Yearly Archives: 2015

The invisible boyfriend or girlfriend

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Washington Post:

When you sign up for the service, you can design a boyfriend (or girlfriend) to your specifications — kind of like picking the genes for a designer baby, except for an imaginary adult.

Samson’s Go Mic Connect portable stereo USB microphone

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Go Mic Connect features a custom, compact design that clips to the top of your laptop or computer monitor, as well as internally shock-mounted dual microphone capsules and a headphone output for zero-latency monitoring. Go Mic Connect combines studio-quality sound and “next-level” technology for exceptional VoIP, podcast, speech-to-text and YouTube audio.

Really nice looking portable mic.

Untold story of the video game cartridge

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Think you know the story behind the video game cartridge? Not only was all of this new to me, I never even heard of the RAVEN console. A fascinating read, well written and rich in tech history.

Sports Illustrated lays off all staff photographers

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This is just another thread in a long, troubling trend.

“There was a decision made through the company to restructure various departments, including at Sports Illustrated. Unfortunately economic circumstances are such that it has cut the six staff photographers.”

Digital music: can you hear above 16-bit/44.1kHz?

Written by

MacObserver:

Right now…companies like Neil Young’s Pono are telling people that audio files encoded at a bit-depth of 24-bits or a sample rate of 192kHz sound better than the 16-bit, 44.1kHz versions of the same audio on playback.

This difference between 16-bit/44.1kHz audio and anything greater than that has been tested (a lot… in double-blind tests) and we have yet to find any human that can reliably notice that difference.

Now just sit back and wait for the audio geeks to refute this article.

What is the best hard drive?

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Backblaze:

It was one year ago that I first blogged about the failure rates of specific models of hard drives, so now is a good time for an update.

At Backblaze, as of December 31, 2014, we had 41,213 disk drives spinning in our data center, storing all of the data for our unlimited backup service. That is up from 27,134 at the end of 2013. This year, most of the new drives are 4 TB drives, and a few are the new 6 TB drives.

Wow. That does not look good for Seagate.

Queen Elizabeth II once terrorized King Abdullah — by driving him around

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Vox:

The death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has brought considerable debate over whether he should be remembered as a “reformer” or the very opposite of one; whether his legacy will be that he preserved Saudi Arabia’s future or limited its present.But as this story from a former British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia makes clear, there is one thing he will never be: as much of a stone-cold badass as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

My Queen is definitely a bad ass.

TSA: 2,212 firearms found in carryon luggage last year, 83% were loaded

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TSA:

2,212 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country, averaging more than six firearms per day. Of those, 2,212 (83 percent) were loaded. Firearms were intercepted at a total of 224 airports; 19 more airports than last year.

There was a 22 percent increase in firearm discoveries from last year’s total of 1,813.

The TSA has often been rightly derided as “security theater” but this catalog of various weapons confiscated from traveler’s carry on luggage is a little bit terrifying. And I will likely read too much into the fact that, out of the top ten airports for gun catches, eight of them were in the South.

As SkyMall files for bankruptcy, the Internet memorializes its crazy products

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The Daily Dot:

Terrible news for anyone who has ever been bored on an airplane: the company behind SkyMall, that in-flight catalog you disdainfully flip through after you’ve suffered through all the available episodes of The Big Bang Theory, has announced its inevitable bankruptcy filing.

Why do we say “inevitable”? Because SkyMall is packed full of actually useless garbage that no human being would conceivably buy, even in a late-capitalist boom cycle. Thankfully, a legion of loyal Internet fans has done the noble work of archiving these inexplicable items:

Proof that air travel makes you crazy – I read that catalog many a time and thought, “Hey – I should buy that!” only to get on the ground, regain consciousness and never buy a damn thing from their catalog.

Samson’s professional wireless system

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Samson’s new Synth 7 raises the standard for premium UHF wireless performance. Available in five unique configurations (Handheld, Guitar, Headset, Earset, Presentation), the Synth 7 system features rugged all-metal construction, as well as dynamic LCD setup and monitoring options. Together with advanced system features and flawless operation, Synth 7 is the future of professional wireless.

There’s a little something for everyone here. They have a Web page set up for each category, so you can see how you can use it.

Samson releases the Meteor M2 multimedia speaker system

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Samson’s Meteor M2 Multimedia Speaker System is the ideal sound solution for desktops, laptops and tablets. Through the use of premium components, innovative sound design and custom digital signal processing, the full metal Meteor M2 breathes new sonic life into your favorite music, movies and games.

I haven’t seen these yet, but I’m going to try to stop by today.

Taylor Guitars introduces new maple 600 series acoustics

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The new 600 Series guitars elicit the best of the inherent tonal properties of maple. In 2014, Master Builder Andy Powers began to experiment with how far bracing, thickness, finish, and new seasoning processes like torrefaction, a wood roasting method, could enhance maple’s tone profile.

I played one of these yesterday and the tone was so warm. I’d definitely buy one of these.

This is Miss Universe Canada’s hockey-themed costume

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miss-universe-canada-hockey-2015-1
VanCity Buzz:

In her attempt to pursue the Universe’s crown, Miss Universe Canada Chanel Beckenlehner of Caledon, Ontario has certainly captured the world’s attention as her flamboyant, hockey-inspired costume has gone completely viral.

The 26-year-old strutted out on the stage Wednesday night wearing a costume that may have very well been designed by Lady Gaga, Hudson’s Bay Company and Roots. Altogether, the costume is said to have a weight of 25 pounds.

This is how much Canadians love hockey.

SEC filing details Apple exec earnings; Millard Drexler to retire from board

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iMore:

Apple detailed the earnings of its top executives in the filing. Apple CEO Tim Cook – $9.2 million. Eddy Cue and Jeff Williams – $24 million each. Angela Ahrendts – $73 million.

Apple also announced board member Millard Drexler will be retiring after the company’s annual shareholder meeting on March 10 and that it managed to generate a staggering $182.8 billion in sales over the course of 2014.

Nice gig if you can get it.

Adding subtitles to ripped DVDs

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Wait. You can add subtitles to a DVD rip, even of a DVD that didn’t come with subtitles? Sign me up!

Pay and the Super Bowl

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Whether you’re attending the Super Bowl in person or watching it on TV like me, there are apps supporting Pay to make your life easier. I’ve said since its release that Pay is one of the best technologies Apple brought out in years—I use it nearly every day. […]

The best headphones I’ve ever heard

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I’ve listened to a lot of headphones over the years, from high-end models to in-ears, but none have sounded as good as the Mo-Fi. The Mo-Fi are made by Blue Microphones, a company that I’ve respected for a long time, but I had no idea there headphones would be so good. If you’re in the market, you have to try these out. You’ll thank me.