Grillbot

Cleaning your outdoor grill can be a greasy mess.  That's why we need robots like this grillbot.

Make a great Christmas gift.  Just saying.

http://grillbots.com/

Liquid Light

Far Out Friday:

Liquid Light has technology that makes useful chemicals from carbon dioxide (CO2).  Their first process is for the production of ethylene glycol, which is used to make products such as plastic bottles, antifreeze and polyester.

So we can clean up the environment and make useful stuff.  Truly far out!

http://llchemical.com/

Auberge du Soleil

Hands down the best dinner and dining experience I've ever had was at Auberge du Soleil, located part way up a mountain road off the Silverado Trail in Rutherford, California (i.e. Napa Valley). Sitting outside on a warm evening, facing the setting sun, a bottle of red wine and a delicious dinner. Simply doesn't get any better.

http://www.aubergedusoleil.com/

Lastar Intergalactic HQ

Hump Day Humor:

I've loved this sign for quite a while (on southbound Kettering Blvd just north of Stroop Rd.).  Nice to see a local company with a sense of humor (although INTERGALACTIC HEADQUARTERS is technically true).  Lastar was acquired by Legrand (out of Hardford, CT) earlier this year.  I can only hope they keep the sense of humor.

Jigsaw Puzzles

iPad Owners Only:

On this first day of autumn, as we reflect on a beautiful summer and look forward to this best time of year, thoughts of short days and frosty nights begin to invade.  How did we handle these horrid times in our youth?  Jigsaw puzzles! Spread out over the dining room table only to be destroyed as dinner approached.

If you're a puzzle fan, check out this iPad app or one of many other choices, grab your favorite blanket and get ready for old man Winter.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jigsaw-puzzle/id495583717

Emoji in iOS

iOS Only:

A picture paints a thousand words, or maybe you just want to make your email a bit cuter.  If you're sending between iOS devices (iPhone/iPad) you can use hundreds of emoji by activating an alternate keyboard (see the link below for details).

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4976

Swype in iOS 8

iOS 8 Only:

Took Apple seven years to allow alternate keyboards on iOS, but the wait is over with this week's release of iOS 8.  My favorite, which I've used for years on my Android phones, is Swype ($0.99) and one of the main reasons I have an Android phone.  There are several others including Swiftkey (free, I love free) and Fleksy ($0.99).  Read about all the above and more at this CNET article.

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/ios-iphone-8-keyboard/

Divide Broken in iOS 8

The Divide email client currently is not working on iOS 8, so don't upgrade to Apple's latest and greatest until a fix is released.

Read more about it at:

http://support.divide.com/hc/en-us/articles/203197230-iOS-8-Release-Effect-on-Divide

Free U2 Album

iTunes Store Users Only:

In case you missed it, you have a free album from U2 available in your iTunes Store.

Creating Ringtones

Why pay anything for custom ringtones?  I create mine using the free (I love free) program Audacity and my favorite music. I currently use a short clip of the saxophone solo from Bob Seger's "Turn The Page".  

Just load up your favorite mp3 into Audacity, select the portion before the section you want to keep and delete it.  Repeat that for the portion after, save it and download it to your phone's ringtone directory. 

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/