Logitech Mouse and fallout from Multiple Clicks

All my Logitech mice seem to become unusable after about 2 years because they start making multiple clicks instead of just one.

My newest logitech mouse has started doing this after only 1 year.

This means I sometimes have multiple posts to Twitter.  I usually try to delete one of them right away.  Sometimes Twitter is smart enough to auto-reject a second identical message.  This confused me the first time I saw the special notice "You already posted that."  But sometimes Twitter does not catch this, and I have to delete one of the messages.

Today I ended up ordering 3 relays on ebay to repair one of my amplifiers.  I'm not sure how it happened but I think it was because of the multiple clicks.  I first "deleted" the extra orders but then they came back demanding to be paid anyway.  I then "canceled" the extra order.  Even after cancelling the orders, they still showed up for a few minutes as needing to be paid.  But the second time I tried to cancel it wouldn't let me, telling me I can't cancel something a second time.  Then I noticed I had two cancellation emails from ebay.  The seller has several days to approve.  It had taken me 15 minutes from the original unintended orders to the cancellations so I hope it goes well and doesn't screw up my ebay feedback because I have a lot of items to sell now.

 

Planned Obsolescence

My 12 year old Whirlpool front loading washing machine died last week.  It stopped working with error code E 28 (which means "communication failure").  According to online sources, this could be as simple as a loose connection, but was more likely to require one or two circuit boards, the central controller and the motor controller board.

This washing machine, which I may have even praised earlier in this blog, had never had any issues before.  

Some friends bought a larger model Whirlpool front loader and had many problems, finally giving up after the first expensive repair didn't last very long.  They used the machine for a total of less than 5 years if I remember correctly.  They then bought the cheapest Amana top loader to replace it.  I figured mine was better, possibly, because it was made in Germany (likely the former East Germany where Whirlpool bought a factory).

Well now it doesn't appear that any consumer Whirlpool washers are made in Germany any more.  And Consumer Reports rates Whirlpool 3/5 in reliability, while rating Samsung 4/5 and LG 5/5.  So it appears that LG are now the machines to get, so that's what I'm buying to replace my Whirlpool.

I was also more than a bit miffed that after waiting one week for service from the Whirlpool authorized service in San Antonio, they cancelled my appointment with one day's notice because they hadn't received the "likely" replacement part(s) from Whirlpool.  They suggested I make another appointment another week out, but I suspect there was no guarantee they'd even have the part then.

Finally it bugs me that a washing machine should die from a circuit board problem.  My nearly top-of-the-line washer had many special features including fan, sensing, steam, and sterilize.  It must be chock full of electromechanical parts whose long term performance probably cannot be assured.  But the factors involved in circuit board design are fairly straight forward.  Most electronic components have predictable lifespan of 20-100 years, which is also probably thermally derated.  Just about any circuit can be made to last about 20 years before the most failure prone parts--electrolytic capacitors--would be likely to fail.  UNLESS the thermal properties are not fully accounted for.

So any decent electronic engineer could design a circuit board that would last 20 years, whereas electromechanical parts are not as predictable.  In my mind there's just no excuse for a circuit board failing a complex and expensive system in just 12 years.  (And even less excuse for failing in 5 years.)

Furthermore of course a circuit board will be entirely proprietary (which computer chips and programming nowadays too) and so it will only be obtainable from the factory and as long as the factory chooses to support it.

Now it also seems that the more complex a machine, the more likely it is to fail earlier.   But it often seems that the failures found on the complicated top-of-the-line models are the same as the failures which found on the cheap models.  For example, say you have a fancy car with power door locks, power windows and automatic climate control.  You might think that would lead to reliability problems.  But the power windows and the automation part of the climate control rarely fail on fancy cars.  Instead, it's the usual stuff that fails on all models regardless of how fancy.

When and if we ever create a Sustainable Society, planned obsolescence will not be acceptable.  Stuff should be designed to be easily repairable with generic parts.

