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My Favorite Gardening Weed Pulling Tool Is A Crowbar

I am most willing to use just about any tool to get the job done.  Quite a few years ago I found that a hand held crowbar was near perfect for pulling up weeds.

Two tools are shown. The top tool is your typical weed tool. The bottom tool is a hand held crowbaar.
Top tool is a garden weed tool. The bottom tool is a hand held crowbar also called a wrecking bar.

 

A crowbar has a wide surface for getting up under a weed and a sharp tip for getting the tool under the weed.  A crowbar also has a longer shank for wedging under a good size weed and allowing you to lever the weed up out of the ground. by pressing down upon the bar.

The top tool in the image above, I almost never use.  It might be better used when a weed is very close to some other plant you do not want to disturb.  There are a lot of different crowbar sizes so choose carefully one that you think would work best for you.

 

 

 

Posted: June 16, 2019
Updated: June 17, 2019

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Recommended Bed Sheets.

My daughter ordered a new twin bed mattress.   I had to get new bed sheets  because this new mattress has a much taller height, 13 inches.   I went to JC Penney and purchased their sheets that claimed to have contour bottom sheet but they had elastic corners only and failed to fit properly.  It would take me over 5 minutes to get the bottom sheet to fit.

My next purchase was Sleep Philosophy Copper Touch twin sheet which had elastic completely around the bottom sheet and the height was near perfect.

Sleep Philosophy COPPER TOUCH™ Copper-Infused Sheet Set “SHET20-1152”

My only concern was that the material was very thin.  The top sheet did wrap under the foot of the mattress OK but not as long as I would like.

I decided to buy Sit & Sleep Dreamfit sheets which I know were perfect because mom and dad use the sheets.    I tried to order them from Sit & Sleep but their web site failed me for about a week because their outrageous shipping charges, $1,329.35.  I called twice to their customer service to ask them to fix this problem but no improvement.  I just kept trying to order and finally one day, the total cost was less than $110 including tax and shipping.  The order took almost a week to arrive.  It was impossible to track the order, which now I consider a bit unprofessional.  But, I LOVE these sheets for how they are expected to feel and how easy they are to put on a bed.

Dreamfit Degree 4 Egyptian Cotton First Fit Sheet Ensemble

They have excellent construction, and fit perfectly.  The bottom sheet goes on quickly.  At each corner is a colored strap, called FIRSTFIT CORNER, that tells you which ends of the fitted sheet go toward the head and feet of the mattress.  On a twin bed these colored straps are not important so much but on more square mattresses this really helps.  The top sheet is perfect as it has good side dimensions and the foot dimension where the sheet goes under the mattress is shockingly long – really professional.

However, my daughter’s  “Egyptian” Cotton sheets feel way less smooth and soft than the ones that mom and dad have on their bed.  I checked the labels of my new daughter’s pillow case fabric tag and it said only “100% Cotton”.

Mom and dad’s pillow case tag says 70% Viscoss from bamboo, 30% cotton.  Very strange.  I guess I do not trust Dreamfit providing specified material just very good construction.

Spot Fake Egyptian Cotton Sheets – Exceptionalsheets.com

Note that Dreamfit has their own web site: https://dreamfit.com/sheets.html

If you decide to buy sheets, please be aware that the above links are for twin sheets.  Make sure you search for your correct mattress size.

 

Posted: June 16, 2019
Revised: June 24, 2019

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Facebook Should Not Be In A Safe Harbor

Opinion

Facebook is currently protected by a legal provision called “safe harbor”. The legal definition is that it gives legal protection from liability under specified conditions.

Safe harbor is necessary for such industries that provide the pipes through which data flows because their only purpose is to link two opposing points with information. They do not create the content, they provide the connections between the send and receive points. They should not be responsible for the content they move through their pipes, thus the safe harbor legal provision. The key point in this is these companies must not create any data content.

The phone company links homes and businesses with voice and computer signal data so does internet service providers. The phone company does not create the content; it just move it from place to place.

Visually think in you mind that this company as a pipe company. Pipe companies should not, normally, be sued for what passes through their pipes.

