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  • Best Sites to Find Free Audiobooks

    Best Sites to Find Free Audiobooks

    Audiobooks are a great way to focus on reading without having to set aside time for just sitting still. A lot of people have such busy schedules that audiobooks are the best way for them to take in literature. After all, you can listen to an audiobook while jogging, while working, even in the car while on the way to work and back. This makes audiobooks a valuable asset in a busy schedule! However, they can be more expensive than old-fashioned books. Here are some of the best sites to find free or inexpensive audiobooks so you don’t break the bank!

    Best Sites to Find Free Audiobooks

    OverDrive

    OverDrive is an audiobook site that works in concert with local libraries to offer free books to library card holders. If you have a local library card then you can download free audiobooks from OverDrive. They offer apps through Android and iTunes, as well as Windows phones. They also have a desktop site, of course, that you can download MP3s through to upload to any device you would like.

    OverDrive is a great choice for lovers of the local library. If your library has an audiobook you’d like to listen to, odds are good that it’s being hosted on OverDrive. Libraries are a great public resource, and OverDrive does a great job of extending their reach beyond just the walls of the building itself. They offer a great selection of newer books and classics alike.

    The search function is easy and fast, and you can quickly navigate books by authors, genres, series and more. If you’re looking to quickly fill up your device with audiobooks, OverDrive is a great way to start doing just that. If you’ve already got a library card, you’re ready to go!

    LibriVox

    Literature is as old as civilization itself. As such, it’s no surprise that more works are in the public domain than there are works that aren’t. LibriVox is a site that hosts free audiobooks of works that are in the public domain.

    An interesting aspect of LibriVox is that the narrators are all volunteers. As such, the quality of the reading can change dramatically based on the volunteer. Some volunteers are excellent actors with impeccable readings full of life and emotion. Others are more robotic, simply reading the words from the page in a constant string. Some narrators may have difficult-to-understand accents, while others might be on par with most premium paid audiobooks.

    Many books have multiple readings available, and there are several languages available to choose from. If the audiobooks you want to hear are in the public domain, LibriVox is a great place to look for free audiobooks. After all, you can’t beat free!

    Open Culture

    Open Culture is an educational site that is completely free for all users. They host a number of classic works of literature, and their site also hosts a number of educational courses, textbooks and films. If you’re looking to learn more about a subject and dig more deeply into it, consider Open Culture a resource worth digging into! The site even offers 900 free audiobook downloads.

    Open Culture doesn’t offer the most robust selection of newer books, however. It also doesn’t support a wide variety of audiobook formats, so it might be more difficult getting their audiobooks to work on all of your devices. However, they do link to both iTunes and Spotify, which streamlines the process immensely.

    While the site is totally free, donations are appreciated. If you’re looking for a great educational site that hosts countless classic works of literature, Open Culture is a great choice for you.

    Scribl

    Scribl is a service that is more akin to a podcast service than a traditional audiobook site. The service is great for people who like smaller, more easily digested audio, much like podcasts. If you often go on jogs or have short bursts of time you like to listen in, Scribl is a great way to go. The audiobooks on Scribl can be broken down into smaller files and taken in one bite at a time.

    Additionally, Scribl has more new releases than most free sites. There are some paid books on the site, though, for brand-new or high-profile releases. However, when you buy an audiobook on Scribl, you also get access to the e-book version! This allows you to read up on your favorite books even when you don’t have your headphones available, or if you just like to follow along with the narration when you can.

  • Top Outdoor Cameras to Catch Porch Pirates

    Top Outdoor Cameras to Catch Porch Pirates

    You’ve definitely seen those hilarious videos where someone sets up an elaborate goof for package thieves. Everyone who has ever had a package stolen wishes the thief had snagged one of those glitter-spewing booby traps from YouTube instead of their actual merchandise. However, not everyone is an adept prankster, and not every package on your doorstep is a decoy for online shenanigans. There is something you can do to protect yourself, though: invest in one of the top outdoor cameras. These outdoor cameras give you a way to catch package thieves in the act and help you to alert authorities to these annoying nuisances.

    Top Outdoor Cameras

    Best Value

    If you’re looking for the best overall value in an outdoor camera, then you’re looking for the Amcrest UltraHD 4MP HD camera. If you’ve got Amazon prime, you can scoop this bad boy up for just $40, and it’s going to outperform pretty much every other camera in that price range while it’s at it. Installation isn’t exactly breezy, though, as it requires an ethernet cable in order to send the images it’s capturing anywhere.

