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Justice League: Snyder's Cut

When I found out that this movie was going to be 4 hours I was actually excited since I believe most movies are a little too short to get all the information in. Before watching this I had no preconceived notions about the movie; only that I had seen the original movie before. I was not aware of what the differences were suppose to be.

After watching the movie I would have to say that it was definitely an improvement on the original. Most important difference is they went and gave the characters some back story. Most specifically Cyborg and Flash. Since this was the first time they had really been introduced in the movies unless you follow comics you really didn’t know anything about them; and this was all left out of the original. Fight scene were infinitely better. Starting with the Wonder Woman squabble with the terrorist. The added fight sequences definitely gave the scene more excitement.

The movie was a little difficult to watch since I’ve seen the original a few times and I knew what all was going to happen sometimes the scenes didn’t transition well for me. It looked like some just added pieces here and there. That being said all the extra stuff was welcomed. The story came out better and some confusion on the original story was either cleared up or explained in this cut. Good to see other characters; Martian Manhunter, Darseid; even the Joker show their face in hopes that we will see more of them in later movies. The black super suit was a nice change as well.

Now I watched this movie in two sittings; watching about half and half. The length was great. I’m more of a series watcher than a movie since you get a lot more story that way. I never hated the original, so this was added bonus on a movie I thought was good enough. Definitely worth the time to watch; even if you have to break it up in smaller sessions. So if you have an HBO Max subscription be sure to check it out.

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Nike Adapt Auto Max Infrared

Back to the future has arrived. No these are not the Nike Mag Back to the Future but this is the same concept and slightly more affordable. I had to get my hands on these solely do to the tech within the shoes. Self lacing shoes, and the ability to add a little color affect. There have been a few different self lacing shoes released for Nike in the recent years. These are sculpted after the Nike Airmax; and with the classic air max color this was just the pair for me. I didn’t get these shoes in hopes that their value will skyrocket. I’m a lover of tech; as you can see by having a blog on things that are tech, so shoes that lace on their own; can be controlled from an app on your phone; and has a cool wireless charging station had me sold. Getting these setup is a snap. Your phone connects to each shoe using Bluetooth just like you would a pair of headphones. From the app you can control the laces, see battery life, as well as make some changes to the color of part of the sole. I must admit I’m a little scared to wear these out and about, but maybe one day I’ll lace them up and take them out for a stroll.

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Last Minute Father's Day Tech

If you are like any normal person you are a few days out and haven’t even thought about getting the father in your life a gift. Tech gadgets are always sure to please the man of the house. Check out the list of some last minute tech ideas you can come home with that is sure to put a smile on his face…..

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Kingdom: Zombie Style

If you are not burnt out on Zombies yet but want a change of pace I believe this may be the show for you. You can get your zombie fix, international drama, and period piece all wrapped into one show.  Kingdom takes place during Korea’s Joseon period, and it follows a group of characters trying to stop a zombie plague from running through the kingdom and they are failing miserably. The show opens up with rumors of the King’s death; as he has not been seen outside the palace in a while. He has contracted a disease and those within the palace are trying to keep it under wraps. At the same time the people of a small town to the south contract the same disease as the King; all dying suddenly; only to rise as zombies.

These zombies are a little different then what you may be familiar with. For one they can run; like “28 Days” type running, which give a great visual as they chase people through the fields of tall grass. Also they lay dormant when the sun is out. They cram themselves into dark spaces, caves, under houses, or fallen trees. Special effects on the undead were done quite well.  

Of course it’s not all about zombies. The show also tackles the system of power in the Kingdom and all of its effects throughout the lands. There are currently two seasons; the second season just being released recently. The seasons are only 6 episodes so makes for a quick watch, with dense episodes and no fillers. Netflix has recently dubbed the show so if you are not one for subtitles then you can still watch it but original audio is always better. This show has a little bit of everything; corruption, armies, sword fighting, a little comedy, and of course zombies.

