Deep breath. About three years ago, I wrote a little something about how streaming music wasn’t ready for primetime. When I re-read that post, I realized how so much has changed and so much has stayed the same. I desperately want to ditch iTunes and hook-up with a streaming service. But I still can’t.

Right now, I’m subscribed to the three big ones in the US. Beats Music, Spotify, and Rdio. So you’re probably asking yourself (especially if you’re my wife), why are you subscribed to three different services? The answer is two-parted. First of all, each one has a feature or two that I really appreciate. For example, I really enjoy how liking a song on Spotify adds that song to a special playlist. I love Beats Music’s curated playlists but their mobile app is a total shitbox and their only desktop interface is browser-based. I’m probably the minority here but I really love Rdio’s iOS app...

I captured this fleeting moment on Father’s Day weekend and Kim dubbed it “little man, big power.” It’s already gone down as one of my all time favorites of Rocco.

I’ve had a few hobbies during my 30 years on this planet. Most of them have had to do with cars and by nature, destructive. First it was car audio. The louder, the better. I can’t even count how many amps and speakers I’ve destroyed. After that, it was fast cars. So far, that’s been the most expensive … and destructive. In my 1999 Civic, I blew up three motors and two transmissions. While the speed was fun, having to pay for the replacement motors and transmissions was not. After the fast cars, it was Jeeps. I’ve taken my Jeep through, over, and down obstacles that I was sure would result in a broken axle or busted lockers. Even though I haven’t broken anything (knock on wood), it’s only a matter of time. While I’ll always be a Jeeper first, I’ve developed a similar obsession for a new hobby … photography.

I blame my kid. Before him, I was totally content with taking snapshots with my...

C'mon smart tech people. What’s the problem? Managing large photo libraries and sharing discretely is way harder than it should be. My friend even wrote a book about it. It’s a great book with some good tips. But the fact that someone has to write a book about this subject is clear indication that there’s a problem. There should be one killer app that’s easy enough for my mom to use but is powerful enough to handle large libraries with all the features photographers would appreciate. Here’s what I want.

1. I want to compile every picture from my phone, my wife’s phone and my RX1R to one library. From there, I want my wife and I to be able to see all the pictures from all the cameras on any of our computers or iOS devices.

2. I want to be able to easily share one or one thousand pictures with my mostly non-tech-savvy family.

3. I want the servers that are storing my pictures to be secure...

I’ve tried them all. The only one I haven’t actually owned was the 4th-gen iPad. Instead, I opted for the mini. I loved how portable it felt. It made me feel like I had spent the last few years lugging around a headstone. While I was abundantly pleased with the small size and extremely light weight, I always had an issue with the lack of a Retina display. The day I powered up my iPhone 4, I was hooked on Retina. To this day, I haven’t been able to look at standard displays the same. I felt from day one that the mini was a compromise. One that left me with the short end of the stick. I’ve always used my iPad for a lot of reading. Books, comics, saved articles. Whatever. The iPad mini was this wonderfully crafted device that seemed to be tailor made for reading. But the screen sucks. Not to mention it used the A5 chip that made its debut in the iPad 2 almost two years prior. Fast forward...

I’m going to go out on a limb here. Apple’s going to ship the next iPad mini with a Retina display. Why? Because Google shipped the Nexus 7 with a high-res (323 ppi) screen. No, I’m not saying that Apple is playing copycat or catch up. Apple decided to do whatever they’re going to do months ago. Long before the new Nexus 7 was announced. I think they’ll ship it because when the hell would Google/Asus have gotten a leg up on Apple in the supply chain department? Obviously, Google isn’t shipping the Nexus 7 on the same scale as iPad but the fact that such a screen exists suggests that Apple has had their eye on similar tech for quite some time.

Here’s something else I wrote back in 2011. It’ll be relevant until Apple ships a TV, which according to Gene Munster, is any minute.

Four words. Just four words and the Internet is erupting with rumors of an Apple branded TV. Every tech blog and AAPL analyst wants to weigh in on the rumors. The consensus seems to be that we’ll be seeing an Apple branded TV sometime in the calendar year 2012. I’m not so sure. If you put the quote into context, Steve said that he cracked the UI portion of the TV experience, but didn’t say anything about the manufacturing and distribution, which is a whole different set of issues. I’m going to pose several questions that Apple would need to consider before jumping into the flat panel pool. I’m by no means an expert. I’m just asking questions based on my own experiences.

Why?

If you know me at all, you’d know that I love to ask “why?”. It’s perhaps the...

Here’s something I wrote back in 2011.

When Steve Jobs got on stage and pulled the little black cloth off the original iPad, the first thing I wanted to see on it was a Green Lantern comic. As a kid, I was a huge comic book nerd and the iPad seemed like the perfect vehicle to usher in the digital age of the comic book era. The big two comic book publishers were relatively slow to embrace the digital revolution but that’s changing. Last week, Marvel finally followed in DC’s footsteps and announced that the digital version of their periodicals would be available for download the same day that their analog brethren become available in stores. In addition, both DC and Marvel have started converting their classic books to iPad-friendly formats. For comic fans, this is a very encouraging change. It’s pretty obvious that the proliferation of the iPad signals a clear trend for digital...

Not sure how I snuck in here but I’m going to make the most of it. I’ve been telling myself that I should write more. The best laid plans, right? Having a baby isn’t exactly conducive to quiet time … or personal time, for that matter. Things are different now. He’s a year old and we’re finally in a routine. I’ve had some ideas rolling around in my brain that need polish and in the interim, I’m going to bring over some posts from my previous blog. I’m excited to have an excuse to write again.