I have gone through several storage devices over the years and now I have been using the Synology 1511+ and loving it. I still have my Netgear which has been operating fantastically, but I needed some more storage in another location and less expensive, Synology fit the bill perfectly. One thing to note I really am not a fan of Drobo after trying it out, its speed is always questionable and it has problems sometimes dealing with different drives, and its can’t be attached to the network easily.

Pros

• Very well built
• A long list of features
• Amazing Web Based & PC/Mac Manageorgeous, PC and web-based management software
• Works with 3TB Drives
• Expandle with DX510 Expansion Unit
• Hot-Swappable Drives

Cons

• Its a bit on the expensive side

Synology builds a solid piece of hardware with useful things like 4 USB, 2 eSATA, and 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports. What makes their products truly great is their fantastic software. The feature set is too long to list here, but it’s basically a file/backup/web/email server, media streamer, and download manager jammed into a cubic foot box. You can have it up in running in 10 minutes thanks to its amazing software.

The same software can be used with different machines, so you can have several Synology Storage Units on your network controlled from the same panel. Its a very highly featured software and your able to configure your storage device in any way possible, and its still simple enough to set it up in about 10 mins. I am running it at 5 x 3TB Hitachi Drives for the past few months without any headaches at all, this is a very high performing machine and the best part is that it can be expanded up to 45 TB with two more additional units which just hook right up to the back of the 1511+.

I highly recommend any Synology model, and espeically this one is fantastic this one is awesome!

Price: $866
Link: Amazon

Rating:

There is no denying that I am a huge Star Wars fans, I still think the movies they made with Anakin Skywalker are pretty good. I came across these bookends on Amazon and knew they had to have them right away. I unboxed the bookends the moment the package arrive and I like the weight of them, they felt like high quality bookends because of their weight. I placed them up on my shelves with the books that I have read and I like the way they look very scifi looking, if you like Star Wars then you will love these bookends.

I have been looking at iPad Mounts for a while now that could be mounted in different locations all over the house. I tend to use my iPad for many different applications, controlling music in the house, playing Pandora while sitting at my desk, reading lots of different items on the iPad. I found the Wallee mount but for some reason it seems to get lost in the delivery so in my search I have found the Vogel Mounts. For $70 you get the case and the Vogel Wall Mount which you can rotate the iPad in any way and its a simple case to use. Then they have other mounts such as the Car Mount and Flex Mount for use with the same case which makes it a versatile case. I like the Flex Mount because you can position it where you need it. You have to drill these mounts into the wall and then attach the case to them, but they do have an adhesive mount if you can’t drill into the wall. Overall I think these mounts are very cool especially that you can use different mounts with it, and it also works with products other then the iPad.

Link: Vogel

When I first saw these special edition Moleskines I knew that I had to have them, and after waiting a few months they came through in my mail box. As soon as I got them I loved the quality of the engraving, I do wish the Moleskines made more special edition notepads. I got a total of 6 new Moleskines, 2 are Peanuts or Charlie Brown, and 4 are Pac Man with different variations of it. I keep saying that you can never have enough Moleskines and at this point I have a little stockpile that will last me at least two years but I try to use the Moleskins for all my note taking needs, I prefer notes on paper then on an iPad or Phone.

This three-showerhead shower is a contemporary, eco-friendly design by architect Paolo Bertarelli that seems perfect for your modern bachelor pad. The shower has three functions: rain, whirlpool and full dual blow.

I am one those people that love showers, the first thing I check whenever I walk into a new hotel is check their showers. And recently I have been doing some minor remodling and shower heads can get very expensive from 200 KD up to 1500 KD, just for the shower head at Art Casa in Sun City. Now this set looks very interesting, the right kind of pressure for a comfortable shower. I prefer using the shower head then the shower hand, it just feels more comfortable. Now I wonder how much these shower heads would cost.

Link: LuxuryLaunches

Every once in a while you see a unique business card that draws your attention and Steve Wozniaks’ card always draws attention. One because its Steve Wozniak or The Other Steve @ Apple, and two because its made out of steel which is very cool. Plasma Design is a company which makes creative cards out different kinds of steels and plastics based on your design or something they can put together. These cards are high quality steel and extremely thin, a few hundred microns to be exact. I think they are really cool and would want to have a card like that, but you would have to pick specific people to give this card to as it is expensive as hell. Depending on the type of card you pick and the thickness it could range from $550 for 100 cards and go all the way up to $19000 for 5000 cards. Still I think they are extremely cool and unique cards, click the link for more details and information about them.

