So, a few days ago I posted about my new laptop. I also mentioned how connectivity was limited to one micro USB port and wondered why they went with micro USB rather than USB-C.
[What, two technology posts in a row? Wasn't this blog supposed to be random ramblings?]
Well, this has lead on to a number of issues with USB.
Now, I have (perhaps rightly) been critical of Apple in its upgrade cycle for changing ports. Apple obviously eschews anything universal. But it means that since the iPhone has existed there have been two different connectors - 30pin and Lightning. Now they have removed the 3.5mm socket (I may address this on another occasion). There is a joke in the tech community that Apple sell more adapters than they do phones. At one count there were 17 different adapters available to buy on the Apple shop - whether the 3.5mm headphone socket, Lightning, Thunderbolt 1, 2 or 3 or charger - there were many (there was an article on this by a tech news site but I can't find it as it is lost in a lot of other more recent tech news posts telling us of all the many new adapters which have been developed for various Apple products as they recently released a new iPad and iBook both of which need adapters).
However all of this suggests that USB is perfect. It isn't. Far from it.
So, there are the main ports - USB-A. This is the standard 'slot' style where you put the cable in, but it won't go in so you have to turn it over and try again.
Standard.
Only it isn't.
There is USB1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0 and 3.1. Each of these are identically sized allowing for backward compatibility and 'universality' of cables (after all, the U of USB stands for Universal). Each of 1, 2, 2.1 and 3 allow for different data transfer rates - 1.5 Mb/s, 12, 480, 5Gb/s. USB 3 also allows for a higher power transfer- 5A instead of 2A or 0.9A or 0.5A.
But these all look identical - universal. Well, if you look in the middle of the USB socket there is a piece of plastic. This is the bit that gets in the way when you try to insert the plug the wrong way round. The idea was that this was supposed to be black for USB 1, white for USB 2, and blue for USB 3. But not all manufacturers have followed this, particularly on power sockets where because you are plugging into the mains and not transferring data they simply don't think you care.
Then you've got the other ports. They had pretty much settled on Mini and Micro. There had for a short while been a different style of micro - smaller still, more square shaped - but that seems to have died off; and some manufacturers decided they wanted proprietary ports (usually digital camera manufacturers). Cool
Only now they've decided they needed to shake things up again with USB-C. This is mostly to address data speeds and charging capacity, however it does resolve the age old issue of putting-it-in-the-wrong-way-around-and-having-to-turn-it-over.
Good.
Only, manufacturers are being really sluggish to adopt it. Still there are new devices being designed and released with micro-USB ports (mini seems to have died off as it was only slightly larger than micro). Indeed, that was one of my moans in the previous Yoga Book post.
What this means is that we have to have cables. A lot of cables. Or adapters. On my keyring for emergency charging I have a tiny USB-A-to-micro-USB cable and a micro-USB-to-USB-C adapter.
Ah yes, the cables. Anyone will tell you - not all cables are created equally. Some cables only transfer data, not power; some (strangely) do power but not data; some do both. Some will only charge at 2v, some at 5v (assuming that the port you are using supports 5v). Some support fast data transfer, some only slow (again, depending on which port you stick it in). But to look at a cable you can't tell what it supports.
Whilst USB-A ports have the coloured inserts, the cables have no such indicators. So this means I have cables all over the place, some of which will charge my devices, some won't. And if I take my phone (USB-C) and my Yoga Book (micro-USB) or wireless headphones (almost all of these are micro USB) and my battery powerpack (2v - enough just to keep my phone at the same charge, but not enough for my Yoga Book) I also have to carry an assortment of cables and adapters.
I know that the USB foundation is somewhat frustrated by the slow uptake of USB-C and eventually sees the day when everything will be USB-A 3.0 and USB-C, but until then we have to cope with these multiple form factors and capabilities.
Which doesn't seem very universal, really.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Technology Traumas
So, my laptop failed.
