One of the big boons of the Industrial Revolution was that many products that, before then, required many tedious, laborious, and expensive hours being made by hand could now be done quickly, cheaply, and easily by machine.  Goods that were out of the reach of the vast majority of the populace suddenly were affordable. Yup, it led to decades–even centuries–of upheaval as people who used to be coopers or hatters or weavers or what-not suddenly couldn’t compete.  But since then–more often recently, it seems to me–a lot of people have both embraced the artisan culture, looking to it both for new and more unusual handmade products–in everything from bread to beer to gear bags–as well… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Merchantville) Earlier today Mike brought us the news that Sony’s Reader app was rejected from the App Store, and he did a great job of explaining how murky the whole story really is. Whether Apple purposely rejected the Reader app as part of a longer plan to cull all ebook readers from the App Store, or whether Sony brought the issue upon themselves by breaking the rules remains to be determine. What’s more disturbing is the news from Techcrunch that Apple didn’t directly deny the possibility of cracking down on the ebook app “browser trick”, where book purchases are done by bouncing to the browser and then… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

You know you count on it; you know you’ve been waiting for it; you like to think that there’s at least one thing that’s somewhat consistent in this frozen, blizzarding world, right?  And that thing is, early on every week, we tell you about the USBFever gear coming out! This week’s releases include the usual nerdy stuff like cables, but also some attractive items like the iPhone 4 case you see up above.  So take a break from listening to the depressing news from the weather folks, stop watching the snow/sleet/ice pound down from the heavens, and web surf a little and check out some new gear.  Beats workin’. Full list below. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome to another edition of Music Diary Reviews! Since I started doing these reviews I have simply collected up stuff from a time period and reviewed it all. For the last few I have separated Jazz, Pop and Re-issues. But still it is just whatever comes along reviewed as it comes along. Don’t get me wrong, there are some awesome releases in there like Mary Halverson’s Saturn Sings. But there were also a couple of recent releases that struck me so much for one reason or other that I simply needed to look at them apart from everything else. So, with that … let’s take a look at these two special… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

What a difference a year makes. It was February, 2010 that we received a record snowfall here in North Texas and almost one year later we get socked in with ice and sleet just as teams arrive here for the big football game. I hope they feel right at home. For me, I am just thankful that this time around for the frozen weather I can actually get out of my driveway. No roadsters or performance cars this year, no sir – sitting in the front drive is the 2011 Mitsubishi Outlander GT with Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC) complete with – Ta Da! – snow mode. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you track technology, you have likely seen the NYTimes article or one of the echo-articles declaring a shift in how Apple operates the app store, citing the rejection of the Sony Reader app and a vague quote from a Sony Rep as evidence. There is a lot of speculation there, but it ultimately comes down to the interpretation of two sections of a single sentence: The company has told some applications developers, including Sony, that they can no longer sell content, like e-books, within their apps, or let customers have access to purchases they have made outside the App Store. OK, first things first: “can no longer sell content, like e-books, within Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Recently I reviewed the Amplicom TCL200 alarm clock, designed to assist hearing and visually impaired individuals by vibrating and talking to wake you/tell you the time. Now, thanks the generosity of the folks at Amplicom, we’re giving away one of these amazing alarm clocks to one lucky reader! All you need to do to enter is leave a comment below and tell us why this clock would help you or a loved one. Pretty simple! You have until Monday, February 6th, so get your entries in now! Here’s the fine print: You MUST leave a comment explaining why the clock would help you (or someone you love). A comment that just says Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you are like me, you love the iPad but were thrilled to see Samsung doing well with the Galaxy Tab. I wrote back at the beginning of December how the Galaxy Tab had sold 1 million units in two months, and Doug wrote about more mainstream attention being paid to the wonderful little Tablet. Personally I think we all benefit from competition – just look at the huge things Nintendo has done in 6 years with the DS in the face of competition from Sony and Apple compared to the tiny changes they made to the GameBoy over 15 years! So the latest news out of Samsung is just plain sad… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m always searching for new ways to use my iPhone to create voice notes and turn them into text. I have found a number of good solutions — primary among them Dragon Dictation. But I’ve always wanted to be able to record a long voice note on the iPhone (Dragon is limited to just 60 seconds at a time) and then 0nce I’m back at my desk, apply the application MacSpeech Scribe to transcribe a long audio recording. The problem I’ve always run into is the fact that many voice note applications don’t record with a quality or a format that the Mac application can use. The other issue that I have run into… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

With today’s Gear Deal our Gear Sponsor brings us a new 2010 model 21.5″ HiDef monitor. The HP S2231 features 1920 x 1080 resolution, a 5ms response time and a 15000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio. It sports an anti-glare panel, has an integrated speaker and offers both VGA and DVI-D (with HDCP) connectivity. Normally $219.99, with this deal the 21.5″ monitor is just $124.99. It will even ship for free. If you have been looking to add an additional monitor to your computer setup… Or want to replace an old one with a screen that is anti-glare AND has an integrated speaker… This deal is for you. $25 Coupon + $70 off HP S2231 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There’s ample evidence that we’re at a crossroads in book history. Borders is struggling to survive, and publishers, editors, authors and consumers are working to find their place in the brave new world of ebooks. Luckily, they don’t have to do it alone, thanks to the launch of Gatekeeper’s Post! I had the opportunity to speak with Jeff Rivera, Editor in Chief of Gatekeeper’s Post, about the launch of the site and what he hopes to accomplish with it. Effectively, they’re looking to create a place where everyone from librarians to authors to agents to readers can keep up on the industry news and find new perspectives on publishing and reading. The idea is… Continue reading on Gear Diary …