Articles by Zek

The Truth About New Jersey

If you know anyone from New Jersey, you’ve probably seen the above image on Facebook or Twitter. However, if this is news to you, it’s a funny yet frighteningly accurate map of the “real” New Jersey, broken down by the demographics of each area. Seriously, it’s true. I live in the “Middle Class Raritan Valley Line Commuters” swath, while my parents live in the “Drunk Rutgers Students” section. My sister-in-law, who is a lawyer who drives a Prius, lives in the “Lawyers Driving Hybrids” territory. And I grew up in one of the less politically correct sections, but trust me,…

News & Features

What Not to Wear, the Running Edition

(not for wearing to your local Post Office) The day before Halloween I went out for a run, and about a 1/2 mile from my house, across the street from me, I saw a guy running in the opposite direction, dressed all in black. Not wearing black clothes, I mean head to toe spandex, similar to this outfit. My first thought was “OMG the Rubber Man from American Horror Story is coming to get me!” My second was, “ok, breathe. It’s the day before Halloween, that’s clearly a costume, and insane ghost murderers don’t give you friendly waves as they…

News & Features

Agency eBook Pricing Model under Anti-Trust Scrutiny!

The European Union has finally stepped up to handle the biggest issue facing the economy today. It’s a long time coming, but someone is finally asking questions and looking for answers. Yes, the “agency model” for ebooks is finally being investigated! What, you thought I meant something else? 😉 According to Businessweek, several publishers, as well as Apple, are listed in the investigation, but not Amazon. My guess is that since Amazon was not soliciting contracts for the agency model (they were forced into it after a very public battle) they’re not under the microscope. It will be interesting to…

Reviews

Fooducate for iOS Review

I love almonds. If we are what we eat, I’m a Hershey’s Kiss and a handful of shredded coconut away from becoming an Almond Joy bar. When we’re grocery shopping, Sarah is always trying to find which nuts are on sale and keep us well-stocked. We do try to compare the labels and make sure we’re not getting nuts with tons of additives, but it isn’t always easy to make the right call when they all sound the same. That’s where Fooducate is an incredibly useful shopping tool! Fooducate scans barcodes and gives you a breakdown of the ingredients and…

News & Features

Random Video — Treadmill Talent

I don’t know who this woman is, or whether she practiced this routine for hours or spontaneously busted out at the gym. I do know that this is highly entertaining, and if I tried it I’d go flying off the treadmill.

eBooks, Reviews

Sony Reader WiFi PRS-T1 Review

We’ve talked about Sony’s ebook business many times on Gear Diary, but we finally have the chance to review one of the units! Today we’re taking a look at the PRS-T1, aka the Sony Reader Wifi, their newest device. This is a touchscreen, eInk reader, and it just had a price drop, to $129! With a new price and a sleek style, can it compete with the Kindle and NOOK markets? Read on to find out! Hardware: I love my Kindle 3, but it can’t hold a candle to the build quality of this Sony Reader. The body is plastic,…

Gear Bits

Universal Discontinues Jaws Ride!

It’s going to be safer to enter the water at Universal soon. They’re shutting down the Jaws ride, though they haven’t said why (or what will replace it). I guess Jaws just couldn’t compete with Harry Potter! MSNBC has some very basic details: Jaws has been in operation since 1990, and was one of the first attractions unveiled when Universal Studios opened its doors. The ride is based on the 1975, Steven Spielberg-directed hit movie with the same name. “Jaws has been an amazing attraction and an important part of our history,” Universal spokesperson Tom Schroder told msnbc.com. “Jaws holds…

eBooks, Gear Bits

Time, Inc Names New Digital-Friendly CEO

There are two ways that digital magazines and ebooks are working their way into the marketplace. From the bottom, it’s consumers voting with their wallets; every Kindle that’s purchased, every NOOK app downloaded, and every ebook zooming through the interwebs all boost the adoption of digital reading. From the top down, it’s changes in management. B&N is struggling, yes, but look at how many devices and changes they’ve made to the ebook market since William Lynch became CEO. Previously, Lynch was the president of BN.com, and his experience with the internet has translated to a strong ebook strategy as CEO….

News & Features

Twilight Versus Star Wars, Feminist Style

I’ll admit, I saw “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”. Mainly it was so I could laugh at how campy it was, but I think years of watching “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” have given me a soft spot for vampire tales as a whole. And yes, I’m 99% sure my women’s studies degree dug itself out of the box in my parents’ basement and ran in circles screaming in horror that I paid to watch a movie that revolves around a love triangle between a boy-crazy girl and two controlling, super-strong men. But New York Magazine has written an article that…

Reviews

Grid Detective for Kindle Review

I am a huge sucker for logic games. When I was a kid, we used to do them all the time in school, and I have very fond memories of drawing my grid, X-ing out the wrong choices, studying the clues, and cracking the puzzle. Last week I was trolling the Kindle bestsellers lists, and stumbled upon Grid Detective; it was free, it was the logic puzzles from my childhood, I had to try it! Gameplay is extremely straightforward. You start with a paragraph explaining the scenario (the puzzle I am on now involves four friends reupholstering furniture) and the…

Reviews

Wahoo Fitness Heart Rate Monitor for iOS Review

There are a few schools of thought in fitness when it comes to heart rate monitors. One side says that a heart rate monitor helps you keep your effort in the proper range, while the contrarians think a heart rate monitor is a crutch and you should go with what feels right, not a number on a screen. I’ve never trained with any sort of heart rate monitor, so when Wahoo offered Gear Diary the chance to review it, I jumped at the opportunity. The Wahoo system comes with two parts, a heart rate monitor strap, and an ANT+ receiver….

