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  • Verizon’s Unlimited Internet Scam Breakdown

    Verizon’s Unlimited Internet Scam Breakdown

    Due to some massive fraud and outright lies to their customers, Verizon has to update their unlimited plans. They have some how managed to sell consumers 4G LTE service at the most expensive price rates in the industry while limiting them to dial- up internet speeds. For those of you to young to remember what dial up speeds mean its internet speeds of 56kbps. For comparisons sake the official legal speed requirements to have a mobile service labeled 4g is 4 Mbps. Nearly 900 times what Verizon is reducing its ” Unlimited” customers cellular service to. Now we get a price increase to combat the options to Verizon’s Unlimited internet ruse.   Let’s take a dive in to  how the Big Red Machine is  dividing up “unlimited” and reserving the most useful features and the best speeds for the more expensive tiers.

    Go Unlimited: You get Verizon’s Unlimited data, but at any time, your service might be temporarily slowed down in favor of other customers when the network is busy or “congested.” Mobile hotspot speeds are restricted to just 600kbps. Video streaming off Wi-Fi is limited to 480p.

    $75 single line / $130 for two lines / $150 for three lines / $160 for four lines

    Beyond Unlimited: You get Verizon’s Unlimited data free of potential slowdowns until you pass 22GB of usage in a month. The mobile hotspot feature offers full LTE speeds until you hit 15GB of usage. Video streaming is limited to 720p.

    $85 single line / $160 for two lines / $180 for three lines / $200 for four lines

    Above Unlimited: You get Verizon’s Unlimited data free of potential slowdowns until you pass 75GB of usage in a month. Which is probably a ceiling you’ll never hit. Hotspot is full speed LTE until 20GB of usage. Video, even on the highest plan, is still limited to 720p. Each month, Verizon tosses in 5 TravelPasses (good for 4G speeds until you cross 512MB of daily usage) that work in over 130 countries.

    $95 single line / $180 for two lines / $210 for three lines / $240 for four lines

    Verizon charges an extra $10-per-month fee if you want to stream 1080p video on your smartphone. This add-on is only available to Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited customers.

    The Final Thought

    I have personally experienced the slow down, nay, collapse of the mobile service that I pay a premium price for. In a recent trip to the movies to see American Animals my internet speed was metered to the point of not being able to load a single fandango web page.

    I ran a speed test to reveal my internet speed had been reduced to  .03 Mbps. While  I wish i could say this was a extremely rare case and I was in the middle of the Daytona 500. I was not, just  a random Tuesday at off peak times. This seems to be the norm rather then the exception. Looks like ill have to fork over another $20 a month, per line, to get the service they originally roped me into.

    I wish we could blame this on net neutrality but they have been playing this game long before it was legal again.  I guess ill just be another one of Verizon’s massively duped customers.

  • Tech Throwback: The Sega Genesis CD

    Tech Throwback: The Sega Genesis CD

    I like to take a look at where I’ve been to evaluate where Im going. Technology is cyclical after all… wait no its not. That said I still like all the feels that come rushing back like a flood of nostalgia every time I get my hand on the tech I grew up with. Im going to go back periodically and take a looking at the stuff that used to blow our hair back and get our minds rolling. Some of these device blew up and changed the world, some where ahead of their time and some just fell flat and became colossal failures. Today we are going to talk about the Sega Genesis CD

    When this CD-ROM accessory was released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis video game console, video gamers everywhere rejoiced. Let’s take a look at one of tech’s most beloved creations of the ’90s. While this was highly anticipated it was rarely adapted. The way this worked was you would purchase the Sega Genesis CD and plug it in to your existing 16 bit console allowing you to play PC like CD ROM games. The main benefit of CD technology was greater storage, which allowed for games to be nearly 320 times larger than Genesis cartridges. This benefit manifested as full motion video.

    The Games

    The Sega CD supports a library of over 200 games created both by Sega and an array of third-party publishers. Included in this library are six games which, while receiving individual Sega CD releases, also received separate versions that utilized both the Sega CD and 32X add-ons. Among the games released for the add-on were a number of FMV games, including Sewer Shark and Fahrenheit. Well-regarded games include Sonic CD, Lunar: Eternal Blue and Lunar: The Silver Star, Popful Mail, and Snatcher. And we wont even talk about the controversial Night Trap.

