Don’t Be an iFool, Set Up iCloud for Your New iPhone!

The iPhone is great, so is iCloud ability to automatically upload photos. It is great for viewing and sharing photos across devices, but most importantly it provides a backup in case something happens to your phone. My mother recently got her first iPhone and quickly regretted not setting up iCloud when her phone died and took two months of pictures! She got the phone through Verizon after a succession of Motorola Droid devices, and was looking forward to the whole family being on iMessage together across the country. But the Verizon folks didn’t prompt her to set up iCloud or…

Gear Bits

The Rise and Fall of My Lumia 928

I know … you opened this to hear how I’ve given up on Windows Phone, regretted jumping ship, and am moving to more mainstream phones. Sorry, but the rise and fall here is far more literal: my phone took a spectacular triple flip dive out of my pocket today, and the results were right about what you’d expect when phone meets concrete. It started out as a pretty typical walk with my dog. I had my Lumia 928 in the pocket of my workout pants, a pocket that was deep enough to hold the phone easily. My dog was feeling…

Gear Bits

Found- The World’s Most Advanced Beer ‘Koozie’!

I’m an American. That means I eat french fries not chips, take the subway not the tube and like my beer cold. That last one is a challenge on a warm day but, thanks to the BottleCamo, keeping beer ice cold just got a whole lot easier and stylish. Made with quality stainless steel, and neoprene, you can pre-order now.

eBooks

Barnes and Noble Is SHOCKED That iOS 7 Is Almost Ready

The release of iOS 7 is hardly a surprise…unless, of course, you’re Barnes and Noble. They’ve apparently wasted so much time updating their NOOK app that it won’t be up to date for iOS 7’s release. So, if you’re an iOS fan who uses NOOK, you have to choose-your books or your phone? Sadly, this is not a joke. Barnes and Noble released an email today explaining you shouldn’t upgrade to iOS 7 if you use your NOOK app regularly. See, they’re not sure if you can read your books. Maybe it will work for you, or maybe you’ll get…

Gear Bits

Time Gets Some Style With Tokyoflash’s Kisai Maru Wood

Tokyoflash is offering a very limited edition Kisai Maru Wood watch for $99 until Thursday September 19th. After that it will be $129. Kisai Maru Wood is “a combination of edges and circles”. It features an intuitive time display in mirrored LCD, framed by a custom designed natural wood case.

Gear Bits

High Praise for Grand Theft Auto V Starts Rolling In

The highly-anticipated open world epic drops tomorrow, 9/17, but it has already received some mighty praise today. With a video game as hyped and extremely controversial as GTA V, you might think that it may be hard to blow reviewers away, but you’d be wrong! GTA V hits stores tomorrow for $59.99 on Xbox 360 and PS3. IGN has rated Grand Theft Auto V a 10 out of 10, and call it a “Masterpiece.” The Verge calls GTA V the “best game in the series to date” in their highly praising review. Joystiq gave the fifth installment in the Grand…

Travel

The Nokia Lumia 1020 Is the Only Camera You’ll Need When Traveling

I use an HTC One, but its camera is subpar, and I take a lot of pictures. When the Nokia Lumia 1020 was released, who wasn’t intrigued by its camera? I sure was, and so I bought one. But could the 1020 function as my only camera while on a dream vacation in Paris and Dubrovnik? I would soon find out. From the moment we arrived in Paris, I started snapping pictures predominantly with the Lumia’s Pro Cam app set to 5 megapixels, which is oversampled for lossless zoom. About midway through the trip (or about the time we moved on to Dubrovnik),…

Gear Bits

The Avalanche of 5S/5C Cases Cometh!

Did you preorder a new 5S or 5C? As always, all your favorite case companies are right there to make sure your new baby is properly coddled and swaddled … whether you’re looking for style or protection, the major players are happy to offer up the right accessory. Speck is quick to remind everyone on their website that many of their iPhone 5 cases will fit the 5S nicely, plus they have new cases just for the 5S coming soon as well. Case-Mate says the same thing, though some of the styles appear to be an acquired taste, including unusually…

Health and Fitness, Outdoors

Reminder That All Female Joggers Might Be One Run from Death – The Monday Mile

A week ago, satire site The Onion posted ‘Nation’s Female Joggers Know They Will One Day Be Assaulted, Buried In Woods’, where women acknowledge this as simply part of the circle of life. All fun aside, as fall arrives it’s a good time to step back and remind ourselves of the need for enhanced safety on shorter, cooler days. I wrote about early morning running tips in the first part of spring as I started to see more people emerging from their winter cocoons, and now as school is back in session and the mornings are darker it makes sense…

Editorials

Has Klout Suckered You into Thinking You Are Important?

People are such competitive creatures, and bloggers can be some of the worst; Klout is a company that feeds that beast. Touting itself as “The Standard for Influence”, Klout measures the reach of everyone who is active in social media. What’s your Klout score? Should it even matter? Does it matter to you? Of course it does; you’re human! Klout preys upon people’s desire to feel or at least be perceived as influential or important, and it gives users a tangible score that can be used for comparison against others in their field (or in other non-related fields). Klout offers instant validation…

Gear Bits

The MagiCable Duo with Lightning Connector – a First World Problem Solved

My phone has a Lightning Connector for charging. My headset uses a microUSB connection for charging. My desk looks like a snake pit of cables. That’s where the MagiCable Duo with Lightning Connector comes in. This $29.99 cable features a unique 2-in-1 design and works with both Apple Lightning and Micro USB tips. Check it out. You can file this one under “Solutions to First World Problems”

Game Diary

Why Does the ‘Damsel in Distress’ Video Game Plot Device Work?

