There is a lot of buzz in the press lately about cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin has taken the world by storm and its name has become synonymous with everything from overnight millionaires to illegal activities on the so-called Dark Web. But what is it? What’s a blockchain? Can you really “mine” currency? In this article, I’m going to do my best to answer these questions and to provide an overview of cryptocurrencies in addition to some information to help you start investing. First, a word of caution: I am not a financial advisor, nor do I play one on the Internet, Radio,…
Author: Roger Dixon
Roger Dixon
Roger L. Dixon is a professional geek, working in various Information Technology jobs for 17 years. He is passionate about technology and nature, especially where they often intersect. When not working with technology or online advertising, he can be found playing with horses on his farm.
Read More
What’s going on and how you can protect yourself with a VPN and other methods Privacy on the Internet. These days privacy and the digital world don’t seem to play well with each other. In a way, this has been true since the early beginnings of the Internet and if you’re a student of history, the problem of balancing any technology with the privacy rights of a nation’s citizens has always been a challenge. This is even true in nations where the government takes a proactive role in protecting it’s citizen’s privacy rights like Switzerland. However, in the United States,…
Sleek audio speakers from Satechi for your Mac or PC It’s been a while since I got excited about speakers. However, I am a fan of minimalism and at a glance, you might think that Apple made the Satechi Dual Sonic v2.0 Speakers. They are small, sleek, conical, have a rubberized matte finish and they sound great. Setup is simple as they have a standard 3.5mm audio jack for input and they receive their power from any USB port. You can use these with a Mac desktop or laptop, PC, mobile device or any device with a 3.5mm audio jack…
Goal Zero Power Pack allows you to power anything anywhere Goal Zero’s slogan is Power. Anything. Anywhere. and with the Flip 30 Recharger Power Pack, that is close to the truth. I say “close” because the Flip 30 has an optional companion device; the Nomad 7 Plus Solar Panel which literally could provide limitless power anywhere you have access to the sun. However, even when restricted to acquiring power from USB ports, the Flip 30 is impressive. The claim is that you can charge your phone three times from it’s massive 7800 mAh battery and in my tests, I would…
Nighthawk range extender worth the cost. I live in the country and am really lucky to have broadband at all. It is really generous to call it broadband as it is 4G cellular Internet from Verizon Home Fusion. It is roughly equivalent to entry level DSL and sometimes the limitations drive me crazy. However, this is the price a pay for living in the country with my horses. Of course, I control the WIFI setup inside my home and as of late, it consists of three strategically placed Apple Time Capsules all connected by Cat 5e cable back to my…
Not so hidden clothes hook spy camera Lately, it seems like dozens of companies are offering nanny / surveillance cameras concealed in all types of everyday items. They are often promoted as watch your children, etc., but in my opinion, a clothes hook is pushing it for that type of “use scenario”. Personal opinions on the dubious uses of the product aside, this product fails right out of the gates because it is a white clothes hood with a silver reflective front plate that has an obvious camera hole in the middle surrounded by 6 IR lights. Seriously, your “nanny”…
Comfortable over the ear, noise canceling headphones for everyday use I do a lot of work on my laptop – both at home and on the go – and in some noisy environments, listening to music is the only thing that keeps me sane. Earbuds are easy to carry, but they have a major limitation in that they allow other sounds to reach your ear, too. I prefer over the ear headphones for comfort, but these days wireless is a must have for me because I have a bad habit of walking away from my laptop while I am still…
Charging Dock provides a stylish charging for your Apple Pencil The one thing that I find really annoying about my Apple Pencil is charging it. It’s neat that you can plug it directly into the iPad to charge, but I am always afraid I will move the iPad and inadvertently break the lightning connector. Also, many times, I need to charge my iPad at the same time which forces the use of the lightning adapter for the pencil and that requires an extra lightning cable. It’s all pretty annoying and usually, I’m not charging my iPhone when this happens. Mini…
Discreet Bluetooth headset with surprising level of performance I’m going to be honest; I was not optimistic about this headset. It has a funny looking shape and I am generally not a fan of the small, deep in the ear type headsets. Also, with the small size, I thought that the battery life would have to be terrible. However, I am happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised by the PChero S530-Plus in every regard but one. More on that later. First, the positive points. This thing is tiny and does not lay or look heavy in your ear. If…
Lightning Cable provides simple and portable power for your Apple devices I have written so many reviews for power adapters in my time as a staff writer at MacSources that I often feel like there isn’t anything left to say. I mean, I used it for a couple of days and it didn’t catch on fire and it charged my phone. The end. However, the Lightning Cable Charger from Jetech quickly earned a permanent spot in my truck even though I have a custom mount for my iPhone with integrated power from the dashboard. The reason for this is that…
