Michael Anderson | Gear Diary

Stream Diana Krall’s Upcoming ‘Glad Rag Doll’ for FREE on USAToday This Week!

Diana Krall is a Grammy winning, million selling jazz vocalist and pianist, whose singing and playing have earned her accolades and made her one of the top-selling artists in all of jazz and pop music. We recently saw her live with Paul McCartney, and she had a major role in his latest album, arranging, playing, and directing the band made up of musicians she has worked with for years. There is no denying her talent or her impact on pop and jazz over the last two decades. She is also a beautiful woman married to Elvis Costello and who has…

Music Diary, Reviews

Emily Remler a Retrospective Look at Her Music

Last week would have been the 55th birthday of jazz guitarist Emily Remler … had she not died in 1990. To commemorate this great jazz guitarist and one of the pioneering female instrumentalists, I wanted to do a retrospective of her musical legacy. There are way too many tales of artists who have died too young … it is just sad how many times we see examples of talented people whose careers were cut short because of their own self-destructive choices. In the case of Emily Remler, she died of a heart attack … no doubt exacerbated by some substance…

Game Diary, Reviews

Jumpster for iPhone and iPad Review

Type of app: Action-Platformer game Platform/where to buy: iPhone/iPad (Universal); available in the App Store Developer: Vogat / G5 Entertainment Description: Jump ship! As Jumpster, a cute little alien, is cruising through the galaxy, his ship is hit by a meteorite and springs a fuel leak! Poor Jumpster crash-lands on the planet Okadia and now needs to recover the lost fuel if he wants to continue his trek. To do so, he must tackle traitorous traps and ravenous monsters in his path. Features: 80 Challenging levels to overcome 4 Hostile planets to escape 42 Fancy costumes for Jumpster 10 Powerful…

Music Diary, News & Features

Stream Muse New Album ‘The 2nd Law’ for FREE on iTunes This Week!

While most of us were not particularly enamored of the Muse Olympic theme or sure about the dubstep-y sounds previewed from their new album, there are millions of Muse fans waiting to check out the final product and hoping for the best. Well, before dropping $13.99 on iTunes to find out … you can stream the entire album for FREE this week on iTunes! As usual it is a single stream for the whole album rather than per-song, but it is a great opportunity to see what Muse has come up with for their latest release! Head to iTunes and…

Music Diary, Reviews

Griffin StudioConnect MIDI-Audio Interface System for iPad Review

If you plan to use your iPad as a recording studio, you need to figure out a way of getting signals in and out … Oh, and a way of holding your iPad steady while working. Or, you can just get the Griffin StudioConnect and take care of it all at once! Let’s take a look! The Hype: Digital music-making has never been easier. Owning an iPad makes it easier still, taking it to a whole new level of versatility and portability. StudioConnect gives your iPad: audio in/out, MIDI in/out, and a stereo headphone jack with its own volume control…

Game Diary, Reviews

Torchlight 2 Video First Look Review

Type of app: Action-RPG Platform/where to buy: PC (Mac coming); available on Steam Developer: Runic Games Description: The award-winning action RPG is back, bigger and better than ever! Torchlight II takes you back into the quirky, fast-paced world of bloodthirsty monsters, bountiful treasures, and sinister secrets – and, once again, the fate of the world is in your hands! Torchlight II captures all the flavor and excitement of the original game – while expanding the world and adding the features players wanted most, including online and LAN co-op multiplayer. Torchlight II is fast, fun, and filled to the brim with…

Gear Bits, Music Diary, News & Features

iOS 6 Brings Loads of SIGNIFICANT App Updates

By now we all know the mantra – when there is a new iOS update, prepare for the onslaught of app updates. It used to be surprising … now it is expected. I have probably updated 100 apps on my iPad since last week. [Oh, and I should mention that I LOVE the in-place updating!] But while some updates are just bug fixes and iOS 6 compatibility, others bring entirely new functionality. Significant functionality. And the funny thing is that it is hard to know what changes are major or minor when you see a list of a dozen or…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Apparently People Aren’t Happy with the NFL Replacement Referees!

