Google tracks everything we do. It’s common knowledge that they use web search, emails, and general use patterns to tailor advertising to their users. But Google is always looking for ways to gather even more data, and if you’re an Android user one of those tools is Google Opinion Rewards, an app that pays you to take Google Surveys.
Brooks Running has a very specific message: Run Happy! They want you to feel good running, and feeling good means wearing quality shoes that look great. Taste is subjective, but if you’re a fan of bright running shoes that make a statement, be sure to peruse Brook’s new “Aurora” line. They’ve released their best shoes in bright, beautiful new colors!
If you live outside the United States, and you have NOOK books, now would be an excellent time to download them safely to a hard drive and find out how to strip the DRM. Apparently Barnes and Noble‘s expansion into international markets was driven by Microsoft, and since the two companies have disentangled they are pulling the plug.
About a month ago, we decided to tighten up our budget, and one of the obvious places was cable. A quick once-over of our viewing habits showed our TV spent more time tuned to our Roku box than the cable box anyway, so I cut our plan back to just internet, and we really don’t miss cable at all!
I have never been terribly interested in heart-rate based training. Chest straps and I just don’t get along well. I know there’s a lot of benefit to heart rate training, so I was very curious to check out the LifeBEAM Smart hat as a way to make it easier to track my heart rate while I’m active!
Dan and I were chatting last night about the gorgeous Maxwell Scott briefcase he reviewed, and he was surprised to hear I don’t carry a work briefcase. My office is business formal, so it would fit, but I was given rock solid professional advice once on why a briefcase isn’t the best choice for business meetings!
Amazon really wants to capture the family media market. They’ve already pushed the Kindle Fire as a great kid-friendly tablet, and now they’re selling a similar bundle using the entry-level Kindle. When you look at the whole package though, it’s great for more than just kids-anyone interested in a Kindle should look at the Kindle for Kids bundle!
This weekend I used some Google Play credits to grab a quick game for my phone. Immediately, I had an email from Google letting me know a game was purchased in my account with my credits. It’s not that weird, except that I had made some purchases in iTunes recently, and it took TWO DAYS to get a confirmation email!
“Do you have to get back to the office?” I’ve never been more mortified by nine words in my life. My Pebble is great, but when I went to check it for a legitimate text related to lunch, it looked as though I was trying to escape. It worked out, but it did reflect that smartwatches are changing social cues.
Today I rode to work behind a fascinating looking vehicle. At first glance, I was worried I had accidentally taken Percoset from my recent surgery, and thought I was hallucinating. But no, the new 2015 Nissan Murano was real, and I found myself wondering how it was that Nissan designed such a…unique vehicle.
I love backpacks. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find a backpack you want to use for everyday items. Either it looks like you’re on your way to your first day of pre-K, or you look like you might summit Everest on the way to the office. Case Logic’s Griffith Park Ion backpack aims to sit between those extremes.
We have the “cut the cable or don’t cut the cable” debate in my house every few months. In the end our bundled cable still seems like a better deal because there’s a few networks we use regularly.
Apparently I’m being sued. So are my lawyers. And several of my college friends, roommates, acquaintances, and even complete strangers. Why are we all being sued, you ask? A Nebraska woman who claims she is personally representing God and Jesus has asked the court to rule on whether or not homosexuality is a sin, so all homosexuals are apparently defendants.
I had my first Uber experience last weekend, and I have to say it was remarkably pleasant. It doesn’t change the fact that I think Uber as a company is a bit shady, and the fact that their response to Kansas requiring background checks and insurance was to take their service and leave the state doesn’t make them less shady.
You may have seen the viral letter from a dad whose kids skipped school so they could watch him run the Boston Marathon. The school sent a “this was an unexcused absence” form letter, and the dad fired off a passionate letter explaining why his kids learned more from Boston than in school. They may have also learned to cheat.
I mostly love my HTC One M8. It’s a year old, but still has the latest software, and nothing on the market is compelling enough to get my to trade in my trusty One. Except one thing: the One has been exceedingly buggy on and off lately, and I can’t decide if there’s a better solution than a hard reset.
We recently took a vacation and after some debate decided it was safer to bring our own carseat rather than rent one of dubious quality along with our car. You can buy special carts to transport car seats, but a friend of ours filled us in on a much cheaper and more versatile tip: a hand truck!
I have reviewed several cars for Gear Diary, and they’re usually my favorite reviews to do. Cars are probably the biggest purchase most people make, besides a house, and they are technological tools as much as they are transportation methods. The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport excels in one of these areas and fails miserably in the other!
Jawbone is quite busy these days. In addition to finally launching the UP3 Fitness Tracker that’s been delayed for months, they decided to get ahead of themselves and release two more trackers at the same time: a fairly simple UP2 device, and a high-end UP4 that tracks your fitness AND acts as a mobile payment device!
When we first moved into our house, we debated signing up with an alarm company. Ultimately we decided against it after looking at how much a contract would cost, but I’ve been following the smartphone-based alarm systems closely. We’ve been testing the SkylinkNet Alarm System starter kit; so how does it fit our needs and protect our home?
My coworker is in the process of planning her wedding. Recently she went to message someone on Facebook about it, and she thought it would be cute to include a Facebook sticker/emoji for weddings. To her surprise, Facebook Messenger had removed the boy/girl pairing, and instead added some very odd same-sex and inter-animal choices instead.