Gear Bits | Gear Diary

Professional Athlete Doesn’t Always Mean Millionaire

Running is not as popular as, say, football or baseball when it comes to spectators. So it isn’t surprising that professional runners don’t have the same earning power. But this article from Runner’s World surprised me with how low compensation can be, even for a talented runner. According to the survey: – Our sport has a very steep pyramid of income opportunities. A select few enjoy a very good living…though even they can fall hard in a short period if performance lags or injuries intervene. – The top variables that affect an athlete’s earnings realization are “world ranking” and “event”….

Gear Bits, How to Do It Yourself!

When is a ROM Update an Official Update? The Verizon Galaxy Nexus Edition

As a Verizon Galaxy Nexus owner for merely a month, one thing that I have learned is that you can not expect to have the update from Google at the same time as the GSM version. Here I sit one month in, and it’s been five months since the launch of the phone on Verizon … and I still have Android 4.0.2. Why? Funny you should ask. I have too. In February, there were many posts about the Verizon version of the phone “losing” it’s developer phone status. Many of the posts were quickly updated as Google stated that it…

Gear Bits

The 50 Best “Very Special” Sitcom Episodes

Coming out of the 1970s social awareness which turned into popular After School Specials and dramatic mini-series ‘events’, the early 80s spawned an endless stream of ‘Very Special Episodes’ in sitcoms, which continue to plague shows as some of the worst and most awkward moments in the series. The folks over at Jest Comedy have compiled a video of 50 memorable episodes, from caffeine pills to shoplifting and more. Here is the info: The people at Jest Comedy bring us this supercut of the best of those very special episodes, from peer pressure to deadbeat dads. Enjoy reliving some of…

Gear Bits, News & Features

All the Things a Star Trek Doctor is NOT!

If you think of quotes from the classic Star Trek, one of the first few would be ‘I’m a doctor, not a …’. These were uttered brilliantly by DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy in the series, and have become a standard line in later series entries. You heard it in Deep Space 9, Voyager and even the Enterprise prequel – but ironically never from Dr. Crusher on The Next Generation. Anyway, here is a great video showing a ton of these lines! If you are interested, there is a great list of sayings from Star Trek fan site ‘Memory…

Gear Bits

A BBC Series Will Attempt to Dissuade People Who Believe In Alien Abductions

It’s interesting to hear the reasons given when people believe in things which seem contrary to what evidence otherwise proves, but there are plenty of people who do. Whether it be the country of Obama’s birth (and whether his US certificate is forged or not), that the earth will be destroyed in 2012 when the Mayan Calendar ends, that the events of 9/11 were not a terrorist attack, that childhood vaccinations cause autism, or that Beyonce was ever actually pregnant; there are people who find controversy in topics that others consider obvious closed cases. I recognize that, for many, there are…

Gear Bits

Elana and the Four Speck Cases for iPhone 4S

With sincerest apologies to “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. Once upon a time there were four Speck iPhone cases that arrived for review. One was a FabShell Burton, one was a FabShell, one was a CandyShell and the other was CandyShell Grip. Each had its own style and form. The timing was right, as Elana had finally broken down and made the move to the iPhone. The FabShell Burton was there with “fresh fabrics and hard-shell protection combine in a form-fitting one-piece case.” Fabulous fabric-backed Burton designs on a fiercely protective co-molded one-piece case from Speck! Custom patterns, extra protection and…

Gear Bits, Health and Fitness

Sugar, Salt, and Why We Love Junk Food

I love salt. A lot. My college friends still tease me about how I would salt my fries, then salt my ketchup for good measure. For the record, I don’t do that anymore, and not just because Sarah made me stop. We really do try to make an effort to eat “real food” (and yes, I recognize that the fried Oreos I had at the town carnival last night do not count), and this graphic shared by author Michael Pollan just further cemented that drive to eat better. I don’t know for certain that all of the claims are true,…

Gear Bits

Organize Your Seeds with a Seed Organizer Binder Kit

I collect seeds when I find interesting plants in the reproductive stage where seeds can be gathered. Usually I am pretty good at remembering what I collected (and why), but recently I stumped myself. I had gathered some seeds and put them in a bag, and at some point (months later, I’m sure) mislabeled them “Mexican Paradise Plant”. After the seeds began to grow, there was no doubt in my mind that the seedlings were something completely different. Obviously my organizational skills had failed. Kev and I spent hours trying to figure out what this odd five-leafed plant was, and through…

Gear Bits

Is Amazon Spying on Me?

I know I buy a great deal from Amazon, but I am starting to think they have hidden cameras in my house! You see, back in January, I ordered a box of KIND bars for our trip to Costa Rica. We figured with all the flights, layovers, and bus transfers in our travel schedule, we would need snacks. As it turned out, we didn’t eat all of them, and I unearthed a bag of leftover bars while cleaning out my suitcase over the weekend. I stuck them in the pantry and promptly forgot about them. Until Monday, when I returned…

Gear Bits, News & Features

How Early Exposure to Dungeons & Dragons Impacts the Rest of Your Life

Were you playing tabletop Dungeons & Dragons as a child? Do you wonder how that might have impacted your life ever since? Now you can track your life through this flow chart! Head to The Uniblog for the full resolution version! Source: NY Times via The Uniblog

Gear Bits

How Much Gear Is too Much?

