Currently Browsing: geek toys

Things I have loved this year – tv, apps, podcasts

Posted by in books, geek toys, recommendations, reviews, television, tv on Dec 30, 2011 | 1 comment

I listened to A LOT of podcasts this year. It started with The Nerdist (which I still love) and led me to some comedy podcasts that I DIDN’T enjoy so much but ultimately I found Girl on Guy (Aisha Tyler) and Sklarbro Country (the Sklar brothers) which made up for any missteps. Episode 1 of Girl on Guy has, by far, the funniest story I have ever heard. The rest of her shows are right in my wheelhouse. She’s a chick who thinks like a dude and has wide-ranging interests and plenty of geek hobbies. And she’s funny. Sklarbro Country is a great combination of comedy and sports with impressive guests. I’m less enamored of their ‘celebrity call in’ segment but it’s toward the end so I usually just skip it.

I also love Pop Culture Happy Hour and Culturetopia from NPR. The former was a recommendation by my friend Mimi and it consistently makes me laugh.

Book podcasts! Bookrageous is a fave because it’s three friends talking about books and graphic novels they like and frequently trying to convince one another to read something they love. It’s been great and I got a couple of excellent recs out of it this year, not to mention it’s fun to listen to. Incidentally, I recommend Brews and Books (Josh’s blog) since it’s the way I found the podcast and I love his beer reviews. Books on the Nightstand is a little more polished but also gave me great reading ideas this year.

Sound Opinions from NPR was my go-to music podcast and I enjoyed every single episode.

The 404 was my geekcast of choice, as I have raved about before. Buzz Out Loud switched to once a week podcasts with special coverage episodes, which means I listened to it more than I would have expected.

Doug Loves Movies was, hands down, the funniest podcast I listened to all year. I could be seen laughing out loud at work REGULARLY while listening.

Android Apps:

Words with Friends. Do I really have to explain this? I was the kind of kid who learned to play Scrabble by making the coolest words we could- we didn’t keep score. Words with Friends has taught me strategy. I dig it.

Tweetcaster replaced Tweetdeck toward the end of the year because it’s got a great user interface and it does everything I want it to.

No Time to Cook by Real Simple is a great app and cost about the same as one issue of the magazine. Consistently delicious recipes. ChefTap I already raved about but I am still loving it and having lots of success.

Foursquare continues to be my default ‘travel’ app, with a side of OpenTable for getting reservations. My fave utilities are Springpad and OurGroceries. My calendar is Jorte, whose only fault as far as I can see is an inability to create bi-weekly events. Now that I work in an office with a radio, I understand and use Shazam.

Gentle Alarm is still the way I wake up and I still love it. Tea Timer has been great for making tea, the Starbucks app is great if you’ve got a Starbucks nearby (I no longer do) and the Eljay app has made my LJ flist mobile.

Tab Tools is a GREAT app for guitar tabs and my goal for the new year is to actually USE the Meditation Support Timer.

Greader and Gmail are on my homescreen with G+ and Tweetcaster. Password Card is the best thing for creating safe passwords on the go.

Dear Emergency Medical Spanish App – YOU ARE AWESOME.

Untappd is a recent addition which I’m playing with. Verdict is still out.

 

TV.

Dude. I watched A LOT of TV this year.

Tops on my list: Revenge, Justified, Homeland, Community, Castle, Sons of Anarchy, Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Criminal Minds, Modern Family, Ringer, The Mentalist and Covert Ops.

Whether it was brain candy (Revenge, Covert Ops, Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Ringer), interesting crime drama (Justified, Homeland, Sons of Anarchy, Castle) or comedy (everything else), this was the stuff that made me keep watching.

Revenge is campy, but awesomely so (and FYA does GREAT recaps), Covert Ops is slightly less campy but equally fun. I’m enjoying the modern takes on fairy tales and I loved the comedies. That said, if I was going to recommend something to everyone, it would be Homeland, Sons of Anarchy and Justified.