Here's an interesting article about washing machine reliability.  Their top recommendation for longevity is the Speed Queen toploader, and they talk a lot about Speed Queen and how top loaders will last longer.  But they also recommend the exact same LG model I have decided to buy as their top front loader recommendation, the WM4000HWA.  The Speed Queen frontloader costs over twice as much and actually seems to have slightly higher service calls, though it might be repairable for longer.  Like me they are infuriated that washing machines should have so many computer module failures when well designed computer modules should last decades.

Unhelpful Rejections

Earlier this year I tried to make my second submission of a music album to Routenote, which has a unique and useful "free" streaming submission service.   I worried that my first submission might not meet their standards but it sailed right through, encouraging me to do a second album and possibly meet my longstanding goal of 5 album submissions before the year end.

I had previously released 3 out of 4 of the songs on this otherwise new album on an earlier album I had released on Tunecore ten years ago.  That earlier album had used on my first and last names as artist name.  I have recently decided to include my middle name for uniqueness, so I did that for this new album and every song on it.

I figured I could get away with this change for several reasons.  For one, it's the same name really just with a middle name added.  For another I had only "streamed" the previous album for a few years, from 2006-2009 or so.  It had not been played very much.  I had not paid for distribution since 2009, 13 years ago.  Nobody would remember it now, I figured.

But then after uploading this second album, I discovered that Shazam could identify 2 out of 3 of the tracks from the earlier album.  At this point I suspected the release would probably fail because of the apparent (but not real) copyright violation, since two different artist names were being used (really just my same name but with middle name added).

I waited ever more nervously for 10 days for the official notice from Routenote.  Somehow I missed it and started working on finalizing a third album for the year.  I was almost there when I discovered that Routenote had in fact fairly quickly issued a rejection 3 days after submission.

The rejection gave a long list of potential problems with the release.  The very first on the list was Copyright Violation.  But then it also listed a number of technical and aesthetic issues.

The rejection notice only said the release could have been flagged for any of the following reasons.  But it did not actually say which one(s) were involved.  I emailed Routenote support and they told me they could not give me any more information.  (I suspect much of the process is automated, and the automated system might use AI which is incapable of determining which actual issue(s) were involved.  Well that's what you get for using a free or even low cost service.)

Well this threw a spanner into the works.  There are blog entries on how to deal with artist name changes, but it doesn't look trivial.  I was not in the mood to try to figure out how to deal with the issue.  And in fact I still am not.  Maybe next year.

But what was worse was that the negative feeling this gave me put a stop to my finishing my "third" album, which was almost ready to go.  I simply couldn't work on it anymore, knowing that any one of the long list of technical and aesthetic criteria listed could lead to it being rejected too, just like the second album.  Really the third album was no worse than the first one on technical and artistic grounds, which had sailed right through, so I figured I probably wouldn't have a problem.  But probably wasn't good enough.  I felt hurt and just didn't want to continue any work on it (and still haven't).

So this was a case of being buried under an ambiguous rejection.  Because I don't really know what caused my second album to be rejected (though I think I have a pretty good theory) I'm finding it hard to go on with something else.

For all I know, this is a hidden benefit of the system.  Perhaps I'm not bothering anyone else with hearing how bad my music is, and perhaps that's a benefit to all.  But what about with someone more musical than me?

Now today I've been faced with a different kind of unhelpful rejection.   I tried to post a short and I thought helpful (and not at all abusive) comment to Gilbert Doctorow's blog.  After some work, I submitted it, and got the simple report that my comment was rejected.  "Sorry" was the only explanation.

It could have been (and likely was) that the post in question was already closed for comments.  If so, it would have been more helpful not to allow me to write one.  Or perhaps it took too long to finish the comment (I was doing other things like feeding cats before finally submitting it).

But it means, once again, I don't feel much like posting more comments to Doctorow.  Perhaps, once again, that's actually a benefit for all.

Copying Files on Mac

Since I came to Mac from Unix, I've done large complicated things mostly using the Terminal, which has a traditional Unix (Gnu and BSD) command interface, including the cp command.   Using that with the find command it is possible to do what I'm describing, but it's a bit complicated, enough for me to never bother.  I often write Tcl programs to do tricky things with regards to moving and copying files (and I now have a program intended for release called Collection Assistant which consolidates groups of files in arbitrary ways and eliminates duplicate file contents, when files are different content with same name they are renamed...why is it so hard to do THAT...)

