September 2011

Music Diary Notes: The Post f8 Spotify-Facebook Hangover

Last week I reported on the Facebook Music announcements, and I showed how the new Free mode of Spotify would auto-fill the registration with your Facebook profile. Well, this weekend a couple of less-exciting things came to light. First, I actually USED the Facebook-Spotify ‘connection’, and second I discovered that the sign-up process I highlighted was more than ‘convenient’. First, over at DMN there is word that the Facebook connection for Spotify isn’t a convenience – it is a requirement! Here’s what the registration prompt now says: “You need a Facebook account to register for Spotify. If you have an account,…

Music Diary, News

Music Diary Notes: Quiescence Music Brings Piano Skills To Older Adults

I have written several times (such as here, here and here) about Quiescence Music, the site headed up by piano instructor Edward Weiss that takes a casual, hands-on and emergent approach to learning to play and compose based on the New Age style. During that time, I have shared some of the materials from Quiescence with my family, and had my pianist son play around with some of the approaches. While he is already an advanced pianist and has solid techniques, the approach Weiss teaches in terms of exploration is similar to how I have always encouraged my kids to…

Reviews

Notebook PC Review: Toshiba Satellite P745-S4250 Laptop

Normally in laptop reviews I try to apply some generic context about where the laptop falls in the market in terms of segmentation and price, then invite the reader into the main body of the review to find out how it fits in that segment and the value offered. For the Toshiba Satellite P745-S4250 (S4250 from now on), I will just come out and call the segment the HOLY-CRAP-DID-YOU-HEAR-THE-SOUND-ON-THIS-THING-IT-IS-UNBELIEVABLE-FOR-A-LAPTOP … and the price is just under $800 nicely equipped. With my hand fully tipped, come on along for a look at this wonderful 14″ laptop! The Hype: No-Nonsense Multimedia Performance…

Reviews

Kindle Case Review: Speck FitFolio for Kindle 3

(Part 1 of 3) As much as I love my iPad, and I do, there are some tasks for which it just isn’t right. For example, have you ever tried using your iPad in bright sunlight? It stinks. That’s where a simple eReader like the Kindle comes in. It is small, light and it is easy to read in even the brightest sunlight. Better still, at just over $100 it is relatively inexpensive. That means were it to be lost or stolen the hit would be far smaller than if that were to happen to my $829 iPad. As a…

Gear Bits

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 US Edition

I took advantage of a recent W00t deal, and I now have a US Edition of the Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0. This is the US edition, as opposed to the more common Asian/European version. Let’s take a look! Features • The 5-inch (12.7cm) display allows you browse full web pages and read small text without resizing the screen. The Galaxy S Wi-Fi 5.0 supports various video formats (DivX, Xvid, H.263, Ogg, MPEG4, Flac). It also delivers an impressive viewing experience on the large screen • SoundAlive maximizes the performance of Samsung mobile devices for real sound quality via Samsung…

Game Diary, Reviews

iPad Game Review: Fix It Up: Kate’s Adventure

The latest time-management casual game from G5 Entertainment is called Fix It Up: Kate’s Adventure. Centering around young Kate, who has just returned from college and needs to help bring her father’s auto-repair shop back up to standards after several employees have left, Kate’s Adventure continues as she moves on and seeks her own fortunes by expanding and branching out. How does it play? Let’s take a look! The Hype: Get ready for a time management adventure that will keep you on your toes! Kate comes home from college to find her dad’s auto repair shop grappling with financial difficulties….

Music Diary, News

Music Diary Songs of Note: Sly Stone Now Living Out of a Van in L.A.

There was some sad news in the New York Post overnight, that soul and funk legend Sly Stone is broke and living out of a van in Los Angeles. Here is a snip: But those days are gone. Today, Sly Stone — one of the greatest figures in soul-music history — is homeless, his fortune stolen by a lethal combination of excess, substance abuse and financial mismanagement. He lays his head inside a white camper van ironically stamped with the words “Pleasure Way” on the side. The van is parked on a residential street in Crenshaw, the rough Los Angeles…

Great Depression Bread Line, FDR Memorial, Washington D.C., photo taken by Flickr user Damon Green

Editorials

Dear Politicians, It Is Time to Fix This!

photo taken at the FDR Memorial in Washington D.C., by Flickr user Damon Green Let us be perfectly upfront here: this post is overtly political, and we don’t apologize for that fact. It is not Conservative or Liberal or even a Libertarian post. It is overtly political, but it calls out Democrats and Republicans alike. Yes, this post is political, but it is a “people post” because it is talking about our lives, our livelihood, and the American economy. Okay, enough disclaimer. Dan is reading a book called Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. The book starts…

Reviews

Mobile Device Accessory Review: Juice Pack Powerstation

It seems silly to refer to an external battery as “good-looking”, but mophie’s new juice pack power station is one good-looking battery. It is sleek, solid and feels great thanks to the combination of polished metal and soft touch material. And with a footprint that is a bit smaller than an iPhone, this 4000mAh battery is simple to carry around all the time. From mophie: juice pack powerstation: This powerful 4000mAh external battery can charge virtually any USB device in the world including the iPhone and iPad. With completely reengineered battery and electronics, the powerstation can charge your device at…

Music Diary, News

Music Diary Notes: The You Rock Guitar With iPad Support Looks and Sounds Great!

