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Unlike many people out there, I have no problem with email. It is a convenient way to communicate and maintains a permanent, searchable record of conversations. Sure you get the long-winded amateur novelists sending you page long emails, but for the most part I find it entirely manageable for the 40-100 emails per day I tend to get (which I acknowledge is not a lot, but my system held strong at 300-500 per day – which is definitely above average I’d bet).

A few months ago I made it very clear I had no expectation for there to be an “iWatch” (tentatively named at the time) in 2014. I even pegged 2015 as unlikely. I was partially right – there is no Apple Watch available to consumers in 2014, but there is very much an Apple Watch available only a few months later. 

The timeline isn’t terribly relevant, but they were definitely ahead of where I expected them to be. It was no question that they had one in the works, but Apple did the exact thing that I wasn’t sure they’d do – take direct aim at the fashion industry. I love that they did, and the general response is that the Apple Watch is more on par with premium watches than it is with the smart watches of today*.

Touch ID has brought a level of convenience, speed, and security to consumer electronics that has never been seen before. Your fingers are always with you, they’re unique, and the fingerprint recognition is incredibly fast. In addition to that, an image of the fingerprint itself is not stored on the device, and what does get stored is kept in an ultra-secure enclave within the phone - never sent over the Internet. Each of these pieces is fundamentally critical to enabling mainstream adoption of two factor authentication. If the scanning were slower or less reliable, even only slightly, that could be enough to invalidation my entire assertion below.

If you haven’t heard, Microsoft is buying Minecraft’s creator for $2.5B. The young people hardly even know what Microsoft does and the older audience is thinking, “Mine what?” So here’s why I think this, if positioned correctly, could be a vital long play for Microsoft.

It is no secret that Microsoft is having a miserable time launching Windows Phone into relevance. I suspect they’ll keep up with the effort they have, however, by buying Minecraft’s creator (who has a very loyal following) they can effectively admit defeat on the market of anyone 16 and over today and target those that are younger.

This is a real-time visualization of digital attacks to and from every point on the globe.

Keep in mind the visualization comes from a company selling a solution to combat the attacks, but this is still fascinating.

NFC is a neat technology, but it isn’t terribly useful without a rich ecosystem in which to use it. Payments come to mind, but a lot of people have tried this before. While prior efforts haven’t been a total flop, they aren’t exactly exploding with popularity.

Every year there are rumors of the iPhone gaining NFC. Every year the event passes without mention of NFC. Until now, maybe.

I’m not sold on the notion that the iPhone 6 will have NFC, but I wouldn’t bet against it at this point like I would have confidently in years past. If Apple does add NFC it will be accompanied by a launch of a rich platform in an attempt to drive their solution to complete ubiquity - on iOS devices only, naturally.

Here is the latest installment in the clean technology segment. Solar Multiple has a product that increases the rate of evaporation for mining and fracking operations.

Part 3 of the 12 part series highlighting new clean technology startups. Cascade Plasma Energy has developed a fascinating process to turn waste into fuel and energy in an environmentally conscious way.

Part 2 of the 12 part series highlighting new clean technology startups. Behavioral Response Technologies is working on a solution to improve the efficiency of cows in a natural and safe way.

Other posts can be found here as they’re posted.

Update 2 (9/27): RunKeeper’s updates this week reversed course on this, sharing is no longer an extra tap if you always bypass it! It sounds so dumb, but it is genuinely appreciated! 

458 activities. 851 miles. So much beautiful data… it is all as good as gone. Let me back up a few steps. I really enjoy data. I have tracked every mile, minute spent in my car, and thousandth of a gallon of gas put into my car, all because I love data. I have used RunKeeper for years to do the same with my walking. In fact, I have been a member since 1969 according to their records, who am I to argue that?