Link: PlasmaDesign

Getting a DSLR is relatively easy these days but picking a lens is a daunting task. There are so many different kinds and brands of lenses and it takes a lot of research to figure out the right type of lens to purchase, the selection is huge. What Lens Hero does is unravel this whole mess and give you a large selection with all the types of criteria that you could think of and then they tell you what the lenses are good for and its best and worst qualities. For any photographer this website has fantastic amount of information, I try not to look at it so I don’t purchase any more lenses, you can never have too many lenses.

Search & Adjustment Criteria:

• Wide Angel Photo Length
• Telephoto Focal Length
• Price
• Camera
• Lens Type

Then they give you all the details of each specific lens when you look at the details of the lens.

Link: LensHero

Scott Wilson is the designer behind the TikTok & LunaTik that has stormed the web the past month, every tech and designer website talking about it. It honestly deserves the fame just because of the unique and high quality design, it even appealed to me.

TikTok and LunaTik simply transform the iPod Nano into the world’s coolest multi-touch watches. The idea to use the Nano as a watch was an obvious one ever since the product was announced. But we wanted to create a collection that was well designed, engineered and manufactured from premium materials and that complemented the impeccable quality of Apple products. Not just clipped on a cheap strap as an afterthought. We wanted to create a product that your friends and strangers would stop you and ask “WTF is that??? And where can I get one?!”

That isn’t the only thing that got me interested, I clicked on the link and found myself at the TikTok+LunaTik Kickstarter page. This was an interesting experience, you pledge certain amount of money and you get a product or certain products all based on the amount you pledge, its like preordering the product at the price you choose based on the package you want. Turns out Kickstarter is a new concept which helps designers and product developers to get the income they need to make their product, its a unique and fantastic approach to connect the developers with the consumers. TikTok+LunaTik was an extremely successful result, the goal of the pledges was $15’000 but it shot past it up to $941,718 which is extremely alot more then they were expecting. I pledged $160 to get the TikTok & LunaTik, I honestly never really thought about the iPad Nano except after seeing this design, it would make it easier more me to put on a watch and listen to music while riding then to have it in my pocket. The design is genius and because of this design it urged me to get the Nano, so I think they have been successful in designing a product which would appeal to people and everyone loved it. I think that the Kickstarter Platform is fantastic and I’m looking at other products that they might have, it ranges from music to photography equipment, I’m enjoying seeing these interesting products.

Link: Kickstarter

Recently at a hobby store in the UK I saw some extremely high quality cars models in a unique store in Soho. What shocked me was the size and the detail of these beautiful machines, some of them are about 40 cm long and some are about 70 cm long. But it seems they are as expensive as a small car, the models ranging from 1000 to 3000 KD which is insane but that what you have to pay for fine craftsmanship.

Link: Amalgam

There are two things that I love taking with me when I’m traveling or even when I’m leaving the house and thats my iPad and my Moleskine, sometimes I can’t take both or the iPad is too bulky so I just end up taking my Moleskine with me. When I first heard about the case for the iPad from Moleskine I was excited, I honestly didn’t think that Moleskine would make it. I kept refreshing the Amazon page every week to check if it was available, the email notification didn’t work for me, and as soon as I saw it was already backordered, but I placed an order for two and received it after two weeks which isn’t too bad.

The Good

• Exceptional build quality, the Leather is very nice, just what your used to from Moleskine Notebooks
• Snug fit for the iPad, slips right in
• Functionally great, with the note book attached. Working on your iPad and taking notes couldn’t be easier
• When closed it looks great and professional, nice and clean
• The notebook is replaceable, next step is different kinds of notebook replacements from the plain to the lined
• Very reasonably priced for a case

The Bad:

• Left handers don’t have much luck, you have to flip the notebook
• It gets rather heavy and its really thick, more then I expected

Verdict:

• You will love the Moleskine iPad Folio Cover if you miss having a notebook iPad combo
• If you want a think case then this isn’t for you
• If you love Moleskines then this is for you

Overall I love it, and I’m going to enjoy carrying it with me when I need to take notes and have internet access.

Link: Amazon
Rating:

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