I spent the day doing real work on my Surface Pro 2 and it was GLORIOUS !

Ouch my fingers hurt! I have been on my surface pro 2 all day (12pm - 4:55) ! I still have 2 hours left! This is what I did

• I  created a 6 page manual for using schoology in the classroom while actually going through each step in split screen. 
• I then went to screencastomatic. com which works on my surface pro 2 because I have java unlike having to install crouton on my chromebook. 
• I then posted on you tube and linked it to my schoology account. 
• After I got done I wrote a sermon reflection on my blog. 
• I later added a blog post about CES and decided to write here. 
• The sun has went down in wintertime Chicago and my keyboard lit up in typing glory!

But wait there is more ,,,,,

•  I didn't get my surface pro 2 off a charger this morning. I spent an hour and half loading ODIN and all the root and rom packages I needed to load CynogenMod 11 on my Samsung Galaxy Mega that was plugged into my ....USB PORT of my Surface Pro 2! I can run programs (not a web app like my chromebook) like Odin I got from a website (not in a app store) I miss traditional mobile computing.
• My wife woke up to complain about my typing, so I detached the keyboard, placed the tablet in my lap and read through XDA for an hour and posting to google+ using onscreen keyboard
• I just remembered I didn't send an email to my coworker so I pulled up exchange to mail it off and got back to this post. 

To sum it up, I spent my day using my Surface Pro 2 doing real work and it was GLORIOUS! I see the magic, I am sure this is what the Microsoft engineers was thinking about when designing this beauty. Wow am I becoming a surface fanboy? Is it a such thing?   GOD BLESS 

Why I care about CES to spot the trends not gadgets

Its that time again when every blog you read is about predictions for CES. Sorry... 

I was thinking about how I am not as excited as I would have been years ago. When I reflect on the year the only things the I reember is the announcements from the individual press conferences. The surface was announced by Microsoft after they publically stated they where not doing a big booth anymore. KitKat, iphone 5s, ipad air, chromecast, ps4 , xbox one, ooya, nexus 7 , s4, note 3, etc was all done in shows outside of CES! Yes it keeps bloggers busy but its much more exciting to get big news through the year rather than extravaganzas in the begging with CES and middle E3. of the year. I don't know what to look forward to. I guess it will just be to understand or discover the latest trends. So lets seee... 

• Wearable technology - I already heard of a hint from pebble with something big , but the spokesperson was on tnt saying that pebble is an accessory that wants to be simple.. This contradicts "something big" in the teaser. We will see. I am sure a ton of less known companies will make some attempts. I don't care much, unless it can be a company that will start a price war with Google glass. I would love a 500 Google glass. Motorola cheap phones makes me have hope that Google will continue to self subsidize their tech goodies 
• Cheap phones - speaking of Motorola, I am hoping like Oppo, ZTE, and BLU, the trend continues for cheap phones, now that smart phones are a commodity, consumers can win with common specked smart phones that will also lead to better mobile development , hopefully ending JAVA for once and for all . 
• streaming sticks - It's a continued race to the tv. Chromecast was hot for a minute but I defaulted to hooking my pc to the computer. I guess I wont airplay type functionality for all my tech not just apple. I see Belkin is taking a step forward but its twice as much! I am still looking for a device even my Grandma heard of. 

I am sure someone on at least Google plus has something I didnt mention. Lets get some good debate. 

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.

Why I am waiting on next gen Consoles, and sticking with my PC: A former console player.

I went to best buy to further research my newest tech toy I plan to get. (Best Buy is the go to place for hands on preview). I was looking at the surface 2 when I thought, "maybe I should go check out the ps4". I was under the impression I was going to be amazed once I actually get my hands on a PS4 for the first time. I was not amazed. Sure the controller felt awesome, premium in fact liken to something Apple would make if it did video games. I guess Sony has its swag back from the days when Steve Jobs said he wanted Apple to emulate Sony. The adolescent sells guys came by and said , "its awesome right" I responded , "yeah I guess, I mean I am a pc gamer , and got caught into the hype but now that I see it ,,,ummm" he laughed with the interjection, "yeah I'm a pc gamer too". I am now thinking , I am so glad it was sold out when I first wanted it, because now I think I will wait! Sitting at home playing on my pc I got to thinking of why I can wait, hope it makes you think as well.

