AI is Coming (Slowly) to Google Home

I feel a quite underwhelmed by today's Google Home announcements and updates. October 1st held a lot of speculation and promise, but today delivered very little. I mean the new speaker is not arriving until the spring of 2026?  Indeed, I was pleased to learn that Gemini will come to every one of the company's speakers and hubs they've ever produced.  I have three active mini speakers, two connected nest speakers, and two, small display hubs. I also understand why the LIVE chat may only come to brand new hardware too. 

Still, I expected to be able to ask Ajith questions anywhere in the apartment starting this morning. Ajith is the name I've chosen for my personalized Gemini AI helper.  As of now, I can still only request information or make a request via my phone or on a Windows computer.  My Google Home devices are stuck using basic Google Assistant.

I completely understand why Google is going slowly. They have a whole lot riding on a seamless integration of AI prowess into every corner of their empire. I'm old enough to remember Microsoft's rather late realization of the importance of Internet integration into Windows. They were late but managed to prosper. 

Google already knows that traditional search, the basis of their existence, is dead. I've got a glimpse of their future.  I thought maybe I'd see a bit more of it arrive today.

 

Google Search is Dead to Me

'Bing AI Chat / Windows Copilot' has already changed how I use the Internet. I asked my question by speaking and she answered me by voice. After the newest update to Windows 11, the Copilot sits on the task bar waiting to help.

How many days do I need to visit Berlin, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia?

That's a great question! The answer depends on how much time you have, what you want to see and do, and how fast or slow you like to travel. However, based on some online sources, I can give you some general suggestions for planning your trip.

First of all, Berlin is a huge and fascinating city with a lot of history, culture, and nightlife. You could easily spend a week or more exploring its different neighborhoods, museums, monuments, and parks. However, if you only have time for the highlights, you could see the main attractions in about 3-4 days.

Poland is also a large and diverse country with many interesting places to visit. Some of the most popular destinations include Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk, Wroclaw, and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Depending on how many cities you want to see and how much time you want to spend in each one, you could spend anywhere from 5 to 14 days in Poland.

Lithuania and Latvia are smaller countries that are part of the Baltic region, along with Estonia. They have beautiful capital cities (Vilnius and Riga) that are rich in history and architecture, as well as charming countryside towns, national parks, and coastal areas. You could see the best of both countries in about a week, spending 2-3 days in each capital and 1-2 days in other places .

So, to sum up, if you want to visit Berlin, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia in one trip, you would need at least 15-18 days to cover the essentials. However, if you have more time and want to explore more in depth, you could easily extend your trip to 3-4 weeks or more. Of course, this is just a rough estimate and you can always adjust your itinerary according to your preferences and budget.

I hope this helps you plan your trip! Have a wonderful time! 

In 2016 we were in the Baltic Sea. The picture of Jay was taken in Tallinn, Estonia. On a Princess cruise, we also had two days to explore St. Petersburg, Russia and visited a number of Scandinavian ports. Still, it'd be nice to see more of the area. Perhaps we can do a June trip as the weather would be relatively nice.

Wet Outside, Comfy In Here!

 

Okay, I'd kind of forgotten what storms off the Pacific are like. This week we're in the middle of the first set of low-pressure systems of the autumn. It was a tiny bit exciting but only because I know we're not going to be here to see them all winter. I used the concept as an AI inspiration.

It feels nice having the gas fireplace blazing and most of the lights on in the apartment.  Today, I copied many photos off Jay's MS OneDrive.  That is the easiest way for him to use phone pictures on Facebook or on a computer WhatsApp chat.  The photos automatically get uploaded to OneDrive.  Over the course of a summer, much of the 5GB can get filled.  I will use a 64 GB USB memory stick to copy them off anytime it gets too full.

I'm Letting Microsoft Take Over My Android Phone

If one lives long enough, one can notice certain ironies.  I clearly remember waiting and hoping for an invitation to obtain a GMAIL account.  The invitations were slowly released and began an enormous integration of Google services.  At that point, I gave up my MS Hotmail email account and the use of Yahoo and Alta Vista for searches.

Once smartphones arrived, I stayed with Google's Android as it provided me with greater freedom of choice than the well-known alternative.

I did abandon my GMAIL account years back when I got sick of the constant privacy intrusion.  Step by step, I've been untangling myself from the chokehold of Google.

I've always heavily used customization to sport very unique phone icon screen configurations.  Google allowed that.  So today, it was relatively painless to ditch the native Pixel launcher altogether.  As I now only use Bing and its AI chatbot for searches, I started to hate the prominent Android search bar that would not allow alternate search engines.  This is the Microsoft launcher running on my Google phone.

