“What’s New in Version 3.0? The major new release in 3.0 is the Rock The Volt feature. Now you can try on our range of sunglasses, pick the frame that fits you best and share labeled images of yourself in Electric sunglasses with your friends and family. Using our custom built sizing system you can see which model looks best on you or recommend shades for your friends. Electric is the only eyewear company that offers a mobile experience of this caliber.”

If you’re an anti-impulse online shopper like me, then you might benefit from this app… even if it does look like your 6-year-old cousin drafted the sunglasses in Microsoft Paint. Overall, the concept is pretty sweet (and far more useful than a vuvuzela) but it’s not enough to push me over to iPhone nation. Let the search continue.

Download Electric Visual 3.0 here.

*a black hole of endless speculation, bias and megapixels. Sigh.

Fit: 7 out of 10
Style: 8 out of 10
Durability: 8/9 out of 10
Comfort: 9
Overall Experience: 8

Would you recommend them to a friend? Yes.

We tested the TREW Gear Eagle Pant in Black and the Bellows Jacket in Remix. They proved to be stylish, durable and comfortable with a few minor setbacks.

Fit.
If you like to wear your gear baggy, loose and comfortable, then these will suit you just fine. A happy medium leaving you happily baggy.

Waterproof.
The gear is extremely waterproof with fully taped seams. You won’t get wet in these regardless of the conditions – powder, hard pack, and slush. Doesn’t matter. You’re covered. We tested these on a rainy (but super fun) day and the drive home was comfortable and dry.

Windproof.
They’ll keep you warm on windy days. The jacket is a shell, so it’s not going to provide intense insulation, but it’ll block the wind. The pants have a fleece lined butt area. The cold lift ride just got a little cozier.

Customize ‘em.
Very customizable with sizing in the waist. There’s a ton of Velcro on the inside of the pants – no predetermined waist sizes. Feel free to super size your meal, because they’ll keep fitting.

Pockets.
There are a lot of them, and they’re deep so you’ll fit all your snowboarding crap without a problem. The top two hand pockets were the Achilles heel of the gear – the waterproof zippers are recessed in the pants hand pockets making it very hard to open and close with a glove on. Plus, snow tended to get trapped there and once it started melting (because on the east coast, our snow tends to do that), it left a nasty puddle. No bueno.

Boot gaiters.
They’re not customizable, so if you have a thin boot… they’ll be floating around on you. Meatier boots, better gaiter performance.

The rubber on the bottom of the pants is pretty sick. Resort parking lots suck – they’re muddy, rocky, pot hole-y… etc. The bottom of your pants wont get chewed up by angry parking lots.

Fly zippers.
There are two zipper handles, so you can open your fly the standard downward zip motion, or be daring and zip upward. Not sure why this is a feature.

Overall, we liked TREW Gear. Very well made with excellent tech ratings and a few features you never realized you needed… until now.

Get them for yourself at: www.trewgear.com

You can learn just about anything thanks to WonderHowTo’s intuitive way of sourcing every free how-to video on the internet. (Yesterday, I learned the basics of key framing in FCE. The day before, I brushed up on my “Beat the Carnival’s Claw Machine” skills.)

How it works: WonderHowTo.com features videos from everywhere on the internet. Users can submit a video for review. If the video has the intent to instruct the viewer, it’ll get posted. You can read the logistics on WHT’s FAQ page.

Videos are organized into categories for user friendly searches. Don’t bother trying to find something WHT doesn’t have – you’ll waste your life trying.

It’s nice not having to scour YouTube, Vimeo and other video platforms independently. Just type in what you’d like to learn at WHT (ie: wax snowboard) and you’re presented with a laundry list of tips pulled from various places on the internet. Super simple and efficient.

Oh, and a tip from me to you: beware of Expert Village. Their tips usually suck.

Learn something new, like how to dance like SpongeBob at: www.wonderhowto.com

If you’re stalking Mountain Creek’s social media presence, then I’m sure you already saw it on thankyouforshredding.com, Mountain Creek’s freestyle web page/blog. But in case you didn’t, here it is.

Camera: Canon FS100
Editing: Final Cut Express

Photos from my JibLab visit are posted below.

