chromewalker

How to Create Separators on your Mac OS X Dock

2012-12-19T05:54:29Z

Just a shortie, link.

I wish there were more customization options.

http://zzamboni.org/brt/2007/11/21/real-separators-for-the-leopard-dock/

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-07-22

2012-07-22T06:00:00Z

I want this.. this is the coolest human/computer interface I've seen since the Minority Report: http://t.co/6ANUHn7h via @arizzoli #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-06-10

2012-06-10T06:00:00Z

How To Survive A Robot Uprising (aka Robopocalypse) http://t.co/RkrkmDQq #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-04-22

2012-04-22T06:00:00Z

Some cool light meter apps for the iPhone (for photo metering): http://t.co/cmL5XEdd #

The Compendium of Photography Apps on my iPhone

2012-04-01T10:12:32Z

The iPhoneography bug has bitten me hard. Frankly I’m very surprised how easily you can create some amazing pictures with the iPhone 4S to the point that at times I feel a photo-op would be better served with my iPhone than with my main interchangeable lens camera.

Part of what has transformed this view for me has been a series of Apps that I use extensively beyond the stock ones to give me the range of aesthetic qualities I’m looking for during different types of situations.

I’ve ordered the Apps by order of how frequently I use them within the groupings I feel they belong in:

Photo Capture (taking):

ProCamera – It is fast, has focus and exposure settings separately, has grid and saves directly to camera roll. Has some editing features which overlap with others, but by far just does its main job very well.

Lens+ – Mostly a fun and seemingly accurate filter-based camera. The key differentiator between this and other is the ‘live view’ of the filter rather than via post-processing. This helps you compose the shot with the filter in mind rather than having it come in after the fact. Let’s you record videos with filter applied also. The only downside to this App is that it is very slow to load.

CP Pro – Similar to Lens+ above in terms of live-view filters but the B&W filter is the best I’ve seen in any app so I use this app mostly for that. It does have various editing features as well, but the UI is a bit of a pain and slow and requires multiple taps to do basic things like get out of the lighbox and back to the camera. Lets you also record videos with filter applied, very cool in that regard.

gyroLens – This is an amazing little and simple app to get pictures perfectly level with the floor. Very useful in situations where you just can’t get your phone level, it will use the iPhone’s sensors to make it 100% accurate.

Camera+ – Probably one of the most popular apps as a default-camera replacement. It used to be my favorite for taking photos, but frankly the functionality of it is somewhat redundant with ProCamera. The key thing with this app is the ‘Clarity’ function, but lately I’ve been using another app, Perfectly Clear (see in below section on Post Processing) which works better. Still a recommended app, but you just have to make choice what your preference is.

Hipstamatic – Everyone loves the simplicity and beauty of Hipstamatic. However, it can be quite slow to load and take pictures so I’ve stopped using it because I’ve missed too many photo opportunities because of that slow load time. Additionally, at one point I stopped being able to know what a picture was going to look like with the myriad of lens/film/flash combinations. They need a better live-view set of options.

AutoStitch – This is the best panorama taking app I’ve seen in a while.

HDR Fusion – A very simple and fast HDR photo taker. Better than the built-in one from iOS. Its output is actually not very HDR looking, so very useful to take natural looking pictures that would be impossible with a limited dynamic range camera like that of the iPhone.

TrueHDR – for the crazy HDR look, this is the app that I use. Similar to the one above, but with some occasional crashing. It gives some wicked HDR saturation.

SlowShutter – the only App that I’ve found that allows you to modify the shutter speed of your iPhone so you can take slow shots at night to bring out lights. You can’t control the phone’s ISO, which sucks, but otherwise, helpful for light streaking.

CameraSharp – I use it mostly to remote trigger via a sound, but otherwise just another photo capture app. It’s ok.

Dotti – I don’t take pictures with it, I just import pictures into it to get them printed and mailed to me.

Grid Lens – beautiful UI, a bit gimmicky though and haven’t used it in a bit.

AgingBooth – takes pictures that make you look older. Hilarious and awesome at parties. well worth the money and never ceases to disappoint.

FatBooth – the same as above, but makes people look fat. Also really entertaining.

Photo Post Processing:

Snapseed – this is simply one of the best apps out there for photo editing. I have it on my iPad and on the Mac. Just does its job well and simply with intuitive touch-based controls.

PhotoToaster – also a top app, slightly different than Snapseed but highly complimentary. Frankly, with just Snapseed and PhotoToaster I could get by for 99% of my post-processing needs.

Pixlromatic+ – mostly for some wicked fun filters, but many of them are too nutty to be used often without going stale.

Simply B&W – makes some amazing B&W pictures because of color filters (yes, you use color filters on B&W images to generate different looking photos).

