Riding the Flow

In discussions with other gadgets users, often the problem of getting extra power comes up. Particularly when you are away from power outlets for prolonged time - e.g. on the nature hike. Two "miracle solutions" always inevitably come up - using muscle power ("wind-up chargers") or using solar power. On first look, they appear to be perfect. However, they have very significant shortcomings in reality:

My PC configuration involves single big SSD to store data (currently 512GB Crucial M4). This provides best performance and convenience of single hard drive. However, for obvious reasons it makes regular backups even more paramount - since SSDs are being generally less reliable than usual magnetic drives. To backup data, I use 2.5" hard drive enclosure, connected with eSATAp(Powered eSATA) interface - this way only single cable is required, while providing maximum speed and transparency. Previously I was using Windows 7 built in backups (System Image), protected with Bitlocker to Go encryption. But recently I was badly burned by this setup, when my SSD developed single faulty bad sector. It wasn't too bad, until Windows Backup failed to properly backup this and didn't indicate a fault - but aborted backup early indicating a "success". Then it became apparent only after I tried to re-image SSD using this corrupt backup - necessitating a roll-back to previous,...

I've bought the Logitech K360 wireless keyboard in addition to K800 just to try, which one I will like more (K800 was the obvious first choice, because of standard full size layout, palmrest, backlit keys and unifying nano-receiver support). I wanted to also try K360, because it has compact layout that I like coming from laptops (dispenses with right-side key duplication), and also it looked much like my laptop chiclet keyboard (that I liked). However, on actually trying the K360 out I've found it to be worse in feel:

Recently I’ve partially disassembled my Lenovo Thinkpad W701 laptop to check out the seating design of MXM 3.0 Type B module it uses, and to check out the construction of the heatsink/fan thermal module. This is to determine at least mechanical feasibility of upgrading to another MXM 3.0b video card (software compatibility is still uncertain – trying will be the only option). I’ve took a lot of pictures to illustrate the whole process.

Now that I finally have standard 3.5 mm TRS jack on my new and shiny Motorola Milestone , I can finally upgrade to high quality headset without resorting to additional cables/cumbersome adapters. I go with in-ear headphones. Supra aural ones are not really that accurate and hard to wear in all settings (i.e. on the street). Ear buds are generally bad, because they don’t isolate at all. Currently I am comparing two headsets: Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5vi Etymotic Research hf2 Doing extensive listening tests on both. Up to now, wavy opinion – Ultimate Ears have more perceivable bass, but sound more “mushy”. While Etymotics are crystal clear, you can hear so much detail of music its overwhelming, but they may seem to sound a bit “dry” and bass-less because of high accuracy. Guess will play with both for a while to see if opinion stabilizes ;)

Personally I think pocket multi-tools (as a superset of more well-known Swiss Army knives) are very useful. You never know when during the course of day you’ll need to cut a package or envelope open, snip a loose thread, open a bottle or unscrew/screw down something. It’s bad when you don’t have proper tools nearby (but even when you do, it’s often a hassle to fetch/put them back). That’s why it’s extremely good to always have multi-tool in your pocket, especially when it’s small and light enough to be unnoticeable. Obviously compactness comes at the price of less features, it’s always a compromise.