Homeland had tight and intense writing, focused storylines without a dozen hanging threads and some INCREDIBLE performances. Claire Danes better get an Emmy. Watching Sons of Anarchy is like a terrible accident – you know what’s probably going to happen, you can’t look away and then HOLY SHIT something else comes out of the blue – but so out of the blue that you disengage, you’re just pissed you didn’t see it coming. Justified has Timothy Olyphant so that’s 1. He’s a cowboy in Wild West sense of the word, so that’s 2. It’s got one of the most interesting fencesitting characters (is he good? is he terrible? does he even KNOW?) in Boyd Crowder that I’ve seen on television, so that’s 3. Add in the very specific kind of subculture that happens in rural areas and it’s engaging, thoughtful and consistently a wild ride.

So there you go. That’s my favorites roundup. My list of this year’s books is at Goodreads and I think I posted about MOST of them, so you should be able to click on the 2011 books tag on this post and get all the entries. At Goodreads the books are all listed chronologically. I’m hoping to get through a reread of some of the Dresden Files books this weekend so I can start catching up.

Kindle updates & Kindle Fire 3G?

Posted by in geek toys on Dec 29, 2011 | 1 comment

I’m still loving my Ktouch, having thoroughly settled into its features. In fact, I’ve got four books (though one of them is technically six books) from the library and looking forward to more excellent reading in the new year.

Spouse is liking his Kindle Fire – at any rate has decided not to return it. The free apps have been a hit and the latest software update which allows carousel manipulation went over HUGE. He can check his secure work email, use Microsoft Office, play games and watch Netflix. He’s opted out of the Prime membership because he wasn’t that jazzed about the free (included) movie/tv selection.

Meghan asked if I thought Amazon would start offering 3g/4g service anytime soon. It turns out I DO have an opinion about this but I figured it would be longer than a comment. The short answer is no. With the regular kindle readers, the amount of information downloaded is pretty small given the size of book files. Of course, I don’t know the details of the whispernet deal but I’ve got to figure that even with the number of devices in use, the data chargers are fairly nominal.

The Fire changes that significantly, being as it is a device geared primarily for streaming. Whether it’s Netflix, prime service or music – that’ s going to add up to a lot of bandwith. Trying to spread that cost across devices would bring the price up to a point where people would start comparing the Fire and iPads as apples to apples and the Fire would come up short. As it is, one of the biggest complaints I’ve heard about the iPads is that in addition to a $400 device, NOW the user has to buy a data plan to make it functional.

That said, I see a definite market for Amazon to get into the data plan business. Without offering the more complicated network of cell service and all the pitfalls inherent to those sorts of plans, it wouldn’t surprise me if Amazon cut a deal with one (or more) cell carriers to offer strictly data service at a discount to their customers and at THAT point it would make sense for a 3g/4g Kindle Fire rollout with a wifi option.

Thus far, Spouse seems to be getting the use out of the Fire that he hoped for/expected. He’s mentioned on several occasions that he can do work on the Fire during meetings that he really COULDN’T do with a laptop because of the social implication that having the screen up on a laptop means you’re not paying attention. He gets to participate in the meeting but can also utilize his time wisely without an etiquette breach.

My holiday gift to you

Posted by in cooking, food, geek toys, internet, recommendations, reviews on Dec 24, 2011 | 0 comments

I spent a large chunk of today looking about the web for a good way to corral the recipes I find online, add my own and have access to all of it on my phone. Since I’m a nice person, I shall share with you the fruit of my labors.

 

First and foremost, I spent a worthwhile bit of time consolidating and organizing my bookmarks in Chrome so that it syncs them all and everything is in easily identifiable folders on all the computers I use. AMAZING. There is no proper reason for me to feel as smug about this as I do.

 

Some time ago I purchased the Real Simple android app and it was worth the $5. You get to choose the amount of time you have to cook as well as a protein and then it gives you a list of options to choose from. Every recipe I’ve ever made from Real Simple has been fantastic and the app is a collection of those.

