Coup Averted

A factual data creation facility production. medically on the floor.

OFNT and Friends podcast. Now here's this week's host, Adam Stone. Why, thank you, Chris. Welcome to the inaugural episode of OFNT and Friends. This week we'll be discussing, wait, let's talk about this. Thanks, John. It's always good to have someone on the inside of a coup attempt. You're welcome, Jim. Don't worry about the others. I'll keep them in line for you. I really appreciate that, John. You know, you've always been my favorite.

resurrect adam and chris once you feel they've learned their lesson will do boss it would be my pleasure need anything before i go nah that'll do it for now i'll talk to you later well with that drama sorted i'll get

Tech news. Again, mostly giant fruit company news this week. Hmm. I'm starting to detect a pattern here, I must say. Unfortunately, you're correct, Beth. I'm working to correct that for the future. According to AndroidAuthority.com, Google Chat is getting an upgrade. I'd all but forgotten about Google Chat and haven't used it in many years. I guess it's still a thing.

This upgrade will bring the ability to schedule messages with the user able to set the exact date and time for message delivery, along with a view of all scheduled messages in one convenient place. Google Chat is also getting some features of the Big G's Gemini Digital Assistant, which will let users use the digital assistant within conversations. Not only is Google bringing these features to app-based versions of Gmail chat,

but also to the web version. It's amazing what info you can find by tearing apart APK files, isn't it? Yes. These new features will benefit business users of Gmail the most, I think. Do you use Google Chat or do you even remember it?

Microsoft recently celebrated the company's 50th anniversary this month. Love them or hate them, the world basically runs on their software, especially governments and businesses. An article on AndroidPolice.com makes a suggestion that Microsoft should celebrate this occasion by re-releasing Windows Phone. Uh-oh. Well, you'd know I'd be all aboard something like that. And that a rant for me is probably inbound. I might eventually get around to that.

The tiled user interface of Windows Phone didn't work so good on computers but was wonderful on a mobile operating system. The UI was called Metro UI, and at a glance, you could tell the weather or what your friends and family are up to, as well as other information like missed messages, for example. Windows Phone's code was so tight it could run on the cheapest handset to the most luxurious flagship phone with no significant speed penalty.

The author of the article points out that Metro UI formed a connection to the user in comparison to modern phone UIs which seem disconnected. Even the vaunted iOS with its integration into Apple's old garden ecosystem feels cold in comparison. Well, at least to me. Microsoft's software keyboard was the best I've ever used. None that I've used since can compare to it. And that includes Microsoft's current SwiftKeybase keyboard.

When you had Windows Phone running on Nokia hardware, there was no competition. My favorite was the Nokia Lumia 925. For its time, it had a large screen and was ultra thin. Of course, being it was from Nokia, it was built like a tank. No bend gate here. It felt solid in the hand, and that feeling carried over to when you were texting. I can't really explain it, but it was the most solid feeling texting experience. While using the 925 you knew you were using a quality product.

The other phone that came close was the iPhone 4S. Close but not equal to the Lumia 925. Another phone in this vein was the Motorola-made Nexus 6, which was my favorite Nexus of all time. While my current iPhone 15 Pro Max is a solid piece of equipment, it still doesn't match the feeling I experience while using the Lumia 925 or the iPhone 4S. Windows Phone failed because it lacked third-party apps, especially social media apps.

The death knell for the mobile operating system was when Google refused to bring its suite of apps over to it. And that's why I hold a grudge to this day against that company. It's too bad that there's no chance of Windows Phone being re-released. There's plenty of room for competition within the mobile operating system duopoly we exist in, with each moving towards each other until the day when they become one.

Again from AndroidPolice.com, which is becoming my favorite Android-centric website. They have an article where the author attempts to ditch the Google ecosystem in favor of the Proton app suite because of his concern over privacy, which is a valid concern of the Google ecosystem. Well, all ecosystems have privacy risks, but Google's constant scraping of users' info stands out. The better to target you for advertisements, my dearies.

Due to recent court decisions, the privacy problem might work itself out. Time will tell. Proton is a company out of Switzerland that provides end-to-end encryption for all of its products and guarantees your info won't be shared with anyone. Not even themselves. The company started off with a standalone email product, but has expanded to include a VPN service, calendar, cloud drive, and password manager. Within the cloud drive, you have a word processor app.