Facebook creates content and moves content. It does two things at the same time. It is similar to the phone company and also a news paper company. Yet, Facebook uses safe harbor as an excuse not to receive any legal claims against it for the content it creates from its “reporters”.  Facebook’s safe harbor arguments are utterly false and legally stupid at any simple level of common reason. Facebook does move content that they do not create thus hugging the safe harbor protection. But, they do create the content when it is put up to their web site platform. Their web site platform now can be thought of as a newspaper creating content. Private text messages between Facebook members would be a pipe movement but once a member puts up any display of a still image, movie, or pronouncement, then those individuals are Facebook “reporters”. Facebook becomes like a newspaper and the person putting up that type of information is acting like a reporter for a newspaper. In once sense, Facebook is a type of electronic newspaper because it is a vehicle of display, not a pipe.  In fact, Facebook “is a fully fledged news organization on a scale we have never seen”.

https://hbr.org/2011/03/facebook-is-the-largest-news-o

With that type of content, Facebook must act to supervise within a reasonable time to remove such content that offends, creates or transmits disinformation, is inflammatory, libelous, or could suffer legal actions against it. In other words, Facebook must not be protected with the provisions of safe harbor.

The United States currently has offered safe harbor protection for Facebook, allegedly for political reasons.   Some of the Facebook staff are Donald Trump supporters such as Peter Thiel a Facebook Inc. board member.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-01/peter-thiel-praises-trump-pledges-to-support-his-2020-campaign

 

Posted May 31, 2019

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Why Are Iranian Women Treated Unfairly In Iran?

Opinion

I have spent hours trying to research why Iranian women are not treated as equals to men in their country. The only information I can find is that the Iranian society has always been male dominated. It has been this way and it must remain this way, is the idea I came away with. Just because something has been this way, in the past, does not make it intellectually correct and honorable now. I contend that the Iranian treatment of women has been criminal in the past and is still criminal and I expect it to remain a crime for the future.

Treating women with discrimination is only correct in the minds of ignorant male Iranians for their self serving ego reasons. It seems that this Iranian male problem, with their women, may stem from their insecurity that a women might attain being their equal or, heaven forbid, surpass the attainment of a man’s status.

I thus think Iranian men are afraid of their women, which nicely explains why they must keep them down and in their subordinate place with requirements that each women can not flourish to her potential.

I personally look down upon the ruler’s of Iran for not allowing Iranian women to attain the equality of a man. I look down upon a country that fails the tests of equality.

 

 

Posted May 21, 2019
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Continuum Of Treason

Continuum is a mental realization, a mental tool, that we use as a means to realize natural and man made things we view in life. It is a really interesting intellectual way that we can visualize, in our minds, some opposite situations that are related. We are, in effect, placing a mental ruler of varying length between two opposite situations that we see, when those situations lend themselves to be measured together.

For a continuum to work there should be two opposite extremes but they are connected typically by degree. We typically “see” or realize the connection of the two extremes because they shout at us that they are opposite and connected in some way. But, there should be a factor of degree or how much of one side or the opposite side we are looking at and set a value on that point. The word I used is “degree” and that is vitally important to appreciate because it is a concept that will link the two opposite extremes. Typically there is more or less degree of something. There are an incredible number of continuum’s.

Let me offer some simple continuum examples followed by how each can be measured:

  • Light to Dark (Light meter)
  • Happiness to Sadness (Expressions on a person’s face)
  • Dry to Wet (Rain gauge)
  • Still air to Hurricane (Anemometer)
  • Short to Tall (Ruler)

The word “to”, in the above examples means that there can be a transition or movement from one extreme to the opposite extreme or one side to the opposite side. This transition can be short or long or any length. It is up to the person telling or writing where on the continuum scale we are concerned.

A really good continuum is one where the two opposite extremes are far apart because we are more likely to notice the differences. A really good example is the change of seasons. When this takes place in the northern hemisphere where the trees change color and plants go dormant the continuum process is very slow but unmistakable.