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WYZE Cam

What is a smart home without a smart camera to monitor your home when you are away? This little guy will save the day and the whole in your wallet. Smart cameras can easily run you $100+, and this Wyze cam is only $25 and is packed with the same feature you will find on most cameras out there on the market. The camera is small and compact so can be placed almost any where, and the simple design allows it to blend into your setting. The camera works in tandem with the smart phone app that allows you to stream live video as well as record right to your phone’s camera roll. There is a memory card slot to allow for local storage for longer recordings. The camera is able to detect motion and with the app you can setup alerts or recording when motion is detected.

Other features include:

Night Vision

Two way audio

110 degree wide angle lens at 1080p Full HD

8x Digital Zoom

3 axis design allows for it to point in any direction

Easy to mount

Local Storage

Don’t worry if you don’t have other Wyze brand devices. This camera is compatible with Alexa and Google home so can be easily brought into the fold.After testing this camera out; I think it is beyond the value it is priced at. It has everything you need in a camera to monitor the inside of the home. It’s an excellent option to double as a baby monitor sense you can set alerts for motion and sound. It was easily able to pick up motion and the two way audio worked great. I think the quality of the live stream was great and the delay was minimal. This is definitely worth the pickup and you could practically cover all areas of your house for the price of a single camera of other brands.

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Tackle Some Tech While Stuck in the House

As we find ourselves stuck in the house with so much time on our hands I figured we can visit some small tech related projects to pass the time. With stuff you may have laying around the house; you can try to keep you from going insane or watching too much TV.

Digitize old photos: If you still have that old box of photos or the photo album that’s falling apart; now is the time to get those in digital form before they wither away. Most home printers have some form of a scanner and scanning software that will allow you to scan and save to file. Some flatbed scanners even have an option to scan multiple pictures at a time. It can distinguish the photo edges and save each picture to a separate image speeding up the process. After scanning them all you can save the folder of picture in multiple locations for backup.

Build your own NAS: Yes there are consumer NAS systems out there reasonably priced that you can buy; but in reality it’s pretty easy to build your own NAS if you have the hardware laying around. The way to go about this is with a software based NAS. All you need is Desktop PC and some hard drives. What ever physical capacity you have with the machine you can load extra drives into the PC. With that you can simply use the built in Windows storage or you can go with something like FreeNAS. FreeNAS is an open source OS that gives you everything you would see with a consumer NAS you would find on the market. If you can dedicate the machine to your storage then FreeNAS is the better route. Once you have the storage built you can create a file share and share it out to your home network.

Take on a Raspberry Pi Project: Want to get your hands a little dirty and try something a little outside the box; grab a Raspberry Pi and tackle your own DIY tech project. You do anything with this small micro-computer; create some automation, build an old-school gaming system, even the previously mentioned file server. You can get pretty creative with this one and a simple google search of pi projects will have you plenty busy for the foreseeable future.

Repurpose some old tech: Old phone or tablet sitting in the drawer? Give it a second chance as a single-use device or a hand me down for the kids. For example; you can set these up as a display clock, TV remote, or an e-reader. If you want to give the kids something to keep busy them strip the device and restrict it to select apps you are okay with the kids playing with or watching.

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ecobee Haven

Ecobee has joined the home monitoring market with their new line of products. Ecobee has delivered one of the best designed smart thermostats (in my opinion) on the market. I have a post about my experience with the ecobee3, and I am a big fan of their system. The latest version has voice control with Alexa built in. Along with that the thermostat is jammed pack with features to make your HVAC more efficient.

Not to get into the thermostat since I’m here to talk about the new line of ecobee products. In these times where consumers are moving away from the traditional one size fits all products; more and more companies have joined the market to provide us with options at an affordable price. Ecobee has now joined the home monitoring market with two new devices; a smart camera with voice control and a Smart sensor for the doors and windows.

The camera coming in at $179 has the same modern sleek design as the thermostat and temperature sensors. The camera comes with 1080p HD video with 180° field of view. The camera has two-way talk to allow you to converse through the camera while away from home. You have the ability to set the camera to focus on specific areas within it’s entire view like your front door so to capture what the important activity. The SmartFocus feature follows the action keeping things front and center while in the cameras view. The camera is also Alexa enabled.

