Reviews

2nd Opinion for iPhone/Touch App Review

2nd Opinion for iPhone/Touch App Review

I am not going to lie…many of the apps on my iPhone are used primarily for entertainment and wasting some spare time. Most of these time wasters are games, but every now and then a non-game entertainment app is discovered. 2nd Opinion is not considered a game, but can be just as addicting. If you like crowdsourcing or answering random questions, this will be quite entertaining. 2nd Opinion is a collection of user asked yes/no questions. The questions can be any subject and can include a photo. As more users download the app, the number of questions rises quickly so…

Navigon 6300 Sat Nav Review

Navigon 6300 Sat Nav Review

Navigon’s latest entry into the increasingly crowded sat-nav market looks to be a cracker with a 4.3” display, Bluetooth hands-free phone and a sleek design that makes it easy to hide away when not in use. In my two week test of the Navigon 6300, it really impressed! Out of the box you get everything you need to get up and running in the car. A very secure windshield mount is fully adjustable to achieve the best viewing angle, no matter what car you are mounting it in, and the power adaptor has a sufficiently long cord should your lighter…

Speck Fitted For iPad - iPad Case Review

Speck Fitted For iPad – iPad Case Review

One of the things I have come to understand and appreciate is that there is no “right” case for the iPad. There are a variety of cases available for it to be sure but none of them is “the right case”. Rather, with the iPad perhaps more than with any other device, the appropriate case depends upon how you’re using the device at a particular moment. Let me explain what I mean. If you are going to be using the device on the go and will be throwing it into a briefcase it makes sense to have a case that is…

Drakensang the Dark Eye PC Game Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Drakensang the Dark Eye PC Game Review

Games from European PC developers and publishers often have an uphill struggle to begin with: they lack the entrenched network of marketing and promotion, often struggle to get a community base built up of native speakers on popular game forums, and of course are strapped with an image of lacking polish and suffering from poor language translations. As a result they often fail to gain shelf-space at major retailers, making it even harder for them to gain new fans. So you are forgiven if you have never heard of this game, let alone knew that it has been out for…

Review: Math Ninja For iPhone/Touch

Review: Math Ninja For iPhone/Touch

Today’s gadgets are often a great source of wasting time, especially for kids. Many complain that all of these games and mindless fun keep the youth from learning the important things. Who wants to study math flash cards when an iPhone or iPod Touch is sitting there loaded with games? As an educator, I love to see games that build knowledge especially in children. I remember the pain I felt when my parents forced me to sit down and memorize my flash cards. I also remember the joy I felt when my friend’s parents would let us play Math Blaster…

Eschalon Book 2 RPG First Impressions

Game Diary, Reviews

Eschalon Book 2 RPG First Impressions

A few weeks ago I noted the upcoming release of the sequel to the indie game Eschalon Book 2. As noted, the release was May 12th – same as Steam for Mac … so I’ve been quite busy with all of these new gaming opportunities! I’ve only had a couple of hours to get started, but wanted to give some early thoughts. If you played Eschalon Book 1, the new game will immediately feel familiar. Which is a wonderful thing for me. As background, I thoroughly enjoyed Basilisk Games Eschalon Book I (in fact, if you look on the link…

MINI Cooper John Cooper Works convertible – Oliver Twist finally gets his wish

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

MINI Cooper John Cooper Works convertible – Oliver Twist finally gets his wish

All photos by the Author The tide has turned on large, mobile real estate-hogging vehicles here in the U.S. and the new trend is small – OK, mini. And one of my favorite vehicles of the past decade has been the MINI Cooper. It was love at first sight (and drive) when the millennial Cooper hit U.S. shores in 2000. Built by BMW, this is one of my favorite overall vehicles and they offer one of the most enjoyable driving experiences – of any sized car. MINIs are available in hardtop, convertible, supercharged, Clubman and, coming soon, full four-door Countryman…

C25K: Week 1

Larry: In case you missed my post from last week, I’ve started the Couch to 5K running plan. Or as a few of us at Gear Diary have turned to calling it, the “Blogger’s Chair to 5K” running plan. This running program helps you get from doing little or no exercise to running a full 3.1 miles in 9 weeks. Each week I’ll be updating the site with a post about the program, how the week went, some of the gear I used and more. Surprise #1: After I posted my initial article I got messages from both Dan and…

Steam on Mac First Impressions (also Portal and Torchlight)

Game Diary, Reviews

Steam on Mac First Impressions (also Portal and Torchlight)

At long last Steam has officially arrived for the Mac – and rather than just announce it, I figured I’d give you some quick impressions after using it to download and play a few games. For those who are not aware, Steam is a digital download, automated patch management, and multiplayer matchmaking service … and more. From Valve’s ‘About Steam’: Steam, the world’s largest online gaming platform. Steam turns any PC (and soon any Mac) into a gaming powerhouse by providing instant access to a huge library of titles, and by automatically keeping a user’s games completely up to date….

