1) He is a golden god! And he's coming to the Northwest!
I’m going to guess that you probably haven't seen Led Zeppelin, or any members of Led Zeppelin, in concert. Well, now you can fix that. Robert Plant has scheduled his first US concert appearance of 2013 – and it’s gonna be here in the Northwest. Yup, Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters will headline the first JamBase Live Festival July 5 and 6 at The Gorge.
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Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers will be there, too, and a bunch of other bands like Robert Randolph and the Family Band and Michael Franti and Spearhead. They’re going to sell special “early bird” two-day passes for $60 on Saturday and Sunday starting at 10 a.m. PT, and after that it's $75 for a two-day pass; they're not selling one-day tickets at this point.. Get the full scoop here.
2) Your car has a brain, and now you can tap into it
Here’s a cool device that uses your iPhone to save you time and money if you drive a lot. You know, every car has an onboard computer, and service technicians can plug into that computer to diagnose problems when your check engine light comes on. Now you can buy a little thingy that plugs into your car’s data port and communicates wirelessly to your phone. It's called Automatic Link, and the company says:
The Automatic Link activates every time a driver turns a car on or off, and it generates a trip report showing where a car went, what its fuel efficiency was on the trip, and what that equates to in gas costs. It also displays weekly trends and timelines that can be shared with other owners of the same model of vehicle. As a driver continues to use the device, it generates a weekly driving score report, logging things such as rough braking, speeding, and rapid acceleration. Users can then alter their driving behaviors in order to improve fuel efficiency going forward. Automatic Link also uses GPS information to gauge the price of filling a car's tank by cross-referencing nearby filling stations, gas prices, and the current gas tank level.
This video shows you how it works:
So basically, Automatic Link keeps track of where you’re going, how much fuel you’re using, how efficiently you’re driving (like whether you’re starting and stopping too quickly) and when warning lights come on, it can tell you what’s wrong and in many cases you can use your phone to reset the warning without having to take the car in for service. The Automatic Link costs 70 bucks, at the moment it only works with iPhones, and here's their website.
3) Now you can own the great Eagles documentary, and a lot of other Eagles crap
if you didn’t catch the excellent documentary The History of the Eagles that was on Showtime last month, we have a release date for the DVD – It’s April 30.. It is a three-disc set containing parts one and two which ran on Showtime, plus Eagles Live at the Capital Centre - March 1977 on the third disc. It will be available on DVD and Blu-ray with Surround Sound and it’ll contain a photo book. But wait -- there's more.
A limited-edition deluxe version will contain three Blu-ray discs; a 40-page case-bound book featuring still photos from the film; 10 archival-quality photographs of the band and a specially created lithograph of the band’s desert-bleached skull icon. It will all be encased in a specially designed foil-stamped and embossed box with a Native American blanket-inspired liner, wrapped in a leather tie, and fastened with a bone button. So, not overkill at all. But don't let all that swag distract you from the fact that it really is an entertaining film, and even if you're not a huge Eagles fan, it's fascinating to get some insight into the personalities of the guys in that band. Check out the trailer:
