Misc Gear

Leap Motion – the Future Remains a Work in Progress

ARS Technica has a hands-on look at using the Leap Motion Controller. If you aren’t familiar with this device, which just began shipping this week, it is a small box that connects to your Mac and allows your hands to act as input devices for your computer. Now in and of itself, that isn’t so interesting. After all, it is your hands on a mouse or trackpad that currently allow you to input and control your computer. The difference here is that the Leap Motion Controller allows you to simply wave your hands in front of the screen and control…

Reviews

Tweekaboo Virtual Family Diary Review – a Baby Book for the Digital Age

Sarah and I can probably repeat the story of the 24 hours leading up to our son’s birth by heart. We told the story to family and friends, and whenever our newborn got fussy we told it to him. After a few days, Sarah turned to me and pointed out that we should probably write it down somewhere since we will eventually forget all the details. Luckily for us, we had the opportunity to test Tweekaboo, an app that acts as a virtual baby book, letting us add pictures and stories and share them with family and each other. Is…

News & Features

ContourRoam2 Action Cam – Reviewed and Still Used

We’ve reviewed a number of action cameras here on the site over the past year or so, and the one that rose to the top for me was the ContourRoam2 Action Camera. The Roam2 is simple to use. In fact, it is so simple that I actually had to read the manual to figure out just how to start the recording process. It turns out simply powering it on is all you need to do. (Read the original review.) Add in the fact that the ContourRoam2 is waterproof and is less than $200, and you have an action camera that…

Reviews

AT&T FinderCodes Electronics Lost & Found Kit Review – Lose (and Find) Yourself

FinderCodes is a QR-code based lost and found system that can be used with just about anything to which you can attach a sticker. The folks at FinderCodes — which is now a brand partner with AT&T, as you’ll notice from the logo on the box in the photo above — were kind enough to provide Gear Diary with a sample kit, which contained stickers and tags of several different sizes, as well as a set of instructions. The tags also came with a couple of small rings, so they can be easily attached to a set of keys or a…

Reviews

The Nest Earbud Holder Redux – I Wish I Had Thought of Them

We covered the Nest Earbud Protectors from Digital Innovations back in September of 2012. At the time I wasn’t all too interested in the product. It just looked like the kind of thing that would become one more piece of clutter in my gear cabinet. Turns out I was completely wrong, and these are actually a great product that, although a bit overpriced, are worth having if you use in-ear headphones on a regular basis. Digital Innovations, the company behind The Nest, describes their product as an earbud winder/headphone case that protects your earbud-style headphones or earphones from tangling and…

Reviews, Yum Log

Tempour from Soiree Review – One Wine Tool to Rule Them All

As a food and drink writer, I get the opportunity to try out a lot of gadgets that purport to make my drinking life easier. Not that I don’t appreciate them, but the drawers of my liquor cabinet are full of things to cool my drinks, tools to aerate and decant wine, strainers, bottle stoppers, collars that fit around bottlenecks to prevent dripping and strainers to filter out the sediment in aged wines. It’s frankly getting to be a bit of a mess in there, and I usually just keep the drawer shut. So I was quite excited to hear…

News & Features

Wilson Electronics’ 21st Century Tech Survival Kit

Wilson Electronics recently featured their electronic/technology products in a specially packaged “21st Century Survival Kit”. Gear Diary has tried Wilson Electronic products before, especially in emergency situations, and I recently tried out the six items in this well-chosen package – a great guide as you shape your own emergency tech kit. This 21st Century Survival Kit considers communication and sustenance ranging from minor snafus to major disasters to help yourself and others while communicating vital information to first responders. “We began thinking about what has changed in technology and society, and how that would affect what we would want to…

Health and Fitness, Reviews

Georgetown Dry Pannier from Detours Bike Bags Review – Keeps the Elements at Bay

I like to try to ride my bike whenever I can in an effort to burn off some of the extra pounds that I put on in my gig as a food writer. I have a Litespeed Titanium road bike that I ride for fitness, but it’s not very practical for in town use, especially since I use Speedplay pedal clips that make it almost impossible to walk in the specialized shoes when you’re not on the bike. So for just getting around town or riding to the YMCA and back (where I then go to a spin class ……

VitaSound Personal Audio Enhancer PAE 300-012

Reviews

VitaSound Personal Audio Enhancer PAE-300 Review – Hearing Help Where It Is Most Needed

There are several people in my family who have hearing troubles, some more severe than others. For instance, my mom started having degenerative hearing loss when she was in her early 20s, and for as long as I can remember she has worn hearing aids. My daughter, Sarah, has always had problems with certain tones; she has trouble discerning what people are saying if they don’t speak clearly or if they mumble, and she has used the closed caption setting on her TV to watch movies since she was 15 or so. I’ve had Sarah’s hearing tested, and although it’s…

Reviews

The Stinger Portable Bug Zapper Review – Swat and Fry Annoying Flying Pests

We’ve been enjoying a wetter than usual summer in my part of Texas, and although the rain has been extremely welcome due to the drought we’ve been dealing with for the past two-years, our warm climate has coupled with the rain to create a bug population explosion of unwelcome proportions. This might not be too big of a deal, if we could just keep those unwelcome critters outside, but alas. Our home has clear glass doors, and the bugs have been so bad that if we have a light on inside the house at night, whatever door or window is closest to…

PJ Reef Micro Saltwater Coral Habitat for the Marine Biologist in All of Us

Crowdfunding

PJ Reef Micro Saltwater Coral Habitat for the Wannabe Marine Biologist in All of Us