    This isn’t exactly a bad thing, though! Many security experts urge homeowners to use cameras with hardwired connections instead of wireless cameras. Hardwired connections won’t go down due to wireless interference, weather conditions or dips in internet service. If you’re looking for a good storage solution for the UltraHD images this camera captures, Amcrest has you covered on that front, too.

    Amcrest sells both 4 and 8 channel DVR boxes that can track and record multiple camera signals at once. If you’re looking to keep a close eye on what happens in and around your home, these are a great option. After all, a camera alone won’t help you if it’s not recording any images! This way you can ensure the images are recorded and can be given to authorities should someone break the law in front of your camera.

    Best App

    If you’re looking for an outdoor camera with a stellar app, look no further than the Ring Floodlight Camera. You might know Ring for their doorbell technology that has a built-in motion-sensor camera and communications features. The Floodlight Camera is similarly excellent, easily sporting one of the best and easiest-to-use apps on the market.

    The camera itself is great, as it is both motion-activated and equipped with a microphone. That’s in addition to the camera’s speaker, which allows it to also double as a motion-sensor alarm. You can set it up to blare loudly if it detects motion to scare off potential ne’er-do-wells. The microphone and speaker also allow you to speak to anyone you see through the camera.

    The communications angle is great, as it uses the stellar Ring app to allow you to talk to people you catch on camera. If it’s just the mailman or someone you know, you can chat for a moment and see how things are going. If it’s a thief, you can tell them they’re on private property and are being recorded and to get the heck away from your stuff. In either event, this is a great camera for lovers of high-tech apps!

    Best Video Recording Quality

    The LaView 4K UltraHD Bullet Smart IP Surveillance Camera has the best recording quality of any outdoor camera you can find today. When you really, really need to make out the images your camera is detecting, image quality can be the biggest factor. That’s why a lot of security professionals recommend that those people who are serious about security should go with the absolute highest resolution cameras they can find. These high resolutions make it easier to make out features of thieves and intruders, making finding them after the act more likely.

    The LaView 4K camera offers incredibly sharp images, clear pictures and great quality that makes it well worth the price. While you may be paying a bit more for 4K image resolution, it’s important that your images be as clear and easy-to-read as possible. It won’t help investigators find someone if the footage you capture of them is blurry, soft and out-of-focus. Unlike on TV, you can’t zoom and enhance an image after it has been captured!

    LaView offers a package deal for security enthusiasts that includes 4 of the bullet cameras and 2 dome cameras, as well as a 3TB storage device to store the video your cameras take. This is a good thing, as 4K images tend to take up a lot of storage space, and 3TB is a ton of storage!

  • The Best Real Estate Apps to Find Your Forever Home

    The Best Real Estate Apps to Find Your Forever Home

    If you’ve been looking for a home to call “forever,” you’ve probably noticed how hard it can be to find the right one. Whether it’s because the prices aren’t right, the neighbors are too noisy or some other reason, shopping for a home can be a difficult process. However, today we’re here to help you find the best real estate apps for finding your forever home. Let’s find an app to help you get settled in somewhere for good!

    Best Real Estate Apps

    Century 21 Local Listing Search

    Our first app is ideal for searching in your local area and finding a home that is nearby. Not everyone wants to move across the country, after all! For the people looking to just move within their area, this is a great app to start with. Expected search features, such as number of bedrooms and bathrooms, are all present here, of course.

    The app also lets you check the area for nearby restaurants, grocery stores and schools, ensuring that the listing you’ve found isn’t too far from civilization. If you prefer, you can even draw in your own search area to find how far from given locations a home is. If you’re looking for a specific part of town you want to move to, this is a great app for that laser-precision.

    Xome

    Xome is a great app for those who love having options for selecting the best home for their unique needs. You can use the great “Xome Zoom” feature to zoom in on a listing and get a feel for where it is in the community. You can see the home’s score based on walkability, nearby schools and other factors. This tells you whether the home in question is good for families, for easy of walking to nearby parks and shops, and how much traffic you could expect in the area.

    Another great feature of Xome is the Xome Concierge service that allows you to go through a real agent to answer your questions regarding a listing. If a listing has a more complex feature or unusual setup that you need more information on, or if you’re simply having a hard time understanding something, this is a great service. You can even set up live walkthroughs of listings via Xome, making it a great all-in-one real estate app.

