Tech Diary | At Home with Tech

February 27, 2022

How to Save your iPhone when It Runs out of Storage

Don’t panic! Take these steps when you see that your iPhone’s storage is almost full.

I once pondered why anyone would ever need an iPhone with 512GB of storage. Now, three years later, I know that answer. My 256GB iPhone is packed, and I want more space. Sure, my media files can (and do) live in any number of clouds or hard drives, but of course there’s a cost with maintaining that solution.

If you’re in the same situation and considering upgrading to a device with 512GB or a whopping terabyte of storage, you probably should look at the other side of the same equation and ask yourself why do you really need to carry around that much data on your smartphone.

Let me answer that one… You don’t.

I don’t. (That said, my next iPhone will have more storage. But honestly, that’s a band-aid solution.)

The real problem and solution has to do with media management.

This is not about having enough space to maintain your media library on your smartphone. It’s about not having enough time over the years to thin out the files you don’t need. You wake up one day to realize you’ve got tens of thousands of disorganized photos and hundreds of home videos dancing about.

They’re clogging up your phone, and the irony is many of them are throwaways, minor variants of better versions. You just never found the time to go back and delete them.

iPhone Storage Almost Full
You can ignore this reality for only so long. Eventually, your device will force you to respond. You have to go through all of your media files and hack away at them.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that nobody really needs tens of thousands of photos to represent their day-to-day lives. So it’s time to roll up your sleeves and put on your media management hat.

The Good News
In the process, you might come across some unexpected fast lanes to free up space.

To do that, first review your iPhone’s storage report:

Click on iPhone Storage in Settings.

You’ll see a graph illustrating what types of files are sucking up your phone’s memory. You might spot a category that can be easily cleaned up. I did…

Delete All of your Downloaded Podcasts!
I found that I had 40GB in old downloaded podcasts that I could quickly eliminate. (That was a huge surprise.) I hadn’t realized when I started ‘following’ certain podcasts a couple years back that all of the new episodes would continue to download, regardless whether I ever listened to another one.

40GB gone! Whoa!

So, if you’re a podcast listener, you should definitely check that category.

And don’t forget to change the settings to stop your iPhone from automatically downloading new podcast episodes.

Go to the Podcasts Settings on your iPhone
Turn off Automatic Downloads: Enable When Following

Your iPhone’s storage report also offers a few quick and easy methods to free up memory, such as offloading unused apps. So don’t miss those opportunities.

But sooner or later you’ll need to face all of those photos and videos. It’s time to do the hard work.

Reversing Course Takes Time
You’ve slowly brought yourself to this precipice. And it may feel like death from a thousand nicks. It’s overwhelming.

So give yourself some time to dig out. Five minutes a day can do wonders. As long as you’re deleting more media files each day than your creating, you’ve found the right path.

Take control. Your smartphone will thank you.

February 13, 2022

Barrett’s Birthday Photo Project

If you’ve been considering the value of maintaining a folder containing all of your birthday photos across the years, here’s what I’ve experienced with this practice.

Since I can remember, I’ve been a bit obsessed with taking a picture of myself on my birthday. No, not just an action shot during my party or next to my cake. But an image that would be ‘that photo’ to represent this little milestone moment as I begin the next year of my life. I would add it to the other photos that came before it, and this group of pictures would somehow illustrate the totality of my life.

Of course, that’s an impossibly high bar to meet. In fact, this growing batch of photos merely consists of sometimes average pictures on the same day each year. That said, as I review them annually, the images do represent a journey of sorts.

For many of the photos, I tried to show off my age with my fingers, but I eventually ran out of digits. So I gave up that practice.

Take More Control of your Moment
In more recent years, I’ve tried taking self-portraits using the timers on my cameras. This technique essentially allowed me to plan for more advanced selfies.

And now with the smartphone LUMIX Sync app for my Panasonic Lumix GH5 II, I’m able to control my camera with my iPhone. That eliminates the need to sprint in front of my camera before the camera’s countdown runs out.

Find your Photo Early in the Day
This year, I brought my Lumix and little Joby tripod to the front steps of our house at dawn to find my official birthday shot. And I captured the quiet moment as part of my morning magic hour.

This is the time for me when all things are possible. The weight of age melts away.

These are typically the sixty minutes when my creative self is strong, the thoughts flow and I write.

