Stuff Mike Likes

Gear, Gadgets and Everything in Between….

Hipmunk: A New Travel Site That Aims to Make Flight Searching Easier

Aug 17

Posted by Mike in Web | No Comments

Traveling is fun, searching for flights is not.  There are a handful of sites out there that attempt to aggregate the dozens of flight booking engines, but none of them are great in my opinion.  Kayak.com and Bookingbuddy.com are just a couple such sites but the way they display available flights is not too intuitive.  Hipmunk aims to make searching for flights easier by narrowing down the criteria you care about and displaying results in a clever format that is easy on the eyes.  There are definitely some early bugs and some improvements that could be made, but the site is new and they are just starting to get funding and get some momentum going.  Reddit co-founder Steve Huffman decided to go back to Y Combinator with this start-up along with a small angel investor, so although the funding is small, it will be interesting to see if this site can gain some traction in this competitive market.  Plus, you gotta love their mascot!

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Marine Layer: The Opening Of Their First Retail Store & Some Sweet New Products

Aug 3

Posted by Mike in Gear | No Comments

The last time I talked about the guys over at Marine Layer, they were opening up a pop up shop in San Francisco to sling some of their new shirt designs.  Fast forward 3 months and their pop up shop is now turning into a full time retail shop complete with an expanded product line.  As I write this, they are hard at work sanding floors and re-wiring the shop to get it ready for the grand opening sometime in mid August.  Check their blog for the latest info along with an amusing video of them trying to figure out how to operate a floor sander.  The new store will be located at the same address as their pop up shop, 2209 Chestnut St. San Francisco, CA.

In order to fill the new digs, Marine Layer is expanding their product line.  Along with some new t-shirt and polo designs, they have unveiled their new hoodie, The Afternoon Hoodie.  In typical Marine Layer fashion, the hoodie is made from their super soft custom fabric with touches like re-inforced seams and my favorite, a hidden pocket inside the pouch pocket.  To top it off they took out the draw string in the hood because as they put it…..”you’re not a cat burglar”.

So if you live in San Francisco, stay tuned for their retail shop grand opening sometime this month and if not, head on over to their website and snag one of their new hoodies.

http://www.marinelayer.com/

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Shark Week Is Back! August 1st on Discovery!

Jul 27

Posted by Mike in TV | No Comments

Not much more needs to be said other than happy shark week!  I’m not sure what it is about the annual shark week on The Discovery Channel, but it’s pretty entertaining.  Sharks are pretty mysterious and scary creatures so a week dedicated to learning and watching them always sparks my interest.  Although, the more I learn about them, the more I think about them when I am paddling around in the waters off Northern California…..

Da… dun….

Da-dun…

Dun-dun Dun-dun Dun-dun Dun-dun Dun-dun

Check The Discovery Channel website for a full schedule of shows starting on Sunday August 1st at 9PM.

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What I Would Buy If I Had An Extra $250,000 Lying Around……And I Lived In Europe

Jul 25

Posted by Mike in Cars | No Comments

I often like to play the game of “what if” when it comes to cars.  What would I buy if I had a cool quarter of a million dollars lying around?  Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin……..it would be quite a nice dilemma to have.  Recently Porsche decided to create a very rare and special 911 and offer it exclusively to our friends across the Atlantic.  The 911 Sport Classic is based on the Carrera S, but done in a very cool Grey color with some throw back Fuchs wheels, a duck-tail spoiler and some other very sexy upgrades.  Although you can buy a much faster and more performance oriented car for this price, this Porsche is about exclusivity and style.  They only made 250 of these Sport Classics and all were spoken for very quickly after they came on the market.  It doesn’t hurt to dream right?

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Harbor Master: Take The Helm In This Super Addicting iPhone/iPad Game

Jul 20

Posted by Mike in Tech | No Comments

I don’t usually download games for my iPhone, but after hearing about Harbor Master from a friend, I decided to to give it a whirl.  The concept is super simple but it sucks you right in and keeps you entertained as you try to navigate ships into and out of a Harbor.  The longer the game goes, the more ships it sends into the Harbor at once.  Keep unloading the boats and sending them back out of the Harbor until things get too crazy and the boats crash.  The free version comes with just one board and although you can be plenty entertained with this one Harbor, chances are you will want to test the other 5 out in the paid version.  Plus, if you spring for the paid version, you get to battle pirates as well.  So put on your captains hat and grab the wheel to see if you’ve got what it takes to become Harbor Master!

