Words from Nerds – Same3Guys

Summary: We get into a discussion about photography and cameras this week. Mike wants to pursue his interest in photography and would like to use his upcoming vacation as a learning opportunity. We'll discuss different sets of requirements and try to address the myriad options of camera equipment available. You don't have to break your budget to get started. But a little good advice can go a long way towards saving you from making costly mistakes when buying gear or capturing those precious moments.   Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 44:17   Featured Story: Taking photography to the next level We get into a discussion about photography. When you want to learn about taking better shots or understanding the differences between portrait photography versus shooting landscapes, what do you need to help you get to that next level? It’s important to have a solid understanding of what you want to be able to do with it first. Just like any tech that you are considering to buy, know your requirements first. A great stove doesn’t turn you into a great chef, so it’s unreasonable to expect a professional DSLR camera will turn you into a pro, right? Cameras and their accessories can cost a lot of money. Are there cheaper ways to get into this hobby without breaking your budget? What’s really important when it comes to apertures, ISO and lenses? You don’t have to buy new, either. There are sites like Adorama and B&H Photo that sell used camera gear if you are interested. We got our Niece started on an older, but still great Canon Rebel XT last year. She loves it. This won’t break your budget and it will support other lenses so it leaves you room to grow. Mike was considering the newer version of this camera. Here is a compelling camera that lets you swap out lenses. Check out this Samsung NX300 that shoots 20.3 megapixels. Or consider this Canon PowerShot S120 point-and-shoot that has an amazing F1.2 aperture and will also let you save picture in RAW format as well as JPEG. That’s important if you plan to do any editing in Adobe LightRoom later. The possibiities are endless. But there are lots of options that can fit any budget.        

Summary: You invest a lot of money in your tech gear. You take it with you practically everywhere you go. But what about the bags that hold all of the gear? Are they helping you? Did you know how many options there are and what some of the features are? Are they TSA approved for you travelers out there? What about donating or recycling all of those conference bags that you have lying around the house? We've got tons of links to help you sort through all of this.   Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 28:30   Nerd News Flash: The sun will come out tomorrow? Solar powered Apple laptops. Aleve-iate your heart. Lego around the world. In a browser. Fastest way to get the news off of twitter try this. For those old school IBMers. Space 1999 is getting a baby brother. Space 2099! Featured Story: Tech Bags Where to stow your gear. Laptop bags, backpacks, messenger bags, purses, leashes, cases and more. What do you need? What features are a must versus nice to have? Different bags for different uses? Dressy (work) casual (personal) rugged (outdoor) Does it need to hold laptop, power supply, tablet, charger, hotspot, cables, wallet, papers, magazines, business cards, camera, clothes? Sites such as ebags.com have up to 75% off Overstock with powerful filters Zappos website and app are also very user friendly to search What should I do with my old backpack or Luggage? Donate it. Unicef. Important things to consider when donating. Here's perhaps the most interesting bag you've ever seen.      

Summary: How are you using tech to assist in your food preparation, shopping or dining experiences? We've got a bunch of apps to talk about. Oddly, most of them have red icons. What's up with that? Plus we'll share some pastry delights in our Nerd News Flash. Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 35:57   Listener Feedback: Longtime listener Chris from Florida sent an email last week in response to our discussion about hot water tank alternatives. He had an interesting new idea to share with everyone.     Nerd News Flash: Need more storage capacity for that tablet? Here’s a wireless TB hard drive from Lacie that may solve your problems. Need an adult cocktail/dessert all-in-one? Try out these Drunkin Donuts. These batteries are sweet! Literally. Unhappy with Google’s acquisition of Nest? Then check out this open source thermostat alternative. Kill bacteria while charging your phone. Keep your phone squeaky clean.     Featured Story: Food. Technology. Apps. Mmmmmmm. Open Table Better Homes and Gardens recipes Pizza Hut Weber Yelp Eat24 Atkins Carb Counter Pizza Compass Food Networks In The Kitchen Foodspotting (was broken for a while. Seems to be fixed again) Grocery IQ helps you build your shopping list.      

