Your teeth are precious. And as tough as they are, they actually need to a good bit of attention if you want them hanging around. Brushing and flossing are a must. Water picks are good too. And while it is easy to get into a healthy routine when you are home, it can be much tougher when you travel or are out and about for a 14 hour work day. That’s where Cenoire’s Eluo Sonic Toothbrush comes in. The Eluo is easy to carry, simple to use and, believe it or not, even looks kind of neat.

Here’s a look.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

You know what sucks?  Yes, that too; but what I was thinking of was when you’re sleeping, I mean really deep in there, having an awesome dream, the kind in vivid technicolor with an awesome soundtrack, and maybe costarring Brad Pitt and Scarlett Johansson, with a guest cameo by your deceased Dad playing an ass-kickin’ Navy Seal (well, he was in the Navy!), and whammo! the alarm goes off!  Now you’re never going to know whether Bruce Willis, with your Dad’s help, managed to save Halle Barry!  Damn!

Well, as you might expect, there’s tech help.  What is that, you ask?  Well . . .… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Now far be it from me to tell a man (or a woman for that matter) how to use their BBQ grill. Like politics and religion, grilling is a topic where advice is rarely appreciated or even more rarely followed. I’m sure you’re great at cooking a steak over charcoal or gas, and I wouldn’t tell you to your face if I thought otherwise. A. because you’re feeding me and B. because you probably have fire and sharp BBQ tools within arm’s reach.

Maybe you’re one of those people who can judge a steak’s doneness by comparing the surface of the meat to the firmness of the fleshy part of your thumb pad. Good for you then. (Please, oh please, don’t cut into a steak while it’s still on the grill to check whether it’s cooked enough. Meat must rest after cooking or you’ll just let all the good juices out!) But as techy types, gadget enthusiasts should strive to introduce some rigor into their grilling methods and cook to exact internal temperatures whenever possible. For example, I like my steak to come off the grill at precisely 122 degrees and allow it to come up to a beautiful pink medium-rare while it’s resting. You are letting it rest, right?

If we can employ some cool new iPhone technology to help out with these methods, so much the better. Enter the iGrill Bluetooth® cooking thermometer from www.igrillinc.com and the free accompanying “Steak Time” app from Omaha Steaks. So shoo the dog out of the kitchen and put your steak on a high counter to bring it to room temperature while we investigate these fun kitchen tools.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Wow … we just jump from show to show to show … from CES to NAMM – and now Photonics West. Sure there isn’t all that much overlap, but each of these shows are rather interesting to me. I haven’t heard much specific technology news of interest from Photonics yet, but today we learned that LaserLeap Technologies has won the 2012 Biophotonics Start-up Challenge based on their new ‘transdermal drug delivery’ system.

From Optics.org:

[LaserLeap CEO] Serpa’s winning pitch detailed a proprietary laser device that has been developed to aid drug delivery through the skin. The pulsed laser is used to generate high-frequency ultrasound, which is said to painlessly create a temporary

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have been a red wine lover since … well, forever it seems. I have always known that moderation is all things is key, that too much of a good thing is never a good thing. I never assumed that any amount of alcohol was beneficial, so when the study came out a while ago about the possible benefits of moderate red wine consumption … well I was thrilled.

Turns out the victory dances were premature, as the researcher behind the study has just been found guily of “145 counts of fabrication and falsification of data”.

The depressing quote from Medical News Today:

An extensive misconduct

For a long time, I was commuting between Austin and my job in California.  Which, quite frankly, sucked, was hard on Sami, and was really hard on my kids.  But then the iPhone 4 came out, with FaceTime, and The Boy and I could talk, free of charge via wifi, from our own phones wherever we were.  I would carry him with me into the kitchen while I made dinner, and he would show me whatever projects he was working on.  It wasn’t a substitute, but boy did it help.

