Wake up with the Commons: Buckeye Donuts

Wanted breakfast this morning so I headed down to the Wake Up With The Commons event on Columbus Commons to see what the vendors had available. Crimson Cup was serving coffee off of their truck, but I had coffee waiting for me in the apartment. I walked over to Buckeye Donuts' truck after finding that Nate's Steamed Bagels didn't sell just bagels with cream cheese.

Buckeye Donuts was offering a beautiful sandwich they call "The Buckeye Royale", bacon, egg, and cheddar served between two deep fried glazed donuts. Where has this been all my life?!? 

The sweet of the donut glaze contrasts perfectly with the savory of the bacon, egg, and cheddar to make an amazing sandwich that will be my go-to on Tuesday mornings this summer.

If you are looking for one another day you can find details on their website

I thought they were crazy until I had a chance to hear these headphones

When Aircom first told me about their new AiRFLOW headphones I was a bit skeptical.  In ear headphones have been designed the same basic way for quite a while, if this idea really worked why hasn't anyone tried it before? They were getting ready to launch a funding campaign on IndiGoGo and we're looking for my support. I was intrigued enough to back the project after watching their video and seeing their founder Ryan Tsui's passion for what they were doing.

The concept was radical but pretty easy to understand.  Instead of having a small speaker firing directly at your ear drum like every other in ear headphone on the market, they were trying to replicate the "airspace" of closed back over ear headphones by firing that same speaker into an airtube which would then funnel the sound into your ear.  I knew the concept of sound being enhanced by an airtube was viable because I had seen the concept used in microphones, but it still seemed a bit radical to me here.

After using them for a few weeks now, and letting friends and family use them I can tell you there is no question anymore.  The sound is so much cleaner and feels so full and rich that I actually can't stand to use my Apple Air·Pods after using these.  I'm sold on the concept and the final design.  Ryan and his team have a winner. 

What ever happened to that old Polaroid? Lomography is bringing instant cameras back with a difference

When I saw the Kickstarter campaign I had to do a double take.  Lomography was wanting to take their love of old fashioned photography a step further into the realm of instant cameras ala Polaroid with their new Automat camera.  They started it a year ago with the Lomo'Instant, but now were taking it into a new level.  Unlimited exposures on a single instant picture?  Bulb mode with up to 30 second exposures?  A lens cap with built in remote shutter control?  How far can we push an instant camera?

It turns out we can push it pretty far, and they did.  The Lomo'Instant Automat is a wonderful camera and a great piece of engineering.  With modular lenses adding wide-angle and fisheye capability along with the ability to add filters this is far from your Mom's old Polaroid.

The added ability to set the exposure length and take multiple exposures while tripod mounted gives you a lot of the creative flexibility of a medium format or SLR in an instant, something I never would have thought of.  

The camera uses physical film, so it isn't as flexible a medium to experiment with as digital can be, but there is something to be said for having that tangible record of the shot, and the serendipitous mistake that can create a one of a kind photo.

The Lomo'Instant Automat is available now from the Lomography online store for $179

Extremely different, in every way

This week I was provided an interesting contrast in two bluetooth headphone products, the long awaited Apple AirPods and the BB Air wireless headphones from German firm Blomm & Berger.

Most of us watched the introduction of the AirPods during the WWDC keynote this September and were surprised to see Apple miss their shipping date in October.  They finally started getting retail production going before the end of the year but are still on substantial back order.

The AirPods are small.  Very small.  Easy to lose small.  So easy to lose that Apple actually assumes that you will lose one of the pair and has listed the replacement cost ahead of time ($69 with AppleCare).  The whole pod is the size of a roll of dental floss.  Don't let size fool you though, there is some great tech inside that little pod.

At the opposite side of the spectrum are the BB Airs.  Big hearty headphones optimized for EDM and featuring both on-ear and over-ear earpads to allow for comfort and flexibility.  Custom manufactured in Europe for the German based company that has made a name for themselves sponsoring dance parties and FIFA matches.  They didn't have the money to startup manufacturing of the new product line so they turned to Kickstarter and Indigogo for support.