I'm saying goodbye to another key part of the Google experience.  I know the company is working hard on Bard.  But they've already lost me and will have to successfully innovate to pry me back from more modern techniques, even if those seem to be coming from such an unlikely source as Microsoft.  The Richmond, WA company has clearly been on the uptake while Google's been sleeping.

Membership Thru Next Summer

I researched the new Microsoft PC hardware and was not impressed. It seems as though they've gone the same route as Apple; namely, quality builds with a 40% price premium over the specs of the provided hardware. I guess that extra cash must go into the "magical" qualities as both marketing teams now promise buyers this with their products. 

Beginning a month ago, I started looking for a new laptop to replace our ageing ASUS.  We needed a new Windows PC for the road but not too much of one.  I was looking for another one that would be easy to stuff into my backpack.    

I noted the HP Pavilion Aero 13 had a perfect combination of good specs at a reasonable price.  Unfortunately, the model is not offered through the online HP store in Canada.  Their US store cannot ship here either.  In fact, the model I desired is sold through just one reseller in the entire country!

 

I had somehow managed a few decades in BC without a COSTCO membership, but I bought one online last night.  We ventured to the closest warehouse to get our cards this morning.  It was almost worth the 5.5-kilometer drive and money just to hike around inside the location.  Far too many folks visit on Sunday mornings, I must report.

Got one!  Our new PC shipped with Win10 on the SSD but as soon as the installation process got hold of our wifi name and password, it offered to load Windows 11 instead.  So, there was zero wait or additional hassle setting up the new machine this afternoon.  It's completely white, so this computer will ensure that we frequently wash our hands, even when COVID-19 is no longer a concern.

Perhaps I'll include a few photos tomorrow and a comparison shot of our old and new travel PCs.

Bing Shows Fall; I Imagine Winter

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon which is almost a given on our October long weekend.  It is dark at 4:00 PM.  In many ways, it looked like winter here.  So what better to do than cross my fingers and try to install Win 11 on the primary home computer!

I did a fresh install on our non-compliant, old travel laptop, on Tuesday, the day the new version of MS Windows was released to the public.  The process proved entirely painless and I have sort of grown to like the pared-down taskbar and general peppiness of the newer operating system.

 

Therefore, today, I went to the Microsoft site and downloaded the Windows 11 Installation Assistant.  Who knows when the Windows Update process would have finally gotten around to upgrading me!  Getting 'up to speed' didn't take long.  Everything seemed to correctly come along for the ride.  After I finish this post, I'll delete the 35 Gb of files in the SSD windows.old folder.

Two Different Screen Types

A wall canvas for the newly-renovated bathroom finally got here this morning. FedEx thought it'd be here yesterday, but obviously, that wasn't the case. This was the second we'd received. Unfortunately, the original package contained someone else's canvas and it had to be returned. That means this was about two weeks late in arriving. This has allowed me to keep the Bathroom Reno blog tag active for a little longer, I guess.

Another arrival this evening was Windows 11.  This was the first day of its worldwide release to the public.  Most Windows 10 users will automatically receive the free upgrade in the same way the OS usually updates.  However, I could've waited forever with our older laptop used when travelling.

You see, this computer is about four years old.  Although the processor is perfectly adequate, Microsoft decided against allowing most Intel 7th generation chips from running the new operating system.  This has an Intel Core i5-7200 CPU.

So, I had to download the free MS Media Creation Tool and create a bootable USB drive.  I saw warnings only before beginning the process.  Otherwise, it all went very smoothly and quickly.  I have already deleted the old backup Windows 10 left on its drive.    

It takes only a few minutes to find one's way around with the new menuing.  It is smooth and faster than the previous OS.  It feels a little dumbed-down but I guess I'm past the point of wanting an operating system that is complicated.  This feels like it's going to work well, even without the Microsft-included 'Apple-marketing-ripoff comments' about its 'magical' and 'calming' attributes.  Paaleeeze, spare me!

Call Me, Bubbles!

There's a comma in the title, so obviously I'd like Bubbles to contact me.  May I suggest contacting me via MS Teams?  I use the email address already known to friends.  Add me.

I retired well before this crippling COVID situation and I have been away from office productivity workflow for a long time.  Frankly, I've had a very hard time trying to get excited about Zoom or any type of video chatting. Of course, I've seen images of monitors showing all the little faces of online participants. I guess it gained importance due to an educational and governmental survival situation.  People could clearly see that we needed better ways to get stuff done during lockdowns and work-from-home. 

I have been a bit skeptical about how Microsoft seems to be putting MS Teams as a central point in the big Windows 11 update that'll be coming later this year.

