Holiday Shopping Guide: B&W Zeppelin Review

I’m a bit of a speaker nerd, I believe in big speakers, powered by big woofers.  These big speakers need to be fed by amplifiers that run on grain alcohol instead of mere plebeian electricity.  The cables that connect the speakers should be thicker than my thigh and should look like pythons laid across a rain forest floor.  When a speaker system is turned on I think it should greet you with a hum and crackle like a city’s power substation.  I should want to rock out just by looking at a speaker system.  I’ve long believed that in order to accurately reproduce sound you need to move air the same way that the instruments or loudspeakers that made the original sound did.  That’s why I’m a bit frustrated with the B&W Zeppelin.  It’s too cool and too accurate to be real.  I feel like it’s a well crafted separates based stereo setup with 3 way speakers and a beefy amplifier hidden by some sort of holographic projection of a sleek lozenge shaped thing.  Read more

Holiday Gift Guide: Roku Netflix Player Review

As a child I remember Christmas morning spent unwrapping presents with an afternoon following filled with newly acquired toys.  Probably the best gifts were the game systems.  These were gifts that took some unwrapping, some minor assembly, and offered hours of entertainment.  This is immediately what I think of when I envision giving the gift of the Roku Netflix Player.  It takes a few minutes to setup, and afterwards, if you and your loved ones have an addictive personality like mine, prepare to be entranced the rest of the day.

Setting up the Roku is easy.  I hooked it up to the tv, and despite not knowing my wifi password and the following router reconfiguration, had it up and running in under 15 minutes.  Automatically the 15 or so movies in my queue that were available as instant watchers were available to stream. With the simple on-screen navigation and easy to use remote, I pulled up a movie, let it buffer, and was watching it moments later.

It wasn’t till I started watching TV series that fun really began.  Curios about the show Heroes, I went to my computer and added season 1 to my instant queue.  It took all of 5 seconds for it to appear on my roku as an available option.  I devoured episode after episode till I had burned through the first two seasons and all of the current season up through the most recent episode.

I then moved on to 30 Rock, Dead Like Me, and The Office.  Though, not all the series were as broad or current as Heroes.  Some are tied to DVD release schedules coming in a season behind, some are missing episodes only available on disc, and a lot of series are just not available.  However, you’d be hard pressed not to find something entertaining to watch.

The small box has a price tage of just $99.  The best part is that it makes a great combo present with only one unit needed per household.  If the recipients aren’t netflix members already, not a problem.  Simply couple it with a gift certificate for one month starting as low as $9.

I highly recommend the roku gift this holiday season.  Check out more at Roku.

Learning From Mistakes - Minimalist Winter Backpacking

I thought I’d dig up an old trip of mine for this week’s post.  Several years back I was feeling pretty stir crazy in October, it had been over 40 days since I’d spent a night outside and that particular year I seemed to have the camping itch even worse than usual.  So early one Saturday in late October I tossed a handful of things into a backpack and drove up to the snowy Rockies. Read more

Stephen Colbert - Single Malt Scotch Advice

Stephen Colbert you and your writers are genius.

Hey, Single Malt Scotch, you’re thirty years old. When are you going to settle down and get married… to my stomach.

5 Best National Parks in the Continental US for Photography

5.  Rocky Mountain National Park - Taking photos of alpine mountain settings usually involves a very heavy pack that gets heavier with each foot fall, once you’ve packed up a tent, food, stove, sleeping bag, clothes, and other extras, by this time the camera either doesn’t fit or you just can’t bear to add the extra weight of lenses, tripods, and multiple camera bodies.  Rocky Mountain National Park has the solution for this.  Trail Ridge Road runs for ~30 miles above tree line providing loads of access to trail heads that start above tree line allowing you to get right at the alpine goods.  The park opens early too so you can come in to capture the alpineglow at sunrise.  The parks lakes and stark mountain peaks are so varied that people will often ask “Where did you take that?!?” Read more

December Urban Monarch Book Club

Two books have caught my attention for the next Urban Monarch book club.  Both of these are recent releases of novels that are decades old.  Relevant though still today.  

• Metropole
• Inverted World

Which one would you like to read? Any alternate suggestions?

