One Man's Blog » Reviews

Review: Benro Travel Angel Tripod – The 13.1″ Wonder!

John P. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:50:15 +0000

I purchased the BENRO TRAB069 Travel Angel TRAB a couple of months ago, and all in all I highly recommend the little tripod.

This Travel Angel tripod features individual leg angle adjustments, anti-rotation leg design, a reversible center column with spring loaded weight hook, anti dust and moisture rubber leg lock grips, and reversible 1/4″-20 to 3/8″ mounting threads. It has 5 leg sections and a maximum height of 54.3″ with a normal height of 47.8″ with the legs fully extended.

However, what makes it so special is that the folded height is a tiny 13.1″ while still maintaining a load capacity of 13.2 pounds! This makes it one of the most compact travel tripods around, while still being professional grade. Oh, and at just over $210, it competes with the Gitzo GT1541T Series 1 6X 4S G-Lock Traveler which is much bigger and costs $535!

Video Demonstration

Here is a little video that demonstrates the versatility and operation of this tripod.

The Link on Amazon

With any luck, the link below should show you the current price and stuff on Amazon. Let me know if it’s broken.

My Experience

I highly recommend this tripod. It feels solid and sturdy, though when fully extended I recommend weighing it down a bit with the included hook to keep the tripod steady. It’s very, very light and comes with a nice carry case. In fact, it’s so light that I actually left one in a cab because I forgot I had it with me! Don’t make the same mistake!

The legs fold up easily, and to extend them you simply twist the rubber joints to lock and unlock them. Operation is simple, and should be usable even for people with weaker grips or arthritis who might otherwise have difficulty with latches on cheaper tripods.

I also recommend a simple modification to it as well. You see my other tripods, my new monopod, and most importantly the heads for my tripods are all Manfrottos. More specifically, the heads for my Manfrotto tripods all have a very specific quick connect called the RC2 Rapid Connect Mounting Plate. This is very important.

Now, the Benro comes with it’s own little ball head (someone please let me know if you figure out how to buy these specific legs without the head!!!!), but it uses a completely different quick connect plate. That means that you have to continually be changing the quick connect on your camera to move between the travel tripod and the larger studio tripod you might have for non-travel use.

To make matters worse, unlike the Manfrotto RC2’s finger tightening grip, the Benro plate requires an allen wrench to install or remove (someone please shoot the engineer responsible). This is a major pain in the ass for traveling!

The Recommendations

So, the bottom line is that I recommend that you switch the head out for one that will match whatever your main tripod is. If you don’t have another tripod, but you want to future proof yourself, or if you just want the quick disconnect feature so you can interchange cameras, camcorders, etc from the tripod, I recommend one of these options to you. Also, remember that when you are not traveling you can move any of these heads to another tripod or monopod.

Manfrotto 486RC2 Compact Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System – ~$60. This compact yet sturdy ball head allows you to rotate, swivel and position your camera at any angle you want, then lock it in with a simple twist of a knob. It’s small, light and the least expensive high quality ball head you should consider. Plus it uses the RC2 plate.
Manfrotto 488RC2 Midi Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System (3157N) – ~$90. This is like the head above, except that it has an additional knob which controls side to side rotation. This is great when you want to mount the camera and then be able to pan from side to side. Without this adjustment you simply can’t do that, so I recommend you spend the extra $30 or whatever and get this one.
Manfrotto 700RC2 Mini Video Head w/RC2 Rapid Connect Plate – $85. This is your standard traditional video recording head. It has a nice long arm and smooth action for swiveling and panning to follow the action. It can also be locked in place for still photography. It’s by far the most versatile of these heads, but the biggest and heaviest too. It’s not practical to take this with a tiny travel tripod unless you are looking to do video. But if so, it will work just fine.
Manfrotto 322RC2 Horizontal Grip Action Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect Plate (3157N) – $120. This is a ball head with a big grip that makes it easier to tighten and release the angle, but also allows you to use the grip a bit like the handle on a traditional head like the one above. However, this grip is primary meant to be stationary, so you can’t really use it with a camcorder for panning and stuff. It’s designed to unlock, position, an lock.

The Head Images

My New Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod Setup

John P. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:37:31 +0000

I’ve got some really great photography gear, but I’ve decided that my hand-held shooting, even with a shoulder-pod and an image stabilized lens, is disappointing. I just can’t get the razor sharp images I want.

At the same time, I rarely have time to set up a tripod, even if I’m carrying my tiny little 2.5 pound Benro Travel Angel. So, I’m adding a Monopod setup to my photography arsenal. And the monopod setup I’ve chosen was recommended by professional photographer Yuri Arcurs (the world’s top selling stock photographer). The video that convinced me is below.

The main reason I am going with the Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod he recommends is because it’s the only one with a quick extension system. Watch and learn…

The Parts

Heres everything you need to duplicate the setup demonstrated in the video:

Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod Deluxe with Safety Lock

This monopod is actually pretty long, which I consider the major downfall. It’s 30″ long when closed, so at 2.5′ it’s not going to fit in any backpacks or carry on bags. This means I’ll be carrying it from start to finish on every trip. I hope it is worth it!

Manfrotto 486RC2 Compact Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System

Personally, I’m going with the Manfrotto 488RC2 Midi Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System (3157N) which is just slightly larger, but has two controls on it. One for rotation, and the other for the ball movement. This is totally unnecessary for a monopod, but I’ll use the head on a tripod as well, so I’m killing two birds with one stone.

Custom Brackets Digital PRO M Rotating Camera Bracket Kit

You’ll notice that this rotating camera kit costs more than both of the other pieces combined. It’s a serious piece of professional gear, and personally I’m going to hold off on this one for now. The benefit of being able to quickly swap from landscape to portrait mode is very useful when you need to quickly change with precision. But at this point I don’t need that. I may invest in it later when I start shooting models or something like that.

The Alternatives

If you’re thinking that is just too much of a setup and would like to start with something more economical, smaller, and simpler, then I recommend you take a look at the Benro monopods.

