technology

  • April 30, 2024

    Deleting My Mail App From my Phone

    I was listening to the latest episode of Cortex, where Grey is helping Myke through the question of how to handle email on his phone. There was a 60 second segment that sent me on a roller coaster ride of emotions. It went something like this:

    Myke: “I’m thinking of turning off email notifications on my phone.”

    Me: Oh my god — why would you even have them on at all?!

    Myke: “…but I’m worried that’s just going to make me check the email app more.”

    Me: Oh. That’s exactly what I do.

    In-fact, since deleting social media apps off my phone, Spark — my email app of choice — felt like what I opened the most (though the data below tells a different story).

    While quick checks can seem innocuous, email is probably the communication that can derail my time the most. Slack isn’t on my phone, and I generally keep all of my work-related communications to email.

    So if I absent-mindedly check my email with my kids and I get an email that bothers me (or something I’m excited to tend to), it will continue to eat up my mental energy until I deal with it.

    I hate that. So, I’ve decided to delete Spark from my phone. It’s been a few days, and so far so good.

    There are a few caveats.

    First, I’m keeping the Mail app on my phone for any 2-factor authentication (2FA) or login codes I might need. However, I truly hate using the Mail app, so I expect I won’t be tempted to check mail there.

    Plus, you can turn off app suggestions!

    How to turn off Siri Suggestions for an app
    How to turn off Siri Suggestions for an app

    I also considered keeping the Gmail app, since Google insists on 2FA by clicking a button in the app, but I’m almost certain this is any of Google’s apps, so I’ve deleted that too.

    I’m very keen to see what this does to my Pickups and Screen Time.

    Now, when you delete an app, it removed the Screen Time data on the device where you deleted it. But luckily that info is synced with iCloud. So I offer some initial stats from last week — with the note that I deleted the app on Saturday at some point:

    I’ll keep you posted to see if Screen Time and Pickups go down!

    What’s an app you think YOU should delete from your phone? Let me know in the comments!

  • When I woke up this morning I though, “I’m going to get a bunch of stuff done before work.” It’ll be a productive day! Then I spent 20 minutes wrestling with Chrome.

    My account needed to be re-verified. Fine. 2-factor auth. Great. “Your sync passphrase is different from your Google password. It was set 2.5 years ago.” What did I use 2 and half years ago?! I figured it out. Then I get an SSL Error on this site. I use a self-signed cert since I’m the only who logs in. I can’t seem to make this a verified source. Switching to Safari.

    July 28, 2015

  • January 9, 2015

    Predictions for 2015

    In the last of my old year/new year posts, I want to talk about some things I think will happen in 2015 (technology-wise). It seems like every year, tech is getting better but there’s a few things that I think will really take the cake this year.

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  • May 13, 2014

    4.4K People per Month Google, “How do I Google something,” and that’s OK

    I came across the above graphic today thanks to this Google Plus post and my knee jerk reaction wasn’t, “Wow those people are dumb.” I think that’s a pretty big step for me because I’m trying to be more open minded and less judgmental. I teach college students, talk at conferences, and field a whole host of different questions every day. If I was constantly calling people dumb for not knowing what I know, I wouldn’t be very popular, and I’d be a horrible educator. Unfortunately, I think that’s the default mentality when it comes to something like this stat.

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  • December 30, 2013

    Why 2013 was a Great Year for Tech

    I read a rather annoying article last week about why 2013 was a bad year for tech. I felt was lazily written; the main reason is it only highlighted the major news stories, didn’t add any analysis, and didn’t mention any of the good to go along with the bad. It was a very one-sided article that provided no insight, and in all honestly, was probably a grab for end of the year blog traffic. Well in my feeble attempt at a grab for end of the year blog traffic, here’s why I think 2013 was a great year for tech.

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  • November 15, 2013

    My Thoughts on the Coin (a Digital Credit Card)

    Screenshot 2013-11-15 08.49.08

     

    Yesterday on Twitter, I saw @ugmonk tweet saying he had just pre-ordered his @coin. Curious, I clicked to see what it was. I watched the quick 2 minute video (linked after the jump) and was sold! I pre-ordered mine right then and there. The link spread like wild fire across social networks and everyone chimed in with their opinion. I’ve decided to do the same. So…what is the Coin?

    According to their website:

    Coin is a connected device that can hold and behave like the cards you already carry. Coin works with your debit cards, credit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards and membership cards. Instead of carrying several cards you carry one Coin. Multiple accounts and information all in one place.

    What does that mean? In essence, Coin can reduce your massive, George Costanza Wallet down to a single card. You use a device that comes with the to swipe your cards, and that information is sent via the Android or iOS app to your Coin. You then use the button on the front to select the card you want swiped, and hand it to the cashier like any other credit card.  During the pre-order process, it costs $50+5 shipping, and you can order it here.

    Of-course, as this picked up speed, lots of people weighed in on the device; the most common concern is security. What’s to prevent this company from stealing or selling our information? What happens if they get hacked? What if someone uses the Bluetooth device to grab our info? Well, the fine folks at Coin have answered most of these questions in the FAQs section. All data in encrypted using 128- or 256-bit encryption, you can deactivate your Coin if it’s stolen, and it’s no more susceptible to data skimming than a regular credit card. As far as them stealing the data- if it’s encrypted they can’t (depending on when). I know there have been a lot of revelations in the last year that make a lot of people weary of things like this, and I’m pretty skeptical, but these guys are betting a lot on this and screwing it up will be devastating for them.

    The reason I ordered it is out of general interest, and $50 is a pretty low barrier of entry for something that could potentially be a game-changer. It looks fantastic and incredibly convenient. I’m glad to say  I’ll be part of the early adopters who get to see how people will first react to it.

    If you’re interested, you can read more about it on their website, where you can also pre-order it. Full disclosure: that’s my referral link. Help a brother out!

     

  • November 14, 2010

    Links Round Up for 11/14/10

    Recommended listening for the week: Christina Perri. Her current single is ‘Jar of Hearts’