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Return of the Toy; Toys R US is now back Online Only, Essentially as a Front for Target

Article I was a pretty big Toys R US shopper from 2012 - 2017 or so. Not shopping for children (I have none), but because I was, and still am, a big fan of Funko Pops (Nerd pundits, go on, roll your eyes!), video games, and Mattel's various toylines of fantasy creatures in high school. Indeed, the new site looks far more modern and useable than the old one. There is also a little accessibility marker that leads to this page. Essentially, the TRU site is a front that leads you to purchase the object on Target's website - and even then, you may be buying from a third party often at far more inflated prices. Such is the cost of the blind-bag craze. Besides banking on Nostalgia, I'm not sure what Target's ultimate goal is here. Instead of jumping through all of those hoops, why not go to Target directly - or even Amazon? But I suppose nostalgia might just be enough.

Grace Hopper Celebration 2019 (GHC19)

From Aicha Evans' speech at the Keynote. September 6th - I receive an email from Anita B Organization, saying "We read your application, we like your website, and here's a free ticket to GHC 2019 in Orlando, Florida!" After a few more questions, it seemed everything was on the up and up, and so I accepted - and that's what this post is about! For those who don't know, Grace Hopper Celebration is the largest gathering of Women in Technology in the world. On a personal note, This is the first trip I've taken without my parents. Sure, they've left me behind to go on vacations, but I've never left them. I was totally worried! But you know what happened? I met a lot of cool people in Orlando, learned a lot of neat things, and had a blast just walking around airports for upwards of 8 hours. New Delta Sky Club on Wikimedia I really, really love airports! And I survived. I know in the past, I've wormed my way out of jobs ...

Actionable Results: How to Find a Phone

The Time When I circumvented Google's "Find my Device" to find my father's lost Pixel 3. SITUATION : My father lost his phone. I've been meaning for ages to set it up so he can use Google to call it and not me for 15 minutes. The situation lasted longer than 15 minutes, bordering on nearly 3 hours. TASK: Find it. Look around, check cars and pockets. ACTION : First, let's assume that you've attached your Android phone to your Google account. If you simply Google "Find my phone android", you may be taken here . When it asks for a password to make sure you are who you are, and you don't remember...well, things get a bit trickier. Next, we resorted to more calling. The phone did immediately go to voicemail at first, and then it rang. No one answered. "Well, if it can happen to him, it can happen to me," I thought. So I Bing'd to double check where I could do so at, finding this article....which had a link to he...

Sending E-Mail Through Command Line With Python

From "Automate The Boring Stuff With Python", here , and the matching course on Wireshark. Going through the course, I saw 'Email' as an option, and was immediately excited to see how we can send automated emails with Python sans using a fancy SaaS with sparkling GUI.  I'm not going to copy the article listed above verbatim, but talk about things that are new to me.  One of the commands is type([]), which shows us the kind ('type') of argument.  You can put in three things and it makes a new type object; type(brachius, 53, phelonious)  Since this is port 587, we need TLS (Transport Layer Security, symmetric key!) encryption;  I wonder what the b'2.0.0 means. Otherwise, the server is ready. In an era where 2-Factor Authentication is all the rage (For good reason), how will logging into an email account via the command line work with that? I'm getting a 'Bad Credentials' Error message - is it just me? Maybe, ...

Become a Wireless Terminator With Amazon Alexa Wearables

CNET Articles: Glasses , Ring , Earbuds I wanted to post something before I go to GHC 19 next week (They offered me a ticket!), and luckily, Amazon has come through, in yet another bid to get Alexa inside my home. Re: Echo Frames ; You can also swipe the side of the glasses to get more information, set reminders and use smart home gear while on the go.  They must mean the side of the frames. I wear glasses, and the idea of swiping the side of a lens to do anything makes my soul leave my body. It seems a handier option; Not a fun or engaging one like the missing in ordinary action Google Glass. Talk To The Hand with Echo Loop - It's a ring with a button that you press and talk to Alexa. It buzzes if you have a notification and can partner with Amazon Sidewalk, so you can control your home outside your home. It's like a smartwatch but with no screen. Imagine losing it and someone has control to your smart devices. From a collaboration with Bose comes Echo Buds...

Goodnight, Sweet Prince: MoviePass Finally Dies

MoviePass Shuts Down, With Parent Company Citing Failure to Raise Funds https://t.co/TDLkWNUVu7 — Variety (@Variety) September 13, 2019 MoviePass, the business by Helios and Matheson that would be our film savior after slashing its initial price from nearly 50$ for Unlimited Movies to a mere 9.99$. Alas, the dream has died. The change drew a flood of new customers - and left competitors scrambling for ways to implement their own movie subscription service. As of this writing, AMC Stubs is a runaway success, and Regal Unlimited is still in its infancy. I have neither, as both plans arrived after our theaters were shuttered from Hurricane Michael. The AMC will not reopen, with no word on the Regal. The app, from secondhand reports, seemed glitchy, with poor location-realizing services. Despite this, Studio Movie Grill did team up with the service to implement food ordering from the app. Less than a month ago, MoviePass had a data breach of unencrypted customer card numbe...