Home 2017 June

Word. introduces their new Beach Vibes collection


Pocket notebook company Word. has just announced a new limited series of their notebooks called the Beach Vibes collection. This collection includes three different notebook that will be available in packages of three. There’s the Surf, Palm, and Beach cover styles. Once these three styles sell out, they’ll be gone forever. Each 3.5 x 5.5in sized Word. notebook is made in the USA and features 48 lined pages with a stapled spine. You can order a pack of 3 Beach Vibes notebooks for $9.99 from www.wordnotebooks.com.

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Word. introduces their new Beach Vibes collection originally appeared on on June 30, 2017 at 12:44 pm.

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Koogeek SK1Smart Socket review


I’m in the process of slowly automating my home, so when the opportunity to review the Koogeek SK1 Smart Socket, I jumped at the opportunity. I anticipated turning light on and off from afar, and dimming them to suit a particular mood… I get ahead of myself. 

The Koogeek socket arrived in a sturdy box, nestled in a form-fitting plastic tray and a tiny 3” X 3” instruction card. The socket itself is very basic, about 3 inches in diameter, a standard bulb socket on one end, and the flange that goes into the lamp’s socket on the other. There is a single pushbutton on the socket to perform all of its functions, including turning the lamp on and off without using the app.

Screwing the lamp into a lamp socket revealed the first hurdle in my plan to electronically dominate my home: With the Koogeek socket installed, the bulb is raised about 1.5 inches from the existing socket. I found that in the lamp I had chosen for use, the bulb was raised enough to contact the loop that holds the lampshade. I found a slightly smaller profile bulb that fit, but it’s still tight. On lamps that have more space above the bulb, this would not be an issue.

I downloaded their app, created a user account and went through the pairing process. It was refreshingly simple. Screw in the bulb, screw the socket into the lamp, turn the lamp on and hold the solitary pushbutton until it flashes. Open the app, click the “+”, and type in the number of the device conveniently located on the socket and that form-fitting plastic tray it arrived in. Nice touch. I can imagine if this device were placed in a difficult to reach location, it might be tedious to get the number from the socket itself.

Voila! I’m in business. The whole process taking no more than a minute. The app reliably turned the bulb on and off from any location in my home. I moved on to creating scenes – essentially macros for automating multiple Koogeek device actions into a single button. For example, I used the “Good Night” scene to turn the light off. If I possessed additional Koogeek products, it would have been simple to string my desired instructions into a Scene and execute with a touch of a button.

I searched everywhere in the app for a method to dim the lamp only to find, there is none. Nope, my dreams of dimming the lights before movie time were gone. Bummer. Also non-existent was the ability to put the socket on a timer – The app page is blank. Another bummer. What they do have is a nifty “details” page showing the lamps power consumption and historical usage.

Koogeek’s app is compatible with Apple’s ”Home” app, inviting me to further integration fun. After going through the process of adding the socket to the app, I found the functionality to be virtually identical – on, off, and scenes. That’s it. The device is touted to have Alexa connectivity, but this is limited to Koogeek’s P2 socket at this time.

Next, I attempted to control the socket when disconnected from my home network (on a 4G cellular network), only to find Koogeek requires integration through Apple TV, which unfortunately I do not own, so I was not able to test remote functionality.

I found the Koogeek SK1 socket useful, but only for the most basic functions and only while in my home. The socket is sturdy and reliable but lacks many of the functions of its competitors such as dimming, timers and the ability to control away from the home network. I’m hopeful that as Koogeek’s products evolve, more functionality will be added.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Koogeek. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

 

Product Information

Price: $39.99
Manufacturer: Koogeek
Retailer: Amazon
Pros:
  • Simple setup
  • Reliable performance
Cons:
  • Lacks dimming
  • Lacks scheduling
  • Lacks control away from home network
  • No Alexa connectivity

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Koogeek SK1Smart Socket review originally appeared on on June 30, 2017 at 9:00 am.

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Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) explained: AMBER alerts and what the heck is a Severe Alert vs. an Extreme Alert and how do I turn them off?!?


Here’s the scenario: I’m at home in the middle of the night sleeping, dreaming of eating doughnuts without guilt when suddenly I’m jolted out of my blissful reverie by my phone’s blaring emergency broadcast alert. I fumble around frantically to find my phone to determine the type of impending doom that’s about to befall me and mine only to find that it’s a flash flood warning which is not a threat to me where I live. Uuuugh! Sometimes this happens when I’m in a meeting or in a class or watching a recital and I’ve diligently silenced my phone except for the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) that get through in mortifying fashion. Most of my alerts have been flash flood warnings, so how do I turn those off?

