Just awoke from my Surface 3 nightmare!

"Lost in the Hype"
I purchased a Surface tablet 3 a few weeks ago and I'm "meh" ...
I fell for the hype in the commercials seeing artists and engineers draw on the versatile computer easily toting it and writing on. I watched Nadella and his crew charismatically pitched how Microsoft is jumping ahead as the leader of the wave of technology and the future. I seen the shiny display in Bestbuy and it seemed so much more interesting than the usual macbook i have now become accustomed to because it looked like the 5 year old Macbook I already have. One of my keys was stuffed crumbs on my macbook air so I used it as an opportunity to dive into the windows world once again. So I got myself a Surface 3

The initial impression was amazing, I loved the build due to its thinner and light weight! It felt amazingly solid in my hand and thats when things seemed to stop.

Somethings not right 
I took a late flight after wrestle mania so I was stuck in Dallas airport for about 5 hours. I had trouble getting a good connection to wifi and I became very frustrated. My frustration came to a peek when i couldn't get the browser to log in to my Uverse websites to watch wrestling. Luckily I remembered I had an Uverse app on my iPhone. I logged in quickly and was off to watching WWE Monday Night Raw! Apple saved the day!


The turn

I got home and posted the surface 3 on craigslist but after reading some positive reviews I decided to give it another shot! I gave it my full effort even going as far as buying a keyboard a surface pen and sitting my MBA down for a week. That brings me to why I am writing this. I was at work wondering whats wrong with the connection. I kept having to refresh my browser and reconnecting. I tried to download office and it kept freezing. I had trouble getting it to boot at one point and I had to research finding out I have to press volume down with the window logo in order for it to go into troubleshooting mode. I wasted a whole day of productivity thinking that my new idea of minimalist productivity could somewhat improve with this device... boy was I wrong!  In a bat of frustration I pulled out my macbook air I brought into work to reformat and prepare for sale and I logged right in. I logged in within a second or so. I then pulled up the browser to see if it was something wrong with the internet and I was wrong everything popped up right away! I logged into blogger and wala! It was soo easy, so simple, such a minimal amount of work for maximum productivity.

"Prodigal Son Returns"
What was I thinking. The keys feel good in my hand without the weird angle of the type cover keyboard. My palms wrest nicely on the side of the touch pad as my fingers glide and bang across the keys. The 13 inch screen helps my eyes to relax. Testing minimalist waters, its much easier to carry my macbook as my only device because it gives me access to many of the phone features I use like phone text and video calls via face time. I also can use my iBooks purchased on my iPad. Once you add the type cover, there is really not that dramatic of a difference between the bulk and weight of the Surface 3 verses the Macbook Air 13.. If you have read my previous articles , you can see this is not my first go around trying a surface, a few years back i was an early adopter of the Surface pro 2 but that ended in the same result.

Im sorry Apple I am so disloyal but hey I keep coming back. They say if you love something let it free if it comes back you know it loves you back. I guess I love my Apple products. GOD BLESS

Lower Expectations: What is the least of your expectations for Apple's Event

I am having a hard time the past couple of days controlling my excitement about the Apples press conference Tuesday September 9 10am pacific. I was thinking it was getting unhealthy because I should only be this excited about JESUS CHRIST MY LORD and SAVIOR. I also felt it was a problem because many times we get so hyped on the prospect of something, we end up disappointment. I felt myself coming to the point that it would be impossible for Apple to meet my expectations. You know, like that reunion CD of your favorite rock group,  p.2 of any movie, RoboCop reboot, ending of "24". You get the point......So I decided to act ahead of time.

I decided to bring this to you? What can be the bare minimum announcement necessary for us to be happy with the apple press conference. I think we will get a lot more out of the apple announcement if we expect much less and become presently surprised! I will began first, and hopefully you can respond with your bare minimums and we can see how the actual presentation stand up to it. Please think about it and not just disdain if you don't agree with my religious beliefs.

I will go first ....
I want the obvious a bigger phone, a 4.7 will be fine, unless there is actually a 5.5 in the near future. I would also need to have NFC because combined with a quick finger scan this can be something beautiful! I need to pay for my things because I feel like thats what I am missing out on the most since switching from Android devices.

hey Apple remember this I think you left it in 2012 lets do something with it! 

What made me most excited about WWDC14

This was one of the most exciting WWDC I have seen in years. Even the naysayers was excited about this press conference. I love seeing @MollyWood scoffed at the keyboard improvements thinking typical closed off apple then ,,,,,boom you can get custom keyboards!  Thats just one part, we got so much more. 

1. Customizations - Apple has opened up to allow more customizations. The number one thing Android fanboys tout is the ability to customize their phone. Isheep take what Apple gives them but Android let you pick the keyboard and widget etc to make their phone uniquely yours. Now if you don't like the iPhone keyboard you can download one. You can do a ESPN widget, or maybe you hate sports and want weather, etc. From my understanding, the cloud drive will be customized as well so you can save from all your apps to the drive of your choice. 
2. iMesseges - This is so exciting. 

1. Dropping out of conversations is so nice and convenient. I often get group messages and sometimes I begin getting replies from people I don't even know. I would love to be able to read the initial message responding and then leaving the conversation. 
2. Grouped pictures would be nice. Sometimes I try to show people a pic my wife sent me and I am constantly scrolling trying to figure out the day when she sent it to me. I would love to have those pics in a certain place where I can depend on it being there. 
3. I  love the quick voice message, so when your thumbs get tired you can just send a good. You also have a quick video or voice messages that can self destruct liken to the appeal of snapchat. 
3. iCloud drive-  Now all devices will have the ability to save to iCloud drive. All the apple devices will be able to utilize the iCloud drive. This will be direct competition with one-drive. Microsoft makes it easy for all of your windows devices to use a common cloud drive to access your files. Google has done the same with its chromebooks. Now Apple will take this concept for its Apple products that will be a awesome manifestation of the end goal of Apple iWork productivity suites. This helps me know that I can create content on any Apple device and pick up and continue on any other Apple device I own. This means I don't have to worry about flash/thumb drives. Remembering what device I was using. That was the lure of chromebooks for me. I was able to use any machine to get things done. The best part of it all is being able to "handoff" what I am doing on one device and finish on another. I can type an email , and then finish it on the computer when I feel like I need to type faster. I can also type up a flyer for my Church on my iMac and hand it off to my iPad to format the pictures on the flyer in the park.
   
