I’ve never owned, or lived in a household where someone did own a big TV. A new TV for me is a hand-me-down for someone else. But now that TV’s are smaller, flatter, and bigger I may change that tune I was whistling before. But what do I choose? LCD or Plasma?
This article tells you what’s the good, bad, ugly, and important between the 4 digit priced TV’s.
Most of us use a standard keyboard and mouse on our computer. Bill O’Brien has done an excellent job of cataloguing alternative input devices of many different varieties. If your wrist hurts, and you’ve got some bucks to spend, check it out.
Some input devices aren’t easily categorized — like the touch screen. IBM tried to introduce a touch-screen system about two decades ago. It was a clunky and unreliable. Sometimes you got what you touched, sometimes you didn’t, and sometimes you had to reboot the system. Hardly ready for prime time. Today they’re much more accurate and much better protected against moisture, dust, and the general grime and oil that collects on our fingertips.
Touch-screens also don’t need to be complete monitors. There are touch-screen overlays available for existing displays and notebooks. Of course, you’ll still need mouse-driven application software to interpret the screen touching. (In case you hadn’t noticed, your PDA uses a touch screen, as do many smart phones.)
Geeks all have one universal problem. No, I’m not talking about Microsoft. Geeks never get chicks (and my mom says that when I stop calling them chicks that will change).
As I was saying, geeks around the world have one problem, getting chicks. We’re smart, innovative, and have somewhat of an imagination –why not just build a chick? Professor Hiroshi Ishiguru did just that (how could you doubt a guy with the word guru in his name?) Repilee Q1 is her name, and silicon skin is her game. Continue reading
RCA has a bookshelf system that will now transfer CD’s directly to your mp3 player. “Three easy steps are all it takes to move your favorite music from CD to a portable digital music player…” claims RCA.
Reasons this idea is good: No need for a PC, no need to download songs, and it’s the first I’ve seen of this kind.
Reasons this idea is bad: Continue reading
Introduction
Apple’s iPod Shuffle is heavily criticized for its lack of a screen. While gadget junkies did not fall in love with its very basic feature set, it did have sales for one simple reason- cost. In this era of ever faster product cycles, and the planned obsolescence of our disposable society, who can argue with a $100 player with half a gig of storage. After all, there are many folks out there with less than 100 MP3’s, and this capacity player will more than serve their needs.
Lexar has taken the old adage, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” to heart. They have built a very basic MP3 player, but at least it has a screen to display the name of the song playing unlike iPod’s Shuffle. Sure, some folks will want a more full featured player. And Lexar will be happy to sell them their more featured players including the LDP-400, LDP-600, or the upcoming LDP-800 player. For their LDP-200 player they cut the feature set to the bone, and left off the FM radio, and a microphone. There is no included software. The unit is powered by a standard AAA battery to save the cost of a rechargeable cell. You can even buy the unit with no memory card included. The LDP-200 stores it songs on an SD card. This is another example how SD cards are dominating in this market segment. The unit can be purchased with no card included, or with included card capacities of 256 MB, 512 MB, or 1 GB. If you already have SD cards in your collection, the no card version becomes an affordable alternative at $49!
Let’s take a look at the LDP-200 and decide if it’s “no frills” feature set gets the job done. I am curious to see if the device performs more on the side of frugal, or if it slips towards just plain cheap.
What’s In the Box
• Lexar Digital Music Player LDP-200
Red for no included SD card and 256 MB sizes
Blue for 512 MB and 1 GB sizes
• User Guide
• Quick Start Manual
• Earbud headphones
• Lanyard
• USB extension cable
• Energizer AAA battery
Features Continue reading
Well, with our cars having more and more electronics, it’s just a matter of time that we need more storage space. Will AAA come and swap a hard drive for you in the not too distant future? Seagate is trying to meet the need.
The EE25 Series disc drive is Seagate’s first drive designed specifically to meet the needs of the global automotive industry and other “extreme environment” applications. EE25 Series is targeted at automobile OEMs and their system manufacturers as well as to ruggedized mobile computing and industrial PC applications. High capacity 20 and 40 GB capacity points will deliver massive storage for bringing DVD-free GPS and high-quality AV entertainment services to the car. Most importantly, the EE25 Series will provide the industry’s most extreme environmental robustness to enable the continued transformation of the car into an extension of the terabyte lifestyle.
Nicholas Cage, Standley Goodspeed, in one of my favorite movies, The Rock said this when asked about VX poison gas:
It’s very, very horrible sir. It’s one of those things we wish we could disinvent. This isn’t a training exercise, is it?
This quote came to mind when I saw the Oakley/Motorola RAZRWIRE Bluetooth Eyeware. After puking in the back of my mouth a bit, I reassessed the situation and still had to put this product into our ‘That’s Janky’ category. Just imagine walking around outside, talking on your phone with that girl who you’ve had a crush on since 10th grade with your new RAZRWIRE glasses/headset. Once you pass thru the doors, you realize that the $300.00 sunglasses are too dark for you to see indoors. So take them off just to miss her say “I’ve always been in love with you, tell me you love me too!” So you’ve lost the love of your life, you look like an idiot in doing so with goofy glasses, and you’ve been chumped out of 300 bucks.
People are afraid of secret government conspiracies that plan on implanting microchips into our bodies so that the government knows where we are at all times. Too bad everyone who’s afraid of this already carries a mobile phone everywhere they go, and obviously has no idea what MIT has been up to.
“Cell phones know whom you called and which calls you dodged, but they can also record where you went, how much sleep you got and predict what you’re going to do next. At least, these are the capabilities of 100 customized phones given to students and employees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — and they may be coming soon to your cell phone.”
I see good and bad things from this. People will think that I leave my phone home on Friday and Saturday nights (but I’m actually at home trying to decrease my Windows XP boot time!!) .
Why do they call Netflix, Netflix? Ok, so you go online in order to register, order, and pay but the DVD comes to you in the mail. I wonder if Mailflix.com was taken so they decided to just go with Netflix. Or maybe they were planning Video On Demand (VOD) all the while, making their name more valid. With a set top box, and a Netflix account you may be able to watch ‘Mean Girls’ the day you order it, instead of waiting for the mail to bring it to your door. Sounds like it makes sense to me, but who wants a set top box from Netflix to go with their vcr, dvd player, stereo receiver, xbox, ps2, tivo, cable box, media center pc, etc. It’s a good idea, but I think it should be just a bit refined.
Timbuk2, born and raised in San Francisco, has built a solid reputation for producing bags that don’t bow down to a challenge. Timbuk2 was started in 1989, and isn’t going anywhere but up here in 2005.
I got my greasy little hands on the Timbuk2 Commute Laptop Messenger Bag. My precious little iBook 12” needs a comfy safe stylish traveling pack, and Timbuk2’s Commute was up to the challenge. I was going to enjoy putting this laptop carrying case through the *patent pending* LIVEdigitally Laptop Carrying Case Obstacle Course
The obstacle course consists of 5 tests:
1.) Capacity Test: Can the case hold everything needed for a trip with my laptop?
2.) One Hour Endurance Test: I will load the case with all my necessary items, and wear it for one hour. How do I feel after that hour?
3.) Water Test: Loaded with dry cardboard, I will douse the bag with water to simulate a rainy environment. Is the cardboard wet afterwards?
4.) Function vs. Style Test: Does this case suit both needs of looking cool while getting the job done.
5.) The Female Test: I will ask three separate girls what they think of the bag, does it make me look good? –if they answer yes, I may get some phone numbers! (bonus) Continue reading
I thought that my friend’s new P4 3.8Ghz with hyperthreading was a pretty fast computer. Seems that the fastest computer in the world is owned by Americans and sits in Livermore, CA doing 136.8 trillion calculations per second. Japan told that they’re going to build a computer that runs 73times faster (10 quadrillion calcs/sec). This venture will blow about $7-9million dollars over the course of this project. Now that’s a computer. Expect to see this one finished around 2011, I wonder what version of Doom will be out then?
When I think of Alaska, I think of cold and rugged. Mt McKinley is the tallest mountain in the USA. While MP3’s don’t come to mind, a player did make the journey to the summit. How’s that for durability testing?
In a sport that requires 60-pound backpacks, climbers need to be highly selective in the gear they take. For Mousseau’s 14-day odyssey last month to the 20,320-foot summit of the mountain, he brought the SanDisk 512-megabyte (MB)* player, which weighs just over 1 ounce, and three AAA batteries. Now, based on reactions from his teammates, the solid-state, flash-based player is likely to become standard equipment for their future climbs.
Who knew that an MP3 player would become standard climbing gear?