Category Archives: Geeking around

The Beauty of Books

Posted on October 3, 2014 by ricbret

In 1981 an Italian artist, architect, and industrial designer named Luigi Serafini worked for three years crafting an alien artifact that pushed the concepts of beauty, alienation, and book craft to new dimensions. Serafini created a tome, thick and large, embellished with impenetrable glyphs and symbols that by style and repetition of forms can be nothing but a language, but one no human has ever spoken.
Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Entertainment, Geeking around, Media, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Writing | Leave a comment

Considering the Blue Pill…

Posted on September 19, 2014 by ricbret

Sure, and there’s stuff you can do with digital that you could never do with physical media. I travel with hundreds of books in my backpack. I can choose what movie I want to watch on the plane. Mix tape from 100’s of albums when and where I want? Sure, I’m future boy!

It’s all upside, right? What could be wrong? But about this time in any SyFy movie, you know the foreboding music is about to rise and everything you’ve been enjoying is about to turn on you. Continue reading →

Posted in Audience, Books, Entertainment, Geeking around, Media, Movies, Personal, Random thoughts, SciFi Fantasy, Software, Technology, Travel, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wireless… Not Really.

Posted on September 6, 2014 by ricbret

Looking at the otherwise seductive Moto 360, I’m struck by the beauty of the watch and the confusion it represents. Its charger is labeled “wireless” which is mismanaged marketing of what is more correctly known as inductive charging.  Inductive charging means … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, Hardware, Random thoughts, Technology, Travel | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Warning Wunderlist Users!

Posted on August 9, 2014 by ricbret

          UPDATE: Apparently @WunderlistHelp just tweeted the following. Wunderlist Support‏@WunderlistHelp If you’re missing lists, they are safe. Please sign out and back in again. So sorry for the trouble! I have not tried this, will check … Continue reading →

Posted in Geeking around, Personal, Technology, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Writing | 3 Comments

Swallow the red pill…

Posted on August 7, 2014 by ricbret

As you may already know from prior posts, as well as producing the weekly podcast, I often write for a website called Fanboy Planet. Fanboy Planet reports on all the silly and serious aspects of being a fan in this … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Entertainment, Games, Geeking around, History, Media, Movies, Personal, Random thoughts, SciFi Fantasy, Software, Technology, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Take the Red Pill…

Posted on July 26, 2014 by ricbret

As well as producing the weekly podcast, I often write for a web site called Fanboy Planet. Fanboy Planet reports on all the silly and serious aspects of being a fan in this modern day. Being involved in fannish media is … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Design, Entertainment, Geeking around, Media, Movies, Personal, Random thoughts, Software, Writing | Leave a comment

And another new blog… Book Judgement

Posted on July 10, 2014 by ricbret

Have I mentioned Book Judgement? It’s a project I’ve wanted to do for years, but never figured out exactly what it was and how I would do it.  Together those are pretty inhibiting factors. Simply put, I love books.  Not … Continue reading →

Posted in Audience, Books, Design, Entertainment, Geeking around, History, Media, Writing | Leave a comment

The Shiny New Blog

Posted on July 8, 2014 by ricbret

Hey! You either followed the breadcrumbs or somehow just got lucky and stumbled into the new blog location.  Congratulations either way. I’m really happy you made it here. For years I’ve used the free WordPress-hosted blogging, and I was happy. … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Geeking around, History, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology, Uncategorized, Writing | Leave a comment

Leap Motion – First Impressions and Demo

Posted on July 23, 2013 by ricbret

Postman bought my new Leap Motion controller this week.  Minutes after installing it (and figuring out I’d placed it on the desktop upside down!) it was up and working.  This video is my first few impressions of the orientation application … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Geeking around, Hardware, Media, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How Screwed-Up is Apple Safari? I Think It Needs Therapy.

