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By leo.flor, September 5, 2011 15:00

I needed a new vehicle to deliver audio from various music players to my brain after I lost my Skullcandy earbuds; decided to take it to the next level since I wasn’t fully happy with them anyway.  Like most headphones, the wire eventually weakens on the connection so over time you lose hearing in one and then both ears.  These were already replaced once through their great warranty but I was reluctant to go through the process again; it was a sign.   Plus I had a gift card that was collecting dust so I decided to check out these Dr. Dre headphones that seem to be increasing in popularity.   I would gladly rock the bigger, badder over-ear models but  I was going for small, light and easy to put away.

These are definitely next-level headphones.  Whether you’re listening to classical or rock or hip-hop you can hear everything on the track very crisply.  The bass is nice and deep; it will move you.  The microphone is quite good, I used it with Dragon Dictation to record this blog post.

The on-cord remote for controlling volume and playback is pretty solid albeit biased to Apple products; it easily controls my iPod nano, my iPad and even my MacBook.  It works splendidly answering calls and controlling music play on iPhone (4).  I say biased because it doesn’t control my BlackBerry Torch very well (known issue).  In fact I can’t even use it as just a normal headset for talking on the phone, there seems to be some incompatibility (works with my wife’s Blackberry Curve 8900 though).  Monster and Research In Motion better work this out because it’s ridiculous for this not to work.  On Android (Motorola Xoom) the remote is only good for starting and stopping playback, all three buttons do the same thing.

It comes with all of these accessories that you see in the picture.   There are earbud attachments of different sizes as well as this adjustable over-ear wire which is handy if you want to be active while using them.  The case is very durable although bigger than I want it to be; I suppose they need to be big enough to house the entire unit.

All in all it is a solid product.  My research indicates the squarish, rubber-like wire (patent pending) is more durable than regular headphone wires.  They are expensive headphones, hopefully the cost is mitigated by them lasting a long time.

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By leo.flor, June 27, 2011 16:56

Often I’ll consult my cousin John on matters related to technology and I credit him with getting me to use the Dragon-Dictation/Evernote-Apps-Super-Ultra-Combo-Special (for iPad). That is: the practice of using the Dragon Dictation App, dictating my ideas and lists into it and uploading them into my Evernote.

I was already a big fan of using voice recording and making lists (before these Apps) because essentially you’re taking a snapshot of your brain at that moment.  In this day and age of information bombardment it is increasingly difficult remembering every important little detail of our chaotic lives.   Taking a recording of your thoughts, saving them and making them searchable (equally as important) seems like a good idea to me.  You will forget things; computers will not (unless they crash hard of course).

I had heard of Dragon Dictation before (I’ve used it for PC) but it wasn’t as good at voice recognition as it is now.   I find for best results to talk into it slower than your normal conversation speed.  My other cousin Issa commented when we were testing it: “it could as side effect teach you to be more articulate in conversation.”

It’s really a very good app if you don’t want to use your hands for typing.   I already use a computer likely much more than the average person but I also make microscopic art and play sports.  My hands need every break they can get.

I imagine it would be a very useful app for people who have vision or motor skill handicaps.

Anyway give it a try and share your feedback.  I wrote this post using Dragon Dictation.  John responds to emails without typing.

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By leo.flor, October 12, 2010 15:51

Close your eyes and picture it (but somehow keep reading):

You’re at the wheel of a drop-top Porsche 911, carving through corners on an empty northern Ontario highway.  You angle the vehicle to take an aggressive tangent on the upcoming corner.  The first beats of your all-time favorite, fist-pumpingly good up-tempo track penetrate through the stereo speakers.  The skin on your arms give in to goosebumps.  You put your right foot down and turn the volume up.  You realize that moment when a car like that and speakers that good and a song that inspiring were made for.  It was made for you; and you just owned it.

Moments like this are the reason I snowboard to music, it’s the exact same rush.  I’ve already confessed my love for music and snowboarding so combining them came naturally.  It is a beautiful thing to carve peak to base to Wu-Tang or tear through a half-pipe to B.O.B. by Outkast.  One of the life memories I’m sure will pass through my mind’s eye the day I die, will be floating through the most epic powder in Whistler to Max Bruch’s violin concerto.

—–

For snowboarding with tunes my weapon of choice is the RED Hi-Fi II helmet (R.E.D. is owned by Burton Snowboards).  My obsession with light things includes this helmet, it is 1.1 lbs, as comfortable as a baseball cap.

Burton and RED teamed up with Skullcandy (who happen to make my favorite earbuds) to create this monstrosity.  I wish I could meet the GENIUS who put a subwoofer in this helmet so that I could give him or her a big hug.

