We want to thank all of you who commented on the review for Case Mate Tough Cases featuring Realtree designs. I have continued to use the deer design and love it. We hope to continue to broaden the amount of outdoors gear to make sure everyone has the best gadgets when they hunt, fish, hike and camp. Suggestions and requests are always welcome! The two winners were chosen at random, one by my 7 year old and the other by my 4 year old.

And the winners are...

Friendly reminder that today is the last day to comment on the Case Mate Tough Case with Realtree designs review for your chance to win one of two cases. Just let us know what kind of other outdoors products you might like to see more information or reviews on. Winners for the cases will be announced soon!

All you have to do is head here and leave a commend, two winners will be chosen at random!

iOS devices are becoming increasingly more versatile and even specialized if chosen to be. I am blown away by the uses for my devices with my guitars. From tuners to chord libraries and tabletures to effects pedals. There are numerous hardware interfaces available for iPhones and iPads allowing users to connect an electric guitar and output the sounds. I am sure some savvy musicians are even finding a way to use their iOS devices to record records and even use during live performances. For me, I love the ability to be mobile and easily practice my guitar with headphones so I do not disturb my wife and kids. The GuitarJack from

I deal with the same battery scenario at least twice a week. When we have game nights, I go hours without a chance to charge my iPhone. There is no charging port in our buses and really never anywhere in a gym or field for me to charge during the games. Of course road games are extra tough since I listen to music or podcasts during the trip to and from our opponent. That is a lot of use with no power and usually a late night. Take this past Friday for example. We left the school at 1:45 in the afternoon and I walked into my house at 1:30am. All of that time

Yes, it is true! Country boys do have tech gear and iPhones! In fact, as you will see with the Gear Diary Outdoors series, gear and the outdoors are actually a wonderful match. We use camo gear for just about everything. Of course, I mostly use it when hunting, but it is also a bit of a style for us outdoors nuts. It really is something you only understand if you live in the country and live that lifestyle. I by all means do not run around in full camo gear all of the time, but some items are fun and stylish to use daily. Case Mate has produced some cases which perfectly fit the bill for those of us who love to hunt and fish by using designs from Real Tree camouflage as well as some of your favorite animals. After the review find out how to win one of the Case Mate Tough Case With Realtree Designs used in this post!

As a South Texas Country Boy, I am an avid rifle and bow hunter, fisherman, camper and all around outdoorsman. Technology and gadgets have come to play a huge role in the outdoors lifestyle, and we hope to bring more reviews and news of this type of gear in the near future. When you see the Camo Gear Diary logo, you know it is Country Boy approved!

As an avid shooter and hunter, I love to spend time at my friend, Travis's place sighting in rifles or just working on accuracy. A while back I reviewed the X-Rest from Montie Gear and liked how light and portable the rest was. I recently had the opportunity to take Montie's newer rest back to the range for some shooting enjoyment. The Travis's, or Travii as my wife calls us, decided we were going to work on shooting at the 300 yard mark; we were shooting his customized .223.

Read on to see how the rest fared ...

In part 2 of this series, I took the fan out of my 13" MacBook Pro, cleaned it and lightly lubricated it. For about a day, the fan noise was almost non-existent and the heating issue was mildly approved. Unfortunately, the noise quickly returned along with the hot CPU. This problem had to be fixed one way or another or I was going to have to throw the computer out of the window since it had become painfully slow and buggy. The next plan was to buy a new fan and replace the loud, failing original. I also decided to double the RAM from 4 to 8 gigs since the back would already

Our favorite gladiator, Spartacus will be coming back soon in the next season of the acclaimed Starz series. The new season entitled, Spartacus: Vengeance airs January 27 and promises to be just as edgy and exciting as in the past. Now you can join in the fight on Facebook as they introduce a game of the same name when the new season premiers. Build armies, free slaves and make them warriors all in the comforts of Facebook.Why farm when you can battle the Romans!?!

