Gear Bits

Yes Man Sunnies – Handmade Bamboo Sunglasses on Kickstarter

Yes Man Watches, has been previously successful on Kickstarter by raising 217% of their goal on their first Kickstarter campaign.  Now, the Yes Man brand is back with some sick-looking handmade bamboo sunglasses.  These gorgeous polarized sunglasses made from bamboo and plastic can now be pre-ordered by pledging at least $30 at the Yes Man Sunnies Kickstarter campaign.


How Asurion Rescued Us After a Watery Disaster

Last week I mentioned that Sarah’s iPhone 5C had briefly and tragically became a water table toy. While it did miraculously boot up, the speakers tended to drift in and out of functionality, and we feared there might be further issues down the road, so we initiated an insurance replacement, and discovered Asurion‘s excellent customer service!


Record Breaking “The Simpsons” Marathon Begins August 21

Watch The Simpsons marathon over 12 days on the FXX television channel starting Thursday August 21 at 10 a.m. EST.That’s all 25 seasons, or 522 episodes plus the 2007 film (after episode 400) consecutively. Beginning on Sept. 2, FXX will also have eight-episode mini-marathons at 4 p.m. EST leading into each new episode of the upcoming 26th season on Fox.


Betting on an IPhone’s Survival

Our son has a water activity table that he LOVES. Every toy gets a dunk in the water table, and today that included Sarah’s iPhone 5C. We currently have it in a bag of rice, so we will see. The Gear Diary team is pretty pessimistic, with most putting the odds of survival at 20/80 or 30/70. What’s your bet?   How discouraging were my “nay-saying friends”? Read onto see their comments on Sarah’s iPhone Disaster: Travis Ehrlich 20/80. Survival/finished. Carly Zektzer What about the likelood the phone works but the speakers are fried? Travis Ehrlich Plausible. In still going…


Best Buy Gets Bested by Improv Everywhere

What happens when 80 people, all dress the same as Best Buy employees– you know, a blue polo and kahki pants– and go into a Best Buy megastore in New York City? That’s what the Improv Everywhere Project wanted to know. So they gathered 80 willing participants, made sure they were all wearing the same thing and sent them into Best Buy one by one.


Sony Adds Blu-ray 3D Support in PS4 Update

As expected after their announcement at E3, Sony has added Blu-ray 3D support to their latest PlayStation 4 system software update (1.75). Officially released on July 29, it’s the first prominent update on the PS4 console since April’s ShareFactory. Other new feature updates include new automatic download settings for featured content from the PlayStation®Store (with power ON or in standby) and better video playback sound quality. Are you excited about Blu-ray 3D? Have you downloaded the update and tried it? Do tell!


Bluetooth SSSSSpeaker is a Quirky Collapsible Crowd Pleaser

The quirky, collapsible Bluetooth speaker known as the SSSSSpeaker has been designed by aiia, a Ukrainian design firm and is looking for funding on Kickstarter right at this very moment. It is designed to fit in your pocket and is easy to take along everywhere you go. Check out the Kickstarter campaign to pledge your support today!


The Golden Notebook Nails Why Paper beats eBook

We are on vacation in Woodstock, NY, and the local bookstore had a very entertaining comic in the window. If the picture isn’t clear, it shows a 90lb weakling getting stronger from reading the complete works of Plato in hardcover, then smacking for using an ebook reader on the beach. Certainly one advantage to hardcover!  


Ultimate Ears UE Boom Limited Edition Announced

The Ultimate Ears UE Boom is one of the best portable Bluetooth speakers we have had the opportunity to review. (Read my review.) Perhaps the most compelling aspect of it – besides the great sound, battery life and superb build quality – is the fact that ultimate ears has continually found ways to update the speaker since it was first released.


