“Tech” collection
Stay informed on the rapidly evolving world of consumer electronics, high-performance hardware, and digital innovation. This central tech hub provides a deep dive into the physical components and software ecosystems that power your modern life.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →November 27, 2012
Klutz Teaches Kids About Basic Electronics While Setting Up Booby Traps Around the House
As part of my ongoing effort to remain as much like a child as possible, I was intrigued to set up some "Gotcha Gadgets" that would allow me to play 20 tricks on my kids. I wanted to set up trip alarms and motion sensors that would fart when someone opened a door, or set up a push-button applause machine…
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November 26, 2012
Forget About Giving this Sharper Image Shiatsu Massager as a Gift, Keep It For Yourself!
Over the past few weeks, I have been evaluating a few Sharper Image products that I believe would be worthy of giving as gifts (see the Smartphone Telephoto Lens and Charging Valet). However, I need to be a little bit selfish here on this next product, specifically The Sharper Image Air & Shiatsu Massage Cushion. In fact, as I write…
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November 20, 2012
Add a 10X Physical Zoom to your iPhone or Smartphone
Camera phone technology has gotten pretty good over the past few years with some of the cameras on smartphones rivaling digital cameras. In fact, on the photo-sharing site Flickr, the iPhone was the number one camera source. It's much more convenient to carry one device around (a smartphone) than two (smartphone and digital camera). But sometimes, you really wish that…
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November 19, 2012
Silent but Effective – ESET Cybersecurity for Macintosh
I don't know how many different types of Anti-Virus or security software I have tested over the years. I would guess that it's in the 20's. There are a lot of great providers out there, some paid and some free. Those people who have computers but don't have ANY anti-virus software are destined to a severe, brutal and ugly day…
Read more →November 16, 2012
Charging Up on the Go with the Sharper Image Restore Charging Valet
The 2012 holiday shopping season is knocking at our door. As I write this, I'm also looking for the best (and easiest) turkey brine recipe. Cyber Monday is right around the corner and my wife will be gearing up for Black Friday, right after Thanksgiving. While my wife is a bargain hunter and finds some of the most amazing deals…
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November 12, 2012
Get Your Game On with the PlayMG, an Android-based Gaming Device (#Giveaway Too!)
I would be surprised to find a kid that doesn't play games on some sort of an hand-held device. They are either borrowing their parents smartphones or tablets and playing game apps there, have their own smartphone or hand-held gaming device devoted purely to gaming, or using some sort of other gaming outlet like a gaming console or a computer.…
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November 8, 2012
How To Find Where Outlook Stores Temporary Attachments – Ones that Don’t Appear in “Recent Items” in Microsoft Office
Here's the scenario. You receive an email attachment in Microsoft Outlook. You open that attachment directly from the email message, make a bunch of edits (and perhaps save them along the way) and close your Office document. Then a while later, you want to go back to that document, only to find that it does not appear in your "Recent"…
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October 24, 2012
Agile Development & Big Data Management – Perfect for the Cloud
I’m a firm believer that cloud computing helps companies innovate. It provides resources, services and infrastructure at a fraction of the cost and in less time than it would with a traditional infrastructure rollout. By dramatically reducing internal times to deployment and capital expenditures, businesses are given the ability to iterate more quickly, be more competitive in releasing products and…
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October 11, 2012
How to Easily Edit Hosts Files on Mac & PC using Free Editors: Gas Mask (Mac) or HostsMan (PC)
If you have ever come across a situation where you need to edit your Hosts file on your Mac or PC, I'm sure that you have discovered that it is a bit of a pain. For starters, on either platform, you need to have elevated privileges, namely that of the administrator. Then you have to actually get to the Hosts…
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October 9, 2012
10 Tips to Help You Understand Your Business Needs Before Focusing on Cloud
I think that perhaps all of this cloud hype is doing businesses a disservice. It’s everywhere. Even people on the street are talking about how their stuff is “in the cloud.” If you aren’t using cloud, you are behind the times and your technology is old and out of date. Cloud will make your teeth whiter, help your kids get…
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October 5, 2012
Hands-on with the Nintendo Wii U
This past weekend, my kids and I were invited to a private event hosted by Nintendo to get some hands-on game play with the new Nintendo Wii U, due out on November 18, 2012. When the Nintendo Wii first came out, it was revolutionary. It got gamers out of their seats and active when playing games. You could create your…
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September 14, 2012
How Apple Should Market the iPhone 10 – with Help from Disney
So there is now a meme going around after the launch of the iPhone 5 with its longer body (now with 5 rows of icons). The meme shows new pictures of the iPhone "10" which shows a huge number of rows of icons. And there are other ones popping up as well… So, I was thinking. What better way to…
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