2012

Fifty Shades Generator Gives You Filthy Smutty Filler Text (NSFW Obviously)

Aside from being a massively successful entry into the romance sub-genre some refer to as ‘mommy porn’, the book has also spawned a large number of memes and parodies. For example, I love the video of Gilbert Gottfried reading excerpts (video below), and now we have a new one – the 50 Shades Generator. Here is their description: The Fifty Shades Generator is a breakthrough in erotic fiction. At the click of a button, it generates world-class literature based on a pre-defined vocabulary. Traditionally, print and web designers had to make use of placeholder text known as Lorem Ipsum. It…

Game Diary, Reviews

New Super Mario Bros. 2 Review for Nintendo 3DS

Mario has the golden touch among six new main worlds and three special worlds with extra challenges, score sharing, and downloadable course packs as the famous platform video game series continues in New Super Mario Bros. 2.

Editorials

Riot Grrl, Pussy Riot, and the Heartbreak of Seeing Feminism Attacked in Russia

(image courtesy Amnesty International’s Pussy Riot support page) I spent the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school touring Israel. It was an incredible experience, but the most lasting impression didn’t come from the country. It came from the moment one of my friends on the trip played a Sleater-Kinney song, and my eyes were opened to the world of riotgrrl and women in punk rock. These were bands that sang about feminism, politics and sexuality in a more frank, honest, and direct manner than I had ever heard before. Feminist punk rock is a defining soundtrack…

Music Diary, News & Features

Frank Zappa Now on iTunes, and Coming Soon to Streaming Services!

I have had an affinity for the music of Frank Zappa for as long as I can remember. The combination of humor, advanced compositional techniques, extreme musicianship, apathy towards genre boundaries and more has always caught my ear. I own about 30 CDs of Zappa’s music from the Mothers of Invention right up through some of his final releases. This past week we got word that more than 50 Zappa albums had been added to iTunes, with several of them remastered versions. This goes along with an earlier report of a great remastering effort including a list of the first…

News & Features, Travel

SteriPEN, a Handy Tool in a Variety of Models for Water Purification on the Go

Quite a few years back when I was in high school, I enrolled in a “primitive” two-week hiking trip to the Smoky Mountains/Shining Rock Wilderness area with a group called Wilderness Southeast. It was quite an education for a young greenhorn like myself far from civilization…hiking boots, heavy backpacks and open to the elements (no tents), and no food except what we carried and rehydrated with water from mountain streams. Water…that was key, you see, because back in those days we used chlorine tablets to sterilize the water…and most of you who ever spent time in a swimming pool know…

Health and Fitness

Goodbye Diet Coke, Hello Fruit Water?

You had best stay away from Judie this week. You see, after years of drinking a minimum of two Diet Cokes each morning for… years… last night she quit cold turkey. Yes, no Diet Coke for her. As she announced on Facebook, I hesitate to say anything, but i will need all the moral support you all can provide … i had my (hopefully) last diet coke this evening. i’m quitting cold turkey as of about 30 minutes ago. can i do it? we shall seeeeeee…. When many of us had expressed our concern for Kevin and… small animals Judie…

Health and Fitness

SkinnyBits, a NOT Recommended Product

Eat real food and improve your health. This is not a hard concept, and yet we all want shortcuts, no matter how badly they reek of snake oil (Shape-ups, anyone?). But nothing beats the smarmy, self-congratulatory press release we received this morning at Gear Diary. In it, we were assured of “Better Skin! Weight loss! Better nutrition!” And all it will take to accomplish this is algae tablets! Just 30 a day — though 40-100 would be even better (not surprising since the company charges $117 for 1,000 of them). Apparently, Spirulina is nature’s little miracle plant! Being the skeptical type,…

Gear Bits, Health and Fitness, News & Features

With Weight and Exercise Like Everything Else, If It Sounds Too Good To Be True …

Pretty much everyone would like to alter their body in some way: lose weight, gain weight, more muscular build, change ratios or sizes of things, and so on. And another thing you can be certain about: for every desired change there is someone waiting to try to sell you something to deal with it. There are plenty of legitimate supplements if you have a deficiency or absorption issues or whatever, but those are all things you should be getting from your doctor. Chances are that your general practitioner is NOT going to be giving you something to ‘lose 20 pounds…

News & Features

LIFEPROOF nüüd Case for iPad, First Look

We’re fans of the amazing protection offered by the LIFEPROOF iPhone case. Now LIFEPROOF is releasing their new LIFEPROOF nüüd for iPad. The case works with the iPad 2 and the new iPad and it is water, dirt, snow, and shock proof. Here’s our video look… This is one tough case. Still, I am surprised by how light it actually is. And it is thoughtfully designed with an eye toward ensuring you don’t lose functionality while protecting your iPad. The main reason for this case… It lets you use your iPad almost anywhere! You can learn more here on the…

Editorials, Health and Fitness

Can a Leadership Shakeup Restore Faith in Komen?

Earlier this year, I wrote about the impact of the politically motivated move made by the Komen Foundation regarding Planned Parenthood in terms of a massive backlash. A couple of months later, I noted that the backlash was having a significant impact on the very important ‘Race for the Cure’ in terms of participants — and more importantly on the level of charitable giving. Since then, there have been a number of high level departures, peaking last week with the exit of founder and CEO Nancy Brinker as well as other high level leaders (president Liz Thompson and board members Brenda…

eBooks

Publishing Is under Attack from a “New” Technology … Paperbacks!

