Articles by Judie Lipsett Stanford

Quirky PowerCurl Keeps Mac Laptop Power Cables Organized

Anyone with a MacBook knows that the MagSafe Power Adapter’s block has an elegant winding device built right in – there are little wings that flip up from the block itself to hold the cable. This works very well as long as you are only winding the thin power cable that comes from the block itself. The remaining removable portion that goes from the block to the wall outlet is a much bulkier cable, and it generally has to be looped over itself and tied off somehow. That’s where the quirky PowerCurl comes in. PowerCurl wraps both cords (plug end & MagSafe…

News & Features

HTC’s Tattoo: Cute? Yes. Unexpected? Not Entirely.

It’s great to see the new Android handsets trickling in, and as usual – HTC is leading the pack with a new cutie called the Tattoo. Of course, the minute a case is put on it, the cuteness factor will all but evaporate. So is there anything else that sets the Tattoo apart from every other matte black handset? According to HTC, “people [will be] able to design and purchase their own unique covers or search and select from popular cover designs, altering the look of the phone to reflect their mood or individual tastes.” It will be the second…

Reviews

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks: Week Two into the Rosetta Stone TOTALe Program

Oh this week was harrrrrrrd. Let’s see…when we last left off my goal was to get through four more lessons this week, and be up to number seven. Well guess what? There is no seven, and it basically took me all week to get through lesson four. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the way the TOTALe program is set up, but better late than never. Evidently the lessons are broken into Units, and Unit One (at least) is broken into four major sections, each composed of separate lessons. The sections start off easily enough, and I got…

How to Do It Yourself!

PALMisLIFE.com Puts a Red Wrapper on Hui’s Apple iPhone

[Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Chinese on the site PALMisLIFE.com. Past Gear Diary contributor Larry Liaw did the modifications and translated the story for our readers. Larry has done some pretty radical upgrades in the past, most notably to the Palm Treo series; this marks the first time he has shared an iPhone mod with us, and what a mod it is!] And here’s the story… Once upon a time, a key webmaster of “PALMisLIFE.com”, Hui, owned an iPhone 3G and was happy with its features and elegant looks. He used it for texting, messaging, gaming, web surfing…

How to Do It Yourself!

Understanding and Removing the Application Lock on Windows Mobile Standard Devices

One of the more frustrating things about owning a Windows Mobile Standard device, particularly the ones which are tied to a certain carrier, are the sometimes you’ll find that there are these inane application locks in place. You usually won’t even know about the lock until you try to install a program that you think will make your life easier or your device usage more satisfying. When you try the installation, it is error city and the application will fail every time. I ran into this with the Pantech Matrix Pro that Julie and I reviewed this spring: Is the…

Gear Bits

Giving the 17″ MacBook Pro Laptop a Try

I’ve been greatly enjoying the HP dv6 that I recently upgraded to Windows 7, and that got me wondering about Snow Leopard (OSX 10.6). Dan was evil kind enough to send me a link to the latest Apple refurb sales last week, and I couldn’t help myself…after perusing the wares, I bit.

Reviews

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks: Week One into the Rosetta Stone TOTALe Program

Today marks one week since I began learning Spanish with the Rosetta Stone TOTALe program, and here comes the part that you all have been waiting for – where I smugly tell you that I am now completely fluent in all things Spanish, that I am totally confident in my foreign language speaking ability, and that I am ready to go to Mexico and take up with the locals…right? Okay, obviously I’m not. And it would be completely ridiculous for anyone to expect that. But I am three full lessons closer to being fluent than I was when I started.

How to Do It Yourself!, Reviews

Learning Spanish with the Rosetta Stone TOTALe System

I have always wanted to learn a foreign language, to be able to converse fluently with people from other cultures, and to basically not feel like a total tool tourist when traveling. I’ve also always heard that the best time to easily learn a second (or third) language is during one’s formative years, and that even by high-school or college it gets much more difficult. It’s no exaggeration to say that I am well past formative, and I’ve been out of high school for 24 years. While I have never believed that one could ever reach a point where learning…

Reviews

Using the HP dV6 Laptop and Mini 110 Netbook in Tandem: Moving Back to Windows from Mac

all pictures are thumbnails; click them to enlarge Right before I finished up the HP Pavilion dv2 laptop review, I was sent a couple of boxes containing an HP Pavilion dv6z-1299lx and an HP Mini 110-1036NR. Even though I knew the purpose of the experiment which was about to happen, I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone in the world would need two laptops? The answer to that question is actually quite simple…

Editorials

Moving Back to Windows from Mac: Why I made the Move to Mac

I bought my first modern Mac in February, 2008, a 15″ MacBook Pro. At the time I was frustrated with the laptop I owned – a 17″ Toshiba X205 – which was running Windows Vista Ultimate in what seemed like a most underpowered way. I was tired of being told that there were no drivers yet available for my gear, I was tired of seeing notifications pop up asking me constantly if I was sure that I wanted to do something, and I was basically ready for a change. It didn’t help that I had already seen Mitchell and Vincent‘s…

Reviews

The HP Pavilion dv2-1199us Laptop Reviewed

photos by Kevin As many of you know, two different MacBook Airs in a row have performed as my main computer for over a year. I can get away with using what others have called an “oversized netbook” because I don’t do a lot of processor-intensive computing beyond basic video and photo editing, and much of what I do can be done “in the cloud.” I would be lying if I didn’t say that part of the Mac’s attraction for me has always been hardware based. From the first time I laid eyes on Mitchell’s MacBook Pro, I knew it…

