Offroading is a pasttime that many men love in Kuwait and the Middle East, many destinations to visit and offroad in. And there is always a time during that trip that someone gets stuck, I have gotten stuck a few times myself. I always carry a good amount of tools to get me out of the whole I’m in, but usually you need another car with you to help you out. A little more traction and a little more lift is sometimes what you need to get out of a very stuck situation. The LiftTrax Off-Road Recovery Device offers both in a rollable, portable, inflatable package. These ultrarugged air mats feature a flexible outer shell covered in rubber grips which offer traction in nearly any condition to vehicles weighing up to 8,800 lbs. Australians really know what they are doing when it comes to offroading, their equipment quality is really high because they have the same desert climate as we do. I’m hoping to have this for my next off-roading trip.

Link: UnCrate

Usually when walking around in shopping departments or shopping malls I see all kinds of different plates, and there are many that I like, some are fun, some nice, and many are very tacky, but the City Plates from Not Neutral are fun and original. From These stylish porcelain plates are gathered under the “City Plates” collection and feature maps of famous city centers. You can easily see these cool vivid maps on the large plates, seeing the lines of different cities. Their design is impeccable and the contrast between the black or white background and the strong colors is quite lovely. Rome, London, Tokyo, Mexico City, Cairo, Dubai, New Orleans are just some of the cities featured in this set. Its a total set of 20 and for $900 I think its very reasonable compared to a lot of plate sets out there.

Link: NotNeutral

I think at this rate there are over 100 cases for the iPad if not 1000 but I was looking for something specific. I didn’t want a notebook or sleeve type case, I wanted something with decent side protection and a stand so that I can place on a table or couch to watch shows. When I saw the Griffin case I knew it was the perfect case for my use, I bought it while I was in the states and I have using it everywhere ever since. I can easily hold the iPad while walking around, or toss it in the car, always ready to be in use and I don’t have to worry about it with this case, it doesn’t slip off the seat while I’m driving.

Pros:

• It can stand vertically or horizontally
• Can easily slip in a bag
• Buttons are easily accessible
• For $50 its an excellent product
• Rubber pieces on the back provide traction when its flat on the table
• The horizontal piece can be used as a handle, or a way to prop up the ipad and it has a locking mechanism to keep it up which is very useful
• The vertical stand is very simple and stable, works great for AirDisplay and if you want to use the iPad as an extra monitor

Cons:

• No Screen Protection
• Adds a little bulk to it

Link: Griffin
Rating:

M

At last they have heard the calling of so many people, they are coming up with covers for the iPhone & iPad. I already registered to get notified the moment its available, I do love my Moleskine and take it every where with me, and try to write notes about anything and everything. Now that they have a combination iPad & Moleskine its going to be perfect to carry around everywhere, and just have something to write and note, just the perfect combination of low-tech & high-tech. Now we just got to wait.

Link: UnPlgged

There are lots of iPad addicts out there and I know I am one of them, you want it everywhere, in your bedroom, living room, office, kitchen and even your bathroom. I always wondered about mounting the iPad to the wall with some information for me such as temperature, or the music playing on the system, or any other information presented on it. Until now there wasn’t a simpler mount then Wallee, you have the case on your iPad with multiple mounts in your kitchen, office, bedroom, and even outdoors next to your bbq if you’d want. The Wallee uses a patented wall plate with locking “X” that you can put almost anywhere and a hard protective shell for the iPad itself. I purchased four mounts and two cases since I want to install it in a few places to present information for me or play back family pictures for me. This is the perfect simple mount, and its very clean with a just one draw back is that you have to drill into the wall to install the mount but its small and I don’t mind seeing. If you are looking for a mount then this is the mount for you.

Link: TheWallee

The moment I saw this it reminded of the command chair on StarTrek The Next Generation with Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the Starship Enterprise. A very comfortable chair with a very capable command console aka The iPad, everything at your finger tips and you don’t lose the use of your cup holder. Everything at your finger tips including controlling your home theater system through the Crestron, Control 4, or Home Logic systems, or even controlling a Starship if needed.

