Have you ever taken a ride on Star Tours at Disney? The first time we went as a family in 2001 was on a Star Wars Weekend, and taking the Star Tours ride was a major part of the fun for all of us. We rode it again the other two trips we made, and it possesses great memories, although it is clear that it is time for a revamp.

This year the ride gets that revamp – but an independent film maker has recreated the entire ride in a 2D and 3D video experience! Here are some details:

In time to help celebrate Star Tours’ 25th anniversary at Disneyland, independent filmmaker Gregory Noacco

I am an unapologetic Star Wars fanboy – my wife and I pulled our kids out of school an hour early back in 2005 to hit an early matinee of ‘Revenge of the Sith’, and we saw ‘Attack of the Clones’ in normal and IMAX formats, and of course we own all of the movies on VHS and DVD (we skipped the ‘dead man walking’ Blu-Ray technology) and watch them on at least an annual basis.

We covered the initial announcement of Star Wars returning to theaters in 3D, and after all of the trailers and press releases I questioned the basic value of the 3D releases.

Now … Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

This week the new Paul McCartney album ‘Kisses on the Bottom’ launches, and to celebrate he will be performing live from Capital Studios in Los Angeles and the performance will be live streamed on iTunes!

Here are the details:

Paul McCartney will commemorate the release of his new album, Kisses On The Bottom, with a free streaming performance that takes place 7 p.m. PST Thursday, February 9, from Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, where much of the new album was recorded.

Fans can watch the show for free through iTunes.

Kisses on the Bottom, which comes out Tuesday, February 7, via Hear Music/Concord, is a collection of standards McCartney

Back in 1968 there was not the tendency to capture everything on video in the same way we do now – in fact it is not uncommon to learn that we have lost master recordings or out-takes from some of the great recording sessions of rock, pop and jazz. So finding this gem – a video showing the development and shaping of the classic ‘Sympathy for the Devil’.

You see the basic track grow, the rhythm change, you hear Keith Richards (and not bassist Bill Wyman) develop the classic bass part, and we see one of the last contributions by founding member Brian Jones. It is also interesting that in the early vocals you hear ‘who killed Kennedy’ but in the final track it is ‘who killed the Kennedys’ – the initial recording session took place the day before Bobby was shot.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I have said before that I have been reading much more since getting my Nook Touch last June, which has really been wonderful. The Nook Touch in my Oberon case is just a thing of beauty to hold and behold. It has allowed me to catch new books like Robopocalypse and recent releases like The Art of Racing in the Rain, re-read almost my entire Kurt Vonnegut collection, get ready for The Hunger Games, and grab books I always meant to read but had long forgotten – like The Accidental Tourist.

Whenever a movie is made from a book, the comparisons are made and are generally unflattering – sometimes the movie is better (Godfather) but most times the movie is significantly lacking (pretty much everything else). There are a few examples where both are excellent – the recent movie The Help is a great example of something you should both read AND see.

But recently I have fallen in love with another book/movie combo: The Accidental Tourist. Let’s take a quick look at both versions!… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Today’s Gear Deal will get you up and running with Blu-Ray for just $49.99. That’s right, LG’s BD611 Blu-ray Disc Player is normally $119.99 but our Gear Sponsor found savings that knock a full $70 off the price. Add in the fact that it will ship for free and it can be on the way to you for under $50. The unit features full HD 1080p, the “sound of Blu-ray technology along with USB 2.0 Media Playback” and Up-Scaling to “deliver exceptional image quality from standard DVDs”. Get details and ordering information here on the deal page.

Gear Deal: Get Going with Blu-Ray for Under $50 via LogicBUY

Sling Media, makers of the SlingBox, today announces the availability of the SlingPlayer app for the Kindle Fire. What is the SlingBox? It is a device that works with all of your various set-top boxes to:

allow folks to watch their TV from wherever they are with their PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone. And now, with SlingPlayer for Kindle Fire, they can bring their living room TV experience to their Kindle Fire tablets.

