It comes in 2 versions, Standards (with disk slot) and Digital (without disk slot). Technically, lots of improvements were made on the console compared to the PS4 predecessor in terms of resolution, speed, and processing power.

One thing I don’t get is the low internal storage capacity. Downloading 4-5 games can fill up the 825GB internal HD. Most games nowadays need at least 16-20GB for basic gameplay and an additional 80-100GB for full play. So it will be annoying managing and plugging the additional external storage devices.

Transferring your games and data from PS4 to PS5 is quite easy and straightforward. All you need is to have both consoles on the same wifi and connected together with a LAN cable. The migration process is automatic and needs a few hours.

Although we updated and upgraded all the games, experiencing the full potential of the PS5 might need a bit of time for game makers to upgrade their games to support 120fps in order for us to enjoy the graphics to the max.

The post Sony PS5: A Stormtrooper In Your Living Room appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

View Presentation below:

The post The New Normal – When Temporary Becomes The Standard appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

The challenge for businesses today is not just selling products and services, but rather enhancing and amplifying the perception of the brand. This is done through crafting positive and emotional brand experiences that meet the customers’ expectations. Anytime, anywhere.

More in the below presentation:

The post Experience Is The New Marketing appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

They died because we knew all this,
and still glorified you.

Until we change,
Until we change you,
they will keep on dying.

The post They Died Because of You… appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

Let us stop with the rise like a Phoenix analogy.
We really don’t want to keep rising from the ashes.
Frankly, we do not want to die in the first place, let alone rise again in a life of hardship that viciously repeats itself.

We want to live and celebrate life, not death.

We, the people of Lebanon, have lost drive, purpose, and ambition, and most importantly, hope.

We have been turned into refugees in our land, no different than the people who lived here thousands of years ago. I am not talking about the Phoenicians, at least they were merchants and had a good economy, I am referring to those who lived in dark caves, those whose only purpose in life was to survive and make it to the next day.

Why is it that we, the Lebanese people, are the most successful ex-pats in the world, but the worst citizens in our own land?

Why are we able to successfully run a global multinational organization but are unable to run a simple public office without corruption?

Why are we able to speak 3 or 4 languages but cannot seem to understand one another?

Why are we law-abiding tourists but live under the law-of-the-jungle in our country?

Why do we claim to be a democracy when we accept and idolize tyrants?

Until we stop supporting the same incompetent and corrupt politicians that are responsible for everything bad that has happened and still happening to us.

Until we vote for new public servants that work for the people, ones that can be held accountable for their actions.

Until then, we are as responsible and guilty for everything that has happened to us as much as the people in power, because we gave them this unlimited power over us.

Until we revoke this power of attorney and claim back our true destiny.

Beirut, forgive us, for we knew what we were doing.

The post No.. This Is Not Our Destiny! appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

Do you own a mobile device? Do you take pictures and videos? Do you chat with other people? Do you send/receive texts, videos, or images? Do you have social media accounts? Then, just like everyone, your privacy is at risk?

The biggest threat to our cyber-security is ourselves. The way we handle our mobile devices and manage the content on these devices makes all the difference.

Here Are a Few Tips to Better Protect Your Online Presence:

1- Password Protect Your Mobile Device!

Limit access to your mobile devices, and don’t share your password.
Choose a complex password, activate face-ID, enable the wipe-my-phone feature to auto-erase your phone after numerous failed password attempts.

2- Do Not Share Your iCloud, Google Account Passwords!

Your iCloud password (iPhone) or your Google Password is not just used to set up your mobile device, this is your master password.
Sharing this password means giving remote access to all your personal data: Picture, contacts, chats, files, cloud storage, and more. Sharing this password is like giving your home keys to a complete stranger.

3- Clear Your Phone Before Sending it for Repair!

I’ve seen people share their passwords with the phone repair guy!
If you absolutely have to share your device, make sure to remove all your pics, delete chats/notes, and log out of social media apps before sharing your mobile device. Reset your passwords directly after retrieving your phone and set up two-factor authentication.

4- Stop Saving Your Passwords on Notes and Memo Apps!

Nothing drives me crazy more than seeing people’s passwords unsecured and publicly displayed on their devices. People just don’t realize that their privacy, confidentiality, and money are at risk. Passwords should never be stored on the notes and memo apps but rather on specialized secure software (i.e., 1Password, Lastpass, Dashlane, etc.).

