“General” collection
Access a diverse collection of miscellaneous technology reviews, specialized DIY tool assessments, and unique lifestyle articles. From niche electrical equipment to general digital organization tips, this section covers the broad spectrum of a tech-focused life.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →April 8, 2010
Renaming Cast of Dads Podcast #15 to the “iPadcast of Dads” – “iPad, Kindles & VCRs OH MY!”
The Cast of Dads recorded podcast #15 ("iPad, Kindles & VCRs – Oh My!") the day the iPad was available to purchase. Only one of us (CC) actually had one to play with, but the rest of the Cast of Dads definitely had a lot to say about this new, potentially disruptive (in many ways) device and how it will…
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April 8, 2010
Turn your Photos into “Painted” Artwork with Photofiddle – Perfect for Mother’s Day & Other Occasions
I got my Mother's Day gift for my wife early, and it literally took me just a few minutes to do. The end result is something that can be cherished forever. Essentially, I took a favorite photo of ours and turned it into a painting and all that I did was have to upload a photo to Photofiddle.com, look through…
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April 5, 2010
What Do You Take When You Travel? – #LoseTheLaptop
So you have packed your bags, they are in the cargo hold, and you are 30,000 feet over the glistening ocean, and you start thinking...did I pack the [fill in the blank]? Suddenly you get that big hole in your stomach and you know that you didn't hit an air pocket. It's an "oh crap" moment. Let's face it, I…
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April 5, 2010
“Car Seats & Common Sense” Discussed by Some Punchy Dads on Cast of Dads Podcast #14
The Cast of Dads were in rare form for this podcast titled "Car Seats & Common Sense". Maybe it was something in the air or something we drank but geez! But we were still able to offer our "sagely" parenting advise throughout the podcast. I guess that once and a while, we can let what little hair we have down…
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April 2, 2010
Video & How-To Install a Hard Drive on a MacBook Pro (non-unibody): Clone & Boot Camp too!
For all of those people who are interested in breathing a little bit of life into an older MacBook Pro, this post is for you. My non-unibody 15" beaten and worn MacBook Pro had about 3 GB of free hard drive space on it. And this is even after I had upgraded it about 2 years ago with a 320…
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April 1, 2010
Who Has Time to Travel Anyway? – Lose the Laptop!
Travel? Who has the time or money to travel nowadays! Sure I travel...a lot! From the bed, to the shower, out the door, to the car, to the train, on the train, to work, and back again. It's a great trip actually. I get to read the paper and occasionally do some writing. In fact, my writing is happing right…
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March 29, 2010
Special Edition of Cast of Dads (Video) Podcast – “Live from SxSW 2010”
Even though South by Southwest (SxSW) is long over, the memory lives on. 3 of the 5 dads from Cast of Dads were there for this great conference which takes place in Austin, Texas and we decided to do something a bit different. The Cast of Dads that were at SxSW ventured over to the Dad Labs studio and we…
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March 29, 2010
SchlageLINK Gives You Security & Access, Even When You Aren’t Home
Keys are a pain! I have so many keys on my keychain that I feel like a locksmith and I'm not even sure what keys go to what lock. But you can't just throw them away, right? And, keys get lost. To top it off, they are simply and completely low tech. Also, the more people you have in the…
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March 25, 2010
How To Fix the Failing US Education System – Commission-based Compensation for Teachers
I just had a "brilliant" idea on how to fix the failing US Education System. Well, perhaps not brilliant but hopefully thought-provoking. I don't think that it would or could ever be implemented but I really think we need to start thinking outside the box in order to re-position the US globally in so many different ways. For me, this…
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March 23, 2010
The Ever-Changing Weather of the “Clouds” – What is Cloud Computing Anyway?
I would think that by now, many of you would have heard the term "Cloud" used when talking about Internet "stuff." In passing, a common phrase thrown around is "it's saved to the Cloud" or "it's in the Cloud." So, that's fine, but many people don't know what that really means. Hopefully, I can help explain it but honestly, instead…
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March 22, 2010
“Tracking, Texting & Texas” with Cast of Dads Podcast – Episode #13
It’s seems like we at Cast of Dads are always talking about social media and parenting and how at times they are mutually exclusive. Part of my day job is to actually be doing a lot of marketing on various social sites. And, in fact, all of us dads on the Cast of Dads are pretty active within social networking.…
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March 19, 2010
Streaming Audio Throughout your House Easily with the Aperion Home Audio Link System
Have you ever wished you could get the music off of your computer and onto your main stereo system? Sure, you could buy an Apple AirPort Express and hook that up, but let's say you want to do more than just work with iTunes and you want almost zero configuration. Let's say, you want to stream the latest episode of…
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