   Also photos can be edited and updated on all of my devices. When I went back to iPhone from android, the first thing I did was download google plus to back up my photos. Now I can replace it , (probably do both ;)).   The elephant in the room is the charge. It is only 5 gigs free and the photos pull from this, so basically your going to have to pay a subscription fee liken to live 365. I remember being happy that iWork apps where now free but I see why now, I am paying for the service now not the programs. The good news is that the price is lower , so I can get 200 gigs for basically $4 a month , which is cheaper than live 365. 
4. Quick Hot Spots - The bluetooth LE helps you to do some cool things like quick hotspot. Just the other day I was watching WWE network at my mothers house and it was tome to go home. I wanted to continue watching on my wifi iPad while riding in the car. (Wife was driving). So now Im hastily trying to start a hotspot, come up with a password, then pair it with my wifi iPad.
   
   Now I can just have my iPhone serve as a lte hotspot connect with my iPad whenever I step out of the house. This will make the LTE version of iPad's take a hit but I think it will make the iPad a nice companion device to my iPhone when ever I need a big screen for doing something. 
5. SMS/ Voice cross platform - speaking of companion device. With your phone now nearby you can send and receive sms text and calls through the iMessage app on your ipad and mac! I am most excited about this feature by far! When I get home I would love to plug my iPhone in the charger and plop on the couch with my ipad or macbook pro. It is so irritating sitting and the computer ready to geek out and then you her a ring or ding from a distance.
   
   I would love to be on my mac, see a text come in through the corner and send a quick reply. I know my wife always complain why I didn't answer when Im immersed in geekdom. Now I am never to far away. I like being able to browse and call from a website. Just the other day I was researching hotel reservations and I wish I was able to call from the browser. I would also like to be on my ipad and answer a text from android brethren. Once again, it no longer matters what device I am using to get what I want done , just what is more convenient  for me at that time. 

It has never been this hard to break down what I am most excited about to 5 things. It almost felt like WWDC fell into the problem with CES and E3, so many announcements the significance of some products get overlooked. I was given so much to be excited about I felt overwhelmed! This is what stuck out the most.  Lets not forget some honorable mentions 

1. Wifi calling- I can now call from the basement or brick school building

2. Extensibility- I can use the same document in different apps awesome! 

3. Large file mailing- now you can send 5 gig files through mail, no thumb drives

4. Interactive notifications - you can now respond to texts, appointments, etc in notifications, 

5. Family Sharing - with gaming I can buy an app for all of us to do multiplayer on apple tv 

Notice no mention of health blah blah blah , eat a burger and go for a walk.....GOD BLESS 

Why I left Surface Pro 2 for Ipad mini and Macbook Pro: life lessons

First The Rant

So as I was deciding to begin writing a post about why I dropped pc and went back to mac I decided to check on something on my desktop pc. I tried to download a file but it needed administrator access, I proceed to put the code in but oops there is no box to put the code in....thats odd? I click something else and,,,,,. I think, well maybe its a bug and I need to upgrade, I go to upgrade but uh oh, in order to upgrade I need to have administrator access! So Im stuck , oh great! time to refresh the computer totally, now that takes me to a reboot in which I cant get to any recovery memory even though its set aside, so off to the box o junk I go hoping I have a restore disc made because I cant download one without admin privileges... I find a disk , go through the process and I format drive, but wait its not over,, "windows cant be installed on drive,,,," That ladies and gentlemen, is exhibit A and the prevailing argument for dropping pc for Apple!

So as I try the ol power off and turn back on method,,,I begin my next paragraph...

Stepping into danger 

Allow me to give background, around Christmas I became intrigued by the propaganda spewed by Microsoft Execs about the Surface Pro 2 . I was also bored with the Iphone and jumped ship to android. I was thinking this will be the best time of any to go windows. I promptly sold my macbook, Ipad, and powered off the Imac. I replaced my beloveds with a Surface pro 2 with a dock. Hopefully I have some returning readers out there who remember my grandiose exit explaining why I'm leaving Apple for Surface Pro 2.

I was excited by the well constructed and different gem. I noted how I was bored of things just working and I want a little chaos and opportunity to create chaos. My fellow Apple fanboys responded to my motives with a smirk replying "you will be back". I scoffed at their prediction as I shown off the 4 pains I was able to do on my surface in docked mode and pull it out to walk around with still two windows. I aggravated them with my showcase of games I was playing with my dongle and wireless xbox controller. I wrote articles about using it to root my phone. I wanted chaos and work and work I did. Like a kid going off to college, you are free from the monotony of order and someone telling you whats best for you but now the prodigal son returns , why you may ask? Because freedom and excitement has an adverse and equal reaction of pain and frustration.
I mentioned a point of frustration earlier.

By the way, its starting now after the reboot..

That is just one example. I hated how I got freezes from day one. Doing the simplest of tasks. I figured it was maybye because it did not come out the box updated. Most task I did took an extra step than it would have taken on the Ipad. For instance , passwords didn't always save so I had to answer questions. I had to log back in by first moving up the screen then type in. I couldn't press the off button to long because it would go to sleep mode thus having to log back in. If I had a few desktop apps running on start up this slowed me down a great bit. I had to think what place to write my notes in because they look different depending on what part of Onenote you enter your info into. I had to adjust my screen because chrome browser was fuzzy by default. There was two different explorers and depending on the site, sometimes you got switched into the desktop mode. If you are having trouble following , it was purposeful to give you a since of the experience.

