Archive

It’s not perfect, but the iPad mini (6th generation) is pretty-much the perfect Kindle for me. Sure, the Kindle – or any eBook reader for that matter – beats an iPad when it comes to battery life, use in direct sunlight, and for being waterproof. And of course those are very important things… some of …
Read More

Let’s just get all this out of the way: OK? Everyone Happy? Great. Let me tell you though, that after using Apple Vision Pro for 10 days or so, I’m very much interested in it as it is, and its future potential. I’m not going to bother going into specs, or what’s in the box, …
Read More

My last post talked about how I bought an EV, and I would be detailing my experiences under a different domain (macheh.ca) Since then, I haven’t added anything here, and instead have written a few articles over there. At the time, I thought it would be good for SEO or Branding or whatever to keep …
Read More

Continuing with my love of tech and overspending, I’m now the proud owner of a Ford Mustang Mach E! While this actual purchase came together fairly quickly, I have been low-key (do people say that anymore?) wanting an EV for several years. And while I’ve only owned the car for about 6 hours so far, …
Read More

As I swapped out the band today on my Apple Watch Ultra to my original ‘Developer’ blue sport band, I was struck by what a nice, but simple thing it is that Apple has maintained compatibility with watch bands for over 8 years. In a world of ‘planned obsolescence’ and tons and tons of e-waste, …
Read More

A recent social media post (see below) making the rounds has made me think about all the concerts I’ve been to. My memory sucks, but as of now, this list is what I can remember. But first, here’s my ‘best and worst’ list based on the post that inspired this: 1. First Concert – Public …
Read More

Beats Fit Pro are not AirPods. But that’s not a slight. It’s not necessarily praise either. They’re just different. And I love them both for what they are good at. First, there’s no point in beating around the bush: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) are better in almost every single aspect. If you have the money, …
Read More

Of course this is cliché. Another New Year’s Day post promising change! A New Workout Routine! A New Me! Out with the old, in with the new! Yadda yadda. Been there, done that. This isn’t one of those, and yet, of course, it is. I’m 48. Soon to be 49. My previous plan of running …
Read More

Maybe it’s some sort of lame existential crisis. Maybe it’s getting older and being more frugal. Maybe it’s just the ‘shiny new’ (to me) factor. Maybe it’s because it’s BLUE! Or maybe it’s none – or all – of the above.  Whatever it is, I absolutely love the iPad Air 5th generation. By some definitions …
Read More

Like most cats, our cat is part adorable, part pain in the ass.  And there’s no bigger ‘pain in the ass time’ than that time of morning that’s too early to be awake, but once you’re awake, too early to fall back asleep for any shut eye of any value. In addition to that, our …
Read More

It’s one of the most bizarre Apple products I’ve ever purchased. The best way I can think of AirTag is that it’s a product you hope you never need. And that’s about it. You buy it, set it up with the now-standard Apple way of pairing and adding new things to your account (that is, …
Read More

Today Apple Inc. released it’s Second Quarter earnings report, and – wait for it – they made a LOT of money. The work-from-home situation a lot of us find ourselves in combined with the hot-selling iPhone 12 lineup, plus an increase in Services revenue brought more and more bags of cash to Cupertino. I’m far …
Read More

The other title I was considering for this is Wow Apple, Wow! Earlier today, Apple held a ‘Spring Loaded’ event to announce a bunch of new/refreshed products. Some – like Podcasts+ – I don’t really care about. OK, that’s the only thing I don’t care about from today. The rest of it – curse you …
Read More

For a couple years, I’ve been reading more and more about wireless CarPlay. In general, the less I can have things dependent on wires or cables the better.  Of course, we’re not really talking about going wireless in most instances – Qi charging is just shifting the wire to a stationary object vs. plugging it …
Read More

Well, I didn’t expect that! Lately my running has been pretty sporadic. I always find the change of seasons to be an annoying time to run, especially Winter to Spring. The wind picks up, there’s usually a lot of wet pavement and grass from melting snow, and the temperature fluctuates wildly. Overall, I actually prefer …
Read More

Came across this goofy little pointless site (see what I did there?) on Jim Dalrymple’s wonderful the Loop, and it gives me all kinds of joy. The pictures are great, the idea is nonsensical, and the technology behind it is pretty intense. Or so I assume. I really don’t have any idea exactly how this …
Read More

I’m generally pretty laid back. I wouldn’t consider myself lazy, but I suppose I can see how some people may throw that label at me. I don’t think it’s entirely fair – it’s just that with a lot of things, I prefer to take a wait and see approach. You know, if it ain’t broke, …
Read More

How have I never written about Ted Lasso? Now’s not really the time for a deep dive on the show, but I just wanted to say how happy I am that Jason Sudekis won a Golden Globe for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series” tonight! If you haven’t watched Ted Lasso, do …
Read More

A few weeks ago I decided to try this whole Intermittent Fasting thing, as part of an overall goal to lose some weight. I decided to go with the 16-8 system (or probably closer to 15-9 due to my slacking with a late night tea). Regardless, this post isn’t entirely about that. Part of the …
Read More

Every now and then (ok, it’s been a while!), I like to drop a note about a project I’ve worked on. Well, it’s that time again, and I am extremely proud to have been a part of launching IDQuickly.com! We’ve spent a lot of time putting this together as a quick, easy, private solution for …
Read More

That’s not just a clever title! Almost since it launched, I’ve had a HomePod (actually a couple) in the house, and the family has embraced all it offers. Whether it’s just randomly playing a song that comes to mind, shuffling through playlists or Apple Music Stations (go Canadian Classics Radio!), or asking Siri to turn …
Read More