Some continuum’s lend themselves to be shown in graphic form.  When showing a continuum graphic, there are some common standards that some people use. Usually a line is used and the end points are labeled as to the minimum at one end and maximum at the other end. Typically the graphic continuum line is horizontal but for some measurements like height it is usually vertical. Let me show you a continuum line for treason (see below).

Accident        Collude        Coordinate         Conspire         Treason
X_______________________________________________X

In the Mueller Report there is a continuum that is revealed in the Introduction To Volume I. This continuum is explained as the degree that the Trump administration worked hand in hand with the Russians. At one end of the continuum is low criminal level called helping, which might be done by “accident”. Next serious might be helping Russia on purpose, called “collusion”, for some implied gain by one or both parties. The next, more serious degree is to “coordinate” with Russia. This third to last degree, coordinate, is considered illegal in the United States. The Mueller Report hones into two points on the continuum, collude and coordinate. For some reason collude is not illegal. Obviously coordinate is illegal because it implies BOTH parties are working together for a single purpose. But, I propose that coordinate might also mean that BOTH parties were working together but avoided detection.

Conspire, second to the last right side continuum point, is definitely a crime.  The Mueller Report failed to establish this activity took place by the Trump administration.

The last, far right, point on the continuum is treason and this is definitely illegal. It is a bit different in that it specifies that individuals actually work against the interests of the country.  The Mueller Report did not show examples of this continuum extreme by the Trump administration.

Let me state this again. In the Mueller continuum he talks about three out of the five main continuum measure points:  collude,  coordinate and conspire. The continuum begins with less formal and works toward more formal working together between Trump administration and Russia. Let’s read the definition of all five continuum points:

Accident: “an event that happens by chance or that is without apparent or deliberate cause”. Obviously we have no concern for individuals in the Trump administration helping Russia by accident.  This is the low end of the continuum, non criminal.

Collude: “cooperate in a secret or unlawful way in order to deceive or gain an advantage over others”.  This sure sounds like we are getting close to criminal activity.

Coordinate: “negotiate with others in order to work together effectively” implying, in this case, that the Trump administration was working with Russia toward some nefarious end.  But, “”coordination” does not have a settled definition in federal criminal law”.  The Mueller Report states that coordination requires an agreement – tacit or expressed – between the Trump Campaign and the Russian government on election interference.  The Mueller Report failed to support the view that the Trump administration came to this level on the continuum.  (The Mueller Report goes on to state “That requires more than the two parties taking actions that were informed by or responsive to the other’s actions”.  I think this is a mistake in the report because it states “more than the two parties”.  Coordination typically implies two or more parties.  Two is enough to make coordination!)

Conspire:  To make secret plans jointly to commit an unlawful or harmful act.  The Mueller team used this threshold on the continuum to trigger a response that the Trump administration broke the law which they did not reach.

Treason: the action of betraying one’s country, the United States.  There are no reports that the Trump administration approached this level on the continuum.

One definition of treason uses the word “betray’ which has further meaning of “expose one’s country to danger by treacherously by giving information to an enemy.” Think of the number of times Donald Trump had private consultations with the ruler of Russia and no one was allowed to record what took place.

Looking at the above continuum points, I find it impossible not to categorize “collude” as a crime. But, collusion, itself, is not a specific federal crime. The dictionary definition comes close to saying that the Trump administration did commit a crime. The Trump administration did collude with the enemy of the Untied States, Russia, as outlined in the Mueller Report. Russia wants a weak United States and Putin viewed Trump as acting toward that end. Donald Trump received help in getting elected and possibly received more secret benefits from Russia. That should be illegal and a punishment should be handed out to those who participated in those acts..

References: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/12/what-is-collusion-215366

Posted: May 14, 2019

 

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Cruise To Alaska and Canada Technology Problems

Cruise Line: Princess Cruises
Cruise Ship: Island Princess
Cruise: 7 Day Alaska – Inside Passage
Cell Phone Service Provider: T-Mobile
Phone: LG-V30
Date: May 1 to May 8, 2019

I do recommend Princess Cruise 7 Day Alaska – Inside Passage.  This blog post only criticizes some external factors that were a surprise to me.

