A Threads I Can Follow

Meta has launched another social network, “Threads.” I signed up but already knew when I did that I wouldn’t be an active user. I hope many others will join me in not using it. I also hope it succeeds for the good of the Internet.

Rogue Amoeba's Tools Gave Me Real Time Sound Isolation Everywhere. Even OBS.

Longtime Mac users who have any level of need for professional audio tools have probably encountered veteran developer Rogue Amoeba and their suite of tools. I use Audio Hijack Pro, Loopback and Farrago as the core of our workflow on Zippy the Wonder Snail. A series of little discoveries moved me to making those tools my one-stop-mic-enhancement shop for OBS Studio and beyond.

AI Meets Every Day Life

Bing's Chatbot and Quora's Poe are Contrasting, but Useful Tools

Some level of mainstream machine learning has been present in the lives of ordinary folks like you and me since iPhoto first did facial recognition well over a decade ago. Other AI or AI-like tech has become increasingly pervasive, but quite limited. Now, a flood of “experience this now” machine learning is drowning out past years’ “imagine if this were just a bit better” tech. Two tools to utilize such tech are worth your attention right now.

Can We Rewind the Clock to a Better Social Media?

I’ve been on Facebook since 2006 and Twitter since 2009. I decidedly don’t quit social networks because I decide this or that moderation policy isn’t leaning in my political direction. But, as of a week ago, I joined the push for a relatively new alternative social network, Mastodon, and I hope you will too.

Can We Rewind the Clock to a Better Social Media?

I’ve been on Facebook since 2006 and Twitter since 2009. I decidedly don’t quit social networks because I decide this or that moderation policy isn’t leaning in my political direction. But, as of a week ago, I joined the push for a relatively new alternative social network, Mastodon, and I hope you will too.

Sometimes the Least Bad is the Best

My good friend and fellow OFB writer Dennis E. Powell and I met years ago on a group that championed Free/Open Source software, much for the same sorts of reasons he advocates for his new phone configuration over Apple’s offerings. OFB itself was founded, in fact, to promote such open software, especially Linux, so why would I defend locked down systems from Apple? That’s a story that started 19 years ago, before the iPhone even existed.

Wombat Pine Pro

An Unfamiliar Name Proves Intriguing

Continuing the fall keyboard review season with the interesting Wombat Pine Pro:

Mechanical keyboard makers generally fall into two broad categories: established gaming peripheral companies and a series of upstarts, like Keychron and Epomaker, focused purely on mechanical boards. Wombat Keyboards is neither and, like the company, its Pine Pro keyboard feels like a unique entry into a market flooded with very similar offerings.

Das Keyboard MacTigr

Metadot Exquisitely Crafts a Mac-focused Keyboard

I’ve been reviewing keyboards once again on OFB, this week a new Mac-focused keyboard from one of my favorite keyboard makers, Metadot:

At the height of the rage around the first consumer marketed Hummer, later rechristened the H1, I remember getting the chance to climb into one at the nation’s leading dealer of that incredibly robust SUV. The vehicle was capable of tackling terrain no car I’ve ever owned could, but also was incredibly basic on certain creature comforts. This is a professional tool. That analogy aptly fits the Das Keyboard MacTigr, the curiously spelled, newly released keyboard from Metadot.

Buying an iPad in Fall 2022

The Choices are Great -- and Clearer than Before

I know a lot of people get confused about which iPad they need to buy for what they want to do. This guide is my stab at helping to sort out the options and what might be right for you.

RavPower Mini External SSD Pro Hard Drive

It is Better than a Thumb Drive

I take a look at RavPower’s tiny, portable SSD:

When the pandemic hit last year, it threw me into a world where I was doing vastly more video editing than I did previously. Anyone who has spent time splicing and dicing video files knows those files can fill up storage devices really quickly and they are a pain to transfer between computers. Enter the new class of tiny, pocketable, external SSDs like the RavPower Mini External SSD Pro.