Lumary 56FT Smart Landscape Lights Gen2 Review This is the introductory paragraph with formatting. The Rasmus home taking on a decidedly Halloween look with greens and purples via the Lumary 56FT Smart Landscape Lights Gen2 . (Source: Daniel W. Rasmus. ©2025 Daniel W. Rasmus and Serious Insights LLC. The Lumary 56FT Smart Landscape Lights Gen2, 6 Pack RGBAIWW offers an integrated, pre-packaged, fully featured, ready-to-deploy outdoor lighting system. I approach this system not merely as a set of spotlights, but as a bounded digital canvas, examining how its closed architecture serves the creative impulse of dynamic exterior illumination versus the long-term strategic needs of home automation integration.

TOZO Open EarRing Review Open-ear devices have been appearing alongside the more traditional sealed earbuds reviewed at Serious Insights. Products like the Tozo Open EarRing represent a design philosophy shift: prioritizing awareness and comfort, trading the sealed-ear “wow” for a safer, more social listening stance. We look at the Tozo Open EarRing as a wearable that optimizes for use cases where isolation is a hindrance rather than a feature.   From a market-watch perspective, this segment is getting crowded as brands chase commuters and fitness-minded listeners with IP ratings, long endurance, and companion apps.

Enterprise AI Insights from the Field: Success Factors and Waiting for ROI I had the pleasure of listening to leaders discuss their firsthand experiences with AI deployments and how organizations are implementing AI. I learned from Saanya Ojha of Bain Capital Ventures, who spoke with Moveworks President Varun Singh, and from several thought leaders during a KMWorld-hosted webinar that brought together TigerGraph (Victor Lee, PhD), Semedy (Charles Lagor), and TopQuadrant (Steve Hedden). I'll keep the takeaways simple. They all align with my experience: design for success, including how to measure ROI.

Wacom Cintiq 24 Touch Review The Wacom Cintiq 24 Touch is a lot of device. Not just in price or promise, but in sheer physical presence. It’s a relatively massive piece of equipment, and not the kind of thing that easily sneaks onto a crowded desktop where a keyboard, mouse, and laptop already wrestle for territory. This isn’t the kind of tool you casually tuck beside a monitor; it demands its own stage. Artists already accustomed to tilted drawing tables know what they're getting into. For me, the Wacom Cintiq 24 Touch arrived in my workspace like a visiting dignitary—impossible to ignore, insistent that I bring it a new surface (a foldable table) because, while I have a desk and a credenza, it wouldn't fit among the existing equipment.

Dynabook Tecra A40-M Series 2 Review The Dynabook Tecra A40-M Series 2 arrived while I was reviewing the Lenovo ThinkPad X9. In many ways, that was unfortunate for the Tecra as the X9 touted modern design flourishes, while the Tecra proudly displays its legacy callbacks. That the X9 abandoned the ThinkPad's traditional design language makes for an even bigger contrast. Both, however, claim to be AI PCs, sporting the latest Intel chips with their NPUs. Both include a Copilot key. Using that as a field leveler that defines them as state-of-the-art devices, many of the legacy choices in the Tecra don't do it any favors.

Edifier ES20 Review There are always the sounds of summer. Sometimes mine were Yuaght Rock, other times Los Angeles Dodgers games, and occasionally new music from Christina Carpenter or Billie Elish, or a Star Talk Radio podcast. More likely than not, this summer's open spaces were filled with sounds emanating from the Editfer ES20. The ES20 slides into my speaker collection where minimal size meets maximal usability, and portable audio devices stop behaving like disposable tech and start hinting at enduring craftsmanship. The Edifer ES20 harkens back to classic guitar amp design and other classic stage gear.

Rokid Max 2 AR Glasses Review Portable displays increasingly act as instruments of discretion—screening work and entertainment from crowded spaces without the weight of a full XR rig. The Rokid Max 2 falls into this category, featuring micro-OLED glasses that serve as a travel-friendly private screen, delivering comfort and convenience that fluidly switch between phones, tablets, consoles, and laptops. The Rokid Max 2 glasses are a measured iteration on the previous model. The new version extends the familiar recipe with a strong spec baseline, an effective myopia system, and an ecosystem path—Rokid Station and Station 2—that turns a simple monitor into a pocketable platform for streaming, office apps, and multi-app spatial layouts.

Edifier MR3 Studio Monitor Speakers Review Across recent audio and creator-tool reviews, a pattern keeps surfacing: everyday gear borrowing ideas from studios to support disciplined, improvisational work. The Edifier MR3 Studio Monitor Speakers fit that pattern, trading luxury finishes for a measured response curve, proper balanced inputs, and tuning tools that make cramped desks behave. This is the same practical ethos behind travel mics, compact lights, and minimal gimbals covered here. The MR3 complements those kits with honest monitoring, app-level convenience, and quick physical controls—a small upgrade that improves focus and reduces rework in research, teaching, and content pipelines.

