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2015

An Open Letter to Microsoft about Trust and OneDrive

K

Dear Microsoft,

You have screwed me over plenty of times in the past and yet I decided to give you another chance earlier this year by paying for a yearly Office365 subscription for my household. When it was announced that Microsoft would be rolling out “Unlimited” storage, I signed up for the waiting list so I can consolidate a few other cloud storage providers into one. I am now not only regretting migrating my files over to OneDrive but I am also regretting my decision to give Microsoft a second chance.

Unorthodox Computer Challenge : Trial 1 – Vensmile Windows 10 Mini PC

K

I will be spending the next two weeks with the most orthodox of the machines I have selected for the unorthodox computer challenge, the Vensmile Windows 10 Mini PC. Dont let this fool you however, while this computer is technically a full fledged Windows Desktop – it is hard to find a great use-case for such a machine as it is not powerful enough to do much and the performance leaves a lot to be desired.

Unorthodox Computer Challenge Update : Google Chrome Let Me Down

K

On September 2nd of 2008 a web browser was released that changed my browsing habits forever, this web browser was known as Google Chrome. Shortly after it was released, it put a wedge into my monogamous relationship with Mozilla Firefox and caused us to separate after many years. I have been using Chrome as my primary browser for years with no complaints, that is until I took part in my Unorthodox Computer Challenge.

Announcement : Unorthodox Computer Challenge

K

I often consider myself a power user when it comes to computers. My personal collection of computers that I use as daily drivers contains a bevy of high end purpose built machines. Between my Dell XPS 13 and my prized System 76 Kudo Professional, I am well equipped to handle just about anything that comes my way. Within the few week, I will be embarking on a challenge to put my 2 primary machines aside and use several unorthodox computers as my daily drivers at home. Here is how it will work.

Reasons why the Amazon Fire Phone Failed

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On July 25th of 2014, Amazon took a major leap of faith with their entry into the mobile phone market with the Amazon Fire Phone. This was an Android Phone that was completely devoid of Google’s Application Ecosystem. This AT&T exclusive phone was released and failed to sway users away from existing ecosystems into the new Amazon ecosystem. Despite everything Amazon tried including aggressive price cuts, bundling a year of Amazon Prime, Firesales and unlocking the phone – it still failed to sell. This post will take a close look at the Amazon Fire Phone to try to understand the reason for its failure.

Ashley Madison : The Danger of The Last 4 Numbers

K

I am sure that everyone has heard that the popular dating website that specialized in marriage infidelity was hacked a few weeks ago. The brazen hackers have essentially open-sourced the entire AshleyMadison.com website and released several massive database dumps containing customer profiles, customer details (name, address, email address, phone number) and a limited amount of payment information including the last 4 digits of the credit card number. Several people I have spoken to in person do not see this as a threat as you would need the entire card number (and CVV2) before you can use the card for fraud. I have to disagree as it is fairly trivial to turn the last 4 digits of the credit card number into the entire credit card number using nothing more then a phone and a bit of charisma.

Installing RemixOS to the HTC Nexus 9

K

The company Jide Software released a new multi-tasking centric build of Android known as RemixOS. Unlike Android, RemixOS focuses on multi-tasking by allowing you to run applications in a “windowed mode”, similar to a desktop computer. Unfortunately the instructions published on the XDA Developers website and Jide’s own website had several issues that left many (including myself) with a tablet that would not boot. This post will go over the instructions to get RemixOS working on your (Affiliate Link)Nexus 9 (WiFi Only)

OnePlus Two VR Tour Hidden Invite Codes

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OnePlus’s announcement video was a leap forward in product announcements, easily setting the bar higher for other OEM manufactures. Due to several product leaks, we already knew quite a bit about the OnePlus Two prior to the livestream. What did surprise me however was the fact the OnePlus seemed to hide several invite codes all over the livestream for wandering eyes to find, essentially creating a geek filled Easter Egg Hunt. It is worth noting that all of these have been claimed. I managed to capture a screenshot of several of them.

  • in general
  • 3 min read

When I was young….

K

Before I begin this post, let me preface it with the fact that I am not really that old. A lot has changed in the past 20 years, here is a list of a few of my favorites.