Gizmohound.com

Tom Bihn Tri-Star–a great carry on travel bag

Gizmohound — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 16:35:52 +0000

The Tom Bihn Tri-Star is a mid-size carry on travel bag designed for short trip. It’s size is designed to meet all airline carry on size regulations (including the stricter carry on regulations in Europe and Australia). I typically use it for short trips of one to three days.

As the “Tri” in it’s name implies the bag is designed around threes:

The Tri-Star has three main compartments of approximately equal size. The front compartment can be further divided left and right, with a zip out divider.
On the left side are three horizontal zippered pockets. The top zippered pocket spans the full height of the bag; the second goes about half way; and the third is the shallowest of the three.
Three ways to carry it – Padded Suitcase handles for carrying down narrow aircraft isles, Padded (and stowable) backpack straps for longer hikes, and metal attachment rings for a shoulder strap (the Tom Bihn Absolute Strap is a $30 add-on)

The front has an additional curved pocket on the right–I use it to stow my boarding documents. It can be used for stowing a water bottle as well.

The Tri-Star costs $250. As expected for a bag at this price point, has superb workmanship. The exterior made of 1-1/2 oz. per square yard urethane coated 1050 denier Ballistic nylon. The lining is Dyneema/nylon rip-stop. The stitching is superb; there are no frayed edges or stray threads.

The Tri-Star is designed to use Tom Bihn’s accessories:

The back compartment is designed for holding your clothes. It comes with compression straps but it is also designed for holding packing cubes–I’ve used it with both Tom’s cubes and eBags cubes.
The middle compartment is designed for holding your laptop. It has the clips necessary to secure the “Brain-Cell” laptop case (not included). It can also hold a Freudian slip which is perfect for carrying pens, pencils and critical files.
The front compartment can be split into two compartments–the smaller of which is perfect for shoes. The bigger compartment is the perfect size for a medium Tom Bihn packing cube.
The front zippered compartments can hold Bihn’s organizer wallets
The bag comes with one Key Strap

The Tom Bihn Tri-Star is filled with thoughtful features:

Like a lot of Tom Bihn’s bags the Tri-Star uses #8 YKK splash-proof Uretek zippers.
All three front zippered pockets have an O-ring inside. Tom Bihn includes one Key Strap to hook your keys so you don’t have to dig around for your keys at the end of a long tiring trip.
The compression straps in the rear compartment are removable.
The bag has an extra handle for grabbing it when it is stowed away in an overhead bin.
The bag’s liner is available in bright yellow to make it easy to find that missing cable.

A little story about this bag. We were on a weekend trip and some cretin broke into our car and stole everything–laptop, camera, iPad, even my shoes. I was most upset about losing the Tri-Star. In fact it was one of the first things replaced. It is an expensive bag, but I keep discovering little thoughtful touches every time I pack.

Tom Bihn Tri-Star
www.tombihn.com
Made in Seattle, USA

External dimensions: 19? x 13? x 8? / 480 x 330 x 205mm
Weight: 3.4 lbs / 1.55 kg
Volume: 33 l. (2000 cu. in.)

Make tough luggage tags from your business card

Gizmohound — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 04:56:45 +0000

A quick travel tip, don’t put your home address on your luggage. Makes it a bit easy for thieves–they know you are on the road, they know your address. I usually put my office address. There’s always someone there to answer phones if the airline calls, they have better security than my house.

The easiest way to make a luggage tag is to use MMMLS8535G – Self-Sealing Glossy Laminating Pouches w/Loops for Luggage Tags
. Take your business card, put it in the Pouch, press together. Voila, a nice neat, tough luggage tag. As a bonus, it makes your luggage a bit easier to spot on the carousel–especially if you have standard black luggage.

Milwaukee Fastback™ Utility Knife

Gizmohound — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 03:57:20 +0000

A cool utility knife? Really? Well Milwaukee has managed to create a well-built, useful and cool utility knife–Milwaukee 48-22-1901 Fastback Flip Open Utility Knife. The design of the knife centers around ease of use and speed of use. If you read the promo material they advertise that you can open the knife 3x faster because you open the knife one handed. Press the button and let gravity do the work. When the knife is locked open, we never felt a wobble. Make sure your fingers are out of the way though when you close the knife–otherwise it can hurt you.

