iPhone as webcam for macOS for free ($0.00)

Welcome to everyone working from home who wants to reuse their old iPhone (iPhone 6 owners like me) as a webcam vs. buying a USB camera that needs a USB-A port that my MacBook Air/Pro just doesn't have (even with a dongle, these are premium ports).

Here's how I set myself up (all product links are direct, not affiliate):

1. Bought a gooseneck webcam mount from Amazon. Only paid item here: $9.49 (with 5% coupon).
2. Downloaded the Iriun iOS app
3. Download the Iriun installer for MacOS (or Windows).
4. Fire up Zoom and check for updates; install updates if there are any. 

Once you have installed the macOS application, you might have to reboot your computer for Zoom to recognize the newly available video source. With the software downloaded, you are ready to go:

1. Setup your mount
2. Start the Iriun app on your iphone
3. Start the Iriun app on your Mac
4. Start Zoom, select the Irium camera as your source.

If you prefer video instructions, the Think Media team created one just for you: Smartphone as Webcam

Here are pictures of my setup:

I haven't found a simpler and cheaper setup than this for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype. I haven't tried this with Google's videoconferencing solution, so YMMV. Good luck!

Manoj’s Capability Cloud

28-habits of highly likeable people

Likeable people are both charismatic and memorable. They also happen to be highly successful. But, being likeable is difficult. You want to be seen as an agile decision maker, someone with a clear point of view even in contentious situations, someone who is not a "pushover" or too keen to please, and someone who can debate the merits of their proposal. How do you accomplish these objectives while being likeable as well? That's the million dollar question.

As an engineer, I was trained to find the right answer, to be precise. These characteristics made me good at my job; they didn't quite me good in social situations. A good friend of mine once told me that I could be "edgy". She was right; when impatient or upset, my tone of voice would carry a sarcastic edge. When over-worked, I would catch myself getting short with people around me. Left unchecked, these behaviors could have horrendous consequences. At the very least, they could antagonize those around me; in the worst case scenario, people could start to discount my perspective. I had to take stock and change if I were to join the ranks of great communicators who would, like clockwork, choose the perfect moment and appropriate tone to deliver their point of view with maximum impact and minimum friction, regardless of their audience's feelings on the subject.

It was Deloitte Consulting that taught me how to being focused and driven yet likeable, all in the service of being a better communicator to my clients and fellow Deloitte practitioners. Through multiple courses on emotional intelligence, I learned about how being likeable could translate into success at work, result in a long-lasting relationship with my significant other, and help me build life-long friendships. My one regret was that over the years of taking classes and learning through observation, I hadn't maintained a running list of the attributes or habits of people who inspired me. Two days ago, I read an INC article about "habits of likeable people", and the list was comprehensive. I aspire to continue to grow so that I can make each of these one of my habits in the future [link] (highlighting mine):

1. They treat others in the same way they want to be treated. 
2. They give as much as they take. 
3. They create meaningful relationships. 
4. They don't insist that they're right, and they're open to hear your viewpoint. (continued area of focus)
5. They ask questions, instead of making statements. 
6. They listen attentively, and don't interrupt. 
7. They are accountable to themselves and others. 
8. They communicate directly and authentically (not passive aggressively). 
9. They smile. 
10. They ask "How are you?" (and genuinely mean it). 
11. They are empathetic. 
12. They give you their full attention. 
13. They ask "How can I help?" 
14. They hold space for you to become the person you strive to be, but don't judge you for being who you are, or where you are. 
15. They avoid arguments. (continued area of focus)
16. They laugh at themselves. 
17. They are confident, yet have a sense of humility. 
18. They uphold a healthy set of boundaries. 
19. They aren't afraid to give genuine praise to others. 
20. They don't take your power, or give their power away. 
21. They don't complain. 
22. They don't preach at you, or give unsolicited advice. 
23. They don't expect you to be perfect. 
24. They apologize (and don't view it as a sign of weakness). 
25. They want you to be successful and happy (in life and in business). 
26. They don't seek (or need) your approval. 
27. They listen to learn (not to speak). 
28. They like to have fun.

This is a long list and it's hard to embody all these qualities at all times. In fact, I have learned that I cannot always be at my best, despite all the training I have received so far. There are going to be times when circumstances are such that I might get irritated or frustrated. When such a situation arises and I notice a change in my outward demeanor, I have found a few techniques to "reset" myself: a few deep breaths, counting to 10, and walking away from the conversation for a brief minute have all worked well for me. Your coping mechanisms may be different; I suggest that you find and practice them.