I really like the 1.2 pound Benro MC-91M8 Carbon Monopod which currently goes for about $130, but you can also do the 2 pound Benro MP-98M8 ALUMINUM MONOPOD for only about $85.

They both have built in feet which allow you to turn them into mini tripods if you need to. They can also be extremely useful when combined with a remote flash (i.e.- use them as an off camera flash stand in conjunction with a Pocket Wizard). Here’s a one minute to demonstrate:

The Luxor’s “High Speed Internet” is a JOKE!

John P. — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:16:20 +0000

Unbelievable as it may seem, the Luxor in Las Vegas offers high-speed internet access – but there’s a catch! In order to get it, you need to stretch a wire all the way across the room, and it won’t even reach the desk for you to actually work at it.

The cost for this little act of fire-hazard creation? $15 per day. FML.

The One Where John P. Takes Viagra, Then Tells You All About It

John P. — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:00:30 +0000

For years we’ve all seen the Viagra ads. They are on TV, in newspapers and magazines, at sporting events, heck I think they even advertise on the inside of lollipop wrappers to get the kids hooked at an early age. Hmmm. Viagra lollipops anyone? They’ve done such a great job at associating their brand with sex that it makes you wonder how anyone actually has sex without Viagra?

In addition to providing injunctive assistance to men who might actually have some sort of a problem (which may be a good thing, but maybe not too), the boys behind Viagra are clearly, clearly, clearly targeting a much younger and healthier audience in the hopes of getting them to use Viagra for purely recreational purposes. There is ZERO doubt in my mind about this.

Now, I’ve long wondered what the heck is supposed to be so magical about “the little blue pill”? I mean, does it make you last longer? Does it make you bigger? Does it turn you into a raging sexual animal? And while we’re at it, does Red Bull actually give you wings? The problem is, everyone has these questions, but no one with experience is willing to talk about it. Unfortunately, this leaves us with only one side of the story, Pfizer’s commercial messaging!

Well, I decided I was going to get the answers! So I got some Viagra, and here’s what happened.

Before we get started, there is something we should get out of the way up front. Any Viagra review is, by necessity, going to involve a lot of hot, steamy sex. This is something my wife was none too happy about. In hindsight, I probably should have involved her more in that part… (I don’t care who you are, that was funny!)

How to Get Some Viagra

Listen. You don’t want to go messing around with online pharmacies and off-shore doctors. There is a lot of fake crap out there! And this is your health involved here. So just go see your regular doctor and say something like, “hey, I want some Viagra”. If you are healthy enough, and you have a conversation about your rationale for using it, I’m sure it will be no problem.

WARNINGS! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!

Lets talk about the label on this stuff. First of all, the active ingredient is called Sildenafil. By most medicine label standards, this one seems kind of tame. I mean, I don’t see anything about bleeding anuses or anything. However, possible side effects include:

Diarrhea, dizziness, flushing, headache, heartburn, mild temporary vision changes, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, stuffy nose, or upset stomach.

What the heck is flushing anyway? Other than what you do when you get hit with the diarrhea they warn about…

They also Caution:

This medicine may cause dizziness, drowsiness, lightheadedness, fainting or blurred vision.

Because when you are rock hard, what you need is to be drowsy.

What is interesting to note are the Storage recommendations:

Store this medicine at 77 degrees, away from heat moisture and light. Brief storage between 59 and 86 degrees F is permitted. Do not store in the bathroom.

Do not store in the bathroom? Um. Most medicine cabinets are in the bathroom, so what’s up with that?

Common uses: This medicine is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor used for treating erectile dysfunction . It may also be used for other conditions as determined by your doctor.

There are several warnings that come with the prescription. Basically, it warns you not to take Viagra with drugs such as nitrates, high blood pressure meds, narcotics, etc. Also, it you’ve been using any sort of drugs or device to get an erection, or if you have eye problems, ulcers, heart problems you need to stay away from Viagra.

But the best warning of all?

“CHILDREN; safety and effectiveness in children have not been confirmed.”

Good lord! Who would feed this stuff to children? More importantly, I’m dying to know what would happen if you did!

Anyway, they also tell you “How to use this medicine”:

Take this medicine by mouth with or without food. It may not work as quickly if you take it with a high-fat meal. It’s usually taken about 1 hour before sexual activity, but may be taken anywhere from 4 hours to a half hour before.

Ok. Now that I know how to use it. Let’s get on with it.

Here’s What Happened

I’m going to tell this part in sort of a narrative story like manner. I think it plays out a little better like this.

John P.: Hey baby. You’re never going to guess what I got.
The Wife: Did you buy another car?!?
John P.: No, no! I got you a surprise!
The Wife: A new purse?
John P.: Um no.
The Wife: Some new shoes?
John P.: Um. No. What part of “you’re never going to guess…” didn’t you get?
The Wife: Oh. Well, tell me.
John P.: Viagra!
The Wife: What?
John P.: Yep. Now we’re going to see what this baby can do with super-unleaded in the system!
The Wife: Oh brother…

Well, you can use your imagination on the rest of this highly romantic, sweep-her-off-her-feet banter. You’ll probably do better than I did. But eventually I did get her to agree to a test run of the new and medically-improved me.

So, about a half hour before our scheduled departure on the Love Train, I popped a 50mg dose of the blue wonder. I also drank some water. I hadn’t had anything substantial to eat, so it was more or less on an empty stomach. Then we waited.

Well, we weren’t really waiting. We were doing other stuff. Normal stuff. But I was standing by just waiting to “spring to life”, although I was also trying not to really think about it so as to not ruin the test results. And we kept waiting, and waiting. But guess what. The urgency never came. In fact, I could have probably gone to sleep and that would have been that!

But, being a man, eventually I did tire of waiting (big surprise), and it came time to get busy and see what this baby could do! So after setting the stage with a little romantic music (Beasty Boys, Run DMC and the always popular 50 Cent) we settled down for some sweet, sweet lovin’. It was fantastic (just imagine if I didn’t say that… I would be in big trouble!), but there was just one problem. Um. It wasn’t “different”. Well, actually, it was.