Most games I play are on P.C. anyway.- I looked at the shelf for games I am interested in getting. The only one that stands out to me is the COD. Well thats not good because I can get that on my pc with arguablly better visuals. I defenitly dont want knack. On the xbox side , I hear that ROME is repetitive and boring, I am a FPS guy who pretty much play blockbusters to add to the conversation with my peers. I also play 2k , but once again thats on pc, I know its a port of the xbox 360 but I dont think graphical improvement on the game I own , will push me to a console. I mostly run steam games in big picture mode and sit in my living room using my xbox controller. Yes I know most pc gamers live by the keyboard and mouse, but I am a long time console player who is just used to the controler. I basically have the xbox one in terms of games with windows first console, the computer!

PC games are cheaper  after intitial investment. I know people make a big hub bub about  how much it costs to build a gaming rig but its overblown. Console makers sell at a lost because they know they will make it up with portions of game sales. Many will point out how you have to keep upgrading your graphics card but I have a hd 7770 purchased for $180 a while back and I can still get 50- 60 fps on my 1080p tv screen. Reviews of graphic cards usually involve powerful monitors, but if you are used to console gaming, 1080 resolution is not taxing on even budget cards. Most games are $59 and that price is pretty constant for most of the year. One of the best things I like about gaming on the pc is the cheap games. Its common place to get fairly new games for $30. I took this screen shot for example ..

As you see even big games like Batman , and Bioshock is at rock bottom prices! Earlier I mentioned Call of Duty, here top and bottom, the prices are different. During major Steam sales like in the summer and during cyber Monday, you can download blockbusters for $10 like I did for BF3 and Bioshock Infinite. 

Lets not forget the large quantity of cheap indy games. I don't play it but I like to know I could. 

I have all my media on my tv connected to my PC . XBMC is my xbox live. I was initially enticed by the media capabilities of the Xbox One. When I came home defeated from a failed attempt to purchase a Xbox One due to it being sold I whent to research how to turn my computer into a home theatre pc. Then I discovered XBMC. WOW . I used it with a combination with a program called PlayOn. The Playon lifetime subscription was less than the price of 1 year of xbox live and it enables me to connect, ESPN, Disney, Cartoon Network, Netflix, Hulu, etc. to any device. In this case xbmc pulls it up. XBMC also allows me to view live tv because I have a antenna hooked through my tv tuner card installed on my pc. The customization's of the media services with XBMC is amazing and too much to talk about here. I will make a post about this later. Of course if you don't have time to do all that you can just bookmark hulu, Netflix, etc to your web browser. I have a remote app on my phone giving me Xbox glass type control of my media. Its awesome! 

One less device to plug up! I know this is a little week but in a post Steve Jobs/Current Jonny Ive World, minimalism of gadgets is all the rage! I know I hypocritically have a huge desktop which is anything but minimal but I was going to have a pc regardless, why add to it? I also have the pc tucked behind the wall in the next room so all I have my tv visible. 

Now i know im missing probably the most praiseworthy feature of the Xbox One , the Kinect Voice commands. I do feel like I am missing out on the voice commands. To tame my envy by summing the feature up as a novelty that would prove to be worthless in the end, but if I am being honest, the little boy in me who watched the Jetsons will love for his dream to come true. Well if I keep tinkering maybe I can get a way for my pc kinect to do the same for me. The voice is still not enough to negate my first 3 reasons. Im not saying I will never get a next gen console but Im not loosing sleep trying to get one. Let me know what you think. GOD BLESS 

Why I want a Surface Pro 2

I am one of those first world people who many hate because I get bored with perfectly good gadgets and normally I'm looking for the next cool thing I can tinker with. It is a very time consuming and expensive habit supplemented by the ease of resale on the international market (a fancy way to say ebay). This is one of those moments! I recently sold my nexus 7 and Macbook in order to raise $1000 for my next gadget, I was naturally thinking I can put that towards a new bigger, better, and what Tim Cook would like to call, "most innovative Macbook" ever. Something has halted my plans, I'm sure much to the delight of those geeks in Redmond Washington. I want a surface pro! 

