Author: RPadTV

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Vaping Diaries #106: Epic Juice Interview (ECC 2013)

Here’s an interview with Epic Juice CEO Arthur Han from ECC 2013. The company’s juices are super-popular at the Los Angeles vape shops I go to and its Airheadz flavor is a favorite over RPadholic N8R. Arthur goes over the company’s history, the Epic Juice approach to making e-liquids, the Epic Juice menu, and what flavors are coming next. Stay tuned for an Epic Juice review in the near future. Continue reading “Vaping Diaries #106: Epic Juice Interview (ECC 2013)”

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

While many of you will be enjoying Grand Theft Auto V this weekend, RPadholic N8R and I will be at the first annual Electronic Cigarette Convention. It’s always awesome seeing Nate and I’m looking forward to catching up with him. The show should be a lot of fun. Vaping companies from all over the world will be displaying goods and a few companies are launching new products or limited-edition products at the show. It’s going to be Nate’s job to keep me from getting too distracted from all the shiny new toys and tasty new e-liquids. I have a bunch of interviews planned with vaping companies from America, the Philippines, Finland, and more. I’ve attended several shows at the Anaheim Convention Center (Blizzcon, NAMM, etc.) and I’m curious to see what a large convention center full of vapers will be like. Will we be able to see anything?!?

So yeah, Nate and I will be at ECC. How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

Vaping Diaries #105: Black Cloud Vapor Review

Black Cloud Vapor is an up-and-coming e-liquid company that serves up some interesting e-liquids available for low prices. I recently vaped Black Cloud Vapor’s RY4, Cell Block 6, and Gluttony. While some of the flavors weren’t quite what I was looking for, the combinations were definitely different. At $10.99 for a 30ml bottle — and only $0.25 more for extra flavoring — Black Cloud Vapor is certainly worth a look. The juices are mixed well, the company has some atypical flavors, the customer service is strong, and the price is inexpensive.

Here are the flavor breakdowns and steeping notes of the Black Cloud Vapor e-liquids I tried.

RY4: Black Cloud Vapor doesn’t follow the traditional RY4 formula of a neutral tobacco, caramel, and vanilla. Instead, it mixes a somewhat bolder tobacco with caramel and cocoa. This juice wasn’t what I expect and enjoy in an RY4. I’m not saying it’s bad, but I wouldn’t call it an RY4. It’s more like tobacco accompanied by candy bar flavors — chocolate and nuts, with a bittersweet taste that reminded me a bit of licorice. If that combination sounds good to you then this juice is worth trying, but if you’re looking for a traditional RY4 then you’ll be in for a shock.

Despite its dark color, this juice vapes relatively cleanly. It’s suitable for any type of juice delivery system, but will gunk up coils over time It’s good out of the mail, but two weeks of steeping or more will help the overall mix.

Cell Block 6: This juice is described as, “RY4 to the next level.” It’s definitely “to the next level,” but like its sister juice, I wouldn’t call it an RY4. That said, I enjoyed Cell Block 6 more than Black Cloud Vapor RY4. In addition to having stronger flavors, the balance is different. The sweet notes are stronger and counteract the bittersweet taste that was a bit funky in the company’s RY4. It’s still there, but much less pronounced. Again, I wouldn’t call this juice an RY4, but it’s a nice dessert vape that blends caramel, cocoa, and tobacco.

Like its sister juice, despite its dark color, Cell Block 6 vapes relatively cleanly. It’s suitable for any type of juice delivery system, but will gunk up coils over time. It’s good out of the mail, but two weeks of steeping or more will help the overall mix.

Gluttony: My favorite Black Cloud Vapor juice of the bunch was this interesting mix of vanilla bean, coconut, peach, and pineapple. I enjoyed the melange of creaminess, sweetness, and tartness. The fruit flavors aren’t quite natural, but they’re not disturbingly artificial either. It would have been easy for this juice to end up a sickeningly sweet and artificial mess, but Black Cloud Vapor did a good job at balancing the different flavors. The end result is something similar to a virgin pina colada, but with an additional fruit flavor. The juice didn’t dazzle me, but I enjoyed the unique blend and complexity.

This juice vapes very cleanly and is suitable for all types of juice delivery systems. It’s ready to vape straight out of the mail, with only slight changes happening with steeping.

Steeping Notes
On the advice of Wlad from Ahlusion, I’ve been trying a new steeping method starting December 27, 2012. When the e-liquids arrive, I leave them uncapped for five minutes. Previously, I left them uncapped for about two days. After the liquids are given a few minutes to oxidize, the caps are put back on. The bottles are shaken every day for at least two weeks before vaping.

RY4
50/50 PG/VG ratio, 6mg nicotine
Uncapped: July 26, 2013 3:40PM
Vaped: September 7-18, 2013

Cell Block 6
50/50 PG/VG ratio, 6mg nicotine
Uncapped: July 26, 2013 3:40PM
Vaped: September 7-18, 2013

Gluttony
50/50 PG/VG ratio, 6mg nicotine
Uncapped: July 26, 2013 3:40PM
Vaped: September 7-18, 2013

Review Process (Updated February 17, 2013)
RPad.TV e-liquid reviews focus on the flavor of the e-liquids, since throat hit and vapor production can be altered by the PG/VG ratio and nicotine level selected. Each juice is vaped over a period of days in an atomizer, a cartomizer/tank setup, and a clearomizer. The exception is naturally-extracted tobacco (NET) juice; since those are known to clog up cartomizers quickly, those are vaped in atomizers and clearomizers.

 

What Do You Think of Apple iOS 7?

Apple iOS 7 lands today and it’s arguably the biggest revamp the mobile operating system has seen in years. iOS 7 packs several new features that change the aesthetics and functionality of iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. Since so many of you use Apple devices, I’d love to hear your first impressions of iOS 7. If you’re not familiar with what’s coming, here are just some of the new additions (in no particular order):

Aesthetics: iOS 7 features new system fonts, brighter default colors, new sounds, and a modern, flat appearance. While it’s not as flat as Android Jellybean, it’s pretty close. While my eyes are still getting used to the font, I love the overall appearance. iOS 6 was starting to look like a dinosaur.

Safari: The default web browser finally gets a unified search bar (about frickin’ time!) and Brazzers privacy mode. It organizes multiple tabs far better than its predecessor.

Camera: The camera in iOS 7 is something I’m still getting used to. It feels really foreign to me, but I think I’ll get the hang of it in a few days. It also has a bunch of live filters for you to play with. Personally, I don’t find them useful after using the outstanding VSCO Cam.

Photos: The iOS 7 Photo app, on the other hand, was instantly useful to me. I love all the new organizational features. This is really well done.

Notifications: I always thought that Apple’s notification system was basic compared to Google Android’s. iOS 7 is a big step in the right direction, but still not as versatile or useful as what Android features.

iTunes Radio: I recall RPadholic Tokz_21 mentioning that he enjoyed this feature. I’m actually a bad person to discuss mobile streaming audio with. I don’t use it a lot and when I do, it’s Pandora, which people tell me is outdated.

Multitasking: This iOS 7 feature has me excited, but it will take me weeks to see if the improvements are legit. On paper, it should help you maximize battery life. The new multitasking feature detects whether you’re plugged in or not and whether you’re on WiFi or mobile signal. It will gobble up data and run background apps accordingly. It’s not a flashy feature, but it’s a nerd-sexy one.

Siri: Again, I’m a bad person to talk about this with, so I’m hoping you guys and dolls have more to say. I never found Siri all that useful. It’s supposed to be better than the last version, but I haven’t found it all that useful yet.

Control Center: The iOS 7 Control Center makes several commonly used features easy to access. This is definitely useful, but I’m not used to it yet. I’m still trying to do things the old way. I’m sure it will become automatic in a few days.

Your Verdict: Kindly share your initial impressions of Apple iOS 7. Please tell me what you love, what you hate, and what you’re indifferent to.

Jeri Ryan vs. Paul Semel

Here’s a classic interview with Jeri Ryan conducted by RPad.TV friend Paul Semel. Many of you remember Jeri Ryan from her days on Star Trek: Voyager, where she played the lovable Borg designated Seven of Nine. Trekkers adored her for her beautifully bulging eyes and beautifully bulging…other parts that were accentuated by a skintight costume. The interview was originally done in 1998 for the now-defunct Bikini magazine. Semel has interviewed many celebrities in the past and is best known from his days with Gene Simmons’ Tongue magazine (had to be done Paul).

In the interview, Jeri Ryan discusses her infamous costume, how she almost didn’t pursue the Seven of Nine role, getting comfortable with her body, and more. Here are some out-of-context quotes:

Now I have to warn you, if we get into the sex questions I may dodge you, ’cause I have a son.

There’s a corset that goes under that thing, because you can’t wear conventional undergarments or they would show because the fabric is so skin tight.

The human body has two breasts, obviously. And you don’t want the uni-breast look. So that was one of the concerns when they were designing the costume.

Who wants to actually walk around looking like you’re wearing skin? ’Cause I’m not quite that enormously comfortable with my body. Or I wasn’t at the time. I’ve gotten substantially less self-conscious in the last year and a half, let me tell you. But yeah, you sort of look at it and go, “Kiss cheesecake goodbye, kiss hamburgers goodbye….”

I was very ambivalent about taking this role. I didn’t want to read for it originally, I had no interest in it. I didn’t know much about Star Trek, so I didn’t know what the writing was going to be like.

Be sure to check out PaulSemel.com for the full Jeri Ryan interview.

Source

Dark Knight Legacy: Nightwing and Red Hood Fan Film

Dark Knight Legacy is an Indiegogo fan film that takes place after The Dark Knight Rises. The trailer, embedded below, features several characters from the Batman comics and movies — Nightwing (TDKR’s John Blake), Red Hood (identity unknown), Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), Oswald Cobblebot (Penguin), and Lynx (from the Robin comics). For a fan film, the trailer is pretty good. I was especially impressed by the costumes.

Dark Knight Legacy’s goal is $30,000 with a stretch goal of $90,000. Rewards include a digital download of the movie ($15), your face drawn in the style of one of the characters on a comic-book cover ($150), and a Red Hood replica mask ($5,000).

Here’s an excerpt from the Indiegogo pitch:

Dark Knight Legacy follows “Robin” John Blake’s heroic journey to protect the symbol of Batman from the lethal, relentless attacks of a masked vigilante known only as the Red Hood.

A completely fan funded series, Dark Knight Legacy is a series by fans for fans. Every penny will be put towards creating an epic masterpiece that explores the world left behind in The Dark Knight Rises.

While I enjoyed the trailer, I’m split about Dark Knight Legacy. Nightwing is my favorite comic-book character and Red Hood is up there too. As a fanboy, I hate seeing “‘Robin’ John Blake” as Nightwing. Nightwing is Dick Grayson (the first Robin) to me and always will be. Since Christopher Nolan’s movies didn’t have any Robins, I’m curious to see how the writers of Dark Knight Legacy will handle Red Hood. While the character started as one of the Joker’s aliases, in recent years Red Hood has been (awesomely) redefined by Jason Todd (the second Robin). And yes, I realize these issues are very fanboy specific.

All that said, I’d like to see Dark Knight Legacy get funded. The trailer is a great tease and shows potential. I also hope the producers see fit to have a flashback sequence featuring Bane’s nutritional advice and rapping.

Kindly check out the trailer below and let me know what you think of Dark Knight Legacy.

Source

Vaping Diaries #104: Doc Dave Cloning Controversy

Doc Dave, creator of the popular Steam Turbine atomizer, is angry about Chinese clones of his product. His anger is completely understandable. He worked hard on creating a unique and well-designed atomizer, and is upset that Chinese companies like Hcigar have flat-out copied his design. The Hcigar copy is available for a fraction of the cost of the original and the Chinese manufacturer’s capacity is tremendous; it’s impossible for Doc Dave to match the output and price of Hcigar. As I said, his anger is completely understandable.

Unfortunately, he’s going about his anger the wrong way. Instead of focusing his efforts to combat companies like Hcigar, he’s going after individuals that are buying Steam Turbine clones and people organizing “group buys” for the clones. For those of you not familiar with group buys, they are consumer-initiated purchases where a group of vapers gets products at wholesale prices. Essentially, Doc Dave is attacking consumers.

