Articles by Zek

Telenav Looks to Shape Ads Based on GPS Data

I don’t always pay close attention to ads and location services, but when I do I tend to notice the same issue continually happening: the ad has no idea where I actually am. Oh, it knows if I am in New Jersey, and it might even sort-of know that I am home. But it doesn’t always know that the business it’s suggesting may be 4 miles away but a 10 minute drive. I’d pass three comparable businesses that were far closer and easier to reach first! Worse, if I am in North Jersey my phone becomes convinced I would be…

News & Features

Verizon’s New 24-Month Subsidy and the Handcuffs of Strong Network Performance

I am due for a new phone upgrade on Verizon in June. I keep track of these things awfully closely, because 20 months is a long time for me to stick with one phone, and I am usually chomping at the bit for a new one by the time my new subsidy is up! So I was, to say the least, absolutely dismayed to see the news that Verizon is moving to a 24-month cycle between subsidies. I sent a lamenting email to my fellow editors, and this set off a discussion about cell phones, subsidy strategies, and why we…

News & Features

Packing Light for Telenav’s Waypoint

I’m heading to Telenav’s annual Waypoint conference next week. Since this is a fairly short trip, I’m looking to keep my baggage fairly light. I’d like to minimize my time lugging items around the airport, and with some careful planning, I think I can cut way back on my tendency to turn every trip into “my backpack is a mobile Radio Shack.” What’s on my packing list? Read on…

eBooks

Barnes & Noble Has Forgotten What Makes the NOOK Interesting

Hey, want to buy a NOOK? Barnes & Noble would very much like it if you did. That’s not surprising — they’re fighting hard for marketshare in an increasingly crowded market. But hot on the heels of their “buy a tablet, get an eBook reader!” bizarre promotion, they’ve been reminding everyone of another reason to buy a NOOK: They’ll pay you in NOOK credits. Essentially, they want to handcuff you to the NOOK ecosystem one way or another! But are there better ways to market the NOOK family of products? First, let’s look at the promotions. If you want an…

Reviews

Jurassic Park 3D Review

Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies. I have very fond memories of seeing it as a kid with my dad, and I even had the soundtrack (on cassette tape!) So of course, I had tickets to see Jurassic Park 3D this weekend. This was a 20 year old movie, updated for 3D … would it hold up against more modern standards? Admittedly, I am biased because I loved the original, but it surprisingly did hold up quite well. The special effects still looked quite good, and there weren’t any cringe-worthy moments where the blue screen or CGI looked dated….

News & Features

The Bluths Are Back on May 26th with More Arrested Development!

I have made no secret of the fact that I am a huge “Arrested Development” fan. I have watched every episode multiple times, own them all on DVD, and I keep them in my Netflix queue. This may seem like overkill, but you can never run the risk that connectivity may separate you from the Bluth Family. While Fox cut Arrested Development short, Netflix resurrected it, and the official date is here: May 26th! Netflix is working really hard to break free from just streaming licensed content, and Arrested Development is their second original content show after “House of Cards”….

Gear Bits

NBC Promotes Smarter Passwords in “The More You Know” Spot

A few weeks ago, there was a lot of buzz about vulnerabilities in Apple’s security — and as a result, they rolled out two-step password verification — I tried to encourage my dad to enroll his Apple ID in it as well as my mom’s. I might as well have been speaking a foreign language, because he stared vacantly at me, shrugged, and said: “I’m sure it will be fine.” If he won’t listen to me about using smarter passwords for better password safety, then hopefully he was watching NBC, because tonight I saw a “The More You Know” PSA…

Reviews

SmartStick TV Accessory Review

When we were shopping for an HDTV, I briefly considered whether we needed a “smart TV”. Eventually, I decided we probably didn’t, but I was very excited to take a look at the SmartStick TV accessory, as it turns my decidedly not-smart HDTV into a smart version running Android. Unfortunately, it isn’t without its drawbacks, and it has left me wondering if the benefits are worth the quirks. Read on to find out my take! Physically, the SmartStick is extremely compact. It’s just a little bit bigger than a stick of gum, and it uses HDMI to connect to the…

eBooks, News & Features

Amazon Buys Goodreads, but Is It a Good Deal?

Amazon announced today that they’re buying Goodreads, a social book site that lets you review books you’ve read, and look for recommendations based on your reading list and the books your friends are reading. Needless to say, this is a slam dunk match for Amazon and Goodreads, as they really can complement each other nicely. There are a lot of reasons why this is good for everyone (Amazon, the Goodreads team, Goodreads users and Amazon Kindle users), but it does strike me that Goodreads being off the market is a potential loss for a few other big ebook players…let’s look a little…

Crowdfunding

John-E-Reader Makes Your Bathroom Safe for Kindles

Sarah and I are getting settled into our new home and are quite pleased. It’s really great…there’s just one minor issue. See, the first floor has a bathroom (which is great) but the sink doesn’t have much of a lip to rest items like reading material. So the John-E-Reader at Kickstarter caught my eye! The John-E-Reader was invented to address the exact issue we have in our house: how do you bring an expensive device into a water and tile filled trap safely? Their solution was to create a small pouch that hangs on your toilet paper holder, leaving your…

