Be Careful What You Text

On Sunday I felt inspired to visit my parents. My son had returned a TV he no longer required and I needed to bring it to my dad who had a use for it. I called me parents to make sure someone would be home and discovered that earlier in the day, my dad had slipped on the ice and fell down. He had so much pain he couldn't get up to walk. My wife and I headed right over.

We had a good chat with both my parents and I came up with a nickname for my dad that referred to a female ice skater from the 1976 winter Olympics. Three of us had a good laugh at my dad's expense. We all wondered if any ribs were broken but my dad assured us that they were not.

Monday morning I got up and went skiing with my wife but had to leave after an hour so we could go help my son move to a larger apartment. Shortly after we started carrying furniture I received a text from my mom about how she had taken my dad to the hospital because of the intense pain he felt. Sure enough, he had 7 broken ribs with 1 broken in 2 places. Fortunately my son's old apartment is right next to the hospital where my dad was admitted. We finished loading the moving van and quickly unloaded it at the new apartment. Then we headed to the hospital to visit my dad.

Both of my sons headed to the hospital in one car while the rest of us followed after unloading more stuff. I forwarded the hospital room number and information so they could find their grandpa without having to bother any of the medical staff. Naturally I sent the information to the family text group we have set up but did not provide any other information about who was in the hospital because most of the family helped with the move. Unfortunately my oldest daughter had to work and didn't have any context.

About 2 seconds after I sent my text, my daughter shot back a message asking who is in the hospital. Naturally I filled in a few details as we still had some stuff to unload and wanted to get to the hospital ourselves. She immediately followed up with a phone call asking for more information and I provided them while finishing up the job at hand.

This short experience illustrates a very important communication problem. Sometimes we don't provide enough background information in our conversations. This is especially true with text messages where we are trying to provide as short a message as possible.

The Biggest Shopping Day of the Year

Some people think the biggest shopping day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday. Actually it is the day after Christmas. That is when people bring back the wrong size gifts and exchange them for the right size. It is also the day that everything goes on sale and you can find a great deal on something you may have wanted for Christmas but didn't get.

Naturally I try to avoid being anywhere near a store on this day. I don't want to get trampled. I also know that today is one of the busiest ski days of the year and so I even avoided skiing at a ski resort. Once again, I don't want to get trampled. Instead I grabbed my youngest son and we went for a hike . . . with our skis on. We headed out just North of Alta ski area and headed up Grizzly Gulch for a morning of hiking and bottomless powder. We had quite a nice time and avoided the crowds.

After skiing there are some things I needed to pick up. I recently bought a new truck and certain items will make the pick-truck more useful. My oldest son showed up at the house shortly after I did and was more than happy to help me spend money. Remember that I didn't want to go anyplace as the stores can be chaotic. Instead we looked online. I started with a bed cover as I hate shoveling snow and don't want to have to shovel it out of the bed of my truck. I found one online before Christmas but had trouble finding it for the same price after. My son suggested Amazon. Sure enough, a name-brand cover that I wanted was even less expensive than I had seen it previously.

Next I needed to get a ham radio for the new vehicle. I had done my research several weeks ago and went to my usual source: Ham Radio Outlet. I loaded up my virtual shopping cart with the radio, antenna, and antenna mount. Then my son suggested I look at Amazon. This time, the radio cost significantly more and so I stuck with my original source.

Amazon has great prices on certain things and can be a great place to shop. Sometimes there are better prices elsewhere and so it pays to do a bit of looking around. Fortunately it doesn't require driving to a different store or even any walking. You can do it all from the comfort of your couch.

Merry Christmas

I hope you had a very merry Christmas this year. Mine felt a little different this year as my kids are all getting older and have families of their own. My wife and I woke early with our youngest daughter and opened a few gifts. Then we all got ready to go skiing. My daughter is an instructor up at Alta and left before me and my wife.

