Apple Watch Fall Detection: Annoying…but effective

The golf cart/pedestrian path next to the low water crossing over Slick Rock Creek, just south of Highway 2147, hasn’t had water running over it since the October floods. Still, much of it stays wet thanks to the splashes from cars driving through the creek. Over time, if those puddles don’t dry out, moss and… Continue reading Apple Watch Fall Detection: Annoying…but effective

Fortitude at Altitude (or, “You think your job is hard?”)

A week or so ago, I was returning home in the truck when I spotted a helicopter hovering at what I guessed to be about a half mile from our house. There was a long line suspended from the bottom of the aircraft with something attached to the end. As I turned onto the road… Continue reading Fortitude at Altitude (or, “You think your job is hard?”)

Ambient Bias Lighting for Your TV: A Review of the Halo

So, I’m kind of a sucker for Best Buy‘s Deal of the Day. It’s not so much that the prices are that low — although sometimes, for some items, they really are — but they often draw my attention to products that I might not ever consider buying, or even know about. I’ve been known… Continue reading Ambient Bias Lighting for Your TV: A Review of the Halo

We’re gonna browse (and recruit) like it’s 1996

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

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