I was thinking to myself, what can I tinker with the most, and whats an unfamiliar gadget I can learn. The saving grace for Windows today is its a tinkerers platform. If you like PC games , hacks, and unfortunately ability to pirate, you are best served using Windows. It is the performed platform for downloading those fringe apps from the web without the technical skill needed for linux. I was thinking if I grow tired with the tablet like I did with my ipad I can turn to the web and open myself up to millions of apps or what we first called it , applications. That is also the reason why I have no interest in the regular surface 2. The closed interface is taking the worst part of ios and adding more to the problem. With a full fledged computer like the surface pro 2 i5 Hasweel processor, 4 gigs of ram, graphics on chip, usb, and sd slot, I will never have to be faced with the wish that my tablet could do more! I know its heavy but not more than a Macbook, and I have a 6.3 inch phablet (sorry) , for browsing in bed. I like that its thin enough for me to not mind carrying it around. It also has all day battery life due to the haswell chip making it portable , which is really good for me as a teacher maneuvering from class to office and walking around grading. I can imagine setting this thing up in a meeting and seing the eyes, because I yet to see it in the wild, its so unfamiliar. 

That's the next big reason I want the Surface Pro 2. I dont know much about it. I have had ipads since its inception and it got to be ummm familiar. I first began using macbooks because I grew a tad bit familiar with my pc laptops. Now its different. People are angry about windows 8 but I like the bold step. Its so different.  I run my windows 8 on my desktop monster but its basically a media server / console. I boot straight into steam or xbmc. Walking around with the surface pro as my daily workhorse will force me to use windows 8 as a productivity tool. I am currently typing on a Chromebook, (no suprise to my frequent readers) , but my job uses office! I thank GOD that google apps allow me to save in word format but with the pro I can have the best of both worlds. I have the quickness of the pro , and I can go into chrome as I slowly transition back to my 90s home of office. I also look forward to using the gestures inherent to the windows 8 interface. I ddint get the point of the gestures so I didn't even try but the touch controls will make me excited to dive in! I also never used a Walcolm stylus. I haven't used a stylus since the OG windows pocket pc so I can look forward to spending extra time learning something new.  

I can picture me now, waking up early before my wife and kids , firing up my Surface Pro 2 , eyes wide open as I say to myself "I don't know whats going on" then "oh wow that's awesome" . Later blogging about the power of a ultrabook with the portability of a tablet, and the wow factor of the first ipad! Then in March, hastly trying to sell it in preperation for something new during Aprils Microsoft BUILD conference. Thanks Microsoft for giving me something to talk about! GOD BLESS

Why I am geeked on google wallet card!

Google Wallet is here and ummm,,,,,,,,,,,,yeah!!

So on Black Friday I rushed to the mail box as the mailman left after reading on Google plus that people are getting their card early! I released a obnoxiously loud nerd snort as I opened the bland envelope. I flashed it to my wife's rolling eyes as she mumbles, you and your Google. Ignoring her, I instantly searched for a whimsical prop to serve as background to my shiny new card. Yes rotten bananas.

I can buy bananas with my new wallet card! 

Sounds familiar? I don't quite know why but I am ultra excited at a physical Google wallet card. The internet blew up about the news and I guess now I am adding to the madness.

First what is it: 
From my understanding, Google Wallet is a MasterCard branded debit card basically that is tied to your Google wallet balance online. Many people have a Google wallet account for online purchases, and giving money online. The balance is filled by transferring money from an connected banking account. The card is for people who do not have nfc phones or if the retailer don't have a nfc equipped register. The card can also serve as a bank card if we need to get cash from an atm. This seems like a snore so far but lets dive deeper and explore ways it can be useful.

Ways I think it can be useful. 

1. You can load it up for a safe limit and money for travel.  - I was thinking it would be useful to put a couple of hundred dollars that I know I can use for my toys, or maybe on a vacation in state somewhere. It is accepted where MasterCard is accepted making it usable anywhere. I like that its not tied to my actual bank account so I can just burn it out without fear of overspending or some kind of credit fraud. 
2. You can fill it from online business - I was thinking it would be useful if Google ads, and sales can be deposited straight to my Google wallet. I know I purchase things from my tech sales rather than my day job that way I can spend without guilt. Like the first one , I can use it for my toys paying for them from the money I make from ad sense. 
3. Online purchases- a few months ago Google made a strong push for us to make online purchases using Google wallet , effectively replacing Paypal. From my experience, many places did not have Google wallet as an option but if I can type my Google wallet credit card number and info I can feel much safer making online purchases. It gets even better as Google continues to track reward points and coupon offers with my purchases. Google wallet can be the ultimate shoppers card! 

