Chris Perez

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show was a coming out party for the bots. Sony had a new version of its Aibo dog, Honda had its line of mobility robots, and yet the robot with the most buzz on the show floor was a funny little thing from LG called CLOi (pronounced like “chloe”—KLOH-ee). Ever wish you had a clone to help you out around the house? CLOi may be as close as we get.

Why is doing laundry always so tedious? Maybe because it takes forever. We spend an average of 18,000 hours of our lives on laundry, and just over one year (375 days) just folding clothes. These stats come courtesy of the marketing materials for the Laundroid, an automatic laundry folding robot, of course… because they have an automatic folding machine to sell. But also, you had us at laundry folding robot.

Last week over 180,000 people from around the world descended onto the Las Vegas Convention Center to see the latest ideas in consumer tech at CES — the Consumer Electronics Show. CES is a chance to see what both big and small players from the tech industry are cooking up for our future (the first VHS VCR debuted at CES back in 1975). Many guesses miss the mark, but among the 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, there are some truly life-changing ideas.

Things have changed since we last gave a how-to on installing a new programmable thermostat. Namely, a little thermostat called Nest hit the market. A smart, self-learning thermostat that you can control via a smartphone. The elegant and clean design of the Nest even trickles down to the installation and setup process. We give you the full step-by-step for installing your own in this how-to. What You NeedNest ThermostatInstructions1.

Name: Mary Lee Location: Austin, Texas Size: 300 square feet Years lived in: 8 months That’s not a typo. Mary Lee’s Austin studio is only 300 square feet, yet it somehow seems so spacious, so open, and so comfortable. Come on in, take a peek and let Mary Lee show you that living in 300 square feet is not only possible, but it’s perhaps all the room you really need.

Whether you’re looking to upgrade your home theater or are perhaps putting together your first surround sound setup. You’ve probably spent more than a few moments looking through the options for audio and speaker cables. In this short 101 course we’ll break down each speaker cable type and let you know which one is likely your best bet.You spent hours researching the perfect audio receiver that will be the workhorse for your new home theater.

Name: Caroline and Jose Vasquez-Corbalan of Paloma’s Nest Location: Austin Texas Size: 1,000 square feet plus 600 square feet of studio/office space in the back. Years lived in: 10 years Caroline and Jose embody the true spirit of creativity. They spent their first date drawing furniture design ideas on the back of their dinner napkins — after realizing they both shared the same dream of wanting to make things for a living.

We’ve been showcasing a lot of Before and Afters here this month, and perhaps it’s inspired you to do a few of your own. You may, however, still have doubts, and may find that you ask yourself “can I really do that?” Well, here are some simple beginner DIY’s that you most definitely can do. Time to make your own Before & After.1. Paint a Globe.Take a globe you already have (preferably one of those 3D topographic ones), or acquire one.

Name: Laurel Kinney (& Margot Wolf)Location: Austin, TexasSize: 1700 square feetYears lived in: 2.5 years In a quaint home on the edge of East Austin reside two very talented women. Laurel Kinney, owner of her own personal styling business (Trophy Boutique), and roommate Margot Wolf, jewelry maker and designer (Margot Wolf Jewelry), are helping to shape the city’s style and individuality. As you may have imagined, the home which houses these creative talents is brimming with inspiration.

You’ve no doubt heard Auto-Tune — it’s implemented in just about every pop song to both obvious and not-so-obvious effect. You may even be familiar with the term, thanks to performers like T-Pain who’ve made a career and an app out of it. But did you know that Auto-Tune was created by a research scientist who worked in the oil industry? We look at a brief history and also show you where you can download Auto-tune software to use on your home computer.

You got a cool pair of those high-fidelity cans, but is their size taking up precious desk space when not in use? Maybe it’s time to look into a solution that allows you to hang them up. I rally up my best finds on the web to give you some choices for purchasing or crafting that anyone can afford. Check them out below, so that next time baby, you can hang it up.Buy1.

If you’re considering purchasing a new Macbook that features SSD storage, you may be wondering if the standard 256GB space is going to cut it. It’s an interesting question, and the answer, of course, depends on your personal use. I’ve crunched some numbers to help you determine if the 256GB drive is enough for you.The 256GB SSD (solid-state drive) is standard on current model Macbook Pros with Retina Displays, as well as an option for the Macbook Air.

