News & Features

Production on Judie's One-of-a-Kind Orbino Padova Case for the iPad 2 Begins

News & Features

Production on Judie’s One-of-a-Kind Orbino Padova Case for the iPad 2 Begins

Last month we wished Judie happy birthday with the promise of a very special gift — a one of a kind Orbino Padova case for her iPad 2. Thanks to the generosity of Orbino’s owner Michael Ventre, we were able to make arrangements to get Judie a significantly discounted case made of the leather of her choice. Judie’s choice? No surprise … Crocodile! The MSRP on this unique case is $689, and that’s for the “standard” handmade by Italian artists, crocodile skin version. Judie’s birthday case is not the standard case. This case is being made especially for her, and she…

Craig Turner Solves the Cat Pee Problem (and Yes, There IS a Problem)

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Craig Turner Solves the Cat Pee Problem (and Yes, There IS a Problem)

I love my two (fixed) female cats, but for a while we had a third — a stray we named Bobby because when he showed up more than 3/4 of his tail was missing.  That’s him in the picture above. Cute little guy, right? Unfortunately, something else wasn’t missing; he was still a fully intact male. We never leave our windows down, so we didn’t discover his disgusting habit of peeing in people’s cars until he had done it to my friend Lisa’s jeep and my cousin Dusty’s work truck. Bad kitteh. I don’t know about you, but there are…

May the Fourth Be With You! Star Wars Blu-Ray Details Revealed!

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May the Fourth Be With You! Star Wars Blu-Ray Details Revealed!

Today is May 4th, which several years ago became Star Wars day. According to the Star Wars blog: Happy Star Wars Day! Every year on May 4th, fans everywhere celebrate Star Wars online and in person. While every day is Star Wars Day for many hardcore fans, this is the best time to remind everyone else that the Force is everywhere. The site also features links to many sites with special features to celebrate the day. For me, it always reminds me of a Dilbert joke (“I am THOR!” … “take an aspirin”), but it is worth observing since today…

Doing Good One App at a Time: Make a Wish Makes an App Wish Come True

Gear Bits, News & Features

Doing Good One App at a Time: Make a Wish Makes an App Wish Come True

The Make a Wish Foundation does some pretty amazing things for some pretty sick kids. Here’s one that brings kindness and tech together. 9 year-old Owain Weinert has pre-B Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. After his diagnosis he reached out to the Make A Wish Foundation who, in turn, reach out to PopCap Games. One thing led to another and before you know it PopCap was working with Owain to create the iOS game Allied Star Police. The game should be available soon. Seriously, how neat is that??? Personally, I don’t care whether I ever play the game, I’m buying as soon…

Olympus' New LS-20M Linear PCM Recorder Aims to Unite High-Definition Video and PCM Audio

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Olympus’ New LS-20M Linear PCM Recorder Aims to Unite High-Definition Video and PCM Audio

  Don’t be intimidated if you don’t know what PCM Audio means, because I wasn’t sure either (and I had to look it up). PCM stands for Pulse Code Modulation, and it is a “means by which standard audio signals (which are represented by waveforms) are converted to digital audio signals (which are represented by 1’s and 0’s – much like computer data) with little, or no, compression. The method of audio conversion is used on most digital audio formats, including CDs and DVD-Audio, and is also used to some extent in Blu-ray and HD-DVD applications. The PCM signal is…

Gary holding ammo can

News & Features

Geocachers: A Secret Society Stalking Your Streets

There’s a secret society stalking your streets, peering behind bushes and rummaging through parks. They work in the dead of night, or boldly move at high noon. These stealthy denizens are known to leave suspicious packages around public parks and quiet neighborhoods, and yet nobody tries to stop them. Using the latest in GPS and smartphone technology, they track hundreds of locations in nearly ever county of the USA. Their secret stashes are tracked on cryptic websites, and they’ve even made inroads into Canada and Europe. Their nefarious websites include listings for thousands of mobile treasures or “hitchhikers” which are shuffled from…

Apple Updates iMac All-In-One With FaceTime HD, Thunderbolt and more

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Apple Updates iMac All-In-One With FaceTime HD, Thunderbolt and more

