This is the first video I’ve shot and edited in ages. Just picked up the DJI Mavic Mini and flew it for the first time. In face there are many things I haven’t done in awhile and flying a drone is also one of them. Last drone I had was a Phantom 4 which I sold sin 2017 before I moved to Austin. Hope to get back into editing videos again.
Non drone footage taken on Sony A7III with Tamron 28-75 lens.
Some changes since my last post in the summer as I added a monitor arm as well as a floating laptop stand!
Been awhile since I’ve done one of these. I normally have a MacBook Pro 13 2018 on my desk but I just recently got back into PC gaming and also sold my Xbox One X a few days ago. I’m still keeping the Sony PS4 Pro and Nintendo Switch for exclusives though. So here’s what’s on my desk!
So after installing a 1TB SSD on to the GS65, I wanted to see what more I can accomplish with this thing. I woke up this morning and wanted to challenge myself by attempting to install Mac OS onto this gaming laptop. I know there are Hackintosh guides on that and it has been done on other laptops and the process looks like a pain in the ass. Then I thought about doing a virtual machine, which although gets a huge degradation in performance, it basically will run within Windows much like how Parallels runs in Mac. My VM of choice was VMWare because it was free.
The process was actually pretty easy, however the challenge was getting FaceTime and iMessage to work because I believe it needs a valid Mac serial number in order for it to work on a Mac computer. It CAN be done but it does involve some gray area things that you have to do but it does work.
I used this guide to install using VMWARE: https://techsviewer.com/install-macos-mojave-vmware-windows/
And this guide to get iMessage and iCloud working: https://github.com/toshmatik/VMWare-iMessage/blob/master/instructions.md
Now that I finally have iMessage on my PC… who needs a Mac anymore?
I’ve been wanting to add some additional storage since I picked up my MSI GS65 9SE 2019 model since it came with only 512GB storage space. Sure it may seem like a lot now but this is a gaming laptop games take a lot of space and that will fill up pretty quickly. Fortunately, the MSI GS65 Stealth is up upgradable and you can put 2 M.2 SSD SSD drives into the laptop.
Unfortunately MSI doesn’t make the task as easy as most laptops out there to upgrade the hard drive and install RAM since the motherboard for some reason is flipped over and to get access to those upgrades, you need to physically remove the motherboard from the chassis. Sure it sounds pretty scary and it even looks scary doing but it’s not as tough as it seems. I did it in an hour by following a Youtube video which I will link below paid close attention to what I was doing. You have to be patient with yourself in this project but in the same time be confident and not too nervous. I was able to complete the task in about 30 minutes. Seriously, it wasn’t all to bad. I say the most difficult part through the whole thing was just stop myself from over thinking the whole process and just doing it. Once you pop open the cover at the bottom, just watch along carefully and gently remove the ribbon cables, screws, and some tape. Believe me, it will all start to make sense when you start.
Here’s what I Used
I just received my PowerBeats Pro yesterday from Best Buy.
My first impressions is that they are pretty fantastic and I own AirPods as well as Beats X. They also fit very well too and I wear glasses most of the day. Having interchangeable ear tips is a total plus too. I’ve worked out with these yesterday and this morning and it’s almost impossible to get these to fall off my ears. They only way I see these falling off is if someone wears these while they are boxing lol. Other than that, I’m going to have a tough time transitioning back to my Beats X for working out.
As far as sound quality goes… they are definitely a step above the AirPods and I believe how they fit in my ears contributes to that as well. Bass is strong and if you like your eardrums taking a Beat-ing then you will definitely love these. Listen to Pop, rock, piano solos etc… they all sound great on the PBP. I sometimes watch YouTube videos or binge while I work out on the treadmill. Movie / speech dialogue, explosions, cars screeching and dragons roaring on videos are above satisfactory.
I’m having a tough time trying to see if there is a difference in sound quality between the PBP and the Beats X. Also for people who don’t want to spend the $250, the Beats X is a great value which you can find under $100, they fit well, you don’t have to worry about losing them if the buds happen to fall off your ears and they are pretty compact.
Making phone calls on the PBP is incredible. I’m walking through a sidewalk with cars zooming buy and the wind blowing, shopping center or crowded area and people can hear my as if I was indoors in a quiet office. With the AirPods, it does pick up some noise around you and oops… it falls off my ears while doing something as much as a slight jog.
