Last week automaker General Motors filed a patent for a solution to manage data from autonomous vehicles using Blockchain.

I love that we're finally seeing Blockchain technology used for other purposes than currency. It's not the first company to use this technology, but it's certainly one of the first major companies to put their eggs in this basket.

I'm a firm believer that Blockchain technology could change the world. And this is why: "As revolutionary as it sounds, Blockchain truly is a mechanism to bring everyone to the highest degree of accountability. No more missed transactions, human or machine errors, or even an exchange that was not done with the consent of the parties involved. Above anything else, the most critical area where Blockchain helps is to guarantee the validity of a transaction by recording it not only on a main register but a connected distributed system of registers, all of which are connected through a secure validation mechanism." – Ian Khan, Speaker/Author

It's that accountability and absolute guarantee of validity of the transaction that creates such a killer app. So it's no wonder that GM is working on baking this into their autonomous vehicle technology. Self driving cars are the future of transportation and GM's investment in Blockchain assures them that the data they produce is pure and true. Afterall, there will be no driver so that data is the only thing they'll have.

Digium D65 and D80 telephone models have Bluetooth (BT) ability used to connect to Bluetooth enabled wireless headsets.

The Bluetooth App on the phone allows you to turn on and off the option to use BT/wireless headsets. Once a device is paired, you can enable the ability to answer incoming calls from the bluetooth device by turning on the headset answer feature. To do this, go to:
Setup > Manage Extensions > Modify > Phone Settings > then turn "Headset Answer" to Yes > Save Extension.

Now you're ready to setup the phone to your headset. Below are the steps to enable Bluetooth capabilities on each phone model:

How do you enable to Bluetooth for wireless headsets on the Digium D65 phone?

1. On the D65, go to More > More > Menu > Applications.
2. Select Bluetooth Application.
3. Select BT ON.
4. Select Search, then Pair, then Connect (if necessary). Additional onscreen instructions will be provided by the phone.

How do you enable to Bluetooth for wireless headsets on the Digium D80 phone?

1. On a Digium D80 telephone, Swipe right on the touch screen, then tap the Bluetooth option.

2. To enable Bluetooth, toggle the Off button to "On". FYI - Connecting a Bluetooth headset will disable the wired headset connection.

3. Once BT has been enabled, put your device in pairing mode, then click the search button to add. Addition onscreen instructions will be provided.

I’d like to believe that I see the world differently. As a guy that sees the world through a computer screen most of the day, I’d like to keep doing that…

I used to wear glasses. I needed them. Once I got to high school I realized quickly that I needed assistance with my vision. So I got some stylish 90’s frames and began my long career of losing and breaking them. I wasn’t that bad but I was a careless teenager whose track record wasn’t exactly great. My wife reminds me of the time that I jumped into the lake wearing them while also wearing a life vest. (I was really excited to go water skiing.) They fell off my face and I watched them slowly sink lower and lower until they disappeared into the murky abyss of Lake Geneva. And because I was wearing a life vest I couldn’t swim down to get them as they fell.

So glasses were never my favorite. Always getting in the way of life. And unless I had prescription sunglasses I never liked hanging out in the sun. And with my propensity to lose or break them, the idea of another pair of glasses to manage was too much to manage. And don’t even get me started on contacts…

Then I had Lasik. Which next to convincing my wife to marry me, was the best decision I ever made. It really did improve the quality of my life. I could buy (and lose or break) regular sunglasses! Life was grand. And it still is. Nearly 15 years after having Lasik surgery I’m still seeing close to 20/20 and don’t need readers or anything like that. I’m in my early 40’s so I consider that a win. My Lasik doc said that I was pretty much the perfect candidate for the surgery and I would be good for a long while. Surprisingly, that prediction has held up well.

But now that I’m sitting behind a desk most days literally staring at a giant television from two feet away, my eyes are starting to feel their age. Digital eye strain (D.E.S.) is very real for me. D.E.S. is defined as “a group of eye and vision-related problems that result from prolonged computer, tablet, e-reader and cell phone use.” So something that I think a lot of people probably deal with whether they realize it or not.

The symptoms I experience most are blurred vision and fatigue. I know that if I start getting blurry that I need to take a break. Otherwise it’ll get to the point that I am past the point of no return and I have to quit working for the day. Unfortunately for me, it’s not consistent. Some days I can go the whole day and some days I’m struggling by 10 a.m. In doing some research on this subject I did learn the 20–20–20 rule recommended by optometrists and ophthalmologists:

“The 20–20–20 rule is the first defense for Computer Vision Syndrome/Digital Eye Strain and eye discomfort. It’s pretty simple: every 20 minutes, look away from your digital screen and stare at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This reduces eye stress, strained eyes, eye discomfort, and can combat the negative effects of prolonged exposure from Blue Light.”

