Do you need additional USB ports for your computer? You could go the boring route and buy a $15 USB hub that is all you need to expand the number of USB ports on your computer. Or, you could become the talk of your office with the Doomsday Device Hub which includes 4 USB 2.0 ports as well as hours of time wasting office entertainment. To operate the hub – flip two switches, turn the key and press “the button” firmly protected underneath a secure plastic top. Stand back and watch as the main light glows red and everyone in your office wonders what happens next. Guaranteed to produce minutes of guffaws — and to send your boss scurrying to examine your last… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This Mega Facebank does everything you’d want in a bank – shaped as a face. Wave the money in front of the eyes and the mouth starts to move. Feed it money and the teeth chomp down and start to digest your cash. Naturally after a good “meal” (as any 8 year old can demonstrate) it lets loose with a knee slapping string of belches. Watch the YouTube demo here. Mega Face Bank – $54.10 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

  Spb Software has released the 2.0 version of their popular Spb Weather application for Windows Mobile devices. The new version is using a lot of updated, finger-friendly controls.  It features forecasts by Foreca (the people who do the MSN forecasts).  They make use of animations in the forecasts, and they even include a 3D globe view (including satellite imagery). Spb Weather 2.0 is available for $19.95.  If you’re looking for a weather program for your Windows Mobile device, you’ll definitely want to check it out at the Spb Software website. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

According to Proporta, January 19th is Blue Monday. How better to battle the blues than with a 15% off sale and a bit of New Order? They say the promo code is TELLMEWHY (which seems like a direct reference to Bronski Beat’s “Why”); I think it should be the more appropriate HOWDOESITFEEL. Ah well, make sure that you enter the right code so you get the savings! … Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Hang this poster sized (48″ x 18″) Bubble Wrap Calendar in your kids’ room and watch them go crazy popping the days. Extending from floor to ceiling, they mark off each day by popping one of the plastic wrap bubbles. Your biggest danger is either that the kids have so much fun that they pop all the days — or one of their friends do it for them. Special holidays are printed below each individual bubble. Also suitable as quirky(expensive) packaging material to ship items to a prospective customer. Lataz Continue reading on Gear Diary …