BENFEI USB-C to Audio Jack Adapter with 60W Fast Charging Review I like cute. This compact BENFEI USB-C to Audio Jack Adapter is cute. It combines audio high definition audio for devices like iPhone and iPad (and other USB-C powered devices that no longer ship with an audio jack) along with an input for power. All for under twelve dollars. And did I say it was cute, as it folds up into something that looks more like a keychain decoration than high-tech audio enabler. And while I wouldn’t suggest carrying the BENFEI USB-C to Audio Jack Adapter among a jangle of keys all the time, it would likely survive the experience, save a few scratches.

Rhinoshield AirX case for iPhone 16 Pro Review Protective accessories increasingly differentiate on engineering, not embellishment. Recent Serious Insights coverage has highlighted gear where design choices map cleanly to outcomes—microphones that favor quick capture over dials, lights that trade heft for portability, and gimbals that guide rather than intrude. The Rhinoshield AirX arrives in that lineage as an argument for managed energy: a case designed to isolate impact before it reaches the device core. This review situates Rhinoshield AirX against cases that chase thinness or transparency as primary virtues. The AirX proposition is different: predictable protection over time, with an architecture that speaks in pressures, chambers, and flow paths.

JBL Quantum Stream Wireless USB-C Microphone Review The Quantum Stream Wireless USB-C fits into one of my favorite themes: lightweight tools sculpted for personal, purposeful and improvisational storytelling. Like the mobile-first camera gear and compact lighting kits we’ve examined, this mic favors flexibility over depth, trimming friction wherever possible. It won’t replace a desktop mic, but it complements the episodic spontaneity of recording on a phone, especially on the road, as I did recently at Comic-Con and other conferences. I have also used it for a weekly AI vlog entry to a WhatApp group.

Kwikset Halo Select Touchscreen Wi-Fi and Matter-Enabled Smart Lock Review So, I’m a fan of the Kwikset Halo Select Touchscreen Wi-Fi and Matter-Enabled Smart Lock. I love the connectivity. I went with Wi-Fi to ensure full access to all features in the Kwikset app. Installation was a bear. My door had quirks. The first attempt at Kwikset sending the right parts didn’t result in the right parts. The second attempt, with my son-in-law sending images and spending significant time on a call, resulted in the right parts showing up. The lock is now installed.

The MIT NANDA Report Challenge: AI’s ROI Problems Call for a Revisit of Solow’s Productivity Paradox, The Serendipity Economy, and Finding Value Beyond Productivity Technological revolutions rarely arrive on schedule. They come with fanfare, bold promises, and heavy investment, but their impact often hides in the shadows before it bursts into the open. Artificial intelligence now finds itself in this awkward in-between space. Boardrooms are abuzz with talk of generative AI strategies; enterprises are pouring billions into pilots and partnerships; employees are experimenting with chatbots and copilots. Yet in measurable business terms, most of these efforts appear to fail to deliver returns on the investments.

Matias nano USB-C Keyboard and Mouse Review Although we like to see the coolest technology and feature it on our SeriousPop.tech page, most of our hardware reviews don’t chase the flashy or the collectible—they lift up devices that quietly earn their place on desktops through thoughtful design, honest functionality, and a refusal to indulge in gadget theater. In that lineage, the Matias USB-C keyboard paired with the PBT-and-aluminum mouse fits neatly. The Matias nano USB-C Keyboard and Mouse doesn’t impress with neon lights—though it offers magnetic top covers and a hex wrench for right-click feel—but impresses with substance: driver-free reliability, materials built to outlast most laptop lifespans, and customization that whispers rather than shouts.

Factory Entertainment Gary Seven Servo Review No company makes Star Trek prop replicas like Factory Entertainment. Its attention to detail is outstanding. At San Diego Comic-Con 2025 they introduced the Gary Seven Servo. Not as near and dear to my heart, like last year’s Catspaw Enterprise replica, but still absolutely perfect in execution. Perhaps this servo will remind the new team at Paramount that they still have a Roddenberry original backdoor pilot in their back pockets, or in the case of the servo, in a sports coat pocket. For those of you not familiar with the Gary Seven Servo, here’s a tutorial:

APQC Communities of Practice Survey Findings Reveal Design and Strategy Gaps Organizations Must Close to Make CoPs Effective and Relevant Surveys, even when well-crafted, reveal only what respondents already believe to be true. They do not surface what participants don’t know, can’t imagine, or have yet to encounter. That means survey results should be treated as guideposts, not verdicts—signals that reveal where organizations are confident, where they are uncertain, and where blind spots are quietly shaping future challenges.  The APQC Communities of Practice (CoP) survey offers a useful snapshot, but its greatest value lies in the conversations and adjustments it can inspire. 