I subscribe to Proton's suite of apps and have run into some of the same problems as the author of this article. The one app I would use next to email is word processing. Proton Docs is nothing more than a very basic word processor. Think WordStar 1.1. Sure, you can get the job done with it, but for anything besides a basic letter, there are virtually no formatting options.

The ones that do exist are not easily found because of its archaic menu system. And there's no spreadsheet, presentation creator, or video conferencing app, and all of which are a must for business users. Another problem is that the Proton apps don't integrate with each other. These absences and substandard feature issues may be corrected in the future, but how long will that be?

As I've stated in the past, the Proton App Suite is not ready for prime time, and the author of the article agrees with me.

Now, speaking of trends, one of the latest is the shift of smartphone manufacturing out of China. Apple is attempting to do this, and if an article from AndroidAuthority.com is to believe, Google is considering the same thing. Well, sort of. Except in this case, it's Vietnam.

that's the country where google manufactures the company's pixel phones like apple google will be making their phones in india the excuse being used for these moves is the tariffs placed on vietnam and china for goods imported from them I'm sure this has something to do with these moves, but at least in China's case, more is happening. Over the last decade, doing business in China has been becoming more difficult because of the government there.

I don't know the reason why the high tariffs were placed on Vietnam, though. I do know that the country signed a series of agreements with China a couple of months ago. I'd wager that was the main reason. Apple wants nearly every iPhone 18 sold in the U.S. to come from India.

according to a source from the financial times apple will dramatically accelerate manufacturing efforts in india with the goal of importing every iphone sold in the u.s from that country by the end of 2026 That's good news for both India and Apple, I guess. The only problem with ramping up iPhone production in India is China.

The government there has been trying to convince local supply chain companies into not moving to India, and it's putting pressure on Foxconn and Luxshare, the companies that assemble iPhones, to do the same. There's also labor considerations to consider. Chinese workers work during two 12-hour shifts, while in India there will be three 8-hour shifts. This will cause Apple to have to hire more workers.

The Chinese government has also blocked shipments of iPhone manufacturing equipment to India. And the equipment that has made it to India has system menus that are in Chinese, making it harder to use by local labor. what i see happening is what nokia used to do That company spread out its production. Some phones were manufactured in the company's home of Finland. Some were made in Romania and Mexico. And some were made in China. That's the way it should be for Apple.

Many countries require Apple to locally produce phones for sale, so I think we can look forward to Apple to continue diversifying its manufacturing in the future.

Apple Insider.com is also reporting that the new budget iPhone, and I use the word budget loosely, the iPhone 16e, has had stronger demand than the iPhone SE3 had at its launch. This has given Apple a boost in the mid-range smartphone market. This counteracts the tech media's doom and gloom prediction for the iPhone 16e. iPhone SE3, but I plan on bringing him into the modern era of iPhones with a 16E this August by getting him one first birthday.

While bouncing this idea off him recently, he was resistant of giving up the small size of his SE3 for the larger screen of the 16E. It's true that the latter phone is physically larger than his current phone but not that much larger. For that slight increase in size he'll be gaining a lot of display real estate which is always a good thing.

I also plan on getting my eldest daughter a 16e, but her birthday isn't until November. And by then, there might be an iPhone 17e, if the rumors are correct. Then again, Apple may decide to continue with the SE Series slower update cycle for the E-Series, which was about every three years.

True to their title, MacRumors.com has an article which quotes the former king of Apple leakers, Mr. Ming-Chi Kuo, as saying the rumored iPhone 17 Air model will be equipped with 12 gigs of RAM, just like the Pro models. This joins the rumor that, like the iPhone 17 Pro models, the 17 Air will have a display capable of 120Hz screen refresh rate. Yay! The current 60 hertz refresh rate, the screens of the non-pro variants of the iPhones have been a knock on those models for a very long time. Yeah.

Though hesitant at first, I'm now leaning heavily towards making the iPhone 17 Air my next phone. My lovely wife will probably go that way too. That is until Apple comes out with a foldable form factor iPhone. When that happens, she can trade in her 17 Air for it. Now, if Apple had put a 120Hz refresh rate into its newly introduced iPad Air, well, I'd have already had a 12.9 inch one sitting here with me. Oh well. Perhaps next time.