There isn't a lot to say about the sound quality of the AirPods.  They sound about the same as the EarPods that ship with every iPod and iPhone.  That in itself is pretty remarkable in true wireless headphones at this point but from an audio standpoint these aren't going to blow anyone out of the water. 

Blomm & Berger's BB Air's are another matter entirely when it comes to sound quality.  Even with the smaller pads placing them on your ears instead of over them these things sound very good.  When you increase the size of the soundstage by completely surrounding your ears with the larger ear pads you get one of the best wireless sound experiences we've encountered so far. 

As we all have heard, the Air⋅Pods have the same size and fit as the standard earpods, which quite a few people find uncomfortable.  I don't mind them usually for short to medium listening, but they aren't comfortable past the two hour mark for me.  This is fine, because battery life is only rated at three hours at 50% volume, so getting past two hours without needing to take them out to charge will be rare for most of us. 

In contrast, I found the BB Air with the over-ear pads to be comfortable throughout a five hour flight from Portland to Houston without any problems at all.  Usually even if they are not putting pressure on my ears (a rarity even for headphones designed to be over the ear given the size of my auditory appendages) my ears are feeling hot and uncomfortable by the three hour mark but somehow this didn't happen.

Overall I think both of these headphone devices are going to make buyers very happy.  Apple already is having a hard time keeping Air⋅Pods in stock and I don't see that changing until another true wireless competitors products catch up with marketing.  We'll have to wait and see if Blomm & Berger get enough marketing behind their own line to gain any major market share with what is a great product almost no one has heard of yet.

A tale of two very different cameras....

In August of last year a group of former Holga camera employees from Hong Kong decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to launch a digital version of the beloved asian toy camera.  The original Holga debuted in 1982, and has since become a favorite of many artists due to the lack of complexity and flexibility.  Their goal was to get the $50,000 dollars needed to begin production, but demand was so great that they exceeded that goal in just 4 days.  Ultimately the project exceeded $300,000 and more than 2500 backers during the 60 days it was active on Kickstarter and they continue to get orders via Indiegogo here.

The camera is as low tech as a digital camera can get, owing very much to its roots as a toy camera.  With a manual shutter lever, exposure time is as flexible as possible and hard to gauge.  In addition, the only selections possible are a switch on the bottom to toggle between BW and Color modes, and the power dial on top allowing you to select between simulating 135 or 120 film.  You additionally have the option of attaching the flash or not via the hot shoe on top.  Everything else is done by feel and experience alone.  As you can see from the sample images below even with very little automatic control the camera provides decent quality and good dynamic range.

Picture of flowers taken with the Holga Digital

Picture of shelf with kickstarter rewards taken with Holga Digital and a flash

Lytro's Illium is by contrast one of the most advanced digital cameras ever made

The second camera I received is the Lytro Illum, an extremely advanced camera using what is called Light Field imaging to capture all of the available light in each pixel.  This not only provides superior dynamic range, but allows for what Lytro calls "living pictures" because by capturing all of the light in the lenses field of view you have the ability to change the depth of field and point of focus after acquiring the image data.  In addition, the technology allows the camera to export 3D images.  With manual focus, 8x optical zoom, and dynamic range equivalent to 80-3200ISO it is perhaps the most advanced still camera ever built with a single lens.

As you can see from the linked pictures below, you can share images that the viewer can choose a point of focus in on demand, a feature unique to Light Field technology.  At an MSRP of $1300 this is an amazingly expensive camera, but incredibly fun to use.  If it could shoot video as well it could be the perfect all around camera.  Fortunately, Lytro has moved on to trying to change cinematography and as result the camera can be found on Amazon for $387 dollars from some vendors.

GeekFuel, Wet Shave Club, Nerd Block C2E2 Special, and LootCrate in pictures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so these are worth a few days worth of writing I guess.  Some great stuff this month, and some things that will be going to the kids too.  Have a look, and make sure to subscribe to these great services if you like what you see. 