This wasn't terrible. Everything was backed up. But there's a hassle, isn't there?
Once you buy the laptop there's the setup. Connecting to the wifi, connecting to the mobile hotspot, connecting to the network, connecting to the Bluetooth headphones. Sharing the folders, copying documents, music, photo, videos. Downloading all the programs, apps, updates, etc. Customising and personalizing. Inputting and storing auto-inputs, usernames, passwords, accepting cookies on every single flipping website that you had already accepted cookies in your last laptop.
But...
This is once you've bought the new one.
Which was a problem.
Once upon a time I had a netbook. It was the prettiest little netbook I ever had. It was 10 inches of pure pleasure. I had it for a couple of years, and then when the warranty was done I took out the old hard drive and stuck in a 2TB little hard drive which was brilliant for the next few years. It was brilliant.
But, these things outdate. Whilst I could upgrade the hard drive I couldn't upgrade the RAM, the processor, the wireless network chip, the monitor, the failing battery. Stuff.
So, at that stage I looked around. But, having gotten used to a big hard drive, I needed a big hard drive. The problem was that I didn't want to immediately invalidate the warranty by opening it up and replacing the hard drive.
So, I looked for the biggest drive I could get in the smallest machine. The best I could get was 1TB in a 13" laptop.
Which I never really liked.
It was too big. I know there are 15"ers out there almost as standard. My father has a 17" laptop which my mother complains is too big to take anywhere - it struggles to go in their suitcase let alone a carryon bag.
It did what I needed it to, but when I was stood in the vestibule of the train carriage watching video (regularly) it was big.
Anyway, it performed its function, but it burned out. The hard drive failed.
So, I started looking around.
Ideally what I wanted was:
10" device - nice and small, able to slot easily into a small bag.
Lots of storage - ideally around 2tb
SSD - let's face it, mechanical hard drives are dated and they are the reason my last laptop died. Solid state is the future and is around already.
So, it surely must be possible to get this - a nice, small 10" device with a 2TB SSD? Because let's face it, I was able to put a 2TB HDD in a 10" device and SSDs have the same 2.5"form factor?
No.
10"ers they have competing with tablets. I don't want a tablet. I like laptops for a number of reasons. I like that the keyboard is separate, that it doesn't take up any screen estate, that I can write a lot easier.
Also my problem with tablets (and some 'convertibles') is that they don't stand on laps or train seats without stands. And those stands are not comfortable on a lap.
But if you go small, they go slim. Slim is nice but it means there is no space for a 2TB SSD. If you want a big SSD, you have to go 13". And I already knew 13" was too big. So, I would have to go little on my storage if I wanted to go little on my inches. I could find a few at 11.5" with 128gb of storage, but they were unsuitable for reasons - some were actually quite big, but most of them were HDDs, and I didn't want a HHD because of how they fail in laptops.
So I went with 10", but 64GB of storage which you could boost to 192GB by inserting a micro SD card. Why not do that boost or offer that option anyway? Is it really that difficult to include that much flash storage?
So, I settled on a Lenovo Yoga Book, which satisfies me on a number of grounds:
1) very small. Best size factor I could get
2) decent storage. On the basis that I knew this was always going to be my compromise, I don't think I've done too bad. I just have to adapt to a new way of working that doesn't involve me having every photo and music available whenever. I'll have to curate my collections.
3) novelty - the 'key-less keyboard' I find brilliant and novel and I love it, although it will take some getting used to.
However, there is an issue with it.
Connectivity.
It has a single data access port - a micro USB port. This is the charger, but also allows you connect things to the computer.
Now, there is the microSD card slot, but that means that it I want to download from my dSLR camera, I either have to remove the internal storage via the fiddly pin-pop tray, or else connect to the micro USB port and therefore stop charging.
I presume they are expecting anything I want to transfer off my mobile I will do over WiFi or Bluetooth.