Summary: There are plenty of ways to make your home more efficient. How many are you taking advantage of? How many are you even aware of? We've got a lot of practical tips to help you save money running your home. And some cool news about the camera in the next iPhone in our Nerd News Flash. Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 39:32   Nerd News Flash: Google glasses have some competition. Optical image stabilization for Apple. Put another way, it’s OIS for iOS. Check your visual scanning. It all started with a Big Bang. Microsoft out to SEA.     Primary Objective:Home Efficiencies We're going to discuss several new technologies to help make our homes much more efficient. One of the things many of you have seen in the news is the fact that incandescent bulbs are now being outlawed forcing buyers to move to CFL or LED lightbulbs. Using timers Using home automation devices and software Improving efficiencies with HVAC from controllers like NEST to more efficient furnaces and air handlers. Being able to analyze thermal imaging for leaks and cold spots where insulation may be missing. changing filters and annual tune ups. Appliances and energy star today compared with 10 and 20 years ago Hot water tanks versus inline tankless Smart Home tech from HGTV      

Summary: The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is underway this week. So, of course, this means lots of new gadgets and announcements. We'll share some of the coolest news coming out of the show in its first few days. We are already excited to try out a bunch of these. Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 34:43   Nerd News Flash: Fitbit for your feets! Want to see a large item from Amazon? i, Robot (the movie, not the vacuum) actually has Audi ahead of the curve! Is wireless charging for the phone a reality? Predator heat sensing tech in your iPhone 5! It's so cold in Canada the ground exploded. Speaking of explosions, here's a video of the world's largest firework display! Now when you right-click search Google in Safari, it will open the target page in a NEW tab! Hallelujah! You need Safari 7.0.1. Check Software Updates. Featured Story: Consumer Electronics Show 2014 in Las Vegas This Hollywood Director is normally known for his highly explosive movies, but Michael Bay’s meltdown onstage definitely suffered from some technical difficulties. CES also has a good selection of new home automation. Not to be outdone, FitBit has a partnership with a jewelry designer Tory Burch. Panasonic is no slouch, offering a TV that knows more about what you want than you do with their Life+Screen. This looks an awful lot like the TV from Back To The Future. Blackberry keyboard for the iPhone.  Hmmm. Wait until the lawyers get ahold of this one. Smart home automation has come a long way from the days of X-10. Check out what SmartThings has to offer in the area of improving your digital lifestyle for the home.    

Summary: It's a brand new year and you've probably thought of some new year's resolutions. But do any of those apply to the tech in your house? We'll share some ideas for cleaning up some old, lingering problems that will hopefully have your tech in the best shape possible for 2014. Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 26:27   Nerd News: Need your own Mars Rover? Samsung taking a shot at Sonos. Need more caffeine in the morning? Need a case just Incase? Put a little more style in your stylus from Wacom.     Main Topic: Clean as a Clean Slate! Reinstalling software on computers Reimaging tablets or phones Backup files, local, cloud, other Redo your wireless security Change passwords for everything else    

Summary: A car made entirely out of Lego? Cool! How about a recap of the year in a six minute video? It's hard to remember some of these events. What a busy year it was. And Mike recaps the installation experience for the new NEST Protect Smoke Alarm. Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 23:57   Mobile App of the Week: Nest Protect: the cool smoke and carbon monoxide detector from the folks that brought you the Nest learning thermostat.     Nerd News: Huge data breach at US Target stores. Millions of customer credit and debit card information was stolen. Now that Science Engineering Week is over, what can we conclude about the reports touting the one hour of code progress that was made by students? Whoa. Here is a full size LEGO car that actually drives. Everything that happened in 2013 in six minutes.        

Summary: Have you done your hour of coding this week? It's Science Education Week and we'll share some terrific free resources that can help get you started with some of the core programming languages for the web today. This is an episode you won't want to miss if you know someone who aspires to be the next great coder or just wants to learn new skills, even if they are not IT related.   Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 30:40     Mobile App of the Week: Poems by Heart - A great app to bring a new look and feel to poetry.     Nerd News: Computer Science Education Week is December 9-15, 2013. Learn to code. Learn to code for free at the Code Academy. iTunes University App Store Collection for Every Grade Instructional videos for college students on LinkedIn to build a great profile. Project Gutenberg.       This Week in Nerd History: Dec 10, 1901 – The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.      

