Lex Strickland

As a child I usually disassembled Christmas toys by lunchtime. I'm fascinated by cellphones, fountain pens, knives, flashlights, Chromebooks, and Chromeboxes. I play drums, workout, throw boomerangs, shoot paper targets and bike. I try to fit in my retirement when I have time.

Scriveiner Black Green Fountain Pen review – A UK pen worth thrice its price

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REVIEW – The Scriveiner Black Green Fountain Pen is from a manufacturer that claims to be “UK’s leading luxury pen brand”. These Brits use some German parts, and wisely so. The Black Green Fountain Pen is available in several finishes and with the Schmidt nib, and ink converter, it is like writing with a pen […]

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Scriveiner EDC Fountain Pen review – Short, but big-sized performance

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REVIEW – The Scriveiner EDC Fountain Pen is from a company that touts itself as “UK’s leading luxury pen brand”. They kindly sent two fountain pens to review. The EDC Fountain pen, and one of their standard size. Scriveiner also makes ballpoint and rollerball pens, but to a fountain pen fan, well… What is it?

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Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro smartwatch review – Smartwatch or fitness watch?

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REVIEW – The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro smartwatch / fitness watch is very well made. Mobvoi is now considered a mainstream brand name so there’s no ‘knockoff’ copying going on here. The design is all Mobvoi and under the hood is the well developed Wear OS from Google. The sapphire glass screen has extra

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POWERΛDD PRO 65W Laptop Power Bank review – Λdd power to your rechargeables

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REVIEW – The POWERΛDD PRO 65W Laptop Power Bank is a convenient palm-full of power at an accessible price. It won’t overpower a briefcase, backpack or desktop with its weight or footprint. PowerΛdd puts ‘laptop’ in its name but it’ll charge phones, flashlights and other devices quickly as well. What is it? The POWERΛDD PRO

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Outdoor Edge Slidewinder utility knife multi-tool review – No cutting remarks here

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REVIEW – The Outdoor Edge Slidewinder can save your good knife from blade-dulling duty. It can be used in any way a standard utility cutter is used and it accepts typical utility knife blades. I used the Slidewinder to cut boxes, lengths of cardboard from boxes, rope, zip ties, shrink-wrapped packages and other household cutting

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Easy recycling for dead electronic gadgets?

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NEWS – Best Buy stores in the U.S. will accept electronic items for recycling including phones, monitors, computers, tablets, wall chargers, cords, cables and many more items. I’ve used them for recycling for years. They are the easiest to use e-recycling option available in my large mid-Atlantic metro area. Best Buy has a recycling FAQ

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VOGMA IMECHA tire inflator review – A pint-sized pumper

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REVIEW – The VOGMA IMECHA inflator comes with tips suited for everything from truck tires to pool floats. IMECHA at the pool last summer. (Sorry.) There’s even a Presta valve adapter tip for road bikers who need it. Whether it’s flat tires, sports balls, motorcycle, scooter or bike tires, or inflatable mattresses, the VOGMA inflator

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BedStory Mattress Topper review – Want to sleep on charcoal, copper and green tea?

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REVIEW – This review is for bed topper shoppers. The BedStory Mattress Topper comes conveniently packaged, is easy to set up, and just to build excitement, needs a couple of days sitting uncovered on the bed before you’re supposed to sleep on it. The wait actually allows the topper to expand to its normal size

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‘Current’ research discovery could double the life of rechargeable batteries

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NEWS – Android Police reported on a study in the journal, ‘Advanced Energy Materials’, that a relatively simple change in how devices charge their lithium based batteries can effectively double the lifespan of their batteries. Investigators from four institutions in Denmark and Germany tested various battery configurations with different chemistries and applied a novel charging method

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LISEN 4 in 1 Car Charger review – It’s a charger, not a soup can

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REVIEW – The LISEN 4 in 1 Car Charger is a cable-equipped charger with retractable cables for your Android and Apple devices, plus it has two standard plugs for using your own cables for charging additional devices. I’m an Android guy so what do I do with a Lightning cable? Oh yeah, my wife’s iPad!

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WURKKOS TS10 V2.0 flashlight review – A well made flashlight with challenges

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REVIEW – The WURKKOS TS10 V2.0 flashlight is a solid piece of hardware. It has some quirky features that use its miniature colored LEDs, but it shoots a 1400-lumen bright white beam and dials down to a moonlight dim for when a little light will do. It suffers from a couple of challenges. See if

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OnePlus 12R Smartphone review – Hot on the heels of flagships

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REVIEW – The OnePlus 12R Smartphone has just been released in North America and Europe. It has specs dangerously close to its more expensive sibling, the OnePlus 12, recently reviewed by Julie, but is less expensive and has a bigger battery. Were any serious corners cut to make this an econo-phone or would a normal

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Pixel Watch failed and out of warranty? Google may replace it at a discount

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NEWS – Google has made a nice change for out of warranty Pixel Watch problems. Normally when our devices fail after the warranty expires, our choice is to buy another at retail price or do without.  From the Google Pixel Watch Help site: “If your Pixel Watch is out of warranty or your claim isn’t

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Gerber Knife Company just introduced camping cookware

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NEWS – Gerber has just announced its first-ever outdoor cookware collection. I got on the early notice list last month when they announced a tease about something new coming. They say “The ComplEAT Camp Cook Collection allows you to prep, cook, and serve without sacrificing space and utility.“ On their website, I see a ComplEAT

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