Technology + Lifestyle

It was not too long ago (250-300 years) that books were a rather valuable commodity.  Each family owned maybe one or two, with the more sophisticated and educated perhaps owning quite a few more.  Now, books are on sale at some places for as low as 1cent, and are loaned, lent, and even given away for free at local libraries.  As the times have changed, readership and readable medium has changed, and progressed hand-in-hand with the ongoing technological evolution.  If you are a reader and are looking for new ways to experience text, or if you are content to continue on letting your eyes graze along the yellowed and worn pages of your favorite book, but are curious as to what other avid readers are pursuing – then have a look at 10 pieces of technology for the reader.

Amazon Kindle. The recent release of the Amazon Kindle 2 has re-revolutionized [click to continue...]

March Madness 2009 is official.  The tournament selections were revealed last night, and the mad dash begins today for information about teams.  Bracket pools are being organized across offices, schools, and other various organizations.  March Madness cost businesses $1.7B last year as a result of people taking work time to use and access March Madness technology.  Now, don’t get down on me for promoting ways to waste time in the office.  I just report on the technology, I don’t necessarily advocate it.  But, because basketball is my favorite sport, and March Madness does rival Christmas for the title of “Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, I do advocate everything here and believe it is all worth using – no matter where you are. [click to continue...]

People do search for jobs outside of economic recessions, however loss of a job and unemployment make job searches even of a necessity.  Many job hunters don’t really know how good they have it.  Rather than letting the local paper scam you into working for a CutCo Knives distributor or a Kirby Vacuum dealer, the job searcher might want to employ technology to find some work worth doing.

The greatest piece of technology available to the job hunter, is the internet.  A significant number of websites whose sole purpose is to find jobs for job hunters are at your disposal.  I’m not talking about the big names like Monster or CareerBuilder either.  As far as I know, these sites “job listings” are more or less just a different form of consumer advertisements, and provide little value.  A few people may have found favor at these places, and perhaps a helpful resume tip or two as well, but it is unlikely that your next (enjoyable) job will be found there.  Outlined below are a few great websites, ideas, and tips designed to help the job hunter utilize technology to find employment. [click to continue...]

The term “soccer mom” is a cliche term referring to the mother who leads a buys lifestyle.  The typical soccer mom manages her childrens school, sports, and activity schedules, typically drives a minivan, and never misses one of little Junior’s soccer games.  I have outlined below, the different pieces of technology that will assist in making the soccer mom’s lifestyle mire efficient and manageable.

Cellphone. A cell phone is almost an essential for the “on-the-go” kind of lifestyle that soccer moms lead.  The wireless nature of mobile phones and vast coverage of wireless networks allow for maximum portability.  Mrs. Mom can make her calls whenever and whenever she wants to or needs to.  Cellphones also give mom a high level of accessibility should she need to be reached in the case of an emergency, or even routine phone call. [click to continue...]

Here I am at almost 2am.  I went to bed about 2 hours ago, thinking I was doing myself a favor going to sleep a little earlier that I usually do.  As it turns out, I am still wide awake and not feeling the slightest bit tired.  What do people do when they just can’t fall asleep?  Chances are they will utilize some sort of technology.

Technology generally offers a quicker disconnect than any activity not involving technology.  It is completely possible to get engrossed in a book or magazine, and remain awake once you have hit the point of being ready to sleep.  Watching television however, is a bit less interactive and offers the opportunity to disengage by falling right to sleep whenever needed.  Below, I have listed my go-to pieces of technology to utilize when I am unable to sleep. [click to continue...]

In 2007, Technorati announced that the blogosphere was growing at a rate of 120,000 new blogs per day.  Every 1.4 seconds, a new blog is created.  Many of these new bloggers are hoping to ride the wave that has made many bloggers some part time money.  Others began blogging as a way to let off some steam.  An even smaller contingent decided to blog about their lives, in hopes that someone, somewhere will read.  Whatever the reason, bloggers integrate certain technologies with their lifestyle as they make their blog entries each day.  I have outlined the most popular and essential ones below. [click to continue...]

In many of the Techsplosive articles and product reviews “portability” has been a quality that is frequently cited as a product advantage.  On a recent post entitled Technology for the College Lifestyle a commentator brought up two interesting points worth thinking about.  jrandom42 said:

With all this portable stuff, this brings up these questions:

1) How do you keep from getting your stuff stolen, lost or misplaced?

2) What do you do when you discover it’s gone and taken your data with it?

Portability is a great feature, but it’s also a great weakness.

To answer the first question, much of this deals with personal responsibility.  Taking care of and keeping good track of possessions will no doubt greatly prevent losing, misplacing, or theft.  However, no matter how much effort and planning goes into taking care of and keeping track of items, there is always an exception.  There is the possibility that your gadgets and electronics could be stolen by force.  Thankfully, technology developers are often one step ahead. [click to continue...]

College life is one of the most mind opening experiences that young adults will have.  College students are exposed to different cultures, ways of thought, and lifestyle than what they were used to during high school.  Colleges possess the full spectrum of students with the full spectrul of student’s lifestyles.  While all college students are different in their cultural or personal lifestyles, most college students share the same technological needs and tastes to aid and express their lifestyle.

The Laptop. Back when my parents were in school, the essential piece of content publication technology was a Brother brand typewriter that printed on thermal paper.  Technology has progressed quite a bit over the last thirty years, and I am able to write my papers and publish my content from this 13.9″ Sony Vaio notebook computer.  While some students do have PCs in their dorm room, laptop computers are the preference of most college students.  Campus-wide WiFi technology and the portable nature of laptops has made it possible for students to write papers (or access FaceBook) from almost anywhere on campus. [click to continue...]

Over the past few years that has been an increased number of people attempting to start their own business and build it into a passive income stream via outsourcing.  This recent push is no doubt due to books and testimonials such as Tim Ferriss’s “Four Hour Workweek“. Mr. Ferriss offers many different tech solutions, website resources, and company referrals for the outsourcer to consider, and so there is no reason to highlight those once again here.  Instead, the focus here will be on the pieces of technology and gadgets you may want to invest in if you live an outsourced and presumably mobile lifestyle. [click to continue...]