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IndieDoGood.com helps makers succeed and give back to society #sponsored

This is a sponsored post; while the views expressed here are mine, consideration was paid to me by IndieDoGood to write this article.

The Maker Movement is a group of inventors, designers, engineers, artists, and craftsman that embrace the do-it-yourself spirit and excitement of bringing consumers one of a kind products. IndieDoGood.com was created to help makers succeed while at the same time give back to society. How do they do that? IndieDoGood.com connects entrepreneurs and inventors with consumers on their website who are looking for innovative and unique products. Every purchase of a maker’s product on the Indie Do Good site includes a “do-good” which is a 5% donation of the total purchase price of the product to a charity that the buyer can choose from a list of their partner charities.

I don’t know about you, but knowing that even a small portion of my hard earned money gives back to charity, is an incentive to buy from that maker. I’m not alone in this feeling. Currently, 75% of consumers age 22-36 consider it important to support brands that give back to society, and 37% of those same consumers are more likely to buy items associated with a particular cause, especially if they are causes that they and their friends support.

IndieDoGood.com was founded by Ron and Sue Otten. Sue had a successful corporate career at Apple before she and her husband Ron became makers themselves and created the Indie Do Good website to help other makers.

The Founders, Ron and Susan Otten, had successful corporate careers and now are successful entrepreneurs and makers themselves. What drives them is their passion for two things; one, providing an environment for other entrepreneurs to begin their story; two, giving back to charities and local communities, contributing to a better world.

As of this writing, Indie Do Good is featuring almost a dozen different makers and their selection of products. Here is more info about just a few of the makers that are currently offering their products through the IndieDoGood.com

Shore Boards

Shore Boards started by building hollow-wood paddle boards, that can even be customized and are gorgeous pieces of art. These top-quality, heirloom boards are handmade for all types of board sports including Stand Up Paddle Boards (SUPs), Longboards, and Wakesurf boards. Using sustainable materials, Shore Boards brings to life a high-performance art that is grown to ride. Here’s a fantastic video that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the way these boards are made and provides some insights to this home-grown artisan company.

Fair Anita

Fair Anita is a social enterprise that exists to create opportunities for women and girls, selling trendy (and affordable) fair trade jewelry and accessories made by over 8,000 talented women in 16 countries. Fair Anita provides dignified jobs in countries with extreme poverty and domestic violence. The company’s talented artisan partners carefully design and create all products by hand—gorgeous accessories you can be proud to wear.

Cycle Force

Cycle Force is the home of unique and hard to find bikes from around the world. It was founded and is operated by bike enthusiasts who have a goal of a bicycle for every man, woman, and child on the planet. In addition to its awesome bike selection, Cycle Force also offers parts and accessories for just about any make, model or style of cycling. Company founder Nyle Nyms firmly believes that his company does not just sell bicycles…they provide Independence to their customers around the world.

If you would like to help support the Maker Movement and learn more about the Indie Do Good makers, head over to IndieDoGood.com for more maker stories and their catalog of unique products.

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IndieDoGood.com helps makers succeed and give back to society #sponsored originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 9, 2018 at 12:05 pm.

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Fender Player Series Jaguar guitar review


REVIEW – Fender’s new Player Series Jaguar guitar is begging to be picked up and played.

What is it?

The Jaguar body style is a classic offset-body design that moves some of the mass towards the tail resulting in a very comfortable playing position. Clearly a descendent of the legendary Jazzmaster, the Jaguar has as impressive artist roster including Bob Dylan, Joe Pass, Johnny Marr, John Frusciante, Kurt Cobain and Thurston Moore. The new Player Series takes the heritage of the Fender brand, the authentic Fender sound, and adds accessibility and playability for this generation. In our house, there’s a bit of a role reversal as I’m into punk/metal/alternative and he regularly schools me in music that was clearly influenced or was created by musicians of my dad’s era. Funnily enough, the last guitar I purchased for myself (’95?) was a Fender Jag-Stang, a hybrid of Jaguar and Mustang bodies, so I was excited to see what’s new in a 2018 Jaguar.