The Door and Window SmartSensor is the next step in monitoring your home. They send alerts and notifications when doors and windows are opened; but also have occupancy sensors to alert you to activity happening within the home. These sensors are sold in a two pack at $79.

All of this is tied together to work great with ecobee Haven. Haven takes the DIY to another level. There are similar out of the box products that have sensors, cameras, and even your traditional number pad alarm. A lot of these also at a subscription tie to system monitoring from the company. With a haven subscription it brings all your devices together to the palm of your hand trough organized alerts and notifications that make sense. Along with this it keeps video history from your cameras; this keeps that monthly subscription price way down. With the versatility to mix and match and add as much as you need; coupled with the ability to own your own monitoring does this sound like a good solution?

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Pluralsight #FREEapril

If your life is technology; then you are in a forever cycle of learning and growing. There’s consistently a new technology being introduced into IT and companies are always looking improve their networks. Because of this, continuation of studies is important in the IT world. This post is a little late as we are about half way through April, but there is still plenty of time to take advantage of the free access to Pluralsight’s library of videos. I have had experience with Pluralsight over the past couple of years and would recommend their content over many others I have come across. When you sign up it will ask you about your skills of interest to give you better recommendations of videos. Each video is lead by an expert in that field and are very well done.

This is not just for the person in technology, there are other fields that can benfit from this. I’m not sure they give access to every video in their catalog but there is plenty to see how well their learning videos are done. Since we still have almost three weeks left in the month; go sign up for your free access and either build on your current skills or learn something totally new. It’s free! you can’t beat that.

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Trolls World Tour

With everyone in stay at home status; new movies have now being brought to you (which they should have been long ago). April 10th the new Trolls movie “Trolls World Tour” was released. Because of Covid-19; Amazon Prime Video is offering it as a part of their in-theater rentals. So for a price of $19.99', viewers are able to watch select movies just hitting or currently in theaters.

Now first off; $19.99 is a steal if you have anywhere around 3+ people wanting to watch a movie. No it’s not a theater size screen, but most people have decent enough TVs to be happy with the viewing. I can easily spend $60 on a family outing with tickets and a few snacks. Here I can bring any snack I want, have a family of “whatever”, and pause the movie for bathroom breaks. If I like the movie enough I can watch it again for free for 24 hours; but I digress….

The movie itself was great and enjoyable for any age. If you’ve seen Trolls before then you know what to expect. The great thing about this one is they incorporated all genres of music; so if you are annoyed with the constant pop, I’m sure there is something in the film you’ll tap your foot to. You get a taste of everything from smooth jazz to K-pop. The movie is jammed pack with familiar music and funny scenes. Definitely worth the watch and you can’t beat the price for a movie that has just come out.

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Pursuit of Python....

Automation is the new buzz word for those in Networking. Coming from an IS degree I had and opportunity to dabble into programming while I was in school; it was difficult to learn then and even more difficult now. I’ve scoured through YouTube videos and learning sites trying to find the right amount of Python learning to get this skill in my tool belt. I find most learning guides and videos teach you the language geared towards producing some kind of software or data analytics. None really geared towards network configurations.

As I’ve continued to watch and learn I’ve gotten to a point where I can look at some simple codes and determine how they are working. I don’t think I’m an a point where I could produce much of anything from scratch. To achieve what I want I need to find a good balance between knowing the language and knowing what how to figure out what is going on. Luckily for me; now days there’s probably already a script created for anything I’m wanting to do or accomplish. As my company gears up to enter the world of Cisco ACI the opportunity to use and integrate more programming into our network will only grow, and I am here for it.

As I look to discover what I can bring to the table as I gain more experience in Python, I wonder how much I can integrate this into my job and how much of an advantage it can give me. Those of you already integrating programming into your network, what advantages has it given you.

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Where to go from here....

