Best Commuter Vehicle???

Let me first begin with at present, this is NOT the best commuter vehicle for me.  I have a 60 mile one-way commute, so this is not an option.  HOWEVER, if the day comes and I have a short commute, this is definitely what I’m picking up!  And if you have a short commute, or live in a big city, take a peek at this, the Boosted Board.

This is not a product endorsement.  I do not have one of these (though I would love one) and have never been on one.

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a board.  I used to skateboard as a way to get around (why this is perfect) and never really got into ‘skating’.  I have had a few long boards and those are clearly my favorite.  My current long board I haven’t been on in quite some time.  Now that the weather is going to start getting nicer and I’m going to be spending more time outside, it might just be time to break that baby out again!

I’m pretty excited about the Boosted Board as a product for a lot of people.  You can travel up to 14 miles on one charge with the extended range battery and 7 miles with the standard battery.  The cool thing too is that it will power up hills up to a 25% grade!  That’s awesome!!!

With multiple ride options, it won’t take long for you to get the hang of this thing.  Again, I don’t have on and have never been on one, but from what I’ve read and seen on YouTube, it seems fairly easy.  And, it’s a sick form of transportation!

Do any of you have one?  Love it?  Hate it?  What are your experiences?

Oh, Boosted Boards, if you see this and want to send me one to test out, I would love that.  Thanks.

SD Card Files Recovery

Being a videographer, I have a ton of SD cards for a variety of capture devices.  And, since I get paid and pay my bills by what is captured on those tiny plastic squares, having them perform is something that I don’t think about, but rely on heavily.  Which brings me to yesterday.

Yesterday I was working on a project and realized that I had not, for some reason unbeknownst to me now, captured some clips related to the project.  So, I went back to the SD card and inserted it into my Mac Pro.  Final Cut Pro promptly issued me a dialogue box something to the effect of ‘card structure corrupted, no found files.’  WHAT???  What the hell am I going to do???  (Side note.  You hear about date recovery all the time and back up, back  up, back up.  But, we never really do.  Which is why I found myself right here.  Continuing…)  I ‘hid’ FCP, and control+clicked the card icon on the desktop to ‘get info’.  Much to my surprise, it was still showing that the card was full, with available storage at just less than one gig.  So I quickly scrambled and launched Google on another system.  I wanted to do nothing on the Mac Pro that would in any way jeopordize any fleeting chance at recovering that data.  I did a search for ‘SD card file recovery Mac’ and one of the first ones that popped up was Disk Drill.  I had checked a couple of the other ones websites out, and I did download another one to begin with.  It did not find anything on the card.  I don’t mean like just a few files and not all 63 gigs worth, but it found NOTHING.  Not a single meg.  I know that there is shit on there because I then did another ‘get info’ and still, a little less than one gig.  So I deleted that piece of shit application and went back to the web and to Disk Drill, which is what I should have done first, but I didn’t.  Disk Drill will let you scan your disks, but there is a Pro version that, in my case is what I was going to need, and I really didn’t want to put out the $90 for that license.  I wish I would have just started out with it though, because not only did Disk Drill find all the files, it was able to recover them and restore my ability to complete this project.

If you need EVER to restore any disk drive at all, don’t do what I did and waste several hours looking for ‘cheap’ solution.  Just save yourself all the time and effort and just start with Disk Drill.  It will be the best money you’ve ever spent on a project.  And, you’ll be able to save that project!  Take my word for it.  Disk Drill.  Do it.

Keeping Track with the Fitbit Flex

Beginning today, I’m keeping track of everything I put in my body and all of my exercise.  Jess, my fiancé, and I are going to be keeping each other accountable with the Fitbit Flex.  I did some research comparing other types of trackers and we landed on the flex.  It integrates with My Fitness Pal, which is awesome because I already have and use (not enough though) that app.  I cycle and use MapMyRide to keep track of my rides.  So, I will track of all of my food, drink and exercise in MyFitnessPal (except my bike rides, those are tracked and catalogued with MapMyRide and then manually inserted into MyFitnessPal) and then all of my sleeping habits are then managed in the Fitbit app.  So, I’m using the Fitbit app as the top of the chain for an overall view of my day of everything.

