2011 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of ‘Face Dances’ by The Who, the first studio release after the death of drummer Keith Moon. If there was any real doubt that the band would never recover from the loss, that tepid release with overly constrained Kenny Jones on drums was a pretty clear sign that the magic was gone – though it took the even-worse ‘It’s Hard’ the following year to REALLY kill the band. But even before the release of ‘Face Dances’ there were three signs that the remaining members of the band were headed in different directions: between 1980 and 1981 each released a solo album. John Entwistle was the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As I reported as a (very likely) rumor a few weeks ago, Nintendo has officially cut the price of the Wii to $149 and changed the included game set. Now, instead of getting Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, new systems come as shown above with the popular Mario Kart game and a matching colored Wii Wheel! Also, Nintendo has launched a new ‘Nintendo Selects’ series of Wii games at a $19.99 price point – similar to offers from Sony and Microsoft. The initial offerings of Nintendo Selects includes The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Mario Super Sluggers and Wii Sports. You can read more in… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A few months ago I did a quick review of the 12-song sampler Euphoria by Billy Franks. Since then he has been part of a Bruce Springsteen Tribute EP to benefit those suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Here is the info from his site: The Magic Numbers – Sad Eyes(from the 1998 box set “Tracks”) Danny & The Champs – Tougher Than The Rest (from the 1987 album “Tunnel of Love”) Willie Nile – I’m On Fire (From the 1984 album “Born In The USA”) Billy Franks – All That Heaven Will Allow (from the 1987 album “Tunnel of Love”) A portion of proceeds from Badlands retail sales will be Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the applications I love — not only on the BlackBerry, but on iOS, Android, webOS and Windows Phone 7 — is Poynt.   It is my favorite do-all location-based search utility.   I’m fortunate to get to test different phones and tablets, and Poynt is one of those apps I always load up when I am taking a device out for a test drive.   That’s why when I started using a PlayBook recently, I was very pleased that the app was already optimized for the BlackBerry tablet’s QNX operating system. Whether you’re looking for the cheapest gas prices (and these days, who isn’t??), trying to find a new restaurant close by, or… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The other day I e-mailed Judie and asked, “How do you keep all your various charging and syncing cables organized?” Her answer was short, to the point, and said everything that needed to be said. “What makes you think that my cords and cables are organized in any way shape or form?” Yes, if you have multiple devices, cable overwhelm can be a bit of an issue. So how does one deal with it? I have tried a host of different solutions which include everything from having specific cables taped underneath my desk and available if I simply reach for them, to a variety of specific cable management devices that sit on the desk… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Last month we wished Judie happy birthday with the promise of a very special gift — a one of a kind Orbino Padova case for her iPad 2. Thanks to the generosity of Orbino’s owner Michael Ventre, we were able to make arrangements to get Judie a significantly discounted case made of the leather of her choice. Judie’s choice? No surprise … Crocodile! The MSRP on this unique case is $689, and that’s for the “standard” handmade by Italian artists, crocodile skin version. Judie’s birthday case is not the standard case. This case is being made especially for her, and she even got to pick the crocodile leather color of her choice, rather… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love my two (fixed) female cats, but for a while we had a third — a stray we named Bobby because when he showed up more than 3/4 of his tail was missing.  That’s him in the picture above. Cute little guy, right? Unfortunately, something else wasn’t missing; he was still a fully intact male. We never leave our windows down, so we didn’t discover his disgusting habit of peeing in people’s cars until he had done it to my friend Lisa’s jeep and my cousin Dusty’s work truck. Bad kitteh. I don’t know about you, but there are very few odors that I find nearly as foul & repulsive as cat pee… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today is May 4th, which several years ago became Star Wars day. According to the Star Wars blog: Happy Star Wars Day! Every year on May 4th, fans everywhere celebrate Star Wars online and in person. While every day is Star Wars Day for many hardcore fans, this is the best time to remind everyone else that the Force is everywhere. The site also features links to many sites with