#MobileBanking: Deposit by Picture. Check! #Smartphones #Apps

As a geeky techie engineer, I seldom handle actual cash any more. The few times I've encountered it, I've thought that paper bills of today look a lot like fake Monopoly money. Neither have I ordered (or used) personal checks in well over a decade. Practically everything I do financially is in the virtual realm. I use electronic BillPay and eMoney. I've always opted for Direct Deposit nearly since my first job as a teen. I eTrade. Every vendor on the planet takes debit or credit cards and one can even "split a tab" with friends electronically these days.

So, I was at a momentarily loss when out of the blue I received a physical check in the mail recently (a surprise gift from an older relative who'd been told about the recent vandalism of my home). After penning a Thank You Note, I wondered half-seriously, "What does one do with a paper check?" I could have mailed it in to my bank I suppose, but I almost never use snail mail either. (The exception being personal correspondence with the "older generation.") Postage? What's that...

I settled on trying out my credit union's newish "Deposit by Picture" method, wherein one snaps a photo (back and front) of an endorsed check and uploads it to the bank --- basically DIY digitizing. Having never done this before and hating taking pictures as I do, it took a couple of tries to get the lighting and focus just right on the image so that the bank system would accept it. Eventually, I was successful, however, and minutes later the deposit was approved and the balance was added to my account (with a notice to hold onto the physical check for 60 days and then securely destroy it).

It's not like I'm going back to paper checks, but this was kind of a fun exercise and an apt usage of the ubiquitous smartphone camera. (Technology making life more convenient! Imagine that.) Will probably never need to do it, again. Paper checks are going the way of the Dodo.

Mundane Yet Mesmerizing: The First Wave of the #Robot Revolution #AI #Automation #Robotics #ProductDevelopment

While reading the Sunday paper [AJC 29/01/17], I noticed two articles on robotics being used to automate common tasks. The first concerned a European company called Starship Technologies that is developing rolling robots about the size of a large cooler to make parcel deliveries. (A pilot program is launching in the US and Europe.) The second was an overview of some retail friendly automation ideas on display at the National Retail Federation's Big Show, including a discussion of Softbank Robotics, an Asian conglomerate, that plans to integrate its Pepper humanoid robot into the retail environment with the hope of automating many common customer service inquiries. Taken together, the articles provide a snapshot of where mainstream uses of robots will first occur, namely in automating tasks that tend to be mundane and repetitive --- jobs often thought of as mundane and/or menial.

Getting a delivery is a fairly routine occurrence in many quarters. (For a time, shipping company UPS dubbed itself merely "Brown" --- the distinctive color of its employee uniforms --- because its drivers are so ubiquitous everyone understood the reference.) But getting a delivery made by a robot will wow many onlookers. Of course, as the technology develops robots will take on more complex tasks in our everyday life and we will become more accustomed to their presence. It remains to be seen whether one day we will be taken over by so-called smart robots powered by their own thoughts as predicted in many a sci-fi script (and some academic hypothesis). Are we developing our own robot overlords? I think not.

In spite of the dire warnings sounded by a few prominent scientists and engineers, I would like to think that human ingenuity will always outweigh programmed intelligence. This does not mean that AI robots won't accumulate more "knowledge" than the average human or that an AI program cannot outstrip a human in a specific, even complex arena (as has been demonstrated with chess). I simply believe that the totality of human engineering (our complex body systems and our still evolving brain organ) is more intricate than anything which humans can engineer. The robots will have to prove me wrong. (The possibility that things may go horribly wrong should not prevent our developing AI robots, but it should impart circumspection into said development.) Humans are the most fantastic machines in existence, but certainly man-made robots are cool.

On a personal level, I plan to use automation to an advantage in my home (and my business). I want to employ robots for many tasks from mowing the lawn to vacuuming the floors. The use of robots and/or artificial intelligence systems will allow me to manage the homestead without needing a lot of manpower. Home automation will allow for the creation of a one man run estate. I am fascinated by the promise of AI and what it could mean for reclaiming individual independence. I already use a Smart Assistant (Amazon's Alexa platform) and Smart Appliances. I do not fear the future, as a techie early adopter, I embrace it. And if need be, I will be one of the first to rally against Skynet ...should that day arrive.

#SadStore Run @BestBuy #BrickandMortar

I am an online shopper. I would guess that roughly 98% of my purchases originate online. (And it has been this way for over a decade.) As a result, I haven't been out to a general non-grocery Brick & Mortar store in some time. (I still sometimes go to grocery stores, or at least Farmer's Markets, though less frequently with each passing month.) But tonight I rode out with my sister to the closest Best Buy store as we each had received, as a gift from Best Buy, a $10.00 promotional gift code via email which was only good through the end of this week. (My non-techie sister doesn't shop online as much as I do. She still goes out to stores.)

$10.00 Best Buy Promotional Gift Code

I couldn't believe how sad this store looked. The stock displays in the movie section were abysmal. Barely anything on the shelves and what was there was in a seemingly random order. The entire store layout seemed completely haphazard. It was pitiful. To top it off, the free WiFi had the weakest signal of all the available networks, which rather defeats the point of offering in-store WiFi to your customers. I told my sister, "No wonder everyone shops online. If this is what you're confronted with." I remember back in the day being able to go to Best Buy and spend hours just wandering around checking gadgets, testing products, etc.. No more. I could not exit this store fast enough. I'm still shaking my head in amazement at how the mighty have fallen. I'm SHOCKED.

