The original Ninjakin, carved Halloween 2007.

What’s this?
Ninjakin »

I’m Marshall Oram, a web designer & WordPress developer by day, ninja in training, technology enthusiast by nature, and nature lover at heart. In my spare time I enjoy running, exploring technology and taking in the outdoors.

When others ask how? I figure it out. What I learn, I’ll try to share here, but it will be infrequent. If you find it interesting, subscribe or follow me. If you disagree, comment. Cheers!


The case for authentic Apple cables

When the new lighting connector was announced the internet was awash with rumblings of Apple’s conspiracy to squeeze more money out of their consumers. Indeed the new authentication chip appeared to be something to that effect. There are many cheap reproductions available online, especially at first, most of which iOS 7 would warn you about. These have proven in my experience to be low quality, breaking within a couple of weeks of purchase. Subsequently Apple started a “certified” program with the big names getting on board (Belkin and the like). These accessories have also proven to break down in my use, with loose connections.

The bottom line is that, as usual, apple makes the best items in this arena (Period)


iOS 7: Beta 1 impressions

There is something unique and polished to the iOS environment. Something that Windows 8 and Android are trying to overcome with a new, flat, trend setting kind of design. I’ve heard the gregarious conversation about how flat is now and how Skeuomorphism is passé in user interface design. But regardless iOS has always seemed more polished and professional than either Android or Windows.

iOS 7 is the newly redesigned future of iOS, in some ways I can see the beauty and benefit of flat design. In most ways I feel like Apple is playing follow the leader. Congrats iOS now seems like a follower to android or windows 8! Flat design is about simplifying the interface, but there is only so much you can do without appearing to copy others. I’ve thought from the beginning that android (and now windows phone) lacked the visual enhancements that make … read more


Inspire Yourself.

The first person you have to inspire every day is yourself. Running will do that.

Marc Parent, Runner’s World columnist 


Time Machine Wipe & Start Over

A bit ago I covered my plan for a comprehensive backup plan for my Mac. I thought when OS X Mt. Lion (10.8) came out that being able to use 2 Time Machine drives would fix my, one-in one-out, process. However it did not. When you swap back in the drive that’s a month out of date it still doesn’t always pickup where it left off, and to add to that you get a notice every couple days that the other drive is unavailable for backup. So 1 drive at a time is best in my experience.

After swapping the drives most often it freaks out saying the drive is full and seems unable to actually do house cleaning or pickup where it left off. My guess it regards the drive a new backup not a continuation. So I find it best to start anew each month. After swapping … read more


iCloud Restore Apps Install then Vanish: Fix

For the last two iCloud restores, I see all my apps in the right place with the greyed out progress bars. The problem is that each app would download, install, then vanish. I had to redownload all apps that I wanted and rearrange them, ouch. When I had to get my iPhone 5 replaced for a faulty top lock button, the same thing happened. The fix I found was a language change after the phone restores your settings and before it starts downloading your apps. Basically a language change forces the springboard, e.g. your desktop of iPhone, to restart and fixes the problem. You can’t do it initially because as soon as your settings are restored you language prep comes with it. So it’s a matter of timing it after your preferences are restored and before you apps are downloaded.

I want to apologize for not being able to recover the article I found … read more