I reviewed the Perfectly Snug bed topper some months ago and still love it. A thick, breathable mattress topper that is also smart and adjustable, offering heat and coolness to help me get a good night’s sleep. But it was only last week, when I was laid out with a cold, that I learned how truly great the product is.
Zek and I had planned on being in Las Vegas to cover CES while Dan held down the fort from home until the coronavirus yet again derailed our best-laid plans. Long story short, Zek and I didn’t travel to Las Vegas. Even so, we wanted to work together, so we traveled, just to the opposite coast. Here is the CES 2022 gear that Zek, Dan, and I used.
I recently went digging through a junk drawer looking for some old photos; I found several USB cables, a calculator watch, some unidentified flash drives, and … an original iPhone. As in, the iPhone that I sat in line outside the Apple Store to buy on launch day back in 2007. Fourteen years have passed, and it’s honestly shocking to hold the original iPhone in one hand and my 12 Pro Max in the other!
During the pandemic, Raina and I knew we needed to spend more time outside. We began hiking on the reservation near our home with our mini golden doodle Nava. The first few times, we didn’t have the right gear; now we do. Here’s a look at the hiking gear that we’ve come to depend on.
A lot is going on in our world today. Regardless of how much we’d like things to go back to how they used to be, at the current moment, it’s best to protect yourself from the Coronavirus with a face mask when you step out of your front door. Why not do it with a reusable mask that’s just as comfortable as it is functional?
Due to the global pandemic, those of us who have been unexpectedly thrust into working from home have had to figure out how to get our work done while sheltering in place. We wanted to share some of the things that have helped us stay productive and more-or-less content since we began physically distancing ourselves from our loved ones and friends who live outside of our homes.
We’re here at CES 2020 doing everything we can to bring Gear Diary readers updates on all the exciting new and improved products we’re seeing. But it takes more than just being armed with a phone and a computer to survive the week. Here’s how we’re staying awake, staying healthy, and staying connected!
Technology runs in cycles. We all know that, but it seems lately like we’ve hit the low end of our current cycle, and whatever the “next big thing” is, we’re spinning our wheels until it gets here.
Before classes began this year, I’d decided it was finally time to get a new PC. My current laptop was a behemoth, weighing a little under 5 pounds with hardware a little over 7 years old. I’d been wanting and looking for a new PC off and on for a few years now, but nothing either fit what I needed or was within my price range.
Becoming a new parent is an exciting (and expensive) time; you know there are things you’ll need to get to help yourself and help your child, but at the same time you don’t want to succumb to buying (potentially pricey) things that you or your baby won’t actually use. We can help with some of our favorite baby gear.
I’ve made a terrible mistake. See, I complain A LOT about Siri, because, well, she’s not the brightest AI assistant around. But she apparently has been listening in, and she’s been trying very hard to make my life miserable lately. Here are a few examples:
I’ve had a couple Amazon Echo Dots for about a year now. I thought they were great. Then this past Christmas, I picked up a couple Google Home Minis just because I wanted to check them out. Now Amazon’s Echo Dot has been pushed to a backup system as I think the Google Home system is so much better.
When I get a new iPad, I’m always hesitant to bring it outside. After all, my iPad was a $1000 investment and carrying it around without protection makes me nervous. Fortunately, Speck was quick to release their new Speck Balance FOLIO for 10.5” iPad Pro. It is a simple case that adds serious protection and much more.
I mentioned last week that my company is now only supporting iOS for our bring your own device program. Since I use BYOD regularly to stay connected outside the office, I caved and bought my wife a new iPhone 7, then inherited her iPhone 6S.
After doing a lot of reviews on products, some of those products get stored in a bin to be used in case of emergency, and some others? Not so much. I tend to find myself using still other products on a day-to-day basis, and I wanted to highlight a few of them.
I have always had dreadful handwriting. Most of my elementary school memories are of teachers trying all kinds of techniques to improve it, from handwriting drills to those funny triangle holders on my pencils. Nothing worked, and I sought out digital writing and typing as soon as technology and school allowed.
Remember when people were sling-shotting Angry Birds, and we thought it was the best game in the world? Well, it was, then. But Pokémon Go is literally the best thing that’s happened to my smartphone since Instagram changed their icon.
Raina and I closed on our new home last month. It is on a lovely street with gorgeous, architectural homes. Ours is not one of them. No, we bought a cute, and fairly non-descript split level. We love it and, along with a traditional renovation, we are updating the technology; here’s what is going into our house’s tech-makeover…
If you’ve got an indoor cat, then you’ve got a litter box of some kind. If you’ve got a conventional litter box, then you know all about the bending, scooping, and discarding of clumped feces and urine that is a necessary evil of cat ownership. There is a better way, and that way is the self-cleaning Litter-Robot Open Air.
The Dell XPS 13 has turned out to be such a fantastic travel laptop that I’d find myself wishing for a larger version, and the Dell XPS 15 does not disappoint. With its machined aluminum body, carbon fiber composite interior, and Gorilla Glass Infinity Edge touchscreen, the XPS 15″ manages to wedge a 15.6″ laptop into a 14″ body.
Years back, I got caught up in the UMPC — UltraMobilePC- fad. (I blame James Kendrick and his JKontheRun blog.) None of those devices lived up to their promise of a full PC in a small, touchscreen device. Fast forward, and that promise has been realized in the Microsoft Surface line of computers. microsoft, via CDW sent one to Judie; I “borrowed” it. 🙂