Gear Bits | Gear Diary

The Best iPad Commercial

Last night I met a lovely woman at a dinner party who demonstrated to me in a simple conversation why the iPad has been so successful. She commented that she was tired from being up past midnight, and someone else asked why she stayed up so late. The woman explained she was reading on her iPad, and playing “Words with Friends” with her daughter in San Diego. She then explained how much she loved reading on her iPad because she could “shop around” at Amazon, Kobo and B&N, plus she could leave the lights off so her husband could sleep….

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: Go to Traffic Court Get a Lesson in Tech

My father-in-law spent a few hours yesterday in traffic court. Yes, ol’ leadfoot didn’t see the speed trap but the officer sure saw him. All told, he was there for over two hours. This wasn’t because he was in so much trouble, he wasn’t, but because the judge literally held court… In court. Yes, the judge apparently opined about life, liberty and the pursuit of tech. He told the group that was gathered to appear before him about the Kindle he got for Christmas. He loves it! He told them that since he is cheap he is reading some of…

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: It’s ALL in the Timing

Person A to Person B- “I want you to ask me two questions. The first is ‘What is your profession?’ and the second is “What’s the hardest thing about your job?’” Person B to Person A- “OK. What is your profession?” Person A to Person B- “I’m a blogging comedian.” And without waiting for the second question continues, “Timing!” Okay, so maybe the joke doesn’t translate to written text all that well but the truth is, often times, TIMING IS EVERYTHING. And no one seems to do the timing thing better than Apple. CES 2010 was filled with chatter about…

Gear Bits

Anything to Keep the Lights On!

The above is an actual offer Sarah received from Borders Rewards today. Apparently if you’re not buying books, maybe you’d care for a nice glass of Cabernet with a side of Borders Bucks?

Gear Bits, News

GD Quickie: It’s Getting to be THAT Time of Year

I keep professional contacts with loads of folks in different industries all over the country, and after a couple of years of them being divided between ‘I’m happy to still have a job’ and ‘oh crap, I no longer have a job’ … this is the first year folks are starting to discuss raises. Having talked to several people in the last few weeks I have found a few basic themes: there are ~1% companies like Google who are saying ‘we had a great year – here, have some money’. Then there are the companies that are still struggling –…

Gear Bits

Grammar R Us: Facebook Drama Battles!

In a text I sent yesterday I inadvertently used ‘here’ when I intended ‘hear’ … but of course, once it is gone you can’t edit it! Now we have a Facebook battle celebrating an even more epic battle: the use of ‘your’ versus ‘you’re’. Just in case you were wondering … Emma has it right, and we love her for her patience and diligence trying to help her friend. Source: Buzzfeed

Gear Bits

Here is Every Password You Will Ever Need!

Someone at Gear Diary recently had one of their personal accounts hacked, which should be yet another reminder to everyone that you never know when or why one of your accounts might get compromised. Last year I had an issue with my Facebook account, and several years ago my Steam account got hijacked. It can happen to anyone, anytime … but the passwords you use can help keep you more secure. Last week there was a interesting infograph about the 20 top passwords of all time. Here is a snip from the graph: Amusingly this week there was an article…

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: Pay No Attention to the ’60 Minutes’ On Your Flip Mino HD

I love my Flip Mino HD, I really do. Since getting it I have used it extensively, capturing tons of our kids’ activities and so on easily and without any fuss. There are no accessible settings – you just record and use the digital zoom. But until last week I never really pushed it. Sure I have had it run out of time on me, but that is after capturing a bunch of different clips, usually during the holiday school concert season. But last week both of my kids had lead roles in the middle school play. Based on last…

Gear Bits, Music Diary

Music Diary Quickie: The Music of Super Bowl XLV!

Generally there are two reasons to watch the Super Bowl: the game and the commercials. But some folks look forward to the half-time show as well. But there is even more music, and last night we had two pre-game songs including America the Beautiful as well as the National Anthem. Was any of it tolerable? Here is my quick take. Lea Michele sings America the Beautiful Gleeks know her well as the talented but full-of-herself Rachel, but she is also becoming known for her ‘diva’ like behavior in real life, such as when she snubbed a fan who just happens…

eBooks, Gear Bits

Paperback and eBook Price Differences!

Generally speaking, I tend to buy eBooks over paper books. I like reading on my Kindle, and since I am usually reading more than one book at once it saves me the trouble of juggling several books on my nightstand or gear bag. My only major exception is if the book is not available in eBook form. I did trip across another reason to buy the paperback version over an eBook this week, though… That’s a screenshot of the listing for the Kindle edition of Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”. Note that Amazon makes sure to tell you this…

Gear Bits

New Mac Switcher? There’s an App for That!