TYLT ENERGI+ BACKPACK May Be Perfect for Back-to-School

TYLT offers some of the more interesting smartphone and tablet accessories on the market today. The TYLT ENERGI+ BACKPACK With Built-in Battery applies that same design talent to something that just may be the perfect backpack for anyone heading off to college next month. At just under $200 it may look pricey but it is actually a great deal.


Blue Microphones Announces Mikey Digital with Lightning

I’m constantly on the hunt for new ways to grab better video and audio with my iPad mini. And while there have been a number of different external microphones that have come to market I have yet to find one that I wanted to use consistently. That may change with the release of the Blue Microphone Mikey Digital with Lightning.


Synology DS415play 4-bay NAS System Coming Soon!

Synology has recently announced the new DS415play, a four-bay Network Attached Storage system targeted at home media streaming. The DS415play has built-in video transcoding so that you can stream your media to any media streaming device much more easily. This powerful NAS system can accept up to 20TB of raw storage! The DS415play will be available in August for $539.99.



These Optical Illusions Will Blow Your Mind

We now live in a world where you cannot simply believe that a picture or video is real. After all, computer graphics have become so powerful that, in the right hands, technology can make things appear far different than they actually are. That noted, as these optical illusions demonstrate, even low-tech approaches can fool us.


Todd Pavlisko’s Richard Pryor Portrait Made of Hang Tags

One of the highlights of Kev’s and my recent visit to the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC was the huge Richard Pryor portrait by Todd Pavlisko made of plastic retail hang tags. Pavlisko is a contemporary pop artist known for his “partly facetious tributes to cultural icons in his multi-disciplinary practice, which includes film, installation, painting, and sculpture.” From far away, I thought the pixel-style portrait was made of carpet or some other randomly textured item. Once we got closer, I realized that it was something a bit more interesting … Millions of plastic retail hang tags clustered together by color! I find Todd Pavlisko’s Richard…


The Sprint LG G3 Is Ready for Your Calls

With a 5.5″ screen, the Sprint LG G3 is big, it’s 4G, and even though it’s available date was July 18th, now there’s no need to wait. If you’ve been lusting after this latest LG super-phone, you can get one — even in the Sprint exclusive ‘shine gold’ color option — today. “Our stores are stocked and the devices is available at sprint.com and by calling 1-800-Sprint1. Sprint is thrilled to get this amazing device into our customers hands even earlier than expected.” You can see the full list of specs for the Sprint LG G3 here; you can get one for $199.99 with a two…


Life With the Sony Xperia Z2: One Headset to Rule Them All

While Judie and I were together last weekend, we discussed the features of the Sony Xperia Z2 we find most compelling. We both said we love the magnetic charging point that lets us quickly charge the phone. Having just flown to Israel, I have to say the built-in noise cancellation has now risen to the top of my list.


Are You Sure You Want to Post That Selfie?

Much fun has been had talking about how ridiculous and ubiquitous taking pictures of oneself, or “taking a selfie” has become. At a cool historical site? Take a selfie. Eating a fab meal while out with great friends? Take a selfie. Is it narcissistic? Sure! But we all do it, right? When is enough, enough? Well … There’s nothing wrong with snapping a memento when you are doing something fun, but there are definitely times when taking a quick selfie might be a bit much. 😉



Ok Google, Everywhere!

Last week Google rolled out a pretty big update to Google Now. Among those updates was a sneaky trick; if you have an Android 4.4 device, use Google Now to search “Ok Google Everywhere”. Now head to your Google Now settings and select “Ok Google detection”. You now have Google Now everywhere! Judie, Dan and I discovered this fun trick Sunday, and so far I haven’t noticed a major battery hit on my HTC One M8. It has prompted me to discover some very cool tricks that Google Now has up its sleeve. For example, this morning I was driving…


NOT Your Childhood Slip n Slide

  I have fond memories of zipping down the slight hill in our backyard on a slip n slide, but we never did anything beyond gentle landings. This video popped up recently on Facebook, and while I can’t say I would try this, I am impressed with the people who did!   What about you? Are you ready to try this? 😉