on drones and Yokes!

I’ve mentioned that I am waiting for the waterproof drone. That is a technology that I find cool. Being able to take off and land on the traditional ground, plus taking off and landing on the water. I am looking forward to the opportunity to use the drone to explore more and more of the Lakes around us! There are only four large enough to be worth exploring near us. But, many more lakes and rivers can be explored within an hour’s drive or so. Plus, if you consider 3 hours, many places in PA are worth exploring as well! While we will put our kayak in the Bay, not as likely in the ocean!

I grew up learning about lakes and boating from someone that had lived on the lake in question for 15 or more years by the time I was old enough to ask questions. Lakes are all about what lies beneath the water. That is the cool thing about drones that can land and take off on the water. They add the element of exploring further! I thought today I would wander the technology of Yokes. I struggled with drones, both tethered (ROV) and untethered when it comes to controlling them with my cellular phone> I’ve never been good at the reverse logic of doing that!

Yokes I do pretty well with. But I grew up learning about RC planes that had yokes. I did not grow up attached to my cellphone. Now, I don’t have the dexterity to manage an ROV via cellphone. Plus, I like having the Yoke; that way, I can watch the video on my phone. The Trident ROV yoke is my favorite, and it has a split-screen to see in front of and below the ROV. It helps to navigate logs underwater! Anyway, I am really excited and looking forward to that arrival! Spring is but 80 or so days away now. We are going to make it through the winter!

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when a phone is just a phone

Can you separate the technology from the company? It isn’t hard yet, and it can be incredibly hard to do. An iPhone and an Android phone do the same things. They take pictures, provide GPS guidance, allow you to connect your email, and, if you can, stream videos and TV shows. Oh yeah, you can also make telephone calls to them. The OS that each uses approaches things differently, but they are doing the same thing at some level. That, in the end, is what I mean by the concept of separating the company, the product, and what it is they do from each other.

The cell phone market is pretty flooded, so there are many close features and functions. What about 3d printers? There are distinct differences in that market, but ultimately, the printer has a printer head and a spool for the PLA or ABS plastic. The differences in that market are more subtle. Can you cannot to the printer via wifi? Or do you have to carry a USB key from your computer to the printer? The basic functionality of the printers is pretty much set. The only argument you would have is how thick the plastic is laid in the printing process (thinner is better)!

The reason this came up was yesterday my wife handed me her phone. For a second, I didn’t recognize it. (note, my wife has two phones as I do, Android for work and an iPhone (both of our phones). Her phone (my phone until four months ago) didn’t register.

So I started considering the reality of the phone. They all make calls. They all allow you to send text messages. They support data (although we can argue the quality of the data connection pending who your carrier is). But in the end, they do the same things. It becomes more about personal choice at that point!

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On walking and sometimes getting there!

Last February, I’ve talked about it a couple of times, we had an ice storm. I fell several times during that ice storm. I recognized the slipping and caught myself without injury most of the time. The last time, however, I was unable to do so. I ended up trending my back, which hurt for about a month after that. Since then, the pain has moved from my back to my hamstrings. When you hurt your back, you can’t walk normally, injuring your leg over time. It is now ten months after the original injury, and I am still in pain. The reality of getting old isn’t getting old; it is never healing!

I was looking over my Sweatcoins for 2021; Sweatcoins is a great application. It turns your steps into Sweatcoins. My sister is the one that got me started. Last year (2021), I took over 9 million steps. No, most of them were not running away from people with Covid. It was intentional workouts or walks! That did get me thinking; I am sure that when I was running, there were years I had many more than 9 million steps. But, I am happy that I was able to do that this year. Due to the pandemic, I was home more during the week, so I averaged more steps.

Twenty-five thousand steps per day are my average for the year! I suspect with a return to in-person customer meetings over the next six months, my steps per day will be reduced. I can do end-of-day conference calls while walking, but the reality is you need to walk longer, and when you are commuting, it cuts that time considerably. Still, my goal is to at least hit 20,000 steps per day as my average for 2022. So as 2021 winds down, and we head to the new year. It is time to put together goals for next year! One of my goals is 20,000 steps on average per day for the year!

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my review of the Go Pro Max 360

I know I spend a lot of time talking about the smart camera. In particular, I lament the fall of digital cameras. I understand that you can get specialty cameras that do many interesting things. I got one a while ago that allows me to take infra-Red images (heat production). But for the most part, I like seeing the art of the possible. Look, I love my cell phone. Besides clothes, it is the first thing I grab in the morning. i have more pictures now on my cell phone (around 30 a week) than on my digital camera (I average around 14 or so a week for the year).

However, the camera I use the most now for digital is the Go-Pro Max. The Go-Pro is a 360-degree camera that allows you to take it with you. It is n the action camera genre, so it is sturdy. I have mounts for it on my bike and the tandem bike. We can take it when we are boating, and I even have an amount I can wear with my headlamp. What the heck – let’s finish this as w review!

