Up early again to head over to The Alamo. Well, that was fun, though a short visit was all we needed. Interesting. Now that I have been on the property and walked all around, I will go online to learn more of its history and put it all into perspective.
Then, a short walk to the River Walk to take the 35-minute barge tour and learn what this river really is (it really is the San Antonio River) and why there is such a thing running though town. That was fun, too.
Before noon, we were ready to leave hot and sticky San Antonio with eyes on the prize - hot and sticky Houston, Pam's new home.
We pulled in by late afternoon, went straight to meet my new great niece, sweet Lexi, 13 months, who was a bit cranky, but cute as a bug and full of personality. Hung out, helped with, what else, tech issues at my nephews'. Fixed Windows computer issues - needed updates and general once-over. One laptop's wireless was not working. Somehow, some way, wireless was disabled. Into Device Manager to the wireless adapter, click Enable, and that was that.
Set up their own FlipShare for their Flip Mino HD. The software allows auto sharing when that feature is enabled. Enter email of those with whom the user wishes to share the videos. When videos are added to a "channel" the user has set up, notification can be sent to all on the email distribution list. I set up a channel, uploaded videos to the Flip site, and with a click, notifications of those videos were sent to those on the list. The recipients then click on the video on their screen and streaming video ensues.
Previously, they had tried to send videos in email. Not smart! Those files can be HUGE! Ditto digital stills; sending full size digital stills in email is a no-no. Better to share other ways. If you want printable quality digital image files for those with whom you are sharing the photos, social media sites such as Facebook are NOT the way to go. I've got a suggestion for you all coming up.
Next tech job there for me is to get nephew and fam to use the Phanfare site I set up for photo and video sharing (and backup). In my view, the best family-oriented site of its type as all photos are saved and backed up in their native size, as well as HD videos that meet their specs for maximum file size. Head on over to Phanfare for more info.
Some of you may also wish to check in on SmugMug. I use and love their capability and will post comparative stills and videos there, linked for y'all to see.
4G is HERE! I watched for it to happen on the way into town. Speeds noticeably faster. HOWEVER, also noted on the drive from San Antonio was an EVO 4G battery power issue.
I knew that battery life could not be good with all those internal radios switched on - Wi-Fi, Hot Spot, searching for 4G constantly, 3G, running Nav apps. I noticed that, even plugged into the dual Zagg USB adapter, the battery was not able to keep up with demand, so it charged little and very slowly. The solution was to feed it AC power via a plug-in inverter. I prefer the Tripp-Lite products. It's as if plugged in at home or office. The EVO 4G's adapter/charger becomes warm to the touch and easily handles demand of all the radios and features when charging with AC and not auto DC.
Once inside the apartment that has not yet been tech equipped - cable company comes Friday, the EVO 4G is our shared Internet access. We were on 4G last night. I measured SpeedTest at about 3.5mbps down and almost 1mbps up. It felt "normal," with both of us sharing Internet fro disparate ends of the apartment as it we were set up with a "normal" wired-in provider connected to a wireless router. Sweeeeeet! It's not the strongest signal, but even with fair 4G, it flies. I also noticed occasionally that we lost 4G and reverted to 3G. Probably normal, all depending upon one's locale within the 4G footprint.
I was able to connect her CC Wi-Fi radio, too, and streamed audio as my bedside clock radio for hours and hours, through the night as if I was at home base on "real" Internet service. One forgets that the Internet is via EVO 4G, just as it should be.
It's been a long day and now it's early into the next morning.
More in my next installment.
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