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“How to Solve Email With Carrier Pigeons”
“5 Reasons This Backpack Is Better Than the One I Posted Last Week”
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I really could keep going all year long.

I haven't used an Android device in quite a while, so I don't care to debate which is better — I care to have more experience before making those statements — but this “guide” (Google Plus Plus Minus post) from uncle creepy is ridiculous.

Naturally, let's dive in. The post on how to switch from iPhone to Android involves 14 steps hidden as four steps and some of it must been done on a PC/Mac. Yeah, super duper easy. Let's pull some choice quotes of ridiculousness: ((I think that's an MTV show, right? I haven't seen it, but I'll now assume it stars Schmidt.))

The latest high-end phones from Samsung (Galaxy S4), Motorola (Verizon Droid Ultra) and the Nexus 5 (for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) have better screens, are faster, and have a much more intuitive interface.

Where's the proof on that last statement? Also, better and faster in what aspects? All aspects? Proof…?

c) If you are using AT&T, download the Visual Voicemail app from the Play Store.

Wait, honest question here, visual voicemail isn't just built-in?

At this point, you should see all your Gmail, and be able to use any apps and they should work well. Be sure to verify this.

Marketing tip: never end a statement with another statement questioning how well your software may work. “Press the brake petal to stop the car. Be sure to verify this.”

You will need to sign up for Google Wallet and give your credit card information, but it’s free.

I have this same issue with many services: why should I provide a credit card when the service is free?

For texting either use the Messenger app in earlier releases or the “Hangouts” app in Android 4.4.

Why would I be using an earlier version of Android, you told us to update Android in your “step one”? Don't all Android devices get the latest OS right away?

Be sure to use Chrome, not Safari; its safer and better in so many ways.

Wait, I can get Safari on Android? Sweet!

I can't? Then why mention it?

And didn't I read something about new Android phones not coming with a browser? Maybe what the headline said is: “Android can't surf the web?” (See how easy distorting facts is?)

Let's go back to the top for a moment:

Like the people who moved from PCs to Macs and never switched back, you will switch from iPhone to Android and never switch back as everything will be in the cloud, backed up, and there are so many choices for you. 80% of the world, in the latest surveys, agrees on Android.

Uh huh.

You all know how I feel about this, let's see what Google Plus commenters say about the post:

David Bania
Didn't know about the Visual Voicemail app. Thanks!

Jiří Šrámek
I moved from Android to Ios !

LOL.

iPan Baal
I have an Android phone (Galaxy S2, about to upgrade it) – but even I know that +Eric Schmidt didn't write this – his media team did.
Why don't you use your G+ profile to actually write yourself, +Eric Schmidt? Instead of just another advertising platform you can attach your quasi-celebrity name to?
People who read this either already have an Android phone, or don't care.

Mikal O'Neil
This just made me switch the default search engine on my Mac and iPhone to Yahoo.

Perfect.

Tim Bajarin on iPhones/smartphones:

It now has become my GPS system, my digital camera, my flashlight, my voice recorder, etc. With the plethora of software and services available on my smartphone, its hub like nature makes it the most important digital screen in my life.

Smart post. Especially given I have been seeing more and more apps promote that the content collected by the app never leaves the app (a response to the NSA spying).

[Fascinating report from Shane Harris on how the FBI and NSA work together to spy on Americans][1]:

> When the media and members of Congress say the NSA spies on Americans, what they really mean is that the FBI helps the NSA do it, providing a technical and legal infrastructure that permits the NSA, which by law collects foreign intelligence, to operate on U.S. soil. It’s the FBI, a domestic U.S. law enforcement agency, that collects digital information from at least nine American technology companies as part of the NSA’s Prism system. It was the FBI that petitioned the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to order Verizon Business Network Services, one of the United States’ biggest telecom carriers for corporations, to hand over the call records of millions of its customers to the NSA.

And later on in three-pager (DITU is the name of the internal FBI division):

> The NSA is the most frequent requester of the DITU’s services, sources said. There is a direct fiber-optic connection between Quantico and the agency’s headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland; data can be moved there instantly. From the companies’ perspective, it doesn’t much matter where the information ends up, so long as the government shows up with a lawful order to get it.

This is the first time I recall hearing about the FBI involvement — but I have been reading and *not* reading a lot of articles lately.

[1]: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/11/21/the_obscure_fbi_team_that_does_the_nsa_dirty_work?page=0,0

[Federico Viticci][1]:

> You could argue that other companies whose apps and services I use might have the same data about me: that’s true, but Google has gotten very good at eerily using that data from solid apps and web services against me in ads. Apple has my email, my calendar, my Siri queries, and my browsing history. And yet it’s Google that directly benefits from guiding users through a progressive removal of their online privacy. Twitter and Facebook are based on ads, too, but they don’t make the world’s leading browser, search platform, maps app, video sharing site, and free email service at the same time.

I go back and forth between Instapaper and Reading List just about every month. Safari though, I have been consistently using for years and years. I’ve done stints with Chrome, or FireFox, but they always get in my way.

