Fix it Dad

Well technically this is my 'technology blog' but as a guy and more importantly dad I often come home to some damage or urgent repairs!

Today was no different, my 3 boys appear to have re-enacted jet washing the car in our family bathroom. The kitchen ceiling below was ruined due to leaking water. Upon getting home I assumed the whole damage was entirely the result of over exuberant bath time fun!

But upon closer inspection my kids have dodged holding the blame.... This time! The hot water tap had worked loose from the main pipework under the bath. After much swearing and fiddling with my tap wrench the leak was fixed and order restored! Well for now...

I would love to have some amazing tech that fixes all the damage my wonderful family seem to enjoy delivering to our home. Perhaps a tazer that targets the culprits could work! Seriously I would love a robot that went around fixing taps, door handles, hinges, stair rails and our home broadband.

I am just thinking off the top of my head but during the last 6 months I have had to repair the following:-

1. UPVC door handles torn off the door X 2
2. Stair rail that had the baudstall smashed in half X 3
3. UPVC side door no longer locking due to damaged hinge X 1
4. Boiler failing to fire due to over pressure (caused by inquisitive child playing with the refill valve)!
5. Broadband router failure due to toddler using it as a makeshift hammer X 1
6. Leaking bath tap, Okay this one is down to general wear
7. Stair gates torn from wall due to teenager hurdling it X 2 (yes 2!)

I think I could probably extend the list but I wouldn't have it any other way. With 3 boys aged 15, 12 and 2 I have a wide spectrum of abuse to contend with.

It makes getting home from work exciting and keeps me away from gadgets long enough to say hello!

Back with some more tech stuff later in the week, so long as I get 5 minutes away from fixing stuff!

Samsung KNOX after a few months use

When I got my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in October 2013 one of the things I was most interested in was perhaps not top of everyone's list! It was KNOX and how I might use this to help separate my work and personal life.

We all live in a world of constant connection these days, how many times have you replied to or read an email relating to work on an evening via a smart phone or tablet? I know I have done hundreds maybe thousands or times! At times it is great to save a small task the next day and get a message out to colleagues, clients or even your boss. But I started to realise this kind of behaviour was getting more and more frequent.

My solution was to put my work or corporate emails and tasks on a separate smart phone and leave this turned off in my work bag once I got home. Not an ideal solution as I would rather use one device as my daily driver. Plus on occasion I would like to easily choose to send the odd email or catch up on some work in an evening.

What had been happening was almost everyday I would be picking up messages relating to work and responding in my own time each and every time. This wasn't healthy for my home life and I simply had to remove them from temptation!

KNOX offered up perhaps a solution to my situation from first inspection but has it really helped? Well in short the answer is yes.... a little! It does offer up the ability to place your corporate emails within a secure password protected area. This is also great news for the super paranoid IT geeks who seem to stress and worry about corporate connections via a 'normal' android device. For me this has some negatives and positive. Firstly I can have my social networks, personal email accounts and other apps in a standard android environment. Great news for my evening browsing and break time chatting!

It also allows my corporate emails, contacts and work documents to be placed within the secure KNOX area. So while I am out working I can sign into KNOX mode and keep my attention on work priorities and tasks. Another upside I found was that when I leave my handset within my work bag and scramble up some ladders doing my day job. I know nobody within my work team can be sneaking a peak at my emails or messages through KNOX.

A downside for me and this is how KNOX has been deigned to work its not a fault or bug. Is the ability to copy text, links or phone numbers within KNOX and then paste them within the standard Android environment. You can not copy anything from KNOX and then paste it outside of the KNOX area. This principle also applies to screen shots, it just wont allow them to be taken. I can understand why this has been put in place, to protect your data upon loss or theft of your device. It is a trade off but one I understand and work with! Details about setting up KNOX and the screenshot issue can be seen here.

I like the fact Dropbox can be protected within KNOX again this pleases the IT guys! It also allows files to be shared quickly and easily via emails etc.

You still get notifications that emails have arrived within the standard Android area so the temptation is still there. I know you can set times etc to retrieve emails and help stop things like this but that isn't a solution long term for me due to the shift patterns I work. But the fact you have to input a password to access those emails is kind of a reminder to me that hey this is your time now. Don't worry about site access arrangements for tomorrows work. Do something fun and watch some funny cats on YouTube or something!

