News & Features | Gear Diary

Would You Like an Invite to BlackBerry’s New BB Music Service?

image courtesy of BlackBerry Smartphones Week If you live in North America or the UK, and if you have a BlackBerry, you have no doubt heard about the new BlackBerry Music service that we mentioned earlier this week. $5 per month gets you 50 songs that you can share with your friends … but only if you own a BlackBerry and they own one, too. And this service is not available to the general BlackBerry population yet. According to Digital Music News, the plan details are: (1) $5 a month. (2) User chooses 50 songs to access anytime, on-demand. (3) User then invites…

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Waterfield Unveils Their New Tablet Ultimate SleeveCase

As much as I have been disappointed with the Blackberry Playbook, HTC Flyer and other 7″ tablets I have tried I still love the size. They are easier to carry and hold than their larger cousins. That alone makes them worth considering if you are in the market for a tablet this fall. If you have a small tablet or plan on getting one Waterfield has a great way to take it with you. Their new Ultimate SleeveCase looks great and offers tremendous protection thanks to its great build-quality, impact plastic and a thick nylon shell. Here’s what they have…

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Gaypon: Daily Deals and Giving Back to the Community!

This is such a cool idea, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more “daily deals” type sites trying the Gaypon concept. Basically, they are a regular deals site, but a portion of the proceeds go to gay and lesbian charities, plus the companies featured in the deals are specifically vetted as being gay-friendly. It’s a great bit of niche marketing, and supports some very worthwhile organizations. Here’s a bit more background on Gaypon: Gaypon offers deals, discounts, coupons & special offers from gay friendly businesses that support the LGBT. We make arraignments with businesses that agree to extend special savings to…

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Wacom Inkling Digital Sketch Pen Is New Spin on Digital Analog Technology

(Image courtesy of Wacom) While the iPad has become synonymous with the term “tablet”, there has been other digital tablet technology, such as the Tablet PC and the Livescribe Pulse Pen which came out before and is surviving, albeit in more of a niche market. So it is rare for me to see any new devices, especially in the analog-to-digital space. While I love handwriting recognition on the Tablet PC and touch typing on the iPad, there has always been an appeal to writing on actual paper. The Livescribe handles this well, but requires the use of their special (Anoto-based) paper…

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Chatbots Prove Robots Want intro to Philosophy, Not War

Engadget caught this bizarre and amazing video from some Cornell researchers, who pitted a Chatbot in a conversation with itself. Apparently, all Chatbot wants is to study philosophy! Don’t believe me? Watch the video below, and then check out my commentary showing how the Chatbot(s) just want to talk Plato. Let’s see…the Chatbot(s) start with social contract theory. They exchange pleasantries and indicate an attempt to set rules of engagement so no one gets stabbed in their sleep (do Chatbot(s) sleep?). Then they move on to personal identity theory; what are they? What is a robot? If one Chatbot is…

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Keep Other Kid’s Hands off Your Kid’s Food with Lunch Bugs

Now that the kids are back in school, it’s time to think about practical matters such as how to make sure your son’s lunch doesn’t end up in some other kid’s mouth. Here’s an idea: Lunch Bugs sandwich bags. Lunch Bugs Sandwich Bags have a skittery surprise. Need some security when it comes to your sandwich? Our Lunch Bugs Sandwich Bags have a pre-printed bug on the sandwich bag. So the pest that goes to steal your sandwich will see a pest of another kind already calling dibs. There are 24 Lunch Bugs sandwich bags in a pack, and if…

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iPad 2 Case Review: Aranez iPad 2 Notebook Kangaroo Leather Case

The other day we brought word of a new folio-style case for the iPad 2 that is made of kangaroo leather. It looked great and carried a premium price north of $100. Then again, the case is made from kangaroo leather and that stuff ain’t cheap. (Or so we hear.) Well, the Aranez iPad 2 Notebook Kangaroo Leather Case arrived right after the news post went live and we’ve run it through its paces. Is it worth the price? Does the kangaroo leather really make a difference? You decide. Fortunately, while the case comes in a nice box it didn’t…

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New Sony Reader Leaks — How Badly Do They WANT to Fail???

