In Asia, craft beer has been experiencing what most people would consider a great success. The barriers to entry for new countries, those in which beer isn’t the traditional alcoholic beverage of choice, to get involved with craft beer are relatively low. The brewing know-how, the materials, and the market are ostensibly all that is required. Craft beer varies from wine, coffee, whiskey, and other intoxicants in different ways, but one of the most easily distinguishable fashions is that of culture. There is no inherent culture required for a country to be great at craft beer.

The argument can be made that there are traditional beer countries, but in reality, these traditions and entrenched culture are often what’s holding the country back from craft beer. The obvious example is Germany, and its Reinheitsgebot, or Purity Law. This dictates that the only beer that can legally be called...

I recently tweeted after the September 2015 event that Apple had finally released it’s hold on me. Many mistook this to mean that I was abandoning Apple or switching to Android (as if that would help anything other than my pockets slightly). Instead, I think it’s time for me (and maybe you) to do a personal inventory of the technology you have, how it fits in your life, and how to move forward. Mindfulness is not a particularly valued trait in today’s society, but nonetheless it’s important.

Of course this applies to the large hardware purchases we make (Upgrade to the 6S, or keep my 5S?), but I think it should also apply to the software we use. Part of this inventory should involve workflows, app audits, and process improvements. Sound scary? It shouldn’t be. Here’s an example:

With iOS 9, Apple has offered alternatives to my workflows in a couple of ways. One important, possibly...

I am forcing myself to return to writing and this is the first piece based on this. Excuse the dust that follows.

I looked at my cache of unfinished articles this morning. It’s depressing. How many ideas are left half-baked, rusting in mental attics all over the world?

I’ve always held that it made more sense to not say anything than say the wrong thing, and that you have two ears and one mouth so you should listen twice as much as you speak, but this wasn’t the impetus behind all these half-baked ideas that never got posted. Laziness. That’s the reason, plain and simple. I haven’t valued writing, and thus, I haven’t made time to do it. I’ve resolved to start now. So what will follow is one piece per week, well-thought-out or not, well-researched or not. Enjoy. or not.

The thing that struck me as most interesting about the iPhone 6 is that it’s the first time since the launch of the iPhone where I haven’t been 100% sure without reservation that I want the new iPhone. I am very comfortable with the size of the iPhone 5/5S, and I am hesitant to move up. All reports point to the 6 feeling much better in the hand than the 5, and even talked about how the 5 felt uncomfortable when stretching the thumb to the corner of the screen. I didn’t have any real issue with the size of the 5, but I can understand how it might have been a problem for those with smaller hands. While I’m optimistic that the 6 will not feel significantly larger in the hand than the 5, the 5 was approaching my limit of what size a smartphone should be.
I am dismayed that Apple did not create any 4” option moving forward. I think that maybe my expectations are simply too high. Or are...

I’ve been going back and forth with this article, mostly in how it will be understood and accepted. This piece falls somewhere between racial epithet and social commentary, but I’ve scantly left things unsaid when I’ve really wanted to (often to my detriment) and I’m afraid I can’t start now. Though there are no shortage of fluff pieces that tout all the wonderful things about Korea, but there is a distinct shortage of reality-based criticisms of Korea, as accepting criticism maturely is not one of Koreans’ strong suits. These criticisms can mostly be justified, but their validity cannot be argued. That was one of the key ideas behind the inception of this article.

Korea is ham-fisted. Korean culture is ham-fisted. Koreans are ham-fisted. I came up with exactly this word and no other when thinking “How could I describe Korea to the un-initiated?” The literal definition of ham-fisted is...

Are you an American? Do you consider yourself smart? Then you’ve probably recently read a shocking article or two about “those crazy Japanese” and their sex problems. So weird, right? You’re a moron.

These articles are simply a symptom of a larger issue. It’s the subtle xenophobia that we’ve become not only accustomed to, but accepting of. It’s far more insidious than traditional forms of racism, because rather than the person making racist comments being seen as an idiot, they’re clearly someone of some intellect because, after all, they read. With the significant amount of trash coming from what used to be fairly reputable sources, like the BBC or CNN, it’s fairly easy to fall into a trap of being ignorant. Call someone a Jap, Nip, or Slant-eye and you’re quickly labeled a racist, but “I read that…” is a perfectly alright preface to making a similarly ignorant and ridiculous claim.

...

The first thought running through my head is “Wow, it’s incredible how wrong I can be sometimes”.

Beyond that, this event that seemed geared towards engineers. From the products (and some of the jargon used), to the feats of engineering required to make them happen. 

It’s tough to say which iPad is more incredible, but I think based on how wrong I was, the Retina iPad mini is more unbelievable. I’m very pleasantly surprised by how wrong I was, both from the pricing, to the specs, to what can be achieved from an engineering standpoint. What I can nitpick is that the Retina mini is .3mm thicker (about the width of two human hairs), and 23g heavier than the previous mini, but who am I kidding.

In my last post, I made a comment that pretty much said it all:

If Apple does release a Retina iPad mini, it will be a compromise in some sense. I am interested to see which way they go.

Apple...

The event, probably most well regarded as the Fall iPad event at this point, will see a few obvious, and hopefully a few not so obvious introductions.

For the purposes of this post, the product I’ll be focusing on is the product that’s brought about the most cognitive dissonance for me. That product is the Retina iPad mini.

After listening to the current episode of The Talk Show, in which John Gruber and Marco Arment debate the price point of the existing mini as well as a supposed Retina mini, I think more than before that a Retina mini doesn’t make sense.

I don’t believe that what screen the competition’s tablets have is a factor in whether the mini will go Retina. Despite being “behind” the Nexus or the Kindle Fire resolution-wise, the mini, from a screen-only aspect, is still a solid product. It won’t be holding the mini back if it remains where it is in the product line-up as...

Blackberry addresses what customers they have left. I think this is a smart move despite the air of desperation. They provide clear communication, something that’s been lacking in the mobile tech business.

This paragraph in particular I found very interesting:

Yes, there is a lot of competition out there and we know that BlackBerry is not for everyone. That’s OK. You have always known that BlackBerry is different, that BlackBerry can set you apart. Countless world-changing decisions have been finalized, deals closed and critical communications made via BlackBerry. And for many of you that created a bond, a connection that goes back more than a decade.

To the average consumer, that probably sounds ridiculous, but as a former professional, I can find that completely believable.

Interesting juxtaposition between their touting of brand-loyalty and their release of BBM across Android...