Headworx

It is still winter(ish) here and there but some of the Spring days are really really nice in April. Perfect time to try some new activities.  Actually I learned the packrafting idea during the 2024 New Zealand trip. A packraft is like a pontoon, but smaller, better shaped, and can be quite light. You put it in a backpack, go for a mountain hike and then raft down a river. Can be quite extreme, but it is all a choice. Packrafts are perfect for slow rivers, lakes and fiords too. The one I bought (seen on the photo) is a tad above 2 kilograms. On top of that you need a paddle (a carbon one while expensive, is super light). It folds down to a size of a bear canister so can be strapped to any backpack. You can save on weight by not carrying a sleeping mat - turn the raft upside down and lie on it. Also a simple tarp is sufficient instead of a tent. A pyramid-shaped tarp can be set up on the paddle. There are a bit bigger rafts which allow carrying a bike. And then you call the think bik...

Tesla discussions have always brought very polarized opinion. Either trash and going bankrupt or the absolute leader in AI about to deliver autonomous driving (Full Self Driving - FSD) through a simple software update. My point today is really not about Tesla but about the value of FSD in general. I wrote about this many times, with the Tyranny of Convenience being the most popular post. Today the theme is similar. It is about the concept of "enough" which is one of the key enemies of capitalism. Prospering capitalist economies (the USA being the prime example here) absolutely depend on creating and expanding consumers' desires. People must want more for the wheels to spin. And the vision of consumers even remotely calling "we have enough" is the most feared. "Enough" must be eliminated. In many ways I am a person who has enough of many things. Sometimes I even feel that my level of "enough" is definitely too high. I try not to chase new car...

I am a bit paranoid about backups. That includes planning for a backup gear when going on a multi-day remote hikes. On one hand it is really prudent to take as little gear as possible to travel light and thus reduce the risk of orthopedic injuries. Unfortunately there is no way to take backup ankles and knees... Smartphones - even if out of network range - are great in combining multiple functions in one device - a camera, a map, a satellite locator, a notepad, a book reader, a chess board, a music player etc. But no matter how good they are protected, there is still the elevated risk of damaging the phone on a trek. A simple screen crack may render the touch function inoperable and the whole device suddenly becomes useless. There is one other aspect to phones - they run out of batteries and are not ideal to use in full daylight. Displays get better, but for true daylight use like reading books, we still use Kindles. But then Kindles are limited in function - no maps, no GPS, cannot be...

iPhone photography is great and it is clearly now my main camera. As the old saying goes - the best camera is the one you have with you. And it also makes very good photos. Purists will argue that a large aperture prime lens cannot be matched (and I agree) but a large aperture prime typically weighs 1 kilogram or more (and requires an equally heavy camera). So it is impossible to have a lens like that at hand all the time. One thing the iPhone (and most smartphones in general) lack is a long telephoto. Yes they have an equivalent of 70mm or even 120mm but there are certain "telephoto moments" when there is no substitute for a really long lens. I have been on a quest to find a lightest and most pocketable long lens setup for a long time. And we are talking about focal lengths of 400mm or more. Have tried different setups, such as the Ribcage - modified Sony DSC-RX0 , but nothing has worked well so far. Playing with the DSC-RX0 I realized I really needed a viewfinder to properl...

I was running Windows 10 for, well, close to 10 years. Since it's original release in 2015 almost till the end of 2024 when I had the motherboard in the 2018 MacBook replaced. It was the original install which then survived two Lenovo laptops and was then cloned to the MacBook. Unlike the older Windows releases (the unfamous Vista and earlier), Windows 10 has never suffered from the problem of getting slower with use. And it was super stable. The motherboard replacement triggered me however to perform a clean install of Windows 11 , prompted mostly by the Windows 10 line nearing its end of life, meaning mostly the end of support and security patches. There was the initial disappointment of not being able to move the taskbar to a vertical position (most monitors today are wide, so it really really makes sense to have the taskbar on the side), but other hat that Windows 11 runs just fine. Overall cleaner here and there but generally the experience has been as great as can be. There a...

I have finally decided to pull the trigger and get myself a pair of Apple Airpods (Pro 2). The key motivation has been to get a set that is comfortable for daily runs while providing decent sound isolation. It the past I praised the virtues of the non-isolating headphones. I still use the Bose Frames on my trail runs at home. But these runs are in nature's sanctuary: it is just me and the woods and some wildlife. I also absolutely love the bone-conducting Shokz with a boom mike for teleconferencing. They sound fabulous (on both ends of a teleconference). And I also have Bose Earbuds which I use when flying - still nothing comes close to Bose when noise canceling is concerned. But they don't feel quite right when running. One reason that had prevented me from buying the Airpods in the past was the white color. They just look like you have cigarettes sticked in your ears. And per the Apple / Ford rule you can have them in any color as long as it is white. But there is a soluti...

I blogged in the past about my love-hate relationships with Bluetooth products and Logitech was brought as the example of a company that maintained technical excellence while losing on the support / delivery side . I was still bringing the excellent product aspects of the KEYS-TO-GO 2. That opinion was based on my initial product experience. After several months of using the keyboard on a daily basis, I must unfortunately admit the product is not so great after all. As a matter of fact it can be quite annoying (but there are workarounds). The key problem (pun intended!) with KEYS-TO-GO 2 is it is powered by coin-cell batteries. And the batteries die quickly and without any warning. The power consumption is not as bad as the other Kickstarter keyboard I had in the past . But still since purchasing the keyboard 9 months ago, I had to replace the batteries 3 times. That means batteries last for 3 months on average. That is a far cry from the advertised 3-year lifespan . Although, to be fa...