Posts about a variety of topics which are not news and are not reviews.
ARTICLE – While recently asking my daughter for recommendations of gear needed for college-bound students, she mentioned some things to make life easier while living in a dorm room. In a separate post, I discussed her ideas for in-room food and beverage prep. In this article, we’ll talk about other gear that will give a […]
Back to school supplies – dorm room gear edition Read More
ARTICLE – It’s not long until classes start again for college students in my area. I was thinking about doing a couple of back-to-school supplies posts, so I talked to my daughter about things she recommended for college students living in dorms. Several things leaped immediately to her mind. Many of the things she mentioned
Back to school supplies – dorm room food edition Read More
ARTICLE – Google joined the smart speaker market in 2016, and has since released the Google Home and Google Home Mini. Now there’s a new device, the Google Home Max, which came out in late 2017. In a world where tech devices are getting smaller, the Max needs to have some serious advantages over the
The Google Home Max vs. the Google Home Mini Read More
ARTICLE – There seems to be a lot of interest lately in those little indoor, plastic-panel wireless HD antennas. People want to drop cable and find a cheaper way to watch TV programming. Those indoor, omni-directional antennas seem like just the answer, especially when some of them promise things like how you can still watch
Things to think about before you buy a wireless HD antenna so you can “cut the cord” Read More
Last week I told you that my 12-inch MacBook had to be admitted into the hospital to get its keyboard fixed. It’s been at the MacExperience store in Bloomington, IN since Saturday. They told me that the turn around time would be 3-5 business days. With the July 4th holiday yesterday, I’ve been a little
Julie’s gadget diary – I’m still MacBook-less Read More
ARTICLE – Sadly, my 12-inch MacBook is sick and needs surgery. It’s suffering from a debilitating SKD (Stuck Key Disease). Yes, it’s one of the 1000’s, maybe millions of Apple MacBooks with the newer generation keyboards that are obviously flawed due to their thinner mechanisms that are susceptible to breakage. I’ve been dealing with a
Julie’s gadget diary – My MacBook has to go to the hospital Read More
I recently returned from an epic vacation to California where Jeanne and I explored 3 different locations over the course of 7 days. As with most trips, I always struggle with the gear that I want to take with me. I am a minimalist at heart, so I like to pack the least amount
Julie’s gadget diary – 5 lessons I learned from my last vacation Read More
My condo is a rectangle, with the HVAC unit and thermostat at one end and the bedrooms at the opposite end of the condo on the long axis. The air flows out and has a straight path to the living and dining room areas, but it has a 90° turn to the hallway towards the
My first experiences with the Nest Temperature Sensor Read More
Depending on the terms of your rental agreement and the flexibility — or lack thereof — displayed by your landlord, it may not be possible to install smart home items in your abode if they require making permanent alterations. Fortunately, there are still plenty of high-tech items that cater to your apartment-based lifestyle. 1. Belkin
5 Smart tech gadgets for apartment renters Read More
There are only 13 shopping days until Mother’s day on May 13th. You haven’t forgotten dear ol’Mom have you? If you haven’t even begun shopping, I can imagine that knowing that the big day is so close is stressing you out. But there is still plenty of time and we have a few ideas to
Mother’s Day 2018 gift guide Read More
I’ve been seeing a lot of headlines this afternoon about Google updating the web-based Gmail interface for the first time in years. I can’t remember any changes to Gmail since I switched to it as my only email client back in 2009. Software updates are usually something that I enjoy and look forward to, but
Julie’s gadget diary – Gmail will be updated soon and I’m worried Read More
Stephen Hawking, a renowned theoretical physicist, and well-known author passed away on March 14, 2018. He may have been one of the more famous and brilliant scientists of our time, but isn’t it wonderful to know that he had a fabulous sense of humor? It makes him a bit more human to the rest of us. I
The arrival of spring means it’s time to put the flannel sheets and heavy jackets away in favor of items made for warmer weather. It’s also a time which often inspires people to get in the spring cleaning mood. You can probably relate, but may not be looking forward to the task. That’s because
Spring cleaning has never been so easy with this robot vacuum Read More
Verizon Wireless was kind enough to send me a shiny new Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphone to test for a few days and it’s an all around awesome phone. From the look of the hardware to what’s under the hood, this is a phone that many Android fans would love to own, but for some reason, I
Julie’s gadget diary – The Samsung Galaxy S9 is a great phone, so why don’t I love it? Read More
In my last gadget diary post from over a week ago, I announced that I was going to give up my paper notebooks in favor of a digital To-Do system to help me manage my tasks. After I published that post, quite a few of you gave me ideas for different apps to try (thanks!).
Julie’s gadget diary – Update on my plan to ditch my notebooks Read More
I have been using a very simple Bullet Journal style of task management for the last 4 years. It has worked out well for me because I can keep a notebook open next to me all day so I am able to see a daily list of what I need to do and I get
Julie’s gadget diary – I’m ditching paper and going back to a digital To-Do system Read More
Children are rapidly growing up which implies they can get bored quickly with any toy or gadget. Because of that, it is an awesome plan to get them a toy which can keep them involved for a long time. If you plan to search for that sort of toy, search for something that will empower
5 awesome gadgets for your kids that they won’t outgrow too quickly Read More
I’m a naturally curious person. Or maybe a better word is nosy. I love reading articles where people describe how they work or show the gear that they use. I also enjoy seeing how people setup their computer home screens and their phone home screens. I thought it would be fun to share the Gadgeteer
Gadgeteer team: Our mobile home screen setups Read More
I have been happily using a Pixel 2 XL smartphone that I bought back in October. At least I’ve been happy with it until recently when I started having issues with Bluetooth connectivity. At first, I thought the issue was with the gadgets that I was reviewing and not the phone itself. But when the
Julie’s gadget diary – I just ordered an Essential Phone Read More
Netflix is great. There’s nothing like being able to binge your favorite series or call up a classic movie you haven’t seen in forever. But let’s face it, the search and discovery interface is a train wreck. The rows of recommendations and random categories are seldom useful, and if your kids or someone who doesn’t
Flixable is the best Netflix search tool around Read More