Last night was the first night that I had slept with it and it was interesting to look at my sleep and see when I was sleeping the most efficient.  I had never seen that kind of data before so it was cool to see.

I’m still trying to discover other ways to effectively use this new device to my benefit.  Anyone else have one?  How do you use it and what apps do you use it with?

Super WiFi Anyone?

On the 27th, the IEEE published the standard for new wifi.  Today we have 802.11n.  Eventually, we will have the just published 802.22.  With this, the transmitter and receiver can be up to 100km, or 62 miles, from each other and still work at 22Mb per channel.  So exactly what does that mean?  Well, if you work less than 60 miles from your home, which most of us do, you’ll be able to access and use your home internet connection to surf the web, transfer files, print documents, watch videos from your home server, etc.  You get the idea.  This could give way to some pretty interesting new gadgets.  I’ll keep and eye on this and update as it evolves, but what would you use 62 mile range wifi for?

A thought about tablet computers…

As I read article after article on tablet computers and how this one or that one is the ‘iPad killer’ I find myself immediately going to the spec sheets.  When you compare them side by side, there are tablets out there that kick the shit out of the iPad on specs alone.  Then I started saying ‘well, they’re never going to be as popular because they don’t run Apple’s iOS.’  That’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks.  It was so obvious and right there in front of me the whole time.  Many of you are probably saying ‘this guy’s an idiot for not seeing that’.  Well, to that I say, you are correct.

What makes the iPad so damn popular isn’t it spec set, but it’s the software driving it that appeals to the masses.  Competitors of the iPad are beginning to run into supply problems because they just have so much inventory.  It’s not their product sucks, it’s just that it doesn’t have iOS.  The software is was really sets all of these products apart, not the hardware.

PhySwitch

If you are one of those people that think that the little icon bar at the bottom of the phone that pops up for app switching is just a real pain in the ass, then have I got the find for you.  PhySwitch allows you to use the volume buttons on the side of your iPhone to scroll through live, full pages of the running apps.  Simply touch it to enter the app.  You have to have a jailbroken iPhone, but it looks awesome.

While I haven’t jailbroken my iPhone, I do kinda wish that this would actually become an app or at least a utility in the preferences.  Although, Apple has a pretty tight, nay rock solid, grasp of what developers can and cannot do with the buttons on the phone.  So, if you have a jailbroken iPhone, try it out and leave a comment.

New Amazon Kindle

It appears that Amazon is taking on Apple in a head to head battle for a place in consumers hearts when they buy their e-readers.  I’m still planning on getting an iPad over the Kindle because it does SO MUCH MORE than just display text.  The Kindle would be nice however in the situation depicted in the ad.  Although, if I was in the situation depicted in the ad, I wouldn’t be sitting there reading.  Just me though.  Thoughts?

We Square?

This is just another use for your mobile device.  Neat, huh?

Skiff Reader

Continuing my quest for the perfect paperless day, I have come across yet another great looking/funtioning product.  The Skiff Reader.  Not only is it very functional, has the content backed by major publications, uses both your fingers AND a stylus for input, software that is easy to use and not cumbersome, but it is very sleek.  These guys have taken the e-reader, added more functionality and a sense of style to it.  When it’s finally available for sale, I may be first in line.  Check it out, let me know what you think.

Skiff Reader

enTourage eDGe

Well I think I’ve found the closest piece of tech to what I’ve been looking for.  This new hardware from enTourage has an eInk side and a mobile Android OS on the opposite.  On the eInk side, you can read books and pdf documents as well as mark up those documents and write on ‘lined paper’ with the stylus.  From what it looks like, the quality is going to be OK.  I haven’t actually gotten my hands on one and it does look a little on the ‘fun’ side, but would be completely workable in an office/business environment.  And, at just shy of $500, it’s coming in at a really nice price point.  Your thoughts?

enTourage eDGe

I’m still waiting to see what Apple comes out with since I’m an Apple geek, but this is the closest thing that I’ve seen to what I’m looking for.