special features to celebrate the day. For me, it always reminds me of a Dilbert joke (“I am THOR!” … “take an aspirin”), but it is worth observing since today is the day LucasFilms reveals ALL of the details of the 9-disc Blu-Ray set… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Here’s something Francis and I saw at CES last January and have been anticipating the release since. Altec Lansing has just rolled out their new Orbit Stereo Speakers. They are USB-powered, small enough to bring with you but still pack Altec Lansing’s signature sound quality. In other words, they are small in size but not sound. Here’s what the company has to say about them: Engineered for the multimedia user who needs an on-the-go audio solution with plug and play simplicity. The Orbit USB Stereo significantly amplifies and enhances the sound of any laptop, netbook or computer without compromising portability thanks to its unique, compact design that interlocks the two speakers like a camera lens and Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Make a Wish Foundation does some pretty amazing things for some pretty sick kids. Here’s one that brings kindness and tech together. 9 year-old Owain Weinert has pre-B Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. After his diagnosis he reached out to the Make A Wish Foundation who, in turn, reach out to PopCap Games. One thing led to another and before you know it PopCap was working with Owain to create the iOS game Allied Star Police. The game should be available soon. Seriously, how neat is that??? Personally, I don’t care whether I ever play the game, I’m buying as soon as it is out! Via nohighscores via gamesetwatch Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Bamboo… It seems to find its way into pretty much everything these days. Hey, Scottevest even has a shirt made from the stuff! Well today’s Gear Deal brings us ASUS’s  13″ Core i3 Bamboo Laptop. The laptop features an Intel Core i3-370M, a 2.4GHz dual-core processor, a 1366×768 widescreen LED-backlit LCD, 4GB RAM, a 500GB hard drive, 1GB Nvidia GeForce 310M graphics, wireless N, a USB 3.0 port, a 2MP webcam, a media card reader, an HDMI output, an 8-cell battery, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and more. The laptop is $799 but after $150 mail-in rebate our Gear Sponsor has found it is just $614.95. It will even ship for free! $150 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

  Don’t be intimidated if you don’t know what PCM Audio means, because I wasn’t sure either (and I had to look it up). PCM stands for Pulse Code Modulation, and it is a “means by which standard audio signals (which are represented by waveforms) are converted to digital audio signals (which are represented by 1′s and 0′s – much like computer data) with little, or no, compression. The method of audio conversion is used on most digital audio formats, including CDs and DVD-Audio, and is also used to some extent in Blu-ray and HD-DVD applications. The PCM signal is converted back to analog form for distribution to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

You see?  When I told you on Sunday that it seemed like the USBFever folks never slept, and that they even put out stuff in between their releases o’ the week, I bet you doubted me, right?  I mean, I wouldn’t blame you; those guys just don’t stop, you know?  Week after week, month after month, they keep on movin’. Like this week.  In addition to that cute keyboard you see above, USBFever has their usual boatload of new gear to look at.  Like what?  Well . . . Travel Charger set and rechargeable battery for Blackberry (micro usb) Slim Mini Bluetooth Keyboard SD / SDHC Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m not really big into Sudoku, personally.  I’m a math nerd; I actually went back to College after getting my Computer Science degree in order to complete my Math degree.  But for some reason, Sudoku just never really captured me. It’s obvious I’m the member of a minority, though; tons of people love it.  Bucketloads.  And now, if you’re one of those people and you’re on an Android or iOS platform (and I just love it that it’s being released for both operating systems together), Your Day is At Hand!  Astraware, long-time handheld game maker (I’ve played their games on my Palm devices back in the day), has release Sudoku for you… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Over the last decade the ways of finding and sharing music have exploded – there are web forums, social music sites, subscription services, recommendations on music sites like tunes, Twitter, Facebook, and on and on. But guess what? There is still no better way to find something than a recommendation from a trusted friend – and better still, direct sharing that leads to a purchase. My brother came to visit us over Easter for the weekend, and on Sunday morning I put on Jason Parker’s Five Leaves Left. My brother grabbed his iPhone after a couple of songs and asked for the name of the album and immediately bought it on… Continue reading on Gear Diary …