Our cruse ship does offer Internet service for a fee that I think is quite high.  We decided not to pay for that service.

I am a bit of a news and weather interested person.  At home, I check both news and weather frequently.  The trip to Alaska was wonderful in many ways except for receiving news back in the main states and weather around me and for my next destination.  Weather in Alaska can change quickly and it would be nice to plan how to dress for the day before leaving my cabin.

None of my cell phone weather applications would show up to date weather during our stay in Alaska and Canada.  No weather applications worked while in Vancouver Princess Cruises dock, over 4 hours duration at dock.

None of my cell phone news applications would update and store more current news for most of the trip.  Even when arriving at Vancouver and docked better part of a day my news applications failed.

The Weather Underground application would fail to open and update way more frequently than Yahoo Weather even when back home where there is rock solid Internet.

For most of the trip, lousy e-mail into my cell phone. T-Mobile’s coverage map for Alaska and Canada is way less than the main part of the United States but it does show some coverage in places we traveled. Why then this failure?

For some reason, text messages did work at times.  At the end of the trip I traded texts with friends on board ship while in Vancouver.

Odd:  Starbucks cell phone application did work in Vancouver while weather applications failed.

In Vancouver, about a 15 minutes bus drive from boat dock to airport, I got weather application to work but frequent signal dropouts.

At Vancouver Airport Terminal. Weather applications did function.  But, not NEWS!

Our cruse ship TV failed to provide any weather channel. The only option we could find was to watch the BBC because they show the world weather as part of their news but it is a large over view lacking any detail. There was a channel dedicated to the ship’s course on a map including the current outdoor temperature only at the ship’s current location.

The AP News application updated very slowly.  I must keep the application open for AP to receive updates, it seems.  When in the air and no Internet, the full story text is missing.  This application sucks for later reading almost as bad as all the other news applications.  The New York Times would still not updating, a near total waste.

Weather Underground application started showing temperatures for locations but no expanded weather information.

The New York Times cell phone application fails to show last stories but shows white screen.  Once it updated with few days old stories and then removed them for much older stories.  Really weird and stupid.

At the end of our trip and at the Portland Oregon Airport, I was finally able to sync my Fitbit Ionic to my cell phone Fitbit application and then the Ionic now showed the correct time!!!  So for most of the trip, my Fitbit Ionic showed the incorrect time by one hour because we moved into another time zone. Why the Ionic fails to synchronize to the cell phone application time by Bluetooth is really stupid.

Portland Oregon Airport provided good cell phone connectivity.

Note:  The cruse ships are made of thick steel and as such are really shielded from cell tower signals.  The further inside you go into the ship the chance of receiving any cell phone signal is minute.   It is my guess that one may need to go outside those shield confines to increase your chance to get good phone service.  We did, at times, walk on outside decks but it was very, very, cold to do so.

Solution:  Because the weather in Alaska can change and my cell phone weather applications failed me and day trips are away from getting to needed change of clothing, I decided to take along a comfortable, rather small, back pack made by Eagle Creek (no longer made).  It has enough space for a rain jacket or pack able jacket and two side pouches for umbrellas and water bottles and a back pouch for snacks and first aid kit.

Summary: Once home I realized that not much had taken place in the United States for the week we were out of touch with the news. The ship did provide free TV in our rooms with a good selection of news channels. Problem is, I spend so little time in my cabin. I rather read the news in the dinning rooms. As for weather, absolutely no provided information from the ship and my cell phone.  My cell phone, T-Moblie service provider, really was quite awful in Alaska and even in larger cities of Canada, such as Vancouver. It was not until I got into Washington and Oregon that it provided good service.

 

Posted May 11, 2019
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A Convincing Belief That Figi Water Helps My Knee Pain

About six months ago, I went to my Kaiser doctor complaining of knee pain. My doctor took X-Rays and found mild arthritis.  She prescribed a cream Diclofenac Sodium Topical Gel.  You squeeze this like toothpaste on to a plastic scale to help measure the correct dose.  I spread it upon my knees and it was a near perfect solution.  I was amazed that a product applied to the skin could provide such relief.