Eventually my wife and I got out the door and thought we would head to Alta as well (Snowbird is also an option). That way if our daughter didn't have any kids to teach, we could take a few runs together. Ultimately we never got to ski with our daughter but we did have some great runs in the fresh snow.

For the past few years we have had snow on Christmas eve which makes for a great day of skiing. Today was no exception. The funny thing is that the snow prediction for the week was only a couple of inches at the resorts. Fortunately we got a lot more than that. While I looked at the weather the report last night, I made sure to double check Alta's website this morning. Sure enough, the 1 to 3 inches predicted turned into 9.

While skiers used to be able to call resorts for snow reports, the Internet has made things much easier. We can look things up at the resort website and find out the latest weather reports. If we want more information, we can look at webcams and see the conditions first-hand. Today those conditions looked pretty good and it made for a very merry Christmas.

A Real-Life Santa Story

Last night we had just finished up with my wife's family Christmas party and several of us gathered back at my house to prepare for the week's coming activities. It was a leisurely Sunday evening at home when my wife's sister got a call from her husband. He had decided to make the 4-hour drive back to Twin Falls, Idaho with his daughter, her husband, and two kids. Unfortunately they started having car troubles and it seemed to be the alternator. With the alternator not charging the car's battery and driving at night with the lights on, it was only a matter of an hour or two before the battery could no longer provide enough electricity for the car to run. Shortly after the first call, we got another one and the car had died 26 miles from the Utah-Idaho border.

Hearing half of the conversation, I decided to call my buddy Brett who loves to rescue stranded motorists. He has a giant trailer and corresponding tow vehicle. He will drop everything to help someone in need. As luck would have it, he just got home and when I asked what he had planned for the evening he responded with, "Where we going?" I told him and without hesitation he exclaimed, "Let's go." I confirmed with my wife's brother-in-law that they could use our help and then headed over to help Brett connect the trailer.

Knowing the problem with the car, we thought we would stop at the local auto-parts store to see if we couldn't bring out a new alternator and fix the car on the spot. Brett loves to go Jeeping and often that means doing trail-side fixes in some of the most adverse conditions possible. Unfortunately it was already 9 pm on a Sunday and all the auto-parts stores in the Salt Lake area had closed. We had the trailer and decided to continue toward the stranded motorists.

100 miles and 2-hours later we pulled off the I-84 to the Howell exit 26 miles from the Idaho border. Brett jumped out from the driver's side wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and a Santa hat. We then proceeded to put the cold passengers in Brett's beefy SUV and make arrangements to get the busted minivan on the trailer. While it is easy to drive a lifted and working 4x4 up the trailer ramp, approach angles and low ground clearance makes putting a non-functioning minivan on the trailer nearly impossible. Fortunately Brett has done this before and we created really long ramps. We also parked the trailer strategically so that we could reduce the approach angle and make it easier on the undercarriage of the vehicle. Then we had to figure out how to push or pull the car up the ramp.

Once again, Brett had done this before and had 2 different systems for getting cars up the trailer ramps. We used a simple chain windlass to get the minivan part way up the ramp. Then we used a second windlass when the first ran out of chain. We continued to pull the car up the ramps and onto the trailer. The process took about an hour as we also had to strap the car down so it wouldn't go anywhere while we drove North on I-84 all the way to Rupert, Idaho. We decided that Rupert was close enough to home that they could get the car the rest of the way home in the morning yet not make me and Brett drive too far.

The rest of the drive went painlessly and we easily removed the minivan from the trailer with the help of a small push and gravity. We pulled the battery from the car and I told my wife's brother-in-law to charge the battery which would allow him to come back and get the car in the morning.

My friend Brett performed a true action worthy of Santa Claus last night. We drove 400 miles and burned through 40 gallons of diesel fuel to help someone in need. Of course, I made sure to refill his tank for him. It is stories like this that remind us all of what Christmas is all about.