    Lets Play the Sega Genesis CD

    So for the small price of almost $300 I was able to get an original in box Sega Genesis with The Sega Genesis CD and one game.. Ecco The Dolphin. Ecco the Dolphin is an action-adventure game originally developed by Ed Annunziata and Novotrade International for the Sega Genesis CD.

    Since this is the only game I have and the only game I really remember from my brief time with my neighbors Sega Genesis CD. This is the game we are playing today. Basically you are a Dolphin, swimming around doing Dolphin stuff. Attacking enemies is accomplished by making Ecco ram into them at high speeds. Swimming can be made progressively faster by tapping a certain button. The speed can be maintained by holding it down. You can also perform a purely aesthetic spin in the air when jumping out of the water. Its ok and my nephews are loving it

    The Final Thought

    While this flopped, it was groundbreaking. Shortly after it would pave the way for the PlayStation and Sega DreamCast and for that we are grateful.

  • Tech Throwback: America Online

    Tech Throwback: America Online

    I like to take a look at where I’ve been to evaluate where Im going. Technology is cyclical after all… wait no its not. That said I still like all the feels that come rushing back like a flood of nostalgia every time I get my hand on the tech I grew up with. Im going to go back periodically and take a looking at the stuff that used to blow our hair back and get our minds rolling. Some of these device blew up and changed the world, some where ahead of their time and some just fell flat and became colossal failures. Today we have not just a tech throwback, not a device or toy, but an internet revolution. The name even says it all… America Online, and that is just what happened. America went on line.

     

    And so it was America On Line or AOL as we came to designate this revolution first started out in 1983 as an online video game service for the Atari 2600. Shortly after that founder and CEO  Bill von Meister wanted to converge in to a music on demand service. The idea was squashed by Warner bros music department…

    Later in the decade, these innovative thoughts and dream has merged into an online portal for the commador 64 and apple II, called q-link. Then in August 1988, Quantum launched PC Link, a service for IBM-compatible PCs developed in a joint venture with the Tandy Corporation. After the company parted ways with Apple in October 1989, Quantum changed the service’s name to America Online. Case promoted and sold AOL as the online service for people unfamiliar with computers, in contrast to CompuServe, which was well established in the technical community.

    Its now 1991 and AOl Charged its users an hourly fee, mostly gamers where using the platform and it hosted 2 exclusive dungeons and dragons, title called Neverwinter Nights from Stormfront Studios; which was one of the first Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games to depict the adventure with graphics instead of text. Gaming was still the backbone of America Online.

    America Goes on Line With America Online

    In 1996 America Online changed its billing and pricing from an hourly rate to a 19.95 monthly fee. America responded. During this time, AOL connections would be flooded with users trying to get on, and many canceled their accounts due to constant busy signals.

    What We Remember

    BEEEEEEEE DEEEEE DEEEEE. We all remember the sound to connect, the little guy running across those little boxes to get on the line. They after a few eternal minuets, You’ve got mail… With only a handful of boxes to click on, we were blown away by all the endless information we now had at our finger tips.

    Then the Chat Rooms, oh we spent weeks of our lives during the late 90s in those rooms. The connections we discovered to random people validated our very existence. We had reached a pinnacle of society and were all now connected.

    And all those free trial disks and cds. We collected them, used them to create new account for temporary or incognito service, then

    The World at Our Finger Tips

    America Online brought us on the line, all of us, on the line. Now we are all here, what do we do with this unprecedented power? Globalization. AOL is the backbone of our world today, it set it up and paved the way for Amazon, Ebay, Napster and all of the internet companies that could turn minuet transnational profits to worldwide unimaginable wealth.