Sappywoon provides a not so covert surveillance camera We are living in a surveillance state and it is not just the playground of shadowy government agencies and large corporations anymore. Spying technology is becoming smaller, cheaper and therefore more accessible to the average person in the developed world. I’m not going to judge whether we should be doing this in this article. There are a number of good and easily justifiable arguments to be made for home surveillance. Nanny cams and home robbery to name just two. Instead I am going to focus on how this unit performs given it’s clearly…
It’s that time of year again. No not Christmas, I’m talking about the impending release of Apple’s new iPhone. Whether you upgrade to the new model every year or fate has led you to switch to the iPhone 7 because of an expired contract are because your current Phone has an issue, you will likely need to backup the information on your phone in order to restore it to your shiny new iPhone 7. For purposes of this article, we are only going to deal with the technical process a Backing up your iPhone, not the pros and cons of…
Why I think this is both a great and terrible idea Regular readers of MacSources will know that when it comes to cutting-edge technology, I am either the first in line for the last to adopt. I am a bit of an anomaly in the world of technology in the sense that I am somewhere in the middle rather than at one extreme end of the spectrum or another. For instance, I have smart lighting and plugs in my office/laboratory, I use 3D printing and laser etching technology. I am a maker and a huge fan of Arduino and Raspberry…
GoBat gives you power on the go for all of your portable devices I have written many reviews touting the benefits and necessities of portable power. We all know by now that no device has a big enough battery for today’s lifestyles and Apple is actually one of the biggest offenders in this category. So, I’ll skip the why you need it and get straight to the point; the Scosche GoBat 4400 Portable Battery Charger is awesome! First of all, it comes completely charged (regular readers know that I consider this a great feature). Second, it does what it says…
UNOMount creates a versatile space saving mount for virtually any LCD screen I am all about eliminating clutter and having a minimalist feel to my personal spaces. That’s one of the reasons I like to mount my LCD screens on the wall wherever possible to create clean spaces and positive aesthetics. I have used a lot of different wall mounts over the years, but the UNOMount UN-001T is the first split mount design I have hung up. The frame is all metal and comes in two pieces so you can adjust the width to fit any LCD between 32 and…
Actionproof provides affordable protection. Unless you’re crazy or are a mobile phone sadist, you probably have your iPhone in a case of some kind. It’s funny really, that we all can’t wait for the next sleek metal wonder to escape from Apple’s walls so we can drool on it and then immediately place it inside a case that will basically prevent us from ever seeing it again. The Actionproof SP-06 Case for iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6s Plus helps a bit with this situation by making it easy to insert and remove your iPhone from the case, while also providing…
Secur battery is portable power provided by your friend the sun. Great for emergency situations. A lot of our regular readers know that I live on a farm property. No really. I have horses, chickens, dogs, cats, etc. I am outside a lot and while I don’t consider myself a doomsday prepper, I do like to be prepared and I know from personal experience having lived through a hurricane, tornado and earthquake and ice storms that when things like that happen, there may not be electricity for some time. During my experience with hurricanes in southwest Florida, the cellular network would be…
Moshi provides versatile protection for your iPad Pro Protection for Apple products is an absolute necessity to preserve their appearance and increase their life. Many cases hide the natural ascetics of the products themselves and I am always intrigued by products that attempt to protect while not getting in the way of Apple’s design. The Moshi iGlaze and iVisor provide a nice balance of protection and ascetics while adding anti-glare capabilities to your iPad Pro. The Moshi iGlaze is compatible with Apple’s Smart Keyboard and it’s made with a Specialized coating for improved scratch resistance. The iVisor is completely compatible with the…
Simple and attractive option to add a multiple card reader to your Mac One of the handiest devices around today is the card reader. Many laptops do not come with various card readers built-in and so, having a card reader as an external device is a great help. This Unitek USB 3.0 Multi-In-One Aluminum Card Reader is one of the better examples of this type of accessory. Pros Simple to setup Compliments the look of modern Apple products Cons I wish the Usb cable were longer Specifications Fast Data/Files Access and Transfer Rate Super-Speed (5Gps) / High-Speed (480Mbps) / Full-Speed (12…
Transparent protection for the front and back of your iPad Pro What I like Transparent back and front protection Auto-Healing feature is a plus Products can be used together or separately Overview Impact protection for your electronic devices is an important part of preserving the look and lifespan of products. When it comes to Apple products, many people want to provide protection while also preserving the look of their devices. It seems like a new transparent protector appears on the market on a near daily basis. On there MacSources test bench today is the AutoHeal screen protector and TENC transparent…
