Menu

tech

Two-thirds of Starbucks Kaneohe Are Google-fied

, , , , , , ,

Did I mention that the Starbucks location at Windward City is now powered by Google Wifi? My last check in December 2013 confirmed wireless connectivity provided by attwifi. But during a recent visit to finish my hardcore dash of 2014, I saw the Google Wifi network show up.

Additionally, the small Starbucks inside of Windward Mall is also Google connected. Oddly, the third and seemingly busiest Starbucks location in Kaneohe, the one with the first 24-hour drive thru in Hawaii, is still not Google-fied. Here’s a SpeedTest comparison of Google Wifi versus attwifi.

Google Wifi SpeedTest
Google Wifi SpeedTest

The top two lines are from the Kaneohe drive thru location while the bottom line is from the Windward Mall location. Two out of three ain’t bad I guess.

Stream Bigwest.tv to AppleTV?

, , , , ,

Gotta do some research on the best way to stream on-the-road UH basketball games to my television set. Since there’s no national television broadcast, the only option is the live stream available on bigwest.tv. But I don’t want to watch the game on a computer screen.

Can the AppleTV stream this content natively? Seems like the best option so far is to Airplay the stream from a computer or iOS device to an AppleTV. Gotta keep looking…

New Years Site Cleaning

, , , ,

Over the end of December and beginning of January 2014, Pulpconnection has been getting hit hard. Not sure how or why but server resource allocation skyrocketed and stayed there for long periods of time. Because of this, Pulpconnection would be unavailable for periods of time. Even after server reboots, resources would be consumed once again in a matter of minutes.

I wasn’t exactly sure how to approach this problem but followed several helpful guides from Dreamhost. I reviewed their WordPress optimization tips but had most of these already implemented. I did some of the WordPress fine tuning suggestions. Lastly, I looked at server troubleshooting and optimization. From what I could tell, there was a ton of traffic from other countries. While I love my international audience, I figured most of my content isn’t necessarily world renowned so I blocked entire countries. Yep, using CloudFlare, blocking entire countries is pretty easy.

Along with this mass blocking, I cleaned out unused WordPress themes and plugins, trying to minimize my WordPress footprint. I also tripled the memory allocation to my servers which made things dreamy but too costly.

The server load has been consistent and steady for the past few days so I’m hoping things are stable once again. But having said this, I bet I just jinxed myself. 🙁

Google Starbucks Gone Leeward

, , , ,

Downtown Starbucks locations seemingly were the first to enjoy Google-provided Wifi networks, replacing the slower AT&T Wifi. More and more Starbucks locations on Oahu are now seeing Google Wifi. On the Leeward side, the Pearl City location on Makolu by Walmart is now Google powered.

Starbucks explorer Wayne’s World also reports that the Kapolei location has been Googlified but not the one at Kauai Kukui Grove.

Not Yet Google Starbucks in Kaneohe

, , , ,

At least over the Christmas season. My last check on December 21, 2013 of the Starbucks Windward City location in Kaneohe showed its Wifi network still powered by AT&T. While the captive portal interface has adopted a distinct Google Now look, the network speed still isn’t Google-esque.

Thinking About the Landing Zone Pro Dock

, , ,

For sometime, I’ve been looking for ways to expand the ports on my MacBook Air. Mainly, I need a way to get wired Ethernet along with connecting an external monitor. Currently, the MBA’s single ThunderBolt port serves both functions so it’s either wired Ethernet or an external display.

There are Thunderbolt expansion docks by Matrox and Belkin, but these are expensive! Both of these docks offer what I need but at a prohibitive price and the need to buy an expensive Thunderbolt cable. Enter the LandingZone 2.0 PRO. You need to buy the Landing Zone dock that matches your MacBook Air model otherwise the dock simply won’t fit.

Seems like physically docking the Air takes some getting used to, but the Landing Zone includes its own gigabit Ethernet port which then frees up the Air’s Thunderbolt port for an external display. You’ll get some extra USB 3.0 ports as well, but having wired Ethernet along with an external display at a reduced cost makes for a compelling solution.

Holiday Gift Guide 2013: High Tech

, ,

Gifts for a techie? How about the Nest Protect smoke detector? The next generation detector that’s smarter, connects to a smart device, and simply makes more sense.

Not looking for a smart smoke detector? How about a smart watch like the popular Pebble? I helped kickstart this project and love the utility of this evolving device. It’s a great second screen that’s getting better and better.

Still too technologically mundane? Then try to get ahold of Starpath. Apply this luminous material to your driveway, and you’ll have a spectacle of science.

StarPath covered
StarPath covered

Google Starbucks Hits the Aloha State

, , , , ,

Did you notice that web surfing at Starbucks Hawaii has gotten a lot faster? At least in the Downtown Honolulu area, Starbucks Wifi is now powered by Google, replacing AT&T. So don’t be surprised when you see this login screen on your smart device.

Google Starbucks login
Google Starbucks login

Yup, you are connected to a legit Wifi network.

Connected
Connected

Speedy, speedy!!

Speedy Google Starbucks
Speedy Google Starbucks

Thanks to Wayne’s World for the screen shots while walking around different Starbucks downtown locations.

New Flickr Moved the Slideshow Embed

, , ,

Flickr has been making changes to its age-old system. While for the most part, the changes are welcomed, but sometimes, I want the old Flickr back. Like when embedding a slideshow. Where did that feature go?

While you can’t see it, embedding is still available. Open the photo set you want and append /show after the URL. Read this forum tip for more.

Create a Mavericks Boot Disk Using Lion DiskMaker

, , , ,

It never hurts to have a bootable disk/USB flash drive to repair a Mac or install OS X. It’s real easy to do using Lion DiskMaker. This app will prep a 8-GB (or bigger) flash drive with everything it needs to install OS X 10.9 Mavericks. You can also build disks that contain OS X 10.7 or 10.8 if Mavericks isn’t your thing.

Be sure to read the instructions so that you have all the needed files in the right locations. One more note – Lion DiskMaker takes awhile to copy all the files so be patient.

Once done, you can boot a Mac with this flash drive by holding down the Option key at startup.

Apple and Nike At It Again?

, , ,

You think Nike and Apple are at it again, sharing playbooks? Read about the updated Nike+ FuelBand SE, and you’ll see what I mean. The dead giveaway is interfacing with iOS only. With all its resources, of course, Nike can make an Android app, but they haven’t yet.

Nike+ FuelBand SE
Nike+ FuelBand SE

Then there’s the adoption of Bluetooth 4.0, aka Bluetooth Low Energy, aka BLE, aka iBeacon. NFC is still a technology looking for traction, but Nike’s decision to go BLE is another nod to the way of Apple.

Old time Mac fans will recognize the SE moniker from the olden days of the Motorola 68000 series microprocessors in the all-in-one Mac SE. When updated, will Nike have the bravado to call the revised SE, the SE/x, or will they flinch like Apple’s SE/30 (back in the day, Apple hardware with a math coprocessor had the suffix “x” appended on).

And don’t think when Apple’s iWatch finally surfaces, Nike won’t be one of the first to interconnect with this personal ecosphere.

Load More