Taking Notes With The Livescribe Echo

This post isn’t about anything new, but I get asked about this every time I use it so I thought I would write about it. For the past two years I’ve been using the excellent Livescribe Echo recording pen to record my class lectures. I’m a painfully slow writer and I often just can’t keep up with what professor is saying as I furiously try to take notes. The Livescribe Echo has allowed me to take far fewer notes and concentrate to a much greater degree on what is being said in class. It does this by recording every pen stroke I make on paper, as well as capturing every sound that is made as I write. After class, I can transfer the recording to my PC and watch myself taking notes as I listen to the lecture at the same time. I can skip ahead to any point, or even play it back at 2x speed (yes people will sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks if you do the latter).

How does it accomplish this voodoo?

Terms of Service? I Most Definitely Never Read, and Now I Don't Have To

Terms of service (ToS) agreements are everywhere today. In fact, they are so ubiquitous that I’m pretty sure almost no one reads them when clicking through to install a new piece of software or use a new online service. I’m guilty as charged when it comes to that. I never have (or make) time, interest, or the legal skill to interpret them. Thankfully, a new site I've just heard about (thanks Ed T.) aims to bring clarity to what lies within these often long and painful to read documents.

The new site ToS;DR does what almost none of us do. The people behind the site actually read the terms of service agreements for many popular websites, companies, and software packages. Not only do they read them, but they summarize them concisely and even provide ratings from Class A (very good) to Class E (very bad).

Save the Buckyballs!

Do any of you like little office toys to play with as you sit in on lengthy conference calls? Do any of you have fidgety hands that always seem to want to be doing something like clicking a pen or tapping your fingers on the desk? If so, then Buckyballs might be for you…and they might get taken away.

See, it turns out that these simple, yet fascinating magnetic balls are a major hazard to children if swallowed. When more than one is ingested, they can cling together and pinch major organs resulting in the need for emergency surgery to remove them. As a result, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently filed suit against the manufacturers of Buckyballs and has ordered many retailers to stop selling them. It’s true, I can’t even find them, nor their competitor Magnet Balls for sale on Amazon.

Olympics Tech

It’s Olympics time again! I’m not typically an avid viewer of televised sporting events, but for some reason, I always get really excited for the Olympics and find the time to watch as much as I can. Well this year, I’ll have many more ways to get my Olympics fix as the world of technology has changed drastically in the last four years.

The idea that mobile technology has been growing explosively in recent years is something I’ve been aware of, but it never really hit me just how much it has exploded until I saw the great infographic from iProspect below. Click on the image to expand it, or download the full PDF here.

Those are some pretty astonishing stats for smartphones and tablets. Also, the growth of Twitter and Facebook is simply mind-boggling. Like I said, I knew it was happening, I just hadn’t realized that it has all happened so fast. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised then this is the first Olympics where athletes will have to juggle the opposing obligations of updating their fans through social media, while also trying to keep their mind focused and in the game. Take a look at this amusing (and a bit scary) article about how much of a distraction this new social media craze has become for the athletes.  

Given the growth in mobile, it’s also not surprising that someone finally decided to target those devices for disseminating Olympic coverage. As a mobile technology fan, and an Olympics fan, I’m very excited to see a variety of apps available on iOS for coverage of Olympic news, photos, and video. A big departure from years past is also the availability of live video coverage from web and mobile apps (albeit in a handicapped way, see below).

Size Me Up

You may have read my post about the Canon S95 and what I look for in a camera. In that post, I made a brief reference to the website Camera Size, but didn't talk about it further. I’d just like to use this short post to specifically call some attention to the fantastic tool I use whenever I am looking for a new camera, as well as mention another great tool that has just been released by the same developer, Sensor Size.

Playing the Frequent Flyer Game

Do you like technology? Do you also like to travel? Have you ever had to choose between spending your hard earned money on a vacation, or on a new gadget? Do you have good credit and are you disciplined with money? If you answered yes to all of those, then this post is for you. Read on to find out ways that you can have your proverbial cake and eat it too. 

