Pat Pilcher

2 weeks ago | witchdoctor.co.nz | Pat Pilcher

Summary I’ve reviewed my fair share of ear gear over the years, but never a pair of audio glasses. They may sound like an audiophile oxymoron (I mean audio glasses?), but being able to stream audio through a pair of goggles proved surprisingly handy. Besides the obvious advantages of ear-friendly sunglasses (namely keeping the sun out of my peepers), how good are they? Looks-wise, they are a little Joe 90, but also kinda stylee.

3 weeks ago | witchdoctor.co.nz | Pat Pilcher

Summary Choosing the right smartphone has always been tricky. Challenging economic conditions and a bewildering array of brands covering an improbable number of price points make choosing a decent smartphone even tougher. While flagship phones from most manufacturers are a simple buy, what if your budget only allows for a mid-range smartphone? Mid-range smartphones have long been considered a step down from their flagship counterparts.

3 weeks ago | witchdoctor.co.nz | Pat Pilcher

Summary For years, BBQ cooking in NZ meant throwing some snags and steaks on a hotplate and nudging them around while sipping a cold beer as they charred. That might be a tried-and-tested approach, but Ninja reckons they’ve invented a better way with the Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill. As its name suggests, it’s powered by electricity instead of gas. It also has a smoker box that burns wood pellets to add delicious, smoky BBQ flavour to food.

1 month ago | witchdoctor.co.nz | Pat Pilcher

Summary It seems that an endless number of people are setting up their own YouTube channels nowadays. With a good smartphone camera, some intelligent scripting and story ideas, there’s plenty to like. However, shoddy audio can completely ruin a YouTube video and cause viewers to switch off. The Mic on your smartphone might be good, but it can’t work miracles. Suppose you’re filming someone at any appreciable distance from your phone.

1 month ago | witchdoctor.co.nz | Pat Pilcher

I got into home computing back in the heyday of 8-bit machines. It was an exciting and heady time where anything seemed possible as innovation after innovation rolled out to the glee of excited geeks. Now we have computers that can understand our speech, create photorealistic images and videos, and use AI, which until recently was the stuff of science fiction. I should be super excited, right? But instead, I find myself becoming increasingly pissed off with big tech as they embrace enshitification.