October 2010

AAXA P1 Jr. LCOS Pico Projector Review

I’ve been fascinated by the numerous pico projectors that have been released in the past few years. The idea of being able to connect your phone or media device to something just about the same size and throw the picture, slide or video playing on the former up on a wall by using the latter seemed… well, it seemed rather cool to me. It certainly intrigued my geekier side. So when AAXA released their AAXA P1 Jr. I took note. It claims to be the “world’s smallest LCOS pico projector with onboard MP4 player”. When they reached out and asked…

eBooks, News

Like Mysteries? Check out MobileRead’s Newest Contest!

(Image courtesy Sherlock Holmes Museum) If you think of yourself as an amateur Sherlock, MobileRead has a great contest for you! They’re giving away an ebook reader of your choice (as long as your choice is a Nook, Kindle, Nook Color, Sony Touch or Pocket Edition)! And if you don’t win the ebook reader, there are 10 runner-up vouchers for $30 worth of ebooks! Sounds great, right? Well, to win, you’re going to need your wits around… From MobileRead: How it works You will have the chance to solve a new murder mystery that inexplicably takes place inside the secluded…

News

Random Cool Halloween Video: Michael Jackson’s Thriller

Is there any music video that screams Halloween more than Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking Thriller? Do you remember how huge of an event it was on TV when it launched? Heck, I was listening to Anthony Braxton and eschewing pop culture wherever possible and I watched the premier! So … without any more chatter, let’s get right to the video! Happy Halloween!

Reviews

Home Gear Review: Larry G Checks Out The BottleMate

I drink a lot of microbrews. One of the challenges anyone who does often faces is the dilemma, “is it a twist-off or not”. The last thing you want to do on a hot summer afternoon is struggle to get the top off your ice cold beer. With the BottleMate there isn’t even a need to guess. The BottleMate is touted as the world’s best bottle opener. It claims to easily and effortless open bottles in a manner that will have your friends bowing in amazement. The BottleMate fits over the top of most bottles and in one swift motion…

Reviews

iPhone/iPad Accessory Review: Mophie Juice Pack™ Powerstation

I’m sitting in my parked 2003 Subaru Outback recording this review of the mophie juicepack powerstation using Dragon Dictation. Normally I don’t write reviews while sitting in a parked car but I’m making an exception this time since my car decided not to cooperate this afternoon. I was driving home from an appointment when the car began to buck. I barely had time to get the car pulled over to a side street before it all but died. I called AAA and I figured it would be a good time to catch up on some phone calls and maybe even…

Reviews

Purse to Go Bag Organizer Review

It’s no secret that a few of us here at Gear Diary are bag fanatics. Judie’s collection puts mine to shame any day, as does Clinton’s. But for the past few years, I have been a purse fanatic. It’s been my other spendy item other than technology. I haven’t gone crazy; usually I only buy one nice bag a year, almost always from Coach, and maybe a few accessories. They have lasted so much longer than my previous cheapie purchases and I’ve been very happy with the investment. However, I have one problem–I love big bags. I love carrying a…

News

Halloween Chats Get Spookier with a Surprise IM+ Theme

Starting on October 30, you can enjoy a spooky pumpkin theme behind all of your IM+ Lite or IM+ Pro chats. Beyond the cute new wallpaper, IM+ is a solid instant messaging client which not only handles your MSN, GTalk, Yahoo, AIM, Jabber and ICQ chats, it also takes care of Twitter, Facebook Chat and MySpace. You’re push-notified anytime someone tries to contact you, and getting set up couldn’t be more simple. It’s so funny, because up until just a year or two ago, I thought of SMS as something you did on your phone only, while instant messaging was…

Game Diary, Reviews

PC/XBOX360/PS3 Game Review: ‘Meh’dal of Honor

I would assume that the expression ‘meh’ as something average or unimpressive is widely enough known to anyone with internet experience that it is fair to say that I have ‘tipped my hand’ as far as my opinion goes. So you can leave now knowing I thought Medal of Honor was a mediocre and very skippable experience, or you can read on and find out WHY I felt that way … and also discover that aside from ‘meh’ my favorite word to describe this game is ‘unfortunate’. The Hype: Operating directly under the National Command Authority, a relatively unknown entity…

Music Diary, Reviews

Music Diary Reviews: Nothing Spooktacular Here!

Welcome to another edition of Music Diary Reviews! I am absolutely loving the variety of stuff I’ve been able to sample recently – there is pop, rock, fusion, jazz, and a couple of re-issues that have been thrilling my iPod for the last few weeks. There are young artists releasing new stuff, old artists with new material, an import, an interesting setting for an established player, a reissue of an out of print recording and a new collection by a great master! And about the image at top? It IS Halloween week after all, and the folks at sheetmusicdigital have…

Game Diary, Reviews

iPad / iPhone Game Review: Review: Knights of the Phantom Castle

If you look back to the first year following the release of the Nintendo DS, most of the games released were little more than GameBoy Advance games re-purposed to use the second screen with perhaps some touch controls thrown on for good measure. Similarly, in my first six months with the Apple iPad I have witnessed many iPad games that are little more than up-scaled iPhone games. I would definitely put Knights of the Phantom Castle in that category. That doesn’t make it a bad game, as you will see – it just tells you something about what to expect….

