Saturday, May 20, 2017

Sonos Play Review

I was looking into some new speakers for my home and I did not want some big monster speaker or have a mess of wires to play with. I was looking into the Bose system as well as the Sonos Play series. After reading about each in depth I decided to get the Sonos Play speakers.
I picked up the Sonos Play 5 which is their largest speaker.
I also picked up a sonos play 1 which is the smallest speaker. The smaller Play 1 speaker will be perfect for upstairs to have a surround sound effect while the Play 5 will be down stairs in the living room. You can connect the speakers together to play the same stream or you can set them up to be different and play different music. Everything is done with an app loaded onto an iOS device or Android device. These speakers are very loud! The sound quality is top notch. Setup is very easy to connect the devices to your wireless network. The option to put the speakers together in sync or separate is an easy option in the software. The devices update with any new software needed when they first connect to the network. And it is setup to auto update as needed later on for any new software updated. The other great feature that Sonos has is the True play configuration. You can select the room you will put the speaker in and turn on true play and it will adjust the settings to get you the best sound for that room. I have not even used that feature yet on either speaker but they still both sound excellent.
The app once downloaded is how to control the Sonos System as well as play media to the speakers. The app connects to your local storage of music on the device as well as many common apps such as Spotify and Tunein. All in all there is about 30 different services you can connect the Play to.
The very cool feature about the Sonos systems is that they do not connect by bluetooth. They connect through your wireless network. This keeps your phone free to continue to be used as a phone, or to make sure notifications do not get missed. The music does not stop if you get a call on your phone. The music is streaming through your wireless network. This makes a world of difference. Bluetooth is ok for a small speaker to stream with. But for multi Room sound the Sonos is the way to go.
The Sonos Play one is a smaller model but it fills a room with big sound. All the bass and treble is there along with a rich depth to the music your listening to. When you turn up the sound to max it does not get distorted either. The bass notes stay crisp and thumping and the highs get high without any distortion. The Play one is also designed to resist humidity so you can take it outside for some BBQ music or even in the bathroom to play while showering. (Who needs an LED bulb that can stream music?). This will probably be the way the Play one will be used at my house as my wife likes to play music while getting ready in the morning. The design of the play one is also very bold without being flashy. It was designed to be put in small places like on a shelf or a book case to be out of the way but to give you great sound so your music is always a joy to hear. There is a choice of black or white. I choose the Black for both units as it will go more with the decor we have through out the house. Once I did setup the Play units in their place they did look like they belonged and matched well. If you didn’t know they were there you might mistake them for just some kind of decor!
The Sonos Play 5 is the big bad Boss of a speaker from them and it has some large sounds to come from it. It has 3 large subwoofers and the sound from it is really impressive. It is designed in such a way that you can stand it horizontal or Vertical and the music sounds good either way. I have set my Horizontal and it sits in my living room at the far end. I have an open floor plan and when I crank it up the music flows right into the kitchen and even upstairs and sounds dynamic. If you sit upstairs and close a door it sounds like you live above a dance club. Before I got the Play 1 I went in the back yard and turned the volume up full blast and when opened the screen door, the neighbors wanted to know if they could borrow my system for a party! They said with sound like that you don't even need to bring it over, just open your door and face it outside and let us send you songs to play! Yes this thing can PUMP! I have set up both units so they play together and for the moment the Play 1 is in the office which is around the corner from the kitchen. This makes for a very wonderful sounding setup which you don't need to turn up loud to make sure you can hear it while your doing things in the kitchen. You can also purchase a 2nd Play 5 to put with the first one and then they automatically play in stereo mode with a right and left channel. I listen to a lot of Electronic dance music and rock and both sound so great. All the little sounds that are in a song can be heard clearly even while the bass is thumping along.
If you want to get a speaker that can give you great sound and is easy to setup and doesn't look out of place with your decor the Sonos is the way to go. People asked me why I did not look at Bose for a speaker but I did and I liked the support of more apps and options that came along with the Sonos. Plus the support is top notch. I think if your in the market for a new speaker for your home you cannot go wrong with any of the 3 options from Sonos.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Greatness is achievable.

Think about greatness, it is attainable. But it means showing up everyday ready to work and not slacking off. It means going the extra mile and making sure your work is done correctly and efficiently. You can not slow down, you can not take it easy. You must work diligently and be as detail oriented as possible. You must be able to anticipate problems before they arise and be able to come up with a quick solution when needed. You must be able to keep your temper in check and respond without prejudice when a client is upset or angry. You must be able to be like a mentor and help those working alongside you. You must learn new skills and be able to implement them and show that you are a resource of knowledge and expertise.