Today I added OurGroceries (free), so that Spouse and I can avoid duplicating purchases at the grocery store. It syncs the lists so we each know what we need and can check them off as we go.

But what about the initial premise- adding stuff I find online and my own recipes? I attempted My Cookbook first but when you attempt to add a recipe from a webpage, it’s rather a shit show as to what will actually import correctly.

Through a vast amount of googling and some trial and error, I tripped upon ChefTap (free). I tend to be skeptical of anything that claims to be “the first” to do anything but I’ve got to tell you this app is the shit. I imported recipes from no less than 5 websites, all of which look vastly different in structure, and where MyCookbook failed ChefTap kicked ass. They imported brilliantly and formatted exactly as desired. The only downside to this app: no desktop, so you’ll have to do the browsing from your phone or send yourself links to add the recipes from webpages. On the other hand, it’s vastly superior to me having to type in ANYTHING on my own.

As a second bit of awesome, ChefTap will also sync and import any recipes from epicurious.com and allrecipes.com (neither of which have mobile apps that sync across all platforms). This has persuaded me to open an account at epicurious and the sync feature is pretty brilliant.

In related free apps, I also got Sweet and Spicy Indian Food so I’m pretty stoked to try that out as well.

I’m starting to add my frequently made/favorite recipes/recipes from mom on Epicurious and then searching out other faves online so that I’ve got them with me all the time.

 

I also took a bit off the BrokeAss Gourmet’s Cranberry-Zinfandel Brownie Bites and adapted them for fresh cranberries and high altitude. I’m pretty happy with how they turned out, thought I think I might want a mini-cupcake pan since I made mine in regular cupcake liners.

 

Incidentally, this was all prompted by making a fantastic General’s Chicken recipe for lunch today and wanting it on my phone for a shopping list. Spouse is working out and I’m couched in the basement with a bottle of Snow Day and Dr. Who Netflixing on my TV.

 

Hppy

How do I use Twitter?

Posted by in geek toys, recommendations, reviews on Dec 10, 2011 | 0 comments

I saw a post this week about why Twitter did a re-design and it had a lot to do with drawing in new users and making it more useful. It got me thinking about how I use Twitter and the ways that I explain it to non-users that ask me about it. Pretty frequently I hear the “I don’t get it” response when I mention that I use it a lot.

First, I rarely use the Twitter website. Ever since they removed their ‘retweet with comment’ feature I virtually never log in on the actual site. It’s not that I use that feature ALL the time, but I LIKED that option more than probably anything else they had going for them. So Twitter, if you’re listening, for the love of all that’s holy or if you’re planning to monetize your site, BRING IT BACK.

For that reason I use a client on my phone (I rarely check Twitter from a computer, in no small part because there was no way to do it from my last job but mostly because having it on my phone is really handy. Ha! Pun!). I’ve been using TweetDeck for probably a year and while I liked it, there were a couple of annoyance factors. The biggest one is viewing favorite tweets. I tend to favorite tweets that have links so that I can read them later on a computer or just generally use as a ‘read later’ option. Tweetdeck made it hard to get at the favorite tweets.

This week I switched to Tweetcaster, which has a pretty nifty and modern-looking UI. It also has a column for favorite tweets, lets you choose which services you want to use for url shortening and twitter photos and – best of all – when you click a link you can open it or READ LATER. Love it.

All of this brings me around to how I actually USE twitter. Twitter is part of how I keep track of what’s going on in the world during the day. The Denver Post is my news tweeter of choice, but I’ve got a couple of other newsfolk on there. It’s also my brain break- I’ve got NPR music, a bunch of authors and comedians, bloggers and real life and internet friends. Television Without Pity takes care of my tv snark tweets and a couple of my favorite podcasters are on there not just for jokes but because they also tell me when their new stuff is up.

