As I watched another brilliant episode of the latest Portlandia season (one of my faves) on Netflix, it dawned on me that Fred Armisen has created some hilarious parody sketches about technology in recent years, which I refer to time and time again. Here are some of my favorites:
iPhone stock is UP! Their new device, the iPhone7, launched on September 16, 2016. There’s a slew of fanciful improvements, along with an un-shiny new color (a new personal favorite).
How to use this new thing? Just like your old one, but here’s a smattering of tricks: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/iphone-7-tips-and-tricks/
As I’m walking home one day, my phone dies. Then the anxiety sets in. Why did my phone just die? I swear my battery was at 25%. Is it broken? What if someone texts? These worries run through my head as I walk the next few quiet blocks home. As soon as I walk in the door I race to my charger to plug it in. My phone boots up, and I feel relief. I immediately check twitter/Instagram/etc. to see what I’ve missed. This is my mindset these days. Why couldn’t I enjoy a walk home without distraction? Why couldn’t I remain unplugged, on a nice night? It’s because I have a problem.
There’s this little known phenomenon that you’ve probably never heard of (cue hipster face): “Exploding Phones.”
Let me make a general but very important distinction before we start: there is a big difference between an explosion and a slow burn. I’m sure you’ve heard recent news stories that refer to phones (maybe Samsung, maybe not… but probably Samsung) spontaneously combusting while charging on a nun’s bedside table, or setting a firetruck ablaze while charging in the vehicle. While neither an explosion nor a slow burn is a thing you’d want to experience, if you HAD to choose, one option is preferable. But let’s be clear; phones are not EXPLODING! …they are melting.
I like to browse the front page of Reddit in the morning. Robed in my finest silks, I kick up my heels, lean back, and find out what I should be afraid of this day. Granted it’s not all bad, but a headline about a bombing in France tends to imply more urgency than some Pikachu outfit made for a cat. That said, those sensationalist headlines are the ones I tend towards. The world’s problems don’t go away just because you can ignore them, and doing so just makes it easier to be blindsided.
Do you know anything about hackers? Can you jam with the console cowboys in cyberspace? Never experienced the new wave? Next wave? Dream wave? OR cyberpunk? Since the dawn of computers, there have been movies and TV shows about using those computers to do…
The Good – Elite Haxors
Mr. Robot
This show follows a grey hat hacker named Elliot as he joins a hacker collective and tries to expose and take down a corrupt corporation.
Happy post-Labor Day weekend! You may not think that last sentence deserved a bang (exclamation mark) – I’m right there with you. Here you are on a Wednesday, reading BoaC’s newest blog post after a long weekend in which you may have traveled (or travelled? One L or two?). How did that go? Didja have fun? Are you in the midst of unpacking?
As for me, I am refreshed and excited for this upcoming weekend; I’ll be taking a trip to the Northwest – Portland, OR. I’m writing this post with 9 days to go and of course, I’m already prepping, as I am a planner at heart. What to pack? What to do/eat/drink/see/go?
With traveling on the brain, and naturally, wanting to give my unsolicited advice, here are some tips that might help for your next adventure…
Like most other IT Admins, I’ve worked a lot with personal devices in a corporate environment, and it’s fascinating that there hasn’t been a right-way or wrong-way approach. Nothing is cut and dry with BYOD. Because cell phones have become mobile workstations, they’re outliers from a corporate data standpoint. In this blog, I’m going to lay out some facts you should consider when applying a BYOD strategy.
If you hear your IT guy snicker as he walks away, the joke could be on you. Was it plugged in? Was it even on? Did you try a reboot? (The latter tends to fix 89.25% of all computer issues.)
For the IT folks out there, sometimes the joke is on us, too. To that end, take this advice to live by: when in doubt, PING!
In this, the first installment of EPIC Device Battle of the Century, I take a good, hard, rational look at the two biggest rivals in mobile technology: Samsung and Apple.
For this battle, I’ll look at measurable and OBJECTIVE specs and features. I won’t be delving into feelings or brand loyalty for the devices or the companies that make them. (Out of full disclosure, I am an Android guy, BUT I will try to keep this as objective as possible.)
BEGIN!
