Herculodge:

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May 24, 2013

Get Used to the New Generation Or Turn Off the Sports Channel

My neighbor Dave, who is 34 and works in the aerospace industry as an accountant, and I were in our backyard today watching our toddlers play together when we got to talking about sports and eventually the Los Angeles Lakers.

I told Dave I was turned off by the entitlement attitude of Dwight Howard. Dave said, “You better get used to it. Howard is part of the new generation. Their parents do everything for them, they’re spoiled, and they expect everyone to worship them.”

Dave continued to say the problem was beyond sports. At his work, the new employees, right out of college, act like spoiled disrespectful brats. They disdain the older employees who, the young ones say, are stupid with technology. The problem is so bad Dave’s employers’ hire Generation Gap consultants. I never heard of such a thing.

I’m 51 and I teach college students, so I shouldn’t be blind toward this trend, but I feel I have been for whatever reason.

All I know is that if Dwight Howard is the new face of sports and that if he represents what all modern day athletes are like, then my days of watching sports will soon be over.

Posted at 06:48 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reader Says Expensive Watch Is an Affront to Masculinity

StarHalo writes:

Maybe it's just me, but masculinity and simplicity are inextricably tied - and that's why high-dollar mechanical watches like these are the polar opposite of masculine. Can you imagine the look on your grandfather's face when you explain, "Well I could have bought another automobile, but I bought this watch. And it's $400 a year for maintenance. And $200 to take it to the shop. It's not as accurate as most watches out there, but just look at the quality..."

If it costs as much to maintain as a woman, it's not masculine...

Posted at 05:28 PM in Manly Watches | Permalink | Comments (7)

Even a Free Breitling Has Some Heavy Costs

GS writes:

Breitling is a BIG no for me! A friend owns one with the metal strap and I'm not kidding when I say this thing looks sturdy. A friend gave it to me. Within warranty!

As I took it to Brietling store in Manhattan, they asked me $270 to replace the link! They said the metal-link is not under warranty! You buy a freakin' $4,000 watch to find out links are not under warranty! A BIG disappointment! Anyways, my friend had a separate link left from original and he found it for me.

Now the store still wants $170 to repair that link, and mind you no warranty after repair! What is Brietling thinking? We have money to throw away? My friend wished he had guts to throw away a $4K watch . . .

Posted at 07:26 AM in Manly Watches | Permalink | Comments (3)

May 23, 2013

Thomas Pre-Orders the Crowd Funded "Earl"

Check out this crowd-funded device called Earl:

http://swling.com/blog/2013/05/introducing-earl-a-rugged-solar-powered-gps-and-android-tablet-with-built-in-shortwave-radio/

Hands-down, it's the most manly Android tablet ever conceived. It even has a built-in AM/FM/LW and shortwave radio. IP67 rated, allowing full submersion in 3 feet of water for 30 mins. Reliable in temperatures between 0-50 °C. and altitudes up to 40,000 feet.

I'm in love.

I just pre-ordered one.

-Thomas

Posted at 02:51 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ken K Reviews the Sangean CL-100 Clock Radio

I thought I'd do a review for your blog of the Sangean CL-100 clock radio, especially since I found the recent bargain price of about $33 on Amazon via a tip on your blog. There's two pictures attached, mentioned in my review.

I didn't really need a new clock radio, my trusty RCA RP3721 has been serving me well for over 20 years. The sound and performance aren't the greatest, but I have many other radios for that. The RCA wakes me up reliably, and has several good features that are easy to use. But for the bargain price of $33 including shipping, I figured I'd take a shot on the Sangean.

In four words, I Don't Like It. I read all the reviews, but even though things were mentioned, nothing prepared me for the boneheaded flaws in this potentially useful radio.

Out of the box, the Sangean suprised me that the unit was quite a bit smaller than I expected. Not a problem, since that means a smaller footprint on my night table. In fact, it has the exact same footprint as my Sangean DAR-101 Mp3 recorder (see picture). That's where the good news ends.

