Stacey McGregor

Bose is a brand that is renowned for its superior sound quality, sleek lines, and almost entirely black, white, and silver product lineup. But with an increasing number of competitors stepping up to the plate to appeal to the mass of consumers who are driven by the visual, Bose has done something unexpected – they’ve introduced a trio of new headphones that deliver the quality audio consumers have come to expect, but in a range of style options for the aesthetic appeal that have come to enjoy. The new players in the market are the FreeStyle™ earbuds, SoundTrue™ on-ear headphones and SoundTrue™ around-ear headphones. 

Spring has officially sprung, and with the warmer days and longer nights there also comes a sense of foreboding. It’s inevitable, but the appearance of spring means another season is right around the corner – bathing suit season. While I am generally a healthy person and stay active year-round, I tend to overindulge throughout the winter, which means that without fail, I have a few pounds to shed and some toning to do before I’m ready to bust out the bikini. Thankfully, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that get me feeling better and looking better in record time.  

Over the past thirty years, the concept of “work” has changed dramatically. With the advent of email, the Internet, cell phones, texting, and teleconferencing, the need to get up at the crack of dawn, throw on a suit, and commute an hour to spend the day behind a desk in an office building is slowly giving way to flex time and telecommuting. In fact, the majority of those in the professional services spend at least some of their time working from home.   Throw in those among us who are self-employed, consult or freelance on the side, or who are writing the next best selling novel, and the need for a home office environment that is conducive to productivity is greater than ever.   But what makes a suitable and functional home office? Take away the bells and whistles like files, label makers, and fancy desktop accessories, and an efficient home office can be broken down into five key essentials. 

If you’re a bit of a technophile or are in the market for a new television, you may have heard of something called OLED; but what is it? How does it differ from LED technology? What makes it special? In an effort to demystify OLED, I’ve put together what I call OLED 101 – the bare bones facts about this technology that is very likely here to stay. 

A child’s bedroom is much more than just a place to sleep after a long day of school and play. It’s a place where imaginations grow. It’s a place to do homework, slay dragons, and dress teddy bears. It’s where games are played, sleepovers are hosted, and books are read. It’s a child’s own little haven in a grown-up world. So it goes without saying that making this space as awesome as possible for the mini-me in your life is pretty important. But where to start? Here are some tips and ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

In its short 300 year history, the stroller has come a long way. In fact, prior to the 1700’s, the go-to mode of transportation for a baby was a hip. That all changed in 1733 when the Duke of Devonshire asked a well-known garden architect, William Kent, to build a means of transportation that would amuse his children. In response, Kent designed a shell shaped basket on wheels in which the children could sit. Equipped with a harness so it could be pulled by a goat or small pony, and springs, so the Duke’s children could ride in comfort, the first “baby carriage” was born.

Is it a megaphone? A new age showerhead? An updated version of the popular 1990’s toy Skip-It? Nope, the JBL Spark is an exceptionally unique wireless speaker designed to be mounted like a hanging lamp – and I recently had the opportunity to take one for a test drive. 

So, you’ve just invested in one of the most popular streaming media players on the market – a Roku. You’ve followed the instructions and your shiny new black box is working like a charm. Great! But how about taking its capabilities up a notch? You’re in luck! Here are five handy tips and tricks to turbocharge your Roku entertainment experience. 

As you are no doubt well aware, these days the vast majority of us store our music libraries digitally. True, some of us still have dozens of CD’s that do little more than take up room and collect dust on our shelves – I mean, c’mon, when am I ever going to listen to Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping” ever again? But when it comes to cranking the tunes, we turn to our smartphones, tablets, and computers. Streaming music through these devices is commonplace, and as such, has opened the market doors for a plethora of wireless speakers.   Unfortunately, devices that use Sonos or Airplay can be quite expensive; however, those that use Bluetooth, which comes integrated into virtually every modern tablet, phone, and computer, are much more affordable, and even better, aren’t platform-specific. I recently had an opportunity to test the Rocketfish Bluetooth Indoor/Outdoor Speaker, and have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. 

Calling a Blendtec Blender a “blender” is somewhat of a misnomer. While it’s true that it can blend and puree like nobody’s business, it can also knead dough, make ice cream, juice whole fruits, and even grind meat and coffee beans to perfection, which is all pretty impressive for one machine. But wait, there’s more! The Blendtec Designer Series can also turn whole vegetables into warm healthy soup in minutes. That’s right. Prepare your favourite healthy soup recipes right in a blender.