In all seriousness, these alerts were implemented to warn us of highly dangerous situations and I’m thankful that they exist. They save lives. But before I get into how to alter the emergency alert settings I want to explain a little about the alerts.

About Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

Who issues emergency alerts: They are issued by government alerting authorities like the National Weather Service (NWS), Department of Homeland Security, and state and local public safety agencies according to Weather warnings to go!, a publication issued by the National Weather Service (NWS).

How are the alerts sent?: “Federal, state, local and tribal public safety agencies must apply to FEMA to become alert-originating authorities. Once the alert-originators are authorized, FEMA authenticates the sender and the alert. FEMA transmits the WEA to the more than 100 participating wireless providers who may have customers in that designated alerting area. Only those customers in that target area receive the alert.” (from ctia.org – the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association – an international nonprofit organization that represents all sectors of wireless communications).

They are not text messages: Some of these alerts might look like text messages but they are not and are thus not affected by network congestion that may affect mobile voice or text messaging services. According to ctia.org, the emergency alerts will be no more than 90 characters, contain the type of alert it is and the time, who is affected and what action to take and the agency issuing the alert.

Types of alerts/examples of alerts: There are only three types of alerts that you will receive according to the Federal Communications Commission FCC:

  1. Alerts issued by the President
  2. Alerts involving imminent threats to safety or life
  3. AMBER alerts (named after “9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnaped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, TX, and then brutally murdered” according to amberalert.gov; also stands for America’s Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response)

So, in addition to severe weather and AMBER alerts, you may receive evacuation orders, terrorist threat alerts, chemical spill alerts, etc. according to the FCC.

Wireless carrier/device limitations: It is important to know that some phones may not be WEA compatible. If that is the case for you, you may still receive alerts via mobile apps. Also, your wireless carrier must participate in the WEA program for you to receive the alerts; however, more than 100 mobile carriers, including all of the largest carriers, participate in the WEA program according to ctia.org.

Alerts are location dependent: Alerts are issued according to your current location. Thus, if you are traveling, you will receive alerts according to the location you are visiting. In other words, if you are using a cell tower in the alert zone, you will receive that alert according to the FCC. Since the alerts are dependent on the cell tower you are currently using, you and a friend can be in the same location but if you are using different cell towers, you may not receive the same alerts (FCC).

Altering your alert settings

Can the alerts be turned off?: Depending on your wireless carrier and type of phone that you use, you can turn off some of these alerts but you CANNOT block alerts issued by the President. And, since these alerts are so important, they will ignore your Do Not Disturb settings. For my own purposes, I’m focusing on altering the settings of the weather alerts that I receive. Since I spend most of my time at home as a homeschool teacher where flash floods are not a threat, I do not want to receive those unnecessary warnings. So I dug into my phone’s settings to investigate how to turn this alert off.

Location of alert settings on phones: Where in the world are the WEA (or Emergency broadcasts) settings? It’s fairly straightforward to find those settings on an iPhone. They are located in Settings > Notifications > (scroll to the bottom) Government Alerts. Under Government Alerts there are only two settings to turn on or off: AMBER Alerts and Emergency Alerts.

However, if you use an Android phone, it turns out the alert settings could be anywhere (well almost anywhere it seems), depending on the phone (the following list of steps is based on the Android phones I have at home and steps I have googled for some other phones):

  • Android 7: Phone Settings > Sound > Emergency broadcasts
  • Android 5 and 6: Phone Settings > More > Emergency broadcasts
  • Older Android versions: Phone Settings > More > Wireless & Networks > Cell Broadcast settings  (from phonetipz.com)
  • Samsung Galaxy S7: Phone Settings > Privacy and Emergency > Emergency Alerts > More button > Settings (from tomsguide.com)
  • HTC One M9 and LG G6: Emergency Alerts app > Menu icon (vertical ellipsis) > Settings (from tomsguide.com)

You can also alter the alert settings via your messaging app on your Android 7.0 phone:

  • Messenger > Menu icon (vertical ellipsis) > Settings > Advanced > Wireless Alerts > Menu icon (vertical ellipsis) > Settings


Android emergency alert settings: These are broken down into more detail than iPhone users have access to. The above screenshots show the various alerts and alert settings that you can disable or enable on your Android phone. They are:

  1. Show extreme threats
  2. Show severe threats
  3. Show AMBER alerts

You also have the option to enable the following: display notifications, select the duration of the alert sound, set an alert reminder, vibrate on alert, speak alert messages, display test broadcasts for the Earthquake Tsunami Warning System (ETWS), display test broadcasts for Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS – this is an older name for what is now known as Wireless Emergency Alerts), and show an opt-out dialog after displaying the first CMAS alert (other than Presidential Alert).

