Zek | Gear Diary

Does The Shutdown of “The Daily” Mean Anything For Digital Magazines?

New broke this week that “The Daily”, Rupert Murdoch’s iPad-only newspaper, was being shut down. The four people who read it were probably heartbroken. Sarcasm aside, the real question is whether the death of The Daily is indicative of a larger issue. Businessweek brought this question up, pointing out that Newsweek plans to go all-digital in the shadow of a nasty fall from grace for the competition. At the same time, as Slate points out, an iPad-only newspaper was naturally limited, which probably also hurt The Daily’s chances of survival. Still, The Daily died due to a myriad of reasons,…

News & Features

Sleep Better At Night Knowing Skynet Is Being Studied

Any good geek knows that “Terminator” isn’t just a great sci-fi story, but a cautionary tale about computers run amok with too much intelligence. It’s all fun and games until Twitter and Tumblr get ahold of the nuclear codes. Instead of just letting this fear live in the “what if” realm, researchers at the University of Cambridge have formed the “Cambridge Project for Existential Risk”, which is analyzing how to prevent a robot uprising. From their website: Many scientists are concerned that developments in human technology may soon pose new, extinction-level risks to our species as a whole. Such dangers…

Gear Bits

The Importance of Reading Customer Reviews

Sarah and I are staying with my parents temporarily, and overall it is working out well. However, there is one issue that makes life difficult: the WiFi reception in my parents’ home is terrible. The router sits all the way on one side of the house, and picking up signal in our room (downstairs and on the opposite end) is very dicey. I needed a simple, cheap way to extend the signal, and Joel suggested the TP-Link mini router he had reviewed. After I read Joel’s review thoroughly, I headed to Amazon to check out the device. The price was…

Reviews

Eemov Nano Stabilizer Arm Review

Smartphone cameras and camcorder abilities have improved by leaps and bounds over the last few years, and that means that more and more they are becoming our go-to devices to record precious memories and important events. Where you used to see someone carrying anything from a point and shoot to a full DSLR, you now see people whipping out their iPhones or Android devices (and sometimes even iPads!) As a result, the camera accessories people used to use with their dedicated cameras are now being reinvented as smartphone compatible. I had the opportunity to review one such device, the Eemov…

Gear Bits

What Would a Nationwide Secession Really Look Like?

I have to admit, my main response to all those petitions to secede after the presidential election was to laugh, shrug, and move on with my day. However, one very creative author came up with a much more entertaining take on secession, turning into an alternate history account of what civil war would look like if every state fended for itself. Slate has the full tale, but here’s a taste: The first real occupation attempts happened when attempts were made to secure more assets. The Republic of Texas sought to gain strategic advantages in the Central United States. To do…

Gear Bits, Yum Log

Cocoa Beans Channel Coffee Beans with Choffy

While I cut way back on my coffee consumption after I stopped working for Borders, I still appreciate a well made cup of coffee. The coffee snob in me won’t touch flavored coffees, but I do like the occasional mocha flavored treat. In the course of surfing around the web today, I came across a coffee-like product so delicious and unusual sounding, I ordered a bag right away. What was it? CHOFFY! What’s a Choffy?: CHOFFY IS BREWED CHOCOLATE! 100% PREMIUM COCOA BEANS ROASTED AND GROUND TO CREATE A RICH DRINK THAT PROVIDES LONG-LASTING ENERGY AND WHOLE-BODY WELLNESS. Richer and…

eBooks

Barnes and Noble and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Fictionwise Shutdown

The Barnes and Noble transition of Fictionwise and eReader to NOOK has been steadily going from bad to worse. First, they had difficulties moving books to the NOOK platform. Then, a huge swath of customers (including both Judie and I) received an error message that our email addresses were not recognized. The Thanksgiving holiday intervened, but it doesn’t look like anyone has even attempted to fix these errors since last week! I emailed Barnes and Noble last week, and was told “We’re working on it.” Yesterday, my curiosity got the better of me and I tried my initial email and…

Editorials

How to Kill an Online Community in Three Easy Steps, by Runner’s World and Rodale

I used to love hanging out on the Runner’s World online forums. They were a treasure trove of information, support, and stories about running. I have met people from that site at races, and have challenged myself with online mileage games organized through the forums. Unfortunately, over the last year or so there has been a huge issue, so much so that it’s actually driven users away from the forum entirely. Want to know how Rodale is killing a thriving online community? Read on! Step one: SPAM! Everyone hates spam. Does any reasonable person actually click on the “make $1,000…

Gear Bits

iOS Breaks into the Restaurant Business

I am used to seeing Apple Store employees use iPod Touches as point of sale devices, and even a few other retail outlets, but this weekend I saw iOS breaking into a new service industry — restaurants. We were out at a local brewery/restaurant, Triumph, and the waitress had an iPod Touch to take orders on, in place of the traditional pad and paper. Unfortunately, due to the “Snakebite” beer I ordered, I was not in a condition to ask detailed questions about how the iPod ordering system worked. Our waitress said she liked it though, and our food arrived…

Reviews

Bling My Thing’s Dot Matrix Case for iPhone 4S Review

Some of us like our iPhone cases nice and simple. My regular case is a basic black Incipio Feather, and I love it. However, iPhones are more than just a utilitarian device; they are also a fashion statement, and cases showcasing how beautiful a smartphone can be are extremely popular. Bling My Thing was kind enough to send us a Swarovski Elements decorated case to review, and it has been winning fans left and right in my house! The last “Bling My Thing” case I reviewed was clear, but this one has a more mirrored finish to it. There’s some…

Gear Bits

Shockingly, It’s Hard to Make Money in Apps!