Posted on June 23, 2013 by ricbret

Some people think that because I worked for Microsoft for so many years that I’m an Apple hater.  Well, that’s not actually true.  Fact is, I’ve had a Macintosh on my desks, at work and home, pretty much constantly since … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, Media, Organizations, Software, Technology, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rotten Bitter Apple

Posted on April 10, 2013 by ricbret

Update: Word from comiXology now after many hand-wringing updates overnight is that Apple didn’t prevent comiXology from pushing to iOS apps, but comiXology made the call.  In a letter on their blog page, comiXology CEO David Steinberger noted: After hearing … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Entertainment, Geeking around, Media, Organizations, Personal, SciFi Fantasy, Thoughts, Writing | 2 Comments

Savino Wine Preservation System Unboxing

Posted on March 29, 2013 by ricbret

Sometimes we have to put the tech, and the presenting and the other stuff geeky aside and just enjoy a glass of wine. But maybe we can combine a few of these. The latest tech in wine storage. The geeky … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, Food and drink, Geeking around, Personal, Technology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Calming Down the Grandpa in Office 2013

Posted on January 19, 2013 by ricbret

I got a lot of good feedback on The First Thing to Do to Your New PowerPoint 2013, thanks and wow – happy to help. So OK, here’s the second thing you should do after you install Office 2013.  It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, Health and wellness, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Random thoughts, Software, Thoughts | 6 Comments

Love of Books – An Unboxing of “The Fifty Year Sword”

Posted on December 10, 2012 by ricbret

I’m a big fan of books. Not just the stories, but the book construction as well. From bindings, paper choice, typeset, typography, layout, it’s all interesting to me. Mark Z. Danielewski is most famous for House of Leaves, an inventive … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Design, Entertainment, Geeking around, Movies, Personal, Technology, Uncategorized, Writing | 1 Comment

The First Thing to Do to Your New PowerPoint 2013…

Posted on November 1, 2012 by ricbret

Warning, I’m pretty opinionated when it comes to a garish design that I have to look at for hours at a time. I find it personally offending and I’m not going to mince words here. Luckily there’s a quick fix … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology, Thoughts | 3 Comments

PowerPoint History, 25 years ago…

Posted on May 25, 2012 by ricbret

This has to be quick.  Sorry for any typos or errors, but I’m packing, medicating, and generally running about today and this could not wait. I got a very nice letter from Bob Gaskins yesterday. If you don’t recognize the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Business, Deals, Design, Geeking around, History, Media, Organizations, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology, Thoughts, Writing | 2 Comments

25 Gigs for Nothin’ And The Clicks for Free…

Posted on April 25, 2012 by ricbret

Ok, I’ll apologize for that title first. Sounded better in my head. Wanted to get this out fast because according to a quick poll of friends a lot of people may have missed the news. Hope you already had a … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Deals, Geeking around, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology | Leave a comment

This is so easy to do…

Posted on April 19, 2012 by ricbret

There are some things that are such a pleasure to do, to pass along, to endorse… it kind of feels like cheating, like “duh” this doesn’t even have to be said. Yeah, this is one of those. I love the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, History, Home and Family, Media, Movies, Software, Travel | 3 Comments

GoPayment Vs. Square – One More Thing, One Less Thing…

Posted on March 6, 2012 by ricbret

I signed up for Intuit’s new GoPayment card system yesterday. Thought I’d share a few thoughts. GoPayment is a way for regular folks to take credit card payments from other regular folks using your cell phone or tablet.  It’s advertised … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Geeking around, Personal, Random thoughts, Software, Technology, Thoughts, Uncategorized | 17 Comments

QuickTechThought: Our Red Toaster

Posted on January 13, 2012 by ricbret

Our pretty red toaster died this week. Sunbeam Oster. It wasn’t even three years old.  I know, I know, they don’t make things like they used to.  But it’s just a toaster, it’s supposed to be pretty fundamentally simple.   … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Food and drink, Geeking around, Home and Family, SciFi Fantasy, Technology, Thoughts, Uncategorized | Leave a comment