COVID-19’s Work-From-Home Mandate Will Drive Virtual Studio Initiative, Further Pushing Apple Out of Production

If there’s one thing that will remain long after the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be the ability to work from home. Many have made the case that allowing employees to work remotely and a ROWE (results only work environment) mentality increases productivity and lowers costs, yet many companies have still frowned upon the idea. The pandemic acts as the case study proponents were looking for, and the evidence is overwhelming: remote work is possible and viable in almost every industry. But what about the production space? The technology has existed for years, but studios and post facilities often think remote work poses too many complications and risks. Now they too are seeing the light. Interest in remote & cloud-based production workflows has spiked tremendously during COVID-19’s reign and will continue to thrive once life returns to normal. A new era will begin in the production space, but there’s one company that will be left behind: Apple.

Once one of two heavyweights in the digital age of production (the other being Avid), Apple’s Final Cut NLE, Mac Pro Towers, and XSAN storage could be found in many serious studios. Those days are long past, but their workstations still remain the favorite for many artists. However, Apple is notorious for their secluded and shut-down ways of operating; they don’t like to play nice with others. For a complete remote production three things are necessary: Cloud infrastructure (storage and networks), Cloud-based workstations, and a platform for the user to connect with no loss of performance or quality (Teradici is the clear leader in this sector). This is where Apple falls short.

Apple has never and probably will never allow their OS to be virtualized. If you want OSX on a virtual instance it needs to be run on Apple hardware. Cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP will never leverage this, as it’s not cost effective to rack mount hundreds of over-priced Mac Pro systems. Even if you had your own workstation in a datacenter, you still couldn’t leverage Teradici’s platform as Apple hasn’t the API to allow their software to function properly.

When the stay-at-home order came through and facilities scrambled to find a solution, those that were Windows and Linux based had an easy time getting their people set up at home in a way that still provided a high level of security. An employee’s home system could be leveraged regardless of OS as a client, or an affordable zero or thin-client could be sent home with them. Apple shops, on the other hand, were stuck. They scrambled to find encrypted hard-drives to send home with artists and could not find a surefire way to ensure that security protocols were being followed at a user’s home. Logistics of dataflow became a nightmare. Many found themselves renting Windows and Linux boxes to place in their data centers as temporary workstations for remote users, placing a heavy burden on technical teams to keep downtime minimal.

When the dust settles for those who struggled and executive teams meet, the question of “how do we prevent this in the future?” will have an obvious answer: Abandon Apple, regardless of artist preference. Many will also see the great benefits of a reduced data center footprint and minimal studio space and rely more heavily on cloud-based infrastructure. Apple’s already dwindling “pro” market will take another hit, and the era of the Virtual Studio will begin.

PROST! A Winter Classic: Glühwein

To me there’s nothing more festive during the holiday than strolling a German Christmas market with a warm mug of glühwein. It’s an easy and delicious way to bring cheer to any holiday party. Here’s my method! (This is to provide for a whole party, you can easily cut this in half and still have plenty!)

COOK TIME: Less than 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

• 4 lemons

• 4 oranges

• 20 whole cloves

• 10 cardamom pods

• 2.5 cups granulated sugar

• 2.5 cups water

• 4 cinnamon sticks

• 4 (750ml) bottles Cabernet Sauvignon

• 1 cup brandy

1) Peel the zest off the lemons and oranges, try to get as little of the pith as possible. Juice all the citrus. Put the zest in a large pot with the sugar, water, juice, and cinnamon sticks. Tie off the cardamom and cloves in cheesecloth and add to the pot. On high heat bring to a simmer. Turn to low and simmer for ~22 minutes.

2) Add the brandy and wine and turn up the heat. DO NOT BRING TO A BOIL! Once it is warm enough, strain and transfer to the serving container of your choice.

3) Garnish your glass with a cinnamon stick & orange slice. PROST!

Interview w/ Little Black Book & Sohonet

I recently had the pleasure of sitting for an interview w/ the creative advertising publication Little Black Book and Sohonet. Check it out here:

https://lbbonline.com/news/its-important-for-us-cave-trolls-to-have-a-creative-side/

The Loss Of A Legend

Im not one to mourn for those that I do not personally know.  Even then I have a hard time, so I find it difficult to deal with how devastated I am by the loss of Anthony Bourdain.