Newsflash: the age of “I’m gonna write an app and make a billion dollars!” is over. While it hasn’t hit dot-com collapse levels of obvious (my grandma isn’t developing an app yet), we’re close. Someone finally tipped the New York Times off to the slowing of the app gold rush, and they’ve managed to dig up some fascinating examples of people who took “if you build it, they will come” a bit too seriously. Here’s one app developer’s experience, according to the New York Times: With direct employment out of reach, he decided to work independently by writing apps. He…

eBooks, Editorials

Barnes and Noble’s Epic Fictionwise and eReader Migration Failure

I am insanely disappointed in Barnes and Noble. Earlier this week, news broke that they were shutting down the long-running eReader.com and Fictionwise.com sites they purchased three years ago, and offering to transition as many books as eligible to matching NOOK accounts. So far, so good. Then, the day after it became big news, they sent out emails with instructions on the transition. Also good. Unfortunately, if you were to follow the instructions in these emails, you would likely see one of two outcomes: a failure to link your email to your eReader/Fictionwise account, or B&N would find your account…

eBooks

R.I.P., Fictionwise and eReader

This has been a long time coming, but Barnes and Noble is finally putting Fictionwise and eReader out to pasture. They purchased the sites three years ago, and from that purchase the NOOK was born. But now that the NOOK clearly outshines its older siblings, Barnes and Noble apparently feels there isn’t a benefit to maintaining the prior brands. Even though I’ve said for years this makes more sense, it’s still sad to see Fictionwise and eReader disappear. They go back to the days of Palm OS and Peanut Press, and they were truly pioneers of eBook reading. The first…

Reviews

OrigAudio Designears Custom Noise-Reducing Headphones Review

Back in college, I had a part-time job at Best Buy. In addition to being awesome simply because I was a geek and it was an electronics store, they also offered a fantastic employee discount. I bought a pair of oversize noise-canceling headphones, and I used them until they fell to pieces. I had quite the soft spot for them, so when OrigAudio offered us the chance to review Designears, personalizable noise reducing headphones, I jumped at the chance! From OrigAudio: Designears support the notion that OrigAudio has always stood behind: Why be the same, when you can be different….

Gear Bits

No Voice or Text Overages for Hurricane Sandy Victims on Verizon Wireless

One of the side effects of hurricane Sandy here in New Jersey were widespread power outages. As a result, phone lines that ran through cable went offline, people didn’t have easy access to Facebook or email, and even voice calls over cell phones became very spotty. The only quasi-reliable way to get a message to family and friends was texting. This led to a problem: people with capped text and voice plans were getting nastygrams from their cell companies informing them they were close to or over their limits. Not a great situation to be in when you have no…

Health and Fitness, Reviews

Standapp Review

Type of app: Fitness Platform/where to buy: iOS App Store Developer: Lyonel Douge Description: Desk job? Sit too long and often? Did you know sitting can be deadly in the long run? Standapp helps combat “Sitting Disease”. Price: Free Major features: Standapp aims to help you not sit so much. Sitting is bad for our bodies for a number of health reasons, but it’s not always practical to have a standing desk. I know in my office I sit in a cube farm, and it would look awfully weird if I was standing and looming over the top of all…

eBooks

Powell’s and Kobo Team Up

If you ever find yourself in Portland, Oregon, you must visit Powell's Books. Several years ago, my wife Sarah and I were out that way, and we visited Powell's. Two hours and a huge stack of books later, we finally left. It was just that awesome of a bookstore. Unfortunately, the book industry is moving swiftly towards an ebook future, and Powell's needed a reliable way to hitch on for the ride. They were dumped by Google when Google Books dropped outside vendors, but luckily for Powell's they have a new dance partner: Kobo books! According to Powell's website: At…

Gear Bits

Rock Radio Dies Again in NYC

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… Sadly, it looks like rock fans in the New York area have been fooled twice. Just a few short months ago, rock radio returned to the area, but apparently there wasn’t much interest. Instead of rock ‘n roll, 101.9 has gone from playing music to {sob} playing sports talk radio! From The Top 22: The rumors were true: New Rock 101.9 was never in it for the long haul as investors apparently want out. CBS snaps it up at a fire sale price to make for an FM home for legendary…

News & Features

Should the New York City Marathon Be Cancelled?

Sunday is the New York City Marathon. This is a huge event, with 40,000 runners, several thousand volunteers, and countless spectators. Unfortunately, New York was hit extremely hard by Hurricane Sandy, and many runners are unable to make it to the city, or facing difficulties with hotel rooms, transportation, and logistics. Despite the devastation, the mayor of New York and New York Road Runners want the race to continue…but many are wondering if it’s worthwhile! Competitor.com’s editor Mario Fraoli had a great editorial on why the marathon shouldn’t be run at the tail end of such a disastrous week: New…

Gear Bits

In Defense of Landlines

This week had a rough start here in New Jersey. Something like 80% of the state lost power, and we were no exception in our household. While we don’t have a landline, we do have cell phones, and were extremely grateful to never lose signal, even as cable and then electricity dropped. Our neighbor across the street wasn’t so lucky, and she barely had enough signal to send text messages. My parents somehow managed to keep both cable and AND electricity, but they had intermittent landline and cell phone issues all day. However, the one lesson I took from this…

eBooks

Penguin and Random House to Form Franken-Publisher

Now that the Agency Model has been rendered toothless as a way to keep publishers afloat, we’re seeing the next phase in book publishing evolution: mergers! Random House, which was already the biggest publisher in the USA, is buying a controlling stake in Penguin, forming a super-publisher! According to the New York Times: PARIS — Two European media companies, Bertelsmann and Pearson, confirmed Monday that they planned to combine their book publishing divisions, Random House and Penguin. Under the agreement, Bertelsmann, which owns Random House, would control 53 percent of the merged publishers. Bertelsmann and Pearson would share executive oversight,…

Articles by Zek