     

    The Final Thought

    It would take the world almost a decade to catch up to Americas latest boom. Instantly, due to our ingenuity, desires and “why cant we” bravado made another giant leap in society. Much like everything else in america, their was a meteoric rise, unprecedented success, and the world was forever changed overnight. The following year would see mergers and purchases, evolving in to a giant conglomerate. Today AOL is nothing more then a small branch in Telecom giant Verizon’s portfolio, but for a time it was a revolution.

     

  • Tech Throwback: Motorola E1 Rokr, The First iPhone

    Tech Throwback: Motorola E1 Rokr, The First iPhone

    I like to take a look at where I’ve been to evaluate where Im going. Technology is cyclical after all… wait no its not. That said I still like all the feels that come rushing back like a flood of nostalgia every time I get my hand on the tech I grew up with. Im going to go back periodically and take a looking at the stuff that used to blow our hair back and get our minds rolling. Some of these device blew up and changed the world, some where ahead of their time and some just fell flat and became colossal failures. Today we have a flop but it set the table for one of the greatest tech revolutions of mankind’s existence. Before there was a thought of an iphone, there was Apples first foray into the mobile world. There was a partnership with Apple and Motorola for the Motorola E1 Rokr.

     

     

    The Motorola E1 Rokr

    The Rokr E1 is a repackaged Motorola E398 candybar style phone. However this new bombshell would come with Apple-licensed technology to play back iTunes Music Store purchased music. This doesn’t sound very stellar but at the time this was huge. Phones where just getting cameras. The V3 Razr was blowing up the cellular world, cell phones where now not just fashion accessories but status symbols as well.

    Launched on September 7, 2005 in San Francisco, California, the E1 is the first phone to be integrated with Apple Inc.’s iTunes music player. It features a music player with an interface similar to that of Apple’s iPod music players.

    The next phone being the first iPhone in 2007. This made the Motorola Rokr highly anticipated and tech sites were following the collaborations between Motorola and Apple as far back as December 2004.The Motorola e1 Rokr was a Cingular exclusive. Cingular had dedicated an endcap and standalone display in all of their corporate owned stores.

    Powering Up The Rokr

    I found a gently abused Motorola E1 Rokr on ebay, a new battery and we are powering it back up. It shows the Motorola logo and familiar os pops on. I spent many years with a motorola phone and this brings back floods of memories. It operates just like we all remember, even though the Rokr was not a popular phone the motorola brand was and it was everywhere from 2003-2009. The Cingular brand and Jack icon make me happy. It is basic AF, with only 9 options I’m fully through it a few unceremonious minutes

    But wait! The Rokr has a memory card still full of early ougt hits still on it. Keane, The Killers and Jets “are you gonna be my girl”! the speakers are awful. I am shocked this was acceptable, but at the time it was a wow. The 512 mb card is full with 83 songs on it.

    Its clunky, its slower then I remember the motorolas being. It just has the ipod music player, not the iTunes store so adding music on the fly is not a reality yet.

    The Flop

    Apple scheduled the iPod nano unveiling on the same day as the release of the Rokr. The Nano a success, the Rokr just something to look at in the Cingular store. The relations between Motorola and Apple were bitter and negative. Then Motorola CEO Ed Zander blamed the failure of the Rokr on Jobs and  later accused Apple of purposely undercutting the Rokr. Soon After the Rokr E1 was replaced by the E2, which lacked iTunes support and was superseded by the iTunes-enabled SLVR L7.

     

    The Final Thought

    At the time we had our fingers crossed that Apple and Motorola would unveil exactly what we had been dreaming of for years: a mobile phone with Apple industrial and software design, great call quality, and typically ingenious Apple feature simplification. ingenious Apple feature simplification. We would have to wait another year for that, The iPhone. But the Motorola E1 rocks got Apples gears turning and a stepping stone to Job’s magnificent Vision. Sometime we must fail to change the world and no one embodies that like Steve.

  • Tech Throwback: Kodak Brownie Camera

    Tech Throwback: Kodak Brownie Camera

    I like to take a look at where I’ve been to evaluate where Im going. Technology is cyclical after all… wait no its not. That said I still like all the feels that come rushing back like a flood of nostalgia every time I get my hand on the tech I grew up with. Im going to go back periodically and take a looking at the stuff that used to blow our hair back and get our minds rolling. Some of these device blew up and changed the world, some where ahead of their time and some just fell flat and became colossal failures. Today I’ve got my hands on the old and original Kodak Brownie Camera.