The Perfect Gift

One of the best things about this time of year is family gathering together. That is unless it is your in-laws and then it is one of the worst things about this time of the year. Last night my wife's sister showed up at our place with her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren. Neither my wife nor I knew that they would be staying but we have the space and so it is not that big of a problem. We can host them for a couple of days without any difficulty.

This morning at 5 am, a two-year-old girl did not want to sleep any longer and started making noise. So as I sit here this morning thinking about the upcoming Christmas morning and gifts that will be exchanged, I have one suggestion for those looking at any last-minute gifts: noise-cancelling earphones. Both Sony and Bose have some excellent ones that do a really good job. I have an inexpensive pair that do great at drowning out plane noise, but not crying babies. For those with visiting children, I would suggest the more expensive models. They work very well and I recommend a set. Sure they may set you back a couple hundred dollars but how much is your sanity worth?

If you find yourself looking for something a little less expensive, you can get a 50-pack of foam earplugs from Home Depot for less than $10. They may help you sleep through the night. I know I could have used them this morning.

Playing Video Games

Yesterday my youngest son called to tell me that he just got 100% completion of the video game "Horizon Zero Dawn." That is a lot of work and I congratulated him for a job well done. My wife overheard part of the conversation and wanted to know where my son got 100%. He is in his last year of college and so she thought it might be for one of his final exams. I had the break the news to her that he completed a video game.

I could tell my wife's excitement for my son's 100% came to an abrupt halt and she started to say, "Playing video games won't help him get a good job." I actually finished the sentence for her and then laughed as I work in the video game industry and while some companies pay better than mine, my paycheck has supported the family nicely for the past 9 and a half years. We all had a good laugh and it created a funny moment that we will share with others for quite a while.

Truth be told, playing video games probably won't help you get a good job, especially if you prioritize games over schoolwork. I didn't get hired because I have the high score in any game or am known on YouTube as a celebrated gamer. I got hired because of my strong engineering background and years of industry experience. This moment still makes a funny story though.

Airport Delays

I am at the airport waiting to catch my last flight of the year and it is turning into a little adventure. One would think that the San Francisco airport would be able to handle a little bit of rain. Nope there is a comedy of errors that are working against it and I find myself in the middle. Normally I would have a fellow travel buddy to share the grief but this evening is a day earlier than my regular weekly flight and so I will have to share my adventure with you.

For those that don't know, Tuesday is generally the best day of the week to purchase airplane tickets. I have a regular routine where I go through my existing flights and make sure I have the best prices on existing flights and then book any additional flights so that I have travel booked 3 months out. Yesterday was that day and I had to book a number of flights on Southwest due to schedule conflicts. Then I got into the office this morning with an e-mail from Southwest letting me know that one of the flights I booked in March is now cancelled. They rebooked me on a much later flight that doesn't get me home until after 1am. What they didn't tell me is that the original flight I booked was twice as expensive as this new flight nor did they offer me a refund of the difference. No offense Southwest, but that is a bit underhanded. I cancelled the rebooked flight and got my money back. I will look at other options on other airlines as getting in after 1am is not an option.

With that as a background story, let me now move onto today's flights. After getting my Southwest flight cancelled, I got another e-mail. This time from Alaska Airlines letting me know I had been upgraded to First Class. I thought that strange as I am not scheduled to fly again for the next  several weeks. When I looked closely, the upgraded flight is for today and scheduled to leave out of San Jose instead of San Francisco. Then I got another e-mail from Alaska explaining that today's flight would now be leaving out of San Jose and I had to arrive at the San Francisco airport 2 hours early. If I did that, they would make arrangements for me to get to San Jose. There was only one problem, I had a meeting that I needed to be in and couldn't be at the San Francisco airport 2 hours early.

I had arranged a ride to the airport and managed to move my ride to 45 minutes earlier. This enabled me to be at the airport at the appropriate time for the airline to get me to San Jose. Next I headed to my meeting and explained to my visitors from Japan that I would need to cut the meeting in half so I could accommodate a change in departure airports. It worked out and we finished just as my ride showed up to bring me to the San Francisco airport.

