About MY Gear

Oh Siri … I Missed You

I had not realized just how much I missed having global voice recognition until I went to Elana’s iPhone 4S while waiting for my iPhone 5S. Some background: I sold my iPhone 5 and had been using Judie’s spare iPhone 4 for the past few weeks. It worked fine, but the 4 doesn’t have Siri or voice recognition. Well, I’m baaack. I was using Dragon Dictation for the month I was on the 4, but having gone to the 4S and using Siri and global voice recognition since yesterday has reminded me of how much I missed it. It is…


The Atari 800XL, My First Computer

Everyone can recall their first car, a first school, and a first phone, but today I am going to reminisce about how I first got started into computing.  In 1986 my brother and I received our first computer as a gift; that computer was the Atari 800XL.  Back then there were many players vying for home computing supremacy.  IBM may have ruled the office with the IBM PC, and Apple may have ruled some homes and schools with the Apple II, but in most of my friends homes back in the day it was one of two computers: you were…


The iPhone Doldrums – I Think I’m Ready for Something Different

A bit less than two years ago, I excitedly drove to my nearby Verizon store to give up my Motorola Droid and jump ship over to an iPhone 4s. I was sure this would be a great match, and my days of smartphone-hopping were over. And they were, for quite a while. But over time I’ve grown frustrated, and the iPhone has begun to feel a bit stale. My main frustration has been with the battery life. My 4S started behaving atrociously about three months ago; I would routinely get under 8 hours of standby and maybe 5 hours of…


Sony NEX-6 Smart Remote Control in 90 Seconds

I upgraded my camera to the Sony NEX-6 today, and I am already loving it. At $899 for the body and lens kit, the NEX-6 is pricey. But for the size, speed, and image quality — it really can’t be beat. One of the new features on both the NEX-5r and the NEX-6 is built-in WiFi. This lets you add apps to your camera and do such things as send images from the camera directly to your smartphone or tablet. Another app-powered feature is the Smart Remote Control. This feature allows you to use your smartphone or tablet as a…


Mitchell’s Gear, Spring 2013

  We all have our selection of favorite gear; you know, the equipment we have that we actually keep with us on a regular basis. So spring seemed like a good time to take a renewed look at the gear various members of the GD team actually use. First up — from Gear Diary’s Australian Bureau — Mitchell Oke. My job takes me on the road a lot, so my laptop bag is never more than a few metres away, packed with all the gear that I might need when I’m out of the office.


Dunn’s River Falls Survival Gear

Dunn’s River Falls is awesome, and it is a visit I encourage anyone going to Jamaica to make. There was some gear that made the trip even better, and I thought I might share some of the items; so here’s a rundown of my Dunn’s River Falls Survival Gear. Dunn’s River Falls Survival Gear #1: Vibram Five Fingers I wanted to make sure I could run while here in Jamaica, but I also wanted to pack lightly. That’s why, when all was said and done, I brought my Vibram Five Fingers shoes. They are great for running, but they are…


Is Customer Service the Key to Killing Showrooming?

Moving requires Sarah and me to be good little consumers and spend money. It’s inevitable that there are household items that need to be purchased or upgraded, and we have countless lists of “to buy”. We’re trying hard to watch our bottom line, and yes, we’ve definitely engaged in what has been called “showrooming”, or checking out items in a store and then purchasing them online for less money. But there have been a few times when we’ve been impressed enough with the customer service we encountered that price became less important than having a smooth, easy transaction. When retailers…


Early Thoughts on Ubuntu Touch

At lunch today I was able to load up a version of Ubuntu’s touch based OS on my Asus EeePad Transformer, because I had come across a post on the infamous XDA forums from a hacker who has actually gotten this to work.  Well … it works in that it boots! 🙂  So I decided to try it, just to get an idea of how good or bad it might be. I am actually a little surprised at how much of Ubuntu Touch works, but I’m even more surprised by how much of it doesn’t.  Keep in mind that it’s a developer…


Apple Lightning Connector Broken Inside iPad Mini Port – Eeek!