Name: Cheyenne WeaverLocation: Austin, TexasSize: 960 square feetYears lived in: 5 months Join us today for dinner and a house tour with Cheyenne Weaver and The Girls Guild. Cheyenne has only been living in the quaint 2-1 for a few months, but she’s already managed to put her artistic touch on the overall aesthetic. I toured the home while she and her boyfriend prepare a kick-off dinner for The Girls Guild — a collaborative arts club for girls, by girls, in Austin.

Turn over the charger or plug to any electronic device and you’ll notice small print and symbols related to the power requirements of your device. But what do all those symbols all mean and why do they matter when plugging in…Let’s look at some of these terms individually and talk about what they might mean to you.The Power NumbersWattageThis is often the first marking you might find on your A/C Adapter. It simply notes the power of the adapter.

Even if you’re a casual photographer, you might be familiar with the term ‘bokeh’ — the artistic use of out-of-focus backlight to surround your subject. When done correctly, you can create a gorgeous professional image that really pops off the page (or screen). We’ll show you how to customize the shape and style of your bokeh with your very own makeshift bokeh filter.For this DIY to be useful, you’ll need to already have on hand some specific equipment.

Name: Callen & Eli Location: Austin, Texas Size: 800 sq ft, open floorplan Years lived in: 2 months Art can be therapeutic and transformative. You realize that shortly after stepping into Callen and Eli’s delightful studio space. The cheery open floorplan among the trees is filled with vintage treasures, handmade objects, and a very agreeable sense of relaxation. It’s art therapy done right.Callen has always possessed a connection to the arts.

This easy project adds both style and function, with very little effort.

Have you considered using the power of downloadable media to become more cultured through audiobooks? Audiobooks give us a chance to ‘read’ stories more often and in more places. Coupled with a great narrator, these books can open up another experience completely. We’ve rounded up some of the best read audio books that do just that.“Listened to any good books lately?

If you have an iPad you’re probably familiar with the random ‘crash’ every now and then. If you have an iPad 1, updated to the latest iOS 5, you may see these crashes more and more often. This unreliability gets annoying and frustrating QUICK. We’ll look at some tips you can use to cut down on the crashing and save you some frustration.Mind the RAMMost iPad crashes come down to one simple thing – lack of memory (not to be confused with storage).

Name: Joey WilliamsLocation: Austin, Texas Size/Room: 97 square feet Years lived in: 1 It may sound small, but 97 square feet is all the space Joey needs for his home office, video editing room, coffee lounge, and patio. His Sett Studio is a compact, highly sustainable piece of modern architecture. You’ll be surprised at how much style, tech, and functionality can be thoughtfully packed into this practical dwelling.

I don’t know if I’m not hip anymore or if the people who pick the music that goes into commercials are really good at their jobs, but I often find myself in LOVE with a lot of songs featured on those 30 second segments. Read on and we’ll show you how you can discover some new music when you least expect it……relaxing on the couch and watching some tube.

A day spent going through documents in our office closet made us realize we had accumulated quite the collection of product manuals. A previously forgotten and random assortment of booklets of every shape and size taking up a significant amount of space. Maybe, it’s time to go digital with these things and send their paper versions off to the recycle bin…If you haven’t noticed already, it seems nearly everything is now available online.

Are there ever enough outlets? With the evergrowing array of gadgets that find their way into our home (Pads, Tabs, Fires, iPhones, and Nexuses) it seems like the answer is a resounding “No!” Maybe it’s time to give that outlet a reboot with some USB functionality. Read on and we’ll show you how.It’s 2012 and although there aren’t flying cars as the movies predicted, we do at least have some choices when it comes to USB Wall Outlets.

More and more transactions are being carried out online and over a wider array of sites — Craigslist, Etsy, Cars.com, eBay, etc. Unfortunately, when money is involved there’s someone out trying to take advantage. Click past the break for some of the top online scams, and learn what to look for so you don’t fall prey to their tricky tactics.Scams benefit from our human nature — we want that good deal to come fly in our laps, and we want to trust people.

You finally got that shiny new HDTV or Blu-Ray player over the holiday to finish out your home theater. Now invite the friends over and flex your tech with these Top 10 Movie Scenes to demo your home theater equipment. Get your popcorn ready!A good demo scene should be a spectacle of sight and sound. Something that catches the essence of why we love the movies, and assures us of our tech purchases. The scenes compiled here aim to do just that in a few minutes.