Personally, I tweet about a bunch of random shit. Books I’m reading or have read, TV shows I’m watching, music I’m listening to at any given moment, movies or, frankly, any damn thing that crosses my mind. Reading my twitter stream at any point will give you a pretty good idea of who I am, so I think – at least the way I do it = it really is microblogging. I’ve gotten great book, music and film recommendations on there. I’ve had really entertaining meme interactions. I’ve also had good conversations about a variety of subjects and gotten great restaurant tips.

Twitter is like the planet’s stream of consciousness and for that reason alone, I think it’s cool.

 

Kindle, my bizzle!

Posted by in books, geek toys, recommendations, reviews on Nov 17, 2011 | 2 comments

Xmas came early in the Wilder house.

I ordered a Kindle Fire for Spouse for Xmas and I did the preorder because I remember how previous Kindle rollouts have sometimes been delayed. This actually worked out well because the only thing on MY Xmas list was the Kindle Touch (wifi). So on the day his Fire showed up, I took my K3 to Target and did a trade-in (I got about $25 which was a bit less than I would have gotten if I’d done it online) and picked up my KTouch. (NB: You can also do this via Amazon. I used Target because I have access to an employee discount)

So. KINDLES ALL AROUND.

Spouse has been debating about a tablet, as the iPad/Xoom movement has been sweeping his workplace. I’ve got some iPad issues, not the least of which is the price tag, so we were talking about usage. He wants to be able to check work email and manipulate Office documents, plus use it for media purposes – which is what made me think the Kindle Fire might be perfect.

It’s a bit heavier than I would expect, having been spoiled by the Kindles, but the graphics are pretty sweet and the screen is very responsive. I got him a case that allows it to stand up and he hasn’t had any complaints about the touch keyboard. (I was a little worried on that point, I’ll admit) Today there was a free app (they do it every day and I kind of love that) called Enhanced Email which can be configured for his work account. There’s also an Office Pro app which allows you to create, edit and share Office docs and is compatible with Office 2010. With those few functions, he’s pretty much all set. The web browser seems to be pretty quick and Cloud access is definitely nice.

I don’t know that he’s gotten into the video yet but the Prime trial means he can watch Arrested Development streaming so I expect that to change soon.

As for me, the Kindle Touch is SWEET. I love the touch screen and I especially love that it allows me to turn the pages without moving my hand. Once you get used to touching the top of the screen for the menu functions (also like that on the Fire, btw) it’s a snap. Long touch something to add it to a collection or see other options, short touch to open it. Completely intuitive if you’ve been using the Kindle line.

The clarity of the screen is great, the ads are unobtrusive and only visible as either screensavers or on the menu screens. Page turns are also noticeably faster.

I’m adjusting to the size which is simultaneously great and crazy small. Like, I can’t believe how much smaller it is but I don’t feel as if I’ve lost anything but HOLY SHIT LOOK HOW SMALL IT IS. It’s pretty fantastic. I haven’t hooked it up for social networking but I WILL say that the touch screen made it hella easier to enter my securely ridiculous long wifi password.

Unrelated to the tech, I decided to change my collections on the new device to simplify things a bit more.

Definitely related: if you own a Kindle, you should definitely have Books on the Knob on your RSS feed. They do an amazing job of rounding up free/cheap books and the app of the day.

Back to unrelated: Anyone on G+ adopting Google Music yet? I dropped the app on my phone and I’m currently uploading my collection to the Cloud.

Further unrelated: I heard someone on NPR refer to 2012 as the Year of Dickens due to a number of adaptations in the works. Anyone want to (re)read some classics with me?

 

Dreadnought and DroidX

Posted by in books, geek toys, reviews on Jul 14, 2011 | 0 comments

Let me start with the good – once the story gets underway, it doesn’t slow down. Set in Cherie Priest’s Clockwork universe, the Civil War is still raging and the country is carved into (at least) 4 distinct regions all with their own baggage, complications and torn loyalties. For those who’ve read Boneshaker (which I liked a bit more, I must admit) the Sap won’t come as a huge surprise but the story ticks along with plenty of acrobatics.