Studies show that overexposure to Blue Light may be linked to eye strain, increased risk of macular degeneration, and sleep cycle disruption. Thankfully there is a solution, you can now purchase glasses that filter out this “harmful” blue light. A quick cursory search on Amazon yields several options. Some of which are better than others. If you clicked the Amazon link you noticed that a lot of the glasses come with lenses that are tinted a dark yellow. It’s not the look I’m going for. I’d feel like I was going to the range to shoot guns if I had to wear those. And that’s not my thing. But companies like Felix Gray have entered the market with more fashionable glasses that not only look the part (yay clear lenses!) but also filter out the blue light that can lead to D.E.S.

“So you must own like 3 pairs of Felix Gray glasses then?”

Yeah, I wish. My only problem is that while I would pay a premium for something like a pair of Felix Gray (most start at $95), glasses aren’t something that are easy to shop for on the internet. They’re highly personal and unless you know exactly what you want it’s not easy to shop for frames online. (I’m sure there are people who have or are working on solving this problem but I don’t see anything at my disposal.)

According to Forbes 8 Million pairs of prescription glasses were sold online in 2017. Yeah, that seems like a lot of specs but it’s only 4.2% of the prescription glasses market. So I don’t think I’m alone in my thinking here that it’s hard to shop for glasses online. And the data shows that people prefer to try them on before they commit to spending their hard earned cash on a pair of glasses that look really dumb on their face.

The author of the Forbes article argues that online sales of glasses will only get bigger. And I agree to a certain extent (because: duh, internet) but mostly I disagree… And here’s why: Your face is literally the first impression that anyone sees, whether they know you or not. And if you need to make a first impression (and most people do) and you wear glasses, you need to try on some different frames, look in the mirror and see how you look. That’s not vanity, that’s humanity.

“But they offer free shipping, free returns, and exchanges…” Yeah, but it’s still such a hassle. And I feel straight up guilty for ordering something when I know that I’m going to immediately return it. (Maybe that’s my midwestern Catholic upbringing coming through.) “But they also offer a fit guide…” Seriously? Am I supposed to get out a ruler and measure my face? How does this help me determine what might look good on me?

I sound like such a curmudgeon here… Maybe I am just getting old? “Back in my day I would go to the glasses store and try on every single pair. And we walked there uphill both ways…” I’m not intending to come off negative here. Major kudos to companies like Felix Gray for solving the problem by making the lenses. But they still need to solve the distribution problem. I know they’re aware of it, I just hope someone offers a good solution while I can still see…

I was going to call this post "What I did on my Summer Vacation" but I'd hardly call the last few months a "vacation".

After about a nearly two month hiatus of writing it feels good to get behind a keyboard again. We've been really busy on the biggest single install we've ever done (on top of maintaining our normal business) and it has consumed our time like never before. So things like this took a back seat.

But it was obviously worth it... We helped a hospital move to Digium Switchvox and installed over 900 handsets. And aside from the normal monetary scale that a deal this size brings, it's been really rewarding to help these guys. They serve the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona/Utah/New Mexico so we've made several trips to the "Four Corners" region. The Navajo people are friendly, giving, and sharing in their culture. It's been an honor and a pleasure to spend some time in their world.

One night after work I decided that I was going to visit the actual "Window Rock". I had stayed at a hotel in the town of Window Rock on several trips and had never actually seen it! So I ventured off the main drag and over to the Window Rock Tribal Park and Veterans Memorial. A large hill blocks the view of the rock structure from the street, so I had driven past it dozens of times without venturing to see it.

I'm really glad I checked it out because I had an amazing experience there. A Navajo gentlemen who came to the park to unwind after work, saw me alone and approached me. From several yards away he said "You're not from around here, are you?" I wonder what gave that away? I immediately put my guard up because I had no idea what to expect. Was he going to ask me for money? Was he going to rob me? I know that's extreme but I remember being seriously scared for a second. He introduced himself and proceeded to give me a full tour of the site. Just he and I, a couple of guys de-stressing from work. It was just about one of the coolest exchanges I've had in my life. His father was a Navajo code talker. [I highly recommend you watch the Nic Cage movie "Windtalkers" if you're not familiar. It's highly fictionalized but still very good (trailer can be seen here).] He was very proud of his family and their history. He didn't want anything from me other than to share his culture. I'll never forget you Michael.