The problem is, as a result of taking the pill I experienced a few mild to medium side effects:

It made me pretty tired. I mean, before any work was done!
I got a little dizzy.
I felt a little sick at my stomach.
I got a headache.
My eyes got pretty sensitive to light.
I got a little pain in the center of my chest.
Strangely, my nose got congested.

As you can see, a perfect set of situations for a romantic engagement… Oh, I should mention that prior to taking the pill I was in perfect condition. I had none of the symptoms above and am positive they were a direct consequence of taking the pill. All began within 20-60 minutes of consumption.

“Viagra will make you hard. Viagra will make you sick. It’s ONLY worth it if you’ve got a problem.”

So basically what happened was that the pill gave me the same symptoms as a very weak version of the flu. I went from feeling 100% good to feeling 50% bad. Now, at this point, I’d like to break away from the details and get to a few generalizations.

5 Things I Learned From Taking Viagra

Viagra doesn’t make you (or her) “horny”. You’re still responsible for that part my friend. But if you’re taking this for recreational purposes, that’s probably not a problem… Still, don’t be thinking that Viagra is an aphrodisiac. You’re going to need to eat those oysters and take the Spanish Fly if that’s what you want.
Viagra will not make you bigger. That’s right. There will be no proud moment of “standing tall”, basking in your own manly magnificence. Unless, like me, you were already blessed with the “magnificent” gene. (Come now, you knew there was going to be a penis joke somewhere, didn’t you?) Besides, the guys from Enzyte already went to jail for promising to make you bigger, so don’t be thinking that anything other than surgery is going to do that!
Sex is not going to last any longer because of Viagra. (With one exception that I’ll get to in a minute. Get it? A minute? Never mind.) If you have an early arrival problem, you’re going to need to get some cream to take care of that or something. (Think of Bea Arthur.) Because Viagra is not a desensitizer.
You might be able to have a little more sex, but not much. Let’s face it, men have a refractory period for a reason. Sex usually requires a lot of work (it burns a lot of calories too), and most guys need to recuperate. Don’t expect that this pill will supercharge your cardiovascular system. If you’re a fat, out of breath slob… you’re still going to need an oxygen tank. So, even if you could do it again, will you really want to? Probably not. Especially not if it makes you as sick as it made me.
This crap is expensive!!! Yeah, are you ready for this. $16 PER PILL! And it ain’t covered by most insurance. So, you need to consider what is your money best spent on. Cause $16 will buy liquor, flowers and chocolate. Or it will get you a single blue pill. Do the math. A bottle of 30 pills goes for nearly a whopping $500. So buy a Corvette with that monthly payment and you’ll probably get more action!

The Finish

Well, in the end, Viagra for me was a flop. I was expecting to come away with hard evidence that this pill would really pump up the action for even an average performer. (And the little lady was expecting an extraordinary experience!) Instead, I came to the realization that Viagra’s benefits are fairly flacid. The long wait was certainly nothing to be excited about, and I wouldn’t bend over backwards to try and get my hands on it or anything.

Seriously though, if you have genuine Erectile Disfunction I imagine that it could make life very tough. Intimacy is a key component of our humanity, and you should not suffer in silence. I honestly think that Viagra might assist with obtaining enough of an erection for intimacy, and that is priceless (regardless of side effects). Please see a doctor about your issue!

But for those of you who have been wondering for a long time what recreational use of the little blue pill will do for you, I offer the following.

There are times in life when it’s worth it to look for the quick fix. But a sexual encounter with your loved one is not one of them. We were biologically wired to enjoy what we’ve got, and no pill is going to magically make that better. (This one actually made it worse.) So rather than letting the marketing professionals dominate your brain patterns with thoughts of enhanced sex, how about if we get back to doing it the old school way?

Dinner, wine, chocolate and romance will end in a far more gratifying experience than a cold hard pill.

Now, if you think this information is actually valuable to the Web you’re going to have to overcome any personal inhibitions and Tweet, Digg and link to this article. Otherwise it’s going to be lost amongst the SPAM when people are searching for real Viagra information.

Oh, and if you’ve tried Viagra, please tell us about it! I’ve already blown my cover, but you can be as anonymous as you want in the comments, so this is your chance to chime in!

Review: Brother MFC-9840CDW Multi-Function Color Laser Printer / Scanner / Copier / Fax

John P. — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:00:37 +0000

Ok, I’m about to go on and on about how much I love the Brother MFC-9840CDW Color Laser Multifunction Center with Wireless Interface and Duplex, but before this turns into a giant love fest, let’s start with the bad news. Software installation is a bit of a nightmare.

Software Installation

I installed the printer to work on three different Windows machines and one MacBook laptop. The MacBook installation went best, but not without issues. However, the Windows installations were all three a nightmare.

On two laptops the installation completed successfully and during the setup I was able to see the printer and select it. The problem is, even though the software can easily and routinely find the printer… it could never connect to it using the printer name. I had to go in and manually configure the printer port to use the printer’s IP address. This was the case regardless of if I used the wired Ethernet or WiFi to connect the printer to the network.

On the desktop Windows machine, the install failed mid-way through and gave a cryptic error message that was less than helpful. I had to fully uninstall the software, and then I had to use an almost unnoticeable setting in the install CD to “repair” the installation. It at least allowed me to get the software installed, though I still had to make the manual modifications to the settings.

By the time I had wasted about 3 hours on the machine I was able to use all of the printer and scanner functionality except one thing. The machine has a “Scan to…” function which allows you to walk up to it, put in a document, and from the menu on the printer choose to scan the document and send it to one of your configured computers. I was able to get this to work on the Mac with no problem, but could not make it work on any of the Windows machines no matter what I tried.

If I compare this software installation process to the Canon multi-function printer’s software, I’d give this one a “D-”. It works… kind of. And only if you are a power user who is really good at solving networking problems.

Hardware Installation

Ok. Things start getting better here. With the exception of the fact that this printer is about 80 pounds, physically setting it up is actually pretty easy. You unbox it, put it where you want, and plug it in for power, and optionally ethernet or USB. Personally, I recommend the Ethernet route over the wireless, because wireless configuration can be a tad finicky at times.