I’m no expert in this field, but I have learned enough to show you how I got started, and how I've managed to earn nearly 900,000 frequent flyer miles and $1000 (after annual fees) in less than two years. This has allowed me to save tons of cash on travel and spend more on my second love, gadgets. 

Just five short years ago, back when savings account interest rates were in the 5% range, I was up to a different game for earning money on the side. Before the collapse of the economy in 2008, credit card companies were very loose when it came to doling out huge credit lines, often far in excess of what I was even capable of repaying (an important mistake that precipitated the collapse of the housing market). They also used to have a maximum cap on the amount they charged for a balance transfer or cash advance (around $75 to $100). I took full advantage of that lackadaisical attitude and managed to sign up for a few credit cards, and then combine them into a single card with a massive (to me) $55,000 credit line and a 0% interest rate on balance transfers for 12 months. I then turned around and wrote a balance transfer check to myself for, you guessed it, $55,000. I added that to some existing savings that I had in ING, and let it ride for a year. In the end, I paid the money right back at 0% interest, while pocketing $3000 in interest (after taxes) from my ING account.

I took a small hit to my credit score during that year, but quickly recovered it as soon as I paid the “loan” back. Since that time, the credit card companies have clamped down on that particular method, but are still happy to dole out credit to anyone with a good credit score, often with some large bonuses to boot.  Note before I continue: Don’t even think of attempting anything I will mention here if you are not capable of repaying the money back at the end of each billing period or at the end of whatever promotional period you are participating in. If you don’t pay off your credit card bills, you will completely negate the benefits I’ll describe here.

Since I love to travel, AND I love to take expensive gadgets like laptops and iPads with me, I was elated when I discovered just how many free flights bonuses were right there for the taking that could save me thousands of dollars (to buy tech with of course) if I just put in a little bit of effort. So, here are the basics of what I’ve managed to learn so far, and the sources that I went through to learn them.

Seeing Blue

Last week's post had me seeing black after my encounter with Team Oracle and their high G-force maneuvers. This week though, I’m seeing nothing but blue; the Blue Angels that is. It’s summer, and for me that means it’s airshow season. Whenever the Blue Angels come to town, I make it a point to go out and see them perform, and this year was no exception. On Saturday June 9^th, I headed out to the MN Air Spectacular to see them perform in Mankato, MN and also to check out Sean D. Tucker’s performance.

I love all things aviation-related, but jets have always been my favorite. The sheer power and speed they possess is amazing to me and the ear-splitting roar of a turbojet with full afterburner is something that always gets my heart racing. As if jets weren’t amazing enough to me already, the things the Blue Angels do with their slightly modified F/A-18s is astonishing. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to fly as close to another jet as they do (at times just 18 inches apart)! I’ve always wondered, what happens if they sneeze that close?

There is no way I can describe the mind-blowing maneuvers they do during a performance other than to point you to a fascinating page maintained by the Blue Angels themselves. There you can see what it looks like from both inside and outside the cockpit as they perform each of their maneuvers. Go ahead and take a look now before reading further and make sure to play around with the various camera angles available: Inside the Demo

Aerobatic Flying with Team Oracle

Usually when I think of technology, I think of electronics. In reality though, it’s much more than that. Besides gadgets, one of my other loves has always been aviation, and there is a whole heck of a lot of technology involved when it comes to that.

Long before I picked up my first iPhone, I was the kid in the airport with his face pressed up against the glass marveling at the impressive power of those giant technological marvels. Literally at my earliest opportunity, I learned how to fly and received my pilot’s license shortly after my 17^th birthday. I flew for a couple of years and even got the chance to ride in an amazing piece of tech, the 747-400 simulator. Sadly though, flying was too expensive of a hobby and I chose not to have the lifestyle of an airline pilot always away from home. Twelve long years have passed since I had the opportunity to pilot a plane. Imagine my elation this past week when I not only had the chance to fly again, but in an aerobatic plane with the talented pilots of Team Oracle no less!

Thanks to the incredible generosity of my employer, I flew in an Extra 300 with Brian Norris and was even given the chance to perform a loop myself! The fun didn't stop there though. I was also able to fly multiple flights in Team Oracle’s Piper Seneca and take air-to-air photographs of the amazing Sean D. Tucker in his custom-built Challenger III biplane!