As expected Apple introduced new iMacs this morning. While they look the same they have some nice upgrades under the hood. Among the changes are quad-core processors across the line, graphics that are up to 3x faster, Thunderbolt for super-fast data transfer, and a FaceTime HD camera. The 21.5″ model starts at $1,199.00 with the 27″ starting at $500 more. The upper end of the “ready to ship” models line has a 3.1 GHz Quad-Core and costs $1999.99. If I wasn’t so pleased using my 13″ MacBook Air I would be pretty tempted right now. Must… Resist…

Blue Canary Night-Lite Makes a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul

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Blue Canary Night-Lite Makes a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch Who watches over you Make a little birdhouse in your soul Not to put too fine a point on it Say I’m the only bee in your bonnet Make a little birdhouse in your soul Who didn’t sing along with this song in 1990?  Thanks to Think Geek, now you can have the night-lite that They Might Be Giants were referring to. $12.99 gets you this 4″tall night light with its light-sensing white LED. I’m ordering one now. Think Geek’s Blue Canary in the Outlet by the Light Switch (who watches…

iPhone Game News: It's a Dinosaur! It's Godzilla! It's... Destructopus!?

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iPhone Game News: It’s a Dinosaur! It’s Godzilla! It’s… Destructopus!?

Behold… the first game that combines the three elements necessary to help make you feel awesome: heroism, indestructibility, and giant octopi (and fuzzy pandas)!!! The world is doomed. Pollution levels are rising, trees are endangered, and industrialization is past the limit of sustainability. You are the world’s only hope. You. Are. The. Destructopus. Yes you are the only one who can save our planet. Along the way you will upgrade your abilities and unlock new powers. How do you do it? Simple, you just save the trees, exterminate pollution, and protect our forest friends. Oh, and OF COURSE you’ll need…

Gary Wearing Buzz

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Freestyle Buzz 2.0 Wristwatch Review

While preparing for our family vacation, which included a morning at surf school, I realized I no longer had a rugged watch. I’d owned several over the years, including an Ironman that lasted from Basic Training through several overseas trips before finally succumbing to a broken strap and went missing somewhere in the desert. Surfing…salt water…surf watch? Freestyle is a company which has been making saltwater-friendly watches for many years, so I picked up one of their midrange models. The Freestyle Buzz 2.o ($75-80 MSRP) has gigantic numbers for the main time, two time zones, two alarms, and the usual timer…

'Hats' Off to the Newly Married Royal Couple!

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‘Hats’ Off to the Newly Married Royal Couple!

The media is super-saturated with coverage of the royal wedding, so I have no intent of spending any time on it. But as my wife and I drank coffee and watched the wedding – we normally watch the morning news, but the wedding was on pretty much every channel – we noted all of the wild hats. I couldn’t help but notice that next to the princess who reminded me of Monica Lewinski was another princess who was wearing a hat that looked like a combination of a wreath and a huge ribbon, but solid and attached to something that…

Review: Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera

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Review: Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera

Cisco may have shuttered the doors on the Flip camera, but there are many other cameras out there that are still available that are as good or better than the venerable Flip.  Today I am going to take a look at the Kodak Zi8, which I recently purchased with a gift card I received from Judie for my birthday [Aww, that’s awesome! ~ Judie].  I’ve always wanted a dedicated video camera, and my old Aiptek died long ago.  The Zi8 was high on my list for many reasons, and even though it’s not the latest and greatest, I thought I…

Hulu+ Arrives on XBOX Live Today! Hooray or Meh?

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Hulu+ Arrives on XBOX Live Today! Hooray or Meh?