• I purchased a Macbook Pro used and I was able to hook it up to the internet and let the magic happen. It asked for my Itunes account name and noticed I previously downloaded osX like windows and it loaded it up for me. No discs, no long product id, just a log in and a server. I don't get many freezes even though its more buggy than previous OSX. Chrome is in all its chrome glory, which it should be seeing as though most Googlers are using macs in press photos. The Ipad turns right on. I have a passcode because my job uses exchange (ahem Microsoft) but thats understandable,,,I guess. It stays on all day, my wife was laughing because i kept charging it. she said "you don't have to do that with apple". On my Ipad when I want to go to a website I realize there is an app for that that is often more feature rich and quick so I just go there, but we will get to that later. 

Portability 

I noticed that I couldn't get used to the weight. Every time I managed to at least not bug me, I picked up my wife's Ipad and voila there it goes again. I literally had thoughts to take it with me and then ended with a "nah i don't feel like lugging that thing". It was a chore when I had the only personal time I get as a father (ahem the bathroom). So I defaulted to my phone. When I go to the mall to let the kids get free time in the play area, I defaulted , to my phone. When I was in the back yard bbq  and wanted to read while the food was smoking, I defaulted , to my phone. When my kids wanted to play a game , they had to hold the xbox controller because I was scared the heavy tablet would lead to them dropping it. (Notice that was the first time I used the word tablet). I was thinking it would replace my laptop as a more mobile device but it was essentially serving the same purpose. It was just a tiny desktop.

• But my new Ipad mini fits in my big pockets, partly because I'm stuck in the baggy 90s. I can take it to my "daddy area". And feel fine! I also have a laptop that is sitting stationary or on my lap. What Microsoft is missing about the type keyboard is that the weight needs to be on the base to feel sturdy. Until then it will never be lapable. (is that a word?) 

I just rebooted twice because the screen went blank and the cd stop spinning during the refresh ! 

Software 

I touched on how getting started is a dream. I hate to beat a dead horse because i rolled my eyes at the constant mentioned of the poor amount of apps but once again like a teen I should have listened! I am not ashamed to admit I like wrestling! I was trying to get the WWE APP but it seemed as though it wasn't updated in years! It didn't even have the added live network so I was forced to access it through the browser. I went to the one of choice, chrome and it was a bug in it. Chrome kept thinking I was using a usual tablet so it told me to download the app. Even though I was in desktop mode. I searched and found a hack but the hack took away the touch functionality of my surface so that was not a viable option. I then wanted to use a grade book program that has an awesome app for the Ipad. I couldn't use it so I went desktop mode. The icons where to small for touch so I lost my ability to walk around and check grades. Those are just examples of my angst for the app store/ market place/ whatever. 

• Ipad apps are amazing. There is something for everything I can think of (accept for Instagram for some reason, its a stretched mess). I was able to go back to my mobile grading. I was able to do quick Iprint. I dint have to bother with messy hookups to my tv because I can just click air play and once again my kids was playing games. They was excited to be back to playing lego on tv but this time controlling the Ipad as he stare to the main screen. I miss the controller but I read there are bluetooth ones available. My mac keyboard is so nice. I actually like the typecover 2 keyboard but the laptop keyboard is better for in the lap. Everything works together too! You can air drop, airplay share open tabs like a dream. Everything works. At one point when showing off my pc stuff I always uttered the words "hold up wait one minute let me try something". Now its just watch this, did you see that? Oh and the books, have to love the books. It was so awkward reading in widescreen or legal pad mode haha, ibooks ,and of course kindle looks beautiful on my Ipad! 

apparently I have two volumes of windows 8 started now :(...I have been recovering/ DIY PCS for 20 years by the way 

Sooo

To sum it up, I came back to apple for normalcy! Normalcy and Quality. No its not as fun being back home but moms meals are always good , there is no sleep like your old room and waking to that good breakfast. Its the normalcy that feels good! When I can type this blog up on my Ipad comfortably with no plug , print with drivers installed automatically, close it down and go out side with my Ipad air in my pocket, grabbing a cup of coffee and pulling it out to read my Bible app comfortably. When things get chaotic in my tech life like mama , Apple makes it all better, with its auto updates, and Icloud backup. Easy Facetime call to the wife and kids to make me smile. I can tell the wife I will be right there, because Im not loosing time getting something to work. Im sorry apple , thanks for welcoming me back home.

Thanks for working guys :) 

Screen went black again , I'm rebooting 

GOD BLESS!

Why I am back to Iphone ,,again! a android fanboy treasonous tale

yes yes I the prodigal son returned home to his first love, Apple, yeah I know you heard this story before, I try and try to leave apple to get out of line with sheep but every time I think the grass is greener on the other side, I realize that apple is the best there is! So as the flames begin, continue to read if you’re not one of those fan boys that leave comments like "As soon as I read.... I stop reading your crappy isheep article". 

me with my galaxy mega! 

So I grew bored with IOS 6 on my iPhone 5 and I became lured to the large screen android smartphones I read about on google+. I decided to first go with the S4 after the constant advertisements during the NBA finals and popups, and YouTube ads, it was endless. I loved it initially, seeing something different, I then began reading about how things could be so much better without samcrap so I decided to go Nexus. The NEXUS 4 that was an amazing phone but I found myself missing little goodies like ir remote I used on Samsung, and multi-screen, so I decided, let’s go bigger. That leads me to Samsung Galaxy Mega! Mega is the key word, because this thing was huge! At that time, I was using the nexus 4 and 7. Toting two devices seem to be cumbersome so I wanted to get a device to rule them all. The mega satisfied my needs for a while until once again, I grew angry with the samcrap. So naturally I went to CM11. CM11 was pretty cool but it was full of quirky bugs, which is fun to work with. I used that to argue for android before, the problem though came to when I needed it to work right away, ,, ahh here comes that annoyingly true apple standout, motto "it just works". 