    Homes.com

    The aptly named Homes.com app is a great place to start for any prospective home buyer. You get access to a robust suite of search features, allowing you to see the relative value of given neighborhoods based on nearby property values. You can search recent foreclosures if you’re looking to save a bit of money, and you can even narrow your results by likely mortgage payments. That’s thanks to the Homes.com calculator, a big selling point of this app.

    Homes.com’s app is also well-regarded for its robust stats and pictures of every listing. You can find detailed and in-depth stats for the homes, including sale prices over the years, damages and upgrades reported, and even more. The pictures are also very illustrative, capturing the home and its rooms from many helpful angles to help you get a clear idea of what the place is like.

    Redfin

    Redfin is a golden standard for real estate apps. This is a very “big-picture” app, helping you find the right criteria and showing you the best ways to save on a great home. The first way it does this is through features like a foreclosure notifier, allowing you to scope out homes that might be on the market for much less than you expect them to be. You can also set up notifications for when a home goes up for sale by the owners, as well as for when short sellers make alterations to a listing.

    Redfin has a robust suite of search features that allow you to select based on nearby schools, home property values and the like. This way, you can be sure when you’re searching for homes that the home you’re getting is right for you. The app even has a built-in realtor feature that allows you to set up visits to homes so you can see if you like it in person!

    The cherry on top is the robust social and sharing features the app offers. If you find a listing that you really like you can send it over to someone you know via text, email or even through your preferred social media. This is really the best overall app for finding your forever home.


  • Change the Mood with These Color Changing Smart Lights

    Change the Mood with These Color Changing Smart Lights

    If you often host guests or find yourself wishing you had more control of the mood lighting of the rooms in your house, smart lights are the right option for you. Smart lights not only allow you to control your home’s lighting with your voice, they also enable you to change the mood and color of the lighting on the fly. Notably, GE’s popular lighting solutions are going smart this year with the new C by GE line of smart lights. This year’s newest devices will be joining the C-Sleep and C-Life smart bulbs that GE has already released.

    Smart Lights from GE Launching in 2019

    What’s the Big Deal?

    You might be asking what’s so special about smart lights. They’re just lights, after all. What could be so fancy or special about them? Well, quite a lot, actually. Smart lights like GE’s C line are known for their awesome ability to connect to one another via Bluetooth. Importantly, they also connect to smart home hubs like Amazon’s Echo Devices or Google’s Home devices. This allows for voice control and full integration with your smart-home infrastructure.

    Whether you’re commanding the device with your voice or through a smartphone app, access to these kinds of lighting makes your home higher-end and safer. Walking into a room and commanding the virtual assistant to activate the lights makes it that much less likely you could trip or fall, and it also makes it easier to navigate when your hands are full.

    Smart lights also make hosting a breeze. Simply call out what mood setting you want the lights in, or what color you’d like to switch the lights to, and they follow up immediately and easily. Getting the lights set up with your smart home hub is a breeze, and you need only set up your preferences and profiles once to get the system ready to go. It’s as easy as flipping a switch!

    What Are They Compatible With?

    As you may expect, these smart bulbs are compatible with most smart home hubs that are currently on the market. They currently work with all Amazon Alexa-enabled devices, including the Echo and Echo Show lines of products. Additionally, C by GE smart lights are compatible with Google Home out of the box, so whichever of the two main home hubs you have, you’re good to go. Google Home owners also get the added benefit of not requiring a C-Reach Plugin Hub to connect to their Home device.

    GE has announced plans to update the device software, so they are compatible with Apple’s HomeKit software. This will allow the use of Apple’s HomePod ecosystem, including Siri commands. That means that by the end of the year, the entire C by GE line of smart lights will be available for all major types of smart home hub!

    New Switches

    The first line of new switches coming in 2019 for the GE smart product line is a robust showing. Namely, a smart dimmer (with or without motion and light sensors) and a smart on/off switch are both on the way. Both forms of the dimmer are coming in the first quarter of 2019, retailing for $50 and $75, respectively. The standard on/off switch is slated for the second quarter of 2019 and will retail for $40, making it the more budget-friendly option.

    Smart switches are a clever and intuitive way to take standard lightbulbs and make them smart lights. Whether you prefer voice controls, Bluetooth controls or just using a smartphone app, these switches are the fastest way to make your lighting smart-enabled!

