Category: Explore and Discover

April Showers Bring May Flowers

 

Did you know that the month of May was named for the Roman Goddess Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants.

Read on for more information about May and flowers.

The phrase “April showers bring May flowers” is a popular saying used often during the month of April. This is typically the time when the last bit of snow turns to all rain as temperatures climb.  With increased rain shower activity, sparking flowers and plants to really start blooming. 

Meaning

  1. The month of April is traditionally a rainy period, gives way to May.  So, when flowers bloom it’s because of the water provided to them by the April rains.
  2. (by extension) A period of discomfort or hardship can provide the basis for a period of happiness and joy.

Origin

For many of us across the country, April can be undeniably soggy. We anticipate warmer days but it can be disappointing to wake up each morning to a weather forecast that serves up nothing but dreary, rainy days.

The saying “April showers bring May flowers” itself actually originates from the United Kingdom (and those Brits know rain).  April for them is one of the soggier months based on the position of the jet stream. Since this area typically has a cooler climate, the lower temperatures often push back the appearance of flowers to late April and early May. 

The truth

If you’ve ever wondered if there’s any grain of truth to the popular saying, you’re in the right place. 

The experts we spoke to said early-season moisture can be beneficial to blooming and non-blooming plants alike, but only to a degree. “The age-old adage of April showers bringing May flowers definitely holds some weight, but like most things, it’s more complicated than a catchy phrase

You might be surprised to learn that, according to NOAA June not April is the wettest month in the United States. (Based on the long-term average (1901-2000), June typically sees 3.15 inches of precipitation, whereas April ranks as 5th wettest at 2.52 inches.)

In the Northern Hemisphere, April is a time of atmospheric change. The jet stream shifts, and this results in the drier, colder air of winter becoming warmer and more humid over much of the country. Warmer air can hold more moisture, so this often leads to more precipitation starting in springtime. On average, April is not the rainiest month, though—May and June often receive more, but the showers we get in April are one of the driving forces in helping flowers to bloom in later spring.

However, since April is the first full month of astronomical spring and is also the rainiest month up to that point, the “April showers” reputation likely stuck.

Source: oldfarmersalmanac©

Lost Wi-Fi Capability Lately? Solved!

What would you do if suddenly you lost all access to the internet? This happened to me last Saturday. Ok I freaked out a bit, but fortunately, I have an ethernet connection that was up and working. So, what happened to my laptop?

Not seeing this symbol can really mess up one’s day, so what did I do to solve the problem. I turned to Microsoft’s troubleshooter that was installed on my laptop. It said to touch Fn+F3 to enable Wi-Fi. I tried it…nothing. Tried it again…nothing. Digging further into the details, the troubleshooter said that the radio HW switch was turned off. Thanks, but no mention of how to turn it on.

You won’t believe what caused the loss of my Wi-Fi, or how many days and unsuccessful fixes it took to solve. Long story short. I stumbled upon the Acer Community Forum and started looking for an answer to the problem. No luck, but someone suggested uninstalling the latest Windows update (occurred the morning of my outage). I didn’t realize that an update could be uninstalled. Guess what? As soon as I did that, the orange Wi-Fi light came on. And stayed on.

The MS troubleshooter never mentioned that its own company could itself be the source of the problem and the solution could be uninstalling the update. So, one week later, I know, and now so do you.

Technology is fantastic when it works.  But, when it doesn’t…

 

How to Fix Your Unstable Wi-Fi Connection

Unstable Wi-Fi is often caused by wireless congestion. Congestion problems are common in apartment complexes or densely-packed neighborhoods when too many people using Wi-Fi leads to connectivity problems.

Wireless congestion is caused by issues with two factors: frequency overlap and limited Wi-Fi channels.

1. Download and install a Wi-Fi Analysis App

On Windows, many free apps can analyze the quality of wireless channels. One of the best options is available on the Microsoft Store: Wi-Fi Analyzer. For those without Windows, search your respective operating system’s app store for “Wi-Fi Analyzer,” and you’ll see dozens of options.

2. Detect Unstable Wi-Fi

Using Wi-Fi Analyzer is dead simple. Just install and run the app. After installation, you can launch it by going to Windows Search (Windows key + S) > Wi-Fi Analyzer.

The tool should detect your Wi-Fi signal strength, ranging from zero to -100 decibel milliwatts (dBm). If you have a 5GHz network, a toggle at the bottom of the app interface allows you to switch between detecting 2.4GHz and 5GHz.

To analyze your wireless router’s signal quality, take the following actions:

Click on Analyze in the top menu bar.

Wi-Fi Analyzer then displays a visualization of the Wi-Fi networks in your vicinity. If two networks broadcast on the same channel, you’ll notice overlap. Each channel has a number between one and 161 on the 5GHz frequency and one through 11 on the 2.4GHz frequency.

When two networks overlap:

The X axis represents the channels available on the 2.4GHz spectrum. As you can see, channels four to seven are unoccupied. Channels five and six have no competition whatsoever. Given the app’s analysis, I should change my router’s 2.4GHz channel to either five or six.

But how do you change your router’s channel?

How to Change Your Router’s Channel

Accessing your router’s settings requires a browser, like Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Accessing its settings, unfortunately, varies between different router models, but some general rules apply.

You can complete an internet search to find the login URL for your specific router brand and model.

Most routers use “admin” as the login and “password” as the password. The login details may also be printed on the back of the router or in the instruction manual that came with it. If you cannot access your router, try searching the internet for your individual router’s access method.

For my own Telus router, changing the Wi-Fi channel is easy. First, I navigate to the router login address and enter my login and password. Changing the channel is usually located under Wireless Settings > Advanced Settings.

I then change the network channel to the option which offers a good connection, save the settings, and restart the router by power cycling it (turning it off and on again). Afterward, it stopped randomly disconnecting.

One thing to mention is that most modern routers include a dual-band feature that combines 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies onto a single network name or SSID. This feature is notoriously unreliable, and if you’re having network problems, I suggest disabling it as a precautionary step. On my Telus router, it’s referred to as SmartSteering. Other brands have completely different names.

How to Fix Unstable Wi-Fi? Decongest It!

If your Wi-Fi sucks, a Wi-Fi analysis app is the best way to find out your router’s ideal network settings. If you’re still getting unreliable internet after changing your router’s channel, consider troubleshooting your Wi-Fi problems. Sometimes ironing out the kinks on your home internet will fix those irritating reliability issues.

Source:   Kannon Yamada for muo©

Photo credit:  © Provided by MUO

Related:  Mesh Wi-Fi Systems for Lightning Fast Internet – TUTORING YOU

Remembering 9-11 Terrorism

 

 In a speech marking the Sept. 11 attacks on America, President Donald Trump said that the victims will forever be a reminder that “no matter the threat, no matter the odds, America will always rise up, stand tall and fight back.”

Trump is delivering a sobering, patriotic speech in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania where Flight 93, hijacked by terrorists, crashed in a field, killing all 40 on board.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is to visit Shanksville later Friday after attending the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s annual commemoration at Ground Zero in New York.

Trump said that during the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in Shanksville, New York and at the Pentagon, the world witnessed American courage and sacrifice. He is honoring first responders and said that the “deadly strike at the heart of American democracy was the courage and resolve of 40 men and women – the amazing passengers and crew of Flight 93.”