I arrived at the airport with 15 minutes to spare and walked up to the ticket counter. The agent politely helped me check in and started to arrange an Uber ride to San Jose. Then a supervisor came up and explained that traffic would prohibit me from making my flight. "Oh crap," was the only thing I could think of as I knew I would get home but knew when would be measured by a calendar instead of a clock. The last time this happened, I got routed on a late flight to Seattle where I slept in the airport before catching a 5:30am flight to Salt Lake. Fortunately a different supervisor intervened and they put me on a Delta flight leaving out of San Francisco an hour earlier than my original flight. The only downside is that I would have to give up my First-Class seat. In my mind I am just happy to be getting home an hour earlier than I originally thought.

I ran next door to the Delta counter and got a seat assignment. I headed through security and made it to my new gate just as the plane was supposed to start boarding. Then I saw that the Delta flight was delayed to a 5:57 departure. That is about the same time as my original flight. I had no luck on the seat assignment but I did have a window seat somewhere in the middle of the plane.

So now I find myself hanging out in the San Francisco airport waiting for a delayed Delta flight to Salt Lake City. I'm sure my departure will get moved out at least once before I board but I am happy to be going home this evening. Let's hope it actually is this evening.

Your Actions May Come Back to Haunt You

Last week one of my coworkers asked if I had ever done anything when I was younger that has come back to haunt me. I told him that I had. After all I am a father and those little people you helped create will haunt you the rest of your life. He had a chuckle and then said that is not what he meant.

I didn't want to know too much about what he had done but figured it out fairly quickly. He may have taken some pictures that would now be considered less than flattering. I had to laugh as the person that has them is trying to blackmail my friend.

A little while ago I posted a message about someone trying to blackmail me. The person supposedly had compromising pictures of me at my computer. One of my thoughts was that nobody would care enough to look at those pictures. If they did, I doubt it would embarrass me enough to pay any ransom. I shared this insight with my coworker and then asked who he didn't want to see the pictures. He gave me the classic response, his mother. I have to admit that there are probably a number of pictures you don't want your mom to see. Then again, your mother has probably seen you at your worst. I think changing a dirty diaper is as bad as it can get.

I don't think I helped my coworker much but it did remind me that you need to be careful about what you do electronically. Those Friday-night pictures may eventually come back to haunt you. Rants about your previous coworkers could keep you from getting your next job. So be careful about what you do online, you will be glad you did 10 years from now.

Helping Christmas Gift Giving

One of the perks to working in the video game industry is that I get certain discounts on games and hardware. Once I walked into GameStop and mentioned the company where I am employed. The salesperson gave me a professional discount right on the spot. I didn't even ask for one. The discounts I get through my company can be even nicer, especially during this time of year.

Last Friday night I attended a Christmas party for the law firm where my wife used to work. I think we got invited this year simply so several of the attorneys could take advantage of my discounts. Actually that is not true, we got invited because it is a close-knit law firm and my wife left on good terms with everyone. I did have fun though playing a joke on one of the paralegals and her husband.

Several weeks ago the paralegal reached out to my wife and asked if I could pick up a game from a company that I don't even work for. I have a contact that can get me games there for a huge discount and so I picked up the game. When my wife delivered it to the paralegal, she was told that I should not mention the game to the husband at the Christmas party as it is a gift for him. Naturally I had to have a little fun with that.

I arrived at the venue and started talking with all of my wife's former associates. When I got to the paralegal and her husband, I said, "I'm not supposed to mention the next generation console your wife had me pick up for you."

The husband's face lit up and he asked, "Really?" excitedly.

I had to come clean and let him know I was joking. I then explained that none of the consoles will be ready until next year and we all had a good laugh. The paralegal then covered things up by asking me to pick her up a few more things for her boys. We all laughed about the exchange throughout the rest of the evening and it made for an enjoyable party.

