While the design world is obsessed with digital screens today, there was once a time when knobs and dials were chic. Whether we look at those products as being fashionably retro or legitimately practical it almost doesn't matter. There's a simple elegance of physical hardware that feels great to the touch and when the quality, style, and sound produced by the device is spectacular. That's pretty much my review for the Tivoli Audio Model One BT and you could just stop here and visit their website to buy one, or you can continue reading to see how much I love this radio.

Watches are one of the few fashion statements that men are allowed to wear. They help define our look and make a statement - just like a bracelet. But they are also practical. As I look around today, it's an interesting time to be a man. The question is - what drives this resurgence of watch wearing? Is it simply that the watch is an interesting and practical gadget or is it that this is simply a fashion statement that society allows us guys to make without question?

I've been married more than 10 years at this point and I've learned a lot. Heather and I were among the first of our friends to get married and wow things have changed a lot since then. Advertising focuses on how the ring defines the woman or empowers her or shows her your love. Even their websites feature women's rings above men's. So when Heather selected my wedding band it was her choice among very few options. Even if there were options I frankly was never prepared to communicate my desired design the way she was with hers.

We've taken a look at some cool jobs this year - from Alligator Wrestlers to Truck Drivers - but I think at some point all of us have dreamed of being paid to play arcade games. Well,... that's exactly what Zach Feary does at Stern Pinball in Chicago. He's featured in the latest episode of the "1 in one hundred million" web series presented by Kronos.

It's that time of year again and boy does it suck! While some people enjoy the fall for cooler weather, football, and baseball playoffs - that also means weekends in the yard picking up leaves, sticks and other rubbish. So... like many of you... I'm going to take a break from that yard work. Let's procrastinate a bit and think of some ideas to use your new Rubbermaid® Roughneck™ Wheeled Refuse Trash Can from Home Depot!

Winter is coming and that means that you are about to put away your leaf blowers and string trimmers but also prepare your winter gear like snowblowers, chainsaws, and generators. When I was younger I thought it was simply enough to empty the gas from these machines and store them away where it was dry. While that's is still important, over the years I've learned that the harsh winter conditions need more preparation than this to ensure that my machines are ready to fire up again in the spring.

I know this comes as a shock to the devotes of craft beer here in San Diego and the rest of California for that matter, but Shock Top is actually pretty good. Not only does it taste great, but the company actually cares and has had a spirit of supporting innovation that is core to the existence of the company. Their most recent campaign though departs from simply creating innovative flavors like Pretzel Wheat and instead goes to support entrepreneurs and inventors who are working to create solutions to help conserve water. A couple weeks ago we were invited to join them as they celebrated the funding of a "Smart Shower" at the Dodgers / Angels game in Anaheim.

Creating a space that is "our own" is the dream of pretty much every guy shortly after they get married or move in with the partner of their dreams. This isn't a new tradition but as the roles of men in the house have become blurred from what they might have been for our fathers, this trend is even more important. Your man cave is a safe place where you can just relax and be yourself without bothering anyone. While it's good enough for many guys to simply hang out in the garage and relax on a couch that you've salvaged from the curb, while playing video games on an old TV - we can do better and Best Buy wants to help us shine.

In a past life, I had a basement and mancave that was all my own... I had space to mount big speakers and the time to tune them perfectly for the optimal sound. Today though, I am unfortunately long past that stage and I now live in a loft. Not only do I not have a "TV room" to mount speakers, but if I did it would look strange and out of place hanging there. Plus, space is now a big concern so those big floor speakers of my bachelor days aren't practical either. I've heard of "sound bars" before but I never really gave them the attention that they deserve. I always assumed that they were either too expensive or not "that much better" than what I already had on the built-in speakers on my TV. Unfortunately,neither of those assumptions was accurate but now I am thrilled to be able to enjoy great sound quality in a very compact footprint thanks to the VIZIO Sound Bar that they sent me to test out.