Harbor Master: Imangi Studios

Get Harbor Master on iTunes

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Just Chili – California Hot Sauce!

Jul 12

Posted by Mike in Food | No Comments

There are lots of hot sauces out there and although i’m no connoisseur, I do like to discover new ones.  My go-to’s are Tapatio and Cholula but last weekend I came across a bottle of sauce at a Tahoe restaurant that looked just like Sriracha, but it was called Just Chili – California Hot Sauce.  It has the consistency of Sriracha and tasted pretty similar but it’s made in San Diego so I like to support the local brands.  I’m not sure if it’s available in stores, but you can order two 18oz bottles for $9.95 plus shipping.  To order you’ve got to do it the old school way and pick up the phone but it’s worth it.  Check out their site at: http://www.justchili.biz/

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Macbook Bro: Give your Mac Some Personality

Jul 12

Posted by Mike in Tech | No Comments

Want to set your Macbook apart from all those other silver faceless Macs at your local coffee shop?  Slap a mustache on it or even a new hairdo courtesy of the guys at Stick With Me, Baby!  Yup, not only can you now put a mustache on your car courtesy of Carstache, you can now pimp your Mac out with some facial hair of  it’s own.  Choose from a variety of clever styles including “the creepy uncle” all for around $10 at Stick with me,baby!

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Chromeo Releases New Single: Album Dropping In August

Jun 27

Posted by Mike in Other | No Comments

Get ready for a Chromeo filled summer as the duo hits the road on a big tour with their third album set to drop August 17th.  The album which is sounding like it will be just as slick and amazing as the first two will be called Business Casual.  It looks like Chromeo has joined the big leagues now, signing on with Atlantic Records for this one.  Last week they released one of the singles off of it called “Don’t Turn The Lights On”.  If this isn’t the definition of smooth, I don’t know what is.  Check their summer tour schedule to see if they are heading to a venue near you.  See you at Outside Lands in SF!

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Carstache: The Ultimate Car Accessory

May 19

Posted by Mike in Cars | 1 Comment

Looking to give your ride a little bit more personality?  Forget new wheels or a fancy body kit, what you need is some automotive facial hair.  Yup that’s right, a mustache for your car.  A lot of great men have sported the mustache, so why not put one on your car?  For just $39, you have your choice of 5 luscious colors.  If you want to give your car a studious look, i’d go for the wisdom grey.  If you want to kick it up a notch, the firestache will definitely make your grill pop when you are cruising around town.  Based out of San Francisco and just a month old, Carstache is sure to blow up quick so be the first in your hood to trick your ride out with a Carstache.  Check them out on the web at http://www.carstache.com.

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Square: Mobile Payments Made Easy

May 11

Posted by Mike in Gadgets, Tech | No Comments

Last December, word hit the street about Jack Dorsey’s latest startup Square, which drew a lot of press and excitement.  Yesterday the public version of the product was finally made available.  Square is a smart new way for people to accept credit card payments on a mobile device such as an iPhone.  Once you sign up for a Square account you receive a free card reader that plugs into your headphone jack.  Once you pop on the Square, you can slide a credit card, have the purchaser sign with their finger on the screen, create a secure transaction and email or text a receipt in just a matter of seconds.

I made a transaction through a company that was using a beta version of Square the other week and I was very impressed.  It was easy to use, fast to process and small.  From a local kid running a lemonade stand to a larger company selling products at a sample sale, to your neighbor putting on a yard sale, Square is sure to be used and appreciated by all sorts of people.  Before launch, Square was valued at $40 million so it will be fun to watch its growth and see just how many people are able to benefit from taking mobile payments on their phone.  Although there are other mobile card readers out there, no other reader requires no costs upfront or contract, you simply pay around 3% per transaction when you do use it.

To learn more or sign up for a free account, head to https://squareup.com…….and sorry for now, iPhone, iPad, iTouch and Android Devices only

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