Also - why micro USB? This is a laptop released late 2026, why not USB-C, which is faster and becoming more compatible with mobile phones.
But, for now at least, I love it.
This wasn't terrible. Everything was backed up. But there's a hassle, isn't there?
Once you buy the laptop there's the setup. Connecting to the wifi, connecting to the mobile hotspot, connecting to the network, connecting to the Bluetooth headphones. Sharing the folders, copying documents, music, photo, videos. Downloading all the programs, apps, updates, etc. Customising and personalizing. Inputting and storing auto-inputs, usernames, passwords, accepting cookies on every single flipping website that you had already accepted cookies in your last laptop.
But...
This is once you've bought the new one.
Which was a problem.
Once upon a time I had a netbook. It was the prettiest little netbook I ever had. It was 10 inches of pure pleasure. I had it for a couple of years, and then when the warranty was done I took out the old hard drive and stuck in a 2TB little hard drive which was brilliant for the next few years. It was brilliant.
But, these things outdate. Whilst I could upgrade the hard drive I couldn't upgrade the RAM, the processor, the wireless network chip, the monitor, the failing battery. Stuff.
So, at that stage I looked around. But, having gotten used to a big hard drive, I needed a big hard drive. The problem was that I didn't want to immediately invalidate the warranty by opening it up and replacing the hard drive.
So, I looked for the biggest drive I could get in the smallest machine. The best I could get was 1TB in a 13" laptop.
Which I never really liked.
It was too big. I know there are 15"ers out there almost as standard. My father has a 17" laptop which my mother complains is too big to take anywhere - it struggles to go in their suitcase let alone a carryon bag.
It did what I needed it to, but when I was stood in the vestibule of the train carriage watching video (regularly) it was big.
Anyway, it performed its function, but it burned out. The hard drive failed.
So, I started looking around.
Ideally what I wanted was:
10" device - nice and small, able to slot easily into a small bag.
Lots of storage - ideally around 2tb
SSD - let's face it, mechanical hard drives are dated and they are the reason my last laptop died. Solid state is the future and is around already.
So, it surely must be possible to get this - a nice, small 10" device with a 2TB SSD? Because let's face it, I was able to put a 2TB HDD in a 10" device and SSDs have the same 2.5"form factor?
No.
10"ers they have competing with tablets. I don't want a tablet. I like laptops for a number of reasons. I like that the keyboard is separate, that it doesn't take up any screen estate, that I can write a lot easier.
Also my problem with tablets (and some 'convertibles') is that they don't stand on laps or train seats without stands. And those stands are not comfortable on a lap.
But if you go small, they go slim. Slim is nice but it means there is no space for a 2TB SSD. If you want a big SSD, you have to go 13". And I already knew 13" was too big. So, I would have to go little on my storage if I wanted to go little on my inches. I could find a few at 11.5" with 128gb of storage, but they were unsuitable for reasons - some were actually quite big, but most of them were HDDs, and I didn't want a HHD because of how they fail in laptops.
So I went with 10", but 64GB of storage which you could boost to 192GB by inserting a micro SD card. Why not do that boost or offer that option anyway? Is it really that difficult to include that much flash storage?
So, I settled on a Lenovo Yoga Book, which satisfies me on a number of grounds:
1) very small. Best size factor I could get
2) decent storage. On the basis that I knew this was always going to be my compromise, I don't think I've done too bad. I just have to adapt to a new way of working that doesn't involve me having every photo and music available whenever. I'll have to curate my collections.
3) novelty - the 'key-less keyboard' I find brilliant and novel and I love it, although it will take some getting used to.
However, there is an issue with it.
Connectivity.
It has a single data access port - a micro USB port. This is the charger, but also allows you connect things to the computer.
Now, there is the microSD card slot, but that means that it I want to download from my dSLR camera, I either have to remove the internal storage via the fiddly pin-pop tray, or else connect to the micro USB port and therefore stop charging.
