Chapter 1: A Tale of Two Careers

For decades, I’ve led a strange but successful dual-career in both technology and the Arts. It’s not always been easy and I sometimes get a bit of creative whiplash, but I wouldn’t change my journey for anyone.

In my tech career, I was a “Senior Systems Administrator”. That fancy term just means that I was a well-paid geek. My job was to manage hundreds or thousands of computers and mobile devices for the companies that hired me. …

The Background

As my readers know, when it comes to my digital life, I tend to focus on matters of security and privacy. I purchase and investigate products and services, take notes, and learn what does (and doesn’t) work best for my technology needs. Then, I spend hours organizing my notes, prioritizing what’s important, and translating difficult technology-speak into plain English.

My goal is to always make sure that everyone who reads my newsletter or my Medium articles can easily understand the products, ideas, and approaches that I feel are important. However, what’s important isn’t always up to me. …

What The New Year Brings Is…

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how much time I spend online and on all of my devices. As it’s many, many hours each day, I’ve been seeking ways — for years now — to help reduce the time I need to be on any of my devices.

So while I’ll be focusing on different software titles today, make no mistake: what I’m really talking about is:

Saving time.

There’s a good reason why I focus on time: it’s limited, it’s our most precious resource, and it’s the one gift we’re all granted in quantities that we’ll never…

Many of you either know or have determined that I’m a longtime Apple fan. I use their software and hardware almost exclusively and have since I’ve been 11 years old. That was that age when my folks bought us an Apple II+ computer, forever changing my life. I got so enamored with this new kind of technology — a desktop computer!!! — that I taught myself the BASIC coding language and… never really looked back.

I’ve come to trust Apple because — for the most part — my purchases from them have lasted long, worked well, were always easy to…

I've been a technology writer here on Medium for a long, long time. And, I've followed Tim for a long, long time.

As of today, I'm no longer following Tim because his "advice" has become repeatedly and extremely corrupted.

When a writer's ethics and morals become subservient to his driving profit, it's time to look for other mentors.

Thanks for the memories, Tim.

But goodbye and good riddance.

1) I'm so very proud of you for taking this leap of faith. Amazing.

2) This breakdown is SPOT on. Word count isn't an accurate indicator of time spent.

3) In many cases, it's the SHORTER pieces that take the most time for me because, honestly, pairing everything down to its simplest, most essential buts and chucking everything else away takes a TON of time and consideration.

All of those things are worth good writers earning a living wage for their work.

Keep up the amazing work, Justin.

This piece will provide you with some of the best tools and practices to help anchor your virtual meetings whether you’re a teacher, a manager, a technologist, or just a good worker bee. The goal is to set you up for success and to make you feel like you’ve mastered all of the basics and intermediate skills when it comes to being in front of a computer with a camera. So… let’s dig in!

The technology you own and use matters. So does the way you set it up. So let’s talk about what products you should consider owning AND…

The Background

I became a dad in December of 2018. As a human, I was delighted, astounded, and excited to spend time with my son. As a technologist, I wanted to see how I could use tech to simplify my life while being with him. I started with the powerful computer in my pocket: my iPhone 7+.

I wanted an easy way to answer calls and listen to music/podcasts that didn’t include my son getting tangled up in wires, cords, or adding weight around my neck. …