News & Features | Gear Diary

News & Features July 15, 2011

Pop Goes the Music Diary: C’Mon, Admit You Love Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’!

I was never a big fan of Amy Winehouse, finding that her touted ‘Back to Black’ recording had a backing track that sounded sloppy rather than loose and with a vocal that had a ‘blues sound’ rather than sounding bluesy. In other words I found the entire thing contrived. So when British singer Adele appeared a couple of years ago touted as ‘the next Amy Winehouse’ … I was unimpressed and never gave a listen. Now she has stormed the charts with her new album 21, powered by the mega-hit “Rolling in the Deep”. It is a huge success, and…

Gear Bits, News & Features July 14, 2011

Sonos + Spotify = Even More Music Throughout the House

Despite using MOG quite a bit recently (It replaced RDIO for me.) I’m still a huge Slacker Radio fan. I like the interface, the customization and the catalogue. And now that you can cache music AND selectively grab tracks or albums it is just awesome. Unfortunately it still doesn’t integrate with my Sonos audio system so, at home at least, it is either MOG or Pandora. Hopefully I’ll have yet another choice before the day is out. Spotify went live in the US this morning and I’m waiting for my invite to arrive so I can try out the long-awaited…

News & Features July 14, 2011

Looking for George R. R. Martin’s ‘A Dance With Dragons’ ebook? Forget Comparison Shopping!

It seems like ages ago I wrote about the lunacy of ebook pricing … but things haven’t gotten much better! Today is the release of the fifth book in the critically acclaimed ‘Game of Thrones’ series that has been 15 years in the making, and the first book in six years! I have only recently started reading the mammoth series so I find myself in the position of not needing to rush out and buy the latest book. But that didn’t stop me from looking! And what I found was that although the ebook is at least ~$4 LESS than…

News & Features July 14, 2011

Random Cool Technology: LifeLens Smartphone Microscope

We have seen novelty telescope attachments for smartphones in the past, but how about a different kind of attachment – one that works as a microscope and serves as a research and education tool to allow the viewing of the Malaria virus when there is no laboratory available. According to Smartplanet: After smearing a drop of blood from a small finger prick on the microscope lens, the app magnifies and analyzes the sample – taking a photo of it, detecting malarial parasites and ruptured blood cells, conducting blood cell counts for anemia, and quantifying how infected the sample is. “It…

News & Features, Reviews July 13, 2011

First Impressions: U.S. Cellular HTC 7 Pro Windows Phone 7 Smartphone

I am very fortunate to have landed a review HTC 7 Pro unit from U.S. Cellular. A month or so ago I wrote about the 7 Pro launching as the first Windows Phone 7 device on U. S. Cellular. I will be doing a full review in the coming weeks, but wanted to give a few first impressions on (a) the phone, (b) the operating system, (c) the apps and (d) the service based on several hours of use this weekend. The Carrier – U. S. Cellular It probably would have made sense for me to check out the…

News & Features July 13, 2011

Get Ready for the Finale With Harry Potter – A Look Back!

My family went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 last year, and we were all so exhausted that we said ‘never again’. But as we get more and more excited for the final film, my wife said “are you guys up for another show” and we all said YEAH! Early reviews are saying the finale is excellent, which makes us even more pumped to see it – not that it would matter at this point! I thought that by now all of the pre-show hype would settle down, but apparently Warner Brothers has…

News & Features July 12, 2011

Google Maps’ Unfortunate Mistake

Google Maps is not infallible. It’s been known to give wonky directions, as Sarah and I learned on Sunday when Google Maps mistakenly thought McCarren Park in Brooklyn was in Manhattan. Luckily we caught the mistake before we got completely lost. However, that’s nothing compared to the Google Maps fail for one NJ neighborhood, where they’ve mistakenly indicated the state park entrance is someone’s driveway. According to NJ.com: Since 1987, Gneiding and her husband Michael Brady have lived in one of three log homes found at the end of a quarter-mile long driveway in Clinton Township. The homes back Round…

News & Features July 12, 2011

Enjoy Being ‘King of the Road’ with the Magellan RoadMate Pro 9165T

What good is spending $200K on a land yacht if you end up RVing down a scary rut road that winds through the middle of Deliverance country? Sure, you could buy one of those huge atlases that they sell at every truck stop on the interstate, but this is the middle of 2011! Any self-respecting captain should have the finest navigation tools at his fingertips! And as much as we all love convergence, that doesn’t mean placing your smartphone on a mount in the middle of your 7′ wide x 5′ tall windshield — squinting at its 4″ screen —…

News & Features July 11, 2011

Music Diary Notes: Spotify Launch Next Week? Also, No Warner Music Deal (?) and Launch Notes Leaked!

I have written about Spotify’s plans to launch soon, including a sign-up page. However, there were even more interesting developments this week! First, as indicated in the title it seems that Spotify is looking for a launch between the 11th and 18th of July, if we believe a report from the Wall Street Journal: Spotify AB has told record label executives that it is aiming to launch its music-streaming service in the U.S. as early as the middle of next week, according to people familiar with the matter. Next, in spite of the imminent launch, it appears that the deal…

News & Features July 8, 2011

The Space Shuttle: A Retrospective

For most of my life I have lived watching the space shuttle program from afar. As a youth, I thought I would have the opportunity to fly on the shuttle. Of course that didn’t happen but I still will miss the shuttle in many ways. Take a walk through my childhood memories of the Space Transportation System. STS-1, the very first shuttle mission was a huge memory for me. When it launched on April 12, 1981, I remember getting out of bed early so we could see the launch together. The memory of seeing this launch on TV with my family is…

News & Features July 8, 2011

Random Cool App: Track the Final Shuttle Mission With GoAtlantis

As we prepare for the historic final Space Shuttle mission, many of us who grew up with Apollo and then the advent of the Space Shuttle are feeling a bit nostalgic. If that feeling describes you, or perhaps you just love keeping track of the Space Shuttle as it courses through space above the Earth, then the new app GoAtlantis is just what you need! According to an article at SmartPlanet: A new iPhone and iPad app, GoAtlantis, will allow you to do just that. It will track the space shuttle in real time and, using your phone’s locating function,…

Music Diary, News & Features July 7, 2011

Music Diary News: The Real Cost of that New Single … and the Reason You Hear it So Much!

