Neat and Cool

Brand New…Cassette Tape Players?

Introducing IT'S OK – The World's First Bluetooth 5.0 Cassette Player from NINM Lab on Vimeo.

July 4, 2019 by Mike Neat and Cool 0

New Atari Console?

Now that the Atari VCS team has once again delayed its retro console to give it more powerful innards, it’s ready to show what that redesign looks like. The developers have unveiled what they say is the “production-ready” system design, and it pays even more of an ode to the Atari 2600 than before. The main body now floats above the base like the 2600 did, and addresses multiple “practical considerations” in the process. To start, two of the USB ports are now front-facing — it’s much easier to plug in a controller or keyboard.
Engadget

I hope this actually happens.

March 31, 2019 by Mike Neat and Cool 0

This morning I ordered a new iMac 27″ to replace my aging 2011 iMac. The reason I wanted to upgrade the old one was simply because of software upgrades. I cannot upgrade my iMac to Mojave and for me — being able to upgrade your OS is of paramount importance, especially for a developer.

In addition to that, I also added a HomePod. The reasoning is that since I am already spending a gazillion dollars (actually $3000) on a new computer, I might as well go ahead and make it worse by adding a HomePod for a Gajillion more dollars (actually $350). Neither of these two things are as important as what my old iMac will do.

Update: I’m adding a snapshot of what the configuration consists of.

I am selling it to someone with a computer that is five years older than my old iMac. For him, this will be an upgrade and since he is an older gentleman — the bigger screen will help his vision problems. That is what makes all of this worth it to me. I do like helping folks when it comes to computers.

If history is any indication, my review will probably be something like “Wow. This is cool.” I know. I am a deep person. Don’t judge me.

Update: 08.21.2018 – HomePod arrived today. Sounds incredible!

August 17, 2018 by Mike Apple News Neat and Cool 0

Gutenberg Plug-In

Well, the next version of Word Press will feature the Gutenberg editor. That is what I am writing this post in right now.

It focuses on the way the post looks on your site much more than just the content that you write.

Since this is my first time using it, I’m not sure how I feel about it just yet but I’ll add updates as I go along.

July 31, 2018 by Mike Neat and Cool 0

iPhone Survives 1000 ft Drop

via Apple Insider…

According to WHO TV in Iowa the woman, Sarvinder Naberhaus, assumed the phone was gone, but upon landing she tried the Find My iPhone feature in an attempt to locate it. It didn’t work the first time, but before going to buy a new phone, she tried once more.

That second try, it turned out, was successful. After following the trail for a while, Naberhaus spotted the phone in tall grass in a residential neighborhood, without a scratch, while displaying a notification about an upcoming meeting.

“I literally went into shock,” said the second passenger Donna Johnson. “‘I asked this is this for real? Is that the same phone?'” and I said ‘this is a miracle phone, you can’t drop a phone 1000 feet and have it still work!'”

Naberhouse, the author of multiple books, told the TV station that incident is proof that “God has a sense of humor.”

I’m not sure about the last sentence. I would chalk this up to great engineering which actually, could have been influenced by the almighty.

July 15, 2018 by Mike Apple News Neat and Cool 0

Floating Pacific Islands Free From Government

This is a pretty cool idea.

If you’re struggling to do business or just live under your country’s administration, a movement of philanthropists, academics and investors is working on a very sci-fi alternative.

I like the concept and when it comes to overreaching government regulations. I have always felt like I am in the minority or that other folks just don’t care enough.

“If you don’t want to live under a particular government, people will be able to just take their house and float away to another island.”-Nathalie Mezza-Garcia, Floating Island Project

I was thinking about retiring in St. Thomas but this might be a better idea.

May 19, 2018 by Mike Neat and Cool 0

Migraine Relief?

I found this gem on lancasteronline.com…

Early in 2016, Consylman, 39, heard of an ear piercing that could help her migraines. Called a daith piercing, it passes through the ear’s innermost cartilage. Some say the piercing helps alleviate chronic migraines, with certain individuals praising the piercing’s power for eliminating their headaches altogether.