To summarize, being likeable will mean that we are more likely to receive that important introduction, get that meeting we want, or close that deal we need for success. And most importantly, when we find ourselves in a situation where we sense that we might not be at our best, we need to know how to reset our composure and regain control of the situation.

Fixing AMD PCs Bricked by Windows Update

In response to Spectre and Meltdown, Microsoft released a January Security Update for vulnerable machines. Unfortunately, they didn't get all the details right. Microsoft points a finger at AMD for the screw-up:

“After investigating, Microsoft has determined that some AMD chipsets do not conform to the documentation previously provided to Microsoft to develop the Windows operating system mitigations to protect against the chipset vulnerabilities known as Spectre and Meltdown.”

Regardless of who was at fault, customers have suffered as a result. Many impacted folks, like my dear middle-aged CPA, have resorted to one or *all* of the following:

• Yelled in frustration
• Rued the day they enabled "Automatic Windows Updates"
• Cursed Microsoft profusely
• Hated Microsoft Support for wanting $500 to speak to them (shame on you Microsoft Support)
• Called everyone other than MS Support to fix their computer
• Resigned and bought a new PC or Mac

None of this is good PR for Microsoft! To save my CPA the nuisance of starting afresh with a new PC, especially given all she has to learn about the new IRS regulations, I decided to find a fix for the issue because everything Microsoft suggests failed for her. I found another way to fix the issue; here's what you can do as a last resort before you buy a new PC:

1. Follow the instructions in this article from Microsoft Support. To summarize, Microsoft hopes one of these works for you:

• Try Last Known Good Configuration
• Try Safe Mode
• Restore to a prior restore point
• Try System Recovery
• Try Startup Repair
• Restore using a System Image Backup
• Give up and Reinstall Windows
• Pray that your backup service can restore all your data

2. If you're like my CPA, none of these will work for you. This is when you do the following:

• Get access to another PC so you can create a USB disk. Let's label this PC, "doppel", and the USB, "hail-mary".
• Microsoft has released a new update with the fixed files for impacted AMD systems. Yay.

3. On doppel,

• Download the MSU with the fixed kernel from the Windows Update Catalog
• Use WinZip to open the MSU file
• Copy ntoskrnl.exe (and all the other files for safety) to hail-mary
• Eject hail-mary safely using "Windows Explorer"

4. Back on your computer, bring the solution home:

• Boot into "Recovery Mode"
• Insert hail-mary into a USB port
• Select the "Command Prompt" option
• Copy ntoskrnl.exe from hail-mary to %windowsroot%\system32\. This action requires "Administrator" privileges.
• Optional: Copy any other files on the USB drive to %windowsroot%\system32\
• Reboot

5. Voila

It took a village to find this solution.
- I had a hunch that overwriting existing files with newly patched versions might work.
- My friend Arun Kishan (Director of Windows Development) supported my theory.
- My friend Karan Dhillon drove over to my CPA's house, validated my hunch, and shared the recovery steps he used.

Let me know on twitter (@manojhatax) if this worked for you. Good luck.

A Month with the iPhone X

tl;dr: The X is great hardware, but iOS 11 is a kludgey mess that is holding the platform back. A month in, I am strapped in for the ride. Don’t upgrade if you, a) have a 7-Plus or Samsung Galaxy 8; or b) wear Ray-Ban Aviators because FaceID won’t work.
Score: 9/10.

A month ago, November 3 2017 to be precise, I drove to the Apple Store at One Infinite Loop to get my first ever pre-ordered iPhone. This 10-year anniversary launch of the phone that changed how we use technology and consume information as a species featured many personal firsts:

1. First iPhone I pre-ordered
2. First iPhone I got on launch day
3. First time I bought not one but two iPhones during launch week
4. First time I went to the One Infinite Loop campus

While Apple kicked off the smartphone revolution, the likes of Samsung and Xiaomi have been pushing the design envelope in recent years. Their handsets were the first to launch with edge-to-edge displays and gorgeous OLED screens. Touted by Apple as the future of the phone, née Apple itself, I was genuinely excited to get my hands on the device and discover the new goodies and quirks along with other intrepid early adopters. So, does the X give Apple the lead in the smartphone race again?

The Good

Stunning Looks and Build Quality

The X is perfect execution of a design that’s other-worldly. Let me quote Mike Murphy who posted this initial impression for QZ (emphasis mine):

The iPhone X is like a refined version of the design Apple has been iterating on each year since the release of the iPhone 6 in 2014. It’s not dramatically new, but here the screen, the phone’s biggest asset, is allowed to shine, with the metal and glass structure around it fading into the background. And the cut-out notch at the top, which holds the front-facing cameras, isn’t that annoying after a few minutes’ use.