Here are a few tips on how to better choose a password:

– Stop using 123456″ or “password” as your password.
– Don’t use your name, names of your family members or birthdays
– Passwords should be at least 8-10 digits long. Make sure you are using lowercase, uppercase, and numbers together. example: Tyi8r32wQ$#@s
– Don’t use the same password across your different accounts
– Use random passwords generated by your password managers
– Use 2 step password protection when available
– Update and change your password regularly
– Use a password management solution/app (more details here)

5- Do Not Share Sensitive Pictures/Videos!

If your photo/video is of sensitive nature, do not share it with anyone, not even with your close friends. Any picture that is shared from your device is at risk of becoming public.
Make sure to regularly download photos from your phone and archive them on your computer, don’t keep all your original pics on your mobile device.

6- Don’t Connect Your Phone to Other People’s Computers!

Many people still don’t know how to download pictures from their devices, they might give their phone to a friend to download the images. This means that for a certain amount of time, that person has full access to your device and data.

7- Nothing is Private!

Private Groups or Chats are not so confidential, after all.
Let’s just agree that private chats are not so secure. What do you do when someone on the group itself screenshots the content of the conversation.

If you really have to engage in a private chat, then make sure you are chatting with a trusted person. Remember to use secure apps like Telegram or Signal. The conversations in these apps are encrypted and can be set to auto-delete after a certain amount of time.

Remember to regularly clear and delete unused, old, or confidential chats.

8- WhatsApp, Telegram, or Signal?

All three apps are secure and encrypted end-to-end. But again, nothing is ever guaranteed. WhatsApp is safe and practical for all our daily usages. But, if you are looking for that extra level of security, Telegram offers a secure voice calling system that supports multiple callers. While Signal has kick*ss secure chatting platform.

9- Protect Your Credit Card Information!

Keep your credit card information safe. It is extremely dangerous to photograph your credit card and share it via WhatsApp. Never email your credit card information. Never write your credit card details on note apps.

10- Beware of Hackers and Phishing Emails!

Don’t fall for scam emails. We regularly receive emails and messages saying that our accounts got hacked and that we need to “Urgently” click here to reset our passwords. Before you click, make sure to check that the sender is a legitimate account. For example, an authentic email from Apple would be: support@apple.com – while a fake mail would be (for example) from email support@appleicloudaccounts.com

In Short:
Delete scam emails, don’t click on suspicious links, and don’t share usernames and passwords.

The post 10 Tips to Better Protect Your Online Privacy appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

Jordan is one of the greatest living-brands and can be labeled the father of modern-day influencers.

Everyone knows Michael Jordan, whether they were old enough (like me) to have seen him play back in the 90’s or a teenager that queues in front of a store to get the latest pair of Jordans.

Back in the 90’s, there was no Facebook, no Instagram, no Snapchat and no Twitter. Way before the Social Media era, Jordan became the most prominent and global influencer, he turned into a walking brand. Whatever shop/logo was seen in the background of any photo of Jordan, became an instant worldwide success.

Products flocked to be part of his success, and Jordan turned into a household name. His face, his gravity-defying flying silhouette logo, or his Chicago Bulls number “23” was on practically every printable surface you can imagine. All brands wanted to associate their names with his, but it was Nike that got the best deal in town and established the Jordan / Air Jordan brand.

Today, MJ has a follower base of around 30M across his official social media channels (these accounts mainly represent the business/retail part). This is not a lot compared to some famous stars. But, unlike any other celebrity, Jordan does not need social media to be famous or stay famous.

Succesful brands = Highly Emotional / Respected brands

Today, no brand can surpass the challenge of time and stay relevant for so long without being highly respected and loved, and Jordan is one of the most respected and loved brands in the world.

Michael Jordan did all this without any social media support, can you just imagine if social media existed when he was still playing?

The post Michael Jordan: the Greatest “Influencer” of all Time appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

Watch below video (Arabic)

The post What is the Momo Challenge? appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

I started off with the Bose QuietComfort 3, it’s a wired noise canceling headphone, I still love and use this device, it’s size is just perfect and can easily fit in any backpack, the only problem is that nowadays with the removal of AUX jacks from most devices, you’re forced to move to a wireless headset.

