I Am Not a Smart Geek

Most people are probably a lot more technologically savvy than me, and if you scoff at my technological ignorance it really won't hurt my feelings.  I can screw up something as simple as an iTunes account so badly that it takes a genius to unscramble it and get it back to something resembling normal.

That's were SmarterGeek comes in.

Let me explain.  Briefly.  The adult child that lives at home (going to school) upgraded to the iPhone 6.  We use the same Apple ID ( I know, I know...) and didn't realize that in order for me to NOT receive his incoming text messages (never a good idea) we simply had to uncheck one of the devices in the settings on the phone.  Before we figured that out, however, we attempted to set up a new Apple ID for him and somehow erased the original Apple ID (mine).  This seems like it would be okay -- just use the new one, right?

No.

The problem got ugly when my iPad began prompting me to verify my iCloud account.  My password didn't work, of course, because that Apple ID was no longer in service.  I couldn't log out of it because I had to log into it in order to log out of it.

You see the problem.

The new phone was working great, but my devices were freaking out.  Many of my apps were inaccessible because of this Cloud issue and of course nothing would back-up.

So I tried to fix things, we reset passwords and reset the reset passwords; we tried to go back to how it was originally, before the phone upgrade.  The mess got worse and Apple disabled the account.

I vented on Facebook about how awful Apple is (and it was never Apple's fault) and my friend Rex at SmarterGeek said, "Call me.  We can fix this."

I could never have fixed it without his services.  Never.  We spent most of yesterday on the phone -- first so he could untangle the mess and diagnose the problem, and then we had to eventually do a conference call with Apple because the original email account had to be rescued.  I couldn't have even called Apple myself because I didn't know how to tell them what the problem actually was or how to tell them what I needed.  Rex anticipated a couple of issues that we were able to straighten out before they were problems.

In the end, my devices are back to normal and working fine (I think!).  The kid's devices are working fine too, except that he has to delete and re-install some apps because they were purchased under a different Apple ID and now they won't work.  We need to figure out a way to get his music onto his device, too, but in light of what we just went through, these seem like minor problems.  He's a little out of joint about it all because a couple of his apps were gaming apps where he had attained certain "levels" (no, not Candy Crush!), and he's disgruntled about having to start over, but hey, you can't have everything.  He's got a new iPhone 6, after all.

Anyway, all this is to say, if you ever need tech services, call SmarterGeek.  There isn't much he can't do, from what I can see.  What I most appreciated is that throughout the whole process I was in stressed out, panic, hair-on-fire meltdown mode and Rex was very calm and not alarmed in the least, which helped me calm down a little; his confidence that he could fix this was reassuring.

So, I'm sharing this in the hope that maybe I can avert a similar mess for someone else, and if such a mess occurs, know that there is hope and someone out there who can fix the problem!

And always, always, have your own Apple ID.

Stephen King's Juvenile, Profanity Laced Op Ed Misses the Point

Stephen King has stepped off the rails and is now an economist.  In a juvenile, profanity laden, editorial for The Daily Beast, King demands that the rich, himself included, be compelled to pay more taxes.  Mr. King spends as much time insulting Chris Christie in the piece (fat jokes are pretty juvenile if you ask me) as he does advocating higher taxes for the rich.

Blasting Mitt Romney for refusing to apologize for being rich, King writes:

 I don’t want you to apologize for being rich; I want you to acknowledge that in America, we all should have to pay our fair share. That our civics classes never taught us that being American means that—sorry, kiddies—you’re on your own. That those who have received much must be obligated to pay—not to give, not to “cut a check and shut up,” in Governor Christie’s words, but to pay—in the same proportion. That’s called stepping up and not whining about it. That’s called patriotism, a word the Tea Partiers love to throw around as long as it doesn’t cost their beloved rich folks any money.

King, and other liberals like him, fail to ever recognize or acknowledge that what we have is a spending problem.  Let's address that little problem before we start hammering the top ten percent for more dough.  


Revisit this article from the Wall Street Journal a year ago which points out that the top one percent pay 38% of the taxes in this country.  Nearly half of the American population pay no income taxes whatsoever.  You want to talk about paying your "fair share"?  What's "fair" about that?


King points out that the uber-wealthy voluntarily donate millions each year (himself included) but fails to address the issue of Apple shaving billions off their tax bill by taking advantage of legal loopholes and funneling their dough overseas.  Their tax bill is about 9.8%.  Not bad.  Paying their "fair share," are they, Mr. King?  


In truth, if the rich were taxed at 100% they wouldn't be able to cover the grand entitlements expansion that Obama has saddled us and the next generation with, and that is, as the Wall Street Journal points out, BEFORE Obamacare kicks. in. 


It seems to me that King's (and others like him) criticism is misguided. Instead of taxing the rich even more we should expand the tax base - create more tax payers. Get more people paying into the system. Creating jobs would create more tax payers. 


 One of the biggest problems with the Obama administration is that it kills jobs. Do we need a list? Start with the Keystone pipeline. Energy crushing EPA regulations have shut down coal fired power plants and cost jobs. The Gulf moratorium cost countless jobs and not just in the drilling sector but on land too in all those businesses that cater to and support the drilling industry. Need I go on? 


 It doesn't take a rocket scientist (oh and we killed those jobs too at NASA) to figure out that businesses aren't hiring because of the crushing Obamacare mandates coming down the pike. If you keep an employee at part-time you won't have to pay for his hip replacement later. 


 When did it become a crime to be rich in America, anyway? Instead of falling into Obama's class warfare rhetoric,  Mr. King should stick to his writing career. Then he can make more money and pay more taxes. 


 (Graphic from Heritage) 


 (H/T: Memeorandum)