Totally unrelated in any way to the knee problem was my quest to find a better bottled water.  I did the usual Internet search and a number of web sites offered suggestions.  What convinced me to try Figi water was an Internet story about how NBA players really needed this water because they felt their basketball playing was improved.

The Bottled Water Obsession Taking over NBA Locker Rooms

How can water improve your athletic skills, I asked myself.  Well, I tried it out.  I could not detect any different flavor from the cheaper bottled water I was buying in the super market.

But, over a rather short time, a few weeks maybe, I found that my knees were feeling better, less pain.  Could this be the Fiji water?  I looked at the label and it showed the following:

  • Silica 93mg/L
  • Calcium 18mg/L
  • Magnesium 15mg/L
  • pH  7.7

My Internet research findings really supports the importance of taking silica, calcium and magnesium!  I recommend that you take the time and look for the health benefits of each.  I found the results to be astonishing.

Experiment followed:  I decided to stop applying the diclofenac sodium gel when I looked at it’s side effects.  Since stopping applying the gel, I have not noticed any knee pain increase.  In fact, my knees feel pretty darn normal except I can not put my knees to the ground and then try to stand up without some pain and struggle.

Let me warn you that this water is typically more expensive.  I go to COSTCO to get it cheaper.  I recommend that you shop around for the best price.  There are different water bottle sizes.  I love using the 500 ml because this size bottle fits into our car door side pockets.  This size is also perfect for  taking to the gym.

Dilemma:

#1:  Prior to my discovery of Figi water I was prescribed with diclofenac sodium gel for my knee arthritis problem.  Here are the side effects:

“Stop using diclofenac and seek emergency medical attention if you have signs of a heart attack or stroke: chest pain spreading to your jaw or shoulder, sudden numbness or weakness on one side of the body, slurred speech, feeling short of breath.”

Also call your doctor at once if you have:

  • the first sign of any skin rash, no matter how mild;
  • swelling, rapid weight gain;
  • severe headache, blurred vision, pounding in your neck or ears;
  • little or no urination;
  • liver problems–nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain (upper right side), tiredness, itching, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);
  • low red blood cells (anemia)—pale skin, unusual tiredness, feeling light-headed or short of breath, cold hands and feet; or
  • signs of stomach bleeding–bloody or tarry stools, coughing up blood or vomit that looks like coffee grounds.

Common side effects may include:

  • heartburn, gas, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting;
  • diarrhea, constipation;
  • headache, dizziness, drowsiness;
  • stuffy nose;
  • itching, increased sweating;
  • increased blood pressure; or
  • skin redness, itching, dryness, scaling, or peeling where the medicine was applied.

Source: https://www.rxlist.com/voltaren-gel-drug/patient-images-side-effects.htm

I have quit applying diclofenac sodium gel to my knees since using Fiji water.

#2  After, I discovered Figi water, I made the mistake of trying to improve my knee conditions prior to a trip to Alaska.  I was given Kenalog-40 by orthopedic surgery at Kaiser.

Side effects of Kenalog-40 include:

        • allergic reactions,
        • sleep problems (insomnia),
        • mood swings,
        • headache,
        • euphoria,
        • spinning sensation (vertigo),
        • dizziness,
        • nausea,
        • bloating,
        • appetite changes,
        • stomach or side pain,
        • stomach upset,
        • acne,
        • scaling or other skin changes,
        • a wound that is slow to heal,
        • thinning hair,
        • bruising or swelling,
        • sweating more than usual,
        • irregular menstrual periods,
        • redness or pain at the injection site, or
        • weight gain.

Source: https://www.rxlist.com/kenalog-40-side-effects-drug-center.htm#overview

My dilemma is that Figi water comes with health enhancements while the pharmacy solutions come with pure scary warnings  that might make one’s health condition worse (see lists above).

Update for using Kenalog-40:  I go to a gym every day and I can only do 100 lbs on a leg press.  The day after receiving Kenalog-4o I was able to go up to 130 lbs with almost no knee pain and 140 lbs the second day!  A down side with Kenalog-40 is uncontrolled  hiccups which lasted two days.  It is not common to have hiccups.  It started just after the injection.