Wow! Sure, this site is supposed to be about design, development and running. But why do you think I run? Cause I love food! And one thing I’ve really grown to love is Poutine! OK, yes, no doubt Poutine is terrible for you. I don’t see it as a core part of any diet plans. …
Read More

As a web and app developer, I have to be familiar with all major platforms. While I use Apple products for developing and personal use, I also have a PC and Android devices for testing. Until recently, my Android test device was an aging cheap plastic hunk of junk that I picked up for less …
Read More

What can I say? Life gets in the way sometimes. Unfortunately for me, life got in the way for a couple years, and I stopped running. Sadly, I didn’t stop eating like I was still marathon training, and it caught up with me. But when Covid hit and I no longer left the house to …
Read More

We sold our house! And really, aside from having to wear a mask while looking at homes, selling a house during a pandemic wasn’t really that different to selling a house at any other time. Sure – there were limits on how many people could be in a house at a time, and people seemed …
Read More

Seriously. Get a pair of these now. Yes, they are expensive. But wow – they’re awesome! When I first got the original AirPods, and realized just how annoying wires are, I knew I’d never go back to regular ear buds. It’s amazing how many times I’d catch a wire on something and have them ripped …
Read More

About a year ago, I launched an Instagram account featuring Beer, Wine, Whiskey and more called Beers ‘N Drinks. Looking over it, it’s easy to get the impression that I drink a lot! And wow – it sure kinda looks bad. To be honest, I enjoy my drinks – obviously that’s why I created the …
Read More

Here we go again. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve started and then subsequently stopped (or, really, didn’t even start) trying to be more consistent with writing and posting to this site. But I need to do this. It may only be a post every month or two, but I need to …
Read More

I know Beats headphones allegedly don’t provide the best sound quality according to people who supposedly know these things. But as someone who’s had a few different pairs for a few different purposes, I don’t really care. I like they way they look, sound, and fit my lifestyle. They work for me – an average …
Read More

Along with a new iPhone 7, I also ordered a new Apple Watch Series 2. One of my biggest issues with the original Apple Watch was the lack of GPS. So, when I watched the reveal and hear that not only would the Series 2 include GPS, but also be faster and more waterproof, I …
Read More

As a follow up to my last post, I decided to get the iPhone 7 Plus in Matte Black. As the fool I am, I set an alarm for 3:00am last Friday to wake up and order the phone. At the time, I had the intention of ordering the Jet Black version. However, as soon …
Read More

As anyone who follows tech knows, today Apple released the new iPhone 7, the new Apple Watch Series 2 and some new Apple and Beats headphones. Coming into today’s announcement, most of the iPhone details were known – no headphone jack, new colors, two cameras on the plus model, etc. Apple did manage to pull …
Read More

Introverted. Someone who hates people. Low tolerance for idiots. Shy. Standoffish. Or maybe just a-hole. Whatever label you want to slap on it, sometimes (all the time?) keeping to yourself is the preferred course of action. And I have to admit, these tweets capture thoughts I’ve had and continue to have almost daily: http://thechive.com/2016/08/26/tweets-that-expose-the-inner-thoughts-of-introverts-30-photos/

I’m not a ‘watch guy’. But I am an Apple guy, and as a developer and runner, the concept of the Apple Watch has me intrigued from a couple different perspectives. Primarily, since Apps are our business, it’s a good business call to be familiar with the technology first hand. Secondly, I currently use a …
Read More

As an avid Apple fan and carrier of multiple iOS devices, one of my hobbies is creating Wallpapers for iOS devices. I’ve decided to share some of my favourites here and make them available for download. Hope you like them! Here’s the first of (hopefully) many – I call this one ‘Rainy Road’: iPhone Sizes: …
Read More

About five years ago, I had an idea to build a simple app to keep track of various goals and streaks in meeting those goals. The result was Days Without, and it was one of the first apps I’d built entirely on my own. Since then, I’ve made some updates, expanded the feature set, and …
Read More

Yesterday Apple released their Holiday 2014 Quarterly Financial results, and they were staggering. The charts, numbers, and everything are off the charts. But for me, nothing shows how huge and successful Apple has become, than this bit from 9to5mac.com: The record-breaking numbers also explain why, despite the stock buybacks and dividends paid out by Apple, …
Read More

This morning I came across the post below from 9to5mac.com and just had to shake my head. Apparently BlackBerry CEO John Chen thinks Apple should be legally required to port iMessage to BlackBerry: “…  Apple does not allow BlackBerry or Android users to download Apple’s iMessage messaging service… This dynamic has created a two-tiered wireless broadband ecosystem, in which iPhone and …
Read More

Apple today increased prices for apps in Canada and across the European Union to account for currency fluctuations. In a quick survey of the app store, I noticed prices are now $1.19 (instead of $0.99), $2.29 (instead of $1.99), and $3.49 (instead of $2.99), etc. While Canada is not a huge market and pricing should …
Read More

Creating the simple is extremely difficult. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of quality versions all get rejected. Rounds and rounds of seemingly insignificant modifications typically follow. But once you see it, you can’t imagine it any other way. That’s Apple. And it all begins with the iconic logo: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/myths-and-mysteries-apples-apple-162098

I don’t watch a lot of television anymore, aside from a handful of shows I’ll DVR and couple Netflix originals, but when I find a show I like, I sort of become a bit obsessed. So that’s why watching the pilot of a new show called Bleach has me conflicted. On one hand, the show …
Read More

I continually learn the lesson of don’t believe everything you see on the Internet, and I’m media savvy enough to know that anything can be done with editing. And while that no doubt applies to this clip as well – because clearly this was not all done in a few minutes – the core elements …
Read More