6 justifications holding back your self-improvement
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Image by Quinn Dombrowski used under Creative Commons License [/caption]
Anytime we try to undertake change that is uncomfortable, our psyche tries to find "reasonable" justifications why we shouldn't do it. Some call these loopholes, some call them excuses and some call them false justifications. Regardless of what you call them, they are real.
The purpose of creating this list is just to create awareness about them so you can catch yourself using them the next time.
- False excuse- You can't so A because you are already doing B. there are time when this is a valid excuse but more often can not, this is just an excuse.
- I've been good excuse- I've been so good so it's ok for me to do this/not do this. You are trying to convince yourself that you have taken the moral high ground so one "indiscretion" won't be too bad.
- Procrastination excuse- I can afford not to do A today because I have time to do it tomorrow and that's good enough.
- Get out of jail excuse- I'm on vacation / business-trip so it's ok. Just because you are out of your "normal" situation doesn't mean you should break everything you are trying to do.
- Life is short excuse- I only live once so I might as well do A.
- It's only once excuse - I know A is bad but I'm just doing it this one time. If you do it and like it, chances are you may find other excuses to keep doing it. I know it's an extreme example but this is often how drug addiction starts.
The next time you catch yourself using one of these justifications, acknowledge it and make an informed decision.
SAVE 20% on Zagg Invisible Shield Screen Protectors
Zagg (link) is currently running a 20% off promo on their InvisibleShield skins with code USA20 (expires July 6) at checkout. This is the biggest discount we have seen for these protectors in 4-5 months so the price is very good.
US Orders ship for free and international are done at a small fee.
This protectors are available for every gadget available under the sun (almost) including: iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy S5, Google Nexus 5, Kindles, Watches, etc.
Rebuilding broken Employee Engagement
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Image by GDS-Productions used under Creative Commons License [/caption]
Employee Engagement was incredibly popular in most mid to large organizations, then the recession hit and organizational survival become the modus operandi. It's not that employee engagement isn't important but rather less important than ensuring the survival of the company.
With business and employee confidence back on the rise and the economy stabilizing, it's no wonder that HR departments and the organizational leadership are now trying to dial back into employee engagement (we are seeing employee engagement discussed at fireside chats during conferences, written about again in management magazines and discussed in HR oriented online forums.)
In the past couple of years, some organizations stopped measuring employee engagement for 2 reasons:
- cost saving
- fearful of the results
The first point is fairly obvious, surveys cost money to prepare, deploy and analyze. In survival mode every penny counted and "superfluous" or "luxurious" items were the first to be cut.
The second point is the sheer fear HR departments and company leadership had about the results. When you cut staff, reduce pays, cut bonuses and otherwise get rid of most perks (from toys to training), you should expect it to hit employee engagement. Whether you measured it or not, the impact of these strict controls are very real on employee engagement and it will take time to fix all the damage.
Communication is often the chief complaint from employees and stressed out leaders tend to communicate less. Reduced communication leads to clouded visibility (by employees) and often feeds the rumour mill. Employees start to question the decisions made by their leaders. They feel ignored and unimportant. Some become extremely vocal about their unhappiness that I nickname them the "prophets of doom".
“It is during these times of difficulty and turbulence that real leadership is discovered. Regardless of the challenges a leader is facing, he must be willing to keep the communication channels open and must be available to his people”
As a leader you must "pull up your pants" and keep communicating openly and honestly with your employees. Tell them what you can and don't make promises you can't keep. It's especially important not to hide in your office behind a closed door. The more difficult the situation, the more you must be available. Sure some confrontations will be painful but it's our job as leaders to take the good with the bad.
How to improve employee engagement?
Assuming you fell into the above mold, how can you now fix your employee engagement problem? First step is building the lines of communication. Honestly and sincerely communicate with your people. There is no such thing as over-communication. Be honest and share (within reason of course) the challenges being faced, the decisions being taken, why they are being taken and the opportunities you see. Share as much as you can about Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). Show fortitude of character to take the heat in the tough times not just the glory in the good times.