ID Vault for iPhone/Touch/iPad App Review

ID Vault for iPhone/Touch/iPad App Review

One thing that has come to annoy me on the iPhone is logging into sites. Whether it be a website for shopping or a forum, for some reason logging in seems to be a task I try to avoid. Clicking on the small log in screen boxes is not always easy and sometimes formatting issues makes the experience not very iPhone like. How about an app that can do all of this for you while keeping all of that log in information as well as credit card numbers secure? ID Vault proves to solve this issue with a one tap…

The Logitech Squeezebox Radio Review

The Logitech Squeezebox Radio Review

Judie: Last year Julie Strietelmeier and I took a look at the Logitech Squeezebox Boom, both here and on The Gadgeteer, and our general consensus was that we both enjoyed using it. As a matter of fact, I liked using mine so much that I eventually sprung for a streaming Sirius subscription as well as a Pandora Premium membership. I wrote about the Logitech Squeezebox Radio when it was first announced, mentioning its compact size, a 2.4″ color display, Facebook connectivity, and a seven-day alarm clock. Although I put in a request for a review unit, I didn’t hear anything…

Jabra EXTREME Bluetooth Headset Review

Jabra EXTREME Bluetooth Headset Review

My first Bluetooth came from Jabra. Because the phone didn’t have Bluetooth, I needed to use an additional Bluetooth dongle that connected to it via the 3.5 mm jack. The was the “traditional” design that Jabra used for many years. It wrapped around the ear and stayed completely stable no matter what you were doing. Yes, you looked like a bit of a dork while wearing the headset, but it stayed in place and was super comfortable. In addition, it had a boom mike that brought the microphone close to your mouth for better sound quality. That didn’t much matter…

ToDo for iPad- iPad Application Review

ToDo for iPad- iPad Application Review

I have long been a fan of Appigo’s iPhone apps. The company makes apps like ToDo and Notebook, and they’ve recently released an interesting cork-board app called Corkulous. Appigo’s apps are polished, full-featured and constantly getting better. Better still, as deep and complex as some of their apps are, everyone of them have worked perfectly from the day of their first release. Their apps are that good… seriously. I was curious what Appigo would do with their apps given the iPad’s larger screen; I knew they wouldn’t simply blow the apps up to fill the screen, as that’s not how they…

I Have A Confession: I'm Addicted to Sporcle

I Have A Confession: I’m Addicted to Sporcle

I first heard about Sporcle on the Howard Stern show. Howard was joking that his crew spends most of their time, time when they should all be working, playing on the site. What’s Sporcle? Sporcle is a trivia based web site and not only is it super addicting, it’s super fun. Well of course it is right? I mean what’s addicting that’s not fun … at least in the beginning? The site features a ton of short user and site created “quizzes” where you have to name as many of the correct answers as you can in the given time…

Review: iLuv 9.7" Neoprene Sleeve for iPad

Review: iLuv 9.7″ Neoprene Sleeve for iPad

Last week, I joined the ranks of new iPad owners. Yes, I’m a little late to the game, but you do what you have to! The device is all it is made out to be; it is a beautiful piece of gear. The first thing that crossed my mind when I pulled it out of the box was how to protect this beauty. I was not completely interested in a large case to carry the iPad by itself. Since I have a gear backpack, I thought it would be best if I just had some sort of sleeve to hold…

Review: Sound Mac-hine for iPhone

Review: Sound Mac-hine for iPhone

Sure, using an iPhone or Blackberry for work is great, but you need to have some fun too. And, let’s face it, deep down we’re all little kids who love laughing over a good sound effect or fart joke. Enter an app like Sound Mac-Hine. It’s essentially an app full of sound effects, ranging from various Howard Stern show regulars to oldies but goodies like “Beetlejuice” and “The Three Stooges”. Personally, my favorite was “The Three Stooges”, though I think my fiancée and dog were less impressed when I played the same effect 15 times. Of course, there’s more to…

ABBYY Business Card Reader- iPhone App Review

ABBYY Business Card Reader- iPhone App Review

I’ve tried a number of different business card scanning apps that let you take a picture of a business card with your iPhone camera and automatically pull information from it in order to create a new contact. It is a great idea but I have thus far been a bit disappointed in the accuracy of them. After all, it is not a time-saver if you take a picture, scan it and then have to manually edit almost all the information fields. When I say that ABBYY, one of the leaders is optical character recognition was entering into the ring I…

50 PC RPGs That Defined a Decade

Game Diary, Reviews

50 PC RPGs That Defined a Decade

As we enter a new decade in 2010, it is worth taking a look back at the last decade and what has been happening in the PC role playing game genre (and no, we won’t debate whether or not 2010 actually starts the new decade). Certainly the 2000’s have been a decade of change for PC gaming in general, as the decade started with the PC as the only real place for shooters and large open-area games, went through a perceived crisis in the middle of the decade based on a large impact from piracy and DRM and the advent…

The Newer Technology NuGuard Leather Hard Shell for iPad Review

The Newer Technology NuGuard Leather Hard Shell for iPad Review

One of the first things I did after getting my iPad was purchase a screen protector, but it wasn’t long after that before I started thinking about whether I might need a case or not. On the one hand, a case would mean better corner and screen protection in the event of a fall; on the other hand, it would also mean extra weight and bulk added to my otherwise almost perfectly sized device. I liked the idea of a protective layer between the back of my iPad and any surface that I might lay it upon, which is why…

ZAGG InvisibleSHIELD for iPad Review

ZAGG InvisibleSHIELD for iPad Review

When getting a new device, I always like to protect it from scratches, both front and back. Screens have become a lot more durable on high-priced devices, but even so, I get nervous. Further, some of these devices have high-gloss screens that can be hard to read because they are highly reflective and show fingerprints and smudges easily. ZAGG has been in the business of protecting mobile devices for several years now and have released a new version of their well-known InvisibleSHIELD for the iPad. The InvisibleSHIELD is available in two versions: front (screen) protection only and all-body protection. ZAGG…

Flip Video Slide HD - Review

Flip Video Slide HD – Review

I like Flip’s products a great deal. I bought the original Flip and loved it. I loved the on-board software that let you edit and share videos as soon as you plugged it into a computer. And because the software was on the device it didn’t matter what computer I plugged into. I then got to review the Flip Mino and the Flip HD Ultra. Each got better and better. Then came the iPhone 3GS. It shot video. No, it wasn’t HiDef video but it did the job and, thanks to an assortment of apps and the ability to upload…

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