PerfectlyClear – Awesome app just makes things clearer. Yeah, I know, sounds weird, you just have to see it in action. It is almost 70% of my first part of the workflow now.

Diptic – It’s what I use to create collages of photos.

Noir – Great for creating B&W portraits. A bit cliche after a while though.

Luminance – A complete photo editor, but just hasn’t grown on me that much. I do occasionally use it though.

Filterstorm – A VERY complete photo editor, some of the features, frankly, are beyond me. Probably the closest thing to Pro-type features, but perhaps overkill for most people.

iPhoto – frankly, I’m not impressed. Bought it assuming it was going to be as good, but used it a few times and found it non-intuitive. Snapseed is much better.

CameraBag – Another filter app.

Lo-Mob – Another filter app with emphasis on a certain genre of oldskool formats. Good for a specific look you might be going for.

ComicStrip – Like Diptic but lets you organize things more like a comic strip (as the name implies) with speech bubbles and banners.

Balloon – An app just for speech bubbles.

Motivational – Makes any photo look like a motivational poster. Hilarious.

HOPE Poster! – Makes any photo look like the Obama ‘HOPE’ poster. Also funny.

Photo Sharing (social):

Instagram – the king of social photography and filters (if you like applying them within a social app). The only thing that I find restricting is the 1:1 format it uses since I can’t upload panoramas without a serious cropping of the image, but oh well. The network is really fun and I’ve learned a lot about composition just from others. I think I enjoy Instagram far more than any other social network on the planet.

PicPlz – Same as Instagram, but usable on Android as well, so I use it to see what my Droid friends are doing and I also use it for sharing.

Path – Beautiful UI. Stunning. Shares more than just photos within a tight group of friends. Slightly different use-case than the two above.

Tumblr – Just to upload the high-res stuff to my Tumblr account.

ISO500 – To view my 500px account and popular photos.

Teleportd – Awesome app to discover what images are being published around you or any other part of the world. Great to ‘teleport there’.

EyeFi – Part of the EyeFi system. I find the system as a whole largely disappointing though. A review to come later.

Flickr – To upload to Flickr, but these days mostly to browse other pictures.

Pinterest – To upload to Pinterest.

postagram – To send postcards from pictures (I use it within the USA).

Touchnote – To send postcards from pictures (I use it within the UK).

Videos:

FiLMiC Pro – Like ProCamera but for video with lots of features such as focus and exposure setting being different. For iPhonefilmography, probably the best out there.

8mm – Lets you take videos in old-skool looking filters.

Viddy – A video social network like instagram for videos.

Instagram photo app becoming a powerful social media tool(tortsreport.com)
Retro Filters Collide: Hipstamatic Announces Official Integration With Instagram(cultofmac.com)
Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom On Hipstamatic Partnership, Future Of Photo-sharing With Camera+, Facebook(fastcompany.com)

iPhone App Mixology (abeautifulmess.typepad.com)

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-02-26

2012-02-26T06:00:00Z

Management Lessons to Learn From Star Wars http://t.co/b8kJwss1 (no matter what was written, I HAD to tweet this). #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-02-12

2012-02-12T06:00:00Z

Love the Apple Siri spoof Ad for Scotland: http://t.co/YV5zIo7E #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-12-11

2011-12-11T06:00:00Z

quote of the day: "Life is too short to remove USB device safely." #

Amazon New Kindle ‘Official’ Cover / Case Review for Wi-Fi only model

2011-12-03T12:02:43Z

As per my recent Kindle review, I did find that the Kindle needed protection for the screen when in a bag so I decided to look into cases.

All the cases except the official one from Amazon had little elastic straps to hold the kindle in, which, in my opinion, marred the look of the device when reading from it within the case. I wanted something more akin to the ‘smart cover’ system from Apple, and the only one that was like that was Amazon’s own Kindle Leather Cover for £30.

Let’s first talk about the price. Yes, the cover feels ‘quality’, but considering that the Kindle is £89 in the UK ($79 in the USA with Ads on it), that means that cover is one third the cost of the device. Imagine buying a £600 iphone and paying £200 for a case!!!!! That’s ridiculous!

But oh well… it is either that or a broken device. It would have been nice for Amazon to perhaps have provided a bundling option for both Kindle and a cover…

Anyway, the cover itself is quality though, and it snap on to the back of the Kindle quite firmly and feels great. It is exactly what I wanted for the Kindle with only two caveats:

1) It does as substantial ‘bulk’ to the otherwise thin and light Kindle. As in, it feels both heavier and fatter.

2) It doesn’t quite protect the 5 way rocker and buttons.

On the last point, basically the buttons on the Kindle just get squished when the cover is closed. I can feel them crunching when I have the kindle tightly held. This doesn’t seem like it would be a huge issue, but wish the cover had perhaps cut out some room for them.

