Don’t forget: This challenge is benefiting The Haiti Plunge – They are building a road and a new medical clinic among other things in a rural part of Haiti. Please take a second and support them HERE. The new SeV Revolution will be my main jacket for the No Baggage Challenge for Charity. It is super comfortable and offers a good balance between warmth and weight. Unlike the Revolution Plus, it is not lined so it is not good for freezing weather, but when layered it is great. The Revolution includes all the new features that SeV has been introducing, so for a look at the key differences between… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As 2010 comes to an end we ask… Was it a good year in tech? And we answer… Nope Nope??? Nope! It was a great year in tech. That’s right. 2010 finally saw some of the key things we have been hoping for come to fruition. iPad Baby!! First and foremost 2010 gave us the iPad. The iPad wasn’t significant just because of what it did for Apple but because it finally showed that a tablet form factor can and will work… And be loved by consumers… if it  is done right. Think about it for a minute–the iPad is the first generation device and yet it is fantastic. Yes… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When I was, I dunno, 14 or 15, my Dad got me a headlight for my bike powered by a dynamo that attached to the front wheel. “Cool!” thought the 15 year-old Doug to himself; “No batteries!” What I didn’t realize until I was out there pedaling around, of course, was that yo, the power for that dynamo had to come from my skinny legs, which had to work even harder to keep that flamin’ thing moving. Such are the lessons of youth. Of course, many bicyclists like the added drag, because it helps them get in shape faster. It’s a greener way to power your light, and of course dynamos have increased in quality a lot since my Deep Purple-infused… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you have been following along here at Gear Diary you probably have seen Carly’s review of the NOOKColor. The NOOKColor was noted as Barnes and Noble number one seller for the holiday season and it’s pretty easy to understand why. I am not really an eBook user and don’t often find myself reading too many books, but what I do enjoy is pretty much anything Android and the hardware that it runs on. So far you’ve seen what the $250 devices gets you, a full featured, beautiful color screen eBook reader powered by Android 2.1. It was not days after the new eReader hit the shelves, nookDevs’s along with some wizardry from XDA members… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We are all feeling the financial pinch!  Blue Plate Special is a weekly review of bargain apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Nothing over $.99. The iPhone 4 has a really good camera and it shoots HD video.  I have come to be pretty dependent on the phone as a camera device as well as my only video device.  I have collected quite an array of camera and video apps.  In fact, I have started my third folder full of photography apps.  One problem with these apps is that they rarely qualify in price… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy earnmydegree) It has been far too long since the last “State of the eBook” column, but life has been busy lately. However, my New Year’s resolution is to get back on track, and it seemed like a good way to start would be with a retrospective on 2010 and a look to what we might see in 2011! State of the eBook world at the end of 2010 Winners Kindle: It’s impossible not to include the Kindle on this list. Amazon has hung onto their marketshare and expanded onto Mac OS X, Blackberries and Android devices. Not to mention their existing iOS Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(Image courtesy StorageMojo) It’s harsh but there’s no other way to put it. News broke this afternoon that Borders is delaying payments to vendors, and is concerned if their creditors do not help with a restructuring that they’re going to run into a “liquidity shortfall”. In other words, there’s no money in the bank to pay anyone. When you’re a person, it makes you a deadbeat. When you’re a large company, it makes you very, very nervous. According to the Wall Street Journal: The nation’s second-largest bookstore chain by revenue, behind Barnes & Noble Inc., said the delays were part of its efforts to refinance its debt and that it had Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Amazon quietly added a new feature to their Kindle pages, a set  of “Kindle Deal of the Day” listings! Every day the list changes and all the books are $2.99! It’s a one-day only deal, so if you see something you like snap it up right away. Yesterday “Everything is Illuminated” by Jonathan Safron Foer was only $2.99 on Kindle, and today it is up to $9.12. This is a very dangerous page for me to have bookmarked, I spend too much on books already! Interestingly, these appear to be Amazon-exclusive prices. I checked one title that’s on sale today (The New Evolution Diet) and it isn’t available for NOOKs, while… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of my favorite games on the iPhone and iPad to play is MahJong. The speed, or lack thereof, appeals to the slow-moving, bum-reflex old fart in me, and plus I like puzzle games. One of the better versions of MahJong for the iPad and iPhone is from Astraware, a game maker I quite like. And now they’ve ported their popular app to the Palm Pre and Pre Plus devices. Ordinarily going for 3 bucks, it’s on sale now for only a single ol’ George Washington dollar (or “Warshington,” as my step-Mom would say). So maybe you should hie on over and check it Continue reading on Gear Diary …

. I love my MacBook Air. It is thin, light, speedy and, thanks to the solid state drive, silent. I highly recommend it if you like using OS X. If you prefer Windows however the Dell Adamo will suit you just fine. It is thin, light and it too comes with a silent and speedy SSD. It’s our New Year’s Eve Gear Deal! The Adamo has a 13.4″ screen and is available in “silver aluminum with unique etching and pearl finish or onyx aluminum with brushed finish”. The laptop features “a machined, torsion-tested aluminum chassis”, has a full-size backlit keyboard and an ultra-compact power… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It took a few more days than Amazon and Kobo (maybe the storm hit their bean counters hard?) but B&N finally has news about their NOOK sales, and it’s all rosy. The big news: NOOK is B&N’s bestselling product of all time! Poor Harry Potter, he’s losing his touch! It’s important to note that B&N emphasizes the NOOK line of products, not any particular NOOK device. A year ago the NOOK was just being released to mix reviews, so this certainly qualifies as a coup for B&N! The icing on the whole announcement is that B&N says they sold over 1 million ebooks on Christmas day alone! That’s huge for them all by itself, and shows just… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Aluratek has brought out a cool little boom box that might just come in handy on your next camping trip.  Aluratek sent me one so I could play with it and see what makes it tick. Initially when I opened the box, I was expecting their AWS01F which includes a wireless speaker as well.  However when I opened it, the instruction book indicated it was the AMS01F.  The only difference between the two packages is the wireless speaker.  Otherwise the rest of it is the same. The first thing you have to do is charge the radio… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s not very often that I can get excited about a universally fitting mobile phone sleeve, mainly because most of the ones I’ve reviewed in the past were pretty utilitarian. But when I received an email from Oberon Design, the company responsible for some of my favorite Kindle2, Kindle DX and iPad cases ever, asking if I’d like to review their new cell phone sleeve, I was happy to oblige. Our cell phone sleeve is offered in twelve cropped versions of our most popular designs and accommodates many different smart phones and regular cell phones. As in the past, the Oberon item arrived wrapped… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to get a review copy of the iPhone 4 version of The Elements, a book/media/textbook/app that describes and demonstrates the Periodic Table of the Elements (with pictures of examples that could be manipulated). I loved it. In fact, I ended up absorbed in it so much that it put me behind on other reviews, because I had to tell you all about it. Now the same development company, TouchPress (Get it? It’s on iOS, so you can “touch” and “press” the app, but it’s also a publishing company, so “press” has a double meaning? See? Okay; I’ll shut up now.), working in conjunction with Faber… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

You got your iPad or your iPhone or your iPod touch as a gift for the holidays. Now it’s time to accessorize it. One of the best ways to do that… The new Apple TV. The new iOS-loving TV add-on is great on its own for renting or buying TV shows and movies, watching web video from YouTube, Netflix, viewing pictures from Flickr and MobileMe, and streaming media from local PCs and Macs to your HD TV. And now that Apple’s AirPlay is a go the Apple TV can extend the usefulness of your iOS device significantly by letting you stream certain kinds of media from your handheld to your TV. Better still, our Gear… Continue reading on Gear Diary …