The design and those little UI things began irritating me fairly early though I was able to ignore them. For example:

1.    Snap to the top scrolling. - I was using twitter when I first went back to android and I didn’t realize that it doesn’t have snap to the top scrolling. When you began to scroll through your feed on twitter and google+. Sometimes you want to go back to the top right away, on android you have to begin rolling that finger! It speeds up but that’s the best you can do! Google+ implemented this but the browser still makes me scroll through reddit and xda etc. 

2.    Pull to refresh- listing to podcaster and stitcher forces me to find the little widget to refresh my feed vs just pulling down. On my mega, I was waiting for the green refresh arrow to pop up. It is just much easier to pull "thinking pull in new content. 

3.    Quick settings from the bottom up - ironically Apple actually seem to copy this feature from android but like apple they steal or "gets inspiration" from others who mess up first and clean it up to make it work. I know kitkat has the two finger gesture to separate settings from notifications but I use the calculator and flashlight all the time and I like being able to scroll up and get what I need. I also really like how I get to my stitcher music controls from the bottom separate from the notifications on the top, (because the top notifications still sucks! ) 

4.    Google apps - That was one of the nails in my android owning coffin, the google apps looks so much better on iPhone, it’s like they made it for the iPhone and just ported it on android, or made it an afterthought. Hangouts is awesome on iPhone, the colors pop and options are quick for things like hangout video etc. Google + scrolls nice, and the notifications and everything get out of the way. Yes the feed is harder to see on the small screen but wow! Apple even let my password load on all of my google apps automatically. There was little difference between the sync of my google account over the iOS apps like android apps. It is almost like I never gave up what made android best, instead it feels like a visual change to my android. 

5.     Print - iprint is so seamless, I was toting google cloud print to others but the last

print right there!!!!

week of my android ownership came when I was attempting to print out an emailed coupon. I found myself struggling to connect for some odd reason and the button was inconsistently popping up. I sent the email to my wife’s IPhone and she just tapped and printed! WOW! I couldn’t believe how easy it was, she saw my expression and smirked, "yeah it just works" .. 

6.    I was laughing at how you never see the apple community talk about how they are angry because they still are waiting for the update to kit kat, Samsung just announced that 4.4 is coming to the mega in the next month but the month after that Google will announce the next version. When apple release an update we all get it! No wait, no matter the carrier, it works! (there I go again) 

7.    Apps in general - I was so upset when I was on my surface and mega trying to work with the WWE app on my chromecast and I went through lag, quirks, freezes, and pixelization. I grew ill one day and was regulated to the bedroom with an apple TV and it was a totally different experience. Using my wife’s IPhone I was scrolling in beauty as the app loaded up perfectly looking good. I tried PlayOn which was a lagggy nightmare, but when I tried it on iOS, and it feel worth the lifetime membership I paid. 

8.    Contextual keyboard. - I didn’t really pay too much attention but when it was in Instagram, I saw the @ and # sign in the corner waiting for me, making it easier for me to bang a comment out quickly. I see I type better too with less mistakes, my buddy +Alex Glover always make fun saying "that’s that android keyboard" when he get messages like "hty yoy kile that song? I have seen an improvement in just a couple of days. 

notice the keyboard icons in the corner?

On Another note 

No matter how much I enjoy the user interface and beauty and solidness of hardware, I can’t ignore one MAJOR sore point, this phone is Tiny! It wouldn’t be so glaringly small if I wasn’t coming from a 6.3 inch screen but I am squinty my eyes trying to read the text on websites, and google+. I soon was reminded of one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to go android, a bigger screen. You can defend Apple using a plethora of evidence but this is not one of them. There is no way you can argue that the screen is perfect. With that being said I do like being able to use it with one hand comfortably but I think you can go bigger without messing that comfort up. 

I also miss the easy sharing capabilities with android. When I took a picture it was easy to share to any program I like right from the camera app. I thought I remember doing this so if I am don’t criticize me, criticize apple for not making intuitive enough to notice. Android let all the apps talk to each other so I can share between google+ and Instagram easily. I see I can’t do the same. 

I miss my slide keyboard. It was pretty cool sliding through the keys to type faster even though I ended with many mistakes. 

The notifications are horrible, its random stuff, random things I don’t care about, stock, and it’s to transparent for my old eyes to see differentiate what imp looking at in a glance 

Conclusion 

I came back and at least for now, I can say I am going to stick with the IPhone! I have the option of upgrading in September due to the pricing wars I wrote about in another article. I am hoping the rumored 4.7 inch iPhone will solve the remaining angst I have about the iPhone. I keep looking at that White and Gold beauty, holding the well-constructed metal

Sorry!!!

and glass, opening up with my thumbprint and think to myself, what was I thinking leaving you? ..haha GOD BLESS 

Samsung S5 released and sadly , i don't care: Samsung Copied Apple in a bad way this time

Scroll to the next paragraph if you are tired of the specs. I am sure you have seen it before, but if you haven't I am going to just take the facts from androidcentral

+Alex Dobie is awesome please check that site before you keep reading (not a thief I want to give them props) .. ..