Start with your body. Go to bed early Rise early, work out and get in shape! Eat well avoid the crap, for it will kill you eventually and take away from your greatness

Your mind, stay focused, keep calm and carry on as they say. Do not get riled up at the small bumps in the road. Take detailed notes if you must to remember things. Think of how you speak to others and how you respond to criticism.

Don't be nervous around Upper managers. They are just people just like you are. They may have a title in their name, but they are just people and were once on your side of the fence so to speak. They need you to assist them with technology. That is why you started down this path right? You know technology and you want to be able to help people learn it, master it, become one with it. You want them to be able to use technology and all its tools to get work done faster and more efficiently. People will look to you to help make it simple for them to understand. They need your help cutting through the garbage that is thrown at them when it comes to technological terms and megabyte this and gigawatt that. You need to be able to explain to them in a way they can follow and understand the point you are getting across.
Some people are just nervous around technology. Understand that and help them to remove a little of that fear when using technology. Show them “Hey, You got this!” Now they can do something that helps them get their job done.

Man can do anything he wants. You can go anywhere you want on this journey. Just work hard, and don't slack off, and keep an open mind. You can be great, at this and at anything you want. Just do it. You can sleep when you're dead!

What is the best thing to learn in the IT field to advance your career?

I have been working in the IT field now for 20 years. I have learned a lot of new technologies and seen a lot of changes in the way we use computers every day. One thing that I was trying to figure out is what to someone with my skill set should try to learn next. I have a lot of experience with Servers and cloud as well as experience with network infrastructure and and now VOIP and telephone configuration and support. If your at this level you may need to learn something new that will make you valuable if you were to branch out. I thought maybe someone should go about a certification in one technology but those are easily outdated and tend to be hard to obtain. Plus if you land in a new company that does not use that technology now you have spent all that money and time and get no benefit from it. Perhaps doing a combo of things is worth time such as the theory of support like the ITIL certification. This certification covers the codes of practice when it comes to supporting computers in large environments. According to many online sites, Comptia's group of certs can give you a very well rounded foundation. You can do A+ which says computer hardware and software are a specialty of yours and this certification is one of the first ones that IT people go for. It is relatively inexpensive to go after and does not take a large amount of time to study for and pass. Also with this cert you can go for the network version which is network+ which gives you a well rounded view of networking and how it all connects and works. This is a little more challenging to get and there is more studying you have to do to get the understanding down. If you can get hands on for this and the A+ it makes it that much easier to get the certs. Comptia also has the Security+ which proves you are knowledgeable about security and how to keep an enterprise secure on their network and the internet. The other one they have is the Cloud+ and Cloud essentials. The cloud essentials is an overview of using a cloud computing and isn't a very technical certification to get. This is a good one for anyone to get once they work in a cloud connected office to show they have the knowledge of how the cloud works and how it brings value to the company they work for. Then you can go for Cloud+ after that. This one is a little more challenging. This cert validated the skills of IT practitioners in the ability to implement and maintain cloud technologies.
These are some certifications that can help you get to the next level in your career and make sure to tell potential companies that you know your stuff and can bring them value right from the start of your employment with them. Now if your in a company and you find out they are going to start implementing Cisco networking gear then by all means start hitting up the Cisco training to get the Certs from them. Or if you know you will be supporting Microsoft servers with your current or future companies then try to go after the Microsoft certs like MCSE. These tests are all expensive and if your taking multiple tests to pass a certification like MCSE then you have to pay for each test you take and this will add up. One perk some companies have is they will pay to have you take the test or reimburse you the cost of the exam. If your with a company that will do that then you should go for as many as you can handle. With this benefit the retests down the road cost less so you can get a retest cheaper and do not have to pay out so much to re certify. There are a lot of free sites out there that share some information about the exams you are looking into. Some of them offer free study guides or low cost guides that you can purchase. Again, if your company offers to reimburse you for training then get the study guides. They are a valuable tool in preparing for the exams as most guides have great summary pages alerting you to the most important things to concentrate your study on. Its also best to check out where you can get the best deal for the books you will need to read. (I hope you have room on your book shelf and it can hold heavy books!) You can find deals on the exam books and some places you can find deals on slightly used copies of the book so your cost is lower to prepare.
There is some great certifications out there that can prove to companies that you keep current and have a high set of skills when it comes to IT. There is many ways to tackle the exams and great study guides to help you pass and become certified. It just takes time and dedication and to remember that it will only help you to achieve the next step in your Career.