Articles by Zek

aPen A5 Digital Pen Review

Many wise women have said “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” If that were a universal truth, this review would end right about… now. However, it is important for a review to clearly explain what was good or bad about the product being reviewed, so my apologies in advance, as I have very few nice things to say about the aPen. Dan- But first, let me interrupt this review to explain how the aPen came into Carly’s possession in the first place. I am a lefty with a good degree of “palm drag”…

News

Apple’s Big Patent Win, and What It Means for Smartphones

The Apple/Samsung patent trial’s jury shocked everyone by returning a verdict extremely quickly on Friday afternoon. Once we had the full details, I asked the team here at Gear Diary what they thought. Was this a game changer for Android and smartphones in general, or just another chapter in “lawyers gone wild”? Bryan: Yeah but remember, some of us don’t want to hear it: 😉 (Sorry, couldn’t help myself! :)) Dan: Agreed. Not surprised but I do think people will debate the issue for a long time. After all, as we learn in the Jobs bio, much of what Apple did initially…

eBooks, Gear Bits, Outdoors

The Magic Bullet Against Showrooming Is in Running Shoes

Everyone in retail wants to bemoan “show rooming” or the tendency of shoppers to check products out in store, only to buy online. It’s a huge problem, and I am not the only person to point out that customer service can often make the difference between someone shopping in store versus hitting Amazon on their iPhone as they walk out the door. Runner’s World took a closer look at the statistics involved, and came up with some interesting conclusions. First, they looked at a survey that indicated the higher the discount online, the more likely shoppers were to not shop…

Health and Fitness

Lose 20lbs and Run Faster with One Easy Step!

I have seen some bizarre iterations of treadmills, but the one I have always wanted to try is the Alter-G. It adjusts how much gravity affects you through air jets, and is used quite a bit by elite athletes and physical therapists assisting people with injuries. Effectively, by floating the runner with air, you reduce the pounding on their joints. You can also “run” much faster on it. Unfortunately, it’s a wee bit pricey, like $25,000 and up pricey. Luckily, someone has invented a more low tech but equally cool solution: the LightSpeed. Instead of crazy air jets, you use…

Gear Bits, Outdoors

Slacklining Courtesy of Volvo and Adrenaline

Volvo cars may be known for being “boxy but good”, but I think their trucks need a better slogan…”boxy but stable enough to slackline across”? It’s a mouthful. Amazing, right? There is balance, grace, athleticism and courage, and then there is the mondo serving of all of the above that you need to walk a rope between two speeding trucks. That are about to go through two tunnels. And that will turn you into roadkill if you aren’t all the way across. Crazy! Via The Clymb

Editorials

Riot Grrl, Pussy Riot, and the Heartbreak of Seeing Feminism Attacked in Russia

(image courtesy Amnesty International’s Pussy Riot support page) I spent the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school touring Israel. It was an incredible experience, but the most lasting impression didn’t come from the country. It came from the moment one of my friends on the trip played a Sleater-Kinney song, and my eyes were opened to the world of riotgrrl and women in punk rock. These were bands that sang about feminism, politics and sexuality in a more frank, honest, and direct manner than I had ever heard before. Feminist punk rock is a defining soundtrack…

Health and Fitness

SkinnyBits, a NOT Recommended Product

Eat real food and improve your health. This is not a hard concept, and yet we all want shortcuts, no matter how badly they reek of snake oil (Shape-ups, anyone?). But nothing beats the smarmy, self-congratulatory press release we received this morning at Gear Diary. In it, we were assured of “Better Skin! Weight loss! Better nutrition!” And all it will take to accomplish this is algae tablets! Just 30 a day — though 40-100 would be even better (not surprising since the company charges $117 for 1,000 of them). Apparently, Spirulina is nature’s little miracle plant! Being the skeptical type,…

eBooks

Publishing Is under Attack from a “New” Technology … Paperbacks!