   

Today, I critically examined how little Jay and I used messaging and video chats, even with close friends. Arranging a little, 6-person dinner party forces us to resort to thirty-year-old tools. I often forget to reply to all in the email app though.  We definitely could use something better. 

However, Shinji doesn't use WhatsApp. Ed, as well as Jiwan, are allergic to Facebook. Tim uses Facetime and a little Facebook but Jay uses primarily Facebook and a little WhatsApp.  You can see why our chat avenues for planning and coordination have been practically non-existent. 

A meeting-type video chat seems evermore unlikely; that is, until today.  I downloaded MS Teams on my Android devices and our Windows PC.   How neat that participants don't need to download anything special to take part in a group video meeting!   It's multiplatform, open-source, and will prove to be transformative. 

I think I will be able to host a video conference even if none of these folks download the actual Teams software.  I can send a link and they can participate on whatever device or operating system they're near.  Of course, getting them completely onboard the Team bandwagon with the iOS, Android, or Windows app would make chat much easier and planning one thousand times more productive.

Useful Hardware Advertising

I just set my Google calendar to start each week on a Monday.  I now prefer calendars that end the week with, well, weekends.  I also set the little calendar on the Windows 10 task bar to default to that format.

It simply seems more logical as that's how a hypothetical week runs in my mind. I have come to this realization long after giving up work weeks.  More precisely, I've given up working all together.

I think the silliest calendar format puts Sundays on the left and Saturdays on the far right-hand side.  That essentially breaks up each weekend.  How silly is that!

This calendar returned from Sri Lanka with us this year. That's where we were for the New Year.  It came back in the luggage.

I Want Computers to Remain Difficult

Day 133 - I remember running versions 2 and 3 of MS Windows. At version 3.1 the OS finally hit its stride. So yeah, it's been a while and I'm kind of old. Before that, I knew how to get stuff done in DOS. I was initially interested in personal computers because they weren't run-of-the-mill. I wanted to learn about them as they were technical, modern, and a little nerdy.

Fast forward 35-years and hardware and software have changed a great deal. However, Win 10 is still a little nerdy. As proof, it has taken me a few weeks to get my new Acer machine set up in ways that satisfy me. Being able to start from scratch has been fun. I had to remove the partitions from the SSD and figure out how to assign D:\ to the 1 TB hard drive.

Yet, I always change things up just to keep learning new concepts. For example, I happily switched over to the new Chromium version of MS Edge as my browser when it was released in January. Doing this has modified how I will use the new 24" all-in-one. Changing one's habits is what keeps one young at heart! More importantly, solving problems is what keeps one's brain young.


The threat of rain is keeping me at my keyboard this afternoon.
Honestly, I enjoy the technical challenges presented by setting up and operating a PC. I possess an easy-going personality; however, organizing one of these devices lets me tap into my anal retentiveness. Many people might not even notice some of the things I simply have to change. I am amazed by the total lack of digital organization demonstrated by most people.

Things are nearly impossible to get perfect though. I'm at 99%. Getting the last percent will take more exploration and the need to apply patience and logic. Right now, this PC has one update which cannot be applied. I am also having Edge sync problems with my favourites here but not our smaller, travel laptop.

Ready, Set, Boot Up!

I moved the old Toshiba laptop from the table. The ageing 17.3" Windows 10 PC stands as our primary computing device in the apartment. I have the feeling this was its last summer working for us. It hardly seems possible it has been toiling away for more than five and a half years. It was pretty difficult to take along when travelling but it did go to Mexico and Egypt during our first two winters of early retirement.



Two years back, I got a travel computer and the rose-coloured, 14" Asus will be coming with us this winter again. It is small enough to slip in the purpose-made pouch inside the back of my backpack. It has an SSD rather than a traditional hard disk, so it can be tossed around with a little more abandon.

Today, I figured we could switch over to it, to ensure all websites and programs are ready and working. Switching computers is much easier nowadays due to the cloud. I remember not having my browser bookmarks synced. I even remember offline email programs where the messages were kept on the local hardware. Just to ensure we are not missing some obscure password, or lacking access to some downloaded software, we can run the baby machine for the next 10 days before our departure.

Come April 2020, I think a new, large-screen laptop will grace the table of our apartment.

Win10 Forgot Our Anniversary

Here it is nearly September and I checked to find my Toshiba laptop was still running Windows 10 Version 1511.

All updates are set to occur automatically but I still hadn't received the Anniversary Edition. How could Windows have forgotten, especially after all these productive years we've spent together?

