Since moving to the Boston area, I’ve had the pleasure of actually using cool technologies a lot sooner than I used to in rural Vermont. For instance, Starbucks’ mobile app, allowing me to order and pay for my drinks with my iPhone, or Stop & Shop’s “Scan It!” app that lets you itemize what you’re buying as you go through the store, saving time at checkout because you’ve already accounted for everything and don’t need to itemize them all again. Granted, I’ve never gotten it to work completely for me, so I question how much time Scan It! has saved me, if any, but I digress.
I’ve mentioned an idea in the past on the Pocket Sized Podcast, with respect to Starbucks and their mobile app for iOS, but I don’t know if I went into details. The Starbucks app allows me to save my favorite drink, in Starbucks lingo, so instead of trying to order a “small latte with caramel syrup, the sugar free kind, two shots,” and getting confused as to whether I meant espresso shots or syrup shots, etc., I can whip out the app, refer to my favorites list, and say “Short 2-pump Sugar Free Caramel Nonfat Caffe Latte, please.” Theoretically this will save time.
But… why can’t I, upon entering the shop and connecting to Starbucks’ (arguably the slowest) free wifi (network on the planet), tap on my favorite drink, and go straight to the pickup line? You already know who I am. You already have my credit card on file. Now you know what drink I want. Granted, I might miss some thrilling conversation with the person at the counter, but that’s not usually so noteworthy as to be missed.
It doesn’t have to be Starbucks! Someone, please, make this happen. If it’s already being done, please drop me a line and let me know where.
CISSP
On April 5, after six months of preparation, I took, and passed, the CISSP exam. Here are some of the lessons I learned along the way.
Continue reading “CISSP”
Review: Genius LuxePad 9100 Bluetooth Keyboard
Genius LuxePad 9100 Bluetooth Keyboard
Price:$69.99 US
Company: Genius
I was recently sent a LuxePad 9100 Bluetooth Keyboard by Genius to review. In a nutshell, if you’re going to use a physical keyboard with your iOS (or other) device, this is a decent unit. However, there are shortcomings, not necessarily of the hardware, that you should be aware of. Continue reading “Review: Genius LuxePad 9100 Bluetooth Keyboard”
Review: Griffin HELO TC Assault
HELO TC Assault
Company: Griffin Technology
Price: $59.99
Every now and then I get a chance to play with a cool new toy. Usually, by “new cool toy” I’m referring to some computer-related tool, self-defense weapon, firearm, or bicycle. This time, it’s a genuine toy. I’m referring to the Griffin HELO TC Assault remote control helicopter.
Continue reading “Review: Griffin HELO TC Assault”
Review: Mac OS X Mountain Lion Pocket Guide
OS X Mountain Lion Pocket Guide
The Ultimate Quick Guide to OS X
Author: Chris Seibold
Publisher: O’Reilly Media
Released: July 2012
Pages: 272
Price: $14.99 US
I recently had the opportunity to review a copy of the OS X Mountain Lion Pocket Guide from O’Reilly media. Continue reading “Review: Mac OS X Mountain Lion Pocket Guide”
Review: iBike Coach and iBike Phone Booth
iBike Coach and iBike Phone Booth
Publisher: Velocomp
Price: $59.95
Publisher: Velocomp
Price: $59.95
I had the opportunity to review the iBike Phone Booth, a bike mount for the iPhone, and iBike Coach, a cycling computer app for the iPhone. Continue reading “Review: iBike Coach and iBike Phone Booth”
Type Like a Teenager, Communicate Like a Professional
(Originally posted on the Paradigm Consulting blog.)
Whether it’s fair, or not, people judge you by the words you use, spoken and written. This applies to electronic communication as well and, while the accepted norms for grammar are being relaxed more and more every day, f u typ lik ths n a prof ltr, ul look like a ful. Continue reading “Type Like a Teenager, Communicate Like a Professional”
Today's Spam/Scam Brought to You by…
What would my inbox be like without my old AOL account?
How are you doing? I am Anastasya. i look for a gentleman. i commonly am tidy, paint… Reply me email in [email protected] Yours, Anastasya…
That’s great! I am looking for a woman who commonly is tidy, paint…
Seriously, it scares me to think that things like this work as openers to social engineering and Nigerian scams that end up robbing people of not only time and money, but sometimes even their lives. Be careful out there.
How Much Does an Old Computer Cost You?
Today I worked on the system of a client who reported the computer was crashing. After briefly examining the logs, I found that the system had been reporting hard drive failures… for nearly a year.
The system was crashing with the infamous Blue Screen of Death, and running terrifically slow. Given that the computer itself was 6 years old, slow was to be expected, but this was slow. It took many minutes just to get to the logon prompt, longer to get to rendering a desktop, etc.
So, I had to ask myself, “how much is this costing them?” Let’s do a quick calculation:
An employee uses this PC, and sits at the machine for approximately 4 hours a day out of a typical 8 hour workday. For round numbers, let’s say that said employee costs the company $25/hour (after salary, benefits, taxes, etc.). Let’s also be generous and say that the machine was taking 25% longer to perform all tasks, on average. In reality, it was probably taking much longer, but let’s err on the low side.
So 4 hours at the desk, and 25% (1 hour) of that is wasted waiting for the PC. $25 a day * 5 days a week = $125 / week. Multiply this times 50 weeks out of the year and we can easily make the case that this slowness cost our client $6,250 a year in lost employee productivity.
Cost of a new computer, installed, with a new software suite and employee training? Significantly less.
How much money are you and your staff wasting by not upgrading your old computer?
On Meaningful Version Numbers, and Their (Continued) Demise
I’ve already established how Microsoft, Google, and and the KDE project killed version numbers. Now the Mozilla Project is dancing on their graves. Continue reading “On Meaningful Version Numbers, and Their (Continued) Demise”