Articles by Gear Diary Staff

How To View Free Books and Blogs on the Kindle

eBooks, How to Do It Yourself! May 5, 2011

How To View Free Books and Blogs on the Kindle

Now that the ad-supported Kindle with Special Offers (aka the Kindeal) is out, sales are apparently through the roof again. With that in mind, it seems a good time to bring up the question on many (some?) people’s minds – how do I get free stuff on the Kindle? Books There are a truly remarkable number of free digital books on the internet, legally. Everything eventually goes out of copyright and becomes public domain (and there’s a huge discussion following from that statement we’ll not get into today). Project Gutenberg is likely the oldest of the many free-text archives on…

BlackBerry World 2011: Is RIM Knocking It Out of the Park or Lobbing Soft Balls?

Editorials, Events May 3, 2011

BlackBerry World 2011: Is RIM Knocking It Out of the Park or Lobbing Soft Balls?

[image via Yahoo News] This week’s BlackBerry World Conference is meant to show off the latest and greatest BlackBerry products and software offerings — as well as give a sneak peek into what RIM, the makers of the popular BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook tablet — have planned.    Unlike many prior years (where the conference was branded as the Wireless Enterprise Symposium, or WES for short), there is a sense that RIM is struggling with the challenge of reinventing its brand and platform. Recent announcements such as the new crop of BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook updates are…to be blunt, falling…

Gary holding ammo can

News & Features May 3, 2011

Geocachers: A Secret Society Stalking Your Streets

There’s a secret society stalking your streets, peering behind bushes and rummaging through parks. They work in the dead of night, or boldly move at high noon. These stealthy denizens are known to leave suspicious packages around public parks and quiet neighborhoods, and yet nobody tries to stop them. Using the latest in GPS and smartphone technology, they track hundreds of locations in nearly ever county of the USA. Their secret stashes are tracked on cryptic websites, and they’ve even made inroads into Canada and Europe. Their nefarious websites include listings for thousands of mobile treasures or “hitchhikers” which are shuffled from…

iPhone Game News: It's a Dinosaur! It's Godzilla! It's... Destructopus!?

News & Features May 1, 2011

iPhone Game News: It’s a Dinosaur! It’s Godzilla! It’s… Destructopus!?

Behold… the first game that combines the three elements necessary to help make you feel awesome: heroism, indestructibility, and giant octopi (and fuzzy pandas)!!! The world is doomed. Pollution levels are rising, trees are endangered, and industrialization is past the limit of sustainability. You are the world’s only hope. You. Are. The. Destructopus. Yes you are the only one who can save our planet. Along the way you will upgrade your abilities and unlock new powers. How do you do it? Simple, you just save the trees, exterminate pollution, and protect our forest friends. Oh, and OF COURSE you’ll need…

Riffs and Pixels: Griffin's GuitarConnect Cable for iOS devices

Music Diary, Reviews April 30, 2011

Riffs and Pixels: Griffin’s GuitarConnect Cable for iOS devices

I procrastinate. Yes, I’m one of THOSE guys. I might put off my research paper a few days to, you know, let it “mature.” I also might put off writing a killer guitar tune because I’m not in the creative mood. Sure, THAT’S the reason. Actually, it’s because I’m not as proficient with musical notation as my high school music theory teacher would like (unfortunately, that man is also my cousin). I’ve been playing guitar for over 23 years now, and I still have yet to write the next big rock hit. So what gives? I’m happy to say that…

Gary Wearing Buzz

News & Features April 30, 2011

Freestyle Buzz 2.0 Wristwatch Review

While preparing for our family vacation, which included a morning at surf school, I realized I no longer had a rugged watch. I’d owned several over the years, including an Ironman that lasted from Basic Training through several overseas trips before finally succumbing to a broken strap and went missing somewhere in the desert. Surfing…salt water…surf watch? Freestyle is a company which has been making saltwater-friendly watches for many years, so I picked up one of their midrange models. The Freestyle Buzz 2.o ($75-80 MSRP) has gigantic numbers for the main time, two time zones, two alarms, and the usual timer…

The HTC HD2: A WinMo Story with an Android Happy Ending

How to Do It Yourself! April 22, 2011

The HTC HD2: A WinMo Story with an Android Happy Ending

When the EU model of the HD2 came out in late 2009, it was one of the coolest phones I had ever seen. Knowing it was coming to the US a few months later, I had to decide if I was going to ditch my Mytouch and pick one up. The hardest part about doing that was that the HD2 still ran Windows Mobile 6.5. If you ever had that OS, or if you still have it now, then you know that there is much to be desired with that operating system, and it should for all intents and purposes…

Today is the Day Skynet Passes Judgement: The End is Near!

Gear Bits April 21, 2011

Today is the Day Skynet Passes Judgement: The End is Near!

Image courtesy of iheartmovies If you live under a rock and have never seen any Terminator films, then you would have no idea that Tuesday night (4/19) at 8:11 PM Skynet came online and became self-aware. Skynet was a machine designed by our military to take control of our defenses. Giving a the control which  According to the Terminator lore today marks the beginning of the end for humanity as we know it. Judgment Day is upon us, and soon the machines will take over the world as we know it. Sarah Connor shows us in T2 what is to…

Ecamm Printopia for Mac Brings AirPrint Capability to iOS Users with Older Printers

Reviews April 10, 2011

Ecamm Printopia for Mac Brings AirPrint Capability to iOS Users with Older Printers

When Apple announced AirPrint for iOS devices, I could almost see Steve Jobs’ point about the “post-PC era”. Being able to print from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch (newer devices with iOS 4.2 or later) wirelessly sounded great. Indeed, Google’s Cloud Print functionality for their Chrome browsers works in a similar fashion. But then I found out how limited the supported list of printers was. Heck, even those of us with Apple Airport Extreme wireless routers that have attached printers could not use AirPrint: AirPrint only works with a network connection to an AirPrint-capable printer. A printer connected to…

