About MY Gear

Special Holiday Pricing Available on Pivothead HD Recording Sunglasses

I LOVE the Pivothead HD Recording Sunglasses that I reviewed last month and used while in Cuba two weeks ago. They are comfortable, look good AND they record amazingly clear video. You can check out our full review of them here and see how they work in this video. At $350, the glass aren’t cheap — although I have paid close to that for sunglasses that were simply… hum… sunglasses. And now that Pivothead has announced special holiday pricing, they are even more accessible. That’s right, Pivothead has dropped the price of their HD Recording Sunglasses by $50. And they will…


My Hurricane Sandy Survival Gear

I started this post prior to losing power Monday night. In the middle of writing it, the power went out … and it stayed out until late Thursday night. We had no heat or electric; because we are on a well and septic system, we had no water. We had no internet and no phones either, since I had insisted we get rid of our landline a few years ago (Oops!). We, however, were among the lucky ones. We had no property damage, and the two trees that came down fell as perfectly as if I had actually planned the…


A Week in Cuba and the Gear I Carried

I spent last week in Havana Cuba touring the city, listening to lectures, and doing some good as we visited with Havana’s Jewish community and shared the medical supplies we’d brought. While there, certain key pieces of tech came in rather handy; I thought I would run down just a few of them. First and foremost, my Canon T3i DSLR and iPad were great for taking and manipulating pictures on the fly. Using the two devices in tandem let me take pictures like this one from Hemingway’s house. And this one from his garden. And this one of his typewriter….


Got an Old PowerPC Mac? Resuscitate It with Linux.

Apple has long left the PowerPC based Macs of old behind; however, any G4 or G5 based Mac is still a very capable machine.  Most of the G5 Power Macs I have come across are dual-core G5 machines and some of the iMacs are as well.  Apple isn’t releasing updates for the last supported version of Mac OS X that will run on PowerPC based Macs.  Firefox and Chrome are also both unsupported on PowerPC based Macs, so even if that old Mac still works, continuing to use it as it is means you are vulnerable to all sorts of…


Five Reasons I Won’t Be Getting the ‘iPad Mini’

Speculation is out of control about the October 23rd Apple event and the anticipated ‘iPad Mini’. During our last Gear Chat, Dan asked me about the iPad Mini, and I declared that I wouldn’t be getting one; to which he replied that ‘he’d believe it when he saw it’! I wanted to go on record based on what we know, suspect, conjecture, and/or know about Apple in general … and put together a video list of the five main reasons I won’t be pre-ordering/standing in line/getting an iPad Mini. Take a look, and chime in with your thoughts in the…


My Journey to the Dark Side…er, Apple is Complete

A long time ago, in a service provider far, far away, I had joined the ranks of mobile phone users, sporting a Motorola Razr V3m back when it was de rigueur for mobile types. For a time I was content, and as technology evolved I migrated my mobile phones, ever searching for the trifecta of ease of use, reliability and variety of peripherals. Here is a representation of all the major phones I’ve owned and heavily used over the past seven years or so. Certainly a lot less than some Gear Diary members or readers out there, but a variety nonetheless….


Week Number 1 of My iPad-Only Challenge!

Welcome to the first weekly report on my quest for the 99% computer! As noted my plan was to use my iPad for as much as I possibly could, and note whatever functions required me to use a ‘real’ computer. So let’s get to it! Setup Perhaps not surprisingly, there wasn’t much for me to do. I have had my iPad loaded up with email, web, productivity, statistics, music, games, utilities and so on … so there wasn’t much to do. And in fact, I decided NOT to do anything in specific – I really wanted to know how much…


The ’90s Live on … in My Attic

We have been cleaning out our attic, and found this piece of “once-cutting edge technology”. Yes, Sarah’s ruggedized CD player was her prized possession in the ’90’s…and while it was no doubt super-cool at the time, it’s amazing that we once carried these around happily. Even old school cassette players were less cumbersome! The next time a phone, or a rugged case, feels too big…just remember how big an old school portable CD player used to be…that will make your Otterbox Defender look downright svelte in comparison! We found some other cool stuff in our attic, including a Sega Genesis…


My Quest for the 99% Computer

I have often stated that my iPad is my ‘80% computer’, meaning that I do (or can do) about 80% of my stuff on it. However, my goal has always been to find an ultraportable device to handle 99% of my non-gaming activities. This quest started with the HP200LX, where I could run Lotus 1-2-3, a great HP Calc, word processing, and so on; then the Newton MessagePad (my first was the MP2000); then Psions and HP Jornadas; then on to the Toshiba Libretto and eventually the Sony C1 Picturebook and finally netbooks … but nothing has approached the universal…


D-Star Breathes New Life into Amateur Radio

D-Star is the newest mode I have recently added to my Amateur Radio arsenal.  I bought an Icom ID-31A D-star, radio which I will be reviewing here soon, but I wanted to share a little about D-star and why it’s a cool mode before I did the review. The History of D-Star D-star is a mode that was created by the Japanese Amateur Radio League in 2001 after doing three years of research.  JARL designed it as an open standard so that manufacturers could build the radios.  Icom is the first company to make radios for D-star, however they aren’t…


