The history of music is littered with great artists who carry the moniker ‘died way too young’. Too often that death is self-inflicted and due to … well, mostly drugs. But there are plenty who succumbed to illness, or lost to tragedy. Lee Morgan is such an artist. I never thought of Lee Morgan as being that young, as he had a career that started strong in the late 1950s and continued until his death at 33 in 1972. He was 18 when he broke out as an already-established vituoso side-man and released his first solo recordings. He produced a number of solid recordings throughout the late 50s through the mid-60s, and managed to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Maybe it seems silly, but one of my favorite bits of low-tech gear that enables high tech life ease is the windshield mount I have for my iPhone.  I use Bluetooth headphones for my iPhone, both because I get so ^%()*&#@!! sick of wires, and because in California they have very strict hands-free phone driving laws.  So the question becomes, where the heck do you put your iPhone?  The dash?  The cup holder?  The passenger seat?  The map slot?  Breast pocket?  Honestly, there is no good solution without the old windshield mount.  Plus it gives me easy access for things like mapping. Well, just because you have a Samsung Tab is no reason why… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

A year and a half ago I was able to review the Blue Yeti with Larry.   I love the Blue Yeti and use it every Wednesday when I record the Linux Link Tech Show as well as the occasional episode of Hacker Public Radio. It’s almost a perfect product.  However, there’s one thing missing that makes the Yeti less of a perfect device for a professional.  That is an XLR output.  Blue has changed that Yeti of a Microphone and made him a pro by adding a XLR output on the bottom allowing you to plug the Yeti Pro into any soundboard that can provide phantom power.  They also kept… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy All Things D) eBooks have been an ongoing experiment in higher education since the first Kindle was released. There have been previous attempts to replace bulky textbooks with Kindle DXs and iPads, but nothing has really stuck. However, two school districts are giving ebooks another shot, one using NOOKs and the other iPads. I am incredibly jealous of the iPad school, but you’ll have to keep reading to find out why! First up, a school in Pennsylvania is issuing kids NOOKs loaded with their summer reading titles. I’m guessing these are probably NOOK wifis, but it’s a great idea. Kids don’t have to run to the bookstore or carry a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

At this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) Nintendo announces they will release the Wii U™ in 2012, which is backward compatible for Wii games AND Wii controllers.

This year seems to be filled with more than its share of tragedy, making it is too easy to forget how difficult rebuilding is for those impacted by devastating events a couple of months later. Fortunately the Consulate Generals of Germany and Japan have teamed up to sponsor a concert to benefit the people of Japan. Featured in the concert is Ayako Shirasaki, whose most recent recording I reviewed here. Here is some info: The Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Consulate General of Japan invite you to a concert for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Free admission. RSVP required Continue reading on Gear Diary …

New Vostro 330 All-In-One There are three reasons for you to order this new Dell Vostro 330 All-In-One Desktop. Reason One: It is a sleek all-in-one that is value priced. Reason Two: It starts value priced and then you save $100 more with this New Gear Daily Deal. Reason Three: It ships the next business day. (Bonus Reason: If you need more computer you can do all kinds of upgrades including adding a touchscreen.) Value, savings and ships the next day… That’s a New Gear Daily Deal if ever there were one. This is what Dell has to say: This slim, striking desktop system fits the power and flexible Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s been quite a while since Barnes and Noble made me happy, I’ll admit.  My bias is simple:  shortly after they bought out eReader and deployed their own version of the eReader app–basically just a slight modification of the existing eReader app, with a few quite-nice enhancements (progress bar with chapter markers; in-app access to wikipedia)–I was a happy camper.  Not only could I easily side-load my existing library of eReader PDB books, but it was a sweet app with a familiar interface that I liked quite a bit more than the Kindle app.  (iBooks didn’t exist as yet.) Then came the nook, shortly followed by the nook app–a completely new piece of software that, well… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you are of a certain age, you recall Peter Frampton’s live record ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ exploding onto the scene in 1976. He had been releasign solo albums for a few years, but the live recordings of his songs brought his energy and the quality of the songs to new light. Hits such ‘Baby I Love Your Way’ and ‘Do You Feel Like We Do’ cemented his place in rock history, and remain staples of classic rock radio stations. This week Wolfgang’s Vault is featuring all of their Peter Frampton concerts for purchase at great prices – $5 for high quality MP3 files, and $7 for FLAC (lossless) audio. Here are… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

So you’ve picked up a shiny new NOOKcolor, and you need a good case for it. Something sturdy that can withstand your day-to-day abuse. Luckily for the hardcore gadget abusers among us all, Otterbox has a Commuter Case for the NOOKcolor. Does it live up to the Otterbox name, and is it worthy of being slapped on your precious eReader? Read on to find out! Like all the cases in the Commuter series, the NOOK version comes with three parts; a screen protector, a fitted silicon case, and a plastic shell that fits around the outside. While it does add a fair amount of bulk, it’s actually… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It seems like almost everything many of us use today is digital or electronic. I do not read books from paper anymore or play card games with physical cards. Almost any type of game or activity can be replicated with our digital devices. Puzzle games and brainteasers are some of my favorite time wasters and I have many on my iPhone. What about actual physical games? You remember, the puzzles you actually hold in your hand and move to solve. I recently tried IcoSoKu from Recent Toys to challenge my mind and bring me back to the days of analog gaming. Let’s take a look. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

At the WWDC Keynote, Apple talked quite a bit about Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud. Of the three, iCloud was the least known and newest reveal. Here is a bit about iCloud: iCloud is so much more than a hard drive in the sky. It’s the effortless way to access just about everything on all your devices. iCloud stores your content so it’s always accessible from your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, or PC.* It gives you instant access to your music, apps, latest photos, and more. And it keeps your email, contacts, and calendars up to date across all your devices. No syncing required. No management required. In fact Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Yesterday at E3 Sony had their big keynote event, with three main features: acknowledgement of the whole PSN hacking incident, officially unveiling the PS Vita handheld, and showing some great looking upcoming PS3 games while touting current successes. PSN Hack Right at the start Sony chose to deal with this issue, which was smart. SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment of America) CEO Jack Tretton apologized to everyone and promised that they would demonstrate value in PSN that will show customers why they should put their trust in Sony for gaming once again. Upcoming PS3 Games, Move, and Netflix There is no doubt that Sony’s PS3 delivers awesome visual experiences, so that is where Sony… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I just took a quick trip out to Colorado Springs. I was amazed to see how many iPhone were at the plane and the wedding. There were, however, a good number of Android handsets to be found and I was interested to see that the majority of them were from Motorola. Well today’s Gear Deal lets you get your hands on the DROID X2 by Motorola at a nice savings. The Droid X2 is the followup to the original Droid X, features include large 4.3″ qHD Display, dual-core 1GHz processor, 8MP Camera With Dual Flash, HDMI Mirror Mode to connect to a TV or monitor, 3G Mobile HotSpot Capability, 8GB built-in memory (expandable via microSD) Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It is perhaps somewhat ironic that I have been reading eBooks of some sort or other on handheld devices for over 20 years, and yet have never owned a dedicated eReader. It is even more ironic that while I live in a house with two nook eReaders (wife and younger son), I have spent very little time with the devices. I attribute the former to my desire to always stay on the cutting edge of technology coupled with the relative newness of dedicated readers; the latter I attribute to a desire to allow others to learn and discover for themselves. I have been reading on my iPad for over a year, and also… Continue reading on Gear Diary …