He tours the United States doing live shows constantly. He hosts five podcasts at last count, one of which requires him to fly cross-country on a weekly basis. He’s appeared twice on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and given a TEDx Talk on social engineering (see video below.) He records a weekly internet TV series, Scam School, for Revision 3. He’s always on the internet, engaging with friends and fans. He plays video games, often sharing the experience with the public online and reviewing them on TWiT’s ‘Game On!’. His Night Attack comedy album with partner Justin R. Young placed on the Billboard charts and became an Amazon best seller. He’s written 3 books. He eats and breathes fire. Oh yeah, and he has a wife and two kids, too.

Clearly he doesn’t operate in the same realm of existence we do. He either has supernatural powers, or he exists in a world with way more than 24 hours in a day.

Brian Brushwood and Veronica Belmont on the TWiT set of 'Game On!'

This review concerns the newest of his 3 books. Scam School Book 1 was published March 14, 2012 on Amazon, B&N, and the Apple iBooks store. It’s a very deliberate attempt to set the standard for what an eBook experience should be. Far more than just written text, Brian and his assistant Jon Tilton have carefully formatted the book and worked in video and audio components to enrich the content.

You’ll be really glad they took the time. As the name suggests, Scam School Book 1 ties in closely with Brushwood’s Scam School web series, taking 70 of the episodes and going over the tricks and scams presented therein. The goal is to provide a mobile reference you can easily have with you at the bar or at a party when you want to start impressing people. Whether you’re after free beer or a certain someone’s phone number, you’ll have the material at hand when you need to suddenly become a human chimney, stump people with the four quarters trick, or (my favorite,) instantly freeze a bottle of beer. Well, that last one probably won’t work at a bar, but it’s great at home.

The videos included show exactly how the trick is done, while the audio commentary tracks give further insight into the tricks, when and how Brian learned them, and sometimes details and stories about the episodes in which they appeared.

Due to current limitations of the Amazon Kindle file format, the embedded audio and video won’t function the same way they would in the iBooks version, but they’ve accounted for that. All of the content is still accessible by selecting a link that’ll take you to an external location where you can watch or listen easily.

This shortcoming will be fixed when Amazon rolls out an upcoming new version of the Kindle format. There’s no word yet on when it’ll be available, but tools to develop for it are already out so the wait shouldn’t be long.

The Scam School book is available on launch day only for $4.99, regular $9.99.

Disclosure: Brian’s a friend of mine, so take my review with whatever grain of salt you require.

(Via Fiction Improbable, which (further disclosure) I also wrote.)

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So I went ahead and clicked onto the site, and after it connected to Facebook, this unique video came up and I was amazed to find, it was even tailored to MY Facebook Wall itself!!

The main message to get from this video is though: Be careful how much of your personal information you put out there on you social networking sites!

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McIntosh MXA60 Bookshelf System

Most of you know by now that I tend to appreciate some of the finer things in life. I have a habit of picking up exotic cars, I have no problem with a $3,000 set of kitchen knives, and I like to fly first classon occasion.

So, I was a little excited when McIntosh Labs sent over a brand spankin’ new MXA60 bookshelf audio system for review. After all, you can’t exactly run down to Best Buy and pick one up. You’re going to have to locate a dealer and then dish out $7,500 to be one of the few people fortunate enough to own one of these babies.

After hanging on to the MXA60 for a couple of months it managed to make me do something that very, very few products do. Love it. Lets start with my video review from GeekBeat.TV.

McIntosh MXA60 Video Review

McIntosh MXA60 Specs

I’m not going to hit you with all of the boring specs on this unit, but I am going to run down my favorites. Here we go:

• This “bookshelf” system weighs 64 pounds! (80 in the box). It is beefy because of the massive amplifier, heavy duty chassis, thick glass face and generally rock solid construction. It’s built to last a lifetime.
• The 8 ohm speakers are 2-way with a 4″ mid/base driver and a 3/4″ tweeter. Frequency response is 60-45,000 hz. It also has a subwoofer output so you can plug in a powered sub and really rock the house!!!
• 0.05% maximum harmonic distortion at any power level from 250 milliwatts to rated power, 20Hz to 20,000Hz.
• 75 watts into an 8 ohm load is the minimum sine wave continuous average power output, both channels operating
• The built in CD play will play SACD, CD, MP3 and WMA
• Width is 22 inches (55.88cm), Height is 10-7/8 inches (27.62cm), Depth is 16 inches (40.64cm) including connectors

McIntosh MXA60 Pictures

If you didn’t see them previously, check out the McIntosh Power Meter desktop wallpaper photos I posted.

And here are a bunch of other random photos I took of the MXA60 in case they amuse you as well.

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Alien Abduction Lamp Unboxing Part 1

Watch live video from Livid Lobster on Justin.tv

Alien Abduction Lamp Unboxing Part 2

Watch live video from Livid Lobster on Justin.tv
Later days!

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Brammo Enertia Instrument Cluster

Brammo is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of fully electric bikes, which is not to say that they are old or large. Compared to Honda, Harley, Yamaha and the rest of the old school gang Brammo is in its infancy. But unlike all of the big boys, Brammo is currently producing and shipping fully electric motorcycles. And I’m not talking about little toy electric scooters! I’m talking full-on production quality motorcycles.

Brammo Enertia Electric Motorcycle

Recently Brammo announced the new Empulse model, which is purported to have a top speed of 100 MPH along with a 100 mile range. And I perked up! Since I was heading out to San Francisco on business, and since Brammo has some dealers in the area, I reached out to Craig Bramscher to see if I could arrange some time with it. Unfortunately, the Empulse isn’t quite available yet, but Craig and the team suggested I could at least take the Enertia out for a spin.