Adding the toner cartridges is as simple, or more, than other color lasers. Open the front door, slide the tray out and insert the various color. You’re done! The only bad news is, the cartridges that come with it don’t seem to last very long. Either that, or I was doing a lot more printing than I thought I was doing!

Print Speed

You know, they claim that this printer can do 21ppm in either color or black and white. Guess what. They aren’t lying! I kid you not, this sucker is so fast you can print hundreds of pages in minutes! I LOVE it! Now, if you try and print them two sided, it will really slow things down because of the changing mechanism.

But then again, if you had to print a lot of two sided printouts of the same thing you could always feed the paper through on side one first, then on side two for a second pass.

Print Quality

The black and white text is fantastic. And in general, color printing is quite good. However, this laser doesn’t seem up to the task of printing realistic photo quality prints. I’m not complaining because I’ve never seen a color laser printer print a photo I like. Inkjets are far better at this task, or if you really want to do it right, get a dye sublimation printer like a Xerox Phaser. Solid wax printing is truly amazing!

Scanning

One thing that I really love about this machine is that it makes a great scanner. Everyone in the household can share it because it works right through the wired or wireless network. It has an auto page feeder, and will scan stacks of documents that are either one sided or two sided. It’s quite fast, and the scan quality is excellent!

Copying

Yes. It makes copies. Black and white, color, whatever! It will do them one sided or two. And it will enlarge or reduce things if you want it to as well.

Faxing

Faxing? Um. This is 2009. I don’t do faxes. But I’m sure it works. You can probably use it for that right after you answer your pager.

Summary

Yes, you should buy this machine! If you can in any way afford it, it will spoil you rotten and you won’t want another machine for years! That is all. Buy it. Now.

What are you waiting for?…

Sample High Speed Video from the Casio EX-FC100

John P. — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:13:22 +0000

So, I got a Casio High-Speed Exilim EX-FC100 camera which is capable of up to 1,000 frames per second of video capture for a specific project that I’m working on which you guys will see pretty soon… But in the meantime I took a couple of sample videos just testing it out so far.

The bottom line on this camera is that if you shoot video for just about any reason, you should pick one of these up so that you can add high-speed captures to your bag of tricks. It’s cheap and easy and the results are worth it. The normal stills from the camera are also good (not great) and the features are adequate for a highly portable point and shoot camera.

So, the first couple here are videos I grabbed, and then I found a few others folks had loaded up as well. Enjoy!

Lightning Captured with Casio EX-FC100

This high speed video was taken with a Casio EX-FC100 digital camera at 210 frames per second. It is a brief clip of only a couple of seconds from a lightning storm, but the high speed recording was stretched out to about 30 seconds to slow it down. Now you can actually see the lightning for a few seconds per flash, even though it happened faster than the blink of an eye in real life.

High Speed Seagull Flight

Close up video taken with the Casio EX-FC100 to demonstrate the 210 fps video mode of a bird in flight.

Hi-speed Match Strike

Ceiling Fan with Switch Between Normal and Hi-Speed

Firing a Hand Gun

Stirring Coffee

Miscellaneous Shots

Here is a 6 minute video compilation of a bunch of shots taken outdoors on a sunny day. Looks very good. Fish, frogs, dogs, ping pong, bicycles, you name it!

“High Definition” Normal Video

The high speed video above is kind of small because the camera doesn’t record in full High Definition mode. However, here is a sample of what the camera can do in the high def mode. If you go over to the YouTube site to watch this one you can see it in 873×525 resolution. Just click on the little HD icon down in the bottom bar of the video player. Keep in mind the video is also compressed, so it would look even better straight out of the camera.

REVIEW: Thermaltake BlacX eSATA Hard Drive USB Docking Station

John P. — Sat, 02 May 2009 06:06:58 +0000

I recently purchased the Thermaltake BlacX eSATA Hard Drive USB Docking Station from Amazon so that I could use an external hard drive for backups and /or disk recovery needs.

This particular device is capable of either USB connectivity or eSATA, meaning that it can be hooked to your PC at the same speed as an internal drive, making for radically increased performance!

Well, all I have to say is that the BlaX docking station works like a charm, and its good looking too! So if you are in need of a USB hard drive docking station, i highly recommend that you go pick one up. Amazon’s currently got them for $29.99 after rebate, so you’re not going to do any better than that. Enjoy!

50 Free iPhone Apps I Love and Use

John P. — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:30:05 +0000

I kicked off a trend at work after I got my iPhone, so I’m putting this handy little guide together for all the new iPhone owners out there so that you don’t have to go downloading every crappy free app to try. I already did that!

So, here is my list of top apps in a wide range of categories. I’ll keep it updated as I add or delete things.

And if anyone has suggestions for other really great free apps, let me know and I’ll give them a try. Leave the name, description, and link to the app in the comments. (To get the link to an app, look it up in iTunes, then right click on the Apps icon on the top left.)

News, Sports and Weather

AP News – The greatest News app ever. Has replaced the paper completely.
Pro Football Live! – Need the latest NFL scores to keep up at the office? Here you go.
The Weather Channel – Um. You know what this is.

Music

Shazam – Just hold this up to the radio and it’ll tell you whatever song is playing!
Pandora Radio – If you enjoy randomly selected music, Pandora will deliver.
AOL Radio – Listen to any Web broadcast radio station.
Ringtone Recorder – Record custom ringtones for everyone in your address book.

Communication

IM+ Lite
Skype – Make free phone calls via WiFi with your Skype contacts.

Travel and Entertainment

Google Mobile – Search everything… even with your voice!
Google Earth – Explore and map the planet.
Local Picks by TripAdvisor
Nearby – Notes, pictures and stories about places nearby.
Restaurant Nutrition – View nutritional info about restaurant menus and track your calories.
Showtimes – Shows you every nearby theatre, and what is playing along with movie trailers.
Tiggits – Concert, sports and theater tickets on demand.
Travelocity – Book airfare, hotels and rental cars right from your iPhone.
Urbanspoon – Shake your iPhone and Urbanspoon will pick a restaurant for you.
Yelp – Find places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play. A personal favorite!