Full hardware specifications for Samsung's latest

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is official, and we've just posted our hands-on impressions of the device. But if you want to dig down into the nitty-gritty details and examine the GS5's hardware specs, we've also got you covered. Head on past the break for the complete Samsung Galaxy S5 spec listing.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Specifications

Network	LTE Cat.4 (150/50Mbps)
Display	5.1" FHD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080)
Processor	2.5GHz quad-core application processor
OS	Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)
Camera	16MP (rear), 2.0MP (front)
Video	UHD@30fps, HDR, video stabilizationVideo Codec : H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark, MP43, WMV7, WMV8, VP8 Video Format: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM
Audio	Audio Codec : MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/ AAC+/ eAAC+, WMA, Vorbis, FLAC Audio Format: MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
Camera Features	HDR (Rich tone), Selective Focus, Virtual Tour Shot, Shot & More
Additional Features	IP67 Dust- and water-resistant Ultra Power Saving Mode Download Booster S Health 3.0 Quick Connect Private Mode Kids Mode
Google Mobile Services	Chrome, Drive, Photos, Gmail, Google, Google+, Google Settings, Hangouts, Maps, Play Books, Play Games, Play Newsstand, Play Movie & TV, Play Music, Play Store, Voice Search, YouTube
Connectivity	WiFi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2x2), Bluetooth: 4.0 BLE / ANT+ USB 3.0 NFC IR Remote
Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, Hall, RGB ambient light, Gesture(IR), Finger Scanner, Heart rate sensor
Memory	RAM: 2GB Internal Memory: 16/32GB microSD slot up to 128GB
Dimensions	142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm, 145g
Battery	2800mAh Standby time: 390 hrs / Talk time: 21 hrs

Ok now that that's out the way,, ,WHO CARES!!! 

I say this in jest of course but there is a string of truth , I was just thinking that once again Samsung did its best iPhone impression using android and many people will love it! I personally run cm mod and just downloaded the watch-on app for the remote but Im a a true techie. Ripping Apple has proved to be very successful for Samsung but this time I believe that Samsung stole the good ; fingerprint scanner i guess, with the bad; small iteration. This announcement eerily reminded me of the s generation of iPhone. Iphone 4 and 5 was newsworthy and 4s and 5s ,,,,,not so much. I am now fearful that Samsung will now go to a on and off cycle! 

The waterproof case, fingerprint, and heart rate scanner is a cool plus but nothing that demands an upgrade! Maybe its the trend now for phones now that we have reached that point in phone tech in which we are only going to have tweaks and polishes, liken to what we have now with pc's. No one is lining up for the new pc even macs,, OK maybe mac pros but that was years in the making! 

I thank GOD I don't feel the temptation to upgrade I guess my wife don't have to put me on the couch for spending to much haha. GOD BLESS 

Leaving Macbook/Chromebook/Nexus 7 for the Surface Pro 2: My Surface Pro 2 review

So after a whole year for debate I finally purchased the Surface Pro 2. I know as a techie, it is odd I would wait that long to get a new gadget but this was different. Let me explain. I have been using Macbooks for years and I was a self admitted, apple fanboy! I even grabbed the mac mini , and Imac just to finish the spread. Of course I had to compliment it with IOS devices from Iphone to ipads. Like most in the tech industry, if we are being honest, we grew bored of OSX and IOS as of late. I was waiting for ios 7 but it was new for the worst. So for the sake of my thirst for something new, I hoped on Chromebook, and wow here we go again! I became fully immersed in Google and I was loving the new updates and the tons of opportunity for tinkering. Then I hit another big wall. I find myself constantly trying to find workarounds! Google tech should be called the work around tech. In the back of my head I kept debating should I dive back into windows despite the biggest deterrent the $1250 estimated expense for getting what I want in the surface pro 2. After a year, GOD blessed me with my wife deciding I can have a Surface Pro 2 as a Christmas gift. Especially because I sold my Macbook,, Chromebook, and Nexus 7 to finance. So now I give you my first week review written with my SP2.

Initial impressions

The first thing I thought while taking the surface from its packaging was , "whoa is this heavy!" Now mind you before this I had a nexus 7 so I was use to a feather light tablet. I guess that's the curse of having it in a tablet form factor, people naturally expect it to weigh like a tablet. This is a real computer and you can feel it. It didn't feel as heavy as my Acer C7 Chromebook or even much heavier than my ipad 3 but it was definitely no ipad air or nexus 7 (duh!). I love the smooth metal. I give that reaction when I see a luxury sports car, like woah. The surface pro looks like something apple would make, trust me that's a compliment.

First boot up

The initial boot up was 15 seconds, this is amazing on first starts and it asked the usual set up questions. I know it isn't as fast as the log in for Chromebook, but I think its faster than the macbook. It's a lot faster than typical windows pc's so I was impressed. I thought it was cool how it automatically pulled in the desktop background from my actual desktop computer I have in the basement. It was all tied to my outlook account. Coming from apple and Google, of course I LOVE SYNERGY!

Initial Experience

I quickly became immersed in this gadget. It was fun again! I had the unfamiliarity with using touch on windows 8 in a new form factor. I also was impressed with the quick speed. I forgot how real multi tasking worked. I didn't have the pause state of ios, or the awkward windows of osx. I wasn't just regulated to tabs like in chrome but I was side by side with the snap feature. Watching YouTube tutorials on surface , (out of necessity) , on one side, and trying out what I learned on the other. It was great.

Lets break it down further to the things I like:

• Snap Windows / multi tasking - I just covered that above. To add, I like being able to research two things at once. I was in love as I was watching +MKBHD on YouTube while scrolling through my Google+ on the other side. I was showing off , switching between screens on one side while constantly watching my video.

