Technology — Page 2 — Wandering Jon

Google Chrome HiDPI (Retina) on Mac OS X

July 18, 2014 by Jon Brown Leave a Comment

My primary browser is Google Chrome, has been for a longtime. I remember years ago FireFox going to crap and begrudgingly moving to Chrome, but since then I’ve been a big fan of Chrome. It’s got good extensions which makes it my “daily use” browser, and it has good web developer tools which makes it my “working browser”. It’s not that FireFox and Safari’s dev tools aren’t great, it’s just I’m really comfortable with Chrome so I stay there.

Well, today I had a fit because after updating Google Chrome to version 37.x.beta I discovered it no longer supported HiDPI (retina) displays. WTH!?!?! Much searching didn’t help. A few thread on the flag being removed, some Windows 8 registry hacks, but nothing for OS X. I was just about to banish Chrome and move to Safari (who’s new web developer tools look amazing) when I stumbled across a new setting in the Get Info window for the Chrome app.

Turns out there is a new check box labeled “Open in Low Resolution”, which, is checked by default. Checked by default EVEN if you had the chrome:flag for HiDPI pervious set to true.

Well here’s hoping someone search for Google Chrome HiDPI on OS X finds this post and doesn’t have to spend quite so long hunting for a solution.

8 Years of WordPress

July 16, 2014 by Jon Brown 3 Comments

I noticed a cool little note in my WordPress.com notifcation feed today (techincally it’s actually from 3 weeks ago).

It’s pretty amazing to think it’s been 8 years since I started working with WordPress. Back then it was just a .com account to create this very travel blog, then titled “World Wide Wanderment”.

Get it… like WWW? and wandering… Oh I was SOOooo clever!

At the time WordPress was at version 2.0.3 and I was using the “Connections” theme on .com, it’s retired but you can see it here: http://theme.wordpress.com/retired/connections/

Here’s a couple screenshots of what 2.0.3 looked like on the backend…

Ah memories. It wasn’t until a couple years later I went from blogging with WordPress, to actually working with WordPress, but what a great 8 years it’s been and oh how much I’m looking forward to the next 8. Big news coming soon.

Finding Work/Life Balance as a Remote Worker

June 11, 2014 by Jon Brown 11 Comments

Remote Work “Gear List” and video from my WordCamp Orange County talk on Finding Work/Life Balance as a Remote Worker.

A bunch of people asked about the remote work gear I shared at the end of the talk and asked for links. So here is the Remote Work Gear List (yes these are Amazon affiliate links… I’m a horrible affiliate marketer, but I try a little).

Just to be clear my criteria for recommending things here is simple.
1) Have I used it day in and day out?
2) Would I instantly replace it if it was lost?
If the answer to both of those is yes, then I recommend it. All 4 of the below items absolutely meet both those requirements:

ASUS MB MB168B+ 15.6-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor
I strongly recommend hunting for and finding the MB168b+ rather than settling for the much easier to find in stock MB168b. The 168b+ is 1920×1080 (1080p HD) whereas the 168b is just 1366×768 (VGA). It makes a big difference in image quality and effective screen real estate.

HooToo® TripMate Wireless N Portable Travel Router with 6000mAh Battery Charger (USB Storage Wi-Fi Media Sharing, Access Point, Wi-Fi Mini Router & Bridge)
This comes in handy frequently when the WiFi at a guest house or hotel is strong to the door, but not inside the room, or when there is no wifi and I just want to network my iPad/iPhone to my laptop for syncing or streaming a movie. The battery powered option also means you get infinite placement options, some places I’ve even left it hidden outside the room at night.

Crumpler THE SINKING BARGE Laptop Camera Backpack
This is an old model, but it’s the one I love. I’ve looked at the newer replacements, but I’m not a fan of them. I love it because: it’s “just the right size” for me, it swings under my arm for easy access, it has a double laptop sleeve so it fits both my 15″ rMBP and my Asus MB168b+ and the lower portion is big enough for my dSLR.

Energizer XP18000AB Universal Power Adapter with External Battery for Tablets/Laptops/Netbooks/Smartphones – Black (XP18000AB)
This pretty much doubles the battery life of my rMBP. However, to get it to work with MagSafe I had to 1) get this free (with purchase of battery) tip http://www.xpalpower.com/energizer/pc06.php 2) get ahold of a now discountinued Apple Airline Adapter, 3) get a magsafe 1 to magsafe 2 adapter. Then accept the fact the the airline adapter setup will only power the laptop, not charge it, so reach for this when you’re battery is at 50%, not 5%.
(note: I’ve tried using that tip with an non-apple magsafe auto adapter and it didn’t work for me, the tip puts out ~19V and auto expects 12-14V so the auto adapter trips a protection circuit and turns off)

Finally, one bonus I didn’t share in the talk
Audio-Technica – QuietPoint Earbud Headphones ATH-ANC33iS
These are great active noise canceling earbuds. They’re not quite as good as the big bulky over the ear kind, but they do wonders for canceling out low frequency noises (airplanes, traffic, background noise). They aren’t wonderful at cutting out the noise from people talking around you though. They win in my book because they’re tiny and light.