Captain America: The First Avenger
Marvel's comic book movies have been hit and miss. Some are stellar, some are duds. But I'm not going to lie to you — I thought Captain America was a lot of fun. It was comic book-like, clean, and full of adventure. (Also available on iTunes.)
Noble Tonic 02
We only ever buy pure maple syrup, but the Noble Tonic number 02 from the Old Faithful Shop makes the pure maple syrup we buy sound significantly more simple. Noble Tonic 02 starts with maple syrup from the Quebec orchards and adds Tahitian Vanilla Bean and Egyptian Chamomile Blossom to give it a floral and fruity aroma with buttery apple-like flavor. Sounds…
Work Lamp From the Old Faithful Shop
The lamp and the computer monitor are two of the most important pieces on my desk. I like lamps that can be adjusted and which have a lot of personality. This work lamp from the Old Faithful Shop has both. It's rustic, vintage, and industrial — all words which can do wonders to inspire creative work and productivity.
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Kindle Fire
By now, no doubt you know about the Kindle Fire. It was announced by Amazon at the end of September along with two new e-ink models: the keyboard-free Kindle with a d-pad controller, and the Kindle touch. The Kindle Fire is a mystery. It could be amazing and it could be a flop. However, I'm leaning towards the former. At only $199…
Doane Paper’s Leather Utility Notebook Cover
This leather utility notebook cover from Doane Paper is both fantastic and extravagant. In some ways you've got to ask yourself if you really need a $70 leather cover for your $3 utility notebook. But on the other hand you've got to ask yourself why not? If you burn through utility notebooks like it's your job, perhaps you need or want something…
The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better
The Big Red Fez by Seth Godin is the first book I ever read on website design. Yet it is so much more than just about pushing pixels and hypertext. This book is a very fast and fun read. Each spread offers a screenshot of a web page on one side, and an explanation of what is right or wrong about it…
Twelve South BookArc
For years I have used my laptops in clamshell mode, and for years I have been using the BookArc. When your laptop is in clamshell mode it doesn't vent and stay cool as well as when the lid is open. However, with the BookArc, the underside of your laptop is exposed to the air and so it helps keep the machine cool…
LaCie Rikiki USB Portable Hard Drive
In this writer's opinion, LaCie makes the finest and most reliable external hard drives you can buy. I have 2 of the 1TB LaCie Hard Disks that I use for my media storage and external backup redundancy, and I have a LaCie Quadra that I use for my nightly SuperDuper clones. When on the road for extended trips I always take a…
UP by Jawbone
Available today at Apple stores, Best Buy, and Target, the Jawbone UP is the latest addition to the trend of personal fitness tracking gadgets. The UP is meant to be worn 24/7. It keeps track of your movements during the day and your sleep patterns at night. It plugs into your iPhone to help you analyze that information. And it is smart…
“Geek Dad” A Book of Projects for Dads and Kids
Geek Dad is written by engineer, father, nerd, and author of Wired.com's GeekDad weblog, Ken Denmead. With a son of my own due early next year, this book is full of exactly the sort of projects I'm looking forward to doing. Of course, those days are still a few years down the road for me, but that doesn't mean I'm very excited…
Twelve South BassJump Subwoofer
If you find yourself often listening to music or watching movies through the built-in speakers on your MacBook or iMac when at your desk, then a compact, well-built, subwoofer may be just the perfect companion. The Twelve South BassJump is a USB-powered audio peripheral that will provide that much needed, much appreciated, low-end thump that your internal speakers don't have. Giving a…
The Tèo – A Spoon for Tea Bags
How many years have we been forced to wrap the string of our Celestial Seasonings tea bag around our spoon and draw it tight to wring out the last of the tea? Or how many times have we used our fingers and suffered the heat of a tea bag just pulled out of steeping hot water? Well, my friends, no more. The…
Mage Gauntlet iPhone Game
At most, I am a casual gamer. But every now and then an iOS game comes along that is just the right amount of fun. Mage Gauntlet happened to be one of those games. The graphics are a classic 16-bit, the gameplay is challenging and engaging, and the plot isn't all that bad either. And the game itself is only $2.99 in…
LaunchBar 5: Application Launcher for OS X
Keyboard-centric application launchers are becoming more and more popular. There are three big ones: Quicksilver, Alfred, and LaunchBar. What many people may not know is that LaunchBar is the original application launcher — it dates all the way back to NeXT. Like many, however, my introduction to application launchers began with Quicksilver many years ago. But in 2009 I began using LaunchBar…
The Art of Pixar
The Art of Pixar is now shipping and it looks fantastic. It's a thick, hardcover, book that's jam packed with behind-the-scenes tours of every Pixar film to date. For the first time ever, this book has the complete color scripts for every film published, as well as samples of the visual development art. Moreover, it's sure to be added to the short…
Planet Earth: Special Edition (Blu-ray and DVD)
A few winters ago Anna and I borrowed Planet Earths from a friend and watched the DVD series on our old, 20-inch CRT television. Even with such an old-fashioned setup like that the films were still striking and awe inspiring. After saving for a few Christmases, we have a Blu-ray setup now and I would love to re-visit these films. This new…
PlugBug Charger for iPad and iPhone
White and red and awesome all over, the PlugBug from Twelve South takes your standard MacBook power charger and adds on a 10W USB port for charging your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Of course it works without the MacBook power brick as well. If you want just one single wall wart to charge your laptop and phone, and you want your…
Gerber’s Gator Machete Pro
Speaking of black stainless steel knives, the Gerber Gator Machete Pro is about as handsome and mean looking as they come. It has a 10.5-inch forged steel blade with a black finish and a curved inner-blade on the opposite side. Keep it tucked away in a heavy-duty nylon sheath. The Gator Machete is all parts awesome and rugged.
CRKT’s Delegate Knife
Every man needs a good, foldable knife he can have close by for who knows what. Maybe it's for opening that latest shipment from Amazon, or maybe it's for gutting a river trout. Hey? Why not both? CRKT's Delegate Knife looks mighty handsome. It has a 3-inch black stainless blade, that fits snugly inside the black aluminum with cocobolo wood handle. And…