This is why I am excited about this Google wallet initiative. I am hoping many of you are too so that I can proudly confidently pull out my card knowing I wont get judgmental looks like "this nerd is trying to use a fake card" .. haha GOD BLESS 

Atechieinchrist.com 

atechieinchrist reviews iphone 5s with Kreative

Today was a day I was pushing off for the longest. I talked about it but had to be fair and put the review on my blog. In an effort not to be the typical fanboy geek I interviewed Kreative and his new iphone 5s. Spoiler alert , he loves it! duh , just google returning iphone 5s, and you will probably come short of results. Kreative is a positive rap artist coming from Chicago land and can be followed at :
kreativesince83 on Instagram and twitter. This is for those average joes who is debating to get the iphone or not.  I pray you enjoy and comment! GOD BLESS !

Moto G is here! the cracked screen replacement and other reasons why it matters.

So to day I was surprised because I totally forgot about the moto g announcement. I know its just a cheap version of the moto x but I think there is much more to the story.

The moto G to me is googles attempt to disrupt the industry! I know TMobile has been championing that sentiment for a while now but google seems to be doing it more effectively , maybe they should team up.
The moto G has a 4.5 720 p screen, 1 gig of ram, a quad core processor, fm radio, almost pure android, and a guarantee to have kit kat running by january.

Ok I know the specs is nothing to write home about but its better than the typical Virgin mobile phone at that price, oh yeah i forgot to mention price ,,,,,,,$179 UNLOCKED!!! Are you kidding me! That is the catch. When I heard the price I instantly made a post about it. The thing that separates this from the other phones in that range is that the older phones that drop to similar prices usually are forgotten by the carriers. You may can get an old unlocked iphone 3g but it wont have ios7 or app store support. This phone does have google play store support and it will be updated by google I mean Motorola itself.
I was happy with this phone because at the least it will be the new cracked screen replacement. Usually the cracked screen will set you back $150 , why not just get a new phone. I once dropped my iphone in the toilet, before knowing the rice trick , and pondered paying $400 for a replacement. Not now, loose your phone , get moto g, phone gets flooded, get a moto g. Its a cheap phone that you can be happy to have!
So google is trying to disrupt the subsidies in America with first the $349 Nexus 5 and now the $179 Moto G. I feel this a great strive in trying to break through artificial value they place in phones just because it has a cell radio. I no longer have to keep renewing the obviously overpriced cell contracts so I can get a phone actually worth using without the sticker price. Sometimes Capitalism works perfectly, competition and competitiveness is a win for us customers!
Just my thoughts, GOD BLESS



*image from talkandroid.com

My first 24 with samsung galaxy mega 6.3 (unlocked international)

I will try to type this calmly and hold back my geeked up excitement for the SAMSUNG MEGA 6.3! I have the international version who doesn't like the ridiculous?

See it actually doesn't look THAT ridiculous , haha from that angle, (how many was able to focus with basement in the background? I plan to use the provided ear piece for my calling but it is funny how many times i used  as a regular phone because i had to answer before looking for my earpiece. I didn't know it was going to come with one but I guess most international phones do. I go through them a lot so I am going to buy a bluetooth so i can listen to my podcasts in bed (that's when they usually break). 

First Look

So below you will see the jarring effect of first glance. When i was doing the unboxing i was shocked when i pulled the cover off. The battery was also big, in fact, the battery is larger than the iphone 5 haha. When i powered it up i was happy with the screen. For some strange reason Samsung automatically dims the screen but i turned it up manually to get the full effect. I know its hype around the 1080 screen and retina but i (unlike most techies) don't care as much. Its good enough for my aging eyes. I am more concerned about the wealth of content that can fit of one screen and the brightness. 

Productivity

I am typing this post on it to give it a true test. My arm is growing tired even though it feels lighter than my old nexus 4 (what doesn't). I am typing in portrait, I tried landscape but my hands felt to stretched. I'm a average sized man 5' 10" 200 but this is a  challenge luckily the big screen allows space between letters in portrait mode helping me to type much faster. I do not believe I posted much using my nexus 4. I love the two screens. I was able to google something and answer it in hangouts. It felt gimmicky on the s4 but the bigger screen gives me two iPhone like screens on my one device. 