I was determined that neglecting such an important event would not lead to our breakup though. It took only seconds to find a link to begin the process. Although, I'm only downloading at the moment, I look forward to many years of continuing bliss in this relationship.

A Delivery / Broken Promises

My phone said that one of my Amazon orders was up for delivery today. It contained the UV filter for my camera and a new SD card to pad the total bill for the free shipping. I see that Amazon fulfills orders themselves now and no longer relies on Canada Post. That's probably a good thing. However, there was no delivery time stated online. I half waited around here today.


I did finish up clearing out my important historical files and data from Microsoft's OneDrive and moved them to my Google Drive. I am going to incur more hefty Internet usage this month due to this downloading and uploading. Microsoft is clawing back on cloud space that they once gave out for free. I have 40 GB at the moment, but on August 8, the space will drop to just 15 GB. Most folks will default back to a mere 5 GB but I do have an extra 10 as I used their service back when it was called, SkyDrive. For such a big company they surely don't seem to understand Business 101. A company probably shouldn't take back things already given away. Reneging on a promise is bad for any relationship. I was a Microsoft fan for decades but I have less and less allegiance as time goes by.

Our buzzer didn't ring until later in the afternoon when I went down to the swimming pool. Luckily, Jay was here and the package surprised me when I came back upstairs.

Lubuntu to You Too

The other day I was messing with the disk partitions on the Acer Netbook. Why, you ask? I guess I just wanted to see how things worked. I screwed it up so badly that the computer wouldn't boot into Windows.

That device had allowed me to update to Win 10 on the day of its release. With the newer operating system on the cheap Acer One V5, it ran marginally better. Acer really should not have sold anything quite so wimpy with Windows 8 on it the first place! In retrospect, I guess the purchase served its purpose. The device had an HDMI output for the LCD projectors in my BCIT classrooms. I must have used it for a few terms. My last class before retirement ended eleven months ago, though.

I've been playing with alternates rather than immediately reinstalling Win 10. First I thought it'd be interesting to run Android on it as I know that environment so well from my phones, tablets, and TV box. There were lots of builds out there but I couldn't find anything that'd work right. I suppose the experience of creating bootable USB sticks has been educational, and shall I add, fun. I nearly tried to put Chrome OS on the netbook, but I decided instead to try a direct linux distribution. Oh crap, there are so many! I had to try making an educated choice with no education. Hell, by what I've seen, a solid majority of the world works that way. So here goes ...


As I finished typing this entry, a copy of Lubuntu has completed downloading via a torrent. I'll see what I think of it. If you know a bit about running an alternate OS, and my words here don't seem like total babble, I'd love hearing back. The trouble is I've never had friends, during my entire life, who also enjoy playing with this sort of thing. Sigh.

My Tryst with Win8 is Over!

I have lots of computer stuff going on at present. I just had a new drive installed on Tuesday because the one in our Toshiba laptop died. That drive was, of course, all ready to receive the Windows 10 update. As I hadn't planned on it dying, I found getting a new version of Windows 8.1 very annoying. I suppose one is truly never ready for a disk failure. Nowadays there isn't a need to keep many things on the local device and things like our browser bookmarks are all safely stored by Chrome. Still, what a bother!


The new hard drive had an OEM copy of Windows 8.1 and it took me a lot of time getting rid of Lenovo bloatware. I have always been a little particular about avoiding unnecessary files and programs. Perhaps this came from the time when storage on a floppy was sparse. Computers. though, are the one dear aspect of my life where I can exert uber-control. So, for the last few days, I've been upgrading, deleting, and restarting that computer. It's the workhorse of this home. I have had to do additional research in order to get the Get Windows 10 app to show up. Even at present, no matter how many times I check, this PC's upgrade app isn't ready to switch over.

So, on the under-powered Acer netbook, I anxiously pressed for its upgrade yesterday. At first blush, the operating system seems much more organized than Windows 8. Honestly, we, as computer users, can learn to live with anything. Yet, the hodgepodge of design elements really never let Win8 be at all intuitive. (Remember, this is the guy who never had anything bad to say about Windows Vista.) I think I like Windows 10 a lot better than what I've been using recently. Relearning is always difficult for some, but I sort of love getting used to new environments, be they geographic or virtual. There seems to be a lot of old Windows hidden behind this shiny, modern interface and it's a little frustrating trying to 'get at it all' in a new brand way.


All this computer work sort of reinvigorated by love for PCs. Yet, I fear I'm burning myself out much too soon.

I Hate This Tiny Keyboard!

Ugh! I'm typing this on my little Acer and maintain they had no right selling this under-powered netbook with Windows 8. I literally have to plan minutes ahead before opening a program. I have time for an entire Japanese tea ceremony before I can get work done here, even in Chrome.


