Indie developers get lots of love in the game world, and for good reason: while EA is working on the latest iteration of Madden or a new revenue enhancement scheme like ‘Project $10′, these guys are actually innovating! Indie developers have gotten a huge boost from sites like Steam – in fact, the awesome Cthulu Saves The World made more on Steam in a week than on XBOX Live Arcade in nearly 18 months! (And it IS awesome … grab it and Breath of Death VII for $2.99 on Steam!) Now a new site is emerging called IndieCity that looks to take it a step further, as stated in an interview Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Rumors are pointing to a refreshed Sony Reader coming up soon! According to Teleread Sony is still trying to maintain a foothold in the increasingly competitive ebook world, but they’re going to need to be aggressive in key areas to break consumers from the NOOK/Kindle clutches. What can Sony do to improve this next round? Price: This is an easy one. Sony loves to price in a premium, but it gets very difficult to justify paying $50-$90 more for a device than the more popular competitors when there’s no WiFi on board! Looking at current device price points, where should Sony be aiming for a refreshed line? Assuming there’s a device with no WiFi… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It’s 10 P.M. Do you know where your children are? Soon parents may be able to answer a resounding “Yes” to this question thanks to a new program being tested by OnStar. OnStar has launched a pilot program called Family Link to explore ways subscribers can stay connected to their loved ones when driving OnStar-equipped vehicles and one highlight of that new service is Vehicle Locate where the subscriber can log on to the Family Link Web site to view a map with the vehicle’s exact location at any time. “Our subscribers have asked us for a solution to help them stay connected to their family when they’re on the road,” said OnStar… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

No two ways about it, the 11.6″ Dell Alienware m11x Gaming Laptop looks cool! It sports a Core i3-330UM ULV with 1GB GeForce GT 335M and 8GB RAM. It also has a 1.3-Megapixel Webcam, 802.11n WiFi, a 320GB Hard Drive, and ships with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS. Normally $1,019, this Gear Deal is available for $270 off PLUS an additional $50 coupon code. That brings the price all the way down to just $699. It even ships for free! Our Gear Sponsor also found a deal on the Alienware m11x with Intel Pentium U5400 Overclockable CPU. It features an Nvidia GeForce GT 335M with 1GB graphics, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, a 320GB Hard Drive and 4GB… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Fictionbooksforkids) Not long after our nephew was born, Sarah and our sister-in-law had a conversation about how different life will be for the baby than it was for them. He’ll grow up in a world of computers and cell phones as completely normal, and not something that was a novelty or luxury until college. They also discussed how he would read on ebook readers, and might not have textbooks in printed form by the time he goes to college. Yes, I am clearly influencing my family with my ebook-loving ways. It’s not just idle chit-chat though. According to Boston.com, kid and young-adult oriented ebooks are growing rapidly, and with… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have covered plenty of ‘freemium’ and browser based games, but as in every other game type there is always room for new genres to enter the fray! Last week Ubisoft unveiled their new browser-based strategy game, Castle Empire. I have been playing the beta for the last week or so and while I can’t go into elaborate detail, I can share a couple of screens and a few thoughts. From their press release: Today, Ubisoft announced the development of Castle Empire, a new free-to-play, browser-based, multiplayer strategy game. Known as The Settlers Online in Europe Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The piracy-vs-DRM debate has been raging for years, but a couple of years ago Ubisoft introduced a new DRM system that required a constant online connection even when playing traditional offline, single-player games. In my review for The Settlers 7 (one of the first games with that DRM system), I said: the last decade has brought a nearly constant onslaught of new and even more draconian DRM (digital rights management) – from serial numbers to SecuROM to StarForce, each has done more to thwart paying customers from playing games while doing little to stop pirates from stealing games. Sites such as Steam mitigate this by registering a game to your account and letting Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The seemingly everlasting style conundrum – fashion vs. function, might finally have a solution. According to Hex, makers of those stylish iPod Nano watchbands, you can have your cake and eat it too. Having recently released a brand-new Fall/ Winter bag collection, the Oxnard, California-based trend-setters are banking on the dual appeal of fashion and function. Currently available for pre-order, the tech-friendly bags feature a versatile combination of pockets, padded pouches, compartment separations, organizers and adjustable straps. If you’ve been hunting for a more fashionable way to carry your laptop or iPad, this seems like a pretty straightforward solution. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s Gear Deal brings us the Lenovo ThinkPad W520 with a 2nd generation Intel Core i7 processor. This laptop features full HD high color as a resolution of 1920×1080, and includes NVIDIA 2GB discrete graphics. This expandable mobile workstation can support up to 16GB DDR3 RAM and offers USB 3.0 too. Even the base specs are impressive and include the dual-core Core i7-2620M at a speed of 2.7GHz, the 15.6″ HD LCD, 4GB RAM and a 320GB HDD. The deal our Gear Sponsor found offers 10% off all models starting at $2,255 less $956 in instant savings less a 20% coupon. That brings the price down to just $1,039.20 and it will ship for free… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Last week I wrote about the Humble Bundle 3, which includes Crayon Physics Deluxe, Cogs, VVVVVV, Hammerfight, and And Yet It Moves – all for the price of ‘whatever you want to pay ($1 or more). Today we get news that the Humble Bundle just got better – for anyone who buys the Humble Bundle, they now get a free copy of Steel Storm! In addition, they have added a 14-day trial to Minecraft to your purchase! If you have always wanted to try out Minecraft, here is a great way to get started! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Vacation, staycation or no-cation, no matter what your outdoor plans are during the summer months it seems mosquitoes and other flying, biting pests always seem to find us. ThermaCELL wants to help you take back the outdoors. First introduced in 2000, ThermaCELL mosquito repellent works to discourage up to 98 percent of mosquitoes, black flies and “no-see-ums” by providing a 15×15-foot barrier around us in silent, odorless and portable fashion with no sprays, fogs or flames. Recently ThermaCELL sent me their latest outdoor lantern model to test. We have been busy working on our back deck and spend a lot of time out there in the evenings – that is until those pesky… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