"Moving" rather than "Copying" is assumed in the Mac drag-and-drop interface.  I guess that makes sense.  But how do I make it do copying?  I was not able to find the answer in 10 minutes of googling.  They gave other answers which are more complicated in my view.  I was sure there was something easier.

So I went back to a more traditional way of finding things out on a computer.  I just tried things.  The Command key didn't work, but guess what, the Option key does!  When you're holding the Option key, a plus symbol (+) appears when you hover over a folder in finder with a selected bunch of files.  I'm sure people have told me this before also, but somehow it never stuck.

It's taken me 25 years using a Mac to discover that all you have to do to copy files rather than moving them is to hold down the Option key.  It's actually very intuitive.

But why is it so hard to find out when googling for it?

I Hate Coupons !!!

 Today I waited in the checkout line for 20 minutes for the checker to scan over 200 coupons in a tall stack for the person in front of me.  The customer was "buying" four boxes of some kind of moisturizer in lipstick like tubes, packed 50 or more to a box.  There was a coupon for each tube of moisturizer, and each one had to be scanned.  The checker was scanning them as fast as she possibly could.  I looked over at the next isle and there was another customer with boxes of moisturizer and coupons.

Meanwhile I had refrigerated and perishable food items which I had hoped to last about 5 days.  I think the prepared meals are probably going to be ok, but the deli turkey slices barely make it to their sell by date even without such additional challenges.

It wasn't the time wasted that bothered me as much as the possibility of my $100 worth of actual food going bad.

I had half a mind to just walk out of the store leaving my stuff on the scanner belt in protest.  I might have except for fears that if I did that, they'd possibly discontinue some of my favorite items next time.  Likewise if I refused to buy the turkey slices, they might well discontinue that variety and replace it with some new variety I can't stand.  That sort of thing seemed to have happened before.  So I never "protest" at the store.  If something goes bad early, I'll just throw it out at home.

Most grocery store coupons are for items you would be better off not buying anyway.  In the few instances where they give me coupons for things I regularly buy, which happens sometimes, I immediately throw them out.  I never remember to bring them to the store anyway, and every time I think about them or try to remember them or find them or go back to get them uses up my time.  I think the whole "coupon" thing is a big waste of time and I don't want to support it in any way.

Problem submitted to Universal Devices forum

This problem has been solved thanks to help from Universal Devices Forum members, and I finally found the correct pages at Java.com.

I needed to obtain the newest "start" program from Universal Devices, which is supposed to create a new Launcher icon.  Which it does, only if you clear your Java cache first, but the launcher icon doesn't work on macOS 10.13 it requires 10.15.  But I can start my ISY console by running the start program every time anyway...no big deal.

I found the Q/A page at Java.com which explains that if the Update dialog in the Java Preferences fails to work, you can simply install the latest version.  It is not necessary to remove the old version first.  Then I found the download page which identifies your OS and allows you to download the latest version by pressing the DOWNLOAD button.

https://www.java.com/en/download/

It wasn't that hard, though I had to wait a few days to get replies and have time to figure everything out.

I still think Java makes life more difficult.  I have programs going back 20 years which still run fine, and I never had to do any special update of anything.

Sadly when I move on past macOS 10.13.16 all the old stuff will be unuseable.  That's the thing I hate the most about OS and computer upgrades.  I will need to retain my current computer, or some replacement, running 10.13.16 just to keep the old programs going, and buy a whole new computer in a few years with the latest everything.  When I have time and desire to deal with it.

*****

On Mac, I had been using the ISY994i Admin Console for years, including a few months ago.  The one I have is dated August 27, 2015.  The ISY994 Dashboard is dated November 25, 2017.  I cannot update the console via the webpage sometimes discussed because that fails too in a similar way (described further below).

Both the console and the dashboard fail with "Unable to Launch Application."  It doesn't help to use "Open" to open the application.  The Details page shows "illegal URL redirect" at top of traceback list.