The Video Review

And take it I did. Here is my video review of the experience. If you have any questions that I didn’t cover here just drop me a comment below and I’ll tell you all about it.

The Photos

I also took a little time to stage a few photos of the Enertia, so have fun with the photo gallery.

Alternatives

More pricy, but higher performance competitors to the Enertia include:

• Brammo Empulse
• Roehr eBike
• Mavizen TTX02
• Mission One
• MotoCzysz E1

As soon as I get my hands on any of them I’ll bring you guys more electric motorcycle reviews!

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Improved Quality of Life

Guess what! it’s been 8 weeks and I haven’t smoked a cigarette! And what’s even better is that I don’t even feel like smoking at all! This has improved my life dramatically in a number of areas:

• I’m sleeping much better and waking up pretty active. Since I’m breathing so much better at night, I no longer wake up wishing for more sleep.
• My breath no longer smells bad! I used to avoid chatting with people 10 to 20 minutes after every cigarette, especially when I visit the United States. Many people are allergic to smoke, and passive smoke can still seriously bother some people (just the residual smoke in your lungs after having a cigarette).
• I’m saving $6 every day! That’s around $2,200 per year. I can spend a week in Las Vegas instead of buying cigarettes! I can’t believe I spent around $20,000 on cigarettes my entire life!! And was willing to spend more…

How did I do it?

I don’t deny that I love smoking! I’m attached to it both psychologically and physically. I tried the nicotine patch, didn’t work, I felt the urge of inhaling the smoke. Same for pills! Whenever I tried to stop smoking, I started shaking and couldn’t get it out of my mind.

If you are a smoker, you know exactly what I’m talking about! A couple of years ago, I tried the e-cigarette, I didn’t feel that it was ever going to replace my real cigarettes, so I threw it away!

But a few weeks ago, I decided to give a new brand a try. I figured it’s been 2 years, they must have improved it! So after doing some thorough research online, I discovered Green Smoke. And apparently it was the perfect choice! Oh God! It’s exactly like a cigarette, only better!

How Electric Cigarettes Work

Well, it’s an electric cigarette. So it has a battery and you insert a little nicotine + flavor filter inside, and then you puff it just like you would a normal cigarette! The battery is rechargeable and will last about a day. You’ll want to get yourself multiple batteries so you have extras for when you go on a trip or are going to be away from the charger for a while. Also, get some refills for the nicotine because you are NOT going to want to run out or you’ll revert back to the real thing!

By the way, when you take a drag it looks like you are smoking, but the only thing you’re breathing out is harmless water vapor with virtually no smell! It’s NOT SMOKE! Though it looks like it. Sometimes people can detect a little scent of the flavor you are smoking, but it’s no more than if you were chewing flavored gum.

This little video will give you a good overview of the experience and how it works.

Advantages of Electronic Cigarettes

I can’t possibly overstate the advantages of these eCigarettes!

• No tar, ash or flame.
• No carbon monoxide.
• No complaints from non-smokers.
• No smelly cigarette butts.
• No foul odors that stick to linen, clothing, walls, cars etc.
• Save a TON of money compared to real cigarettes.
• They come in multiple flavors like chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, coffee, and more!

And maybe the best thing… You can smoke inside most restaurants, bars, airports, etc. – even in places where smoking is banned! I am able to smoke while riding in the car with John P., and he’s deathly allergic to cigarette smoke! (You should see him suffer in Las Vegas…)

Where to Get Em

While I was visiting the US I did notice that there were kiosks in a couple of malls. So you may be able to find some locally, though I’d caution you about what brand you are buying. Personally I hated the other one, so I’m only really endorsing the Green Smoke brand because it worked for me.

If you’d rather just save the hassle of looking for them, you can follow one of these links to get yours online. It’s what I did…

• If you’re in the US you can use this link for 10% off your purchase over $100, or 5% off any other purchase.
• In the UK you will need to use this link for 10% off.

Full disclosure: I get a small commission if you do give it a try. But that is NOT why I wrote this post. If you give it a try, and decide to spread the word as well, you can become a Green Smoke referral affiliate too. I can’t come up with a good reason NOT to.

If you’re a smoker you definitely need to give this a try. I promise that you will thank me (the people you hang out with will thank me even more) and end up an evangelist too!

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I’m not sure what other people think about the Griffin 9785-PJLTRSV PowerJolt Reserve for iPhone & iPod, but I for one love it. This is a little cigarette lighter adapter for your car which allows you to plug in your standard iPhone USB charging cord to power-up your phone while on the road. But it also happens to have a built in rechargeable battery attached to it which you can either use in the car for wireless convenience – or take in your pocket for backup power when you go!

A few things you should know:

• It’s about $40. I got mine at a local WalMart.
• The battery connects to the charger magnetically. Yeah, it’s cool. You just grab it and pull it off. When you are done just get it near where it needs to be and the magnets pull it together.
• You can be charging one phone with the USB while another is charging off the battery.
• It charges an iPhone MUCH faster than other chargers in my opinion.
• The battery will bring an iPhone 3Gs up to about 50% charge.

Here are a few closeup photos from mine. I go nowhere without it.

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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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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

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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:

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

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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.

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

1. 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.
2. 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!
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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!

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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?…

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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.

Next up: Slumdog Millionaire!

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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.

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