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Lay-N-Go Traveler
When my wife and I stay in hotels during trips, one hassle we always hate dealing with is keeping track of our toiletries. It seems like something always ends up being misplaced or left behind when we check out. The Lay-N-Go Traveler might be just what we need. It's essentially a small bag that opens up flat when you loosen the nylon…
Nice Laundry
Nice Laundry is a company that sells premium, stylish socks for men and women. As their tagline states, their goal is to "rid the world of old and boring socks." They sell individual packs of socks (each containing 6 pairs) for $39, but the real draw here is what they call the "sock drawer makeover", a discounted deal that gets you 3…
nvNotes for iPhone
nvNotes is a note-taking app for iPhone that was inspired by apps like nvALT, Notational Velocity, and more recently, the new Writer Pro. This is one of those apps that mostly stays out of your way so you can focus on what's really important: your notes. The few features that come into play while you're writing are: Word and character count. A…
Canadiano Coffee Maker
Okay, so maybe this trend of craz- er, inventive new coffee brewers is starting to get a little out of hand. It seems that we're getting ever closer to some sort of Coffee Maker Singularity, and the Canadiano Coffee Maker is perhaps the next step in that process. Fashioned from a single block of wood (cherry, walnut, or maple), the Canadiano is…
Booq Python Slimpack
Designed with photographers in mind, the Booq Python Slimpack can carry pretty much an entire kit: Up to two DSLRs Four mid-size lenses A large zoom lens A tripod A full-size iPad Large headphones (provided they fold flat, for the top compartment) A variety of accessories (memory cards, batteries, etc) You can easily access the camera compartments from the top or back…
Lodge’s Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillets
If you ask me, no kitchen is complete without at least one cast iron skillet around — they just cook food so perfectly and only get better with age. The one I own used to belong to my grandma and was given to me after she'd passed away. It has so many years of seasoning on it, I can't even see the…
‘On Writing’ by Stephen King
Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is one of those books that I've always heard about from other writers, but I didn't get around to reading it until very recently. I wish I'd gotten around to it sooner because it's truly a fantastic book. In it, King talks about the events that led to him becoming a writer, which…
Duo Coffee Steeper
The Duo Coffee Steeper is a Kickstarter project that combines the longer steeping time of a French press with the cleanliness of a pour-over brewer. The instructions are simple: load up the top chamber with coffee and hot water, stir, let the mixture sit for a few minutes, then twist the chamber to allow sludge-free coffee to pour into the bottom. The…
Blue Spark Digital Microphone
Every day, it seems like more and more people are looking to turn their iPads into mobile recording studios. Whether they're playing music or podcasting, a good mic is absolutely essential — and the Blue Microphones Spark Digital doesn't disappoint. While the Blue Spark is perhaps not quite as portable as the Samson Meteor mic if you count the included metal stand,…
The Weber Rapidfire Chimney Starter
One of the gifts my dad got me for Christmas this year was a charcoal chimney starter — the $15 Weber 7416 Rapidfire, to be exact. This is is the chimney starter found in our guide to backyard grilling. But why is such a thing useful? Well, as Shawn originally put it: "...an inexpensive chimney starter like this one Weber makes is…
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AmazonBasics USB-to-Lightning Cable
In my opinion, one can never have too many Lightning cables on-hand. The only problem is, Apple's official cables are a tad on the expensive side for what you get ($20 for only ~3ft of cable). Thankfully, Amazon offers their own Lightning cables and they're pretty great. Not only are they well-built, they're also a good deal — $15 for a 6ft-long…
Pocket Squares by ‘Put This On’
We're big fans of the Put This On video series around here. As they themselves describe it, it's "a web series about dressing like a grownup." More than that though, they do a lot of behind-the-scenes interviews with people who work in various parts of the industry. Definitely watch the whole series if you haven't already. They also design and sell pocket…
Eastgate’s WinterFest 2013
Eastgate, the folks behind note-organization app Tinderbox, have put on a winter holiday sale featuring several awesome writing apps for the Mac. The sale includes Tinderbox itself, Scrivener, Scapple, DEVONthink Pro, and Nisus Writer Pro. In each case, you can use the promo code WINTERFEST2013 to get 25% off the normal price. These are some great apps for writers (especially Scrivener) so…
Evernote Diver Sleeve
There are innumerable laptop sleeves in the world, but I can't say I've ever seen one quite like the Evernote Diver Sleeve. Rather than having a zipper or other enclosing mechanism, the neoprene Diver Sleeve simply stretches around the laptop like a sock, with pull-tabs at either side of the opening for super quick unmasking. The Diver Sleeve comes in two sizes…
Machinarium for iOS
We've mentioned the game Machinarium in the past, but I think it's worth bringing up again, for three reasons: The first time we posted about it, the game was only available for the iPad. Now it's a universal app so you can enjoy it on your iPhone as well (although iPad is probably still the best experience). It made The Sweet Setup's…
Cardboard Rocket
I've yet to meet a kid who doesn't love playing with cardboard boxes. A lot of them also appreciate rocket ships, so the Cardboard Rocket would make an awesome gift for them. Obviously you could make your own rocket ship out of boxes if you wanted, but these guys have done all the work for you, cutting out not only the necessary…
Featured Sponsor: Faast
Faast is a real-time content reader for your iOS 7 devices. It combines all your RSS Feeds, Twitter, Facebook and email into one app. It uses the same backend technology used for my previous app Push4, featured in the Top 10 Feed & RSS Technologies of 2011 by ReadWriteWeb (“A double digit percentage of the stories I reported on this year came…
AViiQ Portable Laptop Stand
Traveling with a laptop is a necessity for a lot of people, but having one just sit in your lap while you type isn't very ergonomic or comfortable. The AViiQ portable laptop stand is a pretty good solution for this. Not only does it allow you to elevate the laptop and keep your lap from overheating, but it folds up crazy-thin –…