I think that we can all agree that sometimes it’s the little things which make a meal special, and these solid Vermont maple ‘Salad Hands’ by Alder and Co. look like they could instigate a few appreciative comments from around the dinner table. For $34, they can handle your greens.
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 ...
Who in the world would get excited about a shredder? ME, that’s who. So when Judie posted a review of the SwingLine Cross-Cut Shredder last year I took note. You see, as bad as Judie and Kevin’s stack of “waiting to be shredded documents” was, Elana’s and mine is worse. How much worse? Let me put it this way. In Judie’s review she began with the following,
This is my husband’s and my pile of things that needed to be shredded. It started in a drawer, was moved to a shelf, and eventually ended up in a bag under our bed. What’s in it? Everything from those “convenience” checks that credit card companies seem to think we can’t live without, to credit card applications that simply need a signature and mail back to be approved, to health insurance settlement statements, all those bits of paper that have numbers, names, addresses and other information that gets scribbled down when we are trying to be efficient.
If I were writing that paragraph it might be something like this,
This is my wife’s and my pile of things that needed to be shredded: it started in a drawer, was moved to a shelf, eventually ended up in a bag under our bed and now is filling an entire room.
The situation is really bad… and potentially embarrassing. It is SO BAD in fact, that I won’t be including a picture here. But trust me, our “to be shredded pile” needs help.
All of those things piled up in our house for the same reason they gathered in Judie’s, and perhaps your home. Identity theft is real and you can’t simply throw documents with your personal information in the garbage anymore. No, you need a good shredder, and that means something that not only slices the page but also cross-cuts the page so that the data on it is all but impossible to put back together.
That’s where Swingline’s Stack and Shred 80X Handsfree Cross-Cut Shredder has the potential to step in and save the day. It offers the security we need and is probably the easiest I have ever seen. Let’s take a look.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
I loved the way “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988) and “Cool World” (1992) mixed cartoon elements into a real-world backdrop. I enjoyed the same effect as a kid, watching older Disney movies such as Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Song of the South. There’s just something quirky and irresistible about imagining a world where cartoons can come to life; anything can happen!
Evidently the minds behind JumpFromPaper feel the same.
Created by Taipei-based design duo, Chay Su and Rika Lin, JumpFromPaper is a bag company that has produced a line of travel, camera, laptop and general gear bags which look like props from a cartoon.
One cozy afternoon, the two girls were chatting, when they got to sketching their dream designer handbag. A surprising idea popped up – “How amazing it would be if a two-dimensional hand-drawn illustration could come to life as a real bag!” They explored every possibility, rendering fantasy handbags in perspective, and giving birth to JumpFromPaper™.
Cartoon-like outlines and bright and cheerful colors add a brisk yet funky flavor. And despite the slim appearance, each JumpFromPaper™ bag has a roomy interior to accommodate personal belongings and even a laptop.
This is one of my favorites, the “Cheese” camera bag …
I reviewed the red Phosphor Appear last year, and I had so much fun with it that I bought one in black. Recently Phosphor began combining their popular Appear watches with nylon bracelet wristbands, and the result has been a bit of a transformation. Before, the Appear relied upon a leather wristband that had to be bucked — in my case on the last hole; now there is a lightweight and fashionable bracelet which can be sized (by removing individual links) to perfectly fit even the smallest wrists.
The bracelet Appear features a modern, fashionable resin band finished with a
yes, that’s a ukelele!
I don’t play the ukelele, but I do remember a couple of days spent learning how to tune one back in third grade music class; “My dog has feas“, anyone?
When I think of the ukelele, this is one of the first images that pops into my head …
umbrella drinks, anyone? via NY Daily News
Followed by this one … Oh Myyyyyy! =P
I have no intention of picking up a new hobby, even if Eddie Vedder has deemed the ukelele cool enough to release an entire album full of… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
Corning Gorilla Glass has become synonymous with tough, scratch resistant screens that will withstand even some challenging drops that would have destroyed earlier phones. But it is not indestructible, and recently some challengers have come along – and competition is always a good thing.
Next week at CES, Corning is set to unveil the next generation of its strengthened glass product in sizes for smartphones as well as larger formats:
A key feature of Corning’s CES exposure will be the introduction of Corning® Gorilla® Glass 2, the next generation of the popular, damage-resistant cover glass for consumer electronic devices.
CES attendees can engage with Corning experts and technologies featuring the latest applications and
When you first see the Blacktop 360 Portable Griddle/Grill/Fryer, it’s hard not to think it’s a gimmicky product. I mean it just screams “As Seen on TV” thanks to its claim to be the Swiss Army Knife of your tailgating needs with a propane grill top, a griddle for frying or warming and even a 20 oz. fryer basket. But upon further inspection, darned if it doesn’t live up to its motto, “Tailgating Turned up to 11.” Let’s take a closer look.
First of all, if you order one of these via mail order, be prepared to tip the Fed Ex guy if he has to carry this big old box up any steps. Weighing in at 37 lbs., you’ll be very pleased that the Blacktop 360 comes with a handy carry bag that is big enough to hold the grill and all the tools and accessories that come with it.
Inside that box is the griddle/grill which has three separate burners which total 24,000 BTUs and a cooking surface of 452 inches. I know that sounds like a lot of area, but most of the cooking space is arranged in a circle around the deep fryer and is divided into and infrared grilling area, a griddle and a warming plate. Organizing a lot of food on the Blacktop 360 does require the skills of a good suburban dad packing the truck of the Family Truckster before a three week vacation.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
I have a confession to make. I love to take things apart. Back when I was a kid I had a super-sweet Milton Bradley Star Bird toy, an early electronic noisemaker with revving engines and laser blasts. In the course of kid play, something inside broke loose and rattled around, driving me nuts. Spaceships off to do ground assault ought not to have a broken piece giving away their stealth attack so I, being young and adventuresome, decided to put my Star Bird in space dock (Dad’s table vice grip) and haul out a trusty Sears Philips screwdriver and effect repairs. I was successful, and so launched my interest in taking gizmos apart. More recently, with… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...
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 ...
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 ...
When I was getting ready for last week’s vacation, I knew I needed a few more shirts to lounge around in. T-shirts are great, but when you are going out to dinner or stopping by a local hotspot for fried fish, french fries, fried plantains and beer (seriously the place was AWESOME), you want something a little nicer. I have had my eye on the new SCOTTEVEST Camp Shirt for some time, so before our recent trip to Aruba I went ahead and ordered myself two of them.
I have a new favorite warm-weather shirt!
The SeV Hype:
You’ll
Are you someone who is not ready to give up your wristwatch in favor of simply checking the time on your mobile phone? I don’t blame you if you aren’t; I’m not either. As a result I’m always looking at watches, considering ones I might wear and balancing function and geek factor against the watch’s looks. The Mutewatch is a design I recently found that looks cool, is simple enough to operate, and adds the function of timers and alarms. The use of “swiping” is cool to see on a watch, and for $259, it’s not too outrageous. Take a look …
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Parker Pens. All opinions are 100% mine.