The bad: it took me FOREVER to get into this book. I started it and stopped at least a half dozen times and I don’t really have a good explanation why. Maybe I liked Mercy (the main character) less than the characters in Boneshaker? At any rate, once I got through that first stretch it was much more smooth. In comparison, I DID like Boneshaker better. I found the story more compelling and latched onto all the characters a bit more tightly.

All things considered, I’ll keep on with the Clockwork books because they’re entertaining and make a nice change of pace from the usual mass-publishing.

 

On the DroidX front, Verizon customer service (win again!) thought the update may have b0rked my SD card and fo sho,they were right. They mailed me a new one post-haste (and free as it’s still under warranty) and as of installation today all my apps and my camera seem to be functioning again. Yay! Once again I have to give love to Verizon for great service, although their new data plan stuff seems to indicate I’ll make a change when our contracts are up.

I’ve been using Google+ on it quite a bit (more than twitter, to my surprise) and despite all expectations, I’m enjoying the Google datamining pointing me to people I might/will like. The only thing the app is missing is connectivity to Google Reader, where I could share the articles I like on GReader with G+ (which in retrospect is a failure of the GReader app). Because I AM doing that (like, share in Greader), if you follow me in the Buzz tab you’ll see the stuff I share but that only seems accessible on the web – please correct me if I’m wrong.

Also, anyone still wanting an invite please feel free to hit me up.

We’ve got apps for that

Posted by in geek toys on Jul 9, 2011 | 1 comment

Since I go on AT LENGTH about my phone and how generally awesome it is to live in the future, I thought I’d share my favorite apps and (aside from the obvious) how I use them.

Sudoku Free – This is my number one time killer. At work, on break this is my go-to distraction. For whatever reason, maybe late adoption, I don’t find Angry Birds all that addictive. This game I use every day.

Dolphin Browser HD – This is my go to browser, in no small part thanks to the Last Pass add on. Easy to use (swipe to the right for bookmarks, to the left for add ons) and it opens new tabs rather than new windows (unlike the default android browser).

Note Everything and the NE GDocs extension - A recent addition, which is pretty whip ass. It takes text notes, voice notes and paint notes (which means you can doodle on the screen). Two best features: note from barcode – when there’s a book you’re interested in (or other item) and don’t have time to write it down. What I use most often: Note from Google Docs. See, I like my phone but it’s not the easiest method for creating a shopping list. I like to do that when I’ve got my cookbook nearby, so I can also note the page numbers of the recipes for which I’m purchasing. I do this with Google Notes and then, at the store, I open my Note Everything and access the shopping list (which is formatted by department) to make sure I get everything I need. LOVE.

PowerAMP – A pretty awesome music player which scrobbles data to send to iTunes (number of plays, playlists) and vice versa, it’s also got an excellent equalizer.

Stitcher – Live updating podcasts,no downloading. Great for when you’re in the signal zone and, depending on how long you let it buffer, it can survive my 40 minute commute where my signal is gone for at least 20 minutes.

I feel like maybe I’ve already raved about Gentle Alarm but it’s good enough to merit revisiting. It’s got 4 different customizable profiles for different kinds of alarms. It’s got the pre-alarm feature where a sound of your choice will play a half an hour (or a time of your choice) before your actual alarm. I use the rowing boat and set the volume to 15% so that my brain hears it and I don’t. You can also adjust the light settings so the light on your phone comes up and to what percentage. The alarms fade in and out based on how long you want, sound of your choice, number of snooze options AND snooze-kill options. In short, it’s a fantastic and easy to adapt app. My alarm hasn’t woken my husband – a very light sleeper- even once.

iSyncr and iSyncr WiFi (worth the tiny add-on cost) are what keep my Droid talking to iTunes. It also allows me to upload items I download onto my phone from the Amazon cloud so that I can share all my music cordlessly.