The setup I have now is all my corporate emails and files are stored within KNOX, even down to contacts and phone numbers. Its another defence in the event my phone gets stolen or lost but also a mechanism for me to switch off from work.

Plus on the same device I have an area to enjoy all the many wonderful android features away from work keeping those things locked away until work time!

Do I think it is an ideal solution to my particular situation? Not really. But is it helpful and useful? Yes it is!

Those of you lucky enough to be able to switch out of work mode and just pass over those emails or messages without my kind of OCD I salute you. Those of you who don't mind or embrace working 24/7 great stuff. But for those of you like me who would find a barrier to such things useful check out KNOX and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3

More details direct from Samsung can be found here

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Daily Device

In a follow up to my last post and to prove I am not just a Microsoft and windows fan boy I am turning my attention to my Android devices! In particular my Samsung Galaxy Note 3. I have had so many devices over the years it is hard to keep track but I have owned and used all the Galaxy note devices. Each time the new version is released the performance improvements are industry leading and the range of features ever increased. But what of those features and how many do I actually need/use?

My Android History

My android experience started with a HTC device, the desire to be exact. I then went over to the Samsung galaxy note and S2. Ever since I have stuck with Samsung handsets occasionally playing with my wife's Nexus 4/5 and HTC one. The experience considering all the devices are based upon Android is quite different. From a performance perspective my Galaxy Note 3 still seems to be the fastest and more capable device. But all have their unique strong points, the HTC ones speakers and Android overlay are great. While the Nexus devices run raw Android and often have greater compatibility with apps and services, although the cameras on the Nexus line always disappoint me.

Note 3 Focus

I will refocus back on the Note 3 and the main features I make use of. This is not spec listing or a review blog, if you want detailed product information and reviews based purely on all the specs and features then plenty already exist from Engadgget or Techradar and alike. This is purely from a day to day usage point of view and how this device helps keep my work and personal life connected and shared!

Battery Life

The main feature I make use of is quite an important one for most field workers. It is battery life and the note 3 really stands out in this department. The note 2 would just about make a day with a single charge for me but the note 3 manages this with ease. I spend most of my time checking emails, taking in twitter, Internet browsing, G+, Tech blog reading and keep up to date with sports and news apps. The battery easily copes with my daily use, I suspect if I was to watch movies or youtube for extend periods the battery might need more regular topping up.

Screen

On top of the battery I love the screen, both brightness/clarity and size. The screen real estate is brilliant for me and it is still more than comfortable enough to carry in your pocket and use as a general phone. Side by side with many other devices I always prefer my note 3 display, simple.

Knox

I have actively used Knox since it was launched to separate my work and personal life. Keeping my emails and work documents secure and password protected is brilliant, well done Samsung for trying to tackle this modern conundrum of bring your own device policy's. The range of apps within Know is growing and many of the daily work drivers are covered, plus its simple to switch back into personal mode.

Camera

I also take a ton of pictures for my work duties and family events. The note 3 really impresses me with its range of camera settings and the quality of pictures. No it isn't going to replace a DLSR but it is more than adequate for most tasks.

S Pen

I don't make an awful lot of use of Samsungs own applications such as Story book and S health etc. So can't really comment on these, its just not something I use my mobile device for. The S pen is brilliant and it is also compatible with my Microsoft Surface Pro 2 and vice versa which is great. I regularly take screen shots with the pen or use the link to action feature. I don't reach for the pen every time I use the handset but it comes out a few times each day. Screen write is great to overlay comments on pictures I collect in my line of work and the S finder is a great short cut to find those emails and files. Pen window lets me keep up with whatsapp and hangouts from the front screen.

Connection

My note 3 is my daily driver and everything else links through it via my EE LTE connection and dropbox. Once the note 4 comes along it will be retired to one of my children but otherwise is staying firmly in my pocket. Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth work flawlessly and keep me connected out on the road away from my home/office.

Call Quality

One of the features that seems to matter less and less is call quality and the ability to make and receive calls. The note 3 is actually quite good on this front in my experience and it is worth pointing out to those that still like to talk to people or take business calls. I find signal quality and strength is always slightly ahead of my iPhone 5s.