• Type Keyboard: - It is weird that from my memory, the surface is the first gadget to be judged by an accessory that doesn't even come packaged with it. I guess because the type keyboard is specific for the gadget and its built by the same manufacturer. Anyone who pays attention know that Microsoft was trying to avoid the sticker price of a $1,000 tablet but every person covering it mention how you will be like me walking out about 1250 for a 128 gig with touch keyboard and tax. I am happy though because the touch keyboard makes this a laptop. I am typing on the keyboard right now and its phenomenal ! I LOVE a good keyboard and that's what I liked best about my Acer C7. I was thinking I was going to have to give it up when I went to the type keyboard but its nice. It has a plastic but mechanic feel to it. I like the sound of the touch keys and I can feel the keys spring back to my fingers. I have never been able to type so fast on a table. I forget that this is just an accessory! I constantly kept using my track pad rather than the touch screen. I guess its muscle memory. I like that I can touch with most of the items but when its something that needs precision , I can just use the trackpad. The keyboard also shines when it comes to the biggest headache of portable computing, filling out forms! I know apple is trying to fix this with key chain , but there is nothing like pressing tab to input in different fields, and I get less errors with a real keyboard, and for the few times I do error, I have the precision of the trackpad and cursor vs the pain of trying to use your finger (highlighting by accident, moving text etc).. .I don't want to leave this without mentioning, back-lighting. As a busy husband and father I am usually regulated to typing at night and the back-light helped me not wake my wife and kids while exploring my new toy! 

• GAMING BABY!!!!!  - Steam ,,,,,,,,,,, I just wanted that to marinate. I like other pc gamers are used to high graphics, but the built in i5 processor gives us console quality games (at leaste the wii u) and when I'm on the go,  I got a console with me. I was excited to install Mortal Kombat and Bioshock Infinite. Bioshock is set on low settings but still looks beautiful and console quality. Mortal Kombat keeps crashing forcing me to Google up the answer, I found out it hates the resolution so that wasn't a surface problem. The headache came with my Xbox wireless adapter. I don't know whats going on, but I guess its my device because now its not working with my monster desktop. So I used a ps3 controller with motion joy emulating like a xbox controller oh yeah baby! I wish it worked Bluetooth but from my knowledge so far, I have to choose between my keyboard and controller so im stuck on usb. I also got a emulator running roms from my 80s past... gaming is the show off part I was looking for , nothing an apple fanboy can do to outshine steam! 

• Networking- I got it hooked up to my home network. Windows excels at talking to my networked computers! I went into my gaming rig to get games and files I needed. I was amazing that it pulled up my playon folder on my monster desktop. I printed a document automatically with no drivers needed or copy and paste or an APP! 

• Less Need for APPS - Apple is genius. They managed to make the world expect everything to come as apps to make up for a lack of multitasking, flash, or customization. It worked. Almost every review you read will mention the lack of apps hurting the surface pro but they fell to note, it's A FULL COMPUTER!! Apps where invented because you couldn't just go to a website with flash, or download a legacy app. Guess what, I can here. I already mentioned steam. Instead of looking for an gaming app I just used steam and then when I wanted a emulator I just searched for it and downloaded it. When I wanted the big three browsers I just downloaded it! I then went to my school website flash based. I can get the full version of any site , I used to hate how even with a nexus 7, ign.com defautlted to the mobile version of the site.  I can just go to the actual website vs searching for an app in twitter, facebook ,google plus (save that for later) ... 
  

• Waacom Pen - man this pen is amazing! I cant believe how amazing this pen is! Microsoft doesnt tout it enough. That was what I been showing off the most, the pen makes people go wow! I can write out anything and it turns it into text. It even reads cursive writing! I was even drawing pictures of people and drawing on it! I like that its pressure sensitive and it rejects my palm. I ususally put my tablet down and opt for a pen and paper when I am trying to do a quick note, a quick number , and draw something, but this thing can make me paperless, this means a lot for a highschool teacher. I cant stress it enough try it!! 
  

Enough of the mushy stuff lets talk a little about gripes. 

Two days in and I refreshed because I downloaded some questionable programs. Programs not apps , closed ecosystems protect us from our stupidtiy but windows allows us to make catastrophic mistakes, but wow I still got to put it in here. I also had my chrome browser crash when I was running it in windows 8 mode.

Chrome needs help! Its sooo washed out. I am using it now because thats what I am used to using. I like chrome but the look of it is horrid. Not to mention the icons are just like you see on a chromebook so I have to use a type keyboard. I know I like it but its worth noting. It doesnt work in windows 8 mode unless you make it a default app, but once you do that internet explorer only opens in desktop mode so basically you have to chose. this is both of thier fault. Googele+ is single colum on IE and renders wrong. I guess google hates the surface. cmon google . The saving grace is the apps launcher on my desktop. I love that I can just click on the apps launcher to get all my google goodies. I still need a more pixel friendly chrome browser.

No pen slot - I cant find it, I havent been out so I have hope but I am nervous that my pen is not in one of my kids toys. It supposed to be held in the power adapter slot but if I got it plugged up , wouldnt I be most likely using my keyboard and NOT a pen? hmmmm

Track Pad- yes I praised the trackpad earlier for precision and highlighting the text but while editing this document I discovered that I need a clickable trackpad which will help it be easier to drag to highlight.

atechieinchrist tries the imac, impressions after my first week

So its been a week since I  first fired up my new life with an Imac and this is what I have so far. Before we began I must admit I didn't spend the amount of time I usually spend with a device during a week because I have been oddly busy but I still played with it enough to get some initial impressions. The first thing that I like about it is what I am enjoying at the moment when typing this, the keyboard! The keyboard is awesome! I guess apple still pays attention to the keyboards. It has been a while since I used one of these small keyboards so I forgot how comfortable and springy it is. I like it almost gives it a machine like feel like with the classic spring keyboards and the chicklet keys are big enough and separated enough to minimize errors. I admit any error you find is my lack of skill in writing.

The next thing that I noticed is the bright beautiful screen. I know there is a lot of hype over retina but this screen is already beautiful on this 2011 model. I see the screens all the time in the local apple store but I guess the industrial atmosphere with bright lights drown out some of the wowness of the screen. When I bring it down to my dark basement it really enlightens me to the awesomeness!

I did not like the "magic mouse" this is thing is like a clown at birthday party magic. I am used to track pads and rolling marble mouse so this one sucks! Two finger scrolling is sweet but then I feel awkward deciding when to pick up or rub the mouse.

