Judie Lipsett Stanford

The Twitter-sphere: None of You Have Any Friends!

I use Twitter, but there are times when I have to wonder if (or why) anyone cares about my random musings and shared links. Of course, my rationale for using Twitter in the first place is that many of my friends are all over the country (if not the world), and this is a great way to keep in touch. Mitchell sent this video to me, and I couldn’t help but laugh; although it was posted in March I hadn’t yet seen it, and I figured that might be the case for some of you, too. Peppered with offensive language…

Reviews

DRY-ALL Wet Smartphone Emergency Kit Review

Update: This giveaway is now closed, and the winners are — lloydrv (tablet kit), visual360photography (smartphone kit), chinoy885 (smartphone kit), and bamfhacker (tablet kit). All winners have been contacted. Thank you for entering, and keep your eye out for more Gear Diary Giveaways! =) Last year 57% of 5200 people surveyed admitted using their phones in the bathroom, and this year 27% of 500 people surveyed admitted to checking Facebook while ‘otherwise indisposed’. Another survey this year said that 56% of an undisclosed number of people use their mobile device in the bathroom, and of those, 27% of the 56%…

Gear Bits

Meet Winston Kemp, Lightning Strike Survivor and Lichtenberg Figure Owner

“What does your boyfriend do when you go out of town? Well, [mine] gets struck by lightning.” – Daphne Cheek We’ve all heard stories about people getting struck by lightning — usually as some sort of cautionary tale, but how many of us have ever seen the effects of lightning on a human? The Lichtenberg Figures it can leave? Winston Kemp, a 24-year-old electrician, has had first-hand experience, and now he also has a unique and possibly permanent bit of body art — a Lichtenberg Figure — to go along with it. As Winston tells it … I went outside…

News & Features

Last Minute Father’s Day Selections from Dan, on WBAP Dallas

Just in case you weren’t one of the million’s of people who heard it this morning, Dan was on WBAP‘s morning show talking with Brian Estridge about Father’s Day gift ideas. They liked him and his suggestions so much that they played the interview twice! =) Here’s a tally of the things Dan talked about: • Yurbuds • ROKU • Evernote • Livescribe Echo • Sonos • Apple iPad 2 You’ll have to listen to Dan’s interview to hear why he recommended each! Dan on WBAP

Reviews

Useful Things: The Plasma Bulb Night-Light Review

In the 1980s, the coolest accessory you could have in your bedroom wasn’t a lava lamp, it was a plasma globe. I can still remember ogling one at the Service Merchandise store in San Angelo; they cost $199, and I had to save up for several months before I could purchase mine. Before seeing my first globe, I didn’t know anything about plasma; that in “the world of physics it’s also known as the fourth state of matter, and is the closest we can get to “seeing” electricity.” [source] I didn’t know that the “plasma lamp was invented by Nikola…

Reviews

Android WiFi Tablet Review: The HTC Flyer and HTC Scribe Digital Pen

Judie: When I attended Mobile World Congress earlier this year, there was one device which stood out for me above all others — the HTC Flyer. The Flyer is an aluminum-bodied 7″ Android tablet; my introduction to it came while I was still carrying a Samsung Galaxy Tab daily, and I could not get over how much better the Flyer looked and how much more solidly built it felt. It was positively Apple-esque, and that is not a bad thing. Couple that with the matching aluminum digital pen which suddenly made note-taking and doodling seem like some long-lost table feature…

News & Features

Google’s Brilliant Tribute to Les Paul, Instrumental Inventor

Mitchell Oke left me a message asking if I had seen Google yet this morning. Of course, he left it last night, since he is hours ahead of me in Australia. I took a look, and he is correct … it’s brilliant. From the Google Blog: The electric guitar brings back memories for me of exchanging riffs with friends and wearing out cassette tapes as I meticulously learned songs. Today, we’re attempting to recreate that experience with a doodle celebrating the birthday of musician and inventor Les Paul. For the next 24 hours on the Google homepage, you’ll find an…

Reviews

Vertu Constellation Quest Review – Vertu’s First QWERTY Smartphone

Last October we posted about the then upcoming Vertu Constellation Quest, Vertu’s first QWERTY keyboard phone, a phone which compared to all of their previous models was a veritable smartphone. Half-jokingly (or perhaps presciently), Larry stated that it might be my next phone, and when we were in Vegas for CES this January, I stopped by the Vertu boutique, so I could see one in person. I thought it was lovely; I asked for a catalog, I fantasized about putting one on my American Express for a minute or two … and then I stepped away from the boutique and…

Reviews

Android Device Review: HTC Verizon DROID Incredible 2

http://www.geardiary.com/?attachment_id=146015

Gear Bits

The HTC Flyer Arrives …

Not much to say about it, as the picture says it all! The Best Buy WiFi version of the HTC Flyer has just arrived, and I can’t wait to start playing with it! Just thought I would share my excitement! =)

Reviews

iPhone 4 Gear Review: monCarbone Magnet Force Carbon Fiber Case

monCarbone has made a name for themselves with their beautiful and protective carbon fiber iPhone and iPad cases, which we’ve reviewed in the past. I was recently sent their new Magnet Force iPhone 4 Carbon Fiber Case, and while at first glance this case might appear similar to the monCarbone HoverCoat, I would soon see the Magnet Force’s claim to fame in action. The Magnet Force adds barely any weight or bulk to the iPhone 4; just like the HoverCoat Dan and I reviewed last November, it is so inconspicuous that you might even forget that you are using a…

