Wireless lifestyle.

About a five years ago I decided to give Bluetooth headphones a try for use with my smartphone, and I must admit that not having wires to worry about was a nice thing to have. Before that, the only other wireless device I had was a mouse, because I had being using a laptop as my every day computer for years and not having a cable to use the mouse was also quite a nice thing.

After a I got a laptop that had Bluetooth when I upgraded, I had been using Bluetooth headphones for a couple of years. So, I decided to get a pair of Bluetooth headphones to use with it since I found that the audio of Bluetooth headphones is more than good enough for my use case, since I only use them to listen to music, videos, podcasts, or on video conferences. And it turned out to be quite a great experience for me. It gave a degree of freedom of movement that I appreciate a lot, since I like to stand up and walk a bit from time to time, and not having to take of the headphones to do so is quite nice. The same goes when I have to go for stuff that is nearby.

The next step for me was keyboards, since I was getting interested on mechanical keyboards since some friends where recommending them to me. After some research, I decided to go for it since I wireless ones were getting to be good for my use case on my offices at home and work. I decided to go the Bluetooth route, since I didn't want to lose an USB port to the dongle, and by just turning the keyboards on they connected to my laptop once paired with it. The same can be said to the new mouse I got when the time came to replace the one I had.

Now, I'm keeping wireless as much as I can keep it that way. The convenience is just to much, specially on the headphone and mouse side of things, to move back to wired devices with my laptop. Though buying quality Bluetooth devices can be pricey, if you get good ones they should last long enough to make them good investments.

Wireless technology has come a long way, specially Bluetooth, to make a viable options for those who want less wires to handle and the convenience it bring to they work flow or needs. it also has become cheaper, so getting quality devices at a more accesible price points is realistic for more people.

The choice of wired, or wireless, has become more about what do you need the device for rather than quality. And is a great thing.

Long live Skype.

The news that Microsoft Skype, and integrating some of its functionalities into Teams is one that hits in the nostalgia.

To be honest, the news in itself wasn't all that surprising. Microsoft had been pushing teams as a collaborative tool for a while now, while Skype has been largely ignored. While I used Skype in the early 2000s, it has been quite a while since I moved to WhatsApp, and Messenger, for most of my everyday communications including voice and video calls. I even do more phone calls using the phone app.

Though, I did use Skype to keep in touch with friends and family for a while, but we ended up moving to WhatsApp, or the massaging services of Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Zoom, or other social media sites. Mainly because they are more convenient ways to chat and share files or other media. I can't remember the last time I used Skype for anything.

In someways, when Microsoft purchased Skype I thought it could become a worthy successor to MSN Messenger. I really loved to use MSN Messenger at the time, and most of the people I knew also liked to use it. Yet, Skype did not live to the septations, and we all move on to other instant massaging apps, all of which ended up becoming better with time.

In some ways, Skype is one of the biggest could have been. Yet. Microsoft really dropped the ball with Skype.

Six months later.

I've using a Machenike L16air with Linux Mint for over 6 months now, and it has been a great experience so far. Even though the laptop came with originally came with Windows 11, installing Linux Mint was easy and everything just works.

The upgrade to Linux Mint 22.1 Xia happened without any problems when the time came, and the improvements the Linux Mint made to the new release are quite good. The Machenike keyboards K500 Pro-B94 and K500, that I use on regular basis, also work out of the box with Linux Mint. So much so, that I'm now a fan of mechanical keyboards for when I'm at home or the office.

Not only that, it has made me a Machenike fan, and I wish they would offer their laptops with Linux Mint preinstalled for those who prefer it over Windows. Not only that, that they offered the software for their keyboards for Linux too.

Machenike has proven to be quite a great value for money. So much so, that I'm considering one of Machenike's monitors for when the time comes to upgrade or change the one I got now. The same goes the for the mouse.

As someone who prefers laptops over PCs, Machenike has given me a great option over brands like HP, Dell, or Lenovo, for laptops that fit great for my personal needs. While Machenike might not come with the latest tech, it does offer options are that are better than good enough for everyday use.

The Machenike L16air also gave me the chance to use an AMD CPU, and RADEON GPU, for the first time. And so far, AMD had become a real option for my needs.

So far, Machenike has surpassed my expectations, and remained me why I do prefer laptops over PCs. Not only that, it also proven the Linux Mint is a solid option, that just works with a wide variety of hardware. And what is better, it does in a user friendly way. 

Linux Mint 22.1 Xia: a solid point release.

It has been about a week since I upgraded to the Linux Mint 22.1 Xia,  and it has been one of the best point releases Linux Mint has had in a while.