You can read the rest here…

January 29, 2017 by Mike Helping Neat and Cool 0

A Very Cool Place to Live

Found this on wgal.com website…

There are places in this world that are so surreal and beautiful that when you first see photos of them you naturally assume they must be from a movie set. But while the tiny town of Giethoorn in northern Holland may look like it was built for a film based on a children’s fairytale, this enchanted neighborhood that’s built upon a network of narrow canals is actually completely real.

More pictures if you following the link above…

January 28, 2017 by Mike Neat and Cool 0

TV Stand for Dummies

I am not the type of person that likes to buy things that I have to put together. I go out of my way to buy things that are already assembled. My office chair is a good example. I went to Staples and found a chair I loved. I just didn’t want to put it together so I talked the sales guy into letting me take the finished unit on the floor. He did and I still have the chair to this day.

With that being said, I just bought a simple TV Stand on Amazon and was amazed at how simple it was to put together.

If you are looking for a simple Tv stand that has a couple of shelves and takes about 5 minutes to put together. Check this link out. You will not be disappointed.

January 14, 2017 by Mike General Musings Helping Neat and Cool 0

1st Post of the New Year

I think the first post of the year should be about gadgets. In the last couple of weeks, I have aquired the following…

1. Apple Watch – Custom made and delivered from China. Sweet. Most sweet. I love it when Apple goes the extra mile for developers and adds something to our hardware order. It has happened a couple of times to me. I ordered an iPod and received an engraved and enhanced version far and above what I originally ordered. The watch was much the same. I ordered a relatively simple model and what I got was immensely better.

2. XBox One S – This one is kind of funny because the only reason I wanted an XBox was for a game called Battlefront. It is a very detailed and intense Star Wars game with add ons for the latest movie…etc. At first, I wasn’t sure what the S stood for and quite frankly, I still don’t. As it turns out after Googling it, the S stands for “supports 4k video.” I only have a 1080P television to play this on. Hmmm….

3. That leads into aquisition#3. A 55″ 4k television which I had to purchase to support the XBox. What is the point of having an XBox that supports 4k if your television doesn’t? Right. The answer couldn’t have been more obvious. A new television was in order.

4. This one was a bit unexpected at least right now. I had planned on purchasing an Apple laptop to backup my main work machine at home. Up until now, the Mac Mini was fulfilling that role but a laptop would give me more freedom if I needed to work from someplace else. You never know. I could find myself in the middle of a beach on St. Thomas and be called upon to process orders. You just never know about these things. A colleauge just so happened to have an extra Apple MacBook Pro and offered to swap out my Mac Mini for the laptop. Gee, let me think. Ok, then!

I wasn’t expecting to get so many gadgets this year but life is short and we don’t know how many more tomorrows we’ll have. I hope everyone has a great gadget year.

…and NO FIRES! I am looking at you Samsung….

January 2, 2017 by Mike Neat and Cool 0

Photoshop JPG Problem Between Platforms

I recently downloaded a batch of pictures from the internet. The iMac refused to read those files as JPG so I did a little digging (actually Command-I on one of the files) and found that these particular files were saved with Photoshop CS5.1 for Windows. The following graphic shows what the files look like on OS X 10.8

Incorrect JPG Files on OS X 10.8

The next question you're probably asking is “how to I fix this?” The solution is rather simple but will require a 3rd party program unless you like renaming multiple files by hand. Great, if you only have a couple of pictures to fix but if you have a whole bunch then I recommend Name Mangler. I'll explain why.

Simply changing the name of the file to say “waterfall.jpg” won't fix the problem or at least, it didn't for me. What we need to do is change the extension as well. So, instead of JPG we need it to be JPEG. Name Mangler will allow you to make that change. Once, you rename the files with an extension of JPEG..boom! You have your files in a completely readable format by OS X 10.8.

Note - Append file extension is unchecked

How about Adobe Bridge CS6? I've tried converting with Adobe Bridge and it just wouldn't cooperate. Sure, you could actually view the photos and see how they were saved originally but that's it. If anyone knows of a method that works in Adobe Bridge, please let me know (me at smpmike dot com)