It has been a while since I looked at ZaReason’s Terra HD Netbook.  I liked that one, but the integrated Intel graphics still held it back from those netbooks that are now shipping Nvidia Ion or Ion 2 cards for graphics.  Today I am checking out one of ZaReason’s smaller netbooks, the Teo Pro. The Teo Pro is yet another netbook running Ubuntu Linux and equipped with the venerable Atom N450.  In fact, spec wise the Teo Pro is almost identical to the Terra HD except that the Teo Pro has a 10.1 inch 1024×600 LCD and one less USB port.  Everything else in the loaner they sent me is equivalent to the Terra HD… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution Desktop Bundle Here’s one of the simplest ways to upgrade your computing experience and save money in the process!! The Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution Desktop Bundle features an MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse and a Cordless Keyboard for speed, ease of use and an overall improved experience. Bluetooth wireless technology means you’ll get dependable, cordless connectivity from up to 30 feet away. Logitech’s SecureConnect technology ensure a hassle-free setup. And, thanks to the rapid charging stand, the mouse never needs new batteries. Normally $169.99, with this New Gear Daily Deal you can save $45.00. That brings your final cost to just $124.99. Ready to order? You’ll… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

    Check the blogosphere and you will see a host of posts on dozens of sites announcing that the next generation iPhone will arrive in October. This is in contrast to the dozens of sites that recently reported that the new iPhone would appear in September. That, in turn, was in contrast to some reports a few weeks ago that the next iPhone would arrive in late August. It is enough to make your head spin and… in the process… lose faith in any of the information spread throughout the tech-blog community. (See Mike’s and my … Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As I have mentioned, I love listening to loads of new music across a variety of genres, and have very much appreciated how many folks have shared new music with me since I have started writing music reviews for Gear Diary. I started off with full, large song-by-song reviews (whole notes), and then started to also do somewhat shorter reviews that don’t pick apart each song (half-notes). Then I started a series where I would have a shorter review for a number of albums that also targets a favored song and target audience (quarter note), but have found that process to be too intense and time consuming for me to continue. Most… Continue reading on Gear Diary …