AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

To start, I'm as productive as I have ever been and as productive as I can be compared to two weeks ago when I was working at my company's office.  In fact, I think I managed to get much more done in a shorter amount of time.  However, it has not translate to me "getting off work" at 3PM instead of 5:30 PM like I normally do.  The main reason is that I was not ready for working from home.  Internet Connection: First off, you are only as productive as your Internet connection.  And while my Internet connection, courtesy of Comcast (yeah, yeah, I know...), is up a majority of the time, the speed is kind "meh".  When I am doing mindless Excel calculations or setting up a new sheet, there isn't a whole lot of thinking that needs to be done.  So I like to have something play in the background - video from Netflix or one of my science fiction shows.  But that could slow things down at times if my wife is also streaming her own stuff, well, it's hit and ...

Bike ride through the city.  We did that today.  The ride was just like any I've had as far back as I can remember.  The only difference is that there are way less cars than before.  And the remaining cars on the streets are driving so fast I'm considering getting a camera mount for my helmet so I can record and report them. It's been almost two weeks since the state and large cities like Los Angeles declare self-lock down and ordered temporary closures of nonessential businesses and activities and, on Friday, closed beaches, parks, and trials after thousands did not take the order and social distancing seriously and took to public places in large numbers. It's a little different this Saturday compared to last weekend.  People are still going out but there is a feeling in the air that more people are taking the coronavirus pandemic, which started in Wuhan, Chia in early December (possibly late November) but was not reported by Beijing until January. ...

I skipped the Apple Watch 4 and 5 and plowed through with my Apple Watch 3.  It'll be three years this September 22nd and I can't wait to see what new features the Apple Watch 6 will pack when it is released this year.  Of course, with what's going on with the coronavirus pandemic here in the US and the rest of the world, there is no guarantee that Apple will be release products on the annual schedule that we have come to expect. And while I think I can hang for another six months, I'm not sure my Apple Watch 3 can as the battery life has diminished greatly in the last month.  I reset it today in hopes that the reset could fix it.  And if it doesn't, well, I'll have to figure out how to work around a shorter battery life until later this fall.  It is not as if the Apple stores are open for me to take my watch in for a battery replacement. But even if I eventually have the chance to take my three in for a battery replacement and that the Apple Watch 6 does...

I was able to update Watch OS on my Apple Watch 3 the last couple of times.  We are getting closer to the day when the Apple may well be able to completely be tether-free of the iPhone.  It's not that being tethered to the iPhone is bad in any sense.  But can users buy an Apple Watch one day and start to use it without the iPhone? Since Apple Watch 6, I have gained a new sense of freedom with the watch.  The fact that I can use it without the iPhone being close and the watch can continue to be connected to the Internet independent of it through Wi-Fi is awesome.  For this reason alone, I really regret not getting the cellular version in the beginning.   In the first 2-3 years of the Apple Watch, the Watch OS just was not matured enough and relied heavily on the iPhone.  And now with the Apple Store on Watch OS 6, it does feel like it has grown into its own and it closer to being ready to turn your wrist into a computing power.  There a ...

Everyone is talking about what the Apple Watch replacing the traditional watches and decimating the market.  But that has been happening long before the Apple Watch came along.   I'm not sure what is the percentage of the human population that wear watches but it is not a reach to suggest that that number dropped since the availability of the iPhone and other smart phones. What I am wondering about is how the smartphone has affected the flashlight market.  I thought of this when I went on a recent camping trip.  I had all the gears that I needed including flashlights for the strolls on the paths that had no lights.  I brought a lot a couple of lanterns and two flashlights with 1000 lumens each.  I ended up not using one of them because I had not thought to when I left the camp site which was well lit by a fire and half a dozen lanterns brought by my family and friends. With my wife using one of the flashlights, I had only my phone and so I turned it on...

I'm an Apple Watch user.  Not since day one but six months later when I got it as a gift from a friend for a favor I did for him and his family.  After a year of it, I was still not a believer.  Today, I am.  And I'm very optimistic that Apple will revolutionize personal health and the healthcare industry in general. After using my original Apple Watch for a year, I lost interest in it mainly because it was slow, buggy, and, well, the battery life was really not that great.  I have had to cut workout monitoring short because the battery died and I ended up not being able to close the rings. I eventually about a new Series 2 and that was much better.  It was this Apple Watch 2 that really had me believing that Apple has something there for me personally.  I gave it to my mom and I eventually graduated to a Series 3 this year after trying various ways of having the same health benefits with only my iPhone X.  I got a regular pedometer to moni...

Most who follow Apple closely will agree with me that it was disappointing Apple did not upgrade the iPad mini along with the rest of the iPad line.  Most predict that Apple will eventually let it go the way of the iPod now that the iPhone Plus screen is big enough that it may represent a good alternative for folks who want a bigger screen mobile device but doesn't want to go as big as the 9.7" iPad.  Frankly, I think that's a pretty lame comparision and excuse.  First of all, the iPhone Plus is not a tablet.  I have the iPhone 7 Plus and I love it.  It's powerful, gets me through the day with no issue, and has the best camera as far as I can of any that I have ever owned.  But here is why I don't think it's a good replacement for the iPad mini. The mini can do many things that the iPhone cannot do.  Split screen.  A little cramp but works well.  The iPhone doesn't do split screen.  Picture-in-picture is a feature that the iPad owns the ...