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Tag Archives: About MY Gear
Reviews November 13, 2012
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Gear Chat – the ‘Mike Wasn’t Getting an iPad Mini’ Episode

OK, so just a few weeks ago I made some bold declarations about how I would not be getting an iPad Mini, stating it in our last Gear Chat, then taking a bold stance on the ‘Five Reasons I Won’t Be Getting the ‘iPad Mini’’ (which Dan rebutted with a single reason). Since release although [...]

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Editorials November 6, 2012
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Weeks Number 2 & 3 of My iPad-Only Challenge!

Welcome to the second ‘weekly’ (yes, it has been a month since my last one) report on my quest for the 99% computer! (Here is my first update) As noted, my plan was to use my iPad for as much as I possibly could, and note whatever functions required me to use a ‘real’ computer. [...]

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News November 5, 2012
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Special Holiday Pricing Available on Pivothead HD Recording Sunglasses

I LOVE the Pivothead HD Recording Sunglasses that I reviewed last month and used while in Cuba two weeks ago. They are comfortable, look good AND they record amazingly clear video. You can check out our full review of them here and see how they work in this video. At $350, the glass aren’t cheap [...]

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Outdoors November 4, 2012
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My Hurricane Sandy Survival Gear

I started this post prior to losing power Monday night. In the middle of writing it, the power went out … and it stayed out until late Thursday night. We had no heat or electric; because we are on a well and septic system, we had no water. We had no internet and no phones [...]

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Events, Travel October 27, 2012
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A Week in Cuba and the Gear I Carried

I spent last week in Havana Cuba touring the city, listening to lectures, and doing some good as we visited with Havana’s Jewish community and shared the medical supplies we’d brought. While there, certain key pieces of tech came in rather handy; I thought I would run down just a few of them. First and [...]

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How to Do It Yourself! October 25, 2012
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Got an Old PowerPC Mac? Resuscitate It with Linux.

Apple has long left the PowerPC based Macs of old behind; however, any G4 or G5 based Mac is still a very capable machine.  Most of the G5 Power Macs I have come across are dual-core G5 machines and some of the iMacs are as well.  Apple isn’t releasing updates for the last supported version [...]

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Editorials October 20, 2012
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Five Reasons I Won’t Be Getting the ‘iPad Mini’

Speculation is out of control about the October 23rd Apple event and the anticipated ‘iPad Mini’. During our last Gear Chat, Dan asked me about the iPad Mini, and I declared that I wouldn’t be getting one; to which he replied that ‘he’d believe it when he saw it’! I wanted to go on record [...]

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Editorials October 5, 2012
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My Journey to the Dark Side…er, Apple is Complete

A long time ago, in a service provider far, far away, I had joined the ranks of mobile phone users, sporting a Motorola Razr V3m back when it was de rigueur for mobile types. For a time I was content, and as technology evolved I migrated my mobile phones, ever searching for the trifecta of ease [...]

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Editorials October 2, 2012
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Week Number 1 of My iPad-Only Challenge!

Welcome to the first weekly report on my quest for the 99% computer! As noted my plan was to use my iPad for as much as I possibly could, and note whatever functions required me to use a ‘real’ computer. So let’s get to it! Setup Perhaps not surprisingly, there wasn’t much for me to [...]

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Quickies September 23, 2012
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The ’90s Live on … in My Attic

We have been cleaning out our attic, and found this piece of “once-cutting edge technology”. Yes, Sarah’s ruggedized CD player was her prized possession in the ’90′s…and while it was no doubt super-cool at the time, it’s amazing that we once carried these around happily. Even old school cassette players were less cumbersome! The next [...]

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Editorials September 20, 2012
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My Quest for the 99% Computer

I have often stated that my iPad is my ’80% computer’, meaning that I do (or can do) about 80% of my stuff on it. However, my goal has always been to find an ultraportable device to handle 99% of my non-gaming activities. This quest started with the HP200LX, where I could run Lotus 1-2-3, [...]

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How to Do It Yourself!, Outdoors September 17, 2012
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D-Star Breathes New Life into Amateur Radio

D-Star is the newest mode I have recently added to my Amateur Radio arsenal.  I bought an Icom ID-31A D-star, radio which I will be reviewing here soon, but I wanted to share a little about D-star and why it’s a cool mode before I did the review. The History of D-Star D-star is a [...]

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Quickies September 15, 2012
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Gear Diary’s Grumpy Old Man on Why He’s Getting the iPhone 5

Gear Diary’s own “Grumpy Old Man” (aka Mark Hager, aka my awesome father-in-law) is getting an iPhone 5. Thing is, Mark’s daughter (my wife Elana) and wife (Debbie) are both fine with the iPhone 4S, and THEY are far more likely to take advantage of the speed the iPhone 5 will offer. So why is [...]

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Quickies September 13, 2012
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Pocket Informant Saves My Day

Ever have just “one of those weeks”? I have been having one. Between several work commitments, service appointments at my home, and some family and friend obligations, it has been a week of juggling appointments and rearranging schedules. Unfortunately, this week also highlighted my biggest complaint about iOS: iCal. I can’t stand that my only [...]

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News September 12, 2012
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Pogoplug – My Own Private Cloud With 1TB Online Backup

I am always on the lookout for simple and secure backup solutions and good methods for syncing personal files across multiple devices. I use Dropbox and Google Drive, but have always liked the idea of my own personal cloud solution for more confidential information. I have been using The free Tonido program on my home [...]

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Quickies May 19, 2013
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My Roku 3 Remote Saves the Day!

Gadgets have become packed with more and more features, many of which we end up forgetting about or just never [...]

Editorials May 19, 2013
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Google Announces Game Center Clone ‘Google Play Game Services’

Google Games Center

At Google I/O last week we got to see a number of new things, including the music service we already [...]

News May 19, 2013
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Dale Carnegie Training Offers Eight Smartphone Apps for Free!

“Industrialist” Dale Carnegie started a training course to help people learn to success in a capitalist system, and he did [...]

Reviews May 19, 2013
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Toast Real Wood Cover for iPad mini Review Redux

I reviewed Toast’s wood back for the iPad mini back in March. (Read the review.) It went on easily and [...]

Gaming May 19, 2013
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Summer Handheld Console Video Game Guide

Handheld game systems are great on long summer car trips or on the beach, so grab a quality arsenal before [...]

Reviews May 19, 2013
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LifeProof frē and Arm Band for iPhone 5 Review

When I began doing Couch to 5K again (something I need to do yet again tomorrow because I let too [...]