Kibbles & Bytes Blog

When it comes to resources, alongside time it’s seriously the most important one to ensure dependability with. So why are we still so confused? From what I can piece together, when we discuss sustainability it gets tricky to rationalize many fuel sources over time, so we start to develop newer more efficient solutions to the consumption needs of our various infrastructures, tools, and modern comforts. And yet of course not all individuals or institutions can afford the most current technology, so we grandfather in old standards (think Coal, Crude Oil, even Nuclear power) to satisfy the demand of the (by contrast perhaps labeled such) Proletariat who continue to consume and consume and further deplete our precious and quickly dwindling natural resources. Some of us are spending our lives working to remove ourselves from the Grid and reduce our usage of non-renewable energies to an ideal of zero. However, the few of us pushing for more renewable off-grid life are of course so self-centered that we aren’t always as focused on how our renewable lives could be applied on a macro scale. I see large scale solar popping up around the world slowly but surely, that makes me happy to see but also worried that it’s mostly privatized and effectively recreates the grid just with a more renewable source but doesn’t resolve the issue of keeping people less dependent on one unified fuel source that is not managed on the homestead/extremely locally.

Wind power was a big deal for a while but died out as an idea for individuals looking for a worthy investment given the lack of guaranteed power just like solar and the prohibitive cost of building a turbine in your backyard. That’s one reason wood fire has been an interesting option, considering we could fairly easily gather electricity from thermal sources and store that alongside our solar and hydro. Speaking of hydro-power there are some great options for hydroelectric generators from a number of big companies out there, and the setup could be much simpler than you’d think, to the point that one could use small nodes of micro-hydro generators for a single 10w device like a light or a fan or water pump or heating element, etc. and avoid the maintenance of a larger water wheel/turbine in a stream that’s hopefully close to your home. Remember, the truly ideal solution is to reduce electricity consumption and therefore it should not take fully configured Solar, Wind, Water and Heat power all together just to simply run your tech off as long as the tech you’re using is energy-efficient and setup with smart outlets/monitoring/scheduling through a home-automation linked system, just as you could monitor your battery usage and stock levels of food and fuel and thermal sensor data around the homestead, you could identify soil health of plants with the Parrot pot and tech of that type, automatically disable lights and other nonessential hardware automatically when not in use, the list goes on and is seemingly endless. Perhaps we are entering the age of self-sustainable bio-domes that are fully connected, where it’s intuitive to interact with all the hardware and software that is effectively seamless with the natural environment.

My hope is that we will constantly grow and thrive through the exploration and study (and inevitable automation) of well-groomed permaculture, to the extent of using the inherent strengths of the wide range of environments we inhabit more than we ever imagined. You psyched for the future? It’s only what we make it, so let’s make it this awesome! Who’s with me?

No doubt at some point in your digital past, you’ve been prompted to provide an ‘e-signature’ on a document. Something these prompts may bring you to a third-party or proprietary website and ask you to click and drag your signature into the specified field. When all is said and done, the hastily jotted scribble may not even be semi-legible. Frustrating.

However, for Magic Trackpad users, there is a shimmering beacon of light to put this madness to an end!

Did you know in the Preview application, in the ‘Tools’ drop-down menu, in the ‘Annotate’ section, there is a submenu titled ‘Signature’. This is every document signers dream menu, the promised land! In the ‘Signature’ submenu, you’re prompted with the option to create a signature. Following the steps brings a window that looks a bit like the Trackpad into view. From here you can click “Create a Signature”, and following this, your Trackpad is now ready to receive your signature with your fingers acting like a pen.

It takes a few tries to master the general ergonomics and flow, but once you’re satisfied with the end-result, click ‘Done’, and now you’re free to move your freshly made and finally legible signature across the document within the Preview app. Sayonara, chicken scratch.

Next time on Tech Tails, The Crypto Craze Part Two: Party on the Blockchain. Stay tuned!

Hello everyone, and welcome to our post-Black Friday edition of Tech Tails!

I am happy to say that our South Burlington team survived the Friday rush, and we’re gearing up for the Christmas crowds. If you missed out on our Black Friday promotions, don’t worry! We’ll have new promos later on in December.

As some of you may remember, I was recently in the market for a full frame DSLR. I must admit that the holiday weekend MIGHT have encouraged some spending of my own, but I will wait until I have more to say about this particular product before I talk about it here. I will say that Sony’s new A7Riii is getting fantastic reviews across the board. I find it fascinating to hear about which areas they’ve surpassed Canon and the features that Canon has kept to themselves. One thing I have read a lot about is the autofocus points and face detection on the Sony gear. A friend of mine recently made the switch from Canon to Sony and said that his portrait work has improved tremendously. When shooting video, autofocus is crucial, but not always necessary depending on the type of camera. That is one thing I love about the GoPro gear. Because of its wide angle lens, the entire field of view always seems sharp, no matter the subject. Speaking of GoPro, we just received the Hero6 in stock, just in time for the holidays. You know, GoPro started out marketing themselves to extreme sports athletes and activate video shooters, but I have to say, it can be super useful for documentary projects, or family videos. You never know when you’ll need to shoot some video and keep things weatherproof!

We’ve got a nice layer of snow up here in South Burlington, perfect weather for shooting some film! Enjoy this week’s edition, and have a great rest of your week.

Patrick McCormack
Patrickm@smalldog.com