Another year has come and gone.  I’ve actually heard some people say that this has been a slow year gadget wise, but I disagree and I am sure the rest of the Gear Diary team agrees.  Here is what we think deserves the title Gadget of the Year for 2009.  Note: I counted a mention if a team member said anything about it that is positive.  This is not scientific, and it is really just for fun.

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If you are a sports fan, or even a stadium / architectural junkie, there has been much written and discussed about the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Besides the cost of 1.15 billion Texas bucks, amazing engineering, the lavish interior, retractable end zone glass doors and roof — the largest enclosed NFL stadium is a visual jaw dropping experience when viewed in person.

As a life long Dallas Cowboys (and Tennessee Titans) fan, I recently took advantage of Southwest Airline’s fare sale to catch a game day experience at the new Cowboys Stadium.  I purposed to take my camera and capture as many shots as possible, and concentrate on the Cowboys – Chargers game as a secondary priority. As a gadget junkie, I had to see the HD video board in person!

Cowboys Stadium, Arlington Texas

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baby, it’s cold outside …

This year, Gear Diary has hit several milestones; I wanted to do something super-special to mark the event and thank the writers, other than just sending items from their Amazon Wish Lists which is what I have done in the past. After wracking my brain, I wrote to Scott Jordan, a long time friend and owner of SCOTTEVEST; I asked him what kind of price break he could give me if I ordered jackets in bulk, and his answer was surprisingly do-able.

Why go with SeV? The answer for me was simple: they are extremely well made, I love their products, these items hold up over time, I think their products look great, I wanted to support a business that I believe in, and I could get item ordered personalized with the Gear Diary logo!

Scott set me up with his custom embroidery guy (Rick from S&R Monogramming), and together they made sure that the Gear Diary writers were perfectly outfitted for the winter weather.

After everyone had received their packages, I asked them to send me a picture of them wearing their jackets, along with a few sentences telling what they like — or don’t like — about SeV products in general. We are all different shapes and sizes, and I thought it would be interesting to not only see how we all looked in our new gear, but also hear what everyone thought about it.

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After a solid week of rain in Middle Tennessee, the graves must have opened, as the undead arose to walk the streets of downtown Nashville. Tourists and natives called it the Nashville Zombie Walk of 2009.

The flesh-eating mutants zombies staggered in from all directions, via train, plane and automobile.

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Oh the joy of acquiring a new iPhone – it’s shiny, sexy, has tons of apps and full of user interface goodness until the unthinkable happens:

It is that precise moment with joy turns into sorrow, followed by denial, anger, rage, resentment, depression and reality that $99, $199, or $299 just left your bank account.

There is a case for those moments when the law of gravitational pull yanks the shiniest gadget (the iPhone) out of one’s hands. I am talking about the OtterBox Defender case for the iPhone.

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Ten years ago, I acquired two 55-gallon plastic drums to store an emergency supply of water for the impending Y2K disaster occurring at the stroke of midnight 2000. Of course, I became suspicious when the plane I was flying on did not fall out of the sky on 9/9/99 and my trusty Honda still ran like a charm well past January 1, 2000.

Being the positive person that I am, I was grateful to acquire several storage containers of personal hygiene items, first aid supplies and all kinds of camping paraphenia that I still use. So what if Y2K was the biggest con ever-perpetuated on mankind? I have all kinds of emergency supplies on hand, plus two 55-gallon plastic barrels!

As an avid vegetable and flower gardener, I’ve been hearing about the importance of using a system of collecting rainwater runoff from roofs. The benefits are having a mindset of being eco-friendly, lowering water bills by recycling rainwater, and having a ready source of water for garden use. There are a number of rainwater collectors available for sale using a large size capacity barrel and facets. After ten years of having these barrels, I decided to build one!

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It’s that time of the year again when work demands or vacation dreams come to fruition. (Yes, “vacation” is a real word – look it up in the dictionary!)

For the GearDiary team members, corporate types, gadget enthusiasts and travel buffs, the challenge becomes what to take on the road versus a daily commute to the office? First of all, I’m happy if I can remember to leave the house every morning to go to a job that I absolutely love without scrambling to find the following items: wallet, ID badge, Blackberry, iPhone, keys, Dell laptop for work, glasses and business card case. Optional items include a small point and shoot Kodak camera and iPod.

(a) For weekend or after work geek gatherings, I may carry these items:

The photo above is an old one, as the MacBook has been replaced by a MacBook Air and the Samsung Blackjack has been replaced by a iPhone.

