Video

Just wild about 'Mindy'

Taking a page from roughly half the sitcoms currently in rotation, "The Mindy Project" revolves around a thirty-something single woman — Mindy (Mindy Kaling), an ob/gyn as professionally successful as she is personally disastrous — who is determined to turn her life around and escape singledom for good. That's the bad news.

The good news is that "Project" realizes this could be bad news and comes equipped to laugh at its own tired predicament. "Project" isn't simply the title of this show, but also the concept behind the romantically comedic sitcom taking place purely inside the mind of Mindy, who is convinced the road to happiness is paved with the same quirky characters and subplots that infiltrate the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movies she so deeply cherishes.

"Project" doesn't go overboard with the gimmick; to the contrary, it's often so subtly used that many won't even realize it's a gimmick at all. But sly or not, it's effective enough to give "Project" the angle it needs to avoid being more of the same old thing.

The Season 1 DVD (Universal, $30) contains 24 episodes and deleted scenes.

McClatchy News Service

Out Tuesday:

Mimobot's "Star Wars" Chewbacca USB flash drive is just one in the "Star Wars" series of 25 characters, also including Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

Movies: "Arthur Newman," "Empire State," "The Iceman," "The Lords of Salem," "Now You See Me."

TV: "Criminal Minds" (Season 8), "Haven" (Season 3), "The Office" (Season 9), "Parks and Recreation" (Season 5), "Person of Interest" (Season 2), "Revolution" (Season 1), "Scandal" (Season 2), "Sharknado," "Spartacus: War of the Damned" (Season 3), "The Vampire Diaries" (Season 4).

Blu-ray debuts: "Creepshow 2," "From Up on Poppy Hill," "The Fugitive" (special edition).

App

From phone to scanner

Scanning a document can be a real pain, particularly if you're stuck in a loop where you have to print it, sign it, scan it and send it back. CamScanner (free for Android and iOS devices) aims to take friction out of that process by making your scanner something you probably have on you anyway: your smartphone.

Users can scan documents by taking a picture with their phone's camera and save them as PDF files. The app has some capability to recognize words in a scanned document, so you can search for phrases.

The app isn't always great at picking up clear images — users might have to take a couple of snaps to get the light just right — but it beats waiting for the scanner to fire up while you're on the go.

Washington Post

Gadget

Make storage cool

Flash drives are pretty mainstream these days, but a company called Mimobot is true to its mission to make the coolest designer USB flash drives.

The drives come in a variety of themes including Chewbacca, which is available in a limited edition run of 1,000, each hand-numbered. Chewbacca is designed and based on the scene in "The Empire Strikes Back" where Chewbacca carries a dismantled C-3PO.

The "Star Wars" series has 25 choices, including Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

Other cool-looking series include Comedy Central's "Workaholics" and "South Park."

All the flash drives are USB 3.0 compatible and available in capacities of 8 to 128 gigabytes ($20-$110, www.mimoco.com).

McClatchy News Service