My personal feelings aside for a moment, I truely believe that Anthony was one of the greatest journalists of our time.  In a world of scripted news and responses, where bullshit is shoved into our ears on a regular basis, Tony was a refreshment.  He told it how it was.  He explored our dark and gruesome world, showing us hardship but in a way that provided a glimmer of hope and happiness.  He was always himself and wasn’t afraid to say “fuck you” to anyone. 

As for myself, well into my 20s I placed importance only on material things. I had a very limited diet, had never left the country, and you’d rarely find me in a kitchen.  Bourdain showed me the value of culture and the power that travel, food, and cooking had to bring people together and to provide an emotional one of a kind experience.  All the things I now love dearly in life that I try to share with you all.  

He was an inspiration.

He was my hero.

Goodbye Tony.

The Modern Day Studio Is Microsoft

     Technology has its trends, just like fashion — it’s arguably the industry that is most plagued by buzzwords. Virtualization! The Cloud! Zero Client! To consumers these all sound super interesting, but anyone in the industry knows that “the cloud” just means your information is on someone else’s computer. Don’t get me wrong, these technologies were game changing, but manufacturers and vendors have a way of making you sick of hearing about them and over-embellishing their use case.

     Apple had us fooled the longest. Creative markets especially love to be on top of whatever is hip at the time and Apple spent the early 2000s convincing us all that it was the technology equivalent of Ryan Gosling (Hey girl, whatchu know about sleek hardware design?). In their defense, for a while it was true. The film industry’s obsession with Final Cut let Apple dominate everything outside of the Avid market for the better part of a decade. Their flashy aluminum hardware made server racks look cool and the G5 and Mac Pro towers the same for anyone’s workspace. At the time there was no reason to complain, the hardware was decent and for the most part it just worked. From an IT standpoint managing Apple hardware and software was fairly simple. Then it was over almost as soon as it began. Apple abandoned their enterprise platforms in exchange for handheld devices; their server platforms discontinued and OSX server became an afterthought. Through all this however the cheese grater Mac Pro lives on to this day, and for good reason. It’s the only true “pro” Macintosh workstation, and for those that don’t want to clutter their workspace with seemingly endless thunderbolt devices it’s the only way to go. People still pay a pretty penny for modified units that can accept current hardware (can I get that with a 1080 please?).

     The longevity of Final Cut and Apple workstations, with the lack of Apple branded storage, opened the floodgates for proprietary storage vendors to move in on the film industry. Once Apple dropped the ball with Final Cut X and Adobe moved in on the market with Premiere as the “next big thing” this market continued to expand. There’s now almost countless storage vendors offering ZFS or proprietary filesystem solutions for use with your choice of editing software. Everyone has their say on what they think is best, but we can all agree that at the end of the day you’re paying an extremely high cost per terabyte for a system that requires a lot of manhours in maintenance and upkeep. On top of that, maintaining a Mac environment is costly in itself. Almost everything is an additional cost: You want AD managed GPOs? Better put up the money for Centrtify. Single Sign-On? Okta or OneLogin to the rescue. 10G connectivity? On top of that PCI card you need to put up some serious cash for a PCI thunderbolt chassis (if you aren’t desperately clinging to the cheese grater).

    Now this isn’t to say that Apple doesn’t have its place in the workplace. In fact that’s far from the case. As an IT professional I prefer a Mac hands down. Being a former DevOps engineer UNIX runs through my veins and Terminal is by far the best native CLI. I can run Windows either natively or as a VM to have instant access to either OS. Simply put it makes my job easier (and yes their hardware still looks great. Except for the Trashcan. Screw the trashcan). However, considering the future of our infrastructure, we here at our agency took all of this into consideration and we found ourselves asking one question: why? There surely had to be a better way. We weren’t alone in hearing the quiet whispers of “Windows…. Windows…”. After all, Windows 10 is a solid operating system. Their server platform is by far superior to any other options, you’d be hard pressed to find an organization that’s not using a Windows domain controller. Microsoft adds new features to Office365 and Azure daily. SSO is free up to a certain point using Azure AD, therefore, why put up that extra money for a 3rd party service? Now you may say “OK sure, but basic enterprise services aside, what else are they good for? Windows file sharing isn’t nearly capable enough to handle production workflows”. Well, that’s where we are now all wrong. Windows Server 2016 brings in the big guns. SMB Direct (RDMA) stands up against NFS in a head-to-head matchup. Server 2016’s new S2D (Storage Spaces Direct) platform utilizes NVMe caching just as well as ZFS, and they’re now introducing a RAM caching mechanism using Storage Class Memory that will be 10 times faster than that. Storage is object-based, no more waiting 40 hours for a RAID to rebuild. The load-balancing capabilities are best-in-class, superior high-availability, and the great part about all of this is that you can choose your own hardware. Head nodes, JBODs, hard-drives: pick and choose as you want! And because you’re running windows you’re not putting up $200,000 for three years of software licensing. Do the math. Not only do you save a massive amount in cost-per-terbyte, but you can get three top tier Windows workstations for the cost of a single Mac when all is said and done. Overall we’ve ended up spending around a third (and that’s being conservative) of what we would have spent to update our storage to something like a new Open Drives or Qumulo system as well as update all our Mac workstations. Companies like Qumulo offer an exceptional product, but is the additional cost really worth what they’re offering at the end of the day?