    New Bulbs

    In addition to this slate of new switches, GE is also introducing a line of new color-changing bulbs. These include the A19 color-changing smart bulb, the BR30 smart floodlight and color-changing ropes lights. The A19 will retail for $40, the BR30 will go for $45 and the rope lights are slated to sell for $75. All three of these lighting options are set for a Q2 2019 release.

    Surprisingly, these are the first standalone color-changing bulbs that are being sold by GE. That means for the first time, GE will directly compete with other smart color-changing bulbs like Philips Hue and Sylvania. This makes these new smart bulbs worth watching, as competition breeds innovation and is always better for the consumer.

    These bulbs look set to be comparable in many ways to the primary competition. Their pricing is quite similar to the Philips Hue brand, and early reports say the light and color quality are also on the same excellent level as the Hue line.

  • How to Save Money When You Upgrade Your Smartphone

    How to Save Money When You Upgrade Your Smartphone

    There are constantly new smartphones coming out. Every year the biggest smartphone manufacturers release new flagship phones full of great new features. If you’re not careful you could end up spending a ton of money trying to keep up with the latest tech trends. If you’re looking to upgrade your smartphone without breaking the bank, you need to have a plan on how to save money.

    There are a number of strategies you can use to try to keep your costs down while you’re trying to keep up with the latest tech. If you follow these tips you should save money and stay cutting edge all at the same time!

    How to Save Money When You Upgrade Your Smartphone

    Consider Switching Carriers

    Smartphones are a very competitive business. Carriers are always vying to lure customers of their competitors away with a number of cost-cutting tactics. Use their rivalry to your advantage! The last thing you need to do is pay full-price for anything. Pit carriers against one another when you look for the best deal on a new smartphone. If your current carrier has a worse deal on the newest smartphone than a competitor, make sure they know about it.

    If you threaten your cell phone carrier with the prospect of switching to get a better deal, they pay attention. Often you can even get discounts on your bill or a credit to your account as an incentive to stay with your current company. Don’t be afraid to play hardball with your carrier, and if they won’t help you save, cut them loose. You have no obligation to spend more money just because you’ve been using them for longer.

    Check Retailers

    Often, big-box stores like Sam’s Club, Walmart and Target offer deals on new smartphones. These could range from gift card promotions to savings on buying two phones at once. Either way, keeping your eyes peeled for deals in unlikely stores often pays when you’re trying to upgrade your smartphone for cheap.

    When it comes to smartphone shopping, you’re not stuck with just your wireless carrier for finding new phones. Between big-box retailers, online shopping and upstart phone companies, there are always ways to save. For instance, many tech-heads find it’s much cheaper to buy unlocked smartphones from the manufacturer and then get cell service added to them, rather than buying straight from the carrier.

    It’s important to remember that you have the power as the customer: your carrier only exists to serve you. Don’t let them fool you into thinking otherwise!

    Trade-Ins

    Most phone retailers will allow you to trade your current phone back in for a credit to your next upgrade. Depending on the carrier you could even find yourself paying nothing up front to pick up a brand-new phone when you trade-in. The biggest factor to keep in mind is the age and condition of your current phone. If you have a seven-year-old phone with tons of cracks and scratches it’s unlikely you’ll fetch much (if any) trade-in credit.

    However, if your phone is newer and of a well-known brand like Apple or Samsung you could find yourself saving a ton of money when you trade-in. Remember, not all carriers offer good trade values. Make sure you do research on your current phone and know what a fair trade-in price for the phone is. If the retailer won’t offer you a decent trade-in credit, simply opt for selling it yourself, or even switching carriers. Know your phone’s worth!

    Sell Your Old Phone

    This requires a bit more research and work in your part but it could be a great way to recoup some of the cost of your new phone. If you’ve got the time and patience to list and sell your old phone yourself you might get a lot more for it. Even selling your old phone for a few hundred dollars less than its MSRP could result in some bargain-hunter buying it off of you.

    This, in turn, frees you up to make sure you get what your phone is worth. The cold, hard cash you get selling the phone yourself allows you to turn the savings into money for groceries or other bills, too. Whether you choose to sell to a private individual or a retailer is your call, though you often get more when you sell it to a private individual.

    Just remember, before you sell someone your old phone you need to factory reset it. You don’t want some stranger having your contacts and pictures! Make sure you also take the old SIM card out of it if you haven’t already.

