I discovered this week the ultimate reason for a front-facing camera. No, it wasn’t for a Skype call, or Facetime, or to take a profile picture for a website. See, I was sitting at my desk, eating an everything bagel for lunch, when I had a business associate drop in unexpectedly. Great, except I’d just been eating a bagel full of seeds, and I didn’t want to embarrass myself with a big old poppy seed in my teeth. And the bathrooms in my office are in the hallway past the lobby, so I couldn’t escape to check. My solution? I fired up my iPhone camera, switched to front view, checked to make sure I was presentable… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Interestingly (for me), I have found that the advent of the iPad, along with a bunch of magazine apps, has not reignited my interest in reading magazines as much as I thought it would.  (Don’t get Dan started on it, though; he loves Zinio!)  I thought I would end up devouring all the magazines I had gradually stopped reading over the years, especially tech magazines liked Wired.  And strangely, it just didn’t happen. That doesn’t mean, thought, that I’m not still interested in the idea, and that I don’t keep giving it a try.  Like with this new magazine ZN, launched by Zappos.  Here’s what they say about it: A digital lifestyle magazine that features editorial Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I recently started a new job where I can work at home, and prior to my start date I spent a lot of time and effort moving Sami’s office to a separate room and fixing up my office to make it a more useful workspace.  And one of the beauties of doing this is that now I can listen to my music on speakers, rather than headphones.  I don’t mind headphones, per se, but I really love having music fill my environment, if you see what I mean. Now, I’m all set with speakers myself, but this new “Air Music System” by Klipsch sure looks sweet.  Yes, it goes for an MSRP of $549.00, but if… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Back in October we told you about the SCOTTEVEST Trip of Your Life $10,000 Contest. I even made a video for it. Sadly, in the “view-count” department, it has been destroyed by other entries and it looks like I’ll be doing all my traveling on my dime. That doesn’t mean YOU shouldn’t enter though. The contest is live, people are entering (and did I mention kicking my butt!?!?!) and there is still time to enter before a winner in announced. Here’s where you can learn more about how to enter. Where do YOU want to go? We want to know and SCOTTEVEST does too! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Link encounters great new adventures utilizing the MotionPlus controls for unique swordplay and puzzles while his relationship with Princess Zelda focuses more romantic elements.

Players can find some nice holidays discounts on UTV Ignition games including the critically-acclaimed El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, new Kung-Fu High Impact, National Geographic Challenge!, and Blacklight: Tango Down.

In terms of audio systems for small spaces, home users are not too demanding: they simply want something that sounds fantastic, looks great, is incredibly small, and is affordable. That might sound like a simple enough goal, but the subset of companies able to meet all of those requirements is incredibly small. Orb Audio recently launched the Mini-T Amplifier as well as compact systems that provide complete solutions for desktop or home speaker systems. Do they make the grade? Read on and find out! The Hype: The Mini-T is based on legendary T-Class amplifier technology, known for its audiophile sound quality and low harmonic distortion (just .04%). Like Orb’s speakers, the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Back in July I wrote about Marathon coming to the iPad, and now we get the second part of the awesome (and better than Halo-anything) shooter trilogy created by Bungie back when they were cool. On December 16th Marathon 2: Durandal will be arriving on the iTunes App Store – and this time we are getting a Universal release right out of the gate! It has full Game Center support as well as encompassing all of the learnings of the last several months with Marathon. How could it be any better? Here’s how … it is FREE! That’s right – once again they are releasing the basic game for free… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Back in July I wrote about Manchester Orchestra putting up their Simple Math song for free as part of the release of their excellent album of the same name. Now they are back with a new way to connect with their fans – by doing a remix version of the song Virgin incorporating sing-alongs from fans! Here are some details from their site: Help Us Sing “Virgin” As the year is coming to an end we wanted to take a minute to thank you ALL. Simple Math is truly an album for the fans and we wanted to give something back for all the support over this past year. Because you are Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve been a fan of the Roku streaming media set-top box since pretty much the beginning. The company tends to fly a bit under the radar but offers a great series of devices that have only gotten better over time. I have the original device (two actually) and just recently got the current, top of the line, device, the Roku 2 XS. (It not only streams tons of media but it also plays games.) Seriously, the selection of media the Roku brings to your TV is awesome- from Netflix to Amazon Instant Video to Hulu Plus and Pandora… the list goes on and on and on. Judie and Kevin got one too and watched The Girl With… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When Kaptain Brawe launched for the PC back in 2010 it was well received by adventure game fans, who said: you’ll find Kaptain Brawe to be a beautifully crafted and challenging old school comic adventure that will keep you immersed for many long, satisfying hours. Now the classic-styled comic adventure has landed on iOS devices! I have only started playing the game and am already finding myself drawn into the fun and light-hearted adventure! Here are the details: G5 Entertainment, known for its best-selling iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Kindle Fire and PC casual games, today announced that the interstellar adventure Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World will be released for iOS devices on Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Even though it’s the season of giving, it’s very easy to be cynical about giant corporations “giving” to various communities.  ”Where the heck are they the rest of the year?” you might (legitimately) ask when seeing one of these corporate-sponsored charity dealies. I know; that’s certainly how I feel.  But honestly, this is Toys for Tots, and even if they only do it this one time a year, I really think encouraging this sort of behavior is the right thing to do, no matter how angry and cynical and #OWS/99% we feel about what they do the rest of the time.  And believe me, I’m pretty angry and cynical this year.  But Toys for Tots, man… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

New research suggests that even hands-free phone use while driving is a significant risk. A recent study by the NTSB says that your brain becomes heavily engaged in that function at the expense of attention paid to driving. The NTSB study shows that regardless of the source of distraction, the result is the same. From a report on the study at the Omaha World Herald site: The scientific evidence, however, is generally with NTSB, researchers said. “There is a large body of evidence showing that talking on a phone, whether handheld or hands-free, impairs driving and increases your risk of having a crash,” Anne McCartt, senior vice president for research at the Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s Gear Deal brings us the the Kinect Sensor for Xbox 360 with Kinect Adventures, The Gunstringer, and Fruit Ninja Kinect. Easy to use and fun for everyone, the Kinect sensor utilizes revolutionary full-body tracking to put you in the center of the fun. This amazing new technology allows the sensor to recognize your body and mirror your movements in the game, making you the controller. Normally $149.99 our Gear Sponsor found it for $50 off instantly PLUS a $10 coupon code. That brings the total price for the bundle down to $89.99. It will even ship for free and there is no tax in most states. Get it here. Gear Deal: Kinect Sensor Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’m a writer, not a visual artist.  I always wanted to be able to draw; I was friends with people who were artists, I even dated someone who was a damn good illustrator, but it’s just not my forte, for whatever reason. But hey, maybe what I needed was this app, Artrage.  Now available for the iPhone, it’s, well: ArtRage packs a powerful physical paint simulation into a creative experience that lets users of all skill levels explore natural painting on the iPhone. Maybe if I had had that at the right age, I would be blowing people away with my painting brilliance right now!  How about you?  Maybe this is what you need to open… Continue reading on Gear Diary …