Summary: The new consoles are out and moving quickly. Are upgrades in your future? We'll talk about some options that you may not have known about in case you are looking to do a tech refresh for the holidays. Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 34:15   Mobile App of the Week: Amazon Instant Video - updated app to include AirPlay and IMDB. Nerd News: PlayStation 4 and XBOX One sales off to great starts, each selling 1M units in the 1st 24 hours. Microsoft admits that some XBOX One units are plagued by hardware problems. GameStop offering published rates for trade-in on games and consoles. Amazon is also getting in on the trade in business and it even applies to books! A note in passing: say goodbye to WinAmp as of December 20 This Week in Nerd History: November 27, 1924 – In New York City, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held. November 26, ???? - Same3Guys host/co-founder John Kresic is born in Cleveland, Ohio. November 24, 1973 – A national speed limit is imposed on the Autobahn in Germany because of the 1973 oil crisis. The speed limit lasted only four months.        

Summary: November 12th is a special day in history for nerd movie buffs. We'll tell you about it in Nerd History if we have "time". Adobe's security breach was bigger than they admitted and now over 150 MILLION accounts are posted on line. We'll tell you how you can find out if yours was hacked. And a man buys a desk on craigslist and finds something big inside. Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 30:59   Nerd News: Over 150 Million accounts breached at Adobe and have surfaced online. Are you on the list? How long does a hard drive last? This study tested more than 25,000 spinning drives. Man buys desk on Craigslist for $200, finds $98,000 inside Apple begins selling the new Retina iPad Mini Amazon to begin teaming with the USPS for Sunday deliveries? Hooray! Latest Google Chrome beta silences the noisy ads on open tabs.     This Week in Nerd History: November 12, 1955 - The Hill Valley clock is struck by lightning at 10:04        

Summary: We've got a ton of shopping ideas for you, conveniently arranged in groups by price. There's lots here for nerds to love. Which will make your shopping list? Which ones are you looking at that we haven't listed? OK, there are probably tons. But we'd love to hear about the really cool ones. Game on! Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 47:04     Mobile App of the Week:  LinkedIn app updated for iPad. New Nike+Move for iPhone5S   Nerd News:   Time to get ready for the crazy shopping holidays. Here is our review of some of the top items: Sub $50 range: Hot Wheels Car Maker Playset The Complete Carving Set Special Release beers from the Funky Buddha Brewery Milescraft 1300 Orbiter Any Angle Drilling and Driving Power Drill Attachment SIGMO voice translating device Weber's Big Book of Grilling Maybe you need an iGrill Mini to help you prepare those awesome recipes. $50-150: Brunton Hydrogen Reactor Nest Protect smoke and CO detector Star Wars: Frames Reservoir portable device charger Apple iPhone 5c $150-$250: Helios Bike Bars North Face Thermoball Jacket $250 - up: Nexus 5 Review Some NOC headphones for the audiophile you know Apple’s MacPro now in Red Apple’s iPad Air This Week in Nerd History: Nov 5, 1895 – George B. Selden is granted the first U.S. patent for an automobile. Nov 4, 1922 – In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.    

Summary: Happy Halloween! We've got a Cylon Pumpkin to tell you about! We've also got a report that shows quite a wide range of performance time across new mobile devices. And two new Marvel movie trailers that have us excited.   Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 31:45   Mobile App of the Week: Trainyard:  a puzzle of tracks. Temple Run: Oz - free for a limited time if you get to it through the Apple Store app Nerd News: 70,000 Matchbooks available The trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past, featuring time travel Captain America: The Winter Soldier trailer is also out. Really? Microsoft OSes only half as efficient as Apple OSes on same hardware? Laser connections in space? Yes, please. Jokes for Physicists Cylon Pumpkin ! (LATE ADD)   This Week in Nerd History: October 31, 1941 - Mount Rushmore was ‘completed’ this day. Actually, the money ran out. Work on the monument, honoring Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt, had begun August 10, 1927. It was dedicated March 3, 1933 although work continued. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum died in 1941 and his son, Lincoln, continued the project until funds ran out on this day. Since then , no additional carving has been done, nor is any further work (other than maintenance) on the memorial planned. October 29, 1998 - The space shuttle Discovery blasted off, returning 77-year-old U.S. Senator John Glenn to space some 36 years after he became the first American in orbit. Glenn was part of a crew of seven astronauts shepherding scientific payloads on the shuttle mission.      

