Verizon Cloud or Motorola Migrate? Content Transfer a Snap With New Droid Turbo

Mother's Day, 2015. We had just landed in Saint Martin, grabbed a cab and checked into our hotel. It was then, in the cool, Italian style bathroom that my Droid Turbo fell into the toilet.

It worked briefly before going out with a strong finish by crackling and popping during a final call to the states. That night I finagled my way around the internet via my laptop and had a new phone being delivered on Tuesday. One catch, it was going to my home address, and required a signature. This was avoided by changing the delivery address to a family business with a receptionist to sign for the package. Tuesday morning, immediately following its' delivery the phone goes to the local Fedex center for an overnight trip to Saint Martin. It arrived about 2:45pm on Wednesday and I plugged it in to charge.

Thursday was spent driving around the island trying different towers for an activation. No success; a phone call to Verizon told me that I could only activate a new phone with a Verizon tower, and there were none here. Quick thinking led to a swap of sim cards, old to new, hoping that the sim card was not damaged in the dunk. After the card exchange the Verizon agent was able to link my old sim (account activation) with my new device. That was like magic.

Over the next seven days I redesigned my home page and added apps. Once home my old phone came back to life when hooked to the PC. I was able to execute both Cloud and Migrate features for the first time and transfer my content.

First I tried the Cloud method. For this you have to have backed up your content to the Verizon Cloud. My device said the most recent backup was just a few weeks prior so I felt lucky and proceeded. The device led me thru simple steps and took little time. All finished and most stuff made the transfer, but not all. Frustrated, I repeated the process again with Cloud.
Same results.

Researching the issues online led me to the mention of Migrate, Motorola Migrate. Back to the phone, and app store for Migrate. I open Migrate and follow their steps to transfer content. A short time later it's finished. This time I have all of my content.
A miracle.

Lucky for me I had purchased some equipment replacement insurance back then on Mother's Day because that phone took a tumble onto rough blacktop outside the nail salon. Serious cracks.
( At this point I had no knowledge of the one time only Screen Replacement provision offered by Verizon) I file a claim with Asurion for a replacement phone.

Thursday night, July 29th UPS dropped off my new Droid Turbo. ( I shouldn't say new because it is clear that this phone is a reconditioned item.) Set on the charger overnight, I also backed up the cracked phone to Cloud to prepare. In the morning I started the Cloud transfer again. It was frustrating to again find missing contacts and content. Feeling comfortable with the Migrate app I repeated and quickly restored total content.

Great. Until the 31st of July when the device starts showing clear signs of defect. Volume issues plague both the phone ringer and the earpiece making calls somewhat crippled. I contact Asurion customer service and they respond by shipping a sim card. A sim card? Two weeks later and the phone is no better. Finally I make another call to customer service with the same issues remaining unresolved. On August 17th Asurion sends me another replacement phone, this time a new, factory sealed phone.

On the charger and ready for a morning transfer. This time I opt to try Migrate first, hoping to see total content the first time around. Migrate works smoothly and I check the results. Nope, disappointment again. At least I tried; so this time the only way to transfer everything was to now run Cloud. That worked. So in the end it didn't matter which one was first, you had to run both apps to get all content restored.

Create a Pinterest Widget for Your Blogger Pages

Adding widgets and links to your blog will not only help it get a nice fat rank in search engines but also gives interest and entertainment to your readers.
As you customize your blog you will undoubtedly find yourself looking for options to add a Pinterest link of some sort.

It was finding myself in that place which led me to find the two most popular options. First you have your basic Pinterest button. The big "P" so to speak.

If you want to just add the button to your blog follow these simple steps: Pinterest Buttons for Blogger. This button will just suggest Pinterest to your readers without being too flashy.

The other option allows you a little more flash by showing a sample of your boards. You tweak the widget to build a Pinterest billboard which allows readers to enter you Pinterest pages. As you can see below this is a beefy chunk of real estate that showcases your Pinterest pics... nice.
Try it here, Widget Builder - Pinterest for Business





by Linda Maintanis

Donate Spit to Science - Common Tech for the Common Cold Healthcare - Scanadu - Linda Maintanis

If you've been reading me lately you already know about the nasty germ I picked up from a toddler; he was competing in an Olympic Cough event on a Delta Airlines flight November 30... Yes, that germ was live and contagious so along with a couple of hundred other folks I was infected.

My own symptoms were of  a sinus infection with a touch of pleurisy. After two weeks I began to tire of the flavor of mucus and was spending way too much time online. Then, a post on Facebook led me to a surprise, to Scanadu.

It read, "Scanadu Invites You to Donate Your Spit for Science!"

Do you have a cough, fever, sore throat, achy muscles and/or a runny nose? YES!

If You Do, help us better understand the biology of upper respiratory infections and/or the flu. Your spit may, down the line, help reduce unnecessary antibiotic use, help limit the spread of respiratory pathogens and contribute to a new product design.

I read more and learn that all participants will receive a $10 Amazon gift card for their contribution. Sweet.

I find the idea that someone is tracking which bacteria and viruses are in sick people's mouths clever. Mapping them by region and specific strains is brilliant. Imagine watching a wave of pathogens shift around the country...hmmm, maybe the contagious toddler from the Delta flight had spread germs out of his home base, Raleigh, NC.

Count me in.
I completed the online application and as promised, received my collection vial
in a plain brown wrapper.

Instructions are provided and quite simple. The plastic collection vial is well designed and it's just like they say.

They want your spit.

Next, you complete a brief, very brief, questionnaire and seal it all back into the pre-labeled box they provide you with.

I dropped mine into
the mailbox today.
The webpage says that when they receive the sample they will send
the gift card.

New Modem, New Router? Things Here May Never Be the Same, Coping With Transition Fears

When I heard the voice on the phone tell me that my problematic modem was from 2004, "and no, it was not under warranty", I reacted with mixed emotions. The idea that my difficulty had a diagnosis and could be fixed was pleasing, but the thought of a disruption in a system that was "still working" was not.

  

A trip to Walmart for the modem left me empty handed. They had not a single one in stock. So, off I went to Staples... thinking that that delay should have been avoided. Staples was well-stocked and with some helpful advice I had a modem in hand. I purchased the Motorola SURFboard SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem for $89.99. Installation was quick, like five minutes, with no disruption in service.

But, my problems didn't go away. Things on the network were moving very slooooowly. Apple TV and Slingbox, in particular, were skippy. And just forget about the computer, I would literally count the minutes waiting to open a program... if you're reading this then you must have had the experience.

So, six weeks later, with serious trepidation, I find myself at the threshold of a new ROUTER. Yes, many fingers had pointed in that direction and I had to put my fears aside and face the task. My fears of having to set it up with a new password. To have to type in a new network key and password for three Apple TV's, Slingbox and a multitude of WiFi accessories was causing me to tremble.

So, I did what needed to be done. A call to our IT man got me a qualified recommendation. The TL-R600VPN 4-Port Gigabit Broadband VPN Router, from TP-Link for $61.99 at Newegg. Really? really.

The installation was no big deal to get done. I had absolutely no reason to be fearful of a system collapse. In fact, I can see the difference in performance - a huge change in speed and function.So, all-in-all a smart and easy upgrade.