The SlingPlayer software is already available for Apple iPhone and iPad devices, Android Phones, Android Tablets as well as for the Blackberry, Windows Phone and other devices. We have written about the… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Big, bold and impressive. That’s the only way to describe Samsung’s top of the line UN55D8000 55″ 3D 1080p LED 240Hz HDTV. And with today’s Gear Deal you’ll get it bundled with a Samsung BD-D5500 Blu-ray Player and 2 extra pair of 3D glasses (that makes for a total of four pair). The Samsung UN55D8000

features edge-lit LED backlighting with Micro-precision dimming Plus for enhanced image quality (higher contrast, darker blacks and eliminates “blooming”). It also features 3D ready, Internet TV (apps such as FaceBook, YouTube, BlockBuster, Flickr, Amazon on Demand, Skype), 4 HDMI versopm 1.4 inputs, 2 USB ports, ethernet, and wrapped in a slim .9″ panel in black design.

As noted, two pair of… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I have covered a lot of cool stuff introduced at the Winter NAMM show in the past week, with two prominent themes: analog synthesis and the iPad as the must-have studio tool. As someone who came into music long enough ago to appreciate WHY people ran to digital so quickly in the early 80′s, I also have always appreciated what the technology added to music. I have personally sought analog sounds through digitally controlled systems or sample-based synths … but there is nothing like the real thing, so it is great to see all of the advances in technology applied to synthesis.

Along those same lines, this cool video from Analogue Solutions… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

If you were to ask a random group of smartphone users to name a feature that Android has that iOS is lacking, while you’d hear nonsense like ‘open’, you’d also hear one message loud and clear: turn-by-turn navigation with voice support.

For me, this is one of three reasons I am still using Android (the others being physical keyboards and something work-specific). I use my Google Maps navigation everywhere and for everything – and it is awesome. I tried using the navigation built into pre-Mango Windows Phone 7 and it twice tried to tack on 30 minutes with inept guidance … and I haven’t tried it since (maybe Dan or Judie can comment on… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

When someone mentions a song I want to check out or something from my past, I turn to iTunes or Rdio or perhaps Slacker Premium. My kids? YouTube, YouTube and YouTube. And apparently that is the trend according to Reuters, which has exclusive data from YouTube claiming 4 BILLION daily views!

Here is some of the article:

YouTube, Google Inc’s video website, is streaming 4 billion online videos every day, a 25 percent increase in the past eight months, according to the company.

The jump in video views comes as Google pushes YouTube beyond the personal computer, with versions of the site that work on smartphones and televisions, and as the company

We start the week with a Gear Deal on LG’s 55LK520 55″ 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV. This 2011 model HDTV features a 1920×1080 resolution, has 3 HDMI inputs, offers a 120Hz refresh rate and, of course, is Internet connected so you can watch Netflix and more.

Normally $1,499.99, our Gear Sponsor has located savings that bring the price all the way down to just $949.99. It will even ship for free although there is tax in most states. Details and purchasing information can be found here on the deal page.

Gear Deal: LG 55″ 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV for Under $1000 via LogicBUY

Image taken with the Bloggie Live

Judie received a Bloggie Live video recorder last week at CES and we brought it along with us to take some images and video while at Hoover Dam. As the video demonstrates, this diminutive Bloggie Live takes some amazing video and is incredibly easy to use.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

(image courtesy Competitor.com)

I know, this is totally running-nerd news. But if you follow the world of track and field, you’re probably aware that the marathon trials for the 2012 USA Olympic team are this Saturday morning in Houston, Texas. Unlike other countries who choose their teams by prior race performance, in the USA competitors use race times to qualify to run the Trials. The top three male and female finishers in Saturday’s marathon will be the USA Marathon team at London in 2012!

Unfortunately, NBC will not be airing the Trials live, nor will they be streaming them online. I could rant about how stupid that is (I WILL PAY THEM TO WATCH… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Here’s another implementation of TI’s DLP PICO chip… This smartphone is also a projector. This “embedded Pico smartphone” is not yet on the market but it may very well be the direction the market is going.

(This post and many more being brought to you from CES-stay tuned to Gear Diary for more great coverage all week!)