Summary: Apple tells us what else they had to cover. It includes new iPads, MacBooks and lots of software. Microsoft has some new updates, too. Which will be on your shopping lists this holiday season?   Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 47:10 Mobile App of the Week: The iLife and iWork suites get major updates. We cover them in our Nerd News segment this week.     Nerd News: Apple announcements iPad Air - thinner, but no Touch ID. Ships in November. iPad Mini - gets retina display, ships in November. Macbook Pro - updated with Haswell and available today Mac Pro - shipping in December OS X Mavericks - compressed memory, better power consumption/battery life on existing devices. Free for everyone to upgrade and available for download today. iLife/iWork suites - Now full document synching across devices using iCloud. Free for iOS and Mavericks with purchase of new device. iWork gets real-time collaboration Microsoft announcements Microsoft Surface 2 improved but battery still disappoints. Nokia announces 6 inch Windows Phone as Lumia 1320, 10 inch tablet as Lumia 2520 without Intel. Win 8.1 is available. Microsoft pulled the update for RT devices due to installation problems. Amazing photos using miniatures and forced perspective with a $250 point-and-shoot camera.     This Week in Nerd History: Oct 20, 1873 – Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers universities draft the first code of American football rules. Oct 20, 1973 – The Sydney Opera House opens.        

Summary: New iPads seem to be coming next week, thanks to a tweet from T-Mobile's CEO. For Disney fans, get a sneak peak at the new Avatar Land that is coming to Orlando's theme park.  Owners of D-Link routers should be aware of a major security backdoor that may affect you. And we've got a mobile app of the week to help you organize your online reading for when you have time to sit down and read.     Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 34:38       Mobile App of the Week: Pocket (formerly Read It Later) - a free service with apps for your iOS and Android mobile devices.       Nerd News: D-Link routers may be vulnerable What’s the most counterfeited bill in the world? Well, new tech is going to try to make it harder to duplicate those Ben Franklins. Would you see a movie if the trailer had no original film footage from it? Well, we did a long, time ago. In a galaxy just like this one. The original Empire Strikes Back trailer. You knew this was coming, right? The slew of Avatar movie sequels wasn’t just to get you to go to the movies. It’ll help draw you in to the new Avatar Land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park in Orlando. How about some Raspberry Pi for the Internet of things? Do you like surprises? Then you may not be happy with T-Mobile’s CEO who spilled the beans about what Apple has in store, or will be selling in his store, for October 22nd. No surprise about what Microsoft has in store for October 18th. It’s the long-promised release of Windows 8.1. Google Fiber is okay with personal-use servers now       This Week in Nerd History: October 17, 1888 – Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie) October 13, 1983 – Ameritech Mobile Communications (now AT&T Inc.) launched the first US cellular network in Chicago, Illinois.      

Summary: Yahoo Mail gets a makeover for it's sweet sixteen. Mike preordered a sweet new smoke detector that talks to you. And the government shutdown is affecting Stephanie's homework. For real! We've got all this and more cool nerd news from Disney, our Mobile App of the Week and the passing of a legendary author in the Week in Nerd History. Hosts: Tom Kresic, John Kresic, Mike Kresic Running Time: 37:06       Mobile App of the Week:   Speed Test App - when you have to know your ISP link speed.   Nerd News: Yahoo gives Mail on iOS a major makeover with disposable addresses, conversations and 1TB space. A smoke detector with a voice. From the guys that make the NEST thermostat. The new Star Wars trilogy was in the works a year before the Disney purchase. Government shutdown makes things cold. And the award to the smartest guy in the room goes to … And still DISNEY comes up with this? In 6th grade and a little bored? Try brewing some beer!     This Week in Nerd History: October 9, 1999 – The last flight of the SR-71. October 9, 2003 – Mission: SPACE opens to the public in the Epcot park at Walt Disney World. October 1, 2013 - Author Tom Clancy passes away. No papers. State to state. wiki.