Zek | Gear Diary

Bling My Thing iPhone 4S Case Review

For some people the iPhone is a tool, a way to do business and keep in touch. For others, it doubles as both a tool and a fashion statement. The choice of a case isn’t utilitarian, it’s a way to express your style. That’s where “Bling My Thing” comes in with a Swarovski elements studded clear case, and as a coworker of mine exclaimed “This isn’t a case, it’s a work of art!” Physically, the Bling My Thing case is very similar to most minimal shell cases. It’s actually just a hair thicker than my Incipio Feather case, with the…

News & Features

Vote For Brandeis To Host The “Today Show”

In my house, there’s a loose rivalry between Syracuse and Brandeis. They hardly compete head to head in anything, but since I went to Brandeis and my brother Andrew went to Syracuse, there’s a good natured sibling rivalry. It doesn’t help that we have older cousins who attended Brandeis and Syracuse, so the unofficial competition spans generations. Now Brandeis finally has the chance to pull ahead here, but I need your help! See, the “Today Show” is running a contest where they will film their fourth hour the week of October 12th at one of six schools: Brandeis, Ohio State…

Reviews

ShopShop for iOS Review

Type of app: iOS, Universal for iPad and iPhone Platform/where to buy: iTunes, App Store Developer: Nikolaj Schumacher Description (from the App Store): A shopping list. Simple. Free. Major features: This is a straightforward shopping list. It keeps a master list of items you add regularly, making it easy to rebuild shopping lists each week. It also lets you create multiple lists for different stores, offers Dropbox sync, and has a setting that prevents screen timeout (for those times you are shopping and referencing the phone repeatedly) Ease of use/Overall performance: This has a surprising number of features for a…

eBooks

When Book People Move

My wife Sarah and I are likely moving in a few months. As a result, we are in a hardcore “kick out the junk” phase, and that means finally dealing with the sheer number of books in our attic. So. Many. Books. My back is less than happy about all the carrying and sorting we did today! The thing about books is that they are really hard to give up. Not just emotionally, but literally. No one wants our books. I called three libraries, and the best answer I received was that the library could take books written less than…

Reviews

Feeddler RSS Reader for iOS Review

Type of app: RSS Reader/News Aggregator Platform/where to buy: iPad and iPhone (universal app); available in the App Store Developer: C.B. Liu Description: Feeddler is a fast and highly customizable Google Reader client that stays perfectly synced with Google and presents RSS stories in an easy-to-read interface. Major features: Feeddler is great if you want a fast and simple RSS reader. You don’t get flashy Flipboard or Pulse style navigation, but you get all your news in one place with a clean user interface. It also offers a whole slew of options to share news via social media or push…

Gear Bits

Pocket Informant Saves My Day

Ever have just “one of those weeks”? I have been having one. Between several work commitments, service appointments at my home, and some family and friend obligations, it has been a week of juggling appointments and rearranging schedules. Unfortunately, this week also highlighted my biggest complaint about iOS: iCal. I can’t stand that my only options are list, day and month. The lack of integration with tasks is also a pain. A busy schedule only highlighted these limitations, and made me realize it was time to bite the bullet and find a better option. Luckily for me, the good folks…

Editorials, Events

Did Amazon’s Kindle Announcements Out-Apple Apple?

My day job is in client facing sales and service, so I spend a great deal of time making sure I present my message correctly. First, we establish the basic facts. Then there’s a discussion of what they mean, implications, risks, etc. Finally, these all lead to the conclusion and (ideally) the implementation of whatever solution we think is best. While my presentations are far, far less flashy than a big tech announcement, I still like to see how companies hype up their products, especially since that showmanship does overlap with my own skills and job needs. Normally, Apple announcement…

eBooks

Amazon’s New Kindles, a Video Gear Chat

Now that Amazon’s new Kindle announcements have had a few days to settle in, there’s a lot to consider for the future. Will the Kindle go from cheaper and cheaper to free? Will the iPad mini exist and unseat the Kindle Fire? And how will Barnes and Noble respond? Dan and I had a long chat today, and we covered all of the above and more! Check it out below, and then let us know in the comments if you agree, disagree, or if you have your own predictions for the future of eBook readers!

