Digital Lifestyle - SlashGear

‘Digital Lifestyle’ Stories

Columns

To Snark, or Not to Snark

Philip Berne, Aug 28th 2011 Discuss [6]

I used to be the kind of guy who would yell at customer service representatives on the phone. I would call up my bank, or my airline, and scream at the person on the other end as if it were his fault that I had accidentally paid my electric bill too early, thus insuring the account had insufficient funds for the next 4 visits to Starbucks. I don’t think I ever ended one of those conversations without threatening to never, ever do business with that company again. I’m sure Delta was quaking in their boots thinking about losing the $389 in ticket sales I generate for them once a year. But somehow, they survived.

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New cinema glasses breakthrough will let the deaf watch films with no subtitles

Shane McGlaun, Aug 26th 2011 Discuss [2]

Those of us that can hear don't understand what it's like to not be able to hear at all or not be able to hear well. My grandfather used to have to turn the TV up as loud as it would go to hear what was being said. The rest of us couldn’t be in the same room when he watched. Many shows on TV today can be subtitled if the viewer needs, but few movies in the theater are subtitled. Read The Full Story

Qmadix unveils dry-foam gadget cleaning kit

Shane McGlaun, Aug 25th 2011 Discuss [2]

My kids love to use my gadgets. That means that my iPad typically has some sort of smear, sticky fingerprints, or other stuff on the screen. I have several cleaning kits around here to get the gunk off the screen but they often involve spraying a liquid on the screen to get the goo off. I have never liked the idea of spraying the screen since I fear the liquid getting inside the iPad and ruining things. Read The Full Story

Awesome steampunk apartment available in NYC

Shane McGlaun, Aug 24th 2011 Discuss [4]

If you are a fan of homes that aren't traditional and love steampunk this apartment in NYC will really impress you. The apartment is up for sale and is located in the Manhattan Chelsea area. The apartment is done in painstaking detail in very geek chic steampunk style and everywhere you look the apartment screams cool. Read The Full Story

Tron scooter is perfect for tiny Users

Shane McGlaun, Aug 23rd 2011 Discuss [5]

It's no surprise to me that geeks tend to get their kids geeky toys. When my son was little the rode this red plastic motorcycle everywhere, wearing a motocross jersey that was five sizes too big. He would jump anything the bike and his 3-year-old-legs could make it over. If they had this Tron scooter when he was little you can bet he would have been rocking one. This scooter was apparently created by a designer at the Trek bicycle company. Read The Full Story

Update: Geek builds homemade cathode ray tube

Shane McGlaun, Aug 23rd 2011 Discuss [1]

When I was a kid, all we had were the fat TVs that were stuffed with cathode ray tubes. I can recall my grandmother having a really old TV that you had to turn on and wait until the cathode tubes heated up before you could get the grainy black and white image. With TVs going flat there isn’t much use left for the old cathode ray tube, other than some awesome geekery like Xellers over on Instructables got up to. Read The Full Story

Columns

Rick Perry and the Pork Chop Twitter Block

Philip Berne, Aug 21st 2011 Discuss [20]

Down here in Texas, we invented the State Fair. That may not technically be true, but everything you know and love to hate about state fairs, we invented. The Corny Dog came from Texas (and yes, you’ve been spelling it wrong all this time). Put a stick in a hotdog, dip it in batter and fry it, and you’re halfway to Dallas. Fried butter? Suck it, Iowa. We’ve had fried butter in Texas for years. And fried beer. And deep fried frito pie, which is fritos topped with chili and cheese, somehow dipped in batter and deep fried into a mound of goodness. Take a whiff. Ahhhh . . . wait, don’t smell the air. We’re at Air Quality Level Orange down here, so maybe you should just look at the pretty pictures.

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Columns

Why are film studios so dumb?

Don Reisinger, Aug 20th 2011 Discuss [15]

When I use Netflix, Amazon’s streaming service, and all the others out there, I can’t help but think about film studios. I analyze their decision-making, I see where they place their content, I hear what they have to say about entertainment and its relation to technology today, and I can’t help but come to one simple conclusion: these companies are clueless.

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Rapper The Game tweets internship offer with phone number for Compton Sheriff’s Department

Shane McGlaun, Aug 15th 2011 Discuss [2]

Twitter as any other tool can be used for good or for things that are not so good. One example of using the Twitter service for something not so good is the Tweet that was posted Friday night on the twitter account of rapper The Game. The tweet from the rappers account went out to 580,000 followers and told them that there was an internship up for grabs and to call a phone number listed in the tweet if they were interested. Read The Full Story

Faux Apple Store changes name to Smart Store

Shane McGlaun, Aug 15th 2011 Discuss [0]

Over the last few weeks, there have been a lot of photos that have surfaced of some convincing fake Apple Stores in China. There were numerous stores in Kunming that were not official Apple Stores, but some of them really looked like the real thing and some of the workers even though they worked for Apple. One of the most convincing actually sold real Apple products. Read The Full Story

Shot Glass set looks like Canon Camera lens

Shane McGlaun, Aug 15th 2011 Discuss [0]

If you are the sort that is really into photography and happens to think lenses sitting around your home or office is the perfect sort of décor, you need these shot glasses. When it comes time to get your drink on you can take these shot glasses and gulp down your favorite adult beverage and you can use them for other things too. The glasses look just like tiny Canon DSLR lenses. Read The Full Story