Employee-employer trust is likely broken because of all the hard decisions most companies have had to take and like situations of infidelity, rebuilding trust takes time. Accept the fact that this is likely something you will have to work hard at for a while. Sincerity and honesty go a long way here.
“Do what you say and say what you do.”
Like a 12 step program, be honest of any mistakes you (or the organization) have made and explain how you plan on correcting them. Your people are more resilient than you think and often times they can come up with much better and more creative solutions to your problems. Remember that two heads are better than one.
The rest of the solution is to constantly measure employee engagement and fine tune your plan.
A battery that can jumpstart your car or power your smartphone
I love portable battery packs because they make travel a lot more enjoyable allowing me to watch movies or listen to music much much longer than the devices built in battery. But these batteries are designed for smartphones or tablets and typically provide 1 or 2.1 amps of juice.
Now Cobra has the JumPack which can deliver 400 amps of car starting power and can also power your smartphone or tablet with its 7500mAh built in battery (through its USB port).
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/7998244ff5.jpg" alt="">
you can charge the JumPack with the (included) AC power adapter or the (included) 12V cigarette lighter adapter.
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/b278e7aee1.jpg" alt="">
Roam Mobility now has US 4G LTE Service
I have written a lot about Roam Mobility and love the fact I can freely use my smartphone without having to pay huge fees to my canadian carrier.
Related Articles:
Roam Mobility just announced that it will have access to the T-Mobile US LTE network as of July 7 2014. T-Mobiles new LTE network cover over most major US metropolitan area and will greatly increase your connectivity speed when in the US.
If you have a Roam Mobility SIM card, you will automatically get registered for the new faster network and be notified via email.
“Our 4G LTE Network doesn’t just bring faster data speeds. It’s the first of many new services we’ll be announcing in the coming weeks that we expect to have a big impact on Canadian roaming services.”
I know Roam Mobility has much bigger ambitions than just US roaming services and I expect them to launch some type of global roaming service in the next 12-24 months. Time will tell but it's great to see a canadian company innovating.
Google bought Songza
It seems the rumours we had all heard were true and Google has finally snapped up Songza. Deal details were are not known but media believes the deal is worth 15M$.
Some said this was done to improve Google Play Music All Access service others say it was a jab at Apple's 3B$ acquisition of Beats.
Google issued a statement calming existing users by confirming that the service will continue as is (for the immediate future). Unfortunately I'm convinced they will kill the Songza service we know and love moving users to the Google paid monthly service.
goodbye Songza... It was a fantastic ride while it lasted
Apple releases iOS 7.1.2 for iPhone and iPad
Apple has just released a minor update to IOS bringing the version to 7.1.2. Don't expect any major changes, this fixes an iBeacon bug, a data transfer bug from some 3rd party accessories and protects mail attachments with proper encryption.
It's a 30 MB Over-the-Air (OTA) update for the iPad and 32MB for the iPhone.
To get it, go to Settings > Software Update and voila.
Amazon App store offers 31 Android apps worth $100 for free
Amazon a running a fantastic promotion in their Amazon App store (link) right now (for 2 days). They are offering 31 decent popular apps and games for free. Outside of this promo, these would cost you $100 to buy. So this is definitely a download it now type of promo.
Some other promos typically include 1 good app and 20 horribly designed crap but this is a decent list worth looking at.
Apps like : Pinball Deluxe, Splashtop Remote HD, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Plex, Informant 3, and many more
Dell Chromebook 11 is the best chromebook you can buy
There are about a dozen different Chromebook models (from different manufacturers) each offering something a little but different. After comparing all the current models, I believe the Dell Chromebook 11 is the best bang for the buck. Unfortunately this model isn't offered in all regions (as an example it is not listed on Dell's Canadian site).
“An important note is that Google will be updating ChromeOS to allow the execution of Android app in ChromeOS which means you may need a touchscreen device eventually. At this point Google did not provide any timelines. The Dell Chromebook does not have a touchscreen but is still the best buy today based on the current version of ChromeOS.”
What is a Chromebook
Many of you found this page knowing what a chromebook is, so you can skip to the next section. For everyone wanting to know what a chromebook is, read on.