Starz Takes Spartacus Outside the Arena with New “Spartacus: Vengeance The Game,” Sampling

In part 1 of this 3 part series, I discovered that my computer was not acting happy due to a fan issue. Catch up with the post here to follow my MacBook adventure. One goal of this project is to avoid the Apple Store and keep the cost down as low as possible. The fan noise is definitely out of control, the machine is running hot and it has become super slow. My next plan of action is to open up the case to clean and lubricate the fan. I took a few photos to explain how to open the machine, take out the fan and clean and lubricate. Remember, this is purely for

The only thing bigger today than extreme sports, is extreme sports videos. The internet is full of amazing video footage of talented and sometimes crazy people hitting the big trick or conquering a huge slope. We seem to have begun to video everything we do and it often produces some pretty entertaining footage. Myself and several buddies have begun filming our deer and turkey hunts, editing them into full episode, high definition presentations of our adventures. In fact, the ability to film my own hunts is something I have struggled with using my current set up. Dragging a tripod by myself out to a tree stand or ground blind is not always possible while

My adventure began with a week-long search of forums and websites for easy fixes for the fan issue. It seems the issue is common for fans to go out or become noisy and various fixes are posted across the web. This is an account of my journey through diagnosis and home repair. My goal is to begin simple and free and work up until my MacBook is like new again.

This post recalls diagnosing the problem and possible plans of action.

I practically live on my MacBook Pro. All of my Gear Diary posts are done using it, most all of my internet browsing and I even use it full time at work instead of my supplied Windows machine. Some would say I love this computer since it is with me everywhere I go. There is one problem with the MacBook Pro. The speaker is terrible! It is too small and provides thin, weak audio quality. The machine is so beautiful, it is a shame that the audio quality is so poor. I have tried several options to improve the audio, all of which are not exactly mobile. As luck would have it, the folks

I have reviewed a number of earphone solutions in just about every price range; yes, I do have a problem. If it were up to me, I would try all earphones with the goal of  finding the perfect fit and sound. Earphones are an interesting product because you can find them anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. One has to be cautious when formulating an opinion on them and make sure they are comparing apples to apples. A pair of $250 earphones should be superior to a $35 set, logically. That is not to say that a $35 earphone is not good or worth the purchase, though. I recently received the E461-BM earphones from Arctic and put them through some rigorous testing during our football playoff travel run. Arctic products have impressed me with their quality in relation to their price ranges in the past; read on to see how the E461-BM earphones stack up.

We want to thank Monster for joining with Gear Diary and providing this amazing contest. I hope everyone got a chance to enter. Let's cut to the chase and announce the winner of the Monster Accessory pack given to one of our lucky readers.

And the winner is.....

Dudebroman17

You have 24 hours to send your name and address information to contests@geardiary.com and your prize will be shipped out.

If there was only one guitar app I could have on my iOS device, I can easily say GuitarToolkit would be my choice. Numerous times, I have been sitting around a fire or on someone's deck and a jam session broke out, but the guitars were out of tune. With my trusty iPhone and GuitarToolkit to the rescue, the guitars get tuned up together and the music much improved. The ability to look up chords and scales at anytime is important to any musician; there is rarely a time I play the guitar that this application is not used. This new update introduces "an all-new iPad version that is free for existing GuitarToolkit users

I remember the days of the cassette Walkman, when headphones were all alike. Black foam covered speakers that sat on top of the ear was pretty much the only option. Boy how these times have changed. The options for headphones have become nearly endless with in-ear and DJ style and almost every color of the rainbow available. Along with these options, we have also seen a huge increase in audio quality and comfort. Headphones have become an extension of who we are and our own personal style. Design is as important to some as sound quality and comfort. With all of this in mind, Energy Sistem is announcing a new DJ headphone designed by Porta

I had the pleasure of reviewing the Monster Turbine Pearl In-Ear Speakers this summer and still use them as my primary headphone solution for high quality audio. (You can read the review here.) Let me tell you, these things are the best earphones I have ever used-- bar none. They are so good, and let me feel like I am so fully immersed in the music experience, that they often keep me listening to music far longer than I had planned. Just in time for the holiday season, Monster is running a contest that will give all of you a chance to win some of their wonderful products. With that let us tell you about Monster's 8X iPhone 4S Sweepstakes we are co-sponsoring with the company this week.

Even though I rarely shop, I am an admitted Black Friday participant. I  usually have a playoff football game that Friday night but I almost always wake up early in the morning and head out. Why not hit a store or two, find a possible deal and watch people be crazy? The entertainment value alone is worth the loss of sleep. An area often overlooked on these big shopping days are deals in the iTunes App Store. Here's a good one.

One of my favorite location based applications, Localscope will be on sale for half price from Black Friday until Cyber Monday. For more information on the app, read my initial review here

Like many of you, I use my phone for everything! One area I have had mixed results is in GPS turn by turn navigation. The apps tend to be on the pricey side, and they just usually do not have the same feature set found in a stand alone unit. I love my Garmin Nuvi and use it often, but there are times it is not with me and I need another option. I have tried several app options on my iPhone, but have not been satisfied with the lack of features and the terrible sounding voices. Dynavix promises to bring plenty of features and extras and even better voices to the iPhone with

I recently reviewed the unique Ribbz protective case for iPhone 4/4S and was impressed with the protection it provides without adding much bulk. (Click here to read the entire review of the white Ribbz case.) The company was generous enough to send an extra case, this one in red, for us to give away to a lucky reader.

