Adam Z. Lein

Understanding Mastodon, the Fediverse, and why you should migrate from Twitter

On November 10, 2022 By Adam Z. Lein In Tech

The Fediverse is an incredibly good idea that should seem pretty obvious to anyone who has ever made a phone call, driven on roads, mailed a letter, sent an email, or browsed the web; decentralized, federated systems are stronger, fairer, and more sustainable than centralized dictatorships. That’s exactly what the Fediverse is except instead of decentralized groups of post offices in every country, the Fediverse is a collection of decentralized little social networks installed on …

Candy Crush Saga 10 year anniversary 500 drone light show.

Candy Crush Saga’s 10 Year Anniversary Party featured a 500 drone light show

On November 4, 2022 By Adam Z. Lein In Fashion, Tech

On November 3rd, 2022 in New York City, Candy Crush Saga celebrates its 10 year anniversary with a small event at the Battery Park Esplanade and a big light show over the Hudson River performed by about 500 preprogrammed quadcopters with bright colored lights. The drones were programmed to fly in specific patterns and light up in specific colors that created a floating animation in the sky. View this post …

Abigail McHeretic Fantastic Four Cosplay

New York Comic Con 2022

On October 10, 2022 By Adam Z. Lein In Event, Fashion

New York Comic Con is back for 2022! As a post pandemic event, masks were still required, but barely anyone wore them. The panels were slightly smaller, no longer taking over Madison Square Garden and the Empire Ballroom, but instead moving to the new Empire Stage in the new building extension of the Javits center. This hilarious cosplay costume by Tara McCormack makes fun of the new online reservation system that everyone had to log …

Hands on with the 2022 Wacom Cintiq Pro 27

On September 28, 2022 By Adam Z. Lein In Design, Tech

Ever since I started working as a graphic designer in the 90’s, I’ve always been fascinated with pen displays for computers. Well, maybe that love started with the Koala Pad on an Apple IIe in the 1980’s. Anyway, Wacom has always been the best of the best when it comes to a drawing interface for graphics software in the computer graphics imaging industry. Today, a new Cintiq Pro 27 is announced and I got to …

Panasonic Toughbook 40 Review

On September 19, 2022 By Adam Z. Lein In Tech

A rugged hardcore portable computer Panasonic’s Toughbook series of laptop computers are mainly designed for the more rugged dangerous workplaces like military, law enforcement, or construction scenarios. It’s not meant for the indoor desk jobs and design jobs that I’m used to. I did get to use the Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 a while back though, and that was pretty fun in its extreme modularity and sturdy build. Consumer laptops aren’t built with this kind of …

Apple’s iPhone may be 15-years-old, but this 20-year-old smartphone was way better.

On September 6, 2022 By Adam Z. Lein In Tech

This year Apple both celebrated the 15 year anniversary of their first iPhone and announced the discontinuation of their last remaining iPod product; something that was first launched 20 years ago back in 2002. What’s interesting to me is how far ahead of Apple, actual smartphones were back 20 years ago. Yeah, Apple got a huge amount of press for their first iPhone (which wasn’t even really a smartphone)… and they also got a huge …