     

  • How 5G Speeds Will Impact You

    How 5G Speeds Will Impact You

    5G speeds are very nearly a reality for millions of wireless customers. Hype surrounding this next jump in cellular communications technology has been building for years. After all, it’s the next step in how our devices wirelessly communicate with one another. Everything from cell phones to self-driving cars will benefit from the new wireless infrastructure. So, how will 5G speeds impact you? What will 5G speeds mean for your devices?

    How 5G Speeds Will Impact You

    Where Will it Go Live First?

    5G speeds will likely roll out slowly at first, so don’t expect to see it any time soon unless you live in a major metropolitan area. If you happen to live in New York, Atlanta, LA or some other large city hub, you may be using 5G before everyone else. If not, it likely won’t be until late next year or even 2020 that you see 5G hitting your region.

    That’s because 5G represents a pretty major departure from 4G LTE and previous iterations of wireless infrastructure. This new wireless system will require a pretty major overhaul of existing cell towers and will require new hardware devices o take advantage of them. As such, the most populous areas will be the natural first pick for rolling out the service.

    Sprint has promised to have 5G networks up and running by early 2019. T-Mobile, likewise, has plans to go live in around 30 cities before the end of 2019. Take these estimates with a grain of salt, though: Verizon was talking about 5G field tests back in 2015. It may still be until 2020 or later that we see 5G on a large scale.

    What to Expect Early

    If you are one of the lucky few who sees 5G speeds hit your region early, don’t expect to be blown away by speeds hitherto undreamt of. It’s more likely that the fledgling system will have some growing pains before it begins to really show its strengths. For an example we can look to immediately, Verizon has launched a home 5G internet service in markets like Los Angeles and Dallas.

    Verizon’s home 5G broadband is certainly fast, and indicates a pretty big step up from previous internet speeds. However, the company isn’t using the industry-standard definition of 5G, leading many to criticize the company’s use of the 5G moniker. Even in their limited case, though, it’s clear that the 5G system won’t be revolutionizing telecommunication. Not right away, at least.

    5G Phones?

    There are currently no 5G phones in existence. If there are prototypes floating around, they’re still in the earliest stages. As of right now, 5G is more a benchmark that companies are trying to hit than a reality that is just weeks away. While we may see some early forays into 5G in the next year or so, the front half of 2019 is unlikely to have any proper 5G coverage. Well, at least not through phones.

    What you’re more likely to see early in this technology’s existence is “pucks,” or wireless receivers, that have 5G capabilities installed in major cities. These pucks would then process the 5G signal they’re receiving and turn it into a Wi-Fi signal. This would allow customers of various wireless companies to use their carrier’s 5G service through a puck on a phone that isn’t equipped to send and receive 5G signals.

    The Phones, Though

    “I don’t care,” you say, “I just want to know when I can get my hands on a 5G phone.” Well, there’s no definitive answer to that question yet. However, you’re right if you’re assuming you’ll likely never use a 5G puck. Pucks were used in the early days of 4G LTE coverage, but they were weird even back then. In today’s era, it’s unlikely you’ll encounter these. That means that, for the average person, their first encounter with 5G will be through a 5G-enabled phone.

    As for when we can expect to see the first of those, we’re not entirely sure. A conservative guess would be early in 2020, though many smartphone manufacturers are claiming that as soon as mid-to-late 2019 they’ll ship 5G phones. The truth may be somewhere in the middle of these two estimates.

    The earliest 5G phones are likely to inherit a lot of the problems that early LTE phones had. Phones like the Thunderbolt, one of the earliest LTE phones, had issues with short battery lives, overheating and poor performance. It’s reasonable to assume that the earliest 5G phones will experience similar growing pains as these earlier models did.

  • Small Business Outlook: Top POS Systems of 2019

    Small Business Outlook: Top POS Systems of 2019

    As a small business owner, you’re probably spending a lot of your time, effort, and attention on the process that leads up to the point when a customer makes a purchase. But what about that very moment? The exact point of sale?

    A POS is a point of sale system that handles all of the transactions you make throughout your business day. It is where your employee will physically run the payment from a customer for goods or services rendered by your company. The POS is both the hardware and the software that keeps the heart of your company pumping. But too many small businesses neglect this all-important aspect of their business health and wellness, and that leads to one thing: cardiac arrest.

    The heart of any business is its sales structure. After all, the best product, service, marketing team, and PR staff won’t do you an ounce of good if you aren’t making sales. Which is why finding the right POS system for your business is so important. Make sure you know everything there is to know about the best POS systems, their benefits for SMBs, and how to choose the right one for you.

