2011

FaceTime and iOS Impresses Halfway Across the Globe

(Image courtesy of Apple) The world is a big place. At the turn of the century trying to visit loved ones who lived halfway across the world took months. Now, we can fly from one side of the globe to the other in less than a day. And even when we aren’t physically technology enables us to feel as if we are. I was reminded of this when FaceTime and iOS brought me closer to my wife AND saved us money in the process. My wife and I live in the midwest, but she is from Thailand. She is visiting her…

News & Features, Reviews

Review: iFrogz Vertex Headphones with Mic

The folks at iFrogz were kind enough to send me a set of their brand new Vertex line of headphones to check out. Will they sounds as good as they look? Follow along for a detailed look at all the features of the Vertex Headphones. It used to be that if you wanted a wired set of headphones with a mic, you were stuck using in ear or ear bud designs. Several manufactures have started adding a microphone to headphones that are not ear buds now that it’s far more common to use your phone as a music device. The…

Music Diary, Reviews

Music Diary Review: Jimi Hendrix – ‘Winterland 5 CD Box Set (Amazon.com Exclusive)’ (2011, Rock)

Jimi Hendrix – ‘Winterland 5 CD Box Set’ For anyone who has ever played or aspired to play the guitar in the last half century, Jimi Hendrix must surely place on the short list of influences and inspirations. Regardless of what you think about his lifestyle, drug use, or even the music of that era, there is really little debate about the raw talent and visionary approach Hendrix had as a guitarist. But guitar talent alone is not enough to carry a career – and self-destructive behavior certainly never helps! So Hendrix had a great run between 1967-1968 … and…

Reviews

iPhone and iPad App Review: AmpKit 1.2

I became excited when IOS apps started utilizing guitar functions. We can tune our guitars, look up tabs, learn new licks and even play them through our devices. Basically, your iPhone or iPad can make you a mobile musician or studio with little equipment to carry. Peavey teamed up with Agile Partners and brought us AmpKit which basically turned an IOS device into an amp modeler, multi-effects processor and pocket recording studio. I reviewed the initial release here a little over a year ago. This Tuesday, Agile Partners kicked up the already awesome application with the 1.2 release. I was…

Reviews

iPhone / iPad Game Review: Tesla Wars HD

Tower defense games come in a wide variety of sizes, styles and approaches, but in general they all involve keeping enemies at one end from getting to your base at the other end. Games like Fieldrunners and Plants vs. Zombies and Defense Grid: The Awakening are great games that exemplify the breadth of the genre – and the various apps stores, casual game sites and digital download houses are filled with generic clones of those games. Now we have a game that takes a different approach – and works surprisingly well! Let’s take a look. The Hype: Tesla Wars is…

Music Diary, News & Features

Music Diary Notes: Survey Says – Ownership Remains Supreme!

Recently eMusic contracted Insight Research Group to try to get a sense of consumer feelings about music ownership. After all, bloggers like myself are constantly crowing about MOG and Slacker and Rdio and Pandora and Spotify and … well, you get the picture. Turns out, while there is plenty of interest in streaming …when it comes to money, people want to actually OWN their content. This is good news for folks like iTunes, Amazon and eMusic … and not so great for all the streaming companies I have mentioned. Here are the conclusions: Study results show that purchasing ‘music to…

Editorials

My First Experience With a 3D Phone: LG Thrill

One of my students excitedly hurried into my classroom the other day, exclaiming that I had to see her new phone. Kids show me their new gadgets everyday, but this was obviously something special since the other students were just as excited. When she presented it to me she just exclaimed, “3D!” In her hand was one of the newest Android handsets from LG to sport 3D technology. The LG Thrill is exclusive to ATT and can be purchased for $99. The hardware seemed nice and was similar to other Android phones I have played with, but I really just…

News & Features

HTC Rhyme Introduced with a Family of Integrated Accessories and Sleek Good Looks

I can’t even find it in myself to be annoyed that HTC has introduced a phone that is so obviously aimed at women; if they had just colored it plum and called it good, I would have been livid. But no. The HTC Rhyme is a phone that I would have considered carrying anyway … and the bonus is that it just happens to be a lovely plum color. From the unique plum color that draws on the inspiration from HTC’s designers to specific apps, wallpapers, and ringtones created for the HTC Rhyme, HTC Sense’s presence is seen throughout. Hardware design is taken a…

Reviews

Bluetooth Headset Review: Jabra Sport Bluetooth Headphones

I’m sitting on an old-fashioned rocking chair on the porch of an inn in Martha’s Vineyard with a cup of coffee. The air is a bit brisk but the sun is shining and there is a nice breeze. It is about as close to a perfect fall morning as you are going to get. My iPad has served me well as my Sunday New York Times for the past hour or so and now I am writing this post. And the scene is made close to perfect by a soundtrack provided by Pandora. (I’m listening to a custom station I…

News & Features

The Return of Layaway?

About five years ago Wal-mart decided it was no longer going to offer layaway plans. What is layaway? Layaway works by you walking in to the store, picking what you want and going back to a layaway counter and putting a down payment on it. You then have a certain amount of time to pay it off then take it home. If you don’t pay it off, it goes back on the sales floor and you get your money refunded minus a service charge. The great ting is you don’t pay any interest like you do with credit cards….

News & Features

Review: iFrogz Timbrepro Headphones with Mic

I have always loved iFrogz unique headphone designs. They are always eye-catching and usually sound pretty good to boot. They aren’t top of the line, but they are far from the worst I have ever tried. That’s why I jumped at the chance to get a set of the new iFrogz Timbrepro Headphones sent to me for a review. The general design of these is very much like some of the other headphones iFrogz has in their line that include the inline microphone for iPhone, Android and any phone that accepts a 3.5 mm jack. Where they differ are in two different design points….