Hulu+ is available on your Mac or PC, your set top box such as the Roku we have (but alas not Apple TV), your iPhone or iPad, and your Playstation 3. With the computer devices you can use the ‘standard version’ for free but gain much greater access to programming with the $7.99 monthly fee. On other systems you need to have a ‘Hulu+’ account to access anything – though you can get a trial account on most systems. Now you can finally catch up on those episodes of Glee on your XBOX 360! Some background on Hulu: Hulu’s ambitious…

HBO NO! A Rant in Pictures

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HBO NO! A Rant in Pictures

HBO GO for iOS is live and available for free in the App Store. It is awesome. You can watch HBO movies on the go. You can watch some of HBO’s amazing series. (I am totally into Game of Thrones!) You can watch HBO comedy, you know, the ones where the funny people don’t need to censor their language or content. You can even watch HBO “late night” programs… If you are into that sort of thing. Yes HBO GO is a GO… Unless it is a NO GO… Which is the case if you pay out the nose to…

Rackspace and Microsoft: A Possible Answer for Small and Medium Businesses

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Rackspace and Microsoft: A Possible Answer for Small and Medium Businesses

In a world of the “Haves” and the “Have Nots”, the “Haves” will always have a clear advantage. In business, large companies “have” dedicated IT personnel, while small to medium businesses “have not”. Rackspace Communications Services is looking to help change all that by making it possible for companies of all sizes to have their own IT access while providing a wide range of hosted and “cloud” solutions. Rackspace offers products including hosted exchange for email, calendar and task management, SharePoint, mobile solutions and storage. Rackspace is designed to provide comprehensive communications solutions in a manner that is affordable, powerful, and…

Pioneer HDJ-500T-K DJ Headphones Great for Listening and Handsfree Calling Too!

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Pioneer HDJ-500T-K DJ Headphones Great for Listening and Handsfree Calling Too!

I’m always on the lookout for a good pair of comfortable, great sounding, good looking headphones and this new offering from Pioneer caught my eye. The HDJ-500T-K are a “multi-functional entry level DJ headphones that can be used for DJing, leisure music listening and now hands-free calling.” The latter functionality is arrived at thanks to two included, interchangeable cords: a coiled cord for DJ/relaxation listening and a straight cord with an integrated microphone for use with a smartphone. As David Arevalo, senior marketing manager, Professional Sound and Visual Division for Pioneer Electronics (USA) notes “Consumers are always looking for accessories that…

A Mac Keyboard Accessory I Really Want: the Mobee Magic Bar

Gear Bits, News & Features

A Mac Keyboard Accessory I Really Want: the Mobee Magic Bar

Mobee Magic Bar Both Elana and I use an Apple wireless keyboard with our MacBook Airs when we are at home. We love the keyboards and the flexibility they offer but we hate the wastefulness of constantly having to replace the batteries. Sure we could use rechargables and and we were about to get a system when I saw this: The Mobee Magic Bar. The Mobee Magic bar offers a USB-powered recharge dock for your keyboard that lets you cut the cords but then, when needed, charge it up once more by simple plugging it into the computer. It looks…

GD QuickRant: TSA Redefines Terrorism ...

Editorials, News & Features

GD QuickRant: TSA Redefines Terrorism …

Image courtesy of IVCaffeine … To Include Being Unhappy With Their Unconstitutional Screening Practices. Over at CNN there is an article that highlights a recent move by the TSA to categorize profiling of those who are unhappy with the potential added security screening as ‘potential threats’. There is also a video report. Here are a couple of quotes: the TSA‘s crack behavior detection officers are now on the lookout for “anyone who displays arrogance or expresses contempt for the screening process.” Why? Because scientific anti-terror detection techniques have now apparently revealed that complaining about poor treatment from airport security indicates…

ArchPort YogiStash Flip Flops Sport a Light, a Bottle Opener, and It Can Carry More!

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ArchPort YogiStash Flip Flops Sport a Light, a Bottle Opener, and It Can Carry More!

When you are at the beach, there are only so many places that you can tuck an ID card or some spare cash; keeping a bottle opener handy can be a chore as well …. but no more! Here to help is the ArchPort YogiStash, a flip-flop with a stash compartment just under the arch. Available in blue or gray and in sizes that will fit most men and women, the YogiStash retails for $54.95 — about on par with other popular flip-flops without all the extras. These look like the pair to bring when you are trekking around on…

Movie Ages

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Movie Ages

While quoting lines from movies is as old as the ‘talkies’ themselves, over the last few decades movies have become so ingrained in our cultural fabric that they have become part of our identity. My family uses lines from Airplane!, Star Wars, Monty Python and many, many more on a regular basis. So I thought this comic was really cool … and a bit scary. It is best if you read from top to bottom … especially if you are over 35! Source: xkcd