John Spahr

Hey, folks! I have a quick post for today. About a year ago, I wrote a proof-of-concept (purely) JavaScript web app modeled after the classic mobile game Talking Tom . It utilized the standard JavaScript speech recognition and synthesis libraries to achieve this. I finally got around to finishing it up, and I'm pleased with the result. Browser compatibility is a little iffy, but it's beyond my control. It's a very simple little project, and I've released it over on GitHub  for all of you to check out. Have fun! Make Ron say some cursed stuff. My "amazing" character design for our boy Ron 😂

      Just because something is flashy and cool doesn't mean it's better. You don't need me to tell you this, but Apple is smart with marketing. When I was in Paris last summer, giant ads hyped up AirPods, making the marketing presence surrounding that product especially evident. I fell for the hype and have owned two pairs of AirPods: the second and third generations. However, I can now safely say while my first pair was fine, I sincerely hate my AirPods 3. Here's why.     I'm an Apple fan, make no mistake. I am writing this on a 2020 MacBook Air while listening to some tunes on my iPhone 14. However, these tunes aren't coming through my AirPods. Instead, they come from a random $20 pair of earbuds, the KBEAR KS2s. Other than being wired, they are superior to my AirPods in every way. For one, the AirPods 3 don't stay in my ears well, so their sound quality is greatly diminished from this alone. I cannot speak for how they sound for someone with different ea...

I've been wearing my Pebble Time Steel a lot lately. I have all the different models of Pebbles and each certainly has its own pros and cons. Time Steel's main cons are that it's heavy and expensive. However, its pros far outnumber its cons. It's built like a tank, has incredible battery life, features an awesome 64-color screen, and basically offers the definitive Pebble experience. That said, if I had to pick my second favorite Pebble, it would likely be the Time Round. If that watch had better endurance, it would likely be my favorite Pebble. Admittedly, other Pebble models such as the Pebble 2 and standard Time are quite nice in their own rights, but the Time Steel feels like a watch that means business. It strives to be the absolute best Pebble it could be and achieves this. Thus, though I do adore all the Pebble models, the Time Steel is what I would consider the quintessential Pebble. If the Pebble Time 2 had been released, though... Well, that would be a differe...

Hey, everyone. I like to think I'm pretty up-to-date in the world of tech, but there are some cases where older devices simply do some things better. So, I thought I'd show off that my older gadgets are still going strong. Let's begin! Pebble Watches I own a lot of Pebble smartwatches. Despite being off the market for years, it's no secret that I adore these geeky little gadgets. Excellent battery life, super-readable displays, and fun software are what make Pebble watches irreplaceable for me. In fact, I wrote a whole post about them last summer. iPods I've also written about iPods before on this blog, and one of my most popular posts was about modding an iPod . Not only do these nifty music players sync flawlessly with my Mac, but they also are really intuitive and have tons of sentimental value for me. After all, I quite literally grew up using these things. As a result, I plan to keep using iPods for many years to come. Palm PDAs More recently, I've also go...

I f*#@$%g hate home printers. Seriously, I despise them. They are the dumbest pieces of tech in the world. There are a lot of things I could say about them, but that is for another post. This one is about finding a new one of these horrible pieces of garbage based on simple and pure data. So, here's my "extremely comprehensive" analysis of the best color printers for home use since ours finally kicked the bucket. I just hope it was worth staying up past midnight working on this. Criteria: Not overly expensive, prints in color, preferably uses ink tanks rather than cartridges, has WiFi printing, and is from a well-known brand. The Process: I compiled this amazing list by looking at like 10 articles and handpicking the most appealing options, then choosing my top few out of those aforementioned options. Printers (Arranged by cost, greatest to least) Epson EcoTank ET-2720 Pros: Uses ink tanks instead of cartridges, which are cheaper and last longer. Not an HP. 4.5/5 stars wi...

I love the Pebble smartwatch. Like many others, its simple software, whimsical interface, e-paper displays, and long endurance have won me over and ruined any other smartwatch for me. However, there’s a lot more to Pebble than solid software, so here’s why I am more loyal than ever to Pebble and its amazing community. For some background, I bought my first Pebble in 2021, and I soon acquired a couple others for the collection. One of these new watches was a Pebble Steel. This quickly became my favorite Pebble, and when it failed a few months later, I was devastated. So, I got some analog watches and mostly abandoned Pebble. Well, one year later, I decided to give Pebble another shot, and I now have nearly 10 Pebbles and wear one every day. It’s an addiction, but I also want to make sure that if one fails, I’m not doomed. That might seem like an exaggeration, but Pebble actually really helps me stay on top of things. How come? Well, even all this time later, the Timeline UI is still unl...

Hey, everyone! Though this may change with the introduction of Google's rumored homegrown "Whitechapel" SOC, as of now, the main reasons most people seem to buy a Pixel phone are their value, software, and of course, the stunning photos they can produce.  The first point, value, mainly has to do with the fact that Google continues to sell its very capable Pixel 4a for just $349 here in the United States, making it one of the most compelling budget Android phones available for sale in this part of the world. Furthermore, another factor that makes it such a great option at that price is Google's software. From the clean Android experience to the frequent updates, there's a lot to like about the software experience on a Pixel. However, as my fellow tech enthusiasts surely know, Google's main claim to fame with its Pixel smartphones has traditionally been their excellent image processing. Though the Pixel 5 may use the same primary sensor as the last few Pixels, i...

Nearly two months ago, I finally got my first Mac: a late 2014 Mac mini. While I usually don't review stuff on this blog, I thought I would make an exception for this device. My hope is that this review will be helpful and fairly unbiased while helping you make a decision on whether or not to get one of these Macs. So, how does this miniature Macintosh hold up today? Design The Mac mini's design has remained largely unchanged over the last decade. There have been a few small updates and tweaks to it, but nothing particularly major. This means that the 2014 Mac mini features the usual premium and minimal aluminum casing with a white status LED on the front. Overall, I'd say this Mac mini's design has held up pretty well! It's very small, being only 8 inches wide and long, while only having a height of 1.4 inches. It weighs a little over 2.5 pounds, so it's not too heavy, either. These dimensions make for a very nice and compact computer, and I think it fits in wi...