News & Features

Bedol Water-Powered Clock Review

Alarm clocks are a pretty straightforward gadget. They tell the time, they wake you up when you’d rather be sleeping, and they’re slowly being replaced with cell phones. But while regular alarm clocks have become a bit boring, there’s a whole subset of funky/interesting variations (remember potato clocks when you were a kid?) Bedol has a really neat, eco-friendly twist on the regular alarm clock with their Water-Powered Clock. Is it a cool new twist on the basic wake-up call, or a gimmick of form over function? Read on to find out! The main gimmick of the Bedol Water Clock…

Editorials

Why I’m Not Shopping on Thanksgiving

I heard on the radio this morning that Old Navy will be open on Thanksgiving. Target and Walmart are also planning special hours on Thursday. Personally, I will be avoiding all these stores, but it is not an anti-consumption stance. I just feel terrible for all those employees forced to work on Thanksgiving. I’ve been there. When I worked at Borders I worked July 4th, Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Day, Easter, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, New Years Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, and pretty much any holiday I forgot to list. The sacred days, the two where no…

News & Features

NOOKTablet Rooted, but There’s a Big, Honking Catch

Last week I asked if the NOOKcolor had more hacks than apps…and the comments seem to indicate the hackability were a big part of what attracted many buyers to it. At the time, the NOOKTablet was not yet rooted, but it looks like there’s finally been some success on the rooting front. Unfortunately, it’s not nearly as easy as the NOOKcolor’s. First of all, the hack is still very rough around the edges. It involves using the Android SDK, which isn’t hard to install, but it is a pain to use if you aren’t terribly computer savvy. If you read…

Reviews

Yoobao Leather Flip Case for iPhone 4/4S Review

There are plenty of plastic, silicon, and even aluminum cases for your new iPhone 4S. But what about when it’s time for your phone to get a bit fancy? Or you want something more professional? That’s why we’ll be taking a look at the Yoobao Leather Flip case for the iPhone 4/4S. It’s a step up from a plastic snap-on case, but is it functional AND beautiful? Opinions vary on flip cases, but generally speaking, I am a fan. There are always situations where you want the screen covered, and a solid flip case is an easy way to offer…

eBooks, Editorials

Were More NOOKcolors Rooted Than We Thought?

The new NOOK Tablet is out, and slowly but surely more details about how it is different from its NOOKcolor predecessor are being released. For most users, the Tablet is a great upgrade; better screen, more memory, more multimedia options…it’s a win all around. But what about the people who loved their NOOKcolors for their supreme hackability? According to The Digital Reader, it appears that B&N has locked the bootloader on the NOOKTablet. In English, this means they’ve added an additional level of security, making rooting (and installing the Android marketplace, etc) a far more difficult proposition. It’s hardly the…

News & Features

NeverWet — I Want to Coat My House in This Stuff!

I have a consistent problem with spilling drinks. No glass of water or bottle of beer is safe near me. It’s not my fault, of course; gravity just works more strongly on liquids when I’m nearby. Clearly. So when I saw this video today for NeverWet, I was not joking when I exclaimed: “I want to coat my house in this!” It’s amazing…I have no idea how they manage to do it, but when and if this ever becomes a commercial product they will make millions. I could see this stuff coating clothing, rugs, tables, and athletic wear. Forget Gore-Ttex,…

eBooks, Gear Bits

Author’s Guild Challenges Amazon Prime Lending Library

Uh oh…looks like Amazon’s Lending Library for Prime subscribers has a slight snag-they may not be legally allowed to offer them. The “big six” publishers wanted nothing to do with the program, which isn’t surprising, but Amazon has amassed almost 5,000 titles from smaller houses. Amazon is basically treating each “loan” of a book as a sale of that book, and paying the publishers accordingly. Clearly, Amazon believes this is within their contract rights, but the Author’s Guild is arguing it doesn’t count as a sale and should be a separate contract item. Specifically, here’s the meat of the Guild’s…

News & Features

Businessweek Provides a Eulogy on Borders, and Hope for the Future

Earlier this summer, the final chapter was closed on the Borders bookstore chain. It led to all sorts of conjectures as to why, and what it means for the future of bookstores and readers. Some said it was ebooks, while others pointed out Borders had a long history of mismanagement and neglect. Businessweek has a good overview of the history of Borders, and some of the reasons why it died a sad death (spoiler alert: it wasn’t ebooks). What I found most interesting was this commentary from Borders’ last CEO, Mike Edwards: Edwards says that by the time he became…

News & Features

Kobo Touch Gets a “Price Drop” with Some Ad Support

It looks like Amazon’s “Special offers” strategy is contagious! Kobo, the #3 ebook retailer is being acquired by the Rakuten, the “Japanese Amazon”, and they are already looking to copy some of Amazon’s success. The most obvious example of this is that they will be offering an ad-supported Kobo Touch for $99. This new “product” will allow Kobo to have a reader at the $99 price point “sweetspot” without breaking the bank since sponsors will foot some of the bill. Fortunately, Kobo is taking the same discreet approach as Amazon by placing the ads on the screen saver and home screen…

Reviews

Cygnett Second Skin II, FlexiGel, and Ripple Cases Review

Cygnett makes enough iPhone cases and styles to satisfy any taste. To kick off the launch of the 4S, they released three new cases, the Second Skin II, FlexiGel, and Ripple. All three are fairly low-profile cases that provide basic grip and coverage on the iPhone 4 and 4s. Cygnett was kind enough to send us one each to review, and I’ve spent time giving each of them a shot. There are some key differences in style and material, so let’s look first at what they have in common, and then what makes each one different. I have a clear…

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