I’ve been in the IT industry for about 5 years now. Starting out as desktop support I became a jack of all trades; learning servers, storage, exchange, desktops, phones, networking. You name it I’ve supported it in some form or fashion. Over the years I found that even though I enjoyed most of these things, but I need to determine a more specific path. Networking is what gave me the most satisfaction. I think it was the ability to understand the 1’s and 0’s and how all that came together with a few commands that really held my interest.

Now that I hold the position of a Network Engineer I feel like I am at another crossroads. I’ve gained most my networking skills on Cisco equipment; but of course I understand enough to be able to work through other vendors. Yes there are plenty of vendor technologies out there but more my concern is where does the next technology take me and which train should I ride. Software Defined Networking is definitely the way of the future, and a lot of companies have already transitioned over; whether it’s in-house or through a third party. My current place of employment was in the process of moving over to this technology when some decision were made and we are considering other options. With these other options cloud networking was presented as a direction we may be taking. Through all this back and forth I have begun to look into the different technologies available; and see where I might improve my skills. Trying to study up on things take time, and not having a clear cut direction I try not to waste too much time looking into something if I don’t see it in my future.

At one point I began to hear that programming is where networking is going…You need to know how to program to stay up with the direction networking is going. “Automation, APIs through programming”…Things like that. I began to do some research and landed knee deep into python. I’ve watched hours of videos; little labs; some testing. This all looked pretty awesome but I also came to two big conclusions:

My current environment wouldn’t really benefit from anything that programming has to offer. We don’t have thousands of devices that need same configuration dumped onto. There’s nothing that needs to be automated

All that I’m learning to attempt in programming applications like Solarwinds can already handle for me. There may be some reports I can program to pull information but Solarwinds does most of this stuff really well already. They already allow you to interject configuration into devices on your network. With services like this at your disposal I need some more convincing to want to go down that rabbit whole.

Going back to old fashion networking there are plenty of specializations you can find yourself going into. I myself currently support LAN/WAN and WLAN; mostly on Cisco equipment but we do have some other vendors mixed in there. That being said you have security, cloud, Data Center, wireless, service provider, etc. There are so many concentrations out there along with vendors it can be hard to keep up and decide what direction you really want to go. I myself really enjoy routing and switching and plan to increase my skills at that. But I also want to be up on the latest technologies out there. I plan to continue to dabble into programming/DevOps, and really start to dig into cloud networking. I believe these two concentration will allow me to stay relevant in an ever changing industry where you do not what to get left behind. What’s your direction? Is there a must technology out there you think will benefit those in the IT industry?

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TP-Link AV600 - Ethernet over Power

If you are living in a House that was built in the last 10 years there’s a good chance your home came wired with Ethernet throughout. Each room probably has every form of media you can think of sitting in a wall outlet. The majority of us out there more than likely are living in homes that predate the current millennium. Which means you have the choice of either bringing a company out to wire your house for Ethernet; which will cost you a pretty penny, or just make sure all your devices are WiFi enabled and load everything onto your single access point network. Most people have noticed that WiFi doesn’t always produced the expected speeds and reliable connectivity.

So what can you do in this situation? If you have a device without a WiFi card and you don’t want to run a 60 foot cable across the living room floor; you can go get you a few Powerline Ethernet Adapters. TP-link AV600 is what I decided to try, but there are many types and brands out there. These work by creating the hard wired connection as if going from switch to device by take advantage of your preexisting electrical wiring in your home. The adapters are plugged into an outlet at each end, and the flow of data biggie backs on the circuit to give you the connectivity you need. The starter kit comes with two adapters. One to connect to your main switch and the other to whatever device that needs connectivity. If you require more than one device; then you would just need to purchase more adapters for what you need.

This particular on is rated for 600Mbps which is plenty for what I have in my home but they do make ones rated beyond Gigabit speeds. These adapters worked just just as expected and are a breeze to setup. The range on these are 300 meters which of course is plenty for most any home. There’s not much to these but plug and play. Things can be complicated based on the wiring of your home so there may be some research in that aspect required before purchasing this product. If are looking for a more secure and reliable connection of devices on your network these are definitely a great low cost option.

