yet identifiable.

Finally, gratitude emanates from living authentically with the capacity to truly see on a deeper level. Awareness may bring to light the bad in the world, but true appreciation comes from seeing and resting with things just as they are.

All of reality is embraced with appreciation the moment we say “yes” to what is.

Jawbone Up24 Not Plugged In

So I bought a Jawbone Up24 on March  3rd and felt all pumped to start using this small device to gain some awareness about my health habits. I won’t do a full review now, but I will mention a couple issues.

One is a general problem with tech companies rushing products to market before they are ready. Companies seem reassured that they can promise firmware updates to their customers, but this is annoying if not very problematic for those needing to use the device they bought.

For years I’ve had a Garmin Forerunner 305, which is an amazing GPS exercise device! No problems whatsoever. It is, however, too large to wear around like a watch. So this brings me back to the Jawbone Up24.

As I mentioned, this won’t be a complete review, but there are a some problems that have come up in the first week of owning the Up24 worth mentioning.

One particularly bothersome one is that my Up24 doesn’t always gather my sleep data–one of the main reasons I bought it. I press the button to start the sleep monitor, sleep,  then wake up and press the button again. Sometimes Up shows my sleep data, other times it doesn’t. One trick I discovered, if the data isn’t entered automatically, is entering sleep data manually. This is no big trick, but the “trick” part is that the Up seems to have the data recorded inside it from your night’s sleep, so when you manually enter your sleep time it populates your phone with the proper data. For example, if you enter 10PM to 6AM, after syncing your Up it will show the time you were awake, in light sleep and deep sleep. This is a pretty handy workaround, but this doesn’t always work either! Sometimes, it will just show a big “block” of sleep without any sleep details.

One to the problems is that of being “Not Plugged In.” This morning, I woke up and my Up24 would not sync with my iPhone–the only brand that currently “works.” After pressing the button and a few times, I could see my Up was unresponsive, so I plugged it in just to see what would happen. After a couple minutes, it was responsive again! Lest you think I let my batter run dry, nay! nay! My Up was charged and ready to go for another seven days upon hitting my pillow for sleep, so I have no idea what happened or why. Up just froze.

I went ahead and manually entered my sleep time, but did this time I didn’t get any useful data…no deep sleep, light sleep or wake time calculated. Yesterday the sleep monitory worked fine, so I wasn’t horribly saddened, but it did make me want to give my Up a little more attention–to investigate.

For the first time, I plugged my Up24 into my computer as instructed in the little manual and downloaded the “Updater.” Please note the name “Updater.” After everything was installed on my Windows 7 laptop, I restarted my web browser, but the notification icon said that my Up was “Not Plugged In.” So, I restarted my laptop to try again. Same problem still! This time, I search the Jawbone forum to find out more. It turns out, unsurprisingly, I’m not the only one with this issue! The answer given on the forum, by an administrator, was that the Updater only charges the Up… What?? OK. So I hit the “Reply” button to ask the administrator the obvious, “Why is it called an ‘Updater’ if it cannot update nor even connect to the Up device?” When I hit reply, though, instead of allowing me to ask my question, the Jawbone forum forwarded me to a useless page with no opportunity to reply! So, this is why I decided to post this story–I couldn’t post on the Jawbone Up forum about it.

Here is a screenshot of the forum answer from the Admin about why the “Updater” doesn’t work:

The hopeful statement at the end is, “…at this time.” So this brings me back full circle to the beginning of my post. Tech companies are rushing gadgets to market that aren’t ready.

To be fair, technology is difficult to develop and make to “just work” like a spoon or a hammer. As a computer professional, I get this, so at this point I’m hopeful that Jawbone will eventually get the Updater working and…um…updating the firmware on their Up24 devices. Until  then, guess I have an expensive pedometer.

Feel free to comment or ask any questions here! You won’t be forward to a useless page telling you to buy more useless gadgets!

I hope this helps someone.

Tales from the (Russian) Taiga: 70 years vs. 6 months