Taking the Stairs Instead of the Elevator

My office is on the 5th and top floor of our building. When we first moved into the space, I took the elevator and didn't even know where the stairs could be found. Then I had someone move to the desk next to me and he always took the stairs. His reason was for fitness. I started following his good example for a different reason: I was tired of stopping at all the floors every time I got in the elevator. I began to see people that take the stairs from the first to the second floor as being lazy. Eventually I started having feelings of hate towards those that held up the elevator for a single floor change. Fortunately I recognized that the problem was not with other people, but with myself. I have been taking the stairs for about a year now and I think it makes me a better person. I am kinder towards others and my legs are getting stronger in the process. I can now get up the stairs faster than most people in the elevator.

Recently I discovered a new benefit of taking the stairs: mobile phones work in the stairwell but they don't work in elevators. An elevator is effectively a metal cage and it can kill all but the strongest radio signals. A stairwell lets in those radio waves and enable conversations not possible before. Now I use my trips up and down the stairs as an excuse to return those calls that have come in during meetings. It is as if I have found an extra 20 minutes in my day.

I have grown accustom to climbing the stairs to the point where I don't sound like I have been exercising when I reach the 5th floor. Recently I had a visitor in the building and she willingly joined me up the stairs. At about the 4th floor, I noticed my her breath had become labored and I realized I probably should have taken the elevator.

Yes the stairs are better for your health and I highly recommend them. Also don't forget your phone works on them and take advantage of the extra time you have. You can even have a phone call without anyone evesdropping on your conversation because very few people use the stairs.

A Late Christmas List

Normally I am much more together and have my Christmas Gift Idea list put together long before now. This year I have been procrastinating it. Part of the reason is that I have pretty much all of the material possessions I could want. Getting more just means I have to find a place for it all. My house is overflowing with stuff to the point that it is time to start getting rid of some of it. Perhaps it might help you to know what things I would keep as I mentally catalog my computer equipment.

One of my favorite gadgets is my color laser printer. You can find them for around $200 and I highly recommend one. A lot of people don't print because they think it is bad for the environment. I agree but sometimes you need to print something and if you are going to use a sheet of paper, you might as well print it in color. In this day and age, I think a black-and-white printer is a waste of money. There is probably a joke in there about how it will practically print money. Just don't try that at home or the secret service will come after you.

Sticking with the theme of printers, my next favorite gadget is my 3D printer. If you have someone on your Christmas list that loves building prototypes or playing with computer aided drawing (CAD) programs, a 3D printer should be on your list. They can get rather expensive and so I only recommend one if you can get away with a less-expensive model. I still enjoy my Creality Ender 3 and think it is a great beginner printer. I must confess though that my son uses it more than I do but that is why I got it.

My next recommendation would be for dual monitors if you have someone on your list that doesn't already have them. While in Japan this past week I did not have the luxury of dual monitors on my laptop and I really missed it. With a bit of searching you can find a second monitor that will work with most computers for only around $120. I suggest a minimum resolution of 1920x1080p. All of my computers have dual monitors at work and at home.

Another peripheral that is often overlooked is a USB CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc drive. My last several laptops have not had internal drives and that is fine most of the time. However every once and a while you really need one and when you do, you need it badly. I have one that I keep on my desk at home and another one that I have in my office at work. They both come in handy every so often.

Finally I have one more recommendation for those of you that might have a really tight Christmas-gift budget. I do not have enough phone charger cables. I use USB-C for one of my phones and a Lightning connector for the other. I carry all sorts of spares and am amazed at how many times other people need to borrow them. On occasion I need them too. A couple of each would make great stocking stuffers.

I don't think there is any big surprise in this list. Perhaps you might not think about how important a color laser printer is or how useful a spare phone charging cable can be. My experience has taught me that they are and you really miss them when you don't have them.