The Java Preferences do not seem to be useful.  The "About" says I have version 8 Update 331 (1.8.0_331-b09) which is from this year (but current???).  When I go to the Java Update tab, I see a rotating circle that just rotates forever.  Reading about Java on the Java website (never a pleasant experience) it appears that this is the only way to "Update Java. " And it is "stuck" apparently, either that or I do have the latest version, I can't tell.

I went to the page to re-download the ISY Administrative Console.  I click on the link https://isy.universal-devices.com/start.jnlp and it downloads.  I click on the file and it says "start.jnlp cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer".  I tried both clearing the cache and adding https://forum.universal-devices.com to the Java Exception site list and neither helped.

UPDATE:

Problem was fixed by going to System Preferences, opening up the Security & Privacy page, selecting the General tab, clicking on the lock to open it, entering my password, and THEN running the new "start.jnlp" downloaded from Universal Devices.  Note that I already did have the Allow App Store & Identified Developers box checked, and there is no other box.  But just opening the lock let me run the app once, and after that I can keep running it even when the lock is closed (which happens automatically if I leave the Java Preferences).

So the trick is you can run apps from unidentified developers but only if you click the lock on this page.  I suppose that's not too bad (though I still think it's Securanoia) but why doesn't Apple have any explanation on this page or anywhere else.

You either know the secret handshake or you don't, it appears.  I've been here before I think, but it was about 5 years ago last time, so I forgot.

Seeing how well computer systems without "AI" work, it's easy to imagine that when we do have computer systems with "AI", they'll be even more frustrating, and we'll pull the plug and just go back to using hand tools.

I still don't know how to update my Java since the Java Preferences itself is unable to do that.  I see now that it clearly has expired just a few days ago (it says that in some Java tracebacks).  There was a time you could just go to the Java website and it would identify your system and Java version and tell you what to do.  But they took all that out, apparently, probably because others were spoofing it.  Now you can only update through the update app.  The Java website does not make it clear how to do anything else.

The Endless Treadmill of Java

 I have programs from 15 years ago that still run just fine on my Mac, and never needed any attention.

Meanwhile, keeping any or all of my Java based applications working is an endless treadmill taking hours of work every year, and every time I've always wondered if I was going to be successful at all.

Java itself needs endless Security Updates.  Every time there is a security update, Mac OS decides whether or not to allow Java based applications all over again, and you have to figure out how the latest incarnation of Mac OS does this.

Then the applications which run using Java may themselves need to be updated.  If you update those applications too early, before you have gotten around to updating Java itself, you may have a dead application no longer able to run or revert to previous version.  OTOH, you may also have a dead application if you update the Java and then have not yet updated the application.  You may have to uninstall and re-install the application all over again.  And then you may have to figure out where to download the application all over again, and possibly what credentials are needed to do that, if it's even possible anymore.

The root of all this evil is that Java is supposed to be a magic internet-enabling platform.  It can be used on the server side, the user side, either as internet-connected or not.  This means it has to be able to secure Everything, not just one port or a long established protocol.

It bothers me that Steve Keen's Minsky program has now migrated from Tcl/Tk to Java, a step from solid ground into the abyss IMO.

Tcl/Tk is included in MacOS and it is updated automatically.  Tcl programs are text and you can read exactly what they do.  The programs themselves almost never need to be updated if you do not need newly minted features.  And this is enabled by the very open license BSD-style license Tcl/Tk has, you can do anything with it.  But it is also true for Bash and many related programs as well, though they have the Gnu license, which requires source sharing.  Meanwhile an encyclopedia would have to be written to encompass all the changes and complexities of Java licensing over time, and programs are usually an opaque binary form by design--all written to meet the needs of commerce rather than open computing.

I don't get around to making changes in my home control system often, but when I do I often find myself, as I do right now, in the classic Java quagmire.  This time it appears to have happened by an automatic update, or perhaps one that occurred automatically in installing some other program.  Now I can't access the home control program, though the message suggests it's because Java itself won't run.

How long will it take me to figure out how to access my home control system from my mac so I can change a few things in it?