Headworx

This may sound strange from the gadget guy, but - I think - to some extent this can be felt by long time followers of this blog. There are less gadget reviews, which reflects my personal shift away from pulling a "buy it" trigger whenever something cool or smart appears on the radar. This has partly been the result of the pandemic - more time with the nature, slower pace, more time to think and observe etc. And partly from the fact I have moved to a small rustical cottage in the woods, which is full of vintage items I try repairing in my spare time. On the photo here is the Standard Micronic Ruby SR-Q640F I listen to everyday. It is 55 years old, probably the finest, tiniest AM/FM radio of all times. This hobby of rejuvenating vintage electronics has brought me the perspective of how long devices can last. And yes, some of them do last very long (which is always a relative thing). Out of computing accessories I have been using for many years - is the ScanSnap S300 . Still as

Passwords are probably the most unsolved user experience issue since the beginning of the Internet era. The biggest fail. There is one thing that keeps them alive, which is (the recovery) email. Email is - in the end - the last resort when we mess with passwords, by simply forgetting them. The problem with passwords is that by trying to make them more secure, by enforcing policies of "difficult" passwords or policies to change them frequently, we force users to keep them stored in plain text either on easily accessible electronic notes or on post-its. And any web service which is accessed less frequently, we probably start with the "forgot password" option which emails us a recovery link. Then there are password managers which themselves are a mess. I have always had issues trusting them fully. Probably one useful thing they offer are statistics. E.G., Google Chrome tells me I have about 300 passwords to various web sites. 300 is obviously not manageable in any way

The cable bag has been shrinking and this is thanks to the progress in standardization of connectivity and power supply options. Namely: the single Type-C connector (including Thunderbolt, USB 2/3 and Power Delivery) to rule them all. USB has had a fascinating ride for the last 25 years and has probably been my favorite connectivity technology (alongside Bluetooth of course :). So here is my cable bag, the H2/2021 edition. May items may actually be considered quite old, but the bottom line is USB-C has been working for me extremely well. And the world is catching up. RAVPower PD Pioneer power supply. 2 ports / 90W / half the size of the genuine Apple brick. This one is quite old but you can find several similar ones today. Generic EU (and UK if you know how to use it) wall socket adapter. JCPAL 1.5m (6ft) USB-C power and data cable. This one stands out, as it is rated at 100W (5A) power AND does USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 data transfers, while still being sturdy and flexible. And also has a nice

There seems to be this big misconception about the "Pro" devices, mostly introduced by Apple's push of the more expensive and feature-rich variants of their products. So we have not only the "Pro" MacBooks, but also "Pro" iPhones, "Pro" iPads, "Pro" AirPods". And Pro of course means business (as opposed to leisure). But in fact this is all so misplaced and (again) mostly serves the marketing (and sales) to siphon more money for the products. Let's face it: there is very little "Pro" things you can do on an iPad. Not to mention an iPhone or, especially, AirPods. The concept of "Pro" comes from "professional use" or - in other words - using to conduct a profession.  This originates with traditional professional tools, like workshop tools (made of better steel) or electric tools like drills (made to withstand more cycles / working hours). Yes, a mechanic in a workshop will most likely benefit from