(image courtesy Thrill Rider) It’s going to be safer to enter the water at Universal soon. They’re shutting down the Jaws ride, though they haven’t said why (or what will replace it). I guess Jaws just couldn’t compete with Harry Potter! MSNBC has some very basic details: Jaws has been in operation since 1990, and was one of the first attractions unveiled when Universal Studios opened its doors. The ride is based on the 1975, Steven Spielberg-directed hit movie with the same name. “Jaws has been an amazing attraction and an important part of our history,” Universal spokesperson Tom Schroder told msnbc.com. “Jaws holds a special place in Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Yup, not only is it the insane holiday buying season, it is also the insane holiday traveling season.  People are going to be taking planes, trains, and automobiles hither and yon, spending b’zillions of dollars and traveling millions of miles to see loved ones.  And their families, too.  (Boom!) And, you know, getting lost a lot.  Which is where today’s news items comes in; here’s what the good folks at Tripwolf are doing to help: Tripwolf is giving away mobile guides. We’re celebrating our recent win at WYSTC (World Youth and Student Travel Conference) in Barcelona, where we were chosen as the best travel app out of over 40 competitors. For the next two weeks, we’re Continue reading on Gear Diary …

When we needed a new car last week one thing was clear- I wanted to lease one with all the technological bells and whistles I could find. After all, I’ve been whining and complaining about not having integrated Bluetooth and navigation in my car and my mechanic, and Elana, had been hearing a refrain of “Is it time yet?” for months. So I now have Bluetooth, navigation, destination assistance with real human beings on the other end of the call and impact/emergency detection. Had we not needed a new car however I would most likely have been putting one of OnStar’s FMV systems in my old car. I took a look at one last month… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I don’t think it is a reach to say that for even the greatest of fans, Obsidian Entertainment has stretched our patience. They have a reputation for excellent ideas and writing … and really buggy and unoptimized games. Look at their history, including the unfinished and rushed out Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, the needed-more-time Neverwinter Nights 2 followed by the ‘best writing since Planescape Torment’ expansion Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer , and leading into last year’s intriguing but entirely too buggy and poor selling Alpha Protocol … and you have a mess. Even Fallout: New Vegas, their best reviewed title yet… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There are two ways that digital magazines and ebooks are working their way into the marketplace. From the bottom, it’s consumers voting with their wallets; every Kindle that’s purchased, every NOOK app downloaded, and every ebook zooming through the interwebs all boost the adoption of digital reading. From the top down, it’s changes in management. B&N is struggling, yes, but look at how many devices and changes they’ve made to the ebook market since William Lynch became CEO. Previously, Lynch was the president of BN.com, and his experience with the internet has translated to a strong ebook strategy as CEO. Along those same lines, I have a lot of hope that we’ll see changes in digital magazines with… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

On Wednesday Spotify had a press conference where they announced that Spotify as a desktop platform was opening up to include the ability for third parties to add applications, saying: “Today, Spotify becomes a music platform,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told a small audience on Wednesday in New York. “We’re launching truly integrated apps from the best developers inside Spotify. We turn Spotify into this platform, and third-party developers can make HTML5 apps that are seamlessly integrated, beautiful apps.” There are already a bunch of content providers putting apps into Spotify in order to feed the 2.5 million paying members with information about music. Here is the current list of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to another weekend of insane game deals for you to ‘gobble’ up! I am sure I’m getting jaded – it seems with each week I am unimpressed by the list of hundreds of games at 50% off or more and have a hard time grabbing five favorites … but when I dig in I still realize how awesome the deals are! I am focusing my lists more on the deals of 75% off or more to keep things manageable … but still have some that are >50% off – but that is my lower limit! I am continuing my ‘top 5 weekend deals’ section where I grab my favorite 5 deals of the week and provide direct links! For these games I select based on how good the game is as well as how sweet the deal – but each week there are great games at fantastic discounts! And as always thanks to the crew at Deals4Downloads for their help finding everything. TOP 5 WEEKEND DEALS! Crysis 2 for $9.99, Save 75% – from EA Origin Napoleon: Total War Imperial Edition for $5.00, Save 75% – from Amazon Sid Meiers Civilization V for $7.50, Save 75% – from [...]