A typically Windows computer requires a Windows license, malware protection and constant updates. A couple of years ago, Google realized that many users had migrated from a traditional PC use model, where everything was running locally, to a web-centric model, where everything is running on the web.
When I switched from a Windows machine to a Mac last year, I realized just how much of my day to day computing is actually done in the cloud (Evernote, Google Gmail, Google Docs, Google Photos, etc).
To support this new computing paradigm, Google created a brand new operating system called ChromeOS. It is a specially designed Operating System built on Linux specifically to run the Chrome browser. There are many benefits to this new computing model but the first one most people think about is cost. And yes, ChromeOS Chromebooks are cheap but:
- ChromeOS is lightning fast - Because ChromeOS is stripped down minimalist and small footprint OS, many manufacturers use small solid state drives in their chromebooks which means boot time is incredibly fast. Fast because of the SSD (solid state drive) and fast because the operating system is small and lightweight. It is very common to see a Chromebook book completely from a shutdown state in under 10 seconds.
- No user maintenance - Most people want their computers to be like their toaster... They want it to "just work", A traditional PC (Mac or Windows) requires maintenance to keep in tip top shape but ChromeOS does not. ChromeOS is as maintenance free as a device can be. In an extreme case where things have gone awry, just use the built in "Powerwash" feature and your device will perform like new. All your data is in the cloud, there is nothing to backup, nothing to save and nothing to lose. Updates to ChromeOS are automatic and pushed by Google without any user intervention.
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ChromeOS is more secure - A Windows or Mac computer requires a slew of security oriented applications to keep you safe and to protect your data. Google designed ChromeOS with a "Defense in Depth" approach which means there are multiple layers of security built-in.
- Google keeps your device constantly patched which means any vulnerabilities are automatically and very quickly patched
- Each webpage or web-app is sandboxed (meaning it is logically separated from every other instance which means one webpage or web-app cannot attack or steal data from another webpage or web-app).
- If malware somehow manages to get installed and modifies ChromeOS to steal information, it will be detected and removed. Everytime a ChromeOS device is booted, there is a "Verified Boot" checker that verifies the integrity of the installation. If anything is modified, the device will automatically PowerWash itself and bring itself back to a known good state without any user intervention
Who shouldn't use ChromeOS
As amazing as ChromeOS is, it isnt the magic bullet and not everyone will want it. ChromeOS is designed for an always connected world. Google is making many of the functionality offline compatible (like Google Movies, Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc) but a ChromeOS device will always be happiest when it is connected to the big beautiful internet.
Chromebooks are internet terminals and as much most devices come with super fast but small SSD drives (16/32GB). You won't keep your entire photo collection locally.
Some always on the move people may need to buy a 3G/4G capable Chromebook which costs more and requires a carrier data plan.
ChromeOS was built as an internet access device and as such doesn't run apps locally (I know you can hack a version of Linux on most devices but that isn't something the average user will do). As a result, you won't be able to use your "normal" desktop apps like Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, etc. The truth is most users can get along just fine with the free web alternatives but they just need a kick in the pants to try them. I switched from Microsoft office to Google Docs at home and haven't looked back. It does everything I need for home use, is free, fast and always available from any browser. I also like Apple's new web-based Pages wordprocessor (which does work on a Chromebook).
Google Free Chromebook googies
Google is always offering free goodies to make your Chromebook experience better like Free Google Drive storage, Free Gogo in-flight WIFI vouchers, Free Google Play Movie vouchers, etc
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/8574be0aaa.jpg" alt="">
Google has setup an interesting page entitled "How to get Chrome Goodies for your Chromebook" that you can checkout for current offers (link).
What to look for
When shopping for a Google ChromeOS compatible Chromebook, you should be evaluating these different elements:
- Build quality and durability
- High quality and responsive keyboard & mouse
- Connectivity options and stability
- Longest battery life possible
- Large, bright and sharp display
- Light and easy to carry
I've listed the elements in the order of importance (according to me). The Dell Chromebook meets everyone of the above elements. It has a one of the best Chromebook keyboard currently available. The keys keep solid and clean when you press them. The keyboard layout is reasonable and the trackpad responsive.
