vacation | At Home with Tech

August 27, 2017

Why Your Tech May Not Survive Your Next Vacation

‘Fun in the sun’ is not a phrase fit for many of your gadgets. If you’re not careful, the punishing summertime elements can really do a doozy on your tech…

Your gadgets are supposed to work hard while you’re having fun in the sun. There’s no ethical dilemma here. No “Westworld” to concern yourself with.

But you should remind yourself that all of your gear may not be designed to easily handle your next vacation’s itinerary. In fact, your personal tech can be as delicate as your skin without any SPF protection…

Here are five pieces of Kryptonite your gadgets have to contend with…

#1
Sunlight
Direct sunlight can be a real problem for your camera lens…

Strong sunlight facing your subject can wash out or over expose your shot.
Sun from the rear can make your subject’s face look too dark.

Softer light or shade is usually easier for your camera lens to handle.
(Or just hope for a cloudy day)

#2
The Beach
The sandy beach is an especially dangerous place for your camera…

And I’m not just talking about that large body of water.
(I once saw a friend’s DSLR camera lens accidentally drop into a lake, because it wasn’t securely locked into place on its camera body. Oops!)

It’s that sand.
Those tiny granules can really kill your tech.
Even a single poorly placed speck of sand wedged into a retractable camera lens can immobilize your camera from ever taking another shot.

One simple solution is to use a waterproof camera without an exposed lens…

Another option is to only take photos with your smartphone. No exposed camera parts to worry about.

#3
Heat
Don’t overheat your tech… as in… don’t leave it in your car at high noon.
Enough said.

#4
Summer Fun
Just having a good time in the great outdoors can spell doom for your tech.
‘Cause if you’re not paying attention… Whoops… Plop…. Crack.
(That’s the sound of your camera or smartphone shattering on the sidewalk.)

#5
Travel Can Be a Losing Proposition
Let’s face it. It can be hard to keep track of all your stuff when you’re on vacation.
But if you leave a pair of socks behind or a t-shirt, that’s not such a big deal. If any of your tech doesn’t it make it back, that’s obviously a much bigger issue.

My solution: Don’t bring it!
If you don’t absolutely need it, I say you can do without…

And that goes for your car too.
Because when you least expect it, a wild turkey will fly into it!
(Yes, it’s happened to me.)

So you might want to consider becoming a public transportation Weekend Road Warrior.

The Terminator Vs. WALL-E
Look, I know this cautionary musing is mostly common sense.

And in fact, your fancy tech can actually enhance summertime fun… or at least feed you with lots of ‘comfort data.’

Heck, a solar-charging watch actually thrives during the summer months!

But the truth is your tech isn’t built like the Terminator.
If you want it to be back for your next vacation adventure, you’d better start treating it like your personal WALL-E.

Even though your gadgets don’t need to outlast all robotics on the planet, it also wouldn’t hurt to offer your tech a little more love.
(Or at least the protection it needs to survive while you’re having fun!)

July 30, 2017

The Fix for Your Vacation Photo Mess

Do you have an overpopulation of disorganized pictures from your last holiday trip? Well, I’ve got a new organizational trick that could be a game changer…

If a picture tells a thousand words, then what do a thousand photos tell? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I’d say that nobody in your life has the capacity to look at a thousand pics you might put in front of them.

What am I getting at? I’m here to remind you that you’re probably taking too many pictures. It’s essentially free to snap away these days, and you’ve got a better chance of capturing ‘the perfect pic’ if you take a few at the same time. The problem with that strategy is it’s clogging up your digital life. Trust me. I speak from experience…

And if you think I’ve got a problem, a friend of mine just told me he’s got 7,000 photos to go through from his recent trip to New Zealand. Good luck!

Barrett’s Rules to Organizing Your Photos
I just got back from a week-long family vacation, and I’m not proud to admit that I returned with over six hundred photos.
(That includes the pics from my wife’s iPhone.)
What are you supposed to do with all of that?