Switching to a Mac is exciting and fun, but if you’re coming from Windows it can be quite intimidating. Luckily, the enterprising developers at It’s About Time have a handy app to make that easier for you. Normally it’s $24.95, or bundled as part of a $99 Parallels deal, but right now in the Mac App Store, it’s at the bargain bin price of just $0.99! At that price, even if you’re not a total mac newbie you may want to see if there are any new tricks you don’t already know! Check out the video demo, and then let…

Gear Bits

Twitter Guest Stars on “Grey’s Anatomy”

It’s a bit shameful, but I still watch “Grey’s Anatomy”. It’s my soapy guilty pleasure! I settled in last night to catch up on last night’s episode, and was surprised to discover that surgeons using Twitter was a big part of the storyline! I won’t spoil it for you, but I will say that even when the jokes were predictable (like the Chief mistakenly saying he wanted to check out Dr. Bailey’s ‘tits’ not her ‘tweets’), it was a cute storyline, plus the power of social media saved the day.

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: Torture Your Cat? There’s an App for That!

photo credit: Trish Hamme Off&On/FlickringSlowly/ThankYou When my Siamese cat Shika was alive I would often play with her by shining a small flashlight on the wall in a dark room. Shika, always on the prowl, would then try to swat what she thought was a fly. I thought it was hilarious… My spouse found it less so. Well fast forward to A.i. (after iPad) and there is a whole new way to “play” with your cat. And we aren’t just talking house cats. No we’re talking king of the jungle cats.

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: The Continuum of Caring

I just heard someone say ‘I could care less’ … and for some reason it drives me insane! So, as a public service I am putting this up as a reminder: ‘I could care less’ means that you could, in fact care less. I couldn’t care less, on the other hand … The image is one I always have at hand since I found it a long time ago … sort of like ‘Captain Obvious’ and the tin-foil hat ‘conspiracy’ guy.

Gear Bits, Reviews

GD Quickie Review- Atomic9 RumbleBuds

When I was asked if I would take a look at the Atomic9 RumbleBuds I was intrigued. I’ve had the opportunity to check out a wide range of different kinds of earbuds but these were the first that claimed to be “gaming” earbuds that give you a “totally immersive, deep-reaching soundscape you love about your games and music.” Let’s take a look GD Quickie-style… From the Company- Just because you’re on the go doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice that totally immersive, deep-reaching soundscape you love about your games and music. Feel the good vibrations of subwoofer-style bass wherever you…

eBooks, Gear Bits

Anne Frank’s Life As a Graphic Novel? Yes, Please

all photos courtesy of Smithsonian Magazine When I was growing up, one of my most beloved books was a translation of Anne Frank‘s Diary. Then and now, the story of her life before her family went into hiding and what happened after they were betrayed evoked feelings that are impossible to describe. In 2007, my daughter Sarah and I visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. If you are ever in Amsterdam, you must go … simply must. Ernie Colón and Sid Jacobson, the duo behind The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation, again teamed together and accepted the “challenge of…

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: Politics and the Power of Image Cropping

What is going on in Egypt is powerful and scary stuff, and I don’t seek to demean it in any way. Nor do I seek to diminish or trivialize anything that happened or is currently happening in Iraq. However this contrast of images is simply stunning. The image above is a split of top down pictures of supposed ‘democratic revolutions’, one in Egypt right now, the other from 2003 in Iraq. In the upper left of the lower image we see the focus on the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein – this was the widely shown image at…

Gear Bits, Vehicles & Gear

Scion and XLR8R Update City Guide App

Here is a bit of info Gear Diary received recently regarding a Scion-related app update. It is not a Scion owner-specific app, rather it’s one that seeks to enhance the lifestyle of the Scion demographic. The City Guide app now offers more than 15 locales in the database, but Dallas/Fort Worth, who is hosting the big game this weekend, is not among them. I did check out the Austin guide as I was visiting the capital city recently, but the place we had dinner and drinks at (The Highball) was not listed. It was a cool restaurant/bar/nightclub/bowling alley complete with…

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: Can You Guess Who Is Buying Google’s Priorities?

When I first heard that Google wasn’t going to auto-complete searches for Bit-torrents and other file sharing methods I was pleased. But then it became clear that it was less a matter of taking an anti-piracy stance, and more about satisfying the corporate interests of those who feed Google loads of cash. So this image was very telling – and it also shows where the priorities are at Google … if you have the cash, you get to set the moral compass. Source: Techi via Buzzfeed

Gear Bits

GD Quickie: Yeah, it IS That Kind of Day!

For a large part of the country, this image pretty much sums things up. It is from the stretch of I-93 on the New Hampshire side – 93 runs from Southern NH straight into downtown Boston and is one of those infamously clogged highways. For more images, check out page at BuzzFeed!

eBooks, Gear Bits

Kindle Singles

Kindle singles have been available for about a week, and my household has been brave enough to give them a try. Not only did I read one, but I convinced my dear wife and non-ebook fan Sarah to try one as well! I read a non-fiction title (Lifted, by Evan Ratliff), while Sarah read Leaving Home: Short Pieces by Jodi Picoult, who is one of her favorite authors. I enjoyed Lifted immensely. It was quick-paced, interesting, and read like a longer magazine article. What I really enjoyed was that it cut right to the important bits. If Lifted had been…