First of all, the radio is useless as a clock radio. The display is small, not very bright (about as bright as the person who designed this radio I guess), and worst of all, is fixed at about a 45 degree angle from the radio. In other words, virtually impossible to see from my bedside (see comparison pic with my RCA, taken from my pillow, i.e. what I can see lying down).

Plus the shiny plastic display cover makes it virtually impossible to read from any angle in daylight. The Sangean MP3 recorder has an adjustable angle display, and can go to 90 degrees (see other picture).

OK, but how does it perform?. Not very well. For one thing, there is an annoying 2 or 3 second delay whenever the station is changed via preset. The sound is OK, but the sensitivity and selectivity are below average. I wasn't looking for a star performer in a clock radio, but I did hope for a little better than my RCA. No such luck.

I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with this radio since it's obviously not going to be my new bedside radio. There is an old analog JC Penney clock radio in the guest room. But if I replaced it with the Sangean I'm sure I'd have to teach any guests how to use it. So, for now, it's in the little used back room of the basement, connected to an old portable CD Player (so at least I'm making use of the Aux-In feature). It was still a great price, so I really don't regret buying it, but it could have been so much better.

Posted at 11:43 AM in Radio Lovers Can't Be Cured | Permalink | Comments (5)

Robb Takes a Look at the Good and the Bad of His Meloson M7 MP3 Radio

I've been looking for a small radio/mp3 player for some time... a radio with a SPEAKER. And while this radio has some faults and quirks, it serves its purpose and the price was right.

The M7 has great sound and reception while not great is acceptable. It seems to play all mp3 formats I've tried both CBR and VBR... at least in the 96kbs to 320kbs range. It remembers where you left off on an mp3... but there's not fast forward or reverse when playing a file... only the choice to play the next file or go back to the beginning of the

I don't like the trend to these small lithium batteries. This one is a mere 1000mah compared to a standard AA rechargeable that's between 2000 and 2600mah. The battery that came with the radio was dead but the company sent a new one. Luckily I bought a recharger and 2 extra batteries. There's an preset equalizer but it doesn't seem to work if there's no SD card in the slot and it doesn't remember the setting. While there's a photocell, the display back lite is always on in the dark. The radio seems to lower in volume on occasion... just for a few seconds. While there's a supplied USB cord, the M7 does NOT act as an interface with your PC. To change files on the SD card you must take it out. And there's no display name of what you're playing... only the file number.

Other than that... it does what I want... a decent radio AND it plays podcasts.

Posted at 08:47 AM in Radio Lovers Can't Be Cured | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 22, 2013

New Degen DE23 Radio Not Yet Available

Ante writes:

There is no specification of the radio on Degen's website, or at least I could not get it using Chinese-English Google translation, but by looking carefully at the pictures I think this is yet another FM/AM/SW/MP3 radio using the mobile phone battery. As far as I could see, it's not yet available on e-bay.

Posted at 08:21 AM in Radio Lovers Can't Be Cured | Permalink | Comments (0)

Orphan Sale on CCrane Website Includes $99 CCRadio-SW

Ed has apprised us of this list of CCrane Orphans, radios returned and such, including a $99 CCRadio-SW, about $40 reduced.

Posted at 06:00 AM in Radio Lovers Can't Be Cured | Permalink | Comments (4)

May 20, 2013

As a Hobby Interest Grows, Practical Concerns Get Tossed Out the Window

Addressing the reader's comment that a quartz watch is more practical than an automatic, Jonny writes:

Spending more than 30 bucks on a watch isn't practical. For most of my adult life I'd spend $30-50 on a watch and it would last 4-5 years until it broke or was lost. Over the last couple years I've mainly spent $150-300 on watches and most of them I've lost interest in and are sitting in a box.

The differences in more expensive watches become more and more invisible, less and less tangible and practical. Watch aficionados like to say otherwise, but the vast majority of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a $300 Seiko and a $10K Panerai, in a similar way that people not into rap music can't tell the difference between A Tribe Called Quest and Biggie Smalls (which in the world of classic rock is probably as large a difference as Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath).

All hobbies and interests have a developed and refined sensibility, and it rarely has to do with anything easily quantifiable.