I love casinos, but I am terrible at gambling. Flashing lights, lots of bars, video games; essentially casinos are just a grown-up version of the boardwalk arcades from my childhood. Of course, my problem is that I don’t understand how to gamble; I just tap screens, pull levers, and pretend I understand how poker works until I run out of money. Luckily, Astraware Casino for Symbian offers many of those games with virtual money; we’ll be taking a look at this versatile game set today.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love my wireless BT keyboard for my iMac.  There’s two things though, that I find fault with. One, the wired version is full sized.  It has the extra numerical keypad on the right side where as the smaller wireless version does not. Two, the wired version has two USB ports, where as the wireless has none. Macally solves one of the two issues with the release of its new BTkey Wireless Keyboard for Mac. The BT keyboard is full sized.  It uses two AA batteries which last up to 2 months. While the BTkey is arctic white and matches the iMac well, it… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Small video recorders are all the rage.  From the Flip Mini to the iPhone 3Gs.  Most of these cameras record mediocre video with even more mediocre sound capture. Samson seeks to solve at least one of those issues with its Zoom camera.  The small video recorder features a large microphone built in the top to capture better sounding audio. It also has an SD slot which allows for massive recording times and comes with video and audio editing software so you can share your videos on the web or with family and friends. The Zoom sells for $250, and you can learn more about it here Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There are a lot of options for listening to your iPod sans headphones but this is one of the more interesting and useful designs in my option. The Scosche soundSCREEN wraps around the your iPod like a picture frame (it is particularly good with the iPod touch which is a perfect fit) and lets you watch or listen to music, video and more hands-free. Let’s take a look…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I personally use only one language on my Mac computers, English.  Unless you’re multi-lingual or unless you’re like Judie and plan on taking up another language, chances are you only need one language on your computer as well. The Mac comes preinstalled with several language packs.  These packs includes fonts, and other things which all take up hard drive space. That’s where Monolingual comes in.  Monolingual is a free application (donations are accepted) which allows you to selectively remove any language pack from your Mac that you choose.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have a number of weather apps on my iPhone. Overall, they are OK, but I’ve generally had two complaints: 1) They never seem to be as accurate as the information I find at the Weather Underground, and 2) They always seem to want to display the temperature in Fahrenheit OR Celsius, but never both at the same time! I grew up in Detroit where they often broadcast both (because Detroit is on the Canadian border). Additionally, I have friends all over the world. It’s nice to be able to talk about today’s weather without having to reset all the setting on my weather app! Enter All Weather. This application, from Steve Parker, is actually endorsed by the people at Weather Underground. Better than that – it displays the current temperature (as well as wind chills/heat indexes) in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. Let’s take a look at how it does in general.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! Two big games and a whole lotta ‘other’ this week: Halo 3: ODST for the XBOX360 and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona for the PSP. Persona is the PSP remake of the the highly regarded original entry in the franchise, and has gotten very positive early reviews. Halo 3: ODST is the follow-up to the original XBOX360 game and is destined to sell heavily despite getting merely solid reviews. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

After a solid week of rain in Middle Tennessee, the graves must have opened, as the undead arose to walk the streets of downtown Nashville. Tourists and natives called it the Nashville Zombie Walk of 2009. The flesh-eating mutants zombies staggered in from all directions, via train, plane and automobile.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you’re looking for a golf app for the iphone 3G or 3GS that displays accurate yardage for many golf courses then look no further than myCaddie Pro Golf Range Finder. This application was formerly $9.99 in the App Store and is now Free. Because it uses GPS features you must have an iPhone 3G or GS with OS 2.0 or higher. Visit imakepars.com for a complete list of all the golf course data included with this app. MyCaddie Pro Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Did you miss your chance to pre-order a Zune HD. The device was released just this past Tuesday and already Amazon is showing up to a two month wait for 16 GB model while the more expensive 32 GB is expected in up to 2 weeks’ time. Sure the Amazon store is notoriously conservative when they estimate shipping days (my Kindle arrived even though the status read out of stock the entire time it was order). But just maybe Microsoft has a hit on their hands. The highlights of this device for me have been the availability of Zune Pass which allows for downloading and playing unlimited songs so long as you pony up the monthly $15 fee (good for three devices)… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s been a little over a month since most college students went back to school. The first few weeks can be nerve-wracking for freshmen as they meet new roommates and get used to people coming and going from their room at all hours of day and night. Why take any chances that someone walks into the room and makes off with an expensive XBox or Playstation 3? NewPCgadgets announces their XBox 360 and Playstation 3 security lock and cable kits. The steel plate attaches to the back of the two most popular gaming rigs and then to an included 8′ security cable and padlock. This $29 kit allows for quick assembly and will secure your most prized gaming possessions. NewPCgadgets Security… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Just a quick note – today is ‘Talk like a Pirate Day’ and TellTale games is giving away free copies of the first episode of their ‘Tales of Monkey Island’ game. Grab it here. But be quick, it expires at midnight PST on the 19th! Source: TellTale Games Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.I’m a huge fan of the Engadget podcast. Not a week goes by that I don’t listen to Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel. Their podcast is updated weekly and they chat about the week’s top news and provide added insight that you don’t get from their web site. I’m not sure how frequently these Engadget live shows are going to happen. This episode feature Jon Rubenstein formerly of Apple and now leader of Palm and was taped on 9/13/09. Aside from some problems with low audio and a questionable selection of first guest (cool demo of Pixi – but terrible explanation of why there’s no Wi-Fi (Sprint didn’t want it?) and come on Jon Rubenstein doesn’t know the type of processor in the  Pixi  ?) the video is… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Wait. What the heck are baby bottles doing on GearDiary – this isn’t BabyDiary. Bingo – however kids, taxes and more taxes are some of the only sure things in life these days. Spotting this set of 5 bottles (with liners) brings back memories of when my kids were born. I ran around to stores and bought every size and variety of baby bottle – from the ultra expensive to the this very basic model. I swear by these. Nearly every grocery store carries the disposable liners and supplies making them a good choice for those unsure about what bottle to use. Baby stuff is expensive – way too expensive. When there’s a deal to be had you should jump all over… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Tired of trying to share iPhone video with friends crowding around one tiny screen. Here’s a solution that will display your iPhone video on a screen up to 60″ in size. The device is due out in September. The projector’s LED uses Digital Light Processing Technology–the same as digital cinema projectors–to produce sharp 480×320 resolution with a 1000:1 contrast ratio and a 3:2 aspect ratio. It has a manual focus dial, adjustable volume control for its 1/2-watt internal speaker, and a headphone jack for private listening. The projector’s rechargeable battery provides two hours of viewing time after a three-hour charge from the included AC adapter, or from a computer with the included USB cable. Comes with 3.5mm and composite cables and a padded… Continue reading on Gear Diary …