September 21, 2017

Kindle Fire HD 10 – A nice widescreen tablet for the Amazon ecosystem

As an upgrade to my original Kindle Fire of 2011, I pick up the Kindle Fire HD 10. It’s a pretty nice  $150 tablet that thrives in the Amazon ecosystem. While not a laptop replacement, the Fire 10 is a large tablet in a widescreen format that works well for reading and watching movies. To start, I watched an episode of the Thunderbirds and the quality and sound was quite good. Music playback can sound a little thin, but I thought it was pretty respectable out of the side speakers. If you don’t already have an Alexa device, you do now, as it’s built into the Fire, so you can ask questions, get information, find out the weather and set timers. You can also pause movies, increase the volume and switch over to music. Alexa works the same as the self-contained devices, but includes more visual feedback. For example, if you ask about the weather, you see the weekly forecast. […]

October 27, 2016

More Dots! More Echo Dots!

So, I now have two more Echo Dots to add to my collection. This means I have an Echo in all the major rooms, which is pretty awesome. Those rascals are great for weather, setting timers, bits of trivia and of course the ever decisive coin toss. I like the little Dots, they are very handy. And to be honest, $50 for all that technology is a damn good deal. I know Apple has Siri in their Apple TV, but it really seems like they should have been first to market with a standalone Siri box. But oh well, Alexa won this round. I will say, having an Echo Dot in the kitchen is extremely handy. Not only is it good for music, but you can always double check on something without having to stop and wash your hands.

September 15, 2016

Amazon Echo, Tap and Dot

So there is a new offering for the Amazon Echo Dot, and a nice price tag to go with it. It’s the new 2.0 version, although I’m not sure what they’ve done under the plastic to warrant a 2.0 revision. The original Echo has been software updated multiple times I’m sure and doesn’t bear a 2.0 moniker. Nevertheless, a new model is out, this time in white and at a price of $49.99, which is significantly lower than the introductory price. I got my first Echo Dot at the higher offering. However, I did jump on board and ordered another. I decided to get the white one and it will go in the living room. So why exactly get an Echo Dot? What is it good for? Well, it makes a perfect alarm clock that’s for sure. The original is in my bedroom and is set every night. The alarm is far more pleasant that the horrific buzzing of a […]

March 3, 2016

Amazon unveils the Echo Tap and Echo Dot

Amazon has just sent out email about two new devices in the Echo line, the Amazon Tap and the Amazon Dot. Both are variations on the original Echo design, but offer some nice variety. The Echo Tap is roughly the original Echo, but cordless and portable. You can take it from room to room or if you have a WiFi hotspot, even further. The Tap isn’t always on and listening for the “Alexa” keyword, so you have to push a button for it to respond. That doesn’t seem a problem and was done to save battery life. The other is the Echo Dot which looks like a little hockey puck. It’s the brains of Alexa without the big speaker. It can still play music, but it’s meant more for answering questions and looking up information that streaming music. It can make up for this with its Audio Out so you can hook up external speakers. I’ve already ordered the Tap, […]

May 2, 2015

Power Strip Adapters so I can finally plug all my external hard drives into one power strip

I’m not the only one with this problem. You buy multiple drives but because they all these massive power supplies and wall warts the damn things won’t all fit into the same UPS device. No matter how you twist or arrange them, it just doesn’t work. I have a 12 outlet device that can only hold a couple drives because the stupid plus are so big. But I just found a solution to the problem. I don’t know why I didn’t find it sooner. While checking on Amazon I found a set of 10 little extension chords. They are a mere 12 inches long and don’t look that exciting at all, but they are exactly what I need! They are 3 prong, UL listed cables that give you just enough length to plug in the drive and let it drape down the side of the UPS. I’ve been looking at all sorts of different UPS designs because I didn’t know […]

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