I’ve been fascinated by saltwater aquariums since I was a child. Although the few I’ve seen that weren’t in city-run aquariums were usually elaborate installations inside restaurants (like Rainforest Cafe or Todai), I have seen a small number of saltwater aquariums installed in private homes. Saltwater aquariums are a very different experience from what you’d see in a freshwater aquarium, largely because of the wildly diverse and colorful fish and sea-creature species that they can maintain. But there is a further differentiator that can only be found in saltwater: live reef habitats. In the ocean, a live reef is built…

Health and Fitness, Reviews

New Balance Minimus MT10 Running Shoe Review

A few months ago, Carly reviewed the Merrell Road Glove 2, which is one of the most highly regarded minimal running shoes available. For the last year or so I have been running on Nike Free Run 3s, which are a ‘minimal-ish’ shoe with a small drop, very light construction, but still a decent amount of cushion. I’ve always been ‘minimal curious’, and on Black Friday last year I found a great deal on the New Balance Minimus. The shoes I got had serious issues and I needed to return them, and basically gave up. But apparently I left them on…

Detail Bags, Corporate Solutions by Skooba Design

Editorials

Detail Bags Creates Custom Solutions for Company Bag Branding

I don’t know how many times I have wished that I could create a laptop bag from my own specifications — one that would have the layout and organizational panels I needed (or wanted), and that would be made from the materials of my choosing; having a discreet Gear Diary logo on there somewhere would be a bonus. But I’m just one person, and the cost for me having something like that custom-made would be exorbitant … never mind the fact that I wouldn’t even know where to start. But if a company wanted to offer a bag that was specifically…

Crowdfunding, News & Features

The Arriba! Adapter Is a Brilliant 2-in-1 iPhone 5 Charging Solution

You’re in your buddy’s car, and your iPhone’s battery is low. Typical, right? And of course, you forgot the Lightning cable for your iPhone 5. Your friend has a car charger, but it’s for his 30-pin iPhone, and he’s using it anyway. Buried under an open bag of chips and some diaper wipes, he has an old microUSB cable. That’s not much help, is it? Or maybe it is, if you happen to have the Arriba! Adapter attached to your keyring. Plug in that microUSB cable, stick the Arriba! Adapter’s Lightning plug into your iPhone 5’s port, and plug the…

Reviews

Ooma Telo VoIP System Review – Functions Like a Landline While Saving You Money

We pay a fair chunk of change for our family cell phone plan each month. As a result, we opted not to add a landline when we moved into our new home. However, we had the opportunity to test out the Ooma Telo VoIP system, and it might just swing us into believing in having a dedicated line for the house. How does it work, and why is it persuading us? Read on to find out!

Health and Fitness

10 Tips for Running in the Summer Heat – The Monday Mile

Just over a week ago I was in Kentucky for work and commented on Facebook that I barely made it out of the hotel parking lot on my 4:30AM run before I was covered in sweat. Last week, Judie noted that she got a late start and that it was 98F while she was running; her pace slowed considerably while she ran as the heat took its toll. Suffice to say – hot weather has arrived across much of the nation, and it is time to think about running in the heat. Here are some tips to keep safe: Hydration: hydration…

Reviews

The Lifesaver Filtered Water Bottle Review

There are a few basic necessities that all humans need to survive: Food, Water, and Shelter. Shelter can be built by people with materials one finds throughout the world; wood, stone, sand, clay are all examples of items that can be found in nature in order to build and provide shelter for humans. Food can also be found by either scavenging or hunting and there are simple ways to prepare food with fire. However, clean, drinkable water can be extremely difficult to find and there are no real fool proof ways to ensure that one can remove all bacteria, viruses,…

Reviews

Keep Your Teeth Clean with the Cenoire Ultra Travel Toothbrush

They say that cleanliness is next to godliness. I’m not sure about that, but I do know that fresh breath is a great way to help make a good first impression. When you are traveling or have a 16 hour work day that can be a bit of a challenge unless you have something like Cenoire’s travel toothbrush with you. The toothbrush is one of the simpler pieces of tech we have reviewed here on the site, but it is actually one of the more universal pieces of kit and belongs in pretty much any gear bag. The sonic toothbrush…

Events

Dayton Hamvention 2013 – The Hams Were There

One experience I have yet to share about ham radio is the experience of the Ham Fest. A Ham Fest is not where you go and eat ham with your fellow radio operators. It is a conference where you can go to learn about the rigs, get training, and buy things! Think CES combined with a state fair, and you’d have it half-right. There is no better hamfest out there, in my opinion than the one, the only, the Dayton Hamvention. A Little History The Hamvention came to being in 1952, when the Dayton Amateur Radio Association in Dayton, Ohio…

Reviews

Koala Mount for Tablets Keeps Your Tablet Hanging Around

If you use a tablet and love having it handy and accessible the idea of being able to quickly and easily mount it on the wall may be attractive. The Koala Mount for tablets is designed to let you do just that in an easy, inexpensive way that won’t damage any surface. The Koala Mount is, as my contractor father-in-law calls it, a “handyman special”. In other words, the Koala Mount is easy enough to install that… even I could do it. In fact… I did. The Koala Mount for tablets is a simple product. It features Simple setup using…

Reviews

The Gtech AirRAM Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Review

In our home we have a Welsh Pembroke Corgi, three girls with shoulder-length or longer hair, and three mohair rugs; there are days when I am not sure who or what sheds worse. We have a conventional upright vacuum cleaner, and although it works well enough, it is a pain to have to get it out. As you likely know, in order to use a traditional upright vacuum cleaner, you generally have to get it out of a storage closet, unwind the cord, plug it in, and move it about as needed; I’m not sure about your upright vacuum, but…

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