Have you wondered how well the new Apple Lightning connector might hold up over time? I’ll admit not giving too much thought to it, because I chose to focus on the fact that I could plug the Apple Lightning Connector in from either side — a welcome new convenience from the old 30-pin. So far, I haven’t had any issues with my iPad mini or my iPhone 5, but when I came home from Mobile World Congress, I got a shock. Kev’s youngest daughter had plugged the Lightning connector into her iPad mini, and the tip of the charger had…


Microsoft Surface and Windows RT: Playing in the Windows 8 Sandbox

A Little History… A while back I took the plunge and made the shift from an iPhone to a Windows phone, first with a Nokia 900 and later with a 920.  It was an interesting exercise.  I learned a lot, discovered some new ways of working, and learned to make some compromises.  I even learned that some things I thought were “critical” to my daily functioning really weren’t so critical, after all.  True, I am heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem for apps and movies, but music is pretty much DRM free these days.  Books are still problematic no matter…


Tres Generaciones Anejo Tequila, a Taste of Family History

Life is short. I see that all the time in my work, and I have seen it far too often in my own life. Life is too short to fill it with worries about the small stuff, and it is too short to fill it with bad people, bad experiences, bad food or bad drinks. Speaking of drinks; I have long been a scotch drinker, but  just as often as not I enjoy relaxing while sipping tequila. Recently I decided that, except when making margaritas, I would begin drinking higher-end tequilas, and I decided to have some fun with it….


Garmin ForeRunner 10 Still Going Strong All Winter Long

Since I reviewed the Garmin ForeRunner 10 back in mid-October, the YouTube video has continued gathering comments. So I figured it was time for an update. You can see the Garmin peeking out above between my two thermal-tech layers and gloves. You can even glimpse the toll all of the salting and slush are taking on my beautiful new bright orange running shoes! Quick summary: the Garmin ForeRunner 10 is an amazing running watch that is precise and reliable, and only the 5-hour battery time is a drawback. What have I done since the review? Finished training for the Corning…


How Well Do You Trust Online Reviews?

Image courtesy of XKCD I recently read a very interesting post by Andrew Leonard about online reviews, and attempts by software companies to (as we say in the high tech world) productize them.  The question is valid:  In an online world with an overwhelming wealth of information about almost everything, how do you weigh reviews and make a buying decision? Certainly the online world is swamped in reviews.  But in my view, there’s a huge problem with reviews on the Web.  There are almost always just two types:  The rave, and the pan.  That is, either you see posts that…


Why I love my Samsung ATIV 500T enough to dump the iPad…

When the iPad first came out, I was as stunned and impressed as anyone, and anxious to have one of my own. My wife is largely supportive of my gadget addictions, but regarding the iPad, didn’t understand where it would “fit in” as a necessity when I already had an iPhone, laptop and desktop computer. She didn’t get it, even when I tried explaining it to her. (I believe that may be because when I talk about electronics that excite me, most of what she actually hears is “wah, wah, wah….wah…wah, wah…” ) So, I thought that Steve Jobs may…


If You Want GOOD Service, Use the Apple Store Instead of Apple Support

Apple has a reputation and standing as one of the best customer support organizations in all of the consumer world. They top the ratings each year; due to their retail stores, the ability to quickly talk to someone knowledgeable has made using Apple products easier than ever for millions of folks. Truth is, in more than 30 years of owning Apple products starting with the Apple ][+, I have never needed service of any type. I have had a couple of questions, and had to email support about a couple of iTunes issues, but I have never had an actual…


Set Top Boxes, a Gear Chat

Over the years writing for Gear Diary, we often have chats behind the scenes about all sorts of issues.  Some are private and will never see the light of day, but many times what is said ends up in a long string of comments that would make a great post.  This one all started by a gift I received from a friend — a brand new Roku 2 XS — which I love a lot.  I posted in our back channel about it, and off we went.  Joel: Received a Roku 2 XS from a friend of mine. Best thing ever. First…


The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Regarding FedEx Smartpost and UPS Surepost

If you have ever bought something on the internet that didn’t ship solely via USPS, then using either FedEx Smartpost or UPS Surepost was likely an option; they are both shipping options that use the United States Postal Service for the final leg. In other words, UPS or FedEx will deliver the packages to your local Post Office, and the Postal Service will handle the actual delivery.  The concept sounds good, but in practice it can be anything but. The Good For the e-tailers, it’s a really good deal.  They setup the contract with UPS or FedEx, and they get…


Best Buy Tech Service Gone Awry; a GM’s Customer Service Saves the Day

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 just fine a few hours before. Annoying yes, but fortunately, not insurmountable. It took me a couple of weeks to scrounge up the dough for the new power supply, since I wanted to get it directly from Gateway; I figured that I could probably follow…


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 preparedness capacity. Here’s a look at my Go bag. The Bag Itself My bag is a Swiss Gear Cobalt laptop bag. In fact, this is the same one I use as my daily driver laptop bag; it is available from Amazon for around $60 bucks. I…


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 I didn’t explicitly post a review or anything else declaring that I had gotten the Mini, I did mention it in my post about iOS 6 WiFi problems, a game review, and then my continuing ‘iPad as my 99% Computer series’. So yeah … I…


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. I had planned on reporting weekly, but I haven’t done that – what could that mean? Anyway let’s get to it! Business as Usual The biggest thing that has kept me from writing much about this process was … nothing really changed. I already had…