Hardware specs

Body – Material / Shape / Finish / Color:
Alder / Jaguar® / Gloss polyester / Tidepool
Neck – Material / Shape / Finish:
Maple / Modern C / Satin urethane on back of neck
Fingerboard – Material / Scale / Fret count / Radius:
Pau Ferro / 24″ / 22 / 9.5″
Nut – Material / Width
Synthetic bone / 1.65″
Position inlays –
White dots
Electronics –
Bridge pickup – Player Series Alnico 3 Jaguar Humbucking
Neck pickup – Player Series Alnico 2 Jaguar Single-Coil
Controls – Master Volume, Master Tone
Pickup Switching – 3-Position blade: 1) Bridge pickup, 2) Bridge and neck pickups, 3) Neck pickup
Coil Switch – Slide switch to coil split humbucker
Hardware –
Bridge – 6-Saddle vintage-style adjustable with “floating” tremolo tailpiece
Tuning machines – Standard cast/sealed
Neck plate – 4-Bolt “F” stamped
Control knobs – Skirted amp knobs
Pickguard – 3-Ply black/white/black
Switch tip – Barrel style
Strings –
Fender® USA, NPS, (.009-.042 Gauges)

What’s in the box?

  • Fender Player Jaguar Guitar
  • Tremolo arm
  • Allen keys
  • Assorted hangtags and a sticker

A quick public service announcement. Most guitars in the sub-$1000 range ship in a box well padded, but without a case. If you’re purchasing a guitar online without playing it first, make sure you carefully inspect the guitar upon receipt and notify the shipper right away if there’s any damage… And then get a good case or gig bag to keep it safe!

Design and features

It would be hard to write a review about a Fender Jaguar and not to mention the body shape, so I’m going to start there. A lot of guitar bodies are symmetrical or have a lone cutaway below the neck for easier high fret access. The offset body style of the Jaguar accomplishes the same thing in regards to the high frets, but visually shifts some of the body mass as well.

The back of the neck is a modern “C” shape which is very hand friendly. The fingerboard has 9.5″ radius which is flatter than their 7.25″ radius which is a more vintage shape down to about a 1/3 of the guitars they make. The shape and radius they’ve chosen make this guitar very playable. The classic oversized headstock balances the body perfectly.

Another very visual aspect of the Jaguar is the floating tremolo which allows you to modulate all six strings at once for some very cool effects. The tremolo arm pushes into place and stays where you leave it; a great improvement over the older style that required screwing the arm into place or using an Allen key to lock it down.

The humbucking bridge and single coil neck pickup give you a wide variety of tone to play with and the 3-position slider makes it really easy to switch between them or run them both. There’s also a slide switch up high above the neck pickup. This effectively lets you split the bridge humbucker if you want to get more of a single coil sound out of it.

Setup

The Jaguar effectively comes ready to use out of the box. A quick look-over confirmed everything was adjusted well with action set neutrally without any fret buzz. All that was left was to remove the plastic film from the pickguard, a bit of string stretching and a final tune. Ready to roll.

Performance

There’s a bit of a role reversal as I’m into punk/metal/alternative and he regularly schools me in music that was clearly influenced or was created by musicians of my dad’s era. Funnily enough, the last guitar I purchased for myself (’95?) was a Fender Jag-Stang, a hybrid of Jaguar and Mustang bodies, so I was excited to see what a 2018 Jaguar would be.

My son has been playing jazz guitar for a good number of years now. His guitars have all been arch-tops and semi-hollow designs which lend themselves well to his music. He’d been eyeing a Telecaster recently and when the opportunity came up to review a Fender and to select between a Stratocaster, Telecaster and a Jaguar, I was a little surprised that it was the Jaguar he was drawn to. A buddy he plays in a band with gave him a bit of grief when he found out he passed up a Tele “Ugh, I hate that guitar. It’s so hipster”. On seeing the Jaguar in person a week or so later; “I completely change my mind, that is sick!”

Let’s jump into some videos so you can listen to how the Jaguar plays. The audio on these is recorded through the Roland Go-Mixer directly to an iPhone 8 with no effects. This first video is of some quick scales and arpeggios.

Here’s the tonal difference between the neck pickup, neck/bridge combined and the bridge pickup positions using the 3-position switch and ‘Black Dog’ by Led Zeppelin.