The change that has proven to have the most impact on me, as an user, is the ability to change the power setting on my laptop. I've seen a mayor battery life improvement when I set the power setting to power saving when not plugged in, and one of several hour. It has gone up from about 4 hours, to about 8 from a full battery charge.

Other than that, it has been a great point release so far for my daily use. Now, I'm looking forward for Wayland to supersede X11.

And that's why I like Linux Mint, it give a modern OS that only changes things when necessary and it just works. It isn't at the bleeding edge of Linux, but I don't need to be at the bleeding edge. I just need at the system that just work.

Linux Mint 22.1 Xia upgrade upcoming.

Linux Mint 22.1 Xia around the corner, I'd be looking to upgrade from Linux 22 Wilma. Even though is a point release, and it focuses more on stability, I'm looking forward to it.

The main reason being the upgrade to Cinnamon 6.4, is that it brings upgrades to the user experience. While user interface is quite good, the upgrades coming up seem to make the user interface better. Which is not a big deal as a whole, but quite welcomed for someone like me that apprentices a both form and function on the the things I use on daily basis.

Also the improved system stability promised, is a great thing. To be honest, Linux Mint has proven to be quite stable for my use, but there is always room for improvement. Personally, I'd like to see a better printer experience with non HP printers. Though is not bad, for time to time the print jobs get stuck, take ages to get sent, or it doesn't play nice with all printers.

Other than that, there isn't much on my wish list for Linux Mint 22.1 Xia. I just hope for another great release by the Linux Mint team.

Google confirms 5 OS updates for Pixel 6 and 7 series.

Google just announced that it would extend the guaranteed OS updates for Pixel 6 and 7 series, from the original 3 to 5. That are great news, since means that those Pixel devices will have a longer life span, and could mean other smartphone manufactures that use Android could consider to follow suit.

To be honest, it is also great news for me. I decided to go with a Pixel 7a, and knowing that I'm guaranteed to get Android 18 makes it that much better prospect for the next 3 years. If the next 3 OS updates go as well as the update from Android 14 to 15 did, I'm looking forward to keep my Pixel 7a for at least 2 years.

While I'd like to see some big updates with each of new update, I rather have each to bring small updates that actually make my smartphone user experience better. For me, the big updates are just the cherry on the cake.

Android 15: a nicer upgrade than expected.

After upgrading my Pixel 7a to Android 15 almost a month ago, the biggest improvement I've seen in the user experience side has been a longer battery life.

Normally on Android 14 by about 8:00 PM, I had about 30% of the battery left. Now, it normally has about 50% with a normal use on workday, on weekends it could be around 40% with heavy use of WhatsApp, social media, and Spotify. Not to mentions between 3 or 4 hours of Bluetooth while I stream music or podcasts on Spotify.

I also feel the Bluetooth connection with my earphones a lot more stable, and the connection feels faster. In general, the user experience feels better with no major downsides so far.

The upgrades from Android 12 to 13, on a Motorola phone, and from 13 to 14, on a Nothing Phone 1, were really good. Yet, they didn't feel as good as the upgrade on the Pixel 7a. Though the one on the Nothing Phone 1 comes close but not enough.

To be honest, unless something changes in a big way, the only two phones brands I'd consider in two years time to upgrade my phone are Nothing and Pixel. Specially because mid-range smartphones offer me the best value of my money for what I want, and need.

Not to mentions that I much prefer Android over iOS. Not that iOS, or iPhone, are bad in themselves, is more than Android works better for me. More far more willing to jump between different brand within the Android ecosystem, that to make the jump to iPhone.

Even more than I'm firmly on the Linux camp with my laptops, specifically with Linux Mint. As such, I rather not move into Apple's ecosystem at all.

When I moved from Symbian to Android, I didn't expect much. But, about a decade later I must admit that I have not looked back. Though, I still would have liked to see Symbian succeed and become a third player on the smartphone OS arena.

Mechanical keyboards have won me over.

After a couple of weeks giving mechanical keyboards a try, I must admit why people who use them recommend them so much. Typing on them really feels nicer, and the sound they make is quite something.

I have come to like mechanical keyboards so much, that I decided to get three of them. A 60% one for the laptop I use mainly for media consumption, and a couple of 80% percent ones for work at my home office and for work.

I decided to get these particular keyboards, because my laptop is from the same brand, and so far it has been quite a great value for my money. So much so, that if all goes as it gone so far when I've to replace it, I'm most likely to choose another one of the Machenike laptops. Specially since they play nice with Linux Mint, which is my go to Linux distro.

And so far, the keyboards have given my no problem at all with Linux Mint, actually they have worked like a charm. Though I could try to dive even deeper, I don't feel like I need to because they cover all my needs out of the box.