By default, all of my alerts were enabled. You might be saying to yourself just as I did, “I want to receive tornado alerts but not flash flood alerts. So, is a flash flood a severe threat or an extreme threat? And what exactly is the difference between the two?” *scratching head*

It turns out that severe threats and extreme threats include the following (the table above and the following information come from the NWS):

Severe threats (see the table above for warning details):

  • storm surge warnings
  • flash flood warnings
  • dust storm warnings

Extreme threats (see the table above for warning details):

  • tsunami warnings
  • tornado warnings
  • severe wind warnings
  • hurricane warnings
  • typhoon warnings

Now, knowing the difference between Severe threats and Extreme threats, I unselected the Show severe threats so that I could avoid getting flash flood warnings. So, there you have it. All about Wireless Emergency Alerts. Whew! That was a lot of work just to figure out how to turn off Flash Flood warnings!

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Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) explained: AMBER alerts and what the heck is a Severe Alert vs. an Extreme Alert and how do I turn them off?!? originally appeared on on June 30, 2017 at 8:00 am.

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Flares Pro earphones produce sound quality that feels live


It takes a lot of confidence to name an earphone a “Pro” model. That simple three-letter word sets up all kinds of expectations. Flare doesn’t make many products—one model of consumer speakers, ear plugs for noise protection, a line of pro speakers and now the Flares Pro wireless earphones. As Flare states, “New wireless earphones that produce sound quality so high every recording feels live.” One look at the box and it’s clearly apparent that Flare is serious.

The Flares Pro earphones are made of aerospace grade 5 titanium which makes them both light and strong. They are also open-backed—a rarity in earphones. The shells contain speakers are 5.5 mm beryllium connected by removable oxygen-free reinforced cables. Flare utilizes what they call Dual Jet technology—a complicated process that uses opposing pressure to achieve a balance in all frequencies thereby reducing distortion.

The Flares Pro earphones connect through a small DAC which can play hi-res music files up to 16BIT 48/96kHz. Battery life is rated at 10 hours from a 2 hour charge. aptX 4.1 Bluetooth has a range of 50 ft. Both the DAC and earphones are designed to work together in perfect balance. “In order to move forward we have gone back to the very beginning to understand how sound interacts on a molecular level” says Flare’s inventor Davies Roberts.

The large selection of included ear tips is divided for audiophile, everyday and universal listening with each having its advantages and disadvantages, which Flare plainly explains.

The Flares Pro earphones sell for $454.00 US. Visit Flare Audio for more information.

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Flares Pro earphones produce sound quality that feels live originally appeared on on June 30, 2017 at 7:00 am.

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Ghost Studio’s Android Wear watch faces are incredible


Wow. That’s the only word that popped into my head when I clicked a link in an email to the Ghost Studio website. I wasn’t expecting much because I get so many emails asking to look at apps, products, etc, that end up being disappointing when I take the time to check them out. That wasn’t the case when I visited the Ghost Studio site and saw their Android Wear and Samsung Galaxy S3/S2 smart watch faces.

My name is Lazar Ilic and I’m a designer and co-owner of Ghost Studio. I think you might be interested in checking us out. We develop realistic watch faces for Android Wear and Samsung Gear S3/S2 smart watches, and we are trying to bring the look of luxurious mechanical watches to their smart counterparts thus making smart watches appear more stylish and luxurious and be perceived more as fashion accessories than just tech gadgets. We are led by the motto “Tech meets fashion” and we believe that our apps contribute to reducing the gap between high-end analog watches and smart watches in terms of visual experience.

At the moment, I counted 11 watch faces in their store. Each one is available for Android Wear watches and Samsung Galaxy Gear S2/S3 watches for $1.50 each.

The faces feature animated second hands and different color schemes. There are even feminine styles.

Ghost Studio even has a YouTube channel where you can see the watch faces in action like the video above.

If you’re an Android Wear or Galaxy Gear fan, you’ll want to check out ghostfaces.net. I bet you’ll say wow too.

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Ghost Studio’s Android Wear watch faces are incredible originally appeared on on June 29, 2017 at 5:23 pm.

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