Milwaukee advertises you can change the blade 5x faster because you change it without any tools–simply press the black switch near the blade and slide the blade out. The Fastback package comes with five blades. Since the blades are standard utility knife blades, you can replenish at any hardware store. Unlike most knives the Milwaukee Fastback does not have storage for the utility knife blades.

Milwaukee designed the knife so that you can use the same blade in three ways

As a regular utility knife
As a wire cutter
As a gut hook (when closed) that allows you to cut string or twine without opening the knife

The knife is well built and the frame is a bit thinner than most utility knives–makes it slide into a pocket or tool belt easily. The Fastback also has a wire clip to allow you to clip it to your pocket.

All in all a cool tool and perhaps a good stocking stuffer. You can buy it for about $13 at Amazon and other tool retailers. Milwaukee 48-22-1901 Fastback Flip Open Utility Knife

PDFpenPro: PDF Editing Software for Mac OS X

gperlman — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 15:43:24 +0000

If you scan documents to PDF or have to manipulate PDF files on any kind of regular basis, check out PDFPen and PDFPenPro for Mac. It can scan multiple documents straight into a PDF (where you can then edit them) and then email the PDF file you created directly from PDFPenPro. It also has a library feature where you can keep scanned images you wish to add to existing PDF documents (scanned copies of your initials and signature for contracts, watermarks, etc.)

www.smilesoftware.com

Geoff Perlman is the CEO of REALSoftware a leader in Cross Platform Development Tools.

Waterfield Designs Suede Jacket Cell Phone Case

Gizmohound — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 02:19:12 +0000

Gizmohound.com recently ordered the Waterfield Designs Suede Jacket Cell Phone Case for review. Waterfield’s Suede Jacket case is one of the thinnest cases out there for a cell phone and comes in a large variety of sizes to fit various cell phones (iPhones, Blackberry’s and Droids). The case is available with an accessory pocket (for earphones, or a few business/credit cards). The case costs $10–adding the accessory pocket adds another $4 to the cost.

The case is made from soft suede (which Waterfield calls Ultrasuede®) The material offers scratch protection in your pocket or purse but since it is a soft material it does not offer significant impact presentation. The build quality for the case is high–well stitched, no threads unraveling and high quality material. Being able to pick a specific case for your phone means that the case fits your phone very well–in fact when you get it the case will be a bit snug. However, the suede does stretch over time to make it easy to slide your phone in to the case.

We truly wish this case was available in different colors. The black suede disappears in a dark purse. Do remember this is a soft case–it is not ideal for impact protection. Slipping your phone into and out of the case does take a bit of effort–not great if you’re an obsessive person who checks emails and text messages constantly.

If you’d like more impact protection, a case that’s easy to slide your phone in and out of and own an iPhone–the iPhone Smart Case might be a better choice.

WaterField Designs is a maker of distinctive, custom-fitted, cases and bags. Unusual in this day and age is that products are manufactured in San Francisco. We found them to be a responsive company that communicates with you very well about your order.

WOD: TIKKR Watch

Gizmohound — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:44:46 +0000

My friend and uber-entrepreneur Randy Cohen introduced me to the TIKKR watch. Simple, clean design that comes in three colors–white, black and orange (it is from Austin after all). The watch band is rubber and it encases the watch. The cost…$65. Have to say have gotten more compliments per dollar than almost any watch I own. My wife’s stolen the white version for herself. You can find more about this watch at http://www.tikkrwatch.com/

By the way WOD stands for Watch of the Day. This is a new series I am starting on Gizmohound.com If I wear a new watch on a day, I’ll snap a picture of it and include a brief description. If you can still buy it, I’ll try to include a link to the product. A review? Maybe…but mostly just show off some fun watches.

My official iPhone 4 Review

gperlman — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 19:04:41 +0000

I’ve been an iPhone user for about two years now and since I now have an iPhone 4, I thought I would share my thoughts on it.

