Hopper

The modern gentleman must be well traveled, and Hopper can get you there. This app not only shows you the best days to fly, it will watch prices like a hawk, predict when they will rise or fall, and direct you elsewhere if someone else has a better price. It’s like having your best friend as your travel agent, without any of the guilt of wanting to travel solo. With its recent $16 million in funding, Hopper is here to stay.

iTunes App Store    Google Play Store

SmartNews

You probably already have your news app of choice, but hear me out. SmartNews raised $38 million in its latest Series D round of funding, and not without reason. This news aggregation app offers similar features as other apps, but with an authentic twist. If your work internet is like mine and it doesn’t hold up like Ryan Lochte’s robbery recollection, this app has a feature called “Smartview” where you use a minimal amount of bandwidth to view the text-only version of any article. A great UI combined with no-hassle viewing has won my readership.

iTunes App Store    Google Play Store

Canopy

The modern gentleman is already using Amazon for (almost) all of his internet buying needs, however, sifting through all of the junk can take time that the modern man just doesn’t have. Canopy is a no frills curator for Amazon. Have a spare minute and feel like doing some home/life improvement? Everything on Canopy is hand-picked, reliable, and well designed, while the app itself is clean and simple compared to competitors who try and throw as much junk in your face as possible. For the modern Amazonian, this is a must have.

iTunes App Store    Google Play Store

The post Three Apps for the Modern Man appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

I’ve struggled with this for the past 2 months while trying to make original vlog posts for Car-tel Communications. Any smartphone can take video, and newer models can even support 4K, but universal access to video means creating something that attracts more than 10 views on Youtube requires creativity and a unique style.

What you need is $60, an amazon account, and a safe place for your mailman (or woman) to store your precious cargo. The most important piece of equipment is your tripod, because shaky video is terrible video. Amazon recently started to produce their own line of products under the AmazonBasics tagline, and their tripod is top-notch. For under $25 dollars, this 60” tripod is a steal.

Unfortunately, phones do not screw in to tripod mounts like traditional cameras, so you will need to get an adjustable phone adapter. I picked this one because it was recommended for the AmazonBasics tripod. If you made it this far and are thinking, “this only takes horizontal video, and I want vertical video,” we politely ask you to leave now and pick up a different hobby like bird-watching or knitting.

Next, and probably the most important component to creating your own style, is clip on phone lenses. They used to be gimmicks, but now companies like Samsung are jumping into the mobile lens arena because consumers are buying in droves. I like the MPOW 3-in-1 Lens Kit because it comes with a wide angle, macro, and fisheye lens as well as a microfiber cloth and two clips.

Now that you have spectacular video, you need great audio to match. Without purchasing a boom mic, XLR cables, and a recorder, great audio in the field is hard to come by. However, if you are vlogging or interviewing, a good lapel mic connected to the right android app can get the job done. I went with the Royal Voice Lapel Mic connected to the WavePad android app. Bring a friend, borrow their phone, connect the mic and throw it in your pocket. If you adjust the level inside the app your audio should come through crystal clear.

Now that you have the gear, it’s time to practice. With a great idea and the right lighting, you should become a YouTube sensation in no time. And while you are lounging in your golden vlogging throne, don’t forget F24 helped you get there!

TL;DR

For optimal mobile video, consider a $60 investment in:

1. This 60” Tripod
2. Tripod Phone Adapter
3. MPOW 3-in-1 Lens Kit
4. Royal Voice Lapel Mic and WavePad android app

The post Great Video for Under $60 appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Laptop have steadily been getting smaller, lighter, and more cloud-based with every passing year. Sooner rather than later, their size will be dictated only by the screen and demissions of the human hand for the keyboard. With that kind of slimness, you’d be better off with some futuristic combination of just a screen and a detachable soft keyboard. Oh wait… Something something Surface Pro…

On the other end of the spectrum, phones are getting more powerful, and the operating systems more capable. Once internet speeds catch up to laptops, they will have effectively reached parity. Of course, the physical size of a laptop will always be able to pack in more processing power and memory, but we are already reaching declining returns on laptop processing power. At this point, entry level on many lines is more than adequate to accomplish work for 80% of the population. Once we get mobile at that level and speed, laptops no longer become necessary.