On one of our rare afternoons off we ventured out to what I believe to be one of the most under appreciated landscapes in North America: Canyon de Chelly National Monument. (Pronounced de-Shay). The Grand Canyon often trumps Canyon de Chelly (for obvious reasons) but de Chelly holds its own in both its beauty and its ability to make you feel really small. To get there we drove up an old dirt logging road, and that in itself was an adventure. (You obviously don't need to take that path to get there but we had the extra time so we went for it.) We passed wild horses, plenty of pine trees, and gave my SUV a workout. I still have some trail dirt on my vehicle, I can't seem to get it clean! (I don't recommend this road if it's raining or has recently rained unless you have a 4x4 vehicle that's good in the mud. It would be a difficult pass in the wrong vehicle.)

It was a bit of a last minute "should we" or "shouldn't we" go, type of decision. But we knew that if we didn't go then it'd be unlikely that we'd get there at all. Because it was last minute, we had no plan or itinerary. And because we had very little knowledge of the Canyon, we went in sort of blind as to where we should go. But once we arrived at the edge of the canyon we immediately stopped (where there wasn't even any parking) to get out and see the majesty of the outer edges where the canyon ends. There aren't any guard rails or protection from falling into the canyon so I stayed a safe distance in the beginning. But as you can see in the picture above and the one below, Jonathan didn't mind going all the way to the edge to take his pictures. It was a beautiful sunny day with a few puffy clouds. It was hot (around 95-100 degrees that day) so it made for a stopping for too long feel like a chore.

The official parking areas were not busy at all. The most we saw was maybe 10-15 cars at the busiest spot. You can hike the White House Ruin Trail without an escort (everywhere else inside of the canyon requires a guide) and this was the parking area that seemed the most occupied. The hikers who were coming back up the trail said that it was a great hike. We didn't have the right gear nor enough water so we opted to save that for another trip. It's a little less than 3 miles and according to most information it's an "Easy" hike in terms of difficulty.

We stopped at a few of the official parking areas and saw some stunning views of the canyon but we still didn't know where we were so we decided to head into town (Chinle) for some water and maybe a map. (GPS and cell service is very spotty so we couldn't use our phones.) What we didn't know was that we'd pass one of the coolest views in doing so. When we finally got a map (from the Holiday Inn) we realized that we had passed Spider Rock. A sandstone spire that rises 750 feet from the canyon floor. Oh well, we'll probably be back someday where we might sneak in a visit. We spent the rest of our Canyon visit on the Northern rim where we saw lots of ruins and the start of a gorgeous sunset (we wanted to start home before it got too dark).

So my advice in all of this is to get off the beaten path and explore. And if you're ever on the Navajo nation please visit Canyon de Chelly. Most people don't even know that it exists (including me before I started working in the area) and that's a real shame.  Yes, it's off the beaten path but it's totally worth the trip. Then you can tell everyone where YOU'VE been...

$100 purchased on January 1, 2011 would have bought you 333.33 Bitcoin. At current rates that would be worth $2,189,819.77 USD.

So it's no wonder why everyone is so excited about Cryptocurrency. Who wouldn't want to see that kind of a return on an investment? But it's so much more than that in my opinion... The Blockchain technology that Bitcoin is based on has the power to be revolutionary to so many. It has the ability to deeply change our lives. So what is it?

Keep in mind I'm in no way an expert. I don't pretend to be any type of authority. This article on Blockchain is a little technical, but still a good read. Here's my distilled version:

Blockchain was introduced in 2008 with the conception of Bitcoin. It was introduced by someone (or a group of people) named Satoshi Nakamoto (which is a fascinating story in and of itself). Blockchain was designed to be open/public, verifiable, and permanent while eliminating the need for a someone/thing to be in the middle to manage it all. It's commonly referred to as "a ledger secured with cryptography". So all the records live in a database, and are able to be added to or changed, but not erased. And because it's decentralized it is distributed over a network of devices. No one entity owns that network.

Think about what's involved in sending money to someone through your bank. I write you a check, you go to the bank and cash the check. But the bank (or banks) are in the middle of the whole transaction. It seems like a simple transaction but there's a lot that happens that you don't see. And sure they've made it better/faster over the years but it's still "a process" that takes time and effort. Your "free checking" account isn't free for the bank. It costs on average $1.22, in manpower and incidental costs, to process a paper check.