As a laptop user, I didn't expect mechanical keyboards to actually win me over. But, they did and now they are a must have for my office.

Sci-fi: trying to see future tech and its impact on society.

Growing up in the 90s consuming a lot of sci-fi media, it feels rather strange that some of the tech described on sci-fi has become a reality. Things like smartphones, wireless headphones, video telephony, are some of the technologies that sci-fi predicted for example.

While smartphones, and tablets, don't really work as they were envision, are now devices that are commonplace. For example, tablets were envision as capable to do one thing while the tablets we got can be used for multiple things. The same goes for smartphones, so much so that they have replaced digital cameras, telephones, and media players.

Also computers have become smaller, rather than larger as some people believed when the first computers came to be. It was predicted that people would have computer terminal that would only be capable of sending the inputs to a central computer to be processed and displaying the results. Computers ended becoming smaller, and capable to process much more information faster than expected.

Though, to be honest, we have more of hybrid model. While our computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, are capable of impressive levels of computing powers locally, we supplement that with the Internet.

Yet the Internet not only supplements the computing power of our personal devices, it allows to access information remotely and to communicating with others at the same time. As such, the predictions weren't completely wrong, just missed how computers would be developed over time.

It can be said that sci-fi has inspired people to create our modern societies, and in a way our current tech inspire people to predict how future tech will look like through sci-fi. It is also a warning how badly managed tech can be our downfall, while inspiring people to create the tech that makes our lives better. It shows that there is hope, but only if we use and create new tech responsibly.

While sci-fi can only guess what tech will be, and how it shape our future, it still important because it allows to explore not how our future will be, but how tech is impacting our world now. Sci-fi is much more than entertainment, predicting the future of tech and its impact on people.

It is about our hopes and fears, it is about how tech can make our change our lives for better or for worse. Some will take it, and make tech that greatly improves an aspect of human life, others will do the opposite. Hope for a better future is not lost, but we have been warned that tech is not what will dictate our future. What will dictate our future, is how create and use tech.

Giving mechanical keyboards a try.

After a couple of months, I decided to get a mechanical keyboard for my home office. The laptop I use at home for media consumption, and some light Internet browsing, has given me some trouble with keys getting stuck since new, so I got an entry level wireless mechanical keyboard to see if all the hype I've heard about them is something I could get into.

So, I decided to go with a Machenike K500-B51W with brown switches. It is a 60% keyboard, and although for a keyboard for a more professional use I'd rather use bigger one with a number pad, for the intended use I've of it has been proven to be quite a nice fit.

The main reasons I choose the K500-B51W are its size, that Machenike has proven to me that it makes good products with the L16A laptop I use as my daily driver, that is relatively cheap, and that it is a wireless keyboard. My first impressions of it, are pretty good. I still need to get used on to it, but so far it has been quite a great experience.

To be honest, I had my reservations about mechanical keyboards. But after listening good thing about them, and now having some first hand experience on one, I must admit that mechanical keyboards have won me over for use on my home and work offices. They are not something that I would bring with me when I'm on the go, but I use them when are the office.

I'd still go for a 90% keyboard with a numpad as my main keyboard for use with my main laptop. I just prefer my keyboards that way, since my user case just works better that way.

I've tried to use smaller keyboards, but I simple dislike them. I can just use them for short times, or in specific use cases. Like using the when browsing YouTube, or other streaming sites, where I don't have much use for the numpad, and the smaller size is a benefit.

Time will tell if I choose to get a bigger keyboard to use with my main laptop at work, so far it seems that there are some high chances I will do just that.

Thunderbird email client arrives on Android as a beta tester app.

I've been an avid user of Mozilla Thunderbird email client on my laptops, for about a decade now. Specially after I started using several emails, which make managing them through a webmail impractical.

A few years ago I started to check my emails though my smartphone more often, and the email apps I settled on while usable didn't actually measured with I came to expect using Thunderbird. I knew that team behind Thunderbird was on their way to create an app for iOS and Android, but it was a work on progress.

Until this week, when the app was release as a beta for testers on the Play Store. After digging around a bit, I found that it was stable enough to give a try. So far, it has been quite a great app for me. It just works, while there are some features missing.

The main one I'm looking forward, is being able to sync it with my desktop app. I do that with Firefox, and find it useful for my user case. Being able to both apps seamlessly is quite useful for me, since I can use the device I have at hand.

Being able to have a more granular controls on how to theme the smartphone app, is something I don't need to have, but it would be nice to have.

While I still have to use the app for more time to better understand it, and how it fits my needs, so far it has been the best email client I've used on an smartphone. With new updates, I hope it keeps making it better and it becomes my go to email client app on Android.