Now a couple of communications companies are teaming up to bring that capability, via HDTV no less, to hospital rooms.  Sick of driving, dealing… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

As a person born at the very tail end of the Baby Boom, or conversely the very, very beginning of GenX, I have been known, in my day, to grouse pretty strongly about how many products are targeted for the Boomer demographic.  But even I have to admit that some of those products are durn useful, even if you’re not a retirement-age boomer.  Especially some of those gizmos they’re installing in cars these days–cams that let you see behind you when you’re parallel parking, for example, or proximity detectors that help you avoid accidents.  Some of this is pretty cool stuff.

In that vein is some of the stuff that Ford is developing… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Kev and I have a Withings WiFi connected scale and blood-pressure cuff. My favorite feature of both is that our results are automatically exported to both a password-protected personal page on the Withings site as well as an app on our iPhone or iPad. We are able to monitor our own numbers and when the mood strikes — peek at each others.

Withings has just introduced a brilliant product with the same capabilities that should make every new parent happy — their Smart Baby Scale.

By using the Withings Smart Baby Scale, parents can access their child’s weight readings from any connected device, such as an Internet-connected computer or an iPad

Early this week preparations for CES went into high gear. I commented to the GD team that during the week a staple of my diet tends to be either sugar-free Red Bull or FiveHour Energy and that, upon arrival, I may buy a case of each. I also made an offhand comment that a box of FiveHour Energy is rather pricey. Bryan chimed in that he has a SodaStream and one of the available mixes is an energy concentrate. It would, he noted, be far more economical. Two days later I joined the ranks of the SodaStream users. Funny thing is, Elana had mentioned possibly getting one for her parents… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

The Jawbone Up health and wellness band didn’t last long with me. As much as I initially like it, the product didn’t offer enough functionality to justify the cost. Add in the fact that it needed to physically connect to my iPhone to transfer information and, well it just wasn’t the homerun I was hoping for. It did, however, offer a feature I rather appreciated. If sedentary for a certain amount of time, the UP would signal you to get up and start moving. As someone who spends a ridiculous amount of time either sitting in meetings or in front of my computer such a reminder can come in rather handy. In fact, Judie and I have often discussed the fact that we can spend HOURS in front of a screen without realizing it. You can only imagine the damage to your eyes, your hands, your back… the list goes on and on. And when it comes to mobile technology things go from bad to worse. Just imagine what hours of looking down at your smartphone does over time!

Mezzmer has an interesting infographic that asks the question: Are Mobile Devices Destroying Your Body?

Here’s a look…… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Despite the fact that everyone knows tanning and overexposure to the sun is really bad for you in terms of cancer risk, having a tan is often described as a ‘healthy glow’, and celebrities wouldn’t dream of going out in public without a radiant but all too often orange glow.

A new study published by Reuters finds that spray tanning might actually be the best thing you can do if you are determined to have a bronzed look to your skin!

From the article:

Women who use lotions and gels to produce a fake suntan tend to cut back on outdoor sunbathing and use of tanning beds, with close to 40 percent who

(image courtesy Greeensheets)

We [as a society] tend to rush to prescriptions for every issue. High blood pressure? Medicine. Sinus headache? Medicine. Achey joints? Medicine. Need more vitamins? Medicine. You get the idea. But there’s another way to stay healthy (and get healthy), and it doesn’t even require a co-pay! For starters, it requires 9 minutes to watch the video below…trust me, it’s worth it!

Via Runners World Daily

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

My friend Peter K is a speaker, author, health and success coach, nutritionist and physical therapist. (His website Peter K Fitness tells his story, introduces his method and explains how his approach has helped countless people lead a healthier lifestyle. Some impressive testimonials are there too!) Peter is Elana’s health coach and played a huge role in her becoming as fit as she now is. (It also turns out that I had the privilege of officiating at his wedding more than a decade ago. A connection we did not make until Elana met him for her first training session.)

Peter is an entrepreneur at heart. He recently read the Steve Jobs biography and, to use his own words, the “book really resonated” with him. He jotted down a few thoughts while reading it and shared them with me. I, in turn, asked if I could share them with all of you. And so, with no further ado I present to you “Peter K’s What Steve Jobs taught me about being successful in business”.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...