cool gem

I never understood the disdain for touch wiz until now. Coming from a nexus 4 and 7 has me use to the simple and quick so this touch wiz stuff is confusing but what I love is the "watch on" app! Not the tv guide crap (I don't watch tv really) but the remote! This thing is awesome! Ok for those who don't keep up with me. I like as few things to keep up with as possible thus me getting a phone that can be a tablet and phone. Now i can use this as a remote too! I also have google wallet to be..a wallet, kindle and play books for... books. Haha the Swiss Arny knife of technology.

boo on this: 

I am a chromebook user so I am used to slow processor's and overall tech is plateaus on what humans perceive as speed. That's why we use programs to test by milliseconds. That being said, this is a little too slow. I guess because I'm reviewing it I'm taking it to task more than usual but i have seen it stutter when i push more than 4 apps. That being said, as of now I'm most definitely getting the second generation of this when more ram and processing power is expectantly going to happen ( no inside scoop just common sense). 

Oh and I had to call att and tell them to switch me to a regular smartphone unlimited plan. I was on nexus before this but they still thought I had an iphone???I wasted a lot of tine trying to set APN but it was just their side they needed to be fixed. So I suggest you let At&t know after you boot up.

so my opinion so far

after 24 hours with this Samsung galaxy mega 6.1 i would say IT MAKES ME SMILE! I love how I'm not sacrificing much screen from my nexus 7 and it feels like half the weight, and bezels are small enough to fit more comfortably in my pocket. I am no Mobile gamer, its not fun to me so processor is less of an issue. I love the big screen for what i do, browse the Internet, google plus, text , listen to podcasts, google music. and read. Oh and show off new unique tech (check)! My hands hurt , I'm done.  GOD BLESS

Video of unboxing below!

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

Top 5 things I like about Android 4.4 Kit-Kat and why!

Kit Kat is released ! - I was so happy to see this. If you are a fan of nexus you have been waiting for this for a long, and i mean looong time. Especially after being bombarded by news out lets and apple fanboys or isheep touting the updates to ios7. This is one part sinful jealousy and one part anxious anticipation. I know this is just a .1 update but this update is nice! So I wanted to write a post about the things that I am most excited about with Kit Kat 4.4

1. Full screen wallpaper - on the nexus a part of the screen was taken up by a  task bar and black tool bar which housed the navigation buttons, this cheated us of screen real-estate. Now this will be transparent allowing us to enjoy the full screen especially nice with the 5 inch nexus 5.

2. SMS (cell number texts) hangout integration with Emoticons - this is really helpful because I do find it a tad bit cumbersome to go between two apps, some for my sms, others for my hangout friends. I like this central place, I am hoping that since its integrating in the same app, I can view both messages on my nexus 7 too. I also like emoticons. Apple people often make fun of the little black androids we are forced to use when using mms, but hangouts emojis are even better than ios to me, so I can use that now. I know some are saying "how old is this guy" but don't judge me haha I use it with my wife! (manly voice).

3. NFC Emulator - my non techies dont know what this is  , NFC is used by many of my readers at work. I am happy about the emulator because it will let me integrate my nfc cards in my phone so I can use that to buzz in. They also made it possible for more phones to use Google wallet, and enable other banks to create their own payment app. I am hoping for the day when I can just carry my phone to any store to pay for what I need! That would make traveling so much easier when I just have to keep up with my phone , not my phone AND wallet.

4. Smart Dialer - This is going to be one of those overlooked things that is going to help a lot in the long run. You heard it here first, this is going to be the next thing IOS is going to try to "borrow". Anyway , the dialer app will allow you to begin typing in the name of place and the app will search the internet for that phone number. This is amazing! I was just complaining to my wife that I had to throw this phone book away that was delivered yesterday committing on how its a gross misuse of paper and money. I know most people now go to the browser on thier phone and google the place they need a number for. Now that will be a thing of the past because the dialer in kitkat will find the number for you! I wish my dad had this for his phone! I can imagine the time, and conveyance I will have with this feature

5. Google always listening- "OK GOOGLE" is all I need to pull up google now which is awesome, That is one of the main show off features when you are around people and they ask "whats so cool about android." We can pretend like we don't , but we all like to have something that makes people go wow when you get something new. The first 4 things just made google better but this is a wow card. That is similar to the fingerprint scan. Even if you are too mature of saint to want to show it off (which is a blessing) you still want something on your own that you can marvel at.

Well this is what I am most excited about in kit-kat. Some people may feel different, let me know if you think something else should have made the top 5. GOD BLESS