Music Diary, Reviews

Music Diary Review: Levin-Torn-White (2011, Rock)

Levin-Torn-White It seems like the last year has seem loads of new releases from classic artists in the so-called ‘prog rock’ arena – the dreary Asia recording ‘Omega’, the over-produced ‘Emotion and Commotion’ from Jeff Beck, and more recently the Yes recording ‘Fly From Here’. At the same time, writing about Bill Bruford’s autobiography and discovering King Crimson’s ‘Absent Lovers recording has brought the music of that Crimson era to the fore in my mind. So it was with marked enthusiasm – yet some reserve – that I checked out the new recording from three legends of rock: Tony Levin,…

Reviews

GPSRunningWatch for Android Review

Running is a pretty simple sport. All you need is a pair of shoes, a good pair of shorts, and a cheap watch. All the extra bells and whistles are optional (and really, even shoes and watch are optional — just don’t run naked, as police tend to frown on that.) But there are always ways for technology to creep in, and GPS watches such as Garmin’s Forerunner are near-staples in the running community. For those of us who don’t want a small computer on our wrists, or who carry a smartphone anyway on a run, there are apps that…

News & Features

Keep QuikClot on Hand, and You May Save a Life

QuikClot is an emergency wound dressing loaded with blood clotting agents. You can go to YouTube and watch some extremely graphic training videos of QuikClot in action, but I suggest that you not do so if you have a weak stomach. If you are able to handle the graphic images, I’m sure that you’ll agree the results are pretty impressive. I had never heard about QuikClot until I stumbled on a recent Lifehacker post, “How to Survive a Gunshot Wound.” Yikes. QuikClot is the consumer version of a Z-Medica product that has long been used by the military, law enforcement and emergency medical…

Editorials

Movin’ to a Mac

Recently, I was laid off from my day job. As a result, for the first time in my life (literally!), my main system will be an Apple system, specifically 15″ MacBook Pro running OS X “Snow Leopard”. And as I’ve made the move, copying my iTunes library over, setting up a backup disk, and all the other nonsense in which one must engage when one makes a big move of this type, I’ve noticed a few things. If you’re someone who is considering making the jump, but has been hesitating for one reason or another, maybe my experiences here will…

News & Features

Etón Introduces Mobius NSP300B, a Solar iPhone 4 Charging Solution

The name is a mouthful, unless you shorten it to Mobius, but the idea is simple: place a solar panel on the back of an iPhone 4, and you won’t ever need to worry about not being able to charge — assuming natural light is plentiful, of course. Differentiating itself from solar-charging solutions on the market today, Mobius features a quick charge time and the ability to store charge until you need it. The high-efficiency monocrystal solar panel re-charges the 1800 mAh rechargeable lithium ion battery pack on the back of the case. Only one hour of solar charging provides…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

2011 Honda CR-Z Compact Sport Coupe Hybrid a Bit of a Surprise

The CR-Z from Honda was a bit of a surprise for me: A surprise it took Honda so long to come out with a modern version of its popular little car; a surprise it came out as a hybrid; and a surprise that I found myself a little disappointed by the whole thing. As a modern CR-X, it has gained a bit of size and heft and as a hybrid it comes up a bit short on gas mileage. The new CR-Z gets worse fuel economy (highway and averaged) than quite a few gasoline-only cars currently in the Honda fleet…

Editorials, Reviews

How I Chose the Tablet for Me

Tablet computing is all the rage now. Microsoft coined it, Apple popularized it and there are many others including Microsoft itself that are vying for a piece of the large pie that Apple already owns. It isn’t the death of the PC, but I am convinced it’s a device almost everyone will eventually own. Some may replace their computer entirely with a tablet device, while others will just use it to augment the laptop or desktop they use. Either way, it’s the future and I’ve decided I need to look at getting one. Follow me along the journey of selecting my…

Reviews

Oberon Designs Women’s Wallet Review

I’m a simple leather wallet type of girl. In fact, I’ve had the same worn men’s wallet from Target for several years. But when I’m out at a business meeting, or at a formal event, it’s not the best image when I reach for my wallet and whip out my Target special. So when Oberon offered me the chance to review their women’s wallet, I jumped. When I opened the package with the wallet, my first thought was that it was almost too nice to take it out of the house. Also, it seemed huge compared to my everyday wallet….

Editorials

FourSquare Quick Tip: Upload a Profile Picture to Become a Mayor

It had become a running joke in the family. “Dan, did you FourSquare here?” “Dan, still one day away from being mayor?” “Dan, when you can’t even become mayor of your own house what does that tell you?” “Dan, you know the ‘no fly’ list? I think FourSquare has you on the ‘no mayor’ list.” Yes, I was one day away from becoming the FourSquare mayor at well over a dozen venues. Despite this I had only actually become major once and then it was only for one day. And to add insult to injury THAT location was a tram…

Reviews

The Beyza Cases iPhone 4 “Zero Series” Case Review

Here’s a simple stunner that may convince you to ditch your bulky iPhone 4 case. Beyzacases has come out with a new “Zero Series”, which has to be some of the thinnest — yet most sumptuous — leather I have everhandled. Why “Zero”? Zero Series are the thinnest genuine leather cases ever made in the market. Beyzacases quality meets with magnificent art of traditional leather craftsmanship and the engineering of Beyzacases artists. “Zero” term comes from the thinness of the craftsmanship of the Zero Series which does not add any bulk to your carrying experience in any terms. Zero Series for iPhone 4…

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