News & Features

DomeSkin Bumps Up to iPhone 5

With the announcement of any new device come the announcements of matching accessories. And if the device in question is a new iPhone, then you get a LOT more accessory announcements, given the popularity of that handset. Skins for iPhones (and other devices) are nothing new, of course, but the announcement Gear Diary received from DomeSkin caught my attention because it sounded like a different design concept. Most skins are intended to be as flat and thin as possible, so as to protect a device from scratches without adding bulk. If it suits the consumer, the skin may also add…

News & Features

Last Man Standing: Mainstream TV and Radio Connected for Special Event Today

I hope you are enjoying my continuing series of posts on Amateur Radio. Occasionally, we get to have fun and come close to touching those who we watch on TV. Well, not exactly but today there was a special event that almost never happens. What on earth am I talking about? Well, today there was a very special Amateur Radio event. From 9am to 1pm Pacific Daylight Time there was a special event station operating under the call sign K6H from the set of Last Man Standing, and I was able to work this station via D-star on their backup reflector 30C….

News & Features

CW Returns to Cablevision Subscribers

I complained bitterly a few weeks ago about my cable company’s fight with Tribune, and how the result was that we, the viewers, were being punished by losing access to the CW network (and, apparently, Fox if you live in Connecticut). However, I was overjoyed to get the following email from Cablevision this morning, even if it was a bit stiff: Thanks for bearing with us while we negotiated with Tribune, the owner of the stations in your area that were recently removed from Optimum. The process took longer than it should have but simply conceding to Tribune’s demands could…

Music Diary, News & Features

iRig Keys Now Shipping, Review Coming Soon!

Today IK Multimedia announced that they were shipping the iRig Keys, their first entry into the hardware controller world. Building on their growing base of experience with iOS-based music accessories, IK is positioning as a mobile controller for your tablet or laptop that provides a solid range of functionality while also easily fitting in your backpack – and with the durability to stand up to life in a backpack! Even better, today my iRig Keys arrived for review, and will be working to get my review of the new hardware and iGrand Piano for iPad out as soon as possible. Because…

News & Features

NaNoWriMo Is Almost Here … Are You Ready?

Last year I wrote about NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month – and declared that I had joined up and gotten started. By ‘getting started’ I meant having a nugget of an idea and creating empty files on my iPad to work with. And … that was about as far as I got. I fiddled a bit, but never uploaded anything or made any significant progress. Sadly that was how many of my plans went last year. But this year has been very different – I have lost 90 pounds, fallen in love with running, I’ve completed a half- and…

Gear Bits, Music Diary, News & Features

FL Studio for Android Coming in 2013 (Maybe), Developer Posts Update Video

I have been very vocal about what I see as the shortcomings of Android tablets, with one in particular getting my ire: audio latency issues and the lack of a ‘core audio’ solution that makes the entire Android platform totally useless for people trying to make music of any reasonable quality. Sure there are a few apps out there – but they are all base-level crap. Sorry, but at best they are work-arounds that are inelegant, or perhaps work on one or two hardware platforms, but in general I don’t report on specific Android music apps for a very simple…

News & Features

Epson’s Expression® Photo XP-850 Small-in-One™ Printer Introduced Today

It’s great to have today’s digital cameras, isn’t it? It used to be that we’d take pictures using film, and we’d have to hope that through a magical combination of our equipment’s quality and our picture-taking ability, the results would be worthwhile, because we were going to pay the same price for the good shots as we would for the bad. If you wanted copies of your photos, you had to pay a photo processing company to do them; the price for this could add up quickly! Now we can take all the pictures we want with our phones, digital cameras…

News & Features, Vehicles & Gear

Here’s Your Justification for Buying the 2014 Corvette

Have you been trying to justify the purchase of a new Corvette, but just couldn’t make it far past the “because I want one” stage? Here’s an argument that might hold a little bit more weight with your spouse: It will get 26+ miles to the gallon! While you might think that in order to get nearly 30 mpg, sacrifices would have to be made to engine size and performance, that doesn’t appear to be an issue. When the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette arrives late next year, it will be powered by a technologically advanced, race-proven, 6.2L V-8 that will deliver…

News & Features

AhnLab Introduces the V3 Click, the First-to-Market Personal Security Device for PCs

Viruses, trojans and spyware. These are the perennial pests of modern computing and the bane of system administrators and IT personnel everywhere, not to mention the end users themselves! When I first heard about USB flash drives being used to infect PCs a few years back, I wondered: if a USB device can infect a system, can a USB device protect a system? Apparently some engineers at AhnLab wondered the same thing too, because AhnLab has released the industry’s first Personal Security Device for PCs, the V3 Click Home Desktop Edition unit than runs from a PC’s USB port. This…

Editorials, News & Features

Apple Jumps on the ‘Fast Obsolescence’ Train!

Not long ago, I took Android makers HTC and Motorola to task for how they handle their customers – they quickly roll out and refresh new products and seldom keep the prior models up to date with OS updates. In that post, I cited Apple (and more recently Samsung) as utilizing a more predictable annual refresh cycle that gave customers some comfort that they were getting a product that should be highly competitive for a year until the next version comes out (and honestly, it is only recently that the first generation iPad is showing its age around my house)….

News & Features

Tab-X 9.7 Android Tablet Brings HD Big Screen Tablets To The Low End Market

In all the iPad Mini hoopla today, it was easy to miss that another (slightly less rumored) tablet was released. If $499 for an iPad is too rich for your blood, and you’re hankering for an HD tablet with a large screen, it looks like the non-mainstream brand Android tablet makers are catching up. Enter the Tab-X 9.7 from Arena Scientific. On paper, the specs sound pretty decent: Storage 16GB 32GB Display Retina-IPS display 9.7-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi) Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously…

News & Features

So Much for Success – Googles Nexus 7 Sold Less Than 1 Million Last Quarter!