Link: TheDesignBlog

It really seems that Joby took off with the Gorillapod, people are loving the product and its a little bit more professional then the previous models but still funky and flexible to use. The size has increased because this is targeted to fully fledged DSLRs with their extra batteries and lenses which add up to a lot of weight. The Joby Gorillapod Focus Tripod meant for dSLR (or any camera or camcorder), and then the add-on Joby Ballhead X adjustable mount specially made for the Gorillapod Focus.

This is meant for all types of surfaces with the octopus type tentacles to stabilize the DSLR at the perfect creative angle for your shot. These Dr Octopus tentacles make it quite literally, the most flexible-bendable, go anywhere tripod ever. Alone, it can hold something stead which is up to 5kg. It has a basic universal mount on it, but if you want more adjustability akin to something on a more traditional professional tripod, then you’ll want the Ballhead X mount. Unlike the regular Ballhead, the Ballhead X can support up to 5 Kilograms as well.

I have had a Gorillapod Tripod for a few years now and I carry it with me everywhere, its not my only tripod and but its the perfect addition, and great for those odd moments where you need it for the creative shot. Its the perfect extra tripod for the photography enthusiast. These flexible tripods simply come in too handy, and once you have one to use, you’ll never want to be without it when the need arises. The Joby Gorillapod Focus retails for $99.95 and the Ballhead X mount is an additional $69.95. I already preordered mine, I especially love the Ballhead X Mount.

Doxie’s new USB-powered device simplifies the oft-tedious task of scanning photos or documents with its easy setup and an intelligible Internet integration. It’s small portable USB Scanner, works with both Macs & Windows, it works in black and white, grayscale or color and processes documents or photos at up to 600dpi. It automatically adjusts photos by cropping or straightening, you can also play with the saturation, contrast and brightness before saving it which is pretty cool, not like the old days when you had to rescan it.

One of the features that makes the Doxie so convenient, their free web application integration called the Doxie Cloud allows for uploading of photos or documents straight to sites like Tumblr, Flickr, Evernote and now to iBooks. The Cloud also provides a short URL so you can seamlessly share the photo via e-mail, chat or Twitter. Documents and photos can be saved as PDF, JPEG or PNG formats, which is great for sending the images to Google Docs. And, the best part is that you can digitize hand written notes & documents because of its built-in Optical Character Recognition capabilities. I haven’t looked at a scanner probably since 1999, since I don’t think they have really changed too much, they are bulky, and take up too much space. For once a scanner which address people’s needs at high quality and very portable, its a brilliant little device and very reasonably priced at $130.

Link: Doxie

I have looked at a lot of stands and very few offer the flexibility of the Griffin Loop. You can have the iPad in the portrait or landscape mode, and if you just want to read you can lay it on it since it have a comfortable incline to read from. I like how it has a lip that you can also lay it on an incline in portrait landscape mode and read and type comfortably, the nice part as well is the soft nonslip rubber outlining the whole cradle helping the iPad to sit securely and you can charge while its on that stand as well, an excellent stand for $30 which is a pretty good deal.

Link: Griffin

Most everything is digital these day but when I go to meetings I have my trusty Moleskin with me and when I travel I have another for personal use. I like writing stuff down, drawing and doodling on the Moleskin. But with the perfect not pad you have to have the perfect tool, and in this case it the Faber-Castell pencils, I have been using them for a while, regular pencils and mechanical pencils. My drawing skills are no better then that of a 3 year old but I still like to draw and sketch, its always a good way to display ideas and I’m always noting stuff down or trying to draw things.

I have picked up about six different pens and pencils over the last two years and I use them all, I have some which are clipped onto a specific note pad and some I use for doodling. And recently I bought a drawing pencil set, from 6H to 8B, and I don’t even know what that means except maybe the thickness of the lead of the pencils, its just normal black pencils which I use for drawing and shading and some of these are very thick so its going to be fun trying them out. I have found these pencils available in Magahwi in Salmiya and Kuwait City opposite Khaleejeya complex, and in Greece Airport, Singapore Airport, all over the UK. If your a person that enjoys their writing and drawing utensil then this is the perfect tool.