2011 | Gear Diary

Do Publishers Still Matter?

It all started when Doug mentioned this article on Idealog from Mike Shatzkin: Putting Books in Stores is a Subsidiary Right. This sparked a debate between us on the nature of publishing, and whether traditional publishers make sense if you’re a new author in today’s market. Doug: All I could think was, “Good work, publishers! You’ll alienate your writers even more than you already have, and *they’re the ones providing you with a product to sell*!” The ongoing stupidity of old media–music, magazines, newspapers, tv, books, you-name-it–continues to simply amaze. Carly: Very interesting. Honestly, this isn’t that surprising, and I…

Reviews

Ecamm Printopia for Mac Brings AirPrint Capability to iOS Users with Older Printers

When Apple announced AirPrint for iOS devices, I could almost see Steve Jobs’ point about the “post-PC era”. Being able to print from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch (newer devices with iOS 4.2 or later) wirelessly sounded great. Indeed, Google’s Cloud Print functionality for their Chrome browsers works in a similar fashion. But then I found out how limited the supported list of printers was. Heck, even those of us with Apple Airport Extreme wireless routers that have attached printers could not use AirPrint: AirPrint only works with a network connection to an AirPrint-capable printer. A printer connected to…

Reviews

Review: Tekkeon TekCharge MP1860A Dual Port Power Pack

Of all the commercials that Apple has run the one that ticked me off the most involved the iPhone 4 and its battery life. Yes, Apple ran an ad telling us how amazing the battery life of the iPhone 4 is and, while it is BETTER than other phones there really is no smartphone I have used that I would say has “great” battery life. That is the reason I still need to carry an external battery with me wherever I go. There are many out there but the one I am currently carrying comes from Tekkeon and I am…

Music Diary

Music Diary Songs of Note: Horace Silver ‘Song for My Father’

Everyone at GearDiary – just like everyone else on the internet – is an actual person, and behind the scenes we share some of the joys and difficulties of making out way through life. Not surprisingly, I often reflect on my own issues in life through music in one way or another. These past couple of weeks my father has been going through some health issues, and while all is doing much better, one song has been in my mind more than most others, the Horace Silver standard ‘Song for My Father’. The song was written as a reflection of…

Reviews

Review: Magellan Premium Car Kit and iOS App for iPhone and iPod touch

My iPhone makes a great portable GPS system. This is particularly important because my car does not have a built-in GPS system, and my daily work has me going to a variety of locations with which I am not always familiar. Using the iPhone as a GPS works rather well for the most part. It starts up in GPS mode rather quickly, locks in on satellites fairly efficiently and does quite a good job of holding the signal once it does. There are a few significant shortcomings however. Chief among them is the impact using the GPS on the iPhone…

Game Diary, Reviews

Game System Review: Nintendo 3DS: Part 1

The Nintendo 3DS handheld game console offers immense features, clamshell-like design, customization, options and exploration to keep gamers busy until the upcoming online feature update in late May 2011.

Game Diary, Reviews

Gear Games Review: Atari’s Greatest Hits … and You Thought It Was Just an April Fools Joke!

Just last week I posted a nice review of the Pong home entertainment system … and everyone thought it was a joke! But not Atari – they just released a new game called ‘Atari’s Greatest Hits’ on the iTunes App Store. But is it any good? The Hype: Atari’s Greatest Hits brings the best of retro gaming to iOS with 100 Classic Atari Games. This suite brings you the hottest Arcade and 2600 titles from Atari. For those who love the classic gaming experience this handheld breakthrough is sure to guarantee hours of fun. What we feature is: • 18…

Editorials, Music Diary

Grammy Awards Reconfigured Result of Major Label Pressure?

Yesterday the Recording Academy announced major changes to the annual Grammy Awards, reducing the number of categories from 109 at the last awards show to 78. For those who think the awards show is already over-long and unfocused, the changes may seem too long in coming. But nothing done will impact the actual show, since most of what is changed isn’t the stuff that makes the Grammy Awards a long and dreadful affair … The image at top shows part of a list that the Recording Academy has for comparing the current list of categories to what will be around…

News & Features

ARCAM rCube Portable iPod Speaker System Rocks Wherever You Go

Does the world really need yet another iPod speaker dock? At the low end of the market I think not but at the high end there is always room for a speaker system that works with your iOS device, is easily portable AND gives great sound. That is a lot to ask for from a system that is meant to go wherever you do but ARCAM’s rCube promises to deliver exactly that. As the company’s promotional material explains, rCube is a listening revolution, delivering high fidelity from a single, beautiful package that’s portable and has wireless audio streaming. rCube offers…

News & Features

Flush Puppies Let Your Doggy Be Green!

It’s the downside of having a dog. We go through bags like crazy cleaning up after him on walks, and it’s painful to see all that plastic build up in the garbage can at the end of the week. Flush Puppies claim to have a better solution though! According to their site: Flush Puppies doodie bags are 100% biodegradable and flushable. Yes, really… flushable. Made from Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) – a water soluble, eco-friendly, “green” alternative to plastic – Flush Puppies are specifically made to dispose of doggie doodie down the toilet. (It’s science, people – not voodoo!) Unlike plastic…

News & Features

AVG Launches ‘LiveKive’ Onlive Storage System

Like many folks, I make great use of DropBox for non-sensitive storage options for files I need to access from a variety of platforms. The free storage level tends to work fine for me, but I know many folks who take advantage of the reasonably priced upgrades in storage.