The notch truly isn’t a distraction after the first day of use. I am not a heavy watcher of mobile video so if you are, YMMV. Back to the form: the phone feels hefty without being too large. It’s the perfect size for me.

Amazing Cameras

The cameras on the X are excellent overall to the point that they make an amateur like me come across as a good photographer. Selfies, portraits, scenes, et al are captured with the right degree of fidelity and detail. I am a fan of the convenient zoom toggle (1x-2x) in most modes, including Panorama, and while the Portrait Lighting modes are still a work in progress, they produce reasonable results. I am excited for the future because the underlying technical prowess is baked into the hardware; it’s just a matter of iOS maturing to unlock the latent potential.

#iOS and the #iPhoneX making my friend Tim Toyoshima look like a cycling God. @Apple #iOS #portraitmode rocks pic.twitter.com/lJORmOZ8Wl

I haven’t taken Mike’s recommendation to download a manual camera application, such as Halide or Manual, because most of the moments I capture don’t involve manually tweaking knobs such as exposure and focus. The results I am getting are spectacular enough...

Where the iPhone X truly shines is in taking selfies. Hate selfies all you want, we all take them; the X takes the best selfies of any camera I have ever used. Period. This is me without trying...

Stunning Display

The new Super AMOLED 5.8 inch display is vivid, large and an iPhone first. That this display is slightly larger than that in the iPhone 8-Plus while being the same form factor as the iPhone 8 is a testament to Apple’s hardware engineering genius!

Wireless Charging

I have gotten used to placing my iPhone on its wireless charging pad every other night instead of fidgeting with a Lightning cable. It might seem like a small thing, but at a $1000 cost of entry, it’s the little things that make a difference. And honestly, I don’t get the complaints about how the phone needs to be perfectly placed on the charging pad for things to work. I haven’t had a single “mis-placement” in a month of ownership.

Battery Life

That wasn’t a typo or misrepresentation: I charge my phone every other day now and am super impressed with the battery life on my X. I am currently between jobs, so my usage of the X is on the heavier side: reading books, Hacker News, Apple News, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc.

Honorable Mentions

• Tap to Wake makes it very easy to catch the time and new notifications
• Double Tap plus FaceID for Apple Pay (I never really got the hang of the triple Home Button press to activate Apple Pay)
• Dual speakers sound great

The Rough Edges

FaceID feels Rushed

For a v1 product, FaceID is a very strong release. This said, it’s got as many edge cases where it doesn’t work as TouchID did. On the whole, I still don’t know if FaceID is as much of a usability leap forward as Apple claims. What’s worse is FaceID works when you least expect it to (dark rooms, when I just wake up and only have one eye open) and fails when it really shouldn’t (with sunglasses on, in brightly lit rooms). I understand the technical reasons for why it behaves the way it does in these situations, but it’s still jarring. V2 of FaceID should fix most, if not all, of the reported niggles and usability issues.

R.I.P. Home Button

I miss the Home Button. Yes, it didn’t work when I had wet or oily hands, but I got used to its quirks. More than the access control the button provided, I miss pressing Home to “Go Home”. In lieu of the heretofore ubiquitous button, Apple has given me a slate of gestures that I have to learn. And as hard as I try to master them, they are elusive at best and frustrating at worst.

Gestures Galore

Gestures aren’t user-friendly, ‘nuff said. One can argue that Apple is the King at taking something unusable and sprinkling magic pixie dust on it. The dust isn’t working this time around. Using gestures precisely takes a lot of muscle memory, which I don’t have yet, leaving me annoyed. And really, whose bright idea was it to have an omni-present, random, gray bar at the bottom of the screen? More importantly, who decided to bestow that bar with multiple capabilities (Switch Apps, Activate Reachability, Go Home)? To quote Mike Murphy again:

I now have to swipe up on a random bar that never leaves the bottom of the screen to go home, double-tap on the side button for Apple Pay, and hold it for Siri. To see what apps I have open, I have to slowly swipe up from the bottom of the screen and to the right, which is a very awkward action that I’m still messing up frequently. To close an open app, I now have to do that swiping action, let go, hold down on an open app, and tap a little red minus icon that pops up. Before you could just swipe away the open app. All these new interactions feel awkward and inelegant. Hopefully that’s just because I’m not used to them yet.

How should I swipe: Down or Up?