Lastly, the reading experience is better with the cover because the flap, when turned back on the device makes it easier to grip.

So, in conclusion, I do recommend it as the only cover I actually truly like for the Kindle, but can’t say that it is a 10/10 if you include the price and the button mashing.

Amazon Launches Spanish and Italian Kindles (blogs.wsj.com)
iSuppli: Kindle Fire already 13.8% of tablets, iPad at 66% (electronista.com)
Amazon Widens Its Kindle Footprint With €99 Device On Sale In Spain, Italy (paidcontent.org)
Kindle Fire Unseats iPad as No. 1 Tablet at Best Buy (mashable.com)
Sony Reader Wi-Fi drops permanently to $130 (electronista.com)
Amazon plans full retail push for Kindle Fire, other Kindles (electronista.com)
Future of Ebook Reading Devices Gets Brighter (sixestate.com)
Moving on up: Packt Publishing’s “Amazon Web Services: Migrating your .NET Enterprise Application” now available on Amazon’s Kindle (prweb.com)

The ‘New’ Amazon Kindle Review (WiFi-only, No Touch, e-Ink, $79, £89)

2011-12-03T12:04:45Z

I have an iPad which I really enjoy using. It lets me read book from iBooks, the Amazon Kindle store, Kobo, Readmill, Instapaper articles, and magazines etc.. It has a nice screen, big, with color, and touch browsing. It lets me book mark, take notes and take screen shots of highlighted text to email my friends. It is just a plain awesome experience to read with.

It has, however, four major drawbacks:

1) It is big, so you can’t carry it in a coat pocket or in a small bag

2) It is heavy, so if you’re trying to read one-handed

3) In a sunny environment (outside picnic, for example) it is hard to see the screen even in full brightness

4) It is scary expensive to bring somewhere like the beach where sand could get inside the display or it could get damaged.

Note that I didn’t include the battery life, because I find that I charge my gadgets frequently enough that they can get me through enough of the normal use (except the iPhone, but that’s a different story), but perhaps this may be a ‘fifth’ point to add to the list above.

So I had been considering the Kindle for a while, but thought it was too expensive for the reasons why I was considering it until the latest version came out. The features, in case you are wondering are (from Amazon’s website):

30% lighter than before, less than 170 grams
18% smaller body, same 6″ screen size – fits in your pocket
Most advanced E Ink display, reads like paper
Built-in Wi-Fi – Get books in 60 seconds
10% faster page turns for seamless reading

So, I caved into temptation.

First of all, on build quality, I’m pretty impressed. The Kindle feels great to the touch, feels solid and well built, and nothing about it feels ‘cheap’. If anything, it makes the older models look ‘cheaper’. Battery life seems to be ok, at least longer than my obsessive compulsive desire to charge it, so I haven’t had a ‘month’ of battery life to test it, but I’m sure it would be feasible without WiFi turned on.

In terms of the next most important thing, the screen and effectively, the reading experience… I’m pretty pleased with it. It is what I expected. The screen is of the right size so that you don’t feel like you have to be page turning every five seconds, the fonts are nice and clean and not pixelated, there is only very very minor ghosting of fonts after a few page flips, and in the sunlight it performs beautifully. Can’t complain at all.

One point to make here between the reading experience and the design of the device, I find that the power button is poorly placed and that they next page buttons are a bit too big as well. Basically, if you’re holding this one handed, one of two things can accidentally happen too easily, first, your finger that is supporting the kindle from the bottom, can accidentally turn the device off, and two, the fingers that are holding one of the sides of the device can sometimes accidentally trigger a page flip. I find both circumstance quite annoying and the designers could have easily put the power button on the top where most devices have it.

In terms of the Kindle interface via the 5-way rocker and dedicated buttons. Well, it is slow and painful, but thankfully you only have to do this very occasionally. First, to set it up on your home wifi network, and then after, to either buy books, bookmark pages, and or synchronize your device with Whispernet.

The operating system and device speediness is quite slow as the refresh rate on the screen prevent it from really ‘cooking with gas’, but whatever.. you know this going into your purchase anyway.. frankly, I haven’t been too bothered by these limitations, and although it would be nice to have some of the flexibility to annotate my readings like I do on my iPad, I find my Kindle supplements my ongoing reading that may be more interactive on the iPad, but less ‘ruggedly mobile’.

In conclusion.. would I recommend it? If you own and iPad and have the money to want to remedy the issues I highlighted above, yes.. it will do the job, and very nicely. If you only want to own only one device, I would still recommend it, but having had both an iPad and a Kindle, it is clear in my mind which is the superior device overall (price excluded).

New Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6″ E Ink Display (philbradley.typepad.com)
Sony Reader Wi-Fi drops permanently to $130 (electronista.com)
Kindle or Nook? (foxnews.com)
Amazon introduces new Kindles (ziggytek.com)
Kindle Fire: WiFi Problems Fixed, Cool Device! (smoothspan.wordpress.com)
Amazon Kindle Fire vs. Touch vs. Keyboard: Which E-Reader Is Right For You? (ibtimes.com)
Kindle Touch 3G: Hands-on Review (mashable.com)
Amazon Announces the $79 Kindle (justgottasharethis.info)
Sony Reader WiFi officially drops to $129.99 (engadget.com)
Kindle Touch compared to Nook Simple Touch, Kobo Touch, and Kindle 4 (marco.org)

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-12-04

2011-12-04T06:00:00Z

Which micro four thirds camera to get? The new Panny GX1 or the Oly EP3? #

Just Mobile Gum Plus Power Pack Review

2011-12-03T10:40:42Z

The Gum Plus Power Pack is one of several solutions out there to keep your mobile devices from dying mid-day. What differentiates it from many of the others is the size of it, both in terms of reserve power and physical bulk.

In the hand, it feels like a small pebble, roughly twice as thick as the iPhone 4, and about the size of a box of gum, it packs in (allegedly) 4400mAh. This should, charge your iPhone about 3 times before it needs more juice, or at least that’s what the marketing states.

So, from the top:

The packaging is quite nice. Apparently the Pack received an award for design, although I don’t know if I see that. Its just a rounded battery.. oh well…

The build quality of the device I’d say is just ‘ok’. Although it feels ‘solid’ the problem is that the metallic top and bottom have a sort of play to them. They go a bit sideways like they are poorly fastened to the plastic edge. It feels like they can pop off at a drop or I can make them gap if I pull on it a bit. I first noticed this when I was holding it as the button in the middle seemed to move a bit, and it wasn’t the button rather the sides which made the button look like it was moving. Additionally, I think the button (which is to turn the battery pack ‘on’), is too sensitive as I’ve found that the battery pack had turned itself on in the provided satchel. I don’t know how long it can last with itself ‘on’ but that can’t be good to self-drain like that.

Build quality aside, there is the actual charging and operation of the power pack.

On the operation of it, I find that it is quite annoying frankly. Firstly you have to turn the Power Pack ‘on’. As in, you have to click the button so that your device can then be plugged in to charge. The problem is that you have to turn it on, before you can plug your device in. If you have already plugged it in, then you have to unplug it, turn it on, and then replug it. Just annoying. Then, there is the issue of pass-through charging: It doesn’t have it. I have another battery pack that is no longer in production from APC that allowed pass-through charging and it was awesome because you could literally charge two devices at once, but anyway… the last bit that annoys me is that the blinking lights are supposed to some extent tell me how much is left in the battery pack, but the blinkies are way too inconsistent. Sometimes only one is blinking (which would imply the battery pack is fully discharged) and other times all 5 are blinking when the battery pack is fully charged in both situations. I don’t get it.

Lastly, regarding charging the iPhone, I find that I get about 2 full charges not three. Sometimes there is a little bit left over, but not enough for a full third charge. Then again, I don’t know if that means that the battery pack was discharging on its own because the on button had turned itself on or if it loses charge if not used for a week or so…

So in conclusion, I think the Just Mobile Gum Plus Power Pack over promises and under delivers, but still gets the job done at a reasonable price relative to other products out there. I think if it were slightly better built, didn’t have such an easy to press-on button, and had less bugs on the blinking lights, it would be much better.

iPhone 4 Gear Review: Mili Power Pack (geardiary.com)
Power Packed (edtechmagazine.com)
Quick benchmark comparing Power Pack and the Xaye MKL wrapper on matrix operations (marcuscuda.com)
Useful Travel Gadgets for any Tech Savvy (yabbedoo.wordpress.com)
Smith Machines Home Gyms Pack Power Into Good Designs (tfollowers.com)
Grab for Power Intro Pack | Decklist and review (examiner.com)
Kickstart The All New 2000mAh Battery Pack For iPhone 4/4S SmartCase (theappwhisperer.com)
Kickstart the all new 2000mAh battery pack for iPhone 4/4S SmartCase (themactrack.com)

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-10-23

2011-10-23T06:00:00Z

My increasing frustration with Apple's services and products http://t.co/3E1Yz999 cc @forstall #
If you're depressed, you're living in the past. If anxious, you're living in the future. If at peace, you're living in the present. #

My Increasing Frustration with Apple Services & Products

2011-10-16T11:35:55Z

Image via CrunchBase

I’m increasingly finding that Apple’s control of my information in a closed fashion is preventing me from getting the utility that I need from my devices for every day use + I’m also starting to get worried about device and media portability for the future.

