Welcome to the Hands-On section, where I share my unfiltered experiences with products, services, and various tools I’ve actually used. Whether it’s an app that enriched my day or a service that fell short of expectations, you’ll find honest, first-hand accounts based on real-world usage.
I believe in transparent reviews – if something works well, I’ll enthusiastically recommend it. If it doesn’t meet expectations, I’ll explain why. Some posts may contain affiliate links when available, but my opinions are never influenced by potential commissions.
From software applications to hosting services and everything in between, this section spans a diverse range of items that have crossed my path. Each review stems from personal experience, not theoretical analysis or second-hand information.
Put simply this is not one of those websites with ghost written reviews of things the writers never saw or experienced.
Think of this section as a friend sharing their candid thoughts after trying something new. It will sometimes be glowing, sometimes cautionary, but always genuine.
Traditional Television Channel Surfing For Seniors In the past few years since my Dad’s death I’ve been working on cutting some cords. What these traditional services like a landline phone or cable TV cost these days is truly crazy. My parents have had cable TV since I was in Kindergarten and at the time those…
I’m sure other cord cutters have gotten here sooner than I did, but I knew there had to be a good way of connecting cell phone to landline and my research led me to the Panasonic KX-TGF575S. There are actually quite a few models of Panasonic that has what they refer to as “Link2Cell” technology….
When you see the photo that goes with this, you may think I’m crazy, but bear with me as I think I found the best pillow for side sleepers – at least it is for me! I have always liked to sleep on my left side. Every so often I migrate over to my stomach…
On a recent post on my art blog, I mentioned having gotten a new XP-Pen Artist 16 display tablet – similar to the Wacom Cintiq range. So far I’ve quite liked it. The colors are great which was a real surprise. My main monitor is a 27 inch Benq (SW2700PT) which covers close to the…
Is it a gaming mouse or an artist’s mouse? I guess that’s in the eye of the beholder! The logic that led to my selection was that I needed something with precision. And if there’s any group of computer users that care about precision, it’s gamers. The end reason may be different. They want to…
It’s been over a year since I saw a sponsored post for Copromote and decided to give the service a try. It’s one of those apps that in theory is a beautiful idea. CoPromote is a network of creators dedicated to helping each other reach new and larger audiences. It hits all the right chords…
How to choose the right Android TV box was a subject I spent about a week researching last Fall. At the outset, I was looking for something that wouldn’t take up a lot of space but in theory would have an OS that my disabled father could operate. My reasoning for choosing Android was simply…
For awhile now I’ve intended to write a post about my experience looking for a good web hosting service. I signed up with Hawkhost back in late November of 2015. And if life had cooperated, I’m sure I would have said more about that sooner. If your life is hectic, you can appreciate that on a good…
After years of mainly being a Mac user, the time had come that I needed a new beast to work on. My Macbook is hardly surplus property quite yet but doing my artwork on it was beginning to become an exercise in frustration. Large panoramas or photoshop files with a lot of layers allowed me…
It’s unusual for me to find myself on the outside looking in when there’s a good joke afoot. I don’t think many people who know me well would suggest I had lost my funny bone. Yet there’s one meme that went viral this week that leaves me completely unimpressed. If you’ve somehow missed this viral…
I suppose there’s a very good reason I majored in sociology in college as I am ever amazed by the dynamics involved in groups. This is twice recently that I’ve had a blog topic spill out of a conversation on an artist forum. This particular topic was focused on a perceived problem where other people…
I know monitor’s change, after all, if you are using them for color sensitive things like design or photography, you’re expected to calibrate them regularly. And over my years of doing photography, I’ve been able to tell when my monitor needs it even without handy reminders that the new software provides. Still, I’m convinced over…
Ah, happy times. In the past month, my MacBook Pro has been with the charming folks at Apple twice. Granted in less time than I have owned my Mac, my Fujitsu laptop I had previously was dead. So, no complaints. Maybe I just got a dud, but I was in no rush after the death…
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