I came home a few weeks ago to find my almost four year old Gateway desktop rig powered completely off. I tried turning it back on, only to find out that it had decided that it didn’t want to at all. That could only mean the power supply, since it had been on and working [...]
Tag Archives: About MY Gear
My Bag: Ham Radio Edition
Hurricane Sandy, the derecho and the upcoming winter season has had me thinking about what I carry on a daily basis. It also prompted me to consider what I might add to it to be better prepared. In HAM lingo, we refer to this as our GO bag– the bag that serves in an emergency [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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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Phiaton MODERNA MS 200 Earphones Spring Cleaning Giveaway
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Monster Diamond Tears Headphones Giveaway
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Win a Seagate Backup Plus on Tax Day
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Facebook Phone Event, What Do You Think?
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Confessions of a Doctor Who Newbie
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Pebble E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android Review
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Microsoft’s Xbox One Initial Presentation – Technology That Will Step Behind the Curtain and Let You Take Center Stage
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The iPhone Doldrums – I Think I’m Ready for Something Different
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Google Wants to Pretend It Is from the ‘Land of And’
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Domeo Recliner Folio iPad Case Review
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FL Studio Mobile Gets Android Support – Hands-on Review
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Swann HD PenCam Lets Dad Feel Like a Secret Agent
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Live Score Tennis for iOS Ready for the 2013 French Open
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Mitchell Oke: Hey Carly, I was in a similar position a couple of...
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Alan T.: My dad likes to show off cool tech gadgets and thi...
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loopyduck: My dad often interviews patients and needs a voice...
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cgavula: On an interesting side note - AT&T has started...
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