If you’re not joining John P. and Cali Lewis every Friday at 3PM CST for GeekBeat LIVE, what are you waiting for? [Read more...]
GeekBeat LIVE #14
May 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
If you’re not joining John P. and Cali Lewis every Friday at 3PM CST for GeekBeat LIVE, what are you waiting for? [Read more...]
McIntosh MXA60 Review – Or Why You Might Want a $7,500 Audio System
May 8, 2011 By 4 Comments
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.
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Video Review: Brammo Enertia Electric Motorcycle
January 1, 2011 By 4 Comments
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.
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Review: How I Quit Smoking with Green Smoke Electronic Cigarettes
October 27, 2010 By 5 Comments
As I’m writing this post, I’m celebrating the 2nd month of my new healthy lifestyle. I had been a smoker for about 8 years, and I smoked an average of 20 cigarettes per day. The longest I was able to quit smoking was less than 48 hours, which means I was never able to not smoke for even 2 days in a row!
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…
VistaPrint.com Is Threatening to Sue Me Over a Blog Comment. Really???
September 4, 2010 By 45 Comments
It never ceases to amaze me what bad decisions some corporate executives can make. But here comes a brand new one…
Three years ago I gave VistaPrint.com a try for some cards or something. Who cares what it was… I had a bad experience. I wrote about it on my blog. End of story. Except that it wasn’t. Many other people have since chimed in on that topic, one of whom is someone by the name of “Hubbers”. He claims to have had a really bad experience and then did a whole bunch of research to suggest that VistaPrint is associated with some fairly shady dealings.
I have no idea if that is true or false, but the information certainly seems to have some validity to it. Furthermore, I spot checked some of Hubber’s claims and the information presented does appear to be fact based. But I never would have known this if I hadn’t been forced to do the research when I received the following email from VistaPrint HQ!
UPDATE: Stop the presses! VistaPrint is NOT threatening to sue me! Their Ex-partner Adaptive Affinity Ltd is!
After putting out a tweet regarding this post I was contacted by Jeff Esposito from Vistaprint who very politely informed me that his company was not the ones behind the threatening letter you will read below. After doing some research he found that VistaPrint used to partner with Adaptive Affinity to offer some subscription based services, however they ended that affiliation some time back.
Apparently some customers were inadvertently subscribing to these third party services, there was a class action lawsuit, the lawsuit was dismissed, and VistaPrint decided it was no longer in their best interests to offer these programs.
So, to summarize – Adaptive Affinity, kiss my ass. VistaPrint, we’re cool.
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Review: Griffin PowerJolt Reserve iPhone Charger and Battery
December 30, 2009 By 1 Comment
I’m not sure what other people think about the Griffin 9785-PJLTRSV PowerJolt Reserve for iPhone & iPod
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.
Review: Benro Travel Angel Tripod – The 13.1″ Wonder!
November 18, 2009 By 4 Comments
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
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My New Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod Setup
November 9, 2009 By 6 Comments
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…
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The One Where John P. Takes Viagra, Then Tells You All About It
September 8, 2009 By 21 Comments
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.
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