    There are many different hardware components that you can choose for your POS. Some of them include:

    • Cash register
    • Barcode scanner
    • Receipt printer
    • Credit card reader
    • Register screen

    With literally hundreds of retail, small business, bar, and restaurant point-of-sale (POS) systems on the market, buying a new POS solution can become overwhelming rather quickly. Let’s look at the top 5 POS systems of 2019 for your small business.

    The Square POS System

    The first top POS system for small business is the Square POS system, in all of its different shapes and sizes. Square point of sale is a cloud-based POS solution for iOS, Android devices and square’s own point of sale hardware. This software allows you to manage customers, transactions, inventory, invoicing, and payments. It also has additional tools for managing customer loyalty, employees, marketing, and payroll.

    Square POS also offers chip, magstripe, and contactless card readers for accepting payment via debit, credit cards, Google pay, and Apple pay. Square offers a wide variety of iterations of their POS system, all of which will be remarkably intuitive and fairly priced.

    The Square Register is the most souped-up version of the point of sale software that Square offers. For a cool $999, the Register will allow your business to accept all types of payments, no additional iPad necessary. Plus, the Register comes with two interfaces—one for you and your employees, and the other for your customers—in order to make the checkout experience as smooth as possible.

    Shopify

    Whether the order is placed through in-store, online or from a mobile device, all the orders are automatically synced through Shopify. It is also easy to monitor cash register adjustment and staff changes.

    Shopify reports will let you easily track customers, payments, and sales made both online and in-store. Shopify comes with robust hardware compatibility and freedom to use with any computer, iPad or Mac. You can custom design each register to suit its counter space and layout.

    Netsuite

    Netsuite is the top POS system with mobile-ready technology enables you to deliver a superior in-store experience, satisfies omnichannel users and builds customer loyalty. It is an end-to-end unified system that provides real-time insights into customers, sales, inventory, financials, and more.

    This helps to grow sales as it empowers sales associates with tools and information to build stronger customer relationships. The cross-channel functionality options are also available which can get used according to your requirement.

    Bindo

    Bindo is cloud-based and was designed specifically to work with iPad, so it’s mobile, but it also comes with an iPad stand if you want to keep the system in one place. You get a barcode scanner, a cash drawer, credit card reader, as well as a receipt printer and it integrates with QuickBooks. A product database manages inventory for you. Bindo can also handle e-commerce and mobile payments.

    One of Bindo’s neatest features is the way it handles employee time-keeping, photographing your workers as they punch in and out. You get free, unlimited, 24-hour customer support, although only via e-mail and in-app chats, and a built-in loyalty program.

    Clover

    Clover is ideal for just about any type of business, but it’s especially suited to larger businesses with more complex needs. You can start with a basic package, then build onto it through Clover’s own API to achieve the exact system your business requires. Ultimately, it will do everything from the basics to scheduling employee hours and maintaining and overseeing your customer loyalty program.

    The Clover System offers multiple POS systems. Clover Mini, introduced in 2015, might be compact, but it manages every sort of payment, as does Clover Mobile for more on-the-go business types. Clover Station is a cash drawer system and offers multiple integrations. One drawback is that you’re limited to using only the merchant processing company that you purchase the product from.

  • This is Why You Need a Directional Microphone

    This is Why You Need a Directional Microphone

    Some microphones are designed to hear equally in all directions (omnidirectional), and some are designed to be more sensitive in certain directions. Directional microphones can be a big advantage when such a microphone is used in a hearing aid or in an Assistive Listening Device (ALD), because it can be used to enhance some sound that you need to hear. A directional microphone picks up sound from specific directions.

    Directional microphones allow you to focus on picking up sounds from very small pathways directly in front of listeners. The use of a directional microphone is more advantageous than using a traditional omnidirectional microphone in a lot of situations. The most advanced directionality comes from using multiple microphones. With two or three microphones, the directionality is improved because the shorter distance between microphones allows them to be hyper-selective about which sounds to cancel and which sounds to concentrate on.

    Today, we are going to take a look at the directional microphone and some of the best on the market.

    As mentioned, directional microphones pick up sound primarily from one end of the device.  The most common type of directional mic is called “cardioid” for the upside down heart-shaped pickup pattern. This type of mic favors sound from the front, while still picking up some sound on the sides. Virtually no sound is received at the back of the microphone. This type of pickup pattern helps to reject background noise and accentuate the sounds you want to record, whether that is a voice, music or sound effects.

