Modern Geek

Do you prefer streaming or owning your media? We tackle the question from a couple of angles, arguing both sides in order to better understand the question and market. We also discuss Leo Laporte’s recent frustrated rant about the Windows naming scheme. Could their Win RT/Win Phone/Windows 8.1 naming debacle scuttle the Surface Pro, despite [...]

We take a look at the current status and future of three up-and-(maybe)coming technologies: smartwatches, electronic wallets, and 4K TVs. We also take a first look at the recently-release Google Play Newsstand, which combines RSS feeds, magazines, and news searches into a single stream-style reading app. We lament the passing of WinAmp and ponder the [...]

We enjoy Windows 8.1’s fixes and discuss what the update means in terms of Microsoft’s (surprisingly functional) positioning of Windows across the tablet and PC market. We run down Steam OS and consider its potential in the connected home. We round up some of the most recent OS X Mavericks troubles. We study the specs [...]

A much belated episode of Modern Geek! Chuck and Juan talk about the new iPhone(s), discover that RaspyFi has duplicated their MPD/Raspberry Pi music server setup, and discuss DIY hardware and its role in outside-the-box innovation.

This week Juan reviews his latest acquisition (Logitech T400 mouse), a deeper look is taken at the iPad app “Mr. Reader”, and Chuck gives us an update on his waterproof camera.

It’s been a month between Modern Geeks, and Chuck and Juan deliver a bonus-length episode! Chuck takes us through his latest purchase (a weatherproof/sportproof camera), Juan finds yet another use for a Raspberry Pi (a sprinkler automation system), and both have a lot to say about the recent developments with Microsoft and XBOX One.

Juan and Chuck continue their deep dive into deploying Raspberry Pi’s for home use, this week getting a music server going using the open-source project MPD. They also take a look at the XBOX One (Juan?) announcement.

Juan’s moved into his new place, and has discovered yet another use for a Raspberry Pi – as a Plex media frontend using Rasplex. Chuck and Juan also take a look at some of the recent iOS app updates.

Chuck and Juan take a look at some practical applications for the Raspberry Pi, including a low-cost print server and a unique take on a home audio solution. Also, we discuss some recent community feedback.

Project time! In this episode, Chuck and Juan take a look at the pros and cons of replacing Juan’s aging desktop with a Macbook Air, Macbook Pro, or another Mac Mini.

With a new announcement of the eventual expiry of Windows XP support, Chuck and Juan discuss the long-term viability of Windows 8, comparing the current situation to the previous “issues” resulting from the Windows Vista licensing options. Continuing the search for a Google Reader replacement, a couple options are reviewed, including Tiny Tiny RSS, Flipboard, [...]

After wading through a slew of hardware failures, Chuck and Juan get an episode recorded! We wonder how we’ll move on from Google’s recent decision to retire Reader, and consider the long-term consequences of using the “experimental/beta” projects that Google offers. We also discuss the recent meetup and the Modern Geek roundtable.

Modern Geek is going live! As the meetup approaches, we talk about the alterations to the recent schedule in preparation for the GWC meetup, and lay out the subject of our upcoming roundtable discussion.

We respond to some user feedback about configuring and purchasing an Apple computer, ponder over Best Buy’s “interesting” response to the ongoing showrooming issue, and try to figure out why phones are carrier-locked at all anymore.

Canadia time! We discuss Juan’s online-tax-filing woes, and take a look at Canada’s retirement of the penny, discussing the impact from a consumer standpoint, and wonder at the round-to-five-cents coding nightmare most point of sale software must now be facing. We also revisit the discussion of the Surface Pro after receiving some great feedback from [...]

We discuss the closure of numerous Canadian Best Buy locations (without knowledge of the staff!). We (sorta) lament the passing of Stickam. We marvel at Microsoft’s ever-worse marketing plan for the Surface with the release of a 64G model–with only 23G usable.

We have some fun with the latest IE commercial, which seems both apologetic and nostalgic at the same time. We talk through Google’s Chrome-based cloud print system. We note the (almost unnotable) iOS 6.1 update. We wonder if the sun is setting on the universal remote. We discuss Netflix’s potential new profile system. And we [...]

We confess to some of our tech hoarding problems (and solutions). We talk about the difference between crappy and excellent WiFi routers. We laud the new, revamped Harmony remote website and configuration system. We go over some of the recent updates to the awesome Press RSS reader app for Android. And we ask some listener [...]

We respond to listener feedback including a number of questions and comments about the Nexus 7, discuss in detail the process of using Google Voice as a (potential) Apple Messages replacement (and a killer home phone problem solver), and hear about one listeners awesome use of mobile videoconferencing for labeling his circuit breaker box.

We finally get to spend some quality time with the Nexus 7, Google’s premier 7″ tablet. In short: We’re fans.

We run down some of the apps we’ve look at lately, including MetroTwit (Juan’s new-fav Win Twitter client), Google Maps for iOS (now that we’ve had some time to use it), and the Wake ‘N Shake alarm clock (featuring a GlaDOS sound-alike not to be missed). Also, we discuss Juan’s experience with a 24-FPS Hobbit [...]

Juan offers a great solution for all those almost-empty credit-card-based gift cards you have lying around. We try to dream up use cases for Logitech’s Skype TV device. We discuss Redbox’s expansion into Canada, their upcoming streaming service, and what it all means for the Pyramid of Movie Accessibility(tm). Also: Voicemails and Christmas stories.

We wrap up Black Friday coverage with some listener calls, including a beleaguered Buy More employee. We take a look at some crazy news items, including a lost island in the South Pacific, the lost month of December on Android 4.2, and how to enable LTE on the Nexus 4 for some Canadian carriers. And we [...]

