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Recent Articles

  • Member Journal — 9/7/2020

    Buckle up, state of the iPad awesomeness, why people don’t leave Facebook, and waterproof printable paper.

    This week: State of iPad heading into iOS 14; Privacy; Waterproof paper; and taking off medical gloves.

    ## State of iPad Heading to iOS 14

    Sometimes I forget to write stuff like this out, because part of my day to day work is diving into and thinking about all of this. That said, I wanted to capture some things I have been thinking about, since iOS 14 is coming soonish, and there will be plenty more to write about then.

    For the most part, iPadOS, and iPad as hardware, are both well suited to be the best computer for *many* people, for *many* tasks. No longer is there a true limit because of performance — iPad hardware is even faster/more powerful than computers that many people still own and use. There is only a very niche subgroup held back by hardware, and that group may well never be able to adopt something like an iPad — unless iPads gain a plug in hardware expander like eGPUs.

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  • GORUCK Labor Day Sale

    Heck of a sale.

    GORUCK is having a heck of a Labor Day Sale (that’s an affiliate link as are all links below). Here’s some highlights I recommend:

    • Black Ruckers in both sizes are $129. There’s a new Rucker coming out in late October, I have the current model and it’s amazing. Hard to get these at this low a price.
    • Black GR2s in both sizes are $229. I have almost bought one several times now. If you want a travel the world for maximum time bag, 40L GR2, call it a day. For shorter trips, the 34L GR2 is right next to my 26L GR1 as one of my favorite bags of all time.
    • Midnight Navy 26L GR1 for $199. Not the best deal I’ve ever seen, but a solid color and a solid price. Same deal for the 21L in that color. Also the Black Women’s GR1, designed with curved straps and using 500D is a great option for all genders.

    If you’re getting a little bored at home and want to get out and get moving, any of these three are amazing outdoors rucks. The Rucker is the only one that won’t also easily hold a laptop. All three options get my highest praise.

    You can just abuse them in the woods, wipe them off and go back to work whenever that is a thing again. Or start Rucking.

  • Raw Thoughts on Bag Manufacturers

    Allow me to give you an overview of bag manufacturers.

    I posted a version of this on Reddit the other day, commenting on someone asking about why people love GORUCK over other bag brands. So, here is a slightly expanded version of my very glib takes on bag manufacturers if I were asked to stereotype them all:

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  • Armytek Prime C1

    It’s not a bad light, but goodness it’s ugly.

    I love a good flashlight, and one of my favorite lights is SureFire’s E1B-MV Backup. I still love that light and I think it is an amazing all around light. There are two small issues with it: there are only two light modes; and it is very expensive. The former isn’t an issue for how I use lights, but the latter is a big issue for me when I recommend gear to people. At $140 it is hard to tell someone this is the light when they could buy so many other options in the same bracket.

    One of those other options is the Armytek Prime C1, which is a less tactical, more practical light. It can be had for about $50 give or take which sale you hit at Armytek. Like the SureFire it runs off a single CR123 and is actually brighter than the SureFire while offering far more light modes and two color temp options.

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  • Member Journal — 8/31/2020

    A deeper look at why remote work is draining you, and some things I did to get ready for Hurricane Laura potentially heading right for us.

    This week: wait, it’s the *end* of August *now*? Shit.

    Oh, anyways, I write about Jerry Seinfeld and remote work; Epic; Surge Capacity; Zuckerberg being an awful person; pop culture; and this Hurricane Laura close call.

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  • Prepping, Bug Out Bags, and Missing the Obvious

    You likely need a charger and charging cable for your phone well before you’ll need a knife in a real bug out scenario.

    I’ve spent a lot of time over the years thinking about bug out bags, and getting them ready to go. I’ve spent countless hours talking about get home bags, and getting them ready to go. Since moving to Houston, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ‘prepping’ — the act of making sure you can survive in your home for extended time without the world around you being available to you, and getting all that stuff ready to go.

    There’s a lot about doing these things that requires trying to anticipate what might actually happen and what you need to respond well to those situations. The best prepping one can do is to have cash on hand, the recent financial meltdowns have taught us that much — you can survive pretty well with money. Then there’s the health aspect, to be in good shape and all that. Then there’s the smart prepping, where you look at what might impact you (hurricanes, tornados, volcanos, earthquakes) and you prep for that. Then there’s the batshit stuff Reddit and blogs like to talk about where an EMP or CME happens and stops civilization as we know it (read also: One Second After), or a scenario where society breaks down — the key prep it seems for these situations is a cabin in the woods and an absurd amount of ammo for your absurd amount of guns.