Social Networking

Tweetie – Awesome Twitter client. This one costs $3. It’s one of only 2 apps I’ve paid for. And glad I did.
Twitterfon – Another great Twitter client. Works if you only have on Twitter account.
Twitterific – Still another free Twitter client.
Facebook – If you are a regular user, you can’t miss this. Well done.
LinkedIn – Access your LinkedIn connections on the go.
MySpace Mobile – Stay connected with your MySpace friends everywhere.
Loopt – Find things nearby, see where friends are, find recommendations.

Misc.

BubbleWrap – Completely useless, but amazingly entertaining.
Freebird – A digital lighter so you can stop burning your finger at concerts.
iPhunny Jokes – Jokes and quotes from late night comedians.
Lose It! – Fantastic exercise and weight loss tracker. Everyone should have this!!!
Remote – Control music on your computer or Apple TV from the iPhone.
Ruler Plus – Hey, sometimes you just gotta measure things.
1Password – The best Password app for iPhone and Mac. Matches the desktop app.

Media

Joost – Watch videos, music, TV, movies and more.
Kindle for iPhone – Read Amazon.com’s Kindle books on the iPhone. Works great!
PixUp – Upload photos to Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa.

Notes and Memos

EasyWriter – In case you need something a little better than the built in Memo function.
Evernote – Organize text, audio and photo notes anywhere you go. Works with desktop version nicely.

Shopping

Craigsphone – Shop Craig’s List from your iPhone for local items for sale.
Yowza!! – Find local coupons in your area and use them from the iPhone!
eBay Mobile – It’s eBay. Only… mobile. Enjoy!
GasBag – Find the cheapest gas in your area thanks to social price sharing.
Trulia Real Estate Search – Find homes for sale nearby and even get maps to take you right to them.

Finance

Bank of America Mobile Banking – Pretty self explanatory.
PayPal – Access to the main PayPal account functions from your iPhone.

Network and Web Tools

Domain Scout – Search for domain names and get registrant info.
DomainPro Another Domain search tool that includes registration.
FreePing – Simple tool to ping a server and see if it’s up.
Network Ping Lite – A great tool to scan a network, ping an IP, Traceroute, Telnet, or check your iPhone IP.
Speedtest.net Speed Test

Well, that’s is for now. Later I’ll publish a list of my favorite games for iPhone. Stay tuned!

Yoics Delivers Free Remote Desktop Sharing for Macs, Linux and PCs

John P. — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:30:51 +0000

I just signed up for a new Beta service called Yoics today. (I wonder how that is pronounced by the way?) It’s a very interesting Remote Desktop sharing service, and it works with PCs and, most importantly, Macs. The underlying technology appears to be VNC, which I appreciate because it is a mature technology. But it seems they’ve managed to make it extremely simple to use.

Yoics allows you to share not only your remote machine’s desktop, but also the drives in your machine and even devices like Webcams!

That’s right, you could set up Webcams all over your house, and use Yoics as a remote security monitoring system. But wait! There’s more! If you happen to have a Drobo file storage unit and the accompanying DroboShare network adapter, you can also directly connect to it via Yoics.

Here is what the good folks over at Yoics have to say about their service:

Yoics offers an easy and FREE alternative to remotely access computer desktops, computer files, web cameras, IP cameras, network storage devices and just about any other network accessible product or service. If you are a consumer, device manufacturer or software publisher, Yoics has a product or solution for you. Our core consumer services are FREE to use, just sign up for an account. We will soon offer premium services for those that need our premium services.

One of the things that I especially appreciate about the way they’ve designed this service is the fact that they are thinking of all the different ways that people can interface with it. For example, they’ve built a G-mail gadget so you can have access right from your Gmail interface:

They’ve also taken pains to ensure that the interface is remotely accessible via the iPhone:

Anyway, I’m not going to keep going on and on. Those of you who are interested probably haven’t even waited to read this far. Check it out if you ever wanted to get access to your computers, but just didn’t know how!

Movie Review: Frost/Nixon

John P. — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:35:20 +0000

The other day at the AMC Best Movie Showcase, the final movie of the night was Frost/Nixon. I had actually thought about leaving the theatre and skipping this movie, but was glad that I made the decision to stick it out and watch.

Frost/Nixon is “A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.” This is the most famous of all of the Nixon interviews and ultimately the one that really sank him. Primarily due to the fact that Nixon answered one of Frost’s question:

When the President does it, that means it is not illegal.

I thought the movie was fantastic. It could have been extremely boring and dry, but they managed to essentially show how difficult it was for this particular interview to actually happen, and how close it was of a disaster to Frost and his team. Essentially, the entire filming was saved during the final interview with Nixon.

Frost/Nixon Movie Trailer

And just for the record, here is the actual clip of the president’s famous statement:

By the way, clips from all of the original interviews are on YouTube, so if you want to see how they differ from the movie, feel free!

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

John P. — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:41:52 +0000

Ok, after sitting through Slumdog Millionaire during the AMC Best Movie Showcase I can honestly say that I think it was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. This movie has a fantastic plot, excellent acting, action, romance… in short, it’s an instant classic.

I’m not the only one who thinks this. According to IMDB, this movie has an 8.7 out of 10 with 66,922 votes. That currently ranks this move as #34 in the Top 250.

Now, considering that this is the only one of the 5 movies that is really uplifting and inspiring, I’m going to say that it’s most likely going to be my pick for Best Picture. Frankly, I think everyone should see this movie!

Slumdog Millionaire Movie Trailer

A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.

Movie Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

John P. — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:55:47 +0000

Movie day continues at the AMC Best Movie Showcase! We just finished watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Unlike The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Unlike Milk, this movie is going to take some processing before I can actually tell you what it was about. But one thing I can say is that it was a fantastic movie and appropriate for just about everyone (though I’d keep the young kids away for some adult themes).