Crowdfunding

Everpurse iPhone Charging Purse

Project Title: Everpurse: Magically Charges Your iPhone All Day Status:In progressClosing Date for Funding: October 13, 2012 URL of the Project: Find it here. From the Creatives: Never run out of battery again! Ever notice that your smartphone dies JUST when you need it most? We set out to build something so powerful and easy to use, it would make charging your phone an afterthought. To charge, all you have to do is slip your phone into the Everpurse pocket! Whether you’re at work or out on the town, your Everpurse will keep your phone charged all day long. You…

Health and Fitness, Yum Log

The Most Amazing Breakfast Frittata Ever

Ok, so the title of this recipe might be slightly exaggerated, but the great thing about it is that you can make it with practically any ingredients, so while my fully customized frittata may not be your favorite, the base recipe can be used to make one you think is pretty darn good! Sarah and I eat this for breakfast almost every morning, but it would make an equally good lunch or dinner. I love it because it stays well for a few days in the fridge, and only requires 10 minutes of prep time. This covers two days of…

Health and Fitness, News & Features

Grocery Shopping Across Generations

Last year, my mom was complaining about the quality of her local grocery store. She still liked their produce, but their meat offerings had been dropping in quality. There was a newer grocery store that opened equidistant to her house, and she just switched completely to the other store. I asked her why she didn’t shop at both stores, since each offered foods she liked, and she explained it was just too much work. In contrast, Sarah and I shop at three to four grocery stores. There’s a farmer’s market down the street and the big box grocery store up…

eBooks

Amazon’s Hardware Announcements Showcase Their Software Advantage

Amazon may only release Kindles once a year, but when they do, it is worth noting. Last year, they rolled out the Kindle Fire, and this year they not only upgraded the Fire line, they also answered the NOOK with Glowlight, addressed head-on their hardware and software priorities, and basically nailed every expectation out there. So what does it all mean? What I found most interesting about yesterday’s announcements were Jeff Bezos’ remarks about hardware. Basically, he said that Amazon isn’t interested in making money on hardware; they want to sell us goods and services. Every device they sell is…

Health and Fitness

Does Organic Mean “More Nutritious”?

I am going to admit that while we eat a lot of fruits and veggies in my house, I can’t always bring myself to buy organic. I try to, but sometimes certain foods are just too expensive or unavailable in my area. Still, it’s always in the back of my head that it would be “better” if we bought more organic produce, but is it actually more nutritionally sound? According to a new study, it depends. There is no magic change that makes foods healthier when they are grown organic. NPR did an excellent job breaking this down into layman’s…

Health and Fitness

Eating Well on the Road

Sarah and I recently took a road trip out to Ohio for a family wedding. New Jersey to Dayton, Ohio is about a 10 hour drive, so it required travel time as well as a few days in Ohio itself. We knew from previous experiences that if we failed to eat well on the road, we would regret it with low energy and cranky behavior, so we set out to plan healthy meals and snacks along the way. Not only did we eat well, we saved money and felt better! How did we do it? It was remarkably easy! First,…

eBooks

A Sign of Our Increasingly Digital Times

My mom is a high school history teacher. Her students start this week, just in time for the Democratic National Convention, and right on the heels of the Republican National Convention this past week. As has been her custom in past elections, her students can earn extra credits by watching and writing about the conventions and the upcoming debates. She went through her lesson plans from four years ago, and realized she needed to change a few things. See, four years ago she told students they could catch speeches and debates live, on their DVR, by taping, or through the…

Reviews

Krebs Recycle Climbing Rope Dog Leash Review

Our dog Porter is a big boy…at his last vet visit he weighed in at 95lbs! Before you start fretting about his weight, though, mid-90s is about the right weight for him, given his height and breed (labrador/chesapeake bay retriever mix). It does mean he can be a handful on his leash though. 90% of the time he is docile and happy to trot alongside us, but if he encounters a squirrel or one of the dogs he has decided are his nemeses, it requires lots of leash pulling and wrangling to keep him in line. We used a simple…

eBooks

Refunds Coming from the eBook Pricing Settlement

If you purchased an eBook in the last three years, I have some good news! There’s a shot that the publisher owes you a few cents if that title was priced according to the “agency model”. You’re rich! A whole shiny nickel just for you! According to Businessweek: States including Maryland, Ohio and Texas said they reached a $69 million settlement with three U.S. publishers over alleged price-fixing for electronic books. The agreements were made with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers LLC and Simon & Schuster Inc., according to statements from attorneys general in states also including Colorado and Florida….

Editorials

The Most Important Lesson This Election Year

I worked for Borders in 2004 during the Bush vs Kerry presidential election. While most of our customers were polite, some took the election extremely seriously. We were sold out of a particularly incendiary title, and I had a customer get in my face to tell me he did not believe we were sold out, he believed our bookstore was “too <expletive deleted> liberal to carry it.” A coworker jumped in at that point and assured the angry man that we had cash registers, he had cash, and we would have been happy to accommodate him if we only had…

eBooks, News & Features

Audiobooks.com Gets Download Friendly

Sarah swears by audiobooks as a way to get through her daily commute, but I mainly use them when we are on long road trips. We have flirted with the idea of an audible.com membership, but the library gives us plenty of access for free, and Audible has never struck me as such a great deal. Audiobooks.com, however, has a new service that has me somewhat intrigued. According to Techhive, Audiobooks.com has expanded from streaming only to download as well: Audiobooks.com made its debut earlier this year as a sort of Netflix for bibliophiles who prefer to listen to a…

Reviews

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 & Features

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…

Articles by Zek