Even though the device is all plastic, it feel solid and well built. It doesn't flex or crack when you use it.
The Dell Chromebook 11 supports 802.11 a/b/g/n for WIFI and Bluetooth 4.0. In my testing, the WIFI connection never dropped and WIFI performance was comparable to other much more expensive Dell laptops. The Dell Chromebook does not have 3G/4G connectivity options but I would rather tether my cell phone anyway instead of buying an additional dataline from my almost monopolistic always expensive carrier.
Dell claims battery life of 10 hours and my tests came up just shy of that number with very active use. I was typically getting 6-8 hours of solid use but this may be because of a ChromeOS bug rather than hardware issues. Every other Chromebook also performed well under the manufacturer stated limit. Dell was actually one of the best battery life performers. Hopefully Google will improve battery life through future software updates.
All of this in a reasonably small package weighing in at a mere 2.9 lbs.
Dell markets this Chromebook as a student device but don't let that fool you, this is currently the best general purpose Chromebook in the market.
Whereas some lesser Chromebooks are noticeably and sometimes annoyingly slow, the Dell Chromebook 11 always felt zippy. My wife is a perfect example of a typical web user and always keeps dozens of tabs open (I typically have 3-4 at any given time). On most Chromebooks (HP, Toshiba, Acer, etc) switching tabs (when 20-30 are open) take 30-45 seconds and older tabs have to be redrawn. The Dell Chromebook 11 never suffered any of these issues. Switching tabs is fast and pleasant. For webpages with active content like Java, the Dell Chromebook 11 was almost twice as fast as the slowest models (Samsung and HP). This speed is directly attributable to the hardware specifications (Intel Haswell based Celeron 2955U processor, 16GB of very fast SSD storage and 4GB of RAM). Dell chose an excellent configuration for this device making it snappy and responsive like a device should be.
From an expandability perspective, the Dell Chromebook 11 has 2 USB 3.0 ports and an SD-card slot. The SD-card slot means you can load content and use while disconnected (pictures, music, etc). Great addition for a 16GB device.
So the Dell's screen is good but not the best. The screen itself is respectable and outperforms most other Chromebooks but the IPS one on the HP is just that much better. The Dell's screen is also glossy which means it has smaller viewing angles and reduced visibility in bright sunlight.
Like anything else in this price range, you will need to hookup an external Bluetooth speaker to get anything worth writing home about. I have this same complaint for traditional laptops even some costs close to $2000. The Dell Chromebook 11's speakers are weak but so are those in most laptops anyway (except those in my beloved Macbook pro which rock).
Eventually we may need a touch enabled Chromebook once Google allows Android apps to run in ChromeOS but at about $300 a pop, that future requirement shouldn't influence your decision to buy today.
Cliris cleans your glasses for you
I know cleaning your glasses is a lot of hard arduous sweat inducing work. You probably ask yourself all the time "there must be a better way". Why hasn't technology solved this age old problem already?
Cliris is a new Kickstarter project that want to make your life just a little easier and make you just a little more lazy. In just four minutes, it will clean, disinfect, anti-fog treat and dry your glasses for you.
Cliris uses ultrasonic technology (the same one used to clean jewelry for years) along with a biodegradable cleaning solution. The solution comes in special pods that cost about $US25 each and last for 30 cleanings. Add to that the $US269 cost of the device and this is something for a very specific subset of lazy individuals with tones of disposable income burning a hole in their pockets.
You've got 25 days to fund this project (link).
Smartphone charging pants
We live in a world that is repulsed by wires. We want everything wireless. Wireless headsets. Wireless networking. Wireless Qi based charging. Wireless, wireless, wireless.
Now the world is a slightly better place because we finally have wireless smartphone charging pants (or as they call them in Europe Trousers). These pants have 2,400mAh of smartphone life giving energy coupled with a DC-50 induction charging plate.
Place a compatible phone in the pocket and voila. This is the brainchild of British designer Adrien Sauvage working in collaboration with Nokia. These pants will be available for sale on Amazon for only $US350.
The one downside is that this adds one more thing to your list to charge. Somehow charging my pants just doesn't seem right.
