This is what happens when a highly populated city serves all their 21+ residents green beer and forgets to put out enough porta potties… or it’s the Chicago River on St. Patrick’s Day.

For Americans, St. Patrick’s Day also means the celebration of the integration of the Irish culture into our own, and that’s what all the parades and green rivers celebrate. Unfortunately, I think a lot of us forget to take a step back and acknowledge this culture blend in some meaningful way in between swigs of Jameson. So, is St. Patrick’s Day worth the spending? Allow the leprechauns to explain.

Suppose we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day merely for the purpose of showing our undying support for leprechauns. Leprechauns have come to symbolize Irish-American culture. The little fellas represent good luck and a positive, care-free spirit. Leprechauns have given added importance to clovers, which are a major part of the legend of St. Patrick (he used the clover to explain the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit… holy cow!).

While dedicating a day to little green men may sound wrong, I don’t see how this causes us to lose any of the meaning of the holiday. We have merely taken it, twisted it, and done with it what we’ve done so well, or poorly, depending on your judgment, to pizza, cars, and weddings. We’ve Americanized it and mass-produced it.

Obviously, leprechauns are one of the more shallow things to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day for, but if they’re why you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, then I say it’s a day worth splurging on. Why not celebrate a mythological creature on a day when everyone is so plastered that the world appears to be a mirage?

Seriously, though,  the bottom line is that people celebrate holidays for personal reasons and make them their own. It’s good that Americans celebrate St. Patrick’s Day for different reasons than the Irish. Holidays are like words. They need not have just one definition.

Mr. Fluffles! That wasn’t a mouse!

Furthermore, if a holiday doesn’t inherently belong to a particular culture, that doesn’t mean it should be ignored. By embracing St. Patrick’s Day, Americans are showing how open to outside influences they are, and obviously gaining the perks of Guinness and Lucky Charms cereal in the process (Beer and marshmallows deserve a time and a place to be celebrated, too).

In conclusion, while I clearly haven’t advanced past fifth grade transitions, I implore you to indulge your love for consumerism this St. Patrick’s Day (Consumerism is to Americans as sharp teeth are to vampires, so don’t see it as a bad thing, although it’s okay if it scares you.). Parade yourself around in green suspenders. See who can get the drunkest using your breathalyzer (while not getting too wasted, of course). Dress your iPad up in green while providing it the protection it needs from all the beer spills, food crumbs, and drunken attempts to use it as a football.

Embrace your inner leprechaun, and don’t leave it to the luck of the Irish to ensure that your St. Patrick’s Day is one to remember.

I’ve done enough googling to know that there are many consumers like me who own more than one Apple device, in particular, an early 2009 iMac and newer MacBook Pro, and had the brilliant idea to use the iMac as an extended display. At the same time, I know there are also many consumers like me who have searched and searched to no avail for a how-to, believing this would be an easy task since both devices are equipped with Mini DisplayPort, where the only frustration would be the high price tag of a little cable to achieve this. But NOPE. Only late-2009 27″ iMacs and then 2010 all-size iMacs have the ability to receive video input–you’ll know whether or not your iMac is capable if you can find a Target Display Mode feature on your device.

The wonderful thing about having a large community of consumers is that multiple someones share your need and one of those someones is bound to develop a solution. In this particular case, one solution comes in the form of “Screen Recycler“. This program uses VNC to wirelessly connect (or wired option for better performance) your two devices, allowing you to use one computer as the workhorse and the other just for its display. While not the ideal set up, since reviews express some lag in the second display, especially for graphic intensive applications, it definitely is an affordable alternative.

I haven’t had the opportunity to test this program out yet, but I will be downloading it soon since I’m not ready to get rid of my iMac just yet. For those of you who are interested in this program, I plan to use Screen Recycler to connect a second display (my 24″ iMac) with an ethernet cable for editing photos in Lightroom, so I’ll get a good a sense of how laggy it could be, and whether it not it will work for this purpose. I’ll update with a full review on the program.

There are some other programs out there that also connect devices in a similar fashion, such as Air Display. Have you come across other programs or found any hardware workarounds for the pre-2009 iMacs? Please share!

The Future of Point and Shoot Digital Cameras

You know, I was really starting to think cell phones would completely replace the digital camera market (keep in mind, none of this is in reference to high quality photographer’s DSLRs and such). After giving it more thought I started to ponder instead how long cell phones as we think of them were going to last.