Anyway that is about it from my initial thoughts on my daily use of the Samsung Galaxy note 3. I will look more closely into some of the specific features and apps I like best later on.

Thanks for reading MW

Surface Pro 2 an Office outside the Office!

Here I am on a Monday evening working from my hotel base in London. Today I was at a clients premises conducting my day job. Producing electrical audit information for future and current electrical maintenance works. I have used my surface pro 2 all day gathering information and data into my corporate program. Replying to emails and uploading image files relating to my work duties.

Now back at the hotel I have my web browser open penning this blog whilst listening to Spotify and checking in on twitter. I use the EE network for my cellular connection and am fortunate to have a generous data allowance which I can tether to my surface pro 2. The result is a full office environment and connection whilst away from the comfort of my desk or home.

My surface pro 2 copes easily with my media and web browsing during the evening. I plan to watch a movie later (superman for those interested!) on it. Once upon a time I would have my laptop, phone and perhaps tablet on work trips. These days I have my phone and the surface pro 2, all linked together working hard to make my daily life as easy as possible. This has helped reduce the number and weight of the bags I carry whilst working. Believe me when your on the train and tube small things like the size, number and weight of your bags make a huge difference.

Along with saving the weight it also saves me tons of time. I would regularly gather data whilst working and type it up on my laptop later in the evening. Now I can enter all that data whilst I work enabling my office and support staff to get stuck into all that data almost instantly. Also I have much more free time in the evening, time to write my tech posts, which I hope people are reading!

The other amazing thing with the surface pro 2 is the battery life, I easily get through a work day without worrying about reaching for my charger. I did suffer from the bad software update late 2013 and had to hang in their with the Microsoft team to fix the issue. It took a little longer than I would have liked but it wasn't a huge inconvenience and showed the desire from Microsoft to make the right update and make it once. Now things are back to normal which is great and even during the issue things were not so bad. I just had to remember to turn the surface pro 2 off overnight and charge it.

I am mentioning the software bug as I don't want people to think I am just a huge Microsoft fan. I use an iPad and have a Samsung Galaxy note 3 and iPhone 5s as phones. I like my gadgets and I will fill this blog out with further topics on Android and iOS. It just seemed like a good place to start with the surface pro 2 as I use it so much at the moment. Issues come up on all the formats at one time or another and Microsoft were great they even offered to swap my surface pro 2 for a new one! It shows strength to respond to issues in the right way and not just focus on sales targets etc.

The surface pro 2 has made an immeasurable difference to my working life and I am grateful such a wonderful device was available and I dug deep into my pockets to get one. After all for a desktop/laptop/tablet the comparative cost is actually quite good. The real one device.

Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Docking Setup

I know Microsoft do a Surface docking rig via the Microsoft store. But it seems to keep going unavailable and in some cases disappearing for direct order. You can check it out here for details etc. I found it was quite expensive when I was looking into having a quick system to setup a desktop environment. Especially as I have both a home and office desk and I don't want t be carrying round additional weight in the form of a docking station.

Anyhow I started to look into a home made system and I found it is relatively straight forward, you can if desired setup multiple monitors via a USB hub and monitor output cables and the built in mini display port. But as I have a 32" monitor which is quite enough screen real estate for me!

The components I decided upon to provide the most suitable and simple/cost effective option are below.

• Mini display port to DVI adaptor 
• Audio cable (standard pc audio cable from the headphone port to monitor)
• Charging pack
• Wireless keyboard
• Wireless Mouse
• Wireless USB adaptor for Keyboard and Mouse

Here are some pictures

I have linked to the devices I ordered and have now used for a couple of months. So far they have worked flawlessly and it can be plugged in within a matter of seconds.

The most expensive part was the wireless keyboard and mouse. I opted for a Logitech system and it was around £22 but you can get basic wireless systems for under £15. In honesty it is worth spending a little bit more if you plan to type and work from a desk a lot.

The mini port adaptor was under £12 and works brilliantly, the quality is excellent. I use the charging pack that came with my surface pro 2 and already had a ton of audio leads so I was good to go with the above two items. The audio leads are available for under £2 so if you don't have any at the bottom of a draw or laptop bag it wont break the bank.