What I like:

• Easy to setup
• Easy to use
• It has a cloud-based storage system for videos (allows instant backup)!
• Easy to understand
• Shock resistant (you can drop it)
• water proof (to 30 feet)

What I don’t love

• The touch screen is a little small – I would prefer that they allow the go-pro to be fully a remote camera for either my phone or my laptop!
• It is pretty expensive

I originally got the go-pro to record bike rides. But I use it now a lot! It is a solid device and, if you like to be outdoors, a great addition to your kit. Plus, the Go-Pro Max is a 360 camera, so the opportunities to share more are there. I love that the new camera (the Max) can still use the old system for mounting go-pro cameras. That was a great relief. I have several interesting Go-Pro mounts, and they all work with the new Max!

Overall my rating for the Go-Pro Max 360 is 9 out of 10!

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A couple recommendations and upgrades!

There are a great series of “courses” available on Audible and other audiobooks are sold. It is called the Modern Scholar series. I’ve listened to three different ones so far. The first was wonderful, “Lies, my teacher told me.” The second was the fall of Rome. My dad hooked me on history many years ago; I still enjoy it! The one I am nearly done with now is “Away with words.” I highly recommend the series.

December has been a month of upgrades. I upgraded one computer to a new windows server version. The other two computers I upgraded to are Windows 11. Not all computers will qualify for the Windows 11 release right now. In particular, it is looking for the security chip (either AMD or Intel) on the motherboard). But overall, I am enjoying Windows 11!

I also have two Netflix series that I find fun. One is awesome. “Magic for humans” makes me laugh, and I am amazed at what the show pulls off. The other is Jack Whitehall’s travel’s with my father. Both of those are just fun to watch.

Today is back to projects day. I have a couple of projects I would like to get done from a technology perspective. One of them is putting an HDMI switch in the bedroom to watch the different devices we have in the bedroom easily. We have one already in the basement and the living room.

The other thing I need to do is unwire all the extra crap in the living room. Two or three things have q7896been disconnected over the years that are just sitting there. I need to get rid of the wires and the items!

Without that, I am off to start my day!

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Portable vs built in

Portable vs. built-in is a question I have asked myself for many years about many technologies. Having a built-in GPS in your car is a good thing, same for a built-in satellite and terrestrial radio. But I also own a portable GPS that we use on the boat or the tandem bike. It is built into one or the other wouldn’t be useful. It remains a question I often consider. One of the issues with portable systems can be the overall functionality not being as good. That was the primary decision point four or so years ago; the portable system meant you were giving up functionality.

But now, with the advent of the Android and Apple carplay systems, more and more functionality is available with the portable system. My new 2022 car doesn’t eve a GPS chip in it. It uses either the android phone or iPhone plugged into the system. For example, I used to have portable Satellite radio, but I do not anymore. I still take Satellite radio (until January 6^th, they have a Neil Young channel this year). But now it is on my iPhone. That is the ever-expanding reality of the Swiss army cell phone devices. Many components of the device continue to get better!

The reality of that question still exists. But now, it is modified from the past—portable, mobile, or download/add-on to the cell p0hone. I’ve added the 3^rd category to match the evolution in the market. What I can do or add to my cell phone is included in the equation. For example, I have a stand-alone GPS, but it also has an in-reach Satellite connection. In extreme conditions, a guaranteed connection to the outside world is critical! Our portable GPS has that. Cellular connections can have dead zones. Satellite connections need to be able to see the sky!

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Kitchen tech

All I need is a good microphone! I’ve had a Salmon USB microphone that I’ve used for many years. I moved to the Maonocaster system, and, honestly, between those two, I do my podcasts and many video calls. Not that video calls are the only thing, nor are podcasts something that brings fame and fortune. I do the podcast because I enjoy thinking about and talking about ideas. I do the meetings because I’ve gotten used to being paid!

Covid pushed many people into working from home. That also pushed more and more meetings to virtual-only meetings. There is still something about face-to-face meetings!

I will end today with Kitchen Tech. I am a huge fan of things that make cooking more entertaining. They don’t always make cooking easier, just more entertaining. But I am also getting more and more health-conscious. Based on that, we added two things to the kitchen this year that I thought I would remark upon!

1. The Cuisinart Toaster Oven/Air Fryer. A little larger and easier to get things into than most air fryers (we do have two other air fryers still)
2. Ninja Foodie – another air fryer but also a pressure cooker!

Kitchen tech, for me, has to be something that interests me. Easy to use, no, but interesting, yes. Based on that, these two are highly useful tools (in fairness, the Ninja Foodie added about two years ago rather than this year, but it is heavily used)! Kitchen tech is always interesting, and this two help!

Plus, air frying is so much better for you. Maryland Crab Cakes in the air fryer is a delight!