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/50368401b6.jpg" alt="">
Source: Nokia
De-stressing transforming tea bags
These specially designed teabags start off in a "stressed out shape" and then slowly transform into a more relaxed version of that shape when dunked in hot water. This creative idea was hatched by the bright minds at M&C Saatchi (link) for the BOH tea company (link).
It's a great visual reminder to just take a minute and relax.
Google IO Attendees get cardboard and a watch
Google IO 2014 was clearly a love-fest for developers and Sundar thanked them for making the Android platform great. He acknowledged that many developers come to Google IO for the latest and greatest swag.
Attendees to the 2014 edition of Google IO will each get a carefully designed piece of cardboard that turns into a smartphone cradling Virtual Reality headset. They also get the choice of the LG G Watch or the Samsung Gear Live.
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/e2c50c8b2f.jpg" alt="">
Attendees will be eligible to receive a free Moto 360 when it becomes available later this year or as they said "as soon as it's available".
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/4a54e0c63b.jpg" alt="">
Google Play a success for developers
Obviously Apple is the 800 lb gorilla in the app store room so developers often wonder if the Google Play store is worth the investment. Sundar Pichai revealed that Google has now paid out 5B$ to developers from its Google Play AppStore since the last Google IO. Which is 2.5X year over year growth.
In Contrast Apple has paid out 15B$ to developers from AppStore sales so far
“Apple’s incredible developers have now earned $15 billion on the App Store.”
It is still great to see all these hardworking devs get some payback.
Video showing Google's Android Everywhere vision
Google is clearly pitching an Android Everywhere strategy. They want it to run on your wrist, in your car, on your TV, phone, tablet and laptop. Google has put all the pieces together in this short video illustrating their vision.
When travelling, should you use cash, credit card or debit card?
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Image by Steven Depolo under Creative Commons License [/caption]
The question I get asked the most is "When travelling, should I use cash, credit card or debit card?"
Cash is accepted everywhere
It's important to remember that regardless of where you travel, the surest most certain form of value exchange is the US dollar. For every trip, I always make sure I have a comfortable amount of US dollars in various denominations spread out throughout me (you never want to pull out a wad of cash in the middle of the street in a foreign country. In many countries cash is the only way to pay for basic commodity services (like taxi, tipping and even some non-hotel restaurants).
Often times cash is the surest way to negotiate the best price on items you want to buy (from a store or street vendor).
Carry or withdraw cash
The next question is "should I convert all the cash in my home country or withdraw once there?" First make sure your debit card is part of one of the larger worldwide networks. Once you've validated this, make sure the location you are visiting has internationally connected ATMs. On one of my trips (to the Philippines) the only internationally connected ATMs where at the airport. Once you travelled to the other cities, you could no longer withdraw money from any of the available ATMs (because those banks where not connected to the international networks), It would have been a huge inconvenience if I hadn't planned and was stuck without money and couldn't withdraw. So plan, plan, plan.
In some cases, hotels may be willing to charge your credit card and give you cash (for a fee) so this may be your only choice if your stuck because of bad planning.
Safety first so only use ATMs in public highly visible areas ideally inside a national bank. Thieves are everywhere and they love stealing from cash rich, security unconscious foreign travellers.
I find that I get the best rates when I withdraw local currency in-country using a big national bank connected to the international banking network. Remember that your bank will also charge you a per transaction fee plus an additional fee for use of the international banking network so make sure you pull out enough money to get you through your trip (don't make small withdrawals).
“If something goes wrong with the transaction and the foreign banks ATM “eats” your card, you will be out of luck and won’t be able to get a replacement until you get back home.”
The second best rates can be obtained from your own bank in country but most banks require that you "order" the foreign currency ahead of time.
Credit Cards are safe
The shortcoming of cash is that it can be easily stollen and once taken cannot be easily recovered. This is where credit cards come in. If you stick with Mastercard or Visa, you have a very good chance your credit cards will be accepted in major developed countries.
Remember though that not all cities in all countries will accept credit cards. As an example the major cities in China will accept credit cards but many of the smaller villages won't. So plan your trip and check ahead of time.