     

    The Original

    IF you have ever taken a real photography class, you know the best way to teach someone how a camera works is to have them make there own Kodak Brownie Camera. Kodak Marketed toward there camera to the turn of the century children. They were issues and  carried by soldiers. At the hefty 1900’s price tag of $1 (about $29 today)  they were affordable to everyone. Its a small, brown leatherette and cardboard camera and introduced the term “snapshot” through its ease of use and low cost.  it was introduced in February 1900, the Brownie took cameras off tripods and put them into everyday use. For Kodak, the low-cost shooter was the hook that allowed the company to reel in money through film sales. And for the rest of the world, it helped captured countless moments and shape civilization’s relationship to images.

    The first model of the camera was invented by Frank A. Brownell. The name comes from the brownies in popular Palmer Cox cartoons. Consumers responded, and over 150,000 Brownie cameras were shipped in the first year of production. Over the years it was extremely popular and many versions of it existed.  There where many models over the years with feature and functionality improvements. My personal favorit was the Beau Brownie..

    Beau Brownie

    The Beau Brownie  was  a new version of the Brownie sold  from 1930 to 1933. They  had very little technical variation from the immensely popular Brownie cameras. With the only one big technical difference being the introduction of a new doublet lens, allowing the same picture to be projected on a film plate over a shorter distance and this made the Beau Brownies nearly 2″ shorter than their conventional counterparts. With an updated Art Deco design with an  enameled two-tone front plate, it was a stunning example of period tech. It was produced in  in five color combinations: black and burgundy, brown and tan, two-tone blue, two-tone green, and two-tone rose.

    Basic Operation

    The Brownie operates under the following sequence of events:

    1. A shutter in the front of the camera is opened allowing light to pass through the lens. This light is reflected from the object being photographed.
    2. As the light passes through the lens it forms an image of the object being photographed. As it continues through the lens, this image is inverted (turned upside-down).
    3. The lens projects the inverted image onto light-sensitive film at the back of the box. This is known as exposure of the film. The longer the shutter is left open, the more light is allowed onto the film.

    Does it get any simpler?

    The Final Thought

    One look at theses you instantly know what is is and where it came from. There are a little over a hundred variation of this original, portable, and everyday camera, but one definitely has its place in your heart,assuming you are older then 45 of course. Its evolution over its 100 year span was predictable and outstanding all at the same time holding true to its core design.  All I can say about the Kodak Brownie Camera is It came, It saw, and It captured an entire century.

  • OnePlus 6 Avengers Special Addition

    OnePlus 6 Avengers Special Addition

    Im sure by now you have read our Smartphone spotlight on the OnePlus 6, gotten all the great details and may have even considered picking one up. Why wouldn’t you, its big, beautiful with all the power of Luke Cage. Well hold up, first off its not really easy to get in the states. They don’t just sell them at the Best Buy here, you have to order it off the internet from china. Now before you do that there is something else you should know, There is a special addition Avengers Infinity War OnePlus 6. If this has your spidey senses tingling check out the details.

     

    The price is a meager $660, terrific deal even Peter Parker could afford. For that you will get the special edition 6, which is essentially the OnePlus 6 aside from a few cosmetic changes. There’s different textured back, that’s a “custom 3D aramid fiber-textured glass body, with Gorilla Glass 5 coating. It looks like something Shuri would have concocted. There is a well placed and stunningly official looking  Avengers and Marvel logo on the back of the phone, near the bottom. I like the way this phone looks like it was crafted elegantly from a blown off piece of Winter solders arm.

     

    Special Edition What

    Yes,  its nice looking, what else makes this special. First off  you’re getting the 8GB/256GB RAM and storage combo if you’re buying the Avengers model. You’ll have to pay $660 for it a $31 premium over the regular model that offers the same specs. Besides it being really cool looking You also get a special retail box and a special case that has Iron Man’s mask printed on it. In each of these cool marvel boxes you get a special medal.

