Author: Juan Carlos Bagnell

Juan has been obsessed with consumer electronics since before computers had GUI’s. Out of college he worked on a JIT computing contract which supported DOE facilities in New Mexico. He’s been featured on numerous podcasts and radio shows lending his tech insights. You can also find him in LA directing voice over actors and producing spoken word recording.
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Los Angeles: Holiday Pet Portraits for Charity – The Tailwaggers Foundation & Project Angel Food

Santa PawsTech blog though this may be, I have a soft spot for our furry family members.

The Tailwaggers Foundation provides funds to 501 C non-profit organizations who provide treatment to sick and injured animals. They’ll be holding two charity events in LA. The first in West Hollywood December 7 and 8, and the second in Hollywood December 14 and 15. Bring your pet to get his or her picture taken with Santa Paws and Mrs. Claws! Photos are $20, and all proceeds from these two events will go towards helping sick and injured animals around the country and helping supply Project Angel Food, which helps feed people suffering from HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life threatening illnesses.

For more info please check out http://thetailwaggersfoundation.org/ and http://www.angelfood.org/

Full press release with all the details after the jump, and for no good reason, here’s a pic of my pup.

biggelow bear the shar pei sleeping under his blanket

Continue reading “Los Angeles: Holiday Pet Portraits for Charity – The Tailwaggers Foundation & Project Angel Food”

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Watch our Experts Q&A LIVE here! BWOne, Mobile Burn, Boored At Work, & SomeGadgetGuy answer YOUR Microsoft Questions!

windows 8 live tiles experts Q&AHere it is folks! The first of a new series where we bring experts, bloggers, and journalists to you!

To kick things off we’re talking all things Live Tiles! Have you been thinking about trying out a Windows Phone? Are you curious about tablets and hybrids? Are you looking at software solutions for your small business? Are you thinking about buying an Xbox?

We’re here to help! We’ll be answering your questions on the air from 8-9pm Pacific on the Youtubes!

If you’d like to skip to specific question there are links below the video!

Continue reading “Watch our Experts Q&A LIVE here! BWOne, Mobile Burn, Boored At Work, & SomeGadgetGuy answer YOUR Microsoft Questions!”

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New Chrome Extension adds voice search, just say “Ok Google”

google voice search chrome extensionUnifying controls is the name of the game!

Now across all of Google’s products you can initiate a voice search with the phrase “OK Google”. Installing a Chrome plugin will enable this new feature.

Take heart you security conscious folks, the feature is held primarily to whenever a Google search tab is open, but even on a Google search tab, it’ll stop listening after five minutes. I personally think persistent observation is creepy, so I’m happy to see there are user activated controls to keep it in check.

google voice search listening chrome extension

Download the extension for your Chrome browser, and maybe it’ll come in handy while your hands are messy this Thanksgiving! I always seem to need to search for something when my hands are covered in gunk…

Google Voice Seach Hotword BETA

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Acer refreshes $299 C720p Chromebook, adds Touchscreen, doesn’t raise price!

Acer C720P_touch_handThe mobile computing landscape is getting ridiculously competitive. Chromebooks, Netbooks, Tablets, proper latptops, and hybrids. The bang for buck ratio is disrupting-ly low. An incredible number of options for a variety of usage scenarios.

Acer is sweetening their Chromebook offering. The c720p is a refresh of their C720. The hardware is almost exactly the same, even down to the somewhat mediocre TFT LCD panel used on the screen. What’s nice however is they’re adding a touch panel to that screen. What’s even nicer is that touch panel isn’t going to increase the price. The C720p will retail for the same $299 that the original did.

Not too shabby.

ChromeOS doesn’t particularly need touch, but playing with it on my Windows 8 laptop, I think we’re just entering an era where adding touchscreens will be the norm. We’re all sort of learning to just interact directly with things on our screen. When I’m really tired, I have to remember that my desktop does not have a touchscreen… You’ll still see finger prints on my monitors though…

Sporting an 11.6″ screen, an Intel Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of flash storage it looks like it could be a decent seller this holiday season. Expect to see lappys shipping mid December.

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Using the Surface RT 2 for Podcasting and Voice Over Recording (RT not Pro)

surface 2 audio recording mobile home sound USB microphone Zoom h4n somegadgetguyIf you’re into mobile audio, field recording, voice over, or podcasting, it’s been the dream for a while. The ability to use our consumer tablets as recording solutions.

It still hasn’t come to Android. Plug a USB mic into an Android tablet, and it’ll likely power up, but Android wont know what to do with it. Microsoft might have the hardware to offer up a solution for us mobile audio junkies. Let’s take a look at how recording works on a Surface 2, and what happens to the files you create after you’re done editing.

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Google confirms camera RAW support is coming to Android. So what’s that mean?

htc one mini camera test video samples somegadgetguyBlah blah blah abstraction layer… Herp derp blerp API’s…

Long story short, Google is trying to improve the software / hardware relationship our smartphone cameras rely on. This should expand the tool set developers have at their disposal when making photo and video services. Google specifically is discussing better multi-shot tech which should improve sport and burst modes and deliver more flexible HDR settings. An HDR photo depends on a series of pics taken quickly at different exposures. Other smart modes could be improved too, like the ability to take a series of shots to remove distracting elements from your photos.

All well and good from a consumer app-y position, but the idea of delivering RAW files could be really interesting for people who really want to control their photo output, even from their phones.

Continue reading “Google confirms camera RAW support is coming to Android. So what’s that mean?”

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Experts Q&A: Answering your Microsoft Questions LIVE! – Nov. 26, 8pm

windows 8 live tiles experts Q&AWe’re starting a series of round table discussions, bringing the experts to YOU! The first in our lineup will focus on Microsoft. All things Windows: phones, tablets, laptops. Watch live, and send in your questions. We’ll answer them on the air!

This will be a Hangout on Air Q&A. Link will be provided here before the broadcast goes live.

Microsoft is making big changes to the Windows ecosystem. Phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, Live Tiles are the future! If you’ve had questions about Windows gear, or were thinking of shopping something Windows 8 this holiday season, we’ll have Windows Phones, Windows RT, and Windows 8 devices on hand to answer all of your Microsoft questions! Get the full scoop from the people who know!

Tune In – Tuesday November 26 at 8pm Pacific!

And be on the lookout for future Expert Q&A’s! We”re planning them now for Android, Photography, video, audio, and many more subjects! Help us spread the word by sharing this event!

For more info:
Google Plus Event Page for Experts Q&A: Microsoft!

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Winamp users post petition on Change.org asking AOL to open source the media player

RIP WinampWinamp will cease to be on Dec. 20th.

Many are sad about this. Some refuse to go quietly into the night.

If you’re lit up about AOL pulling the plug, there’s a Change.org petition you can add your name to. They’re demanding AOL continue offering Winamp or allowing the Winamp code to slide into the world of open source software. It’s an honorable way to preserve some sense of internet history. 15 years and millions of users is quite a legacy to just quit on.

At the time of this writing, they’re about 8000 names short of their goal, so go get signing!

AOL: Keep Winamp alive or let it go open source

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