2012

Growing Pains and other Idiocy

If, based upon the title of this post and the image I used, you thought I was going to go on some rant about Kirk Cameron’s opinions on a host of issues, think again. (I have, however, made clear on numerous occasions that he and I could not disagree more, especially about the issue of marriage equality.) No, I’m speaking about growing pains and idiocy of the Apple kind. Elana and I arrived for dinner with my parents a bit early so I hit the Apple Store at the Short Hills Mall while we waited for them. I used to…

Gear Bits

A BBC Series Will Attempt to Dissuade People Who Believe In Alien Abductions

It’s interesting to hear the reasons given when people believe in things which seem contrary to what evidence otherwise proves, but there are plenty of people who do. Whether it be the country of Obama’s birth (and whether his US certificate is forged or not), that the earth will be destroyed in 2012 when the Mayan Calendar ends, that the events of 9/11 were not a terrorist attack, that childhood vaccinations cause autism, or that Beyonce was ever actually pregnant; there are people who find controversy in topics that others consider obvious closed cases. I recognize that, for many, there are…

Crowdfunding

CellHelmet Protects the iPhone 4S and Brings Accidental Damage Coverage Along; Kickstart This!

I never used to buy insurance for my phones but, with the iPhone costing as much as it does, I’ve begun doing just that. This project seeks to reshape the entire approach to device protection both in terms of physical protection AND accidental damage coverage if things go terribly wrong. Project Title: cellhelmet – 1st & Only Case That Guarantees the iPhone 4/4S Status: Funded Closing Date for Funding: Sunday March 11,2012 URL of the Project: Find it here. From the Creatives: cellhelmet. The ultimate protection for any iPhone 4/4S, offering you one full year of guaranteed accidental damage coverage for your device…

News & Features

Wilson Electronics Adds to Industry-Leading Line of 4G Mobile Cellular Signal Boosters

I often joke that the iPhone is good for everything except phone calls. Problem is, it isn’t funny. As much as I love my iPhone, when it comes to using it to make calls I DO have a love/hate relationship with it. When it works it is fine. But often… too often… the calls are dropped, the quality of the call is inconsistent or worse. And before you tell me to move to Verizon from AT&T, while it MIGHT be an AT&T issue, I happen to know that it cannot ONLY be an AT&T issue. After all, none of my…

Crowdfunding, News & Features

Ultima, the Best In Car Holder Dock Mount for iPhone, Kickstart This

Here’s a Kickstarter project that closes in just two hours… if you want to back it get in NOW. Yes, this project is already funded and it closes at 4:06 GMT May 13, 2012! Project Title: Ultima – Best In Car Holder Dock Mount for iPhone and more! Status: In Progress Closing Date for Funding: Sunday May 13, 2012 URL of the Project: Find it here. From the Creatives: This has been a project in the making for over 2 years, now with a working prototype that we feel is just about ready to start moving into the manufacturing…

News & Features

Turntable.fm for Android Now Available

Well it took a while, but Android finally has a Turntable.fm client. What is turntable.fm? It’s basically a chatroom with 5 turntables. Each DJ steps up to the table with a queue music. The DJ position moves to the right when the current song is done playing. If you just feel like listening and thumbs upping or downing the music while you chat that’s fine too. It’s great fun and now you can do it on your favorite Android device. Check it out on Google Play!

Reviews

Griffin Survivor for iPad 2 and iPad 3 Extreme-Duty Case Review

I don’t take my iPad into harsh conditions. I mean, the most volatile situation my tablet finds itself in is my monthly board meeting. (I kid… I kid…) In all seriousness though, while I do keep my iPad protected in a case it is rare for it to be in any situation where it might encounter serious damage. For some, however, having the very best protection possible is important. For them there is the Griffin Survivor. The Griffin Survivor is one tough case. It weighs a bit but for the weight you get serious protection from dirt, sand, rain, shock,…

Gear Bits

Elana and the Four Speck Cases for iPhone 4S

With sincerest apologies to “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. Once upon a time there were four Speck iPhone cases that arrived for review. One was a FabShell Burton, one was a FabShell, one was a CandyShell and the other was CandyShell Grip. Each had its own style and form. The timing was right, as Elana had finally broken down and made the move to the iPhone. The FabShell Burton was there with “fresh fabrics and hard-shell protection combine in a form-fitting one-piece case.” Fabulous fabric-backed Burton designs on a fiercely protective co-molded one-piece case from Speck! Custom patterns, extra protection and…

Reviews

DecalGirl Nokia Lumia 900 Skin Kit Review

I go through stages where I don’t want a protective case on my gear, but when I got the Nokia Lumia 900, I knew right away that there was no way I’d put that phone in a case. Why not? Well, let’s start with the 900’s size. The cases that I saw at the AT&T store, even the simplest bumper style, looked as though they would make the phone even wider; while the full-size cases looked as if they would make the phone much too thick. The Lumia 900 has such a beautiful polycarbonate body that I didn’t want to…

Gear Bits, Health and Fitness

Sugar, Salt, and Why We Love Junk Food

I love salt. A lot. My college friends still tease me about how I would salt my fries, then salt my ketchup for good measure. For the record, I don’t do that anymore, and not just because Sarah made me stop. We really do try to make an effort to eat “real food” (and yes, I recognize that the fried Oreos I had at the town carnival last night do not count), and this graphic shared by author Michael Pollan just further cemented that drive to eat better. I don’t know for certain that all of the claims are true,…

Editorials

Mophie and Customer Service “Done Right”

