Janet Cloninger

Oberon Design’s Leather Luggage Tag makes your bag stand out in a crowd

oberon design luggage tags

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I’m still Christmas shopping past Thanksgiving.  I’m usually finished before November, but I’m lagging behind this year and am still constantly on the search for gift ideas.  These beautiful 3″ X 4.5″ Leather Luggage Tags from Oberon Design would be a marvelous gift for […]

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Euler’s 36 officers, a Rubik’s cube, and a Sudoku puzzle walk into a bar…

36 cube puzzle

… and this “World’s Most Challenging Puzzle” results.  The 36 Cube is available from ThinkGeek, who likens it to a 3D Sudoku puzzle.  The game was developed by Dr. Derrick Niederman of MIT and is based on Euler’s 36-officers problem.  The goal is to place the colored pieces so that each color appears only once in

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Why we switched from the iPad Air to the iPad mini with Retina display

ipad air to mini swap 1

Dave Rees recently told us about his experiences when he and Ryan Chapman bought Apple‘s new iPad Air on release day.  I also bought a new iPad Air on release day, and I had been happily using it as a replacement for my first-gen iPad mini.  Eventually both Dave and I replaced our new Airs

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R2D2 is my co-pilot – and my power source!

r2d2 usb charger

This is rather expensive for a USB car charging station, but could it be any cuter?  The R2D2 USB Car Charger from ThinkGeek sits beside you in a drink holder;  his arms adjust so that he will fit in most holders.  Plug him into your car’s power outlet, and he’ll be able to charge two

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Here’s the ultimate iPhone camera lens kit

bazaared ultimate iphone lens kit

If you use your iPhone a lot for taking photos but find yourself wishing for more versatility, you may find what you’re looking for with the Ultimate iPhone Lens Kit from Bazaared.  The kit includes an 8X telephoto lens, fisheye lens, wide and macro lens, a 2X telephoto lens, and a 60X magnifying microscope. The lenses have

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Tokyoflash Japan introduces a wooden version of their Polygon watch

kisai polygon wood

Tokyoflash Japan has recently introduced some new watches with wooden cases and bands.  Their newest offering, the Kisai Polygon Wooden Watch, has a dark sandalwood case and a leather band.  The face is available in blue or mirror.  The watch displays the time and date on the “always on” LCD display; it also has an

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Happy Hour Timepieces remind you it’s happy hour somewhere

happy hour ish watch

Happy Hour Timepieces celebrate happy hour, with each of their watches highlighting the 5 hour marker.  The Ish, for example has a slightly frosted mineral crystal that’s only clear “where it matters most”.  Instead of traditional hands, it marks the hours and minutes with their Splash graphic.  The screw-back case is made of brushed or

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This retro “tape recorder” is actually a speaker

irecorder iphone speaker

Although it looks very much like a cassette tape recorder I had years (and years) ago, the iRecorder is actually a speaker for iPhone 4/4S and 5/5S.  (It should work with any audio source with a 3.5mm jack, but the cassette compartment fits the iPhones.)  You plug the speaker’s 3.5mm audio cable into the iPhone,

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Tokyoflash Japan adds an ePaper watch to their lineup

kisai rorschach

Tokyoflash Japan‘s watches usually have colorful faces, but their newest watch uses ePaper from eInk for the face.  The Kisai Rorschach brings to mind those Rorschach tests psychologists use.  The hour is displayed in the upper right, with its mirror image in the upper left.  The minutes are in the lower left and mirrored on

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Here’s a Pencil to go with your Paper app

pencil from fifty three

You’ve probably seen our news items about the gorgeous Paper app from FiftyThree and about having custom Moleskine notebooks created from your Paper notebooks.  Now we need to tell you that the folks at FiftyThree have introduced a stylus designed to work with their app.  The Pencil is available in Walnut (shown) or Graphite brushed

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You can now make calls with your HoodieBuddie jacket

hoodiebuddie with mic

We’ve told you about HoodieBuddie jackets in the past (see related links at the end of this article).  They are zip-up hoodies in adult and kids sizes with headphones built in to the drawstrings, and best of all, they are washable without removing the headphones first.  Their newest hoodie, the hb Standard Issue with hb

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