News & Features

Careful, Google Is Listening

I had two very odd encounters with Google ads yesterday. It’s common for Google to push ads based on emails, as Microsoft helpfully pointed out in their “Scroogled” campaign. But usually those ads appear because of something in your email or search history. That doesn’t explain the ads I saw yesterday, as they were dead-on accurate to conversations I had held over iMessage and in person … not through Google. First, Sarah went out of town this weekend and left me a list of to-dos around the house. One of them was to straighten the large area rug in the…

Reviews

Spotlite 2.0 GPS Pet Tracker Review

Pets are part of the family; we want them safe, happy, and healthy. Unfortunately, as anyone who has ever owned a dog can attest, you can’t really have a reasoned conversation with them about why it’s important to stay in the yard, why they shouldn’t go harass the neighbors, why there is no wandering near the street…and they certainly can’t call home if they do disobey those wishes and they get lost! Securus has a solution, the Spotlite 2.0, a GPS tracker that attaches to your pet’s collar and lets you track their location, receive alerts if they leave the…

News & Features

MightyMega Launches to Share All the Best in Sci Fi and Geekery

I am a self-professed sci-fi geek. Sarah is … not. She tries for my sake to be supportive of my favorite shows, but she just doesn’t understand it. And there have been many road trips where I’ve droned on and on about Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek, and Sarah has nearly driven off the road in frustration and boredom. So I need an outlet for all my geekery. Luckily for me, MightyMega has launched as a repository of all things awesome and sci-fi on the Internet! MightyMega is from the same folks that bring you The Awesomer and Technabob, so…

eBooks, Editorials

Is an eBook a Book, or Is It Something Else?

The fine folks at Forbes raised an interesting question this week: are eBooks really books? Their take is that eBooks are more like software, due to their digital nature. And yes, they are looking specifically at the education markets. But this touches on a larger debate, one that comes up quite often. Opponents of eBooks argue that they are not really books because the book experience is not the same. Now, I rarely get to dust off my philosophy degree, but this seems like the sort of debate that lends itself quite well to a simple analysis of the identity…

How to Do It Yourself!

How to Shop for a Realtor

Sarah and I recently sold our house and bought a new one … or to be accurate, the house is new to us and was built in the 1920’s, which is part of what drew us to it. I’ve received numerous questions from friends about the criteria we used to find our realtor. Since a home can be the biggest, most expensive piece of “gear” any of us may own, I thought I’d share our lessons we learned here. We sold our home on the second go-around. The first time we listed it, we didn’t click well with the realtor,…

Editorials

Is Customer Service the Key to Killing Showrooming?

Moving requires Sarah and me to be good little consumers and spend money. It’s inevitable that there are household items that need to be purchased or upgraded, and we have countless lists of “to buy”. We’re trying hard to watch our bottom line, and yes, we’ve definitely engaged in what has been called “showrooming”, or checking out items in a store and then purchasing them online for less money. But there have been a few times when we’ve been impressed enough with the customer service we encountered that price became less important than having a smooth, easy transaction. When retailers…

News & Features

SpotLite 2.0 Helps You Keep Your Eye on Spot

My dog Porter is generally a good dog, but he has his moments of being a bit bratty. Mostly we joke he thinks he’s a person, and every once in a blue moon he catches his reflection, remembers he’s actually a dog, and misbehaves accordingly. We don’t have him microchipped, in part because he’s a rescue who was shot with BB’s as a puppy, and the idea of inserting more metal into him, even a microchip, breaks our hearts a little bit. But we do watch him like hawks when he’s not leashed outside, especially in the backyard, since you…

Reviews

Mailbox App Review – Is Email Conquered for Good?

It has been a little over a week since I started using the Mailbox app as my main email organizer, and I have finally settled into a rhythm and have a handle on how it works. It’s incredibly easy to grasp once you get it set up, and I am still as smitten with it as I was last week in my first impressions post. But here are the real question: is it worth the long wait to gain access? And is all the hype that’s surrounded it since before its launch justified? Read on for my take! First, let’s…

Reviews

Hitcase for iPhone 4S Review

I am a big fan of cases that let you take your iPhone into extreme situations, because the iPhone has an excellent camera and tons of great apps for the outdoors, but it is a bit delicate. You don’t want to send your iPhone flying while riding your bike, or while on a trail run. But the quasi-permanent cases can be bulky when you aren’t out tramping around nature, and that’s where cases like the Hitcase fit the bill. When you’re heading out for a rough and tumble day, your iPhone is safely tucked inside, protected from water and dirt….

Reviews

Toshiba Portege Z930 Review

I vastly prefer lightweight computing options. If I am travelling, I grab my iPad and that’s it. For two years I reached for my original Chromebook almost exclusively when I needed a computer. It’s a mix of light-weight and simple design that makes me like my computers more streamlined. But get too streamlined, and you encounter compromises when it comes to photo editing, games, and anything else that needs a bit more power behind it. Power plus a lightweight design pretty much defines Ultrabooks, so I was very excited to get the opportunity to review the Toshiba Portege Z930 Ultrabook….

News & Features

Polaris eBike Makes You Go WHOOSH!

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of commuting by bike. It’s not practical for my job, unfortunately, but it just sounds very appealing to combine exercise with commuting — plus it’s far cheaper than using a car. I have a few issues with using a bike as a main vehicle, though: One, I would constantly worry about being sweaty, and two, I am a very poky bike rider. Even on a fully tuned up bike, there are children on tricycles who would zip past me! If I were in a position to seriously try biking every day work, though,…

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