Kickstarted: SharkTooth 16-1 Survival wearable

Sometimes a kickstarter project comes along and just makes you say "How the hell do people think of these things?".  The SharkTooth was initially one of them for me, but now that I have it in hand it makes total sense.  A simple laser cut pendant at first glance, upon closer inspection it is easy to see how useful this tiny tool could be. Besides the ten wrenches cut into the center it is easy to see the saw blade on one edge and knife edge opposite.  Harder to see until you hold it is the shape of the point besides being able to sharpen into a spear or arrow point also has a diamond shape which makes it usable as a Phillips head screw driver. 

Designed by the minds at Archwing LLC. in Madison, WI as part of what they are calling their Tactical Apparel venture, it really is a marvelous design.  They will soon be available for order from this website. 

Kickstarter: Bro-Ball trying to add function and fun to Bluetooth speakers

The folks at Invincible Audio have less than 24 hours left to reach their funding goals for their B.R.O. Ball, and a project that I think deserves to get the green light.  The basic concept is a 4th generation Bluetooth speaker inside a functional football suitable for outdoor play at the beach or the field. 

 Featuring not just the aerodynamics you would expect from a football but also sound, the ability to charge your phone from the internal battery and glowing lines that will let the game keep going after the sun goes down.

If you are interested, please jump in and help them reach their goals.

Amazon keeps innovation moving forward

Amazon has been making the Kindle line of eInk ebook readers for several years now, and have come a long way since the first oddly shaped and hard to hold iteration.

On June 30th they started shipping their latest, the newest Paperwhite, and it makes another evolutionary jump towards becoming the best ebook platform imaginable.  From speed improvements in screen refresh to enhancing the front lighting and reflectivity it is without a doubt the best eInk device on the market. 

Slim, light, ridiculously long battery life and touchscreen navigation that is deceptively responsive given the inherent limitations of the screen technology combine to make this a must have if you aren't using a Kindle already, and worth a serious look even if you are.

I opened Esquire this month and a video started playing.....

It isn't the first time it's been done apparently, but it's the first time I've seen it.  Chevy Truck's ad agency worked with a company called Americhip to put a video player inside the page of my magazine.  It powers on when the plastic tab you see at the left side in the fold pulls out and allows the battery to complete the circuit.  You select which video file to play with one of three buttons on the right hand side.  On the back of the page is a perforation that reveals a micro-USB connector.  I tried plugging it into my computer but it didn't show up as a drive, so it appears to only serve as a charging port with video files hard set in the memory chip.

I'll play around with maybe tearing it down and seeing if the parts are hackable over the weekend.

Will SlingTV kill cable

In January at CES Sling announced a partnership with several cable television networks including Disney and CNN to offer a monthly subscription service which promised to bundle together the most popular cable television networks into a single streaming service they dubbed "SlingTV". 

Including such popular networks as ESPN, FOOD Network, and CNN into a $19.95/month service the announcement rocked the internet and cable television worlds at the same time. 

The promised service launched today with a 14 day free trial, and I've been using it on a variety of platforms for a few hours to see how it works. 

My first notice that SlingTV was live today came via my FireTV, not a press release.  This ad greeted me when I turned my TV on this morning. 

The biggest limitation for most families is going to be that only one device can be logged in to the service at a time.  Logging in on my iPad deactivated my viewing on my TV, actually logging me out and forcing me to log back in with email and password to begin watching again.  For families with a multitude of screens like ours this is a serious limit with such a hefty price tag.  A $20 subscription per family member would make cable television cheaper and give us a wider range of programming. 

That being said there is a lot to like here.  Even with what I am sure is a huge look-in audience on launch day there were no quality issues on any of the devices I tried.  Playback is smooth and full HD quality, a must at this price point. 

At launch Sling also offers a sports add on pack featuring 10 additional channels including ESPNews and Universal Sports for an additional $5, with the promise of more add on packs such as family and movie packs to come as deals are made with production studios. 

In all it is a compelling if expensive service that delivers exactly what it claims if not anything more.  Give the trial a spin and if you find yourself using it enough it may be worth the price tag for your family.