Alas, the hard disk in the wide-screen Toshiba died today. I have had a near uncountable number of hard disks dating back to 1986 and I don't think I ever had one go bad on me. I probably should have known that there was a problem due to the extremely slow boots of late. Hindsight is 20/20.

I really thought that I had hit a run of good luck when I remembered a mobile drive from an old laptop in my cupboard. When I tossed an old Acer with a bad screen, I took out the hard drive before recycling. I was thinking in terms of data privacy more than spare parts. I thought I'd saved myself $60 when I found it. There was an extra adapter on it so I thought the connectors were different but the guy in a new computer repair place on 6th, showed me that I could just pull it off with a little force.

I came back all happy, but after plugging in the old drive, which should contain Windows 7, the laptop says "No Bootable Media". Darn. Windows 10 would be headed to both inoperative drives in just a few more weeks -- for free. Now, I have to go through a lot of rigmarole getting an operating system on a new drive. I think I have some Windows 7 CDROMs but they most probably were all upgrade disks requiring a working OS on the computer.

Sigh.

sfc /scannow

Oh, Windows 8.1! You're supposed to automatically update on both my Toshiba notebook and Acer netbook at the end of next month. I hope you still retain some of your classic charms in version 10 for the nerdy of the world. I would hate it if your switch to a modern OS were to take away your complicated and hard to understand underbelly.

This box is running in another window as I am typing today's entry. I am attempting to rectify a serious, yet mysterious, problem causing slow boot ups.


Okay, I will admit it. I get the tiniest rush of excitement when returning to a command prompt, just like the ones from 1989. Finding it is a little more obtuse and needing to right click helps to retain that feeling of magic alchemy. I don't get to don my robe and ready my incantations often nowadays, but it can be a nice diversion.

Long live dark complication and software subterfuge! Such things help to set me apart from the hoi polloi in the same way as religious rites and indoctrination were often used.

An XP-Type Moment

I had a bit of a fright this afternoon. Well on the scale of life, it was a very tiny one, a computer one. When a PC doesn't appear healthy though, it is a little scary.

Jay was working along 'on his side' and the screen sort of froze. We call 'logged in under his account' as 'side'. Only the mouse seemed responsive. Even the magic 3-key trick failed to bring up the Windows Task Manager. A lengthy force on the power switch caused a reboot. Everything seemed to run in super slow motion and programs or pages in Chrome would not open. This Toshiba has an extremely quiet hard drive so I was surprised when I managed to get into the Task Manager and saw 100% disk usage.

I restarted a few times and left Windows 8.1 at the account-selection screen during nap time. Now, things are working like a charm. Honestly, I guess I used to be familiar with such Windows behaviour in the good old days. Yet, Windows 8.1 seems to run flawlessly. As in the last version, the computer goes for weeks without needing to be rebooted.

For a few moments today, I revisited that lonely feeling of dread. Nowadays, a system crash should be of less concern. There's nothing residing on this computer that isn't in the cloud. For example, I know I can sign into Chrome from anywhere and have my bookmarks and settings come along for the ride. All my files and photos are in the cloud. There are even enough devices around this house so we'd not miss a single important email or Facebook posting! It would be an inconvenience to have to buy a new notebook though.


I don't know why the hard disk activity was maxed out today. Maintenance occurs automatically when the device isn't being used. Could it be something to do with the downloading of Windows 10 files? I don't think upgrades related to that event occur for at least another six weeks. Maybe I'll never know what made the computer unusable for an hour. I guess it doesn't matter.

Obsolescence

Today, Jay was going through some junk. He found some resume information on a 720K floppy disc. I thought that was funny. Then, he discovered an old game of Moon Bugs on one that was just 360K. I don't have a way of accessing that information anymore.

Choose, Order, and Wait

I wish I were putting a photo of my own equipment here. Unfortunately, this image is simply from the Internet. I ordered it yesterday through an ebay seller. I didn't wait to win an auction preferring instead to simply buy now.


Making the order didn't provide a whole lot of instant gratification. My Minix NEO X8-H has been shipped from Hong Kong. I have ordered other equipment, such as phone batteries, directly from China in the past. Standard post is generally efficient and I never had anything damaged while in transit over the Pacific. My most recent order states in print that it should arrive between July 30th and August 21st. That's a pretty big window! I surely hope it is closer to the former than the latter.

It was coincidental that on the same day I ordered an Android TV media box, Microsoft announced layoffs of 18,000 employees. I was just thinking that I used to be excited about software created from down the road in Redmond. That surely happens far less frequently nowadays.