Geek

Microsoft announced a new Surface Laptop today. It’s basically described as the MacBook Air that Apple doesn’t make anymore and honestly, this description is dead on. Take a look at their marketing video.

https://youtu.be/74kPEJWpCD4

Now, I’m not one to jump on the “Apple is doomed” bandwagon that so many pundits like to chant, but I will freely admit that Apple, and their Mac hardware, is starting to feel stale. I’ve heard many Apple folks say that users don’t want to really touch their screens, but I’ve noticed folks browsing in any given Apple store immediately touch the screen of a MacBook, expecting some sort of response. We are rapidly moving to a touchy-feely world when it comes to our technology, and I don’t think touchbars are the answer. Having everything respond to touch is where the answer lies.

I started browsing around the other Microsoft videos on YouTube and came across the one about the new Surface Book with Performance Base. This does everything I would expect a computer in 2017 to do. My only hesitation is Windows 10 and part of that hesitation stems from ignorance, I don’t know a lot about Windows 10 other than the stuff thrown all over the web, and how reliable is information on the Internet these days?

Color me intrigued.

Sometimes we need a little wit in our lives. It all leads to Happy Endings.

I caught this on Reddit this evening. It’s a YouTube video discussing how much darker the movie “Passengers” would be like if they rearranged the acts. An intriguing approach. I have to admit I liked “Passengers”, even for all its flaws, but I think I would be very interested in seeing a rearranged cut of the movie as described in this video.

I no longer shy away from the label of “Apple Fanboy”. I’m a Crazy One. I love my Apple products. I’ve tried everything else and lord knows I’ve wretched about Apple over the years, but when you shake away all the complaining, the fact of the matter is I find that Apple still provides the best computing experience available. Other hardware pales in comparison. Windows 10 feels cobbled together to me. And, as much as I’ve tried, I just can’t get behind the idea of Linux on the desktop (or laptop). That is way too much work.

So I wear my Crazy One t-shirt in pride. I proudly gave a presentation at work this morning using my work provided 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, including the couple of dongles I needed to connect to the projector and network. There was an ooh and aah from the crowd as I made my way through my Keynote Presentation. It had that extra bit of polish that I strive for.

I look forward to what Apple has in store for us. I know they will continue to delight.

Earl and I had stopped at the local Microsoft store today just to look over their line of Surface products. It was the first time that I had a chance to go hands-on with the Microsoft Surface Studio, which is in all in one computer that can lay down like a drafting table so you can comfortably use a pen on it.

I was beyond impressed.

I know that it was just the other day that I mentioned that I was still solidly an Apple boy, but I have to say that Apple is completely missing the boat when it comes to this type of technology. Having a touchbar in a MacBook Pro does not even come close to being able to lay your computer monitor down and draw all over it. Carrying around multiple devices is tedious: for graphics or programming work I need to carry my MacBook Pro. For quick blogging and such on the go, I can take my iPad Pro. Of course, I always have my phone with me, so at times I could be carrying three different Apple devices all to do nearly similar things. Wouldn’t it be great if I could carry one device to fill this need? I’d be willing to pay a premium price for a device that can handle all of my needs. Having one device would bring us closer to making technology frictionless.

I want the technology that sustains the type of world as demonstrated in this video. I have shared this video, and others like it, before. I believe it’s worth sharing again.

As an avid tech enthusiast (what kind of enthusiast wouldn’t be avid?), I am starting to become a little paranoid about my online activity, especially in light of the fact that I’ve become rather outspoken on Twitter about the Trump Presidency.

I’ve started using a couple of tools in my online arsenal to make my experience with the Internet a little bit safer, and I thought I would share these with you.

Private Tunnel
Private Tunnel is a service that provides VPN (Virtual Private Network) connectivity to the Internet. This basically “hides” your location by routing all of your network traffic encrypted through a remote server. It also assures that all communication between you and the remote server is encrypted. This is particularly important when you are on the road using public hotspots.

Private Tunnel is free up to a certain amount of bandwidth and I found their subscription model to be affordable for my needs. The software client is available for a number of platforms which includes Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android. At the very least I use this service for all monetary transactions. I routinely use it for all other browsing, especially if I’m using a public, unsecured network.