Publishing is under attack! It’s an economic downturn, and someone is selling books for much cheaper than they used to be! It’s an unsustainable market situation, and books will go down in flames if someone doesn’t do something! I’m not talking about the terror eBooks has placed into the hearts of publishers. I’m talking about … paperbacks. No, publishing wasn’t all too warm on paperbacks when they were first introduced in the 1930’s. According to Mental Floss there was, in fact, quite a bit of skepticism when “pocket books” first appeared to compete with hardcovers: Quantity was key. De Graff…

Health and Fitness

Health Tip: Drink… a Lot

Elana’s Tip: For optimal health drink at least 64 oz of water a day. In the summer heat increase that by another 8-16oz. And if you exercise increase it further yet. Elana happens to drinks between 12 and 16 glasses of water each and every day! One way to guarantee you drink enough water is to make sure you keep water within reach throughout the day. The Go Caddy Water Bottle Holder is one way to do just that. The Go Caddy Holds a variety of bottle sizes up to 1.5 liter, of your favorite beverage. (Bottle not included). Size: 4”…

News & Features

iTypewriter Concept Brings Inefficient Typing Nostalgia to the iPad!

It seems that all tablet users are looking for a great keyboard to use when they are sitting at a desk. I love my Apple keyboard dock at my desk, Apple Bluetooth or Logitech Android keyboard around the house. But long before we could take a tablet on to the back deck while relaxing on a summer night, I would bring my old typewriter out with me to work on a story or report. While I have no desire to meld tablet and typewriter, for some it might be a cool trip down memory lane. Designer Austin Yang has come…

Gear Bits, News & Features

The Pizza Worth a 2800 Mile Trip!

Imagine that you grew up with what you considered ‘the Perfect Pizza’, and you and your entire family were totally in love with them? Then all of you move hundreds and even thousands of miles away … but you still want that pizza. What do you do? If you are David Schuler, you take a trip and return home with a carload of the frozen pizzas in uncooked form! The name of the restaurant is Town Spa in Stoughton, Massachusetts – and happens to be my hometown pizza place. I grew up with an almost weekly ritual of grabbing some…

Health and Fitness, News & Features

Good News, Bad News … Obesity Rates Over 30% in 12 States, But Junk Food Laws Might Be Working

Two years ago I wrote about the ‘2009 State of Obesity’, which showed a rate rising so quickly that the map-makers needed to change the color scales AGAIN to deal with things! At that point there were 6 states with OVER 30% obesity and a single state with LESS than 20%. Now it is time again for the updated numbers and … they aren’t good. Here are the basics: 12 states now have obesity rates above 30%, though none are above 35%. 11 are between 20-25% the remaining 27 states are between 25-30% The extreme low was 20.7% in Colorado…

Health and Fitness

Easy, Tasty, Money Saving Beef Jerky

I love beef jerky. It’s a delicious, protein packed treat, but there are two issues that keep me from buying it in the store: it’s expensive, and it’s chock full of preservatives and added sugars. And I always assumed I needed a dehydrator or some other fancy bit of equipment to make my own. As it turns out, all you need is an oven! See, a few weeks ago, I stumbled across this “so easy I must have missed a step” recipe from Stupid Easy Paleo. I did some digging, compared other recipes, made some tweaks, and am ready to…

Gear Bits

5 Questions with Michael Hess of Skooba Design

Skooba Design was Gear Diary’s first advertiser back when Judie first launched the site. They were also the first company to become a Newsletter Underwriter. We tell you that in the interest of full disclosure, but what’s more important is that we really love AND use their stuff. Most recently, we were both taken by the new Skooba Design Laptop Weekender V.3, and are already getting a lot of use out of them. (Read the review here.) Skooba makes great products, and now comes outside confirmation of something that we’ve known for some time: they provide great customer service. Skooba…

Game Diary, Reviews

Tales from the Dragon Mountain: the Strix HD for iPad Review

Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix is the latest hidden object adventure from G5 Entertainment, but it has a bit of a twist. Rather than static puzzles and object screens, we have a game that plays very much like a open-ended fantasy adventure. The opening cutscene is one of the longest and most involved in the genre, with an involved introduction that introduces Mina and her grandmother and the link between the two. The question is, do they deliver on the promise set forth in the opening? The Hype: Mina’s dreams about her grandmother Kate have become unbearable nightmares….

How to Do It Yourself!, News & Features

How to Root the Nexus 7; And Some Good Reasons Why You Should do it

The Nexus 7 is no doubt one of the hottest tablets to hit the Android Community. Running a bloat free Google OS on top of a Tegra 3 platform has proven to be a crowd favorite. So why take the possibly “warranty voiding” steps to gain Root access to the device? Even if you are not an enthusiast there are many benefits to rooting the tablet past the obvious flashing of custom roms and themes. Some of the best Android apps require root access to work, so without root you can pretty much use the tablet to its full…

Reviews

Dexim ClickStik Review

We reviewed the Satechi BT MediaRemote back in July and were impressed with the functionality it brings to pretty much all iOS devices. Sure, it is good for controlling music from a distance but it really shines as a remote shutter control for the iPhone’s camera. Dexim has gone one better with their new ClickStik for iOS. We brought word of it a few weeks back and now we have one in hand. The ClickStik features a lightweight, multifunctional tripod and a matte-black Bluetooth remote shutter control. There is also a free app available through the App Store that “allows…

Gear Bits, News & Features

The Waiting (for Android Updates) is the Hardest Part

I have a Motorola Droid 4 – and I really love it. That said, it is lousy being not just one but TWO VERSIONS of Android behind … I mean, this is the sort of thing Google said they were eliminating. Anyway … that is about to end! Yesterday I read that the ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ update was finally approved and a ‘soak test’ commenced, meaning that the full update would be released soon (unless something bad happened). Then later last night I heard that it was starting to ‘roll out in phases’. Motorola Mobility tweeted about it: 4G LTE…

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