But first, let’s back up to digital cameras.  Are cell phones eliminating the need for digital cameras – yes, but only as far as they can without interfering with the other abilities of your phone.   Basically, you don’t need to purchase a $90-$200 camera anymore just to take digital photos of a reasonably decent quality. I believe my iPhone is capable of taking higher quality shots than the digital camera I paid $200 for back in 2007. I haven’t touched that camera in a long while (and not just because I misplaced it…).

But your phone does have its limitations, and these limitations should keep point and shoot digital cameras in production:

• Point-and-shoot digital cameras have more complicated lenses that allow for better zoom and wide angle shots.
• Point-and-shoots use a flash that is better for lighting in low-light situations. The best the phone has been able to do so far is give you a strong LED, which is great for spot lighting things that are close to you but not for anything further away.
• Cell phone sensors and lenses are too small, and it’s unlikely that there would be enough space on the phones of today to have any significant focal length range.

And then let’s consider the evil b-word (not that one) battery:

• Point-and-shoot cameras use power more quickly than your phone does (and think about how bad your phone is already). So if you were to try to add more and more digital camera capabilities to your phone and use your phone often to take photos, it would have a significant impact your battery life. (for now at least)

Let’s just say for the sake of argument that most of this gets incorporated anyway, technology does keep evolving after all.  I have to imagine it’s going to make your cell phone bigger (imagine not: iPhone 5 – world’s thinnest phone ever, but rather: iPhone 6 – world’s largest smart phone yet!)

In general, cell phones are giving the digital camera industry a run for its money and it should only benefit the consumers. “Okay” digital cameras just aren’t going to cut it, they’ve been replaced by a tiny lens on your smart phone and an app. What is produced needs to be better than what our phones are capable of in order to sell.  Because who really wants to carry around a camera and a phone just in case they see something they want to take a picture of when the phone can take a decent enough shot?

What’s to come for digital cameras then?

I expect a higher level of connectivity – apps on your digital camera, Photoshop (or comparable) installed to edit photos on the spot, WiFi, social media, etc. Some of this is already live in doses, but it will become more heavily incorporated and expected. Expect the fall of the average digital camera for the rise of higher quality digital cameras.

So… what was this about cell phones not lasting? Am I crazy?? Perhaps. Yes.. perhaps indeed.

I just got to thinking the other day and wondered if they would be necessary in the future. What if our phone abilities (call and text) were accessible in all of our other electronics. Call people from your DSLR camera, text from your TV, call from your car, text from your tablet… All of these things already exist in a way (not sure about the calling from a DSLR, but the rest) but what if they existed without your physical phone? Or…

Maybe you just always had something on you (think: credit card, bracelet, microchip in your skin!!, whatever) that would transmit your phone into any device you were around, should you choose to do so. And that might not even be necessary. But basically you could use almost any electronic device to talk and text, whether it be a smart device that fits in the palm of your hand like it does now (which I’m sure many, many people would still want), or a TV, stereo, car, etc. I’m sure many would still use their MP3 player / tablet, but the key to my hypothesis is that you wouldn’t NEED to carry your “phone” around. You could forget it at home and still be connected. (and you could shut it off and what have you.. no one should be “on” all the time).

Just some musings.. think about it. So far we keep taking the phone and adding as much as we can to it, what if we did the opposite? Add the phone feature to everything else.  Hey, you never know.

Now: enjoy my right-handed mouse sketches (from my left-handed self) and maybe another time I’ll share my thoughts on TV’s and how they’ve somehow become the most overlooked piece of technology that needs advancing. Everyone’s working very slowly on this while focusing on their phones.

A note before I sign off… a draft of this post just auto saved at: 3:33:33pm. What. (for anyone who watches Psych, I had Gus in mind when I typed “what.”, for those who don’t: go watch Psych.)

As the weather gets cold and gloomy with all the rain we’ve been getting, I can’t help but want to migrate someplace warmer for a little while.

This wanderlust couldn’t have come at a better time either because Southwest Airlines is having its Winter Sale on flights! I’m talking 40% off round-trip tickets! So where to–SoCal? Bahamas? PR? I could fly to any of those places for under $400!

Or, I could take advantage of the cold setting in and go someplace colder. If you’re wondering, “WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU DO THAT?!” I have one word for you–Whistler. If you’re into snow sports (which I am), I hear Whistler is THE place to go, besides the Alps of course. I could take advantage of the Southwest 40% off promotion and fly to Seattle, rent a car, and drive the 4 hours or so to Whistler, BC. AND Southwest has free checked luggage (up to 2 pieces) which is extremely useful when checking your snowboard/skis is an absolute must on a trip like that!

But you only have until October 11 to finalize all your travel plans! Where would you go?

