Monthly Archives: April 2005

As a segway to my previous entry, “Old Skool,” I only believed in keeping that SONY Walkman of mine because I did not have another tape deck in the house. (That was a shot of reality as well, for my VCR is seeing its usefullness fading other than being a glorified digital clock.)

Here comes the PlusDeck2. www.plusdeck.com
It is a tape deck for your PC. But not only does it play your old worn out cassette tapes, it also can be used to create MP3’s of the old classics in your shoeboxes. It may not be the prettiest thing to be mounting into a drive slot on your PC tower, but its definately useful for people like myself that want to put my MC Hammer collection and one hit wonder cassettes onto my computer or Ipod.

The specs:

• Records sounds, MP3 files, and internet streaming audio from PC onto Tape
• Hi quality record/playback as Hi-Fi audio
• Convert cassette tapes to into MP3 files
• Full-logic controls
• Dub voice with mic on Tape.
• Tape Speed 4.75cm/sec
• Wow & Flutter 0.09%(WRMS)
• Frequency Response 30~18,000Hz
• Separation 40dB
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio 55dB
• Fits in open 5.25″ drive bay

My favorite pizza spot in San Francisco has a CCTV (closed circuit television) which I don’t mind. While I’m waiting for my pizza I look at the TV monitor which is facing right back down at me so I can watch myself wait. But, lots of people have issues with CCTV, especially when it’s monitoring public spaces. Often you are being watched and you don’t even know it. But, then there is iSee, a site which keeps dibs on all CCTV’s in urban areas and plans out a route for you to get to your destination unnoticed.

Overreaction, perhaps. Well, definitely. But what really interests me is that this information is on the web. Lets say I decide to restart the mafia. I can go online and mastermind a bank robbery without ever being seen, at least on the street. I doubt there is info on the web showing me how to avoid the CCTV’s in the bank. Oh well, scrawny geeks were never meant for crime anyways.

ChoicePoint won in the Big Brother contest. Now it turns out they might have some competition. Yesterday LexisNexis announced that the initial 30,000 identities that were stolen from their data base about a month ago was really something like 300,000. I guess that’s why U.C. Berkeley has just been designated the leader of the new cybersecurity Consortium. So the picture below won’t stop identity thieves from hacking into data-mining companies like ChoicePoint, but the moustache on the guy on this box was so great I had to use it as an image.

Corsair has introduced their new Corsair XMS Xpert CMXP512-3200XL memory and it can almost talk. The PC3200 DDR modules don’t shy away from a slight overclock, but that’s not their forte. These modules have LED displays that enable the user to program exactly what it is that they want to see on the memory chips. This wouldn’t be worth the time and money for someone like me who doesn’t have a window, or a 100% acrylic computer enclosure, to view the guts of my processing tower. But there are tons of people who do in fact have that window and could get a one-up on those with regular old boring DIMM slot no-LCD-having memory modules.

Trusted reviews gives out the nitty gritty on these programmable displays of memory. Maybe it’s time for me to dust off the dremel, purchase some fiberglass, and start making a window so I “Live Digitally” can be displayed on my two 512 sticks of Corsair XMS Xpert memory.

Are you a pack rat? Well gosh darnit, I am. Living in 686 square feet in some of the most expensive real estate in the universe doesn’t help the habit at all. As I was cleaning out my ‘beloved belongings,’ I came across my old SONY Cassette Walkman. Wow has time passed since I used you. I used to rock to Kenny Loggins and Debbie Gibson on this gem, now it was relegated to the bottom of an Office Depot fold together white moving box in the catacombs of my closet.

Memories…from the corner of my mind….Now my Ipod Mini is the new king.

The Belkin Mini Wireless mouse is an affordable choice for a notebook mouse. The mouse is the smallest of any tested which contributes to its portability. It is made out of plastic, and features tasteful silver buttons, a rubberized plastic black bodyand a rubberized scroll wheel as well. The body houses 2 AAA batteries for power. There is an on/off switch on the bottom of the mouse to save the battery when not in use.Adults with large hands may find the mouse is too small to use for extended time periods. For children, and adults with smaller hands, it is a comfortable, and a usable size.

