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SMOOTHIES…

  By Electronics and Gadgets, Tips and Tricks

Recently I purchased a new toy.   My new Blendtec high-powered blender.  About 10 years ago I used to enjoy smoothies quite a bit.  I was doing a tough workout and needed to get nutrition that I wasn’t getting through my normal diet.  The biggest problem was it just seemed like I was focusing on when, where, how and what to eat way too much.  I quickly learned by making a smoothie and jamming a bunch of different ingredients into it you can cover a lot of nutritional ground very quickly.  Not to mention the broken down food for easier digestion and the ingredients were raw and better for you.  My friend left a blender at my house that I used on a daily basis and I really enjoyed making my berry smoothie every morning.  That blender finally failed and I never replaced it. A week ago I was walking through Costco and came across a section with a blender by Blendtec.  Prior I had researched a little and knew that Blendtec and Vitamix are the two that are always talked about when it comes to professional, high power blenders.  The price was right so I picked one up.  When … Continue reading

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Dollar Shave Club – Initial Impressions

  By Personal, Tips and Tricks

How many times have you needed to shave and you either can’t find a sharp razor or the razor you have is full of hair and it’s not your hair?  Between my three daughters and wife I may get a chance to use my new razor once before it is taken away.  Hey, it’s just the way it is and everyone needs to shave sometime.  The only problem is that razors aren’t cheap.  I feel that when my girls use my high dollar razor blades on their legs it’s wasting money.  Replacement razor blades in the store can cost $15, $30 upwards of $50!!  So looking for a solution to my problem I came across the Dollar Shave Club. The Dollar Shave Club is a company that provided razors, handles, and lotions via online order.  You sign up online and establish an account.  You have three choices…the $1/month double blade “the humble”, $6/month Multi blade “4x” and the $9/month mac daddy “executive”.   One small catch is that the $1/month is actually $3/Month because this is the only level that charges delivery.  The other two higher levels are free delivery.  For Blade choices you can follow this link www.dollarshaveclub.com/blades. I … Continue reading

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SONOS – SIMPLY MUSIC

  By Electronics and Gadgets, Tips and Tricks

      I thought with the recent sale going on with Sonos it would be a good topic for a blog entry this week.  I have had Sonos now for about a year and I have to say its been very enjoyable.  A few years back Sonos took a different approach to music and I think it has really paid off for them.  Until Sonos there were speakers that needed wires and/or bluetooth to operate and play music.  Sonos did away with the connection point and created a listening “ecosystem” for music. What is Sonos? Keeping it very simple, it’s a wireless speaker that uses you’re in home network to play music.  That doesn’t sound too impressive.  Sonos isn’t even battery operated or portable.  It needs to be plugged in all the time.  It doesn’t use bluetooth and only a few devices allow for a wired connection.  Who would want that you might say?  A lot of people! This is why… Sonos uses you’re in home network to connect to the internet.  The Sonos is independently smart.  What I mean by that is even though it can be controlled by a device (iPhone, iPad, smart phone etc.) it doesn’t … Continue reading

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Understanding Exposure With The Exposure Triangle

  By Uncategorized

A great video that explains the relationship between Aperture, ISO and Shutter speed.  Once you understand this relationship its much easier to dial in the look you want and get great photos!  A little long winded but stay with it as it is very informative.   As nice description below Continue reading

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Meerkat – Live Stream Video on the App Store on iTunes

  By Electronics and Gadgets, Tips and Tricks

      This is a cool new app that was brought to my attention by Chris Fenwick who hosts one of my favorite podcasts (FCPX Grill).  Meerkat is a live streaming app that uses the twitter servers to stream live video and audio.  The cool thing is once you have an account and you go “live” it notifies all of your twitter followers that you’re sharing an event live.  You can also announce and schedule events so viewers can plan to watch.  I think of it as turning your iPhone into a news van.  You can up link and stream anything anytime to the entire twitter world.  The uses are in their infancy but I expect cool things to come.  Check it out. Read reviews, get customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about Meerkat – Live Stream Video on the App Store. Download Meerkat – Live Stream Video and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Source: Meerkat – Live Stream Video on the App Store on iTunes Continue reading

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Royalty Free Music Library from PremiumBeat.com

  By Electronics and Gadgets, Tips and Tricks

One of the hardest things for videographers is finding reasonably priced and good quality music.  Premium beat is one of the best websites I have ever used to find great audio tracks.  The prices are very reasonable and once you purchase the music it is royalty free.  They also offer loop packs to allow you to make transitions and complimentary passages within your edit.  It is extremely easy to preview music with their built in web player and you can even start a “wish list” or a collection of music you like for easy reference.  If you’re struggling to find just the right song try them out! Source: Royalty Free Music Library from PremiumBeat.com Continue reading

Final Cut Pro X Plugins and Effects by Pixel Film Studios

  By Electronics and Gadgets, Tips and Tricks

For All the FCPX editors out there you may want to check out Pixel Film Studios.  They offer a wide range of editing effects, tools and transitions all made to work directly with FCPX as well as other software.  Most plug-ins are reasonably priced and some are really powerful. Source: Final Cut Pro X Plugins and Effects by Pixel Film Studios. FCPX Plugins and Effects Continue reading

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Germany – My Visit – Part 1

  By Personal, Tips and Tricks

My daughter was awarded a great honor.  She received the scholarship for the CBYX program.  This scholarship is awarded by U.S. Congress, called the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program.  This allows a student to live with a host family and attend high school in Germany while becoming fluent with the language and having a culturally immersive experience.  Needless to say she jumped at the opportunity and now my second oldest is signed up and getting ready to go as well! My family decided to go visit with my daughter, in Germany so I wanted to share the experience so anyone traveling there for the first time would have some perspective from this “first timer”.  This was my first trip to Germany and my first trip to Europe.  I am not a worldly traveler at all.  I am sure I will get few things wrong but I will do my best. Getting to Germany is expensive.  Flights ranged from $850-$1500 round trip so to get 5 people to Germany is about the price of a used car.  You have several choices of airlines and they all run specials at various times.  I think that if you’re like me and going for “best price” … Continue reading

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My Switch to T-Mobile. A few things you may want to know.

  By Uncategorized

  I have been an AT&T customer for a long time.  A really long time.  Let me first say that my move to T-Mobile had nothing to do with a problem or deficiency with AT&T.  Loved them, still do.  Service was second to none.  Now thats out of the way lets move on. The AT&T family plan that I was on was affordable but if I were to upgrade phones/devices then my plan pricing would have skyrocketed.  I have 7 lines on my plan and everything starts to add up.  I was sitting at about $255 month for AT&T but heres the thing.  For every phone I upgraded there would be an upgrade fee ($99, $150 or whatever) and then a monthly charge for that upgraded line of like $25 or $35 dollars per month.  I had four iPhone 4s’s, one iPhone 5C and two iPhone 5’s.  So upgrading all the devices would have added $200 per month or more.  Basically unless I purchased my phones outright then my plan pricing was going to be in the high $400’s at least. I had always discounted T-Mobile.  I assumed it was a struggling 3rd place wanna be carrier that was using … Continue reading

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Nations Capital Cottage, Clifton VA

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Check out our new airbnb cottage available for rent!  Don’t stay at a hotel or suites.  Stay in a real home! Nations Capital Cottage, Clifton VA in Clifton House in Clifton, United States. This home is located in the heart of Northern Virginia. It is convenient to Dulles and Reagan National airports. In addition to the easy access to Washington DC there are many other sights to see in this area. This home will provide the comfort … View all listings in Clifton Continue reading