Hasta La Gadget!

It’s going to be a long, long time before anyone gets to see Jupiter’s moon Europa first-hand, but NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory just provided the next best thing. It has released a “remastered” image of the icy celestial body that shows what it…

SwitchEasy, a name that is more often than not synonymous with delivering accessories for the mobile lifestyle, has just announced a couple of offerings – BoomBox for the iPhone 5/5S as well as LifePocket SL for the iPhone 6. The former, the BoomBox, happens to be an innovative case that has been specially designed in order for it to amplify music and phone calls, all without having to be powered by an external battery, or to have yu tote around an additional cable. As for the LifePocket SL, this particular model would bring its predecessor, the LifePocket folio case, to a whole new level thanks to its Stitch Less construction – hence the case’s new name designation.

With the special stitch-less manufacturing process, the LifePocket SL has been specially designed in order to be extremely simple, and yet visually stunning. This would go a long way in complementing the sleekly-designed and recently introduced iPhone 6. Apart from that, its unique design would also enable the owner to carry up to half a dozen credit cards in addition to five paper bills, which frees the need to tote around a wallet. After all, Apple Pay’s cashless transaction program should catch more steam in due time, letting you live a truly cashless life. Not only that, LifePocket SL would also include SwitchEasy’s unique, patent-pending FlipCash that offers easy access to cash and credit cards.

As for the BoomBox, it boasts of an innovative design, delivering added functionality and letting users enjoy superior protection in a modern form-factor. The case itself will come with a built-in kickstand, where it will then expand its capabilities for ease-of-use and convenience. The amplification-based design enhances as well as boosts music or a speakerphone-based conversation by up to three times louder, without having to sacrifice on either clarity or sound quality.

You can choose from Black, Blue, Orange, Pink and Yellow for the new SwitchEasy LifePocket SL, while the BoomBox will cater to the iPhone 5/5S in Black, Blue, Pink, Grey and Yellow shades, retailing for $34.99 and $24.99, respectively.

Press Release
[ SwitchEasy announces new cases for iPhones copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

 Apple has likely handily broken sales records with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and new app download numbers from app marketing firm Fiksu give us even more reason to believe that’s true. Fiksu’s October App Store Competitive Index found that app downloads through the month were up 42 percent over their September total, and up 39 percent year-over year, reaching a record high of 7.8… Read More

Don’t you love how love wakes us up in unexpected ways? How the standout moments are often the simplest?

I was reminded of this one recent morning while driving my kids to school. From the moment I woke up, I felt steeped in melancholy, and finally as I pulled up to my son’s school, I realized why.

Exactly one year before, I’d been sitting in the hospital with my dad, waiting for what was his “last option” surgery. He’d been there over a week already, building up his strength for the operation.

And he was feeling a little better: in less pain, better able to breathe… but you know how it is in hospitals. You feel crappy. You look crappy. You’re wearing a crappy gown, and people bug you at the least convenient times for the most annoying reasons.

On this particular day, Dad decided he needed to shave, because sitting around getting scruffy was making him feel even worse and less like himself. Standing wasn’t an option, so I helped him gather his shaving gear, warmed some water, and got him set up with a mirror so he could see what he was doing.

He did as well as he could, shaving while sitting in bed, hands shaking with an intention tremor he’d had for years, but which now seemed to further highlight his fragility.

He missed a few spots, which I pointed out. But instead of getting them himself, he handed me the razor and asked me to do it.

My heart was in my throat.

Here was the man I always looked up to as my protector and one of the smartest, strongest, and most capable men I knew, asking me to shave him. My proud dad, who insisted on privacy and life on his terms, was inviting me to do this tender task for him. I felt oddly honored and humbled. When I finished he looked in the mirror to check my handiwork. “Good girl,” he said.

I will never forget that moment.

It was such a small exchange, measured in time… just a few minutes from start to finish.

But that one moment spoke of vulnerability: I need your help.
It spoke of trust: Please be my hands.
It spoke of surrender: Please do this for me.

It was the last time he shaved. And I got to help.

It’s the little things, you know?

Now the holidays are coming, and hopes are running high. Families will come together, and some of those family members will have big expectations for how it’ll all play out. And some of those expectations will be met. But most, of course, will not.

And that’s OK… as long as we’re not training our eyes and ears on the big holiday payoff, and missing the little moments. The chance to sit near someone we love. To hold their hand on an ordinary day.

Enjoy not just the holidays, but the days surrounding them. Pay attention to the little things; they are the big moments in disguise.

Image by Kate Solomon

I grew up in a very different environment than most kids. One where your backpack was filled with smocks, hardened paints, six different pairs of ballet shoes and tarnished Arthur Miller scripts. One where your best friend was a boy who wore shiny tap shoes, spandex and worked incredibly hard to figure out the best way to mime “flying a plane”. He was also (and is still) incredibly straight (perplexing I know). If you hadn’t figured it out by now (it’s early in the week still for some of us), I went to a performing arts school for a decade of my life. I was continuously exposed to all kinds of eccentric wackos of every race, religion, gender and sexual orientation. So, when I left and went into the real world, I still held on to certain ideals that I foolishly thought were the norm. For instance, ridiculous things like, wearing a character skirt on top of sweatpants as socially acceptable attire and, all men and women being treated equally. What an idiot, right?

I mean, to be fair, I didn’t really notice the dichotomy between men and women in high school or university (the whole skirt/sweatpants thing was a much quicker realization). We hadn’t yet gone on to graduate school and seen where the big boy’s schlongs turn into cigars (that’s actually what happens, can you believe it?) and women’s vaginas turn into black holes that suck opportunity away from them into their uteruses and then shit themselves back out, years later, as baby boys (read that again as David Attenborough- totally believable).

I suppose this is only news to you if you are living on a lesbian socialist commune (which I think about joining more and more everyday). But otherwise, once you’ve hit adulthood, those knockers you once used to get you out of homeroom and into some guy’s bedroom, are actually making your struggle to succeed in life an even bigger struggle (PARTAAAAYYYYYYYY!!! Getcha ovaries out ladies! WHAT? WHAAAAT?).

For example, now that I’ve hurled myself into the world of stand-up comedy, the contrast between men and women has never seemed more drastic. It truly is still a man’s world and it’s been a seriously eye-opening (and depressing, let’s not forget depressing) experience.

Imagine you’re new to the stand-up game, hungry to succeed (and for food probably) and already so terrified of failure that you duck in and out of consciousness like a groundhog (or a very urgent number 2 situation). You then find out, at an open mic night, that you’re the only woman on the lineup, and potentially in the bar. Any hope of you making vagina jokes are dead and gone. Kaput! Don’t even think about vaginas. Forget you have one. Cork it while you’re at it.

But WHY? Why no vagina jokes? They’re hilarious. You know how many dick, rape and fart jokes I’ve sat through? And how many women next to me were in stitches (heck I even laughed at some!)? Why is it, then, that women can laugh at the ludicrousness of the male species, and, yet, men (and some women) are, for the most part, perplexed and uncomfortable at any mention of our sexes anatomical misfortunes? Cause I gotta tell ya ladies and gentlemen, this shit is real, it’s happening, and if we don’t laugh about it we may just implode. Which, if we’re being candid here, is actually what I think happened to Amelia Earhart.