Horrific Reporting

That's it! I'm fed up with crap printed in USA Today. Being a pilot and accustomed to the morning paper placed atop the hotel lobby desk, I've been reading its crap for over 6 years. Some days are good where I just want to get the "gist" of sports, but when it comes to tech, this past Tuesday's post World Wide Developers Conference coverage was horrendous! It was abominable and just down right nerve wrecking. You start an article off with the words, "Apple didn't introduce a brand new iPhone on Monday." Are you freaking kidding me?! It wasn't slated to be an iPhone day. In fact, WWDC 2012 marks the second year that an iPhone was absent from the event.

"...facing intense competition from other technology giants such as Google, Amazon, Samsung,..." - you're still kidding right?

"The showpiece of the new collection is a pricey MacBook Pro that basically marries the ultrathin MacBook Air with the sharpness of the iPad and iPhone." - You forget to add that it's actually called MacBook Pro with Retina Display and it's not a marriage of anything! It's a complete redesign! And what's this "sharpness" you speak of? The following sentence once again forgets to specify that Phil Schiller was referring to the MacBook Pro with Retina display and not the regular MacBook Pro.

"...the Pro claims to deliver a much sharper picture than a high-definition television." CLAIMS?! WTH? IT'S NOT CLAIMING ANYTHING! IT'S DEMONSTRATING A TRUTH! (sorry but my blood is boiling again)

the article in question: Apple adds iPhone features, thin MacBook Pro by By Jefferson Graham, and Edward C. Baig

Maxing it out

Simply put, the latest and greatest MacBook Pro w/ Retina display is the hardest and most difficult laptop to have been ever torn apart. Of course, the guys at iFixit have done all the dirty work for you and neatly labeled and dictated their work in perfect form.

As in the MacBook Air, the RAM is soldered to the logic board. Max out at 16GB now, or forever hold your peace—you can't upgrade.

via iFixit

Getting out there

I'm been stuck running on treadmills for the last couple of weeks but fortunately, I was able to get out there and do a lap around Miramar Lake. I donned my SunRype running shorts for the first time and they felt awesome! I should have taken a picture. After recording an 8" mile for the first one of five, my neck cramped up??? Yah, it's a first and I still feel a slight strain on it. Hopefully it gets better but it must be associated with all the time commuting and / or flying back and forth huh? I'll admit my posture isn't the best when stuck in a middle seat of a Delta 757 or the jumpseat with your legs dangling.

It was a hot day to run being that I chose to start at noon but it was good times being out in the sun. It's less than a month till the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon so it's time to up my game! Excluding all the flying I'll be doing the next few weeks, hopefully I'll have the energy to squeeze in some long treadmills sessions. Oh the glamorous life of a pilot. :/

Samsung Goes Xerox Crazy

Couldn't have summarized Samsung's new device better myself.

The Siri-imitating S Voice, a quad-core SoC that's already been announced for the Meizu MX, a suite of camera enhancements that rips off HTC's ImageSense wholesale, and a signature animated lock screen that emulates interaction with water, something that's been a live wallpaper option on Android phones since 2010. Oh, and industrial design and build quality that you'll find on any anonymous South Korean MP3 player — Samsung seems to have tried trickling its design language up, never a good idea.

Samsung needed to jump the gun prior to Apple's 2012 WWDC to gain up support and anticipation but instead seems to have failed those that are some of most tech savvy.

At best, Samsung matched the HTC One X. At worst, it indulged in a two-month delay of an MWC-worthy device, stoked a frenzy of anticipation that was unjustified by the eventual product, and jeopardized the still fragile growth of its brand reputation among smartphone enthusiasts. I'll leave you to decide which extreme I'm gravitating toward.

via Vlad Savov on The Verge

How and why...

"How did you become a pilot? Did you become an airline pilot via the military?" These are two of the most asked questions that I get when among friends or at the airport in uniform. Since @TimChoi89 asked them a while back via a comment on "4 on, two off, 4 on – part 2 / my printed schedule after the fact" and my response wasn't posted (error maybe or private, bugs, lost on the internet...) I decided that I'd answer them with a brand new post.  It's Friday, the 13th and raining so why not.