Before I continue on, check out the video of my flight in the Extra 300:

Foscam FI8910W WiFi Camera

I thought I would post this for anyone that has ever searched as long and hard as I have to find a decently priced WiFi camera for home monitoring. My particular need was for a video monitor to keep watch on my infant and toddler boys in their nursery, but these cameras have any number of other uses. I quickly ruled out video baby monitors as they were all insanely expensive for the video quality you get, all had mixed reviews, most had very limited features beyond video, and none had DECT technology to prevent interference with my wireless network.

I moved on to seeking just a stand-alone camera, and started my search with the following requirements:

• Inexpensive- The camera had to be under $150, and preferably even cheaper.
• Night vision- This was a must as I needed to see my children in complete darkness.
• Acceptable Video Quality- HD video simply didn't exist in my price range so I settled for acceptable.
• WiFi Connectivity- There was no way I wanted Ethernet cables snaking around my nursery.
• Remote Connectivity- Come on, what technology geek doesn't want remote access to a camera?

As I searched, I drooled over the slick looking but very expensive Logitech Alert 750n, and was lured by the positive reviews of the also expensive Sharx Security VIPcella-IR. I thought maybe I had found my match with the cheap D-Link DCS-932L but hesitated after some mixed reviews. I actually pulled the trigger on the simple and slick-looking Dropcam HD, but then cancelled my order after reading this review and seeing some of the abysmal video samples. When I finally settled on the Foscam model that is the subject of this post, I left the then “coming soon” Withings Smart Baby Monitor far in my rear-view mirror.

What the Soluto?

I saw a tweet from Dropbox recently about a service called Soluto that really piqued my curiosity. It appears to have been around since 2010, but this is the first I've ever heard about it. Read on to find out more about why I find this service intriguing.

Looven Lenovo

When it comes to PCs these days, you’re either a Windows person or a Mac person. There are also a statistically small and brave group of you out there that might be running Linux. Largely due to my professional training and experience, I’m a Windows guy. For those that use and love (or hate) Windows, Lenovo is a name to watch. While their desktops aren't much worth blogging about, their laptops are where it’s at in the Windows world. 

Perhaps you guessed from my embarrassingly lame attempt at a witty title, but I love my Lenovo. I doubt the Chinese owners of Lenovo had any intent of choosing a name from which the scrambled letters can be used to spell love. Rather, I’ve seen suggestions that it was a combination of the old company name of Legend, with the Latin “novo” meaning new. The addition of "new" to their name was appropriate, since in 2005, they became the new manufacturers and owners of what was the IBM ThinkPad line. Perhaps I’m not the only one that loves them since they just announced record sales for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

The name IBM likely conjurers up images of boring, bland, business machines. In fact, the model I’m currently using (and pictured above) is a Lenovo T410s which is part of their business product line. I assure you though that despite the business roots, the Lenovos of today really are cool machines. In this post, I am going to focus in on their business-oriented ThinkPad line, but keep in mind that Lenovo makes some really nice consumer-oriented machines like their U series. Personally, I think their ThinkPads are perfectly suited for home use as well and I’d rather have a machine designed for the rigors of road warrior travel than one designed to primarily sit on a desk. Which one do you think will be more likely to survive a fall off the kitchen counter or months of back and forth to class in a student’s backpack?

Here are some of the qualities that drew me to the Lenovo ThinkPad line:

And God Said, Let There Be Arc Light

And it was so. And God saw that it was good. And God saw that it was BRIGHT!

Okay, so maybe the Arc-AAA Premium LED Flashlight wasn’t made by God himself, but it sure is the cream of the crop as far as tiny keychain-sized flashlights go. I want to take a short bit of your time in this post to draw your attention to a great little gadget that has had a permanent spot in my pocket for the better part of the past decade. While originally designed in 2001, the Arc-AAA is simple and great piece of tech that is every bit as useful today as it was then.