Let’s look at the following situations that I find myself in regularly with Apple’s services and products:

1) I’ve bought music over the years from iTunes, and the older stuff is still DRM protected, so I haven’t been able to do anything else with it, and I don’t want to pay the upgrade charge that I’d have to pay to unlock it, even though the same song today costs the same as it did when I paid for it back then. Now, I’ve just shifted almost entirely to Spotify because this was just getting silly and I was starting to fear for the ‘investment’ I was making, vs just considering the Spotify model of ‘renting’ for use and not caring which device I consume it in.

My friend Jason Ball has also had this annoyance

2) My pictures in the new Photo Stream tie me into iPhoto instead of giving me the option to publish to Dropbox or any other of the services most people are using these days.

3) My contacts are entirely in Google Contacts because that’s where people that use Google Apps for work have them in. Yes, Google sync is a ‘workaround’ but it uses Exchange’s protocols, so you are limited to a very finite set of fields and the mapping of contacts to fields isn’t great… on iOS for example, it is very limiting. Now with iCloud, I can’t even synch iCloud with Google Contacts the way the the local address book can… and why not?

4) Google Calendars, the now standard, again, nothing for me to be able to do with iCloud.. I am forced to pick, why couldn’t iCloud becoming a pseudo-web-client for any kind of calendaring with sharing capabilities surpassing those of GCal? It could have been so awesome had they done that… Effectively taking the desktop iCal app , putting it up on the web, and allowing people to choose it as the default calendaring app for any kind of purpose not just Apple’s specific use cases and closed ecosystem.

5) I have moved countries and as such my purchases tied with one apple ID are at risk that as soon as my credit card expires from the country I left, any subsequent upgrade is going to be missed and I may need to buy the apple all over again. Actually, this applies to ALL of my content. ALL of it is at risk of being lost unless Apple allows data and purchase portability without concern for region. Let me move my data to any country with me. I bought it!

However this is highly unlikely because of regionalization laws for media, but surely with older stuff they should be more flexible? And with applications and data?

6) Not allowing applications to share information with each other, the way that Android allows it, makes the workflow of using an iOS device increasingly clumsy, and involving multiple clicks of the button.. Additionally, stuff like the Address book, from my previous point, is getting awfully dated due to the inability to plug into other services to augment the data that is already stored within the address book.

7) iBooks that I’ve bought are tied into my iPad. That’s the only place I can consume them. How come not on the web like with Amazon’s cloud reader? How come not part of iCloud? How come I can’t take those books and read them on a different device in case I don’t want to continue buying iProducts? Can’t we de-couple digital sales from proprietary hardware? Can’t we decouple digital sales from regions and credit card validity periods?

All in all, I’m starting to feel like Apple’s simplicity in OS design is becoming to show its limitations because they are staying static on how some things, like the address book evolve. What once was awesome because there were no other services to plug into or use, is now starting to feel dated because of how many cloud services people use to aggregate their media and data. I hope Apple wakes up soon and starts player ‘nicer’ with the ecosystem merely by just allowing others to plug in to their services and they themselves doing more projects like what they did with Twitter… integrating and enhancing, not re-inventing the wheel others have already made.

How to use iCloud with iWork (applescoop2.wordpress.com)
The Three Logics of Apple’s iCloud (theatlantic.com)
The 3 Logics of Apple’s iCloud (theatlantic.com)
iCloud Review: Not Quite Magical (Yet) [Icloud] (gizmodo.com)
Bugs & Fixes: An iCloud/MobileMe login conundrum (macworld.com)
Week in Apple: iOS 5 released, iCloud transition begins (arstechnica.com)

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-10-16

2011-10-16T06:00:00Z

Way too much awesomeness packed into one song / music video: http://ow.ly/6SaK6 #shaft #daftpunk #starwars #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-09-25

2011-09-25T06:00:00Z

If you're looking for a good comparison of code editors for Mac OS X for Ruby dev work (and others) go here: http://ow.ly/6xvk2 #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-09-18

2011-09-18T06:00:00Z

Secure your vox.io twitter id for making calls on the web now before it goes: http://www.vox.io #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-09-04

2011-09-04T06:00:00Z

This is just the most wicked flying suit action I've ever seen: http://ow.ly/6kvVS #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-07-17

2011-07-17T06:00:00Z

Boy does the Nexus S chug battery life. Only off the charger for about two hours and down to 80%. #

MEElectronics SP51P, M31, M9P, and RX11 Headphone review

2011-06-20T06:22:39Z

Image via CrunchBase

Every once in a while you discover a new brand that leaves you pleasantly surprised. I was recently able to test out a few headphones by MEElectronics (http://www.meelec.com ) and came away with a preference for sure, but quite surprised in how fun they were.