With this lense of the future in place, it is clear to see what Apple has been doing with it’s operating systems across devices, and how Microsoft is following suit. The Surface Pro is the obvious example (this is why I used it earlier) of the already-bridged gap between tablet and laptop. But recently, Microsoft debuted a the very idea of a phone-based laptop, and there have been rumblings of the same from Android for years now (although nothing produced yet).

Who needs a tablet when your phone does the same thing? All you really need is a bigger output (screen) and easier input keyboard and mouse). Screens in-of-themselves are relatively cheap to make, as are peripherals. If we’re going to keep carrying around our phones everywhere (we will, because Google Glass is stupid), then it becomes a simple matter of course to litter our lives and works with screens that are easy to plug into as we need. This wouldn’t even be a security issue, it’s just a screen. Install them on busses and in Ubers, in planes and at the laundromat. Screens everywhere, but all our data, work, and life securely in our pockets.

The point is, we have one, maybe two generations of laptops left, then this migration will happen. The Surface Pro users of the world are the early adopters on this, but mark my words you’ll be using your phone for all your computing needs before too long.

The post You Won’t Own A Laptop Much Longer appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

It’s not like you’re unaware of the problem. You see the same people we all do – couples ignoring each other, friends staring at their phones instead of talking, people walking into lampposts as they browse /shitredditsays. You see these same people, then you pick up your phone to Instagram them to the world while bitching about how they won’t put their phones down. Stop being one of them.

You know it’s rude. Make the conscious decision to keep it inside your pocket more than out. It will take practice, and time, and patience, but every second will help. Every second will help you make or improve a social connection, or notice something about the world, or invent a solution to some problem that is vexing you. It is worth putting away to get to know yourself again.

Your phone is designed to take advantage of you. Your lizard brain responds to the beeps and buzzes by sending pleasure signals out every time you have a new notification. Thats how gambling works. Your brain is releasing endorphins everytime you get a message to reward your nervous system for the action. That’s why you are physically addicted to checking your phone.

Now we no longer live in a world where you can go cold turkey phone-sober forever, but you are strong enough to fight the urge several times a day. Leave your device in your pocket at the grocery line. Don’t text and walk at the same time. Tell your friends or date that you have an important message coming and you need to keep your phone face up on the table. Realize that everyone is messaging you about their life, and you’re reading it instead of living yours.

Live your life outside your phone and realize that being bored is good for you. You solve problems. You chat with strangers and make new connections. You actually have a short term memory.

You see the head-down-phone-up addiction just as much as the rest of us. Be the person in your social circle to elevate above it. Engage with your friends, don’t ignore them and ask them not to ignore you. Just put your damn mobile device away.

So help you god if you are reading this on your phone right now…

The post Put Your Phone Away Dickhead appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

We’ve all been there – our phone is in the dreaded single-digits of battery charge and we know the end is nigh. You’ve got a USB and your laptop, but you’re going out for the night in an hour and need as much charge as you can get in that 60 minutes so your phone makes it past last call. Plug the USB into the laptop, then plug it into your phone, then feel the relief wash over you as your phone begins to charge. But not so fast kemosabe. You’re going to be seeing those single digit charge numbers for quite a while. What’s the deal with that? Despite letting it charge for the hour, you never break 10% charge, your phone dies at the bar, you loose your friends, wander home alone, and wind up in your bathtube missing a kidney. Like I said, we’ve all been there.

You could have avoided this fate, and can still save your one remaining kidney if you’ve got a Practical Meter. This handy little device offers a quick readout of how much power your device is actually getting as it charges. In our example, you’d soon see that the data cable you’re using to charge your phone with is throttling the power transfer and you’re never going to get anywhere with it. An even better use case is with portable solar panels while you’re camping or hunting zombies. Rig up the Practical Meter to the solar panels, then rotate the panels till you see the most amount of power being supplied to your preferred device. No more guessing or praying to the sun gods. Genius.

And that stupid data cable that doesn’t allow for fast charging? Well the company behind the meter, Power Practical, has thought of that. Included with the Practical Meter is their Fast Charge cable that not only provides the fastest charge times regardless of power source, but also comes packing three different device plugs (Micro USB, Mini USB, and the larger iPhone dock style). It’s like they’ve thought of everything.

I’ve tried all kinds of combinations of the Practical Meter, power sources, and the Fast Charge cable. All I can say is, they work. And work well. If you’ve got power problems with your devices, whether mobile charging or solar-powered fun, I cannot recommend the Practical Meter enough. It’s hard to review something that just plain works.

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