One Little Thought on Anita Kerr's Birthday Anniversary

Anita Kerr
many-faceted musician
born 31 October 1927

The MP3 below expired on 11-14-2013.
Click here to play the current selection.

The Anita Kerr Quartet (1957)
- Once in a While (Edwards and Green)


Once in a While (1937)
Music: Michael Edwards
Words: Bud Green
The Anita Kerr Quartet (1957)

Once in a while will you try to give one little thought to me
Though someone else maybe nearer your heart

Once in a while will you dream of the moments I shared with you
Moments before we two drifted apart

In love's smoldering ember, one spark may remain
If love still can remember that spark may burn again

I know that I'll be contented with yesterday's memories
Knowing you think of me once in a while

[Trumpet Solo]

If love still can remember that spark may burn again...burn again

O, I know that I'll be contented with yesterday's memories
Knowing you think of me once in a while

Once in a while
Once in a while

A Cosmic Bat Unveiled!

The Veil Nebula, a large supernova remnant, is in the constellation Cygnus.
Its estimated distance from our plant Earth is about 1,400 light-years.

A New Obama Forever Stamp

Subscribed A $5 One Day Pass AT&T Data Plan

Tonight, I test subscribed to the AT&T $5 day pass for the 250 MB data plan.

At about 2200 hours tonight, I copied and pasted the iPad's IMEI and ICCID (no spaces in-between each set of numbers) onto the sign-up web page. Then followed by filling in some personal and credit card data fields. Since I'd done this data plan sign-up before, the experience was not unfamiliar to me. It took about 5 minutes to get the $5 day pass authorized for the iPad 3. Then the snafu (situation normal, all fouled up) began.

After an hour or so, I still could not get a lock on the iPad for 4G. At about 2245 hours I finally contacted AT&T with a staff on stand-by chat. It was somewhat humorous, I thought, he did not know the word or meaning to the word 'snafu' in our opening conversation. He "laughed" after learning the word. He tried his best to help but to no avail. Nothing he told me to do I'd not tried already. A customer complaint this time, however, might have helped in this episode of user complaints, as the AT&T world turns (pun).

At about 2330 hours, I finally got a 4G cellular signal locked on the iPad. I watched a 2.5 minutes or so of a new Captain America trailer on IMDB with the LTE turned on. It used up 21 MB of the plan - fast.

I have until 2200 hours tomorrow to play with some if not all of the 250 MB data on the iPad.

The AT&T Casual User $5 Day Data Plan

AT&T Stand-alone Data Plans as of 17 October 2013

AT&T recently offered two no-auto-renew data plans for the casual users who need a cellular connection for their tablets in a pinch:

1. $5.00/1 day, up to 250 MB of cellular data usage

2. $25.00/90 days, up to 1 GB of cellular data usage


Either plan appeals to me in two ways. One, obviously the much desired on-the-go LTE data connection for my iPad. Two, I could use the same data plan to make high quality free VoIP calls while at home, or traveling in the states and Canada.

I will start testing the $5 pass day data plan on the iPad in the next few days.

Google Hangouts Version 1.3 Is Not For Me

Google's latest release of Hangouts v. 1.3 for iOS 6 and newer is both good and bad.

If one has a Google Voice number, and access to a fast and dependable WI-FI as I, then this is a good app to make free phone calls and videos in the United States and Canada. The quality of the voice calls is very good.

I HAD the app installed on my iPod Touch 4S, iPhone 5S, and the iPad 3.

After the input of my Google Voice number on my iPhone 5S, I waited for the required Google's verification code. By the way, the quickest way to get this code is open the Google Voice app and look for the sent SMS containing the verification code. After having received the 4-digit verification code, I keyed it in the paused installation process. The SMS was also sent to my Gmail. It did take longer for the confirmation code to arrive in my Gmail.

Now, the first bad thing. One is required to join or has already joined Google+ before the installation can proceed. This Google+ membership may or may not be the thing to have. Once joined, however, the Google tentacles latch on and tether the person to its matrix.

During the app installation, if one approves to have the Gmail contacts linked, this is where the unpleasantness and annoyance really got amplified. I approved the contact list link just to see what I was getting into.

Well, Google linked practically all of my Gmail account contacts into this Hangouts app. It also populated the contact list in all of my iOS devices where Hangouts were installed. The first tier of linked contacts to surface in the finished installed app was those addresses with the predominant domains of Gmail, Comcast, and MSN. Google categorized these contacts as people I should persuade or suggest to join Google +.

Note: There was no built-in provision in Hangouts version 1.3 to selectively allow the exclusions on linked contacts. It was an all or nothing contact list linked.

The only way to remove linked contacts from Hangouts is to go back to the Contacts in either Gmail or Google Voice and selectively delete them. Yes, delete. A painful and permanent exclusion to be sure. If this exercise raises seriously doubt in one's mind whether to continue to take the plunge into this new rabbit hole, consider deleting Google+.