The advantage of using credit cards is that it offers a decent amount of fraud protection, you can have a replacement sent if your card is stollen and you are less at risk of getting robbed.
“Some issuers refuse to send replacement cards to any address except the one listed on your account. I find American Express to be the most travel friendly but has limited acceptance overseas,”
In addition to the limited acceptance, you may also be subject to high currency conversion fees. Make sure you check the terms of your card before using it overseas.
Don't forget to notify the issuer that you will be travelling so that their fraud tools don't automatically cancel your card leaving you stranded.
Know the exchange rate
Before you head out, make sure you check out what the currency exchange rates are for your destination currency versus your home currency. I like Oanda.com because their currency converter also provides typically conversion premiums
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/76ad7de6b6.jpg" alt="">
Oanda also provides a little traveller cheat sheet (based on the spot market rate plus the extra % you choose for the charge drop down list) that you can print and carry in your wallet for quick conversions. For this example I generated a USD/EUR cheat sheet using the +/- 3% rate
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/7912bd8083.jpg" alt="">
Security Security Security
Always plan to be safe and secure. Nothing ruins a trip like having your money, credit cards or passport stollen. Sure they are replaceable but you may end up spending your entire trip running between police stations, the embassy and banks.
I strongly recommend that you travel with a security minded travel bad (handbag, sling, backpack, etc). My favourite security minded travel gear manufacturer has been (for over 4 years) and is still PacSafe (link).
Then read my articles on staying safe in hotels. You can start your reading with part 1 (link), part 2 (link), part 3 (link) and part 4 (link).
Read my article about Travel Tips when Travelling Alone (link).
The best Travel backpack
Travelling is a wonderful experience filled with new emotions, experiences and memories. Unfortunately travelling unprepared may mean these turn out to be negative emotions, horrible experiences and terrible memories. Typically a wonderful experience turns bad when a traveller has his/her most important items stollen (think passport credit cards, traveller checks, money, etc).
Unfortunately tourists are targets for theft in too many countries and they have to take special precautions. Over the years I have tried several dozen products to keep my valuables safe but the one I keep coming back to is my PacSafe (link) backpack.
Why should you buy a PacSafe product?
Every PacSafe product I have bought or tested has been engineered with security in mind. Regardless of which product you choose, most of them share some key protection features:
- ExoMesh SlashGuard - PacSafe recognizes that the most common technique to steal items in the field is for bad actors to slash your bag while you walk and allow the contents to fall-out. Regardless of how "aware" you are, you are unlikely to feel them cut your bag.PacSafe has designed a special metallic mesh that is sandwiched between the different layers of the bag to ensure valuables don't fall out if your bag is slashed. I have travelled with my PacSafe backpack to all four corners of the globe and have never had issues of theft or at an airport security checkpoint (think TSA in the US or CATSA in Canada).
- ThoughZip Zipper protection - We have all seen the news clips on national news or Youtube showing how easily someone can pop open a zipper using a sharp object like a pen. The PacSafe ThoughZip is designed specifically to withstand this type of forced entry. Why is this important? Not only can your content be stollen but bad actors can also add contraband to your bag without you mowing. You lock your bag with a travel lock and leave your hotel room or check in your luggage. Someone adds contraband to your bad for which you get accused. This is particularly worrisome on countries that have the death penalty for drug trafficking.
- RFIDSafe - Most modern passports and credit cards contain a chip called an RFID chip. This chip allows authorities or merchants to quickly read content stored on this chip for fast processing (passport number, name, address, credit card number, expiry date, etc).The problem is that hackers read this same information from up to 12 feet away. Sure some of these products contain minimal encryption but I would still prefer this info to stay private. PacSafe has built a pocket into many of its newer bags lined with a special material that blocks RFID signals from leaking out from that special pocket. This means anything placed in it, during your trip, is safe and protection from prying eyes.
- Zipper Security - Many of their backpacks have a special zipper locking mechanism that prevents pickpockets from opening your backpack pockets without you knowing. It is like a tight carabiner that is reasonably easy for you to open but almost impossible for a pickpocketing their in the field.
