I have gone through two sets of ZAGG smartbuds and am now trying out a pair of Skullcandy’s 50/50 earbuds. I’ve used them both enough to give a fair review of both. First let me say that I do not listen to music, but I am a hardcore users of these earbuds. I wear them everyday. If you’re interested, I am a hardcore listener of podcasts and audio books. I listen at the gym, in the car, at the grocery store, while I mow the lawn… pretty much anytime I’m by myself with nothing to do.

ZAGG smartbuds (3.5/5)

Let’s start with the ZAGG smartbuds. I originally bought these because the Apple earbuds that came with my iPhone began to breakdown from over use. At the time these things were 75$, but I was able to get a pretty good coupon… back when ZAGG use to give their stuff away to gain momentum. The second pair I bought second hand from a co-worker who didn’t really like them (he’s stockier than I am and said that the cordage didn’t really work for him). There are many things I loved about these earbuds and many things I didn’t…

Pro’s

1. They can be worn in a way that keeps the buds around your neck, even when not in use. This was probably the most convenient thing about these earbuds and I wore mine everyday like this. It makes it convenient for taking calls, as well as just popping in your earbuds to listen to the No Agenda Podcast (the best podcast in the universe).
2. They are very comfortable, the earbuds actually come with 4 different sets of earbud adapters, 2 sizes of the thin silicone earbuds and 2 sets of the thicker foam earbuds. I used the smallest size foam and thought that they fit the best and gave the best noise cancellation affect, great for when I was listening to Beyond the Box Podcast with Steve Sensenig and Raborn Johnson.
3. They generally sound great, bare in mind, I’m listening to mostly podcasts and the audio quality doesn’t need to be amazing for me to get what I need, but I’ve never had any major problems with the sound.

Con’s

1. The regular iPhone headphones have push button volume up/down controls and the hang-up/answer button. The ZAGG smartbuds has the hang-up/answer button, but the volume control is actually separate from the the iPhone controls, it’s a slide. It kind of gives you a little more control over the volume, since you can control the headphone volume from your iPhone and then also from your headphones. However, I found this to be a nuisance more than anything. I always kept my iPhone volume up to 100% and controlled the actual headphone volume using the slider. However, it seemed like at some points in the “slide” the volume went from just too low to just too high. I think it would have been much more sensible to just use the volume up/down controls like the Apple earbuds.
2. My first pair started to get some static, it seemed like the 3.5mm connector  started to wear down so whenever it moved in my pocket I’d hear some crackling noises.
3. I really liked that I could keep the earbud around my neck… but occasionally I’d be reminded that at any time some ninja could sneak up behind me while I’m listening to This Week in Tech and strangle me to death with my own earbuds.
4. They claim that they have a noise cancelling mic. I’m not sure how this works or if it even worked. I didn’t really detect any real noise cancelling effect apart from the foam earbuds. I could be wrong, but I did occasionally have to set the volume to the highest setting. I would think with “noise cancellation” it would have cancelled the noise around me better. This is true for both pairs I owned.
5. It’s actually kind of hard to store these earbuds. The cordage is much longer than a typical set, and there are many “hard” places that seem to get into the way of how I normally wrap a set of earphones.

Skullcandy 50/50 Earbuds (4/5)

After I accidentally broke my second pair of ZAGG smart buds (my first pair broke on their own somehow). I needed to get a new set of earbuds. It’s hard to come by a good ZAGG coupon these days, so I had to look elsewhere for my podcast listening needs. After a few search and reading some reviews on Amazon I decided to try out the Skullcandy 50/50 earbuds.

Pro’s

1. These actually have the Apple standard volume up/down control buttons. This is so much better than a slider to control the volume, I no longer have to fight for the “perfect” volume when I listen to the Freakonomics Podcast.
2. I broke my last set of smartbud because of the “around the neck” feature, I don’t have to worry about that with these, if I snag the cord on something they’ll just pop out of my ears. But if I’m not wearing them, they’ll be put in my pocket anyway. So hopefully these will last me longer than the smartbuds did.
3. Like the smartbuds, the sounds quality is great. I haven’t noticed any problems, no snapping, or crackling. Though I haven’t had these as long as my first part of the smartbuds.
4. It is much easier to wrap up these headphones in and store them, though this is only against the ZAGG smartbuds, I’m sure any traditional headphones would be just as easy as these are. It’s still a PRO because I no longer have to deal with that hassle.