I’ve got the Kindle and Nook app, but I only use them as a last resort – stuck somewhere and I don’t have my Kindle.

BBC News – Maybe the best news app in the market, honestly. Customizable to the topics you want to read about and not a space hog. It also looks pretty.

Calorie Counter by Fatsecret – I started using this last week because I’ve gone cold turkey off soda and I find it helps if I’ve got a monitor to keep me honest. This is great because not only does it have a huge item database, it also searches by barcode. The absolute best part: you can choose how you want to use it – weight loss (fast or slow) or maintenance. Not only that, it’s got a TON of exercise options to enter – everything from driving, standing and deskwork to running and badminton. It’s kind of cool to see what your body needs to run and be able to graph what you’re giving it.

I use a Jorte calendar with a 5×4 screen so I can see the month at a snapshot. It’s clean, easy to update and syncs with my Google calendar. Especially nice when you want to let other people add events.

Goodreads allows me to update on the fly or add books to my TBR list without needing scratch paper.

PasswordCard is a fantastic way to create safe passwords on the go, if you don’t have access to something like LastPass. I’ve used it a lot.

Real Simple’s No Time to Cook – Another cooking app, great for when you’ve got a protein (or not) and aren’t sure what to do with it. Press the screen, choose your protein, choose how much time you’ve got to cook it and you’ll get pages of options. Every Real Simple recipe I’ve ever used has turned out fantastic, so for me this was worth the cost of a single magazine issue.

These are the apps that all have shortcuts or widgets on my screen, aside from the Amazon MP3 and Amazon shopping apps. I also have a shortcut for Voice Commands.

Sync – free audiobooks all summer

Posted by in books, geek toys on Jul 8, 2011 | 0 comments

If you haven’t already checked this out, you should. Sync has free audiobooks (totally painless sign up and they don’t spam you with email) and their selection tends to be one current(ish) novel and a classic. I’ve still got my downloads from last summer and was really disappointed I hadn’t found them sooner. This summer’s offerings have been pretty great as well.

In related news, DoggCatcher has decided to STOP WORKING on my phone. Mother fucker. So I’m open to your podcatching app recommendations. Currently I’m using iSyncr to grab some of my faves from iTunes and Stitcher for the ones that update while I’m at work.

Verizon is awesome part 67

Posted by in geek toys on Jul 2, 2011 | 0 comments

1. My calls don’t get dropped.

2. When I call customer service, they HELP.

3. When I called customer service about this phone situation, they didn’t make me do the shit I’d ALREADY done (factory reset, sd card format) but talked me through some other options. And then told me they were sending me  NEW PHONE. No hassles, no hoops, no bullshit.

I know there are haters out there but there’s a good reason I’ve been a Verizon customer for 8 years.

More on the Droid X

Posted by in geek toys on Jul 2, 2011 | 0 comments

Well. After two factory resets and erasing my SD card, I’ve narrowed the problem to the camera. Everything works fine and yesterday I even took some pictures. I came home, plugged the phone in to charge and looked at the shots I’d taken. This morning when I tried to find them, the phone told me there was no gallery. Searching via File Manager, I found the older photos I’d transferred but the ones from yesterday are gone. W.T.F.

Despite the fact that everything else about the phone is working, I’m finally contacting customer support. I suspect they will be less than helpful.*

Update: As predicted. Motorola wants me to send my phone in for repair. Turnaround is 5 to 7 days from the date they receive it. Right. Thanks for the utter lack of help, Motorola.  I guess Verizon’s the next stop.

 

 

Android love takes a hit

Posted by in geek toys on Jun 29, 2011 | 0 comments

But first – WTF. No one on the internets told me The Big C made its comeback last night! I’m very disappointed in you all.

Back to the phone: Yesterday my phone went insane. It’s running the new Gingerbread update and is not rooted. After using it all morning (Stitcher podcasts and then my music from the SD card) all of a sudden it shuts off. And then when I boot it, as soon as it goes to sleep I can’t wake it. I boot it, rinse repeat for like 4 hours. W.T.F. This is weird mostly because I haven’t had any real problems with it. I attempted to erase the SD card and factory reset, neither of which actually completed but THEN when I booted it, it worked JUST FINE. W. T. F. F.