The second question is easy; no, I did not have a military background.  I did originally look at the Navy after graduating UCSD but flight slots were too few and in demand making my chances slim to none.  I also wear some thick eye glasses so that was another obstacle in and of itself.  I can't say that I looked into the other military branches as I grew up in San Diego.  My father and uncles too were all in the U.S. Navy so yes, I was blinded and partial in my decision.  It's Top Gun U.S.A.!  That leads me to the first question which is a lot more complicated.

I started flying as a hobby after I graduated college in '03.  It was also a time in my life where I was started to feel compelled to "do something else."  I started taking lessons and thought that I was going to make it a side project, maybe instruct or fly people around for fun.  I started receiving AOPA Flight Training Magazine and in it had ads scattered throughout boasting various flight schools and programs that could lead one to a commercial airline job.  I thought to myself, "Why not?"  I read about a few schools at the same time  deciding if I really wanted to do a post-bac and go to med school.  I ended up choosing an advanced ab-initio program which gave me a jet type rating along with whoever else I needed to get hired.  The program was launched and closely associated with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and called CAPT (Commercial Airline Pilot Training).  Unfortunately, while the program and its vision remained idealistic, fuel costs and enrollment coupled with a downward spiraling economy led the university to sell it off to the private corporation, FTSI, which has since then closed its doors.  (Phases out / FTSI New Release)   I was in the middle of the program when they accounted its transition but they promised to make good on their word and see us to the end.

I graduated in May of 2006 after 16 months of training and was offered a job with Focus Airlines.  They operated as an ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance) 747 cargo carrier and their contract with CAPT was extensive; totaling a five year commitment, the first year one would serve as a "cadet" placed in the office helping with various tasks from scheduling, hotel reservations, tech publications, IT, etc. basically an intern type year learning the ins and out.  The second year would entail upgrading to the second officer / flight engineer position on a classic 747 followed by three years as a first officer.  Unfortunately, this program ended when the first couple of CAPT cadets were not allowed to upgrade to first officers alongside the face that Focus Airlines never had a program in place.  Coincidentally, Atlantic Southeast Airlines (now officially called ExpressJet) was in the beginning stages of a hiring spree and our amazing director helped us get an interview. I scored my first flying job and the rest is history.  Knowing and keeping ties along with timing is key in this industry and it panned out.

It's funny how people end up visiting my site.  Mr. Tim ended up here,"...by searching "the verge vs. gdgt" then I stumbled upon your twitpic and saw that you're a pilot + tech enthusiast..."  Thanks for stopping by Tim and keep the questions coming.

iTunes and the Necessary Tune up

Jason Snell over at Macworld wrote a great article yesterday stating the obvious flaws with the current syncing nightmare that iTunes has become. Not only does it want to delete your apps, shuffle them around or hinder the user from an elegant solution, it crashes, is buggy and houses a rather large library consuming gigabytes upon gigabytes of hard drive space.  People all over the tech industry is in agreement and I've been known to call it the DLL hell of Apple.

He calls is for a time to simplify which entails creating separate distinct apps creating iOS apps, movies, music and syncing programs.  I'll agree and say that a syncing app would make sense but then why would I want to open up another application?  It seems "easy" enough to remove the syncing tab all together and create an app but the original picture was a set it and forget it method. In other words, one app to control all.  Would this strategy be going backwards in time?  Apple employees can't be happy with the current state of iTunes. What would you do?

Google's Glasses

I've been wearing glasses since I was eight years old; that's 22 years of a piece of glass that only allowed me to see a surface more clearly. Am I excited for something better...YES. Does it look dorky? When you have questions like what's the temperature and look at me weirdly, I'll let you pull out your phone and look it up yourself smiling back knowingly. If you're interested in the technology, it's truly wearable augmented reality coming soon! If you think of the practical solutions, think of a nurse or doctor approaching a patient; the chart right there available with a blink of an eye complete with history and diagnosis. Prices or movie times without going into the theater. It's uses are infinite. I might not wait for Apple to come up with something better.

Exposure & the Point

All I wanted for my "2012 iPad Story" was exposure.  It wasn't about self fulfillment, or advertising or anything of a self-centered nature.  I guess, all I wanted was for something good to come out of what happened to my wife and I.  (Is that self-centered) It still really hasn't hit me; that I'll be iPad-less for 2012 & ~$1700 more in debt with nothing to show.  I've had various responses ranging from a "ha-ha" to condolences.  Kind of a weird day all in all.  I mean, did I want sympathy?  Maybe just a touch, but more or less, it has made me really bitter and has gotten me to feel more negative about Miami and the world as a whole. I thought that I would get a lot of responses from blasting people on twitter, and I did get some good retweets, but nothing of fruition has come up.  Am I looking for a hand from the Apple God to replace what I purchased?!  Of course!  That might be a little self-centered, but it is just a drop in the bucket from their marketing department right?  Reading all the news about the new iPad and people's' experiences really just gets me more down and the commercials on television just really hit home that I don't have one.  I can't stand to watch one anymore nor am I excited to see it.  I haven't stepped foot in an Apple store since.