We hope you’ll forgive us for not featuring a Mother’s Day gift blog, we’ve been so busy! But, we know sometimes it can be more difficult to find gifts for men so we stepped it up, amid the chaos, to make sure you have some great ideas for Father’s day gifts this year.

For you formal-but-Star-Wars-loving dad: This casual Friday shirt ($15) will brighten his Friday’s at the office. And if that just doesn’t seem like enough get him one of these little guys ($29) to keep at his desk. With the ability to talk when squeezed, they’ll be sure to keep him company at work.

If he likes to cook: Not all dad’s are great cooks, or even really want to cook, so I wanted to make sure I covered some bases by running through some options: First let’s cover the dad who grew up loving the 60′s and all of the food that came with it, he enjoys an Old Fashioned with his dinner and remembers family gatherings and having  the neighbors over for dinner growing up. The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook: Inside the Kitchens, Bars, and Restaurants of Mad Men by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin ($12) will be the gift that keeps on giving for this dad. Serving up more than 70 recipes to satisfy any appetite, the book is also packed with period detail providing historical and cultural context for the dishes and cocktails featured in the show. Grab this book now and maybe this 7-Piece Whiskey Gift Set ($22) to show your dad just how much his taste and history means to you. Speaking of whiskey, if your dad appreciates only the best of the best, make sure you pick him up this book ($25) that I like to call my “whiskey bucket list,” but is actually titled 1001 Whiskies You Must Taste Before You Die by Dominic Roskrow. Just make sure he doesn’t try to run through the list too fast. Oh! And, include this card ($5) with the book for a bonus gift. If you’re dad walks into the kitchen and just has NO IDEA what to make once he gets there, AND he has a fondness for the F bomb, try the book What the F@$k Should I Make For Dinner?: The Answer to Life’s Everyday Question (in 50 F@$#ing Recipes) by Zach Golden ($11). There’s a website with the same name, that is obviously NSFW, but entertains the same concept (whatthe[#$@%]shouldimakefordinner.com, just replace my [#$@%] appropriately). Your dad will be run through a brief Q&A to help answer the question of what he should make for dinner. The recipes are pretty easy and both meat-eaters and vegetarians can find something good to make.

If you’re dad should not be in the kitchen because he is accident prone, consider the following gift: This Olympus Digital Camera is one of the toughest cameras on the market for a decent price ($400). It’s waterproof, shockproof, crushproof, freezeproof, and dustproof WITH a water repellent lens coating to prevent drops of water from remaining on the lens surface and double-lock durability to protect against accidental openings under water. If he breaks this one, you can quit buying him cool things and just get him this tshirt.

If the idea of arguing over who is the best at chess between you, your dad, and your sibling again is just making you crazy: Then get your dad this awesome three player chess board for Father’s day. How do they do it? I’d be so confused trying to play this way, but that’s just me.

For the dad who just can’t put down the video game controller (and you’re okay with that) try this:  Open source controller for all of his smart devices. It can be changed, adapted, and hacked to do whatever he can imagine. So whether he’s in a plane, train, or automobile he’ll still be able to play his games, with a controller.

For the dad who can barely work his iPhone, let alone keep it charged: Offer him a raincheck on this nifty JuiceTank charge case by Detached. While it’s still in Kickstarter stage right now, it has been successfully funded and will hopefully be in full production for Christmas!! There are very few chargers / cases / extended battery type things for iPhones these days that offer something that makes you look twice, but I think this is actually an ingenious case, and I’m pretty sure your dad will too.

If you’re dad is a self starter, motivated and has a great product/business idea in the works: Help his entrepreneurial spirit by setting him up with one of these payment acceptance methods: Paypal’s credit card reader or Square’s credit card reader (both free, but card processing fees apply) if you don’t have any desire to accept Paypal payments. If he needs something a bit more fancy, like an entire POS system for his new coffee shop bakery, then get him Square’s new register system for his iPad. He’ll be in business in no time.

Back to helping your dad out at work… if you want to help him harness the power of his cubicle and take control of his coworker with annoying action figures enemies: Consider the real mini desk cannon ($30). Okay… so I think it might technically be considered a firearm, and he probably can’t have it at his office… but how cool is it?? C’mon. He deserves total world domination it.

If on the other hand, you don’t think he should be taking real weapons to work: You can get him something that looks like a weapon, but is actually a useful flash drive. However, since it seems like it would be safer for him not to look like he’s carrying around a deadly weapon, maybe just get him this wrench flash drive instead.

If you can’t find something on this list that your dad will like, leave a comment describing your dad and I’ll see what I can come up with for him!

