2012 | Gear Diary

Bodyguardz Garrison for New Apple iPad First Look

Let me be clear, I can’t very well call this a review. After all, the review sample of the Bodyguardz Garrison for the New iPad just arrived a short while ago. I mean, the case isn’t even on the market yet and this is only one of a handful that are already in use. No, this cannot be called a review. But I can unequivocally say that… I have a new go-to case for my iPad. Yeah, it is that good! (so far) Let’s take a (first) look. From Bodyguardz: The Garrison is the latest offering from BodyGuardz in the…

Editorials

Apparently Some Critics Want to Call Her ‘Fat’niss

My household has been abuzz after all of us finally saw The Hunger Games this weekend – my wife and I and older son went together on Friday, and younger son went to a birthday party featuring heading to the movie on Saturday. There were a load of highlights – and of course a number of ‘that’s not how they did it in the book’ nitpicks – but overall we loved the movie and thought the casting was key to the artistic success of bringing the first book in the series to the screen. We knew Josh Hutcherson from ‘Zathura’…

Gear Bits

The Hunger Games, Hit or Hype?

image courtesy THG – The Hunger Games Blog at http://thg-thehungergames.blogspot.com/ It seems that everywhere you turn people are talking about the release of the feature film The Hunger Games this week. Here at Gear Diary, we are the same way and we have been burning up the wires talking about it too! Some have read the books, some not. Some think it’s all hype, some not. In the end, we decided to share with you our thoughts going into the release of this high-profile film! Read on…

Gear Bits, Music Diary, News & Features

Korg Introduces New microKEY Controllers

Last week at the Musikmesse fair in Frankfurt Germany (the largest music fair in the world) there were a number of announcements of cool technology. While many things were already shown at NAMM, there are a few things I will highlight. The first is that Korg has expanded the microKEY series of USB-powered MIDI controllers with two new models (25-key and 61-key in addition to the 37-key) and an expansion to the software suite included with the top-end model. Here are some details: Compact USB Powered MIDI Controllers For added flexibility and control, the microKEY 37- and 61-key models both…

Game Diary, Gear Bits

Draw Something Is an Evil Time-Waster That I Can’t Stop Playing

You would think that with a name like DrawSomething, you would need artistic talent to play. But that is simply not so. All you need to get addicted to this evil, rotten game is one friend who will play you, a sense of humor, and a bit of patience. I first found out about this game last week while I was getting my nails done. Tracy, my nail tech, said she was playing and was addicted. I’d never heard of it, so I downloaded the free version and said I would check it out later. I put it off for a…

Events, Travel

XCom Global Is an Unlimited Access International Wireless Solution

Before attending Mobile World Congress last month, I was a bit concerned that online access would be an issue. Not only is it ridiculously expensive to roam on 3G internationally, but WiFi service typically either carries a steep service charge, or it’s impossible to get decent speeds when the service is free — assuming you can even get on and stay on without being booted off. This year I had the opportunity to try a MiFi from XCom Global, or rather two of them. Since we had minor layovers in Portugal flying each way, XCom Global sent one MiFi that was marked Spain and one that was marked Portugal. XCom Global offers wireless broadband internet service to 195 countries, and it is…

Editorials

App Avalanche! How Do You Deal with Constant App Updates?

For anyone in the tech biz, one of the scariest words is, “Upgrade”. You’re bumping along just fine, things are going well, and you get that dreaded email from your IT department informing you that some critical change has been made (usually to security and networking software), and you are required to upgrade your system. If you’re lucky, you can do it without stopping your work completely and rebooting your system; if you’re unlucky, you lose some hours and have to reboot multiple times and end up on the phone with your support guy. But in the age of iOS…

Reviews

Case-Mate Textured Tuxedo Case for the New iPad

I’ve always liked to take a minimalist approach to protecting my devices. Bulky cases just aren’t for me on a daily basis, although there are times when I welcome having something like the LifeProof iPhone case. At the same time, I don’t like using my devices in a naked state. You never know what is going to happen and, since I tend to sell my phones and tablets to prepare for the next generation, keeping my devices scratch-free translates into extra money at sale time. In the case of the Textured Tuxedo Case for the New iPad, Case-Mate has found a…

News & Features

Miso Media is the Latest ‘Shark Tank’ Attention, um, Seeker

A couple of weeks ago we wrote about Scott Jordan of SCOTTEVEST appearing on the ABC ‘reality investment’ show ‘Shark Tank’. It was an episode my family had been anticipating all season for a few reasons: Scott Jordan has worked with Dan and Judie in the past, I have several SCOTTEVETST items and LOVE them all, and finally because Scott appeared in all of the previews to be a total arrogant confrontational jerk on the show which we figured meant some good theater … and we weren’t disappointed. What my family remarked on, which has been discussed here and pretty…

Gear Bits

The Hunger Games Gear Summary

The Hunger Games fan can find plenty of related gear including a special cookbook, games, watch, bags, water bottles, shirts, posters, knee socks, nail polish, phone skins, in-ear buds, pins, bracelets, trivia, music and mockingjay mp3 download.

Gear Bits, Music Diary

Spin Lists the 30 Most Hated Bands!

Everyone has a list of bands or artists they find over-rated or annoying … but there are also a few that transcend that to be truly HATED. There are a number of reasons – pulling away someone from another group, too much media attention, getting awards or album sales by ripping off others, and countless others. Spin magazine compiled a list of hated bands, and you can head here to check it all out. But you might not want to … because they have spread it out with only TWO bands per page! That’s right – they spread 30 bands…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Adult TV Ads Poke Fun at Adult Movie Tropes!