I had a bad purchase experience recently that came to a conclusion this week. I purchased a Mophie Juice Pack Plus from a vendor on Amazon. I noticed that the build quality wasn’t quite as nicely done as other Mophie units I had, but I figured it was just a manufacturing variation or maybe it was just that this was a different model than the others I had. I didn’t think all that much about it. After a few weeks, the USB connector started to act up. I couldn’t get the cable to stay in and charge. Very annoying. Finally, it…

News & Features

Case-Mate Helps You Protect Your iPhone AND the Planet

For the last 2 years my synagogue has been part of an environmental awareness and commitment certification program. It’s a joint initiative between an organization called GreenFaith and our umbrella synagogue movement. I’m proud to say that we are the 1st congregation in the process to have successfully completed certification and, at our Annual Meeting next week, we will be awarded a certificate and banner attesting to the fact. One of the impacts of this program for me has been a growing consciousness of how much waste is involved with consumer products both in the creation of the product themselves…

Crowdfunding

PRINZ: The Courage to Speak, a Documentary About Controversy, History and the Power of a Voice.

Project Title: Prinz: The Courage to Speak, a documentary film about controversy, history and the power of a voice. Status: $18,222 raised of the $20K goal Closing Date for Funding: May 24, 2012 URL of the Project: Prinz: The Courage to Speak From the Creatives: In Berlin in the 1930’s, the civil rights of Jews were systematically stripped away. A young rabbi refused to be silent. His name was Joachim Prinz, and he set out to restore the self-esteem of the German Jews. Knowing the Nazis were monitoring his every word, and despite repeated arrests, Prinz continued to preach about the value…

Editorials

Will You Abandon Hulu if They Force a Cable Contract?

One of the great tools if you are looking to ‘cut the cord’ and lose your Cable or Satellite TV contract is Hulu. For $7.99 a month you get access to loads of great shows on a 24-hour delay. My family loves Revenge, for instance, but seldom wants to be up until 11PM in order to watch it. Other shows such as Castle or Person of Interest just never seem to work with our schedule. So we depend on Hulu+ on our Roku every week to keep us up to date. For my family Hulu+ is a convenience. You see,…

eBooks

Amazon to Offer the Entire Harry Potter Series Through PRIME Lending

Harry Potter arrived in ebook form earlier this year, which was exciting all by itself. At the same time, if you already purchased the HP series in book form, it can be hard to pony up again for the ebooks. Amazon has come up with a solution, by offering the entire series through their Kindle Prime Lending Library! From the press release: Read all of J.K. Rowling’s iconic Harry Potter series for free on your Kindle Kindle Owners’ Lending Library now includes more than 145,000 books, including over 100 current and former New York Times Best Sellers SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May. 10,…

Gear Bits

Organize Your Seeds with a Seed Organizer Binder Kit

I collect seeds when I find interesting plants in the reproductive stage where seeds can be gathered. Usually I am pretty good at remembering what I collected (and why), but recently I stumped myself. I had gathered some seeds and put them in a bag, and at some point (months later, I’m sure) mislabeled them “Mexican Paradise Plant”. After the seeds began to grow, there was no doubt in my mind that the seedlings were something completely different. Obviously my organizational skills had failed. Kev and I spent hours trying to figure out what this odd five-leafed plant was, and through…

Gear Bits

Is Amazon Spying on Me?

I know I buy a great deal from Amazon, but I am starting to think they have hidden cameras in my house! You see, back in January, I ordered a box of KIND bars for our trip to Costa Rica. We figured with all the flights, layovers, and bus transfers in our travel schedule, we would need snacks. As it turned out, we didn’t eat all of them, and I unearthed a bag of leftover bars while cleaning out my suitcase over the weekend. I stuck them in the pantry and promptly forgot about them. Until Monday, when I returned…

Reviews, Travel

Babbel and LiveMocha, the Next Generation of Online Language Learning

Long time readers of this site may remember that in the past, I have reviewed many different sites, apps and solutions to assist with learning a foreign language. Now I’m looking at some newer language learning sites, namely Babbel and LiveMocha, that offer some interesting and unique things. In addition to the sites, Babbel offers companion apps for both iOS devices and Android devices. LiveMocha offers over-the-counter learning kits that you can purchase at brick and mortar stores like Barnes and Noble. Babbel takes a slick and professional look, feel, and approach, but only offers a few languages. LiveMocha takes a…

Reviews

Belkin YourType Folio and Keyboard for The New iPad and iPad 2 Review

I have a love/hate relationship with iPad keyboard cases. On the one hand I love the idea. I take my iPad with me pretty much everywhere and I use it constantly. I use it so much in fact, that my iPad NEVER makes it through the day on a single charge. It is, more than anything else my workhorse device. And since it is so central to my work-flow, the speed and ease of use of a keyboard is central to my saving time. The soft keyboard works fine and I am rather fast with it, but a physical keyboard…

Reviews

Midnight Mysteries: Haunted Houdini Game Review

History and magic buffs may recall the unfortunate incidents surrounding the death of famed early 20th-century magician, Harry Houdini. Midnight Mysteries: Haunted Houdini by Mumbo Jumbo adds a twist Houdini’s death, that it was not mere chance and acute appendicitis that did him in, but a conspiracy. You know, the butler did it. No, no, actually, you, the player, while minding your own business gets spooked by the late Mrs. Bess Houdini’s ghost, a spirit wanting your help to contact her late husband and find out what really happened over 80 years ago. To accomplish this, you will need to…

Gear Bits, News & Features

How Early Exposure to Dungeons & Dragons Impacts the Rest of Your Life

Were you playing tabletop Dungeons & Dragons as a child? Do you wonder how that might have impacted your life ever since? Now you can track your life through this flow chart! Head to The Uniblog for the full resolution version! Source: NY Times via The Uniblog

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