While we could have enjoyed this past weekend like any other weekend vegging out in front of the TV, shopping, going out for lunch with friends, a few of us decided we wanted to get dirty and test our toughness by participating in TOUGH MUDDER (again). Last year, I was a spectator and enjoyed every minute of it. This year, I decided I wanted in on the action and became a Tough Mudder. I can’t say that I enjoyed every minute of it…but I’m happy I did it and finished, even if it was only for the assuring knowledge that I never want to do this ever again!

My misery is 99.9% because of under-preparing. Tough Mudder is NO JOKE. Even though it’s not timed team work is encouraged (from teammates, friends, and strangers alike), it will KICK YOUR BUTT. HARD. The soreness and aching started to set in when I still had about 5 more miles to go. (How I made it through that 5 additional miles? I have no idea.) I could barely lift my legs and every now and then would gather enough strength to slowly (and I mean slowly) jog for the sole purpose of trying to get warm. Did I mention the second obstacle was jumping into an ice bath and having to submerge ourselves in this said ice bath to pass under a wall in the middle? (That sounds confusing, but believe me…it was COLD.) From that point on, it seemed like every other obstacle was something involving cold, COLD water.

My most feared events were the ones that involved live wires and shocking and I am relieved to report that I got shocked a whopping 0 times! I did witness many unfortunate Mudders who got some sick jolts of electricity, followed by seizing muscles and automatic fetal positioning.

I am so proud of our team and sticking together to make it through what Tough Mudder proclaims to be the “toughest event on the planet,” and how true that is! Please enjoy the photos from the event, taken by our amazing support group, MVP, super-spectator, Sara!

Were you in the Poconos race this weekend as well? Have you ever participated in Tough Mudder or similar event?
Please share with us! We’ve been swapping stories all day at work today!

SHOP If you’re in support of all things Etsy like I am, plus you love the visual stimulation that Pinterest provides, then I know you’ll enjoy shopping on Scrollsy now.

BUILD Take a gander at Shelterness. There are not just tons of DIY projects, but also just lists and lists of home improvement ideas. Like different styles of mini bars to build in your house. I have an idea for what to do with an old cabinet in my house now thanks to that mini bar page! If you’re feeling creative and motivated go visit Shelterness now.

SELL If you’re anything like me, your closet could use some serious cleaning. I actually think I might be able to wear a different shirt every day this year with how many shirts I own – however, some items would not fit correctly. Should you have the motivation required for the last task, but not the creativity, consider cleaning out your closet this weekend to make some money off of the clothes you don’t wear. If this sounds like a fabulous idea, head on over to Recycle Your Fashions to consign your clothes. They will take your clothes, and assuming they meet their standards, they will sell your goods on both their website as well as their eBay store and send you checks each month for all of those items you no longer needed or wanted.

TRAVEL If you need ideas on where to go next, or what to do when you get there… or help figuring out how to get anywhere (budget vaca!) then visit Gadling and start reading. With such articles as “Do You Need a Backpack To Be A Backpacker,” you’re sure to find the information you need to make your next trip (I’ve always wondered if this had to be literal or not in order to consider yourself “backpacking through Europe”).

VOLUNTEER I bet you’d be amazed at the amount of possible volunteer opportunities in your area. If you’d like to find a great way to donate your weekends to help others, hop on over to Volunteer Match. This site was designed to help match willing volunteers with those in need of help. Take a look around and see if you can take part in something bigger this weekend. You won’t regret it.

What is an interesting way you’ve spent your weekend recently?

This cute bag will make an awesome gift for the eco-conscious mom who likes to bring reusable bags with her to the grocery store, farmer’s market and everywhere else she goes. Help your mom decrease her carbon footprint this month by adding this little bag to your cart for just $4.95.

**bonus idea: grab this bag and fill it up with a few treats just for her – whether it be books, candy, gardening tools, or more folded bags inside to give her a complete collection.**

What’s the best gift you ever got your mom for Mother’s day?

For those who haven’t heard of PeerThis.com, it’s essentially a deal site (think Groupon, Living Social) that offers really cool deals from various vendors (including us!)

The twist is that you’re encouraged to share deals you find interesting on your Facebook or Twitter or other social vessel of choice. Then, for each person that views the deal and purchases through YOUR link, you get paid!

You can also make moolah by referring other promoters (who can also share offers) and businesses (who will sell offers through PeerThis)–whatever sales they make through their efforts, you also get paid!

Feel free to check them out! And while you’re at it, take a look at our deal with them, perfect for any sports car enthusiast.

(Car mouse also available in Blue!)