Doc Dave recently posted that he is, “the legal owner of U.S. Design Patent Application Serial No. 29467157.” While it’s nice to see an American vaping company pursue a vaping patent, it doesn’t mean much yet. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), “Some persons mark articles sold with the terms ‘Patent Applied For’ or ‘Patent Pending.’ These phrases have no legal effect, but only give information that an application for patent has been filed in the USPTO. The protection afforded by a patent does not start until the actual grant of the patent.”

In a Facebook message to an organizer of a Steam Turbine clone group buy, Doc Dave wrote that he filed his patent application on September 16. According to the USPTO, “Currently, the average patent application pendency is 24.6 months.” The letter threatens the organizer with legal action if he continues with the group buy. You can check out the threat below.

Forget that Doc Dave is using a patent application and not an actual patent to back his threats. Forget that it will likely be more than two years before the patent is granted, if it’s granted at all. What’s alarming is that Doc Dave is attacking consumers. Never mind that some of them will never purchase an authentic Steam Turbine because of the cost. Never mind that some of them want to experiment with an inexpensive clone before committing to a real Steam Turbine. An atomizer creator picking on consumers is straight bullying.

Due to Doc Dave’s threats, some Steam Turbine-clone group-buys are in disarray. Some organizers are afraid of the threats and have group-buy participants that are afraid to pay. Remember, organizers of group buys aren’t stores or corporations. They’re people that are trying to help other people save money on vaping products. Perhaps I’m being naive or I’ve just had extraordinary luck in group buys, but in my experience most organizers aren’t doing this to make a buck. They’re doing it help people stick with vaping and stay away from smoking.

The Doc Dave situation reminds me of the Style of Mojo situation. In both cases, the creators are attacking consumers instead of the companies that are copying their products or retailers selling these copies. That’s just misguided. While fans of these companies applaud the bullying tactics, it turns off many potential customers. It’s just bad business and doesn’t address the real issue — the Chinese companies that are leeching off creators’ product designs. Perhaps Doc Dave and Style of Mojo believe that pursuing legal action against large Chinese companies is an expensive venture that would result in nothing, but does that mean that they should lash out at consumers instead?

I simply don’t see why Doc Dave and Style of Mojo are taking their (again, totally understandable) frustrations out on consumers. What good does that do? It makes them look like bullies, kills some potential sales, and encourages some people to buy clones as retaliation. If you can figure out their actions, please explain it to me in the comments section. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Random Thoughts on The Newsroom Season 2, Episode 9

The Newsroom finale (seasons 2) wrapped up one season’s worth of intrigue and two seasons of romance in a single, neatly wrapped episode. Couples were joined, bold executive decisions were made, bad haircuts were explained, and more. In some ways, The Newsroom finale felt like it could wrap up the show for good. While HBO has publicly stated that it would like to have a third season, it hasn’t confirmed that it’s in the works and writer Aaron Sorkin’s schedule is packed. While I expect and hope the show will return, it’s possible that the season 2 Newsroom finale will be it for the Atlantis Cable News crew. *sniff*

Juggling Jim: The biggest problem I had with The Newsroom finale (and this season) was Jim Harper. The thoughtful and sensitive senior producer sports a bad haircut…and get all the ladies. He patched things up with Maggie (his object of desire in s1), reconciled with Lisa (his s1 consolation prize), managed to get Maggie and Lisa to make up with each other, and solidified his relationship with his current girlfriend (Meryl Streep’s daughter). Jim’s successful social maneuverings in The Newsroom finale send a poor message to impressionable young males. It’s as dangerous as the “Disney Princess” syndrome. PSA: You can’t be successful at work, sensitive, thoughtful, and have a bad haircut AND get the girl. The real world doesn’t work that way kids. Also, why didn’t anyone drop sarin gas on Jim?!? That would have ruled.

