tech

You are currently browsing articles tagged tech.

RuninTattoo.com

July 1, 2011 by Mayde | Leave a comment

Happy Fourth of July weekend! I hope you’re all enjoying this beautiful weather and spending time with family and friends.

Today marked the beginning of my four-day weekend, so I spent a large part of the afternoon working on a fun little project I thought I’d share with you all.

My friend Takashi is a tattoo artist who specializes in the traditional Japanese style of tattooing called tebori. He’s getting ready to go to a tattoo convention in a few weeks, and needed a portfolio website to showcase some of his work. Together, we decided on a simple black, white and grey theme and what kind of content he wanted to include. After just a few hours, RuninTattoo.com was born.

It’s a simple, 5-page website, but includes some neat features such as embedded video and slideshows of his work. Feel free to take a few minutes to browse through his site, and let me (or Takashi!) know what you think.

New Camera!

February 21, 2011 by Mayde | Leave a comment

Because of our work schedules, Dan and I celebrated Valentine’s Day a little late this year. We went out to dinner last Wednesday and after enjoying a great meal, we exchanged gifts.

I got him a limited edition, signed copy of an art book he’d been lusting after. He got me this:

Remember when I mentioned that I needed a new camera, because my old one was on the fritz? Well, Dan remembered too, and picked up this beauty for me.

(I know, the color’s a bit shocking, but in his defense, it was supposed to be red. It’s not; it’s a bright, vibrant pink that will take some getting used to. But, as Dan pointed out, it will always remind me of our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple. Aw…)

Since I’ve only had the camera for a few days, I haven’t had too many opportunities to use it and test out all of it’s awesome features, but I’m definitely liking what I see. It’s auto-intelligent scene selection is spot on, and my pictures look great every time. I’m particularly enjoying the panorama mode, though it took some trial and error to get it to work right.

As I continue to use it more and more, I’ll be sure to keep you posted about how this camera’s working out for me. In the meantime, here are some photos I’ve taken with it in the last few days. (Click each image for a larger version.)

So, what do you think? Do you want to see more photos on this blog? How about video? Do you have a good digital camera you would recommend? What did you give/get for Valentine’s Day? Let me know by leaving a comment.

I’m Loving Mint.com

February 9, 2011 by Mayde | Leave a comment

Mint.com is a personal finance website that allows you to pull in all of your banking data and view it in a new and eye-opening way.

I’ve known about Mint since it won the TechCrunch40 Best Presenting Company prize in 2007, and since then, I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. Sure, there’s been some skepticism about how safe a site like this could actually be, but I trust Intuit and I trust lots of other people who trust Mint, so I figured I’d give it a try.

As part of my new year’s resolution to save money, I’ve been super vigilant about how I spend every nickle and dime. I’ve even come up with a game plan that will allow me to pay off my student loans and save up enough money for a car by the end of the summer. But in order to pull this off, I knew I needed some help in monitoring my spending. Enter Mint.

When you first sign up, you enter your bank account information, along with any credit cards, loans and investments you might have. Using this information, Mint calculates your personal worth, and presents you with advice on how to get the most out of your money. While I haven’t actually followed through on any of Mint’s advice yet, I do take advantage of their transaction tracking tools. You can categorize every transaction you make, and then see your spending trends displayed using neat little pie charts:

You can also set up budgets for yourself and savings goals you’d like to reach. For example, here’s a quick little sample budget I threw together for this post:

Frankly, I can’t say enough good things about Mint. It’s definitely helping me reach my goals, and I think it could be useful for you. I was in no way compensated for reviewing this site, I just think it’s neat. Since I’ve been using it a lot lately, I figured I’d write up a little blurb about it to see if anyone else is enjoying it as much as I am.

So, tell me: Have you ever heard of Mint.com? Would you trust a site like this to manage all of your financial data? If you don’t use Mint, what do you use to monitor your spending? Let me know by leaving a comment.

What’s In My Bag?

February 7, 2011 by Mayde | Leave a comment

If you’ve ever read any blog on any regular basis, you’ve seen one of these posts before. (If not, just google “what’s in my bag”.) These posts give you a fun little sneak peak into someone else’s life, and who doesn’t love that? Some examples are here, here, here, here and here. It’s a silly internet trend, but I’m jumping on the bandwagon.

So, without further ado, this is what’s in my bag:

  1. The bag itself is a Timbuk2 Q. I bought it just a few weeks ago after deciding to retire my former companion, the Moop Letter Bag. When choosing a new bag, I can never decide whether I want a purse or a backpack, so I usually just alternate. But once I choose a bag, I stick with it for a good 8 – 12 months. So far, the Q has been working great. I was a bit hesitant when I bought it online because of some reviews that said it was too small, but it meets my needs perfectly.
  2. My trusty MacBook Pro. While I don’t take it everywhere I go, I do like to have it with me if I need it, and I made sure to buy a nice big bag that can comfortably accommodate it.
  3. What’s a laptop without it’s charger?
  4. Poop bags. Not only am I a great pet owner, but I’m also prepared in case I ever need a small bag for anything. You’d be surprised how often these things come in handy!
  5. Moleskine Large Ruled Notebook. My productivity routine is constantly changing, and in the past, I’ve often carried around 3 or 4 of these notebooks for different purposes. Today, I carry just one, and it serves as my daily planner, journal, idea book, and contact list, among other things.
  6. Nook, with Jonathan Adler cover. I love this ebook reader, and use it every single day when I commute to and from work. I have the cheapest version available, but it works great and does its job well. I go through about 1 or 2 books a month, which definitely adds up, but it’s the only way my crowded subway rides are bearable.
  7. Wallet/clutch/wristlet. (I don’t know what you call these things.) It’s a little zippered pouch that holds my money, cards, IDs, change, and chapstick. When I don’t want or need to carry my big bag with me, I just grab this and go.
  8. House and work keys on an orange carabiner.
  9. MyTouch 3G Slide. I love this phone and its Android operating system.
  10. Fossil Watch. I start the day wearing it, but it bothers me when I’m typing, so it usually comes off and ends up in my bag by mid-morning.
  11. Plain manila file folder(s) and Staples notepad(s). I buy these items in bulk and use them for absolutely everything. I always have at least one or two of each in my bag.
  12. Hair brush.
  13. Deodorant. (Just in case!)
  14. Powder foundation. This is the only make up product I own, and I use it more for the mirror than I do to cover up blemishes.
  15. Sony Earbud Headphones. Love these! They fit in my tiny ears and the bass sounds great. That’s all I care about.
  16. 2GB SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drive.
  17. Bandaid.
  18. Hair ties.
  19. Sony DSC-W70 digital camera. (Yes, I photoshopped a picture of a camera into the collage, since I had to use my actual camera to take the picture.) My camera is old and broken, and I’m in the market for a new one. Any suggestions?
  20. Assorted pens and pencils. I prefer Bic mechanical pencils and Staples OptiFlow pens, but I’ll take what I can get.
  21. Quaker Oats Granola Bars. Delicious, even if they’re upside-down.
  22. USB charger. Works for both my phone and my Nook.
  23. Hand lotion. I rarely use it, and yet, it still stays in my bag.
  24. Tissues.
  25. Nail clipper.

Other items not pictured: the daily Metro newspaper, Netflix discs to be dropped in the mail, and various gloves/hats/scarves (have I mentioned that it’s freezing here!?).

So, what do you think? Find anything surprising? Have questions about any of my stuff? Have you heard of this trend before? What do you carry in your bag? Let me know by leaving a comment.

« Older entries