Media Critic Anita Sarkeesian made her name primarily by shedding light on the treatment of women in video games. After YouTube videos on the subject, she sought Kickstarter funding to produce a professional series. Asking for $6000 she got nearly $160,000! The third in the ‘Damsel in Distress’ series was recently released, and it is worth checking them all out. You can also check out her Feminist Frequency site and Tumblr page for more info. Here is the series in order: For me one of the saddest things has been the vile and violent responses to these videos, and that…

Reviews

V-MODA Remix In-Ear Headphones Remote Review – Great Sound, Awesome Comfort

I absolutely raved about the V-MODA M-100 over-the-ear headphones we reviewed last month. They have become my go-to headphones when I don’t need noise cancellation. Now I’ve had the chance to use the V-MODA Remix Remote in-ear headphones. These $79 headphones are comfortable and sound great; the remote and microphone make them great all-around headphones. Check them out. V-MODA did a great job bringing their audio prowess to in-ear headphones. The V-MODA Remix Remote offer huge sound in a small package. As the product page explains, Don’t just hear the music, feel it. With the Remix Remote, you get unparalleled…

Gear Bits

Apple Throws Shade: “We Don’t Just Toss In Technology for Technology’s Sake”

Check out our thoughts on Apple’s new phones in today’s upcoming GD Newsletter. In the meantime, here’s a quote from Jony Ive in the iPhone 5S keynote video … “It’s not just rampant technology for technology sake. Every single component, every process has been considered and measured to make sure that it’s truly useful.” Now who could they be alluding to? (Here’s a hint.)

Gear Bits

Are You a Fool to Major in Psychology?

Every fall high school seniors start looking at colleges to attend. Part of that is deciding what major to pursue. For many that is a practical matter of employability, for others more a pursuit of passion. But regardless of your motivation, there are clearly some majors destined to make more or less money than others. NPR broke it all down. It was interesting reading some of the comments … or perhaps sad, as many would conflate earnings to overall value to society, which seems like something no one would really believe at this point. You can get the complete report…

Gear Bits

Who Wins in a Tech World When There Are No More Surprises?

Last week Apple made official the phones we knew they’d been planning to introduce. This came a week after Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 announcement, which a friend summed up as ‘exactly what we already knew’. No surprises from Moto X, HTC One, or Samsung Galaxy S4 either. All fantastic devices, but are we losing out because of spoiled surprises? Everyone made a huge deal about how the only surprise from the Apple announcement was the realization that the 5C was NOT the ‘low cost’ phone so many in the media had talked about, but instead the mid-range iPhone 5 replacement….

Gear Bits

What’s Red, White or Black and Filled with Sound?

speeCup may look like a cup of coffee, but this cup is filled with sound. Available in red, white, or black the $129.95 speeCup is a Siri/S Voice enabled Bluetooth surround sound speaker with gesture control. 8” tall, it has a noise canceling microphone, top mounted controls and up to 20 hours of use per charge. Check it out.

Gear Bits

Feed your Child’s Imagination with FarFaria’s Digital Library

FarFaria is a children’s book app for the iPad that has made reading to your children at bedtime easier than ever. FarFaria is packed with over 450 full-color children’s stories for kids aged 2-9. FarFaria is free to download, and you can read one full book per day; a $3.99 monthly subscription will get you access to unlimited reading. Using an interactive story discovery experience, FarFaria allows children to browse the exciting, colorful world of many areas. The areas inside the world of FarFaria include the Animal Kingdom, Adventure Island, Fairytale Forest, Classics Grove, Singalong City, and more. As one…

Gear Bits

13.56 Multifunctional NFC Wristband Hits Kickstarter Today

This is a pretty cool concept for all those NFC fanatics out there. This wristband, designed by ThirteenFiftySix out of Spain, can control many functions of your smartphone including turning off your alarm, unlocking the phone, unlocking private folders, sharing your contact information, controlling your music, and more. A £25 pledge will land you an NFC wristband of your own. Also, for a very limited time, the first 200 backers who choose the “Pay What You Wish” category can pay whatever they think is fair for the 13.56 NFC wristband. This wristband seems to have unlimited possibilities since the NFC technology…

Travel

Come Explore King’s Landing (Dubrovnik) During Game of Thrones Season 4 Filming

Do you watch Game of Thrones on HBO? Kev and I love the books by Gorge R. R. Martin as well as the television series based on them, so an added bonus to our recent trip to Dubrovnik (arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world) was that we knew we might recognize some of the locations from the show. Are you a fan? Then this post is for you! Dubrovnik’s Old Town is a medieval walled city located on the coast of Croatia, and since season two it has been used for various locations in Game of…

Reviews

Everki Atlas Checkpoint Friendly Backpack Review – a Wearable Mobile Office

Traveling for business is a common occurrence in today’s world. That travel requires lugging a computer and other devices which makes checking baggage difficult. Everki has become the default for designing stylish gear bags with tons of functionality that are checkpoint friendly while traveling. The Atlas, at $169.99, is one of the newest offerings to the Everki lineup. The Atlas backpack joins an already awesome line of checkpoint friendly gear bag options. Airport checkpoints can often ruin a trip before it has started, so a bag option to alleviate this problem can be important. The laptop compartment opens up 180…

September 2013