Let’s face it:  it’s not every day that you get a cardboard box in the mail, open it, remove all the wrapping paper and bubble wrap to reveal . . . another cardboard box.  But that’s what happened to your intrepid reporter, friends.  Yup; it’s the review of the Convenient Gadgets Cardboard Radio!  What did I think of it?  Well, read on, read on!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today we have two deals from EA Games ‘DailyDeals’ and another cool game – all for free for a limited time … and all worth grabbing. First up, one of the cooler iPad/iPhone games I have played recently, The Sims Medieval. You can grab it here, and it is universal for both iPhone and iPad. Here is the description: GET MEDIEVAL WITH THE SIMS™! Your favorite lighthearted Sims universe is going old-school – back to the times of castles, kings, jesters and knights! DELVE INTO A MAGIC STORY-DRIVEN WORLD Create your hero and determine your Sim’s destiny in this new fantasy. From serf and squire to Lady and Lord Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I was planning on introducing you to the all-new 2013 Lexus GS luxury sport sedan this week as I have just returned from an awesome day at the track with the new models, but Judie kind of stole my thunder last week. [Sorry! -Judie] So instead perhaps I will regale you with word of the OTHER Lexus that showed up while us autowriters were putting GS through its paces. Ya’all ever heard of the LFA? Well, Lexus invited us to spend some seat time riding shotgun with… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you are a fan of the Halo franchise and have wondered what developer Bungie did BEFORE that … now you can find out easily and enjoy what most older gamers consider the pinnacle of Bungie’s career – the Marathon Trilogy! Better still – they are all FREE and have been polished up for easy download, install and great gameplay! Here is the press release: Bungie’s Marathon, Marathon 2: Durandal and Marathon Infinity; polished, packaged and ready for download with the brand new Aleph One 1.0 engine. December 1, 2011 – The Aleph One development community is thrilled to release version 1.0 of the Aleph One game engine. Since the release of Continue reading on Gear Diary …

photo by Lakshman When I stared dating my husband Kevin, he had a Harley Davidson Road King. After his divorce, he had started riding with his brother Mark, who is still a motorcycle aficionado. One of the things that they enjoyed doing together was attending road rallies around the country. They went to Sturgis, the Republic of Texas Rally in Austin, and who knows how many others. Of course they saw plenty of things that would border on NSFW while attending, but there is one thing that really made an impression: at the 2005 Austin ROT Rally, Kev saw a show called the “Wall of Death” put on by stuntman “Rhett Rotten”. It went something like this video …… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you follow the news at all, you’ll know that lately–like, since 9/11 especially, but definitely in the last few weeks during the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations around the country–it seems like our Constitutional rights, enshrined in the Bill of Rights, are being abrogated left and right.  Warrantless wiretaps; illegal and invasive searches for the crime of just wanting to get on an airplane; American citizens being killed with no due process; peaceful protesters being physically abused, tear-gassed, and pepper-sprayed; our mobile phones being monitored down to our very keystrokes . . . it’s not a good time for the Bill of Rights. All the more reason then to take note of Bill of Rights day… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I wrote about the announcement of Drox Operative a couple of months ago, and we are now getting some screens and details slowing coming out of Soldak Entertainment. The latest announcements have been about some of the alien races found in the game: In the galaxy where Drox Operative takes place there are 13 different races. Ten of these races are fairly diplomatic. They will at least pretend to listen before they try to eradicate the other races on the way to galactic domination. The other three? They are pretty much hostile to all life for one reason or another. The following may contain small spoilers. The two races discussed are on different ends… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love my SeV Cotton Hoodie. Mine is in gray but the black one looks great too. And at 20% off these are a great deal. Seriously, you’ll quickly find yourself living in it. Here’s what SCOTTEVEST has to say about them. You will be magnetized (at least your pockets will be) in our super soft, super comfy travel essential – heck, daily essential: Cotton Hoodie. Whether you are on a plane or on the couch, our cotton hoodie is the recipe for contentment. The magnetic pocket closures will keep your stuff from falling into the cracks of the sofa or airline seat, never to be seen again! And you can say goodbye to that lumpy Continue reading on Gear Diary …