     Best of all, it works. There’s no arguing that Windows Server is extremely easy to manage and exceptionally stable. Permissions are a breeze, there’s enumerated file access, plus you can just as easily manage everything from the GUI as you can from the CLI. At the end of the day it makes our jobs easier and works just as well (and in many cases better) than the competition. The initial reactions to our decision to become almost entirely a Microsoft shop were skeptical. We must be crazy! However, if you take the time to evaluate everything Microsoft now has to offer and everything they plan to offer in the years to come you’ll see that they’re bringing high performance, supreme reliability, and ease of management at an extremely low cost. In our opinion, the future of studio tech is Microsoft.

Apple Reaches Peak Beta Culture With iOS11 Release

     I hate bugs.  As in insects, they’re gross (especially spiders).  Oh, I hate software bugs too.  As someone in the tech industry I’m quite forgiving of the occasional bug, they’re inevitable. But bugs and a crippled platform are two different thing entirely, and really poor UI decisions are equally as bad to a users experience.

     If you’re unfamiliar with “Beta culture”, it’s an increasing trend in software/hardware development and distribution, where devices or applications that are supposed to be in the software cycle testing phase are released to keep up with competitors and market trends. Although they have undergone the first step in the testing cycle, these beta versions still have a long way to go before final product release. Today, companies tend to deploy products that are still in the beta phase - in the hope that customers will embrace them, quirks and all.  This is done with the belief that a product ultimately can be fixed through product updates for features or bug fixes. The risk is that beta product leaves customers unsatisfied and damages company credibility.  Apple especially is notorious for this however because their reputation is hard to tarnish.  

     So on to iOS11.  As someone in the industry and an (ex) Apple fanboy, I used to impatiently load Apple’s beta/test builds on to my phones to test new features.   It always quickly became aparant that this was a mistake as it would cripple many of the features I relied on for day-to-day use.  By the time release rolled around there were still some issues, but nothing too major. However Apple has gotten more and more ambitious as new versions come.  After over a week of using iOS11 now I feel like I used to when loading pre-release builds on my phone.

     iOS11 is not only not production ready, it’s a crippled operating system.  I have an iPhone 7 which is still less than a year old, it’s specs are still solid from a hardware standpoint.  I get constant lock-ups where my phone becomes completely unresponsive for 10-30 seconds.  Apps freeze and crash consistently, and I’m not talking 3rd party apps which you could say “well maybe they weren’t fully iOS11 ready”, I’m talking Apple native apps such as maps.  

Some of my other favorite bugs so far:

- When playing music in Spotify, adjusting the volume will stop spotify and start playing music from my Library.  Wat?

- The volume buttons work, but don’t adjust the slider, they seem to function completely independently from one another, leaving you wondering where your volume is actually at.  There’s no visual feedback of volume adjustment to be found when using the side buttons.

- Speaker phone? Nope, doesn’t work

- Bluetooth audio in general has been very inconsistent, even on phone calls. 

- Touch ID is far worse now, sometimes not working at all

- My phone will still say it’s charging from my Apple battery case after it’s empty and the battery is depleted. 

You get the hint, really obvious stuff that should have been ironed out beforehand.

Now on to the UI/UX.  Seriously what the hell?   The headers like “Messages” and “All Inboxes”  are like the headers I used to put on webpages in the late 90s before proper web design was a thing.  I mean look at these things:

Who thought this was visually pleasing or informative?  Relax on your font size there bro.  Bloated labeling for no reason whatsoever.    

The only thing I can say that I do enjoy is the new customizable Control Center.   Every time a new iPhone releases I tell myself that this is when I'll finally be switching to Android.  Maybe this time around I'll actually do it?