Intermittently the camera has been giving me shit (like tonight) and the phone only froze once today (corrected with soft reset). I went to the Verizon store yesterday because WHAT THE HELL ASS BALLS but there’s not a good answer at this point. If the phone is working fine, I can keep it as is but I may run a factory reset this weekend just to see if that helps. Otherwise, Verizon will be replacing my phone.

Yeah. My HTC phone was pretty much all love all the time. This will probably be my last Motorola phone.

Related, I love that smartphones allow geekage with people who wouldn’t normally consider themselves ‘geeks’. One of my drivers and I were doing app comparisons today (AND he’s got a Kindle now) and talking voice text, ringtone makers and remote security apps. This is an older guy who doesn’t consider himself a nerd AT ALL, but we spent 20 minutes fansqueeing about Android. I love the future. Where’s my hoverboard?

 

True Blood, Season 4

Posted by in geek toys, miscellany, reviews, tv on Jun 28, 2011 | 0 comments

w00t!

So glad the show is back on, so glad Lafayette and Tara are chock full of awesome. Sookie was… Sookie-like. Most importantly, Pam kicks ass. The long ‘previously last season’ was warranted as GD it felt like it was a long time ago and it made for a great segue into Sookie’s fairyland adventure. As an HBOGo person, I also watched episode 2 last night and will probably watch it again next week. I saw a tweet that said Season 4 didn’t start with a bang. True. All the banging is in episode 2, fo sho.

I stopped reading the Southern Vampire series quite a while ago, mostly as the books began to be repetitive and mediocre. What I love about the HBO series is that they’ve deviated enough from the books to keep me hooked on where they’re going to go and made the characters interesting enough that I care.

Unrelated, except that it’s TV we got our Xbox hooked back up to Netflix and I watched the first episode of Sports Night again. I miss really good network TV. The basic cable networks are all doing things I love but I found Network disappointing pretty much all last season. Totally related: the interface for Netflix on the Xbox is so much better than on my Panasonic Blu-Ray player that I’m largely embarrassed for Panasonic.

 

Random nerdery

Posted by in geek toys on Jun 25, 2011 | 0 comments

Friday I updated my DroidX with Gingerbread. It was a rocky transition, I won’t lie, but the end result is good. So good in fact, that this morning I updated Spouse’s phone. If you want to know how much of a geek I am, I was thoroughly stoked to add PasswordCard, Shazam and Netflix (among other things) to his device. It’s the first time since activation that I’ve really gotten my hands on his phone. Also, demonstrated voice texting. w00t!

What I learned this week: Smartphones are wasted on at least 50% of the population. This because one of my work contacts (also owns a DroidX) was asking me what kind of things to do with the phone. He’s had his longer than I’ve had mine. I introduced him to Swype and Google Voice Search. He was impressed.

I love living in the future.

You and the Little Mermaid can both go f**k yourselves!

Posted by in books, entertainment, geek toys, reviews on Jun 23, 2011 | 0 comments

It should come as no surprise that listening to This American Life’s Father’s Day episode at work was probably not a great idea. Actually, it wasn’t that bad until they got to a story about a girl whose father was worried about her going to school in New York after the 9/11 attacks. He decided to build her an anti-terrorist attack kit. This grabbed me immediately because it is TOTALLY the kind of thing my dad would have done. She tells the story of him building the kit over a period of time and then having it at school for a couple of years (not opening it) and then – knowing there was $200 inside – she opened it for the cash because she was going overseas. I was crying before she even recited the letter her dad had left inside. Hell, I was choked up before SHE was choked up.

