Restless Tech

Books, pen and paper, typesetting and ink. They are all on a long, slow death spiral. Traditional publishing is on a collision course with the e-universe that seems fated to end in a fatal spray of fonts and kerning. Ergo, book binding with its requisite physical trappings of paper and cloth is on a similar …

If you have read my site for any length of time you might be surprised to find out that I, urban gypsy though I am, was raised by a pack of wolves in the depths of the Black Forest. Well, in a household of hearty outdoorsmen anyway. With guns and camping equipment and camouflage clothes. …

I have long been aware of Ogio as a bag and pack maker but given that all the ones I had seen had someone else’s corporate logo on them I always assumed that they were an OEM manufacturer. Imagine my chagrin at meeting them at CES and seeing the wide range of product they make …

A trip to Europe for 8 days presented me with a bit of a conundrum. I needed a day bag that would cover me for three days of trade show and five days of touristing with the primary goal of carrying my new iPad plus the other stuff that I needed to schlep around. Luckily, …

I know you are tired of hearing about my maudlin fascination with keyboard devices. While have repeatedly blamed this addiction on my poor handwriting, I am currently seeing a therapist in regards to this. I know that makes you feel better! He assures me that this haptic need of mine is actually founded in some …

As I have mentioned before I have keyboard issues. Well, I have lots of issues, ( just ask my long-suffering wife) but the particular issues that I am referring to today are rooted in my truly abysmal handwriting. I actually LIKED Grafitti on the original Palm units because it would convert my hideous scrawl into …

I must confess that I stalk bag companies. I lurk on their web pages and zoom in on zippers to try determine the brand. I calculate carrying capacity and gauge the tensile strength of the material. I buy bags and fill them with piles of stuff no normal human being would cram in there. I …

( Please forgive the awful pictures, they were taken on a trans-Atlantic flight, but I wanted to get this up while the deal was on) The Smartphone Folio is a perfect little product from the crew at Rickshaw. It is made from the same high quality materials that their bags and packs are and it …

A brand, spanking new iPad arrived at my door on Friday afternoon! Yours probably did too, and even if it didn’t there are already 114,352 reviews of the iPad online that either say: “It is the best piece of technology I have ever owned. I wept when I opened the box. It even cured my …

Yes, it is a bit strange that I am reviewing a fast food restaurant, but this particular one is a decadent pleasure for me. In-n-Out Burger is a Western US chain with just over 250 locations spanning California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Oh yeah, and Texas…as long as you consider Dallas/Fort Worth part of Texas. …

While the length of my life will measured in days and years, I have come to the conclusion that my productivity is measured in milliamp hours. As I do more and more work outside of the office my mobile devices are not my backup. They are my primary means of getting work done. I answer …

There is no such thing as a perfect travel bag, because travel has a tendency to throw a curve ball at you. Sometimes those curve balls are 9th inning of the 7th game of the World series kind of curve balls and you just don’t know how you are going to deal with it. A …

Last year I got the opportunity to play with the Humangear Gotoobs and I found them to be clever, useful and also pretty darn cute. When I talked the them again and got the chance to review the Gotubbs, I was excited. Yes, they are just containers and I know that it is pitiful to …

Do you know that sick feeling? The one where you reach in your pocket for something you really need and you can picture it on the top of the dresser in the hotel. The hotel that is now 300 miles in your rear-view mirror. Anyone who travels regularly knows that feeling. Unfortunately, your options are …

I received the newest installation in the Assasin’s Creed game franchise for Christmas and it has already stolen a big chunk of my life. The graphics are the typical broodingly beautiful style of the series. Most of the action takes place in the city of Constantinople (not Istabul..sorry, couldn’t resist!). The story primarily surrounds a …

Christmas came early to Sprint this year. The iPhone 4S landed on their dock making T-Mobile the only national carrier left out in the cold, rarefied air of commercial winter. I like this because Sprint is the carrier that I am committed to and it finally gave me the opportunity to see what all the …

My daily carry briefcase over the last year has been the Tom Bihn Zephyr. It’s professional looks, ruggedness and total capacity (over 1000 cubic inches) have served me incredibly well and you can get the whole story on it, if you would like, here where I originally reviewed it. My biggest problem with the Zephyr …

As a friend of mine is fond of saying “People fall into two categories. Those that divide things into categories and those that don’t.” While that is only marginally germane to my topic today it does let me talk about the category that I fall into: the “I might need that” category. I can trim …

