Lifestyle posts

The Tom Cruise-driven vision of a future (almost) completely without murder worked with the concept that if we could use precognition to know when a murder was going to happen in the future, we could prevent it from ever happening. It was a science fiction concept that has tantalized the imagination on different levels with other concepts introduced in the film. Floating visual computer interfaces and iris-recognition technology aside, the crime-fighting components are well out of reach. Or are they? According to this infographic, we may actually have somewhere to go with all of this using…

Even months after his death, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is still inspiring people. These words spoken in the video below can be applies to just about anyone and in 46 seconds have the ability to change lives. That’s not a “fanboy” overstatement. Jobs is revered by some and disliked by others, and after his death there has been much published that points to certain character flaws, but it doesn’t take away from this clip: “When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you’re life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family,…

The ebb and flow of venture capital, IPOs, angel funding, and private equity investing makes forming a feasible startup challenging at times. It often depends on recent successes; when startup success stories start heating up, the money flows. When things start looking bad or people lose money, the cash often dries up quickly. Crowdfunding might just be the answer that will allow for a consistent flow of funds for startups. Sites like Kickstarter and IndieGogo give access to investing to those wanting to dabble while startups get access to minor investment money, often enough to seed the ideas….

It’s been a long time since a concept car has really sparked the imagination of tech geeks and car enthusiasts alike. When Toyota unveiled their latest concept car, the Fun-Vii, at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show this week, everyone from Automobile Magazine to Mashable jumped in to discuss its proposed paradigm-shifting features. It’s clear what the “Fun” part of the name means just by watching the second video below. The “Vii” stands for Vehicle, Interactive, Internet. Inside and out, most aspects of the car can interact with the internet and be controlled by a smartphone. Most surfaces on and within…

Technology has been accused of ruining many things in the world and in society, but there are times when it helps to preserve the natural elements around us by replacing things that once hurt the environment with more eco-friendly solutions. Such is the case with paper – more specifically, the ability to keep a few (million) more trees sprouting up and keeping oxygen levels at a sustainable level. E-receipts, paperless storage, and other forms of technology that have reduced the need for paper are poised to start making a difference. There are trade-offs of course; every device that replaces…

Few devices have come along that have truly made me say, “Wow”. Perhaps the last one was the first iPhone. Even the iPad did little to earn my excitement. Those who read this may wonder how much Amazon is paying me. There are times when brand-advocacy comes truly from the heart and this is one of those times. The Kindle Fire by Amazon is the best technology purchase I’ve made in a while, so good that I just ordered one for every member of my family. Here’s why: The right size One of the reasons that I went with the iPad 2 instead of some of the Android devices that piqued my interest had nothing to do with being…

Laugh synth for iOS has just been released, compatible with both iPhone and iPad. Laugh Synth makes it possible create laughing sounds with a simple touch of the screen to control different characteristics of the laugh. Users can even sample their own sounds to create custom laughs. This is as easy as recording any sound you want (laugh, scream, burp, meow, whatever) and trimming to only use the portion of the waveform you want. Touch the screen to control the pitch and the level of effects present in the sound. Add reverb or other effects to further enhance the laugh. Have a look at the app by watching…

The only thing certain about the future of daily deals is that the industry’s future is uncertain. It’s not a play on words or a failed attempt at sounding clever. If you ask 10 people where daily deals will be a year from now, you’ll probably get 10 completely different responses. The truth is, nobody knows for sure. We know that Wall Street isn’t treating Groupon well right now. We know that LivingSocial is looking as strong today as Groupon did a year ago after announcing a national deal with McDonald’s. We know that fortunes in the daily deals industry can turn on a dime. We also know that users are…

In Mark Zuckerberg’s response to the FTC, we learned that Facebook is being forced to be more transparent, more privacy-oriented, and to get permission across the board for any changes they make both by users, the FTC, and anyone else who cares. This is a real blow, not because it hampers their ability to make money with the site but because it will force them to make some adjustments to the phone they’re developing. The folks at Geek Culture “discovered” what the real plans were before. How they will change with the FTC agreement is anyone’s guess, but one thing is sure – they’ll need to make changes…

In less than a month, Groupon’s highly-lauded stocks have plummeted from their IPO sale price of $28 closing today at $15.24, down 46% since their November 4th initial public offering. That’s the good news. The bad news is that recovery, if any, will be short-lived. We anticipated bad times, declaring that Groupon was not IPO-ready, but it appears that things are worse than we thought. Since going public, Groupon has done very little to enhance or promote their product the way that a newly-public company normally would. Their “big launch” this month of an “exciting new feature” is, for the most…