The story centers around a man who was born with a strange affliction, possibly related to some sort of supernatural intervention, but never really explained. This affliction caused him to be born and essentially grow into an old man’s body, from which point he continues to get younger and younger.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a love story that weaves together the lives of several different characters in a way seemingly designed to show us there is a time and a place for everything, while simultaneously reminding us that it’s never too late to be the person you were born to be.

This is a complex, yet entertaining movie, but I think the reason its up for a Best Movie Oscar centers around the fact that, in addition to being extremely well acted, it is an entirely unique movie. I’ve never seen anything quite like it!

Here is the trailer, but I highly recommend at least renting it as soon as it’s available. Here is the official movie Web site.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Movie Trailer

Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.

“>Milk, this movie is going to take some processing before I can actually tell you what it was about. But one thing I can say is that it was a fantastic movie and appropriate for just about everyone (though I’d keep the young kids away for some adult themes).

Here is the trailer, but I highly recommend at least renting it as soon as it’s available. Here is the official movie Web site.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Movie Trailer

Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.

Next up: Slumdog Millionaire!

Movie Review: Milk

John P. — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:11:07 +0000

Milk has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture this year, and I just watched it at the AMC Best Picture Showcase this morning. Sean Penn gave an absolutely amazing performance as gay activist Harvey Milk, but he was surrounded by a number of other fantastic personalities as well and ultimately the combination was definitely worth the Best Picture nomination.

Now here’s the scoop. If you are a fundamentalist who is so opposed to any lifestyle other than your basic religion, don’t even bother trying to see this movie. You are going to see men kissing within the first 5 minutes and then you’ll have to get up and walk out. It’s just not even worth wasting your time.

However, if you consider yourself even partially open minded (you’re not gay, you don’t like it, but you’ll at least tolerate people) then this film is absolutely worth seeing.

I thought that the film’s creators did a fantastic job of emphasizing both the humanity, and the persecution, involved with the characters. The overriding theme of the movie, as far as I could tell, was twofold:

Gay people just…are. They are different from the majority, but they aren’t trying to impose their own lifestyles on others. Instead, it’s the opposite. We try and impose the majority will and lifestyle on this minority without regard for any semblance of tolerance.
The struggle for Gay rights was/is more than a political statement. It is a struggle for life itself. No different than seeking women’s rights, or racial equality.

This film has greater than an 8 rating on the IMDB score, which is phenomenal. So I highly recommend that you check it out. And if it wins, I’d definitely support that decision. It is a worthy piece of cinematography.

Milk Movie Trailer

The story of California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone by San Francisco Supervisor Dan White.

Review: Parallels Desktop 4 Offers Kick Ass Virtualization For Macs

John P. — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 06:28:32 +0000

Well, my good friends over at Parallels hooked me up with a free copy of Parallels Desktop 4 for my MacBook. But before we get started here, you should know that Microsoft, VMware and just about anyone else with virtualization software will hook me up too. So my comments here are unbiased as always. I only tell you exactly what I think.

Anyway, did I mention that Parallels 4 is a fantastic product for running virtual machines within your Mac environment? No? Well, let me go on record as saying that I think Parallels 4 kicks ass. Yeah, I said it. Now let’s move along shall we?

So, is Parallels Desktop going to change the world? Let’s see…

Before we go along, let me explain that Parallels is most often used to allow people to run Windows on their Mac. This means that you don’t need a PC if you are simply trying to run one or two programs. You can get Parallels and install Windows on your Mac, and you’re done.

But Windows is not your only option! You can also use Parallels Desktop to install Linux or just about any other 32 or 64bit operating system.

Now let me tell you some of the coolest stuff that Parallels will let you do that you couldn’t do before (I don’t think…):

You can cut and paste, or even drag and drop files between your Mac operating system and any Windows application running in Parallels! Heck, for that matter, you can share your hard drive and documents between both operating systems. It’s almost like they were all just running one operating system! Now, for those of you who haven’t tried this before let me just tell you that this is the equivalent of dragging and dropping files from one physical machine to another. Except that it works in Parallels!
After you install Parallels, you can actually choose which application, in which operating system, you want to be the default handler for certain tasks. So, for example, you could set it so that Outlook in Windows is your default mail, but Safari in Mac is your default browser. That way you can use the best OS and application for every task.
You can now connect an external drive to your Mac and have it simultaneously recognized in Windows and OSX! It used to be that you’d have to choose one OS or the other when you plugged in a device, and you’d have to unplug it and replug it to use it in the other OS. This is a huge time saver.
Parallels 4 offers much better optimization for virtual machine usage of physical resources. For example, you can now allow your virtual machines (like Windows) to use multiple processor cores and up to 8GB of RAM (like for Vista the memory hog!). It also supports native virtualization hardware from Intel which allows the system to run more efficiently and faster.
It makes dramatic improvements for video performance for apps like AutoCAD, flight simulators or games. I don’t play games, but I do use AutoCAD sometimes. In addition to 3D support you can also assign 256MB of memory to be used for Windows video only. That should really speed things up.
A new feature called SmartGuard allows you to take automatic snapshots of your virtual machines so that you can always revert back to a previous version if you mess something up. This is especially useful for people like me who are always experimenting and prone to screwing something up. If you break it, you just revert back to your last known good snapshot. Snap-shotting is a basic feature of all virtualization platforms, but the fact that Parallels has automated it is fantastic.

You know what? I could keep going about all the new stuff that Parallels 4 has in it, but heck you can go read their web site for that. The real question is, did I notice the improvements between version 3 and 4?

Hell yes!

First of all, to say that it’s faster is an understatement. I noticed an improvement on Windows boot up time on the second and subsequent launches, and I noticed that even though I messed with the settings and gave Mac OSX priority over Windows, Windows was still more responsive! Must be the new built in virtualization hardware support.

I also noticed the support for external drives being available in both my host and guest operating systems simultaneously. I used to hate having to shut down Parallels to share a USB drive between the two OSs.