Bitcoin on the other hand, is drastically different. If I want to send you money (in Bitcoin) I get your wallet address and I send the amount. My wallet is debited and yours is credited. The transaction is recorded on the blockchain and we all go on our merry way. Yes there are some transaction fees but they are nominal in comparison. (This is where bitcoin mining comes into play.) By removing the bank it creates faster, cheaper, and some would argue safer transactions.

So banking and finance makes a lot of sense but how else can we use blockchain to make our lives better? Here are a few that make sense to me:

• Medical Records - This is a no brainer to me. If I move, if I switch doctors, the records are all there for anyone that I authorize to see.
• Voting/Elections - It would be hard for the Russians to hack the blockchain. I expect this to be big in the next few elections.
• Supply Chain Managment - This is defined as: "the flow of goods and services, involves the movement and storage of raw materials, of work-in-process inventory, and of finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption." So again this is a no brainer. Assets need to be kept track of and companies are constantly developing tools to manage them. Why not use blockchain?
• Logistics - This is something that companies already do fairly well but anything that creates safer, faster, and cheaper transactions will be disruptive in this space.
• Food Processing/Tracking - If Jiffy puts out a tainted batch of peanut butter they need to get on top of it ASAP. Blockchain can help trace the origin of the raw materials or supplier that was involved and quickly issue a recall. Lives could literally be saved by using blockchain.
• Communications - I don't know what this looks like yet but I think it has the potential to kill the PSTN and I'm really excited about that.

So these are obviously only a few ideas. There are so many possibilities that it's inevitable that we start seeing blockchain used in ways outside of the financial sector. I’m really excited for what the future might bring.

Hustle Con is a conference for non technical startup entrepreneurs. They bring successful founders on stage to explain how they launched and grew their brands.

I had the opportunity and pleasure of attending Hustle Con in Oakland, CA last week. And what a wild ride it was. I had been interested in attending since reading about it in their daily email. If you're not a subscriber you should be, sign up here. It's witty, it's relevant, it's the only thing I consistently read every morning.

I initially looked at the calendar and it didn't look like it would work. So I didn't buy a ticket. But when they had a drawing to win a free ticket I thought what the heck, let's see what happens. I found out a couple weeks before that I had won! It the spirit of hustling I made it work. And I'm really glad I did...

After meeting with a client (another reason I made it work) in the morning before the conference, I headed out to the Paramount Theatre, a beautiful Art Deco building that was constructed in 1931. I really wanted to use a Lime Electric scooter but traffic wasn't great so I opted for an Uber ride. I let my fear of being in traffic in an unfamiliar city get the best of me on that one. Next time I won't let that happen.

Once inside I sat down about 8 rows back. Something that bugged me was the sign that was placed on the stage next to the couch. It read "For this home and the next, we're Campaign." And think there's a Microsoft logo at the top... I even Googled it so see if there was a connection to something. And I couldn't find anything. It still doesn't make any sense to me. I don't get it. So whatever sponsor paid for that wasted their money as far as I'm concerned. If you know what that's for please drop me a comment.

The speakers were terrific. The sessions were long enough to get something out of it but short enough if the topic or speaker weren't of interest. Out of the 14 speakers there were only a couple that I felt were stale, or the presenter needed a little more polish, or the topic just fell flat on my ears. Nobody was pitching any products which was refreshing. Most were very passionate about their business and seemed genuine in wanting to explain a specific problem that they faced.

Kyle Taylor, CEO of The Penny Hoarder, was probably my favorite session of the day. I think because he showed such raw emotion in showing how hard it can be to scale a business. He put me in his shoes and made me feel all the feels with him. I can't wait to watch it back again.

My other favorite came from Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu. He spoke about bootstrapping his software business. (This means they did not take any investment money from venture capitalists or other outside investors.) He started with a disclaimer that read: "Everything I say could be wrong for your particular context!" It was just a breath of fresh air. It was "Hey, this is how we did it, but that doesn't mean it'll work for you."

My favorite line of the day was from Justin Kan while introducing himself. I'm paraphrasing from memory here but it went somethign like: "Hi, I'm Justin Kan. I started a lot of companies. Twitch was the one that worked." It rightfully got a big laugh.

I learned a lot about myself that day. Being by yourself is humbling. You really have to put yourself out there if you want to get the most out of these things. In the morning I was really reserved but after lunch I approached and spoke with several people. I didn't get to stick around after the sessions wrapped up as I had to meet a colleague for dinner but if I ever have a chance to go again I'd make more time to network. Being in the Bay area and so close to the technology hub of the world gathers people that I don't get exposed to in my everyday life. Next time I'll take better advantage...

