2017: My current setups for home and mobile and tech

Happy 2017! well, i guess it is feb already so yea, a bit late. Sorry for the lack of posts; lifes been.. busy and i really need to get up a few of my Windows 10 image creation articles since I've been successful in creating a fully customized default profile image of Windows10 for our new X1 Yoga laptops at work and finally moved to a hardware agnostic approach. ;)  however that will be coming later once we rollout Win10.  Today though I plan to just give an overview of my currrent tech setups; i like looking back 5-10yrs from now and seeing what i was rocking.

Things I want to see from Apple, but probably never will....

I've ranted previously on my disappointment in Apple as of late (ie last two years) and now will give a few ideas on what Apple can do and also a few personal requests as a geek.

1.  Allow me to use my Apple Watch with more than one iPhone.  Some of us who own several generations of iPhones like to switch between our huge Plus models and go back to our normal sized iPhones.  Right now, you can't do this at all. You can but it's a HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS!! Possibility of this happening? Perhaps in iOS 10?

2.  Apple Watch: Listen to us users on features for Apple Watch in the software realm.  That friend button that barely anyone uses? How about you let us launch ANY app on our Apple Watch with it? I'd love to have it launch iTunes instead of the Friends.

3.  MicroSD on our Pro version of an iPhone.  32GB as the smallest iPhone offering.  Stop being a cheap ass and douche by still selling a 16GB phone in the day and age where I can buy a 200GB microSD class 10 card for only $80.

4. Make a 2 in 1 Macbook Air w/an iPad Retina as the display.  Windows is killing the 2 in 1 market and the latest offerings by Lenovo are really amazing pieces of tech; the X1 Yoga and Tablet are iPad killers in the business world.  It's been 7 years now and the iPad still can't replace a work laptop and honestly never will.  We have hit tablet and smartphone saturation as I had mentioned a year ago.  Every phone and tablet is decent at worst and very solid as the average.

5. Stop trying to out design functionality.  Stop making shit thinner and removing ports.  We have hit peak thinness.  Having a dongle to plug accessories into your laptop is bullshit and really annoying.  Sure USB-C is a great standard but the world lives in an old school USB format world too.   Until your screens are flexible/rollable, stop making shit thinner.  We don't care at this point!

6. Apple Watch: Can you add a keypad on the phone app? I'd like to be able to buzz people into my condo via my Apple Watch but can't because there is no keypad option when you receive a call.  How does one miss this most basic thing?

7.  AppleTV sure didn't kill console gaming or even make a dent into it. HA! Every gamer seemed to know this but yet every tech blog was all on the 'AppleTV will give console gaming a run for it's life' type of articles. BULLSHIT.  Called it.  We see it.

8. AppleTV, why can't we use the built-in storage to save local media to it? Such a waste...

9. Mac Mini/Macbook Pro lineups; so can we get a real update to these with real processors?  More specifically can you stop making memory soldered onto the motherboard? Allow us to keep upgrading/replacing our memory and hard drives?   It's like your trying create waste by making "un-upgradeable" products.

10.  Just listen to the users of your products.  You don't have Jobs anymore and are forgetting the mid 1990s Apple.  That Apple needed Microsoft to bail them out.

JOON IS SOON!!! No Man's Sky and why this geek can't wait!!!

Ok.. It's time for me to post this... there's a game coming out on June 21, 2016 called No Man's Sky. It's on the PS4 and PC. And I personally believe this game is going to be a game changer literally.

This post could easily be made into a short thesis but I doubt anyone wants to read such a paper on a video game so I'll do a cliff notes version.

No Man's Sky (aka NMS) is a space exploration/survival game that is played within a procedurally crafted universe that is created mainly with the use of procedural methods and algorithms. This math combined w/the Super Formula hypothesis let's the creators of this game basically build a universe w/over 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 planets. Literally 99.9% of the planets will never be discovered, explored or played. 

