Everything has a lifespan, including the products we use. I don’t have a problem with companies understanding this, and specifically designing their goods to fall within a specific number of years or uses. They have incentives to maximize profit, so in markets where they can’t rely on technical innovation to drive sales, planning obsolescence is a viable tactic. The main […]
Read moreI love whisky, or whiskey, as I am relearning how to spell it. Anyone who spends time at a bar with me can attest to two thing: I have some peculiarities around pouring beer, and I will run on about whiskey for as long as there is an audience. Frankly, what’s not to like. Excepting anything from Islay, it is […]
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HomeSeer announced a couple new switches at CES 2018 with integrated RGB lights which can be used to indicated status for other elements in the control system. There is a $55 dimmer and a $50 toggle switch available, both support Z-Wave Plus, multi-tap, and S2 security. This isn’t a new concept in the home automation device market, but it is […]
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I can only imagine that everyone at Caavo assumed someone else was taking care of HDR support in its new $400 (yep, $400) universal remote. Because, frankly what the… HDR is the best thing that has happened to displays since HD (yes, 4K is cool and all but it’s not terribly useful unless you have a big set). Would you […]
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With a quick glance, it is obvious that the $200 RHA T20i look the part of a premium in-ear headphone. Whether it’s the injection molded stainless steel driver housings, or the fit and finish of the other key touch points, we see fastidious attention to detail. Innovative design does not stop with the appearance either, including high-quality materials and RHA’s […]
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This morning my sister, with whom I have an ongoing discussion around “smart device” privacy, sent me a link to Gizmodo’s “The House That Spied On Me”. As you can probably tell from the title, it’s mostly about how our connected devices collect and transmit information about us to The Cloud. Some of this is quite alarming, for e.g. Hulu […]
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The VideoLAN non-profit organization has announced the availability of VLC 3.0 “Vetinari”, and for the first time this release is synchronized across all of the platforms supported by the universal media player for Windows, Mac, iOS, myriad Linux platforms, and Android to name a few. Chromecast is the main feature add for the Android platform, but it also includes Android […]
Read moreIt’s not for everyone, but I really enjoyed the first Deadpool movie. For me there, was a lot to like in the way the story was told – so I’m looking forward to the sequel. Having just watched the trailer for Deadpool 2, it looks like they are keeping with the same recipe of humor, violence, and not too much […]
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It’s been a long time since I’ve used a PC without an SSD as the primary storage device, but I still rely on painfully slow USB connected spinning media to backup my data. So this review of the Plugable Thunderbolt 3 NVMe SSD is quite timely for me as I consider getting something comparable to the experience I’ve come to […]
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We looked at the Flo smart home water monitoring system as part of our CES 2018 coverage. It was a really innovative method using machine learning to keep tabs on your water usage, check for leaks, detect problems, and potentially turn off the water when something really bad happens. Now, it has Amazon Alexa support. So questions like “Alexa, ask […]
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