Con’s

1. I don’t know why they are made this way, but their silicone earbud adapters are horrible (at least for me). They sound fine, but the problem is they have little embossed “skulls” on them, which basically makes the inside of my ear itch like crazy. It’s like having a small grain of sand in your ear. Luckily, I had all my earbud adapters from my ZAGG collection. The foam ones didn’t really work (they didn’t fit right on the earphones), but the ZAGG silicone adapters worked great, and they’re actually very comfortable. I know this is turning into a pro, but it’s a con… because I think you’ll have to buy a third-party set of silicone earbud adapaters to get a comfortable feel. Skullcandy really needs to change this (seriously, who the heck is going to see the “skull” in your ears anyway). Though I never saw this complaint in the reviews I’ve read, it might just be me.
2. These don’t have the same feature that lets you keep the earbuds around your neck. It’s not a deal-breaker, but I really did like that about the smartbuds. Though I don’t really need to worry about ninjas as much.
3. These earbuds have a chrome piece on the earbuds that actually get pretty cold and is kind of shocking when you put it in your ear. It doesn’t last long, but I don’t enjoy it very much.

So there you have it, I was able to get the Skullcandy 50/50 earbuds a bit cheaper on Amazon than the ZAGG smartbuds. Neither are perfect, but I guess if you don’t want to buy those 200$ earbuds, you’ll have to compromise in one way or another. I think I’m really going to like the Skullcandy 50/50 earbuds though, the biggest complaint I have against them is their embossed silicone earbud adapters. If it wasn’t for that, I’d probably give them 5 (out of five).

Just got back from the theatre, where Kati and I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Kati had read the three book series and really wanted to see this movie. She commented that this is one the best adaptation of a movie based on a book she’s ever seen. I have to say, this is probably the best movie I’ve seen this year, probably in a long time. The acting was amazing and the plot was extremely interesting.

The story is about a journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (played by Daniel Craig), who is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the death of his daughter from 35 years ago. As he is figuring out what happens, he gets an assistant, Lizbeth Salander (played by Rooney Mara), the girl with the dragon tattoo. Lizbeth, is basically an hacker/investigator for a company. She is 23 years old but is a ward of the state because she was ruled incompetent/insane as a child. She is extremely intelligent but has had a very rough life. This movie reveals the dark side of Sweden as Lizbeth and Mikael’s fates intersect and they journey together in solving Vanger’s daughter’s death.

I wholeheartedly give this movie 5 out of 5 Circus Peanuts, with two caveats.

1) The “hacking” is not very realistic, this is typical of all movies though.
2) This movie is VERY R-rated. Rooney Mara has a few nude/sex scenes in the movie. There are also extremely graphic (and disturbing) rape/revenge scenes.

Regardless, this movie has definitely peaked my interested to the next two books in the series. I believe I’ll start reading them soon.

Proof of my hard days work… About 1700 Christmas lights total :).

Today was the College of Education’s 2nd Annual Chili Cook-Off. I got to eat six very tasty chili recipes. I just got an email with a list of the winners for the cook-off and I got a pretty good chuckle at the 3rd place prize.

I hope it’s as magnificent as I’ve been imagining… And yes, I did vote for the winner.

Look, I listen to NPR every morning when my alarm goes off. Of all news sources, this one is least likely to annoy me. They’re always doing some sort of fundraiser and what not, which I know mostly goes to the local stations, but at least some of it gets kicked up to the big man upstairs. So, what happens to this money? Well, NPR and PBS sponsor lame conferences.

For instance, this past weekend the ONA11 Conference and Online Journalism Award was held in Boston. PBS and NPR were both Diamond Sponsors. (1) What does it take to be a Diamond Sponsor? Well, they need both paid 30,000$ to be diamond sponsors. For 30,000$ of your donated money, they received this: (2)

Opportunity to put your name front and center during high-level, well-attended reception.

• Introduction and remarks — opportunity to address the audience of more than 700. For keynote, logo/signage acknowledging sponsorship placed on live streaming of event.
• Three full conference passes
• Six ONA memberships — three with the full conference passes and an additional three to attend conference at member rate
• One full-page color ad in conference program guide — premium placement
• Logo/name listed as Diamond Sponsor on signs at conference
• Exhibit Table (Sept. 23-24) and Job Fair table (Sept. 22)
• Insert and promotional item in the attendee gift bag (provided by the sponsor)
• Logo placed in conference e-mail newsletters (audience ~3,500)
• Logo and link prominently placed on conference Web site
• Logo (linked) and 60-word description on Sponsors page on conference website and in program
• Sponsorship acknowledgment during live streaming of presentation
• Other considerations negotiable

I don’t know, for some reason this really annoyed me. I wonder how much 30,000$ would have helped support one of their stations. I also wonder how much money total they’ve spent sponsoring events like this one.