Disclaimer:  The above health situation is singular, in that the test was not scientific.  There was no control group and only one sample, me.  I share this story because it just might help some one else.  Each person is different and your experience might not be the same as mine with this product.  The cost, to see if this works for you, is the cost of buying a pretty good water.  The cost of this water should be higher than the pharmacy approach.

By the way,  I found out that my Kaiser Orthopedic surgery doctor only buys Figi water.  He does not recognize any connection between drinking Figi water and improved health.

I have absolutely no connection to any product listed in this blog piece.  I get no benefit, in any way, from this recommendation except the satisfaction that I just might be successful in helping someone else.

 

Posted April 25, 2019
Revised April 26, 2019
Revised April 28, 2019
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Polaris Pool Sweep 280 Fails To Move, Free Repair

The customer had a Polaris pool sweep that needed a nudge to start moving and begin to clean the pool.  Upon taking the sweep apart and doing a close examination of the parts, I found that one of the drive wheels was flawed.  The nut that attaches the wheel to the unit was found to be loose.  This allowed the wheel to cycle around in other than the correct angle to the drive shaft.  (Incorrect drive wheel engagement to drive shaft might cause this problem too.  See below).  As a result, the metal drive shaft, over time, wore out the wheel gear teeth as seen in the image below.

 

The easy solution was that there were three wheels all the same in that they could be interchanged.  I needed the two drive wheels to be perfect.  The third wheel was not driven and it’s teeth did not matter.  I just switched out the back wheel with the flawed one and the unit worked.  This repair cost the customer nothing for parts, just labor.

CAUTION:  The lesson here is to make sure that each wheel shaft screw is tight.

The next thing to check is the two rive wheels engagement to the drive shaft.  Each wheel has 2 screws that allow the wheel to slide a bit back and forward closer to or away from the drive shaft.  Make darn sure that the two drive wheels engage the shaft, not tight but close enough for a complete engagement.

The Polaris factory rebuilt kit instructions that describe the wheel to shaft adjustment:

Adjust the wheel so the spline of the driveshaft assembly engages 3/4 of the wheel gear teeth (see drawing). It is easier to see the engagement if you peel back the tire. To test the wheel placement, spin the wheel; it should spin freely. Also, hold the wheel and quickly rotate it back and forth. The gears should not slip or chatter.

My final test is to take the whole sweep unit and put it on a flat surface such as the pool deck and gently try to slide the whole unit back and forth to see if there is any resistance.  The movement should be smooth and easy.  If the unit stops, or you feel a resistance, begin again your troubleshooting.

Note:  I discovered that the pool sweep works darn near perfectly if I remove the small idler wheel that couples the front drive wheel to the rear wheel.

 

Posted April 25, 2019
Updated: May 22, 2019
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Copy Stores Fail To See An Opportunity.

On April 18, 2019, a redacted version of the Mueller Report was released to the public. Within hours of the release, downloaded versions were available in .pdf format from a number of sources.  I personally like print.  I like to highlight and make margin notes.  I contacted my local Staples store and found out that each page would cost about 12 cents.  The report has something over 400 pages which comes out to be about $48.  Amazon shows that a book form will be out about April 30th for $9.20.   Any copy store like Staples has a brief window where they could offer to print the book at a really good price. This just might be a clever promotion to get customers into their stores, a loss leader.  Counter to that is that some right wing nuts might find this objectionable.  I tried to use Staples web site to share this view but of course they think they know every subject matter and failed to offer general open communication.

I am now printing out sections of the report using my home printer.

CAUTION:  There are some reports that the Kindle edition is flawed in some way.

 

Posted April 22, 2019
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LG V30 Cell Phone Does Work With Fitbit Ionic

LG V30 Cell Phone Does Work With Fitbit Ionic

I had a Fitbit Blaze and was really disappointed using it with my LG V30 cell phone. I did research and found some people claiming the Ionic would properly marry with my phone.   I found a good price in a local store and purchased it.  I have since found the Ionic to be pretty good marriage to my LG V30 phone.