The Apple Watch arrived 10 years ago this month. Who would have thought back then that it would go on to become the biggest selling watch in the world? When it first launched, the Apple Watch was aimed at augmenting your iPhone. sort of a way to get your notifications and such without having to constantly stare at your phone over the years it has evolved into an exercise and health monitoring device and that's the only reason i still keep it on my wrist today

I did wear the first model of the Apple Watch. My youngest daughter bought me one for my birthday back in 2015. I wore it on my left wrist while wearing a Fitbit on my right wrist. I remember that Apple Watch is being chunky and slow and found it to be a pain in the butt to raise it to my face just right in order to activate its screen.

I almost ditched wearing the thing but purchased a Series 3 which brought many improvements. The battery life was the biggest improvement at that time. I still wasn't convinced until seeing a co-worker's Series 5. That model edited and always on screen that made the Apple Watch more acceptable to me. My wife and I both bought ourselves Series 7 Apple Watches for our wedding anniversary back in 2020.

I could still be wearing that Series 7. It did everything I needed it to, but this past wedding anniversary, my wife suggested we get each other the current Series 10. this model has a larger higher resolution display good for my aging old fart eyes it's a tad thinner and has better battery life in other words not much of an upgrade from our series 7.

The feature I like most about it is how fast it can charge. Sometimes I don't place the watch on its charger properly while going to bed or it somehow gets knocked off the charger during the night. I can get the watch up to a 50% charge in about 15 minutes. The 50% is enough to get me through my workout and then I can let the watch charge while I'm in the shower. I'm considering getting an Apple Watch Ultra next, depending on how that model evolves.

I'm intrigued with the notion of not having to have my phone with me while out and about. It's the future. Perhaps it is, Hope. Perhaps. The only other Apple news, or more correctly, rumor, is a leaker account on X, Fixed Focus Digital, who predicted the iPhone 16e along with its correct name, is now saying there is indeed an iPhone 17e coming.

The model even has a project code. This account has also previously predicted that unlike the SE series, the E series would be updated on an annual basis.

My Peloton bike is holding up well, even as Peloton seems to be shifting away from mainly indoor cycling exercises. I noticed this shift back in January, evidenced by a dearth of live cycling classes available to be taken. These cycling classes were replaced primarily by treadmill workouts with a sprinkling of yoga and rowing classes.

This leads me to believe that the expensive Peloton rowing machine hasn't sold as well as the company would have liked it to. Hey Jim, don't forget to mention that the old head of Apple Fitness Plus... Thank you for reminding me about that, Hope. Yeah, there's that. And he's had time to settle in and start making changes. I used Apple Fitness Plus exclusively in the past, and the indoor cycling part of it occupied only a small space within the Fitness Plus ecosystem.

Perhaps that's what we can expect to be the direction Peloton will be heading in. Figures, I bought my Peloton bike just four months ago and that would just be my luck. The reason I switched to Peloton from Apple Fitness Plus is because I used that app for mainly indoor cycling and I didn't care for the few cycling instructors on that platform. Recently, Peloton has been trimming the number of indoor cycling and structures it has on its platform, but luckily I didn't use any of them.

A few months ago, Peloton introduced its Strength Plus app, but I misunderstood it. I thought I would have to pay extra in order to use it. Wrong! Of course I understand that I was wrong. Being that I'm a Peloton app subscriber, the Strength Plus app is available to me gratis. Last week I started using the non-instructor guided strength programs within the app, and I can say I'm enjoying it.

I still have to augment the full body workout blocks the app generates though. This week I'm planning on starting kettlebell workouts on the days I don't do regular strength training. All of these new ways to exercise keep me and I'm sure other users of Peloton off the bike, which is probably the intention of the new CEO of Peloton. Apparently, he's intending to mold the Peloton Fitness ecosystem into the image of Apple Fitness Plus.

Sort of sad because Peloton made their mark by bringing the live indoor cycle experience to individual homes. Competitor Echelon has many more live rides from studios around the country, seemingly starting every hour or so, though their classes and instructors aren't as polished as Pelotons and neither are the production standards. The way I look at it, change brings with it opportunity.

I've just have to convince the one whom must be obeyed into letting me purchase a Peloton tread. Well, good luck with that, bro. As for other proof that Peloton is moving away from indoor cycling, lately I've been getting bombarded with ads for Peloton during a lot of podcasts I listen to. mostly before, during, and after, on audio dramas that deal with the paranormal. The ads appear to be directed towards females, and the Peloton bike is not mentioned. But the Peloton tread sure is.