WTF JAPAN

So, anyone that knows anything about me knows that I've been obsessed with the idea of visiting Japan for a long while now.  The food, the culture, the cities, everything had such great appeal.  This past September I FINALLY made the trip with my buddy Pierre.  It did not disappoint.

CITIES

I won't get too in depth here.  We visited 3 of Japan's biggest cities with a quick stop in Nara.

Tokyo is an endless urban sprawl. If you want the hustle and bustle of NY x10 then this is the place for you.  There are quite a few areas that feel like they could be Times Square, mainly Shibuya crossing.  Each neighborhood has it's own stuff going on and it would take an eternity to explore the whole city.

Osaka is also very large.  Def a different vibe from Tokyo, Osaka is a culinary city with delicious street food galore.  Osaka Castle is definitely the prettiest of the Japanese palaces.  The aquarium and massive ferris wheel were also worth the trip.  

Nara, DEER!

Kyoto was my personal favorite.  The city is nice but there is also a lot of preserved history in the form of architecture and Geishas . Plus, NATURE!  Which you don't see a lot of outside of parks in the other cities.  Highlights included food, monkeys (yup) , ridiculous photo booths, and karaoke.  

Don't touch the Geisha.  Don't do it! Also keep your selfie stick at home.

Public transportation is a thing of beauty in all of Japan's cities.  Signs are VERY easy to follow, and with a little help from google you will have absolutely no problem getting where you need to go without knowing a spec of Japanese.

FOOD

Good god man.  There was an up and downside to the food in Japan.  The upside being basically everything is delicious.  You can walk into any 711 and grab a fresh onigiri or any other well made snack.  The downside is that certain foods, especially sushi, are now ruined for my because nothing in the states can compete.

On recommendation of my homie Anthony Bourdain, my number one priority was sushi at Yasuda.  This was not a mistake.  The first thing you have to understand is that this isn't just food, it's an experience.  You are dining with a man that has devoted his life to sushi and they cater to that.  Your interaction with the few members of the staff is minimal, and your focus is appropriately placed on Yasuda himself.  He will talk you through each selection and you will leave knowing more about what you just ate than anyone would ever think to learn.  The course is supposed to be around 14 pieces, but as long as you're hungry he'll keep going.  I think we ended upwards of 35.    If you go to Tokyo and only eat at one place I can not stress enough how crucial it is that it be Yasuda and that you try everything.  I usually don't eat roe or uni because I don't like what you get in the states.  What you'll get here is something completely different and worth getting out of your comfort zone of taste for.

The man, the myth, the legend.  Yasuda.

Osaka was full of street food: takoyaki and yakitori galore.  Also had a bowl of curry katsu udon that I wish someone in LA would replicate because it was to die for.  In Kyoto we discovered that malls all had large sections of food.  Not your typical food court.  Anything you can imagine is there for the eating and you'd do well to try as much as you can without exploding.  

Another absolute experience was Kyoto's Kichi Kichi Omurice.  This guy is a character and a half.  They're famous for their rice omelette but everything else we tried was insanely good as well.  He will work the camera for you all night, he loves it.  

Back in Tokyo we decided to stop at Ishibashi Sukiyaki.  This is one of the oldest restaurants in Tokyo and they've done a good job of keeping it retro.  Shoes off and you get your own little room to dine it.  There's a woman who comes in and cooks for you right there.  Interaction can get a little weird, but it was fun and very yum.

Ramen gets it's own paragraph here because to me it is it's own food group.  I love ramen.  It's an almost unhealthy addiction.  We had it 3 times while in Japan.  Ichiran, the biggest chain, was good and a fun experience.  The hole in the wall mom and pop type place was by far the best though and I would kill to eat it again. 

So very yum.

CULTURE

The culture is what really sold me on Japan.  You are taught to have respect for public places.  What might be a slight inconvenience for you is accepted because it's better for the greater good.  Because of this everything is SO CLEAN.  I've never seen nicer public bathrooms in my life.  If you go, don't be a dick, follow their lead.  Everything is so structured and people abide by this to result in maximum efficiency.  Walk where you're supposed to, do this, don't do that.  It's mathematical in a way.

People just leave things sitting out (like bikes) without even worrying about it because NOBODY IS AN ASSHOLE!  That sense of honor is really what America is lacking.  They will also go out of their way to help you.  Seriously the nicest people. 

