Michael Anderson | Gear Diary

Binge Drinking Is Now a Bigger Problem for College Women

At this time each year high school juniors are starting to look at colleges and high school seniors are starting the brutal post-application waiting period. At this point many parents have started having talks with their kids about exercising personal responsibility in college when it comes to studying, drinking, driving and sex. One important talk is about the dangers of ‘binge drinking’, which is consuming quantities of alcohol more rapidly than normal with the express purpose of inebriation. It is defined as drinking “as four or more drinks for women, but five or more drinks for men within a three-hour…

Editorials, Health and Fitness

New Poll Shows Americans Have No Clue What to Do About Obesity

Late last year we heard that obesity had replaced hunger as the world’s biggest food problem. Here is just a sample from that report: According to CNN’s analysis of the study, obesity rates have increased 82 percent worldwide over the past two decades. Obesity is now a problem in all countries except for those in sub-Saharan Africa, and its associated complications produce health burdens higher than those caused by hunger. OK … so if obesity is such a challenge, then WHAT should we do? That is exactly what a poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research…

Game Diary, Reviews

‘Abyss: the Wraiths of Eden’ HD for iPad Review

Abyss: the Wraiths of Eden is a Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure (HOPA) game for the iPad and iPhone; it is available from the Apple App store. It’s developer is Artifex Mundi / G5 Entertainment. Description: 40 dazzling and exotic underwater locations 16 unique hidden object scenes to search 22 mini-games, including an unusual Domino game Three difficulty modes: casual, advanced and expert In-depth Strategy Guide Game Center Support iPhone 5 support Major features: As I mentioned in my Dark Arcana review, most hidden object games fall into either crime mysteries or dramatic stories involving the supernatural. Once again developer Artifex…

Music Diary, News & Features

Amazon Introduces “Amazon AutoRip”, Giving Customers Free MP3 Versions of Purchased CDs

If you buy a CD on Amazon but also want to play it on your iPod (which describes my kids), you insert the disc and rip the music to iTunes. That gives you the best of all worlds – and if you use iTunes Match you can then download the tracks on any of your iOS devices. But with fewer and fewer computers (dominated by the move to Ultrabooks and the Macbook Air) coming equipped with a CD drive, customers are increasingly making the move to an all-digital library … so if they use an iPod or other iOS device…

Events, Gear Bits, Music Diary, News & Features

IK Multimedia Introduces the iRig HD Guitar Interface

It is hard to believe it has been more than two and a half years since Travis reviewed the original iRig here at Gear Diary. In that time iRig has become THE standard for interfacing your guitar with your iOS device regardless of the apps you were using. Well, now at CES IK Multimedia has taken the next step in iRig development, introducing the iRig HD that goes beyond simple Lightning Connector compatibility to deliver a true high-def experience. “iRig HD features superior digital audio quality, and offers a premium 24-bit A/D converter for a crystal clear digital signal that’s…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Reality Show “Chained To My Ex” Looks at the Struggles of Life Together After Divorce

As anyone who has been married for more than a couple of years (or perhaps months … or weeks … or days) can tell you, marriage is not easy. Aside from all of the issues related to cohabitation, you also have to consider that suddenly there are joint liability issues and financial sharing and so on. Which leads to the tag-line for the new reality show “Chained To My Ex” “Being married and living together can be tough. Being divorced and living together…PURE HELL” That’s where Chained to My Ex comes in. While reality TV is definitely not ‘my thing’,…

Gear Bits, Music Diary

In 2012 Vinyl Saw Its Best Year Yet Again

Aside from his (total surprise) iPhone 5, the big gift we got my younger (nearly 15) son was a turntable. Sure it has USB capabilities and so on … but it is still a turntable. And he uses it not just for my older electronic stuff, but also for some brand new things or re-releases from Daft Punk and others. Vinyl never really went away, with DJs and audiophiles keeping it going at low levels … but over the last several years it has seen double-digit increases each year as more and more younger folks join in on the trend….