Stylish protection for your iPad Pro and accessories Pros Correct amount of space and protection for iPad Pro with keyboard Attractive and modern design Cons None, I love this thing. I attend a variety of business meetings and need different drives for different situations. Sometimes it’s a keynote presentation on my MacBook and sometimes it’s the same thing on my iPad Pro. If the meeting space can accommodate connecting my iPad, I prefer to use it for simplicity and battery life, but also because the iPad can be handed to someone to show them information or drawn on with the…
Battery case provides longer battery life with a stylish look Pros: Thin form factor relative to battery size Stylish design that feels premium in your hand Easy to insert and remove your phone Easy to use multifunction button Comes charged from factory Charges fast Cons: Requires adapter to use headphone jack It’s plastic Overview For me, battery cases are not an I want it item, but an I have to use it item. I’m sure most readers of MacSources are in the same boat; as our devices get thinner and thinner, the battery life stays relatively the same, rather than…
NightTone saves your eyes and maybe get a better nights sleep I am an IT Professional and I often work on projects at night. Unlike a lot of people who do this kind of work, I am somewhat of a jack of all trades. I do network design and administration, computer security and forensics and web design / Internet Marketing. These jobs vary greatly from each other and from client to client, but one thing is constant; I’m always staring at my computer screen, including reading most books these days. Research has shown that so called “blue light” which is…
Handsfree headset shows promise but cannot deliver consistent results. On the MacSources test bench, today is a generic Bluetooth headset which most closely resembles the Jabra Eclipse. In my experience, you get one of two extremes with knockoff products. Extreme number one, you can’t tell the difference from the real thing. Extreme number two, it looks the part but doesn’t work well. This little headset, unfortunately, falls into the latter category. Appearance If all we were reviewing is looks, then this headset would have gotten 5 stars. It looks just like a high-end business Bluetooth headset and absent Jabra’s branding;…
The best folio case I have ever used period. Let me start by saying that in general, I hate phone cases of any kind. Going back to the early 2000’s when I was rocking Nextel flip phones, I always hated the extra bulk that any type of case added. This was especially true of belt clip cases that I always managed to snag on corners, car seats and any other objects that happened to be in my path. Fast forward 15 or so years and not a lot has changed. I love how thin my iPhone 6s Plus is and…
Facebook and Instagram Replacement App I’ve been using Facebook’s official app for some time now and it mostly works great. I say mostly because I have a major issue with Facebook’s now legendary tracking and data mining of their user’s behavior for use in ad generation and more recently tracking of Facebook users outside of their social network. I utilize ad blockers in Safari on my iPhone and I enjoy the Feature of the official Twitter app that lets me press and hold to open links in Safari instead of the Twitter browser. I then have immediate ad blocking and…
The Next Generation iSocket 3G Smart Plug Delivers More Awesome! Regular readers of MacSources know that when it comes to technology; I am a big fan of simple over flashy. Such was the case in March 2015 when I reviewed the iSocket Environment Pro. iSocket smart plugs take an entirely different approach to home automation by relying exclusively on text messages to control the smart plug. This simple but elegant solution can be handy in a number of real-world situations, such as monitoring a remote cabin’s temperature and electrical power to ensure that AC / Heating and sump pumps are…
Smart Plug holds its own against competitors. There are a lot of smart plugs on the market these days and the market is starting to saturate for Apple Home Kit comparable devices. On the MacSources test bench, today is a smart plug offering from Koogeek. The first thing I noticed about this plug is its sleek design. While this is not a necessary attribute for a functional smart plug, some users may appreciate this if the plug will be in a visible area. The plug is white and curvy, with a recessed power button on top. The only other markings…
1byone Bluetooth Smart LED Bulb – an elegant app to control lighting and music I recently reviewed a smart LED bluetooth lightbulb by ieGeek. Since that time, I have enjoyed having it at my desk in my architect lamp. I often play music through it from my iPhone when I want some lighting and don’t want to tie up the audio on my Mac for one reason or another. When 1byone offered to let MacSources review their smart LED bulb, I was open, but assumed that one of these devices would be just as good as the other. I really could…
A quality dual display stand at a fair price In my work supporting networks and in computer forensics, one thing is constant; I always need more displays. When I am forced to work on a laptop in the field, 13-15 inches just isn’t enough to fit all of the complex visualizations that modern computer work often requires. On the MacSources test bench today is the Wali WL-M002 Dual Display Mount. This model attaches directly to the back of your desk or work bench and can mount to displays side by side. For my tests, I am using two Acer 24 inch…