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Category Archives: Geek Life

Your Built in TV Speakers Suck – At Least Get a Great Sound Bar for Cheap!

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When I got my first 4K TV (a really nice LG display), I thought I would be able to deal with the built in speakers. I was too lazy to setup a true surround sound system and more importantly, couldn’t really afford it. The sound coming from the TV’s built in speakers were garbage. It was hard to hear any of the dialogue and a lot of the sound was muffled mainly because the built in speakers projected downward due to the thin build of the TV.

Then I discovered the sound bars. They are a practical, low cost solution in getting great sound without needing to break the bank. The TaoTronics Sound Bar is an example for getting really good 2.0 stereo sound for $70 and it doesn’t require any drilling, mounting, and takes up very little space. Here’s what it features:

  • 25″ Sound Bar: No need to have a spacious living room to enjoy better audio playback! This compact soundbar installs unobtrusively in bedrooms and small environments. (Note: Please use the adapter contained within the package)
  • Dual Wired and Wireless: Pair via Bluetooth from up to 33 ft / 10 m or connect with the in-unit 3.5 mm, RCA, and optical inputs
  • Multiple Setups, Multiple Options: Sits flat below the TV screen or securely mounts on the wall for a sleek, elegant home theater setup
  • Easy to Use and Operate: High-sensitivity IR remote control displays the different modes by means of differently colored LED lights
  • Optical Connection for Clearer Sound: Plug in via the included optical cable for a more pure, unaltered audio reproduction

You can pick one up here for free shipping!


Got $750? EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition GAMING

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Don’t want to spend $6699 on an “underpowered” MacBook Pro 2018 and want to ascend to the PC Master Race? You can put that money to good use by buying a kickass Nvidia EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition graphics card and build your own desktop for a lot less money. The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the best way to experience all your games such as Far Cry, Skyrim, PUBG, Overwatch, Rocket League, Battle Front, Dark Souls, and your Oculus VR games at maxed out settings. The Nvidia EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition features:

  • Real Base Clock: 1556 MHz/Real Boost Clock: 1670 MHz; Memory Detail: 11GB GDDR5X. Redesigned cooling with L-shaped contact fins to improve contact surface area for better heat dissipation
  • EVGA iCX Cooling – Delivering industry-leading cooling performance to your Graphics Card. Vulkan API
  • Requirements-Minimum of a 600 Watt power supply. An available 6-pin PCI-E power connector and an available 8 pin PCI-E power connector.Total Power Draw- 250 Watts
  • New vented heatsink fin design and pin fins for optimized airflow. An available 6-pin PCI-E power connector and an available 8 pin PCI-E power connector
  • DX12 OSD Support with EVGA Precision XOC. Stream extreme GeForce GTX PC gaming experiences to portable device like NVIDIA SHIELD with super-smooth, low-latency performance

Seriously, if all you do is play Fortnite, you don’t need that kind of power. Stick with the Switch or a Mac! I’m kidding. Sort of.

Pick up the Nvidia EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition!


Awesome Read! A Brief History of Time: Stephen Hawking

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I bought this book years ago and it’s been collecting dust. Just finally managed to read this and it’s really amazing stuff. I mean I dabbled in physics in high school and college and never really thought about it since. You don’t even have to be a genius to read the work of a genius, which actually makes it quite genius. Stephen Hawking talks about how the universe began, stars were formed and how we all came to be today and tells it in a way that’s easy to understand and fun to read. It’s about 200 pages and you can probably finish it in less than a week of bathroom breaks. Totally recommended!

Pick up up here from Amazon!


Tokyo Xanadu EX+ on PC and PS4 is Awesome

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I really enjoyed playing Tokyo Xanadu EX+ by Aksys! It took me about two months to complete this game. If you are a fan of anime or JRPGs, totally get this. Here’s a quick rundown

  • Story: Town is under attack by “Greeds” which are like spirits or demons from another dimension. The Hero (Kou) witnesses a classmate gets caught in the middle of a classmate fighting one and realizes she wields special abilities like him too. They meet more people like them and form a super natural investigations group hunting them down throughout the game. Lots of typical anime stuff. Apparently all the girls have a thing for the hero. I don’t want to give too much away but it was the story that really drew me to the game.
  • Audio/Sound: Music is synthesized and simplistic. Can’t say too much about it. It’s not bad but won’t blow you away. Voice acting is in Japanese and it’s great if you’re a fan of anime.
  • Graphics: Like the audio, graphics won’t blow you away. Even though it’s on the PS4, it looks like a PS3 game and you definitely won’t need a 1080Ti graphics card to run this game on the PC
  • Game Play: Not too complex which is great. Battle system is like an Action RPG so you get to do some hacking and slashing, aerial moves, and other badass power moves. I don’t feel it gets too repetitive killing enemies. Overall the game isn’t that difficult and the puzzles are easy to solve. The game is big on developing relationships with other playable characters and some NPCs and you get rewarded on them.
  • Ending: There’s more than one ending to this game. Well you get the normal ending that makes you go WTF. BUT, you get to redo that ending scene after you beat the game and see the true ending, without having to start over (thank god). And once you complete that, there’s a little more to the story in the EX+ part of the game. You also unlock another mode called New+ if you want to play again

Pick it up here on Amazon!


