I sometimes take pictures of our cats.
Very rarely, the pictures are actually interesting. (I am no photo artist.)
This morning, I snapped a picture of our cats Kifli and Rufus, as they found a place on top of some Amazon shipping boxes.
What I didn’t expect is the effect of light, filtered through the blinds, on their fur, especially Rufus’s.
Here is today’s gem of a survey question from CTV Ottawa:
My answer is greenish-pink, with whipped cream.
(To their credit, a corrected question appears on their Web site.)
Remember what radio used to be like, especially shortwave?
Many stations had an interval signal. This signal, usually just a few musical notes, was played whenever the station would otherwise be silent (e.g., between the end of a program and the time signal at the top of the hour.) I remember many an interval signal fondly.
But one of them, I just cannot identify. Namely this one:
Bugs the devil out of me.
My current phone is a Nexus 6P.
I picked this phone for one all-important reason: It is a “pure Android” phone, directly supported by Google. Which means that instead of being at the manufacturer’s mercy when it comes to updates, I receive monthly security updates from Google. In this day and age, this is a deciding factor for me.
I got the phone in September. Sometime in the winter, I noticed that a speck appeared in photographs taken by the phone’s main camera.
Its appearance suggests that it is a small dust particle stuck between the camera visor and the camera itself, or inside the camera optics perhaps. Others apparently encountered the same issue. Some were able to shake the phone until the speck vanished. I tried to do the same but to no avail. Obviously I do not want to damage or destroy the phone.
I was trying to decide whether or not to live with it. A friend of mine suggested that I should contact the manufacturer since the phone is under warranty. I decided to do just that. Here is the exchange of e-mails that followed:
Greetings,
I obtained a Nexus 6P from Rogers Canada in September 2016.
A few months ago, I noticed that its camera developed a speck (see attached, lower right corner; the picture is of a uniformly illuminated white sheet of paper). Researching online, I found out that it is not an uncommon problem, and may be due to a loose dust particle inside the camera. Some people had luck shaking the speck lose. I tried gently tapping/shaking the phone, to no avail.
I also learned that this issue may be covered under warranty.
Please enlighten me if this is the case and, if so, how the warranty process works.
Sincerely,
Viktor Toth
From: Huawei Device Support [mailto:supportcanada@mail01.huawei.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 2:41 PM
To: Viktor T. Toth
Subject: Nexus 6P black spot
Dear Mr. Toth, receive a warm greeting.
We widely appreciate the information you provided us, and gladly inform you that on the attachment you can find information concerning your inquiry.
We are at your service.
Best regards.
C.B.W.
From: Viktor T. Toth
Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 3:17 PM
To: ‘Huawei Device Support’ <supportcanada@mail01.huawei.com>
Subject: RE: Nexus 6P black spot
Dear Huawei support,
I thank you for your response but I find it quite unacceptable. If you had looked at the image that I sent to you, you would have seen that the “impurity spot” is actually about 100 pixels in diameter and very prominently noticeable in every picture that I take (attached enlarged, cropped image should also appear below):
If this is an acceptable impurity to you, I pity your customers. (This a crop from an actual photo of a white sheet of paper taken by the phone; I did not enlarge or manipulate it in any way.)
I also wonder if you perhaps misunderstood my inquiry and thought that I was referring to the display of the phone, as opposed to its main camera.
I’ll probably learn to live with this speck or attempt a repair. Your response as well as what I read online about your Canadian warranty support gives me little confidence that I can seek help from you.
However, I thank you for reminding me that when it comes to my next phone purchase, I should take into account the manufacturer’s support policy as well as the quality and capabilities of the device when I make my decision. The Nexus 6P may be a premium quality device, but your support perhaps isn’t.
Sincerely,
From: Huawei Device Support [mailto:supportcanada@mail01.huawei.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 6:55 PM
To: Viktor T. Toth
Subject: Huawei Mail Support
Dear Mr. Toth.
We appreciate your preference, and deeply regret any inconvenience that you are experiencing with your Huawei device, however in order to correct this situation, in the attached file you will find a detailed answer to your question.
We are at your service.
Best regards.
C.B.W.
From: Viktor T. Toth
Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 8.02 PM
To: ‘Huawei Device Support’ <supportcanada@mail01.huawei.com>
Subject: RE: Huawei Mail Support
I have not received an attachment in your response to my second inquiry.
Sincerely,
From: Huawei Device Support [mailto:supportcanada@mail01.huawei.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 6, 2017 12:43 PM
To: Viktor T. Toth
Subject: Huawei Mail Support
Dear Mr. Toth, receive a warm greeting.
We widely appreciate the information you provided us, and gladly inform you that on the attachment you can find information concerning your inquiry.
We are at your service.
Best regards.
C.B.W.
Somehow, in light of this exchange, I do not feel particularly confident that it is a good idea to send in my phone for repair.
FYI, Huawei: The long-distance prefix in North America is 1, not 001.
I don’t often post pictures of my friends, but this time, I have my friend Perry’s permission.
Perry was flying west the other day. While waiting at the airport, he encountered a familiar face. The familiar face belonged to Canada’s Minister of National Defence, Harjit Singh Sajjan.
The Honourable Minister was probably flying back to his Vancouver riding, which he represents in Parliament.
Whatever the reason, the remarkable thing is this: Mr. Sajjan was traveling the same way most other Canadian would travel. On a commercial airliner, flying coach.
Let me repeat that, this time in boldface: Canada’s Minister of National Defence, traveling cross-country on a commercial airliner, flying coach.
I am so glad Mr. Sajjan allowed Perry to take this selfie, and that Perry kindly permitted me to repost it. This was not a moment designed for publicity. As far as I know, Mr. Sajjan does not publicize the manner in which he travels. He just… does the right thing.
And the other remarkable thing is that he can do this. It speaks volumes about our country and our government.
Donald Trump told us that if necessary, the US will act alone on North Korea.
In a discussion on this topic, a commentator on CNN remarked on the dangers of having to deal with a madman armed with nukes.
If I were in Kim Jong-un’s shoes, I’d worry about that, too.