Articles by Michael Anderson

New Synthetic Polymer Helps Solve ‘Sticky’ Chewing Gum Messes

When was the last time you were walking on a beautiful paved path, sitting on a bench, walking through a school or shopping area … and you DIDN’T see wads of used chewing gum dropped on the ground, stuck to walls and doors and desks and so on? Or watched a teen blow a massive bubble that popped and got residual gum all over their face and clothes that took hours to clean out? IT IS ONE OF THE GREAT PROBLEMS OF OUR TIME! OK, so perhaps not. But compounding the general annoyance and ‘yuckiness’ are two REAL problems: health…


Nokia of America Exec Says ‘Plenty of Life Left’ for Lumia 900, Do You Agree?

One thing we discussed at GearFest was the state of Windows Phone. There was quite a bit of enthusiasm when the Mango update arrived and breathed new life into the OS. Then came the partnership with Nokia, and it started to feel like Microsoft would see reasonable success – and the release of the Lumia 710 and 900 phones in particular just added to the feelings of excitement for the future of the platform. Then came the announcement that Windows Phone 8 wouldn’t support ANY device currently available – including the brand new flagship Lumia 900. For many who recommended…


Griffin MIDIConnect for iPad Now Available!

Back during the January CES and NAMM shows, two of the cool looking new devices we highlighted were the MIDIConnect and StudioConnect from Griffin Technologies. I have long been a fan of Griffin products, so I was intrigued by the possibility of what they could bring to the iPad MIDI market. The StudioConnect has already been released, and now the MIDIConnect is available. Here is their description: “MIDIConnect offers musicians a compact and portable solution to create and edit music on the go, at a fraction of the cost of a recording studio,” said Ethan Opelt, Line Manager of Griffin’s…


U.S. Cellular’s Samsung Galaxy S III Available This Week

While in the past it seemed that phones were rolled out to a variety of carriers over the course of months (the Samsung Galaxy SII took nearly a year between the international release and some US carrier launches), we are now seeing more handset makers working to launch on as many carriers as quickly as possible. Case in point – the Samsung Galaxy SIII is launching all over the place right about now – and this week U.S. Cellular has the Galaxy SIII available to buy! Why is this a good thing? Because it allows smartphone users to make their…


Adventures in Customer Service – Coco Key Water Resort Edition

Nostalgia and fun memories can be a dangerous thing – they can lead you to look past some obvious signs of poor customer service until it is too late. Three years ago my wife and boys went back to Massachusetts to visit the town we lived for 15 years before moving to New York. They stayed one night each with friends, but then Sunday night stayed in a hotel so everyone else could get back to their normal life and Lisa and the boys would have an easier exit to head home. They chose the Coco Keys Water Resort Hotel…


Eastern Mountain Sports Edition – Adventures in Customer Service

This year on vacation we were right on the ocean, so we wanted to have kayaks for the week to take advantage of the easy access. Fortunately Eastern Mountain Sports had reasonably-priced tandem ocean kayaks available to rent, and said they could help strap them to our roof, so we were all set. Well, not quite, but the way things worked out turned what could have been a disaster into a highlight of the week – all thanks to a wonderful employee in a great store. When we called to reserve, we didn’t have to even leave a deposit but…


The Irony of Idiotic Idiots and the Rush to Be FIRST!

I hadn’t planned a direct reaction to the Supreme Court upholding all aspects of the Affordable Care Act (calling it ‘Obamacare’ is a pejorative term that shows clear bias), as it isn’t the focus of the site and there wasn’t a direct ‘hook’ that made sense. Well, there wasn’t until the announcement and the hour or so after it … and then there were TWO interesting developments! First, when the ruling came down, I saw a quick notification across my iPad; since I was on my PC I headed to CNN.com to check out the news and see what was…


5 Reasons Why the $199 Google Tablet is a Terrible Idea … But I’m Getting One, Anyway

OK, so this was a post I started writing three months ago – when we first started hearing about a $199 Google Nexus Tablet. At the time I thought it was a bad idea – and we didn’t even know who was making it or what the specs might be like at the time! Now that we know that it is an ASUS device, with a footprint essentially similar to the Kindle Fire/Nook Tablet/Samsung Galaxy Tab/etc, with some decent sounding hardware compromises for the price, and the newly announced Android OS 4.1. And guess what – I am more convinced…


What Do You Think of Muse’s Olympic Anthem?

Muse was announced as providing the ‘Official Olympic Anthem’ for the summer games in London, and today they have released the song video officially, with the full album coming in September. The song is called ‘Survival’ and Muse singer Matthew Bellamy said: “It’s a huge honor to have the track chosen as such a major part of the London 2012 Olympic Games,” Bellamy added. “I wrote it with the games in mind as it expresses a sense of conviction and determination to win.” And here is the entire song: What do you think? Personally … I have no use for…


Tay Zonday Brings a Fitting End to the ‘Call Me Maybe’ Meme

If you haven’t experienced SOMETHING of the ‘Call Me Maybe’ meme, which takes the first line of the ultra-popular Carly Rae Jepson song and twists it around … you might need to come out from the bunker and tune into this whole ‘internet’ thing. The actual line is “Hey, I just met you … and this is crazy … but here’s my number, so call me maybe”. One of my favorites is also relevent to recent events, saying “Hey, I just met you … and this is crazy … but here’s my bath salts, your face is tasty”. But Tay…


