Labels. We get them when we are young. Sometimes we earn them. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes they are flattering. Often they are not. Labels. Once they are there, they are difficult to shake. Oh, wait, this isn’t about that kind of label is it? No, this is about those labels that you print up and then attach to items you want easily identified. For example if you are sorting the various cables that go with the various gadgets you have collected over the years labels help you know what is inside each box without even opening it. Or if you have five different wall adapters for a wide assortment of electronics you can put labels… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Offering to help out landed me some new work. Paying work. Sweet. It starts, as most things do, innocently enough. “Hey, can you take some pictures for us for the annual company banquet?” “Hey, can you get with supervisor so-and-so and see if they need any help with getting the highlight slideshow/video ready for the banquet?” “Hey, how is that video coming, and hey, how about an extra slideshow to run in the background while guests arrive and mingle?” And then, “Hey, awesome job. I haven’t met you but I am one of your really big bosses and I want to meet with you to talk about your work,” and (wait for it) “Hey, we… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Substrata is about to release one of the prettiest wooden cases I’ve yet seen; this one is not for the iPhone 4 however, it’s for the iPad. I’ve gotta tell you — I’m a fan! Substrata is releasing six new cases for the iPad 2, all handmade at our shop in Portland, Oregon. We have an update of our original iPad case design, revised for the iPad 2 and two entirely new designs heading into production now. We are taking orders, and our first batches of cases will finish up production near the end of April for shipping in early May. Pricing begins at $85 for the Tabletop Case, but if you can — splurge on… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

photo credit: spike55151 If you don’t mind filling out a simple online survey form, then you may be rewarded with a ThinkCentre M75e desktop plus two 19’’ monitors for your time! Ivy Worldwide is gathering information on small and medium-sized businesses’ technology purchasing habits. This is the second SMB survey that they have conducted, and this time the goal is to gain a “deeper insight not just into what information sources are important to SMBs, but also what triggers the action of purchasing (or not) once a potential buyer is feels him/herself to be… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Since my day job is as a statistician, when I saw that an app called Biostatistics had been released on the iTunes App Store, I simply had to check it out. Developer Stephen S. Ashley was kind enough to provide me with a review code for the full version. There are two things I wanted to highlight: the statistics, and the interface. The Hype: The Biostatistics app™ provides descriptive statistics and statistical tests and procedures of interest primarily to students and researchers in the life sciences. The provided tests and procedures may also prove useful to those in other fields who draw inferences about large populations from measurements taken from random samples… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We are feeling the financial pinch! Blue Plate Special is a weekly review of bargain apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Nothing over $.99. I remember a day when searching for a game I worried about 3D graphics and realistic gameplay. Of course those things are nice and cool in a game, but IOS has brought me back to the day where simplicity and fun were more important than realistic explosions. I recently tried to explain to some of my students how fun gaming was “back in the day” when graphics were terrible, but the games… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

screenshot from of the Eldorado Success 03/31/11 digital edition One of the joys of living in a small town is that the local paper publishes the police blotter every week; it’s always good for an unintentional chuckle, because some of the things people call 911 for are things you would never see in a larger city. Whether it be a black bull loose on the side of the road at the county line, hit and run doorbell ringing, or people who call for help but then refuse to say what they need — there’s always something sure to raise an eyebrow. One item that caught my eye this week was… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

OK, I know … how many times can I say that ‘music sales are dismal’? Well, with each newly discovered nugget of information, a pattern emerges: one that we implicitly already know, with a clueless music industry trying to somehow get back to the ‘good old days’ of early 70′s record sales with 100% annual growth, or even the late 1990′s when the CD was king. But the graph shows the reality: the entire music industry is shrinking, and the rise in digital (last year just 5%) and ‘performance rights’ such as internet radio and subscription services, are doing nothing to stop the slide. We also know that the majority of sales… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s Gear Deal is all about having fun. This deal includes a Wii game console, a Wii remote controller with Wii remote jacket, a Nunchuck controller, a Wii MotionPlus accessory, Wii Sports Resort, the original Wii Sports, 1-wired sensor bar, 1-power cord, 1-standard composite cable and 1-console stand. The bundle is available in white, black or red. This bundle would normally be $199.99 but our Gear Sponsor has found it for $39.99 less. That brings the price down to just $159.99 and it will even ship for free. Best deal Nintendo Wii (white) + Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, MotionPlus + Free Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Last year a big deal was made when eMusic shifted to focus on the major labels by making concessions in pricing and moving from credits to dollar amounts for purchase, and more importantly changing how royalties and other details were handled in a way that resulted in many major indie labels pulling out of the service. Until then, eMusic was looked upon as the greatest place for indie music. Turns out the best place is actually iTunes. According to a report at Digital Music News: Last week, global independent trade group AIM stumbled upon a stunningly lopsided stat. Namely, that iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify collectively accounted for 94.4 percent of indie digital Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I thought of a number of different titles for this post. One was: “No Use Crying Over Spilled Lemonaide”. Another was “MacBook Airs and Crystal Light Do Not Mix”. Another was “Apple, I’m Sorry for all the Nasty Things I Have Said and Thought” Then there was “I’m an Idiot” Eventually I settled on simply using “Adventures in Customer Service- Apple and Spilled Crystal Light Edition”. Here’s my story. I did not have a good morning. I woke up not feeling particularly great and immediately had a number of phone calls with people who are in the midst of challenging times. I finished my morning coffee and went to get the package that the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Remember the first time MTV aired Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video? It was a huge event that was wrapped around one of the greatest pop songs ever – but the video was even more! There was a story about a girl and a boy … who wasn’t an ordinary boy, which went on for a few minutes before launching into the great song with excellent choreography. Well, a couple of weeks ago there was a big deal made over the new Ke$ha music video for the song ‘Blow’. Featuring James Van Der Beek, there is some pseudo-story about two people across a floor who break into a laser tag war that sees unicorns… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(made with Meme Generator) The New York Times paywall makes a decent effort to bridge app-based subscriptions with physical papers and online access, but there’s one glaring exception: eBookstores (except Amazon’s Kindle) are being cut out of the fun. It’s looking like Amazon was able to cut a special deal, but everyone else (mainly B&N and Kobo) are not included in any such offerings, which is a slap in the face to the users who have been voluntarily paying for an electronic version of the New York Times. It just boggles my mind, since there’s really no downside to allowing these subscribers to have online access. Maybe there is not a significant base of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Of all the stands for the original iPad, Element Case’s Joule stands out as the simplest but most aesthetically pleasing iPad stand we reviewed. Here’s what I had to say about the original version: So what do I think of the Joule? I love it. It is beautifully made and remarkably useful. It is simple yet functional. When the iPad is not inside its low profile means it won’t take up much space AND it looks good. The three angles provided by the various cuts in the back let you have your iPad at the perfect angle for whatever use you are making of the iPad at that moment. The fact that the leg is held Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m still waiting for the “Cut and Paste” update to arrive on the Windows Phone 7 I am using thanks to Judie, but even without it, I have to admit that I like the platform a lot already. Microsoft did a super job creating a new interface that is big, bold and easy to use. And this is just the first version of it! Well, today’s Gear Deal brings us the HTC Arrive Windows 7 Smartphone at a great price. The HTC Arrive is on Sprint and features a 3.6′ (480 x 800) WVGA touchscreen, a 1GHz processor, a QWERTY slider -0` keyboard, a 5MP camera, 16GB build-in memory (expandable via MicroSD), 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS and… Continue reading on Gear Diary …