Publishing is under attack! It’s an economic downturn, and someone is selling books for much cheaper than they used to be! It’s an unsustainable market situation, and books will go down in flames if someone doesn’t do something! I’m not talking about the terror eBooks has placed into the hearts of publishers. I’m talking about … paperbacks. No, publishing wasn’t all too warm on paperbacks when they were first introduced in the 1930’s. According to Mental Floss there was, in fact, quite a bit of skepticism when “pocket books” first appeared to compete with hardcovers: Quantity was key. De Graff…

Health and Fitness

Easy, Tasty, Money Saving Beef Jerky

I love beef jerky. It’s a delicious, protein packed treat, but there are two issues that keep me from buying it in the store: it’s expensive, and it’s chock full of preservatives and added sugars. And I always assumed I needed a dehydrator or some other fancy bit of equipment to make my own. As it turns out, all you need is an oven! See, a few weeks ago, I stumbled across this “so easy I must have missed a step” recipe from Stupid Easy Paleo. I did some digging, compared other recipes, made some tweaks, and am ready to…

eBooks, Editorials

The Value, Or Lack Thereof, In A DVD Collection

Sarah and I are trying to downsize our personal belongings. I have amassed a ton of random movies and television shows thanks to my time at Borders, and Sarah has a bunch that have accumulated over time. However, we both realized last weekend that we haven’t touched our DVD player in months, we have no interest in a blu ray player, and most of our movie and television watching is through Netflix, Amazon Prime or iTunes. So what better way to begin trimming away our crap than by trading in our DVDs for cash or credit towards things we will…

Health and Fitness

Frozen Banana “Ice Cream”

Sarah and I love ice cream. However, we are trying to avoid too much dairy and added sugar, so we were cutting back on our cold summer treats. Luckily for us we discovered a replacement dessert that is cheap, tasty, and healthier, but still gives us that ice cream experience. Enter frozen banana ice cream. This recipe is so easy you will think you missed a step. It is flexible, accommodates a variety of favors, and you can go from “I want ice cream” to enjoying a frozen treat in just a few minutes. All it takes is some frozen…

Reviews

How Nokia Wants to Create the Perfect Smartphone for Women (and Everyone Else!)

Several years ago, I owned the worst phone in the world, the Samsung Epix. Seriously, it was an evil, possessed phone. After sending one Epix after another back to AT&T because of all the issues, they finally relented and let me exchange it for a different phone. I ended up with a Nokia E71x, and while the AT&T “adjustments” to the software were less than welcome, I adored the hardware. Nokia may have had their ups and downs, but they know how to make an amazing phone. Nokia has now thrown their support behind Windows Phone, and I had an…

Health and Fitness

Introducing “Gear Diary Health And Fitness Tips”

You may have noticed over the last year or so that we have sprinkled an increasing number of fitness related posts and tips throughout Gear Diary. All of us have an interest and have taken active steps toward becoming healthier, and we want to share more of these experiences with our readers. Too often, people say it is too expensive or complicated to get, and stay, healthy. The truth is, if you know where to shop, what steps to take, and what ingredients to keep on hand it really isn’t. In fact, it is not only easy, but eating and…

Health and Fitness

The Narrative of the Olympics Is What the Media Wants It to Be

The fascinating part of the Olympics to me isn’t just how badly NBC manages to screw everyone. It isn’t even the athletic achievements. What really catches my attention is the way certain stories are presented. We get fed storylines by the media to make us feel sympathetic towards one athlete, or disdainful towards another. It’s amazing how perspective on someone’s story makes a huge difference. Let’s look at the story of athlete A. There were major expectations placed on this athlete in Beijing, and she sadly failed to deliver. In the four years since, she’s suffered some ups and downs,…

News

Maybe the Athletes Are Making Water Balloons?

