Category Archives: Gadgets & Apps

Tapplock

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Let me say up front… I didn’t need this padlock. You probably don’t need this padlock. I was curious and I bought one (more on that later). Been playing with it for the last hour or so but I won’t try to explain the features because this guys does a better job than I could.

This thing — in my limited experience — works as advertised. And it seems very well constructed. Stores up to 500 prints; can be opened with your phone via Bluetooth (on-site or remotely); you can give limited (10 min) access to someone remotely; even has Morse Code backup if the battery goes dead. (2 hour charge lasts for one year)

Where might one use this? Barb has a house in Destin, FL with a coded door lock (runs on juice from the house). Installed and supported by a local company for x dollars a month. Works fine, most of the time.

But she has a storage room (with all the beach shit) that’s secured with a padlock and I guess the key is hidden somewhere close by. The Tapplock might be a better solution. First impression: pretty fucking slick.Yes, $99 is pricey. But how many padlocks have you purchased but now have no idea where the key is (see below). Or all those keys in the kitchen drawer that will never slip into a lock again?

Thanks to George Tergin for photos proving the point.

AirDrop

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The following excerpts are from a piece by Joe Tonelli (AirDrop Is Your iPhone’s Most Underrated Tool). I love this feature and, like Joe, use it daily to move file between my phone and my laptop.

AirDrop is kind of a miracle. Without any internet connection or cell service whatsoever, you can still send documents, photos, videos, nearly anything, between any Apple devices, as long as they are physically relatively close to each other. You might think you need a wireless network or cell service to send things because your iPhone will prompt you to turn on wifi and Bluetooth before you use AirDrop, but that isn’t the case. Apple is simply using the wi-fi’s radio signal to cleverly create an encrypted peer-to-peer connection between the devices. Once Bluetooth senses another device nearby, you’re in business.

One of the best things about AirDrop is that there appears to be no file size limit. I don’t think the importance of that fact can be overlooked. Consider the other primary ways of sharing items between computers. Assuming you don’t have AirDrop, you’d likely email something to someone (or to yourself). Gmail’s file size limit is 25MB. So you go through Google Drive, fine. However you’re still stuck with the lengthy process of uploading and then downloading the (presumably large) file. Without a solid internet connection (pretty much anything less than LTE or a reliable wi-fi connection) this will be near impossible or take hours and hours. Sure, wireless internet is nearly ubiquitous these days but even in NYC there are places where I don’t get signal (or don’t want to connect to public wifi).

Of course there are Apple alternatives like AnySend or Deskconnect, and interspecies options like Zapya or Xender for you Windowsheads out there. They largely accomplish the same thing, and I’m sure that software all works fine. But AirDrop is already on your damn phone.

Anxiety Log

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Most of the things we worry about never happen. Most of us know that to be (statistically) true, but it doesn’t help much. Why not? My theory: Once the event/outcome/whatever about which we were worried doesn’t come to pass, we forget about it. All of the hours/days/weeks/months of anxiety are forgotten. And we move on to the next awful thing that might befall us.

Introducing: Anxiety Log. The smartphone app you use to track and log all of your fears and anxieties. It works like this:

When you become aware that you’re worried or anxious (very hard to do, I will admit), you take out your phone and scroll through your list of existing Worries (or enter a new one). Then you enter your best estimate of how long this most recent thought stream has been going on. Five minutes? Ten?

If the event about which you’re fretting has a date/time (lab results; performance review; American Idol tryout), you enter that in the app as well and notifies you on that date: “You spent 14 hours and 26 minutes worrying about this event. How did it turn out?” Possible answers: a) No big deal b) Not as bad as I expected c) As bad as I feared. With a notes field for details if you so desire.

You can configure the app to give you frequent updates (daily, weekly, monthly): “You worried a total four hours in the past week.” Maybe with a little chart or graph showing how much time was given to each event.

If you are one of the lucky few that never worry about anything (lucky you), this seems pretty foolish. We know that. You’ve told us that many, many times. And while we all know that “most of the things we worry about never happen,” we don’t know just how much of our lives are spent in needless anxiety. Until now.