Having a little fun with ‘Back & Forth’ by Foo Fighters

And now for something a bit funkier

Here’s the tremolo in action and some of the sustain abilities of the Jaguar

What I like

  • Playability – Stays in tune even with tremolo
  • Comfort – Neck and fingerboard shape is friendly
  • Build quality – Solid feel, nothing feels wimpy or fragile
  • Color and finish – The tidepool is beautiful

What needs to be improved

  • Rear strap mount angle – If you push the body of the guitar left too far it can work itself right out of your strap.

Final thoughts

Guitars are personal. From body shape to neck feel to color to materials and sound, there’s someone out there for everyone. Fender’s Jaguar was instantly comfortable to play for both my son and myself. It’s not a light guitar, but with the right strap, long stretches of playing time should not be an issue. The tremolo is easy to use and just as easy to avoid if it’s not your thing. Overall this is a great guitar from a heritage brand, at a great price. If the way it looks piques your interest, please go play one and see for yourself.

Price: $675
Where to buy: Fender
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Fender

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Fender Player Series Jaguar guitar review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 9, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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This water bottle is so Hip!

NEWS – This water bottle from Hip won’t fit in a car’s drink holder, but its shape may allow it to fit into your pocket or bag more easily.  The Flask Water Bottle measures 4.8″ x 2″ x 7.25″ and holds 22 ounces.  The body is made of clear, BPA-free Tritan plastic; the sleeve, strap, and twist cap is made of silicone.  Please note that the strap allows you to attach the bottle to a bag strap or a belt loop for easy carrying; it doesn’t tether the twist cap to the bottle, as you can see in the following photo.  The Flask is top-rack dishwasher-safe.  You can clean the bottle with or without the silicone sleeve in place.

Through a partnership with Water For People, an organization that’s committed to improving access to water around the world, each bottle purchased provides two days of safe drinking water to a person without access to clean water.

The Hip Flask Water Bottle is available in blush, cloud, midnight, or ocean for $14.95 at The Grommet.

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This water bottle is so Hip! originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 9, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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Abode DIY Home Security System review

REVIEW – The Abode DIY Home Security System is an Internet-enabled, simple system of sensors, alarms, and cameras to help secure your home. It’s very easy to set up and maintain and there are a number of affordable add-on modules and services. At $229.99 for the basic system and no monthly contract needed, it’s a terrific bargain for those looking to add some security to their home or apartment.

What is it?

The Abode Home Security System is a modular alarm system that connects to your modem or router and, with the help of a mobile app, helps keep tabs on the security of your home. The Basic Abode System comes with a Remote KeyFob, a Mini Door/Window Sensor, and a Motion Sensor. You can add as many cameras, sensors, and alarms as you like because of the modular design and easy setup process.

For such an affordable system, the Abode offers some high-end options such as battery backup, cellular connected monitoring, and online cloud storage.

There are three no-contract options for professional monitoring plans; free, $10 monthly, and $30 monthly. There’s even an option for on-demand monitoring for vacations or times when you’re away from home and want to have some extra peace of mind. The monthly plans are able to be paid annually for significant savings.

What’s in the box?

  • 1 Abode Gateway
  • 1 Mini Door/Window Sensor
  • 1 Remote KeyFob
  • 1 Motion Sensor

Setup

The Abode Gateway is the brains, and mouth, of the whole Abode Security System. It runs the entire system and contains a 93db built-in siren to alert you of activity on your network.

On the back of the Gateway, there is an Ethernet port, a USB port, a battery backup switch, a SIM card slot, and a power connection. The battery switch enables the internal Gateway battery backup which can power the unit in case of a power outage. The SIM card allows for an emergency cellular connection for the paid monitoring plans.

Once you connect the Gateway via ethernet cable to your modem or router and give it access to your network, it can interface with the Abode app and website. The Gateway itself doesn’t use your Wifi network, it communicates with the Abode devices via encrypted long-range 433MHz, ZigBee or Z-Wave wireless protocols.

Abode makes a number of useful modules such as glass break/vibration sensors, temperature and light sensors, smoke alarm monitors, and water leak sensors. The modules are all powered by small long-life batteries.

The Abode system can interface with a number of third-party cameras and smart home systems such as Alexa, Google Home, and Nest. Abode is also compatible with an impressive number of Z-Wave and ZigBee devices such as garage door openers, fire alarms, and smoke detectors. Utilizing IFTTT can expand Abode’s versatility even more.