I also opted for a new case to carry my surface pro 2 around in, I went for this. It fits everything in nicely even with the pen attached on the side. You can even (just) fit a small wireless keyboard in the back sleeve. For £30 it is great value considering what it protects! The leather is good quality and it offers ample protection whilst in a bag etc. I highly recommend you invest in at least a good case like above.

You can see from the above my home made desk system costs under £40 even with the audio lead. My build came in at around £34! This is well under the retail value of the Microsoft docking station, even resold ones on EBay.

When I am next at my desk I will post a picture of what things look like. It is all quite tidy and once everything is in the right place, easy to connect. Simply connect the charger (if your running low), plug in the audio lead to the headphone port, connect the mini display port adaptor and connect the USB wireless dongle that came with your keyboard.

Of course during the build process you will have to connect the mini display port adaptor to your monitor cable (DVI) and the audio lead. But once connected you can leave these in place. Make sure you check your monitor supports a DVI connection. You might need a VGA adaptor instead or if your really lucky a HDMI option might be available. Either way the adaptors retail for about the same price and you can even use a DVI adaptor with a cross over VGA/DVI monitor lead. DVI leads normally have a white plug on the end whilst VGA is blue.

VGA

DVI

If you are in doubt or want to ask a question please feel free I am more than happy to help.

Microsoft Surface Pro 2 - Daily Use

The Microsoft Surface Pro 2 is an incredible machine, I had my doubts before I made my purchase but boy has it paid off. Initially what drew me to the surface pro 2 was a client requirement to provide real time data on site audits I conduct. I had dabbled with Android and Apple apps but none had the ability to collect and then distribute the range of data that my job entails.

I had read a bit about the original surface pro and it was in the back of mind that I should be looking towards these devices. My job entails examining buildings for electrical wear and tear, all very boring in the grand scheme of things I am sure. But my daily work life involves a lot of site work at client premises. Laptops have provided the foundation of most of what I do over the years. But this usually involved collecting data on paper or more lately an app on my phone. Then sitting down to enter this data into my laptop application for distribution back into the business and our clients.

What the Microsoft Surface Pro 2 has enabled me to do is gather all this information cutting out the paper or phone part. It is light weight and portable enough to collect the data directly into my application whilst conducting site audits. As it runs full blooded windows and has the performance to match or exceed most laptops my daily work life has got a whole lot easier. I simply engage into tablet mode and directly input all the data via the touch screen.

The screen is really responsive and I was surprised how pleasant it was to use after earlier poor experiences with windows tablet systems. I find myself wanting to use the pen even when I am at my desk with the tablet docked into desk top mode.

Performance is really sharp which is great considering the fairly high price point for this system. I have to tell myself that when I bought the surface pro 2 it wasn't a laptop, tablet or desk top purchase but all rolled into one device. When you stack up all 3 devices you begin to see what great value the surface pro 2 actually has. Yeah its my desktop when I hook it up to my home made rig. You can buy dedicated docking stations but my mini video to monitor hook up and speaker system is easily connected. I also use a wireless keyboard and mouse via the usb port on the surface pro 2. So when I am at my desk I get the full windows desktop experience with monitor and a range of connected devices.

When I am out in the field I can use my wireless keyboard and setup a laptop system in seconds. I can also use it in tablet mode for data collection and Internet browsing on the sofa at home after work. It really is the ultimate device for both productivity and media consumption. I now couldn't imagine going back to not using it. I know I managed before but things are so much easier now.

Whilst the range of apps is still a long way behind what we are all used to with apple and android some of the big hitters are slowly finding there way over to windows. But it matters little when you have the full blown desktop environment of windows to fall back on. You don't need apps or quick games to pass the time as you can simply load up Halo or another game of choice from Steam.

It is my everything device plain and simple, I haven't used my iPad in weeks and find myself spending less and less time on my phone. I love it.

From the i5 processor and 4 Gb of RAM to the super sharp screen and incredible battery life (8+ hours!) it really is the complete package for those of us who both work in the office and out at client sites or meetings. I can highly recommend it to anyone.

The support from Microsoft is 1st class and the ability to link up to my Xbox One via the glass app is great. I can control movies and even games directly from the surface pro 2. Screen shots are quick and intuitive to collect which is a must for me. Videos and movies are sharp and the sound of a surprisingly good quality.

I will be posting more about some of the specific features I like best about this device in the coming days. But for the minute I hope you found this outline useful.

MW