You can watch past Hustle Con speakers at their YouTube Channel.

Here are some additional photos that I took:

/feer/: an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

It's crippling. Debilitating. And even more frustrating when you can't control it. When it manistes itself in another person and you know that there's nothing to be fearful about, it's even worse.

It showed itself in an entire organizaion I was tasked to help recently. They simply didn't understand technology and made assumptions that only hurt them in the end. And I understand why, they had just gotten out of a nearly two day outage after a power loss/surge in their building. So they were still a little jittery and no matter what I did to explain the solution I was proposing (which would not have impacted them whatsoever) they could not make a positive decision. Or really any decision to be honest. "Leave it alone and how it is, even if it's broken."

And it's too bad that they couldn't see the forest through the trees. This simple fix would have gone a long way in helping them in the future should anything catasrophic (like happened to them this weekend) ever happen to them again. So what turned into a nearly 2 day ordeal could have maybe only lasted 2 hours. But their fear and ignorace got the best of them. Maybe one day they'll come around.

As I read this back it comes off as a little preachy and maybe even a little like I'm being a sore loser. And I really don't intend it to. How I really feel is like I didn't do my job in explaining the benefits and the solution. (Aka frustrated.)

The problem they have is easily solvable and I was going out of my way to help them. Not because I want to make a few bucks (quite honestly I would have come out maybe as breaking even once my labor and time were considered). And not because they even asked for it, but they needed it! And their lack of IT staff (their guy left last week) put them in this position. It's tough when you want to help but the other side doesn't want it or even know that they need it.

Sometimes this is the thanks you recieve for being a good and honest person in the IT space. Oh well... On to the next project.

Video Transcript:

Hola Interwebs! Zach from Chromis.com inside the shark tank aka my home office in Arizona... It’s Wednesday and on Wednesdays we wear pink… Wait… It’s not Wednesday… It’s only Tuesday... And Send... Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about what I just did! And that's basically just got distracted by my cell phone! My colleague Jonathan Rusk wrote a blog post last week called “Don’t text and talk”… Did you read it? Probably not but it’s an interesting topic… His plea is that if you’re in a face to face conversation with another human being, to put down the cell phone and engage with that person. So it begs the question, do we need new rules in the age of smart phones and smart watches and other devices that are constantly grabbing for our attention? I know I’m totally guilty of this offense and truth be told Jonathan probably wrote this blog post with me in mind, or at least I feel like he did anyway. It's all good. We spend so much time talking that it’s hard not to feel like it was about me… But I'm cool with it. So what are your thoughts? Are you guilty? Do you have a tendency to pick up your mobile device and start fiddling during an active conversation? Do you get distracted if a text comes in or you hear that email bong? Let me know in the comments and please subscribe to our channel… Thanks for taking the time to watch this and I do look forward to hearing your comments.

Sammy Hagar wrote "I can't drive 55!" But if he were Canadian it would be "I can't drive 88.51392, eh!" Not as cool in Kilometers per Hour as it is in Miles per Hour.

But at least in Sammy's case he'd be comparing apples to apples. Both "mph" and "km/h" are both distance measurements. They're just measured a little differently. 1 mph is roughly equal to 1.61 km/h.

When we measure computer data, the waters muddy a bit. We often think we're comparing apples to apples when in reality it's more like apples to kumquats. So let's break down the differences.

Broadband connection speed (download and upload) will display as megabits per second. But when you’re downloading or transferring that data it is calculated in megabytes.

So shopping for broadband can be very confusing! Most people are under the impression that if you've purchased a 10 Mbps connection you'll be able to transfer a 10 MB file in one second. But this is not the case! It would take roughly 8 seconds to transfer that file. So what are you actually buying?

Let's go over it one more time so it really sinks in:
Megabits per second or Mbps is used to measure download and upload speeds. (Note the lowercase "b" in Mbps.) Megabytes per second or MBps is used used to measure the file size. (Note the capital "B" in MBps.) Those upper and lower case letters are very important! That's how you determine the bits over the Bytes.

So Megabytes is what you're transferring. That song you're downloading, the email with the pdf attached, and so on. Megabits is how fast you're transferring the "what" previously mentioned. Let's say that the pdf attachment in the aforementioned email is 9MB. How long will it take to transfer?