I’ll tell you how I’ve been handling the challenge of separating the digital wheat from the chaff…

First, I rate my photos on a five-point scale.
Then, I throw away the 1’s and 2’s.
(Total misfires and blurry mistakes)
Next, I work with only the 5’s and tweak them as needed in Adobe Lightroom.
(Brightness, color, straightening, cropping)

And for a family vacation, that usually gets me down to around 100 photos.
This time, I clocked in at 165 ‘best’ photos.

Then, I choose my ‘picks’ from the 5’s.
(I guess that makes them my 6’s.)

That helps to slim the group even more, but I’m always left with more pictures than I really want…

Last week, I ‘invented’ a new step to my photo organization process…

Are you ready for this…?

Slimming Down to 36
How many pictures do you really need to ‘properly’ show off a week-long family vacation?
A hundred?
Fifty?

Let me offer up a radical concept…
What about just 36 pictures?
That’s a nice, round number we worked with in the analog days when rolls of film ruled the world.

How about 24?!
(Okay… baby steps.)

I say force yourself not to go above that number… like you’ve got a physical photo album with only so many pages.

Which Pictures Tell Your Story?
Does it take time to choose the very, very, very best?
It sure does.

Is it hard to figure out which few photos tell the complete story?
Yep.
(And that’s usually a slightly different grouping than your ‘picks,’ which are individually chosen.)

And why have I created yet another step to what is already a long and laborious process to organize your photos?

Because, it’s the big payoff, baby!

If you’ve gone through all of the work to organize hundreds (thousands) of pics, shouldn’t you also have access to the few that truly rock? The ones that say, “Whoa! We’re really awesome!”

The ones that tell your story.

Family Test Case
I implemented my new concept, popped the fabulous few on the family iPad via an iCloud shared photo album and sat down with my wife and seven-year-old son after Saturday breakfast to go through them.

It was perfect.
(Daddy felt like a hero.)

And then, they remembered some moments that weren’t included and wanted to see those too.
(Sigh)

So, I pulled up my folder of 165 ‘best’ pics (the 5’s) and we reviewed those too.
But the fatigue factor was noticeable.
I could tell we wouldn’t go through this group again.

My ‘fewer-photos’ theory was still sound!

Be Flexible
I also realized that when you try to get to the core of your story through just a few photos, one person will likely choose a somewhat different grouping than another.

And that’s okay.

The easy fix is to just add in the few extra pics that your other family members have called out.

So maybe your fabulous 36 grows to 40-something.
(I won’t tell.)

The Better Way
At the end of the day, it’s all about truly ‘enjoying’ your pictures. Sharing them is a big part of that. And receiving a little head nod, Spock eyebrow move, or comment of affirmation is a whole lot better than a look of relief when you’re done with your photo show.

Sure, it’s much easier to swipe through a mind-numbing amount of disorganized pics on your smartphone when you’re trying to show someone a few vacation photos. But that’s always such a mess.

There’s a better way.

And when you’ve mastered my ‘slimming-to-36’ technique, I’ve got your next challenge for you…

Choose the one picture that represents an entire vacation.

Now, that’s deep.

September 4, 2016

How to Take Your Apple TV on the Road

Why would anyone want to take their Apple TV on vacation? Think about it… You’re welcome. Now just don’t forget about one important detail…

My family and I stayed at an inn in Massachusetts a couple of months back, and I was surprised to find an Apple TV connected to our room’s television. I stared at it for a moment, and it was as if I were one of those guerillas at the beginning of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

I reached out to touch it, but instead, I picked up the cute Apple TV remote and logged myself in with my Apple ID.

BAM!
There was all of my media (and my six year old’s favorite shows).

Wow. What a concept…

No more having to bring your visual media with you
No more having to think about it in advance
You have access to everything… right there

I like that.

Of course, the only rub is you’ve got to remember to log out before you check out. Otherwise, you might find a whole bunch of movie rentals on your Apple bill in the coming weeks.

