Futurelawyer

Don't Be A Wall Hugger

While I was waiting at the airport the other day, I couldn't help noticing all the iPhone users crowded around the charging stations. Every spare outlet had somebody's charging cable coming out of it. I have always refused to use phones without removable batteries for this precise reason. I carry several spare batteries for my Note 4 in my briefcase, together with a portable charger. If I get close to running out of battery after a long day, I just swap a battery, and am going again. Until somebody comes up with a 2 or 3 day battery for these things, this is a deal breaker for me. I don't even like the new Samsung phones that don't open up. I might just keep my Note 4 for a while. While I'm at it, some people are even paying for the privilege to charge up. Would you pay 2 bucks to charge your phone? 

Wear What You Want

Diversity. Choice. Be together but be different. The new commercials for Samsung celebrate the fact that people want choices in their tech; and, especially the tech they will be wearing. Changing the strap, or the the metal on a square smartwatch that is the only choice, as in Apple Watch, is not choice. I love these commercials, because they show what many manufacturers, and many designers, and many buyers can accomplish if they dare to be different. Watch and smile your Sunday smile.

 

Sling TV - Future Of TV?

Sling TV - Take Back TV. One of the cooler announcements at CES 2015 was the Sling TV software. While a slim lineup for $20 a month, Sling TV allows the user to avoid the installation of a $169 box at home on the network. The Slingbox allows access over the Internet to all of the cable or satellite programming you are already paying for, and I use it all the time. However, for travelers without a Slingbox, and are willing to pay $20 a month, any Internet connected device can access news, sports and entertainment channels any time live. This is perfect for foodies like SWMBO, who pretty much only watch the Food channel anyway. Or, if you are a sports fan, you can watch ESPN and ESPN2 all day long. I have a feeling this particular service might be banned in the enterprise; but, if they add more channels, it could kill traditional TV.

Parrot Sunday - Bathing Parrot Turns On Faucet

Iris loves to take baths. 

Alert! Pro Profit Post! Hide The Children!

Google exec: It's 'irresponsible' of Apple to make everything expensive - CNET. I am not a fan of Apple nor its products. However, Sundar Pichai recently pushed one of my hot buttons when, in an interview, he called Apple "irresponsible" for charging a lot more for their products. This elitist attitude has permeated the tech field for some time. Somehow Pichai thinks that Google is a better company because it "gives away" free stuff. Apple isn't immune to the elitist disease. Jonny Ive recently accused Motorola of "abdicating its responsibility as a designer" by allowing consumers to customize their phones. Why don't all of you shut up? Just make the best product you can, charge as much as you can get away with, and, if you can increase market share by giving stuff away, do it without whining about how cool you are? What ever happened to the good Capitalist system? Jeez.

The Best Teacher Ever

From @Youhadonejob and @execupundit, with Michael Wade's comment that had me ROFL:

"I hope you aren't an English teacher"

OK Google...Find My Phone

Android Wear can now help you find your lost phone | The Verge. One of the many reasons I wear the Gear Live Smart Watch is that, with the addition of a tiny software addition, Wear Unlock, I can never misplace my smart phone. If I get out of Bluetooth range (around 30 feet), my watch vibrates, makes a noise, and blinks a red warning signal. Hard to ignore. So, when I walked away from the restaurant last year and left my phone on the table, I would have saved myself a 3 mile trip back to the restaurant, and the need to fire up my notebook computer to run Lookout Mobile Security's service. Now, a new update to Android Device Manager allows a voice command: "OK Google. Find My Phone". The Phone will start ringing at full volume, and, if you are in earshot, you will find it. You can still use Lookout or Device Manager to locate the phone with GPS. It is pretty cool to be able to locate your phone anywhere on the planet using satellite tech. 

The Will To Endure

It is okay to keep your eye on the prize. But, always remember what Vince Lombardi said:

The championships, the money, the color; all of these things linger
only in the memory.  It is the spirit, the will to excel, the will to
win; these are the things that endure.

-- Vince Lombardi (1913-1970) American Football Coach

 

Samsung Gear Live - The Timex Of Smart Watches

Get Samsung's Gear Live smartwatch for almost half off in refurb condition - GadgeTell | TechnologyTell. It is almost counter-cultural. Some people wear Timex watches as a political statement. I call them the anti-luxury lobby. Some of them are just frugal, and refuse to pay more than a hundred bucks for a simple piece of tech that just does one thing. And, of course, there is the famous "takes a licking, keeps on ticking" commercial. Samsung's Gear Live runs the latest version of the Google Now enabled Android Live software, in a very basic rectangular watch that looks fine with a metal or leather strap, and costs around two hundred bucks new. Now, you can get one slightly used for around a hundred bucks as a refurb. Be part of the counter culture revolution. Swap your Timex for a Gear Live. Soon, it will even connect to WiFi.

New Android Game Uses Android Phone As A Tennis Racket

TV-ready game turns your Android phone into a tennis racquet. Okay, you got tired of playing motion sensitive games with your Wii, and hanging on to a little remote that you swing like a tennis racket. So, you install a new Android game called "Motion Tennis Cast", which is shorthand for "Cast Your Android phone into the living room wall". This game turns your Android phone into a remote that acts like a tennis racket, and which you swing to hit the on screen ball. What could go wrong?