Will Scores: ACN star anchor Will McAvoy came to the slow (six-year) realization that he was being a dick to his lifelong love McKenzie Morgan McHale. It seemed totally contrived that he finally figured it out now. It would have been more realistic if he tried to forgive and forget years ago or if he never let go of his anger for the rest of his life. Still, his awkward proposal was very sweet and it was nice to see Mc and Mac finally together in The Newsroom finale. At least it wasn’t as excruciating as Ross and Rachel on Friends. Also, the name McKenzie Morgan McHale MacAvoy is awesome. Quadruple M vs. Triple H at WrestleMania XXX?!?

Don Scores: “What I have can’t be taught,” said Don Keefer, cementing his status as the coolest cat in the ACN newsroom. It seemed likely that Don was behind the Sloan Sabbith mystery bid. The Newsroom finale revealed his scheme. The sly fellow keenly knew that he’d have to be crafty and sweet in order to compete with the financial geniuses and NY Giants that woo Sloan. His gambit paid off, with Sloan (played by the dreadful Olivia Munn) signing her book, grabbing him for a kiss, and slapping the book in his chest. Score.

Don also showed that he has evolved from the skillful-but-shallow ratings-first producer he was in s1 and is fully invested in ACN’s mission to be MSNBC’s sardonic cousin. It was cool seeing ACN president Charlie Skinner smile at Don in the opening scene, like a proud father happy with what his son has become…or Emperor Palpatine looking satisfied with his machinations. Passionate Don made a brief cameo, telling ACN lawyer Rebecca Halliday about his desire to do the news with his ACN family. Dick Don showed up in the same scene, detailing his plan to countersue the vile Brian Fantana Jerry Dantana.

Leona’s So High, High Above Me: I adore Atlantis World Media CEO Leona Lansing. Jane Fonda plays her with delightful aggression as a powerful and commanding executive. I don’t enjoy high-as-a-kite Leona Lansing as much, but it’s close; high Leona is hilarious and I’d love to hang out with her. While Charlie was talking to her about a serious matter, Leona’s cannabis-fueled aside of, “Do you want to split a pizza?” killed me.

Honorable Reese: Leona’s son, AWM president Reese Lansing, finally got on the same page as the rest of the gang in The Newsroom finale…and his honorable intentions were brushed aside. I felt bad for him. He should have been commended for coming around and doing the “honorable thing” that was bad for business. Instead, Charlie continued to treat him like a bitch. I’m not sure what the writers intended, but The Newsroom finale made the show’s villain sympathetic. Oh well, at least he gets to date a third-generation Rockette.

Maggie Clicks Her Mouse: Maggie finally explained her bad haircut to Jim, something that the audience understood for weeks. She also opened up about what was fueling her snooty behavior. She has a tender moment with Jim about how he got her attention by clicking his mouse (not a euphemism for masturbation). While I loved most of how The Newsroom finale ended, having it close with Maggie clicking her mouse (still not a euphemism for masturbation) was too cheesy for me. While I normally love saccharine and cheesy moments on television, my disdain for this character slightly tarnished the show’s ending.

Sabbith Seeds: I’m hoping that The Newsroom finale will lead to Sloan Sabbith’s heel turn. When Will gave his chair to Elliot for a segment, Sloan looked perturbed. Perhaps she felt snubbed that Will picked Elliot over her (never mind that Elliot is a far more experienced host). Throughout the newscast, Sloan was cut off by election calls. I’m hoping that this will lead to Sloan feeling like she deserves a bigger role at ACN and getting upset that she’s not a bigger star. Olivia Munn would be awesome in this role — talent that thinks she’s way more important than she actually is. If this comes to pass, Munn will surely win several Golden Globe and CableACE Awards for her accurate portrayal of a self-absorbed television host.

This Week’s Videogame Releases

Grand Theft Auto V will hit store shelves this week. That’s pretty much all you need to know, right? Rockstar’s latest GTA will be one of the biggest games of 2013, if not the biggest. If you’re late to the PlayStation 3 party, you can pick up the GTAV PS3 500GB bundle. If open-world hyper-violence isn’t your thing then there’s…uh…Hot Wheels World’s Best Driver and We Sing: 80s. Right.

So, who’s picking up Grand Theft Auto V this week? Anyone? Anyone?