Offbeat | Gear Diary

Editorials August 31, 2012

The Most Important Lesson This Election Year

I worked for Borders in 2004 during the Bush vs Kerry presidential election. While most of our customers were polite, some took the election extremely seriously. We were sold out of a particularly incendiary title, and I had a customer get in my face to tell me he did not believe we were sold out, he believed our bookstore was “too <expletive deleted> liberal to carry it.” A coworker jumped in at that point and assured the angry man that we had cash registers, he had cash, and we would have been happy to accommodate him if we only had…

Gear Bits August 30, 2012

Oh, Those Internet Jokesters

This speaks for itself.

Editorials August 29, 2012

China Rebuttal of U.S. Human Rights Report is Fascinating – and Scary – Reading

And the bottom line is this – for the most part they are correct if not technically accurate. OK, let me step back for a second. This weekend I was away and traveled by air. As I was waiting for my final plane to load, I was watching CNN on a big screen, and in a ‘special report’ he was talking about the Chinese rebuttal to the US Human Rights report that was highly critical of China. The blurb was quick and due to airport noise I missed most of it, but it intrigued me enough to search it out…

Gear Bits August 26, 2012

Eight Chocolate Planets for the Discriminating Palate

I’m still mourning the loss of Pluto, but you’ll find the other eight planets (including the sun) in this luxury chocolate gift box … Chocolate can taste all of the solar system eight planets, planet is chocolate set. Planets lined up in a row in the package that the image of the universe, like a real solar system space. You can be happy as a gift, is a popular set. “Kaiseki chocolate solar system”?(pictured above) , set of 9 (× 9 individual species 1) ¥ 3,619 (¥ 3,800) If $46 seems a bit steep, then you can opt for the…

Gear Bits, Outdoors August 21, 2012

Slacklining Courtesy of Volvo and Adrenaline

Volvo cars may be known for being “boxy but good”, but I think their trucks need a better slogan…”boxy but stable enough to slackline across”? It’s a mouthful. Amazing, right? There is balance, grace, athleticism and courage, and then there is the mondo serving of all of the above that you need to walk a rope between two speeding trucks. That are about to go through two tunnels. And that will turn you into roadkill if you aren’t all the way across. Crazy! Via The Clymb

Gear Bits August 20, 2012

Fifty Shades Generator Gives You Filthy Smutty Filler Text (NSFW Obviously)

Aside from being a massively successful entry into the romance sub-genre some refer to as ‘mommy porn’, the book has also spawned a large number of memes and parodies. For example, I love the video of Gilbert Gottfried reading excerpts (video below), and now we have a new one – the 50 Shades Generator. Here is their description: The Fifty Shades Generator is a breakthrough in erotic fiction. At the click of a button, it generates world-class literature based on a pre-defined vocabulary. Traditionally, print and web designers had to make use of placeholder text known as Lorem Ipsum. It…

News & Features, Outdoors August 10, 2012

Kitty Cam? More Like KILL Cam!

Do you have a cat? We have two – an outdoor cat we’ve had since he was a few weeks old (and is now 12) and one indoor cat we inherited from my sister-in-law when they moved halfway across the country two years ago (supposedly a two-week babysitting … but I digress). Is your cat a hunter? Ours is – he regularly brings home mice and moles and rabbits and chipmunks and squirrels and birds and … you get the picture. To date, our biggest concern has been that he delivers these as presents to our dogs (12-pound Norfolk Terriers)…

News & Features August 9, 2012

Maybe the Athletes Are Making Water Balloons?

Have you heard about the latest Olympic scandal? No, it’s not more doping accusations. And no one else threw a badminton game. But it is hitting the Olympics where it hurts- their pocketbook. See, the Olympics have sponsors for everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. So the organizers were quite unhappy to discover that non-Durex condoms were being distributed to athletes! According to the Guardian: London 2012 are investigating how a bucket of unofficial condoms found its way into the athletes’ village without official consent. The Australian BMX cyclist Caroline Buchanan tweeted a photograph of the bucket, which featured a sign…

Gear Bits, Travel August 9, 2012

This Video of First Class on an Emerates Airlines A380 Will Have You Hating Coach More than Ever

I hate flying. Hate it. And I hate flying Coach even more. At 6′ 1 1/2″ the fact that he seats are getting closer and closer is not only annoying, it is downright uncomfortable. And when I’ve flown coach to Israel… ouch!!!! I have, thankfully, taken that long flight in Business First a few times and it made a huge difference. Regardless, even then I hated flying. What could make me like it more? Something like what Emerates Airlines offers in 1st Class on their A380. You know, it is the little things, like a fully stocked bar, gourmet food…

Editorials July 28, 2012

How to Guarantee That You Won’t Get the Reaction or Results That You Want

There are very few “sure things” in life, but here are a few things about which you can be certain … 1. How to Guarantee that We Won’t Review Your Product You can pretty much guarantee we won’t review your product if you introduce it to us by lying. Here’s a good case in point. The first email was just fine. Name: jon How does one go about having a product reviewed by your staff? We have created a awesome new product called EarSkinz that have been designed to help stabilize the apple earbuds. We not only achieved stability, we…

Gear Bits July 26, 2012

Turkey Dubstep Animation Is Awesome

Whether you like dubstep or not, there is no denying the cuteness of two turkeys spitting it out. The video short was so popular that not only has it earned a sequel … Turkeys + Dubstep + a little bit of success = Selling out … it has also earned several YouTube remixes, including one that lasts a ridiculous 10 hours. I’m looking forward to seeing what Will Anderson, the artist behind White Robot, shows the turkeys doing next. 😉

Gear Bits July 24, 2012

GoodBye Shake-Weight, Hello Ace Power!