You may remember the old Maglite Solitaire flashlights that were popular in the 1990’s and still available today (for around $5 to $20). I carried one for years on my keychain, and have always found it useful to have a flashlight handy. These days, I think many use the light from their mobile phone screen or, even the LED flash that can be used as a flashlight on smartphones like the iPhone 4/4S. While I also use the LED light on my phone for that purpose, there are times when I need to work on something in a confined space and (sorry if this grosses you out) end up putting a flashlight in my mouth while I work. That just doesn’t work with a phone. Also, the LED light on a phone will quickly drain the battery and I prefer to save that power for other uses.

Many years ago, I started to see a wide array of LED-based flashlight products come out that were very bright and had long lasting bulbs that didn’t burn out as frequently as incandescent bulbs. The problem was I couldn’t find one small enough to fit comfortably on my keychain like the Maglite did. At first the Inova Microlight seemed like it might be just what I wanted, until I realized that it used hard to find (and expensive) button cell batteries.  I was excited when I discovered the Arc-AAA Premium online and took a chance by ordering it sight unseen. I was ecstatic when I found that it completely blew away the Maglite. Not only was it five times brighter (10 lumens vs. 2 lumens), but the build quality was impressively good with its hard-anodized aluminum body. This thing screamed quality compared to the Maglite.

It’s Gettin Hot in Here, So Take…Your Temp

Continuing the MyTech series covering the gadgets I know and love, I thought I would take a chance to talk about a couple of cool (or hot) gadgets that make temp taking a painless (and even fun) experience. In the image above you’ll find the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer on the left, and the Mastercool 52225-A Infrared Thermometer on the right. Both take temps, but for vastly different reasons.

As a father of two, I have more cause to take a temperature that ever before. Not only am I concerned with fevers caused by the continuous cycle of bizarre illnesses named like they were discovered in the bowels of the Amazon rainforest (thanks day care), but I am also barraged with a litany of warnings about the temperature of drinks, food, bathwater, you name it.

It doesn’t stop there though. Kids or no kids, I get sick too and hate waiting for the minutes to tick by with a thermometer jammed in my mouth.  Also, as a homeowner of a relatively old and drafty home, I’m always on the hunt for ways to keep warm air in and cool air out in winter (and vice versa in summer). Once I’m done finding the air leaks and spending boatloads of cash fixing them, I’m generally famished and ready to cook a nice meal. What does the recipe I want to use tell me? “Please heat the pan to 100 degrees Celsius.” Oh come on! Another temp to take? What’s a gadget lover to do? Well, buy some awesome thermometers so I can have some fun doing it of course. Here's why I like these two:

Why oh Why, My S95

I almost feel embarrassed to write this article as there are legions of professional photographers out there with oodles more experience in photography than I have. If any pros are reading this, please don’t hesitate to call me out if I’m wrong about something. I am a gadget fan though, so I do feel qualified to at least tell you why the Canon S95 is one of my favorite gadgets. I’d also like to explain a few key points about what I look for in a camera that may be valuable to many non-professionals, or those just starting to dip their toes into the treacherously expensive waters of photography.

The Canon S95

If you were to peek into my photography gear bag, you’d first see a large Canon T2i DSLR camera, along with a small assortment of stupidly expensive lenses (seriously, I know it takes a lot of R&D to develop these things, but come on now). While looking at all that kit, you’d probably be wondering why an amateur hobbyist like myself needs it all, and in the process I bet you’d probably miss the tiny Canon S95 sitting in the corner of the bag. If you don’t believe how easy it would be to miss the S95, check out this great size comparison of the two cameras from CameraSize.com.

That brings me to why I love the Canon S95. Why would I need it when I have an expensive DSLR with a high quality lens? Well, given the enormous size of a DSLR in comparison to a point and shoot, you can likely imagine many awkward situations when a camera that large is simply overkill, too heavy to carry, or attracts too much attention. Why the S95 and not just any garden-variety point and shoot? As someone that has come to enjoy the total control that a DSLR gives me over a photo, it is hard to go back to a point and shoot that only offers me the automatic modes like Auto, Sports, Beach, or Fireworks. In addition to the qualities I will mention below, I want a camera that gives me total control over settings like shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, among others.