Secure and comfortable
In addition to being secure, PacSafe products are comfortable to use. The backpacks have well padded shoulder straps and sternum straps. The back is very padded to maximize comfort even with a heavy load.
The outer material on most bags is a thick resistant Nylon material with RipStop.
I have comfortably carried a full load for hours with minimal fatigue and no pain-points. Really well designed comfortable gear.
Durability
My out of production PacSafe backpack has seen over 500,000 miles travelling from China to Cuba and Thailand to Floria. Even with everything it has been through, it still looks clean and new. There are no loose strings, ripped stitches or ripped outer material.
Few travellers will log as many miles as me so if it's survived my travels, it will survive yours.
Verdict
Regardless of what PacSafe product you choose, I know you will be satisfied. Some will question the price when compared to cheap $99 travel gear sold in your local Walmart or Costco but realize it is not the same thing. Consider the extra money an insurance policy that is worth every penny.
Watch the Google IO Keynote Live
How to Watch the Google IO keynote live stream today
Google IO (I/O) starts today at 9:00am PDT and you can watch the keynote live. We expect the introduction of the next major Android Release (release L) which should be a major visual overhaul. Google understands that it must innovate to stay ahead of the curve, now that Apple's IOS8 brings many of Android's customization to the IOS world (third party keyboard, rich notifications and inter-app communication).
Many sites will try to capture you and force you to watch the live stream to an imbed in their own site, not me. Here is the link to watch the live original Google originated feed (link).
What to expect at today's keynote
Let us not forget that this is a developer conference and as such most of it is geared to their particular needs. This is likely a launchpad for :
- the next version of Android (Android L)
- the implementation of ART as the main runtime (instead of Dalvic)
- the next line of Nexus devices (probably the last batch)
- the launch of a thriving wearable line
What will Android be called?
Every version of Android is typically given a desert name and the next one will start with L. We can start betting what the name will be... Licorice, lollipop, Lemon tart, etc... Let the guesses begin. You have a couple of hours until Google makes its announcement.
Darklight is a great free iphone photo editor
There are hundreds upon hundreds of photo editing apps on the Apple AppStore. Each one with its own twist on photo editing. Any given month, I test several dozen new apps and most get installed, tested then quickly deleted but I recently stumbled on the DarkLight (link) iphone photo editor and its found a permanent home in my iPhone.
Not only has DarkLight earned the status of permanent app on my phone but it has also become my (usually) go-to photo editing app on my iPhone. The key feature which really sets this app apart (besides being free) is the Enhance feature.
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/9d4ae00890.jpg" alt="">
It has 3 automatic photo improvement modes that typically work better than most other automatic photo improvement apps (including Apple's very own iPhoto iPhone app). If you use Google Plus Photos then this feature closely resembles AutoAwesome except everything is processed on your phone.
You then have access to 12 Scene modes that perform minute improvements to make your photo the best it can be.
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/3e8d71a017.jpg" alt="">
What impressed me most is that none of the modes over-modified the any the photos I tested the app with (over-modification is a bad thing).
Then you have the most basic, most standard controls. They include these because every photo editing app has to include them but typically you don't need them after using Enhance and Scene
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/688c062010.jpg" alt="">
Then they include nice features which are typically add-ons in other apps like adding text, stickers or frames.
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/976b8fae15.jpg" alt="">
The app is free and contains no in-app purchases, which makes me very very happy. I absolutely abhor in app purchases. The developer presents an ad every time you save a picture. I wish he gave me the option to buy an ad-free version.
<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/9bfe58e2c8.jpg" alt="">
Overall I really like this app and recommend it. It contains almost every feature I want except 2. HDR mode. I would like:
- HDR Mode : This should allow me to to merge multiple bracketed shots into one glorious wide dynamic range photo or to artificially generate a "fake" HDR from a single image like Snapseed does.
- Collage Feature : The ability to merge multiple pictures to create one photo (great for parents and pet owners).
It is a universal app which means it works on iPhone, iPad mini and iPad. I have been testing the app for weeks now and it hadn't crashed once.
Overall this has turned out to be a little gem that you definitely should download.