    Tell Me More About this OnePlus 6 Avengers Medal

    Yes ill do just that. This medal comes in the box. Yes each OnePlus 6 Avengers phone in each box contains a random Avengers medal. There are 6 random medals. Getting all six different medals by June 30th will get you into a draw for a 100,000 yuan ($15,700). You can’t get the medals you lack without buying additional OnePlus 6 Avengers phones. If your doing the math, you would have to spend a lucky $6,600 with a 1/36 chance of getting all different medals.

    The Final Thought

    I love to geek out, for the 5T they released a Star Wars edition. For some reason the The Avengers: Infinity War edition featuring a Kevlar-style patterned back along with a gold Avengers emblem and color-matched mute switch seem so much cooler. I kinda want it, I just need 5 more of you to jump on this. We can combine the medals and maybe with the 100,000 yuan. In my best Captain America voice… Who is with me?

  • You Need a MoviePass Subscription for Summer

    You Need a MoviePass Subscription for Summer

    Moviepass is an incredible deal, if you don’t have one already you are really missing out. Yes, there are many arguably nonsensical reasons not to get one. Its too good to be true, I heard their investment company is running out of money,I don’t like that they know what movie im going to go see, I cant reserve my seat in advance, yes yes all barley valid points not to have a once in a life time opportunity for an  all you can see movie theater pass.

    What about the “They don’t make anymore good Movies any more” reason? Well we all know we are going to see Deadpool, Solo, Jurassic World 2 and Mission: Impossible – Fallout, But here are the Top 5 movies out this summer that you wouldn’t pay to go see in the theaters, but should probably go see in the theaters, and could see for free with your Moviepass, so go see them Movies..

    1.Christopher Robin

    Disney’s new take on Winnie the Pooh, titled simply Christopher Robin, from director Marc Forster. Ewan McGregor stars in this as a working-class family man in London. He re-encounters his childhood friend Pooh, who helps him to rediscover the joys of life. The main cast includes Hayley Atwell, Mark Gatiss, Adrian Scarborough, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, and Paul Chahidi. For the voices: Jim Cummings as Winnie-the-Pooh, Chris O’Dowd as Tigger, Toby Jones as Owl, Peter Capaldi as Rabbit, Sophie Okonedo as Kanga, and Nick Mohammed as Piglet. This teaser only introduces us to Pooh, with more characters to come. This comparison is going to upset a few of you, but this kind of reminds me of Hook – a grumpy guy revisits his past to discover happiness again.

     

    2.Hereditary

    A24 has revealed another  acclaimed horror film , Hereditary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. This movie  focuses on the Charlie, the young daughter in the film, played by Milly Shapiro . From writer/director Ari Aster, Hereditary is about a close family that starts to unravel following the death of their reclusive grandmother. As an overwhelming terror takes over their household, their peaceful existence is ripped apart, forcing their mother to explore a darker realm in order to escape the unfortunate fate they’ve inherited.

    Toni Collette stars, along with Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Ann Dowd, and Zachary Arthur. This film is incredible, and will be one of the big breakout horror hits this year, for sure. Don’t miss it when it comes to your local cinema – it’s not only terrifying to watch, but an extremely impressive film between performances and cinematography and script.

     

    3.Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

    Just this trailer will make you tear up, then also remind you how important and wonderful goodness and happiness are. Focus Features has revealed a documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, made by Oscar-winning doc filmmaker Morgan Neville. This is more than just a profile of the late Fred Rogers, known best as Mr. Rogers – it’s a wonderful look at how a man tried to make the world better by figuring out how to speak to kids and teach them the importance of compassion and understanding and helpfulness.

    This premiered to glowing reviews at the Sundance Film Festival this year. Someone wrote about it: “This is the documentary we all need right now. It’s a heartwarming, rousing film about how goodness makes an impact in society. It shows us that we can make a difference if we help someone else, if we support them, and believe in them, and remind them that they are perfect just they way they are.” You have to see it.

