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We are going to start 2014 out with a bang as we welcome John Brubaker or Coach Bru back to The Tech of Sports to talk about what he has going on, his latest book, and the hot topics in sports. John Brubaker is a nationally renowned performance consultant, speaker and award-winning author. John teaches audiences how to obtain better results in business with straightforward tools that turbo charge performance. Using a multidisciplinary approach, “Coach Bru” helps organizations and individuals develop their competitive edge.

With the end of 2013 here, we recap the top tech stories of 2013 and so much more on this week’s The Waves of Tech. Some of the top stories include Twitter going public, an increase in crowdfunding, Blackberry’s demise, NSA scandals, and the health-care website debacle. We also add some discussion on technology in the classroom, Christmas shopping issues, and New Media Expo. Enjoy the podcast and we will see some of you at New Media Expo in Las Vegas.

Thanks for tuning into Episode 205 of The Waves of Tech! We are so pleased to present this week’s tech news and talking points from the week. We dive into Amazon’s traveling workforce, technologies recognizing driver fatigue, retailer fragmentation, and IT consultants that don’t carry through on contracts. Be sure to grab the FREE NetCast Studio app so that you don’t miss a single episode from the network’s wide variety of shows!

Former USC tennis player and two-time All American tennis player Danielle Lao released her Kindle Book, “The Invaluable Experience” two weeks ago. We talk to her about the book, tennis and what lies ahead.

2013 was a huge year for technology innovation in and out of the world of sports. This is the last “Tech of Sports” of 2013, and that means it’s time to look at some of my favorites of the year. The Tech of Sports went around the world of sports in 2013 covering everything from books to golf equipment to sports blogging and new innovations. Steve joins me tonight for a little pow wow to wrap up the year and talk about some gadgets.

Rick and Brian are in holiday moods as they take a look at some great holiday golf gift ideas that are under $20. Some of these are pretty unique and any golfer would love to have. Merry Christmas!

The Busy Ladies finish up their series on women and finances. Debbie and Laurin discuss what you should know about your family finances and how to handle them. Learn how to find information you need from websites which we provide for you. We hope with the information provided, women will find themselves in charge of their finances. Find out what other women are doing with their finances and how they are saving and also spending. Listen as we make it interesting and fun to plan for your future.

ShotTracker – affordable, wearable tech for basketball players – with founder Davyeon Ross. He shares more about the tech and how they’re helping shooters improve their game through data. Here’s some more detail: From Moneyball and sabermetrics, to amateur athletes relying on Nike+, RunKeeper and a host of other fitness-tracking apps, the sports world knows data is the key to improvement. While fitness apps have thus far focused on running and cycling, now basketball players can embrace data to improve their game with ShotTracker. Consisting of a wrist device, net sensor and app, ShotTracker automatically tracks users shot attempts, makes and misses. It also includes structured workouts to keep players focused, as well as leaderboards.

In brief, we talk about the birth of the mouse, Facebook’s plan to include a sympathize button, completing online claims for employee protection, washers & dryers (we know, strange…), mobile shopping sprees, and finally the race for same day delivery.

Rick and Brian continue looking at holiday gift items this week, with a focus on Shirts, Shoes and a Book from author John O’Hern. Christmas will be here before you know it and Rick has all sorts of gift ideas.

How to be a financially sound woman who is trying to save for her retirement. Find how to budget so you can target the retirement you desire.  Make yourself a strong financial person who is in charge of their life and destiny. Listen to some of the interesting information we have found on the web to assist you retirement planning.

Rick this week is joined by Chris Majer, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Human Potential Project, who is the author of “The Power to Transform: Passion, Power, and Purpose in Daily Life” (Rodale), which teaches the strategies corporate, military, and sports leaders have used to positively transform themselves and their organizations in a way readers can adept to their own lives and professions,Chris talks about sports, technology, leadership and where out society is headed.

Rick and Brian are getting ready for the holidays and they look at some golf instructional DVDs and apps this week. These DVDs have become interactive and it’s lucky for me that I had the Tiger Woods app on the rundown as Brian is broadcasting this week from Tiger’s tournament in California.

This week's podcast brings you a host of topics that we all can definitely talk on for about 2 hours, but we do it in a brief 35 minutes.  To begin, let's talk about some Tech TidBits - cockpit automation implications, a brief review of the iPad Air, Applebee's 100,000 tablet movement, and Black Friday shopping.  In our main topic, holiday shopping is in full swing and that means holiday scamming is as well.  We present some helpful hints and tips on protecting yourself this holiday season.  Enjoy the podcast and continue to ride...the waves of tech.   Pilots Advancements in technology reaches every corner and function of nearly every industry.  In the airline industry, pilots are trying to adjust to a growing trend of automation in the cockpit, where their skills are being substituted for control systems.  With a majority of the plane's functions controlled through automated systems, pilots may be getting just as comfortable in their chair as passengers are in theirs.  The use of automation is having some significant impacts in passenger safety, pilot and co-pilot adjustments, and training regulations.   iPad Review (Feel free to add details about your review) Target offered a deal just before the holidays where a customer could trade in their first generation iPad in exchange for a $200 electronics gift card.  We had a first-gen iPad and decided to take advantage of the deal.  Aside from some issues dealing with electronic-based employees in the store, the resulting experience with our new iPad Air has been spectacular.   Applebee's Applebee's is changing the look and vibe of their restaurants nationwide, and not through remodeling, or rebranding.  They have decided to roll out nearly 100,000 tableside tablets to their nearly 1,900 locations.  In a pilot project in 30 locations, the popular hometown eatery found that profits increased, wait times decreased, tips to servers improved, and rewards programs sign-ups jumped.  With a complete rollout by 2014, look for a tableside tablet in a location near you very soon.   Black Friday We here at NetCast Studio truly hope that you enjoyed the holiday with friends and family.  So now, holiday shopping is in full swing.  If you had similar experiences as we did, you no doubt received a tremendous amount of emails, tweets, and advertisements come your way.  If you had any crazy Black Friday experiences, please get in touch with us and tell us your story!   Holiday Scams Holiday shopping is both exciting and stressful at the same time.  The pleasure of buying for friends and family puts a smile on our faces.  But when holiday shopping scams take over, the pleasure can quickly become a point of stress and anxiety.  We provide a series of simple tips for avoiding holiday scams.  Utilizing just one, and we hope you use more, may keep the holiday shopping experience a pleasurable one rather than one spent dealing with retailers and banks battling over lost funds and fraudulent charges.  If you have further tips, let us know and we would love to share them with the rest of the audience.

Rick joins Brian this week from the famous McDonald’s in Blue Ridge, Georgia to talk a little about Blue Ridge and then some gadgets that may help improve your putting. It’s a Thanksgiving week episode of The Gadget Guy on Sirius/XM PGA Tour Radio and we are all thankful for that.