From this I've made the following deductions. Who are you supposed to be now? Some sort of Sherlock Holmes? I'll ignore that for now. Here are my deductions. A. The expensive Peloton tread most likely has a larger profit margin for the company than the cycle. B. Most Peloton users are female. And C. Women must be the largest listeners of paranormal drama podcasts. While I would love to have a Peloton tread, I'll be sticking to the bike as my main source of cardio exercise for now.

My favorite RSS News Feed app is NetNewsWire. It's free to use and has a wonderful, easy to use interface. Recently though, I've been having problems with the iOS version of the app. When you first open the app, you're presented with a list of RSS feeds you follow with options of reading all feeds, individual feeds, or today's feeds only. When you've finished with a feed, you are able to navigate back to the start page by pressing a back arrow in the upper left-hand corner of the app.

That back arrow key disappeared suddenly. forcing you to swipe through all these stories. And to get back to the star page, you had to close the app and wait for a new update to the RSS feed itself. What? Sounds confusing? Well, it was. This made NetNewsWire on the iPhone pretty much unusable for me. The iPadOS version worked fine, thank goodness.

I'm on Apple's beta program and this problem started with the iOS 18.4 beta. I had thought that it was NetNewsWire's fault and waited for an update. An update which never came. Upon updating to the iOS 18.5 beta last week, all is fine with the app. So the problem was iOS's fault or something. I guess that's what you get from living on the edge like I do.

Live on DAZN Worldwide, May 2nd and 3rd, Garcia versus Romero and Canelo versus Skull. Friday from 6 p.m. Eastern, Garcia returns in a history-making Times Square takeover. 24 hours later, Saturday from... The Undisputed Crown. May 2nd and 3rd, a knockout weekend of boxing. Pick one or go all in for only $90 exclusively on DAZN. Buy now at DAZN.com slash boxing.

Entertainment news. Google-owned YouTube celebrated its 20th birthday last week. It is now the biggest video platform in the world and beats out all other streaming services as far as viewership numbers. I am amongst those viewers, and I have to say, spend most of my television viewing time on YouTube. Especially since my lovely wife has been away. Yes. While there's some great content on the platform, there's also a lot of garbage.

Is it me? It's you! Okay, thanks for that. Or does YouTube's algorithm try to feed controversial or political content to its users? I usually watch tech channels with the occasional political opinion show, but I'm constantly being fed content about how awful modern women are and crime videos. i don't care about modern women because well i'm not modern I left that game some 35 years ago upon signing that marriage contract.

Though my wife has accused me many times over the years of still being in the game. Have you been a bad boy then? No, I haven't. That's what's made it frustrating over the years. Even if I was chasing around these so-called awful modern women, what would I do with them if I managed to actually catch one? Anyway, I'm too lazy to put in the effort even if my libido was still raging. as from crime videos as i've said before

If I wanted to consume true crime, I'd just move back to New York and live it. A lot of the podcasts I used to listen to that have made the transition to video just fight amongst themselves these days. The whole thing is starting to feel like social media. Oh no. And that's not good. Anyway, congratulations to YouTube. Here's to another 20 years.

One of the biggest movies to ever debut on Apple TV Plus was 2020's Greyhound, starring Tom Hanks. The movie's set in World War II, with Hanks taking the role of an escort ship captain. Well, according to an article on appleinsider.com... Mr. Hanks will reprise this role as Apple has commissioned a sequel to the movie, which starts filming in January of 2026 in Sydney, Australia.

This choice of filming location has received criticism from U.S. film crew advocates. It's good work if you can get it. That's a good point, Brian. We can expect this movie to be released sometime in 2027. This time, the Greyhound will start off with the Normandy landings and wind up in the Pacific theater of the war. I enjoyed the first movie and I'm kind of looking forward to the sequel.

Streaming service Max, formerly known as HBO Max, has joined just about all other streaming services in cracking down on password sharing. Remember the days of the lockdowns when everybody shared their Netflix passwords with nary a care in the world. Good times. Yes, I remember John, along with other streaming services passwords. That was probably the only good thing about those times. We still haven't recovered if you ask me, but I digress.

an article from macrumors.com reports that last week max debuted a new extra member add-on feature which will cost an extra seven dollars and 99 cents per month on top of the base subscription price Extra members are provided with their own account, password and single profile. Extra members are only able to watch Macs on a single device at a time though.

if you subscribe to max through your television provider this extra tier is not available to you that is unless your television provider is warner media which owns max What stands out about this is the ad supporter tier for max cost but $9.99 per month. So you might as well just pay for that instead of this extra tier in my opinion.