Gear Diary’s Grumpy Old Man on Why He’s Getting the iPhone 5

Gear Diary’s own “Grumpy Old Man” (aka Mark Hager, aka my awesome father-in-law) is getting an iPhone 5. Thing is, Mark’s daughter (my wife Elana) and wife (Debbie) are both fine with the iPhone 4S, and THEY are far more likely to take advantage of the speed the iPhone 5 will offer. So why is Mark (a troglodyte) getting the iPhone 5? I ambushed him while he was grilling, and I asked…


Pocket Informant Saves My Day

Ever have just “one of those weeks”? I have been having one. Between several work commitments, service appointments at my home, and some family and friend obligations, it has been a week of juggling appointments and rearranging schedules. Unfortunately, this week also highlighted my biggest complaint about iOS: iCal. I can’t stand that my only options are list, day and month. The lack of integration with tasks is also a pain. A busy schedule only highlighted these limitations, and made me realize it was time to bite the bullet and find a better option. Luckily for me, the good folks…


Pogoplug – My Own Private Cloud With 1TB Online Backup

I am always on the lookout for simple and secure backup solutions and good methods for syncing personal files across multiple devices. I use Dropbox and Google Drive, but have always liked the idea of my own personal cloud solution for more confidential information. I have been using The free Tonido program on my home Mac, iPad, iPhone and Google Nexus 7 for a few months, and it has worked quite well. I have not purchased the Tonido Plug, but had been considering it for a few weeks until Pogoplug announced a great deal on the Pogoplug Classic device and storage….


Putting Down the iPad; Nexus 7 in Real Life

Recently I wrote a lengthy comment/review on the Skooba Weekender bag Dan reviewed last July. During that review, I mentioned that I am a road warrior and generally spend at least one or more nights out of town 40+ weeks of the year. A few weeks ago was one of those rare times where I was working in my NYC office all week. Being in the office allowed me an opportunity to spend some quality time using the Google Nexus tablet I had purchased some time ago. In the past, I’ve made an attempt at using the original Samsung Galaxy Tab,…


Satechi WTR-C Wireless Timer Remote Shutter for Canon T3i Review

The other day we took a look at the Satechi Bluetooth Media Remote. The little Bluetooth remote has numerous tricks up its sleeve, including being able to remotely fire the iPhone’s camera shutter; this is useful when you want to take a self-portrait or place the iPhone in a stand, thus making sure there is no shake when the camera fires. After all, vibration at the moment a picture is taken can ruin an otherwise awesome image. But what if you are using something like the Canon T3i I am now using as my main camera? For that Satechi has…


MacBook Pro with Retina Display; Why We Bit

Dan: In last week’s newsletter, Judie and I began to address our first impressions of the new MacBook Pro with Retina display. I sat down to flesh out a more in-depth post but soon realized that what might be more compelling was why we both felt this computer was worth the price of admission in the first place. I certainly won’t speak for Judie, but I thought I would lay out my reasons for buying the MBPr and why, after  using it for a week and a half, I realize they were spot on. In order to fully explain why this…


Upping My Photographic Game, Part 1

  I recently decided that after years of writing for various websites and, as a result, taking tons of pictures, it was past time for me to do something about my photographic skills. I’ve been shopping for gear that would really make a difference but not break the bank, and I wanted to invite you along for the journey – especially since my new camera and lenses arrive tomorrow. Before we get into that, let’s take a quick look back at my “photographic history”. When digital photography first became popular I picked up a simple, inexpensive point and shoot. Over…


Why I Chose the Galaxy Nexus

About a month ago I was in the market for a new phone.  My Droid 2 was at the end of its useful life, and I was ready for a new smartphone.  There was a lot of debate between my friends over what would be better, and it came of shock to no one that I chose the Galaxy Nexus. The Screen The number one feature of the Galaxy Nexus wasn’t the 4G network; although that is a plus, the screen is what truly won me over. I say this knowing that the Nexus has a pentile screen. I, quite frankly…


Tom Bihn Ristretto (New Version) review

  There are a few companies that consistently impress me with the design, functionality and quality of their laptop and iPad bags. Tom Bihn is one of them and, with the recent release of the updated Ristretto bag for iPad, 11″ MacBook air and 13″ MBA they have, yet again, proven why they are such a great company. For the past few months my “go to” bag has been the Skooba Design V.3 Tablet Messenger. It is a great bag that I continue to use and enjoy. It holds my devices in “landscape” and, as I note in the review,…


A Week with the iPad 3

The iPad 3 came out a week ago. A quick rundown of iPad users on the site shows that all four editors have the new iPad, and Chris Gavula does too. We have no doubt there will be a few more grabbing one in the weeks to come. Why? Because even though the improvements to the iPad are perhaps technically incremental, we’ve found that they add up to a device which has no equal. Not yet, anyway. Here’s why … Dan: I was worried that the iPad 3 would be too heavy and thick, but I’m not finding that to be the…


Why the Vere Sandal Company Kickstarter Project Needs a Kick in the Pants

UPDATED WITH A DIRECT RESPONSE FROM THE COMPANY Kickstarter is a great way to help new businesses get moving, and in the process get your hands on new products early. Judie and I have both backed numerous Kickstarter projects over the past few years, and we’ve been quite pleased with the process; until now, that is. The Vere Sandal Company has been my first encounter with a Kickstarter project that just didn’t pan out properly. It’s a long tale that goes back over a year, and it is so disappointing that even if they were to supply the sandals they promised…