When Virgin Mobile introduced its $40/month unlimited mobile broadband service a couple months ago, I was pretty excited. I’ve been looking for a more convenient way to access my personal email and doing the occasional net surfing without using my company’s internet connection or computers. I’ve accomplished this over the years by taking my notebook …
In The Air (and Through The Wire)
As mentioned in this blog post, we got rid of cable TV in our house about 5 months ago. I figured this was a good time to give a status report. What have we missed? Not much. We’re not inclined to watch shows like “Jersey Shore,” and most of our former favorite channels– Food Network, …
Unplugged
In these economic times… okay, I admit that was a cheap way to start off this piece. I only did it because for the past year it’s become the hackneyed phrase of choice. I’ll start again. Like many people, we have a certain amount of money allocated for what can broadly be called “entertainment.” We …
iPhone 3.0 Software: A Semi-Cautionary Tale
My advice to those planning on upgrading to iPhone software version 3.0: don’t do it. At least not yet. I don’t mean to sound dire about this, but for me iPhone 3.0 software on my first-generation iPod Touch has caused a lot of unnecessary annoyance, and I wish I’d waited until 3.1 was released. (We …
Continue reading iPhone 3.0 Software: A Semi-Cautionary Tale
Are You Receiving Me?
Like many homeowners, I’ll usually have a radio nearby while working on a project like painting or (intentionally) knocking a hole in a wall. I use a cheapie RCA radio-cassette boombox that’s been dropped, kicked, splattered with paint, and otherwise abused, yet it still keeps on ticking in its low-fi way. There are times when …
When Worlds Collide
Managing your identity on the internet is a tricky thing. In the old days, I picked a nickname and used it on various bulletin boards and forums. I used the same one for years on AIM, Yahoo Messenger, etc. The idea was that a certain level of anonymity was desirable as you’re talking about the …
A Clearer Picture
With the advent of the Digital Television Age, I decided to take the government up on its TV Converter Box Coupon Program. This is the program where each household gets up to two $40 coupons towards the purchase of a digital TV converter box: you wire the box between your antenna and the TV, and …
Twitter Haiku
I’ve made a change in the way I post updates at Twitter. Twitter is another one of those web sites that I file under the category called “Dig Me.” It’s basically a public blogging site/bulletin board where you answer the question “What am I doing right now?” in 140 characters or less. It’s sort of …
TV on a Computer Near You
Last year, I picked up an Elgato eyetv Hybrid for my MacBook. This is a great little unit that picks up not only analog TV signals, but the digital and HD channels as well. The eyetv software that comes with the Elgato is very easy to use and has helpful features such as importing your …
The True Godfather of Tech Talk
On a Saturday morning a little over 15 years ago, I discovered the radio show by which every technology radio show and podcast I’ve heard since has been measured. The show was Computing Success! hosted by Thom Foulks. I found it completely by accident: I was trying to tune in (what was then) WLUP-AM and …