I only have a few gripes with the PBP… The case takes quite a bit of space for an everyday carry bag and I wouldn’t mind the size so much if this thing at least have wireless charging. For a gym bag, obviously there would be no issue. You can forget about pocketing this thing if you are wearing anything besides cargo pants and gym shorts with big loose pockets. What does make up for the large case is that 9 hour rated battery life. If you are going out and about, you can buy a $5-$10 pouch on Amazon to carry this around in your pocket and leave the case at home or in your car.
My other issue is after about an hour an a half or longer, these are a strain on the ears. AirPods, while working on a desk, taking calls and walking around the office, I can wear these all day without any issues – except I have to pop them back in the case because battery life on AirPods are crappy.
I’m hanging on to these PowerBeats Pro for now. They are a great workout companion and I need more time to decide if this would replace my AirPods as an everyday carry. Before the PBP, I was pretty satisfied traveling with my Beats X as they were great for flights and I didn’t have to worry about losing them and they are great for the gym as well and cost less than half of the PBP price tag. If the PBP were $199 instead of $249 it would be a no-brainer for anyone. However, that $249 does give you a great true wireless experience and Apple’s H1 chip / pairing capabilities.
Yeah that’s me looking at Reddit lol. I’m day 3 on the 8/128 surface go and so far have used it mainly as a laptop vs a tablet. I’m looking to see if this can replace my MacBook 12inch and 9.7 inch iPad Pro.
So far it’s been pretty good as a laptop. Sure it was laggy during the first few hours during updates but it’s performed pretty well on all the software I use for work which is Office 365 and Chrome.
Today I’ve finally decided to just use this as a tablet laying on the couch. Chrome runs like garbage in tablet mode. However, Edge runs very well. As well as Safari in the iPad except with much more versatility since the Surface Go runs on a fully functional operating system.
Still wish the Go had better hardware though and i would definitely pay more for 16GB RAM and a better CPU on this form factor. Excited to see what Microsoft will announce in October.
Pick one up here: https://amzn.to/2wXrJrs
I was always intimidated by 3D printing because in my mind, it sounded complicated, messy and too time consuming. All of my assumptions were WRONG. It was super easy, this took 5 minutes to setup and the printer did all of the work.
Right out of the box you get the 3D Printer, a memory card with the instructions on it along with a CAD file to print a lucky cat, and filament barely enough to create that lucky cat.
The build quality of the unit itself was pretty solid and well constructed. I’s about the size and weight of a blender and takes up about the same amount of space.
Setting up was really easy. However a printed quick start guide would have been nice and I did have to watch a few YouTube videos to make sure I was doing everything correctly.
Setting up the software was also easy. I just downloaded CURA for my Mac, added the MonoPrice printer and boom, I was set to go. Loading the filament didn’t take too much work and I was ready to print! All I had to do was pop in the memory card with the CAD file, preheated the filament and then hit print and it started.
The process of printing a 3D Lucky Cat took about 2.5 hours, which I did a time lapse on. After printing the cat, I was almost out of the the filament it came with so definitely pick some up if you intend to create more than that.
Again, this is my first 3D printer ever and the first time 3D printing anything so I can’t really compare it to anything else. But at the price point that this is at, and how easy it was!
You can pick one up here: https://amzn.to/2PJ6KS7
I have a cat, live in Austin where it gets humid and the pollen is just horrible especially in the spring. And yes I am highly allergic to all of those things so I tried a bunch of allergy medication like Flonase, Allegra, etc. I’ve also tried different air filters and they are either really loud, ineffective, look like something out of the 70s or all of the above. Honestly, I don’t really care how it looks as long as it works.
I did my research and it came down to a few filters. One being the Honeywell HPA200 Air Purifier and the Oregon Scientific Air Purifier. Both are really good and they actually work. I however decided to go for the Oregon Scientific Air Purifier because it looked a lot sleeker, and most importantly the HEPA and Carbon Filters were cheaper to replace. Air quality in my house is a lot better, no one can really smell the cat, and my allergies have really improved. The unit also runs really quiet and doesn’t sound like a jet engine so it’s not annoying.
Amazon Prime Day deals just keep coming and coming which about a day left to wrap up their huge annual sale. A few of the things that I personally picked up included the iRobot Roomba 671 Vacuum for $229.99 which is great for pet hair (I’m a cat owner) and I needed to replace my old 500 series Roomba that’s about 6 years old! The Roomba 671 features:
I also picked up a Vitamix Explorian Blender for $189, which is now sold out!
Keep checking Amazon for more Prime Deals!