As you know, there are a few things that I need in my headphones even before I start listening to music:

Non-Sticky cables
Rugged construction
Pain-free fitting of ear-buds
Ideally with a good quality microphone (if used for calls)
Cheap: these things are too easy to lose or break
Efficient: that it doesn’t take too much volume to get the sound out

Ok, onto the sound quality of the headphones first then onto how do all four of these stack up against the six points above…

First of all, you need to keep in mind that I do not seek to find a ‘neutral’ headphone. I want one that will ‘color’ my music to sound better. I know this goes against what many audiophiles want, but call me a rose-colored glasses kind of person.

Secondly, the music I listen to tends to be electronica which is quite bass heavy, with lots of musical subtleties. I therefore like a strong and rich bass but appreciate some refinement.

Without Microphone

Of the two headphones without microphones, the RX11 was may favorite sound-wise. Whilst it was a less bit ‘refined’ than the M31 across its range, its raw sound was quite fun to listen to.

RX11 ($24.99) -

The sound was raw and had a bassy punch. Hard to describe, but it just felt ‘right’. Mids and High’s weren’t as polished as those of the RX11′s siblings below, but they weren’t bad at all.. again, for the kind of music I listen to, they were quite fun and still gravitate to their sound.

M31 ($44.99) -

The first thing I noticed on these after having had the RX11′s on for a while was the volume drop after plugging them in. However, once adjusted, the sound quality was a bit more refined than the RX11′s but ironically, less ‘raw’ and ‘punchy’. Don’t get me wrong, I quite enjoyed these and would recommend them as much as the RX11 particularly if you want a more balanced sound.
With Microphone

SP51P ($64.99) -

When I first put these headphones on and put my favorite test track: “A Nomad’s Retreat” by Pantha du Prince, my head almost exploded. The bass on these headphones made my head bounce side to side literally. It felt the the same way as when Marty McFly turned on his amplifier in the beginning of Back to Future and plays a note on his guitar only to be blown away across the room. Power.. Raw Bass. Maybe too much for some, but thankfully the headphones come with interchangeable rear ports to tone it down if you need to do that sort of thing, but boy were these fun. Overall, the quality of these headphones were a notch above. The microphone quaky was pretty good too with no major complaints.

M9P ($24.99) -

The quality of the music was very similar to the M31 above. Clean, with a good bass, but also lacking some of the raw edge that the RX11 had. These headphones also felt like the least efficient of the four. However, the weakest link on these headphones was the microphone. I consistently received comments from callers that I couldn’t be heard unless I held the microphone close (really close) to my mouth.
In Summary

Overall, in terms of listening enjoyment overall, the RX11 came away as my favorite with the SP51P coming a close second when adjusted for price, particularly since you can ‘tune’ the sound on the SP51P. They were all strong on the bass-end of things, and while others were more refined (probably a better thing for music with a wider dynamic range) for fun sounds in an urban setting, the RX11′s were my favorite.

All four headphones were comfortable to fit as they all came with three sizes of buds + the swimmer-type buds. I find that I always fit the ‘medium’ size, but the swimmer buds are unbearable, so I’m glad they didn’t force you into that format. Do keep in mind that all four of them use in-ear buds.. which is a format which some prefer and others do not. I prefer the in-ear buds because of their inherent external noise-blocking capabilities. Another thing to note is that the M31 and the SP51P had the longest ear piece length.. While this probably is partially how the music is tuned, the downside is the amount the headphone itself sticks out of your ear, which can, at times, make them ‘droop’ due to the weight and perhaps fall out or require readjustment. They weren’t that bad though.

All four headphones had AWESOME cables. Not only did all the cables look cool (in particular the M9P and the RX11), but they were all non-stick, or as non-stick as headphone cables can be without being wrapped in cloth. This features ranks really high in my list for portable headphones because frankly, it prevents really nasty accidents. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had sticky-cabled headphones ripped out of my ear canal just by rubbing up against something. It is painful.

All four headphones are relatively cheap and therefore won’t hurt the wallet as much should you lose them on a trip to visit the parents… No matter how hard mom looks for them later.

All the headphones except the RX11 were made out of metal (Alu I think). This of course leads to higher durability (in principle) as they are less likely to crack or break. However, in my experience it is hard to guess where the headphones will fail. Sometimes it is where the cable joins the bud-unit, other times it is as the connection to the phone. Overall though, the headphones didn’t feel cheap. I will say that I am a more ‘prudent’ user of equipment though… I do have them fail over time, but am not like some that can make equipment fail just by looking at it.

In terms of efficiency, I’d say that the RX11 was clearly the winner, with the rest clearly a step behind requiring at least one to three more clicks of the volume button to get the comparable volume level. This is important particularly if your phone/mp3 player doesn’t have a very high volume output or if you are in a loud setting (like the London Underground).