By conventional wisdom, summer is almost over but for those of us in the South West the hottest months of the year are just beginning. So far, I've survived them pretty well compared to the misery I experienced last year. For better or worse, I live in a loft with no air conditioning and the windows are not able to support a standard window box so I pretty much thought I was SOL and destined to cope with the way I did last year (cold showers and mid-afternoon retreats to sit in the car with the AC going). A couple months ago though I received a portable AC unit from NewAir - their AC-12200E and have been testing it out as well as doing some DIY projects to make it even better for our home.

e-Cigarettes are super popular these days and so I'm not here to tell you about the "dangers" of smoking. We are all adults here and that's for you to decide what to do with your body. However, as someone who is interested in gadgets and how things work, the concept of an e-cig is sort of fascinating.

It's back to school time and as I look around, I see so many cool things that the kids today have that I wish I did 20 years ago. Probably the biggest change I see is that everything today is digital and it isn't just a laptops. The kids today have tablets, photo frames, music players, digital cameras, and probably other devices that I'm just not cool enough to know about. Despite our age differences, there is some wisdom that I'd like to pass down to our kids and to the young guys out there to help them become King of the Campus.

This is the stuff that dreams are made of - the chance to sleep on the outfield grass of a real MLB team! I am constantly impressed by the Padres organization for offering its membership great opportunities to get even closer to the team and this is no exception. My only suggestion is that they should do this event again - but just for adults and pair it with the Padres Beerfest. However, as a family friendly event, the Padres hit a home run and it's something you should consider doing next year if you are a Padres member like I am.

I've been a cigar smoker since my early days in the Navy, now 25 years later I've upped my cigar storage to the next level. Recently we received a NewAir CC-100 Cigar Humidor.  After having had it 3 weeks now we think it’s great!  This "Cigar Cooler" is a new idea for me but makes sense.  I once lost a couple of hundred cigars because I bought a few hand rolled from a vender in the Dominican Republic that were buggy.  A few weeks later I discovered why you don’t buy questionable cigars!

Ever sat in a crowded area and wondered who might be looking over your shoulder at your laptop screen? Even if you aren't working on some top secret CIA documents, chances are you value your privacy and want to keep things just between you and your laptop. That's where the 3M Privacy Filter comes in and there are versions of it available for desktop monitors, laptops, and even mobile devices.

It's summer finally and that means it's time to chill out and relax - but what about your drinks? You KNOW you're going to go through a ton of ice this summer between icing down the keg, making margaritas, and simply keeping your water ice cold. Bags of ice are a pain in the butt too since you need a place to store it until you are ready to use it and they can get expensive too. A portable ice maker might be the perfect solution for you this summer - just like it is proving to be for me!

Raise your hand if you'll be taking a road trip this year. Probably most of you reading are planning a trip with the family or maybe out with the guys and you've likely thought about the importance of checking your oil before you go but it's also critical to consider the part that actually keeps you on the road and safely between the lines. Yup, that's right - I'm talking about your tires!

In case you missed it, today Carnival changed their policy and is now forbidding people from bringing water onto the ships and instead making people buy it from them or drink the tap water.

Thankfully though, there's an awesome product that I'll be taking with me the next time I cruise and that's the Zero Water Tumbler. For the past week or so I've been testing it out using San Diego tap water and it's been producing the same high quality of filtration that I experience in the full-sized pitchers but it is portable and convenient. Even if you don't cruise, this is a great item to keep with you in your backpack since you really shouldn't be using bottled water anyhow since it is pretty bad for the environment.

If you've been following me on social media the past few weeks, you'll know that I am absolutely in LOVE with the LG G4! While there are many options for places that you can buy your new G4, only Best Buy is offering a $100 Best Buy® Gift Card when you purchase the G4 through them.  My advice is to preorder now, so that you'll be able to have this baby in your hands on it's expected release date of June 13, 2015.

They are here to stay and while they have gotten faster, smaller, and more connected than ever before, it seems like they still suffer from some of the things that they always have - short battery life and that you are forced to trade off between "rugged" and "sexy". With all the advances in technology, surely the brilliant engineers can apply themselves to fixing these two issues instead of simply adding more features.