Crossing the Dingmans Ferry Bridge on the Way to GearFest 2012

Dan: One of my favorite places on earth is the Dingmans Ferry Bridge. To the best of my knowledge, it is the last privately owned bridge on a public road in the US. It crosses the Delaware River between NJ and PA. We crossed on the way to GearFest, and that’s when Judie and Kevin had a chance to see “old school Bridge tech” at work. Here’s a look… The Bridge at Dingmans Ferry traces its roots to the mid 18th century. In 1735, in the Upper Delaware River Valley, the river marked the western frontier of the American Colonies….

Gear Bits

Two Weeks Until the Olympics!

(image courtesy London 2012) There are only 15 days until the Summer Olympics! Are you excited yet? Of course, until the opening ceremonies all we have are the trickle of bits and pieces of trivia and news on the coverage, but it’s better than nothing! First of all, NBC and Facebook will be working together to promote the games. Apparently it’s a better deal if you plan to watch through the BBC, since you can stream right from Facebook there, but if you are watching on NBC there will be some synergy at least. Even better, the New York Times…

Editorials, Travel

Adventures in Customer Service – Coco Key Water Resort Edition

Nostalgia and fun memories can be a dangerous thing – they can lead you to look past some obvious signs of poor customer service until it is too late. Three years ago my wife and boys went back to Massachusetts to visit the town we lived for 15 years before moving to New York. They stayed one night each with friends, but then Sunday night stayed in a hotel so everyone else could get back to their normal life and Lisa and the boys would have an easier exit to head home. They chose the Coco Keys Water Resort Hotel…

Reviews

Satechi WTR-C Wireless Timer Remote Shutter for Canon T3i Review

The other day we took a look at the Satechi Bluetooth Media Remote. The little Bluetooth remote has numerous tricks up its sleeve, including being able to remotely fire the iPhone’s camera shutter; this is useful when you want to take a self-portrait or place the iPhone in a stand, thus making sure there is no shake when the camera fires. After all, vibration at the moment a picture is taken can ruin an otherwise awesome image. But what if you are using something like the Canon T3i I am now using as my main camera? For that Satechi has…

Game Diary, Reviews

Inversion Game Review for PlayStation 3

The action game Inversion features the revolutionary Gravlink weapon where players use gravity against invading enemies amid highly destructible environments to save humanity.

Editorials

To 7″ iPad or Not to 7″ iPad, That is the Question

The Gear Chat began with this message to the team… Okay, this is ground we have covered before but it really deserves a new Gear Chat so… 7″ iPad. Interested or Not Interest? I commented: Me, I’m interested. As Mike has said, the 7″ form-factor is quite nice. Easy to carry, good for books and “big enough” for most tasks. Yes, it will offer less productivity functionality than the iPad but I already used my iPhone for much of my work and then finish on the iPad or Mac and this would be better. I love my iPod touch and,…

Editorials

Eastern Mountain Sports Edition – Adventures in Customer Service

This year on vacation we were right on the ocean, so we wanted to have kayaks for the week to take advantage of the easy access. Fortunately Eastern Mountain Sports had reasonably-priced tandem ocean kayaks available to rent, and said they could help strap them to our roof, so we were all set. Well, not quite, but the way things worked out turned what could have been a disaster into a highlight of the week – all thanks to a wonderful employee in a great store. When we called to reserve, we didn’t have to even leave a deposit but…

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco with eAssist Is a Very Mild Hybrid

For 2013, the Chevrolet Malibu enters its eighth generation and the first version released is the Malibu Eco. Let me begin by saying I love what Chevy has done with the Malibu of late. Vast improvements have been made to styling – inside and out – and the overall driving experience. It was not too long ago when the automaker gave Malibu its due attention, but for 2013 the vehicle needed to be hitched to a new global architecture as this is the model soon to be seen ‘round the world. All that said, I believe this Eco version and…

Gear Bits, Vehicles & Gear

Dragon Drive! Messaging Arrives in BMW 7 Series This Month

A short time ago we brought word that Nuance Communications, the company behind Dragon Dictation and many other voice-to-text technologies, was bringing even more woeful voice to the case through Dragon Drive! Messaging. Dragon Drive! Messaging ‘is Nuance’s new automotive-grade connected car service that lets people speak emails and text messages”. Now word comes that it will be available in the new 2012 BMW 7 Series, BMW 3 Series Touring and BMW 3 Series ActiveHybrid vehicles. Better still, the 2012 BMW 7 Series will be the first car ever to feature Dragon Drive! Messaging and it is coming to market…

Gear Bits

Revisiting an Old Geek Love, or the Amazing Endurance of Deep Space Nine

(image courtesy DS9 encyclopedia) Sarah was away camping all weekend, so I was left to entertain myself. Normally I catch up on the DVR on these kinds of weekends, but there is slim pickings this summer. So I fired up Netflix, started flipping through my queue, and remembered that I had wanted to rewatch “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine“. I expected to spend a few hours catching up on the first season and reminiscing about my insanely geeky childhood. Instead, I have rediscovered a show that is surprisingly current, despite being almost 20 years old! The premise of DS9 is…

Gear Bits, Yum Log

Desktop USB Fundue Set from ThinkGeek.com – You Can Fondue It

I occasionally wonder why they even bother to manufacture new fondue sets. Considering the number of folks who bought one of these contraptions in the late 1970’s to melt cheese or chocolate so that they could dip bread or cheesecake chunks in them, I imagine that there are thousands of these things tucked away in garages and attics all over the country. (Including mine. Don’t judge. It seemed like a good idea at the time.) Perhaps due to the sensual pleasures that were promised from the creamy hot food and the atmosphere of sharing that was encouraged by multiple people…