    There are two main variations of the cardioid design,   the super-cardioid and hyper-cardioid. Each has a progressively narrow sweet spot while rejecting more sound from the sides of the mic. The ultimate in directionality is the shotgun microphone. These mics are extremely sensitive towards the front with small bumps of pickup to the side and rear. This means you can either pick up sound from further away or better isolate the sound close up. Because they’re so sensitive, they also tend to pick up more handling noise. That’s why you’ll often see them mounted in some type of shock absorbing device.

    Best Hyper-Cardioid: AKG C1000s Multipatter

    AKG C1000s is an inexpensive all-around mic with a switchable cardioid / hypercardioid pattern. It has a signature bright sound that creates an illusion of higher fidelity but also helps to clear up the sound in a live environment. Definitely not the highest quality mic, but if used correctly it can produce very decent results for instruments and female vocals. For videographers, it isn’t recommended. There are simply no viable mics at this price range, so don’t even hope for a cheap booming solution. This mic requires a bit of patience to set up – positioning will play a crucial role in getting a good sound out of it.

    Most of the small diaphragm mics available on the market have a flat frequency response, so they sound more or less similar. However, the AKG C1000s does not sound like the rest. It is much brighter and creates a richer more vibrant sound that sounds more expensive.  It is extremely useful for live performances. This mic clears the little things up and efficiently cuts through where flatter mics don’t.

    Best Super-Cardioid: Shure Beta 58A

    Super-cardioid microphones use an even tighter pickup area at the head of the mic, quickly taper to reject sound from the sides and have a very small lobe of sensitivity near the rear of the mic.This makes them great for the studio and for live performances. Shure Beta 58A is a great performance supercardioid mic, capable of delivering nice and clean vocals without killing your budget.

    Adequately bright but unobtrusive in character, it will do a great job of clearing up vocals while keeping the over complicated surrounding sounds. It has a linear response throughout the entire vocal range, which is especially appreciated by versatile singers. The Shure Beta 58a is very easy to work with, both for singer and sound engineer alike. It is also quite durable and definitely a great buy.

    Best Shotgun Microphone: Sennheiser MKE 600

    This microphone is a fantastic quality, 10” short-range shotgun. Although considered an entry model, which is available at rather modest price, it can deliver a professional sounding performance! Moreover, I’d say this mic is probably the best raw performer in its range. This is not only about the quality but also about the design.

    The Sennheiser MKE 6000 also performs great in both close and open areas without relying on post EQ. It is reasonably flat and while peaking in the upper range with a slight 2-3 dB boost it gives just about enough presence not to sound lame. It seems, Sennheiser took best of both mics for their MKE 600, and then improved it even further.

    When it comes to short shotguns, Sennheiser MKE 600 is the deal. Of course, it is more expensive than other entry-level models, but you get a superior performance. This mic is such a great deal that every videographer should definitely consider having it in their equipment bag.

  • To the Cleaners: The Best Washer and Dryer Combos

    To the Cleaners: The Best Washer and Dryer Combos

    It can be very difficult narrowing down which washer and dryer you want. However, one of the most cost-saving moves you can make when shopping for a washer and dryer set is to get a combo. Washer and dryer combos not only look sleek in your laundry room, they also work well in unison and tend to cost less than buying two appliances.

    Today we’re going to help you narrow down which washer and dryer combo you should get. These are some of the top-rated washer and dryer combos on the market right now. Remember, there are no “correct” choices, these are just some of the most highly rated options.

    Best Washer and Dryer Combos

    GE 5.0 cubic foot Smart High-Efficiency Washer and 7.4 cubic foot Dryer

    This smart, high-efficiency model is a great device for new homeowners and long-time veterans of domesticity alike. For one thing, it’s a high-efficiency washer and dryer at once, meaning it will keep your power and water bills down.  For another, it’s absolutely massive.

    The huge interior and impeller in the washer mean you’ve got room for even the mightiest of laundry loads. That includes huge comforters, large amounts of laundry and obscure items like cushions. The big tumbling space for clothing in the dryer is a great pair to this, meaning that you’ve got tons of room for even the biggest laundry loads.

    You’ve also got the option of several heating and tumble cycles. There are 14 cycles available, meaning you can handle any task. There are also 5 heating modes, meaning your clothes won’t get ruined by the dryer.