The last episode towards the tail end of my nail clipper extravaganza, which itself was within the tech I'm using section. I mentioned that two of the microphones I use the Electrovoice RE20 and the Heil PR40. had no markings on the packaging nor the mics themselves, which would indicate where they were manufactured. What? Both mics were previously made in the USA, but I have found that the RE20 is rumored to be made in Mexico.

i think this can be confirmed due to the fact that all of electrovoices factories in the u.s have been shut down I also mentioned that I had emailed Heil asking if the air mics were still made in the United States. At the time I hadn't received a response but I did get one last Monday. The verdict? Kyle's sound products are still manufactured in the good old USA. Of course, many parts for their products are sourced overseas, but that's a common thing these days.

This email response spurred me to send one to Electrovoice asking the same question. Well, so far, I haven't received a response from them. Electro Voices, packaging, and mics were previously marked with Proudly Made in the USA. Well, are you beginning to see why Trump has won two presidential elections? Yes! Update. As I was recording, I received a response to the email I had sent to Electrovoice asking where the RE20 was manufactured.

Well, I can confirm that it is indeed manufactured in Mexico. And probably all of the company's microphones are made there these days. i based this on a youtube video i watched a month or so ago where the uk-based host who had an old us-made electrovoice re27n ordered a replacement

Upon receiving said replacement, he first noticed that the absence of the proudly made in the USA markings that his original RE-27N had come with. Upon checking the mic itself, it was revealed that it was indeed made in Mexico. Like me, he was kind of disappointed. At least he had an origin marking on his. My RE20 just says, Electrovoice, Burnsville, Minnesota on it. I find this misleading as I would assume from that marking the mic was made in the USA.

Now I'm not knocking the quality of my RE20 because it was made in Mexico. I just find it sad that an old and respected U.S.-based company has been bought out by an international corporation. Heck, I'm not even upset at that. What's sad is that international company's apparently first move was to close all the U.S. space factories and shift them to another country. What? I wonder if they shifted the engineering staff to another country yet.

Now imagine if you ordered a Neumann microphone thinking it was made in Germany, but when you received it found it was made in some other country. Well, at least my Heil PR-40 is made in this country. we'll have to see how long that lasts though hiles founder who passed february of 2024 was proud that the company he founded made their products in the usa and kept his company private to protect it

Now that he's gone, it's probably just a matter of time until the new owner and CEO sells out. Speaking of the RE20, I think I'm going to switch back to using it next week.

The news from the world of podcasting incorporated has been quiet. Yeah, too quiet. Well, you know what they say, John. No news is good news. That's true. Anyway, podcasting in the United States is now a $2 billion industry. Cumulus Media, a former major force in the radio and podcasting space, has delisted itself from the stock exchange. The company's shares are trading for a mere 27 cents. How the mighty have fallen. You've got that right.

The biggest ad spender on podcasts last month was T-Mobile. And that'll do it for the podcasting section and the podcast itself. is playing and i'm actually the one speaking here unlike the You can make it. Always reach me at OFNTpodcast at gmail.com. And that's only if you're so inclined. I'd enjoy hearing from you. So drop me a line. You know what? This season, a new hot deal has arrived at Metro. $25 a line for four lines with all the data you need and four free Samsung Galaxy A15 5G phones.

Getting Metro's best deals is easy. No ID required, no activation fees. Get a new number or keep your own. It's up to you. Four lines for $25 a line, plus four free phones. Visit a store or go online today. Only at Metro by T-Mobile. When you join Metro Plus Tax, for a limited time and subject to change, max one offer per account.

Live on The Zone Worldwide, May 2nd and 3rd, Garcia versus Romero and Canelo versus Skull. Friday from 6 p.m. Eastern, Garcia returns in a history-making Times Square takeover. 24 hours later, Saturday from 7 p.m. Eastern. King Canelo faces undefeated skull for the undisputed crown. May 2nd and 3rd, a knockout weekend of boxing. Pick one or go all in for only $90 exclusively on DAZN. Buy now at DAZN.com.