I still shop at Best Buy... but ONLINE. Guess Brick & Mortar stores really are going the way of the dinosaurs. I hope this was some sort of aberration, but I fear not. If one takes this store as an example, we're witnessing the end of an era.

#Epic? #Listen to New @FaithNoMore Single: Signup 4 @Sonar_Works #TrueFi #Test #Audiophile #Headphones 🎶

As an audiophile, I'm always on the prowl for optimal listening experiences. So when I caught this post from Faith No More and Sonarworks (billed as the most accurate speaker, room and headphone calibration software) in my Facebook feed this morning:

"Sign up for an exclusive limited opportunity to hear FAITH NO MORE's single “Cone of Shame” in a revolutionary new audio format. You will be able to hear the song on your headphones exactly like the band mixed it in the studio."
http://faithnomore.sonarworks.com/

I rushed to signup. Not only will I get to listen to new music from a band I like, but I will get to hear the track in authentic studio sound, Sonarworks True-Fi standard. I plan to post a product review (along with a music review of the new single) after participating the event. But you should check it out for yourself.

My Email Confirmation

You will need headphones to participate. The test will be released on 07-February. Reserve your spot now. Your ears will thank you later.

Those Wild & Crazy #Vikings! #Norway Ditches #FMRadio, Goes #Berserker. #DAB #BFF

I have a thing for Vikings, or perhaps, more accurately Vikings have a thing for me, because I certainly seem to attract all manner of them. (I kid you not, I was once handed a credit card and told to book myself a flight to Sweden in order to rendezvous with a certain Swede at his cabin in Göteborg --- 'twas quite the pickup line.) It's appropriate then, that one of my besties is a Viking... er... mickay... I mean, he's Norwegian.

The two of us have been good friends for well over 15 years and presumably we'll remain as such for the rest of our lives (baring his or my turning out to secretly be a serial killer or something worse). We met in California when I was still a student at university and he was working as a Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist and afterward spent a LOT of time in each other's company. We were so close that people often assumed we were a married couple when encountering us out & about, and I seemingly picked up a Norwegian inflection to my speech at times.¹

My friend and I continue to keep in touch via Skype (mainly in-app txt & Skype-to-phone), regular txt and email though he's since returned to his native Norway and I'm back in my native Georgia. We crack each other up, as we both have a sometimes acid sense of humor, coupled with a VERY secure sense of self.

An etymological aside: The English word "berserk" meaning crazed or crazy is derived from the Old Norse term bearserk, the frenzy into which bear-skin wearing Vikings or bearserkers would work themselves with all that raping and pillaging, which apparently takes a lot of energy. (You've got to respect a culture that gives yours the word for crazy.)

We spend a good deal of time ribbing each other over the various and sundry things which make our individual countries and cultures great. For instance, a month or so back an entire herd of reindeer were struck by lightning when a freak storm caught them out in the open on a random Norwegian plateau. After seeing the article on a news site, I sent him a quick Skype txt asking why Norway had it in for reindeer and pondered whether Santa Claus would be next on their "hit list."

Norway also happens to be one of the most oil-rich nations in the world and so, (circa 2003, i.e., the Iraq War) I would tease that he'd better watch out because America might "discover" Norway held WMD and use it as an excuse to invade any day now. In his turn, he, of course, laments American hubris and gets in his own zingers. We argue good-naturedly over who's selected for the Nobel Peace Prize each year ---- Norway names its recipient, while Sweden picks the recipients of the remaining Nobels --- and sometimes watch the annual Nobel concert together virtually. Between us, nothing is sacred.

On 11-01-2017 at 11:11a local time, Norway began turning off FM radio transmissions, becoming the first country to officially ditch the band, and started moving to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) which proponents say will be cheaper to operate and provide more clarity of signal. Opponents, of course, worry about the Norwegians who live in far flung rural areas and who travel in older vehicles who might not be able to receive digital signals. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but either way, it was so kind of Norway to act as world guinea pig in taking on this endeavour. I sent my friend a quick txt asking if he could still hear me now or if the broadcast signal was fuzzy where he is and attached the article. (He lives in an Oslo suburb, so I was obviously being facetious, but that's the point.)

As for the transition to DAB, as a tech geek, I like the idea of a crisp digital radio signal. And I also believe America will have to cross this same bridge soon enough --- rather like our recently completed transition to DTV. But as someone who grew up in a rural area, I can definitely understand the concerns that Norwegians in rural areas are voicing. As America is a much larger country with huge swaths of wide open spaces, such issues will no doubt be compounded for us and a solution (potentially a subsidy like that employed to assure rural America could get telephone service) will have to be found. Fun times are ahead!

____

¹An explanation for my Norwegian accent: At a friend's house party in San Francisco one evening, I happened to end up standing next to some guy who was regaling everyone with tales of the years he'd spent working in Finland. He'd also traveled extensively throughout Scandinavia, he said. He kept trying to cozy up to me and at one point asked if I wanted to go back to his place, which so happened to be right around the corner. Shaking my head "no," I made an offhand excuse which elicited a very odd look from the guy (odder than being politely turned down should have elicited). When I inquired as to why he suddenly looked as if he'd seen a ghost, he responded, "This is so strange, but you just spoke with a Norwegian accent." I laughed so hard I think I probably snorted my drink through my nose. In between my peals of laughter, the poor fellow tried to find out why on earth this was so funny. I finally gasped that as I spent nearly every day hanging out with a Viking, I suppose that was fair consequence and that I'd also never hear the end of it, if said Viking ever gets wind of the fact that he's succeeding in "turning" me Norwegian.