Reviews

Gear-vs-Gear, the Phiaton PS 20 BT vs the Jabra Clipper, Bluetooth Headset Head-to-Head

It is time for another Gear Diary “Gear vs Gear”. Today’s competitors are the Phiaton PS 20 BT Bluetooth Stereo Headset and the Jabra Clipper Bluetooth Stereo Headset. Both let you cut the cord. Both let you listen to music and make/take calls. Both let you clip the battery, microphone and controls to your shirt so you don’t have a heavy portion hanging off your ears. And both… quite honestly, are good options. Yes, in this head-to-head both decisions are good but, in the end, you’ll want to purchase just one so the question remains… which one? Here’s our video look…

Reviews

Satechi BT MediaRemote Review

Let’s begin this review with a summary of it: Do you need this Bluetooth accessory? NO! Do you want this Bluetooth accessory? MAYBE! Do I recommend you purchase this Bluetooth accessory? ABSOLUTELY! When I first saw the Satechi Bluetooth MediaRemote I really didn’t understand why I would want to having something like this. After using it for a time however I really find it to be one of the more useful accessories I have purchased in a quite some time. Yes, this was no review sample. This is something I purchased on a whim and am glad I did. As…

Gear Bits

Streaming Video and the Deaf Communtity: The Good and the Bad

I am fascinated by the ways technology can open up the world and make it more accessible for people with disabilities. What is a convenience for you and me may be a life changer for someone else. Unfortunately, sometimes technology outpaces itself, and leaves the accessibility features playing catch-up. It is something of a mixed bag in many areas, especially for the deaf and hard of hearing community. According to Slate, closed captioning is not required on Netflix, Hulu, and other digital media options. While Netflix does offer some closed caption titles, not all of their library is set up…

Gear Bits

Diana Beltran Herrera’s Paper Artistry

It’s not often that I spot something so creative that I am just amazed by the talent involved, but that’s exactly what happened when I found artist Diana Beltran Herrera’s three-dimensional paper creations. The British have a word for it: Gobsmacked. Ms. Herrera’s anatomy series is made of cut paper and vinyl, and they were created because, sometimes u ask me what the birds have inside. Well they have inside what real birds have inside. Little by little i am finding the way to discover what they are made of. Diana’s birds, animals, bugs and other paper critters are…

Gear Bits, News

If You Thought Twitter Didn’t Have the Power to Effect Change, Think Again

Yes, this is going to come off looking like a partisan post. I can deal with that because (a) as someone who finished graduate school with some hefty loans, I really felt for the students whose loan rates were about to double, and (b) even if you sit on the other side of the aisle it is hard NOT to see the true power of social media. Student loan rates were set to double if Congress didn’t act and, for a time, it looked like that rate increase was a forgone conclusion. The White House got into the mix, and…

News, Reviews

Portrait Professional Studio v10 Review

Let’s be honest here. If you’re over 40 years old, there’s a good chance you’re not looking your best. I’m not saying that you’re a hideous monster or anything like that, but it’s certainly possible you could use a little work. If you’re much older than 40, you could definitely use some work. That’s where the Portrait Professional Studio software enters the picture. Portrait Professional Studio is capable of “airbrushing,” a technique of photographic retouching and enhancing that removes imperfections and similar surface-level “problems.” Usually reserved for models in the glamor and fashion industries, Anthropics Technology has created an intelligent,…

Gear Bits

Classic Books as Wall Art from Postertext

I’ve always been intrigued by word art, from the days of medieval illumination to more recent modern art using visual language as art, right down to simple nerdy ASCII art. However, the folks over at Postertext.com have put a different spin on word art, taking various classic literature books and printing them out on a single sheet, arranged such that words and blank space are adjusted to create images of the very characters and scenes within each book (care to guess the title of the example?). Below you can see an enlarged snippet showing an example of how spacing is…

News

Readdle’s Scanner Pro for iOS Gets iCloud and a Makeover

This isn’t an uncommon exchange these days … The other person says, “Dan, let me make a copy of this document for you.” To which I reply, “No need.” as I pull out my iPhone or iPad, fire up the Scanner Pro app and snap a picture of the document or picture in question. Yes, who needs photocopiers when you can quickly and easily snap a picture with a high-quality phone or tablet camera? And as apps like Readdle’s Scanner Pro for iOD becoming increasingly powerful this unexpected use for mobile devices will only grow. The latest update to Scanner…

News, Reviews

Bento 4 for iPad Lets You Cut the Cord and Become a DataBase Power-User

The next generation of iPad is here, and it has nothing to do with the hardware or the OS. No, the next generation of the iPad is coming into view, thanks to the apps that run on it. Not only are they becoming more powerful but, at the same time, they are increasingly reducing their reliance on “host” desktops and laptops. This process of “cutting the cord” is moving iPads out of the realm of add-on device that supports and extends your computer into one that stands on its own. A great example of this is Bento 4. Bento for…

Game Diary, Reviews

Mario Tennis Open for Nintendo 3DS Review

This Nintendo 3DS exclusive game takes full advantage of the console’s touch, Mii, and 3D capabilities in this latest installment in this action sports game series.

July 2012