Tech Diary | At Home with Tech

December 24, 2023

5 Ways to Quickly Free Yourself from the Shackles of Digital Clutter

Is your digital life a bit of a disorganized mess? The best gift you can give yourself is carving out time to get it back in recognizable order.

You’ve got it all done. For your family, friends and work. Another year. Congratulations. Everyone says it’s now time to take a break and recharge. Relax!

But if you’re like me, you might be experiencing a certain unease… an uncomfortable itch. It’s like that feeling when you know you’ve forgotten something, but you can’t remember what. But this time, you do. And you’ve continued to put it off, because there’s always something else more pressing.

Now, you hear this nagging inner voice that whispers. It says, “Do it. Do it now. You’ve finally got time.”

Of course, we’re taking about handling all the digital disorganization that piles up throughout the year in the invisible but very real corners of your life. No one else can see it. But you know it’s there. Sure, you’ve been able to operate around it, but it’s ever heavy, and it weighs on you.

The Journey to Digital Zen
Do you want to feel refreshed? Recharged? Really ready for the year ahead? It’s time to invest in a little digital housecleaning. Start the journey to digital Zen.*
Now is the perfect opportunity, as you might have a little more free time in your day.

Here are five areas that I bet could really use your attention right now:

#1
Organize your Digital Photos from the Past Year
Whether your pictures live on your smartphone or computer (or both), if you haven’t yet finished going through this year’s crop and completing your photo-management process (physical albums/online albums/digital photo frames), it’s going to be too late.
Sure, you can tell yourself that you’ll eventually get to them, but they’ll likely get left behind, as your newer photos demand your attention.

#2
Delete All those Emails You Don’t Need
Can’t find that email from last week you want to refer to? It could be due to those thousands of disorganized emails that are cluttering up your inbox. It’s time to get rid of most of them and move the other ones into organized folders!
And don’t forget to also clear out your Junk Email folder (but not before you review it to confirm that real emails haven’t been errantly sucked in).

#3
Remove Old Photos and Videos from your Camera’s Memory Card
If you happen to still use a separate camera, I bet its memory card is looking mighty full. Do you often find yourself frantically trying to delete enough files at the last minute before you need to use your camera? (Yes, that’s me.) It’s time to make that problem go away. Go through that memory card and really free it up!

#4
Clear Out your Unnecessary Cloud Storage
Speaking of memory limits, I bet you’re paying more for your cloud storage these days. Sure, the cloud holds much more than a memory card, but it still has its own limits. Do you really need everything that’s currently in your Dropbox account or iCloud drive?

#5
Slim Down What’s Stored on your Computer’s Internal Drive
Not to be repetitive, but I bet your computer suffers from the same storage woes. Look, you just can’t save everything on your internal drive. And now that newer internal computer drives are the more-pricey SSDs, your current computer probably has less internal storage than your last one.

Gone are the days that you can simply upgrade to your next computer with double the capacity to keep up with your needs.

Portable Drives are Not a Permanent Solution
Yes, you can solve some of these problems by picking up reasonably priced portable drives and archiving your digital life onto them. But hoarding external drives and redirecting your disorganized digital content onto them is simply kicking the virtual can down the road.
What are you going to do a decade from now when you open your closet door, and you spot fifty drives in the back corner? That’s right. You’re going to close the door.

Game over.

The Limits of your Digital Life
Wait. Take a deep breath. Now exhale.

We’re all dealing with the same challenges. In fact, we’re really the first generation to go through this.

The reality is you can’t carry around a record of your complete digital existence throughout your life. We’re only a few decades into this challenge, and I feel we’ve already reached certain limits. Our kids are going to have to figure out how to handle three to four times as much!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, let’s just do what we can. If it’s only a quick fix, that’s okay.

A digital band-aid is better than nothing to slow the hemorrhaging.

The Road to Freedom
Ongoing file organization and strategic file deletion should be part of any long-term strategy for a healthy digital life. And ultimately, as in the physical world, less is more. Clutter in any form is a real drag.

If you invest some time every few months to keep your digital life in order, you’ll likely feel more control over your entire life.

And especially during this time of year, I say why not invest in yourself and start to free yourself from the shackles of all that digital clutter?
You’ll be happy you did!

*I generated my photos for this blog post via Adobe Firefly.

December 17, 2023

Why the Worst Gift is the Best Gift for Yankee Swap

Don’t get angry the next time you’re stuck with a terrible Yankee Swap gift. Here’s how to even the odds for a happier outcome.

Many years ago, when I lived in Massachusetts, I learned about the fun but sometimes-unsettling holiday party game of Yankee Swap. Also known as Secret Santa, it’s essentially a group gifting game. But really, it’s a forced gift swap/stealing game. The item you choose is rarely the gift you end up with, because someone else can take it from you!

You can play it with family or work colleagues. I’ve done both, and I learned long ago that playing naughty makes the game much more fun. You just can’t allow yourself to get too attached to any of the gifts.

The Brutal Rules of Yankee Swap
Here are the basics: Everyone brings a wrapped gift, which then gets anonymously grouped with the other gifts. Often there’s a suggested gift cost, like $25-$30.

Participants pick numbers out of a hat and then each person gets their turn to choose a wrapped gift and unwrap it in front of the group. Then, they have the option to swap it with an already unwrapped gift that someone else has chosen.

Said another way, everyone gets their moment to steal away someone else’s gift. (Well, that’s not true for the first person to go.) And as you would expect, the last person can do the final swap. So that’s the best position to be in. (The number you choose matters in how well you can do in the game.)