Editorials

Buying Prescription Eyeglasses Online – Why You Should Consider It

In 1999, I had Lasik surgery to correct my severe nearsightedness and astigmatism. At that time I was 32 years old, and I had been wearing prescription eyeglasses or contacts since I was 12. I have the ugly yearbook photos to prove it — just ask anyone who went to school with me in Eldorado. 😉 Because of my vision problems, it became a yearly ritual to go to an ophthalmologist or optometrist, have my eyes checked, get a prescription, and get a new pair of glasses; at best there may have been one or two years where I kept…

News & Features

Origami Instruction Toilet Paper: Too Much Time On Your Hands?

Check it out: you can buy toilet paper with easy to follow instructions so that you can create clever little origami paper creatures while you are otherwise occupied. What else are you going to do…catch up on your reading material? Baron Bob’s Origami Instruction Toilet Paper – At $4.95 for a 100′ roll, you’d better keep it hidden from the kids. 😉

Reviews

The FroliCat BOLT Automatic Laser Light Review

There aren’t many things more amusing than watching a kitten chase a laser pointer’s dot. Kittties are playful and energetic to begin with, but giving them an impossible to catch “mouse” creates a game which never seems to tire them. My cat Avah is two years old, and while she no longer has quite the playful moves she used to impress me with, she still shows moments of friskiness when a moth gets in the house or a string is dangling. We’ve played the laser pointer game before with comedic results, so I figured that she would be the perfect…

Reviews

DecalGirl Dressed Up My Kindle DX

When we did the Kindle2 review, one of the few things that Dan, Doug and Kerry griped about was the device’s pasty white front. I didn’t really mind the slightly off-white color, but when I purchased the Kindle DX I decided it needed a bit of personalization. Since I don’t yet have a case for the oversized ereader, I thought it would be fun to give it dash of protective color; I purchased a DecalGirl skin.

Editorials

Restoring Family Treasures: My Great-Grandfather’s Pocket Watch Restoration

A couple of months ago, I was given a box containing a treasure like no other. Inside were the remains of two pocket watches; both were in terrible shape, and both were obviously old. Since they came from my uncle’s widow, I knew that they were somehow related to my family, but there was no further information. One of these pocket watches would yield a most amazing discovery, the other is still a mystery. When I opened the box I was given, this large Waltham pocket watch was the first thing I saw. It was in pitiful shape, having no…

Reviews

EasyBloom Plant Sensor Review – Help Your Plants Thrive!

I do not have a green thumb, but through much trial and error over the years I have compiled a list of plants I can keep alive. I have also learned that there are some, that when I see them seemingly thriving and beckoning to me at the store…no matter how good they look, I should just keep on walking. When dealing with indoor plants, I know that I do best with ones that can handle diffused light and weekly watering; since I love blooming flowers, I tend to buy orchids. Outdoor plants must be able to handle direct sun,…

Reviews

The SKYlasers 125 mW Green Laser Pointer Review

Not long after I received this rather benign looking kit containing a 125mW Green Laser Pointer and a pair of Laser Protective Goggles from SKYlasers, I started really paying attention to all of the reports regarding people with lasers – red and the stronger green, interfering with pilots flying passenger airplanes. In February 2009, there were already 148 reported incidents of laser attacks, and just last week a plane arriving at Sea-Tac was lasered no less than 20 times. What’s the big deal? Well to start, shining a high powered laser at a plane creates the possibility of messing with…

Reviews

Unboxing the HP Pavilion dv2-1199us Laptop

HP and Microsoft sent me an HP Pavilion dv2-1199us Entertainment PC to try out. Once I got past the fact that the model number is a mouthful, I couldn’t help but notice how lovely this moonlight white computer is – both in appearance and specifications. The exterior is described as a “magnesium-aluminum-alloy case in a white imprint finish,” but that barely describes it; the look is stunning. The touch pad is a mirrored surface, and it runs Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit). The dv2 has a bunch of bells and whistles…both in the hardware and in…

Reviews

Unboxing the Amazon Kindle DX

I couldn’t resist; I put in my order and received an Amazon Kindle DX. 😛 Some of the more obvious differences between the two devices are that the DX has a ~9.5″ screen, while the 2 has a ~5.8″ screen; the DX measures 10.4″ tall x 7.2″ wide x 0.38″ thick, and the 2 measures 8″ tall x 5.3″ wide x 0.36″ thick; and the DX can hold ~3500 books while the 2 can hold ~1500. The keyboards are a bit different, there are no buttons on the DX’s left side, and hmmm – just watch! The full review will…

Reviews

The Oberon Design Kindle 2 Case Review

[Editor’s note: This is a joint review by Judie and Julie that will be appearing simultaneously on Gear Diary and The Gadgeteer. Judie’s comments will be in black, and Julie’s will be in blue italics.] Like many who own an Amazon Kindle or Kindle2, Julie and I have grown to greatly enjoy the convenience of carrying our current and future reading material on our own “virtual bookshelves.” The question of how to keep our Kindles protected was one that we had to answer fairly early on, seeing as Amazon did not include any cover with our pricey new readers. I…

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