Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

Are we getting cooked by Wifi?

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

So over the past few weeks I’ve been taking more time for me. Not a bad thing right? Getting a balance back in place of sorts. One of my guilty pleasures is to read. Whether news feeds or books, it’s a guilty pleasure. Go ahead and book’em Dan-o (pun intended).
One of these news feeds is that of Gizmodo which showcases, you guessed it, gadgets and gizmos :-) Recently an article caught my eye dealing with a device to charge USB devices using Wifi signals. The charging device is made by RCA, more can be read here.

The question of course that this poses to me is whether or not this is a warning sign for those of us that live in neighborhoods that have several wireless running, colliding and interfering with one another. Are we getting cooked or is the power contained within the 802.11 spectrum harmless to humans because the wavelengths do not interact with the genetic and cellular makeup of the human body. Just sayin…

MacBook Aluminum or MacBook White…

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

It’s that time of the month again where I start pondering what gadget I could buy that may increase my social networking and collaboration. And I’m thinking that a MacBook Pro would probably be too much for me. So really it’s a question of a MacBook, a MacBook, a MSI Wind, or an HP NetBook.

Right now I’m leaning toward an aluminum MacBook, but the choice is a hard one. My requirements are pretty much to have Office available (I already own a copy of Office for Mac 2008 Professional) and I own a copy of Enterprise for Home Use from my company for 2007. Outside of that, web browsing and the ability to write articles for my blogs as well as to be able to enjoy a crisp user interface.

Thoughts?

MacBook Pro or no…

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

So I’ve been contemplating buying a MacBook Pro for a while now.  And yes, I realize that there will be a hardware refresh sometime in the next six to eight months… though I also realize that in the past whenever Apple has done a hardware refresh that there are typically some small problems (warping of cases, etc.) during said releases which means that the current MacBook Pro which is nimble and quick is at the height of its refinement.

What to do… Thoughts? Recommendations?  I know, go read a forum and make my own decision, but those are coming from folks that I don’t know :)

Now Playing – Charlie Haden – Land of the Sun – Sueno Solo Con Tu Amor (I Only Dream of Your Love)

iPod Touch on the way…

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

So I received an e-mail from Apple saying that my 16 GB iPod Touch was on its way shipped via Fedex. Looks like it’s coming direct from the manufacturing plant in Kunshan, China (Live Local Map). Wonder when it will show up…

Sonicflood – Sonicflood – I Need You

iPod & iPhone Anti-Theft Device

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

So you’ve recently invested anywhere up to $600 in an iPod or iPhone and you’re thinking to yourself, “I really hope that no one gets greedy and steals my precious.”

Well, look no further, someone has created a clever device that will allow you to keep your iPod safe and sound.  They’ve created the “Zune” case for the iPod – yes, that’s right, who would ever want a zune :)

Check it out over at http://www.hideapod.com

Editors – Well Worn Hand (An End Has A Start)

Would you ever blend an iPhone?

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

So my good friend Danny down at UVA sent me a link this evening that I read and was like, “Nooooo!”  Granted, I don’t own an iPhone, nor do I intend to procure one until the iPhone has been upgraded to 32 GB of solid state memory and is on the UMTS/HSDPA with a downlink of 14.4 Megabits per second.

Alas, that’s another subject altogether, back to the link at hand… over at TechCrunch there was an article posted on the 10th of July entitled “Will an iPhone Blend“.  Apparently some company known as BlendTec has a blender that can even take on the iPhone and make it into a nice (okay, so maybe not so nice) smoothie of dark plastic.

Nonetheless, check the video out when you get a chance – probably my favorite part is the slow motion section :)

Editors – The Weight Of The World (An End Has A Start)

Who really owns iPhone?

Saturday, January 13th, 2007

According to a blog posting published on ZD net, Cisco may not in fact really own the iPhone name that they claim to. Definitely should be an interesting court case. If anything I’m surprised that NTP, Inc. hasn’t jumped on Yahoo!‘s back for their “push” e-mail system that they’re going to deploy with the iPhone.

So the real question is what is it that we can expect to see in the next six months before the Apple iPhone deploys to market. Stay tuned (not zuned) :)

Broadcasting loud and clear…

Saturday, January 13th, 2007

So I do have to say that I think technology is truly amazing.  Why you ask?  Quite simply because for $80 I was able to buy Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 with a GPS locator.  Simply amazing.

Broadcasting this out from:  38.80529 degrees North and 77.16328 degrees West.  Apparently with an elevation of about 300 feet from sea level, being tracked by 8 satellites.

Timex with a GPS Locator?

Saturday, September 16th, 2006

So I do have to say that I’m quite impressed by Timex and their Triathlon watches that they offer that come with a GPS locator. Can we just say, “Whoa.” I mean seriously that’s pretty wild that you have the ability to a) be traced, but also b) be able to track distances that you’re running for training purposes all the more accurately. I surmise that it’s still commercial grade in which case it could be anywhere within 150 foot radius but for all intensive purposes that rocks. And the price, still pretty low as the highest seems to be $300. Check it out at: http://www.timex.com/bin/detail.tmx?item=753048113774#

Zapping your hard drive quick and easy… at only 125 pounds…

Sunday, June 18th, 2006

Dark Reading – Host security – Researchers Find Technique to Quickly Erase Hard Drives – Security



If you’ve ever been worried about someone snooping your data perhaps after you turn your work laptop into your employer when you leave, you might want to consider using something like Jetico’s BCWipe. It’s a program that essentially writes 1′s and 0′s all over your harddisk, making the data unretrievable without some super pricey equipment. Additionally it usually can take up to a day to wipe say a 100 GB harddrive (yes, even a 7200 rpm drive will take a while).

So sure, that’s fine if you’ve got a couple of days to plan things and you need to make sure that your drive is wiped before you leave, but what about those instances where you just need to wipe something immediately? Well, it would seem that the US Government is investigating doing something about this. Many times there is a need for the immediate disposal of media, and using something like the aforementioned software just doesn’t cut it. Enter the media disposal system reference in the aforementioned article. Holy smokes that’s sweet. But my curiousity is why not just use a good ole fashioned microwave? I mean, when I was in college, I used a microwave to destroy CDs from time to time and they were more or less unreadable. However, by no means do I suggest this, as it is hazardous to both your health and a fire safety issue.The only caveat to the story is that the device weighs a whopping 125 pounds. Granted it mentions that they’re working on putting together something that is a little more transportable, but for the time being it would seem that’s a little out of the question.