Jim Szymanski 
By Jim Szymanski | Originally published September 26, 2026 Anyone who knows me well, knows I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Microsoft since, well… 1993. Some of the dumb things they’ve done, or have failed to do are baffling. Despite all their missteps though, they still earn money for their shareholders, so it’s all good … Read more
It’s time to say goodbye to an old friend. I purchased my ASUS i7-7th Gen desktop for $800 in July 2017. At the time it was cutting edge with a new processor, a 2TB hard drive, and 16GB of RAM. Over the past seven years I’ve pushed it to, and sometimes beyond its limit though … Read more
Those who know me know I’ve been immersed in technology since getting my first two computers, Osbornes, in 1982. There were Palm Pilots, Pocket PCs and Windows Phones long before Android and iPhone were familiar terms. After a keynote address by Bill Gates and the introduction of Microsoft OneNote in 2003, I became enamored with … Read more
I bought a new Duracell 300w Portable Power Station to supplement the 150w FlashFish Power Station I picked up a couple years ago for the Christmas lighting on my balcony. There’s no electrical outlet out there. On Thursday night I plugged in Dominick the Donkey, and two hours later it turned off by itself. What! … Read more
Irony is my best friend. While searching for the DeWalt-compatible Keurig coffee maker I bought last month, I ran across this bad boy – a DeWalt Car Jump Starter. It also includes a digital compressor, work light, and USB ports that would keep my phone charged for a week. My battery was getting a bit … Read more
Make K-cup Coffee with a DeWalt 20V Batter Pack Coffee Maker by Mellif!
This is a PSA for all you coffee lovers out there. I look forward to my cups of Nespresso every weekend (the capsules cost too much to drink every day), though I’ve often found the last sip or two are bitter – unlike the rest of the cup. Real coffee drinkers take it “straight up” … Read more
I have been wearing the Microsoft Band 2 since its release. I wore out my first Band 2 and had to replace it with a purchase from Amazon as Microsoft had already discontinued production. Something they have a tendency to do with all good things they conceive. The battery was beginning to fail in this … Read more
My Microsoft Lumia 950 is sucking wind right now. My specific phone is 14 months old (dropped the original at Home Depot – broke everything). But the model is, well…..old. Working ok, but I am getting these occasional freezes, that sometime take 5 to 10 seconds to recover. Waiting for news of the mystical Surface … Read more
Anecdotal yes. But my Surface Book is the best, most stable laptop I have every owned. And my Surface 3 has been completely trouble free, for more than two years. If I had a direct need for its unique feature, I would buy a Surface Studio in a heartbeat. Guess the survey is the result … Read more
Between Christmas and New Years 2016, I decided it was time to fully embrace the Cloud. I was inspired by an article I read on Windows Phone Central earlier in the month (link below). The plan was to sync all of my desktop folders with OneDrive, so they could be accessed and updated on … Read more
I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. Can’t explain how or why, I just know it to be true. The owner of our small company has recently been going month to month on our 3,000sf office/warehouse suite as she contemplated; renewing a long term lease, or look for a larger pad for our … Read more