Tag: technology

Fanless Chromebook

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"Chromebook Keyboard Detail" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
 “Chromebook Keyboard Detail” Cedar Park, 2016

I’ve been using my Acer Chromebook 11 for over a month now, and I continue to use it every day… I love it! One of the things that is so great about it is that there is no fan needed to cool down the processor. That means it runs silently, and since no vents are needed for airflow, I don’t have to worry about blocking them like I do with my Windows laptop. That means I can use it while lying down on the carpet, which happens to be my preferred position to write my evening blog posts.

But not having to worry about venting also means I can put it in sleep mode and throw it into my bag immediately. I just close the Chromebook and put it in the bag. With my work Windows laptop, I wait until it fully sleeps and the fan shuts off before I feel comfortable putting it into my bag. (I have a fear of it not going to sleep, then overheating in the bag, and exploding 😮)

The fanless design is one of several nice features that makes the Chromebook a great solution for my needs.

Wednesday

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/60 sec, ISO2000
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello, how are you?

Today’s photo is of my son, Bay, showing me how emojis are shown on different devices and their OS’s. It’s interesting that there can be so many different styles. In my work, I sometimes have to create icons and symbols, so looking at all the different emoji sets is interesting professionally. I can imagine the designers working through each icon… it’s a lot of work, but fun! FYI, both Bay and I agreed that the Google version of the emojis was our favorite.

In other news, we are preparing to move offices this week by packing up our things. This weekend, the moving company will move all the boxes to the new building and we’ll start there on Monday. It’s very exciting! For the past 10+ years I have been going to work at the same location so this will be a huge change! The photo below is of the cube that is opposite where I sit. It’s been empty for a few months because my colleague found another job at a different company. But, as people clean up their things, the cubes are all going to look like this one.

Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/40 sec, ISO3200
 Austin, 2016

Take care, and good night! おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

A-Z Challenge – U

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U stands for “Upgrading”

We are constantly urged by ads and marketing to upgrade everything we have. For instance, phones, software, cars, gadgets, etc. In photography, we’re presented with new cameras and technology every year. The camera you just bought will be “obsolete” as soon as next year’s model comes out. There’s more and more megapixels, better high ISO sensitivity, faster AF… the list goes on and on!

When I bought my Fujifilm X100T last year, it made me realize that I didn’t have to upgrade my camera gear to improve my photography, or more importantly, get more enjoyment out of my hobby. I became more aware of the concept of “good enough” and the “satisficers” vs “maximizers” and found myself falling into the camp of the satisficers. This camera had less megapixels than my dslr, didn’t have as high a burst mode, and the video quality was worse. But it was definitely good enough, and the advantages of small size, low weight, simpler controls made it a far more enjoyable experience for me. “Good enough” actually brought me more joy than “maximizing”.

So, now I ask myself… why must I upgrade to the latest and greatest? Phones for instance… I find a low to mid-range smartphone good enough for me. I don’t have the urge to upgrade. Also, I use Adobe Lightroom every day, but I decided not to upgrade to the latest “Cloud” version… for me, version 5 was good enough. If I had the CC version, it would probably force me to upgrade my computer to keep up with the more powerful features that are regularly added. I don’t want to get forced into this cycle of upgrading!

It used to be a huge temptation for me to keep upgrading my things. But these days, I find happiness in settling for the “good enough” items, and I do not spend cycles worrying or researching to make sure I am at the cutting edge. For me, it’s a more satisfying way to live, and I can spend my energies elsewhere.

A-Z Challenge – T

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T stands for “Time”

Last night I had a dream in which I was explaining how Quartz is used to keep time in watches. I can’t remember how I explained it, but it must have been a very vague explanation since I don’t really understand how Quartz does it. So when I woke up, I did a little research on Quartz watches and found out that Quartz has a special property, where when given an electric charge, will oscillate (vibrate back and forth) 32,768 times per second, and so modern electronics will measure that oscillation and then do a simple calculation, then send out one pulse per second. It’s amazing, isn’t it?

Anyways, I was also thinking about why we measure time in the units we do… I guess it was easy to figure out that we have 365 days per year, but I think it is amazing that we just have to add 1 day every 4 years to keep things in sync. It seems like (and maybe it is that) there would be some fraction of a day, like we’d add a day every four years, but every 100 years, we’d skip that leap day, or add two extra days. Also, how did we decide on 24 hours for a day? Why not 20 hours?

I’m sure these have logical explanations, but I’ll save that for another day. It’s like a little bit of knowledge that I will keep a mystery to myself for a while. 😊 I’ll keep it as something to look forward to!

Rainy sunday

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/60 sec, ISO3200
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ How’s it going?

Today was the first day of our huge rainstorm, which is supposed to last maybe three more days. ☔ Our house is not in any danger from flooding, but there are some parts of town that are near the river and those get so much water that they overflow the banks. It’s really dangerous and there are often reports of people getting swept away as they try to cross through the water in their cars. Even though we have the saying “Turn around, don’t drown” some people think they can make it and just try anyways.

I stayed in the house today and actually had a task to do: file our 2015 taxes. Like many other people, I use TurboTax to do our taxes, and after several years of doing it, it has become pretty quick and easy. The main thing is that you need to just keep all your tax documents in one place as they come in during the year. I have a box that I put all the documents, and when I receive an email saying I have tax documents online, I will print those out immediately and put them in the box. Then, when I finally get down to doing the taxes, it’s all there!

I remember several years ago, I had so much trouble figuring out where everything was, but now it is a breeze. I think the software has gotten a lot better with each year so that is a huge help!

While I was working and looking for a folder to archive all the documents, I found a clear file that has all the stickers I have collected over the years. I forgot about one sticker that I bought in Japan a few years ago… it’s a cat with a camera! It actually says “Neko camera” (neko means cat). So I put it on my Chromebook. I now have 5 stickers on it… SCANDAL, Neko Camera, Momusu, K-on!, and a KTUH sticker that my brother sent me.

I’m still enjoying using the Chromebook for my blogging… I am typing this (and pretty much all my posts) using it.

Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/40 sec, ISO3200
 Cedar Park, 2016

Well, it’s getting late so I am going to read a bit, then sleep. Let’s have a good week!

おやすみなさい！

– バロン Barron Fujimoto