You will have to learn how to swipe (direction) and where to swipe (location) to get the menu you care about. The Control Center is swipe down the right side; the Notifications Center is swipe down from the left side; swipe up and you go Home. The notch in the middle means the top bar shows me less information at a glance that it used to (battery percentage being one such sacrificed data point).

Death by Paper Cuts

• Off Means Off, Maybe: Turning WiFi and Bluetooth off from the Control Center doesn’t really turn these off; it temporarily disconnects you from the current WiFi network or Bluetooth device.
• Accidentally Siri: The larger power button on the side is easier to “ghost” press when the phone is in my pocket (car keys, for example, set Siri off).
• Cover Up or Pay Up: The gorgeous display and the glass back make this the easiest iPhone to damage in recent memory. Every time you break something, you will pay a pretty penny. Even if you don’t like it, you are going to have to buy a case and a screen protector for this phone. Or an insurance policy. Or both!

The $1K Question

If you need to upgrade, both the iPhone 8-Plus and Galaxy 8/Plus/Note series present viable alternatives to the X. To wit, most of the components inside the 8-Plus and the X are identical, but the 8-Plus costs $200 less. The Galaxy 8-Plus and Note are in the same ballpark as the X, so money shouldn’t be a consideration.

Here’s what this decision comes down to: your willingness to change how you use your phone to accommodate everything that Apple has changed in the X. Some changes will make sense, others will seem arbitrary. You cannot choose the changes you want; Apple has foisted all of them on you, in one sleek package. I have already grown accustomed to the new interaction paradigm, but I still feel like the total package isn’t there yet.

If you aren’t someone who must have the latest technology and already have a capable phone, I’d say save the $200 and wait this iPhone X release out. Despite great hardware, iOS 11, even three months post release, is the most bug-riddled operating system release since Windows Vista. To summarize then, this is a great phone that is hamstrung by the software. Maybe iOS 12 will truly unlock the potential of the hardware platform and usher in the next era of personal computing as Apple envisions it.

Epilogue

While Apple might not have the best track record with v1 of a new product, its the BEST at iterating and improving on a design. Next year’s iPhone X-Prime will feature hardware and software that are synchronized at every step. I guarantee it. Let this serve as a notice to Samsung and its ilk. Catch up or be left behind for good.

Walmart’s new strategy: Better pay

Great piece on QZ on how Walmart is working to reduce the income inequality gap: read more here.

The author starts with the fact that income inequality is the greatest in the USA among developed world countries. While most politicians are speaking about either taxing the rich or the government raising the minimum wage and increasing funding to welfare programs. There is a third way, one I have spoken about with my friends -- having corporations do the right thing.

Then there’s a third way, one that calls for increasing the pay of the poorest workers without government intervention, but through the free market.

It requires corporate executives to forget the lessons of finance classes and set aside their preoccupation with quarterly earnings and short-term results. It means taking the view that happier employees who care more, quit less, and work harder will, in the long term, produce better returns.

What a novel concept, but public corporations are in a hell of their own creation that requires them to view everything from a "quarterly" lens. The metrics for success don't take the long term prospects into consideration; a lot is sacrificed at the altar of YoY growth. Well, Walmart has recognized that its onus on cutting costs by under-paying employees has contributed to the decline in wages across the retail sector. In a Volte face, Walmart in 2015 increased the salaries of many of its employees. And when Walmart does something like this, the competition ought to follow...

Walmart employs one in 10 US retail workers, and one out of every 100 US private-sector employees. Just as the company forced competitors to hold the line on wages, increasing its pay is now pressuring rivals to match it.

In 2015, Walmart committed to spending $2.7 billion over two years on increased pay and better training. In April of that year, it raised starting pay for store workers, some of whom were making the federal minimum wage of $7.25, to at least $9 an hour, and bumped them up to $10 an hour the following year.

An improved customer experience is what Walmart was seeking, and it realized that the key to unlocking this change was happier employees:

Without explicitly acknowledging it, Walmart came to the same conclusion Costco and Starbucks arrived at decades ago. Paying workers more, and providing them with substantial benefits like health care and parental leave, attracts more applicants, and gives employers more choices when hiring. It also reduces turnover, which leads to more experienced employees with a greater investment in the health of the business. All of that pays off in a better customer experience, the critical component in whether shoppers return or seek out competitors.

While Walmart’s stock hasn’t returned to its pre-2015 heyday, things are looking up for the world’s largest retailer. I don't shop at Walmart but acknowledge the impact that they can have on the income gap and laud them for their efforts in this regard.