Ionic wrist strap: Odd concept and a bit hard to attach. I personally do not like it. I found that the wrist band needs to be very tight to get best heart rate readings.
Link to phone: Good. Way better than the Blaze.  But, my wife and I went to Alaska where there was no WiFi.  We were in a location where the time change was one hour and the Ionic would not sync with the phone as to time for the whole trip.  I find it incompetent that the Ionic needs WiFi to sync and can not rely on Bluetooth.
Messages between phone and Ionic: Acceptable
Fitbit Cell Phone Application: Very good. (See below)
Global Position System (GPS):  Yes

Ionic Applications:

I did remove all the paid to use Ionic applications. I am nearly totally against paying monthly fees when not a necessity. I make it a habit to check my monthly credit card payments to see if there is any charge that I do not recognize. This is how I discovered money being sucked out of my bank account.  It is really easy to remove or add applications when using the cell phone Fitbit software.

Time: Accurate.
BPM or heart rate beats per minute: Way better than the Blaze but far from being accurate most of the time. The user understands that the unit not tight to the skin can make for a bad reading. When the reading jumps up to about 140, I know it is an error and I wait for it to provide a more accurate reading which does come shortly.
Steps: I can only guess it to be somewhat accurate.  When I get to the steps I set for the day, 10,000, the Ionic gives you a short fire works award display and it vibrates.
Calories: I have no idea how the Ionic comes up with this calculation. On the cell phone, you need to input what you eat using the cell phone application and then the cell phone unit does the math to deduct your exercise to come up with your calorie total.
Timer: Very good. Stopwatch and countdown included.
Alarms: Very good.
Tips: Not impressed.
Wallet: No verdict as I have not used this feature.
Relax: Never used this.?Exercise: Very good. You need to go to your Fitbit application on your phone and look for “Exercise Shortcuts” when viewing the Ionic sub menu. You can choose up to 7 items out of 9. You slide the one’s you like the most up to the top by placing your finger on the short 4 horizontal lines just to the left of the exercise.
Coach: Not impressed. I do not use it.
Settings: Includes some simple settings for you to consider and set.
Vibration: This occurs for alarms, rewards, notifications, etc.  Very good.
Display:  I found this display to be clear, sharp and detailed.  Very good.

Mileage: This pops up when you choose to walk or hike from the Exercise option. No way so far to determine how accurate it is but I just love to see how many miles I walk or hike.

Here are the free Ionic applications I have added:

News: Fair. Not as elegant at the NY Times
NY Times: Very good.
Weather: Pretty darn good. You can also add more than one weather reporting location for a total of 3.
Stocks:  Good for stocks that it offers but it does not track all stocks.
Torch: In case I need a flashlight the Ionic screen turn white and bright.
Med ID: A very nice simple application to show emergency responders some of your important medical information.
Wiki Places: Shows local places to consider visiting.
JayPS Maps: I can not use this application when I walk because I always run Exercise > Walk or Exercise > Hike. The Ionic is not able to run two applications at the same time so this application has never been used.  I am keeping this application as a backup to help me find my location in Alaska.

TIP: when looking at the clock face, use your finger and swipe downward and you should see news and notifications.  It took me quite some time to discover this.

NOTE: I gave my Fitbit Blaze to a friend who has a Apple cell phone and it works perfectly with that phone.

Disappointments:

  • When I set my Ionic to track my walk or hike, the unit seems incapable to multitask.  I can not see my messages or any other application.  Only one application at a time seems the rule.
  • A friend of mine, sent me a image with text message.  The text went to the Ionic.  The image did not and I do not expect it to. But, I think the image locked the text message into my Ionic so I could not get rid of the message.  I tried everything.  Nothing worked to erase the text message.  Finally, I had to press the left side button switch and the bottom right side button for a very long time to initiate a device reset.  The reset did erase the message.

Summary:  I have slowly warmed up to this device partly because it has taken me a lot of time to explore it’s many capabilities.  I have slowly grown to appreciate this Ionic and the cell phone Fitbit application because the marriage between the two really expands beyond them rated and used separately .

 

Posted April 18, 2019
Updated: May 16, 2019