Game Diary, Reviews

HellOut!-Volcano Adventures for iPhone/Touch

I started checking out this game searching for my Blue Plate Special app and was not sure if it could make the grade, but after a few minutes of playing I started getting hooked and found myself trying to beat more and more levels. HellOut!-Volcano Adventure reinforces my theory that simple, fun game play along with easy controls makes for an enjoyable IOS playing experience. Let’s take a look. The idea of this game is quite simple, but conquering it has proven to be another story. Your job is to guide a small dragon up to the top of the…

Gear Bits

What a Difference Some RAM Makes!

photo credit: Joachim S. Müller Last week I trashed my MacBook Air. It was a sad day and within hours the computer was with Apple and on its way to be repaired. I went two days using only my iPad and it worked fine but, as expected, I discovered there were a few things that really required the use of Mac OS X. (One biggee is posting to Gear Diary since, after a few years of apps, there still isn’t a decent app for posting text, links AND pictures to WordPress.) I broke down and did something I had been…

Gear Bits, Reviews

FireFox 4 for Mac – Not Quite There Review

I have been playing around with FireFox 4 for the Mac, since I absolutely adore the Windows version and it has replaced Chrome on my main PCs. My experience hasn’t been all that great – I tend to run loads of things all at once on my Mac and have found the performance … lacking. Turns out I am not alone, as a new review from Macworld shows that while FireFox 4 is much better than the last version, it still lags Safari and Chrome in terms of key performance. Here are a few graphs they shared: I highlighted my…

News & Features

Bulldog Security’s Automotive Remote Starts and Secures Your Car

I live in the northeast. That means is has been a brutally cold winter and, as a quick look outside would suggest, it isn’t completely and totally over. You know what would have been great to have over the past few months? A remote starter! Yes, just imagine if I had been able to push a button a few minutes before I needed to leave for the day. Then I would have been able to sprint from my warm house and, seconds later, jump into an equally warm car. There’s only one problem with this idea, my Subaru Outback is…

Editorials, Game Diary

Yet Another Reason I Hate Sony

While I mentioned that Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars came out two weeks ago for just about every platform, I’m still not playing it yet. Why not? Because due to my play habits and the game style of the LEGO games, I love playing on the PSP. Also, my favorite PSP is the PSP Go, which then means that I have to wait for the PSN release – sometimes same day, sometimes later, sometimes never. In this case it was known there would be a delayed launch, which meant that I would just have to keep an eye…

News & Features

MLB At Bat 2011 Review Featured at AlliOSNews

Our friend Clinton Fitch of ClintonFitch.com and AlliOSNews is a big baseball fan. And big fans need robust apps like MLB At Bat 2011 for iPad. It was actually one of Clinton’s past reviews of this app that caused me to purchase it last year and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Now, as you read his review, you’ll need to bear in mind that he’s a Rangers fan and cut him some slack anyway. Sure, he thinks that his purchasing MLB At Bat 2010 was behind the Rangers’ success last year, but that’s just being superstitious. Good thing that we fans…

Editorials, Events

How Tru Saved My Bacon in Barcelona

Once I had decided that I was going to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Spain, I knew that one of my biggest “hidden” expenses was going to be what appeared on my mobile phone bill well after I had returned home. I fully expected to spend as much as $500 – 600 on top of my usual monthly bill during a week abroad between phone calls, text messages and whatever data I didn’t put on the Spanish SIM I had just purchased on eBay. Even though I had added AT&T’s $5.99/month “World Traveler” International Voice Roaming package (which meant that…

Reviews

Review: Amplicom US PowerTel 601 Wrist Shaker Offers Room to Roam

Hearing loss is something many of us never think about, yet at some point in our lives we will either experience it or know someone who does. For me, it’s my father-in-law as he uses a hearing aid these days (although we think he turns it down quite often to tune some of us out). Amplicom USA is addressing hearing loss issues through technology in their telephone products, both corded and cordless. They recently sent out a new product designed to expand the activity range of folks who are home-bound for fear of missing a phone call and being without…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

Ford Taurus Ready to Serve and Protect

Every time a certain co-worker logs on to a computer at work I see his wallpaper of a map of a special place called “The Dragon’s Tail.” “Hey, I’ve been there,” I tell him. “What kind of bike were you riding,” he queries. “Bike? We were testing the new Ford Taurus SHO – and it rocked.” Yes, add taming the Dragon’s Tail to the list of things the new Ford Taurus – in SHO trim – can do. It is also the next Police Interceptor sedan package. Will it work as the next workhorse for the men and women in…

News & Features

Sena’s Lineup of iPad 2 Cases Offers Great Style and Protection in Gorgeous Leather

I love Sena’s leather cases and have since my first Dell Axim PDA. Their quality is first-rate, the leathers they use are gorgeous and, time and again, they find just the right balance between style and function. Well the company has rolled out their offerings for the iPad 2 and they are impressive. I like them all but am especially drawn to the new Florence for iPad 2. This sleek case/stand will have an MSRP of $79.99 but is available for pre-order right now for just $69.99. We have lots more pictures of the Florence but let’s take a quick…