That story was the only story that really punched me in the gut and I felt like I needed to rebound with something funny, so I looked up an episode I’ve heard referenced a couple of times on TAL. The Greatest Phone Message in the World. Go to Buddy Picture and press play. Here’s a hint, it involves my blog post title. Ultimately what’s just as funny as the phone message is the story of the guy and his friend who actually TOLD him about the message and all their interplay during the story. Definitely worth the listen.

I also loved Simon Pegg on The Nerdist podcast this week. He completely bungles a funny Pippa Middleton joke but it’s so charming it stays funny. For laugh out louds, however, you CANNOT BEAT the latest Doug Loves Movies with Jon Hamm, Bill Simmons (sports writer) and Adam Scott (Community). I was laughing so hard at work that some of my colleagues thought I’d sustained brain damage. Note to self: you’re wearing EARBUDS. THEY can’t hear the voices in your head!

Right now I’m relaxing on my deck, enjoying a Pimm’s Cup and this gorgeous weather (photos in Twitter feed to the right). Summer here is absolutely the best summer I’ve ever experienced. Pimm’s Cups make it better. For those drinking along at home:

In a Collins glass about half filled with ice (pint glasses work too),

1 shot Pimm’s liquor (No.1 is what I’m using)

3 shots lemonade

float of 7Up on top

Delicious and super refreshing.

I got up at 3:30 this morning to go to work and let me just tell you that there is only one acceptable reason to be up at 3:30 a.m.- if you’re still up drinking from the night before. My new alarm app (Gentle Alarm, for those who care) is brilliant and doing the best job ever of waking me up (heavy sleeper) without waking the Spouse (very light sleeper). Also nice, Guster’s Bad World as my wake-up call.

While I didn’t love getting up early, it paid off in the amount of additional work I got done and not having to race to meet my deadline. Not only that, it makes Friday a coast day. w00t!

In reading news, I’m on to Little, Big. Chelsea Handler’s My Horizontal Life was good but not great. A few parts made me snort or laugh out loud but I’m mildly disappointed given how hilarious Shane said Are You There Vodka was. I suppose that will have to be my next effort of hers.

Shades of Milk and Honey was something I had on my wishlist and received as an anniversary gift. Great stuff. If you like Austen, I predict a thorough enjoyment of this novel. It’s set in a similar time with similar society but a couple of fantastical elements to set it apart, as well as some interesting characters. Thoroughly enjoyable read, especially for summertime. On a Buy, Rent or Steal rating, I’m going to go with Buy. It’s a book I see myself reading again (much like I do Austen’s work) and a nice comfort read.

 

Dogshit Tuesday

Posted by in geek toys, miscellany, tv on Jun 21, 2011 | 0 comments

No really, that’s how I started the morning. We’re sitting for our friend’s dog who apparently had some intestinal distress. This morning, in the dark, I went to the basement and was going into the laundry room when I felt the unmistakable (even at 4:30am) squish of a relatively fresh pile under the ball of my right foot. It threw a bit of a wrench into my morning.

On the bright side, I laughed out loud with the Doug Loves Movies and Nerdist podcasts this morning to help me regain my cheer. I also left work an hour early in order to compensate for hour fuckery which will almost inevitably occur on Friday. When I arrived home, I found a smaller pile of dogshit on the rug in front of my kitchen sink. Awesome.

At any rate, I’m not in love with any single app for corralling my podcasts. Currently I’m using DoggCatcher, Isyncr and today I added Stitcher. My issue is that I haven’t found a single app capable of pulling up all the podcasts I want with the most recent eps. DoggCatcher refuses to pull The Bugle. Stitcher doesn’t pick up the most recent Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe or Hardcore History. Isyncr is currently pulling what I want but I have to sync it with iTunes. Thus far it’s not cumbersome but it doesn’t have the benefit of updating the 404 while I’m at work for my drive home.

I suppose I’ll test run them all this week and see which are worth keeping or whether or not I can get a single one to jump through all my hoops.

In unrelated news, Tuesday is one of my favorite summer TV nights thanks to White Collar and Covert Affairs.

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