The futurist tech that will be big in 2022

https://hubpages.com/technology/Futurist-Tech-that-will-be-big-in

The futurist tech that didn’t make my 2022 list

https://discover.hubpages.com/technology/Futurist-Also-ran-tech-that-wont-make-my-hot-tech-column

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we struggle the hardest, when we are closest to losing

Over the last ten or so years, I have spent a lot of time listening to books or music while walking. Back when I used to run, I only listened to music. I couldn’t focus on running and listening to a book simultaneously. Walking, I can listen to a book as I walk. I do find myself, however, making sure I do not listen to the entire walk. I have walking paths that are designed for safety. But, there are still dangerous intersections to be crossed; I pause the book while waiting for the light to change and crossing the two large streets in my area.

Below, find my 2022 nearly and actual top or consumer technologies posts!

I am going to end today with a variation of an old parable. It is a variation because I am not retelling it word for word. I also combined two old parables into this one I am sharing. I am combining them because they illustrate a point I would like to make. Three mice once fell into a vat of buttermilk. Or, if you wish, unpasteurized fresh milk. The farmer had not yet separated it into milk, buttermilk, heavy cream, and butter. The three mice began to swim. One swam just enough to keep his head above water. The other two swam a little faster.

The two swimming fast got tired, and fearing death, began to swim even faster, even harder. They began to churn butter. There was finally an island of butter, and the slower swimming mouse climbed onto the island. His two friends were struggling now, exhausted, and he pulled them both onto the butter.

Finally, the two exhausted mice could speak again. They said. “thank you for saving us.” The other mouse smiled and said, “of course, it is a lesson of nature that things always struggle the most when they are closest to the end. “

Sound like anyone we know?

The futurist tech that will be big in 2022

https://hubpages.com/technology/Futurist-Tech-that-will-be-big-in

The futurist tech that didn’t make my 2022 list

https://discover.hubpages.com/technology/Futurist-Also-ran-tech-that-wont-make-my-hot-tech-column

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my 2022 tech predictions

People always comment this time of year, “is it hard coming up with your future tech list?” Yes, to a degree, it is hard. The hardest part, and this year I decided to publish both lists, is the stuff I didn’t think merited the top 2022 tech list “list.” Yes, I know it is bad grammar to list a word twice, but in this case, it is justified. Every year the didn’t make a list is much harder for me to deal with than the made its list. Why is that? Simply the stuff on the didn’t make it list is often something that I think is cool. But it is something that I know isn’t going to be a mass market.

Mass, or consumer market, is the driver for innovation today. Things appear in that market much faster, and the churn is pretty incredible. I suspect a couple of tech solutions will pick up that didn’t even make my not quite list. In introducing my 2022 prediction list, I thought I would share those as well. My rules now will hit the mass consumer market in the calendar year. The mass market is not a Niche market but a larger market. It would represent more than a million devices sold worldwide. One hundred thousand devices would fit into the Niche category!

Here they are, the tech that didn’t make either list:

1. Vibe Board – this is an interactive whiteboard system. I think interactive whiteboards will continue to move towards the mass market in 2022. More and more people will have home-based jobs. It just makes sense, plus it saves the company money overall!
2. Drones in all specialty areas, today drones are mass market, the specialty drones are going to move towards that market as well
3. AR/VR goggles are in the mass market, but I feel they will begin to grow fast this year

It takes me two months to pull together the lists below, and the list shared today. I look at and consider a lot of non-mass market tech. Hopefully, my list continues as they have in the past, at least 50%, right!

The futurist tech that will be big in 2022

https://hubpages.com/technology/Futurist-Tech-that-will-be-big-in

The futurist tech that didn’t make my 2022 list

https://discover.hubpages.com/technology/Futurist-Also-ran-tech-that-wont-make-my-hot-tech-column

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Lets smile at the next person over!

I have been working on an application for Microsoft Hololens for the last eight months. My dev skills are sorely lacking. The application concept is simple, a heads-up AR mapping system. The Hololens doesn’t have an integrated GPS, so I utilized the phone connection concept to capture GPS data from the phone. So far, I have failed miserably. But I will keep trying! I am not a good developer, but I keep doing things to learn. So far, I have learned frustration, but the reality of frustration is you measure it, put it in a box, and keep on going!

People always use the adage, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” I have several times in my life asked the person that said that to me, what do the tough do when the going is easy stand still and wait for it to get hard? The tough, the weak all of us are always in the process of going. When things get harder, we have to find the resilience needed to get going within ourselves. The true adage should be, “when the going gets hard, the tough try harder.” In that case, try is present tense, so they are trying already, but things require them to try harder now!

2021 has been a tough year. We continue to lose people to Covid. The world’s economy is slowing down; the only thing making things move (so it seems) is inflation. We are entering almost out of the pandemic reality now. It is a difficult time, one that would be so much better if we could all get along. Those who have suffered and lost deserve a moment of peace. Today is the hardest day to make it through until you reach tomorrow. I cannot say how sad the division within the country I love makes me feel. No group owns the allegiance to the spirit. We are a nation of people; it is time to do not pretend.

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