---

There is a lot more in this piece about Walmart, but the aspect that the author missed was how Walmart can continue down this path while remaining competitive with Amazon. From my vantage point, the last two large retailers standing post the great retail apocalypse are going to be Amazon and Walmart. In the final fight between these super heavy-weights, the victor will be decided based on who has more channels through which consumers can acquire goods. In the red corner, there is Amazon with its store, apps, affiliates, Whole Foods and Alexa. In the blue corner, we have Walmart with its gigantic store footprint, website and Jet.com. The difference-maker in my opinion is Alexa.

If I were in Walmart's Digital leadership team, I would push for a partnership with Google Home (and every non-Alexa enabled Smart Home device maker) to compete with the Alexa-enabled retail channel that Amazon has quietly established into a powerhouse. As of last week, Google announced a partnership with Target, but Walmart (and Jet.com) have the more optimized supply chain and better prices. Maybe Google could negotiate a better deal with Target, which would be why they went with them vs. Walmart. Walmart needs to fix this ASAP.

The reality is that Amazon is practically giving Alexa devices away in a manner reminiscent of how Gillette gave their razors away. Alexa plus Amazon getting into every retail segment plus Amazon branded items plus FBA plus Prime plus ... is a multi-prong approach that will require a number of companies to band together to counter. From my vantage point, no one company can compete against this Goliath / Ser Gregor alone.

Ugly Reality of M&A: Laying People Off

tl; dr: As an M&A Integration Leader, you will have to make the hard decision to lay some acquired employees off. Layoffs hit where it hurts most, people's self esteem. If you must, be deliberate with employee analysis and organizational fit, own the message, relay it with empathy, and push for an exit package that allows impacted employees to land on their feet.

As children, our immediate family and friends are all we care about. How we do at school is a part of our identities, but not the whole enchilada. As adults, a chemical reaction takes place in our heads, one that changes what we prioritize and how we derive our own self-worth. We become attached to how we are perceived at work — be it our own business or that of someone else — by our peers, other co-founders, other businessmen.

The chemical change, the one that ascribes a large chunk of our sense of self to performance at work has many consequences. A wise man told me when I was starting out at Microsoft that, “Many a relationship has been sacrificed at the altar of professional growth”. His advice was to leave work where it belongs, at your desk, and to go home with a slate wiped clean. An impossible undertaking, I know that now.

We adults get so caught up in the race that we let our health — mental, physical, and emotional — suffer as we climb that next rung. With our identities so wrapped up in work, we do not prepare for the worst. Which is why when something as unsettling as a layoff notice comes our way, it upends every notion of being an adult that we hold dear. In my 15-some years of corporate travails, I have observed that folks who are laid off fall into two large categories:

1. The ones that anticipated the change; and,
2. The others that had no clue.

Regardless of where staff fall in this broad characterization, a layoff notice hits everyone the same way: like a sack of bricks! Behavioral analysts differentiate between layoffs so as to express the intensity of the suffering that ensues. According to them, when an entire team or division is laid off, the impacted employees are less likely to question their self worth than when folks are singled out for separation from the company payroll.

They are wrong!

No matter the circumstances, no matter your “crystal ball juju”, a layoff hits every impacted employee hard. Being laid off after the perceived HIGH of being acquired, of a successful start up or company exit, aggravates the pain. Personal situations further exacerbate the underlying feelings of depression and loss of self worth. Friends who have had this happen to them describe it as a “punch to the gut”. As if the morale squelching isn’t enough, being laid off has far reaching implications for kith and kin. Mortgage and car payments, health insurance, care and education for the children; the stress concomitant with the event has been shown to put a real strain on relationships.

The unfortunate truth is that a change in control like an acquisition leads to layoffs. Adding to the variability is corporate policy on layoffs/separation. The good corporations take care of the impacted employees with sufficient notice time for folks to find another opportunity, generous separation packages, and fair terms for COBRA/health insurance coverage continuity. The bad ones get bad reviews on Glassdoor. Here’s the net-net:

1. If you are reading this, I hope you aren’t impacted. 
2. If you are, I pray that you chose to be employed by one of the “good” corporations. 
3. If you answered NO to the first two, God speed success with finding the next opportunity.
4. If you are an HR Integration Leader or people manager who has to deliver the devastating news, my only advice to you would be to own the message. Deliver the news with sincerity, empathy and awareness of the impact. Be prepared for any eventuality — to provide a shoulder for grown people to cry on or for a confrontation. The former outcome will take you by surprise no matter how much you prepare; prepare nonetheless.

In my next post, I will talk about the tools at your disposal to help you find your next great opportunity. Until then, try to find your inner zen, talk to colleagues impacted, share your true feelings with your closest family, and know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Not all is lost, yet.