I could not make myself go all in with a true test until the case took a big drop on accident. When I am driving, I have a terrible habit of laying my phone in my lap so when getting out of the vehicle, the phone is often sent flying onto the pavement below

Just a reminder that we will be giving away a red Ribbz iPhone 4/4S case later today! All you have to do is check out the review and leave a comment for a chance to win. This case has been my daily carrier for almost a month and I love the protection it provides without any added bulk. Check out the post here and leave a comment, or you cannot win!

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you follow any of my posts, you probably know, my two sons love gadgets and gear just like their dad. They come by this love honestly, but we are careful to limit their time with devices and closely watch how they use them. Anytime games or applications are developed specifically for their age group, we are happy to download. The boys get extra excited if the app can be based on a familiar subject or characters. When I let them know there was a Chuggington iPhone game, they were pumped. My youngest proceeded to give me a complete synopsis of the show and the fun all of the trains have. Below is the press release from the developers and the app looks like it will be perfect for children. Stay tuned for a review in the coming days aided by my two young helpers.

Finding the perfect case to protect your Siri....err, your iPhone is usually an ongoing process. I always have a difficult list of features for my cases and seem to bounce from one to another. First of all, I will not use a case that adds a ridiculous amount of bulk to my iPhone. There are protective cases out there that do a wonderful job, but it can be like walking around with an old bag phone stuck in your pocket. Of course I want some sort of protection from the case as well as some style. There's no use in adding a case if it does not look cool! Each case I use

I love when applications continue to grow and update along with the maturity of the iPhone and iOS. With all of the location advances and search possibilities with Siri, those features have been front and center in today's tech news. There are many options for such apps on the iPhone and one if my favorites that I use often is Loacalscope. I reviewed the initial version of the app here in March and have used it ever since. Localscope has gone through several updates with the most recent bringing integration with 11 popular GPS applications and the ability to speak 19 different languages. The fact that users do not have to depend exclusively

There is no denying that our kids are growing up in a constantly changing digital world. My two boys have developed the same connection with gadgets and digital devices as I have, only at a much younger age. I have been careful when turning them loose with my devices but often let them play with the iPad or iPhone, and they love it. Since they could barely walk, they have been able to use our IOS devices easily and without much instruction. While most of us remember the first time we used a TRS 80 or Apple IIe in school, today's children won't even remember a time without a touch screen and tablets. I

I have spent the majority of my life in stadiums. Some are big, some are small; in some I am a fan, in some was a player, and in some I am coaching. Bottom line is that I feel comfortable in a stadium. It is just who I am. My father went to high school in Houston, so while growing up we made many a trip to stay with my aunt who happened to live just a few miles from the Astrodome. By the time I was in Jr. High, I knew the dome like the back of my hand. We would come to town all summer and catch the Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Just under a year ago I reviewed the Monsoon Vulkano Deluxe Pro which opened up my satellite to be viewable on my laptop and IOS devices. I was able to watch my own television programming from virtually anywhere, even changing channels and setting up programs to record. Watching Monday Night Football on my deck with the iPad and catching NCAA March Madness games while away from a television is awesome. While this technology is amazing and I fully believe that I should be able to watch the content I subscribe to anytime and anywhere, many of the content companies do not agree. The fight over management of our media is just getting underway

Having devices that are mobile are convenient and an important part of most of our lives. I carry my backpack gear bag nearly everywhere I go, carrying nearly all my devices. My iPad is now making the daily trip since I am able to get WiFi in my classroom. I have the original iPad so I cannot project for my students, but we use a document camera to be able to see the screen for the entire class. For instance, any Atlantic tropical activity is tracked using the Hurricane iPad app in my World Geography classes. Many of the kids have never seen or used an iPad, so it is a great teaching tool

By now, I am sure all of you have seen the new iPhone 4S features and watched the demo videos. Sure, the faster processor and updated camera are awesome, but in my opinion, Siri is a game changer. No, it is not the first voice recognition solution, but it may be the first that truly interacts with its user. Well, despite my pushing the Mrs. to agree on my upgrading, I do not think it is in the budget at this moment. I even used the angle that I would give her my iPhone 4 and unlock the 3GS and use it like a Touch for the kids. She was even quite impressed with