Sleep Number – David McCrindle

Coin: Leave Home Without It.

Coin debuted in November 2013, promising a single credit-card that can replace all of your credit and store cards (well, up to eight). 350,000 people backed the original crowdfunding campaign but it was plagued with delay, after delay, after delay. In April 2015, 16 months after it was announced, mass production began. My Coin arrived … Read more »

Friday, May 1st, 2015.

We recently travelled to LA for a wedding. We went for a long weekend and packed in a lot: Griffith Observatory, a drive out to Vasquez Rocks, Hollywood and Vine, dinner and drinks with friends, and a day at Universal Studios.

Monday, April 27th, 2015.

Photos: Scotland

The bulk of our trip was in Scotland. We packed in a lot over two weeks so it was great to relax and hang-out with friends. Before I left, I debated bringing my camera but I wanted to challenge myself to see I could capture the trip via iPhone. I believe I succeeded. Check out … Read more »

Friday, April 10th, 2015.

Photos: Dublin

Following Berlin, we spent a few days in Dublin. We stayed a cool little cottage we found on Airbnb that was a short 10 minute walk from the city center. Highlights included seeing Idlewild at the Academy (a band I realized I first saw 17 years ago), Guinness at the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin Castle (I saw Travis … Read more »

Thursday, April 9th, 2015.

Photos: The Cliffs of Moher

We took a coach trip out to the Cliffs of Moher. On the bus, I sat next to a guy that smelled really bad. Later on, I noticed he was the owner of a Selfie Stick. Oh well. It was worth it! No sign of The Holy Stone of Clonrichert though.

Monday, March 23rd, 2015.

Photos: Germany. Berlin. Oasis. Gallagher.

We kicked the trip off with a few days in Berlin. Everywhere around town we saw Apple billboards promoting their iPhone 6 gallery so this blog is rather fitting. On our first night, we saw Noel Gallagher. There was a guy wearing the same denim jacket as me. But then he turned around and in … Read more »

Friday, March 20th, 2015.

Photos: Traveling With An iPhone

Following my recent tips about using an iPhone (or any other phone) to it’s photographic potential, I decided to put it to the test — on my trip home — by traveling sans-DSLR. I wanted the challenge but I’m also going to traveling on a few budget airlines where baggage fees are outrageous and I couldn’t justify … Read more »

Thursday, March 19th, 2015.

Meerkat: For The Social Animal In Us

Paul McCartney somewhere down there at Target Field – summer 2014 Meerkats are small, social animals that live in large underground networks and travel in clans. Sound familiar? Meerkat — the app — lets you tweet live video and blends the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it spontaneity of Snapchat with a Facebook-esque newsfeed. It’s my favorite new app. When … Read more »

Wednesday, March 11th, 2015.

The Macbook is the Future of Computing

My mockup: Is this what using the new Macbook will look like? Following Apple’s “Spring Forward” event, the biggest stand out for me was the introduction of the new Macbook. It truly represents the next generation in computing. It reminded me of the Macbook Air introduction in 2008. Back then, I really wanted the innovative Air … Read more »

Tuesday, March 10th, 2015.

The Smart Switch Switcheroo

Thanks to SmartThings, pretty much every room in my house is smart: if the living room is too cold, Nest turns on. When my car arrives home, the garage door opens automatically. When the washing machine finishes, my phone notifies me. Most significantly though, the majority of my lightbulbs are smart. If a smart bulb is connected to a regular … Read more »

Monday, March 9th, 2015.

Double Dribbble

For years, I’ve resisted blogging. For a while, I photoblogged religiously and I started accompanying blogs with stories attached to the photos because that’s what my contemporaries were doing. I realized quickly I suck at discussing my life: I got up. Went to work. Took photos of some Minneapolis punk kids (with fabulous hair). Processed photos. Went … Read more »

Thursday, March 5th, 2015.

The Internet of Hubs

When I moved into my house, I had a goal — beyond successfully failing at small-talk with my neighbors — to automate my home. Two years in and I have control over most rooms in my house, however, the Internet of Things feels more like the Internet of Hubs. One unfortunate consequence of home automation is … Read more »

Wednesday, March 4th, 2015.

6 Ways To Take Better iPhone 6 Photos

Apple just posted a glorious page highlighting the power of the iPhone 6 camera. The carefully curated gallery is a wonderful example of what such a small camera do. However, it unfortunately promotes every photographer’s annoyance that it’s the camera that takes really great pictures. As much praise as I can give the tech, the … Read more »

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015.

Broke Shrugs-N-Harmony

21 years ago, I received a “smart” watch for Christmas: the Casio CMD-40. A bulky watch with fiddly buttons that could control your audio and video equipment from your wrist. I often dreamt of messing with the TVs at school to confuse the hell out of my teachers and be a playground hero. I never had … Read more »

Saturday, February 28th, 2015.

Is There An Echo In Here?

IMAGE: Amazon When Amazon gave me the opportunity to purchase their new voice command-activated device, Echo, I very impulsively hit the “buy” button. Three months after I ordered it (I’ve read others were given shipping dates of June or July), it arrived in a nondescript, matte black box, about the size to contain a single shoe.… Read more »

Wednesday, February 25th, 2015.

Automatic For The Prius

I purchased Automatic over a year ago. It’s a little gizmo that plugs into the OBD port in your car and connects to your phone via Bluetooth. It gathers data that can warn you about issues with your vehicle (like telling you what’s really up when your check engine light comes on) and can improve your … Read more »

Thursday, February 19th, 2015.

New Look

You know that feeling when you wake up on a Sunday morning and you’re like, “I’m gonna redesign my website today”? That was me 3 days ago. The previous site was focused on photography but I’m getting old and I’ve been spending less times at divey bars on Tuesday nights. Don’t despair! I still love music (check out the … Read more »

Wednesday, February 18th, 2015.

Transmission’s New Order

For the past few months The Shinebox has been working closely with The Current’s DJ Jake Rudh to revamp his brand and launch his new company Transmission Music. Check out his new site which I designed and developed. For further reading, I wrote some background about the site on the Shineblog.