For that we need to go back to the apples to apples scenario. It is possible to get there doing some simple math. First we need to understand these two facts:
8 bits = 1 byte
1 Mbps = 1,000,000 bits per second
Which means that we can arrive at this:
1 MBps = 1,000,000 bytes per second = 8,000,000 bits per second = 8 Mbps

Ok so if we want to transfer 1 MBps (Megabyte) it will require roughly 8 Mbps (Megabits). So getting back to that 9MB pdf file, it's going to be the equivalent of 72 Mbps (9 x 8 = 72). Let's look at the Cox Speed tiers and see how fast we can upload and download this file.

Note that the time estimates above are just that, estimates. In a vaccuum they would hold up, but in the real world there is overhead, etc. when surfing the internet. But at least it lets you compare apples to apples and actually see what you get for the extra money you would pay on the associated tiers.

My tier isn't listed but I get about 300Mbps down and 30Mbps up (see speedtest above.) That means I'll process that 9MB file in 0.24 seconds down and 2.4 seconds up. Not too bad.

This chart below lists some common file typs and their approximate sizes with their approximate download times. This is where you start to really see the differences between a "Starter" level package from the upper tier offerings. Thanks to Fastmetrics.com for the Speed table.

So there you go. Next time you're shopping for broadband you'll be better prepared to compare the different speed packages being offered. What kind of speeds are you offered in your area? Drop me a comment below, I'd love to hear from you.

Crowdfunding/sourcing is amazing. I'm a fan of this alternative fundraising because it has launched some really cool products (see Nomiku for an awesome success story). But every now and again something wacky comes across my desk.

Open offices are the "Bane" of most user's existence (this will make sense in a minute, I promise). I'm not a fan of them. Call me old school. Call me a luddite. Call me what you want, I just don't get much done in that kind of environment. It's not that I'm trying to hide anything. I just get distracted very easily and I'm less productive.

And now the open office is creating new categories of products that we never needed before. Like the Bloxvox Kickstarter campaign that recently launched.

"Designed to work with a pair of headphones, BLOXVOX is placed over the mouth, and the microphone slips in the side compartment. Your voice is substantially blocked from reaching people nearby, but perfectly audible to the person you’re calling."

All I can think of is "Bane" from the Batman movies. Or maybe an airplane that has depressurized and the oxygen masks have been released. I think this product probably does a great job but it looks absolutely ridiculous. Do you think people will actually use this? Or do you think they'll find a quiet spot in the office like they always have? I think vanity will prevent most people from giving it a try. So I'm a skeptic... What do you think?

New technology often dictates the need for new etiquette. Today we have so much new technology it’s hard for etiquette norms to keep up.

One pet peeve of mine that I think should be frowned upon is texting, or any other mobile device distraction, while in a live conversation. In addition to being rude it detracts from the ability to communicate. The person texting is less likely to comprehend what is being said while the speaker is often distracted by the texter not paying attention. This is particularly true for important conversations, such as if the conversation is a creative collaboration, regarding a decision, or for relationship-building.

For sure don’t text and drive. But also consider giving more attention to the person physically in front of you rather than those on the other end of the electrons. Don’t text and talk.

Bots are computers. In particular, they are tasks or features that a computer can do rather than a person. Messaging bots do things like answer common questions, tell jokes, or look up information such as the weather or account data.

Messaging or chatbots can use any number of channels: SMS/MMS (normal text messaging on your mobile phone), Facebook Messenger, Twitter, and many other text-based apps and services. One example I like is Aeroméxico's WhatsApp bot. It is still in pre-release and not available publicly. It's reported features will include searching for new flights, checking flight status, booking flights, and getting notifications about flights. It means that customers can use WhatsApp as their whole interface to Aeroméxico. That's powerful and cool.

Bots can be helpful and fast but sometimes we need to talk with a person. Proper design combined with resources provided by some service providers such as Facebook Messenger can provide a seamless transition to a live person if the customer asks for it or indicates frustration with the bot.

Chromis is venturing into messaging bots and plans to release a beta product during 2018. Stay tuned for more news.

Technology is frustrating, even for technical people. There is always a solution and once you get it right, it can even be delicious.

I recently purchased a new security camera system for my home. I unboxed it and it died within two hours of powering it up. It just wouldn't even turn on anymore. I sent it back and purchased from a different manufacturer because my confidence was shattered.

I was trying to download a television program "On Demand" on my DirecTV DVR and I could not connect and download the episodes I wanted. This after a full reboot of just about every piece of equipment that I myself could physically get my hands on. I found them on my AppleTV app a few minutes later.