Editorials

Adventures in Cloud Computing Brought to Me by WildBlue

image courtesy of toothpaste for dinner Cloud computing. It is here. It is powerful. It is growing. It is a good thing? Had you asked me a week ago my answer would have been a resounding “Yes!” A week later, I’m not sure sure. Read on if you care to join me in my wireless nightmare … For many years, Dial-Up was the only way most people could get online reliably, and the two main sources of internet access seemed to be AOL and to a lesser degree, MSN; because I wanted to be different, I went with MSN, and…

News & Features

Click n Drink Bottle Opener Catches Your Caps and Protects Your Feet

How would you like to open your beer and soda bottles without having to worry about where those pointy bottle caps land? The ‘Click n Drink’ bottle opener allows you to do just that. Boasting the ability to hold up to 100 bottle caps with its strong magnets, the ‘Click n Drink’ magnetically mounts to metal surfaces or it can be drilled into others. I’m wondering if it would void our hot tub’s warranty to screw one to its side; if it means being able to pop a bottle of Spaten without worrying about stepping on a cap later, I…

News & Features

The SCOUT Toolkit Lightens Field Service Reps’ Loads

Do you need to locate, acquisition and verify satellite links? Probably not unless you have a military title before your name or you deal in some kind of surveying industry; if that describes you, then this is probably news you’ll welcome: Coolfire Solutions has just introduced SCOUT, a Satellite Communications Operational User Toolkit which has been “engineered to assist in the location, acquisition and verification of satellite links.” The total SCOUT Toolkit consists of The SCOUT Surveyor™ and SCOUT Observer™ mobile applications which run on the iPhone and iPad and are connected to the SCOUT™ hardware. As Coolfire Solutions explains:…

News & Features

Onion Goggles Keep You from Crying in the Kitchen

I tear up when I am chopping onions, and even though sometimes it’s just a sniffle, there have been times — like when I am on a marathon chopping streak while making multiple freezer lasagnas — when the tears just started to flow. What in the world is happening? According to Mental Floss (a fantastic magazine and blog): 1. When you cut into an onion, its ruptured cells release all sorts of goodies, like allinase enzymes and amino acid sulfoxides. The former breaks the latter down into sulfenic acids. 2. The sulfenic acids, unstable bunch that they are, spontaneously rearrange…

Reviews

PhoneSuit Primo Power Core Rechargeable Battery Pack for Tablets and Phones Review

Electronic devices always seem to run out of power at the most inopportune times, don’t they? Figuring out ways to keep those devices powered for as long as they are needed is key. Whether you are a regular road warrior or simply away from the office for the day, if you aren’t going to be near an outlet or power port, and if you carry multiple devices that will require energy doses at random times, carrying a portable power supply is the best option. Many times, these power supplies can best be described as bricks.

News & Features

On This Mother’s Day …

Mom, my brother Mark & me September 1970, in Camp Kue, Okinawa Sometimes it is hard to imagine the fact that our mothers had a whole different life before they became parents … but they did! My mom, Sarah Kate, was born to parents who were both from pioneer Texas families. Mom grew up riding horses on her family’s ranch. She traveled the western United States with her mother and brother, exploring national monuments and state parks. She had pen pals in foreign countries, some of whom she corresponded with for years. She grew up watching and learning from strong…

News & Features

Craig Turner Solves the Cat Pee Problem (and Yes, There IS a Problem)

I love my two (fixed) female cats, but for a while we had a third — a stray we named Bobby because when he showed up more than 3/4 of his tail was missing. That’s him in the picture above. Cute little guy, right? Unfortunately, something else wasn’t missing; he was still a fully intact male. We never leave our windows down, so we didn’t discover his disgusting habit of peeing in people’s cars until he had done it to my friend Lisa’s jeep and my cousin Dusty’s work truck. Bad kitteh. I don’t know about you, but there are…

News & Features

Olympus’ New LS-20M Linear PCM Recorder Aims to Unite High-Definition Video and PCM Audio

Don’t be intimidated if you don’t know what PCM Audio means, because I wasn’t sure either (and I had to look it up). PCM stands for Pulse Code Modulation, and it is a “means by which standard audio signals (which are represented by waveforms) are converted to digital audio signals (which are represented by 1’s and 0’s – much like computer data) with little, or no, compression. The method of audio conversion is used on most digital audio formats, including CDs and DVD-Audio, and is also used to some extent in Blu-ray and HD-DVD applications. The PCM signal is…

News & Features

Blue Canary Night-Lite Makes a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch Who watches over you Make a little birdhouse in your soul Not to put too fine a point on it Say I’m the only bee in your bonnet Make a little birdhouse in your soul Who didn’t sing along with this song in 1990? Thanks to Think Geek, now you can have the night-lite that They Might Be Giants were referring to. $12.99 gets you this 4″tall night light with its light-sensing white LED. I’m ordering one now. Think Geek’s Blue Canary in the Outlet by the Light Switch (who watches…

Gear Bits

An Ingenious Dieting Tool: The Diet Fork

I saw this on Etsy and thought it was cute. Want to look more svelte? Try eating less with a “Diet Fork.” You’ll be so frustrated by the time you are done trying to stab your spaghetti or rice that you’ll just naturally begin eating less, your stomach will shrink, and you’ll live happily ever after! Well, maybe losing weight isn’t quite that simple. Okay, so there are some fundamental flaws with that theory, but I still thought the Diet Fork Magnet was a whimsical item — perfect for gifting to your friends who are always starting the latest fad…

Articles by Judie Lipsett Stanford