Volume control and mute on the earflaps.  Be considerate and turn it down when it’s crowded or a mountain official is talking to you.

This helmet with my Burton iPod Field Jacket (with external controls) come together to party with me on the slopes.

—–

The fine-print:

I’m certain that some of the readers of this post may be pondering a very logical and obvious question, “is it safe to snowboard with music”.  I gave this a lot of thought and I think this one falls into the category of, “it’s safe if you know what you’re doing”.  I like to think/hope that people would be smart about it, there is such a thing as too loud, for example.  I’m not telling people to ride with music, I’m saying that I do and this is why and how.  And that my helmet rocks.

Comments (1)

By leo.flor, August 12, 2010 03:53

Below is an email I sent to a bunch of friends in May 2003, Apple Inc. had just released the 3rd generation iPod.  At the time there was only one person I knew with an iPod, my grandmother.  I was over for a visit and she showed it to me, a friend bought it for her and loaded the songs from a Mac.  I bought one the next day.

Granny rocking my iPod Nano on our flight home from Manila to Toronto via Tokyo.

I was the kid who ALWAYS had a walkman on me.  I love music and would rather have it on than not on.  Mp3 players and particularly the iPod was made for people like me.  I thought the interface was ingenious, a big wheel and touch sensitive buttons rather than moving buttons.  No question in my mind that this was a product I wanted to own and it was worth my hard earned money.

It’s exciting trying to imagine what kind of technology we will have in the next 5, 10, 15 years.  You can control your iPod from the steering wheel of some cars and the thing didn’t even exist at the turn of the millennium.  I’d say that’s market impact.

I’m finding that some of my best thinking seems to come to me when I’m completely sleep deprived.  I was pretty confident that the iPod and Apple would be successful based just on my assessment of the product (similar to how I fell in love with gmail pretty quickly, which I will save for another blog post).

Rather than going out the next day and buying an iPod, I should have gone out and bought Apple STOCK.  (AAPL: was around $9 at the time and it’s now $250.)

>  —–Original Message—–
> From:         Leo Flor
> Sent: Monday, May 19, 2003 1:42 AM
> To:   Leo Flor
> Subject:      The Apple iPod
>
> Since I’ve been at work now for 80 of the last 96 hours and I’m losing my
> mind, I thought it’d be a good time to write everyone I know.  (Yes I know
> it’s a long weekend, but my company wants to send one of our customers a
> software release tomorrow morning.)
>
> More specifically, I want to tell you about my new and greatest toy EVER,
> the Apple iPod.  (It almost makes life not suck.)
>
> Why is the iPod so fantastic?  Because it will hold every song you could
> ever want to listen to and you can take the bad boy anywhere.  I have the
> 15 GB version and I’m having a hard time filling it.  It’s sick.  I’ve
> even figured out how to play it in my car.  The iPod is a MUST-HAVE for
> all music lovers.  Check it out:  www.apple.com/ipod.
>
> FAQs:
> 1.) How much is it?
> Well it’s ‘slightly’ steep.  I think Compucentre is the only store
> carrying it in Canada.
>
> 2.) How long is the battery life?
> ~8 hours.  That’s crazy!  And you charge it like a cell phone, no more fishing
> out $$$ for AAs all the time.
>
> 3.) Exactly how many songs can it hold?
> 10GB = about 2500
> 15GB = about 3750
> 30GB = about 7500
>
> 4.) Why did you get the 15 instead of just the 10?
> Because the 15 and 30 comes with a remote, a carrying case and a dock.
>
> 5.) Does it support windows?
> Yes but the USB adapter isn’t available until June.  Luckily, I have an
> iMac on my desk at work.
>
> 6.) What makes this better than any other MP3 player?
> It holds WAY more songs, it doesn’t skip.  It’s extremely well designed.
> MUCH sexier than any other hard-drive MP3 player out there.
>
> 7.) When did you become such a geek?
> Always have been.
>
> 8.) How much coffee have you had?
> A lot.
>
> 9.) How much sleep have you had?
> Not that much.
>
>
> Feel free to email me any more questions.
>
> All I’m saying is go to the store and test it out (or you could borrow
> mine, ya that will happen).  All it takes is 5 minutes and you’ll convince
> yourself that you NEED this sh*t.  C’mon, my gramma has one, you can’t let
> my gramma be cooler than you…
>
> God Apple should pay me for this.  Anyway, I hope this brightens your
> Tuesday morning!
>
> Cheers,
> Leo
>
> And remember kids, just say NO to working weekends.