My Wife's New Favorite Trick

I had a rare occasion today where I got to ski with just my wife. I had planned to go hiking and skiing with my son but the place we intended to go did not have enough snow. My son decided to take his wife and just hike with snowshoes instead. So my wife and I woke up at a relatively late hour (I am still fighting jet lag from Japan) and got ready to go skiing. Fortunately we made it to the ski hill just as the lifts started running and discovered a very uncrowded ski resort.

On our 3rd chairlift ride of the morning my wife excitedly showed me her new favorite trick. We had tried to contact my brother when we arrive in the morning but he did not pick up his phone. So on the chairlift, my wife said, "Hey Siri, read me my last text message." Her phone woke up and read her the last message she had received. She didn't have to take it out of her pocket and get her hands cold. She didn't have to press any buttons. She just had to say, "Hey Siri."

I had to admit that I knew about the voice activation feature of iPhones. I also know it works with Android phones. Both require a fairly simple set-up procedure but I have yet to do it on any of my smartphones. Knowing about a feature and actually using it are two very different things. My wife showed a practical application of technology that would save me from very cold fingers. Perhaps I should get around to setting it up.

Killing Time at LAX

Today I flew back to the United States from Japan. That makes for a very long day as I crossed the International Date Line. So instead of a 24-hour day, today will be more like 48. This is especially true since I worked a full day at the office in Tokyo before getting on a plane and I have been working in the airport lounge since I arrived in Los Angeles. Throw in a couple of conference calls this evening as soon as I land and it makes for a really long day. I think I am going to take tomorrow off. Oh wait, I have a conference call at 11am.

In any event, I find myself in an airport lounge killing time while waiting for my next flight. I had a 4-hour layover, which allowed for plenty of time to get through customs and immigration. In a rare stroke of luck, my flight actually left Japan early and we arrived in Los Angeles an hour early. Throw in my Global Entry privilege and I practically walked off the plane and through re-entry into the US. So how to best use that time?

Naturally I attacked e-mail and knocked that out pretty quickly. During the course of going through my messages, I worked with my team in San Mateo to upgrade one of our servers. I also put together a survey for a workshop I helped organize in Tokyo this last week. With all that completed, I had some free time. While there is probably more work I could do, I am in a public place and can't do too much research work. I couldn't think of any B-Movies I wanted to watch on YouTube, but I did think about that. I had one movie that a colleague from work loaded onto my computer a few weeks ago. I started watching that earlier and finally finished it in the lounge. The only downside with that is I have been on a plane with access to a large movie library and so I am sort of movied-out. I listened to a few favorite songs but I am really looking for something else to do.

It feels like I have been working on electronic devices for the past 36 hours and so I think I am going to leave the lounge early and walk around the airport a bit. I may just need some exercise and it will be good for me.

YouTube: My Source for all Those B-Grade Movies

Last night I found myself with an evening without anything to do. Earlier I had done a search for one of those old movies I used to watch as a teenager and discovered that you could watch "Better Off Dead" on YouTube. I spent the evening watching the movie and enjoying it.

There are several other movies from my formative years that I have been unable to find on any type of disk (DVD or Blu-ray). That makes it tough to add to my movie collection at home. This morning I have been wondering what other movies are available on YouTube. I have an old Dirk Benedict one that I have been trying to find for years. I knew a poor copy existed on the Internet but thought I would see if a better one existed. Sure enough, it does.

Unfortunately the quality of both movies is not that great. It makes me appreciate the DVD copy of "Better of Dead" that I do have in my movie library. However this second movie I only ever saw on VHS video tape and the quality was never good to begin with. So if you find yourself trying to watch an old movie that never really became that popular, check on YouTube. You might be surprised at what you find.

The Problem with Working in Research and Development

One of the perks of my job is that I get to visit Tokyo around this time every year. While I have been to Tokyo more times than there are days in a month and so it has become a bit routine, I do enjoy one aspect of this trip: being able to see new technologies currently investigated by other research and development groups. The downside is that I can't talk about any of it. I take my confidentiality agreement very seriously and so I don't even tell my wife about the neat things I get to see.