I later upgraded to the Bose QuietComfort 35 II, this is by far the best noise canceling device in the market, it covers all your ears and just clears out any external sound, the audio experience is just amazing, the downside for this device is that it is bulky to carry around. It will take baggage space.

As for the daily activities when moving around, I depend a lot on the Apple AirPods. They are amazing and just perfect for any occasion. The only problem with the AirPods is that they are not designed for advanced movement.

You can use them when walking and moving around but not for sports activities; They will surely fall and interrupt your workout. I once lost one of them on a night-run, ended up spending 10min just to find them.

A few weeks ago, I got the Bose SoundSports Free Wireless Headphones to use when working out, for jogging or when on my bike. These Earphones are just amazing, they hang to your ears like glue, you can move around, shake them, jump etc. they will just hang on. The headphones are water and sweat proof thanks to the water-repellent mesh in the open ports.

The sound quality is just as good as any Bose device, you can use them to hear music or to talk through them just like you do on AirPods.

The earbuds battery can last up to 5 hours of usage and when they run out of juice you can place them in their protective case to recharge them again. The case carries around 10 hours of battery power. A full charging session is about 2 hours time.

The only downside is that you can’t just chill on the couch using these headphones, the weight and pressure on your ears becomes a bit annoying and visible when you are not engaged in any activity.

Overall, this is the best light and wireless sound device available in the market designed for active people, they are sold for around $200 and are available everywhere.

The post Bose SoundSports Free Wireless Headphones appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.

PUBG and Fortnite 101 – The Basics:

PubG PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds is a (2017) game inspired by the popular Japanese Film (2000) “Battle Royal“, where survivors fight to death till last-man-standing. Fortnite was released after PUBG by Epic Games, it relatively has the same overall concept but with different gameplay, with a common hero feature, the “Battle Royal” concept.

In short, players start the game by jumping out of a plane and landing on a terrain to fight up to 100 players and survive the battle. The terrain changes, it shrinks, it shifts and it gets harder to maneuver as the game progresses.

Both games have around 30 million active players daily and a growing community of around 200 million players. Fortnite made USD 3 billion in profits in 2018.

These games are paid on some platforms and free on others, but what is surely costly is the in-game accessories and battle-passes that you will need to purchase in order to have a successful gameplay.

What Can Parents Do?

These Games Contain Extreme Violence:

If your kids are too young for these games (13 years or less), then there are other alternatives like Splatoon 2, Minecraft, Plants vs Zombies …

These Games Are Fictional:

You have people jumping out of airplanes, rooftops, getting shot etc, all without getting hurt. You need to explain to your kids that if this happens in real life you will get hurt badly and may lead to death.

Play Only With Friends You Know:

The most dangerous part of these online games is the fact that these players chat to one another, so imagine your 13-year-old chatting with a 28-year-old pervert that you don’t know who is living in a different country.
Make sure the friends they play with are real friends, ones that you know and approve.

Keep The Game Console in the Living Room:

It is better if you keep your console in the living room or any other open space in the house. This way you keep an eye on what is happening.

Keep The Audio Loud:

The main feature of these games is the fact that players chat to one another, try to avoid headphones and have your kid play the audio from TV/Computer speaker. This way you will hear the conversation and make sure nothing out of the ordinary is taking place. Just beware that there will be plenty of shouting in the process, this is normal.

Screen-Time Addiction:

What makes anything dangerous is when we get addicted to it, and screentime is actually the most dangerous element here. Limiting screen time to kids can surely help. When talking about screen time, it’s not just about the time playing the game, it is also about the time they spend on youtube watching pro-gamers play the game.

Overall:

Kids are vulnerable and are easily affected by anything and everything around them, it is our duty as parents to stay aware of what is happening with them, keep talking to your kids, try to understand their issues, worries, and try to support them as much as you can. Maybe with the younger kids, this is easily done, but it surely gets harder with the older teenagers.

We have no other way as parents than to keep the communication alive with our kids. It is probably the best protection we can give them.

Thank you Samar Maalouf for raising the topic, had the pleasure discussing it on your morning radio show, Here’s the audio (arabic) interview:

The post PUBG & Fortnite Guide for Parents appeared first on Techie Dad - Creative Technologist.