Image from HuffPo OK, it is not confirmed, nor is it likely to get official confirmation, but the Nexus 7, Google’s ground-breaking tablet released earlier this year to great fanfare — declared by some as an ‘iPad Killer’ and reportedly ‘sold out’ on pre-order and after release — hasn’t even managed 1 MILLION in sales over the first quarter. This is based on analysts looking at the Google earnings report. And since the average life-span of ANY Android device is less than 6 months, we can now declare the Nexus 7 yet ANOTHER tepid Android tablet. I bought and have…

News & Features, Reviews, Yum Log

Dasani Drops Water Enhancer Review

In what surprisingly became a rather hotly debated topic here recently, we discussed the importance of staying hydrated. As was noted, water is the more important than food in terms of survival. But for too many, their liquid water intake is through sugary and caffeine-loaded soda and coffee and energy drinks. The best way to get your liquid water is … from water. For me I am happy with plain water, and have a 30-oz TupperWare cup at my desk all day to offset the heat/AC vent blowing dry air about six feet away from me. But for many, the…

Gear Bits, News & Features

CBS Cancels ‘Made in Jersey’, NBC Sends ‘Saving Hope’ To Web – How Are YOUR Shows Doing?

The fall of 2011 was a virtual bloodbath with how quickly shows were axed en masse by pretty much every network. So I was surprised that we got all the way into the middle of October before I started hearing about shows getting cancelled. Turns out that it was happening – just a little more quietly and in different ways than before. Let’s start with a traditional axe – ‘Made in Jersey’ got whacked after two episodes due to dismal ratings and abysmal viewership: We have the first official casualty of the 2012-13 season. CBS has pulled low-rated new drama…

News & Features, Outdoors

Chaval Outdoor Introduces Response-XRT Tech-Based Luxury Ski Gloves

We have now had three sub-30F mornings in the last two weeks … so I am thinking about my cold weather gear for running. Also, next month my younger son starts his annual ski team weekend jaunts, so again I am thinking gear. I have found that through the years maintaining finger warmth has become increasingly critical to my overall sense of comfort. By the coldest days I am often double-gloving in order to keep warm. But that was before; I am now running FOUR TIMES the distance and staying out twice as long. So I anticipate this year being…

News & Features

Use Protection with Heat Sensitive Rub & Reveal…Now for iPhone 5

All right, all right, have a chuckle. Get your sophomoric locker room humor out of your system. Take a deep breath. Better? Okay, for those able to stop channeling Beavis and Butthead, anokimobi has recently introduced their Heat Sensitive Rub and Reveal cases for the iPhone 5. The heat-sensitive cases are the first of their kind on the market using a special heat-sensitive ink imprinted on the case. When friction or other heat source (I would not recommend an open flame of any kind) is applied, the special ink alters its form and reveals a hidden image underneath. Simply slip…

News & Features

SNL Takes On Tech Bloggers!

Saturday Night Live has had some ups and downs over the years, but this year the combination of the presidential election and new cast members has reinvigorated the show. It’s not ‘appointment TV’ in my house, but thanks to the DVR we catch up over Sunday morning breakfast…and this week had one of the best sketches they’ve done in a long time. See, they decided to spoof tech blogs, specifically the nitpicks and criticisms that give rise to jokes about “first world problems”. They also manage to more deftly comment on the abysmal manufacturing conditions than any concerned five minute…

News & Features

Intuit Releases Quicken 2013 with Ties to iOS/Android Apps Through ‘Quicken Cloud

I have been using Quicken for a long time – since sometime way back in the 90s when I was still using a Mac Classic with a 9″ screen! And so for the past 20 years when it came to check out my finances or pay bills or whatever … I always turned to Quicken. Now they are back with their latest version Quicken 2013 – and have added mobile apps as well! Here is the press release: With the new Quicken® 2013, from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU), people can get their financial lives on track and know exactly where they…

News & Features, Reviews

Samsung Galaxy S III from U.S. Cellular Review and Video Hands-On

When it comes to the world of smartphones, there is Apple and Samsung and everyone else. As noted in the past, Samsung and Apple combined for more than 100% of all profits during the last quarter! Whereas Samsung used to be famous for pushing out numerous mid-line phones with different design schemes, over the past couple of years they have focused on delivering top-end devices that offer compelling features – and have essentially become the flagship Android brand. Late this summer Samsung launched their latest flagship, the Galaxy S III. The folks at US Cellular were kind enough to send…

News & Features

The Telikin Brings Computers to the Masses

Before I tell you about the Telikin computer system, I need to tell you about my grandma. See, my grandma was always on the cutting edge. She was an early adopter, from microwaves to VCRs and DVD players. We used to joke that if she were still driving and needed a cell phone in 2007, she would have been first in line for an iPhone. So needless to say, my grandma had to have a computer. However, setting someone in their late 80s up with a computer was not that simple. The entire process of interacting with a computer was…

Editorials, News & Features

HTC and Motorola Remind Us that EVERY Android Sale is an ‘As Is’ Screw-Over

Apple is far from perfect, but if there is one thing they have demonstrated in the mobile space, it is how to ensure that nearly all users have the latest possible operating system revision as quickly as possible, and to keep updating those systems as long as the hardware is sustainable (obviously this is setting aside things like ‘Siri exclusivity’ and so on). Google and Android on the other hand seem to operate on a couple of different mantras – WYSIWYG and Caveat Emptor. In other words, do not ever expect anything except what you buy … and be careful…

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