Burn off Fat in the Cold; Go Snowshoeing

Winter is always a problem, during spring, summer and fall there’s more than enough stuff to do in the mountains or even around town that’s outside and physically challenging.  Once the cold rolls I want to fire up the xbox far more than I want to step on the scale.  Winter just didn’t seem to provide a lot of opportunities for exercise.  Skiing is expensive and there’s always congestion traffic in order to get up there and most back-country sports require a huge dollar and time investment in order to get started.   Several years ago I stumbled upon a craigslist ad for some snowshoes and found them surprisingly cheap.  My original idea was to rip the crampons (metal spikes that go under your feet for walking/climbing on snow) off of them to make some cheap mountaineering boots.  Instead I discovered the best winter activity out there. Read more

UM Book Club - Little Brother by Cory Doctorow Part IV

Pages 181 - 266 (Ch 17-end)

In the final reading section the book is quick paced.  I found myself fervently consuming the remaining pages all in one sitting.  I was so caught up in the story, my mind moved from the analyzation of the book to the plot and character interaction.  This has definitely served as a testament of Doctorow’s writing.  I’m looking forward to reading more of his work.

Marcus and Ange meet with the journalist Barbara to divulge all of the information on the prison and the following xNet.  Immediately following the meeting, Marcus starts receiving emails from hacker turned DHS agent Masha.  As a side note, everytime I read that name a certain website comes to mind.  

Fearing his security, Marcus and Ange plan to go underground with Masha’s guidance.  Things go awry and Marcus backs out of the agreement.  Zed comes back and serves again as a guide to Marcus.  Shortly after Marcus is whisked back to the prison, undergoes torture, and is rescued by Barbara and a team of local law enforcement fellows.  Charges are mostly dropped, and Marcus lives happily ever after with Ange working on a non-profit derivative of the xNet work.  

This book serves its intention well.  It renewed my excitement about technology and opened my eyes a bit more to things going on in current news.  Suddenly I’m paying more attention to global stories about Australia’s interim terrorist prison and local stories about the operation of government funded security cameras in my neighborhood.

5 Things Halloween is to Me

When Halloween comes around it means:

• Coworkers in entertaining costumes
• Overcrowded house parties
• Attractively costumed ladies
• Pumpkin beer
• Boorritos

And you?

How to buy hiking boots that fit

For nearly any sort of prolonged outdoor activity your footwear is the most important gear you’ll own. Good boots make long backpacking trips sightseeing bliss, and make any sort of tricky scrambling seem intuitive vs terrifying.

Most people never get the true pleasure out of their footwear. Many people complain about boots having to “break in” despite going on multiple trips in them. Often people buy boots based on their styling or color, vs lightness or construction.

Differences between synthetic and leather boots

In the past decade most boots have undergone a massive change. Most boots of yesteryear were heavy leather tanks, nearly indestructible and about as light as an anchor. Now most manufactures have abandoned that style of boot making in exchange for lighter boots that use synthetic materials. These boots have some serious advantages, first off they’re crazy light easily weighing half to a third of a full leather boot of the same size. Second because the synthetic materials are also much flexible than leather, many of them don’t have a “break in” period, you just pull them on, and go. They often cost less than full leather boots as well. Read more

KCRW’s Today’s Top Tune

 

 

This podcast features up and coming eclectic, often independent, artists singing their wares.  Available to download just on the day of the release, each song is a unique experience.  To really get the flow of this podcast you should subscribe at least for two weeks. Ironic mustaches and calf hugging denim is not required.

KCRW’s Today’s Top Tune

UM Book Club - Little Brother by Cory Doctorow Part III

 

Pages 181 - 266 (Ch 12-16)

In this section we saw a lot of activity as the novel climbs to what I’m anticipating is an epic conclusion in the few remaining pages.  Two significant events occur that both carry the story as well as modify the dynamic of the plot.   This story has been a fantastic surprise so far.  Doctorow’s talent as a writer and story teller come through even in this youthfully targeted novel. Read more

SNL Weekend Update: Touch Map

SNL Weekend Update had me laughing out loud all by myself in my apartment last night.  One of the highlights was the large touch map they were using.  

“I can bounce Michigan.”  

I can’t find a video though.  This is were you come in.  Anyone know of a link?