Purchasing the iPhone 4

I bought the iPhone 4 last Thursday. I waited in line for quite some time but it actually turned out to be worth it as I met some really interesting people. Apple was great about supporting the people in line. They brought us bottled water and arranged for Chic-Fil-A to bring us breakfast sandwiches for free which was really great. In other ways, Apple goes a bit over top on these first days of sales of a new iPhone. They assign you to a sales person who walks you into the store. That person immediately congratulates you on buying an iPhone. That seems a bit strange to me. After your purchase, the sales person takes you to another person to activate your phone. After removing the shrink wrap, the activation guy asked me if I would like the “honor” of opening the box. Again, that seemed strange to me. I just wanted to buy the phone and this seemed a bit inauthentic. That’s probably the wrong word actually because the two Apple Store employees did seem genuine. Perhaps “unnecessary” is the right word?

Setting Up the iPhone 4

So let’s get to the phone. First of all, I synced my iPhone 3GS just before I left home because I was most likely going to sell it while I was waiting in line to buy the new one (which I did). The phone was working once it was activated in the store. When I got home, I plugged it in to my computer and launched iTunes. Just as it had done the last time I bought a new iPhone, iTunes recognized I had a new phone and asked me if I wanted to register it then asked if I wanted to restore all of my data. I have a lot of data on my phone and yet it didn’t seem to take more than about 5 minutes to restore. Once restored, it was identical to my 3GS. My iPhone 3GS was the 32 gig model and I bought the same when buying the iPhone 4. However, I have to say that I could probably have gotten away with the 16 gig model. I just don’t like taking the chance that I will run out of space.

New Features of iPhone 4

The device itself feels like a higher quality piece of hardware than its predecessor. And since the sides are flat, I find it easier to hold. The volume buttons are now separate and that feels better. The new speakers are getting mixed reviews online. Some people say they are not as loud. I haven’t noticed that. What I have noticed however, is that they seem to have a wider dynamic range. When I play my favorite iPhone game, Doodle Jump, the sounds are clearer. It’s almost as if I’m hearing more of the sound than before. It appears that the WIFI reception has been improved as well. From our bedroom at home, I’m about as far away from our WIFI router as I can get and still be inside the house. From there, my iPhone 3GS would sometimes have difficulty connecting to our router. It could far more easily see the next-door neighbors router. The iPhone 4 has no trouble seeing our router from the bedroom and gets a good solid connection. The new iPhone is a bit snappier and Apple says it has a bigger battery that gives you more usage time. It uses the same connector as the iPhone 3GS so my car charger will still work as well as the USB plug that came with my Apple bluetooth headset which I love but they don’t make anymore. The reception seems fine to me though it has had mixed reviews online. I can’t say I have tested it thoroughly enough to give a complete report. The iPhone 4 is also a bit thinner than the iPhone 3GS. The camera is 5 megapixels compared to 2 megapixels for the iPhone 3GS so that’s a nice upgrade. Someone once said that they best camera in the world is the one you have with you. This is so true in my case. I take most of my photos and video with my iPhone because it’s so convenient. The new camera takes great pictures and shoots video at much higher quality as well. This is most evident when watching the video you have shot on your computer. They have added the ability to touch where you want to focus while shooting video and this actually changes the lighting and have added flash as well. The flash can double as a light source when you need to shoot video in a low light situation. Apple has set up a phone number you can call to test out the new Facetime video conferencing feature. I called the number and video chatted with a representative from Apple. This feature is nothing short of amazing! It’s just fantastic and I can’t wait for more of my friends, family and colleagues to have iPhone 4 so that I can use the Facetime feature more. It’s truly magical. At the moment, both people have to have an iPhone 4 and must be on WIFI to use Facetime. However, Apple claims they are working with the cellular companies to get it working on the cellular network and should have that working by the end of the year. They are also publishing the protocol so that others can support Facetime as well. However, as impressive as Facetime is, the most useful and practical feature of the new iPhone 4 for me is the high resolution display. This makes it far easier for me to read small fonts (and even regular-sized fonts) because they are so crisp and clear at 4 times the resolution of the iPhone 3GS. This one feature alone makes the new iPhone 4 worth having.