These planets are real sized planets. Each star you see in the sky in the game is a system you can explore and go to if you have the proper ship and resources. Also the planet, animals, fauna and landscape is all built using procedural generation however it is not purely procedural though; there are basic rule systems put in place to make sure things don't look too alien.

Any who, here's a podcast of mine on why I'm so excited for No Man's Sky!

The MINI Cooper Coupe... future rare MINI?

Hello my friends.  Today's post is going to be a more thought, speculative based and of course MINI Cooper Coupe related.  I've had my R58 Bonnie for nearly 2 3/4 years and have enjoyed everyday with her.  She's been a fun car to just go for a cruise in and just reflects my personality so well.  I'm unique, small and loud, hehe. :)

This last year, 2015, marked the final year of production of the MINI Cooper Coupe (R58) and Roadster (R59) models.  These models were introduced and released in very late 2011/2012.  Sales for both models have not been very good but honestly I don't think MINI expected them to be.  I still believe that the Coupe especially was more a research and brand/tech test bed for MINI.  Most car blogs ridiculed the Coupe for it's 'backwards baseball cap' roof line/design and complained about it being only a two seater car.  Wait, these are car blogs?   No, what MINI gave the world was a proper R56 drivers car in Coupe form.  It took the R56 formula but added more street and race car to the mix.  The Coupe and Roadster do not handle like a hardtop cooper.  I've driven the latest F56 JCW versions at the Indianapolis 500 speedway at the Miles Ahead Motoring school and a few R56 loaners.  The Coupe is lower to the ground and of course less top heavy.  Weight distribution is even more balanced and stability is further enhanced by the fact that the coupe still has the rear brace bar that the roadster has; ie even tighter chassis.

Podcast: Angry Geek Rants at Apple and Nintendo.. LISTEN TO US!!!!

I'm pissed.  Especially at Apple and Nintendo....  Design over functionality is not what i want anymore... we have hit thinness peak...

AT&T and iOS devices... BAM! NumberSync and Wifi Calling..

AT&T announced a while back about a new service they were going to offer called NumberSync.  I honestly just blew it off as another gimicky service that was carrier based so most likely horribly implemented.  This week the feature has been enabled on iOS devices along with... WIFI CALLING!!!!  These two new features go hand in hand and use each other to work.  Let's take a look at setting this up since it can get a bit confusing and took me a few tries to get all figured out (I also just ported my Google Voice number back to a carrier since I have now given up on GVoice after 2+ years of trying to make usable in a multi OS environment).  Note: This post will be refined w/screenshots shortly.. :)

RockBand 4 on the PS4 and how to deal with crazy DLC and tuning your library :)

So.. yea.. i'm a total RockBand junkie.  I have been playing Rock Band since the PS3 and the first game.  I have since then bought every disc game minus the Lego one's out there and even got Blitz but that was just for it's awesome song list.

Nonetheless, the jump to current generation consoles (PS4/Xbox One) made me jump with joy.  Finally, I could put away the PS3 and move it to the bedroom.  It's now been several months since launch for Rock Band 4 and I plan to recap how to manage your library if you are like me and TONS of DLC with the exports being available.

MINI Cooper Coding: NCSExpert on Windows 10 without a VM

I wrote this post a while ago on the NAM forums but want to share it with my MINI Cooper readers, just in case.

So, long story short after getting the newest LED DRLs installed at my MINI dealership they had to replace my whole radio since the brakes coding went a wry and fried the radio, etc etc. After hearing that there was indeed a proper code upgrade from MINI, i realized my previous NCSExpert setup using a virtual machine XP in Windows 7 was probably not going to work since i needed newer datens and also was sick of the VM solution.

After much digging, i found a newer client of NCSExpert that runs on Windows 7/8/8.1 32bit and 64bit and also new datens that work with my just updated coupe (as of March 12, 2015)! ie I have been able to recode all of my settings back along with VIM (which I'll add notes about too! not many details out there at times).

