I’ve been meaning to write a blog post for quite a while. Here are some recommendations of some really cool STUFF for your digital world.
Apple’s new operating system (10.9 Mavericks) has been out for a a few months now and with the latest POINT release (10.9.2), they’ve finally fixed some serious GMAIL issues in the Mail app. It seems to be working much better now and I think it’s okay to upgrade if you haven’t done so already. As a rule it’s always best to steer clear of “Point Zero” releases ( like 10.9.0), unless you want to be Apple’s guinea pig. I had a few customers upgrade on the day and it messed up their mail, finder and was very erratic. But with this second point release things are better. Oh, yeah… it’s FREE! For the first time ever they’re waving the fee. Here are a few of my favorite features:
Voice Dictation – It’s truly amazing. It works almost as well as Dragon dictation and is built-in to the OS. You can even download a local installer so you don’t have to rely on the Internet as much. Here is an example of how dictation works.
Airplay – if you have an AppleTV you can use your HDTV as a second monitor or mirror the computer screen. It’s nice to quickly throw a youtube video or movie on a larger TV. It works really well. (requirements)
Notifications – you can now reply instantly to texts/emails in their little bubble notifications. Handy dandy.
It can be installed on 2008 iMacs, but caveat emptor! You should max out the RAM and have an SSD or SSHD drive installed in one of these machines. With every updated OS comes more load on the machine, so a faster/newer machine will always run the OS better. Let me know if you have any questions.
It’s a digital credit card which can hold ALL of your credit cards in one. It’s currently $50 so order now before they jump to $100. I ordered one and I think it’s going to be pretty amazing. (Watch the video for a walkthrough.)
Remember having a dock for your iPhone? Then Apple stopped making them, then they re-started, but the damn phone would stick to the dock when you pulled it out. Well no more! These things are made out of milled aluminum. They are so nice to have you won’t know how you lived without it.
SQUARE CASH and VENMO
Here are two great ways to send money to friends and family without finance charges.
Venmo uses an app to send money to a debit card you associate with your account. There are no fees and the whole process is quite simple. You can send up to $2999.99 once you validate your account.
Square cash transfers money via email without any finance charges. You can send up to $250 a week ($2500 if you want to get approved) to someone simply by emailing them. You simply e-mail the receiver the amount in the subject line along with CC’ing this address (“cash@nullsquare.com”). If the person on the other end is associated with square cash, they will get an e-mail telling them you have sent payment. The sender also receives a confirmation e-mail as well for security reasons. It’s easy and free. Check out their demo for more info.
I’ve used both and I prefer Venmo because it’s password protected.
Electrical Socket with 2 USB plugs ($25)
Say goodbye to those ugly iPhone charger bricks. There are a few of these on the market, but this is the only one I’ve used that can charge two iPads at the same time. I’ve replaced two outlets in my home and love them. If you’re handy and know how to turn off the electric box, these are fairly simple to install. Remember!!! Electricity is still a magic we don’t fully understand. We may be able to “control” it, but… okay just watch this 15 second video to see how awesomely scary/dangerous/exciting electricity can be.