Pretty much everyone is an Otaku in Japan.  I saw a 90 year old woman playing Pokemon Go on the bus.  Kids and adults alike enjoy Manga and Anime.  The ENTIRE Tokyo Tower was One Piece themed when we were there!

Such a nerd

Lastly, and I did not know this until we arrived, but you can drink pretty much anywhere. Totally fine.  That guy sleeping on the sidewalk in a suit?  Don't mind him, just a drunk salaryman, pay no attention.  

Overall, Japan was a magical place.  If I had visited at a younger age I might have even been tempted to try living there for a couple years afterwards.  I'll definitely be going back soon.

To view my full photo album of our Japan trip CLICK HERE

Accessorizing With Jord Wooden Watches

Those that know me know that I've never really been a wearer of watches.  Which is surprising because they really are a timeless (pun intended) classic staple of Men's style.  This is for a couple reasons, mainly being:

     a) I work on computers all day and the added weight on my wrist was distracting
and
     b) I've just never been a fan of metal jewelry: gold, silver, platinum, whatever.  Not really my style. Even if it was a luxury men's watch.

Enter Jord.  Initially it was my love of natural wood finishes (my long beloved natural wood Gibson SG guitar is a testament to this) that sparked my interest, but upon further investigation the detail of these things is just incredible (AND because they're not metal they're much lighter than a traditional wristwatch).  I personally have been wearing the DOVER series Zebrawood & Dark Sandalwood timepiece and you can tell right away that it's something special. The craftsmanship is phenomenal and the clear face and rear give you a peak at the intricate and obviously well built inner workings.  Given it's uniqueness it's no wonder the number of compliments I've received in just my short week of wearing it.

(Check out Jord's men's collection here or to view my Dover timepiece directly click here.)

At first I was concerned about the versatility of a wooden watch but I really do feel comfortable wearing it with almost anything.  It compliments my summer suiting perfectly as well as my casual cool summer digs.  The only place it would feel out of place is with a black suit/tux, and that's not the styling by any means, just the color-way.  The Ebony & Copper Dover or Ebony & Gold Frankie would look extremely dashing in black tie.    

Finally, the last great thing I will rant about is the price point.  The watches range from $180 to $395, which for such a great accessory is barely breaking the bank.  Because of that they're not only good for your personal use, but they could make a really unique gift as well (and yes, they do make women's watches as well!).  

Enjoy! 

Wood Watch

Overwatch: Review

The gaming world has changed.  Most studios have traded making a really great game with replay value for churning out a once-a-year title that keeps you occupied until any other new title is released.  This is especially true to the first-person shooter genre.  I played Halo 3 for years and never got bored, now when a new Halo or CoD is released I play for maybe 3 months before losing interest.  Sure there's some exceptions to this, mainly anything coming out of Naughty Dog or for me the Mass Effect series, but it seems to be the new norm.

Enter Overwatch.  I can't stress enough how much this game has renewed my faith in gaming. I love MOBA's like DOTA because they're different every time you play.  An endless number of characters to choose from offering their own unique talents and an emphasis on "work as a team or you're screwed" gameplay.  It requires you to actually think instead of running around blindly attacking everything in sight and every round feels almost like an entirely different game.  Sure, this has been adapted to the first-person shooter genre before but nobody has done it quite like Blizzard. 

For those who have yet to play, Overwatch is as stated an objective based team first-person shooter staring 21 playable characters from 4 different categories (attack, defense, tank, or support), all with their own unique abilities.  Teams have to choose their characters based on the objective, wether they're attacking or defending, and also to counter any troublesome members of the opposing team.  I have to say that the character balance is amazing.  With the exception of a few you really feel like everything is evenly matched.  My only gripe is that I don't think that more than one of any given character should be allowed on one team.  It makes games seem generic and takes the diversity that I love so much out of play.

I can honestly say that I have not enjoyed a game this much in a long time.  The characters are all iconic in their own way and most importantly it's just FUN.  Playing solo is satisfying but it really comes together when playing with friends on a team when you can communicate properly.  

Summer Suit Up with Bonobos

Ahh summer.  What I and many others would consider the best season of the year.  At my age with the hot sun, long days, and pool parties also comes a fair number of weddings.  Many would cringe at having to wear a suit in the summer (especially to an outdoor wedding), but just because the heat is on doesn't mean you can't suit up, look dapper, and stay cool.  Look no further than the linen suit.

