Every New Gear Daily Deal saves you money but some deals are even hotter than normal. This is one of them. Yes, this NGD brings us the Vostro 230 Mini Tower with a 21.5″ monitor. The computer has an Intel Core Two Duo processor running at a speedy 3.2 GHz. It comes with a fast 7200RPM hard drive and 3GB of DDR3 RAM. And then there is the big, bright 22″ monitor. This is a complete package that will let you get all your work done with ease. It is a great package that normally sells for $675.00. With this New Gear Daily Deal however you can get it for just $399.00. That’s… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love Sena’s leather cases and have since my first Dell Axim PDA. Their quality is first-rate, the leathers they use are gorgeous and, time and again, they find just the right balance between style and function. Well the company has rolled out their offerings for the iPad 2 and they are impressive. I like them all but am especially drawn to the new Florence for iPad 2. This sleek case/stand will have an MSRP of $79.99 but is available for pre-order right now for just $69.99. We have lots more pictures of the Florence but let’s take a quick look at the rest of the new offerings first… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here’s some exciting audio news: Speakers Do Not Have to be Square! Shocked? I’m sure you are but after years of being limited to boring square speakers it is now possible to get big sound from your home audio system without having to sacrifice style. Orb’s Mod1 PLUS Home Theater Speaker System is leading the charge by bringing aesthetic interest AND great sound to your den or theater room. Sure, Orb’s system doesn’t come cheap, but as the company explains, We know some of you are trying like crazy to keep your system under $1,000. The problem with that plan Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Psychology Today) Here’s a head scratcher. At a time when child obesity is climbing, and the big push is to get kids active, one homeowner’s association apparently wants kids inside glued to a Playstation. They’re proposing banning children from playing outside without adult supervision (which, okay, I guess it’s a safety thing?), but even worse, they’re banning “skateboarding, playing games like tag, or using loud toys.” Each violation could run families $100 a pop. What is wrong with this homeowner’s association??? Granted, the article is light on details, but this just sounds ridiculous. What constitutes “loud toys”? When my brother and I were kids, we used to play basketball… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Live out your Sims life before your real life family reunions this summer with the fourth expansion pack in The Sims3 PC/Mac game series, The Sims 3 Generations.

(image courtesy Test Freaks blog) My guess is that, like me, you’ve received many soothing-but-scary emails over the last few days from Target, TiVo, Best Buy, maybe even your bank. They explain how, oops, someone might have accidentally tapped into their database and found your email, but don’t worry! Just maybe think twice before clicking on any email links until you make sure it’s from the company you trusted to not leak your email in the first place. It’s a headache, but not a huge problem all by itself. Except, of course, the sheer number of companies impacted. Because everyone was using the same company, Epsilon, it was just one-stop shopping for the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s Gear Deal brings us power… raw, quad-core power. The HP Pavilion Elite HPE-570t has Intel’s 2011 Sandy Bridge Core i7 processor and is a fully customizable Desktop PC. With this deal you can get a free upgrade to a 1.5TB Hard Drive, a free upgrade to a Blu-ray drive, a free 15-month Norton Internet Security subscription, 35% off a 21.5-inch diagonal widescreen monitor ($90 savings), 30% off Care Pack services and FREE shipping. As our Gear Sponsor explains, To get the cheapest base configuration using $300 coupon code, follow our steps (or customize to your liking): 1. Click here Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Good news for NOOK owners! Now you too can enjoy a free online subscription to the New York Times alongside your NOOK one! Whatever rights or other issues went into negotiating this clearly got worked out, so yay for ebook readers! I’m curious, has anyone taken advantage of this yet? I ask because my father had to call the New York Times to update his subscription, and they insisted on setting up his online ID, or else he would have had to subscribe separately to online access. I think it was a case of an uninformed operator handling the call, but if anyone else has gotten odd answers, or had difficulty gaining access, please let us know in… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Even though I work in a technology field, not often do I get a chance to look at brand new technology right after it comes out.  It is even rarer that companies choose to ship laptops with only Linux on them.  Companies like Zareason and System 76 are making it easier and easier to get a system that runs Linux 100 percent with every single piece of the hardware working from day one.  When System 76 offered to send a loaner of their brand new Gazelle Professional based on Intel’s new Sandy Bridge chipset, well I jumped at the chance! The Gazelle Professional is one of the first laptops I have ever tried that has a Core… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Have you ever watched Judge Judy where she gets exasperated and eventually says ‘you’re an idiot!’, or heard about some legal proceedings and wondered how they could belabor the minutia to such an extreme extent? Well, today we have the best of both worlds! From the Wall Street Journal we hear about a court case where Here is an excerpt from the WSJ post, and as they note, what is at issue is whether the office had a copy machine at the time in question.: Plaintiffs’ lawyer: During your tenure in the computer department at the Recorder’s office, has the Recorder’s office had photocopying machines? Deponent’s Lawyer: Objection. PL: Any Continue reading on Gear Diary …

While I haven’t finished my review of Dragon Age 2 yet, my ‘Day One Impressions’ should tell you where I am headed. In short, it is a solid game with many flaws inherent in such a quickly rushed production as well as a misguided change in direction and focus. Yet it is still a solid game with many positive features and will doubtless end up one of the better RPGs of 2011. If you were contemplating buying Dragon Age 2 for your gaming system of choice, you now have a new reason – from now through the end of April, if you have bought Dragon Age 2 on any platform and activated your… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Simon and Garfunkel seem to have been lost to a forgotten era, with their beautiful songs being relegated to easy listening and oldies stations rather that getting the renown they deserve. The same is true for Paul Simon’s later work, with even the brilliant Graceland seeming lost to the specters of the 80′s. He is hoping that his new work, “So Beautiful or So What” will make him more relevant to a younger audience – and I hope the same thing as well. Well, for those of us who know their talent, and for a younger crowd looking for inspiration and creativity in a sea of cookie-cutter pop stars, NPR has an answer… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Last month I reviewed the new Phosphor Appear watch in the women’s red with a Swarovski crystal embedded dial, and I thought it was a little bit too blingy for every day. Since I mentioned that I was going to order the men’s black with a plain black bezel, I thought I would post a picture so you could see the difference. It’s still a bright and attention-getting watch, but it is not quite as blinding now. I think it is perfect! =) The Phosphor Appeal starts… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This weekend my family was busy with a variety of stuff in our kitchen, which is a very large room including a separate island and our eating area and is generally abuzz with activities related to food, homework, computer use or who knows what else! We have a decent set of computer speakers on one counter that we generally hook our into our iPods. So I had my iPod Touch hooked up, and wanted to find something for all of us to listen to … so I pulled up the MOG streaming music app, searched Pearl Jam and then checked out the playlists (user submitted playlists containing the artist show up easily accessible on MOG… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We just learned that the latest entry in the bird launching franchise – Angry Birds Rio – has been downloaded 10 million times in the first 10 days. We also recently heard that the franchise as a whole has passed 100 million downloads, and a month ago that the Android version has netted 30 million downloads. These massive download figures have caused some to make various statements about it being the most popular video game ever, etc. In contrast, between 2005 and 2010 Tetris *sold* more than 100 million cell phone copies. While the difference in time scales is notable, the ‘app age’ really didn’t start until… Continue reading on Gear Diary …