Once the Gateway is wired to your network, the rest of the setup happens via the Abode app. The Abode app walks you through the whole setup process and then allows you to add in individual modules as well. The app is available for Android and Apple iOS.

In addition to the Mini Door Sensor, Remote KeyFob, and Motion Sensor included with the Basic Kit, I added a second Mini Door Sensor and a Wireless Keypad.

All of the sensors I installed had options to mount them with screws or double-sided tape. I opted for installing the modules with the double-sided tape because I wasn’t sure what locations would work best and I wanted the ability to change the module locations.

The included Motion Sensor utilizes passive infrared detection and can detect motion in most rooms up to 39 feet in a 110° field of view. It can be mounted flat on a wall or in a corner.

The Mini Door Sensors are able to be used on windows as well. Both sides of the sensor contain a magnet and when the magnetic field is broken because of too much distance, the sensor triggers the Gateway.

The Remote KeyFob looks just like a car alarm fob and acts much the same. There are buttons on the fob for arming, disarming, and setting the system to Home mode. There’s also a fourth button earmarked for future development such as a panic button.

Mounting the modules was very easy once I found the optimum spots for them. The Keypad was easiest, I placed it by the main entrance to the house. The Keypad and web app allow you to assign different PIN codes for different members of your household. This helps keep track of who did what at what time. Of course, this only works if nobody knows the PIN of anyone else.

With the Keypad, KeyFob, and Abode app, you’re able to set your system to Away, Home, or Standby. Away arms all sensors, indoor and out, and is used when you’re leaving your property. Home arms all external sensors and is used when you’re home and still want to be secure. Standby disables all security sensors; sensors like fire alarms and water detectors still stay active in this mode.

There’s also a great option for adding a Duress PIN code if you’re using one of the paid monitoring options. Entering the Duress PIN on the keypad will automatically alert the monitoring center. This is useful in a situation where someone is forcing you to disarm the system via the Keypad.

The Mini Door Sensors were a little more difficult to mount only because of the different types of door frames in our older house.

After some trial and error, I was able to find configurations that worked perfectly to trigger the sensors when the doors opened and closed.

Having the option to mount the motion sensor flat in the center of a wall or tucked into a high corner is great and adds flexibility to where you can place the useful sensor.

Performance

From the second the Abode System was set up it has run flawlessly. The instructions are easy to understand for old and young alike and everyone in our family has quickly taken to making sure the system is set to Away when we leave, Standby during the day, and Home at night.

Using the Abode website I was able to configure all sorts of alerts and notifications to keep me informed about the activity on the system. If you opt for one of the paid tier monitoring plans, the customization goes even deeper.

Given the success of our testing, we’re already planning on adding a number of other useful Abode modules to our system.

What I like

  • Super easy setup
  • Very reliable
  • Easy for all family members to understand
  • No required monitoring contracts
  • Modular design
  • A large number of compatible smart home products
  • Great customer support
  • Not reliant on WiFi

What needs to be improved

  • It would be great if the Basic System came with a few Door/Window Sensors
  • The website can be a little difficult to navigate if you’re just looking for basic explanations of how the system works

Final thoughts

I love the Abode DIY Home Security System and I’ve recommended it to a number of friends and family members. The price is right, the functionality is outstanding, and the performance is flawless. But, the best part about this system is that it can be as simple or advanced as you like because it’s completely modular.

Price: $229.00
Where to buy: Abode and Amazon.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Abode.

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Abode DIY Home Security System review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 9, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Save space with this table that has a built-in Bluetooth speaker

NEWS – Do you lack the space for a Bluetooth speaker? It’s no problem with the Sierra Modern Home Studio Smart Table which has a Bluetooth speaker and the controls built right into the table. But what’s great is that it’s not a regular Bluetooth speaker. It’s a 360° Bluetooth speaker that will fill a room with your favorite tunes. But wait, there’s more! This table also has a built-in wireless Qi charger so you can keep your smartphone charged at the same time that you’re listening to your music, making it the perfect choice for a nightstand or side table. You can buy the Sierra Modern Home Studio Smart Table for $189.99 on Amazon.

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Save space with this table that has a built-in Bluetooth speaker originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 9, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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