Big news if you’re a Sony fan! A Dutch site has leaked pictures and specifications of the new Sony Readers. (The same ones Sony has been denying were coming) They look…well, let’s check out the specs and then I’ll give my opinion. Translated from Google: Description The Sony PRS-T1 watching his brother looks on Mobile, the Xperia, with its curves and high quality chrome finish. Thin and light, so easy to take. The Sony PRS-T1 weighs only 168 grams. The screen is of the highest quality and provides optimal reading conditions. And while the battery will not suffer it. The Sony PRS-T1 read it one…

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Gear Games News: EA Launches ‘The Sims Social’ on Facebook!

Are you one of the millions of fans of The Sims franchise? Do you like Facebook games? If so … rejoice, because The Sims Social has arrived! The game will be immediately familiar to anyone who has ever played a Sims game: you set up your character, then start doing some basic tasks, and slowly built a life for your Sim including interactions with others. The image below shows the basic starting point for a character. As with the other games in the franchise you have extensive tools to alter your appearance to your liking – or just to match…

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The KAMMOK Kometh

Over the past year I have helped fund a number of Kickstarter projects. I backed the Vere Sandal Company, with an iPad stand, and with a watchband for the iPod nano. If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, it is an online threshold pledge system for funding creative projects. Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors,ranging from indie film and music to journalism and food-related projects. One of a new set of fundraising platforms dubbed “crowdfunding”, Kickstarter facilitates gathering monetary resources from the general public, a model which circumvents many traditional avenues of investment. Project owners choose a deadline and a target…

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Food Sanitation Just Got a Lot Easier with the CleanCut Touchless Automatic Towel Dispenser

A few years ago Elana trained as a chef at the Natural Gourmet Cooking School. One of the most important lessons she learned had to do with food sanitation. (She’s a nut about it which is a good thing. She also once commented that “If you knew what went on in some restaurant kitchens you would never eat out again.”) It is important to keep kitchen surfaces as clean as possible and that means, in part, using paper towels to ensure that all surfaces touched by raw food are sprayed and cleaned on a regular basis. To ensure this happen,…

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SanDisk Brings Out the Sansa Clip Zip

While I do like iPods, I still love other MP3 players as well. One of my favorites is the Sansa Fuze+ after the latest firmware update. Sandisk also has made many other Sansas, and one of the Linux community’s favorite ones has been the Sansa Clip. Just when I didn’t think the Clip could get any better, Sandisk brings out the Clip Zip, which adds some nice things to the Clip’s form factor. Stylish, Feature-Rich Player Delivers Affordable On-The-Go Music Experience · Packed with features, including a larger color screen, compatibility with all major music formats, a stopwatch, an…

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G’Day to the Aranez iPad 2 Notebook Kangaroo Leather Case

We’ve seen iPad 2 cases made from a variety of different leathers. We’ve seen a gorgeous example of one made from crocodile thanks to Orbino. But this is a new one for us. Aranez has released an iPad 2 case made from Kangaroo leather. We’ll skip all the sill puns and jokes and just hop over to the company’s description of it. (Oops, sorry that just kinda slipped out by accident.) Presenting the world’s first iPad 2 Kangaroo Leather Case crafted by Aranez. This stylish case features genuine high-grade Australian kangaroo leather which is known to be the best performance…

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Israel’s Iron Dome Missile Defense System Active for the First Time

It’s not the Star Wars Missile Defense System but it is real, it is here now, and it works. Yes, Israel’s new Iron Dome missile defense system was used in the field for the first time and … it worked. Over the past few days the Israeli cities of Beersheba, Ashkelon and Ashdod have seen a barrage of rockets sent over from Gaza (this started right after the attacks on tourist buses on the Egyptian border). While many of the rockets that were aimed toward civilian populations actually landed in fields when fired, enough of them hit their mark and…

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What Book Is That Movie Based On? Check ‘Based on the Book’ to See!

