Judie Lipsett Stanford

The Miniot iPhone 4 Pouch Review

It’s no secret that I love to cover my gear in wood; I’ve written about wooden iPhone cases before, and recently I shared how much I love the Miniot Cover Mk2 for iPad. Not long after finishing the Mk2 review, I ordered and received Miniot’s Pouch. I knew going into this purchase that I wasn’t going to be receiving a “play-through” case, and I knew that functionality would be a bit limited with what basically amounted to a gorgeous, albeit glorified sheath. Did that stop me from ordering? Obviously not. Here’s a quick video from GearFest, where Dan puts me on the…

Great American Beer Festival in Denver Colorado

Events

Get Your Tickets for the Great American Beer Festival!

If you have a love for hops and tasty craft-brewed adult beverages, then no doubt you’ve heard of The Great American Beer Festival, an event put on by the Brewer’s Association which has become the largest and best known of its kind. The Great American Beer Festival is the premier U.S. beer festival and competition. Each year, GABF represents the largest collection of U.S. beer ever served, in the format of a public tasting event plus a private competition. GABF brings together the brewers and beers that make the U.S. the world’s greatest brewing nation. This event showcases the diverse…

Reviews

BodyGuardz Ultimate Protective Clear Skin for MacBook Pro with Retina Display Review

While I was waiting for my MacBook Pro with Retina display to show up, Dan was kind enough to loan me his 13″ MacBook Air. Once it had arrived, I found his Air inside a protective plastic shell … which I promptly removed. I did wonder for a few moments about whether or not I was taking a chance of having something happen to Dan’s laptop, but in the end I decided just to be extra careful, Sorry Dan! No tossing his Air in my bag next to the car keys, no laying it naked on the carpeted floor just behind the…

Reviews

The ePool Smart System Swimming Pool Wireless Monitoring System Review

One of the things that makes living in West Texas bearable during the “hot months” — you know, mid-April to early September (when the temperatures consistently hover around 100º) — is having a pool or favorite watering hole that you can use to cool down in. We have a freestanding 30’x6′ concrete stock tank not far from our back door. While the primary function of this tank is to hold water which pipes to a trough our livestock drink from, we have also outfitted it with a regular pool filtration system so we can enjoy algae-free swimming; it’s pretty much awesome, and we…

Gear Bits

Turkey Dubstep Animation Is Awesome

Whether you like dubstep or not, there is no denying the cuteness of two turkeys spitting it out. The video short was so popular that not only has it earned a sequel … Turkeys + Dubstep + a little bit of success = Selling out … it has also earned several YouTube remixes, including one that lasts a ridiculous 10 hours. I’m looking forward to seeing what Will Anderson, the artist behind White Robot, shows the turkeys doing next. 😉

News & Features

International Supply’s iCircle Puts a Ring on Your iPad

We’ve seen a plethora of iPad cases that have plastic ringed cutouts covering the Apple logo on the iPad’s back; they usually work so that the plastic ring rotates in the rear cover to allow the iPad to be propped up in either landscape or portrait mode. While I like the general idea and function behind this type system, I haven’t yet seen a rotating ring case that I liked enough to use. The International Products iCircle, however, looks pretty promising. Judging by the photo and the way the cutouts are placed, I’d still be able to use my Miniot…

Gear Bits, Outdoors, Travel

New York City’s High Line Park is a Raised Treasure

Charles Harvey demonstrating his elevated railroad design on Greenwich Street in 1867, source In the 1930s and 1940s, New York’s elevated High Line ran between factories and warehouses delivering milk, meat, produce, and raw and manufactured goods without creating congestion on the streets below. Rather than run above the streets of the businesses it serviced, the High Line ran through buildings, which was the city’s attempt to “avoid creating the negative conditions associated with elevated subways.” In 1980, the last train ran on the High Line pulling three carloads of frozen turkeys. In the mid-1980s, area property owners began lobbying…

eBooks, Gear Bits

How Much Do You Weigh? A Book About Women and Their Weight

“You never ask a woman how old she is or how much she weighs.”- I’ve heard this my entire life. When I was a child, getting weighed was exciting. Up until I was in 6th grade or so, I felt like I was in a race to finally weigh 100 pounds; I was a tall girl, and I was excited about “growing up and getting big.” 100 seemed like a milestone, and it was! By the time I was in 7th grade, I was 5’11”, and I knew I wore a size 7 because I had been recently measured for…

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

Photojojo’s DSLR Bank

It may not keep a thief from finding your valuables if you’re ever robbed, and it certainly won’t take a great picture, but Photojojo’s cool DSLR bank will definitely look cool on a shelf while collecting about a pint’s-worth of your change. Even better; it’s a Canon … and you know how much I love mine! Aside from the coin slot, this hyper-detailed bank looks just like the real deal. It even has all the buttons and switches of a real camera, plus a viewing screen and a detachable lens! For $24; what have you got to lose? =)

News & Features

The Proporta Quillit Stylus Pen Review

Remember when we carried electronic organizers called PDAs? Remember how they all used a stylus, which is how you would enter information on their resistive touch screens? Remember how fingers weren’t used to tap out anything, because leaving finger grease on a screen was gross? Remember how using a screen protector was an absolute necessity, because if you used a cheaper stylus you could leave deep gouges in your device’s screen? My how things have changed. In 2007 we saw a shift occur with the introduction of the iPhone; it soon became de rigueur for every device to have a capacitive screen…