We discuss some past bad experiences with Black Friday shopping deals and offer recommendations for avoiding disappointment. We offer some suggestions for saving on holiday shipping. We dive into the world of buying holiday presents for geeks — people who are, by definition, seriously picky about what they like. And we take listener calls, including [...]

Juan tells us a bit about his recent RAID woes and offers advice for how to think about storage and backup. We take a look at the site IFTTT.com (pronounced like “gift” without the G) which helps you automate tasks between online services like Facebook, Flickr, Evernote, and Google Drive. We note the passing of [...]

We talk you (quickly) through the new Apple gear announced recently, then move on to more exciting news, like the upcoming Evernote re-design (improving sharing functionality, offering Pintrest-like views, and lots more note flexibility) and some sweet Android devices, the Nexus 10 and Nexus 4. The smartphone market is heating up, and we’re starting to [...]

This week we continue our Microsoft discussion, talking about Halo 4, XBOX Live account rights, and what you need to know with the release of Windows 8 vs. Windows RT. We take another look at the benefits and detriments of cloud-based services, and review Apple’s unfortunately disappointing Podcasts app. Plus, we read some listener feedback [...]

What a week – Microsoft decrees itself a devices and services company, Best Buy is price matching Amazon, and the Raspberry Pi now sports 512MB! We discuss the creeping migration from the “own your software” model to a “software as a service” rate plan, and start to realize that our minds may be changing on [...]

Chuck and Juan take an in-depth look at digital content rights and journalistic censorship on the internet, and how online news media is getting the short end of the ContentID stick. We also discuss the recent Skype phishing attacks, and check in with the fight against the “Microsoft Tech Support” phone scam. Also, we discuss [...]

We discuss recent bootloader changes that enable the Raspberry Pi to retain longer performance relevance — a critical change for the Pi’s low-buck education and net access purpose. We take a (verbal) look at Australia’s new “bionic eye” and how it demonstrates the power of multi-disciplinary research to change the world. We recognize the powerful [...]

With Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Google each in the news this week for purported “tech fails”, there’s been no lack of overreaction from the technology community. Chuck and Juan take a moment to cut through the FUD and analyze what’s really going on.

It’s that time of the year again – we run through the details on the new iPhone 5 features. Also, we take a look at Google’s new YouTube app for the iPhone, the Docs app for the iPad, and the latest update to RunKeeper.

Getting into walking, running, or riding for fitness? Have a smartphone? We share some paths to connect the two, turning the gear you already own into a GPS-enabled recording device for automatically tracking your efforts and plugging into online communities for encouragement. We also delve into the world of ANT+ wireless sensors, which (with the [...]

We drool over the Galaxy Note 2, run through a few random tech articles, discuss the latest Java update, and discuss various uses for our disturbingly large stacks of old iPhones.

It’s our one year anniversary of Modern Geek, and what better way to celebrate than to go over this year’s must-have productivity and educational apps (the very same topic from Modern Geek #1). We look at what’s changed in the last year, and give our recommendations.

In honor of Juan’s upcoming trip, we take a look at one of the coolest tech backpacks we’ve seen: the North Face Surge II, which features tons of pockets, dedicated laptop and tablet storage, and a build worthy of a K2 expedition. We review two awesome travel apps: FlightTrack PRO, which provides flight tracking and [...]

Juan shares his early Mountain Lion upgrade experiences with no major issues in the first day or so of regular use. And Chuck walks us through a hard-to-find, unadvertised feature of the built-in Reminders application in OS 5.x — shared task lists! Perfect for household grocery lists and to-dos, Reminders features push-updates as well as [...]

Chuck relates the woes of a nearby electrical strike. We review the Mophie Juice Pack Plus (and Air) iPhone battery cases. And Juan shares some of his awesome solutions to little problems around his office, including a low-buck fix for Bluetooth Magic Mouse connection woes, a cheap (but awesome) wireless keyboard (the Logitech K360, $30), [...]

We speculate on the ultimate use case of Google’s Glass, and for comparison, check back with Chuck on the day-to-day use of SIRI. Also, Juan takes the plunge and logs his browser into the cloud to test tab sync with Chrome on iOS.

We continue our discussion of Google’s IO conference, discussing competition amongst manufacturers and carriers in the Android market, and speculate about the long-term strategy of Google Play, cloud-based content and set-top digital distribution.

We discuss Google’s announcements at the I/O conference last week, including the Nexus 7, Android 4.1 update, and the Nexus Q media center set-top box. We talk not only about the Q’s specs, but also its design, such as how it stacks up on the Dieter Rams 10 principles of good design.

We run down the news from last week’s Microsoft event announcing the Surface tablet, and we offer our analysis. Short take: The Surface isn’t a direct iPad competitor, but rather a device cutting the middle between ultrabook and tablet. We’re excited. Also: We receive our Raspberry Pi and talk a bit about our plans for [...]

We take a look at our favorite announcements from Apple’s 2012 WWDC Keynote address, and discuss new media’s growing position as a primary news provider in the tech industry.

Juan and Chuck catch up by taking some listener calls including questions about selecting an HDTV to use as a large computer monitor and how to read Amazon and other online reviews critically.

We discuss what Twitter’s recent DNT support means to users. We talk about Google+ changes designed to (artificially?) increase your friend list. And we relate some of our recent experiences with the Arduino platform.

Chuck reviews the sweet iOS podcast manager app Instacast. Will WiFi work out of the box? Will ACPI suck? What’s that new app store like? Juan delivers the details in a run-down of his experiences installing and trying out the latest long term support Ubuntu release — without opening a terminal.

That’s right — Juan finally stepped up and chose his tablet. We share our detailed personal process for selecting the perfect gear, a process you, too, can follow to make sure that when you throw down the big bucks you get something that’ll serve your purposes well for years to come.