Jason Rodway

Is your calendar looking as packed as mine with holiday functions to celebrate with friends and family? Party Planning 101 states it’s good habit to prepare invitations with the “who”, “where”, “when”, “what”, and “how” for any planned gathering during Thanksgiving, New Years, or for your winter holiday party.

An ideal room set up for gamers should balance comfort with an assortment of technologies to make playing a casual game or longer sessions equally satisfying. But most areas of the house set aside for gaming are usually cobbled together without actual planning. What if you could arrange a room optimally specifically for gaming right from the start?

When I was a kid we called it the leisure room, the one space in the house dedicated to storing and playing board games, setting up train sets, and where we enjoyed parking in front of our beloved Nintendo NES system. Other neighbors had a card table, billiards table, or ping pong area. In any case, I think every home is a little better…more fun…with a dedicated spot for gameplay, relaxation, and maybe even a little adventuring.

Not everyone is experienced or knowledgeable about plumbing repairs or can confidently wall mount a flat panel display. Home repairs and renovations can be terrifying when considering all the possible expensive mishaps and mistakes. In certain cases it’s better to be safe than sorry and hire a professional. Finding the right person for the right job for the right price used to be a combination of word of mouth and using the phone book.

Not only are smartphones sporting increasingly powerful camera components more than capable of taking breathtaking photos (the new iPhone 5s has a larger pixel, f/2.2 aperture lens, while the Nokia Lumia 1020 sports a gigantic 41 megapixel sensor!), the accompanying apps make it easy to share photos, store, or process them into unique works of art in ways casual film photographers could never dreamt of doing.

With its unique combination of Cajun culture, distinctly ornate architecture, and characteristic festive rhythms resonating through its streets, there’s no place quite like New Orleans.

iOS Left: Wine Enthusiast Tasting Guide – Right: Drync Wine Wine Enthusiast Tasting Guide Wine Enthusiast Magazine offers up several features that cater to both beginners and seasoned tasters, including “Wine 101”, which walks users through the basics of French, German, and Italian wine terminology. Also how to cook with wine and the task of deciphering wine labels.

Getting Around and Accommodations Left: Transit Tracker Boston – Right: Boston City Guide TripAdvisor Transit Tracker Boston – iOS Boston’s MBTA transit service covers 89 square mile of the city’s historic cityscape. This iOS app is invaluable when traveling using Boston’s ferries, streetcars, buses, and subways, offering a comprehensive guide to the MBTA for locals and out of towners alike.

It’s often said a picture is worth a thousand words. But sometimes a handful of carefully chosen words can be even more effective than any single moody photo filter.

Have you been daydreaming about a beach house vacation? Perhaps an apartment in the center of a far off city somewhere in Europe? Or maybe a cottage in the nearby countryside to help shed away the built-up tension of a 9-5? Finding the perfect getaway is easier than ever if you’ve got the appropriate smartphone app to help explore listings, compare features and prices, and bookmark to make a dream become a reality.

Did you know that Chicago has the third highest population in America only behind New York and Los Angeles? The Windy City is certainly a whirlwind of activity for vacationers looking for culture, history, and a slice of big city life (including their famous deep dish pizza, no doubt). The Museum of Science and Industry, the Museum of Contemporary Art, a vibrant dining and bar scene, and even the home of our current President await your next (or first) visit!

They say that knowing is half the battle. If you were asked to make a list of all the CDs you own, would you be able to do it? Having a home inventory is not only helpful for insurance purposes, it’s useful to maintain control over how much we own to avoid double purchases. The process of logging everything into a database also helps to reassess each and every item to sell or donate. Smartphones are perfect for the job, from reading barcodes to logging information.