Podcast Review: NPR Planet Money

 

 

Amidst the financial collapse of the global banking market and the following credit crunch I find myself having difficulty comprehending what is happening in the world around me.  NPR’s Planet Money podcast and blog attempts to answer these questions starting from the ground up.  Shows focus on single topics starting with some form of the basic question, “What exactly is that?”  If you find your self confused by terms like leverage or balance sheets, check out Planet Money.

NPR Planet Money

UM Book Club - Little Brother by Cory Doctorow Part II

 

Pages 89 - 180 (Ch 6-11)

In the second section of Little Brother we get into the meat of the story.  We see the rise of Marcus (now M1k3y) on the underground network Xnet.  With bugged computers everywhere, Xnet is accessed via a linux distribution named Paranoid Linux created for an outdated xBox platform.  Marcus leads a sneakernet campaign to pass disks out to everyone interested.  

As homeland security tightens Marcus’ friends Jolu and Van have grown apprehensive of any insubordination.  Not wanting to end up back in the unmarked prison or worse, end up in the same place as the still missing Darryl, they both express issue to Marcus.  The worsened government actions have the opposite effect on Marcus.  Though he feels guilt for risking many people’s safety with xNet and counter tactics, each raise in security is met with another move from our protagonist.   Read more

YouTube: Show me something cool

I interrupt this regular friday youtube post to ask for reader input.  

Show me something cool on youtube!  

Post links in the comments…

Podcast Review: Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day

I have problems with word of the day.  I read it, I see the examples, but I end up with awkward  usage and worse pronunciation.  Hearing it in an audio podcast though seems to fix at least the latter issue.  Enter Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day daily podcast.  A little over 2 minutes to a better understanding of the language I slay daily.

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day Podcast

UM Book Club - Little Brother by Cory Doctorow Part I

 

Pages 1 - 88 (Ch 1-5)

This novel feels like Harry Potter.  Mystical, innocent, and somewhat of an indulgence to read as an adult .  Except instead of wands, spells, and wizards, it’s real life technology, accessible and available to most people.  While a few steps into the future, it’s talking about things that exist today.  Each chapter is packed with technological trailheads for any eager reader to follow into a real life interest in computers.  Awesome.

The first section we are introduced to the main characters.  Marcus narrates the story and introduces us to his ARG team Darryl, Jolu, and Van.  We meet a few antagonists: Fredrick Benson the vice principal, and Severe haircut lady of Homeland Security.  The stage is pretty much set in the first few chapters, peering into the main characters’ personalities as well as the motive for the rest of the story.  

There are a few things that really stick out to me.  

The opening paragraph:

I’m a senior at Cesar Chavez high in San Francisco’s sunny Mission district, and that makes me one of the most surveilled people in the world. My name is Marcus Yallow, but back when this story starts, I was going by w1n5t0n. Pronounced “Winston.”

To me, this is one of those details that as a reader, I gloss over till I’m at the end of the book and I find myself back in present time.  Much like for the duration of Catcher in the Rye, I forget that we’re talking to a therapist.  I’m interested to find out the context in which Marcus as has been sharing this story.  Or, it could just be that he changes his handle after his personal security systems have been breached.  

The foreshadowing at the end of chapter 3:

In hindsight, maybe I should have unlocked my phone for them.

Straight forward and quickly resolved, this one sentence though really propels the reader through the next chapter.

The Happening Movie Review

Last night I watched M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening.  It was awful.  Though, I did find humor in this review…

This was supposed to be a good movie!  But instead it is a huge disappointment.  Its hard to tell if it was supposed to be a bad comedy, a horror movie, or just something thats plain old stupid… In my opinion it’s stupid.

As a side note, I’m not going to rent movies from the video store anymore.  iTunes worked great for renting, syncing to my iPhone and watching on my LCD TV.

Etienne De Crecy Techno Cube

This is seriously amazing.  I want to see the Etienne De Crecy show in Denver.  Promoters, get to work!

Thanks again Collin for another awesome link.

Book Club Update

I received the book club selection, Little Borther, in the mail yesterday.  I paged through it, divided it up into 4 sections, and greedily devoured a few pages.  From my initial impression, this looks to be an engaging read.  This is, of course, if you find phrases like “teh suck” as amusing as I do.  Check out the sidebar updates for pages and due dates.  I’m also emailing the author, Cory Doctorow, to tell him about our little book club we having going here.

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