My first Apple Watch

Yes, I like to consider myself mobile OS agnostic in that I believe in using all of the major phone operating systems (iOS and Android mainly these days, some WP10 just so I can complain about it).  Up until this year, I have had only two smartwatches including the original MotoActiv and the Sony SmartWatch 2.  After having a smartwatch very early in the game, I realized I needed to take a break and wait for the 3rd and 4th gen of watches to arrive.  Well, after doing the Android watches, let's see how Apple does theirs.

Random Geeking: Fixing issues with MINI Connected and iPhone lightning cable and audio playback

So I'm a total MINI Cooper fanboy.  I've had my 2013 MINI Cooper S Coupe (Bonnie) since Apr 2013 and love her still.  When I bought my MINI this was before Apple released the Lightning standard for their phones and in turn my MINI was ready for the standard apple port/connectors.  Fast forward to 2015 and trying to use my iPhone 6 hasn't gone as well as I had hoped however there is hope and it is in the name of hacking we can get this working!

TLDR; One must read the MEDIA module in NCSExpert and then check a setting in there and change it if needed.

USB1_IPOD_AUDIO
     digital

Geek Recap: Why I run a NAS vs desktop storage

Yes, I am a total data whore.  I have files from the 90s and my first floppies and of course all of my digital photos since 2003 and beyond.  These files take up A LOT of space after you have several decades of them.  My solution three years ago was to go the network area storage (aka NAS) route.

Ten Hour Cloud Day Time Lapse - GoPro Hero4 Session

A timelapse from this weekend from the man cave.

taken with my GoPro Hero 4 Session

Geek Remake: Sony PS3 Remote Play on any Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 computer

So I've been on youtube for about nine years and in turn have gained a decent following and video view counts.  However, one of the most active videos I have is my PS3 remote play on a non-vaio pc one.  Let's finally verify that this still totally works and it even works on the latest Windows 10 Pro os. :)  Youtube screencast and more!  Updated patch links (12/2016)

GoPro Hero4 Session: DIY backpack POV mount

So after watching Project Almanac (which is a mediocre movie, a few fun moments but a review this is not.. hehe) I realized that I wanted to have a cool backpack GoPro mount setup.  I did some really basic googling and well.. didn't find a single real product actually.   So after looking at my stock of random GoPro body mounts I had bought, I realized I could make my own w/the head mount one.  Keep on reading for the details.

Mobile Security Basics 101 - Some easy tips to securing your devices

Mobile phones are everywhere and everyone has one; you, your friend, your mom and perhaps even your grandma.  Most people are not too concerned with security of their own personal devices but that trend is changing very dramatically with the recent security breaches and awareness of what data your phone has and what hackers can get.  Let's go over just a few very basic but good places to start to securing your own devices (phones and tablets).

Enable a PIN or Passcode on your device:

This is the easiest and a great first step in securing devices.  Android and iOS/iPhones have several methods of securing your device including:

• Fingerprint/Biometric
• Voice
• Facial
• PIN or passcode
• Bluetooth unlock device

A passcode or pin helps keep personal data secure, prevents children or others from accessing data.  You can also set options to have your device wipe itself if the passcode or pattern is inputted incorrectly a set amount of times.  I recommend setting this to after 10 failed attempts.

Enable Find My iPhone or Android Device Manager:

These two features are both free on Android and iOS.  Once enabled, you can do the following if you lost your phone:

• Allows you to track phone in real time
• Allows you to remotely wipe devices
• Allows you to remotely lock devices
• Allows you to have phone make a noise

And finally, Mobile Apps and some general tips:

• Be sure to download apps from the App store and not web links. Malware can be masked/installed from links.
• Be wary of apps that require access to data; Android shows permissions required when you install any app.
• If you are not sure if an App is legit, do a Google search on it!
• Keep your apps and OS updated!
• Be careful when using public Wi-Fi or free internet; man in the middle and honeypot networks exist to try to steal data
• If you are using a pattern password; be sure the pattern isn’t smudged on the screen
• Do not use birthdate or commonly known numbers for pin if possible
• Backup your phone data regularly using iCloud backup or iTunes. Google Photos allows unlimited backups for free, iCloud photo backup allows up to 5GB for free.