You don’t even have to be a fan of adult movies to know about some of the clichéd plots – a pizza delivery guy comes to the door, and a beautiful woman answers and the next thing you know … well … Anyway, over at AdWeek they have a look at commercials made for the Canadian Adult station ‘Amour’. The spots cannot (obviously) use X-rated content, but still need to lure customers to check out the station. Here is the run-down: Doing ads for adult-television networks—not an easy job. You can’t use the channel’s content, for one thing. Yet Amour,…

Gear Bits

A Week with the iPad 3

The iPad 3 came out a week ago. A quick rundown of iPad users on the site shows that all four editors have the new iPad, and Chris Gavula does too. We have no doubt there will be a few more grabbing one in the weeks to come. Why? Because even though the improvements to the iPad are perhaps technically incremental, we’ve found that they add up to a device which has no equal. Not yet, anyway. Here’s why … Dan: I was worried that the iPad 3 would be too heavy and thick, but I’m not finding that to be the…

Game Diary, Reviews

Fix It Up 80’s ‘Meet Kate’s Parents’ for the iPad Game Review

Based on my lackluster review of the original Fix it Up Kate’s Adventure, and my glowing review of Fix it Up: World Tour, I really wasn’t sure what to expect this time around. Would the game take advantage of all of the things introduced and carry forward, or would it stumble again? Let’s check it out! The Hype: Take a trip back to the 80’s in this totally tubular, time management adventure! Kate visits her father and he explains how the family got its start in the auto repair biz. Play as Kate’s parents, Frank and Mary, to purchase, fix,…

Reviews

The Hunger Games Film Review

This futuristic film exudes an intelligent quality, engaging drama, and compelling scenarios about a futuristic world in North America called Panem where teenage pairs are chosen from each of 12 districts to participate in a televised survival battle in the woodlands.

Reviews

Brookstone’s iConvert Scanner for iPad Review

I was at Brookstone the other day and saw a couple of cool ideas that work with Apple’s iDevices. The first is the iConvert Scanner for iPad Tablet. The iConvert scanner is “The easy, accurate way to save documents as JPEG files on your favorite tablet. Works with the all-new iPad!” Let’s take a look. Here’s what Brookstone has to say about it: Admit it. You have too many piles of receipts, bills and other paper documents. Tame the paperwork jungle in your life by getting a scanner for your iPad® tablet. Our iConvert® Scanner captures sharp, detailed JPEG images and…

News & Features

Elements 2.3 Adds Retina Display Support and Much More

There are a lot of different choices when it comes to word processing on the iPad, iPhone and Mac. One key to deciding which to use, at least for me, is finding one that works seamlessly on all my different Apple devices. iA Writer is a good option, so is simply using the native notes app. Elements is another good choice, and it just got updated to version 2.3. Of course support for the retina display on the new iPad is a key feature of the update, but there are others as well. As SecondGear, the company behind the app…

Gear Bits

Keep Your Beer Cool and Your Tunes Loud with the Marshall Fridge

This Marshall Fridge is pretty amazing. It looks like an Marshall amp, but it hides something tastier than great tunes. Yeah, it holds a few six packs or anything else that you might need to keep cold — although beer is much more fun than milk. As the description on Werd notes, You’re never going to play guitar like Stevie Ray Vaughn or Slash but if you shred 6-packs like they shred six strings, the Marshall Fridge will be the perfect addition to your pad. It looks like the iconic Marshall stack amp but it’s really a 4.4 cubic foot…

Music Diary, News & Features

Musicalight LED Sleeve for Learning Chords and Songs on the Guitar

In a strikingly odd development, we had news of TWO Kickstarter campaigns centered around parsing guitar tablature and delivering it via light-up fretboard overlay to aid with learning music. I wrote about Tabber earlier, now we have the Musicalight LED Sleeve! This is the problem they hope to solve: Let’s face it: learning to play any instrument is difficult. Most of us have probably started and quit learning an instrument at some point in our lives. With guitar in particular, it can be frustrating learning chords and finger positioning. We learned to play the guitar by staring at tabs, placing…

Gear Bits

Businessweek Looks at Absurd Slogan Trademarks

I love Bloomberg Businessweek because they have a sense of humor. They cover serious subjects, and then they run with the fun stuff but with a straight face. Hence their very amusing analysis of which catchphrases are trademarked and therefore off-limits (hint: apparently). Seriously. Check out their sample of what phrases have been legally protected: Barbarian Group: “It’s gonna be awesome” Great Clips: “It’s gonna be great” Amscan Holdings: “Who you gonna be?” Bank of New York Mellon: “We should talk” Physicians Mutual Insurance: “Maybe we should talk” STG Marketing: “Who’s got your stuff?” General Mills (GIS): “How do you…

Music Diary, News & Features

Tabber Is an Awesome LED Guitar Teaching Sleeve Kickstarter Project!

Apparently interactive guitar training is ‘a thing’, as evidenced by the number of iOS apps designed around teaching you the guitar as a game, and now projects like Tabber that seek to ease your way into learning guitar by putting everything you need right under your fingers. According to the Kickstarter page: Tabber is an open-source LED guitar teacher. Tabber creates a whole new field of visual learning for your guitar. We put the notes that you need to play, when you need to play them right on the neck of the guitar. Our LED light sleeve can be placed…