A few years ago, I thought it might be fun to learn how to play guitar.  I already played clarinet, and piano, and knew a few rudimentary things, so I figured, why not?  I picked up a guitar, and some “first guitar for boneheads” books, and was going to get started.  But first, you know, I had to tune the darn thing. Now, I had been taught how to tune a guitar by ear.  But I figured, heck, I’ll get one of those electronic gizmos; that’ll be better.  But now, you don’t need one of those electronic gizmos–you can get the PolyTune iPhone app instead, and save yourself a chunk of change.  The PolyTune app… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Treasure Island is a beloved classic that has inspired many renditions on stage and screen, as well as many sequels and other add-on tales by a variety of artists in a variety of media. The reason it is such a great work to extend and revisit is that the characters are believable, likeable and work very well within their environment. Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins are wonderful characters and the tales of bravery, honor, friendship and of course piracy fuel the long-standing love for the pair. Destination: Treasure Island was originally released for the PC back in 2007 and has now been ported to the iPad. The game picks up the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Fast Company just published an interesting InfoGraphic showing where things are with the iTunes App Store at the end of 2010. We are now approaching 9 months since the iPad launched, and the impact is shown – but the vast majority remain iPhone-only. Here are their details: Apple’s App Store is a behemoth. Launched several years ago, the iTunes marketplace has ballooned into a billion dollar economy, with 7 billion downloads and more than 300,000 apps. (It’s been so lucrative that Apple is planning to open a Mac app store in January.) What does the store look like visualized? The folks at App of the Day spent the last few weeks Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While Twitter and Facebook are great ways to communicate keep in touch with friends and family and sometimes colleagues, for more business-centric stuff many folks rely on LinkedIn. We have covered the business-social-network many times here, talking about BlackBerry apps, Outlook integration, and the recent better business integration. Now the site has offered up a beta app is for Android devices. And in a new move, this is the first time they are doing a public beta! Here is the blog entry: Just in time for the holidays, the mobile team and I are excited to announce the availability of the LinkedIn for Android Beta app! Our Beta Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Big news from Amazon this morning! They are expanding newspapers and magazines to the smartphone apps as well as Kindle hardware. Periodicals have been a very tough sell for ebook manufacturers, but B&N is pushing them hard on the NOOKcolor and it’s likely part of what’s driving Amazon to be competitive as well. I find it far more interesting that the first platform to get this update is going to be Android. It’s possible Android was easier to develop for than iOS, but realistically Amazon must have a significantly higher marketshare on the iPad than on Android phones. Until you consider the other clues…Amazon has been rumored to be creating a branded Android app store, there’s a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

chrome OS screenshot.png on Aviary. I pulled into my driveway today just as UPS was driving away. Like everyone else this holiday season, I’ve been on an Amazon spree buying gifts for family and friends, so I wasn’t TOO surprised to see the big brown truck. However, the package on my front porch wasn’t from Amazon. It was from someone I didn’t know, from a place called “Digital 6-10″ somewhere in Kentucky. I ripped it open thinking it was an eBook reader or some other item for review, and Sarah was the first to realize, “Hey, that’s totally a laptop package…did you buy a laptop and forget?” NOPE! Google sent me a CR-48 Chrome… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Larry has reviewed iFrogz products many times in the past.  So when these new DJ Style headphones came up for a review I thought I would try them out.  Will I be happy using these headphones for my needs?  Let’s find out. The 50mm drivers are housed in some pretty thick plastic.  The housing feels really nice and a step above the 2XL headphones I also use.  They are connected by a black padded band with the ends of that band being spring-loaded.  Since these are DJ style headphones, you can flip the arm and other driver to one side and hold up the opposite driver up to your ear.  That way you can here… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This year saw a number of key changes with regard to how I work on a computer and accomplish the many tasks that face me each day. Of course the iPad was central to the changes in my work style since, most days, I carry it instead of a laptop but I don’t think I would call the iPad “My Most Significant Change in 2010. No, I suspect that that title would go to… Dropbox. Thomas turned me on to Dropbox toward the beginning of the year and I have grown increasingly reliant upon it. At first I used their limited free access to store a number of key files but I quickly saw… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Travis, or “Coach” as he is affectionately called by many of us, is in the midst of fulfilling one of his lifelong dreams; tonight the Falls City Beavers are one of the high school football teams that will be duking it out for the State Football Championship in their division. As you can imagine, even getting to this point is something that few football players or coaches will ever do. In Texas — perhaps even more so than in other states — the competition between high schools is fierce, and the players and coaches give it their all for a chance to win a ring that is “an amazing status symbol in this state.” As… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Have you ever found a sleeve that suited you 100 percent?  Well with Caseables, you finally can with their customizable sleeves.  I was not sent a custom sleeve, but a sample of one of the sleeves that they currently make.  Every stitch on this one is done with the same care and quality as any custom that you can order from Caseable. The inside of the sleeve is covered in very soft white fleece which should protect your laptop from scratches just fine.  I am not too sure about the color inside this one.  With all of the other color choices for the rest of the sleeve, on the classic model I… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While I always seem to have way too many games to play for review, I always allow myself time for replaying favorites or classics even if it means delaying completing a game review. Generally the choices make sense – my annual trek through the Star Wars ‘Kyle Katarn’ games, for example, or another play through on Gothic 2 Gold. But just after Thanksgiving I found myself with my PSP-3000 in hand, not playing any of the games on my PSP Go awaiting my attention, but instead replaying the 2007 RPG Dungeons & Dragons Tactics (D&D Tactics). Am I nuts? The Hype: Dungeon Crawling Meets Tactical Strategy in an adventure that sets out to appeal… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Image courtesy of Kabobfest.com By now most people know more about WikiLeaks than they ever cared to … have heard various opinions about how founder Julian Assange is either the saviour of journalism, a cyber-terrorist, or a scumbag … and the WikiLeaks site is either a great hero of international transparency or an illegal hacker group threatening lives for fun. But one thing is sure – whenever someone or something gets as much coverage as Assange and Wikileaks, there are sure to be others to follow! And here they come! Last night I got an email from something called ‘TradeLeaks’ that didn’t get dumped to spam. At first I didn’t pay attention, since… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

booq recently announced their new luxury Cobra line. The bags look great and, in typical booq style, they have lots of useful features. Well now booq has added two additional bags to the line. The new offerings are tailored to carrying and protecting MacBook Pro and other full-sized laptops. First up is the Cobra hardcase. As the company explains- Cobra hardcase is a slim work-in solution for the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The rugged and elegant combination of a hard-molded ballistic nylon exterior and a perfectly fitted quilted interior protects your laptop against the abuse of the everyday kind. Simply slide Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The other day we were having dinner with some family friends in celebration of my father-in-law’s birthday. One of his dear friends had just gotten her first smart phone and had no clue how to use it. I spent a few minutes with her showing her a couple of key applications that I thought she might find useful. She was wowed by what her new device is able to do. I am which point she made the following comment– “Okay, to tell me something, with so many applications available for this device how the hell would I ever know what is available and which is the best application for each activity… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Windows 7 phones are hitting the market these days, as all you phone nerds probably already know.  And PDAir is not a bunch of folks who like to be behind the curve, so it probably won’t surprise you to learn that they’ve already come out with some cases for W7 phones, specifically the HTC HD7 T9292.  They are offering two aluminum cases, in black or silver, to cover up your new piece of ‘ware.  So if you’re an early adopter, better surf on over and check ‘em out.  Available for an MSRP of $28.00. The case includes: Thin, Lightweight and Continue reading on Gear Diary …