Things I have learned though: insurance companies depend on only other insurance companies pointing the finger to each other on who covers what.  Visa Signature doesn't cover theft from vehicle who then told me to call my car insurance.  Geico doesn't cover personal items who then told me to call my home owners, renters insurance and they are still "working" on it.

I guess people don't click on links on twitter either.  I got more hits from Facebook than anything else.  With URL shortening, I guess my link just looked like spam.  Thanks for the hits, the messages and comments.

My 2012 iPad Story (updated)

Last Wednesday I was working during the event but throughout the day, I followed the news through gdgt's awesome feed. Eager as always, I wanted to know when (Mar 16th), what the specifications were and if I should do Wifi only or add 4G cellular capability. After a 20 hour day, I arrived home and my wife and I made our pre-order. It would my wife's delayed Christmas gift to me.  I told her that I chose a Black 32GB Wifi-4G version.  Surprisingly, she asked why I didn't get 64GB and I told her that I didn't want to spend her money but I also didn't want to change it just in case I lost my spot. The last detail in the order was that I wanted to do a store pickup in Miami (I live in San Diego) because that's where I'd be the morning of iPad Day. You see, there's a bunch of us in Miami celebrating one of my best friend's Match Day. It's a time to celebrate right? I swear it was the longest week and half of waiting. I skipped the iPad 2 after selling my iPad 1 prematurely and this was it. I woke up, dropped of my friend at his breakfast ceremony and proceed to Lincoln Road Apple Store. I found some easy parking, arrived at the store and got right in. The sales representative was more than helpful and the whole process was one of the best purchasing experiences I ever had. Interaction and everything, A++. My order was easily modified exchanging my previous pre-order to the Black 64GB Wifi+4G Verizon LTE (with the wife's permission) and I even added a Black 16GB Wifi-4G Verizon LTE for my loving wife as a surprise AND an Apple TV for the Match Day celebrant. It was to be his gift for finishing an awesome 4 years at the University of Miami Medical School.

I checked out while making a new friend, grabbed a Cuban coffee + 8 guava pastilitos and even gave my 2 hour parking ticket to a guy who parked in front of me who was looking for his wallet. Paying it forward right? I'm in a GREAT mood!

I received a request from my wife to buy some Tylenol and on the way to the pharmacy, I passed multiple gas stations but ultimately made the decision to go to a CVS. It took almost 15 minutes to find parking, and the machine also didn't want to spit out my ticket after inserting $1.00 cash. I used my credit card and ran into CVS. I bought two bottles of Tylenol (buy one get one free) and picked up some Visine too.

I got back to the car, started the engine, and curiously turned around because I was hearing the car's exhaust louder than normal. Low and behold, both iPads and the Apple TV were stolen! Not even my friend's brand new Macy's Long Sleeve Shirt was grabbed or anything else but the Apple bag full of the latest goodness.

I called 911, they directed me to a local police station, they came, wrote up the report, which I have to pay $1 for a copy in 10 days, and took off. Someone was going to come and take fingerprints but it started raining so they canceled that. All this was happening around 10:30am off of 3rd and Biscayne in Miami. I needed to be at the Match Ceremony by 11:45am. Now my friends' Toyota Tacoma has a broken rear passenger window ($150 part + $100 labor) and I have no iPads or Apple TV to give him.

The emotions that I'm feeling: Hate, forgiveness, frustration, stupidity...I really don't know what to do. I can't afford to buy all that again and the saddest part is that my wife doesn't feel like having one now. That's what makes me cry. In the end, it was about her joy, my friend's joy and now I'm nowhere but in $1900 in debt w/ nothing to play with.