If you have checked your Facebook newsfeed on the last few Sundays or Monday Nights (or Thursday nights for that matter), chances are you have seen some significant rants about the ‘performance’ of the replacement referees brought in by the league while the normal officials are in contract talk lockout. The talk isn’t just the normal grousing you would expect when your favored team loses – I have seen friends complain when THEIR team won about the job done against the opposing team. And it extends to players and coaches as well – here are a few quotes: Packers coach…

Gear Bits, Health and Fitness

Global Bacon Shortage Coming in 2013!

In this age of global shipping and corporate farming conglomerates, we like to think that dealing with seasons and shortages of anything is a thing of the past. But now the British National Pig Association issues a warning that I am sure is being met with great consternation at places like Epic Meal Time: New data shows the European Union pig herd is declining at a significant rate, and this is a trend that is being mirrored around the world. Pig farmers have been plunged into loss by high pig-feed costs, caused by the global failure of maize and soya…

Gear Bits

Apple’s Ping to Cease Operation Sept 30 in Case You Care … Which You Don’t

I was too busy with actual work to get to see the Apple iPhone event this year, so when I heard that Ping was ceasing operations on September 30th through an email … I just assumed it was one of those Apple ‘shutdown in 7 days’ things like we got for iWork and MobileMe and so on. Turns out it was a link from Macworld , and cited a bunch of sources noting that if you head to Apple’s Ping site … well, you can’t because you get redirected. But if you click on Ping in iTunes, you get the…

Game Diary, Reviews

Spec Ops: The Line Video Review

Type of app: Third Person Shooter Platform/where to buy: PC; available at Steam Developer: Yager / 2K Games Description: Spec Ops: The Line is a new original title from 2K Games that features provocative and gripping Third-Person modern military Shooter gameplay designed to challenge players’ morality by putting them in the middle of unspeakable situations where unimaginable choices affecting human life must be made. Features include, a gripping, storyline reminiscent of Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness but set in a ruined Dubai, tactical squad-based Delta Force gameplay throughout a horizontally and vertically oriented world, devastating sandstorms which can be…

Game Diary, Reviews

Borderlands 2 Video Review

Type of app: First Person Shooter Platform/where to buy: PC; available at Steam Developer: Gearbox Software / 2K Games Description: Borderlands 2 is a hybrid First-Person Shooter, RPG game focused on over-the-top co-op play, and set in the open-world game environment of the planet Pandora. The second game in the game series, Borderlands 2 raises the ‘loot and shoot’ action of the original game with an even larger and more detailed world to explore, an updated gun system, a new cast of characters and character classes, and integration of storyline with action. Major features: I reviewed the original Borderlands here,…

Music Diary, Reviews

The iRig Pre Microphone Preamplifier Review

Sometimes releasing audio accessories is a thankless job. I recently reviewed the iRig Stomp, which has the glorious job of being a foot pedal interface between your guitar and the awesome sonic shaping of AmpliTube. Not exactly glamorous! Now along comes iRig Pre – and all it has to do is get your professional-grade microphone sound into your iOS device without screwing things up. IK Multimedia seems to know this if you look at ‘The Hype’ below. But let’s take a look and see how it does! The Hype: Introducing the First studio quality mic pre-amp for the iOS platform…

Gear Bits

The Kindle Fire HD, a Gear Diary Video Chat

iPad-junkies Mike and Dan both purchased the 16GB version of the 7″ Kindle Fire HD. Dan got his on release day, Mike the following Monday; unlike with the Google Nexus 7 there is no attempt to use ONLY the Kindle Fire as a ‘daily driver’. Following on with their Nexus 7 chat Dan and Mike jumped on video to talk about the Fire, the Amazon ecosystem and how two devoted iPad-users are finding the newest Android tablet. Let us know what you think about the Kindle Fire HD, and about our video!

