I use speech recognition quite a bit.  I need to. I do a lot of writing and never learned how to touch type. Add to that the fact that I destroyed my wrist a number of years ago and — voice recognition is a godsend. Unfortunately, just a few years ago even the best voice recognition was slow and inaccurate. Over the past few years however, the speed has improved significantly and the accuracy gets better and better. Yes, it isn’t perfect, and if I don’t take the time to carefully go through any mistakes that might have crept in… well you might say I have embarrassed myself more than once. But overall, the speed and accuracy are quite good. For Windows users, Dragon NaturallySpeaking is excellent. I have version 10 on my netbook, and it runs quite well. Mac users haven’t been quite as lucky. For years the applications that were available lagged behind. Fortunately last year MacSpeech Dictate was released. Built on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 9 engine, it was a huge leap forward. Not as good as Dragon, but quite good. Earlier today I received notice that MacSpeech Dictate version 1.5 has just been released. It was [...]

The day I got my new MacBook I immediately put a Speck SeeThru hard shell on it. At $49.95 it was expensive, but having now used it for a number of months, it was worth every penny. The case is clear, doesn’t add much thickness or weight and offers amazing protection for my MacBook. It gives me piece of mind knowing that I don’t have to “baby” my… baby. And I’m not the only one. Judie has a SeeThru on her MacBook Air and, “NEVER takes it off.” I/WE highly recommend it! Speck was kind enough to send us some samples of their new Fitted case for iPod Touch and iPod Nano. Here’s a quick look…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When I was working on the original Kindle devices review, one of the reader’s features which caught my eye was its ability to pull in wirelessly delivered blog content. Of course, my first thought was disbelief that anyone would want to pay $1.99 (or possibly more) per month for blogs they could read gratis on their computer. It didn’t take me long to realize a few reasons why it might make sense: People don’t always have their computer with them when they want something to read, reading favorite sites on a mobile device is sometimes a total exercise in FAIL, and even when using an optimized mobile RSS reader, not all sites publish full RSS feeds. I submitted Gear Diary for review and promptly forgot about it; I can be like that sometimes.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Now in a closed beta  and currently only for Ubuntu(specifically, 9.04 “Jaunty Jackalope”), is a new service from Canonical called Ubuntu One.  Similar to Drop Box, Ubuntu One is a service that will sync files with multiple computers and also let you share a file with other Ubuntu One users. Free accounts get 2 GB storage, and those who pay $10 per month get 10 GB of storage in the cloud.  Get in the queue if you’re running Ubuntu, so you can check it out Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Do you share a computer at work?  Are you kids constantly spilling things around your home computer?  Do you simply want to make sure your home or work station stays clean?  Do you love the Mighty Mouse but wish it had some color to it?  The iSkin Pro Touch is a heavy duty silicone skin, made for the Apple Mighty Mouse, and Apple keyboards, which comes in a variety of colors.  The skin protects your Mighty Mouse and Keyboard from life’s dangers while providing the user with a nice feel.  I was recently sent a Pro Touch for the Apple wireless Mouse and the Apple Mac Book Air. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Dynamism is the online store that has all of the cool toys.  Today they are putting 400 more of the Vliv S5 on sale at 1 PM EDT for $599 with all the accessories. The Viliv S5 is the hottest mini-PC of the year. BECAUSE it really does what users want from an ultramobile/UMPC: it is small, cheap, is a great PMP or GPS, delivers the full rich web without comprise, features a 6-hour battery, amazing 5-second wake up from standby, Intel Atom 1.33 GHz CPU and 60GB HDD running Windows XP, 4.8″ WSVGA superfine display with on-screen keyboard, rotation, and haptic feedback…all for $599 and including–if ordered during the special–a free second battery, leather carrying Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This 3 port USB 2.0 hub is perfect for people who love and collect seashells. For the rest it’s another way to disguise the high tech gadgets we tend to accumulate on our desktop. The casing is made of ceramic for even more authenticity. Future upgrades may include a beach area where you could bury the shell for that ultra authentic look. When you get tired of looking at it on your desk, use it as a tag sales starter kit where it surely will fetch a quarter or two. USB 3-Port Shell Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While most people use either a  car style GPS, a handheld style GPS or a phone with integrated GPS, this is a device that’s a little different.  Like the Visiontac VGPS-900, the Qstar BT-Q1000X is a data logger device primarily, but can be used as a navigation device via bluetooth or USB.  A data logger GPS primary function is to log where you have been.  It is not as concerned with presenting data during your trip, but it’s more for creating a travel log of the places you have been. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When Mac Rumors first leaked the story that the Slingbox application for the iPhone was set to launch cries of joy rang out from iPhone users everywhere.  That is until they read further and learned that the application would only run on a wifi connection.  For fear of overloading their network AT&T apparently asked Apple to restrict use of the Slingbox application. Luckily for those users who running Jailbroken iPhones there’s a nifty utility called “VOIPover3G” which tricks applications into thinking there is a wifi connection present when in fact there’s only a 3G.  This allows the Slingbox application to work perfectly over your 3G connection. Set up of this utility isn’t difficult but as with any tinkering you do with your iPhone’s system files, please do so at your own risk.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As we, along with most everyone else, reported yesterday Slingbox for iPhone was set to launch in the iTunes App Store and last night it did.  It came to the U.K. App Store first around 9:30 PM EST and into the US App Store shorty there after. As expected the application sells for $29.99 and works on wifi only.  However, if your iPhone is Jailbroken, you can install the VOIPover3G utility and the app will also run on 3G. I have the app running on both wifi and 3G, connected to my Slingbox solo and it’s working perfectly. We will be posting a full review of Slingbox for iPhone soon. Note:  Slingbox for… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Evernote yesterday launched a BlackBerry version of their namesake note taking client. The new version is for those users with BlackBerry OS version 4.6+ or the BlackBerry Storm. This release joins their web client, Windows Mobile and iPhone/Touch versions to increase the ways which you can add data to your Evernote database. There is support for adding text, audio notes, images, and file uploads. Unfortunately there appears to be no local storage for notes and searching through your information is done via a link to a mobile web site. Despite the limitations the mobile application stills has the useful ability to add photos (audio too) – which will be a handy way for those with camera phones to take pictures… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you’re in the market for a cool HD video camera then you really owe it to yourself to check this out. The Genius G-Shot HD520 is an 11MP still camera and H.264 HD video camera, with 32MB of internal memory and up to 8GB HCSD memory support.  It sports an ultra-bright 2.5” LTPS LCD screen that rotates 270 degrees.  It has image stabilization, face recognition; and will output stills and videos to HD flat panel TVs using the included HDMI cable. If you’re interested, you’ll need an OSX compatible or 2000/XP/Vista compatible PC. The full press release, with all the cool specs and other info can be found after the break. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I live as close to the middle of nowhere as possible, and that’s how I like it. For nearly as far as the eye can see my view consists of trees, hills…and more trees and hills. I can just make out the sound of the highway if I listen carefully, but there are days when I don’t even notice it anymore. Instead I enjoy the sounds of birds chirping, wind chimes, a visiting hummingbird’s wing thrum, and always a wind in the trees which sounds suspiciously like being at the ocean when I close my eyes. Our home in an area that previously had no electricity, no water, no phone lines, and no easy way to access any of those services. Like modern day pioneers we had the area… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

