Category: Gadgets

Interview: JABstone founder Joe Bureau

Due to a recent stroke in the family, I recently was motivated to look for a method of helping non-verbal people communicate without making everyone around them learn sign language, or play charades. There are a number of apps available for smartphones and tablets, notably the iPad and the Android platform. After comparing features (and… Continue reading Interview: JABstone founder Joe Bureau

Streaming your Own Media at Home

You’ve cut the cable and now you want to be able to watch videos, listen to music, and look at the (thousands!) of digital photos you’ve taken; but you (or your spouse) don’t want that “big, noisy, ugly computer” in the living room, where your biggest HDTV is. Fear not, my friend! If you already… Continue reading Streaming your Own Media at Home

Netflix killed by the MPAA: Where do we go now?

By this time you probably know that Netflix has been forced to increase their prices by sixty percent in order to remain profitable after Hollywood decided to kill the golden goose (e.g., jack up the prices that Netflix has to pay for streaming movies and rental DVDs). My wife is adamant that we’re going to… Continue reading Netflix killed by the MPAA: Where do we go now?

And the Beat(down) Goes On: Getting Ripped Off in HDMI

Back in March of this year (2011), an electronics firm in Australia took the unprecedented step of letting consumers know that people who were paying more than AUS$10 (which is also $10 US, near enough) were getting ripped off. Kogan posted an offer on their blog to provide a free HDMI cable to anyone who… Continue reading And the Beat(down) Goes On: Getting Ripped Off in HDMI

Build your own Chromebook for cheap

Looking for a Chromebook so you can cut your dependency on expensive commercial software? Well, I’ve got good news, and bad news. The good news is that you can buy one now. The bad news is that they start at $350 and go up. If you’re not absolutely sure that a Chromebook will do what you need, that’s a lot of money to drop on an experiment.

Are Bloom Boxes our ‘Green Energy’ Solution?

Bloom Energy unveiled the “Bloom Box” last week, also called the Bloom Energy Server. The box is around the size of a parking space, and each one can power a 30,000 sq. foot office building, or 100 average US homes. Ebay and Google have already been using this technology to power some of their buildings… Continue reading Are Bloom Boxes our ‘Green Energy’ Solution?

They’re using lasers, Captain!

Bowhunting seems like an unlikely sport in which to find gadgets that were science fiction just a short time ago, but believe it or not, some bowhunters in Oregon have come up with an innovation that looks like something out of Universal Soldier. The Neverguess Rangefinder is an arm-worm laser rangefinder for bowhunters. This is… Continue reading They’re using lasers, Captain!