    Did we mention it’s smart-home enabled out of the box? “Alexa, start my laundry,” is a pretty cool command. Not to mention asking how long until your laundry is done. The best part of this smart capability is that the washer-dryer combo can act as an auto-dispenser for detergent. It’ll even reorder detergent for you on Amazon if you want it to.

    Whirlpool WTW4816FW Washer and WED4815EW Dryer

    If you’re all about energy efficiency then this is the washer and dryer set for you. This combo was literally made with money-saving as a primary concern. The washer and dryer both have custom settings in place to consume less power, water and money. What’s not to love?

    The washer is only 3.5 cubic feet, but it can fit a surprising amount of laundry. It has load-sensing technology that detects how much laundry is in the drum. Then, it attempts to tailor the amount of water being dispensed to match the load in question. That means that you’ll spend less water on small loads.

    The dryer, for its part, has an AccuDry mode you can use that will cut the machine off when the clothes inside are dry. It will even tumble the clothes occasionally, in a mode called Wrinkle Shield, to keep them from getting those annoying wrinkles. Talk about handy!

    Samsung WF45M5500AP Washer and DVE45M5500P Dryer with Steam

    Samsung’s name is linked with quality, and for good reason. If you want one of the best overall washer and dryer combos, this long-named pair is what you’re looking for. Where do you begin with a set of appliances this well-made?

    Well, we’ll begin with the steam technology. With steam technology, the washer and dryer get clothing clean in a deep, holistic way that is hard to describe. It’s almost like picking up your clothes from the cleaners, but they’re coming from your own home.

    Next, the combo looks absolutely elegant in any laundry room. The stainless-steel design and high-quality interface make these luxurious to use. If you want your laundry to feel like less of a chore, making your washer and dryer into sleek pieces of technology is one way.

    People who use this washer and dryer set describe it as quiet and efficient. No obnoxious clanging or home-filling sounds of laundry. If you’re like us, you hate all that racket when you’re trying to watch TV or read at home. Thankfully, these don’t have that problem, if the reviews are to be believed.

    Bottom Line

    There are no right answers when it comes to the best washer and dryer combos. However, these three devices represent the best of their fields according to reviews online. The GE set has top-of-the-line smart home features. The Whirlpool set is the best high-efficiency set out there, according to reviews.

    Most notably, the Samsung set was highly rated across a number of both professional and user reviews. If you want the best of the best, these are what you’re looking for.

  • Samsung Galaxy S10 Rumors and Speculation

    Samsung Galaxy S10 Rumors and Speculation

    While the Samsung Galaxy S9 is a relatively new phone, Samsung is likely to have another flagship up their sleeves. Notably, this is likely not the foldable phone Samsung showed off onstage in November, but another traditional entry in the Galaxy line. Here’s all the rumors and speculation about the Samsung Galaxy S10.

    Samsung Galaxy S10 Rumors

    Is it Real?

    The biggest question about the Galaxy S10 is whether it even exists. It seems quite likely that Samsung will be making a successor to the Galaxy line in time for the tenth anniversary. Who would be willing to miss a marketing opportunity that huge? Not to mention, there’s a lot of competition out there for Samsung to contend with.

    For one thing, the Korean smartphone manufacturer is only just hanging on to the top spot globally. While Apple was once the company on their heels, however, Huawei, a Chinese smartphone maker, is now number 2 globally. Huawei’s impressive showing is made even more striking by the fact that they don’t sell phones in America due to security concerns.

    Potential Models

    It seems likely that, should a Galaxy S10 be on the horizon, that it would come in a variety of models. The iPhone XS, XS Plus and XR have proven that premium smartphones can succeed with a variety of models for different tastes.

    Notably, we guess that the S10 will likely have a 5G-enabled model as the Plus variant. Smartphone makers love selling the Plus models because they make more money, overall, on them, so having something other than size set it apart could be huge.

    Additionally, expect to see a “normal” configuration that is similar in size to the current S9. Finally, we would be shocked if there wasn’t a competitor for the iPhone XR that was a more budget-friendly option. The XR has less technical flourishes and is more straightforward and comes in $250 cheaper than its bigger brother.

    Release and Price

    February or March both seem like likely candidates for release window. There is currently no concrete info on these phones. However, it seems likely that the base model would come in around $1,000, with the budget model at $750 and the Plus around $1,200.