So, I’m home sick (a very RARE occasion for me), and I’m bumming around with both my new Unibody MacBook (review still pending…) and my MSI Wind U100 running a triple boot configuration of Ubuntu 9.04 (very awesome, by the way…), Windows 7 RC1 (comments pending…) and OSX 10.5.6. I always check Software Update when ever I am on the OSX side of my computers, and while the check on the MacBook detected nothing earlier this morning, this afternoon on the Wind I was greeted with this interesting sight. Leopard Update 10.5.7 has been released, and it is available for your general OSX goodness. Update: The 10.5.7 Update installs just fine on the Wind.  The keyboard and trackpad work even after the install, unlike the 10.5.6 update.  However, video is reduced to 800×600 resolution; and installing the first of 3 video KEXT files kills the Wind’s display. The Wind reboots and gets stuck on the gray Apple logo screen, with the mouse arrow active. Letting the Wind sit and think turns the arrow into the spinning beach ball, where it sat for about 45 minutes before I killed power to the Wind.  Looks like I have to either rebuild the [...]

Are you tired of “fitting in?” Do you yearn to be ostracized, ridiculed, and possibly even physically removed from school or your work place by local authorities?  If so, Spinning Hat has three T-Shirts just for you that are designed to celebrate the action-hero heydays of the 80′s.   I’m guessing their referred to as “vests” in the product line because the shirts are sleeveless — so you can show off  *your guns.* Ahem.  Yes, you too can not-even-closely resemble Rambo,  John Maclane, and Bruce Lee from “Enter the Dragon” (Although the T-shirt more closely resembles getting shown no mercy from Wolverine, in my opinion).… Continue reading on Gear Diary …