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Powerbeats Pro - Beats by Dre

So I’m currently on my third pair of Powerbeats. I’ve owned Powerbeats 2, Powerbeats 3 , and I now am the proud owner of Powerbeats Pro. There are some obvious reason why these would be better than the previous but I’ll give you you my perspective of why I’m definitely relieved with the newest design.

1. First off; the obvious change is the complete removal of wires. Yes the previous Powerbeats were wireless but these follow suit of the AirPods and gets rid of all wires. This is a welcomed change for me since the connecting wire of the previous version always seemed to get in the way; whether on some bench workouts or when it sticks to the back of your neck and begins to pull the earpieces unevenly.

2. Build design. Both of my wired Powerbeats broke in the same exact spot. Right around the base of the earbud. Right where two pieces come together is where they came apart on both of them. One of the first things I noticed with these new ones is its all one complete piece. That point of weakness is no longer there, so it reduces that worry for me.

3. Connectivity to phone. Since it works similar to the AirPods you just need to open the case next to your phone and it recognizes them and off you go. No need to find the little button along the side of one of the earbuds and hold down for the right number of seconds and wait to see if it connects.

4. The Case…I love it. I was never a fan of the case that came with the wired Powerbeats. It was a pain to stuff the headphones in the small opening and the wire getting all tangled. This case is a simple hard shell that you pop open. the earbuds fit in one way and snap into place. From the case you charge the earbuds. You are not having to charge directly to the earbuds so just makes things easier. On top of that if your earbuds are out you can fast charge from the case as a second charge source.

5. Sound…It took a little twisting and bending to get the old Powerbeats to get a good seal in my ear. Without that good seal I never really got the full range of sounds. I’ve noticed with these that is not required. The earpiece is different so maybe it sits deeper in the ear of it just designed better so you can hear every bit of the audio.

There are quite a few more features that these headphones have that I think make them superior to the competition. I think these may be the best product out there yet. Though they may seem a little bulky, I haven’t found a set of earbuds that I can workout in without needing the earhooks. I plan on getting some good use out of these for a while. Oh and these are not apple exclusive. Is there anything better out there?

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NOT YOUR SAME OLE T-SHIRT

So every once and a while I browse the internet looking for random graphic t-shirts that are a little outside the box; whether it pertains to a favorite movie, show, video game, job, or subject. I think the easiest way is just scrolling through google images until you find something that is of interest and see what site that image comes from.

I’ve done this a lot and 95% of the time it ends in failure, and usually the problem is the quality of the merchandise. A lot of the shirts I’ve come across in this way lead me to a random fan memorabilia site or a hodgepodge of geek items. There would be plenty graphic t’s that interest me but I have always worried about the quality of the shirt. When looking at the price of most; it becomes my assumption its just a low quality Gildan type brand that your local school prints logos on. We all know they really only have one good wear and then once washed its down hill from there; and of course the feel of the shirt speaks cheap. A while back I happened upon a site called Cotton Bureau when looking for something a little different. Within this site I found just what I was looking for.

I discovered it early on and have noticed they’ve changed things up a little over time. Basically they allow artist to create a graphic and sell their graphic on shirts, tanks, and sweatshirts. When a shirt is sold part of it goes to Cotton Bureau as the manufacturer and the rest to the designer. It would take a certain number of committed buyers; within a certain amount of time before cotton bureau would commit to printing an artist’s design. Once the period is over the shirts are printed and sent to the buyers. If the minimum was not met then the shirt is never made. Designs were continuously cycled through this process. Now they seem to do more of an on demand printing as well. So there are a ton more designs and the consumer can purchase what he/she wants and the t-shirt is created. It does take time to receive the product since these are created on demand from a number of designs so expects to wait.

Now on to the quality. The shirts are not cheap. I think for the most part they average between $27 and $32. But with that you get a unique design on a high quality shirt that you can really enjoy wearing. Don’t expect to run into anyone with the same shirt on anymore. With each design there are usually a number of choices of color and style as well.

