News & Features

The Final #NBCFail – Cutting Rock Legends in Favor of Supermodels, Pop Trash and an Awful New Show

Imagine you have a few hours of pre-recorded video in hand, featuring all manner of showmanship and including some mid-level pop stars, a bizarrely over-long live photo-montage by non-performers, and some of the great legends of music. Which would you cut from the Prime Time show? Of course! Naturally you cut the legends … well, most of them. Some you make fans wait over an hour until AFTER airing an abysmal new pilot before you let them see the performance. But are we really so surprised that this is how NBC would handle the Olympic closing ceremonies? I mean, we…

News & Features

Grove Makes Your Moleskine Pop

I’ll be flat-out honest about this: I like the idea of Moleskine notebooks, but I’ve never used one. Having a tried and true methodology for capturing information that becomes part of a personal tradition and eventually results in a shelf full of old notebooks representing one’s history over a number of years is so old school and so cool at the same time. (Well, that’s my old-fashioned opinion, anyway.) But the darn things are boring looking. I mean, plain black. No pizzazz. No pop. Grove, an iPhone and iPad accessory maker based in Portland, Oregon, has a solution for that….

Health and Fitness, News & Features

Finally Some (Mostly) Good News About Kids’ Health

When you look at the news about the health of our kids, there has been little good news over the last couple of decades: obesity, lack of activity, increased food allergies, diabetes, and on and on. So when we DO get even somewhat good news it is exciting. Here is what is getting folks going: A big government study shows that in the past decade, the proportion of children who have high cholesterol has fallen. The results are surprising, given that the childhood obesity rate didn’t budge. How can that be? Some experts think that while most kids may not…

News & Features

Say NO to Vertical Videos

As someone who spends his life shooting video, it always pains me to have a family member show me a video they’ve shot on their phone in portrait. They simply don’t understand, and their excuse is always that “I always hold my phone like that!”. You’re holding it wrong. Thankfully we now have this excellent instructional video on why Vertical Video Syndrome needs to be cured. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Bt9zSfinwFA [via ZAGG]

News & Features

USBFever Releases Universal USB Hub and Card Reader for iPad & Galaxy Tabs!

You know, I wonder what they put in their coffee or beverage of choice over at USBFever, because it never ceases to amaze me the constellation of gizmos that pop up in their online offerings. Take for example USBFever’s latest item, the Universal USB Hub and Card Reader for Apple iPad / Galaxy Tabs. USBFever claims that this USB hub will support 90% of the tablets out there, but what exactly does this Universal USB hub do? Does it slice and dice or even julienne? No, but this hub is getting darned close with its three primary functions: – With…

Gear Bits, News & Features

RIP Willy Wonka Director Mel Stuart

One of my favorite movies of all time is the classic 1971 feature Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Today we learned that the director Mel Stuart has died at age 83. Mel Stuart, the director of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, has died aged 83. His family said he died at his Beverly Hills home after suffering from cancer. Beginning his career mainly directing documentaries, the 1971 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book was Stuart’s second feature film. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1965 for his documentary, Four Days in November, about the assassination of John F…

Gear Bits, News & Features

xkcd Puts Names to What Our Cultural Memory Will Forget Each Year

Today’s comic from xkcd really struck me – even more than their normally awesome work – because it looks at something I deal with on a seemingly daily basis: cultural memory. My wife and I were born in the mid-60s, so I remember watching Watergate, seeing Jaws and Star Wars in theaters, gas lines, and on and on. Some things like watching Bullitt this week and seeing rotary phones and the utter un-connectedness really stood out with my kids, whereas stuff like music and other pop culture items have filtered somewhat through time. Myy wife works with many young adults…

News & Features

Harman Kardon Bluetooth Wireless Over-Ear Headphones Review

Harman Kardon recently released their first line of headphones. The company has a long history of offering quality audio components and has now taken their experience and applied it to the burgeoning headphone market. As we recently brought word, their headphone line runs from in-ear to on-ear to over-ear styles. They were kind enough to send a pair of their BT Bluetooth over-ear headphones for review. Let’s take a look. As we note in the video review, the packaging is impressive. The company clearly gave a great deal of thought to the entire experience when someone purchases the headphones and…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Court Documents Bring to Light Dismal Samsung Tablet Sales Numbers

For nearly two years I have been like a broken record: I simply never believed the numbers Samsung was supposedly selling in terms of tablets. Worse still, having put out a single unofficial number before switching to ‘percent improvement in shipments’, groups like the IDC and Gartner grabbed the initial number and then just applied the percent increase. This played out again last week in the numbers reported by the IDC showing that Samsung held the #2 tablet slot with 9.6% market share with ~2.4 million units sold. I like the Samsung tablets pretty well and they have created a…

News & Features, Outdoors

Kitty Cam? More Like KILL Cam!

Do you have a cat? We have two – an outdoor cat we’ve had since he was a few weeks old (and is now 12) and one indoor cat we inherited from my sister-in-law when they moved halfway across the country two years ago (supposedly a two-week babysitting … but I digress). Is your cat a hunter? Ours is – he regularly brings home mice and moles and rabbits and chipmunks and squirrels and birds and … you get the picture. To date, our biggest concern has been that he delivers these as presents to our dogs (12-pound Norfolk Terriers)…

News & Features

Afternoon Video, G-Form iPhone Case Base Jump

Sure, this video is an advertisement for G-Form’s protective iPhone case but that doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome… or that these guys aren’t nuts. Yeah, flying through the air after jumping out of a helicopter and wearing an outfit that gives you wings isn’t my idea of fun. Neither is dropping an iPhone from that same helicopter. But the question is… does the iPhone survive? Here’s the video and the description. Gary Connery joined world-renowned fellow wingsuit and base jumpers Brett Kistler and Jamie Flynn on the Eiger in Switzerland. Suited up in G-Form’s extreme protective compression gear, the team…

