2009

Scottevest Cotton Hoodie Review

The Cotton Hoodie from Scottevest has an MSRP of $70 and is available now. Now I know what you’re thinking — $70 is a little bit expensive for a cotton hoodie. And, in most cases you’re absolutely correct. A quick Google search for the garment yields a host of various offerings that are, for the most part significantly less than $70. Then again, those hoodies aren’t from Scottevest. Those hoodies don’t combine comfort with the kind of organizational system SEV is known for. So yes, this particular garment comes at a slight premium cost-wise but what you get for that…

Reviews

PhatNotes for iPhone & iPod Touch Review

When I still regularly used a Windows Mobile device, PhatNotes by PhatWare was typically one of the first programs that I installed on a new device. I now use an iPhone much of the time rather than Windows Mobile. I’ve tried several notes programs for the iPhone, and while many of them are quite good, none have quite hit the mark for me. I like being able to group notes of similar topics, and being able to synchronize easily with desktop software is handy also. So, when PhatWare offered Gear Diary a chance to examine their newly released version of…

eBooks, News

Text Input On The Camangi WebStation

Dan: Judie and I are continuing to play with, tweak and become familiar with our Camangi Webstations. There is no question that it excels as an e-book reader. Thanks to The Android version of eReader both of us have downloaded our libraries and had a number of sessions reading from the device. There is no question that it works quite well in this regard. It allows you to read both in landscape and portrait mode, lets you change the font, is backlit (something that isn’t possible with a device that uses ePaper, and, thanks to the testing, navigation is as…

Reviews

Contour reCharge Universal Review

With all the restrictions on what you can and can not carry on airplane flying around, there’s one thing that seems certain. The less you pack the better of you’ll be. As I get my gear bag ready for CES 2010 I’m faced with a mountain of charging cables that I’ll need to stuff into my bag. One thing that will help is the Contour reCharge Universal. The reCharge Universal is a home charger and car charger in one which allows you to simultaneously charge two devices via a USB cable. The reCharge comes with an iPhone/iPod cable, but it…

Reviews

Review: Trane XL800 Programmable Thermostat & a Giveaway

When I had my house built in 1998, one thing I wanted but could not afford at the time was a programmable thermostat. Thankfully, Trane was kind enough to send one that I probably would not have considered, the Trane XL800. The first thing I had to do was install the thermostat. To do so, I had to turn off my HVAC system — which mean going into the depths of my garage and flipping the breakers. Then I went back inside, removed the existing thermostat and replaced it with the programmable thermostat. Make sure to pull the little plastic strip out…

Reviews

Throwboy Pillows Review: For the true Fan-Boy

Are you an Apple fan-boy? Are you all Apple, all the the time? If you are then you probably think that Apple’s icons are part of what make’s their operating system so nice to look at. Now you can look at your Apple’s icons, dare I even say you can snuggle with them, when you’re away from your computer. How? Throwboy makes handmade pillows usually in the shape of Mac related icons. The pillows are available in two sets. There’s the icon collection, chat collection and they also make an individual RSS pillow. This holiday season I received the full…

eBooks, Editorials

Skimming through 2009 eBooks

(image courtesy of petitinvention) Welcome to the final State of the eBook for 2009! It has been a big year for eBooks, and I am going to do my best to cover a timeline of the high points, as well as a few things to look forward to in 2010. Rather than do a traditional timeline of events, I thought I’d break it down by the year in highlights per company/platform, and then a few predictions and news items to look forward to in 2010!

How to Do It Yourself!

How to Save Your Phone After a Short Swim

Photo courtesy of DigitalTrends It happens to everyone at least once in their life, your cellphone becomes a drowning victim. With the price of phones these days it is worth a shot at reviving it rather than declaring your phone DOA. Here is a few steps gathered from various sources on how to dry out your waterlogged cellphone or device. Most are pretty obvious but need to be stated as a reminder in the time of panic and chaos: Get your phone to safety. Don’t just stare in disbelief and feel like all is lost. Get it out of water…

Vehicles & Gear

Grinding Gears top nine from 2009

This past calendar year has been an active one in the automotive industry. The federal government moved in to assist two of Detroit’s brands survive into the new year. We saw severe budget cuts, inventory and dealership reductions, reorganizations and a renewed push towards a “greener” future. As we prepare for 2010, much is still the same. Politicians are still politicians, we still have loved ones defending the world on foreign soil and consumers are still buying cars and trucks. Before the world turns the calendar to the “green teens,” here is a look back at some highlights – my…

Reviews

AppVault Pro For iPhone/Touch Review

AppVault Pro was released December 29 by C3 Software. The vault contains 25 applications for the price of one. Yes, there have been similar applications containing several smaller apps but often times those apps have a lower quality from a standalone app. After spending the day with AppVault Pro I have to say this is a well polished app with some very good content. Check out what is included for the one low price after the break.

eBooks, Reviews

First Full Day with the Camangi WebStation

Judie: As you may recall, I received my Camangi WebStation yesterday afternoon. Other than downloading some of my eReader library to it, I wasn’t able to spend as much time with the tablet as I might have liked before previously made plans drew me away. This morning I was greeted with tweets and links pointing to Michael Smith’s review, where he calls the Camangi a “total fail” because (among other reasons) it isn’t as fast as his first gen iPhone and because it doesn’t browse the internet as quickly as the Hackintosh he likes to couch surf from. Michael has…

How to Do It Yourself!