Lately there's an abundance of online suit and tailored clothing merchants claiming to make your life easier.  In theory that all sounds great but there's one thing wrong with this approach:  What guy who truly cares about fit and style is going to buy a suit without feeling the fabric and trying it on first?  A few of them have showrooms in major cities but they are closed off to the public.  No thanks!

Enter Bonobos.  I've been hearing good things but because of the previously stated reasons I had been skeptical.  That was until I found out they had a showroom open to customers.  I just happened to have a wedding to attend this June so it was time to go shopping.  Upon arrival I was greeted kindly and introduced to a stylist that would be assisting me (Sara).  After some quick measurements I was given some sizing options, shown to a fitting room, and after about 10 minutes I knew exactly what I would need.  On to the suits!  I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted and decided quickly on a khaki linen suit.  I was given some great shirt options as well and walked out with a few items on order with hopes that their amazing chambray suit would soon be back in stock as well.  A few days later a package arrived with my two new fresh suits and shirt.  After some magical work by my tailor I'm ready to tackle summer weddings head on!  

Check out Bonobos at www.bonobos.com and a big thanks to Sara at Bonobos LA for helping me out.

A fantastic look for a summer wedding

CES 2016 Recap

One would think that in my many years working in tech that I would be a seasoned CES veteran by now.  The truth is that this was my first year attending and I was very excited to do so.  I'll run through my highlight reel and WTFs.

If there's one word that I would use to sum up CES this year it would be DRONES.  Holy crap so many drones.  The majority of the South Hall was overrun with drone companies and retailers.  It's interesting to see how much these have moved into the consumer space.  You better believe that the FAA was also there to make sure everyone knew that they now had to register their new toys.

My overall pick for the "You Win CES" award goes to LG.  Whomever plans their booth and marketing deserves one hell of a pat on the back.  I found myself staring at vacuum cleaners and refrigerators in awe.  Aside from home appliances, their televisions are easily the top tier available, and their computer displays are also second to none.  These guys know what they're doing and it's the model for every other manufacturer (Sony, Samsung, etc) to aspire to.  Most impressive was the new Signature line of 4K OLED displays.  Out of all the new TV tech (OLED, Samsung's Quantum Dot, Sony's Slim Backlight Drive) OLED is the clear winner in my opinion.  They are also on top with HDR support, boasting pretty much every standard on the market (Dolby Vision, HDR Pro, etc).  I would give Samsung the second place ribbon but they definitely have some catching up to do.  I would post a picture, but it just wouldn't do OLED justice.  Pure blacks, insanely vivid colors, infinite viewing angles, etc.  I will however give you a glimpse of what everyone's private workstations (or gaming stations) should look like:

Next up is VR.  Thanks to a friend I got a personal demo of Oculus and their new touch controllers.  I've been pretty vocal at this point about my HTC Vive fanboy status, but the Oculus might have won me over after this demo, which was a chance to play Bullet Train.  The touch controllers are amazing.  After a bit of an adjustment period you can almost feel like you can use your hands to their full capabilities in the virtual realm: picking up objects, holding and firing a weapon, etc.  The only place that I feel they need to catch up is the trackable space in which you have to play, where I think the Vive does a bit better of a job of tracking in a larger space (it also marks boundaries, which would have been helpful in my Oculus demo when I ran into a shelf).

The best surprise award goes to Marshall Amplification.  I've had a long history with Marshall due to being a musician, mainly a guitar player.  They're already legendary in that space so it's interesting to see their push into consumer sound.  Their booth first off was small but amazingly decorated in the image of the brand.  I was given a beer while I explored which was also a big plus.  I sampled two of their portable speakers: The Stockwell and the Kilburn.  The Kilburn is now high on my to-purchase list.  It packs a very large punch and amazing sound quality into a relatively small package.  The Stockwell sound is great too and is prefect if you need more portability, but for the small extra amount of money and increase in bass response and volume, the extra size of the Kilburn is justifiable.  

My final award, the "I almost feel bad for you" award, goes to Polaroid.  The name itself seems dated, and you can tell their struggling to find their place in the current market.  They were displaying a sub-par version of almost any product you can think of: cell phones, 3D printers, tablets, TVs, etc.  None of them caught your attention and it seemed almost desperate.  

So there you have it!  Although I only spent one day I definitely had my fill of consumer technology.  I know for sure that my life will soon be including some new LG and Marshall products, and maybe even a Rift!