This is very important: If one is so inclined to check out this Hangouts app, do not import contacts during installation. If WI-FI connectivity is poor or not accessible, this app will default to a subscribed data plan minutes.

As for me, I gave up on the iOS Hangouts app and deleted my Google+ account. The whole Google+ thing was more trouble than it's worth. For now, my Google Voice number and its VoIP setup for making free calls should do just fine.


- a L'envoi iPad 3 post
Zaggfolio augmented

Fool You, Birdies!

It's nearing the time of harvesting the Fuyu persimmons. It's very sweet tasting already. The birds know it, too. They have been pecking at a few of ripening fruits on the tree. Enough of sharing this sweet fruit with the birds, said I.

A net is now draped over the persimmon tree to prevent further pilfering.

An iPod 4S (formerly iPhone 4S) photo of the
Fuyu (Fuyugaki) Persimmons, Diospyros kaki
17 October 2013 1352 hours, home Garden

Two Levels of Blocking iPhone 5s Calls and Messages

Up until my upgrading from the iPhone 4S to the 5s, I have been using the Silent ringtone (see sidebar for my custom made iPhone Silence ringtone) to ignore all unassigned contacts or unknown calls. I still use this ringtone to sort out who's who, and see if that person should be added to the contacts list and assigned a custom non-silence ringtone.

For persistent plaguy pests, I assigned them as pseudo-contacts. Then I quarantined these privacy intruders by using the iOS 7's "Block this Caller" on the iPhone. I will delete these contacts later. This method is much safer than the outright straight blocking of unfamiliar numbers. I could always unblock them later if they turned out to be relatives, friends, or friends of friends who had called with new or unfamiliar phone numbers. In any case, the final disposition of the blocked telephone numbers may be rendered at Settings>Phone (or Messages or FaceTime)>Blocked.

When unsolicitors calls are blocked, these vermin get a busy signal on their phones. Similarly, their spam and phishing text-messages get routed to Buzz Lightyear's "infinitas amplius!"

I Am All Thumbs with the New iPhone 5S Touch-ID

My brand new iPhone 5S was delivered on the afternoon of Monday, 7 October. By the same evening the iPhone 5 is up and running, and with all of the iPhone 4S apps successfully migrated. The iOS 7 iPhone 4S is now the iPod Touch 4S Touch. With its SIM card and iTunes services intact, I am well pleased. I also configured the former iPhone 4S to have the capability to make free VoIP calls in the United States and Canada using my Google Voice number via WI-FI.

Setting up the iPhone 5S Touch ID has been a revelation. I have had both of my thumbs bio-scanned on the unit's Home button/Touch ID sensor. Given I hold and operate my iPhone or other wireless/cordless devices mostly with my left hand, it didn't take long to master the Touch ID to unlock the iPhone. My right thumb, however, was all thumbs. It took longer to learn the positioning of the thumb correctly, and applying the right (pun) pressure on the sensor for 'Open Sesame' to work.

To ensure the iPhone 5s gets unlock at no more than two Touch-ID attempts, I maxed out on the number of five finger scans allowed. I scanned my left thumb three times at slightly different positions on the sensor, and two for the right thumb.

I see no point in having some of the other digits scanned into the iPhone 5S. The required pass code is the Plan B to unlock it on the dash. Any finger can keying in the pass code on the device's virtual keypad.

A Fix for Muted YouTube as of 3 October 2013

This is a workaround for a new YouTube audio bug started on 3 October 2013 for Windows OS browsers.

The problem: The YouTube speaker/volume control button on the bottom left of the player is muted and locked "x". It won't unlock upon clicking.

Google is aware of this problem. It's not known at this juncture when this YouTube audio malfunction will be resolved.

In any event, one should not assume a user system's glitch which has caused the video sound malfunction. Above all, don't panic and mess with the computer system controls and plug-ins. Instead, observe the following temporary fix instructions:

1. Upon selecting your first YouTube video, it should play automatically (a good sign).

But if the video player is dark and nothing is playing, one's browser has effectively crashed. This happens most often with the Firefox browser, including its newest version 24.0. He needs to terminate the browser process and start over again. If it crashes again while viewing YouTube, consider the use a different browser like Chrome or IE.

All other PC based browsers which I tested (i.e. Chrome and IE), the selected video played automatically at start. Only the locked (muted) audio needed to be unlocked using the method described below.

For all my Apple mobile devices (iPod, iPhone, and iPad), the selected YouTube video worked as is; no fix required.

2. If the video plays on your PC browser, the sound can be restored by:

a. Pause the video in-progress.

b. Place the mouse cursor to the right of the muted speaker/volume control on the bottom left of the YouTube player. Slide the volume control all the way to the right of the bar (100%). The speaker/volume control button is now open.

c. Resume playing the video. One might need to adjust the sound volume again via the YouTube player or the keyboard function keys.

Please note each new YouTube video viewing may require a repeat of doing Step 2.

Books Read in September 2013

Mystery/Thriller - Dan Brown, "Inferno."
Science Fiction - Jack Campbell, "Beyond the Frontier: Guardian."