Books, Music and Movies

Recently, the Geeks received “Cool Stuff 2.0: And How it Works” and decided we needed to make a book a Gizmo of the Day. Why? Well, this book shows and explains in an easy to understand way how technology works. Some of my favorite topics they covered include a High Tech Toilet, Hydroponics, Hawk-Eye (the cameras used in tennis to help determine if a ball is in or out among other uses), Lego Mindstorms and Cube World.

While the book is very visual, “Cool Stuff” also delves into how technologies and gizmos work. This book was written by geeks for geeks.

Gimmie!

Price: $16.49

Normally “the Geeks” don’t feature books, but Scott Seegert has written a very entertaining one called It’s a Guy Thing: Awesome Innovations from the Underdeveloped Male Mind.

It’s a Guy Thing examines 70 patents over the past 140 years that were obviously invented by men in the looses term. Some of the brainstorming wonders include:

• Albert’s Helmet-Mounted Pistol – for the guy who wants to defend himself, yet must carry a beer AND a bratwurst at all times.
• John’s Head Butt Game – for the thoughtful parent who wants to keep little Timmy and Suzie busy by having them head butt each other into unconsciousness.
• Harry’s Homocopter – for the guy who refuses to let the laws of physics dictate his mode of air transportation.

Scott Seegert researched through actual paperwork that was filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office to bring us actual illustrations and inventor quotes of the various gadgets and contraptions. So sit back, crack open a cold one and follow along with IT’S A GUY THING as it doggedly attempts to answer that age-old question: what the….?

One of the better books for helping you increase personal productivity has to be “Getting Things Done”. Both the Chief Gadgeteer and I have gone through this book and have gained some excellent tips for increasing productivity.

We know first hand that “Getting Things Done” is a good book about productivity. Granted, we don’t follow or believe all the advice presented in the book, but we’ve taken away ideals that have definitely increased our personal productivity.

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New Year’s Resolution #6 – Increase Personal Productivity: Getting Things Done BookRead More »

The second New Year’s Resolution “the Geeks” want to help you conquer for the coming year is to increase personal productivity.

One of our favorite blogs in this area in our RSS feeder is lifehacker. Lifehacker has gone analog with a paperback book called “Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day”. Here is a sampling of some of the hacks:

* Hack 3: Develop your digital photographic memory
* Hack 8: Permanently block time-wasting Web sites
* Hack 20: Automatically empty your digital junk drawer
* Hack 34: Carry your life on a flash drive
* Hack 63: Quick-log your work day
* Hack 87: Resurrect deleted files

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New Year’s Resolution #6 – Increase Personal Productivity: Lifehacker BookRead More »

Another way to “learn something new”, the first New Year’s Resolution we’re covering, is to keep up with the latest trends in your trade.

We’ve partnered with TradePub to provide readers with the opportunity to subscribe to trade magazines for free. Ranging from Automotive to Computers to Engineering to IT, TradePub has free magazine subscriptions available to help keep up with the latest news in your trade.

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New Year’s Resolution #7 – Learn Something New: Free Trade MagazinesRead More »

One of the top New Year’s Resolutions people make is to learn something new. By learning something new people feel they add an additional dimension or interest in their life. The first idea “the Geeks” have to help you in this quest is a Safari Subscription.

Safari provides an electronic reference library for programmers and IT professionals. Unlike an online bookstore though, Safari allows you to search the electronic version of over 1,300 book at the same time because it’s a joint venture between O’Reilly and Associates and The Pearson Technology Group. In addition, Safari provides content from other quality publishers such as Microsoft Press.

You can definitely get your “learn” on with a monthly subscription to Safari.

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New Year’s Resolution #7 – Learn Something New: Safari SubscriptionRead More »

Zinio Systems offers digital magazines in a slick interface that allows you to flip through magazines easily, zoom in, use a markup tool and search easily through magazines. I’ve always wanted to grep through magazines, and now I can!

Some of the Digital Lifestyle magazines offered by Zinio include Home Theater (which is my favorite), PC Magazine and MacWorld to name a few. They offer free test samples to give digital magazines a try.

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Digital Lifestyle Digital MagazinesRead More »

I’ve noticed one of my favorite magazines, Home Theater, has been picked up as a Zinio Digital subscription and I plan on resubscribing starting with the next issue via digital subscription.

Over the past year or so I’ve been able to read a few of my magazines digitally using the Zinio Reader and if could switch all the magazines over to this format I definitely would. The only thing that would improve my digital subscriptions would be a tablet to read them on!

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Zinio Digital Magazine SubscriptionRead More »

This past Thursday night I came home and opened the mailbox in what is usually my depressing ritual where I survey the bills. I was very happy to notice my latest Voume of Make Magazine and quickly ripped off the plastic cover to check out what DIY gizmos I can Make.

The most interesting, for me at least, articles include a how-to on creating an effects show that can be synced with sounds for Halloween controlled by a computer, a feature on how to “Mod Your Rod” and finally how to create the cutest little squeezable nightlights. There are many more articles and features and if you haven’t checked out Make magazine yet, you should if you’re a DIY geek.

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MAKE : Technology on Your Time Volume 03Read More »

Normally we don’t feature magazines, but check out this magazine from O’Reilly! It’s being called a geek’s dream come true.

If you like to tweak, disassemble, re-create, and invent cool new uses for technology, you’ll love MAKE, the new quarterly publication for the inquisitive do-it-yourselfer. Every issue is packed with projects to help you make the most of all the technology in your life. Everything from home entertainment systems, to laptops, to a host of PDAs is fair game. If there’s a way to hack it, tweak it, bend it, or remix it, you will find out about it in MAKE. This isn’t another gadget magazine. MAKE focuses on cool things you can do to make technology work the way you want it to. The publication is inspired by the bestselling Hacks series books but with a twist. MAKE is a mook (rhymes with book). We ve combined the excitement, unexpectedness, and visual appeal of a magazine with the permanence and in-depth instructiveness of a how-to book. Whether you’re a geek or hacker who delights in creating new uses for technology, or a Saturday afternoon tinkerer who loves to get his hands dirty, you’ll keep every issue of MAKE on your bookshelf for years to come.

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Make: Technology on Your TimeRead More »