I purchased a brand new Mercedes Benz automobile a few years back and I barely got it home before it completely quit on me and had to be towed back to the dealer. I considered giving the car back but the dealer handled the whole situation really well and went over the top to make it right. (Turned out to be a faulty relay that caused the issue. The car thought it had no gear box as a result.)

I'm not complaining at all, these are just real life examples of technology gone awry that have happened to me personally. And of course there are plenty of other examples, but I hope you get the point...

I'm a technical guy. I know my way around an OS and a network. I'm definitely a bit of what people might call a "computer nerd". So what does a non-technical person do when these kinds of things happen? Most of the time they call someone like me. And I get it, there's a whole lot of times where I was in over my head and needed a lifeline. But most of the time I'm usually the receiver on these phone calls or text messages. Most people have "a guy".

And that's exactly what happened last week. A friend of mine who owns a restaurant (check out Zappone's Italian Bistro if you're ever in the area) called me in a panic. Their spot is a busy italian joint right down the block from me that seats about 85-100 people max. Their point of sale is all done through iPads on their wifi with three POS ticket printers hardwired on their network. A pretty straightforward and simple setup. They were using a modem/router/switch/wifi access point all-in-one box that the cable company had provided to them.

And it sure was lousy. Their system had been having problems and they had reached the end of their rope. So they called Cox (their cable internet provider) and determened that a new modem/router would be necessary. Cox rolled a truck and the technician replaced it without doing any of the necessary work to get the printers online and to stay online. (If you know anything about network printers you know that a static IP is a good idea so that you know where you're printing to.) The tech left and service began. And it was a total disaster. Tickets had to be hand written, they had to steal borrow a neighboring restaurant's wifi to run credit cards. They couldn't print credit card receipts. Their staff didn't make the tips they normally would have because it angered and frustrated their customers. All because of a lack in attention to detail.

I got a text message that night pleading to help the following day. They simply could not have a repeat of the previous day's service. Of course I said yes and made room on my calendar.

When I arrived the next morning I was able to assess the situation very quickly. However I could not get into the newly replaced device. The tech had changed the default password and neglected to tell anyone what it was. So we called Cox support. They couldn't help us. We needed to do a factory default. Ok no big deal. When I finally got into the device I could see my hardwired printers on the network. But I couldn't assign static IPs. I knew I could do some things to patch it together and at least get through the next couple of services.

But a bandaid wasn't what they needed. It was time to face reality. This modem/router/switch combo was not working out for them. In the meantime a sandwich (pictured above) was placed in front of me and my keyboard is forever oily from trying to eat and type at the same time. I needed to come up with a permanent solution to their problem.

I advised them to purchase a new router/access point. I had purchased the Netgear Nighthawk X6 AC3000 a few months before and installed it on my own home network and knew it would be the perfect device for them and their environment. (In full disclosure I've since moved on to another router and installed my Nighthawk at my in-laws with great success.) Zappone's needed a router that would not only handle their wired network better, but also have rock solid wifi for their fleet of POS iPads. It fit their square footage perfectly. It's priced at about $170 (Buy here on Amazon) which, in my opinion, for the feature set you get, is right where it should be. It really is superior to most of the "home grade" routers in its class. Quite honestly it's throughput is better than most of the "enterprise" routers I've used in the past. (A word of caution though with Netgear products. There was a slew of hacking problems with these devices in particular about a year ago. The simple solution is always keeping up to date with the firmware they release.)

I expected the Zappones to reject the new device but was pleasantly surprised when I sent her the recommendation and she replied by saying that she had immediately placed an order for one. My bandaid was holding and a couple days later I recieved a text letting me know that our hero device was there and ready to be installed. I'd be in and out of there in 20 minutes I said to myself. And boyhowdy was I wrong...

This time the modem would not go into bridge mode and talk to the newly acquired router. I spent too much time on trying to shove a square peg in a seemingly round hole. And then I remembered that I had an extra modem that I "reclaimed" (don't ask) from a job site last summer, in a box in my garage right down the street. It was between dinner and lunch service so the restaurant was fairly quiet. I quickly ran home and grabbed the modem. We called Cox and it took a while to get through their queue. The restaurant staff only had to hand write one ticket in that time. And that customer was very gracious about it and was even cracking a few jokes. Once everything was restored and the printers online I was finally able to enjoy the beer they had poured me. And then they fired a pizza. If you know me at all you know I love food and their pizza is top notch. So what started out as frustrating turned into a delicious day. Being #paidinpizza and sandwiches doesn't happen to me all the time but when it does I sure do appreciate it.

