Author: Joe Wilcox

Living by Joe Wilcox
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Gregory Peck: The Eyes Have It

Apologies for going dark, letting Flickr a Day run on automatic (as I keep about a week’s worth of advanced photos primed to post). Wednesday afternoon, May 6, I picked up my first new pair of eyeglasses in six years, resulting in downward spiral of my vision rather than upwards. I couldn’t much read or write, which is why the absence. My wrong assumption: Customary adjustment period for aging eyes that require severe astigmatic correction and progressive lenses with bifocals. Wrong guess.

I have returned to using my old eyeglasses while the others go out for redo. I see so well, the temptation to demand refund and keep the aged pair is almost overwhelming. Almost. 🙂

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Gear by Joe Wilcox
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Acer Chromebook 15 Display is More Than Just Big

As if my Pixel LS review isn’t enough, another Chromebook demands attention. Last week, Acer offered its maxi-model for review. FedEx delivered yesterday but I only cracked open the box this afternoon. The screen is motherfraking huge. Everything is humongous, actually.

The other big thing about the display—maybe that should be plural: IPS and 1080p. It’s the first Chromebook that my aging eyes can handle at full, native resolution. I keep the Pixel jacked down to 1440 x 956, like Toshiba Chromebook 2. Acer smartly chose a matte rather than glossy screen, which works surprisingly well. Viewing angles aren’t exceptional, but they are surprisingly good. Very, very good. Colors and contrast please, too.

Chromebook 15 isn’t the first Acer to user a matte display, but the others tend to be dim TNs. I like the company’s approach of going back to move ahead. Matte should make the IPS screen viewable just about anywhere—even outdoors in the sunlight. Reflective screens arguably give greater contrast but are overrated and way overdone. 

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Society by Joe Wilcox
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Contextual Cloud Computing is for Everyone

Keeping with my recommendation that “Writers, Own Your Content!“, I cross-post many, but by no means all, of my BetaNews tech stories here. As explained two months ago, much of my readership engagement takes place somewhere else, which is major reason there are so few comments here. Some of them occasionally deserve additional attention.

Late yesterday I posted my review of Chromebook Pixel LS, which Google released in early March. The write-up is purposely rah-rah to impose the importance of embracing contextual cloud computing and to shake up preconceptions about Macs being the tools of the creative elite. I also call “dumb” developers who may receive free Pixels during Google I/O later this month only to then sell them online.

One reader comment, from SmallSherm, to the BetaNews version caught my attention, for accusing me of calling him (or her) stupid and for insulting readers. After writing my response, I wondered how few people would ever see the interaction, which I regard as being quite valuable, there and absolutely none her. I present our two comments for your Tuesday thought train. 

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Photo by Joe Wilcox
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Flickr a Day 125: ‘Cuba Girls’

Cuba is big news here in the United States, following the historic meeting between Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro on April 11, 2015. Four months earlier, the White House ordered full restoration of diplomatic relations with the island nation.

Photos like self-titled “Cuba Girls” come from non-Americans, because of travel restrictions that the Obama Administration is lifting. Doug Wheller lives in London. He used Canon 550D to capture today’s selection, on April 20, 2012. Vitals: f/9, ISO 200, 1/400 sec, 70mm. 

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Gear by Joe Wilcox
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Chromebook Pixel LS Review

Nearly perfect is how I describe Google’s newest, and only, computer. If you’re going to manufacturer one thing, then it should be exceptional, which is the other way I describe Chromebook Pixel LS. The company introduced the original in February 2013, available in two configurations. Twenty-five months later, the notebook refreshed—refined rather than revolutionized—beating Apple to market shipping a laptop with USB Type-C, which brings new connectivity and charging options.

FedEx delivered the costliest Chromebook configuration to my door on Friday the 13th, in March. I ordered the newest Pixel from Google two days earlier, within hours of the laptop’s launch. I use no other computer. It’s more than my primary PC and could be yours, too. This laptop rests at the precipice of future computing, for those open-minded enough to welcome it. This review is purposely preachy, which reasons hopefully will be apparent should you read all 1,800 words.

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News Media by Joe Wilcox
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Responsible Reporting Section 1 ‘News in Context’: Chapters I and II

My ebook Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers is divided into three sections. The first, “News in Context”, is a state of the online news industry. The second, “The Five Journalisms”, examines five categories of news gathering most relevant to the age of context. The last, “What You Must Do”, applies concepts from the other two to present guidelines for responsible reporting.

In this second installment, I present two chapters from the first section. Opener “In Just Eight Years” is in part adapted from my June 2009 analysis “Iran and the Internet Democracy“, which is a provocative lens for looking back to look forward at the state of the news industry. 

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