Back in December of 2009 I wrote about the initial unveiling of the YouRock Guitar. It was released in 2010, but if you look around for reviews you will find them starting in mid-2010 but mostly from spring 2011 right up until now. Why is that? A few reasons I can see. First, because You Rock Guitar can be used as a Guitar Hero controller, it has dealt with the drop-off in interest in THAT market segment. It has also faced criticism from those who look at the plasticky design, low-grade on-board sounds, and the gimmicky ‘you rock’ mode that…

Editorials

Are We Suffering Through An Anti-Intellectualism Backlash?

A few months ago I had started writing up an article called “Study: ‘Being Green’ Isn’t About Saving the Planet, But Pushing an Elitist Agenda” which I will get to shortly … but today there was an article about the “10 Things That Are Killing Indie Music in 2011”. And #1? “Suspicion of intellectualism”. The basis of the argument is that we are at a point where something that seems ‘smart’ shouldn’t be trusted, and should be rejected for being elitist: any semblance of intellectualism — or any divergence from popular opinion, for that matter — tends to get you…

Reviews

Switch Magnetic Interchange Lens System Eyewear Review

Last year I went to CES in Las Vegas as part of a SCOTTEVEST No Baggage Challenge for Charity. Because I could only bring what I was able to carry in my SeV clothing I had to leave behind a number of items that would normally go with me on a trip. Among the items left? My sunglasses. It only took a few hours of being in Vegas to realize that I needed a pair. I walked into a Sunglass Hut and said, “What’s on closeout?” Even steeply discounted I spent $100 that day. The sunglasses have held up well…

Reviews

The Beyzacases MacBook Air 11″ Zero Series Case Review

Please allow me to gush for a moment, because it is not something I’m usually inclined to do … I truly enjoy using my little 11″ MacBook Air; it is the computer that I grab when I don’t want to be tied to a desk. I use it on the couch, I use it outside on our deck, and sometimes I use it “just because” … and when it’s time to travel, I typically toss my Air inside whatever bag I happen to be carrying. The 11″ Air is the most totable (while remaining usable) laptop that I have ever…

News

WordPress iOS Blogging App Updated: Finally iOS Blogging Works?

The free iOS app for WordPress blogging got updated tonight. It brings full-screen editing, a feature-rich content editor and much more. After a year and a half of wanting the ability to truly blog with ease from an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad this update might finally be what I’ve been looking for. I mean, finally you can easily format text, add links or quote text. For anyone who blogs and uses Apple devices this is big, really big.

Reviews

iPad Accessory Review: Rain Design iRest for iPad and iPad 2

There are some companies that understand that it is not form OR function but rather form AND function. Such companies, few in number, have an ability to design products that look great but also function with a simplicity that makes you wonder how you ever went without. Of course Apple leads the pack in this regard but there are others who follow suit. Sonos is one such company. (I write this while Garbage’s song “Push It” is blasting from two Play:5s set up as a stereo-pair.) I LOVE their products. Rain Design is another such company. Their designs are simple,…

News

DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket – The Beginning PlayStation 3 Video Service Review

The NFL Sunday Ticket service, originally launched in 1994, debuts on the PlayStation 3 for the first time.

News

TV Goes Back to the Future With Digital Ad Placement

The other night we were watching Castle, and in the show he was signing books – the book was then advertised in a commercial right at the end of the episode! That same night I was playing ‘Stand O’Food 3’ and there was a poster in the office for ‘Supermarket Mania 2’. Neither was obvious or over the top – certainly nothing like the previous evening when we saw a bit of General Hospital with a woman making chocolate milk for a young boy, but saying things like ‘wouldn’t you like some HERSHEY’s chocolate milk? I know when I’m sad…

Editorials, Game Diary

Video Games and Marriage: Game Related Divorce Rampant in Real and Virtual Worlds!

I have no intent to make light of divorce or marriage or anything else related to human relationships – they are tough enough as it is. But recently there have been a couple of reports related to video games and divorce that I found interesting. So let’s dive right in! While just about any hobby involving a significant singular time commitment can cause strain in a marriage – my father and a couple of his friends called themselves ‘quilting widows’, and there are people I work with who go on fishing/hunting/camping weekends, and on and on – it seems that…

Editorials

It STILL Really Is Just An ‘iPad Market’

We have talked about the so-called ‘Tablet Market’ as really being the ‘iPad Market’, with some marginal players scraping for scraps. Some of us have bought or spent considerable time with one or more of the various tablets that have come out over the last year – the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Motorola Xoom, BlackBerry Playbook, HP TouchPad, HTC Flyer, Acer Iconia, and on and on. Yet in all of these cases there have been some serious flaws that have derailed the tablets and ultimately resulted in the failure of the tablets to gain market penetration. Last week the IDC released…

Reviews

Headphone Accessory Review: Sinch Let’s You and Your Phone Go Tangle Free

Cords and cables… they seem to be everywhere. and most of the time they are a tangled mess. Sure you can use a Bluetooth headset but they need to be recharged and Bluetooth is less than reliable at times. (I’m being nice.) The Sinch seeks to end the mess of tangle headphone wires that plague modern society. Using a unique design that includes two strong magnets it creates a “pocket” that can hold your earbud cord when wrapped around a device or when used in isolation. Let’s take a look at this rather unusual new accessory. From…

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