How a Single Airline Can Ruin Your Holiday

I usually always fly Delta or Virgin America due to the many positive experiences I've had.  This Holiday I chose to fly directly into my hometown of Albany, NY instead of my usual affair of flying in and out of New York City.  United turned out to be the best choice economically.  The reasons why were unfortunately made very apparent. The following is a recap of my experience.

I was due to fly out the night of Saturday the 26th.  First Class, nice and cozy.  While sitting at the airport bar passengers were informed that the flight would be delayed by a couple hours.  I was going to miss my connecting flight.  There was a single representative working the booth, so I stood for about two hours before finally being able to get some assistance.  By this time the flight had been completely cancelled as it had been rerouted due to mechanical issues.  The rep rebooked me on a Delta flight the following morning at 6:15 and said he was able to maintain my First Class.  Early, but I wanted to get back.  Headed home and got a few hours of sleep.

The following morning my poor exhausted parents hauled me back to the airport.  Upon arrival at the Delta counter I was informed that the United rep didn't properly book the flight, and on top of that it was for Economy, not first like he had said.  The gentleman at the Delta booth went over to the United counter TWICE to inquire, and both times they sent him back saying it was fixed.  It wasn't and by this time I missed the flight, AGAIN thanks to United.  

Back to the United counter!  The representative was rude and inattentive.  Her co-worker kept giving her suggestions for flights that would have landed me back fairly early, but she insisted on doing her own thing, which took about an hour.  She actually booked me on a flight for the next day by mistake, and by the time she was done messing around I had missed many other opportunities.  My ONLY option at this point was now flights zig-zagging over 4 states across the country with two separate airlines for a total of 16 hours of travel time.  After my second flight, I would actually be closer to my origin and further from my destination than I was after my first.  Throughout the process the Delta rep John actually came over numerous times to check on me.  It was the only positive part of my morning (+1 Delta).

I promptly called to complain and was directed to two different websites: One to request a refund and another to request "compensation".  The compensation request site didn't work (of course) so I E-Mailed my complaint to United.  I received an E-Mail back from Mary at United offering me condolences and a $200 credit for United.  As if I'd ever even think about flying with the airline again?  That simply would not do.  The only thing making this right was a refund of my ticket costs.  Another E-mail back saying that was unfortunately not going to happen.

OK, so let's put this into perspective:

United is offering me $200 to make amends for this issue.  Setting aside the immense amount of stress the airline caused my family and I, the extreme discomfort, etc.  We'll also subtract $25 from that due to the fact that I had to pay another airline to check my bag, which I would not have had to do because I was supposed to be flying first class.  So $175 is really what they are giving me.  Considering time alone (not the emotional distress), I arrived in LA 19 hours after I was originally supposed to.  That basically says that United thinks my time is worth ($175/19 hours) $9.21/hour. 

Delta (whom United booked me through), on the last leg of my trip, was offering people an $800 credit to delay to the next morning, a 14.5 hour delay. You can then equate that to ($800/14.5 hours) $55.17/hour (+2 Delta).  Basically, what United Airlines is telling me is that other airlines value their customers 6x more than they do? Makes perfect sense, and I easily believe that at this point.

My latest E-mail from Mary states that the $200 is not "compensation" (yet ANOTHER discrepancy by United employees) but an effort to give me the opportunity to experience United in a better light.  Doing what, flying from LA to San Diego?  Where is $200 supposed to get me?!  I asked for the case to be escalated and according to Mary this case is already considered escalated, aka she refuses to let me talk to someone else.

I continue to deal with United in hopes that someone can make this right, but the moral is: don't ever fly with United Airlines.  After all this I will never, EVER, be straying from my usual airline choices.  Delta proved to me again that they are great, even when I'm flying with them through another airline.  United, you should be ashamed. Your lackluster employees, mistakes, and awful customer service are so atrocious that I don't know how you remain in business.

VR with HTC Vive: Review

I feel weird reviewing things before their production release, but this is a special case.  I remember being a child and trying super old VR rigs at Disney and other places.  It was great but not something you'd ever have in your house, and it essentially was like being in a weird 3D Atari game.  There has been a lot of hype around Virtual Reality starting with Oculus, and now Sony's Project Morpheus,  Samsung Gear, etc.  Luckily I work at a company where I've got a very in-depth experience with them all, and I can honestly say that the Vive is by far the greatest.  