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  • Member Journal — 8/24/20

    Allow me to explain this Apple clamp down on the App Store, it’s because our legal system is shitty.

    This week: I learned about Airsoft; my optimal video call lighting setup; houses without windows; continuation of the App Store drama; people finally see San Francisco for what is.

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  • Tactile Turn Bolt Action in Titanium (Short)

    This is the king of everyday carry pens for a reason, even if you don’t carry it, you should own one.

    I have been trying out some pens to see what carries well, writes well, and is overall a good option. I wanted to get something lighter than what I had been using, as brass looks nice, but carries like lead. You don’t have to explore the everyday carry communities long before you see that Tactile Turn’s Bolt Action is incredibly popular.

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  • Member Journal — 8/16/20

    I really think that the tech industry as a whole has failed the education market.

    This week: elementary online learning is shit; new video lighting setup; App Store lawsuit; update on a mask I like; bag stuff.

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  • Benchmade Mini Bugout

    This is the most perfect everyday blade you can buy.

    When the Benchmade Bugout came out, it was an immediate hit. People loved how lightweight it was, nimble, and yet capable. All while still being affordable. I only recently got one and it’s a true gem — and well worth your money.

    Recently though, Benchmade released the Mini Bugout — same great knife, just smaller. This “mini” stuff can be hit and miss, but with Benchmade this is a common theme which they often pull off quite well (see also reviews of the Griptilian and Mini Griptilian). I waited, rather impatiently to get one of these so I could first test out the full size Bugout.

    Long story short: this is the best knife on the market, no caveats.

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  • Member Journal — 8/10/20

    Allow me to show the stupidity of a popular productivity list.

    This week: productivity theater; destroying life-changing productivity tips; we need to support gummy bears; those AirPods Pro tips; and a new desk chair for me.

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  • Member Journal — 8/3/2020

    All at once time seems to not be progressing, and yet slipping away.

    This week: time is weird; bosses that treat work like prisons; why you can’t trust online reviews; new bag reviewer I like; stop worrying about how your bag looks; things I am working on writing about.

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  • Setting Up Your Space for Better Video Calls

    Read this, I can actually save you some money. But I can also help spend it too.

    In a recent Member Journal I posted about trying to use digital cameras I have around the house as webcams. Obviously, this cannot be done by using your iPad as your calling device, but rather you need a Mac or PC. I used a MacBook Pro 13” for this.

    There’s a few things to note about webcams and setting up for good calls in general:

    1. MacBook Pro webcams are utter shit. They are likely the lowest quality devices you can use for video calls, and their mics are about the same as the webcams.
    2. iPad Pro front facing cameras are a really solid middle ground for quality, while being easy as hell to use. Their microphones are better, but the feedback because of the speaker proximity will drive your attendees insane.
    3. You can use your iPhone’s rear cameras as a webcam and those look pretty darn good, however the setup is really not good. It is cumbersome, and puts your iPhone out of action as you need to really put it in Airplane mode and leave it in a tripod facing you. Lame.
    4. You can tether most modern and some older digital cameras and use them as your webcam. This works pretty solid with many caveats, largely centering around the actual hardware you have. Also these are the nerdiest and finicky of setups you can possibly choose.

    I have two cameras I could use, the first is an old Canon 5D mkII, and the second being my Fujifilm X100T. Now neither is officially supported by the manufacturers for this purpose, so I needed to buy an excellent piece of software called ‘Cascable Pro Webcam’ for $30.

    And that, that is why we are here now.

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  • Member Journal — 7/27/2020

    Pick one: data caps or working from home. Because streaming video calls uses a lot of bandwidth, and so does remote education.

    This week: managing in lockdown; writing as a key remote work skill; the shine wears off remote work; video conferencing follow up; why Comcast internet is a huge blocker to remote work; and some knife talk to round it out.

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  • GORUCK Ruck Plate Carrier

    Do not waste your money on this.

    Don’t buy this thing.

    It is not often, actually this might be the first time, that I have come across a GORUCK product that I loathed. But this is that product. And, I am writing about it because I was excited when it came out, and if you didn’t buy one, I want to make sure you save your money.

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  • Member Journal — 7/20/2020

    This week: better quality video calls; we turn to individuals; managing in a pandemic; I miss the office; sharing culture is a joke. You must be a member to read the rest of this article. (Already a member? Log In.)

    This week: better quality video calls; we turn to individuals; managing in a pandemic; I miss the office; sharing culture is a joke.