Editorials

The Case for New Smartphones Cases

Every year over the holidays millions of smartphones are bought and activated, with this year seeing a record of more than 17 million devices in the US alone. And for way too many folks, those devices have a very short life due to damage from being dropped. Because while the devices are much tougher than in the past, they remain fragile. When you get your awesome new iPhone or Android smartphone, the LAST thing you want is for it to end up looking like my old Droid 4. That was awful – and totally avoidable. I had lost my running…

Events, Gear Bits, Music Diary

Roland Releases Video Celebrating 30 Years of MIDI

Do you know what MIDI is? Many people don’t know the acronym, which stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. But they know the applications – controlled sequences, drum machines, full orchestras controlled by a single person. Here is a quote from one of the creators, Dave Smith: You could play one keyboard with your right hand and another keyboard with your left hand. But [musicians] couldn’t play more than one at the same time because there was no way of electrically interconnecting them. Computers were fast enough to be able to sequence notes, control the number of keyboards and drum machines…

Gear Bits, Music Diary, News & Features

2012 Was the Year YouTube Went Professional

In previous years the ‘top 10’ lists of most viewed YouTube clips would always contain amateur videos such as ‘Charli Bit My Finger’, cat videos, and so on … but this past year saw YouTube move fully to a professional video channel, reflecting the mainstream adoption of internet video as a primary source of entertainment. As kids have known for years, it is often easier to simply grab a YouTube video for a song you want to hear than fiddle around on iTunes, Spotify or Slacker. As noted here, “Almost everything on the list this year was created by professional…

Events, Music Diary, News & Features

Android Mobile Musicians Rejoice – IK Multimedia Accessories Now Work on Android!

IK Multimedia is coming to Android full force this year at CES! Having just announced iRig Recorder for Android, they have opened the possibilities for mobile music-making on the platform. But just having an app isn’t good enough, you need ways to get your music into the app – so now IK Multimedia has announced the compatibility of several of their accessories with Android and iRig Recorder, including the iRig MIC, iRig MIC Cast, and iRig PRE. All of those products will work well in tandem with the just announced iRig Recorder for Android, the easy-to-use recording and editing IK Multimedia app. A couple…

Events, Music Diary, News & Features

IK Multimedia Brings Mobile Music to Android with iRig Recorder

For me, one of the deciding negatives regarding Android has been the lack of a low-latency core audio system as is found in iOS. And while that hasn’t been solved at a system level, talented developers such of products such as FL Studio have been working on their own solutions. Now IK Multimedia takes the lead! Today at CES IK Multimedia announced iRig Recorder for Android, which allows high-definition, low-latency audio recording. The app also has plenty of built-in tools for editing and exporting your sounds, and will support IK Multimedia accessories such as iRig MIC, iRig MIC Cast and…

News & Features

Dark Arcana – The Carnival HD for iPad Review

Dark Arcana – The Carnival is a Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure (HOPA) game for the iPad and iPhone; it is available in the App Store. It’s developer is Artifex Mundi / G5 Entertainment. Description: 48 enigmatic spine-tingling locations to visit 18 hidden object scenes to search 28 mini-games to tease your brain 21 exciting achievements to rack up Three difficulty modes to keep you guessing Bonus chapter, strategy guide and extras Game Center Support New iPad Retina Display Support Major features: In terms of hidden object games, most fall into either crime mysteries or dramatic stories involving the supernatural. By the title you…

Game Diary, Reviews

Classic Apple II Fighting Game Karateka Reborn for iOS, Here’s Our Review

Type of app: Side-scrolling Fighting game Platform/where to buy: iPad or iPhone; available in the App Store Developer: Jordan Mechner / Karateka LLC Major features: If you asked me to name the games that stand out from my Apple ][+ era in the early 80s, right alongside Castle Wolfenstein would be Jordan Mechner’s Karateka. The game was simplistic yet completely addictive as you would at first try to win by any means, then as you improved you would try different tactics, techniques until you could eventually make it all the way through with without losing any health. When I heard…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Great Performances Looks at the Jewish Heritage of Musicals on Broadway

