News & Features

Remembering Ray Bradbury through His Impact on Music

I have already written about the passing of the great sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, but his influence extended well beyond literature and film. But he has also had a profound impact on the world of music, as noted in this LA Times article which cites Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ as the first major song written around the work of Bradbury. But it is another of the tracks mentioned on the list that brought back memories. Back in March I remember my younger son being diligent at getting loads of stuff done, with a specific purpose in mind: Deadmau5 was live-streaming…


RIP Guitarist Pete Cosey at 68

Have you ever heard the name Pete Cosey? Don’t be embarrassed if you haven’t – in spite of contributing to some major recordings, developing innovative and influential techniques and tunings, and sharing his gifts and influences in ways that have earned him Grammy Award recognition, he has never been well known. In fact, he passed away last week and I only learned about it yesterday through a friend on Facebook. Pete Cosey is best known for his wild ride in Miles Davis mid-70s band, but he began as part of the group that Chess Records assembled in the mid-60s to…


G5 Games Shows Off Jumpster, Its First Physics Platformer at E3!

I have covered loads of G5 games over the last few years, and most of them fall into the hidden-object, adventure, and puzzle-based casual genres. But now they have announced a new sort of game – Jumpster, a physics-based platformer! Here are some details: Fans of the physics genre games are in for a treat. G5 Games is about to launch its first physics platformer, Jumpster – with high-flying action that is not to be missed. G5 will showcase the game to a select press group at ShowStoppers and E3 in Los Angeles, but you can get a sneak peek…


Five People, One Guitar, and a Better Version Than Gotye

If you have recently turned on a radio or network TV, entered a shopping mall or grocery store, or simply been in any position to hear music … chances are you have heard the song ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ by Gotye featuring Kimba. What initially caught our attention when we heard it on the ’80s, 90, Now’ channel of Slacker was how the voice in the chorus sounded like Sting. This weekend we discovered a cover version of the song that was interesting both musically and visually. The group is called Walk Off The Earth (also on Facebook)….


Protect Your Gear with iSafeBags Urban Crew Backpacks

Have you ever had something valuable stolen out of a laptop case or backpack? Most people have. Whether it was an ipod, cell phone, or wallet, this type of thing tends to happen to everyone – especially in urban environments and public areas. Fewer people, I’d imagine, would consider arming their backpack with a full-fledged alarm system. That’s exactly the motivation for tech retailer iSafeBags.com, which specializes in protecting your stuff through specialized bags and packs. The company’s newly launched Urban Crew Campus Laptop Backpack features two 125 decibel sirens and a high-intensity strobe light. An allegedly undetectable activation switch…


Did Google Pick Up Quickoffice for Integration with Google Docs/Drive?

When I first migrated from Windows Mobile to Android, my Android phone had a lite version of Quickoffice pre-installed and as a result I became a frequent user of the software suite. Right now I have Quickoffice for Android, WebOS and iOS, to maintain a semblance of consistency across my multiple platforms, so I therefore took pause when I contemplated the news that Google acquired Quickoffice the other day. On the one hand, I had a brief bit of sorrow on seeing another independent company absorbed by a much larger entity, but at the same time considered the potential tangible…


Can You Hear Me Now? Dragon ID Lets You Log In by Voice

For years Nuance, makers of Dragon Dictation, Dragon NaturallySpeaking and, although unconfirmed, the force behind Siri, has been collecting data on how we speak, what is different from one voice to the next etc. Data collection is a big deal but, unlike Google collecting data so they can better target ads and generate revenue off you, Nuance has been collecting data in order to advance their voice-recognition technology. (Of course they want to advance their voice recognition technology in order to generate income but that middle step is an important one.) In recent weeks we have seen Nuance begin to…


Twelve South SurfacePad for Air Brings Luxury to the MacBook Air

We’re huge fans of TwelveSouth and love watching their relatively small portfolio slowly grow as new products are added. That only seems to happen a few times each year so. Well, this is one of those times and, while the new product is not something you NEED, and is not something that is completely NEW, it is something that those of us who use a 13″ MacBook air will want to consider. The Twelve South SurfacePad is a razor thin layer of premium Napa leather that cushions and protects the wrist rest area of your MacBook Air, while giving your…


Toshiba Unveils New Ultrabooks!

The world of laptops has had a very disruptive series of events over the last few years. There’s the whole netbook craze, which evolved into a tablet movement, and meanwhile, on the high-end, the MacBook Air line remains the gold standard for a lightweight, but powerful computer. Hence why Intel and Toshiba rolled out a trifecta of Ultrabooks today; lightweight computers for everyone’s needs! First up, the U845W for $999.99: Satellite U845W: The World’s First Ultrabook with an Ultra-Wide 21:9 Cinematic Display The entertainment-optimized Satellite U845W offers premium features and design in an ultra-slim form factor. Designed with movie enthusiasts…



iPad-mini? iPod touch HD? iPhablet? A Gear Chat

The new… iPod Phablet I blame Francis. After all, he got the ball rolling when he asked the team:   Apple 5″ device, how likely are we thinking? I still have my bets on a smaller iPad, but not sure about 5″.       Carly jumped in with: Unless they bump the iPod touch to 5in to differentiate it.       Chris then said: I could see them doing that to the iPod touch possible, but not the iPhone.       I (Dan) then commented: That’s the post I was roughing out- the case for the iPod…


Kobo Hits a Growth Spurt!