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Definition of a egotist:  a person more interested in himself than in me. – Ambrose Pierce

Ok, if you are one of the cool kids than obviously you know about Twitter.

“Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”

Just because Twitter is a great way to keep up with friends that we really want to friend, doesn’t mean that others are that into you. In our attempts to be socially conscious with our social networks… some (and it could be YOU) are just Tweeting too Hard.

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Each birthday is a new beginning, full of promise and opportunity and the chance to make dreams come true.

Most of us enjoy birthdays over New Year’s Day because it serves as a unique marker in time that we all own to recall the “best of times and worse of times” we experience from year to year.

Today April 17^th marks a special day for all of us at GearDiary to celebrate a special occasion; and no, we’re not talking about the debut of Daffy Duck in 1937, but rather Judie’s birthday!

While our geek oriented life can throw us challenges that try men’s souls: Mac or PC?, surf or turf, packing and moving, deadlines, dents in our cars, dropped calls, 2 year contracts, no internet… one thing we can say about Judie when facing challenges – she’s consistent.

All of us on the writing team have come to witness the consistency of cheerfulness, humor and generous spirit that Judie exudes in her text messages, phone calls, and the mountain of emails from dawn to dusk. Quick to encourage, constantly multitasking, always asking great questions, but most endearing to those who know Judie, it’s her genuine love of people and humbleness – just try to pay her a compliment – “pfft!” – and she’ll deflect it back on you. It’s no wonder that we are blessed to call Judie Lipsett “friend”.

On this special day, we extend a big-time clap*clap*clap to Judie Lipsett and why not? You R.O.C.K.! Happy Birthday!

P.S. By the way, a cake is on its way to you now… question is, will it ship?

UPDATE – It looks like the cake not only shipped but arrived intact – Kudos to Jennifer who made the cake (from scratch too!)..

One of the items taken for granted on a office desk is the manual stapler. Besides the pencil cup, ruler, paper clips and a tape dispenser, the manual stapler is a necessity for clerical workers to keep important papers organized.

With the advances in in-office printing equipment, from fax machines and mimeograph machines to multicopy printing of 100 copies plus demand more stapling. 

Medical research indicate repetive motion of fastening multiple copies, particularly in large businesses producing TPS reports can actually be hazardous with low morale, stress disorders and anger management. Fortunately, there is a solution at hand.

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Are you tired of using the heavy brick type phones? While useful to those who can afford them – such as executives on the go, Motorola has taken the promise of cell phone technology to consumers in rural localities. Ideal for ranchers, truckers and others outside of major cities, the promise of affordability and portability in the eighties has finally arrived in 1992. The Motorola Bag Phone 2900 Gold Series is targeting to a large consumer base – mainly sales persons – accustomed to office phones and pay phones.

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When I’m barreling down the highway meeting and greeting folks, it can be a challenge (but NOT always safe) to call whoever is deserving of a return call at that moment. I have an iPhone that allows my fingers to flip through the spinning wheel of contacts, but dialing and driving are frowned upon. Some places even have laws against such behavior.

The other time tested alternative is to wear a Bluetooth earpiece. I have a favorite reviewed here, but in some places there are fashion laws displaying such behavior. 

So what’s a road warrior to do? Kensington has introduced a Hands-Free Visor Car Kit for iPhone and Bluetooth phones that surprisingly fits the bill for those wanting to drive safely and enjoy quality chatter time.

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With a plethora of media and Internet services demanding our attention, whether via mobile devices, computers or televisions, Samsung and Yahoo! may have created the solution for blending a rich media and interactive experience on one convenient viewing platform.

 At CES 2009, Samsung and Yahoo! have announced a new Internet-based service - Internet@TV – Content Service - that 
will be available this spring of 2009. The Yahoo! Widget Engine on certain models of new Samsung flat-panel HDTVs promises to “Open a Whole New World of TV Interactivity for Consumers.“

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Any sports fan worth his or her salt is not immune to some good old fashioned smack talk, especially if that person is a sore winner or worse, a Dallas Cowboys or Pittsburgh Steelers fan ;-D. To add over the top flavor to your booya! drama to your sporting event of choice (just in time for the SuperBowl) is the Versus Scoreboard.

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With the holiday season in full swing and work productivity waning, one of the fun things to do is decorating your cubicle with festive items. After all, your coworkers are floating from desk to desk offering up candy, and generally killing time since appointments are hard to come by with Christmas break on everybody’s mind.

USBFever has a selection of items that will bring a smile (it better! – don’t be a Scrooge…) to bring good cheer and friendly chatter among your peers. Look at my cluttered desk…

Let’s take a closer look…

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