Tag Archive: Gadget Glee

Gadget Glee – Phone Case

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February 27, 2013

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I recently got an iPhone 5.  I purchased Apple care and happily enjoyed my phone.  As usual for my devices, I purchased my gelaskin and went about life with a nearly naked iPhone.  Then I got to thinking…the nearest Apple store is an hour away.  If I happened to drop my device on the ground, I would be out of commission for at least an hour.  And likely longer since I can’t just drop everything and go straight to the store.  (And how would I know how to get there without GPS?).

So I ordered an Otterbox case.  Around Christmas, I had ordered this Otterbox case for an iPod Touch that I was passing on to my son.

He has already dropped it three times (that I know of) and once directly on asphalt.  The Otterbox has proven it’s worth.  I knew I didn’t want the Defender.  My first reason was that it had a screen cover.  I like the touch of the glass and don’t like screen protectors.  Secondly, the Defender is amazing, but it is bulky.  So I ordered the Commuter.

The Commuter has an optional screen protector that you can leave off.  Which I did.  Now, if I had started off immediately with a case/cover, I might have been okay with the Commuter.  However, after having NO case or cover for the first several weeks, I had gotten very used to the lightweight, slim look of the iPhone.

Luckily my friend Jess suggested the happy medium.

Sure it’s minimal.  No, it won’t protect nearly as much as the Otterbox options, but it is still better than nothing.  And I still have the gelaskin on there, which is great since I can see it through the clear plastic.  No real drops to test this case yet (knock on wood), but I definitely like the weight and feel of it.  It fits perfectly AND I can still use my phone on my speaker doc and easily access the headset jack, which was impossible (dock) and difficult (headset) with the Commuter.

MTA: I purchased all three of these cases myself for the price listed on Amazon.  Yes, those are affiliate links.

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Geek Gift Guide

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December 5, 2012

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It’s that time of year.  When you need to buy gifts for geeks.  Here are a few suggestions (and yes, some of these are affiliate links*):

I’ve mentioned mobile chargers before and my current favorite is the PowerGen Mobile Juice Pack 5200mAh External Battery Pack
.  It charges my iPhone, iPad, PlayBook, BlackBerry, iPod, etc.  Some devices it can charge more than once.  It’s great to have in my bag, ready to go.  It can hold its charge for months.  I seriously never leave home without it.

My Virgin Mobile mifi.  This one is great as it is pay-as-you-go.  So if I don’t need it, I don’t pay for it.  The only catch is the zombie power button.  I’ve turned it off only to see it come back on right away, so you have to be sure it’s really off, or you’ll be using your Powergen charger.  (Update: I just noticed it’s marked down to $19.99 right now, holy cow that is a steal, and I get no kick back for this, that is just flat out a great deal).

The CyberPower CP1000AVRLCD Intelligent LCD 1000VA 600W with AVR Mini Tower UPS is perfect for short blips in power.  Or in longer power outages, it will give you time to shut everything off gracefully.

While not a gadget,the eBags Packing Cubes – 3pc Set (Raspberry) appeal to the OCD packer.  Seriously, these things are AWESOME.  I’ve recommended them to tons of people and everyone loves them.  You can organize your stuff in your luggage and pack more stuff into your luggage.  They are breathable in case you’ve got damp or stinky clothes.  And if you get that extra luggage search at the gate, your unmentionables don’t go falling out onto the floor!

A Moshi ClearGuard MB US Layout (99MO021901) to protect your keyboard.  We’re geeks, we do a lot of eating in front of our laptops.  This cover keeps all those annoying little crumbs out.

Hey, if you get that IBM Connect session approved, you’ll need one of these,Kensington 33374 Wireless Presenter with Laser Pointer.  It’s what I use.  Love it.

The USB Squid from Thinkgeek.com is great.  Allows you to plug in several USB items without worrying about the plug brick size.