    4.Tag

    “You never know when someone’s going to pop up.” And… you’re it! Warner Bros has finally getting us excited for the  summer comedy movie Tag, based on the true story of a massive game of Tag that a few guys have been playing every year since they were kids. The game is so competitive, so intense, that people will fly all around the country just to not be the one who is “it”. Yeah, it’s crazy.

    The movie is about a small group of former classmates who organize the elaborate, annual game. With a rockin’ cast: Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Annabelle Wallis, Rashida Jones, Isla Fisher, Leslie Bibb, Hannibal Buress, with Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner. As fun as this looks, it is actually going to have anything to say, or just: hey, be as crazy as you can, because why not have fun. You know you will enjoy this film and you also know you wont spend $15 to find out how much… Moviepass

    5.Alpha

    An enemy will become an ally.” Sony Pictures’ epic new action thriller titled Alpha, formerly known as The Solutrean. This is the latest feature film from Albert Hughes, who last directed The Book of Eli in 2010, and it’s set during the last Ice Age – 20,000 years ago (kind of like Emmerich’s 10,000 BC). This epic adventure follows the story of Zeta, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, a young man injured on a bison hunt left for dead. He befriends a lone wolf and together they figure out how to survive in this harsh environment. So basically it’s The Revenant meets 10,000 BC. The full cast includes Natassia Malthe, Leonor Varela, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Mercedes de la Zerda, and Jens Hultén. The Wolves look so cool, Im looking forward to this one…fo free!! Moviepass.

    The Final MoviePass Thought

    I know you know Im making sense. You are right now thinking, I would not have planned to see any of these in the theater but with a Moviepass subscription I will go check theses out. This right here is what is going to turn Moviepass to the next big Netflix. Im mean come on, one of these movies has John Hamm in it…and im going to see all of them for less then half of the big blockbusters I was going to see anyways. Happy summer at the movies for me.

  • Tech Throwback: iMac 20th anniversary

    Tech Throwback: iMac 20th anniversary

    I like to take a look at where I’ve been to evaluate where Im going. Technology is cyclical after all… wait no its not. That said I still like all the feels that come rushing back like a flood of nostalgia every time I get my hand on the tech I grew up with. Im going to go back periodically and take a looking at the stuff that used to blow our hair back and get our minds rolling. Some of these device blew up and changed the world, some where ahead of their time and some just fell flat and became colossal failures. Today we are going to talk about the original iMac on its 20th anniversary

     

     

     

    Its been twenty whole years since  Steve Jobs introduced iMac on May 6th, 1998. It was a truly ambitious new Mac, with a very specific Internet  access ease-ability. It not only redefined the design and styling of tech products but charted a strategic course that would take Apple from being a that one PC maker from the 80s to the world’s most valuable  company. This computer set the path for apple to become more valuable then all but 17 countries in the world. Most importantly, iMac had an impact because it courageously made bold decisions that conventional thinking assumed to be wrong. The iMac, take aim at a broader market of individuals who wanted a practical, easy way to get on the Internet. What can you say about Steve Jobs that hasn’t already been said, the man just got us.

     

    Before unveiling the new iMac, Jobs outlined how it would be different. For starters, Apple was using a modern 233MHz G3 processor, the same chip it had used in its entry-level Pro Power Mac G3 just six months prior at a price $300 higher. That new generation Power PC chip boasted a performance edge “up to twice as fast” as Intel’s Pentium II processors at similar clock speeds. I had forgotten about the G3 processors, but this gives me a lot of anticipatory feelings for the next line of iMacs that apple is set to make there own chips again for starting next year.

     

    At a time when PCs generally needed an external modem to connect to the Internet over phone lines, the new iMac built in both its relatively fast modem (making it easy to connect by only plugging in a phone cord) and 100Mb Ethernet.USB ports had already appeared on PCs, but it generally sat unused because device makers kept building slightly cheaper products using RS-232 serial ports, PS/2 cables for keyboards and mice and Centronics Parallel ports on printers and disks. The new iMac also included IrDA, a way to beam (like a TV remote) data using invisible light. It wasn’t nearly as fast as the wireless technology Apple would roll out in the future, including Bluetooth and WiFi, but it offered an early way to transmit photos and other basic data without requiring cables at all.