Reviews

iPhone Accessory Review: Magellan ToughCase for iPhone 3G/3GS and iPod Touch

I’ll admit it. I’m tough on my electronic devices – especially my phones. After a couple of years with me the cases are usually scuffed and marked. Amazingly, I’ve been lucky and not had major problems with screen scratches (even though I do NOT use screen protectors). I think my phones survive, however, because I always make sure I use some kind of protective case as a daily driver. When Magellan offered us the opportunity to review their ToughCase, it seemed right up my smartphone-abuse-laden alley. Not only did it offer a strong rigid case, but also GPS signal improvement,…

News

Random Cool Video: Daft Punk’s ‘Derezzed’ from Tron: Legacy

I have made no attempt to cover my fanboy enthusiasm about the upcoming Tron: Legacy, noting both the trailer and doing a Netbook Gamer review of Tron 2.0. We are less than 2 months away from the release of the new film, and have just gotten a new treat! The video below is a sort of ‘music video meets trailer’, a 2+ minute vignette featuring some all-new scenes from the movie, voice-over from Jeff Bridges, and of course the featured song ‘Derezzed’ from Daft Punk. The song is a sort of techno that at once hearkens back to the amazing…

Reviews

SCOTTEVEST Revolution Plus Review

Last year I all but lived in my SCOTTEVEST Evolution Jacket during CES 2010. The Evolution was perfect. As a jacket it was great for the early morning chill in Vegas and since it was from SCOTTEVEST it held a ton of gear. As the day heated up the zip-off sleeves converted the Evolution into a vest that still carried all my stuff. (Now it even carried… the sleeves!) It was great! (Hint: I bought mine when it was on sale on the SCOTTEVEST Sale Page. It is worth checking regularly as the sale item changes constantly.) When the Evolution…

News

New In The iTunes App Store- DEVONthink To Go- Take All Your Documents With You!

The iPad took yet another step forward as an amazing productivity device this evening when DEVONthink To Go finally made its appearance in the App Store. DEVONthink is a Mac OS X database program that makes collecting, organizing and manipulating all sorts of files easy. As Devontechnologies explains- Meet DEVONthink — designed to manage and keep in order all those disparate pieces of information so important to your work or studies. As you become more experienced with DEVONthink and its easy, intuitive interface you will quickly find more exciting ways of using your data. DEVONthink stores your documents, scanned papers, email…

Reviews

The Bowers & Wilkins P5 Mobile Hi-Fi Headphones Review

Work in a loud cubicle environment? Want to focus when you’re working at a coffee house? Are you an audiophile with discerning tastes? While Bose has long been known for their noise cancellation headphones, there is another contender for high-end on-ear headphones in the Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) P5 Mobile Hi-Fi Headphones. Read on for my impressions of the B&W P5 and how well it handles a multitude of environments. When I traveled extensively for work 10+ years ago, the Bose QuietComfort noise cancellation headphones were the thing to have. They reduced airplane noise, were portable enough, and had decent…

Reviews

Mickey’s Spooky Night Review: Arrives Just in Time for Halloween

Just in time for the upcoming Halloween holiday the folks at Disney Publishing have released their newest read-along story for the iPad. Mickey’s Spooky Night features a Halloween themed story along with interactive jigsaw puzzles and games too. The plot of the story surrounds Mickey and his friends as they all get together for a Halloween party, but Mickey and the gang aren’t the only guests at this party — some ghosts have decided they want to join the fun, too. As the story gets read along, you and your child are also tasked with finding the hidden ghosts as…

Editorials

Sunday (Actually Every Day), the Rabbi Used an iPad

(Dan in action at my wedding with his handy iPad) A few days before my wedding I received an instant message from Dan (who was our officiant). It’s never good when your rabbi tells you he has a “dilemma” regarding your ceremony…but I had to laugh when his central issue was whether to use an iPad or a Kindle for the service! Never one to choose, Dan had us reading off the iPad for part of it, though he did use the Kindle for the outdoor portion. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen Dan use an iPad for rabbinical business, as he also used to walk us…

Editorials

NOOKcolor: Swing and a Miss or a Home Run?

As per internet rumor, Barnes and Noble unveiled their newest addition to the NOOK lineup: NOOKcolor. It’s sort-of an ebook reader, sort-of a tablet, and B&N seems pretty excited and confident it’s going to win them marketshare over the Kindle (and possibly the iPad). I’ve been debating with myself about whether this is going to be successful or blow up in their faces, and the only way to settle this is to lay out both sides. The optimist in me thinks this could be a big win for B&N, and the cynical side of me thinks this is an awful…

Reviews

Halloween Edition, GhostCamPro for iPhone Review

We are all feeling the financial pinch! Blue Plate Special is a weekly review of bargain apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Nothing over $.99. With Halloween quickly approaching, I decided it would be appropriate to find a spooky app for this week’s Blue Plate. There are many applications with a Halloween theme, but some of my favorites utilize the camera. We have had loads of fun with Haunted Face which Dan showed here last week so I was looking to add to my camera arsenal. GhostCamPro will make any picture into a creepy experience by adding a ghostly…

Reviews

ZaReason Terra HD Netbook Linux Netbook Review

It’s been a couple of years since I reviewed a laptop from ZaReason, the UltraLap SR. Now I’m reviewing something a bit smaller — the ZaReason Terra HD. ZaReason is a different type computer company; every single computer they sell runs Linux, and they only ship Linux (or no operating system at all) on all of their machines. They care about this to the point where they even include a screwdriver in the box of every machine they sell. That is because any system you buy is your system, and they feel that you have every right to look at what makes…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

G Coupe or M Sedan, Infiniti’s Class of 37s Offer Driving Nirvana

Most of you have probably seen the Nissan commercial where a new father-to-be laments his ownership of a Z sports coupe after hearing the news his family is growing. He is suddenly struck with the brilliant idea to stretch the Z to a four-door sports car in the form of the Maxima. Flip this same scenario to an Infiniti family and that is exactly the case as we went from G37 coupe to M37 sport sedan recently. No, the rabbit did not die over here at our household but I was treated to the bookends of the 37 series of…

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