Being Present is the Present
The sun rises behind me. It’s an unseasonably warm 45 degrees, and I wear no coat.

I have my iPhone in my hand just below the frame controlling my GH5 II. I’ve got a little bokeh in my background. It feels like time momentarily slows down. I take the picture.

This moment I create is itself a gift.

And then I walk back into my house moments before my eleven-year-old son wakes up and comes downstairs. He gives me a hug, and we do a little happy-birthday dance together. I walk into the kitchen, and my wife is preparing a special breakfast.

It’s an amazing start to my birthday.

Happy Birthday Barrett
Then, the day unfolded, leading to a small dinner gathering with friends who have been part of our pandemic pod over the past two years.

My morning photo project was no longer the headline for my birthday, but I’m happy that I took care of my little ritual the way that I did.

Later, I added my 2022 birthday picture to the others in my Adobe Lightroom folder. Then, I moved on to create the above photo collage for this blog post. Finally, I closed up my photo project for another year… feeling quite satisfied.

I’ve found this practice is a rewarding way across the years to simply celebrate that the journey continues. I highly recommend it.

Happy birthday to me.

February 6, 2022

Grogu’s Choice

When Baby Yoda shows up in the middle of “The Book of Boba Fett,” you know the writers have a few more tricks up their sleeves.

“The Book of Boba Fett” has become really interesting. That’s because it’s suddenly drawing heavily on a growing number of beloved characters from a galaxy far, far away.

First, Mando’s back in Chapter 5. And if you’re not paying close attention, you would think that you’re inexplicably watching season 3 of “The Mandalorian.” (Talk about crossover storylines.)

It’s been a real treat to see Din Djarin (played by Pedro Pascal) back in action. The producers don’t stop there. They give us a healthy dose of Grogu-ness too.

But the “Boba Fett” folks aren’t done yet. Oh no.

The Return of Luke Skywalker
Remember the big reveal at the end of “The Mandalorian” season 2? (spoiler alert)

A young Luke Skywalker shows up to save the day. Sure, his face is computer-generated. But he looks okay for a CGI human. Plus we’ve got the voice of the real Mark Hamill.

Many have debated whether digital-Luke was real enough, but that’s not really important if you’re focusing on the big picture.

It was an amazing reveal, and it was perfect for the story. Thank you, Jon Favreau.

But clearly, the writers weren’t done with CGI Luke. They wanted another shot and gathered all of the computer-rendering power this side of the solar system.

And with that force, they now gave us a full episode of “The Mandalorian” (I mean “The Book of Boba Fett”) largely led by young Luke Skywalker!

And it worked! How crazy is that??

The Luke scenes in Chapter 6 were amazingly real. In some of the action sequences, it felt like the Lucasfilm animators were really having fun with their achievement.

Our New Padawan
We also see Luke training Grogu. What a pair! I love that the episode takes its time with this. (That’s an advantage a series can offer.)

And then the big cliffhanger comes….
(Yes, spoiler alert)

Luke gives Grogu the choice of accepting one of two gifts… Yoda’s light saber or the little beskar-armored shirt the Madalorian dropped off. Of course Grogu’s choice will define his destiny.

Cut to black… roll credits.

Wow.

Much Strength this Series Reveals
The first few episodes of “The Book of Boba Fett” are slower by comparison. I think it’s partially because of so much time spent on the back story (which is arguably needed).

And Boba Fett’s character (played by Temuera Morrison) still feels a bit two dimensional. (It doesn’t help that he’s barely been in the past couple episodes.) But we’ll see how he evolves as his story pushes forward.

“The Book of Boba Fett” is getting stronger as it benefits from a growing and integrated Star Wars’ universe that draws from the best of the original core as well as crossover characters from “The Mandalorian.”

Beyond Mando, we’ve had the pleasure of reuniting with Jedi Ahsoka, sheriff Cobb Vanth, the Mandalorian Armorer and mechanic Peli Motto.

Streaming Joy
Sure, we can discuss the strengths and weaknesses of “The Book of Boba Fett.” That said, I am not disappointed. Not one bit.

As a life-long “Star Wars” fan who remembers being blown away when I saw Episode IV in in the movie theater and also as a father of an eleven-year-old son who enjoys “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett” as much as I do, I am psyched that “Star Wars” is alive and well on Disney+.

Watching these episodes with my family has been a peak experience.

More please.

Category: Tech Diary

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