Reviews

Kindle Fire HD Quick Hands-On Review and Comparison to Fire and Nexus 7

Last year Amazon stunned the world with the $199 Kindle Fire, melding a 7″ tablet that was a solid front end for Amazon with a decidedly budget price. A few of us at Gear Diary bought them, but whether they remained varied quite a bit based on usage. Since then there have been some other 7″ tablets but only one worth noting – the Nexus 7. Now Amazon is back with the next entry – the Kindle Fire HD. Let’s take a quick look and see how the three titans of 7″ tablets compare! The Hype: World’s most advanced 7″…

Game Diary, Reviews

Epic Adventures La Jangada HD for iPad Review

Type of app: ‘Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure’ (HOPA) game Platform/where to buy: iPad (iPhone version also available); available in the App Store Developer: Urchin Games / G5 Entertainment Description: Embark on an unforgettable journey in this epic adventure based on a Jules Verne’s novel! After Minha agrees to marry Dr. Manuel Valdez, they decide to hold the wedding in Brazil. However her father’s dark past threatens her happy marriage. Long ago, he was accused of murder and now he is being blackmailed for Minha’s hand in marriage. Search for answers and clues in 43 thrilling locations, solve a variety of…

Editorials

My Quest for the 99% Computer

I have often stated that my iPad is my ‘80% computer’, meaning that I do (or can do) about 80% of my stuff on it. However, my goal has always been to find an ultraportable device to handle 99% of my non-gaming activities. This quest started with the HP200LX, where I could run Lotus 1-2-3, a great HP Calc, word processing, and so on; then the Newton MessagePad (my first was the MP2000); then Psions and HP Jornadas; then on to the Toshiba Libretto and eventually the Sony C1 Picturebook and finally netbooks … but nothing has approached the universal…

News & Features

Sprint Readies the Samsung Galaxy Note II for Release This Fall, Reports 1 Million 4G Devices Sold!

As noted before, this morning we heard from Samsung that they have coordinated with all five major U.S. carriers to bring the massive Samsung Galaxy Note II to market; now Sprint has followed up and announced that they will be launching the 16GB version of the device later this fall on their ‘Truly Unlimited’ network! The Galaxy Note 2 is the successor to the popular ‘phablet’ that was huge for a phone but small for a tablet yet found a solid global audience. The new version increases the screen size to 5.5 inches (from 5.3), has full 4G LTE support,…

Game Diary, Reviews

Fieldrunners 2 HD for iPad Review

Type of app: ‘Tower Defense’ game Platform/where to buy: iPad (iPhone version also available); available in the App Store Developer: Subatomic Studios Description: The biggest sequel in tower defense history is now on iPad: Fieldrunners 2 HD has arrived! From Subatomic Studios, creators of the award winning classic strategy game, comes an all new adventure that was years in the making. Build epic mazes out of powerful weapons to defend the world from the invading fieldrunners! Major features: I am amazed that I never did a review of Fieldrunners, which I absolutely adore and have been playing on my iPod…

Music Diary, News & Features, Reviews

Hands-on Review of AmpliTube 2.5 (now 2.6!) and Amplitube Fender 1.2

IK Multimedia recently released major updates to their AmpliTube and AmpliTube Fender amplifier simulation apps for iOS devices, which I wrote about here. If you follow Gear Diary, then you know that aside from a quick blurb we seldom do a ‘deep dive’ on a ‘point release’ update … but this time there was a reason! Read on and see if the new AmpliTube is for you! The Hype: • Full MIDI Integration. This feature allows users to control AmpliTube Fender 1.2 via standard MIDI controllers using an iOS MIDI interface such as iRig MIDI. This allows to remotely switch…

News & Features

Apple iOS 6 Update Now Available for Download!

Today is iOS 6 release day, and as anticipated the update went ‘live’ close to 10AM Pacific Time. As often happens, the servers will get hit hard and make downloading and updating a slow and sometimes frustrating thing. Make sure you: – Have the space on your device – Have a good WiFi connection – BACKUP! – Have the time to leave the device in one place for the update Good luck and report on your experiences! My download is going s-l-o-w right now … If you want more details on the iOS 6 update, head to Apple!

Articles by Michael Anderson