Back to the positive:

I love the drag and drop functionality in osx! I was able to drag the pictures above straight from my google plus post to blogger. I was also able to drag pictures from google to email instead of going through the whole attach files thing! This is saving a tremendous amount of time. 

I was first very impressed when scrolling through my feeds on google plus with chrome on my imac. It looks much different on here than my other devices with the beauty of the white space, uneven content oriented tiles , and 3 columns.

It looks like flipboard for social media! I was posting about its beauty when I ran into the problem with rendering. It may be the ram issue creeping up in this case or beauty coming with a tax but it was annoying having to wait a half of minute at times for new post to load up. I guess its ok if you read every post, but we know most of us have to skip over the spamy fluff that plagues google plus even though it does a much better job than facebook.

The final thing I wanted to mention was the camera. I know real bloggers invest in a really nice camera , a lamp and a mic. But for us that are starting out using this as a second fiddle to our day job, we need to start small. Well this is really small. It is better than most cheap webcams and I know I am in a basement but lighting could be better. *That can be another hook for me, the basement blogger! Here is a sample of the photo. 

The photo actually looks pretty clear and detailed I guess I was just thinking of the low light. 

I was excited to see Bioshock Infinite on here, but I am not sure if I want to load it up. I dont want to play anything blasphemous or offensive.

I know foul language is used in everyday life and I can put up with it if its telling an overall meaningful story from what I hear that is the case. Im going to pray about it. I also need to know if my mac can handle it. The apple community on google+ said go for it , I guess im apprehensive coming from a powerful desktop pc I am not sure if I can enjoy toned down graphics,, ,but thats the point of this right, to try it.

This is just one week of my experience , I pray I effectively relayed my experience. I look forward to adding another post after more experience, let me know if there is something you suggest I tinker with or addd. GOD BLESS

A fandroid understands why iphone 5c works

I guess Im on a role for late reviews but I never got around to posting this video of the iphone 5c. I guess its indicative to my feeling about iphone 5c, I mean its noteworthy but ultimately it didn't excite me. I have to admit though I actually think this is more awesome than my initial impression, so apple fanboys, don't fret this is not a hate session, I have many positive things to say.

When I first seen the phone it was what I am guessing , a common reaction , "aw this actually doe's look nice! I scoffed at Apple saying its a special kind of plastic but I think they are at least sorta hitting on something with their assessment. I like the hardness of the plastic, there is was no bending or flexing of the plastic like you get with the galaxy phones. The hardness felt expensive. It was also very glossy giving it a rich look. You don't feel like your getting a Walmart prepaid phone when you grab this phone. I also like how the phone is recessed within the plastic. I first joked that all you need to do is put a case on the old iphone but a case cant replicate the look of the phone seemingly wrapped in hard quality plastic. I also like how the features of the phone shoot through the outside casing like with this black phone , you can see the black speaker gril shine through, the headphone jack as well. To be honest it gave me the feeling like you get when you see a really nice sports car! It gives you a pause!

The phone feels much more responsive on the iphone 5c. The iphone 4 seemed to be laggy with IOS 7 in my experience and its almost irritating with my ipad 3. I did'nt really like IOS7 until I gave it a go on the iphone 5C. I can know see the direction apple is taking. I always criticize IOS7 for being somewhat effeminate and childish like a cute toy my child would enjoy. The bright iphone 5c is playful in itself so when the two are married together it all just works! Its like watching a comedian in a drama. Watching them even performing well is somewhat annoying because its not a good fit, but when your watching something playful and funny like a comedy, they become your favorite actor. I liken that to Steve Carell in "Dan in Real Life" vs "The Office"..

So will I get it? nah I am still stuck on screen size, the same reason I watch movies on a 46 " TV vs a 27inch led monitor. So who does want it? Of course apple fanboys, but they will go to the 5s , I shouldn't have to explain how geeks want the best. I think people who want this are the biggest customer base in America grown ups who don't care for specs. I know me and bloggers, and especially geeks talk about specs ,and contracts but my father's case says it all. ..I told him to get a nexus because its unlocked, and he replied "why would I leave ATT? I been there for years". Contracts don't matter because most people are not restless like me. Most people don't calculate contract costs, like me. Most people don't need to upgrade their phone even if its working perfectly , like me. Im not most people, most people are like my dad! He had the iphone 3g that he was using until of course it stop working , so he said "this phone is fast enough". He wanted to get a new phone and found out this phone was only $100. Not $100 with a two year contract in which they are over charged and a high ETA, nope $100. He saw this phone on a commercial that his friends and family saw too. This the phone they was talking about on the news. This phone is shiny and people are going to say, "ooohh you got a new iphone?!" That there is Apple magic! GOD BLESS

Is there anything Apple can do at their announcement to win over android loyalist?

A little bit around this time last year I began my grand experience of dropping many of my apple products for Google. I was looking at Chromebooks and researching the app parity of Google play vs app store. If you keep up with my blog you know that over the past year or so I have been pretty much fully vested in the Google universe and this once self admitted apple fanboy became one of the biggest advocates for android and chrome os I know personally. So of course in lieu of the recent apple event announcement a few people at my job took this time to throw a few jabs my way. More than one person remarked, "so I guess your going to come back to apple after tomorrow right". I laughed and said "never that" initially, but later my reply became "it will take a lot". The final time I was asked I hesitantly replied, "we will see urrr ummm nawl I cant picture it!" That last retort led me to writing this post. Is there something apple can actually say tomorrow that will make me come back as the prodigal son? Can apple ignite that nerd excitement? I was thinking about things like maybe: 

1. Ipad mini retina with scaled down size comparable to nexus 7

2. Apple Iwatch with more capabilities or versatility than galaxy gear

3. Added feature to iworks and icloud in which everything is saved every few seconds ala Google. 

Well it feels as though im pretty much reaching so maybe I should ask you, is there anything apple can do to make a android loyalist switch?....

