Today we spent a couple of hours strolling around the Paradise City Arts Festival.  This show is NOT the "pot holder, tin can windchime" holiday arts & crafts show.  It IS a gathering of several hundred top quality artists and artisans exhibiting their work. 

If you have time tomorrow, get out to Marlboro and immerse yourself in the creative energies at the show... if you are fortunate, you may even bring home a fine work of art.

London... land of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Bridge.  Now it has another claim to fame, a flagship Apple Store on Regent Street.  The photo by Gary Allen shows the front of the store at night... note the blue & red tent in front :-)

Folks (Shippy, Gary Allen) have set up camp so they would be the first to enter the store when it open on Saturday Nov 20.

Perception is often colored by preconception.  Sometimes this makes it hard to see what is there or to cause us to see something where none exists. 

Here is a site with images that have other images embedded within.  Look pass the obvious to see the hidden! [More...]

Cell phones, PDAs, and laptops all make our life easier... mostly because they free us from having to be at a specific place in order to do a specific thing.  The price for that freedom is we have to power all these devices... which means we have to, at some point, recharge them.

If you are like me... you sometimes push the limit on "empty", especially with cell phone :-) The folks on Charge2Go have created a solution that is useful, elegant, and affordable.

Some of you have noted there are more advertising and offers on the main page in November. This is both a good and bad thing :-) Good that the magazine is attracting more interests from folks that want to sell you stuff...because more of you are reading the magazine! Bad that it can take away from clean uncluttered lfeel that may have attracted you in the first place.

In a effort to strike a balance between enterprise and entertainment, we'll be experimenting with some new layout ideas in the next couple of weeks. Let us know what you like and what you don't so we can continue to make this a place you enjoy visiting every day!

One idea we have is to add a new section in each of the categories accessible on the left (Gear&Gadgets, Destinations, Cruises, etc...). This "Bargains" section is where we'll highlight special time limited deals from our advertisers! You won't see these mentioned on the front page, so be sure to check out these sections for money saving bargains specific to those areas.

Some items become icons because of their distinctive forms. Some forms achieve iconic status due to their function.

The Rollei medium format camera became a favorite because it did not come between the artist and their subjects and quickly became an icon associated with master photographers. That same form factor is now available in a digital version. Its specs will not knock you over, but its size and charming heritage might just make you want one anyway. [More...]

There is probably no higher expression of form following function than the Japanese katana. Its simple form is the results of hundreds of years of brutal refinement forged from the success in battle. While the blade of the katana is never adorned so as not to interfere with its primary purpose, the rest of the sword's fitting is another matter. In fact, the adornment of these supporting components is its own art form.

The "Lethal Elegance" exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is a celebration of this art. Every Wednesday the Museum opens its galleries to the public for free. We took advantage of the offer and went to see the exhibit in the Asian wing today.

The exhibit showcased some of the finer components of the Samurai's sword in the Museum's collection. It also followed the transition of this art into other forms when the wearing of the Samurai swords were outlawed in Japan.

Josh Caldwell and a few of his friends set out from Seattle WA a hundred days ago to travel across America... on a Segway (max speed - 10 mph)! 

TODAY, they will be celebrating the conclusion of their journey at 6-9PM at the Sail Loft in Kendall Square Boston.  Check out this amazing journey! [More...]

Yesterday we showed you a project to supersize your TV.  Today we'll show you someone who has supersized photography!

It's called the "Gigapxl Project" and its goal is to capture on film images that are equivalent in the digital world of a 1000 Megapixel... or a GigaPixel!  The resolution of the "GigaPxl" image on the left can only be fully appreciated by looking at the detail of the image on the right.  The two people on the right is the "zoomed in" version of the speck at the end of the two red lines in the image on the left!  That is the level of detail captured in a GigaPxl image!!!

The idea was the brainchild of Grant Flint and Catherine Aves.  They bring a multi-disciplinary approach to the project that has managed to pushed the technological envelops of large format film photography, digital imaging, and inkjet printing.  [More...]

Since the start of my sabbatical, I've been taking afternoon naps.  I was well aware of its rejuvenating qualities well before it was confirmed by scientific studies :-)

Now there is a new startup in NYC called MetroNaps that is actually going to try to make a business of it... something I might actually have thought of if I wasn't so busy napping!  So, if you are in their neighborhood...check 'em out and drop me a line and let me know how it was.   [More...]

Projection TV, LCD projectors, home theater... for under $350?  It can be so IF you have some free time on a rainy day, can follow directions, and don't mind some wires hanging out after the project is done.

Frank Voikel has written an article on how to "Supersize Your TV for $300".  The instructions looked excellent ... lots of pictures at various stage throughout the project.  Definitely a "Rainy Day Project"!

I was looking around at all the gear and technology in my office and it hit me... some of the stuff that I use every day are more than 3 years old.  That's ancient measured in "tech time".  However, most of it is still quite useful and really not old enough to warrant replacing. 

I thought it might be interesting to start a series of articles to highlight some of the more noteworthy examples of discontinued but still useful tech.  I will be posting the articles in the Gear & Gadgets section under the heading "Good Enough Gear". 

The first of this series is an article on the iPaq PDA/Navman GPS combo.  Both of these items have been discontinued for a few years now, but this set is still viable.

Send me a link or drop me a note if you have examples of "Good Enough Gear" you think others would like to know about.

Some of you were quick to point out that there ARE alternatives to the traditional turkey just as exotic as the Turducken... the free ranging Tofurky!

The nice folks of Turtle Island Foods out in Oregon has created a vegetarian version of the turkey out of soy.  Carolyn is a vegetarian and is constantly looking for interesting meat substitues.  I'm always gamed to try something new... as long as there is a backup meat product close by.  So, if you are adventurous, you now have two alternatives to your traditional holiday turkey!