News & Features

Sonos Adds Support for Amazon Cloud Player and… It is a Big Deal

Amazon is making some big moves with its Cloud Player music service. They recently improved the way the system works and now lets you scan your music in much the same way iTunes Music Match does. Now word comes that Sonos has added support for Amazon Cloud Player. As they explain, YOUR MUSIC. EVERYWHERE. FROM THE CLOUD TO YOUR COUCH. Import and securely store your entire music library in the cloud Search, browse and play every song, album and playlist in every room with the Sonos Wireless HiFi System Amazon MP3 purchases are automatically stored in Cloud Player, and you…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Apple’s New ‘All on the iPad’ Commercial Reminds Us Again It Is an iPad World

Depending on what market you are looking at, Apple controls ~68 – 72% of the tablet market. That is a level of singular dominance well beyond the monopoly of Google Search, as a comparison. And the funny thing is, I STILL don’t trust the Samsung numbers, so the iPad share might be higher! Of course, with the successful launch of the Google Nexus 7 (and countless tales of difficulties trying to return or exchange same), we can expect to see the numbers shift somewhat – though it is pretty clear that sales of the Nexus 7 will obliterate the Kindle…

News & Features

Maybe the Athletes Are Making Water Balloons?

Have you heard about the latest Olympic scandal? No, it’s not more doping accusations. And no one else threw a badminton game. But it is hitting the Olympics where it hurts- their pocketbook. See, the Olympics have sponsors for everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. So the organizers were quite unhappy to discover that non-Durex condoms were being distributed to athletes! According to the Guardian: London 2012 are investigating how a bucket of unofficial condoms found its way into the athletes’ village without official consent. The Australian BMX cyclist Caroline Buchanan tweeted a photograph of the bucket, which featured a sign…

News & Features

MacBook Pro Retina? Tom Bihn Has Over 17 Ways to Carry and Protect It

Judie loves her MacBook Pro with Retina Display. I love my MacBook Pro with Retina Display. And any of my friends who bit when Apple announced their “best Mac ever” love it too. Yes, the new MacBook Pro is a fantastic computer. And while it still weighs significantly more than the MacBook air it is lighter, and therefore more portable, than that standard MBP 15″. If you are going to carry the laptop you are going to want to protect it… in style. Tom Bihn has more than 17 different options among travel bags, backpacks, briefcases, and messenger bags for…

News & Features

I-MEGO’s Signature Headphones Bring Powerful Audio and Artistic Edge to Modern Music Lovers

For many of us, headphones have become such a huge part of our everyday experience. They are now far more than simply a way to listen to media. On top of listening to music and podcasts on the go (or when your spouse is asleep next to you), headphones have become a way to express our personal style. My students and athletes sport headphones in many colors and styles; each of them truly reflecting that individual’s personality. In fact, I often think the appearance, not the audio quality, of the headphones is the reason they choose one pair over another….

Music Diary, News & Features, Reviews

Rick Ross ‘God Forgives, I Don’t’ Review

I love all sorts of music, and appreciate the opportunity I have to listen and review so much great stuff. I am also blessed with two kids who share my love of music and have taken things I played for them and ran with them to discover new artists and areas to enjoy. For my older son Danny it is the love of Rap and Hip-Hop, initiated by my playing stuff from NWA and A Tribe Called Quest for him, and now taken to the point that he has an iPod full of the genre and is in touch with…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Good Movies Actually Do Better at the Box Office

Conventional wisdom would say that movie-going crowds reward some of the worst movies with some of the highest box office grosses, particularly during the summer months. In fact, there are web sites devotes to that very premise. It is an interesting and amusing thought … but is it TRUE? That is what one person looked to answer, using available data and statistical analysis. Here is the setup: It is common to argue that there is a divide between critics and audiences. Critics prefer arthouse dramas, preferably in black-and-white; audiences like things that go boom. Thanks to countless explosions and few…

News & Features

With Nuance’s Nina “When in Doubt, Just Ask Your Phone”

Between Siri, OS X Mountain Lion’s global voice recognition and Google’s voice to text not stinking on Android any longer, the days of tapping out your messages are rapidly coming to an end. Yes, voice recognition is becoming commonplace, accurate and fast. And more and more people are finding that it’s a great way to create text. (Hell, even Elana is using voice recognition on her iPhone.) But there’s more going on here than simple voice recognition. Siri, for example, is intelligent voice recognition – voice recognition that actually does more than simply create text from the words you speak….

News & Features

Goal Zero’s Two New Solar Recharging Kits Shine at Outdoor Retailer

It seems like the recent coverage of “preppers” has brought alternative power sources into the mainstream. I have been extremely interested in solar power lately, but not because of some impending zombie apocalypse. With the upcoming hurricane season approaching, most gulf coast residents at least think of their plans if a storm does arrive. While I am usually far enough inland to be able to ride out these storms, one major concern is electricity. Solar power with batteries can allow my family some comforts and even save some food if we are without power for a few days. I also…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Instant Business Card to Contacts Conversion with INTSIG’s CamCard App

If you’re a member of the professional world, you’re probably used to pocketing business cards like a pro. You slide them right into your pocket, only to fumble them out later for the information you need. It’s not a terrible system. If you’re a smart phone owner, however, you’ll know how time-consuming it is to manually enter business card information into your contacts. INTSIG’s CamCard app makes that process a lot faster and easier. Using your smartphone’s camera as a rudimentary scanner, the app targets the necessary information from the photo and converts it into your address book. The app,…

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