In terms of ideas that must have seemed great on paper but in reality is so totally sexually suggestive that it can never be taken seriously, it seemed difficult to replace the Shake Weight – which has a great prank video here, but really is perfectly hilarious in the actual TV ad. Well… apparently some folks in Korea have been hard at work, and have come up with a great new idea – something that simulates the great workout available through horse riding, as well as a number of other leg-hip-thigh exercise variation. Oh, and it totally looks like you…

News & Features July 17, 2012

Mustache Pacifier Can Help Make Junior’s Escapades All the More Snidely Whiplash-ish

Infants and early toddlers… like kittens and puppies… they’re oh-so-cute, aren’t they? Typically gifted with a cherubic countenance that hides their true mischievous nature, there’s always so much more just beneath the surface. The folks at Gadgets and Gear are offering a most clever device that reveals the truth.. the Mustache Pacifier. Why a Mustache Pacifier, you ask? Some might argue this pacifier will make junior look like a mini-Ron Swanson or at least a number of years older, creating a more “mature look”. I don’t think that is quite it. No, I think the true function of this device…

Gear Bits, News & Features July 12, 2012

Crossing the Dingmans Ferry Bridge on the Way to GearFest 2012

Dan: One of my favorite places on earth is the Dingmans Ferry Bridge. To the best of my knowledge, it is the last privately owned bridge on a public road in the US. It crosses the Delaware River between NJ and PA. We crossed on the way to GearFest, and that’s when Judie and Kevin had a chance to see “old school Bridge tech” at work. Here’s a look… The Bridge at Dingmans Ferry traces its roots to the mid 18th century. In 1735, in the Upper Delaware River Valley, the river marked the western frontier of the American Colonies….

Gear Bits, Yum Log July 8, 2012

Desktop USB Fundue Set from ThinkGeek.com – You Can Fondue It

I occasionally wonder why they even bother to manufacture new fondue sets. Considering the number of folks who bought one of these contraptions in the late 1970’s to melt cheese or chocolate so that they could dip bread or cheesecake chunks in them, I imagine that there are thousands of these things tucked away in garages and attics all over the country. (Including mine. Don’t judge. It seemed like a good idea at the time.) Perhaps due to the sensual pleasures that were promised from the creamy hot food and the atmosphere of sharing that was encouraged by multiple people…

Gear Bits July 6, 2012

Diana Beltran Herrera’s Paper Artistry

It’s not often that I spot something so creative that I am just amazed by the talent involved, but that’s exactly what happened when I found artist Diana Beltran Herrera’s three-dimensional paper creations. The British have a word for it: Gobsmacked. Ms. Herrera’s anatomy series is made of cut paper and vinyl, and they were created because, sometimes u ask me what the birds have inside. Well they have inside what real birds have inside. Little by little i am finding the way to discover what they are made of. Diana’s birds, animals, bugs and other paper critters are…

Gear Bits, News & Features July 6, 2012

If You Thought Twitter Didn’t Have the Power to Effect Change, Think Again

Yes, this is going to come off looking like a partisan post. I can deal with that because (a) as someone who finished graduate school with some hefty loans, I really felt for the students whose loan rates were about to double, and (b) even if you sit on the other side of the aisle it is hard NOT to see the true power of social media. Student loan rates were set to double if Congress didn’t act and, for a time, it looked like that rate increase was a forgone conclusion. The White House got into the mix, and…

Gear Bits July 6, 2012

Classic Books as Wall Art from Postertext

I’ve always been intrigued by word art, from the days of medieval illumination to more recent modern art using visual language as art, right down to simple nerdy ASCII art. However, the folks over at Postertext.com have put a different spin on word art, taking various classic literature books and printing them out on a single sheet, arranged such that words and blank space are adjusted to create images of the very characters and scenes within each book (care to guess the title of the example?). Below you can see an enlarged snippet showing an example of how spacing is…

Gear Bits July 3, 2012

North Carolina Legislator Accidentally Hits The Wrong Button, Fracking Ensues.

My day job is very time-sensitive. We have to be very careful if we are filling out forms online to be quick, but also make sure we select the right options. It isn’t hard, though mistakes do happen, and luckily for me, when they do we can fix it. However, if you are a legislator in North Carolina, don’t press the wrong button! One minute you think you’re voting against a bill, the next minute fracking is suddenly legal. Apparently, in North Carolina they use electronic voting for the legislature. If you hit the wrong option, you can explain you…

News & Features July 3, 2012

Relax, The Government Says Mermaids Are Not Real

(image courtesy fanpop) There are moments that make you stop and wonder exactly how crazy and/or stupid people can be. Just when you think you have all the conspiracy theories organized in your head, from the “Elvis lives!” crew to the Area 51 believers to the people who believe the moon landing was faked, there’s another crazy theory du jour. But I grew up spending every summer swimming in the ocean, and never once gave a thought to mermaids! See, the National Oceanic and Atmostpheric Administration had a very busy weekend. The mid-Atlantic region had nasty storms roll in, and…

Gear Bits July 2, 2012

That’s No Alien, That’s a 3D-printed Designer Pen

I love pens. That’s kind of funny since I don’t really use pen and paper any longer but I still have an amazing fountain pen collection and I truly appreciate a fine, beautiful or interesting pen. This one is all of that and more. (It does look like something you would see in an old scifi movie does’t it?) As Adrian Grenier’s SHFT webstore notes, We’re always interested in innovations in 3D printing, the new design tech that involves making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file. Designer Richard Elaver, a metalsmith by trade, has been busy developing useful…