The S95 gives me manual control of all of those things in a package so incredibly small and light, that I barely notice I’m carrying it. When all of that manual control isn’t needed and I simply want to go full auto, ram the shutter button down, and relax when I’m on vacation, the S95 does a fine job as well. 

I should mention that the S95 has since been replaced by the S100, and I fully expect that the S105 (assumed name) will be released sometime this fall. Normally I would say go right out and buy the S100 over the S95. At this point, without ever having used the S100, I’m not sure. Some have suggested that while the feature set of the S100 is improved, the image quality is slightly reduced. Check out this review of the S100 on The Verge, as well as this side by side comparison of images from the two cameras and decide for yourself. Also, here is a spec for spec comparison between the S95 and the S100. Ultimately, I think the S95 must still have value as it is currently selling for only a few dollars less than the S100 on Amazon (over a year and a half after its release).

Before I get to what to look for in a camera, I’d like to point out one more awesome little gadget that is permanently attached to my S95. I’m referring to the crab-like appendage known as the Joby GorillaPod Micro 250 tripod seen in the image above. Perhaps in testament to the popularity of the S95, some of Joby’s own product marketing shots show an unbranded S95 atop their tripod. This was a great and inexpensive addition to my camera. It is so unobtrusive that I can keep it permanently attached and barely even notice. If you’ve ever tried to take a picture in low light, you’ll notice how essential it is to keep the camera as still as possible. When no suitable flat surface exists to place my camera on, this micro tripod has often fit the bill. It certainly won’t do what a full tripod will, but it’s better than nothing at all. When stowed, the tripod does cover the battery door, but it is easy enough to swing it out of the way to open the door.

Is the S95 the be-all end-all of point and shoot cameras? How can I say this? Mmmm..No. For one, the pop-up flash is irritatingly located right where I would normally put my left index finger. Two, it’s pretty darn expensive as far as point and shoots go (currently $350-375). I’m sure I could find additional negatives, but my point is that it is a fantastic point and shoot that does everything I want it to do. Ultimately, each person will have their own set of requirements. It’s also a Canon and I’m partial to Canon as I’ve had a long and positive history with their products. For amusement sometime, ask a room of passionate  photographers whether they prefer Canon or Nikon and then watch the exchange from behind safety glass. For a full review of the S95, check out this one at Steve’s Digicams.

No matter what point and shoot camera you buy, here are some things I’d recommend keeping in mind when comparing the average $175 point and shoot camera to top-end compact cameras like the S95.  

Extensions, Extensions, Extensions!

Echoing the chant “Developers, Developers, Developers” that Steve Ballmer of Microsoft famously shouted while extolling the virtues of software developers, this week’s article is about Extensions, Extensions, Extensions! Everyone knows what a web browsers is, but perhaps less know about some of the great extensions available that as their namesake implies, significantly extend the capabilities of the browser.

You may have noticed I said “this week’s article” above. My apologies to my cadre of devoted readers, but I’ve been finding it difficult to post quality material more often than once a week at best. Someday I’ll be able to do more, and I hope that you’ll stick around to see it.

There are quite a few web browsers out there nowadays, but this article will focus on extensions available for my favorite, the Google Chrome web browser. When possible I’ll also note when an extension is available for the equally capable and popular Mozilla Firefox browser. I used to use Firefox for many years as an alternative to the (then) abysmal Internet Explorer browser (IE). While IE has grown by leaps and bounds since Firefox first came onto the scene (and may further leap forward with the upcoming IE 10 browser), I’ve used it sparingly and only when needed ever since my initial defection. I switched to Chrome the it was released as it offered a wonderfully simple and elegant interface, along with some great syncing capabilities, and rapid releases of new features. Firefox has since caught right up and can fight toe to toe (or is it URL to URL?) with Chrome, but so far I’m still sticking with Chrome.

Caveat Emptor: Extensions are usually a wonderful addition to any browser, but they don’t come without cost in terms of performance. They will use additional RAM while the browser is running (which usually isn't a problem on modern-day PCs), and can have bugs of their own that might reduce the performance or stability of your browser. For these reasons, I try to limit the number of extensions I have enabled. 

So without further ado, let’s get to the extensions I use most often. Here is a list that is loosely prioritized by order of importance.