    You must be a member to read the rest of this article. (Already a member? Log In.)

  • Prometheus Design Werx Admin Pouches

    Exploring some inexpensive admin pouches.

    For as particular as I am about bags in general, I am more laid back about organizers within my bags. These are typically called Admin Pouches, and most of the good ones are made by the more tactical focused companies out there.

    The ones I use often are either GORUCK’s Field Pockets (article and here) , or ones by Triple Aught Design (OP1 and Context Organizer). But Prometheus Design Werx sells a few that are much lower in price, and on paper look just as good as the others. So I went all in a bought a bunch from them to try out.

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  • Ulysses 20

    A great update to an amazing writing app, as long as you don’t get silly and try to use it with GitHub, but that’s on you. Anyways, the new dashboard thing is aces: I love that outline feature. It allows you to quickly see the structure of your document and is something I use every…

    A great update to an amazing writing app, as long as you don’t get silly and try to use it with GitHub, but that’s on you. Anyways, the new dashboard thing is aces:

    I love that outline feature. It allows you to quickly see the structure of your document and is something I use every week for my member journals. I’ve been testing this update for a bit now, and it’s all just gravy.

  • Member Journal — 7/13/20

    Let’s really talk about why Xfinity sucks as much as using GitHub for writing collaboration does.

    This week: wait, does that say the 13th of July already, crap; Xfinity refuses our money; Kitchen upgrade tip; choosing the right words; men’s fear; over committing; DEET; routines.

    ## Why is Xfinity work from home hostile?

    [Betsy Morris, in The Wall Street Journal](https://apple.news/AqKxU9x-cTWy7dFdJMp2jmg):

    > Zoom saw daily meeting participants soar to a peak of 300 million in the latest quarter, up from 10 million before the pandemic.

    You would think that the work from home revolution was something Xfinity would grab a hold of — the the very least as a means to make more money. Sure, there’s more infrastructure costs with more and faster traffic, but *before* this home internet users really had little need to get an expensive internet and cable package. Before they just needed something that worked between 6pm – midnight. To get them through the hours before they get back to work. Cyber Monday became a thing, because people refused to have great internet connections at home (I’d argue even base connections make that a thing of the past.)

    This all changed when we started working from home, often more than just one person in the household needing good internet speed.

    But no, Comcast/Xfinity whatever they call themselves this week has buried their heads in the sand. The only real changes are to data caps (at first they removed it, now they added on 25% more for “free”). But what has remained is their plan structuring.

    ![](https://f3a98a5aca88d28ed629-2f664c0697d743fb9a738111ab4002bd.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/3944bd81-2a15-4121-a4f1-27202946a67a.jpeg)

    They structure things by focusing *only* on the download speed. 1gigabit service gives you that on the download, on average, usually. Upload? No clue. I have their 1 gigabit service and could not find the upload speed they are committing to on the website or on my account pages. In practice I get 30-40megabits up. *30-40*. Are you kidding me?

    With AT&T Fiber, I got 1000 up, and a 1000 down. Full duplex. Full magic. I could rest assured that degraded video was never from my connection.

    But, in their moment to shine and make more money, Xfinity has stayed the course (actually, that’s a lie, they now offer a 2gigabits internet connection which would take me from $85/mo to $299/mo with no upload speed increase noted). With the world on video calls, and document collaboration at all time highs, we now have more reason than ever to want — *to demand* — fast upload speeds. And yet, nothing from Xfinity.

    I would pay them 50% more money for the same download speed and 250megabit uploads. I am sure I am not alone.

    And yet…I am not allowed to do so.

    So why are they so against taking more money?

    Probably because they generally suck.

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  • Get Home Bag Deep Dive

    Ok, we need to talk about a practice get home bag, not this shit people talk about on Reddit.

    I went down a many-subreddit rabbit hole looking at bugout bags, everyday carry setups, get home bags, and vehicle everyday carry kits — basically I started getting frustrated at the state of advice out there for these bags.

    I don’t think people plan for emergencies correctly — they plan for the extreme, while missing the likely. So, today, I want to talk about what I see as the most crucial prep for anyone who has a car, or commutes somewhere for work (I mean like eventually, not right now, but now is a good time to prepare because you have ample time to find stuff in your house).

    We are talk about a ‘get home bag’. The get home bag is like a bugout bag, but for your car. Or, to carry with you if you commute on public or shared transit. It is the gear you need to help you get home safely in the event of something extraordinary happening.

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