Travel back in time with me, if you will, to the year 1996, and contemplate the state of technology two decades ago. In 1996, just 20 million American adults had access to the Internet, about as many as subscribe to satellite radio today. The dot-com boom had already begun on Wall Street–Netscape went public in… Continue reading We’re gonna browse (and recruit) like it’s 1996
Category: Technology
Hands-on Review: DBPower Portable Jump Starter
My tenure as a boy scout was pretty short (even counting the preposterous time I spent as a Sea Scout in landlocked Fort Stockton), but the “be prepared” mindset stuck with me. I’m blessed/cursed with an imagination that places me in the most disastrous alternatives of any given scenario, and the fact that one of… Continue reading Hands-on Review: DBPower Portable Jump Starter
Fun with Google Earth
One of the many cool features about Google Earth is the ability to step back in time to see how an aerial scene has changed. Beginning with Google Earth 5.0, introduced in 2009, “historical imagery” was integrated into the application. As far as I can tell, much of the imagery (dating back to around 1984)… Continue reading Fun with Google Earth
Roaming the Web
It’s been a while since we’ve wandered around the web, looking at some cool new tech. Here’s a roundup of some things that have come across my Twitter feed lately. Snap – The Flying Camera Snap, the 4K flying camera with auto-tracking, is ready for the spotlight https://t.co/Kjf4LEtTgs pic.twitter.com/LwHABEOLs9 — TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) January 8, 2016… Continue reading Roaming the Web
UE Boom 2 Bluetooth Speaker
One of the things I hinted for at Christmas was a Bluetooth speaker. I often like to have music going while working in the yard or the garage and while both porches and the garage have wired music capabilities, I like the idea of being able to remotely program the tunes. I didn’t have a… Continue reading UE Boom 2 Bluetooth Speaker
Tivo Problemo
One of our Tivos (Tivoes? Tivii?) went out last night, right in the middle of an episode of iZombie on Netflix. One second we were watching Liv feast on a delectable dish of brains au gratin, and the next we saw that ridiculous Tivo emoji-guy and the dreaded “One moment while Tivo restarts” message. We… Continue reading Tivo Problemo
Shooting an iPad: It’s what we do.
My mom’s iPad recently cratered. It wasn’t a huge deal, since it was a hand-me-down of my 1st generation model, and I replaced it with another hand-me-down of my 2nd gen tablet. I was able to coax it to life just long enough to wipe it clean and destroy the SIM chip, and I planned… Continue reading Shooting an iPad: It’s what we do.
New Toy: USB Turntable for Digitizing Albums
This arrived from Amazon yesterday afternoon…my first new turntable in, oh, about three decades. It’s an Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB direct drive model, and it’s pretty awesome, considering my rather modest needs and expectations. We have a turntable but it has a few shortcomings. First, it doesn’t play 78 rpm records; more about why that’s important in… Continue reading New Toy: USB Turntable for Digitizing Albums
Hands on with the Nest Cam
I purchased and installed a Nest Cam wifi security camera yesterday and so far I’m finding it to be exactly as advertised: easy to install and configure, and impressively useful. The device itself is small and elegantly designed. We already have Nest smart thermostats in our home, and the camera integrates seamlessly into the account… Continue reading Hands on with the Nest Cam
Miss-App
Final Update (2022): I’m leaving this post up purely as a quirky episode in the life of this blog. The app in question no longer exists, nor does the company that created it, having discovered that there’s no business reason to continue to make a product that no one wants. Good thing I don’t operate… Continue reading Miss-App