Building a man cave is like anything else. First you think about how you want it to look and what you want in it and then how it will be set up. Most people will never have a man cave. But for us that do, we know how nice it can be to spend some relaxing time with the guys watching our favorite team. Watching our favorite team kicked up a bit – I might add.

Man caves come in all shapes and sizes. Some are, well – not too bad. Others are done so well and so elaborately that it’s quite scary. The idea is to create a cool place where the atmosphere dictates the mood of what happens in the room. Its usually geared toward football or racing, you know, things that are cool. You invite a few buddies over, eat food, drink your favorite beverage and cheer on the team. Usually these man caves come equipped with large HD TV’s. Usually there is a very loud surround sound system involved as well.

Get ready – there is another toy for the man cave fanatic – and from the looks of it, its going to be a real hit. Now you can not only use your iPod to play your favorite music through the sound system, you can use your iPod or iPad to control all of your man cave devices.

With just a sweep of your hand and a touch, you can now control your HDTV, your sound system and Blu-ray. You can also set up your man cave, or the rest of your house for that matter, so that the iPad or iPod controls even your lights and security system, manage your heating and cooling system and even sprinklers in the yard. This includes turning everything on and off, raising and lowering volumes and adjusting settings on the fly.

To have a system like this, it does take a bit of setup. You may even want to consult a professional company to help with the initial setup. There is a central unit that runs the programming that can usually be hid in a closet. This unit has sensors that are each programmed and directed to each option that you want to control in the house. There are also sensors placed on each unit and system to the corresponding central unit programs. It is then all linked to the iPad or iPod device for central controls.

In the 1980′s, there was nothing – nothing in terms of technology that we see today. Sure, there were VCR’s, Atari’s, microwaves, boom boxes, Walkman and tape players. These were a far cry from what we would see in 20-25 years. The biggest advancement might be in the iPhone where you can make a call, find the closest pizza shop and utilize an app all with one finger.

Technology has give us the ability to communicate better and faster with family and friends and companies. Web companies are now being asked to make sites that are mobile app friendly – generally meaning they can be viewed and navigated on a mobile device. With the advent of the iPhone, and others like it, a whole new generation of people have done something insane – they have virtually made the laptop obsolete.

No – laptops are not really obsolete, but you get the point. Many college student, and others as well, are always on the go. Whether it is at work, in class or walking down the street, many these days are accessing the internet via mobile devices. Why? Because of the convenience factor.

Desktop computers were the first to come on the scene. They were perfect for the family to use at home. But what about the businessman? Then the laptop came out. Perfect for the businessman. Anyone could take this smaller and thinner device to the office, on vacation, or simply carry it to another room in the house.

College students use mobile devices all the time. And all the time means much more than the traditional desktop or laptop computer. Some rarely ever get on an actual computer. All of their Facebook time, web surfing and emailing or texting is done from a hand held device. Simply put, computers for some have become unnecessary.

There are tens of thousands of applications for mobile devices. Most of them are admittedly worthless. There is one idea out there that sounds like it would not only be a hit, but would benefit a lot of people. It is an app that would combine the technology that most of us already use and encourage us to live healthier lives. It sounds great.

The idea comes from a challenge that the current U.S Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin, made to mobile companies and health application developers. The challenge was given at the mSummit on December 6th, and was designed to encourage those “who may not be tech savvy and who wouldn’t ordinarily want to get involved to become healthy and fit, and to make it easy and fun.”

The main focus will be toward people who are in harder to reach areas, and people who are not getting the healthcare they need.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is involved with the challenge which will have three categories: physical activity, healthy eating and integrative health, and will include health for the mind and spirit and proper sleep and reduced stress.

The competition will run until December 30th, with the winner being announced late January 2012. All app developers are encouraged to enter. Benjamin said, “We want to start using this as soon as we can.”

In a world where there is much overkill and many mobile apps are useless, it’s nice to see an idea that can really, really not only help with information and direction, but can educate as well. There is really nothing more important than our health.