IOS4

The new iPhone 4 comes with iOS4, the fourth edition of Apple’s mobile operating system. They have renamed it from iPhone OS to iOS since it’s the same OS they use for iPad. It’s new multi-tasking feature, which allows you to run multiple apps at the same time, works very well and you almost don’t notice it. You can double-tap the home button to see a list of apps that are currently running. But you can also tap it once to exit the current app and then just tap on another app you were previously using and you’ll be right back where you left off. They have also added a folders feature that makes it easy to organize your apps. I was up to 9 pages of iPhone apps and have since organized them into folders to get down to just 4 pages. The Mail app now supports viewing all of the inboxes for all of your accounts in a single view just like you are probably used to doing with whatever email client you use on the desktop. My only wish is that they would allow me to choose which accounts appear in this unified view as I have one that I only want to view by itself (as it’s the account I use for subscribing to mailing lists). The new mail app also supports threading of messages which is nice as that’s the default view I use for my desktop email app. There are lots of other nice features in the other apps. iOS4 is a nice upgrade from the previous version.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the new iPhone 4 and highly recommend it. The great thing about the iPhone ecosystem is that you can often sell your old iPhone (if it’s the immediately previous generation – iPhone 3GS in this case) for enough to cover the price of the new one. So getting a new iPhone for almost no additional money out of pocket makes getting the new iPhone that much sweeter.

Geoff Perlman is the CEO of REALSoftware a leader in Cross Platform Development Tools.

Solution: Lost the key to your filing cabinet or desk?

Gizmohound — Tue, 04 May 2010 16:29:33 +0000

Have you lost the key to your filing cabinet or desk? Do you want to replace the key core? Most office furniture locks have a number on them. That number combined with the furniture manufacturer’s name allows you to order a new key. You may be able to get the key at your local locksmith. If you want to order it online Easykeys.com offers a simple solution. Just choose the manufacturer’s name and the lock number and Easykey will have the key on it’s way. If it’s urgent you can even get them to deliver it next day air. Destroyed the lock and need a replacement? Easykey also sells lock cores.

www.easykey.com

Knife Maintenance and Sharpening Guide

Gizmohound — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:24:30 +0000

Obsessed (or merely want to learn more about) Knife Maintenance and Sharpening? eGullet has a detailed guide to knife maintenance and sharpening

Photography? Watches? Flashlights? Frequent Flyer Programs?

Gizmohound — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:38:41 +0000

Website and Blogs are adequate if you need information but sometimes you have a unique question that is best answered by another enthusiast. There are a wide variety of forums on the Internet where people will help you answer your specific questions.

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site. It originated as the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system. A great deal of my initial knowledge of computer systems came from dial up BBS’es–to this day I remember the phone number of long-gone BBS’.

Now before you go off and start posting in a forum, you need to learn a bit about forum etiquette. My first bit of advice–read a few of the existing forum posts. Reading forum posts will give you an idea of the style of that particular forum (is it closer to a neighborhood club or more like a university classroom). Pamela Stevens has a good list of 25 Forum Posting Etiquette Tips that are worth reading.

Here are some of my favorite forum based sites to get you started:

Photography

Photo.net – www.photo.net

Photo.net is an online community with hundreds of thousands of active members and many more casual viewers visiting daily. Photo.net was started in 1993 by Phillip Greenspun and is one the best peer-to-peer educational system for people who wish to become better photographers.

Luminous Landscape – luminous-landscape.com/forum/

Luminous Landscape is one of my favorite sites about photography. The articles are great. The forums are a great source of useful information from professional photographers as well as photography enthusiasts.

Watches

Watchuseek: http://forums.watchuseek.com/index.php

Watchuseek claims to have the world’s busiest forums. A lot of great knowledge.

Poor Man’s Watch Forum - http://www.pmwf.com

Can’t afford watches that cost 4 to 7 digits (yes 7!). Poor Man’s Watch forum will guide you to much more reasonable but still high quality forums.

Travel

FlyerTalk – www.flyertalk.com/forum/

Want to learn how to travel from frequent flyers? FlyerTalk provides up-to-date information on travel-related loyalty reward programs and so much more–the best luggage, what to pack, hotel deals, where to eat, …

Flashlights

Candle Power Forums - www.candlepowerforums.com

Hard to believe that there are hundreds of discussions on Flashlights–LED vs. Incadescent; What’s the best LED?; What reflector works the best.