iOS8 on iPhone 4S: Is it worth it?

Last week I decided to take the plunge and upgrade my household iPhone 4S's to iOS8. The rumors on the street have been mixed, but I usually don't pay much attention to rumors because they are very often wrong.

I am very happy I upgraded. All the fear-mongering about bad performance and bad battery life simply wasn't true for me. I'm quite confident that those folks just had a bad app that they didn't know how to update, or a heavily-used 3 year old battery. iOS 8 isn't going to fix your refrigerator, but it isn't going to break it either.

So what do I get?

First of all, I get a refined UI. iOS7 was a great upgrade, but now iOS8 is simply smoother all around. It erases all doubts I had moving from iOS6.

Family sharing is in place. If you have a household with more than one device, this is a big deal for making Dad's life easier. Or mine.

I get better battery management, with the incredibly useful Battery Usage feature. Unlike the similarly named Android feature, Battery Usage fully sums up the load of your apps on the battery and gives good advice on improving battery life. (The Android feature is just a modified top and has limited utility).

Pan-device searching with Spotlight is amped up. New keyboards. Notifications. Photo and Audio filters (VERY awesome, smoothly executed, and well behaved).

So far I have yet to have a single crash of either the OS or -any- application. ROCK SOLID.

Should you upgrade? You certainly don't have to. But I think you might want to.

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, part 1: Disassembly Guide

I've had my SodaStream Jet for years, and once in a while something has gone wrong. Disassembly is the first step to repair. Start with this article to see how to disassemble the SodaStream, and then once you have that down, scroll through my other articles to see how I repaired specfic SodaStream problems. SodaStream Jet Disassembly Guide Tools Required Flat head screwdriver Phillips head screwdriver 1. Remove the Carbonator. Duh. 2. Remove the black panel lever The front big black tilt lever needs to be removed first. Removing this panel is tricky, but it isn't impossible. Looking up at the bottom of the black panel, there are two tabs, one on the left and one on the right. These tabs fully secure the panel in place. The trick is to use a flat-head screwdriver under the plastic to gently lever the tabs out of the way. Note in the pictures how I approach these tabs with my screwdriver. I usually release the left side first, and then I release the right

Fixing my Wahl 9918 Groomsman Beard and Mustache Trimmer

Not everyone would bother repairing a $25 beard trimmer, but why not fix something for under $5 instead of spending another $25? My Wahl 9918 Groomsman Beard and Mustache Trimmer has admirably performed its beauty duty for many years, but the time came when the battery just wasn't holding a charge any more. Most people would just put the trimmer in the trash and buy a new one, but I figured I could repair my otherwise excellent Wahl and save some money. In fact, even high priced trimmer and rotary shaver brands, like Norelco and Remington, can be easily repaired using a process similar to the one I used to fix my Wahl. Read on to find out how. I opened up the Wahl by popping off the black plastic faceplate with a tiny flathead screwdriver, which revealed two screws. By removing the two screws I was able to easily open up the unit, revealing the guts of the device. Backplate off, Revealing the screws The internals are rather simple: a motor, a simple circuit boar

Sodastream Carbonator Leakage, Usage, and Weight

SodaStream 60L "Carbonator" CO2 cylinders have a specific weight when empty, plus about 410 or so grams for the CO2 they should have when they're "full". A little while ago I went to buy a replacement Carbonator from my local hardware store. The dealer pulled a new Carbonator out of the box and sensed it was lighter than usual. He put the "light" Carbonator in the "empty" pile and sold me a different one. At that moment I concluded that it would be smart of me to weigh both new and empty SodaStream carbonators. Here are the results. Weighing a SodaStream Carbonator - for both Science and Consumer Protection. The dealer told me that sometimes the carbonators leak after they leave the SodaStream filling facility. That means there could be an opportunity for customers like me to get ripped off! The SodaStream cylinders I buy claim to have a net product weight of 410 grams - and that means that a full Soda Stream Carbonator shou

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, Repair #2 - Broken Fill Button

My Soda Stream Jet's fill button broke, which means I can not longer carbonate water by pressing the pushbutton. This caused all sorts of grief in my household. Here is how I managed to repair my Jet to give it another 10 years of life (hopefully). First, a look at the button The fill button on the top of the SodaStream is actually a simple lever. Pressing down on the button moves a pin that does the actual work of pressing open the Carbonator's valve. Unfortunately, the axis point is fairly thin and can see a lot of stress. That's where my Soda Stream button cracked. [ I think the usage tip here is "don't over-press the button like a gorilla, it doesn't do anything but put high stress on the button."] Cracked levering point of the button The Pesky Lever Retaining Pin The Fix It was pretty easy for me to replace the button: Take off the back of the Soda Stream and remove the carbonator. Push out the the button lever's steel retaining pin. This takes qu

Adding a Water Flood Sensor to my Vista-20p alarm system

My Honeywell Vista 20p alarm system is fairly comprehensive, but I want one more feature: an alarm that lets me know when my sump pump isn't working properly. Here is how I added one for about $8 in special parts. I'm afraid of a flood in my finished basement. I'm fortunate - my basement sump pump system is already redundant, with two independent pumps and two outflow pipes. The primary pump kicks in when the water level reaches 6 inches, and if that doesn't work, then the backup pump kicks in when the water level reaches 7 inches. The backup pump should never kick in unless the primary pump is having a problem pumping. But there is a problem with this setup: I might never know if my primary pump has failed, leaving me with no redundancy. I want to be informed when I have one (or god forbid, two) pump failures. My goal is to have my Vista 20p alert me when the sump's water level is ever beyond the point where my primary pump should have kicked in, alerting me

The Yamaha DD-65 and YDD-60 Digital Drums

Almost everyone I know who is into drums should get their hands on the Yamaha DD65 . It's a low cost, fun little kit that you can throw in your car to jam with your buddies. It's a lot easier than throwing your gear in your Subaru. The DD-65, also known as the YDD-60. Eight pads in a pretty package. I've owned the older, venerable DD-55 for about five years. The DD-55 is the ancestor of the newer DD-65, and is an evolution of the DD-50, which was first released some time in the mid 1990s. I just put my DD-55 on this light snare drum stand it's ready for some jamming. The classic DD-55. Seven pads of rockin' fun, since about 2001. Yes, everyone will tell you that the DD-55 isn't actually a real drum kit. No kidding. However, a skilled drummer can get some great sound out of this little box, and you can definitely keep the band together with it. Plus, it's perfect for apartment living.

The Lance J. Technoweb

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