TwelveSouth has taken the Apple mantra “Think Different” about as seriously as anybody in the accessory field. According to TwelveSouth: “Our small company (less than 12 employees) plans to introduce 12 unique, must-have Mac accessories each year that will be as innovative as Apple itself. Bold, new accessories that are designed to protect, personalize, improve …

So, two weeks ago I retired my no-name, trifold leather wallet and made the leap to using WaterField Designs iPhone Wallet. My initial response was panic as I looked at my aged, inch thick monstrosity and wondered how I was ever going to fit all that crap in the svelte piece of leather and ballistic …

OK, I have to confess, this is an odd choice of things for me to review, but I am an odd guy and that is always a valid excuse! Over the last year I have gotten increasingly interested in light travel and the concept of “One-bagging” which is ironic given my fixation on bags and …

As a note, all still pictures in this review are taken with the onboard camera on the iPhone4S just to see how it performed. 2 years ago having a case for your tablet meant you were carrying medications along with you. A year ago a tablet case meant an iPad case, or possibly a Kindle. …

Hour after hour of rehearsal as a concert pianist makes you very sensitive to the tiny changes in pressure between computer keyboards. The repetitive practice of playing a D flat harmonic minor scale for hours at a time rather quickly trains the muscles in your fingers and hands to the microchanges that come from very …

Timbuk2 has been at the backpack/bag game for a long time and they make a bunch of bags so you would expect that they have pretty good handle on what should and shouldn’t go into a laptop bag. For curiosity’s sake, I let their website guide me through the process of picking a bag. After …

What is it about companies that are based in San Francisco and the surrounding areas? They have a certain level of innovation and product evolution that seem to be a step above those around them. Humangear is one of those companies. Just a couple of little ideas, a couple of little twists on simple products …

So, when is a MacBook Air case not a MacBook Air case? When it is configured for a 13 inch MacBook Pro! WaterField was kind enough to send me one of their Travel Express cases for review. Versions are available for both the 11 and 13 inch MacBook Air and while they were at it …

Leatherman Inc. Retail Store 10109 NE Cascades Pkwy. Portland, OR 97220 (At Cascade Station) Phone: (503) 408-5550 Email: info@leatherman.com I donated my first multi-tool to an airport security agent nearly 20 years ago. Strangely, it was before the rules were so stringent and I actually “donated” it on the return part of the trip. Since …

Here at Restless Tech we are pleased to announce our first contest! Runnur has been kind enough to provide us with a Runnur for giveaway to a lucky winner. All you have to do to be entered in the drawing is to follow @restlesstech on twitter and Tweet something about this review. Winner will be …

I have been a fan of Rick Myers excellent e-sword software as a bible study tool for a long time. As a Mac guy I found myself launching Crossover or Parallels just to do bible study because packages that would be competitive on the Mac were hundreds (or thousands) of dollars. I also used his …

I have a thing about “out of the box” experience. I love that feeling of opening a package up and seeing your precious, obsessed-over piece of purveyed commercialism nestled there waiting for the touch of your greedy little hands! I love it even more when there is that little bit of something extra in the …

Leonardo daVinci said “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” I think that the people who make the Wanderlite Excursion pack are big fans of Mr. daVinci because their approach to packs would make him smile. It is no secret that I have a bag addiction nearly as large as my tech addiction. I like pockets and …

I have been interested in a smaller tablet for a while as the iPad is not always an ideal size, especially for one-handed usage. I have a WiFi only iPad and I really wanted the “always on experience” for data rather than chasing hotspots around. I was on a business trip and my Sierra Wireless …

I have had a love/hate relationship with folding keyboards since Stowaway wooed me with one that I purchased for my Palm Pilot about a million years ago. Text entry via stylus has always seemed to me like something that should be outlawed by the Geneva convention! The engineering of the folding mechanics fascinated me and …

I recently acquired a Samsung Galaxy Tab as part of a review of 7 inch tablets that I have coming up. I quickly realized I was in need of something to carry and protect it while I carted it around. Since I have a couple of companies that I look to first on these kind …

I just received a set of the Spire USA packing tubes to look at for review. Spire is a great, boutique laptop bag and backpack company based out of Colorado. They focus on making durable, accessible products and they make as much of them in the US as they can. In fact, many of their …