I love helping my friends like the Zappones. Especially when they have outcomes like this. The system is markedly faster than before and they no longer have issues with the iPads dropping off the network when a server is taking care of guests outside on the patio. And they're so appreciative that it makes my black heart sing a little when they hand me a stack of gift cards to come back and bring my family. So thank you Dina and Chef Sal Zappone for all you do for your community. I'm really the lucky one in this relationship. Keep doing what you do so well!

As a matter of fact, this project went so well that they asked me to help them with the network at their newly acquired Cottage Wedding Venue in historic downtown Gilbert, Arizona. (Which is a totally different beast and will require much different hardware that I'll cover in a different blog post. So make sure you subscribe below!)

As part of their iOS 11 release earlier this year, Apple release a new feature called Wifi Password sharing that's designed to let you quickly share your Wi-Fi password with a friend. Let's take a deeper look.

As I mentioned in the video, I think it's a pretty cool and useful feature. There have been plenty of times where I'm in a new spot with my business partner or wife and we'll casually ask each other: "Did you happen to get the wifi password?"

And then it's the usual fumbling to enter the password... Or maybe you forgot and have to ask again. Apple has solved this problem very gracefully in my opinion. The only prerequisites are that you both have iOS 11 installed, and you and your friend need to have each other listed as contacts in the Contacts app. (In other words, you have to each be an entry in each other's phonebooks.)

Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy, right? Not so fast... Jonathan is a guest in my house and I do have a guest network setup (on its own VLAN and subnet segregated from the rest of my network). In the video above I only briefly mentioned a potential security issue. And that's one of them.

Allow me to paint another scenario... What about if I'm on a corporate network (legitimately) and Jonathan (my friend) wants on that network too? I might have a reason but Jonathan might not. He might be able to connect to things he shouldn't. So that's another potential network breach that a company could face. Hopefully they have other wifi safeguards in place that would mitigate these security holes. But think about it, my phone doesn't really know the difference between my home network and a corporate network. So this feature is a bit of a double edged sword.

When you break it down on a consumer level this new feature is pretty neat. But from a corporate network admin's perspective it's a bit of a nightmare. Do you have any thoughts? Please leave a comment below and let me know if you love it or hate it!

Text messaging without a mobile phone

Frontnumber is a tool that businesses can use to send and recieve text messages. But how? Let's take a look at some of our features a little more in depth.

It's amazing to me that we can send messages accross different carriers/networks via SMS (Short Message Service). This interconnection allows us to send these messages to any number, anywhere in the world (so long as it supports the SMS protocol). And boy howdy do we ever send messages! An average of 22 billion texts are sent every day worldwide!

Did know that you can send a text message from your email? (And depending on the carrier you can also reply back.) For example if your number is 480-555-1212 and you're on AT&T you'd send to: 4805551212@txt.att.net or if that number was hosted by Verizon you'd send to: 4805551212@vtext.com. And those are just a couple of examples, check with your carrier to see if they support this feature.

Useful? Absolutely. But it's not always practical. I certainly don't know what carrier my friends and colleagues use. And while there are probably lookup tools to help me figure it out there's no way I'd ever take the time to go searching.

It's also true that most of the time we're using our trusty cell phones to send and receive messages. But not always. There have been plenty of times where I've been in the situation of being inside a building where I am not getting any signal to my cell phone. But my laptop is connected to an internet connection. So I have a connection to the outside world but not on the cellular network.

Another fact in the matter is that I have multiple personalities. I have a work persona (very restrictive), family persona (restrictive), friend persona (less restrictive), and real persona (no filter). So with work interactions I'm very guarded. Same with my family but less so. A little less with my friends but I'm still a little guarded. If you get the real me then you're a very close friend or family member. And when it comes to being able to reach me at 2 a.m. I'm not wanting a work colleague to have the same access to me that I give my wife.

This is why Frontnumber is a great solution to solve this problem.

Frontnumber uses a web browser to emulate the mobile app experience. I can log in on my laptop or mobile device and send or reply quickly and easily. And on top of that I can have multiple numbers to replicate my many personas. Frontnumber allows me to send and recieve from each of those numbers. I might have a number that I use for business associates. Another for my friends and family. And finally a supersecret personal number that I only hand out to those very close to me.

If someone calls me on those numbers it will forward to the number of my choosing. It can be my work phone, my cell phone, or my home phone... Any number that is capable of receiving a voice call. I don't get a lot of voice calls these days. However my messaging has increased significantly. And with Frontnumber I have a single interface to manage them all. My work persona, family persona, friend persona, and real persona are very grateful for that.