In short, the Image Quest is a photography competition on ‘roids.

International photographers submit their action & adventure sport images. Why? Because their photos could be “celebrated, honored and exhibited in mind-blowing venues around the world.”  Granted, you have to actually win first.

The first Red Bull Illume Image Quest was very successful back in 2007. It was the first-ever international photography comp celebrating action/adventure sports – 2000 photogs entered, 50 finalists had their work showcased throughout North America.

Photos must be submitted between October 1, 2009 & January 31, 2010. I could list the other rules & regs, but you’re probably better off getting it from the source.

Peep www.redbullillume.com for all the dirty details.

1. Kid suggests they go with a PC. Mom agrees. Let’s face it. He just needs a computer that allows him to play World of Warcraft, chat with friends and watch porn. She wants to save money. Does this reasoning behind their decision really mean Windows offers a better machine overall?

2. “I’m a PC and I’m 11,” says the boy. “I’m not,” says mom. Now, I thought this was funny at first, as I understood she meant she’s not 11, or “young.” However, she could also be implying she’s not a PC. Yeah, I guess it’s splitting hairs, but it’s just something I noticed.

Mind you, I have no stake in either company and happen to own and use both operating systems and in some areas, certain operating systems work better than others. Anyway, after doing some reading, it looks like the Windows campaign is working out for them by increasing sales. I’d assume their recent upturn in sales has to do with the slow economy and that Apple’s prices are typically higher in general. (Apple’s prices haven’t wavered despite the economical downturn. In fact, the aluminum Macbooks went up in price from the previous white models. IMO, it’s a better product and warrants the higher price tag.)

It’s actually quite smart of Windows to hop on the satire bandwagon that Apple created in the campaign featuring Justin Long. It was working for Apple, so why wouldn’t it work for Windows, especially if Windows is trying to counteract the old-fashioned image that Mac gave them?

Overall, I do think Mac does it better. To me, their commercials are funnier and just seem to have less blunders in general.

I figured I should get a small point & shoot no bigger than a deck of cards. After bugging my photographer friends and conducting tireless research on my own, I decided on [another] Canon camera. I figured this would work for me in two ways: 1) Now I’ll always have a camera on me and 2) I’ll feel more inclined to learn the Manual settings on the more involved Canon I have.

I’ve had the Canon SD1200 IS for about a week now. Released in March of this year, it’s the updated version of the everpopular 1100 (which I almost purchased based on the rave reviews it got.)

From an average consumer to another, here are my initial impressions:

- Smart Auto: Apparently, the constant focusing makes a sound that bothers some people. Frankly, I don’t think that should bother anyone unless it’s not supposed to be making sounds. It’s basically point and shoot for the blind (if that makes sense). It optimizes settings for you, so if you have no idea what setting to use (Portrait, Landscape, Indoor, Fireworks, Macro, White Balance, etc.), you don’t have to know. I think it’s a nice feature to have.

- Program: If the constant focusing sound bothers you, switch it to program and choose your settings manually. Settings are limited compared to that of an advanced point and shoot and SLR (obviously), but there are still some customizable features you might want to consider using for a specific picture.

- Buttons: I have averaged size female hands and I found the buttons extremely easy to navigate. They’re flush with the camera (except the capture button), but you don’t need to use your nail to push them.

- LCD: Very bright, clear, crisp. I like it. Plus, the camera also comes with a small viewfinder (a feature a lot of compact point and shoots are doing away with for the sake of space). If you’re battery’s dying, turn off the LCD and buy yourself some time.

- Battery: Rather than constantly buying double-A batteries or even a set of rechargables, this camera comes with Canon’s own NB-6l battery and charger. The battery slides in next to your SD card.

- Size: It’s SMALL. It’s very sleek looking with a matte finish (various colors available) and no protruding objects other than the capture button. I recommend a wrist strap, as its size can make it easy to lose handle of. Perfect for a pocket, too. (Be careful not to sit on it!)