64GB // DLXH96K5DNQV 16GB // LXH60L7DNQR aTV // DY5HC843DRHN

Answering some questions:

1. Yes the bag was covered
2. There was a Macy's bag that was exposed with a long sleeve dress shirt that was left behind
3. I live in San Diego and it's my own ignorance perhaps that I feel safe
4. Visa Signature will NOT cover stolen items in an automobile
5. GEICO will NOT covert stolen personal items in a vehicle
6. The perpetrators only stole the Apple Bag
7. The police are saying that I might have been followed or targeted
8. My wife's NEEDS comes first so the Tylenol was necessary before coming home but maybe I could have dropped the items off first?

iPad 2012 Summary of Reviews

As of 2100 EDT on the 14th of March, the media embargo from Apple was lifted and the reviews are in. Everyone LOVES the Retina Display and LTE.  I might as well reiterate it again; EVERYONE LOVES THE RETINA DISPLAY!!!

Truth also be told, I'm glad I went with the 32GB Verizon model and can't wait to pick mine up on Friday.  Some have already asked and yes, I might end up asking if I can up it to the 64GB version being that applications are coming in weighing at at least 1.5 times the size and some even up to 5 times larger!  Here are a couple of snippets from the sources that I believe run true to the way that I analyze new hardware, tech and software.

"...it just looks otherworldly; like a glowing piece of paper." - Joshua Topolsky; The Verge

" The new iPad is the most functional, usable, and beautiful tablet that any company has ever produced." - Joshua Topolsky; The Verge

"It has the most spectacular display I have ever seen in a mobile device. ... Using the new display is like getting a new eyeglasses prescription — you suddenly realize what you thought looked sharp before wasn’t nearly as sharp as it could be." - Walt Mossberg; WSJ: All Things D

"Since it launched in 2010, the iPad has been the best tablet on the planet. With the new, third-generation model, it still holds that crown." - Walt Mossberg; WSJ: All Things D

"Reading on the big retina display is pure joy." - Jon Gruber; Daring Fireball

Techcrunch has a great review with pictures detailing the difference in Tweetbots's iOS Twitter client; Retina vs. non-Retina.

Check it out:

Props out to Tapbots for hurrying up the development of Tweetbot for iPad and getting it rushed out into the Apple App Store Ecosystem! SWAG! (you'll be getting my donation in first thing on Friday!)

Here's another close up from The Verge on the difference in screens of non-Retina vs. Retina.

Update 1: One of the newest and one of my personal favorite sites, The Wirecutter, also just posted their tablet recommendation. I've also included The Loop's review as well.

"This is the tablet you want." - Brian X. Chen; The Wirecutter

"The bottom line is that it's the best tablet and everyone who reviews one agrees. And even people who love Android phones kind of can't say much about how Android tablets stack up against the iPad. And unlike with computers or stereos or cameras, you don't really need my help, or anyone else's help, to understand that. So, I will end here." - Brian X. Chen; The Wirecutter

"So, what did I like about the iPad? Simple — the experience. Nobody in the market today can touch the Apple experience." - Jim Dalrymple; The Loop

The Difference Between Us and Them

An interview with Apple's Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, Sir Jonathan Ive. (via This Is London)

...it’s not about price, schedule or a bizarre marketing goal to appear different - they are corporate goals with scant regard for people who use the product.

I've always thought the "others" had it wrong and Jony hits it precisely on the head.

Evolution vs. Upgrades

Ryan Block intelligently argues why the next generation iPad (2012) is a buy. I agree 100%. The screen of every touch device is the experience. You see what you get and in this case, you fall in love. via gdgt:

So when a device comes along like the iPad that doesn't just display the application, but actually becomes the application, radically improving its screen radically improves the experience. And when a device's screen is as radically improved as the display in the new iPad, the device itself is fundamentally changed.

Here's a new quote taken from Sir Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple. (via This Is London)

Our goal is simple objects, objects that you can’t imagine any other way. Simplicity is not the absence of clutter. Get it right, and you become closer and more focused on the object. For instance, the iPhoto app we created for the new iPad, it completely consumes you and you forget you are using an iPad.

The only tablet is the iPad

One of the biggest insights into today's tablet market can be read in this fine article by Slate's Farhad Manjoo.

It’s been two years since Apple’s tablet went on sale. Rivals have released dozens of alternatives, but the iPad still represents more than 60 percent of market share. Worse, the rest of the market is dominated by two devices that are being sold at a loss—Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook.

Simply put, if you think about what people use as their MP3 players today and the last ten years combined, does anyone think of anything else besides an iPod?

Read it in entirety here: The iPad Is Unbeatable