Have you heard about the latest Olympic scandal? No, it’s not more doping accusations. And no one else threw a badminton game. But it is hitting the Olympics where it hurts- their pocketbook. See, the Olympics have sponsors for everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. So the organizers were quite unhappy to discover that non-Durex condoms were being distributed to athletes! According to the Guardian: London 2012 are investigating how a bucket of unofficial condoms found its way into the athletes’ village without official consent. The Australian BMX cyclist Caroline Buchanan tweeted a photograph of the bucket, which featured a sign…

eBooks

Storybundle Brings Indie eBooks, Readers, and “Pay What You Want” Bundles Together

When I was a kid I was a voracious reader. Obviously I still am, but when I was 11 my parents had a harder time keeping up with my reading habits. I distinctly remember being over the moon with excitement the day my mom signed me up for “The Science Fiction Book Club”, a discount mail order service that got me several free books as gifts with membership, plus a new book each month! In fact, I think I still have some of those books in a box in my parent’s basement. Anyway, I can’t help but consider the legacy…

Health and Fitness, Reviews

Nom Nom Paleo Recipe App Review

Sarah and I are attempting to improve our eating habits, and a big part of that is adapting a more “Paleo” style of eating. This means cutting out grains, sugar, legumes, and focusing heavily on protein, fat, fruit, and vegetables. We can come up with some basic recipes on our own, but we would get bored quickly eating the same few dishes. One of my friends has been advocating the Paleo diet and recommended the “Nom Nom Paleo” app for the iPad, and I am thrilled that he did! The app itself is visually stunning. You can flip through recipes…

Gear Bits, Outdoors

Fun Facts About the Olympic Marathons in History

It is track and field time at the Olympics, and that means it’s time for the men’s and women’s marathons! All of the running events are fun to watch if you are a runner, but the Olympic marathon is special. Since the women’s marathon is Sunday, Runners World has an awesome list of nine big moments in Olympic history. All of these will come in handy at your next quiz night, but my personal favorite is the story of Emil Zatopek: As the 1952 helsinki olympics drew to a close, Czech-oslovakia’s Emil Zatopek, 29, had already won the 5000 meters…

Editorials, Gear Bits

NBC’s Olympic Coverage Punishes Broadcast TV Watchers

There’s been plenty of ink spilled about how NBC is mishandling the Olympics. But Sarah and I are watching them tonight, and she just went on quite the rant that I hadn’t considered. See, NBC ran a whole special on the 1996 Women’s Gymnastics game, and Kerri Strug’s inspirational vault to seal the gold medal. It was followed up by an interview with Bela Karolyi. Both were nice to watch, but they highlighted a huge fail of NBC’s coverage: for so-called “prime time” Olympics, it was 8:30 before any current sports were shown! Yes, NBC has apps. And there are…

Outdoors

Rule 40, #NoBlackout, and Why Olympic Sponsorship is Broken

(the major Olympic sponsors, courtesy Puttles.com) If you follow any track and field athletes on social media, you may have noticed them tweeting with hash tags like #noblackout. Or maybe you saw a flurry of activity a few weeks ago where they frantically sent “one last thanks” to various sponsors. The International Olympic Committee has a blackout on athletes promoting sponsors during the Olympics, which isn’t unreasonable. However, if your sponsor is Nike or Adidas, there is no blackout. In other words, athletes not sponsored by one of these two companies cannot thank the businesses that supported them and brought…

eBooks

In Apple’s World, “Amazon” Might As Well Be a Four Letter World

Someone at Apple needs to keep their finger off the big red button. No, not the nuclear codes, the one that rejects anything related to Amazon. Yes, Apple has been relatively quiet lately, but they once again angered the ebook world with another head scratcher of a rejection, this time for a guide to self-publishing. Pretty hard to discuss self publishing and NOT discuss Amazon, but that’s how Apple’s reviewers wanted it handled. According to Teleread and Holly Lisle, the self publishing writer whose work was rejected: Lesson 6 includes my “Amazon River” technique, in which I show students how…

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