Windows 11 and Test Drivers

There are a lot of folks looking at the new Windows 11 announcements coming out. I’m always curious to see what Microsoft is willing to do with Windows. Because Windows is no longer the supreme operating system it was, I think Microsoft can take more risks. It sounds like they are doing just that. To learn more, check out the Test Drivers interview with Panos Panay.

Apple TV: Foundation

I read the Foundation series when I was really young. I remember that I enjoyed the books and blew through the whole series over the course of a month during summer vacation. That’s all I remember. I hope this new series from Apple lives up to the books.

Jazz Friday: Steven Feifke with Veronica Swift “On the Street Where You Live”

Over the last few years, I have really come to enjoy Steven Feifke‘s arrangements, particularly for his Big Band. He’s taking more chances than ever with his arrangements, and I dig it. A case in point is their recent recording of “On the Street Where You Live” featuring Veronica Swift (an upcoming jazz vocalist that has it). The song starts with vampy single notes as Veronica belts out the melody on top. It’s like the band is in some sort of holding pattern. Later the arrangement opens up and the band roars to life behind a gifted vocalist, and it’s glorious.

Have a great weekend!

Mr. Hackett’s Mac Calendar

My pal Stephen Hackett has been hard at work over the last month designing a custom Apple-themed wall calendar with some gorgeous pictures and tons of special dates included. For example, did you know the Flower Power iMac was introduced on February 22, 2001?

Stephen has already blown past his Kickstarter funding goal and this calendar is going to happen. Check it out.

Menuwhere



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Menuwhere pops up the frontmost app’s menus at the current mouse location. Once on-screen, you can drill down into the menus as far as you need to go, using either the keyboard (arrow keys and/or first-letter typing) or the mouse. Either way, your targeted menu item is quickly located.

And it’s customizable. Choose if you want to see the Apple menu at the end of the list or not at all. Maybe you don’t need the Help menu or the Edit menu. Menuwhere can make them disappear. Want to always see the alternate menu items or never see keyboard shortcuts in the pop-up menu? Set up what you want to see in the Menu tab of Menuwhere’s preferences. You can add a second keyboard shortcut to Menuwhere, and open a menu showing the menus from all open apps. You can also set menus’ text size from a range of sizes.

If you’re tired of mousing to and from the menu bar, get Menuwhere and stop mousing around .


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The EERO Pro V6 – A Significant WiFi Upgrade

One of the recurring complaints around Sparky headquarters these days is Internet speed. My kids are in college-from-your-bedroom during COVID, my wife is also home, and I use a little bit of bandwidth myself.

Years ago, eero was a podcast sponsor, and I got a free three-pack at the time. After that, I bought three more to get eero into my kids’ rooms and the backyard. We’ve had a good connection, but we didn’t have enough bandwidth for everyone using the Internet so intensely. Speedtest.net was showing WiFi speeds between 50 and 150 Mbps. So I went looking for alternatives.

eero has recently released some new hardware taking advantage of the more recent WiFi 6 standard. I’ve generally been happy with eero. They are easy to set up and just seem to work once you’ve got them installed. So I purchased the eero Pro 6 3-pack. The Pro 6 is made to cover 6,000 square feet. My house is only 1,500 square feet, but I do like to work in the backyard, and I do have WiFi cameras at the very front of the house. At $600, this was no small investment, but my wife and kids have been complaining a lot, and I decided I would do some serious testing once they arrived, intending to return them if the improvements were only incremental.

After several weeks of usage, I am keeping these.


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Installing the new eero hardware took all of 15 minutes. The eero app will recognize new hardware and let you add or replace existing hardware. One question in my mind was whether I would need to keep any of my older eero hardware to get full house coverage. (My old system had six units. This new system only had three.) Regardless, I took all the old units offline and installed the three new units. Two of the endpoints have Ethernet cable, so two of the devices are plugged in. The third device is at a location that doesn’t have a convenient Ethernet drop, so it is just plugged into the wall. Then I started doing some testing.



I’ve done probably thirty speed tests on this new system, and it has clocked in no less than 500 Mbps every time. However, if I sit close to the transmitter, it gets closer to 700 Mbps. I’ve been shocked at how much faster WiFi is in my house with this 5X increase. Also, my network is a lot easier to manage with just three devices instead of six.


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If you’re looking unsatisfied with your current WiFi speed, these eeros may be just what you’re looking for.

Meet Daylite: The CRM with Apple Fans in Mind (Sponsor)



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For small businesses trying to stay on top of clients, leads, and projects that are evolving every day, it can be tough if not impossible to manage everything with just the existing Apple apps in your repertoire. That’s where Daylite comes in clutch. Daylite is a native Mac CRM and business productivity app designed to help you and your team manage more clients, close more deals, and finish more projects. 

Daylite is fully compatible with Big Sur and M1-powered Macs, and works seamlessly with the Apple features you already use and love: 

  • Integrate with Apple Mail on Mac 

  • Share your Apple Contacts and Calendar

  • Leverage Siri and Caller ID on your iPhone 

  • FaceID and TouchID support 

  • Create contracts and other documents by pulling Daylite data into Pages, Numbers, and Keynote 

Unlike most Web-based CRMs that just focus on customer relationships and sales, Daylite’s productivity-focused design helps you and your team get more done throughout the full customer lifecycle. From meeting prospects and winning business, to managing the moving pieces on projects, all the way through to following up for referrals and repeat business, it’s all done in Daylite. 

Whether you’re in a legal, design, consulting, or other professional services firm, Daylite can help you build stronger client relationships and scale your business. Daylite also offers complimentary onboarding support to help new customers get started. 

Ready to do big things with your small business? Start your free 30-day Daylite trial today!

Contour Design’s RollerMouse

Earlier this month, Adam Engst guested on the Mac Power Users. During the show, Adam explained his love of Contour Design’s RollerMouse, a product I’d never heard of before.

Nevertheless, I’m always curious about input devices, and I like the idea of mixing things up once in a while, so I ordered one. The RollerMouse shows up in a keyboard-sized box and ships with some extra RSI (repetitive strain injury)-friendly plastic bits, a cable, and a USB wart for wireless connection. The RollerMouse itself had a solid build quality. The device fits at the bottom of your keyboard, and the primary component is a big roller that you can roll with your thumb while simultaneously moving the roller right and left to place the mouse pointer on your screen. The advantage is that you don’t have to lift your fingers off the keyboard to position the mouse. You can also press down on the roller to click or program any of the several buttons underneath the roller for additional functions, like double tap and right-click.

I put my mouse in a drawer and used it for a week. The RollerMouse is good at its intended purpose. The roller is buttery smooth, and you can indeed move the mouse without lifting your fingers from the keyboard. There is an adjustment period. After a week, I got used to the RollerMouse, but I never really warmed up to it. It’s silly, but aesthetically, I just didn’t like looking at that big piece of hardware under my keyboard. Moreover, I found precise mouse movements and things like clicking and dragging to be … well … a drag.

Ultimately I gave up on the RollerMouse and sent it back, but I do see how folks like Adam could grow to love a roller mouse. Allowing you to keep your hands on the keyboard is a big win, and this device allows for that. Moreover, if you are experiencing mouse-related RSI problems, this lets you mouse without a mouse. While the RollerMouse ultimately was not for me, I could see how it would suit other folks. If you are looking for a different way to input at your desk, you may want to check it out.


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