Yesterday I did a lab tour and saw some very interesting research projects. As I viewed some of the projects, I thought how the technology can be applied and wanted to share the ideas with close friends and family. Unfortunately I can't say a thing. I can't even hint at what I have seen. Today will be more of the same, only on a larger scale. I have to admit that I am looking forward to it. I only wish I could share more.

The Internet Does Not Work the Same Internationally

Once again I find myself in Japan this week. When I travel internationally I try to keep my body as close to Mountain Standard Time (MST) as possible. That makes it easier to readjust when I get back to the States. It also means I go to bed at 8pm and wake up at 4am every morning.

This morning I started doing early-morning e-mail and got several from my son. He knows I am looking to replace my 20-year-old car and sent me listings for a few potential candidates. What he doesn't realize is that the Internet does not work the same internationally and I cannot see the listings. Some sites look at the IP address you are using and if you are not located in the United States, block traffic. This is a good way to keep malicious events from happening. Fortunately there is an easy fix. I cannot get my company e-mail without using a virtual private network (VPN). To external websites I now look like my computer is physically located in California even though I am on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Another thing that doesn't work as well is the Pandora streaming music service. I have written about this in the past and have to switch to Spotify when I am outside the US. It is not a big deal as I have my Pandora and Spotify accounts set up with similar playlists but it is something to be aware of.

Finally, there is a big difference with Google. Google and all of its consumer services such as the search engine and YouTube are giant advertising places. That means they need to know where you are physically located to serve you the correct ads. They also use your location information to do things like set the language and character set. When I am in London, that isn't a problem because I speak the language. In Japan it does become a problem because the character set is different.

This blog site is maintained by Google and so when I log in from Japan to create an entry, all of the instructions and buttons are in Japanese. Fortunately the placement is the same for all of the buttons in both English and Japanese so that I know what buttons mean even if I can't read the language. Google also allows you to set your language. To do so, just go to https://google.com. If you have a Google account, you will see your avatar in the upper-right corner of the webpage. Click on it and you will be able to manage your account settings. Simply click on "Manage Your Google Account" and you will find the language setting under "Data & Personalization." Now it doesn't matter what country you are in, Google won't try to translate everything into the language of the country you are visiting.

Most of the time, the differences you will experience with the Internet while traveling internationally are easily surmountable given a bit of preparation. Hopefully this little post helps.

Disc vs. Streaming

Recently I mentioned the Disney+ video streaming service. After playing with it for a while, I now have to ask myself what to do with all of the Disney DVD and Blu-ray discs I have. This is not a new problem as I originally owned them all on VHS video cassette. Over the years I have systematically replaced all of my favorites with the DVD and Blu-ray equivalents. Now I don't need any of them as I can get them all on Disney+ wherever I am in the world.

The move from physical copies of media is something the music industry faced over the past decade. Go try to find a CD of your latest favorite song. It can be tough because people have stopped buying CD discs. For a while, people were buying individual songs on services like iTunes. Now everything has gone to streaming. If you want to listen to a specific song, you just go to YouTube and pull up the music video which may or may not actually be a video.

I don't plan to get rid of my Blu-ray collection of movies any time soon. There are a number of my favorite movies that are tough to find on any streaming service. I am still looking for one of my favorite movies on disc that I used to have on VHS. Most people would think it is not that great of a movie but I really enjoyed it as a teenager.

I am also waiting how long it takes for people to tire of paying the monthly fee for access to movies. If you watch a movie several times a week, then paying for the streaming service makes sense. However if you only watch once or twice a month, there are some people that will justify pay-per-view, owning a disc, or owning the digital rights to favorite movies.

Ultimately I think the movie industry will follow the music industry and we will stop purchasing physical discs. While my current preference is to own physical media, I may be in the minority soon. The writing is on the wall.