Sunday supper and Home Tech Support Hour

Chromie has agreed to serve as scribe for tonight's exciting episode of the Home Tech Support Hour as long as RantWoman does not insist on going on forever about that Kindle Fire thing. RantWoman does not promise her devices anything but will see what can be done to keep things brief.

RantWoman turned on her somewhat neglected Kindle Fire. RantWoman really likes Fire's sharp audio. Fire gets used for some kinds of document reading and storage but RRantWoman needs some kind of nudge to make more use of media options. Fire gets used sporadically enough that RantWoman also has to be aware of keeping Fire charged. Tonight while plugging Fire in to be charged, RantWoman received the news that Alexa is now available on Fire. RantWoman managed to open the Terms of Service for Alexa. The applicable webpage is only slightly less verbose than War and Peace. RantWoman of course read every word of this tome? Uhhhh, well, um...

For RantWoman's trouble Alexa was unresponsive when RantWoman responded to a suggestion to ask about the weather for tomorrow. Oh well. On the way to reading the terms of service, Rantwoman found a setttings option to set some fonts on Fire larger.  RantWoman also managed to install some kind of file archiver and Twitter. By this point, after the moments described below at RantMom's RantWoman had had as much home tech support fun as anyone should try to have for one evening. RantWoman will fiddle around some more with Fire another day.

Mainly, the Fire moment was postlude. RantWoman is certain the world awaits news of tonight's after-dinner tech support efforts at RantMom's.

Hey Mom, have you thought about reading  passages for Bible study on your phone?

in a word, no.

Here, Mom let me show you a few things on my phone:

--settings in one of the apps RantWoman has intersected with to enlarge the font.

--An app with daily devotionals with live links to bible gateway. Good. RantWoman has not tested Biblegateway in awhile but the app used to have this annoying data input issue some other apps also have. One tries to type and the search input field instantly shifts to the address bar. RantWoman finds this annoying enough just not to use the app; RantWoman hopes one of the updates might have fixed this. In the meantime, links that do not require data entry have much to recommend them.

What's an app?

After a couple exchanges like this, RantWoman asked RantMom just to let RantWoman play on her phone. RantMom was willing. RantWoman found settings options to make fonts larger and to change wallpaper to something with better contrast. RantWoman will think about whether it is worthwhile to make a RantWoman accessibility profile ion RantMom's phone in order to turn on things she uses and then switch back to the accessibility features RantMom uses.

--RantMom complains that what seem to RantWoman to be normal phone usage gestures send the phone all kinds of unexpected directions. RantWoman thought maybe that was some kind of RantMom neuropathy issue, until RantWoman started messing around on RantMom's phone and having the same problem. Bleah.

--Note to self: see what help lurks behind a search bar.

RantMom was apologetic about her awkwardness. After fiddling around wiht various settings, RantWoman is prepared to think there might be some kind of device problem. RantMom's phone jumps to places RantWoman has not tired to naviage to. RantWoman was explaining about the Play Store and free apps. RantWoman tried a couple times to type Transit into the search bar and only got symbols despite the keyboard sounding like it should enter letters. Finally RantWoman got so exasperated that she invoked Off Switch therapy.

Off Switch therapy / rebooting the device resolved the keyboard problem and RantWoman downloaded the Transit app, but then could not find it on RantMom's phone.

Verdict: RantWoman will try to find time with RantMom to call tech support during daylight hours. RantMom MIGHT be able to explain the problem to tech support, but RantMom is severely challenged by off shore tech support staff, eager young people with their carefully cultivated American phonetics.

In the meantime, regardless of whether the rest of the world finds actual p-p-p-rint hopelessly retro, RantMom will just take her Bible to Bible study.