BodyGuardz has a Cyber Monday sale that is worth noting. As they explain No Lines. No Codes. No Hassles. We’ve been there, and this year we’re keeping it simple. We’ve blacked-out our entire site and slashed all our prices. No coupon codes needed, just straight savings. Refreshing, right? Get your BodyGuardz on. So how much will you save? If you just got to the site you’ll save 50% off pretty much everything. And if you create an account and get on the mailing list you’ll save another 10%. That means you’ll save a total of 60% off items that are quite useful. I know I just did and some of their awesome BodyGuardz armor black shields… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Alienware is currently offering $100 stackable coupon on all Alienware Laptops. This means you can save even more on the Alienware m11x, the Alienware m14x, the Alienware m17x and the Alienware m18x. And you’ll still get FREE shipping on all models. This deal ends November 28 or after the coupon has been used a limited number of times so, if you’ve been looking for a new Alienware laptop check out this deal right now. Gear Deal: $100 Off Stackable Coupon on Alienware Laptops via LogicBUY Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As we told you Saturday , the brand new SeV Puffer Jacket from SCOTTEVEST isn’t being discounted anywhere other than right here on Gear Diary. That’s right, use the exclusive promotional code GEARPUFF10 on either the SeV Puffer Jacket or the SeV Lola Jacket and you will save 10%. The code is good until 12/1/2011. In addition, SCOTTEVEST is starting their Cyber Monday deals a day early. You can save 30% on 9 different items. And what great items they are. There’s the Fleece 5.0, the Classic Vest, the Essential Travel Vest, the Trench that looks so great on Judie and more. Learn more and place your orders for 30% less here. But hurry, the 30% off sale… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love Siri on the iPhone 4S. As I have written previously, it has changed the way I use my iPhone and, in fact, the way I do much of my writing. Thanks to Siri I’m better at consistently setting up reminders for myself. Thanks to Siri I’m able to make new appointments on the fly. And thanks to Siri I am rarely typing on my iPhone any longer. Yes, Siri’s voice recognition is so good that, so long as I speak clearly and slowly and follow the guidelines I have previously shared here on the site, I am now able to do the vast majority of my first draft writing with my iPhone and Siri. Siri is huge and its power and importance will only grow over time. After all, the service is still technically in Beta! Yet as I drove around the state going from lifecycle event to lifecycle event today I suddenly realized that as important as Siri is, it isn’t the biggest improvement I’ve found. What is?… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! The well has pretty much run dry on pre-Christmas releases. Or … perhaps not! As a sign of just how much gaming has shifted towards handhelds, this week the big game is the iOS release Infinity Blade II. The original game was fun and challenging and kept adding content after release – and the developers plan even bigger and better things this time around! There are a few other console and PC games, such as JAWS: Ultimate Predator for the Wii, and Defender’s Quest for Mac and PC, as well as some others. There are a few others worth checking this week – read on to find out!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you have been using Google to search for a while, chances are you have picked up a few tricks along the way such as putting quotes to specify phrases to find, or adding a ‘+’ or ‘-’ to specify things that must be included or excluded. But now the folks at HackCollege have come up with a great new infographic to help you see even more possibilities for searching.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Picture from Jewish Journal A few years ago I received a picture from friends in my congregation. They were in Jerusalem for their daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. The the picture their daughter was standing on the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount wearing a tallit (prayer shawl) and holding a BlackBerry. It seems she left her speech in the hotel room in Jerusalem. Luckily, her mom had it on her Blackberry for safe keeping. Yes, a BlackBerry saved the day and her Bat Mitzvah. Fast forward to last week. It seems when it comes to a smartphone saving the day during a Bat Mitzvah BlackBerries are out and iPhones are in. Here is the, slightly redacted for privacy… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The premise sounded so good – a Cloud Gaming service that you access via a subscription, featuring the awesome casual games from Big Fish games! It sounds almost too good to be true … and sadly it was, at least for now. The service lived for mere hours before getting pulled by Apple. And while Apple and Big Fish are working together, it isn’t clear when the service might return. Here is a snip from the full press