ThinkGeek is having a clearance sale. Items like this Cyber Surfer R/C Spaceboard are marked down from $79.99 to $39.99. Any purchases over $25 can also receive a free Annoy-a-tron by using coupon code “8L7″. For those not familiar, the Annoy-a-tron is a tiny electronic gizmo that runs for 3 to 4 weeks on the included CR2032 battery. It emits a random (every 2 to 8 minutes) buzzing sound that will send the occupants of any room scurrying to find out “what the hell keeps buzzing”. ThinkGeek via DealNews Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Starting January 22, 2009 you’ll be able to enroll in a Boost Mobile unlimited (voice, text, web) plan for $50 per month. If you’re not familiar with Boost, they’re the somewhat popular subsidiary of Nextel which of course has since been acquired by Sprint. The service has always operated as prepaid with the distinguishing feature being the access to the Nextel Walkie Talkie service (or whatever they’re calling it these days). Boost has been testing unlimited service plans for ages, though until now they’ve all been limited by region. Sadly, in the days of near universal free mobile to mobile, communicating via walkie talkie is but a quaint notion to everyone except those in construction and service… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you were a gamer back in the day, then you no doubt remember the Konami Code, an 80s cheat that allowed players to play quite a few Konami titles without dying – including the popular and maddeningly hard Contra. So how cool is this? André Meadows – the genius behind Black Nerd Comedy and “Gonna Buy Me a Wii” – has just released a video about the Konami Code, rapped to the tune of M.I.A.’s Paper Airplanes. Power up! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Our favorite phone tipsters just checked in after a lengthy vacation in Vegas where they were able to sit down with some contacts for an update on what can be expected in the BlackBerry world for 2009. First, the BlackBerry 8900 seems like a definite (as has been widely reported already) for an early release. The T-Mo demo models are in the wild being pawed by corporate types for evaluation. Expect BES 5 by March 2009 with BlackBerry OS 5 (subject to carrier approval) in another 60 to 90 days from then. But that’s not the weirdest news that I heard today.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Tim Cook will fill in while he’s out; Jobs plans June return This just in… According to ComputerWorld: Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs announced today that he is taking a “leave of absence” from his job because of health problems, an announcement almost certain to raise new questions about his overall health. In an e-mail today sent to all Apple employees, Jobs said that “during the past week, I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.” The announcement was made after the close of financial markets in the U.S. I’m not entirely certain how this will effect Apple as a company, their stock price, the Markets here in the US, or around the world; but its going to cause some… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Amazon has this DRM free Diana Krall album for the bargain price of $1.99. Originally released in 2001, the album peaked out in the USA at number 9 on the Billboard 200 album charts. It did better in Canada (Krall’s home country) where it hit number one. Tracks included: 1. “‘S Wonderful” (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) 2. “Love Letters” (Edward Heyman, Victor Young) 3. “I Remember You” (Johnny Mercer, Victor Schertzinger) 4. “Cry Me a River” (Arthur Hamilton) 5. “Besame Mucho” (Sunny Skylar, Consuelo Valazquez) 6. “The Night We Called It a Day” (Tom Adair, Matt Dennis) 7. “Dancing in the Dark” (Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz) 8. “I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)” (Hoagy Carmichael… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When I was first contacted about reviewing the Element LIQUID Case, I was really quite excited. I have now been writing about iPhones for over a year and a half, and in that time I’ve written numerous case reviews. I still enjoy doing these reviews, but after a while cases start to look increasingly similar. But here was a case that was anything but the norm — how cool! In addition, here was a case that was not only unique, but it also offered customization and personalization the likes of which is rarely seen; I was anxious to receive the review unit. So does the Element Case live up to my initial excitement? Let’s take a look –… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the best things about writing for Gear Diary is the company that you keep.  Judie aside, she has assembled one of the BEST teams of writers this side of the blogosphere that I’ve had the pleasure of being associated with. That said, I get very excited when we cross post between our respective sites and blogs for the articles we write.  Case in point, Doug Goldring, Chief Editing Dude at Just Another Mobile Monday, or JAMM for short, has posted a pretty cool review on the new Zune 120.  Says Brother Goldring: On paper, this one is the real deal for a portable media player.  its specs just sing out to you.  A nice 3.2 inch screen.  Fancy new touch controls.  120 GB (yes, that Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For the longest time, one of my favorite reasons for using Facebook was that I could play a live version of a certain very popular word game with friends from all over the world. Scrabulous, or “Scrab” as many of us called it, was the perfect online alternative to pulling out a Scrabble board, because you could play with friends and strangers without the need to ever be in the same room, country or continent. It was addictive, it was fun, it was a terrific time-waster! And then Hasbro jumped all over the guys who had put the game on Facebook, and it went away…a total bummer to me and over 500,000 other people who also played the game daily. The Scrabulous guys briefly tried to sell us on their new game WordScraper, but the scoring system on that game was too weird, our old stats and games didn’t transfer over, and it just wasn’t as much fun. The good news is that Scrab Lexulous is back! This morning I had the following email waiting… Hi there! We are pleased to inform that your favorite word game is back on Facebook as LEXULOUS! The games that you were playing, your [...]

VITO Technology, developers of Windows Mobile software titles such as AstroNavigtor (Universe in your pocket!) and SMS Chat (Enjoy threaded SMS messaging on Windows Mobile!), has just announced that they have updated all of their software titles to support the popular Samsung Omnia. In case you’re wondering why a Windows Mobile software manufacturer would need to upgrade their offerings to support a Windows Mobile device, bear in mind that the Omnia does not have the usual Windows Mobile button cluster. Adding more touch features to their software was necessary to make the programs Omnia friendly. Continue reading on Gear Diary …