If this app — or something like it — is already out there, send me a link. If not and you create it and make a fortune, you’re welcome. Where do I download?

Recovery Rope

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This is a BubbaRope Kinetic Energy Recovery Rope. 7/8” x 20’, breaking strength 28,600 pounds. I don’t plan to get in the kind of deep shit where you need one of theses but no self-respecting Land Rover owner would be without one. Mr. Wolf recommended the BubbaRope and it’s pretty impressive. There seems to be a difference between a “snatch strap” and tow rope but I’m still too new to the game to appreciate the difference.

Growing up in southeast Missouri it was not uncommon to see one vehicle towing another down the highway with a big old chain between them. (Can you say shrapnel?) But I found damned few photos of that so drivers have moved on to better solutions.

With space at a premium, I’ll probably keep this hanging on the wall of the garage and toss it in the back of the truck when I expect to be off-road. Along with a couple of Gator-Jaw shackles.

Antigravity XP-10 Microstart

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The Land Rover is nearly done. I know this because everything has been fixed and checked. Twice. Now it’s time to think about what goes in the truck besides me and the dogs. Things like jack, tools, tow rope, extra fuel container, etc. This is something of a challenge because the Series III is a small truck with space at a premium. When I asked Mr. Wolf if I really needed jumper cables, he suggested the Antigravity XP-10 Microstart as an alternative. I think the AAA tow truck guy had one of these but I’ve never used one. And I’ve always hated using cables.

This gizmo is about the size of a hardcover book (12x10x3) and weighs just 3.5 pounds. According to their website and a bunch of videos (almost 5,000 on YouTube), this thing will jump-start an 8 liter diesel truck (not to mention your iPhone). The built in overcharge and over-discharge protection helps avoid harming your battery.

Zelle

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UPDATE: While it was easy enough on my end (sender), it was a pain in the ass for one of the people I attempted to send money to. His bank was not one of the Zelle banks so he had to download an app and blah, blah, blah. Too much trouble. Use Apple Pay.

I’ve never used Venmo but I did send a few bucks with Apple Pay Cash a couple of weeks ago. But that only works if they recipient is using Apple Pay. I had never heard of Zelle until I read this article.

Zelle is currently offered by over 30 banks, including Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One. It can also be downloaded as a standalone app, like Venmo. To use Zelle, you will need to have a US bank account. […] Transferring money with Zelle goes straight from your bank to the recipients’ bank, unlike sending money with Venmo, which is processed through the third-party app.

I opened the Ally app on my phone and, sure enough, Ally supports Zelle. Took about 10 seconds to send $20 to Barb’s account. Zelle already reaches over 85 million users, thanks to its integration with major banks.

Yard & Garden playlist

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Google continues to improve the tools on YouTube (although I suppose that’s a subjective assessment). I’ve been on something of an organizing binge of late and updated a playlist of videos showing the hard work Barb has put into the yard and garden. 18 videos so you won’t want to watch them all. Click the three tiny lines/arrow in top-left corner to see all videos in the list.

Communication Budget

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Let’s say I am only willing to give up one hour (daily) of my life to digital communication (iMessage, email, social media). And I have a tool (app?) that connects to each of my comm apps, tracking time spent on that app. Perhaps a little countdown clock showing remaining time.

I might set aside 20 minutes of the 60 for my wife or kids (if I had kids). But for everybody else, the clock is running. When I hit 60 minutes, I’m done. (This doesn’t apply to phone calls. Those are unlimited.) If I don’t get to all my communications within the allotted 60 minutes, they get pushed to the next day.

How might such a tool change my habits? An email from a casual acquaintance might get a quick scan of the headline and nothing more. My replies would be short and quick. (“This is important. Call me”)

I’m yanking my weenie, of course. Nobody really wants to limit this kind of communication any more than cigarette smokers want to quit. So scratch the above…

Let’s aim lower. An app that shows how many minutes/hours you’ve spent online — doing anything — since midnight. With weekly/monthly/annual reports.