February 2011

Oscar Predictions for 2011 – HighTechDad’s Wife Makes the Call on the 2011 Academy Awards

by Michael Sheehan on February 27, 2011

So, every year, my wife has a mission. She tries to see each and every film that is nominated for the top categories in the Academy Awards. It’s pretty ambitious actually, but every year, she manages to see just about every film (with the exception of some of the smaller films or the documentaries). Then, prior to Oscar Night, she crafts an email with her predictions and sends it out to her friends. Last year, she also got 100% of her predictions right. Unfortunately, I didn’t document it (she only distributed it via email to her friends) so this year, I’m going to try to get ahead of the game by posting her email with her predictions on my blog.

I have gone through her email below and added what her choices are, what she thinks the Academy will do, and then a blank for who the actually winner is (which I will fill in later). The format will be:

Wife – what she hopes will win
Academy – what my wife thinks the Academy will do
Actual Winner – who won the Award

Leave a comment on who you think will win!

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Maintain Movie Star Quality Stubble with the “i-Stubble” by Conair for Men

by Michael Sheehan on February 22, 2011

in Consumer Electronics, Gadgets, General, Hardware, Review, video

Ever wonder how so many movie stars are able to keep a great looking face full of stubble day after day? Well, they probably have an expensive barber that follows them where ever they go. If you want to do it yourself, you need to use a groomer or beard trimmer and spend time carefully trimming your stubble down to the level that you want. There may be some products out in the market that can help you do this, but since I’m a guy that usually goes around clean shaven (except on the weekends), I don’t know of them.

A few weeks ago, I was sent an early version of a new product from Conair for Men called the i-Stubble. Supposedly, there are only 25 of the i-Stubble out in the market for reviews so I figured that I should really test it out. It isn’t expected to be released until March or April (I would say that they should have it out there in time for Father’s Day though). Unfortunately, there isn’t even a website or product page for me to link to so I needed to quickly become an expert on the i-Stubble. What better way than with first hand experience.

About a week ago, I started growing out my stubble, much to the complaints of my family and co-workers. As I mentioned, I’m usually a clean-shaven guy, but I decided that I really wanted to dive into this product all the way. After more than a week, my face was itchy, my kids and wife weren’t kissing me because my face was too scratch, and my boss kept telling people how he had found me sleeping on a bench and brought me in from the cold.

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When Can You Have “THE Talk” with Your Kids? – Cast of Dads Podcast #39

by Michael Sheehan on February 18, 2011

in audio, Cast of Dads, Consumer Electronics, Family, Gadgets, General, giveaway, Hardware, Humor, Intel, Opinion, parenting, PodCast, Tablet

Wow, back-to-back Cast of Dads podcast posts! I guess we are slowly getting back into our groove. Episode #39, “Having THE Talk” was focused on pretty much one thing – having “the talk” with your kids. While some of the Cast of Dads have kids still in diapers, others have graduated to the parenting of young adults, and some of us have kids that are just hitting that inquisitive age and the time when parents need to start explaining about the birds and the bees.

The topic of “sex” is always a challenge for any parent to discuss with their kids, regardless of the age of the children. But it is a critical one to have. You need to be consistent and have thought about your answers well before the questions are even asked. And how you answer definitely depends on the age of the child. Collectively, we bring 13 of these possible conversations to the mix, as well as a mixture of boys and girls. On this podcast, we discuss some of the conversations we have had, and our strategies for answering them well (or not).

Also, we will be announcing our first ever Cast of Dads giveaway, sponsored by Intel. Be sure to listen to this and upcoming podcasts to learn how you could win a Dell Inspiron Duo!

Note: we are always looking for sponsors! If you would like to sponsor an individual episode or a series of episodes, please do let us know. [click to continue…]

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Gadgets + Dads = “Dadgets” – Cast of Dads VIDEO podcast at CES 2011

by Michael Sheehan on February 14, 2011

in audio, Cast of Dads, CES, Consumer Electronics, Event, Family, Gadgets, General, Hardware, Intel, Mobile, Opinion, parenting, PodCast, Tablet, video

The Cast of Dads has been on a bit of a vacation recently – the reality is, we’ve all been so busy that our little “baby” (Cast of Dads) has become a bit neglected. But we promise to get back on track! To get things going again, we actually did do a video podcast at CES 2011. Unfortunately it was only a 3/5ths of the Cast of Dads as Brad Powell and Max Kalehoff were not at the show. But we did have our first guest ever and it was none other than Dave Delaney (a dad as well) of Griffin Technology.

I had never met CC Chapman in person so this was a great tradeshow for me personally. Both Jeff Sass and I were brought to CES by Intel as part of the Intel Advisors program, and consequently, Intel provided us an area to do our podcast. We recorded both a video and audio podcast, both of which you can find below. The post can also be found on the Cast of Dads website.

Note: we are always looking for sponsors! If you would like to sponsor an individual episode or a series of episodes, please do let us know.

The Topics

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4-Way iPad Keyboard Case Review: Sena Keyboard Folio, Kensington KeyFolio, ZAGGmate & tyPad

February 13, 2011

For many people, the iPad is fine the way it is…as just a tablet. However, for me, I needed something that was more than just a tablet but less than a laptop or even a netbook. That sweet spot requires one key thing…literally, a physical keyboard. So, why would anyone want to lug around a [...]

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No Output Audio Devices Suddenly on your Apple MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air? Try these 7 Fixes

February 10, 2011

A few days ago, my MacBook Pro decided suddenly to tell me that it had no Output Audio Devices for sound. Clicking the volume keys or the mute button did nothing, no sound, and basically the onscreen display showed a symbol that indicated there was no device for the sound output anyway. When I went [...]

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35+ Tips, Tricks & Strategies for Preparing For, Attending & Returning From a Trade Show or Expo (Part 2)

February 7, 2011

This is the Second Part of a Two Part series that hopefully will help you plan out and strategize your next trip to a trade show. In the previous post, I discussed the Pre-Show Planning. It’s important to think about the show well before you get there. If you haven’t read Part One of this [...]

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35+ Tips, Tricks & Strategies for Preparing For, Attending & Returning From a Trade Show or Expo (Part 1)

February 4, 2011

I’ve been back from CES for a month now (and recently attended MacWorld) and have had time to cobble together a few blog posts about things that I saw at both shows as well as have a tiny bit of time to reflect back on my time there. My general experience at CES was that [...]

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