In conclusion, the RX11′s in spite of their plastic construction, came out as a very strong contender to the overall throne. They have a cool looking and non-stick cable, are cheap, comfortable, lightweight, efficient, and sound fun. What more can you ask? Well, a microphone… Being that I receive or make calls throughout the day, it is a pain to have to take out the phone from my pocket to take the call. Particularly in the winter with cold hands… However, if you listen to music from something other than a phone, the RX11′s are fun. Otherwise, go for the SP51P with their microphone and sound tuning are an excellent bet. In general, however, I felt all of these headphones punched above their weight…

Deal of the Day: $49.99 MEElectronics M6-CL Sound-Isolating In-Ear Headphones fpr $22.82 (techeblog.com)
MEElectronics HT-21 Headphone review: Balanced sound for a bargain (news.cnet.com)

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-05-29

2011-05-29T06:00:00Z

New Post: DODOcase BOOKback for iPad2 Review http://ow.ly/50g27 #
New Post: NewerTech NuPad Base for MacMini Review http://ow.ly/50g3G #
New Post: Timbuk2 Plush Sleeve Review (for the iPad) http://ow.ly/50g5s #
RT @toetoe: The Kindle is notorioulsy bad at handling pdfs. This Chrome plugin reformats pdfs for the Kindle. http://t.co/9LpQ7dg #fb #

DODOcase BOOKback for iPad2 Review

2011-05-22T18:33:23Z

In my experience with the original iPad, reading in bed was made easier when you had the iPad within a case where the back of the iPad was covered so that it wouldn’t slip from your hands, for the Alu surface can be quite slippery and cold to the touch. With the launch of the iPad 2 and with Apple’s new Smart Cover, I wanted to be able to use my iPad ‘naked’ and thus, I would need something to not only protect the backside of the iPad 2, but also keep it from feeling so ‘cold’ to the touch.

Again, sometimes problems are as easy to solve as simply buying a “sticker”.

The BOOKback by DODOcase is effectively a ‘book feeling’ sticker that is applied directly to the back of the iPad and gives it minimal protection against scratches and provides you with the familiar book-like feel when you’re reading.

Applying the sticker is a pain (as most are), although you can re-use the sticker several times if you get it wrong. I tried and tried but couldn’t get the camera perfectly centered while having the speaker grille also perfectly centered, so in the end, I compromised by having the camera hole a little askew, but not covered so that the speaker grille would be perfect.

Once applied, I must say it does the job quite well. It looks and feels great, but I do think that it could be improved a bit. Firstly, the camera cut-out could be made just a tad bit bigger so that the margin of error for application didn’t have to be so ‘tight’. Secondly the little ‘horn’ that sticks out at the bottom left of the above image (the left part of the speaker grille cut-out) is the Achilles heel of the sticker. In my experience with stickers that end up in sleeves in and pockets all the time, sharp corners like these usually are the first to ‘peel up’. I’ve already noticed that simply from having the iPad 2 in and out of my Timbuk2 iPad Sleeve, it has already started accumulating lint sticking to it, the first signs of an eventual peel-off. I may just do minor surgery and cut it off and round-out the corner to avoid this from happening.

At $20 I think the ‘sticker’ is a bit steeply-priced, but then again, I think DODOcase is selling you on the ‘book’ ethos they are after. All in all, I’m happy with the purchase, but perhaps the next version could improve the design just a bit.

You can get the BOOKback from DODOcase here (I had to pay extra to have it shipped to the UK):

http://www.dodocase.com/products/bookback-for-ipad2

BOOKback for iPad and iPhone offers sleek scratch protection (tuaw.com)
Rex Ray Dodocase, For Art-Lovin’ iPad 2 Owners (crunchgear.com)
iPad 2 DODOcase vs Portenzo Notebook Style iPad 2 Case (icemanbaldy.com)
DodoCase for iPad 2 Review (chromewalker.com)
iPad 2 Case Review: DODOcase BOOKback for iPad 2 (geardiary.com)

NewerTech NuPad Base Review

2011-05-22T18:07:16Z

Sometimes solutions to problems are as simple as buying a sticker.

In this case, the problem is that Mac Mini’s come with a plastic bottom that is like teflon when you have it on a nice smooth AV mount or with Mac Mini’s one on top of the other. The thing just slides all over the place! The problem is particularly aggravated when you have a very thick HDMI cable that just doesn’t want to bend when placed within a rack and thus your Mac mini ends up rotating on the spot all the time.

NewerTech’s NuPad “Sticker” effectively fixes the problem by adhering to the bottom of your MacMini and increasing the coefficient of friction between your MacMini and whatever it is sitting on top of. It works.. well, it works like it is supposed to.

