kooaba Shortcut is a shortcut between real life and the Internet. Take a picture of what you are reading in a newspaper or magazine and instantly get connected to the digital version. Using image-recognition technology, Shortcut recognizes what you're reading. Once recognized, you can share the digital version of the pages via Facebook, Twitter, SMS, and email, or store them in Evernote.…
Instead of collecting your used wine bottle corks in a jar, why not turn them into toy animal decorations instead? Or, next time you take a bottle of wine to a dinner party, bring along a Bunny Corker with it.
Who doesn't want a well-made, sturdy, and simple duffle bag on hand? They're great for camping, weekend getaways, trips to grandma's house, and more. The No Matter What lineup from Eagle Creek has four sizes of duffels ranging from the 18-inch small to the 36-inch extra-large. All of them are lightweight, made from recycled material, come with a center and end haul…
Though I prefer my small Timbuk2 bag, the TOM BIHN Ristretto has long been hailed as one of the finest iPad bags around. It is a small and sturdy vertical messenger bag that holds just a minimum of items. Some folks like small bags because they only cary around so many items and so why have a large bag with empty space…
How do you plug in a computer, a monitor, a hard drive, an iPad, and an iPhone using just one outlet? Why, with Belkin's mini surge protector and dual USB charger of course. Handy enough to use in the home or office, and portable enough to travel with.
I have owned my J. Crew Magic Wallet for so long I don't even remember what wallet I had before it. You can tell a lot about a man by the wallet he uses, and I think most men care deeply about having just the right wallet. I know I do. And though I'm always on the lookout, it's been at least…
Sometimes even when sending a card it is still sent from your iPhone. This fun card makes it clear that it was sent and written sans-technology. The card is 4.25 inches by 5.5 inches, printed on heavy card stock, and is blank inside.
Déjà Vu is your visual memory. Use the app by taking pictures of things you would like to remember. For example, products you see in a magazine, recipes you read in a cooking book, wine labels in a restaurant, Newspaper article, DVDs, CDs or event flyers. Each picture is a visual memo. A regular camera app doesn’t distinguish those photos of stuff…
The ōlloclip was all the rage amongst our group at Macworld. They had a booth on the Expo floor and were completely sold out before lunch on the third day. I picked one up and have really be loving it. The macro and wide angle lenses are just great and make a the already stellar camera in the iPhone 4S that much…
Inside Apple is a new book by Adam Lashinsky, the senior-editor-at-large for Fortune. His book is about the inner workings of Apple, primarily the company's very secretive nature, but also the work ethics, productivity values, salaries, and more. (Also available on the iBookstore.)
MindNode is an elegant, easy-to-use mind mapping tool for Mac and iOS. Whether you're brainstorming for your next project, organizing your life, or planning your vacation, MindNode lets you collect, structure, and expand your ideas. And thanks to built-in Dropbox and WiFi sharing, even your biggest ideas can go anywhere your iPhone does. MindNode is easy mind mapping for your Mac, iPad,…
Matias, the folks who brought us their folding keyboard, comes the fast-switching USB-slash-Bluetooth-keyboard combo: The Matias Slim One Keyboard. It connects to your Mac or PC via USB while simultaneously connecting to your iPhone, iPad, or other device via bluetooth. With the flip of a switch you can instantly switch between the two. Ideal for replying to texts without having to pick…
Only one game for the iPad has ever really snuck itself into my free time, and that was Plants vs. Zombies. That is, until now. Kingdom Rush has a similar feel to PvZ in that you set up your defensive strategy before the level starts, and then keep maintaining it and fighting off the attackers. It's a lot of fun, very cartoon-y,…
Here you'll find one of the most effective — and manliest — ways to tenderize your steaks. Alas, this meat tenderizer is illegal in 17 states.
The Stork Messenger bag from Timbuk2 is "the diaper bag for people who don’t want to carry a diaper bag". My wife and I are expecting our first in just a few weeks and finding a diaper bag that we both like has been anything but easy. Most of them look like oversized purses, or else are shy on pockets and much…
Just because it's recommended for ages 10 - 14 years, doesn't mean grown men can't also buy a box of LEGOs. This ultimate collector's edition of the Batmobile is like the cousin to the ride in Tim Burton's Batman films. This LEGO set is not too full of "specialty" pieces, and so it keeps with the best of LEGO tradition of building…
Great for staying warm, looking cool, and/or storming castles.
There are two advantages to using a stainless steel coffee filter: (a) it's reusable; and, (b) it allows more of the oils from your brewed coffee to find their way into your cup. The Kone coffee filter fits 6-, 8-, and 10-cup Chemex coffee makers. It was designed by Coava (pronounced ko-vuh) Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon, and seeks to save you…
My wife and I were fortunate enough to spend nearly two weeks on The Big Island of Hawaii last spring. And this book was our tour guide. In fact, it was better than a tour guide because we could fit the book in our backpack and explore the Big Island just the two of us. Hawaii, The Big Island Revealed, has information…
My thanks to Scrivener for being this week's featured sponsor on Tools & Toys. Writing a book or research paper is about more than hammering away at the keys until it's done. Research, shuffling index cards to find that elusive structure — most software is only fired up after much of the hard work is completed. Enter Scrivener, a content-generation tool that…