Finally, I have to say that I think the user interface has been dramatically improved. The new version is beautiful. Frankly, if you are running a Mac, you should own a copy of Parallels. There is just way too much quality Windows software out there to limit yourself to only Mac versions.

A Direct Comparison of Picasa for Mac vs. iPhoto

John P. — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:22:17 +0000

Yesterday was the day I’ve been waiting on for months. Google finally released the popular, and FREE, Picasa image management software for the Mac!

Let me explain. You see, a while back I was forcibly converted to the Mac at work. At first I complained. A lot. But later it grew on me. Now, even though I hate to admit it, I have to say I actually prefer the Mac for most computing operations. One of the things that I did not enjoy, however, was the pathetic iPhoto software which was pretty much the only game in town for Mac users… until today.

So, Picasa, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

First of all, I hate any sort of application that unnecessarily forces it’s users into a proprietary closed platform. And right off the bat, iPhoto does this (just like freakin iTunes!). You see, when you import photos into an iPhoto library it basically takes all of your individual pictures and lumps them into a giant ball, from which the average users can no longer extract them without great pain!
Clearly they do this for the sole purpose of excluding the use of any other image editing software once they’ve got their grubby hands on your photos, because once they are imported you are going to have one heck of a time getting them OUT of iPhoto without making a huge mess. (You can opt out of this default behavior, but most people don’t know that.)

If we take a look at Picasa on the other hand, this image management tool simply organizes your photos into directories on your hard drive which it efficiently scans and catalogs – without moving things around or messing stuff up!

It also means that if you wanted to make a copy of your entire photo library, or a portion of it, for a friend or relative all you need to do is copy those folders onto portable media and hand it over. Can’t do that with iPhoto without a messy Export session! Oh, and while we’re on this topic, the folks behind Picasa were nice enough to include an “Import from iPhoto…” function to help you free those images from their bonds.
Speaking of liberating your photos, God forbid you ever end up with photos in two separate iPhoto albums! Like one on your desktop and one on your laptop! Attempting to combine them means you’re going to have to literally spend money on third party software to make it happen. That is inconceivable! (You keep’a using this word. I do not think it means what you think it means…)
But again, Picasa makes this as simple as copying your photo directories to the other computer, and voila! It catalogs the images automatically. And you can still even gain access to those images with another piece of image editing or management software since the photos are just sitting there in directories, just like normal.

By comparison, the Picasa image editor screen places your image in a window on the right, and clearly displays all the tools on the left, and even some more options on the bottom of the screen. Absolutely anyone can figure out how to edit their images using this method. Even my dad. (Love ya Pop!)
Next, let’s talk about the primary interface for a moment, shall we? iPhoto attempts to organize everything into “Events”, and while this might work for someone who doesn’t take that many photos, it will eventually grow completely out of control. For example, I have over 60,000 photos that I’ve taken over the last decade on my primary computer at home. They are neatly organized into directories. How in God’s name could I possibly organize them all into “Events”?

Picasa deals with this quite elegantly. It displays all of the directories on the left and they can be expanded as usual, then on the right side it displays a chrolological stream of the image thumbnails. While doing so it also manages to nicely integrate the ability to do other things such as sync the directory to the Web, burn a CD, change the directory name, and much more.
In addition to the massive differences outlined above, there are a ton of little things that make all the difference between the two applications. For example, zooming in on an image. With Picasa you simply grab and drag the zoom bar at any time when looking at an image. In iPhoto you have to be in the edit menu. This almost drove me to drink!

If you also check that image above again, you’ll see that Picasa is constantly showing you all sorts of vital details about the image you’re viewing like the resolution, size on disk, etc. This detail is all buried in the iPhoto interface for no good reason whatsoever.
Let’s talk about printing for a moment. My freakin iPhoto literally won’t print an image! I paid $79 for this software, and when I try to print it gives an error! I have to export an image and print it elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Picasa has a wonderful print wizard which basically lets you choose the size of the image, how many you want, and make adjustments to the print settings while you’re at it.

Believe me, I could go on for hours about how much better Picasa is, but I’m bored with all this documentation, and frankly if you aren’t sold on giving it a try yet, nothing is going to work. But to sum things up, you can also watch this little Google video that explains some of the features in more detail:

I hope that all of you Mac users out there give Picasa a serious try. You’ve got nothing to lose since, unlike iPhoto, it won’t lock you in or make irreversible changes to your photo library.

Enjoy!

If James Bond Can Drive the Aston Martin DBS, So Could I!

John P. — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 05:01:16 +0000

If you’ve managed to see the recent James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, you got to watch Bond absolutely destroy an Aston Martin DBS. Yeah, that is what that awesome looking car at the beginning of the movie was!

Well, the DBS is really just a souped up DB9, which happens to be one of the most beautiful cars ever made.

Jeremy Clarkson over at Top Gear took the DBS out on the track and ran it through it’s paces. The car confounded him for a while, but ultimately he got a read on it and there was a bit of a surprise ending…

Chris Harris from Autocar.co.uk also took the DBS out for a spin and here he gives us the complete run down including quite a few more technical specs and measurements.

To round out the comparisons, Fifth Gear took the DBS out and bagged it around a track, including having the stunt driver from Casino Royale show us a thing or two.

But how does it actually perform? Well here is a video of the 2008 Aston Martin DBS compared to the 2009 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. The DBS is better looking, out handles the Ferrari through a lane change, corners at only .01 G’s less than the Ferrari – oh and it costs $120,000 less ($266,350 vs. $385,419)!

So, if the DBS is the sportier version of the DB9, how do they differ, and how does the DB9 itself perform? Well, 5th Gear is her to help us out with a fantastic review.

Feel free to pick one up from your local Aston Martin dealer. Oh, you can also get an Aston Martin screensaver for your PC or your Mac. Enjoy.

Chuy’s Mexican Food Rocks!

John P. — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:14:44 +0000

My last stop before leaving Austin was lunch at Chuy’s. I’ve never seen so many happy employees in one place before. They were all smiling and very gracious. And you know what? Happy people make great food!

If there is ever a Chuy’s nearby, go get you some.