I have talked quite a bit about how the music you hear on the radio and see on the ‘top charts’ has less to do with actual tastes in music and more in massive quantities of money being dumped into making those songs and artists omnipresent and triggering the ‘if I don’t like X I won’t be cool’ … along with the well known fact that when our brain hears something enough it gets ‘stuck’ – even if we don’t like it. I have also written rather derisively about these so-called ‘songwriters’ who are pop stars. While I cannot state…

News & Features July 5, 2011

Battery Died on Your iPhone? Play Angry Birds in Real Life!

Admit it, you’ve drained your smartphone battery more than once playing Angry Birds. It’s so hard to leave a level without 3 stars, and the next thing you know you’re blowing past the low battery warnings and then “poof”, no more Angry Birds for you. Well, that was the bad old days of technology, before you could buy your very own “Angry Birds” toy set. Yes, thanks to the good folks at Think Geek, you can build your own live-action Angry Birds game. Even cooler, it’s a multiplayer game. Play as the pigs and try to outsmart your birdbrained opponent,…

News & Features July 2, 2011

Skooba Design Introduces the Cable Stable Mini; a Place for Everything, and Everything in Its Place!

If you are still tucking all of your loose cables and supplies into the bottomless pit that makes up your favorite bag, then you seriously ought to take a look at the new Skooba Design Cable Stable Mini. Smaller sibling to the Cable Stable DX, the Cable Stable Mini is designed “to carry a basic assortment of power cords, adapters and other small accessories, and zips shut into a compact, (9 x 5.5 x 1.5 inch) “book” that slips easily into a laptop case, messenger bag, backpack or suitcase.” You won’t be able to help yourself from becoming more organized,…

News & Features June 30, 2011

You Suspected They Were the Same Movie … Here’s Proof!

I previously looked at how unsurprisingly music from the same songwriting factories … gasp … sounds alike. But the music industry isn’t the only group pushing out me-too efforts with just enough star power and a low enough budget that even a modest box office take will generate decent profits. Perhaps the worst thing is how these ’bouts of unoriginality’ tend to come in waves – there were buddy-cop movies in the early 90’s, remakes of 60’s TV in the late 90’s, generic RomComs in the early 2000s, and now we have a new twist: buddy romcoms which return to…

News & Features June 30, 2011

Wakemate May Help You Wake up Feeling More Refreshed

Wakemate looks like an interesting device that promises to help you get a better night’s rest. Wakemate 2, works with software that runs on iOS, Blackberry and Android devices. To use it, you just set the 20 minute window that you want to wake up in and slip the band on. The band will then keep track of your movements and trigger the alarm to wake you at just the right time; it promises to help you feel more refreshed. They have also included a way for you to report your activities, like going to the gym and how…

News & Features June 29, 2011

Random Cool Stuff: Your Saliva Can Reveal Your Age!

We know that our DNA holds the fingerprint to our entire physical makeup, but what about our age and the things that have happened to us through the years? Apparently we can even learn some of THAT through our DNA according to new research! According to a study from UCLA: During normal development, DNA in your body gets what’s called methylated. Small chemicals called methyl groups bind to the DNA, helping to determine which genes become active. But the patterns of methylation change as we grow older. Which was a clue that measuring methylation might give away age. The researchers…

News & Features June 27, 2011

The Twitter-sphere: None of You Have Any Friends!

I use Twitter, but there are times when I have to wonder if (or why) anyone cares about my random musings and shared links. Of course, my rationale for using Twitter in the first place is that many of my friends are all over the country (if not the world), and this is a great way to keep in touch. Mitchell sent this video to me, and I couldn’t help but laugh; although it was posted in March I hadn’t yet seen it, and I figured that might be the case for some of you, too. Peppered with offensive language…

News & Features June 24, 2011

The Next Innovation in Photography Could be Just Around the Corner Thanks to Lytro.

Image from Lytro Digital photography seems to be stagnating a little. Yeah there is High Dynamic Range photography, but that requires either an iPhone or some photo editing skills that are above the skills of most people. Other than that, little has changed other than megapixel ratings. Lytro aims to change that soon with their new light field camera. What makes Lytro’s camera so special? Well imaging taking a picture and not being concerned about having to actually focus? That sounds like it may make for a bad picture. So when do you focus? You focus after. That’s right I…

Gear Bits, News & Features June 24, 2011

Random Funny Video: Conan on Final Cut Pro X

Loving the new version of Final Cut Pro? Conan and his team do too! NOT! Here’s a look at them showing some love to Apple’s newest editing software. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sRzLP0FJ82I Via Cult of Mac

News & Features June 23, 2011

Hitchai G-Connect Wireless Storage for iPad

Last month we brought word of Seagate’s new GoFlex Satellite portable storage. The Satellite provides 500GB of storage that can be accessed from a computer, iPad, iPhone or other connected device on the go without a physical connection and even when there is no WiFi network accessible thanks to built-in wireless connectivity. (We will have a full review shortly.) Today Hitachi is announcing their entry into this wireless storage market. The new G-CONNECT offers wireless storage and allows up to five people to access data on the drive simultaneously. As the company explains: Wireless storage for on-the-go access to content…