MLB At Bat 2011 Review Featured at AlliOSNews

News & Features April 7, 2011

MLB At Bat 2011 Review Featured at AlliOSNews

Our friend Clinton Fitch of ClintonFitch.com and AlliOSNews is a big baseball fan. And big fans need robust apps like MLB At Bat 2011 for iPad.  It was actually one of Clinton’s past reviews of this app that caused me to purchase it last year and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Now, as you read his review, you’ll need to bear in mind that he’s a Rangers fan and cut him some slack anyway. Sure, he thinks that his purchasing MLB At Bat 2010 was behind the Rangers’ success last year, but that’s just being superstitious. Good thing that we fans…

NewerTech Helps You Tear Apart Your iPhone Properly

News & Features April 4, 2011

NewerTech Helps You Tear Apart Your iPhone Properly

I’m not really one of those guys who likes to take apart my electronics to change, alter, or fix things. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of things around my house on which I like to work, but electronics, no. So, I’m somewhat in awe of the folks who are willing to do such things. And if you’re inclined to mess around with the internals of your iPhone 4, then you may want to consider NewerTech’s new kit for dissassmbling your iPhone without marring it. The NewerTech 7 pc. Toolkit for iPhone 4 includes the following tools for easy…

Q-SIM Dual SIM Adaptor for iPhone4 Review

Reviews April 3, 2011

Q-SIM Dual SIM Adaptor for iPhone4 Review

So how often have you wanted to use two SIMs with your iPhone 4?  Perhaps you have a work line and a personal  line?  Perhaps you’re an international traveller and its much cheaper to use a local SIM where you are going.  Then let’s add the idea that you don’t want to carry two phones and you really really like using your iPhone 4.  Well now there is an answer… Mobile Fun has been distributing the Dual SIM adaptor for iPhone 4 for some time now and we at Gear Diary have an opportunity to show you what its like…..

Amazon Appstore: Is Choice Good for Android Users?

Editorials March 26, 2011

Amazon Appstore: Is Choice Good for Android Users?

Competition is always a good thing, right? I mean, the iPhone was the first true innovation in the smartphone market for years. And along came Android, which accelerated healthy competition and made all smartphones better, and therefore better for users. So why am I not very happy with the Amazon Appstore, at least at the moment? The promise of the Amazon Appstore sounds great, at least on paper. Adding another option for a store for consumers to buy Android apps sounds like a win-win situation, but in practice, I don’t think that it is all that it is thought to…

Whither Goeth the Newspaper?

eBooks, Editorials March 26, 2011

Whither Goeth the Newspaper?

I grew up in Northern Virginia right in the middle of the Nixon/Watergate madness.  Both my parents were big readers, and growing up then, and there, turned me into a big newspaper reader.  A big newspaper reader.  When I went to college, I made sure my dorm subscribed to a paper; when I moved into my own place, one of the first things I always did after getting the power and phone and such turned on was to order the paper; when we moved from Santa Cruz to San Jose, and then to Austin, I always made sure I had…

How to Use Online App/Product Reviews to Your Advantage

Editorials March 24, 2011

How to Use Online App/Product Reviews to Your Advantage

You can probably trust any reviews written by this guy! Recently, our own Carly Z pointed us GD folks to a very interesting and, for me, thought-provoking article about online reviews and blogs published to the web that contain reviews–like this here one that you’re reading–by Al Gauthier of “Living Barefoot”.  (N.B.–I don’t follow the “living barefoot” guidelines, but if you saw me paddling around my workplace in my stocking feet, you would know that I’m closer to it than a lot of high-tech types.)  Gautier’s (fairly open) question was, in an online world where there’s no barrier to creating…

Gear Diary Rave: Gomadic

Gear Bits March 22, 2011

Gear Diary Rave: Gomadic

I’ve been a fan of Gomadic chargers for several years. Like many of the other Gear Diary writers, I like to switch devices frequently, but replacing desk chargers, car chargers, sync cables, etc., for each gadget gets to be pretty expensive pretty quickly. With Gomadic’s “tip exchange” technology, you keep the same charging cable, but change the tip at the end where it connects to the device.  Here’s how they describe their products: Don’t lug around cords for all of your devices. Buy one Gomadic cable, from retractable USBs to double car chargers and you’re set for years. Simply buy…

Why the eBook World Makes Me Nuts

Editorials March 20, 2011

Why the eBook World Makes Me Nuts

Image taken from the Wayback Machine In the beginning, there was Peanut Press . . . Seriously, though; as you’ve probably noticed from Carly’s great postings, the eBook industry is . . . well, the polite way to put it is, “In flux.”  The less-polite way to put it is, “A big friggin’ mess.”  The same book cannot be read on different eReaders; paperbacks are cheaper than eBooks; eBooks are being delayed to give hardcover books a chance to sell more; books can be summarily deleted from your library without notice; and on and on.  It’s enough to drive you…

iDisplay Review: Gives You Second Monitor Capability on Your iPad (and iPhone)

Reviews March 19, 2011

iDisplay Review: Gives You Second Monitor Capability on Your iPad (and iPhone)

All images courtesy of Shape Services A couple of months ago, Shape Services–the makers of IM+ and IM+ Pro for the iPad and iPhone (which I will also be reviewing)–let me test out their iDisplay program.  The idea behind iDisplay is simple:  why not turn your iPad or iPhone into a second monitor?  How did it work out in practice?  Read on. I tested this app with my  Lenovo T-61, which has an Intel Core Duo 2 Ghz/777 Mhz, with 2Gb of RAM, running Windows XP SP 3.  Being a work laptop, it also has considerable security software running, which…