I guess that could bring new meaning to the term, ‘pay it forward.’

The Curse of the Aging HDTV
So… ubiquitous public Apple TVs in every corner of the world may not exactly be coming soon to a life near you.

But it got me thinking…

What if I were to travel about on vacations with my own Apple TV?
It’s certainly small enough.

You’d just have to plug it in and attach its HDMI cable to the ‘guest’ TV. Then simply join the local Wi-Fi, and you’re ready for action.
Easy, right?

Well, not if the guest TV doesn’t have an HDMI input. And if you’re staying in hotel rooms or bed and breakfasts, you never know what you’re going to find. You’re probably not always going to have access to the latest and greatest TVs.

Time to Remember What ‘Component’ Means
I know… it must seem incomprehensible that there are still HDTVs out there without a single HDMI input.

Well, trust me… there are…

I’ve just returned from a family beach vacation to the North Fork of Long Island.
You may recall, I proudly declared it a tech-free week.

Well, truth be told… that’s because I couldn’t plug in my Apple TV to the old HDTV.

That darned TV was a massive HD screen.
(It was a beaut for its time.)

The only problem is it only had component inputs. No HDMI connections.

Do you even remember what ‘component’ plugs are? They were used at the dawn of HDTV, when you had three separate RCA connectors (not just one for a ‘composite’ signal) to handle the video feed…

Red
Green
Blue

‘RGB’
(Technically, I think it’s YPbPr)

And then… two separate audio cables.

In total, that’s five cables, which are typically bundled together to carry the ‘component’ signal. That’s a lot to keep track of!
(Thank goodness, nobody uses them anymore. Except for…)

HDMI to Component Cable Converter
So what I really needed was an HDMI to component cable converter or adapter for my Apple TV to connect to this older HDTV.
They must make those, right?

Sure they do…

When I got home, I decided I would be better prepared next time. To ensure my Apple TV would be able to hook up to an older HDTV, I would need one of these adapters at the ready to be part of my vacation travel kit…

So guess what?
Let’s go shopping!

Have You Heard of the Portta?
First off, a simple cable with an HDMI connector on one end and the five RCA connectors on the other isn’t going to do the trick. You must also convert the signal from digital in the HDMI plug to analog that the five RCA connectors need to carry!

A little 1 x 5 box with the right electronics inside is supposed to get it done…

In my research into ‘HDMI to Component Converters,’ I found that ‘Portta’ is a manufacturer that has a strong presence on Amazon.

I zeroed in on:
The Portta HDMI to Component and R/L Audio Converter, which goes for $27.88.

It has the right specs and receives good reviews on Amazon. (4.4 stars)

For comparison, it’s worth noting that B&H Photo sells a similar-looking model made by company named Kanex…
It’s the KanexPro HDMI to Component Converter with Audio, and it costs $59.00… more than twice as much as the Portta.
(Amazon’s got it for $29.99.)

Honestly, I’m not familiar with either Portta or Kanex.
(For all I know, they could both be alien species in the upcoming
“Star Trek: Discovery” TV series.”)

On the one hand, I’d have more confidence in the manufacturer that B&H sells.
But it’s double the cost!

Hmmm…..
Many others on Amazon seem happy with their Portta converter.
(Plus Prime offers free returns if something goes horribly wrong.)

Okay…

Click.

The Choice is Yours
Bathing suit… Check.
Suntan spray… Roger that.
Waterproof camera… Good thinking.
Apple TV with HDMI to Component Converter…?

Okay… to be clear, I’m not suggesting that you should definitely take your Apple TV with you on vacation.
(That’s clearly a debatable point!)

I’m just saying that if you wanted to, you’ll be really disappointed when you find there’s no compatible TV to connect to. So you simply need to prepared.
Nothing wrong with that. Right?

Or maybe you just convert into a vacation mode on a higher plane that doesn’t allow for silly tech distractions.

Unless you’re MacGyver…

Then, I say, “Go for it!”

Tag: vacation

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