For the majority of the life of this site, I’ve been a staunch OmniFocus user. Detailed and meticulously maintained systems for doing. I didn’t have, nor did I want, a list — I wanted platform from which I launched my projects.
That’s a fancy way of saying I scheduled time — I made tasks — for managing all my other time and my other tasks.
Let me start by saying: these bikes are for young kids and they are really expensive. But, there’s a reason I am writing about them: they are absurdly good.
I think my daughter was 3 or 4 when we got her a bike. It was a Hello Kitty bike we snagged from Target, a while later we got my youngest a bike at 3, a Minnie Mouse bike from Target. These run somewhere around $100. They are heavy and basically like the bikes I had growing up. In other words, they are what I think of, when I think of “kids bike”.
I snagged an ENO Billow Air Lounger from REI during a sale, and took it with me camping with 5 young kids and three dads. I wanted to snag a hammock, but then I realized how potentially dangerous that would be as I had visions of kids flipping out of a hammock on the trip, so I stuck with this — it’s basically a ground hammock.
This week I update you on my search for a 1Password replacement and talk about what Files.app really means for iOS. Or at least what it should mean.
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I’ve been running this site as a “member” supported site since July of 2012. That’s what I call my subscription based, paywall model, a member-site. I’ve tried a lot of different methods to what I charge for, over the years, so I know a thing or two about subscriptions. I’m not selling software, but the consumer mindset on most any recurring payment is similar across the aisles. I’m sure Amazon could tell you some amazing stories about people being unwilling to use ‘Subscribe and Save’, but we are going to have to wait awhile for that TED talk.
When I first started thinking about subscriptions, I had to try and guess at how many people would actually pay for something they previously got for free. I had no clue how to start this guess — there’s basically no good method. Page views and unique visitors seemed like a bad place to look, as did followers on social media. So instead I went to RSS subscribers. I figured they were among the more interested and loyal people. I had about 12,000 RSS subscribers at the time.
Months ago I set out to find a good jacket for summer/spring and days where I need a light layer on top, but nothing wind/water/insulating, just something to toss on. I wanted something which wasn’t typical cotton, and I stumbled on Triple Aught Design’s Recon RS jacket. It’s a Nylon-Cotton blend which is quite popular in technical minded clothing arena, with a overall military look to it.
I picked up the ME Green color, but also ordered a “Deception” which I returned as it was too large. The Green is a much better color for me, as Deception was overall too dark (but a very cool color). I’ve been using this jacket for a few months now, both at the coast, and camping.
Earlier this year I worked to purge most of my pockets knives, and now with exception to only waiting to be sold, I am down to only three pocket knives. I’ve had this setup for a couple months now and could not be happier with it.
Here’s what I kept, and why.
A couple core collaboration tools for working effectively with Mac users, and the why and how of iOS 11’s Dock, which changes quite a lot all on its own.
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I’ll have more to say about this at a later time, but I’ve moved this site to a new server. If you are seeing this, you’re seeing the new server. There’s only one issue I know of: SSL is not yet working correctly. Otherwise, everything should be fine. So if you see something, say something?
Yeah, let’s go with that.
Thanks
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Note: this bag was sent to me from Aer for review purposes.
If you read the Duffel Pack 2 review and thought: that’s nice but wish it were smaller, well then… Aer’s Fit Pack 2 is for people who want the same utility of their larger bags, but in a smaller format — for me it’s an ideal size everyday backpack.
At roughly 19 liters, this bag strikes a nice size, enough for what you need everyday, and a little extra for those days when you need to pack more. In typical Aer fashion, this bag is both backpack and duffel bag, with a large duffel compartment running the length of the bag on the top, and a laptop sleeve and organization section against the wearers back. And yes, it includes the shoe compartment, just as the Duffel Pack, but in this bag it eats almost the entire duffel compartment if you use it.
I recently wrote about the ESEE Izula, and talked about small fixed blade knives. The Eldris is another in the small fixed blade knife category, made by the well known and respected Morakniv (“Mora”). I purchased this knife quite some time ago after seeing it winning some awards for the design and usefulness of the knife.
Morakniv knives are well known and well regarded. They are inexpensive, and preform generally well as survival knives and in many other circumstances. I’ve personally never been fond of them, but the Eldris is so well liked by so many people, and so light, that I picked one up. They generally cost about $30.
Note: this backpack was sent to me from Aer for the purposes of this review.
Aer was one of the first companies I saw doing a duffel pack — a duffelbag-backpack, hybrid. I see them all over when I am shopping around for bags, and they’ve always intrigued me. I never tested the first version, so this review is based solely on what the Duffel Pack 2 is.
Aer makes this bag targeted at people looking for one bag to carry all their work gear along with their gym gear — in that sense this is a niche bag. However, in practice it’s a fairly normal backpack and can be used as such. To test the bag I took it on a long trip to the Washington Coast, and put it through its paces there.
Fixed blade knives are among the coolest knives you can get — they are bad ass. But, the usefulness of them is questionable. Are they useful? Yes. Are the useful very often? Not really. ((For most people, that is.)) However, there are such things as smaller fixed blade knives, among which the ESEE Izula is one of the more popular options.
The Izula has a small, but able, 2.6” blade on it made of 1095 high carbon steel. It’s like a mini version of my favorite survival knife, the ESEE 4. And that makes it really interesting.
I review a lot of bags on this site, and because I have a best page, as well as commenting on what I carry on a day to day basis, there’s some confusion on whether a bag (or anything else) is good, if I don’t carry it, or list it as “best”. So I want to take a moment to clarify all of that.
August always feels like such a dead month when it comes to Apple related things. You’ll see a ton of rumors or “leaks” leading up to new iPhones in the fall, and the rest of the community seems to live like hermits preparing grandiose shit no one will read in its entirety. Any ways, back to iPads.
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One question I am often asked: “I want a bag that is like the GR1, but lighter and cheaper, do you know of any?” My answer is always: “Sorry, no, but let me know if you find something.”
The reality is most people use a backpack to go to and from work, but want it to be able to pull double duty for travel or day hikes as needed. That last bit rules out a lot of the bags you see coming out of Kickstarter — most of those bags are not even close to being comparable to a GR1 — but the GR1 is still heavy and expensive for most.
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Another in my wallet search. IMPORTANT, these wallets were provided to me in exchange for a review and help me please, because I just saw they sell backpacks.
Ok, so to recap where I am: the EZGO was too bulky but otherwise great, the Slimfold wasn’t limiting enough, but otherwise great, and the Magpul was bad, and otherwise bad. Today, we talk about Flowfold. I received two of their minimalist wallets, one with white sailcloth, and another in a different material ((They do not specify what it is.)) colored aquamarine.
A shorter report this week, as I took vacation last week, but I wanted to touch on WiFi only iPads, and the auto-correction hubbub.
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