    Quick Spec Look

    • Screen Size 15 inches
    • Processor 0.35 GHz PowerPC G3
    • RAM 32 MB
    • Hard Drive 20 GB
    • Graphics Coprocessor ATI Rage 128 Ultra

    The Final Thought

    It’s hard to overstate the importance of the iMac G3. The iMac G3 ushered Apple in to the future, and on its translucent back, Steve Jobs rebuilt the company. It was the end of the beige computer and everything we thought computers had to be. The i in iMac stood for 5 things, internet, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire, it most certainly did all off those things for the last 20 years.

     

     

     

  • The 5 Must Have Tech Devices for the Gym

    The Gym is the place you  squeeze in to your busy day, for no other reason than it has to be. 

    You roll in to your local YMCA to workout and get out as quickly as possible completely sweaty and gross. This is the only acceptable place to ever wear sweatpants.

    Fast forward to 2018 where the gym has become the new club scene. This is the place to look your best, show off your hottness and socialize with the gym elite. Its even become super important look the part while hanging at the gym and getting your pump on. If you don’t understand what I am saying, try to get that beef cake on the elliptical to give you a spot while you wear your old gym shorts, a torn tee and new balances. Its just not gonna happen. Its apparent, you need to boost your gym cred, and also to get the most from your time working out.  The Gym is the one place we should all spend a little more time, it is also the place where we definitely could stand to be smart and more efficient. Here are the 5 must have tech toys for the gym scene

    1. Athos Smart Clothing

    The Athos Smart Clothing line includes embedded sensors to track a variety of fitness and health data. They have that gym sheek look you are going for while keeping you on top of your work outs. All clothing includes an Athos Core module which is a processing unit of sorts that gathers all data from sensors in clothing and transmits it to a mobile app via Bluetooth. iOS support only, for now, sorry Android users. Purchase the corresponding garment to determine what parts of your body can be tracked. Ultimately, they can monitor biometric data, muscle activity, heart rate, calories burned, active time, sedentary time. Do remember that if you purchase just one article of clothing that it has the core module.

    2. Jabra Sport Coach Earbuds

    These babies let you eliminate of the  noise of the gym and keep you focus on your performance. They have superior sound quality, passive noise cancellation and enhanced bass, This will ensure your favorite playlist, you know the one that kicks off With Jimmy Eat Worlds – Take my sounds better than ever and will maximize your musical motivation. Add in a Built-in TrackFit motion sensor will automatically count your reps and track your every move and let the in-ear “coach” count your reps, guide you through the circuit and track your performance. These are the ear bud anyone who is anyone at the gym is rocking.

    3. Skulpt

    Skulpt measures your body fat and muscle. Skulpt is a remarkable tracker that lets you see a ton of detailed stats regarding your activity and fitness. It will measure body fat percentage – in 24 different areas of your body no less – and provide in-depth muscle analysis. It can even deliver some workout tips and guidance to help you build more muscle, boost your strength, or just burn some fat. Skulpts stylish pad loudly grunts that you know what you are doing at the gym. If your workouts involve less cardio and more strength training, this is definitely the tracker for you. All information is synced with a mobile app via Bluetooth. You can get it in a bundle that includes a tracker, charging cradle, spray water bottle, and of course access to the mobile app.

    4. Beast

    Beast is a fitness and health sensor that can tell you a little more about your body. The beast however isn’t meant for cardio, this is the big boys tracker, You wear this bad boy while you’re pumping iron. It will track things like strength levels, explosiveness, average power, weight volume, density, energy burn, reps and sets, tonnage, and much more. When you are getting your pump on this is the tracker you need to look cool, get the info and make sure you see the results.

