Update: They won!! Woo hoo!!! From Travis’ Facebook page: “State Quarter Finalists!!!!!!!!!!” Well this is a first for us, too — so don’t look quite so surprised. As some of you may know, Gear Diary team member Travis Ehrlich is coach of the Falls City Beavers, a Texas high school football team that is in the running to go all the way to State. Tonight they are working there way to the Texas State Quarter Finals, and we thought it would be fun to share a little bit of our famed “Friday Night Lights” with you, albeit on a Saturday. Here’s the message I received from Travis … My team is now 12-0 after winning the Area Championship game on the Continue reading on Gear Diary …

USBFever has added a pretty cool item to its online catalog of gadgets and gizmos. The USB powered, 3.5 MM SONAR speaker uses vibrations to product sonar.  It differs from a traditional speaker in that it has no holes.  Sounds comes out from the speaker no matter where it’s placed.  It’s actually one solid piece with the only holes being for the audio input, power and the LED indicator.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For four days only, through 11/29, you can get 25% off any purchase of $75 or more from Skooba and they’ll throw in free shipping as well. Skooba makes some really slick lap top bags in a variety of styles. Just use the coupon code “MADNESS” at checkout to take advantage of this deal… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The SmartSwipe is a nifty little gadget that can save you from hours of annoyance (or worse) when your credit card number gets swiped. Basically the system lets you use the same technology stores uses to swipe credit card information from your card and then encrypt it for sending over the internet. Well we are giving away the review unit and it is going to…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I am a fortunate person.  I live about a hour away from “the happiest place on Earth”. Yes, I am talking about Walt Disney World- Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.  I get to let my inner 5 year old out on a regular basis.  Its a great way to have a “mini” vacation, as often as I can and still make it home to feed my cats. On a recent trip to Epcot, I saw something that peeked my inner geek.  There was a family in the China pavilion, a mother, father, daughter and son.  The kids looked to be between 12-15.  They were talking about this and that, looking at some of the Chinese collectibles behind the glass.  Then, one of the statues behind the glass nodded.  Yes, nodded.  And it was in response to what the son was doing on his cell phone. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When this item arrived for review I thought to myself “dump dumb dumb”. I tried it and then thought… “I wish I had thought of that.” Seriously, if you use a Mac this is something that is worth a look past Judie’s initial post announcing that they were being made. So let’s take one…… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the Windows Mobile Weekly Roundup series. Last week, Microsoft released Marketplace for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 users. Before we get further, I would like to wish all Gear Diary readers a “Happy Thanksgiving”. And with Black Friday coming up, I would like to point out to all of you readers on Gear Diary’s Black Friday deals roundup. Let’s get started with this week’s roundup, starting with the Featured Software of the Week! Featured Software of the Week Frustrated by annoying crashes, freezes and slowdowns on your Windows Phone? Try Pocket Mechanic Professional, the Multi-Award Winning Windows Mobile system optimization, maintenance, data recovery, and tune-up. It comes with a fully featured 30-day trial version, free support and money back guarantee.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, it’s his white cross on a blue background that forms the Scottish saltier, and November 30th is the day to celebrate him and all things Scottish. It might not have all the razzmatazz that surrounds St Patrick’s Day in Ireland, but every national saint deserves to be commemorated, and to help honor the occasion … Proporta has produced a new Limited Edition leather case for the iPhone 3GS in honor of St. Andrew’s day.  The case is packed with the usual Proporta protection, including a sheet of lightweight aircraft grade aluminium to Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you like movies, this is one app you definitely need to check out. It is easy to use, chock full of movie info and will make it easier than ever to find movies by your favorite director or actor. Is it worth the $1.99 price? Judie and I decided to give it a try and see …… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

SPB Software recently released a new version of SPB Time, its best-selling Windows Mobile time toolset, to v3.0. According to SPB Software, The updated version offers a completely new, reconsidered user interface and significantly improved alarm features. SPB Time 3.0 provides user with three different types of alarms to fit any needs. Paranoid alarm is designed to wake up deep sleepers while Bio alarm does its job in a very gentle way. Classic alarm is a good solution for those who don’t believe in biorhythms and do not want to be disturbed too much in the morning time. New Features:- Snappier, better looking user interface Classic, Paranoid and Bio alarms More than Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This holiday weekend AGENT18 is covering the costs of every 100th retail order placed through their website. This special promotion is valid from Thursday, November 26th through Tuesday, December 1st. There is no minimum or maximum order amount. Winning customers will be contacted via email after their order has been processed and any payment holds will be released from the credit card used when placing the order… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

photo credit: respres The Gear Diary team was just talking about this the other day – what do you do when you have a broken iPhone? You send it to PPCTechs, of course. And because it’s the holiday season, you can get 20% off any accessory, part or repair that they offer when you use the code PPCTRC1109. This special is good until December 15th, so don’t leave your busted PDA in the drawer – pull it out and let PPCTechs get it back into service! Full Service PDA Repair – Upgrades Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Gear Diary team loves ScottEVest.  Many of us own several pieces of their clothing, which features all those cool pockets for discreetly carrying your gear around. If you’ve been thinking about pulling the trigger on some new ScottEVest gear, now might be the time. ScottEVest is offering free UPS Ground Shipping for all orders over $75 through only midnight on Cyber Monday, November 30.  So, place your orders now to enjoy free ground shipping- visit www.scottevest.com. Some other reminders: They will not be shipping Friday.  Orders placed after 1pm ET today will ship on Monday. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While I am not a “girly” girl, I do like to make myself look nice.  This usually means a semi-regular visit to my favorite nail salon to get a manicure and a pedicure.  Now, I am also a computer engineer for my day job.  This means I am typing on a computer for large parts of the day, when I am not in a datacenter playing with network equipment on a rack. What does all of this have to do with touchscreens?  Plenty.  Because of my nails, I have the most god-awful time trying to use anything with a touchscreen, whether its the Fluke network meter at the office, or my iPod Touch.  I also cannot upgrade my phone to one of the new touchscreen models because I can’t make it work properly.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As a way to say Thank You for your continued support and business throughout this year, Future Sonics is running a Black Friday promotion all weekend! Just visit their Online store, use the promo code “VIPTHANKS” at checkout and you’ll receive  20% off your order +Free UPS Ground Shipping*! The offer is valid in the US Only and is good on online orders placed from Thurs. Nov. 26  until midnight Sun. Nov. 29. Discount not valid towards Custom Package Deals.  It may not be combined with any other offers. Free shipping is for UPS Ground option only.  Future Sonics will be closed for the Holiday Nov 26-29.  Orders will not ship… Continue reading on Gear Diary …