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First Week Review: Pebble Smart Watch
Two summers ago, the battery on my watch stopped, so I replaced it, but then found that my watch stopped again within a few days. I gave up on my watch and decided that I didn’t need a watch as I have...
View ArticleThe wrong way to use asserts
One of the ways programmers use to help ensure that inputs to methods are correct is to use asserts. Basically these will test conditions and stop execution if a test fails. By default, Xcode...
View ArticleWrong definition of a pioneer?
The other day I was looking at a website of a contracting company that specializes in mobile development. The site said that they were pioneers in the field. The site then had as its next line that the...
View ArticleFlaws in RESTful response codes
Anyone that uses or develops APIs is familiar with REST. It is widely used and by some developers considered superior to other ways of doing APIs. Since REST was developed alongside the HTTP 1.1 spec,...
View ArticleReview: Mophie Juice Pack Air for iPhone 5
One of the problems with any battery operated technology is that it is completely useless when the battery runs down. This, of course, has lead to a huge industry of aftermarket battery packs and...
View ArticleDevelopers going indie
Over the last few years, I’ve read about a number of developers that have “gone indie” in that they left their jobs and are now independent developers. Maybe make it sound glamorous that they no longer...
View ArticleWhy all the fuss over working from home?
With the recent announcement/leak that Yahoo! is requiring all its employees to work from an office, I’ve been thinking a lot about my own experience working from home. I’ve been working from home for...
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Review: Fujitsu ScanSnap ix500
As many people who read my blog know, I’ve been working with consumer scanners for over 6 years and have had more scanners than I care to count. Six years ago I purchased a Fujitsu ScanSnap fi-5110eoxm...
View ArticleMaking our house a home
Over a year ago, my wife and I decided to sell our house and move closer to the water. We expected to be in a rental for maybe 6 months before finding a house. We were fully prepared to wait and wanted...
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Review: SecuritySpy
In our last house, I considered adding security cameras as my wife was a teacher in the area and some of the students knew where she lived. We all know that not every student is perfect and we wouldn’t...
View ArticleWhen letters to companies work
Sometime last year, my wife and I went to Road Runner Sports to get new shoes. They’ve always had a decent selection and with their VIP club, we can wear the shoes for awhile and return them if they...
View ArticleWhat is security?
I’m sure my loyal readers will think that this article is about computer security as I write a lot about computers and technology, but this article is about physical home security. With a complete...
View ArticleParanoia trumps common sense
Today my family and I went to the San Diego County Fair and with most events these days, were prepared for the additional security and screening. While they allowed in backpacks and food, they didn’t...
View ArticleMoney hungry cable company
As most tech people have heard, Time Warner Cable has raised its modem lease fees from $4 per month to $6 per month. While I think that is steep, I don’t really have a problem with it as it doesn’t...
View ArticleFun with automation
Just over 6 months ago, I wrote that we started making our house a home. I haven’t blogged in awhile as I’ve been consumed with the remodel project. While our project is not yet complete, we have...
View ArticleReplacement for Google Reader
Google Reader has been dead for awhile and I’ve been trying out different options as a replacement. I had been using http://netnewswireapp.com on my Mac and found it to be a decent app. However, it...
View ArticleAnother trip, another lesson (or more) learned
While I don’t travel all that often, I do travel between 6 and 12 times a year. I have my routines down pat and usually get through the airport unscathed. On my most recent trip to Portland, disaster...
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Review: Dyson DC44 – An expensive vacuum that really sucks
When we were picking what to put in our house, we decided to go with an engineered hardwood floor as it would look nice and wouldn’t trap allergens like the carpets we had in the past did. We had a...
View ArticleSimple fix to “This accessory is not compatible with the iPhone” with mophie...
I’ve been using mophie battery cases for a few years now when I travel as the iPhone doesn’t seem to last all day when I use it extensively. Granted the iPhone 5 has gotten better, but I typically use...
View ArticleThe downside of parking meters
San Diego is in the process of replacing regular parking meters with ones that are called multi-space meters. These are ones that give you a ticket that you place on your dash. I thought that these...
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