10 Video Clips for the 10th Anniversary of John Entwistle’s Death

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eFMqKC2C554 Back in early 2002 The Who looked to make a comeback, regrouping and heading out on tour with renewed energy. But before the tour could quite start, legendary bassist John Entwistle collapsed and died of a heart attack … certainly not helped by years of cocaine use. In various interviews he lamented somewhat at how long it took for The Who to ‘get rich’ compared to some of their contemporaries – which wasn’t helped by their pioneering of the ‘rock & roll lifestyle’. He also lamented the level of recognition given to bassists such as Stanley Clarke and Jaco…


Slacker Launches Personalized Lifestyle Stations with ABC Radio

Here at Gear Diary we have a bunch of Slacker Radio fans. For me, aside from listening to my massive iTunes collection, Slacker is my ‘go to’ spot as they offer on-demand streaming content as well as a great array of preset music stations. Recently they also introduced highly customizable ESPN radio stations, and now they have teamed with ABC Radio to launch new ‘Lifestyle’ stations. These stations are called Men’s Life and Women’s Life, and offer targeted content for each gender. But if that sounds limiting – as it did for me – rest assured that you get the…


AmpliTube ‘Slash’ Signature Edition for iPhone and iPad Review

Back in 2010 Travis reviewed the iRig and initial AmpliTube app for the iPhone. My wife and kids bought me one soon after it was released, and I have used it for the past couple of years, first with the standard Amplitube app and more recently with the custom-branded Fender edition. AmpliTube has earned a reputation for great sound and accurate modeling with excellent effects, and hope to continue this winning trend with their newly released ‘AmpliTube Slash Signature Edition’, which celebrates the famed Guns N Roses guitarist’s favored Marshall stacks, along with a host of presets and effects. Let’s…


Fix It Up World Tour for the Mac Game Review

Earlier this year I reviewed the iPad version of Fix-it-up: World Tour and found that it improved up on the fun but flawed original in every way. Even after the third game in the series arrived and tweaked my 80s nostalgia, World Tour remained my favorite. When G5 told me they were releasing the game for the Mac, my thought was ‘if they do a decent port this will be a great Mac game’! So let’s see how they did! The Hype: Go global in this fantastic strategy adventure! In this sequel to “Fix-it-up: Kate’s Adventure”, you must help Kate…


Remembering Ray Bradbury through His Impact on Music

I have already written about the passing of the great sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, but his influence extended well beyond literature and film. But he has also had a profound impact on the world of music, as noted in this LA Times article which cites Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ as the first major song written around the work of Bradbury. But it is another of the tracks mentioned on the list that brought back memories. Back in March I remember my younger son being diligent at getting loads of stuff done, with a specific purpose in mind: Deadmau5 was live-streaming…


RIP Guitarist Pete Cosey at 68

Have you ever heard the name Pete Cosey? Don’t be embarrassed if you haven’t – in spite of contributing to some major recordings, developing innovative and influential techniques and tunings, and sharing his gifts and influences in ways that have earned him Grammy Award recognition, he has never been well known. In fact, he passed away last week and I only learned about it yesterday through a friend on Facebook. Pete Cosey is best known for his wild ride in Miles Davis mid-70s band, but he began as part of the group that Chess Records assembled in the mid-60s to…


G5 Games Shows Off Jumpster, Its First Physics Platformer at E3!

I have covered loads of G5 games over the last few years, and most of them fall into the hidden-object, adventure, and puzzle-based casual genres. But now they have announced a new sort of game – Jumpster, a physics-based platformer! Here are some details: Fans of the physics genre games are in for a treat. G5 Games is about to launch its first physics platformer, Jumpster – with high-flying action that is not to be missed. G5 will showcase the game to a select press group at ShowStoppers and E3 in Los Angeles, but you can get a sneak peek…


Five People, One Guitar, and a Better Version Than Gotye

If you have recently turned on a radio or network TV, entered a shopping mall or grocery store, or simply been in any position to hear music … chances are you have heard the song ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ by Gotye featuring Kimba. What initially caught our attention when we heard it on the ’80s, 90, Now’ channel of Slacker was how the voice in the chorus sounded like Sting. This weekend we discovered a cover version of the song that was interesting both musically and visually. The group is called Walk Off The Earth (also on Facebook)….


RIP Author Ray Bradbury at 91

Late last year Ray Bradbury reluctantly allowed his classic novel Fahrenheit 451 to be published in ebook form, which was initially problematic but later resolved nicely. Today we learn that the famed author has died at age 91 after decades of creating amazing stories and characters and visions of potential futures based on the human-technology interaction. He is best known for Fahrenheit 451, but through his short stories and collections he painted visions of the future based on the realities of the world around him: Bradbury broke through in 1950 with “The Martian Chronicles,” a series of intertwined stories that…


The Adult Vanquishing of Childhood Monsters

Two weekends ago I ran my first 5k road race. Ever … and at 46 no less. For most folks it is no big deal – a look at what Carly Z has done and my first little 5k seems meaningless. But for me it was a life-changing experience. Why? Well, that requires a little history. I was never ‘small’ or ‘thin’. Like my own kids I was always one of the tallest kids, and in spite of a life-long love of fruit and vegetables (also like my kids) I wouldn’t describe my eating habits growing up as balanced or…


Speck FitFolio Case for Kindle Fire Review

I love my Kindle Fire and use it regularly, nestled in the Oberon ‘Celtic Hounds’ design case. I am very happy with the feel and utility of that case, so anything else has a tough road against the incumbent. Speck recently sent us a FitFolio case to review for the Kindle Fire, so let’s have a look! The Hype: FitFolio is a Kindle Fire case that combines the fit of a precision-molded hard shell case, with the cover-to-cover protection in a book-style folio. The form-fit hard-shell cradle keeps your Kindle Fire securely in place, so it doesn’t slip or slide,…