As regular viewers know, I’m a huge fan of LED flashlights and headlamps.
They’re bright, energy efficient, and just really cool.
Since my last review of LED lights is almost 2 years old, it’s time for an update.
You won’t believe how bright these things have become!
Well, I did it again: I read a book.
This time, it was the story of China’s recent technological revolution.
If you’re wondering what’s going on over in the East in the techie arena, it’s a great read.
In short, it appears that smartphones + crazy-fast innovation have turned China into the New Silicon Valley.
And that has interesting implications for the future of AI…
These days, WiFi is everywhere. Even your washing machine probably has it. 😉
I typically don’t recommend using WiFi due to the huge amount of evidence indicating that it’s probably not the best thing for your health.
But there’s another reason to go back to cables…
WiFi is quite often WAAAY slower than most people think. In fact, it’s very rare that you will get anywhere near the maximum speeds advertised when you buy a WiFi access point or router.
What to do, what to do?
Ah, the internet… It’s big. Really, really BIG.
We don’t often think about these things, but just how much storage space is needed for the internet to go?
What kind of power is needed to make Google googley?
How on earth does YouTube store and process all that crazy video data?
Join Cletus and me for a look at some fun facts and statistics about YouTube, Google, and the internet as a whole!
We hear a lot of about “THEY”. Big data violates our privacy, new potentially dangerous tech like 5G is pushed by “them”, and so on.
But just who is this “they“, anyway?
It turns out, the answer is: It’s complicated!
The best place to look is the big data/spying nonsense. The real history of the internet gives a pretty good idea of just how it all works.
When you lump greedy CEOs together with power-hungry (and often paranoid) politicians, and then toss in some Tech Evangelists for good measure, you get exactly what we have today…
These days, everyone just uses their smartphone for GPS navigation.
GPS is also present in most cars.
In the olden days, we had dedicated GPS gizmos for navigating. You can still grab a GPS-only device these days – and for fewer bucks than you might think.
But is it worth it to have a dedicated GPS?
It turns that yes, it is… For quite a few reasons, actually, not the least of which is simple privacy.
We hear a lot these days about China and the E-vils of their techie toys.
Obviously, there is also a lot of political nonsense going on here given China’s economic rise on the world stage. But how bad are Chinese toys – really?
I mean, everything is Made in China anyway, right?
Join Cletus and I for a fascinating look behind the tech curtain! Iron curtain? Red curtain? Some kind of curtain!
Many people have asked me how to use ethernet instead of WiFi with their tablet or smartphone.
While the idea is simple enough, getting ethernet to actually work with your gizmo can be anything but easy…
Some devices simply won’t work with certain USB-Ethernet dongles, and other devices won’t work at all with any dongle – period.
So, the short answer is: it’s complicated!
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Ever since I made my Stylish Smartphone Faraday Box videos, countless people have told me to just use a microwave oven, or just use an empty potato chip bag.
Well, no… And yes! It depends.
The truth is that Faraday cages don’t block signals – they attenuate (or weaken) them.
That means that depending on the situation – the phone itself, the signal strength, the microwave oven itself, and so on – it may or may not work.
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“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard CletusAir flight 353 with non-stop service to Mos Eisley.”
“Please return your seatbacks and tray tables to their upright position, fasten your seatbelts, turn off and stow all portable electronic devices, or put them in airplane mode for the duration of the flight.”
Eh… Why airplane mode?
Most of us think it’s to prevent interference with the airplane’s electronics.
It turns out that’s not quite correct…
(more…)
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