For those who are not familiar, the Vive isn't just a headset but a full rig.  There's 2 laser emitting sensors that you place around your room, creating a 10'x10' "virtual playground" anywhere you chose.  There's also 2 wands that act as controllers that come with the kit.  The lasers act as trackers, sensing the location and movement of the wands and headset within your designated space.  They do an amazing job of doing so as well.

I've run through numerous demo's and games (Portal Robot Lab, Tiltbrush, etc) with the Vive and I can honestly say that it's a true "mind fuck".  Even after spending 5 minutes in the virtual world your senses adapt as if it were real, and taking the set off causes a brief period of nausea.  That is however a good thing.  It's literally so convincing to your brain that it requires an adjustment going between real and the virtual world.  

There's one way I can describe the experience that I think is most relevant.  Every once in a while something new comes along and changes the way you look at technology.  I remember getting my first Windows computer and spending hours using MS Paint because holy crap!  I could draw on a computer!  At the time it was mind blowing.  The simplest of things reinvented to the point of making it a totally new experience.  That's what VR is going to be.  Tiltbrush, which is essentially a drawing/painting game in a 3D space, has made me feel that all over again.  I could spend endless hours just drawing random things and it would be endlessly entertaining again, just as it was in MS Paint.  But this is something different, something greater.  I can't even begin to fathom the uses and possibilities for VR.  My favorite book of all time, Ready Player One (read it if you haven't), seems fightingly possible.  Travel, education, gaming, anything you can think of can be accomplished in VR and in a convincingly real fashion.  Oculus was a great first step but the motion tracking and control with the handheld wands of the Vive make it a truly immersive experience.

The future is coming, and Virtual Reality is undoubtedly going to play a very large role.  Like the HD-DVD vs Blu Ray battle, there will be a great battle of tech fighting for the number one spot.  As it currently stands, the HTC Vive is the clear winner.  

It's OK to Wear Sweatpants, I Mean, "Joggers"

Being a guy is nice in that you can get away with wearing sweatpants in public without worry of being criticized for not trying (if you do them right, there's DEFINITELY a wrong way).  Previously when heading to a cafe or brunch on the weekend I didn't think twice about rocking some sweats as long as I was appropriately outfitted elsewhere, but now with the brilliant rebranding of sweatpants as "joggers", there's been a fantastic revival of the functionality that is sweats.  I'm a huge fan of street style as it's both comfortable and edgy. Recently nothing makes me feel ready to have an impromptu dance battle more than my H&M drop-crotch joggers.  Paired with an extra-long tee, my 7 For All Mankind Wire Edge Hoodie, and some Supra Skytop high-tops I feel like The Biebs would be proud.  Links below!

H&M Joggers

7 For All Mankind

Supra Footwear

Rain Room @ LACMA

The Rain Room at LACMA by Random International has become one of those "OMG that's so cool I have to go!" attractions if you live in LA.  Luckily we got tickets before they completely sold out for the year, so last week I went to check it out for myself.  I was hoping for a quick talk before entering, but unfortunately there's not much explaining as to the technology behind the rain room.  They literally usher you in, start a timer, then usher you out.  I think it takes away from the experience and even on the website it's hard to really find any explanation into how it was built or works, which to me is just as interesting/important as the art itself.  Upon entering you're told to literally "walk slower than a zombie", which gives you an indication as to the speed/sensitivity of the sensors they're using.  Once you're inside though it's pretty fantastic to stand in the middle surrounded by falling water, as if you somehow had control of the elements.  Usually groups are large, up to 15 people, but we luckily were in a small group, which meant better photo opportunities!  I'd love to be able to have some alone time in there and just sit on the floor, seems like the perfect spot for some reflecting/meditation.  All in all I think it was a pretty great experience and I urge anyone in LA or visiting to try to get tickets and attend.

Hello there, and thanks for stopping by...

Good morning/afternoon/evening!  This here is a blog...  My blog for that matter.  It is here that you will find my ramblings on many a subject.  Topics will range from fashion to food, tech gizmos to beer, travel to politics!  You never might know what you'll find, but I guarantee it'll be one hell of a time!  As this is my first post I suppose I should dabble into my reasons for being here.  I've owned this domain for quite some time, years in fact.  It has laid dormant, like Smaug in Erebor.  Well, the Dwarfs have returned to reclaim their homeland.  As the domain is appropriately named after me, I will in fact be the focal point of attention.  Join me on my crazy rollercoaster ride of life!