Gear Bits

Please Sir, May I Have Another? A Dropbox Request

I started using Dropbox several years ago at Thomas’ recommendation. At the time, I didn’t think I’d be using it for that much, so the 500MB that came in the free account seemed just right. I even managed to pick up some additional free storage space, because I did things like tweet about it, connect it to my Facebook account, and upload some photos. And then one day, I realized that I was using my Dropbox account in new ways I had never expected to: I was sharing folders with collaborators, uploading all of my family pictures and genealogy files,…

Reviews

The Miniot Cover Mk2 for iPad Review

I have a secret that I never thought I would share with anyone, but I feel like I can tell you. I ordered one of the first magnetic covers that Miniot offered for the iPad 2. The idea of having a smart cover made of gorgeous wood was simply too enticing, so without reading the fine print (my fault, not Miniot’s!), I sent off for one and waited almost three months for it to arrive. And when it came, I was sorely disappointed. Although I absolutely loved the wood, and there was no denying the craftsmanship, the cover wasn’t exactly…

Gear Bits

The FBI Serves Warrants Through Email Now?

Well, of course not. So if you get an email with the return address of FBI OFFICE, and the ALL CAPS subject line reading “WE THE FBI HAVE WARRANT TO ARREST YOU GET BACK TO US FOR YOUR OWN GOOD”, please hit delete. Don’t forward it to a relative or friend asking if they think it is legit; don’t think twice about it, don’t open it … just don’t bother. And whatever you do, don’t click the attached .txt message “final warning”, or else! Thank you. That is all. =P

News & Features

Is the Armor Series for iPhone 4 and 4S Their Toughest Case Yet? OtterBox Says Yes!

OtterBox is set to deliver what appears to be their best-looking and most protective case, yet. Say hello to the new Armor Series for the iPhone 4 and 4S. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5p6Aw5wceuA The features touted in their teaser video include that it has a “completely waterproof thermoplastic shell”, is “precision fit to .003″ accuracy”, and that your iPhone will be “locked down behind a medical stainless steel grade latch”. The case looks very slim, and the stainless steel latch is definitely eye-catching, but to hear them call it the toughest case they’ve ever built definitely gives me pause. I’ve been reviewing OtterBox…

News & Features

Add a Swimming Pool Nearly Anywhere!

I rented a house on Lake Nasworthy, or “Lake Nasty Water” as the San Angelo locals call it, back in 1995. It was a cute blue two-bedroom bungalow with a huge great room in the back that looked out on the lake. I had a boathouse that held my Sea-Doo, and when the mood struck, I’d go for a ride. Living on the lake was great for everything … except swimming. The water was murky, there was at least a foot of muddy sludge at the bottom, and there were water moccasins in the shallow areas. Not that I would…

Reviews

BubCaps by Paperclip Robot Keep Kids in the Right Place

If you have an iPad or an iPhone and you have small children, then you’ve learned how much your kids love to play games and watch videos on these devices. The problem is that the same device providing entertainment for your kids is usually the very device that you’re using to organize your life. Sure, it’s fine if your 7-year-old plays Plants versus Zombies on your iPhone or iPad, but what if he lands on your big presentation with just a click of the home button and a few taps onscreen? Or what if your little girl stumbles across your…

Crowdfunding, Editorials

Is Kickstarter Limiting Hardware Projects Because of the Pebble’s Unprecedented Success?

We love Kickstarter; Dan and I (along with others on the Gear Diary team) have backed many projects, and we are always on the look out for new ones. That is, of course, why we started Kickstart This! We love the way that Kickstarter helps inventors and artists get funding so that their products and projects will be available to the public. As anyone who has backed a project on Kickstarter likely knows, “every project is independently crafted, put to all-or-nothing funding,and supported by friends, fans, and the public in return for rewards.” While Kickstarter gives these projects a place…

Gear Bits

Tracking Fresh Seafood with Track Your Fish on MyGulfWild.com

Red Snapper photo courtesy of myGulfWild.com I love Red Snapper, but if the truth be known, I haven’t always put a lot of thought into where the fish came from when I was about to eat it; I probably should have been a little more careful. But now I have a new appreciation for not only where my Snapper comes from, but for the people who catch it and the process involved. I recently purchased two whole Gulf Red Snappers from HEB, a grocery store in nearby San Angelo. I noticed that the Red Snapper in the seafood case had…

Crowdfunding

BOWDEN + SHEFFIELD Minimalist iPad Cases; Kickstart This

Project Title: BOWDEN + SHEFFIELD Minimalist iPad Cases Status: $13,746 of $20,000 goal, with five days left. Closing Date for Funding: May 23, 2012 URL of the Project: BOWDEN + SHEFFIELD Minimalist iPad Cases From the Creatives: Eric Rea and Levi Price, two university students, have recently launched a project on Kickstarter featuring two unique, high-end iPad cases. The project is called “BOWDEN + SHEFFIELD Minimalist iPad Cases” and is definitely worth a look. The Bowden and Sheffield are minimalist, hand crafted cases for iPad. The inspiration for the project came from Levi when he was unable to find a case that featured minimalist…

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…

Articles by Judie Lipsett Stanford