I got into a fender bender last night. Luckily no one was hurt, and as for the damage to my car (see above), well, that’s what insurance is for. In the aftermath, though, I’ve been doing quite a bit of thinking on how easily I let myself get distracted while driving, not just yesterday but in general…and fortuitously, this afternoon I came across my old iPod shuffle. If you’re wondering how I went from distracted driving to iPod shuffle, it’s not that crazy a leap. I usually use my Droid for music in my car, either using the built-in music player or Pandora. But if I want to change the music, or figure out why… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

photo credit: Kuzeytac You know the old saying that lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice? Well, now I have definitive proof that this is absolutely true. Yup, Lightning Does Not Strike The Same Place Twice! Years ago our house in the mountains suffered a direct lightning strike. How do I know that is the case? I know because it was the middle of the afternoon on Saturday and a huge storm front was coming through. Our golden retriever (she was still with us) and I were taking an afternoon siesta in the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Ever since the iPhone has had a built in GPS, location based applications have been useful and popular. I have personally looked at many of these apps and love to see the innovations developers are able to come up with. Of course, it was just a matter of time before these apps started integrating with social networking as well as other GPS apps. Localscope proves to do both by allowing users to search around their location using a variety of social engines and will allow directions to be sent to the Tom Tom navigation app. Tons of features and choices allows Localscope to be unique to each user’s needs and preferences. Let’s take a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Now look, I’ll get this out of the way right up front:  I don’t use WritePad.  I don’t use WritePad for the same reason that I took a typing course at the earliest age possible in my day (12), even though I had to learn on a pre-historic black Royal manual typewriter that probably weighed in excess of 50 pounds:  my handwriting sucks.  And to put it frankly, no software alive could possibly deal with it without suffering an electronic breakdown, even if I personally could convince the small muscles in my hand to form letters with something approaching recognizability. So I don’t use it.  But don’t blame PhatWare, blame me. Blame me, because… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

In the case world, if there’s a go-to company, honestly I think it’s PDAir.  Maybe they don’t have the fanciest cases, or the ones that can open a beer can in addition to protecting your gadget, or cause people to ask where you got it.  But you know what?  They’re affordable, they’re on the ball when new gadgets come out, and they work just fine.  They’re consistent.  If you have a gadget, they’ve got a case.  There’s a lot to be said for that. This week’s PDAir offering is a set of cases for the Samsung Google Nexus S GT-i9020T (that’s a mouthful!).  PDAir is offering three cases for the Nexus, all for an MSRP… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

‘Round these parts, we’ve been paying a lot of attention to the Motorola Atrix.  Judie and Dan got to see an interesting demo at CES, and you’ll no doubt see one of them review the gadget right here in our humble pages. So let’s say you’re an early adopter, and bought one.  How do you keep your new 4G free of the bumps and bruises that life is no-doubt about to throw at it?  Why, you consider getting an OtterBox case for it, of course.  And why?  Let me put it this way:  when I finally allowed my ADHD son to have his first iPhone–graduating him from the most bullet-proof flip-phone we could find–the case… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Phil Collins is an interesting figure in popular music – he began as the talented drummer of the progressive rock group Genesis, then suddenly became the frontman when Peter Gabriel left in 1975, leaving the drummer’s throne for the microphone as Bill Bruford and later Chester Thompson filled his former role. As Genesis vaulted from experimental rock to pop superstars, Collins simultaneously launched a massively successful career as a solo artist. At times it became hard to separate Collins from Genesis, and as his pop ballads became more and more overplayed on radio his core fans started to desert him. The result is that he is a massively successful artist who is remembered… 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. Rarely does a game come along that leaves me totally addicted on my iPhone. While anxiously waiting for new levels on Angry Birds, another bird game caught my eye and now is ruling all of my spare time. Word of warning, if you are not interested in being completely addicted and enthralled with a game, do not purchase Tiny Wings. If you are interested in a super fun and crazy way to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Several months ago I wrote about Quiescence Music giving away a book of New Age piano lessons simply for signing up for their email newsletter. I have enjoyed the weekly tips and ideas that Edward Weiss includes in the newsletter, and still encourage everyone to sign up! Now Quiescence has released a new tip sheet titled ‘Top 14 Tips for Successful Piano Improvisation.’ The tip sheet contains principles to help students play more freely at the piano. The creator of the tip sheet, pianist/composer Edward Weiss has this to say about it: Do you think you can’t improvise? Nonsense! All you need are a few chords, the Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This takes the idea of the iPhone/Wallet combination to an entirely new level. Called the “iPhone RETRO MODERN leather wallet sleeve” the antiqued leather case has space for your iPhone 4, some credit card and some cash. It looks neat and is a great way to carry all the stuff you need in a cool looking, retro package. Just don’t put it in your back pocket and sit down! You can grab one HERE for $79. Via WERD Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It is the first weekend in March so any old New Gear Daily Deal just won’t do will it? No, we need something special. We need something that is REALLY a HUGE DEAL. We need something like this- Vizio’s 47″ XVT472SV 1080P LCD LED HDTV at a HUGE savings! This TV is gorgeous. Here’s how the company describes it- Experience the pleasure of Full High-Definition entertainment with the TruLED™ 47-inch XVT472SV 1080P LCD LED HDTV from Vizio®. This HDTV features REAL 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio for rich, dark scenes delivering an experience that will blow you away. Offering 5 ms response time it delivers sharp and impressive video motion every time. Additionally, this direct Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While Tron: Legacy might not have lived up to the classic original, it was a solid film and great fan service. It also got younger kids introduced and intrigued by the world inside of the Grid! Now Disney has released the first trailer for the upcoming animated series Tron: Uprising. The story is set between the original Tron and Tron: Legacy. A quick overview: Beck, a young program who becomes the unlikely leader of a revolution inside the computer world of The Grid. His mission is to free his home and friends from the reign of the villainous Clu 2 and his henchman General Tesler. Beck will be trained by Tron – the greatest Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love Case-Mate’s iPad cases. In fact, the company’s Venture Case for the original iPad was one of my all-time favorites! Well it comes as no surprise that Case-Mate is rolling out a series of cases to protect the iPad 2. The cases will arrive later this month and they look impressive. Among the offerings… The Case-Mate Pop! This $49.99 case looks great. The company describes it this way… Offering a support system like no other, the iPad 2 Pop! case brings Continue reading on Gear Diary …

March Madness is approaching and the digital download sites have chosen to celebrate with … well, the same amount of crazy super deals!! As usual, everyone is getting in on the action with great deals, so let’s get right to them. And as always thanks to the crew at Deals4Downloads for their help finding everything. I have added another new site – Green Man Gaming – who has a single great deal this week, but with the free Imperium Romanum earlier this week they show signs of being a contender. I’ll be keeping an eye on them in the coming weeks! So let’s get straight to the deals!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have a tremendous number of photographs sitting on my MacBook air. They range back more than 15 years and have various members of my community involved in many different activities. The problem is they sit there and they don’t get enjoyed by the community at large. Yes, I’ve taken to putting series of slide shows up on the synagogue website but people still need to go to the website in order to see them. As a result I’ve been looking around to try to find the right digital frame solution so that I could put the frame in my study at the office as well as some areas around the building that, when people walk… Continue reading on Gear Diary …