    5. Digitsole Smart Shoes

    Digitsole Smartshoe is touted as the “first intelligent sneaker” and is equipped with technologies including self-lacing, temperature regulation, health tracking. If you want all the white boys at the gym to stop and say “what are those” you want the Digitsole Smart Shoes. These Kicks can automatically tighten themselves, keep your feet warm while you work out and once they reach a temperature threshold they will automatically turn off to conserve battery life. They also track your activity – like a wrist wearable – to help you monitor calories burned, distance traveled, steps taken, and more. All information is synced via Bluetooth 4.0 with your smartphone through a mobile app: Android and iOS flavors are available.

    Bonus Credit For Baller Hydration: Mark One Pryme Vessyl

    Now this is a useless tool for tracking how much water you drink. Everyone knows everyone needs 8 cups of water a day right? nope. Mark One’s Pryme Vessyl is an iPhone-connected cup that’s designed to track your daily liquid intake, making sure you’re at your optimal hydration level. According to Mark One, hitting an ideal hydration level can increase your energy level and improve your mental balance. Plus this will def make you look cool and boost your status at the gym club.

    The Final Thought

    You got your Athos body suit that looks like something Tony Stark wears under his Iron Man suit, Fresh Back to the Future Style Marty McFly self lacing kicks, The Beast wrist tracker, the Jabra Ear buds in and your skulplt sensor and you are ready to go looking fly. These five things will have you at your own special table in the VIP section of the gym sipping protein shakes with the elite. Also it will all give you a complete and comprehensive data detail of every movement of your work out, but please, how important can that be?

  • Amazon Wants to Get into Your Car

    Amazon Wants to Get into Your Car

    What if you could have your Amazon order delivered to your car?

    Last year, Amazon asked for permission to unlock your front door so it could leave packages inside your home and a certain number of extremely trusting Amazon Prime subscribers said okay. Now, the tech giant wants to do the same thing with your car.

    The Amazon Key In-Car service is designed to deliver packages quickly and more securely than traditional services. Instead of driving home to get your package in the middle of the day or hoping that it won’t be stolen from your doorstep or mailbox, you can have your order dropped off in the trunk of your car. Sound good? Well, there’s a catch (or two).

    How It Works

    First, your car must be parked in a publicly accessible spot so that the driver can reach it. Your trunk will be unlocked using an app on the driver’s phone, so the delivery driver never actually gets a key or access code to your car. (One wonders why it’s called Key In-Car, since no keys are involved, but that’s a question for another day.) Finally, you’ll get a notification on your phone when your package has been delivered.

    Safety Concerns

    Amazon’s newest innovation is an expansion of their controversial Amazon Key delivery service, which allows delivery drivers to access your home using a specially installed keypad and security camera. Some customers—particularly women—were understandably nervous about allowing strangers into their homes.

    You can use the app to block access to your car at any time, for any length of time. As an alternative to in-home deliveries, the Key In-Car service is potentially less intrusive and holds fewer safety concerns.

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    Ready to Get on Board?

    In order to take advantage of Amazon car-based deliveries, you’ll need to meet several criteria. The pilot program is only available to Prime subscribers in 37 cities in the US.

    For now, the service is limited to customers with GM vehicles (Chevrolets, Buicks, GMCs, and Cadillacs) or Volvos produced after 2015. Amazon Key In-Car delivery also requires your vehicle to have an internet-based support function, like OnStar or Volvo On Call, in order to let the drivers remotely unlock your trunk. With these limitations, it’s only for a select few. There’s no word yet on how Amazon may expand the program in the future.

    Final Thoughts

    Some people will automatically be turned off by this service, especially after reading that security researchers discovered that Amazon’s cloud-connected camera for in-home deliveries can be disabled and frozen from a program run from any computer within Wi-Fi range. While Amazon’s cloud-connected camera provided a layer of security for those who would want to monitor their in-home deliveries through Amazon Key, the in-car deliveries offer no similar video feed. Amazon says that multiple notifications, plus the option to block access at any time, ensures the customer remains in control of the process.

    If anything, potential customers may find the in-car deliveries more attractive from a cost perspective. To sign up, you aren’t required to spend $250 on a smart lock and camera like with in-home deliveries, and there’s no installation required. All you need is the right car and the willingness to let Amazon’s delivery employees unlock your vehicle. Frankly, we’re still holding out for drone delivery.