Technology

The Equifax Data Breach

16 September 2017

What did Equifax get wrong during the data breach fiasco? Pretty much everything. Let's break it all down with a laundry list of shocking missteps and bad, bad mojo.

Forcing It On Force Friday II

4 September 2017

Ahead of the release of The Last Jedi, the hype has hit a fever pitch, further supported by a stab at augmented reality that brought some of the world's most famous landmarks (such as the Eiffel Tower and Grand Canyon) into the Star Wars universe.

Since I was out and about running errands on Force Friday, I stopped by the local Target to check out what's going on. A Target ambassador helped me find Sphero's new R2-D2. Turns out Target had a whole section at the back of the store, away from the standard toy section, specifically set up for Force Friday activity. They were one of the Target stores that opened at midnight — for 2 hours — as part of the hype. The guy helping me was a little annoyed with the opening, further agitated by the fact only six customers showed up.

That's part of the overkill. Another part is the massive selection of STUFF — and that criticism comes from a collector who enjoys novelties and knick-knacks, but one who's also sorta graduated into putting those funds into more unique knick-knacks (or, more appropriately, "artifacts") collected while traveling around the world. (That's the influence of another George Lucas property now owned by Disney, Indiana Jones. In my world, Jones trumps Skywalker.)

In short, Force Friday felt a bit "forced."

Read on, my young apprentice...

Vacation 2017: What's It For?

9 April 2017

My December trip to Southeast Asia got me rethinking what it means to go on vacation. It was an adventure. It was a marvel of technology. It was one of the most exciting trips I've ever taken. And I brought back some mighty exciting photos and 4K video.

Some things have become standard operating procedure for my trips, such as making it up on the fly while booking hotels and one-way airfare the day before departure on my iPad Pro (9.7"), as well as picking up a local-vendor SIM card for the iPad and taking loads of photos and videos.

The story continues...

Other Bytes

Focus

It's true. I'm not very social when I'm vacation, at least in terms of social media.

Traveling thousands of miles away, my first obligation is to take in the atmosphere and the people, always minding my surroundings (sage advice provided to Bruce Wayne).

Living in the moment, sharing it later. Maybe even much later. But those experiences will always be with me because I took the time to let them happen instead of having my face perpetually staring at a glass.

Vision

I've had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Oscar-winning cinematographer Wally Pfister (Inception) and also meeting legendary filmmaker Greg MacGillivray.

What do they have in common? Filming in the extra-large IMAX format. Pfister's a key force behind making IMAX a part of Hollywood's blockbuster theatrical releases and MacGillivray filmed the most successful IMAX-exclusive movie of all time, Everest. In my own small — very small — way I channel their creative vision while on vacation, playing around with much smaller and lighter-weight gear at the consumer level.

Soul

Why do I follow U2 all over the planet? It's the music (of course) and the unbeatable experience of being in the crowd and absorbing the collective energy.

But U2 also put on groundbreaking shows tour after tour. What they're doing now other bands might be brave enough to try... oh... maybe 5 years down the road.

U2 use technology to bring the audience closer into the show, turning arenas into intimate night clubs and stadiums into venues where even the nosebleeds can feel a part of the band.

Cord Cutting

I dumped cable TV several years ago as an early adopter of the cord-cutting lifestyle. There are so many options now, at a better price point. Supplement a broadcast antenna with things like Amazon Prime Video, Vudu and iTunes and that's plenty of viewing for a guy who doesn't spend all that much time actually watching television intently.

One new indulgence for 2017 will be an experiment with MLB.TV, supplemented with MiLB for a little Tebow time!

Uncle Francis Wants You!

A Kickstarter campaign to develop an immersive video game version of Apocalypse Now failed to generate the required funds.

Now Francis Ford Coppola and the team of developers have gone rogue, seeking a whopping $5.9 million all on their own. Check it out and support Coppola!

Guitar Tech

Speaking of Kickstarter, I supported the campaign to make the Guitar Triller a reality. Still wating for my one-on-one virtual training session, but my poor guitar hasn't had much play time anyway. Check out the Guitar Triller.

Drupal 8

Mattopia.com is a completely hand-coded effort; there's no CMS behind its massive 1,300+ pages of content. At the day job, however, ch2m.com was the first Fortune 500 site to launch in Drupal 8 thanks to the mad skills of developers at Chapter Three.

Droid Factory

Sorry, BB-8. With a "fresh one," K-2SO has sent you rolling out of my heart's pole position for droids. I appreciate both droids have designs dating back to Ralph McQuarrie's original concept art for Episode IV, but it helps that K-2SO speaks my language and shares my sense of humor.