I have jury duty this week. My only other experience with jury duty was in Boston, and I remember sitting all day in a cramped room reading a book, and almost escaping being put on a jury. So I am anticipating a long day of “hurry up and wait” and have begun packing for the day accordingly. My original plan for what to bring was fairly extensive: iPad iPhone Computer (for logging into the office) Kindle Eers headphones Extra book Chargers iPhone iPod touch (for games) However, when I realized I was treating jury duty like I was going on…

Gear Bits

Paid-Up MobileMe Subscribers Get to Keep Their Free 20GB for 3 Months More!

When MobileMe turned into iCloud, those of us who had dumped hundreds of dollars into the service hoped that Apple would ‘throw us a bone’ for the years of loyalty. And they did – we got the 20GB storage level for free until June 2012. Here is the section from the FAQ: MobileMe members with 20GB of purchased storage receive a complimentary iCloud storage upgrade of 20GB, and accounts with additional purchased storage (40GB to 60GB) receive a complimentary upgrade of 50GB after moving to iCloud. These free upgrades are good through September 30th, 2012. After that date, you can…

Gear Bits

Antipodes Map Show Where that ‘Drill Through the Earth’ Dream Will Get You!

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you drilled straight through the earth? Chances are if you ever watched Bugs Bunny or were a child, the answer is yes! Now you can easily find out – head to Antipodesmap.com and locate yourself on the top map and see where you would end up! But one caveat – you will likely learn just how much of the planet is covered with water! Source: Buzzfeed

Gear Bits

SNL Parodies Amazon and the Kindle (NSFW!)

Sarah and I started watching “Saturday Night Live” again recently because one of our favorite sketch comedians, Kate McKinnon, joined the cast. Thank goodness for DVR, as it lets us skip the less entertaining sketches easily. It also allows us to re-watch the truly hysterical ones, like their flat-out brilliant parody of Amazon and “50 Shades of Gray“.

Gear Bits

The Avengers Gear Summary

Marvel’s Avengers fans can find plenty of related gear including comics, figures, various apparel, phone cases, wall decals, LEGO sets, mech toys, music, masks, NERF bows, and games.

Gear Bits

May the 4th Be With You as Donny & Marie Do Star Wars!

If you go back 35 years to the late 70’s, it seemed that everyone had a variety show – and one of the best things was that they were all live. I loved watching the Carol Burnett show, and one of the best parts was that Harvey Korman could never keep a straight face once Burnett and Tim Conway got going. Donny & Marie had an enormously popular variety show in the late 70’s based around their singing, dancing, charming personalities and wholesome images. They brought in a younger crowd than other shows and also provided an alternative to the…

Gear Bits, Travel

McSweeney’s Guide to Airline Passenger Profiling

You’ve heard about racial profiling, but how about pants profiling? Oh, you hadn’t heard of it? That’s okay, neither had I … until I found myself nodding and chuckling as I read the list of what to expect from other passengers on a flight — based on the type of pants they were wearing! Wool Suit Pants: Will board before you. Wool Hunting Pants: Will board after you. Pleated Dockers: Will loudly talk on cell phone about ROIs and vertical markets. Pajama Bottoms: Will be flying either to or from a city with a Señor Frog’s. Sweatpants with Dallas Mavericks Logo: Will clog one or…

Gear Bits

Want Fast Internet? Move to South Korea!

For nearly three decades I have worried about the connection speed to a remote network. Sure in the early days it was a 300baud modem hooked into a mainframe, but even then connectivity mattered. As the dial-up era matured we tried to squeeze every little bit of speed from those connections, and that effort continues into the DSL, Cable and LTE era. But ultimately all of these techniques are limited by infrastructure and bandwidth availability. For example, my local cable provider offers a speed boost solution at a monthly fee, but I already find that my overall speed can vary…

Game Diary, Gear Bits, News & Features

With $99 XBOX Subscription Bundle, Microsoft REALLY Enters the Smartphone Gaming Era!

Image courtesy GamesLive OK, so maybe the title is more than a bit of a stretch, but look at it this way: what product costs more to make than what you pay to buy it, but that lowered cost is subsidized by a two-year monthly contract? A cell phone … and now an XBOX360 bundle including the Kinect according to a report from TheVerge. Check out the details (emphasis mine): Microsoft is planning to launch a $99 Xbox console package with a monthly subscription as early as next week, according to our sources. The software giant will offer the 4GB…

Gear Bits

They May Be Slackers, but They Sure Are a Class Act

Online services go down. That’s a fact of life. Heck, even we have had our share of downtime but thankfully, as of last night, much of it is a thing of the past. Well it turns out that Slacker Radio ran into a bump in the road last month. From Friday, April 13 until Saturday, April 14 some customers encountered a service disruption. Some! Not all or even most customers had an issue, and it only lasted for a day; it happens. I didn’t even notice the issue, so it wasn’t even an issue for me, but clearly it was an…

Gear Bits

Dark Knight Rises Final Trailer

It has become a common tactic for a film studio to attach a trailer for a hotly anticipated release to help bolster interest in another release. It was already widely known that the final trailer for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ was planned to show with ‘The Avengers’. But now that ‘The Avengers’ is breaking records in its international release and seem assured a tremendous box office, Warner Brothers has released the final trailer to YouTube! And based on the trailer … this might be the best entry into the Dark Knight series yet! Why wait for the Avengers … check…