How many times have you read a great book, only to watch it get destroyed by a sub-par movie? Plenty of times, I am sure. But how about things going in the other direction? How many times have you thoroughly enjoyed a movie or a television series, and yet you finished the show feeling like something was missing — maybe you simply wished you’d had a little more back-story on the characters? One of the best examples of a great series that has been adapted from a book to a show is Dexter, a long-running Showtime series (season 6 starts October…

Gear Bits, News & Features

Plant Buddies Let You Keep Your Plant With You AND Save an Endangered Species

The Plant Buddies caught my eye when Ali over on ChipChick posted on them last night. The Plant Buddies are selection of endangered cacti that you can carry with you, nurture for a time and then release back into the “wild” to help them repopulate and become less endangered. Each “kit” includes a starter plant (Stone Rose – Genus “Anacampseros”, Golden Marble – Genus “Opuntia Monachantha”, Eve’s Needle – Genus “Astrocylindropuntia Subulata”), soil, a plastic dome housing, and a keychain attachment. You can carry your little friend with you and, so long as you water it every 30 days,…

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One of the Many Differences Between Donald Trump and the Rest of Us

While the rest of us are flying Coach and griping about baggage fees, Donald Trump is flying primo-class in his own custom “luxurious” 757 Jet, which he purchased from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for $100 million.

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Big News From Evernote: Purchases Skitch, New Apps and More…

Evernote is in the midst of their “first-ever Evernote Trunk Conference” and had some big news to share. Skitch As the above “Skitched” image indicates Evernote bought the image app/service Skitch and is making the app completely free. As they explain We love Skitch so much that we decided to buy the company. Skitch is an amazing Mac application that’s changed the way people capture, annotate and share images. Chief Skitchers, Cris Pearson and Keith Lang are moving from Australia and joining Evernote to lead a significantly expanded Skitch team focused on supercharging the product. Evernote goes on to explain:…

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John Hodgman on Bookstores

There are almost no words to describe the hysterical segment of “The Daily Show” where John Hodgman explains his view of bookstores to Jon Stewart. It’s a must watch. As much as Hodgman is aiming for humor, he hits a few serious points as well. Now, humorous or not, he actually noted a few things that are ridiculous, yet true: 1) Borders actually piloted a program of downloading music at in-store kiosks. They worked out about as well as you’d expect. 2) We actually did host a night where authors wrote, but it was a poetry seminar. 3) Yes, bookstore…

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Gear Diary PSA: 10 Ways to Reduce Your Dependance on Foreign Oil

In a summer where ‘double dip’ refers to the economy as much as to an ice cream treat, and with gas prices at the pump only one of dozens of higher costs associated with increasing oil prices, the need to lessen our dependance on foreign oil is acute. To that end, the environmental group Environment America has launched a campaign called Get Off Oil, and has a Facebook and Twitter presence dedicated to the cause. The focus, according to their Twitter feed, is: Why get off oil? Cleaner environment, less vulnerable to instability in the Middle East, save $$, increased…

Editorials, News & Features

Yet Another Reason Why It Seems Android Users Love to Relive Their Windows Suffering

I have been an Android user since 2009, and have no intent on switching. But let’s be honest – in many ways the OS mirrors DOS and Windows. For example, on my original Droid, the split between the internal storage and SD card was absurd – I would have 14GB of memory on my SD card, but get ‘low memory’ warnings trying to install a 2MB app because nothing would let itself be installed in ‘HIMEM.SYS’. Another Windows-like behavior? The Add/Remove Control Panel – or, the ‘Manage Applications’ system item. This is the place you go to move apps to…