I presume they are expecting anything I want to transfer off my mobile I will do over WiFi or Bluetooth.
Also - why micro USB? This is a laptop released late 2026, why not USB-C, which is faster and becoming more compatible with mobile phones.
But, for now at least, I love it.
Tuesday, January 03, 2017
Brand New Year - Brand New Me?
So, it's that time of year again - an arbitrary change of date, the train station flicker board clicks over in the same way as it does all the time, the clock carries on its circle from 23:59:59 on 31/12/2016 to 00:00:00 on 01/01/2017.
It's just another new day really - for most it isn't even that, for most we don't even sleep through the transition to wake anew. We cheer, down a drink and then, much later, wake bleary-eyed on a day which is - thankfully - a bank holiday. A day when otherwise - because of winter conditions and lack of daylight - we would not be desperately wanting a day off.
I don't do resolutions. I know I've covered this previously. And whilst I had some success, I attribute very little to a new day, a new year.
But years are the closest way that we really have of 'chunking' life experiences. Remembering them to certain periods of our lives. I'm lucky (not really) in that I have a December birthday, so anything I could ascribe to an age, also aligns wih a calendar year. (honestly, nearly-Christmas birthdays are horrible.)
So, 2015 was my annus horribilis. Truly it was awful. Within days of completing the heavy renovation of my house, I was given notice of my redundancy at work. There is nothing more terrifying than being told that you will not be employed after 10th December - just a week before your birthday and a few more days before the Christmas shut down.
Whilst I was working out my redundancy notice period I then found out that my friend had taken himself. At this stage, actually nothing more could have gone wrong in my mind - I was losing my job, my income, my friends. Just before my birthday and Christmas.
OH YES - I nearly forgot - surgery. I injured my shoulder a year before in a football clash. I ran into someone called 'fatlad'. Normally, when I tackle people, I come off the better. This time I hadn't. After a year of (very attractive) physio with the lovely Dan, he identified that there was something more substantial wrong. So, I was scheduled in for an operation on 20th November 2015. Brill.
Anyway, what with one thing and another, this leant itself to me achieving my long-held ambition to move to London. I'd just completed my house renovation, so it was now (finally) set to sell, I had no job keeping me in the midlands - it was [the] PERFECT [storm].
But I've told you this already.
Everyone has bemoaned how 2016 has been a terrible year. Celebrity deaths, Brexit, Trump and the rest.
Anyway, 2016 was the year when I did London. I settled, explored, sorted. You may recall I went with #DoOneThing? This was where I was determined not to fall into "the London trap" of living in London and yet not doing anything. The number of times that I speak to my friends and they haven't done things because they haven't made time. So I made time.
So, I did #DoOneThing. The rules about #DoOneThing were not great - I had to Do One Thing a week that got me out of the house. Just one thing a week. Something a bit different. It wasn't just meeting mates, it wasn't a night down the pub or in a club. It was doing something different - a bit cultural or something else. So, for example, my Sunday wanders around Cockfosters, Greenwich, Hampstead, Peckham etc. didn't count.
I have counted up. I did 182 things.
182.
110 of these were theatre, 15 comedy, 23 music, 4 art related and 30 in the 'other' category (which included festivals, certain installations that didn't classify as art, cinema and tv/radio show recordings).
To be clear, this is almost one every other day (2016 was a leap year so technically half is 183).
I did do two things on some days - often the comedy gigs involved two (or on occasions three) in an evening. That said, I do notice from my calendar some omissions - certain gigs or events which, perhaps because I booked them on the same day as I attended - haven't been registered on my calendar. So it is probably more than 182, but I am happy with that number.
So, for me 2016 was the new start. It was a good year. It was the year I made the most of London. It was the turnaround. New job, new flat, new start.
A good year.
And 2017?