If you doubt there’s a three-horse race for dominance in ebooks, look no further than Kobo’s big announcement this morning. They are crowing about “triple-digit growth” in downloads, sales, and eReaders. Now, they are still trailing B&N and Amazon, especially in the USA, but they are likely pulling lots of sales from Sony, Google Books, and other small players. It’s also worth noting that Kobo is a huge international ebook player. They are owned by Rakuten, a Japanese company, and they have a strong presence in Canada as well as in the UK, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Australia, and New…


Nokia and Warner Bros. Bring Fun Lumia-Movie Mashup

I love the cool product mashups that have been increasingly common these days. Just as chocolate and peanut butter go together to make a delicious peanut butter cup, so too can two other seemingly different products combine to do something neat. For example, Nokia and Warner Bros. have teamed up for an exclusive partnership that brings the awesome Nokia Lumia smartphones together with The Dark Knight Rises. That partnership kicks off today (in the US) with the launch of The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR) mobile app. It is exclusive to Nokia Lumia devices. The app lets fans access film trailers,…


On the Way! Elevation Docks Begin to Ship, Kickstart This!

The Elevation Dock is one of the Kickstarter projects I have been most excited to see actually ship. I love my iPhone but hate the way most docks make it a challenge to put your iPhone in or remove it. After all, the 30-pin connector is the most vulnerable part of the iPhone other than the screen (and I would argue it is in first place). The Elevation Dock solves that problem with a metal dock that looks great and promises to be easy on the iPhone when yopu dock and undock. (Read the Kickstart This! post here.) Well the…


Tabula Project Seeks to Bring Affordable, Teacher-driven Tablet Computing to School

Tablets are finding their way into more and more settings and among the most powerful is education. I know I have been setting the stage for us to use iPads in a variety of creative ways come the fall in everything from pre-school to bar-mitzvah to High School. One thing that gets overlooked in too many places these days is the fact that the iPad (or any other tablet but let’s stick with the one that makes up more than two out of three tablets sold) is simply a tool. It is not a replacement for good content and great…




DryCASE’s New Backpack Keeps Your Gear Dry and You Happy

As a frequent rider of mass transit, specifically buses, I have to be prepared for the elements.  This includes making sure my gear remains safe if I happen to incur a sudden downpour or get caught in a snowstorm.  While my current gearbag, a Swiss Gear Cobalt does an ok job but I still wonder with the thunderstorm season upon us here in Central Ohio.  That’s why the bag above from DryCASE peaked my interest. The bag is the DryCASE Waterproof Backpack.  This bag has many features a lot of bags don’t that will help the stuff inside stay bone dry as…


AViiQ Portable Charging Station with Cable Rack System Now Avaialable

We reviewed AViiQ’s portable travel station last August (read the review). It is a great way to charge and sync numerous devices from one wall outlet. It also is a convenient and “clean” way to carry a charge/sync hub in a compact accessory. It was not, however, without it’s faults. Primary among the issues I found was the fact that the cable management system, consisting of overlapping fabric slots, wasn’t the easiest way to keep everything neat and tidy. Now AViiQ is back with an updated version. It costs a bit more than the original (which appears to still be…


BCO Skins, The New Skin Kids on the Block

There are numerous companies currently producing decorative and protective skins for electronic devices. In fact, it is a fairly crowded market and anyone seeking to enter it had better have a great product, superb customer service, and a steel backbone – because it won’t be an easy ride. BCO Skins, a new kid on the block, recently reached out to Judie and me. Here’s the thing, we’ve worked with a number of different companies including some of the “big guys” like Bodyguardz and Zagg and we’ve always been quite happy with their various offerings. (We’ve also bought skins from companies…


Slacker Lands on Roku AND Windows 8 Preview!

Yesterday Slacker made me a rather happy Roku user– they launched Slacker Radio on the Roku set-top box, thereby bringing my favorite internet radio and on-demand service to the streaming media center my family uses on a daily basis. Here are details on the Roku integration: Slacker, Inc. today announced the launch of Slacker Radio on Roku, the leading streaming platform in the U.S. Slacker Radio listeners in the U.S. and Canada can now enjoy the personal radio service on Roku’s popular streaming players. The Slacker Radio lineup includes more than 200 expert-curated music stations, personalized ESPN Radio and ABC…