For more information, check out their webpage here. If you decide to go with a subscription, help me out by using this link. I believe my unlimited data plan was $29/year.

Better
Better is an iOS and MacOS Safari Extension that helps block all trackers, ads and the like while surfing the Internet on Safari.

While many of the ad blockers available for the various browsers do a decent job of blocking ads and the like, many are still supported by ad companies, which are placed on a “white list”, so their ads still get through to you. Better is not supported by any ad company or Venture Capitalist, so they have no obligation to anyone. Development is based solely on the purchase of the app or extension.

This blog entry better (heh) describes Better and if you’re interested in making your online activities untargeted, ad free and lighter (because all of that ad data is blocked from coming down your network connection) you should definitely check out Better. Link to the Mac App Store and Link to the App Store (for iPhone and iPad).

1Password
I’ve written before that no one should be using the same password across multiple sites. You should never have the same password for Twitter as for your email as for Facebook, etc. If someone has your password they’re able to get into everything and that’s not good.

Safari and other web browsers do a decent job of coming up with random passwords and storing this information for you, which in turn is stored behind another password to keep it all safe. The thing is, if you use both Windows and Mac or both iOS and Android, your saved Safari (or other browser) passwords may not sync between the dissimilar operating systems. Yes, Google Chrome works on just about everything, but remember, Google’s livelihood is supported by your data. You are not the customer, you are the product, so you probably should have another way of keeping track of all your passwords. Don’t write them down, put them in 1Password.

1Password is available for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. 1Password has a variety of sync options to choose from and no one but you can decrypt the data stored in your 1Password profile, so if you lose the password, you’ve lost your vault.

Their subscription model is quite affordable and I noticed that they now have a family plan available as well. Earl uses 1Password and finds it easy to use. I encourage users to keep their stuff safe with dissimilar passwords across platforms and to store them somewhere safe. 1Password definitely fits the bill.

FYI, the password to my 1Password account is over 25 characters long. I keep my stuff SAFE.

This is just the start of my arsenal of security tools. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or feel free to drop me a line.

Safe surfing for all!

Photo from getsuperbook.com
In my previous blog entry I mentioned that my ideal computing setup would be focused on my iPhone, or realistically, smartphone. I think it’s kind of silly that we’re all carrying around two or three devices. Our backpacks and purses and the like are crammed with a phone, a tablet and a laptop.

Enter the Superbook.

A few months ago I supported a Kickstarter campaign for the Superbook. This magically device is a laptop shell that is powered by the computing power of your Android device. There’s no tricky firmware to install, you don’t have to go through a million steps to make it work, you download one app from the Google Play store and plug in your Android device. Voila! You’re working on a laptop powered by your smartphone. And because you’re using your smartphone, you have instant access to your cell, wifi and Bluetooth connections.

The only kicker of this project is the fact that it is limited to Android devices, however, further reading showed that you can hook the Superbook up to non-Android devices and use it as a second screen. I backed the Kickstart campaign and hope to see my very own Superbook at the beginning of the year.

Videos that depict what technology can bring us in the near future, realistically the beginning of the next decade, are usually focused on one device providing all the computing horsepower we need. Corning Glass’ “A Day Made of Glass” focuses on personalized tablets that tie into glass displays scattered about the world. Microsoft’s “Office 2019” and “Office 2020” series focuses on translucent phones that interact with panels, surfaces, etc. In none of the videos do we see users carrying around multiple devices, juggling data between an iPhone, an iPad and a MacBook Pro. The interaction is simple, immersive and most importantly, condensed.

The recent hardware announcements from Apple don’t really play into the version of the future that other companies are envisioning. I think that Apple can make amazing hardware that plays into the “single device” paradigm, but honestly I think they’re more protective of their revenue stream. iCloud often feels like a “me too” product. It can be clunky and cumbersome to use.

In the long run it’s my hope to see the future depicted by Corning and Microsoft, with one powerful personal device doing all everything, come to fruition during my lifetime. That’s the future I’d like to see and I may have to shift my computing paradigm to help make that future come true.

Superbook is an excellent step in the right direction.