March 2019 – techbloggingfool.com

Being that I’ve never been to a Comicon, I’m not quite sure what to expect as I stand in line with my family on a snowy spring morning. While we’re on the subject of firsts, I’ve also never tried live blogging. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

20190330_123552 (2) — Giant Dragon, check.

Rather than having an experience and writing about it later, I’m scripting this post in real-time. The Galaxy Note with its S-Pen is the perfect tool for this job. Snapping photos and writing while walking around a crowded convention center is more challenging than I expected. I find myself using my children as meat shields.

This place is busy. I’m told by several of the patrons and vendors that this is the most people they’ve ever seen at the Kansas City event. I’m surprised at the ratio of those in costume to those that aren’t. I’d estimate that at least a third of the crowd is at least partially dressed as some type of character. Oh look, I almost ran into Ron Burgandy.

20190330_122506 — People watcher’s paradise.

I’ve only been wondering around for a little over an hour and have literally run into every pop-culture character that I can think of. From Star Wars to Spaceballs and Princess Peach to Overwatch’s Diva, the cosplayers are awesome. The level of detail that some of these costumes exhibit is jaw dropping. I can’t imagine how many hours of labor goes into making them.

There are booths of every type, acres of them. Comics, toys, games, cards, custom art, collectibles, clothes, and more are all available. The glass blower (FireChild) has some great custom pieces and if you’re missing a mini-fig for one of your Lego builds, I’m pretty sure that I just found it.

There are an impressive number of artists on-hand. Sculpters, drawings, paintings, and photography are every where you look. Both of my kids added custom pieces to their collections.

If you’re a fan of pop-culture in general and looking for something to do in the KC area, I highly recommend the Kansas City Comicon. We’ve had a great time. I’m tired, hungry, and done with crowds, so it is time to head home. My step counter says I did 3.6 miles and my back and knees agree. I’m sure we’ll be back next year, its been a good family outing.

The Microsoft Surface Go has been my personal daily driver for more than half of a year now. How’s it holding up after all this time? I haven’t replaced it yet and that’s saying something.

I’m the type of person that acts on any excuse to get new gear. When I can walk into my local tech store without immediately wanting to purchase a new system, I know that what I have fits me really well. That’s the case with the Surface Go. It isn’t the most powerful, doesn’t have the best battery, and there are less expensive options, but the Go is a nearly perfect for my requirements.

The diminutive size means that when I’m on call, I don’t have to lug a full laptop bag around. I have a small slip case that fits the Go and a phone; that’s all I need to do my job from anywhere. It runs all the applications, network connections, communications and security software that I require to administrate a sizable corporate network. The Go spends its nights plugged in on my bedside table. It is ready in seconds should an after hours emergency arise.

In addition to being an excellent device for my work life it also fits into my personal world. I’m writing this article on it from the comfort of my bed while an old movie plays in the background. A few minutes ago, I had cast its screen to the bedroom TV so that my wife and I could pick out some new floor mats together. Before I call it quits for the night I plan on streaming a Steam game from my gaming rig downstairs.

I have typed thousands of pages of text and countless lines of code with the keyboard. It still looks just like it did when I took it out of the box. I wipe it down with a wet-wipe every once in a while, other than that it has been maintenance free. It’s also the perfect size.

Don’t get me wrong, the keyboard is small and feels cramped when compared to a full-size model. However, I have never used a keyboard as small as this one that does the job so well. The tactile feed back and key travel are great. The backlight is perfect and Microsoft’s fold and stick option for rigidity works spectacularly well. I have several options for attaching other keyboards but never bother doing so.

I have drug my Surface Pen across the Go’s screen for miles. I have scribbled numerous pages with it including portions of this very post. I’ve edited photos, created custom works of art, and whiteboarded complex ideas. The more that I use the instrument, the more I like it. I have said as much in other articles, but if I had to choose between the keyboard and the pen, I would go with the pen. The on-screen keyboard is surprisingly good.

The little guy is tough too. My Go is sporting a skin from Decal Girl, but I don’t put it in a case or use a screen protector. It’s traveled from coast to coast, been tossed on chairs, desks, beds, and counters. I’ve dropped it on the plane, my car, and the floor. So far there isn’t a scratch on it.

Microsoft has released the Surface Go LTE edition with built-in wireless access and there are rumors that another iteration is on the way. The device has proven to be very popular, several of my friends and business acquaintances have them now. I excpect the line to continue into the future.

After using the Go every day for more than six months I’m still impressed by it. Out of all the compute systems at my disposal it gets used the most by far. If you’re in the market for a portable computer I highly reccomend it. You would be hard pressed to find a system that truly competes with it’s versatility in its size class. The iPad pro can’t run Visual Studio, end of story.