The Ultimate Turkey
Obviously certain gifts appeal to different people. That said, there’s usually that one item that everyone wants and a couple that are stinkers.

Usually, a stinker is one that’s average and uninspired. Sometimes it’s a clear regifting moment. But one year from my Massachusetts days, I got inspired by a real stinker gift. It was hardly boring.

It was a 15lb frozen turkey! How absurdly wonderful was that? Everyone’s jaws dropped.

Sure… I suppose anyone could use a frozen turkey, unless you’re a vegetarian, but it’s a terrible gift… the ultimate turkey.

But it was still the star of the show. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about it for days.

You Can’t Stop Me
From that year on as I play the game, I’ve been drawn to the art of providing the perfect terrible gift. It wasn’t from a mean intent. Rather it was designed to maximize the fun.

But there were two problems with my strategy. First, my extended family eventually figured out my handiwork, and I got the reputation as a wacky gift giver. And then as a group response to repel my disruptive play, I would often end up with my own rotten gift. How ironic.

So, then I evolved my terrible gift choices to items that I actually liked, even if nobody else did.

I Like Terrible!
Here are a few examples of my past Yankee Swap gifts:

Star Wars Light Saber BBQ Grill Tongs
Red Lumberjack Winter Hat
Giant Angry Bird plush toy (This one was an unexpected hit.)
Huge diamond paperweight

Certainly, it’s an eclectic list. Not for everyone. That’s the point.

But I eliminated the downside, because I would still be okay being stuck with my own terrible gift.

Ho Ho Ho
So, the next time you go shopping for an upcoming Yankee Swap party, if you aren’t inspired to find a great gift, go in the opposite direction. Choose the absurd.

If it raises eyebrows, you’ve succeeded.

And if the swapping process brings it back to you, this worst gift will still bring you some holiday joy. I say that’s how to play Yankee Swap!

December 10, 2023

This is my Father’s Final Gift to my Son

I brought home this locked briefcase I had received as a gift. When I opened it, I realized it was a conduit to one of my father’s greatest passions.

I recently received a portable record player as a gift. It’s an all-in-one device made by Victor that includes little stereo speakers and folds up like a briefcase. This updated nineteenth century music box has Bluetooth connectivity so you can pair it with a portable speaker of your choosing.

This Victor record player certainly seems like a cool gift, right? Plus, I know there are plenty of audiophiles out there who love listening to their record collections on their high-end audio systems. That said, I’m not one of them. I haven’t played a record in decades.

Partially Lost and Mostly Forgotten
I may have an old turntable collecting dust somewhere in our basement. But that’s only because I’ve not been able to part with my old record collection from my childhood. (I think that’s based more on a hoarding instinct I picked up as a kid from my Depression-era parents than on a well thought out collecting strategy.)

My old records have sat stacked in plastic milk crates in the corner of our basement without purpose.

Retrieving my Father’s Record Collection
A year ago, my father passed away. The anniversary is coming up this week. Of course, it’s bringing up a lot of feelings. When I needed to clear out his apartment in New York City last year, I had to go through his own record collection dating back to the 1940s and ‘50s. And do you know where many of them ended up?

That’s right… in my basement. They’ve joined my long-abandoned vinal disks.

I had no idea what I would do with my father’s records. But my father loved his music so much. I just couldn’t let it all disappear.

Introducing Analog Music
Fast forward back to my new Victor record player the day I brought it home. I had received it while I was in New York City. So, it was a bit of a schlep back on the Metro North train.

I was heading right to my basement with it, but then I had an idea. I reversed course and instead walked directly into our family room with the briefcase.

I found both my wife and son reading quietly.

I plopped the record player down with a loud thud on the wooden coffee table next to my son, and then I took a step back.

For a moment, nothing happened. (He was engrossed in his book.) Then, he looked up at me and smiled. Finally, he peered down at the strange object.

“What’s that?”

“Take a look,” I responded.

An Unexpected Turn
Yes, he knew what a record player was, but I don’t think he’s ever used one. My gift included a Crosby, Stills & Nash record. So, I suggested he pull it out of its sleeve. And then the lesson began.

My son is a quick study with his tech. (Yes, he’s faster at navigating our Apple TV than me.) So, we quickly got the record player up and running. It would have been faster if I didn’t take so much time explaining how to avoid scratching the record.
He sat back and listened to the record, taking in the whole analog experience.

The next evening, he asked if we could play the record again. I was a bit surprised that he was still interested. (He had full access to virtually all music ever created through our Apple Music subscription.) But I imagined it must have been more about engaging with this this new “old tech.” So, we got the record player going again.

The third day offered an even bigger moment. He asked if I had any other records he could listen to.

Whoa. Time slowed down for me. I hadn’t expected this.

The Gift of my Father’s Music
So, I asked him to wait for a minute while I walked down to the basement. I came back with Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, Engelbert Humperdinck, “Oklahoma,” “West Side Story” and “The Music Man.”

I handed the LPs over.

“These were Grandpa’s records.”

He stared at them. I sure he was working through some feelings too.

And then one by one… he began to listen to them.

This continued over the next few days. I also started to bring up some of my own records…
Elvis Costello, Jethro Tull, “Yellow Submarine” and “Hotel California.”

But it’s my father’s collection that’s the foundation of what our boy has been consuming.

The record player isn’t going anywhere.

Bashert
My father has been gone for a year already, but his music is suddenly filling our house over this holiday season.

This random gift of ancient tech has served as an unexpected key to unlock so much joy from my dad’s silenced melodies.

I’m not sure I truly understand any of this, but somehow, it was all meant to be.

My father’s music is his final gift to our son.

And to me as well.

Thank you, Dad. I miss you.

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