I am a Bon vivant of technology. That’s really just a fancy way of saying that I like tech and do what I can to obtain it. I enjoy experiencing new technology or refined versions of existing tech. I love talking about it and sharing it with others.
During a meeting earlier today I was asked about why I had a PC laptop instead of a Mac which is what I had in my last meeting with this client only a few months ago. A few hours later I was explaining to another client why I think tablets are useless devices. We also discussed the change in social norms in regards to use of certain technologies in different situations. It’s all very interesting to me.
In my private journaling, I sometimes make note of my current interests or of information I am currently consuming, but I don’t often enough because I am used to sharing things like this publically through social media. The continued problem I have with social media is how challenging it is to find past information posted to them. It is much easier to search a website when you need to reference something posted in the past. This is why I am wanting to share more about my current likes on my blog. I hope you find it interesting.
Quote of the Month:
A man is never truly a failure until he blames others for his mistakes.
~Mark Twain— Jerad Hill (@jeradhill) June 29, 2017
Summer:
This is the first year I have felt in “summer mode” in ages. Since my kids are now in school, Summer is the time in which we have the freedom to take a vacation and get out of town more often. We spent a few days down south visiting family and going to a water park. Next month we will go camping for a week. It has been hot in Modesto, but I’m glad it’s summer time.
I have a 7 Year Old:
My oldest turned 7 this month. That excites and scares me at the same time. He is getting big and is becoming his own person. He is exploring what he likes and learning quickly what he dislikes. He can act so grown up at times, but still, can play like a little kid. These are excellent times I live in.
Eating Better:
It’s been years since I have consumed unhealthy foods in a consistent manner, but I have had a problem with consuming unhealthy amounts of food. I don’t want to label it a compulsion, but maybe it is at times. I found myself eating what was on my plate and clearing out whatever my kids didn’t eat. I would snack in the evening after my kids went to bed. Every breakfast was at Starbucks or Jamba Juice. I picked up a Smart Scale and have been tracking my weight. I am big into metrics. Without data, I can not make change in my life. Tracking something as simple as my weight gives me the strength to stop eating when I have had enough.
Weezer!
I have been a Weezer fan since the Blue Album dropped during my teen years. Though I have been a loyal fan over the past 17 years, I have never seen them live. That changed last weekend. It was a good show. Wish I had been able to see them in their earlier years. Also, Weezer is best experienced with good friends.
Also, you should dance like somebody sitting near you is filming it.
Blade of the Month – Benchmade Hidden Canyon Hunter: I love this small fixed blade knife. It came with a horizontal carry leather sheath. I was not sure if I would like a fixed blade knife since I enjoy the deployment aspect of a folding knife. I find myself desiring to carry this knife more often because of it’s style and utility.
Apps:
I don’t explore the app marketplace as much as I used to. For several years I wrote about apps and reviewed them online professionally. I may have burned myself out. During any given month I do happen across an app or two that does add value to my life. It may be a new productivity tool or a fun game to escape to for a few minutes when I have time. Here is what I’m using this month.
Any.do – This task management app actually does reminders really well, especially on Android. I use Trello for task management because I like being able to move tasks through a process as I work on them but I need something more in my face when it comes to reminders. Any.do does this well. I did sign up for Any.do Premium because that allows for recurring reminders to be added. As I continue to try and use my Google Home device more, I may change how I handle reminders, but for now, Any.do is where it’s at.
RobinHood – I have been taking Stockmarket Investing more serious over the last year. I like being able to manage it myself and without paying fees. I like what RobinHood has done in this space. I started by spending spare change in the app purchasing a few stocks here and there for around $5.00. We just recently paid off both of our vehicles so now I plan to put what was a car payment into the stock market each month. RobinHood is an app I spend a few moments in every day as I check on my current holdings and explore stocks for further purchase. RobinHood is free to join and if you want to try it, use the following link to sign up and RobinHood will give you a free stock: http://share.robinhood.com/jeradh
Technology
Sony a9 – I recently purchased the latest mirrorless innovation from Sony, the Alpha a9 camera. In this camera, Sony fixed some of the gripes I had with their a7 line of cameras and I was eager to try it out. Though I am not a fan of the price compared to what I paid for my Sony a7rII, I have found it’s new features to be valuable to me in moments where I need to act fast to get the shot. I have always invested in camera gear that allows me to do my job better.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus – After spending most of 2016 on the Android platform, I switched back to Apple for a short while earlier this year. It was not long before I was regretting my decision and decided to return to the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. The battery life is amazing on this phone and I like the taller screen which allows for more content. I also recently discovered SideSync which allows me to access everything from my phone on my computer. That means responding to text messages, file sharing, using apps, checking voicemail, and so much more. I always ran back to Apple because their product echosystem is well put together, but there are still a lot of limitations there. SideSync is not perfect, but it does much more than allow you to use Messages on your Mac to respond to text messages you get on your phone.
Dell XPS 15 9560 – I also spent a lot of time last year chasing the perfect laptop. It was hard to find that in the world of PC. I tried last years Dell XPS 15 but there were a few issues I had with it. Those issues were fixed in this years version of the XPS 15. Dell’s XPS line is a beautiful design. The display is gorgeous and the build of the laptop is nice. The display bezels are tiny which gives you more screen than most other laptops of the same size offer. The 4K display also has a wider color gamut than anything else on the market which is important for me as a Photographer. It has an SD Card slot which most other companies are omitting these days, also important for a Photographer who hates carrying unneccesarry adapters. Lastly, it has a pretty powerful graphics card which assists in faster video rendering. Since I am filming most things in 4K now, more power is needed and that is why I am using a Windows PC and not an Apple MacBook Pro.
Reading:
I used to read a lot but have allowed distractions to prevent me from opening a book. Sometimes I just don’t have a book with me when I have free time so I pull out my phone. I have started carrying my Kindle Oasis with me again so I can read distraction free. Having the Kindle app on my phone allows for too many distractions and notifications to get in the way.
12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You – I preordered this book on Amazon after seeing a tweet about it. I am very much into the way technology is changing us, especially in regards to how it affects us spiritually. I am 3/4 through this book and have found it to be very enlightening. I may even write a review of the book which is something I haven’t done in years.
Change Your Brain, Change Your Life – As I continue to get older I find myself more and more interested in the brain and how it works. I also am very interested in how and why I make decisions the way I do and how I can improve the way I process everything I come in contact with both internally and externally.
New Morning Mercies – A Daily Gospel Devotional – My wife and I purchased this book last year at a conference but I did not start reading it until this year. I’m currently getting into a devotion about once a week, but have recently set a reminder on my phone using Anydo to prod me each day to get into it. So far its helping.
Conclusion:
It was hard to keep this post short considering it is the first of it’s kind. I am going to try to do a post like this monthly, perhaps I should set a reminder right now in Any.do. If you find it interesting, let me know. Please understand that the links I provided to actual products are Amazon Affiliate links. I decided to blog on the topic of the things I like because I wanted an ongoing record of what I am doing, not to make a profit from it. Affiliate links do help pay the bills though, so if you want to explore something furthur, click away. I have always enjoyed sharing publically about different aspects of my life, so posting like this here on my blog just makes sense to me.
Next month’s post will likely have a lot of camping related likes. Every time we go camping I learn a lot and discover new things I want to try and explore with my kids.
It’s summer friends, go out and explore!