I believe it will start 10:00 a.m. pdt. Last year it was live for SAFARI browsers ONLY and of course I will be watching on 2 different tech sites. I usually use cnet.com and twit.tv and you guys can look for remarks from me if you cant get those sites at work haha. GOD BLESS 

Things I heard 10/17/2013

Nexus 5 coming? - Any one else getting irritated, I even saw this video from someone in Europe showing kit kat, it was not something to get excited about other than the prospect of a new phone. Then I got Google seemingly playing with our emotions with the random adds like "everybody dance now." We are wasting time thinking about C and C releasing the song on October 18th and then people saying the group used to be 28 street something so the announcements will be made on the 18th for the 28th release. Then we see an ad saying this is it, a MJ single released on the 18th! haha are they that clever? The bigger story was somebody had time to research and figure this out. Wow talk about a potential detective in the wrong career. Too bad Bin Laden didn't have a nexus, we would've caught him early!

HTC ONE MAXed out - I thought it was pretty awesome. I will spare you my usual speech about how the bigger the phone the better, oppps , Well anyway critics seemingly doesnt think so , I guess because it has a snapdragon 600 instead of 800 which is a lost for the geeks , and then the back cover comes off just for a sim card , ummm yeah. The finger print sensor I guess isn't good, its weird how apple manages to make simple things look cool and just work. I wonder did they rush the scanner or that was just he best they can do for a reasonable price as of now.

Sony Z ultra - the dream phone for me is coming to the states with a dream if they think I will actually buy it at the outrageous price of 600+ us. Yes I understand the value of unlocked phones but lets face it , technology changes to much for me to spend over 400 for a phone! Thats the genious in the early upgrade plans. I know geeks willing to shell out $600 + for a phone are going to be angry if they are stuck with a phone more than a year! All being said if something magical makes this phone imaginable I will defenitley get it but with the pricing and lack of carrier support, Its not mentioned in the same conversation as your galaxy  and one's

Samsung Round - really? So I want a phone thats harder to put in my pocket just because its possible to be bent? Its stuck in that position, so whats fascinating about curved grass? Who folds paper to read it? Nope try again! I would like a phone with a display on the sides giving the display a infitnity view type look with the time on top , umm my idea sucks too a little I guess. (pic below from phandroid.com)

Windows 8.1 is here! - this is only cool to me because it is for 8 inch tablets! This will make a tablet people want because most of us have a windows laptop (not me) and they want to have some windows functionality on the go. I touched on this before and I am still excited. I have my nexus 7 but this does have my attention. Upgrade today for your start screen , your ability to boot right into desktop, and easier settings. Well I guess you should upgrade if you hate the new look of windows 8 but you are willing to compromise.

Apple announcement official - the event will be Tuesday October 22. They said they have a lot more to cover! hmm an announcement on covers yeah!!!! well who has two thumbs to watch even though he claims he moved on from apple,,,,,This Guy!

 wait thats one thumb, well anyway I'm not the only one, we will all be watching. Its like watching the Tom Brady throw that touchdown (I like Tom Brady tho).

Video of this post below. 

on side note, most importantly I praise GOD for the traffic I have been getting I didn't expect thousands of visits so soon, I am just trying to learn but its a goal of mine! Please subscribe , share my page/posts, and talk about it!  GOD BLESS!

things I heard 9/24

Iphone 5c and 5s sell over 9 million - this is the most ever I honestly dont know why but I guess people still are obsessed with the iphone the most. I feel like the outsider, I know most of the critics poo pooed this version but I got to remember I do not represent the masses as a far as features I want on a phone so maybe the rest of the world is just going on with the trend. For now the trend is still saying iphone and i guess you can say momentum has its place!

surface 2 and surface 2 pro - the new one is supposed to have a much better screen with full 1080p hd and the surface 2 has the Tegra 4 processor that should be 2x the performance. IT will also have office built in and thats including outlook. I think that will be a dream for a teacher, but I am not sure if it will allow java apps to be uploaded. The pro seems to be even more interesting because it was already an awesome design but now it has the power of the haswell chip. The chip has proven to be amazing for battery life and I'm hearing 8 hours performance, thats a full work day. It also has graphics for low level settings or basic games, and I heard that the chips run cooler to avoid sweaty thighs! I like that both also will have a deeper pitch with the kickstand that will help with balance on the lap and the keyboard is thinner which will help with portability. I love this announcement , its only 1 thing,,,,,wait for it,,,,,,,,,,,PRICE!!!!! its 459, and 899 respectively. Thats not including the keyboards ! So your looking at high end prices, admittedly I think the pro can reasonably be considered the macbook of pc's like the sleekest most attractive thing windows has to offer. I want one to be honest!

kitkat leaked images showing a flat trend - this news sickens me! I have recently seen supposedly leaked images of kit kat and the icons are looking flat and ios'sy. This seems to be a "if your friend jump off the bridge" type of trend. I hate how icons look on IOS 7 they are flat and ugly! I refuse to believe I am the only one who thinks its stupid that we make all this effort to get awesome screens only to create images that could've been made in the 90's. No depth or shadowing? wow that is as crazy as updating your camera lenses to take dusty filters for Instagram pics, oh wait,,,,,,,,,

blackberry up for sale- ok so umm I was trying to make you care but lets see. I dont know why people are all obsessed with bbm. I guess it is supposed to be cool but the blackberry people I asked didn't really give me a good reason to be excited. I know the keyboards was dope and people like the push of the emails but I dont know anything special about bbm that makes it better than imessage or hangouts, please tell me maybe I am ignorant. I see its canadian financial company that purchased them but why? I joked last month about apple or yahoo buying blackberry maybe its going to be true. I can see the phone being a good thing for people who have better ideas. Well on another thought maybe keyboards is just played..
GOD BLESS!