Cisco’s Restaurant in Austin Delivers the Goods

John P. — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:47:12 +0000

While exploring Austin I fired up the iPhone and checked Yelp to find a nearby breakfast joint. The top suggestion was Cisco’s Restaurant, a little Mexican joint that all the reviewers were raving about their “awesome migas”. Well I didn’t know what a miga was, but I enjoy a good breakfast tacos! So we headed on over.

From the outside, the place was unremarkable – except for the fact that the tiny parking lot was packed! The inside was worse. Seriously cramped tables in a maze of rooms were packed with people, and it was hard to even find a seat. But finally we sat down, and learned what a miga actually is…

I guess it’s a local specialty, but basically it’s eggs scrambled with onions, tomatoes, sausage, and tortilla chips. I wasn’t brave enough to try it, but it did look good. Anyway, we ordered up a table full of tacos in a variety of flavors including bacon and egg, sausage and egg, and potato and egg. Then we waited…

Now, the folks working at Cisco’s were very nice, but the service was still poor. But right about the time you are getting a little negative – they bring the food.

The tacos were honestly great, and they were seriously loaded with eggs and meat! I couldn’t even finish two of the three I ordered.

All in all, Cisco’s gets a thumbs up! I shall return…

Sport Tourer Comparo: BMW R1200RT vs. Sprint ST vs. Yamaha

John P. — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:30:16 +0000

Damn I love motorcycles. I kid you not. I wish I lived somewhere that I could ride one all day every day. Like Hawaii or Southern California. And if I’m going to ride, I want the comfort of a touring bike, but also the performance of a sport bike.

Since I’m not alone, manufacturers have created the Sport Touring category. And the three finest bikes available (in my opinion) are the BMW R1200RT, the Triumph Sprint ST and the Yamaha FJR1300.

Each rider is going to have a different preference among these bikes, but what I’m going to do is try and explain the different qualities that allow each of us to determine which type of rider we are.

BMW R1200RT

BMW of course has a fantastic marketing department, and very deep pockets to help instill lust in their moto-gear. Just to get us started, here is a little video that showcases the R1200RT.

The BMW R1200RT is a big beautiful bike with an extremely comfortable riding position. It’s made with top of the line components and loaded with excellent technology:

110HP / 85lb ft
6 Speed
electronic suspension adjustment
heated handgrips
a heated seat
a power windshield
electronic stability control
anti-lock brakes
and more…

Motorweek reviews the BMW R1200RT

Motorcycle USA also did a review, but they did it on the R1200GT, a slight variant of the RT.

In my opinion, the BMW is your bike if your priorities come in the following order:

prestige
comfort
reliability
performance

Triumph Sprint ST

I have a personal link to the Sprint ST. I used to own one. And I loved it almost more than life itself! This motorcycle was reasonably comfortable for long rides even over pretty rough pavement (though it’s not a BMW), but at the same time it was fast enough to outrun most smaller displacement pure sport bikes in a straight line.

One thing that is almost universally agreed by motorcycle enthusiasts is the fact that the Triumph has one of the most magnificent motors in the business. The Triumph three cylinder motor is a work of genius, and makes heavenly noises as it pulls with a combination of V-twin low end grunt and 4 cylinder high revving enthusiasm.

In my opinion, the Triumph is your bike if your priorities come in the following order:

performance
prestige
comfort
reliability

Yamaha FJR1300

Yamaha made huge waves in the industry when they announced the new FJR sport tourer, essentially because they married a massive sportbike motor with a large body and an upright seating position. Any time you can sit on a 150hp motor, you’re not going to have any problem getting down the road – really fast, and riders love this.

When you add Yamaha’s historical reliability into the mix, and a few very unique features such as an automatic clutch, you have a winning combination.

Here is a short commercial for the FJR:

A few of my favorite features of the FJR include:

Automatic clutch
Adjustable windshield
ABS
Largest engine in the group – 1300cc
Hand warmers

And here is a review of he FJR1300:

In my opinion, the Yamaha is your bike if your priorities come in the following order:

reliability
performance
comfort
prestige

Well, that’s enough dreaming about motorcycles today. With the global financial crunch on, I don’t think I’ll be getting another bike any time soon. Unless someone wants to sell me a kick ass bike for like 75% off because they are desperate as hell for some cash!

BBQ and Bone Daddy’s – A Tasty Treat!

John P. — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 04:45:50 +0000

We had a nice dinner tonight at Bone Daddy’s so I wanted to share the experience with you guys! Bone Daddy’s is a Bar-BQ joint that is stocked full of smoking hot (no pun intended) waitresses and bartenders. I’m not kidding, every one of those fine ladies are among the hottest in town. (Hey, I may be married, but I’m not dead!)

Anyway, even though it was a Friday night, we were seated within about 10 minutes, during which we got to watch the hotties prance around in their short-shorts and revealing T-shirts. I promise you, the men in the restaurant are mouth-watering for more than the food…

But I digress. So, after we waited a few minutes a very pleasant young lady, who happened to be a petite little asian hottie (or so I’m told, because I really didn’t notice of course), seated us, and then we were greeted by Samantha, our server.

Samantha, was not only seriously beautiful, but she was very nice and extremely approachable. She took our drink orders and then came back with them so fast I couldn’t believe the bar even had time to make my wife’s margarita!

After a little decision making, we ordered a copious quantity of food. I’m not kidding… it should be illegal to get that much with folks starving in other parts of the world! And when the food started arriving we could not believe how good it all was.

Seriously, you would think that no one comes to a place like this for the food. I mean, the attraction is clearly the talent. But if you think about it, it really does take more than just a few nice looking ladies to bring people back with any frequency. And even though I can hardly believe I’m saying this, it was some of the best BBQ I’ve ever eaten. Their BBQ sauce is out of this world.

All in all we had a fantastic experience. All of the ladies made us feel welcome, the food was excellent, and it was a very nice environment to bring a group and hang out for dinner or a few beers.

One final thought. Bone Daddy’s makes Hooters look like a complete dump.