To operate, the Belkin mouse requires plugging in a transceiver into a USB port. While not large, with the arrangement of USB ports in notebooks, it will probably obstruct the port next to it. As many notebooks come with 3 or 4 ports, this is probably not a major issue for most users.

The Belkin mouse operates on the safe RF frequency that many other mice and wireless keyboards use. The RF frequency is relatively uncrowded, and should not interfere with anything else you have. If other users are around using it, you should be able to find a clear channel (there are over 2000!). The range is stated to be 3 feet, but I measured only 2.5 feet in testing. If you need a little more range, the included 3 foot extender cord can be used to relocate the transceiver to a closer position. This was the only mouse to include an extender cord, and its generic USB interface could be used for other products as well.

The 800 dpi sensor performed well. It tracked across all surfaces, except glass, as expected. It tracked perfectly on a tabletop, however, on gray carpeting it would infrequently (once or twice an hour) lose its bearings for a few seconds. A more even surface remedies this, but I was pushing it to the limits for the purposes of testing.

The mouse included written documentation, as well as the driver on a CD. The mouse worked fine without the driver installed on my Windows XP Home computer.

While the mouse is small, the transceiver could be slightly smaller. It would be great if there was a case included (a mouse-house?), transceiver, and the wire, however, there is none. These are quibbles though. The mouse is a bargain at $29, and for the budget user with smaller hands, this is a solid choice.

It should be noted that during testing, Belkin introduced a newer model of this mouse In fact, it was so new, that none was available to complete the testing. We look forward to testing their newer model at a later date to see what improvements have been made. A smaller transceiver, a longer wireless range, and a case to keep the mouse and transceiver together on the road may earn this mouse the LD Approved rating.

If you want the “Wow” factor in a notebook mouse, look no further; this device will impress all who are in proximity to it. This notebook mouse takes the whole cordless mouse category a step higher, and puts many desktop mice to shame. I am a fan of Logitech mice and keyboards and view the company’s products as the BMW of peripherals. If the Bluetooth diNovo is their equivalent of a 745i flagship sedan, then their V500 mouse is their M3 sports car.

The Logitech designers, in fact, could teach a thing or two to the automotive industry about sleek. The fused aluminum skin and integrated left/right buttons exude a modern technology appearance. Careful examination reveals a “4-way solid state scroll panel.” This touch sensitive panel replaces the traditional wheel. This also eliminates moving parts and makes the whole device more rugged and mobile. With the scroll panel, you can scroll both vertically as well as horizontally. This is the only mouse tested here with horizontal scrolling (great for heavy spreadsheet or graphics users). It is very easy to acclimate to and use. For scrolling a long distance, just hold your finger down in that direction at the end of scroll panel, and it keeps on going. The scroll panel works so well, I would be surprised if it didn’t appear on some premium desktop mice in the next year or two.

The mouse uses 2 AAA batteries, and is claimed to last for 3 months. While I can’t verify that claim, I will say that I left the Logitech mouse on for over 48 hours by accident (after the photo shoot), and had plenty of power left to complete testing. There is an LED at the back of the mouse that glows green on initial start up if the battery is ok, or red if weak. This is the only tested mouse which provides battery status information.

The Logitech mouse is a little larger than the other products in terms of its width, but I found it more comfortable to hold and use. This also allows the USB wireless transceiver to fit within the body of the mouse for storage. This is a key feature making you less likely to lose the transceiver (the smallest tested), and making it easier for travel. The small transceiver fits nicely in the USB port, and did not block the neighboring ports from use. The transceiver fits into the mouse either right side up, or upside down making it easier to pack up when they announce final boarding in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. A case is included for the mouse to make transit easy as well. Another nice feature is that the mouse pops up via a switch on the bottom; it goes up ¼” inch, which is 7 degrees. This makes the mouse higher in the back resulting in a more comfortable feel, especially for larger hands. The switch that pops the mouse up also turns the mouse on and off. The mouse is symmetrical, so it can be used by both left and right handed users equally.

The Logitech product also has the best optical sensor here, the “all terrain” optical sensor. While I won’t be trading it in for my four wheel drive in the next blizzard, it uses a leading 1000 DPI camera, the highest of any portable mouse I encountered. The mouse tracks accurately on EVERY surface I tried. This mouse even tracks on a glass window, the elusive “holy grail” for optical mice, and something no other mouse in this article can do. Heck, very few desktop mice can accomplish this feat including the Logitech MX 900 (part of the diNovo desktop package). Gamers will especially appreciate its fast and accurate tracking on a variety of surfaces. This is a great feature on the road, as it means you can leave your mouse pad at home, and have one less thing to carry.

The wireless technology for the mouse is also a standout here. The other mice here use an RF (radio) interface. The Logitech unit uses the 2.4 GHz frequency (also shared by Bluetooth, many wireless phones, and WiFi “b” and “g” networks). Interestingly, it is stated that this is a Logitech proprietary interface, so don’t expect a free Bluetooth transceiver here. That said, despite the crowded frequency, I experienced no interference with wireless networks, Bluetooth devices, or the cordless phone. I was able to surf the Web on a WiFi network using the mouse with no slowdown at all. The range is stated at 30 feet, far longer than anyone would use a wireless mouse from their notebook. I was able to verify the range to 12 feet, but with my notebook’s 12” screen, everything became a bit of a blur anyway.

The packaged contents include written documentation, the 2 AAA batteries, a travel case, and the software on a CD, as well as the mouse and transceiver. The mouse performed fine without the software installed on a Windows XP Home notebook; the software needs to be installed for the horizontal scrolling to be enabled.


Is there a downside to all these standout features? Of course, there has to be one. In addition to the longest range, highest dpi sensor, and smallest transceiver comes the highest price tag. At $69 retail, this mouse crosses the magic $50 barrier. Looking around, some retailers sell it for less, but it is still more than an impulse purchase. Something this finely crafted will likely outlast one or even two notebooks, so from a long term perspective it is reasonable. The price does give the user some exclusivity; I think this is the best mouse for the road warrior who can purchase it on a corporate account. Tell your boss it will increase your productivity on those spreadsheets, and leave out the part about Unreal Tournament after hours at the Doubletree on their wireless network. The Logitech V500 Notebook Mouse is LD Approved.

Ok, we haven’t done anything… but Apple has! That’s right kids, Apple has set a date for it’s newest OS to be released. OS X 10.4 aka Tiger will be released April 29th. With the growing popularity of the aesthetically pleasing alternative choice computers, comes the most anticipated* OS update this decade.

Apple boasts more than 200 new features and some reports say that the OS is so much faster that your socks just may catch fire if you’re not careful. Orders are being placed for $129.00 on Apple’s online store starting today. Mac lovers are about to fall in love all over again.

In eight weeks time, the IODP drilled an amazing 4,644 feet below the surface of the ocean floor. Apparently the surface of the earth (aka the crust) is thinner on the sea floor than on dry land. This is the 3rd deepest hole in the ground that man has dug. I feel like these guys, the IODP, are Bruce and Ben from Armageddon, so then where’s Liv Tyler in this story??

There’s also mention of learning the Earth’s structure and composition helping us to understand how the earth evolved and is changing, but I lost focus when I couldn’t find the Liv in this story.

Buzztracker follows the headlines from Google News and uses an algorithm to actually visualize the relationships between geographic locations and the buzz they are creating. I’m a big fan of sites likes these. We live in a digital era, so I say, ‘Why not have a little fun with how we get our news.’ I’ve come across many different sites like this. In fact, one site which I wrote a story for at Wired, Ten by Ten, is now up for a Webby award.