My wife got me tickets to see Spamalot last year, and I remember Sir Robin singing “In any great adventure, if you don’t want to lose…you won’t succeed on Broadway if you don’t have any Jews.” While I found the song a bit ponderous and over-long, it was pointed and dead on. At first it might seem like an anti-Semitic comment, but there is a huge difference between someone decrying ‘Jewish control’ or ‘Black dominance’ as some threat to Christian whites (see election 2012, Fox News, etc) … and recognizing the cultural contributions of ethnic, racial or religious groups. This…

Editorials

The Outcome of My iPad Mini Apple Support Saga

Just before Christmas, I ranted about the support I was getting from Apple on my iPad Mini WiFi issue when using the phone and their online support systems. I contrasted it with Dan’s experience, he was seeing a similar issue and had it resolved when he went to his local Apple Store. My experience at that point was stretched across more than 2.5 weeks and was getting more frustrating by the day; it is too long to repeat here (click link above for the full story), but Dan’s experience is easy to sum up: Dan’s Apple Store Experience Walked in. Explained…

Editorials, Gear Bits

The Outcome of My ‘Unsubscribe’ Adventure

Back in mid-November, I wrote a post asking if those ‘unsubscribe’ links in emails of reputable companies actually meant anything. Carly wrote a follow-up post about how companies used junk mail blasts as targeted marketing, because it was surprisingly effective. So now it is about six weeks since I wrote my original post, making it nearly two months since I started trying to dump unwanted emails. How did it go? Amazingly well! Through Cyber-Monday I saw only a slight decrease in unwanted email, but immediately after that I noted a sharp decline, followed by slower drop-offs, and then a couple of reappearances between…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Goodbye Spin Magazine After 27 Years

Last summer, after BuzzMedia bought Spin Magazine, it announced it was cancelling the November / December issue as part of a ‘brand evaluation’. Well … over the holidays we learned that print was NOT in fact part of the ‘moving forward’ plan, and the magazine has been killed off in favor of focusing on online efforts. Interestingly, as shown at the top, the magazine is giving out Car & Driver magazine as a replacement for current subscribers. I was intrigued as to why we were suddenly getting Car & Driver again (I had gotten a free subscription in the past that…

Gear Bits, Music Diary

After More than a Billion Views, an Infographic Looks at Gangnam Style’s Social Reach

By now pretty much everyone with an internet connection has seen or heard or heard about the Gangnam Style video by the South Korean ‘K-Pop’ artist Psy. The massive success not just on YouTube but also on Facebook and Twitter has meant that it has been analyzed to death. But a guest post at HypeBot and an associated Infographic lend a lot of intriguing insights into how we gather and share this type of information. The most intriguing part for me is that in spite of being a YouTube video, YouTube had the LOWEST engagement of any social site, with…

News & Features

Mobile Fun Samsung Galaxy S III Extended Battery Kit

If you have a smartphone other than one of the Droid Maxx devices, chances are you wish it had better battery life. And as they get more and more powerful we do more and more – so any gains in power efficiency are lost by greater usage! There are battery cases available that fully cover your device and change the appearance and certain enhance the size and weight. But what MobileFun is offering is a replacement battery that adds nearly 50% to your battery capacity (from 2100mAh to 3000mAh) yet only increases the thickness by attaching directly as a replacement…

Editorials, Health and Fitness

New Yale Study Using MRI Brain Scans Links Fructose to Weight Gain and Obesity

A new study from Yale University published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and reported at Bloomberg details something that has been gaining more and more scientific support: fructose has a significant link to weight gain and obesity. I have been compiling links for several months now about all of this stuff, including a report from last year put out by the UK Guardian that made a bold claim – that we are on average more than 40 pounds heavier than we were three decades ago, and much of it isn’t about eating more or exercising less ……

Articles by Michael Anderson