In case you’re wondering, what’s the catch.. well, I’m trying to find one. First, I have no idea if there will be any thermal dissipation impact to the MacMini, but being that this isn’t on a spot that is intended for thermal venting, I figure it should be ok. Then, there are two holes used for helping you open the base which the “sticker” covers up, but simply exerting more downward force on disk while rotating it suffices to accomplish the same goal, so.. back to square one, can’t really see the downside to using the NuPad.

All in all, a simple and cheap solution to an annoying problem.

You can find the NuPad Base here:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/NUPDBASEMM/

NewerTech unveils NuShelf mount for minis, Time Capsules (macnn.com)
NewerTech NuShelf lets you mount your Mac mini (macworld.com)
NuShelf Mounts for Mac mini computers launch at Newer Technology (slashgear.com)
NewerTech NuShelf Lets You Mount Your Mac Mini (pcworld.com)
Mac mini mounting madness (tuaw.com)
NewerTech Announces NuShelf: An Underdesk Mount For Mac Mini Or Time Capsule (crunchgear.com)
Kickstarter project hopes to fund Mac mini mount (electronista.com)
How to Turn Your Mac mini into a DVR (lockergnome.com)

Timbuk2 Plush Sleeve Review (for the iPad)

2011-05-22T17:53:28Z

When I bought my original iPad, I also purchased the original rubbery-feeling Apple ipad case. Although convenient to use, it lacked the crucial cushioning necessary to protect the iPad from blows or dents. For that very reason, one fine day when I had my godzilla-esque UK plug in the same bag as the iPad + case, the plug’s contacts dented the back part of my original iPad. Not really bad, but just enough to let me know that if I wanted to carry the iPad in a bag with other items, it did merit more protection.

Fast forward to now, where I recently acquired an iPad 2. In an effort to protect my new toy from the same fate that befell its predecessor, I looked into more protective means by which to house the iPad while in transit within my messenger-style bag. The Timbuk2 Plush Sleeve came to the top of mind being that they are known for the ruggedness of their products, so I went ahead an ordered one (Because I live in the UK and they don’t ship there without a ridiculous shipping charge, I had to get a friend to bring it over).

http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/products/tablet-ereader/fits-ipad/ipad-plush-sleeve

The Sleeve itself looks quite cool. It has ballistic nylon on the outer, but the look overall is quite cool and refined with Timbuk2′s logo prominently sewn on the front. The inner part of the sleeve is made up of a very soft material which presumably helps wipe the crud off the screen as well as preventing it from getting scratched. However, in practice, it does little cleaning (if that was the intended purpose). The sleeve can fit both the original iPad and the iPad 2 + the smart cover, and it fits cradled within the sleeve’s memory foam (like the tempurpedic mattresses sold in Sharper Image) which presumably help to prevent the very dents that my original iPad received when carried within a larger bag. Overall quality of construction is top quality as products from Timbuk2 generally are.

However, for all its merits, I am a little disappointed by the level of innovation from Timbuk2 on having this sleeve work as a way of both carrying and using the iPad. Had Timbuk2, for example, made a cut-out so you could have the headphone-jack exposed while having the flap closed, it would have made the sleeve far more useful as a way of both transporting the iPad as well as using the iPad for things like music, when out and about. Another point to consider that Timbuk2 could have further examined was the use of velcro instead of something else (magnets?) to keep the flap closed. The Velcro is very loud and this is particularly noticeable when you are in meetings and you want to take a quick look at something on the iPad.

I would definitively recommend the Plush Sleeve, particularly if you carry your iPad in a larger bag full of other stuff that could injury your new toy. Timbuk2, if you’re reading this, perhaps in the next revision you’ll consider placing some cutouts to make the product more usable in a variety of situations.

Timbuk2 Pop-Up case fits both iPad and iPad 2 (news.cnet.com)
Review: Timbuk2 Q Backpack (macworld.com)
Dear Timbuk2 Bags (knockuout.wordpress.com)
Incase Lounge Case: A Unique Case/Stand for the iPad 2 | PadGadget (padgadget.com)
Sleeved iPad 2 run over by car, survives (christopherjudson.wordpress.com)
The Week in iPad Cases: Wakka wakka wakka (macworld.com)
The iPad 2′s best case scenario, revisited: Looking at Smart Cover-friendly cases (reviews.cnet.com)

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-05-15

2011-05-15T06:00:00Z

RT @jasonkincaid: Engadget says the first Chromebook "feels tremendous — stiff, solid and well appointed" http://t.co/n29xAge #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-05-08

2011-05-08T06:00:00Z

RT @darkfreda: Spotify launches music download service with iPod sync, puts iTunes on notice http://pulsene.ws/1v5an #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-05-01

2011-05-01T06:00:00Z

Your smartphone battery is lying to you http://byrong.com/PowerTesting/ #

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