Android Tip – Stopping Apps Using Any Cut

One of the first things that people install on their Android phones is some sort of application to kill background applications. In fact, as Carly noted today, Verizon employees suggested she install “Advanced Task Killer” to help stop applications running in the background. Why not use the functionality that’s already built-in to Android for this?

Reviews

Arcade Hockey ‘Freemium Edition’ for iPhone Review

A few months ago I reviewed Arcade Hockey for the iPhone, and found it well done but with some basic flaws that made it hard to recommend. Since then a couple of things have happened. First off, my kids had a go at two-player mode, and more recently the developers came out with a new version that makes use of the new ‘freemium’ in-game purchase capabilities as well as other things. Since BrainJuice had been kind enough to provide the review code for the original, I went ahead and ‘updated’ to the new version to take a look.

Game Diary, Reviews

Totemo for iPhone/Touch App Review

In my weekly search for the next Blue Plate Special, I search through the iTunes rankings and search newly released apps. I try several apps before deciding on one that is worthy of the Blue Plate tag. This week, my wife, (who never pays much attention to my weekly search) told me she had an app for me for the Blue Plate Special. It seems that Totemo has caught the attention of every free moment of her time. For a week or so she has been fiddling with her iPhone while she stands in the kitchen, while I was shopping…

eBooks, News

Camangi Webstation Includes GPS… DHL Could Use One

I wasn’t going to write a post about my experience with shipper DHL yesterday. Yes, although they told me on the phone twice that my Camangi WebStation was on the way it never came. Yes, I had to look on while Judie unboxed hers. I had to listen to her “ooh and ahhh”, all the time thinking that mine was on the way any second when, in fact, it wasn’t. Yes, my exchanges with their customer reps left much to be desired. But still, I had no plans to write a post about my experience. Elana just got off the…

How to Do It Yourself!

Is a Task Killer Necessary For Android?

I was perusing Androidforums.com today for some software tips and stumbled on a few threads that maintained there was no reason to use a task killer with Android. These posters maintained that the OS was efficient enough to shut down programs that weren’t necessary and manage memory without a 3rd party intervention.

Reviews

Kingdom of Gnester iPhone Game Review

I recently posted on the upcoming release of Kingdom of Gnester, and now the game is released on the App Store and there has even been an update. So after the excitement and anticipation, how is the game? Read on and find out!

eBooks, Reviews

The Camangi Webstation Unboxed

It seems like it took forever, but my Camangi WebStation finally showed up today. Dan’s is out for delivery, so in the meantime, he is processing the raw video I’ve uploaded of my unboxing. While we wait for that, here are some pictures. I haven’t done anything other than unbox the Camangi, turn it on … and marvel at it before plugging it in So without further ado, here are some pictures. Video and more impressions from Dan and me will be up shortly. 🙂

Reviews

I Am T-Pain For iPhone/Touch

I have to admit, I am not a big fan of music that uses Auto-Tune. On the other hand, I found the Ocarina app from Smule to be fascinating. Of course I had to briefly learn the Legend of Zelda theme. The app is truly amazing. With that in mind, I decided to try out the I Am T-Pain app. Whether you like the genre of music or not, the app works well. Two of my students, Kelsey and Danielle, gave it a try. Both of them can sing and Smule was able to transform them into virtual hip-hop stars.

News

Do TONS more with your Magic Mouse

There’s no denying the “cool” factor of Apple’s Magic Mouse. The sleek top, which allows for not only clicking but also swiping and pinching is a tremendous update to its previous version, the Mighty Mouse. But if you need even more out of your Magic Mouse, well then I’ve got the application for you. Magic Prefs is an add on for your Magic Mouse, which allows for a staggering amount of configurable add-ons. “It features the ability to bind a variable number of finger clicks, taps, swipes, pinch and other gestures to functions like Middle Click , Hold Down Both…

Editorials

Is Handwriting Dead?

When I started my first day at my office, a coworker asked (begged, really) if my handwriting was decent, since we deal in note-taking a fair amount. The apologetic look on my face said it all; my handwriting is awful. Years of typing have ruined any chance of something legible coming out when I put pen to paper.

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