This is My Workspace June 2018

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Been awhile since I posted anything about my workspace. This is currently my desk now!  I’ll put together a video on my home office in the near future! I try to keep everything neat as possible but sometimes I get the unavoidable clutter. Also my cable management under the desk is sort of a mess so I left that out of the photo. Here’s the gear I’m currently rockin which you can click directly to Amazon:

I really miss having a dedicated Windows machine and I’m currently running it on my Mac using Bootcamp. Might get a Surface Book 15 Inch or the Razer Blade 15 2018 in the near future… maybe!

What’s In My Bag Dec 2016 – Surface Book and MacBook Pro Edition

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A what’s in My Bag Video featuring the new Surface Book 2016 with Performance Base as well as the MacBook Pro 15 Inch 2016 with Touch Bar! Two different devices, two different bags, one awesome 4K video!

► Product Links
• Macbook Pro 15-inch 2016 Touch Bar – http://amzn.to/2fYWz9I
• Microsoft Surface Book 2016 – http://amzn.to/2g8DBAl
• Dude Wipes – http://amzn.to/2h5Iisu
• Bose QC 20 Noise Cancelling Headphones – http://amzn.to/2gdEB7y
• Bose QC30 Noise Canceling Headphones Bluetooth – http://amzn.to/2h8AXZX
• Thule Stravan Backpack – http://amzn.to/2gdprKr
• iPad Pro 9.7 Inch LTE – http://amzn.to/2gdGYqL
• iClever Boost Cube USB Wall Charger – http://amzn.to/2h8uxMw
• HooToo Shuttle USB-C HDMI SD Reader – http://amzn.to/2h8Hjbs
• Logitech M557 Bluetooth Mouse – http://amzn.to/2gdiU2t
• Nintendo 3DS XL – http://amzn.to/2hiLep7
• Sony RX100m3 (RX100m4 Available) – http://amzn.to/1MuKfaj
• Sony A6300 – http://amzn.to/29xhUGV
• Manfrotto Mini Tripod – http://amzn.to/1UXhs6E
• iPhone 7 Plus – http://amzn.to/2frAVyi
• Zoom H1 Voice Recorder – http://amzn.to/2gqkHCz

What’s in my Bag September 2016

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Going on a trip to Australia and here is what I am taking with me!

Staad Backpack by SF Bags – www.sfbags.com
Macbook 2016 – http://amzn.to/2d1M9rX
Liansing Universal Adapter – http://amzn.to/2cpf7Dx
iMangoo Case – http://amzn.to/2cpf8r0
Microsoft Arc Mouse – http://amzn.to/2cyFOD8
HooToo Shuttle – http://amzn.to/2cZRmxI
HooToo HT-TM01 – http://amzn.to/2cpg0vH
Bose Quiet Comfort QC-20 – http://amzn.to/2cpfNZB
Sony RX100 m3 – http://amzn.to/2czvjfS
Dude Wipes – http://amzn.to/2cyFbK4
Microsoft Surface Book – http://amzn.to/2czuqE9 (didn’t carry)

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 – First Impressions Review

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galaxy-note7_curve_phone

My first impressions (less than 24 hours) coming from an iPhone 6S Plus and Nexus 6P before that. These are just my Notes (yes I meant to do that) written so far for an upcoming video / review so I apologize if it looks messy.

  • Design is incredible. Hard to believe that this has a larger screen that the Plus and is physically smaller and lighter
  • Always on Display seemed gimicky at first but it makes great desk clock and I already find it useful
  • Fingerprint scanner is as fast as the iPhone’s but I like the Nexus 6P’s execution better
  • Touch Wiz has been a pretty smooth experience. If you hate the cartoony looking icons, just go to the theme store and download a theme. I am using Material, which was free.
  • I was a little squeamish in shutting off iMessage at first, but there are only two people I really iMessage anyway. Everyone else has WhatsApp, Facebook, and Hangouts. I got over it in 30 minutes.
  • Bloatware on the T-Mobile variant isn’t so bad, but it still sucks. At least you can easily disable it
  • I use both OSX and Windows with Chrome as my main browser. Chrome does an excellent job in integrating the experience (continuity) between your phone and Mac/PC. I have a bunch of tabs open in Chrome on my Mac, and then when I need to take a dump or something, I can just continue off what I’m reading on my phone
  • Notification light: It changes everything.

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