With Mavericks Safari is finally *good*.

[1]: http://www.macstories.net/stories/leaving-google-chrome-why-ive-returned-to-safari/

I’ve long had a need to keep a small toolkit with me, mostly stored in my trunk, ever since I became a property manager. The tools I keep in it have nothing to do with repairing my car, and instead have everything to do with fixing odds and ends around shopping centers, offices, houses, and apartments. I’ve been working on perfecting this toolkit since 2006.

No, really, it has taken that long.

I recently noticed that it has been about a year now since I changed my toolkit — a first — so I feel comfortable talking about the tools that I keep in the kit and why.

The Why

I want to start with the why because that is what should guide you in your makeup of a proper toolkit. In order to make an excellent and useable toolkit you have to understand what you are likely to use the toolkit for — or even if you are likely to need a toolkit at all. I mentioned that mine is around because I need it for different properties that I manage.

There’s stuff that I see broken all the time, and I keep a small toolkit so that I can make a quick repair to stuff if the time/circumstance allots, so that maintenance can stay on other tasks.

Repairs like:

• Crooked signs.
• Out of date directory signs.
• Leaking faucets / hose bids
• Time clocks needing adjustments
• Door closer adjustments
• Lock problems

There’s a ton of other little things, but that’s what I have off the top of my head. Nothing very technical, just little things that annoy you.

The Kit

My kit is extremely basic, and has been honed over the years, currently residing in it:

• Klein 10-n-1 Screwdriver: This is a great screwdriver that I have mentioned before. I currently have six of these bouncing around and rarely need a different screwdriver. I chose this one in particular because the Torx heads on this driver fit a few of the allen head bolts that I constantly seem to be dicking with. Great tool and as the name implies takes the place of 10 ‘other’ tools, but mostly for me serves as a philips/flat tip and make shift allen wrench.
• SOG EOD Multi-tool: I’ve tried about a half dozen multi-tools but landed on the SOG because the pliers feel the toughest to me. I would say 90% of the time this is the only tool in my kit that I really need. I mostly keep it in there for the pliers, but the file also comes in handy.
• CRKT Drifter G10: I of course have to keep a knife. I chose this knife because the price makes it rather disposable. So if I need to do something unsavory with my knife, I try to use this one.
• 6″ Zip Ties: Seemingly infinite amount of uses and repairs that can be made with these guys. I keep the clear ones on hand.
• Pry Bar: I bought this little pry bar thing from a crazy site. There’s tons of uses for it, but I truly just have it in my kit to pry on shit. I wrapped mine with some paracord for comfort — not really for survival or anything.
• Crescent Wrench 8″: The worst thing you can do in the long term is to attempt to loosen or tighten a bolt head with pliers as that will wear the head in a way that a real wrench may not be useable in the future. I keep a crescent wrench for that very purpose. They come in handy as a make shift hammer too if you need one.
• 4″ Scraper: Our shopping centers constantly have random stickers applied to windows, and this scraper is the best at quickly getting them off. Fair warning: I’ve seen tons of people cut their hands wide open using these — be careful, especially in cold weather (trust me, more dangerous than they look and you often use them with a lot of force).
• Pair of Raven Nitrile Gloves: I go with black because they look more bad-ass. But these are great disposable gloves to keep on hand. I only stock one pair, so I need to constantly add them back in, smarter people should stock more pairs.
• Compact Roll of Duct Tape: I stock the 1-inch wide Gorilla brand Duct Tape. It’s strong and durable and I find that the one-inch variety has more uses than the 2″. I also keep this in a small envelope so it doesn’t get duct tape goop all over everything else.
• Water Key: I keep a four-way water key for turning on commercial hose bids in my car. These are at most of the buildings that I a manage.
• Bosch Laser Tape Measure: This is invaluable for me to measure up spaces and distances quickly and accurately. I love this thing.
• Cheap Bic Lighter: I keep this on hand for melting the ends of strings/ropes/straps if I have to cut one for some reason. (Usually to remove a banner.)
• SureFire Fury: This is my favorite flashlight at the moment. Many are put off by Surefire, but I have tried other brands and they just don’t feel as rock solid as Surefire. This is a beast of a small flashlight and just what I need for 3am meetings with firemen in 40,000SF vacant buildings, while we look for the cause of a fire alarm.
• I may, or may not, have a set of these too. If I did, they would be at home and never leave my safe there.

All of these tools are not kept in a toolbox, or bag. I have one tool bag that I use, and it only holds seven of the items. The rest are stashed in one of two areas in my car: the flashlight is in the glovebox, the rest are under the mat in this nice tray that my car has in the trunk.

The rest of the tools are kept in a Winter Session tool roll that I really like the look of, but is a bit small in practice.

Your Kit

Your kit can and should be different from mine. There are likely tools I omit that you think crazy to omit. You are probably right for your application, but for me — in the past year — these are all the tools I have needed out of this kit.

(All links are affiliate where I could make them so.)