- Optical Zoom: Yeah, it’s only a 3x optical zoom, but it serves its purpose. Many reviews I saw gave the camera a negative rating because of that – Um, if you wanted a camera with more zoom, then you should have gotten one. It’s not like Canon claimed it would zoom like a telescope and it didn’t perform. Buyer’s fault, not the camera’s. I disable the Digital Zoom because it’s pointless – pictures lose quality if used.

You can read the camera’s specifications here, and pretty much anywhere else, so I won’t bore you with that. I haven’t found any real cons with the camera yet. If I do, I’ll definitely post an update. For examples of pictures taken with this camera, head over to my Flickr. (Make sure to click on a picture and check the Additional Information to see which camera was used.) I’ll be uploading many more in the near future as well.

I’ve got a cool company to tell you about. 3CS is based in Australia where they create high quality outerwear chock full of waterproofing and other features that you techies will love. Being quite the gear-whore, I often drool over the next best thing. 3CS had a look that caught my eye – specifically, the Krueger Jacket. The simplicity yet trendiness of the stripes is enough to hook anyone.

It’s not too often that you find a look you like that also has the tech to back it up. Rest easy, you won’t find any gear made with less than a 15,000mm waterproof rating. I had the pleasure of testing out the Celcius Jacket and the Preset Pant.

I’ll start with the jacket. It fit GREAT. It was baggy, relaxed… whatever you want to call it. I liked that it didn’t have a cut to it that tried too hard to be feminine. Sometimes, women’s jackets are cut too short, too narrow in the mid-section, the arms are too narrow compared to the core of the jacket, etc. The Celcius jacket was awesome. The length was great, the arms were nice and loose – perfect for layering underneath – the hood sat nicely on my back and fit well when used and there were plenty of pockets. Oh! The pockets are actually my favorite part. They have magnetic flaps that go over the zippers which is just such a good idea. Why don’t all companies do this? You have gloves on. Velcro sucks. It gets caught on other fabric when you don’t want it to, it loses its hold after a while… and frankly, it makes a really awful sound. Ideal. The powder skirt was comfortable and the inner lining is smooth, kind of like a satin material. Your layers won’t bunch and it’s easy to slip on and off. I loved this jacket. It came in black, but if I were purchasing more… I would definitely look into the other fun colors they have.

The Preset pant. Hmm. I really wanted to like these pants since I loved the jacket so much. First of all, the waist is weird. Maybe it’s just me, but I like to have my pants around my hips, maybe a little higher. These, especially while sitting down, tended to creep up almost to my ribs. Super annoying. I kept having to pull them down while riding, walking around, etc. They definitely kept me dry – they’re 20,000mm – which is always something I look for in snowboarding pants. The boot gaiters were extremely small – they didn’t fit over the top of Burton Emerald’s, which aren’t exactly bulky. It wasn’t a big deal when I was testing them, but if I had been using them in powder, my legs probably would have gotten wet and cold. The pockets are in weird places… the hand pockets on the top right and left of the pant are set back a little so they’re almost on the side of your thigh. They also have magnetic flaps which I definitely like. The cargo pants were good, spacious and easily accessible. The color of the pant was awesome – I got the turquoise like color, which happens to be a favorite of mine. I thought they could have fit a little baggier. Based on the cut and relaxed, loose feel of the jacket… I thought the pants would have followed suit. They’re a little too straight-legged for me. Maybe some added length would fix the problem, however if I sized up at all… my issues with the waist would have been even worse.

Well, that’s my take on the set of outerwear I tested from 3CS. Definitely go to their website and check out the rest of their gear. I’m looking forward to seeing what this company comes out with next. Thanks again 3CS!

In the ad, a self-proclaimed picky guy gravitates toward a Mac first and claims, “This is so sexy! But uh.. yeah, Macs are all about aesthetics.” Meh. It seems as though he’s lying to himself in order to feel better about not buying one. In a different commercial, a red headed female takes the “challenge” and where does she go first? The Apple store. After leaving without one, she says, “I guess I’m not cool enough to have a Mac.” While I understand she’s mocking the Apple stereotype, I guess that just means Apple’s marketing is working by conveying Apple = cool.

The moral of the story? These people had to settle. I mean, I’d take a free laptop, but if I’m going to be paying either way… I’m going with a Mac.