Well, I don't make resolutions. I have a few aims, but nothing set in stone. I'd like to get a better job (mine is currently a bit more temporary); ideally I would like to get a flat that I own; I'd like to aim to get a bit healthier - I haven't done much exercise or really concentrated on my diet over the last year whilst I've been doing #DoOneThing. But I'm not busting myself on any of these - if I don't achieve them I won't be disappointed. I just need to stablise a little.
It's just another new day really - for most it isn't even that, for most we don't even sleep through the transition to wake anew. We cheer, down a drink and then, much later, wake bleary-eyed on a day which is - thankfully - a bank holiday. A day when otherwise - because of winter conditions and lack of daylight - we would not be desperately wanting a day off.
I don't do resolutions. I know I've covered this previously. And whilst I had some success, I attribute very little to a new day, a new year.
But years are the closest way that we really have of 'chunking' life experiences. Remembering them to certain periods of our lives. I'm lucky (not really) in that I have a December birthday, so anything I could ascribe to an age, also aligns wih a calendar year. (honestly, nearly-Christmas birthdays are horrible.)
So, 2015 was my annus horribilis. Truly it was awful. Within days of completing the heavy renovation of my house, I was given notice of my redundancy at work. There is nothing more terrifying than being told that you will not be employed after 10th December - just a week before your birthday and a few more days before the Christmas shut down.
Whilst I was working out my redundancy notice period I then found out that my friend had taken himself. At this stage, actually nothing more could have gone wrong in my mind - I was losing my job, my income, my friends. Just before my birthday and Christmas.
OH YES - I nearly forgot - surgery. I injured my shoulder a year before in a football clash. I ran into someone called 'fatlad'. Normally, when I tackle people, I come off the better. This time I hadn't. After a year of (very attractive) physio with the lovely Dan, he identified that there was something more substantial wrong. So, I was scheduled in for an operation on 20th November 2015. Brill.
Anyway, what with one thing and another, this leant itself to me achieving my long-held ambition to move to London. I'd just completed my house renovation, so it was now (finally) set to sell, I had no job keeping me in the midlands - it was [the] PERFECT [storm].
But I've told you this already.
Everyone has bemoaned how 2016 has been a terrible year. Celebrity deaths, Brexit, Trump and the rest.
Anyway, 2016 was the year when I did London. I settled, explored, sorted. You may recall I went with #DoOneThing? This was where I was determined not to fall into "the London trap" of living in London and yet not doing anything. The number of times that I speak to my friends and they haven't done things because they haven't made time. So I made time.
So, I did #DoOneThing. The rules about #DoOneThing were not great - I had to Do One Thing a week that got me out of the house. Just one thing a week. Something a bit different. It wasn't just meeting mates, it wasn't a night down the pub or in a club. It was doing something different - a bit cultural or something else. So, for example, my Sunday wanders around Cockfosters, Greenwich, Hampstead, Peckham etc. didn't count.
I have counted up. I did 182 things.
182.
110 of these were theatre, 15 comedy, 23 music, 4 art related and 30 in the 'other' category (which included festivals, certain installations that didn't classify as art, cinema and tv/radio show recordings).
To be clear, this is almost one every other day (2016 was a leap year so technically half is 183).
I did do two things on some days - often the comedy gigs involved two (or on occasions three) in an evening. That said, I do notice from my calendar some omissions - certain gigs or events which, perhaps because I booked them on the same day as I attended - haven't been registered on my calendar. So it is probably more than 182, but I am happy with that number.
So, for me 2016 was the new start. It was a good year. It was the year I made the most of London. It was the turnaround. New job, new flat, new start.
A good year.
And 2017?
Well, I don't make resolutions. I have a few aims, but nothing set in stone. I'd like to get a better job (mine is currently a bit more temporary); ideally I would like to get a flat that I own; I'd like to aim to get a bit healthier - I haven't done much exercise or really concentrated on my diet over the last year whilst I've been doing #DoOneThing. But I'm not busting myself on any of these - if I don't achieve them I won't be disappointed. I just need to stablise a little.
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