release: Big Fish’s Cloud Gaming Service: How It Works With Big Fish’s Play Instantly!, anyone with a Wi-Fi internet connection can launch and begin playing any game in the catalog within seconds. The service Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The battle for “World’s Thinnest” presses on with the release of Motorola’s latest flagship. Resurrecting the name of a phone that became an icon, the RAZR is back, but aside from the name, it bears little resemblance to the phone-in-skinny-jeans of 2004. The new RAZR, or the XT910 as Motorola define it, is an Android slate measuring a trim 7.1mm at its thinnest point, handily eclipsing the Galaxy S II’s now portly 8.49mm figure. Make no mistake; this is a seriously thin phone. But like a Lamborghini, it may hug the ground when laid flat, but it’s seriously wide. At 69mm its wider than the G S II’s 66mm, and completely dwarfs the iPhone 4S at 58.6mm.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I know how to say about half a dozen things in Chinese.  Well, Mandarin.  I think.  Things like, “Hello,” “Thank you,” and a few things I picked up from watching “Firefly” that really shouldn’t be repeated on a family web (the gentlest of which is “Shut up!”).  But given that my son Joseph was born in Taiwan, that’s honestly kinda pathetic.  What I need is some help learning the language. Which is what the folks at the Learn Chinese web site are wanting to do: We’ve created this website as a small dedicated team to make Mandarin Chinese accessible to as many people as possible.  The website currently has 37 lessons and accompanying exercises.  The multimedia Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Okay, so as far as I’m concerned, the line between genetics and eugenics is ‘way too malleable.  Probably I’ve just read too much science fiction. Or maybe it’s because I’m just a nervous nellie.  Or maybe it’s because I’m Jewish.  But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advantage of the good stuff that modern genetics can offer, right?  Even I think so.  Which leads us to 23andMe, and they personal genome service.  Interested in analyzing your DNA and getting an idea of your health and ancestry?  That’s what these guys are up to.  And on Cyber Monday, you can get $25 off your genetic assay.  Check it out; full information below. Special Holiday Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Searching for stuff on your mobile device can sometimes be a pain in the tuckus.  What should you default to?  Google?  Bing?  Something else?  For a thorough search, you probably want to go to as many different sites as you can, right?  But that’s time-consuming; there must be an easier way. Brazilian company HandCase has a potential solution:  Gune, a search utility (and app for pretty much every platform but iOS, as near as I can tell) that provides you a single entry into multiple search databases.  Sounds a bit easier, yes?  Well, then, why not check it out? And lest I forget, it’s available for Doug’s favorite price of FREE. Full information… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the things that I think is absolutely great is how many education writers and software developers are picking up the gauntlet laid down by new tech and seeing how they can enhance the educational experience.  My kids, for example, both use iPhone and iPad apps to help them with schoolwork, and my daughter’s school is running an experiment in using the iPad 2 for various things. In that vein we have the new Formula MAX app for iOS; literally hundreds of formulas and other useful physics, math, and chemistry info for your budding scientist.  Or just to help you out if you’re in a physics, chemistry, or math class in college and don’t, ya… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

So, it’s midnight, right?  And the kid gets sick.  And you’re on vacation, 3000 miles away from the family doctor and all his or her medical records and information.  And you haul the kid in to the nearest doc in the box to get care, and they start asking you all kinds of questions about your kid’s past health issues. Now, if you’ve got the memory of an elephant, maybe you’ll remember all that stuff.  But if you’re a normal human, the type who sometimes mixes up your own kids’ names, or calls one kid by the name of the dog and forgets how many cats you own and sometimes has trouble with the zip code… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This weekend we are seeing loads of deals – but there is one area where the deals are scarce: ebooks. The reason? The ‘Big 6′ book publishers have formed a price-fixing cartel on ebook pricing. That means that if you find a book of theirs such as the new Inheritance on Amazon for $13.99, it will also be $13.99 on Barnes & Noble and iBooks and Google Books and … well, you get the picture. That sort of price-fixing doesn’t leave much room for bargains – something Amazon found out while trying to set up a lending library for Amazon Prime customers. Fortunately there are some deals that come along, and there is… Continue reading on Gear Diary …