Check out the Nerd Girls zazzle shop to pick up something for yourself or your favorite Nerd Girl.  The products shown are just examples, you can apply the logo to any Zazzle product.  We have a couple of the old badge logos as well, and will likely be adding more.

So there you have it!  Happy shopping!

* In case you don’t know, Amazon provides an affiliate program.  If you click my link and buy the product, I get a teeny tiny portion of the price.  I never know who buys what as Amazon anonymizes all that.  FYI.

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Essential Geek Travel Gadgets

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January 12, 2012

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I’ve written about some Geek Gadgets here before (under the tag “Gadget Glee”, but after a recent Twitter conversation about what to bring to Lotusphere, I’ve decided to round up all the travel gadgets in one post.

My number one favorite and essential geek travel gadget is a portable charger.  I wrote about this one in particular, but I also have this one:

That’s the FatCat charger (and yes that is an Amazon affiliate link), which seems to charge a little more than the first one.  But hey, I have both.  :-)

Next on my list is the USB Squid from ThinkGeek.com.  Rather than some “block” type USB hubs, it allows for flexibility if you’ve got some stuff to plug in that’s bigger than the “usual” plug.

 

 

 

Up next is the Monster Outlets To Go power strip.  Nice and small, with outlets that are spaced out for those big charging blocks.

 

I love my Grid-It from Cocoon.  Perfect for organizing all of these gadgets!

 

 

 

 

If you’re presenting anywhere, then I really like the Kensington Wireless Remote, which works great on my Mac (and fabulous at entertaining cats, ooh laser!)

Unfortunately, I can’t share my latest essential geek travel gadget as I’m giving a few away as gifts at Lotusphere.  :-)   But I’ll be sure to post when I’m back.  So what are YOUR essential geek travel gadgets?

MTA:  I own all of these gadgets paid for by my own money.  I recommend them purely because they are awesome, not because someone paid me to.  I get nothing at all for telling you that they are awesome.  Unless you buy them through my affiliate link on Amazon, for which I will receive some tiny little teeny percentage, which you can read about at the Amazon affiliate site.

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Gadget Glee – moshi Keyboard Cover

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April 20, 2011

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After a recent, uh, incident, involving a drink and my Macbook Pro, I decided I needed a keyboard cover. I’m on my laptop all the time, including snack time, and I hate when I get crumbs in my keyboard. So, after some searching, I came up this: moshi ClearGuard MB Keyboard Cover for MacBook/Pro/Air

Much like the Amazon reviews stated, the cover is VERY thin, which is fantastic. I really don’t even notice it is there. It fits my mac perfectly and I can be a bit obsessive about such things. Works fantastically to keep out food crumbs, dust and everything else that tends to land on laptop keyboards.

I haven’t experienced any of the flipping that some of the other reviews had mentioned, it stays in place perfectly.

The only “negative” I can think of is that since it slightly raises the above the keyboard, it seems to get “finger gunk” on the screen when I close the laptop. Not a big deal, as I can just clean the cover and the screen as needed. I guess that means it is doing its job and keeping the gunk off the keys. But it can be annoying to see smudges on the screen when opening the laptop.

All in all a great product that does exactly what you want it to.

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Gadget Glee – My Newest Favorite iPad App

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February 11, 2011

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It’s the simple things in life that can really make a difference.

I, like many people, can sit at my computer for hours on end. I sometimes need a reminder to get up and do something else, even for just a few minutes.

I, like many people, don’t like to file papers or clean up clutter.

I decided I needed a timer. I could set the timer for a large chunk of time to sit at the computer, and then set it for a small chunk of time to get away and do something else, even if it’s just filing for 15 minutes.

I quickly searched for a free timer app on the iPad and found this one.

For a free simple little app, it’s fantastic. You can create different timer things (*technical term) and the app keeps them. So rather than having to set 45 minutes of computer time and then set 15 minutes of other time, I have them both and just start whichever one I choose. You can select from a few different sounds. AND you can have more than one timer running at once, which is FANTASTIC for cooking.

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