MAGEASY Pouch M iPhone 16 Pro Wallet Case Review Many Serious Insights reviews explore product ecosystems—where form meets function across devices and contexts. Here, a case isn’t just protection: it becomes a small utility layer that adapts to office commutes, travel, and pocket-free carrying. It builds on the conversation of thoughtful everyday design we’ve seen in prior write-ups. In comparison, the MAGEASY Pouch M stacks modularity and resilience where others offer either sleek minimalism or max protection, not both. It’s an interesting midpoint that extends what “daily tech companion” can mean on the move.

KYY X90D 15.6" Triple Portable Monitor review For a more expensive product, I would be more critical. I didn’t find any issues with the KYY X90D 15.6" Triple Portable Monitor. It performed as expected. It is not, as the Amazon and company websites suggest, a “triple monitor,” rather it turns a laptop into a “triple monitor” device by adding two additional 1080p displays. While the 1080p displays are fine as far as they go, those with higher resolution laptops may want higher resolution external displays. I started with the caveat that it was for a more expensive product.

Xfinity Customer Service Fail: How a Minor Playback Glitch Became a Customer Service Defining Moment I’m a long-time Xfinity customer. A recent customer service experience has transformed me from an ambivalent advocate for a service that essentially operates as a monopoly in my area into a reluctant customer (at best), who has been the target of fraudulent transactions, deceitful practices, and accusatory, unempowered, and untrusting customer service. This is the story of how annoying audio and video glitches on my television escalated into a customer service fiasco. Just trying to get my TV to work…

Hamlet and Headphones and: How Headphones Got Inside Jeremy McCarter's Head and Inspired Him to Reimagine Shakespeare I just returned from Comic-Con and explained to several vendors the mission of SeriousPop.Tech to explore interesting intersections between popular culture and technology. I recently listened to an episode of the Folger Shakespeare Library’s 'Shakespeare Unlimited,' which offered such a connection. Jeremy McCarter and his Make Believe Podcast produced an episodic audio-only version of Hamlet inspired by headphones. The conceit? The play is reduced not only to audio, but only to the audio that the Hamlet character was privy to.

Hamlet, Shakespeare and UncertaintyCrazed or Confused: What Leaders Can Learn About Uncertainty from ‘Hamlet.' There is a lot of uncertainty in the world at the end of Shakespeare’s reign as a poet and playwright. With the only ruler most had ever known dying, and a new, unknown monarch from Scotland invested, the future of England and English society was very much in doubt. In Hamlet, Shakespeare manifests the uncertainties that were about to disrupt English life, and gives them a character who empathizes with their fears of the “undiscovered country,” be it death or just a changed world.

In "It Rhymes With Takei,” Takei’s story unfolds with emotional precision, using the graphic novel form to its full potential. Harmony Becker’s illustrations don’t just support the narrative—they expand it, adding nuance to every silence, every hesitant glance, every burst of joy. The visual storytelling makes the weight of internment and the tension of the closet tangible, while the moments of triumph and self-acceptance shine with hard-won clarity. This is not a celebrity memoir designed to polish a brand; it’s a deliberate act of reclaiming identity, one panel at a time.

Lepro TB1 Table Lamp Review I didn’t expect a desk lamp to surprise me, but the Lepro TB1 table lamp did—mostly by not trying to be just a desk lamp. From the moment I plugged it in, this sculptural swirl of light made my workspace feel less like a place to grind and more like a space to create. Its triple-ring design doesn’t just look futuristic—it actively participates in shaping the mood my office, which is already pretty moody 🙂. Whether I’m writing late into the night or just letting some music play in the background, the TB1 keeps pace, pulsing in sync or glowing calmly with a warmth that feels almost intentional, though it takes some playing with to master its options.

Countdown to San Diego Comic-Con 2025: Comic-Con Kit: What's in My Bag As an analyst, I'm always exploring the future of work. Yes, even at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). So, I can't just bring my Starfleet uniform or my S.H.I.E.L.D. garb; I also need to bring a few gadgets to document what I'm learning, and of course, test out some new tech products, and put those I’ve already evaluated through even more rigorous tests. Here’s my initial list of what I’m bring with me to San Diego. This blog may be updated several times between July 23 and July 27, 2025 as I use something that I realized I left off the list.