The website is well designed. The images of the shirts are very accurate. What you see is what you get. They do not have models for the shirt which would probably be nice but not a big deal. If you are looking for something a little different then the mass produced graphic tees you seen in the retail stores give this place a try.

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Nike x Off White Zoom Terra Kiger 5

I’ve been an on again off again runner for years now. I’ll go periods of time where I feel I need to run everyday and then times were I feel it’s not worth the trouble. Over the years of running track growing up and up through college I’ve gained a great appreciation for the work that goes into competitive running; and have really become interested in technologies that help improve times and workouts.

With the technological advancement in shoes that will help you run faster, and my interest in sneakers have come complete circle with these. I came across these shoes being promoted by a great; also controversial female runner Caster Semenya in Nike commercials. I won’t get into her abilities but I fell in love with these shoes the moment I saw the commercial. Most running shoes I purchase are for the purpose of running, but there are some that are just too pretty to run in, and these fit the bill.

Designer Virgil Abloh take on the Nike Zoom Terra Kiger 5 will be out very soon. Taking the technical aspect of the Nike Zooms and merging with a trail style. Trail laces overlay the upper and trail treads complete with spikes on the soles. These come together with the OFF-WHITE signature branding. These are to retail for $180 at select stores and online on June 27th. Not sure what my chances are of landing a pair but I will definitely be trying.

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DribbleUp Smart Soccer Ball

I have two young daughters; over the last year they have gotten into sports and are really enjoying playing the game. Both girls play soccer; one practices with her team once a week for an hour and the other doesn’t practice at all during these summer months. I personally don’t feel this is enough time for them to develop and improve their skill level. Also being a working parent by the time I get home from work the day is pretty much over and the last thing I have energy for is to try training the girls on something I don’t know.

I’ve thought about getting a personal coach but I think that they are too young to pay for personal coaching if this is not something they want to continue to do as they get older. While browsing social media, an ad pops up; because my phone knows everything I’m thinking; for a smart soccer ball that allows you to do drills and work on your skills with the help of a phone app.

DribbleUp is a training tool that uses a soccer ball in tandem with an app on your phone or tablet that gives you the ability to work on ball control, juggling, and shooting. The app uses the camera and video on your device to track the soccer ball and your movements. Some drills have virtual cones that show up on the screen and lets you know if you are keep the ball with proper space. This can be setup right in your living room and with the proper adapter you can put the image on your TV to get a better look at the ball movement. The app has different drills for the advancing skill levels. You can also take this out on the field and practice your shots on the goal.

I have purchased a DribbleUp soccer ball for my daughters so they can whip it out anytime at home and hook it up to the TV and practice their skills. I’m not completely sure if there is anything special about the soccer ball, but holding it in my hands it seems to be of good quality. I will also see how the app responds to one of our own balls. I’m hoping this can be a big help and great investment in helping the girls improve their skills. The size 4 ball will run you $89.99. DribbleUp also makes a basketball and medicine ball working with the same concepts. I’ll be sure to return after they’ve gotten their feet wet and tried as many skills as they can and let you know what they think.

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NEXT-GEN XBOX: PROJECT SCARLETT

I’m an Xbox fan for life. I’ve never owned a PlayStation; and I’m not here to compare the two. I’m just here to show my excitement for the new Xbox console to drop. Project Scarlett is due to drop Holiday season of 2020 so that gives you plenty time if you need to start adding pennies to the piggy bank.

Specs on Project Scarlett: Will feature a custom AMD Zen 2 processor giving it four time the power of the Xbox One X. 8K resolution with game-play up to 120fps; good excuse to upgrade the TV as well. It will include GGDR6 memory and a custom SSD. Here is a video of the reveal:

Of course no Xbox is complete without my favorite game Halo. Halo Infinite will launch alongside Project Scarlett. I’ve spent many of nights up late playing match play with my friends online; An easy way to hang out without having to be in the same location; especially when you are spread out over the country. As an adult I still have the urge to get on and see if I still got it. Here is a theatrical trailer of Halo Infinite: