Pages

Saturday, October 30, 2004

SanDisk's budget 2GB Secure Digital card

Woohoo!!!

SanDisk 2GB Secure Digital cardLet’s ponder something for a minute here. When SanDisk rolled out their 1GB SD memory card at the beginning of the year, it was priced at a full $500. Now, not only are they introducing their new 2GB Ultra II SD card (which has faster than average read/write speeds) at the low cost of $240, they’re going to sell their regular speed 2GB SD memory card (which should be available next month) at the even cheaper price of just $200. And that $500 1GB SD card? You can now pick that up for around 65 bucks. Progress, etc.
[Engadget]

Delphi's new SkyFi 2 adds pause rewind

Way cool!

delphi skyfi 2We knew Delphi was planning something, but they surprised us all with the release of SkyFi 2, a new Satellite Radio receiver.  While it features a new scroll wheel and better display, the most interesting new feature is the addition of a 30-minute buffer that allows pausing and rewind.  While 30 minutes isn’t a huge buffer time, it does allow some basic rewind and pause functions for when you get that annoying phone call and simply must hear the rest of that Simple Minds track.  It will retail for $129.99, and install kits for home and vehicle are $69.99.

[Thanks, Michael]


[Engadget]

Friday, October 29, 2004

Sore Elbow

Well, I found out what happens when I do yard work... Tendonitis sucks! Now I have to have a sling on my arm, arm band and pain meds. At least it is not crutches. :)

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

XM MyFi by Delphi

Ooooooh, I like.  Not sure how it will work in the office though.  I went out and added XM-Online to my account so I can jam out at my desk.  As soon as I can figure out how to get it into Beyond Media I will have one happy wife. :)  She keeps taking my radio so she can listen to it in the house.

xmmyfi.jpg imageThat portable XM radio is here: the Delphi XM MyFi, a $350 portable designed to be used when either out and about or in your car. Notable features include an entirely-internal antenna, a "Memory Mode" than can store up to 5 hours of content right on the device (flash or hard drive, I'm not sure; I think flash), tons of accessories including a desktop dock and car kit, and remote. Look hot, but very expensive for just a radio. We'll have more in a minute, but I have to track something else down that is exploding.

Press Release [XMRadio]
Product Page [XMRadio]

[Gizmodo]

Monday, October 25, 2004

MT3.12

Well, I did it.

I upgraded to MT 3.12. Let's see if it stays this way for more than 3 days... :)

Delphi Roady adapter will deliver portable XM satellite radio

Way cool!!!  I might just have to get one..  But will it work indoors?

delphi roady 2Portable XM satellite radio will become a reality when Dephi releases its new Roady portable adapter.  The unit will sport the usual XM radio controls such as category, display, memory, and favorites buttons.  It will use the headphones as an antenna, which is a cool use of space, but might also make using headphones of one’s own choice a bit difficult. We don’t know much else about it except that it is supposed to have a hard drive inside for recording, but supposedly the big announcement should be tomorrow.

[Thanks, Chris]
[Engadget]

Get XM Radio Online free for 3 days

OK, I will definitely get this one for the house.  This will keep Robin from taking my radio. :)

free xm

XM has a free 3 day trial for trying out their service on your PC (no Mac support, it appears), XM Radio Online. Seems like a good idea; we have XM and love it, they should let all current subscribers use this for free to 30 days, they’d sell a lot more net and sat set ups.

We’re trying this out now and trying to figure out if we can fool it so we get another 3 days, and another 3 days… oh wait, that was our “inside voice”.


[Engadget]

the iDebate rages on

OK.  This is too funny! :)

iDebate

You know, even with more pressing issues at hand but two weeks from the big election, there are still a lot of rumors and hubbub going around about what might have happened during the debates, what with G.W. Bush’s mystery-bulge-in-the-suit. We’re so glad someone finally set the record straight.

[Via Joi Ito]
[Engadget]

The Audiovox PPC-6601 and PPC-6600: Sprint's new Pocket PC Phones

Woohoo!!!  This is the one I have been waiting for.

Sprint Audiovox PPC-6601

There have been rumors since April that Sprint would carry the CU928, Daxian’s sweet new Pocket PC Phone (and yes, the XDA III/MDA III is the GSM/GPRS version of this), but now it’s official. The only thing is that you should waste your time calling up Sprint asking for the Daxian CU928 since it’s now known as the Audiovox PPC-6601 (it’s like Audiovox has become the brand name of last resort for wireless carriers who feel like they gotta slap something vaguely recognizable on there). Anyway, we more or less already knew the specs on this one, but here’s the recap: 128MB of memory, 400MHz processor, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth (which we’re sure will be crippled because it’s Sprint), and an SDIO expansion card slot (but no built-in 802.11b WiFi like with the XDA III). There will also be a version called the PPC-6600 that comes with a built-in VGA quality digital camera. Retail price is $629.99.

[Engadget]

Thursday, October 21, 2004

PPC-6600 delayed!

Seems that a software problem with the Business Connect software is keeping the PPC-6600 phone off the shelves for a little while.  This is the new device that is a PPC and a phone and has a slide down keyboard...

XM probably to release MyFI portable sat-rad next Tuesday

Hey, this looks cool!

xm

Well, no one can say for sure yet, but financial analyst Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. have a document outing (or trying to, anyway) XM on their expected MyFI/wearable portable satellite radio next week. Tuesday, to be exact, near Engadget HQ in New York. We’ll keep you posted on the deets, so don’t say we didn’t warn you early.

[Thanks, Candlebougie]

[Engadget]

XM Radio and Major League Baseball sign $650 million deal

Major coolness.  Did you guys watch the Red Sox's kick butt last night?

xmIn the wake of Sirius’ Howard Stern $500 million exclusivity announcement, XM Radio turned around and won a bidding war for the rights to broadcast Major League Baseball over their satellite radio network. XM plans to add an entire baseball channel and broadcast not only live games, but also classic games, special shows, and games in multiple languages. While the deal isn’t worth as much (non-monetarily, we mean) as the Howard Stern deal, it is a big victory for XM and satellite radio. The people at XM hope that this will not only improve consumer sales, but also OEM sales to auto manufacturers, which is becoming a tight battleground for satellite radio providers. XM picked a perfect time to announce this deal with the craziness going on in the playoffs, as people have baseball on the brain in a big way right now.
[Engadget]

'ExchMbx' Mailbox Manipulation Tool

Boy, this would have been neat to have a few years ago... Right Bill? :)

Summary
"Command line tool for doing various Exchange tasks such as mail enabling/disabling users, contacts, groups. Mailbox enabling/disabling users. Moving mailboxes." (via bink)

[MS Exchange Blog]

Sprint Begins Testing Phonecell SX5T

This looks cool.  They are testing a device that bridges regular analog phone devices to their data network...  Kind of like a cellular version of Vonnage's ATA device....  Neat.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

CyberKinetics' BrainGate enables thought-control

WOW!  Talk about plugged in!  Frequent readers may recall I have longed for this kind of "connectivity" for years. :) Ever since I read my first CyberPunk novel.  I wonder what William Gibson thinks of this?

cyberkinetics braingateKing of brings new meaning to “What will they think of next?” now that CyberKinetics have developed BrainGate, a device that allows people to control computers entirely by their thoughts.  Using a small chip with 100 neuron sensors, BrainGate has allowed a 24 year-old quadriplegic man to check email and play videogames using his thoughts. With a little chip that goes in one’s noggin, the device can read brain activity at the neuron level, a first of its kind. Because of this level of interaction, the “installed” individual can control an electronic device while doing something else at the same time. So the next time you see a quadriplegic complaining about being asked to do too much, point out the multitasking 24-year old with BrainGate, so he had better get off his lazy paralyzed ass.
[Engadget]

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

TV-B-Gone says goodbye to your TV, like it or not

This sounds cool. :)  Reminds me of when we were turning off the TV in Applebee's and freaking out the waitress. :)

TV-B-Gone

It does nothing but turn TVs off. Seriously, that’s all it does, is just universally, completely, truly attempts to shut down just about every TV around (and it’s rarely unsuccessful). We’ve had nightmares about this sort of thing, but we imagine a significant other armed with one of these might be what we’d need to finally kick our bad Ali G habit. And while we imagine the TV-free are all having a blast irritating everyone else to no extent, maybe there’s a lesson to be learned here. When we figure it out, we’ll tell you. No doubt, respek.

[Via Wired News]
[Engadget]

Thanks Bill

I had seen the stories going around about Google Desktop but ignored them. At Bill's request/comment I installed it and played around with it. It is way cool. I always just go to Google.com when I want to search for something and now that I have installed Google Desktop my regular google.com searches include results found on Google Desktop. And it's FAST. I mean super FAST!!!


Anyway, thanks Bill for pointing this out. :)

If you are interested, it is here.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

ReplyToAttendees Outlook Add-In

Ooooo. Way cool!

found this during my daily browse.

In Outlook if you try and send an e-mail from an Outlook meeting request, it sends it to everyone in the request, including those that have declined the request.

This add-in from David Gardiner lets you send mail only to those that have accepted

[Adam's Mindspace]

GnomeDog

GnomeDog

Ruf!

Ms. Gnomedex

Ms. Gnomedex

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Bill should have a Podcast

OK, I have resigned myself to the fact that Bill “Blogless One” Odom will not have a blog….  Put he should get a PodCast going eh?  What do you say Bill? 

iMate PDA2k EVDO for Verizon? Device soon to be on CDMA as well.

7 days and counting till we can get this on the Sprint network. J 

iMate PDA2k EVDOWe’ve seen this before as the CU928 from Daxian and even listed on the FCC’s website with a Verizon logo on it, and now it’s turned up again as the iMate PDA2k EV-DO Pocket PC cellphone. In case you haven’t been following along too closely (not that we expect you to, since that’s our job), a similar GSM/GPRS version is already available in Europe (as the MDA III and XDA III, among other names) and will probably come out here in the States sooner or later.

The bad news/frustration is that while iMate PDA2k has most of the same  features as the GSM version, like a 400Mhz CPU, slide-out keyboard, 128MB RAM, Bluetooth, 240x320 QVGA screen, 640x480 VGA camera, and a 3.5-inch LCD screen.  Missing, however, are the WiFi capabilities of the GSM version, which is a bit of a major disappointment. We’re not sure why they skimped on this, but WiFi should be an added feature, not a subtracted feature.


[Engadget]

Jacket Grows From Living Tissue

I’m sorry but this story is just creepy.  Give me a dead cow coat any day over one that is still living!  Eeeeeek.  All I can hear is “it puts the lotion on its skin!”

Put off by the idea of wearing jackets made from dead animal skins, a team of Australian researchers attempts to grow a stitchless coat from live cells. By Lakshmi Sandhana.


[Wired News]

BeyondTV and RSS feeds

Someone out there want to help me on this?  What I would like to do is make some sort of RSS feed that would allow me to aggregate my “Now Showing” list on my BeyondTV.  Then I could use something like iPodder or something to suck down the shows and have them on my iPaq for watching at lunch time…  I already have all of my shows transcoding to wmv at a frame rate and video resolution that works well on the TV and on the iPaq.

 

Since BeyondTV already provides links to the shows I guess the only thing I need is something that would write the xml code for the RSS feed and keep it up to date.  Anyway, just my rambling thoughts today.

Now, for Your PC: Mac OS X

This is cool.  I tried to get it but it seems the store is broke (or over worked).  Also, it looks like they were /.’ed so maybe it’s still on the mend. 

A Hawaiian company claims to have developed a $50 software emulator that allows a Windows PC to run Mac OS X. A legal expert says it's likely Apple will have some objections. By Leander Kahney.


[Wired News]

Iris Scanning Hotel Rooms

Now this is just too darn cool. 

nine_zero_iris.jpg imageA Boston hotel called Nine Zero is using biometric iris scanning to replace room keys, allowing guests to gain access to their rooms with just a quick flash of the eyeball. Using a system from LG, first-time guests have a picture of their iris scanned, which is quickly encrypted to a hashed numeric code and the source image deleted (meaning they don't keep a copy of your iris on file, just the results a scan of your iris would provide). Because the data can be held on to indefinitely, returning guests can make reservations and gain access to their rooms without ever talking to a clerk, booking a room by email and getting their room number in response.

Your Iris is the Key [HotelChatter]


[Gizmodo]

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Monday, October 11, 2004

Beyond TV 3.5 and SnapStream's Medusa PVR

Coolio.  I would love to have two or three more Hauppauge 250 tuners myself.  So far, BTV 3.5 has been awesome!

Beyond TV 2.5

To inaugurate the release of SnapStream’s Beyond TV 3.5 (and perhaps also to piss off Sony, whose Vaio type X costs about five times as much for about as many TV tuners), they’ve assembled a white-box PC with six Hauppauge tuners and a measly 5400RPM 40GB hard drive. They’re calling it the Medusa PVR, and funny as it may be, the $1,200 machine works, and works well. Though it doesn’t have 1.5 terabytes of storage, it’s still good enough for us in that over the top ridiculously excessive kind of way.


[Engadget]

Friday, October 8, 2004

PodCasting Without an iPod

I was just thinking this yesterday.  There was a great deal of discussion on this at Gnomedex.  Since I still don’t have an iPod I thought “why *cant* I have this timeshifted content on my iPaq? 

Why not call it NetCasting or TimeCasting or TimeShifted News…  Oh well.

 

So PodCasting—the ability to time-shift internet radio and the like and listen to it on your iPod whenever—is pretty cool, I guess, but its name is a little confusing, implying that it only works with iPods (probably because the first popular variant uses a program called 'iPodder'). Thing is, you can use iPodder along with Windows Media Player to PodCast on a variety of devices, including Pocket PCs and non-Apple music players. Jake Ludington has even written a handy tutorial to explain how to do it for at his "Media Blab."

So maybe we should—and I know this is just crazy talk—call this stuff something other than PodCasting? Probably too late, huh?

Podcasting with Windows Media Player [JakeLudington]
[Gizmodo]

SnapStream Media Releases Beyond TV 3.5

I have been beta testing this for a while now and boy is it great!  I have a dual tuner setup now so I can record two shows at the same time, or watch live tv while recording on another channel (like I still do that, ha!).   

Friday, SnapStream Media is scheduled to formally announce the release of Beyond TV 3.5. Beyond TV users can watch, record and playback television programming from a variety of sources in a multitude of formats.


[BetaNews.Com]

Thursday, October 7, 2004

500 watt inverter?!?

I just got back from Sams where I saw a 500 watt inverter on sale for $28!!  It had a cigarette lighter adapter and battery clamps.  Two power outlets on the other side.  A quick Google of it shows that folks are generally pleased with the device and that it is quiet.

 

 

Another note, they had 512Meg SD cards for $59.00. J 

Tuesday, October 5, 2004

NetCableTV creates legal peer-to-peer movie download ring

Hey, we talked about this here, and also here… Seems some folks are starting to try it out.

TV habitsBoston-based NetCableTV say they’re launching a new peer-to-peer sharing technology that allows customers to download movies directly from one another’s hard drives (as opposed to a central server), and that the whole thing is completely legal. They also say that they’ve added two layers of digital rights management to prevent piracy. All that DRM stuff will most likely last about as long as it’s taking us to write this post, but we would love to see this actually work.


[Engadget]

Microsoft, PalmOne announce Exchange ActiveSync for Treo

Hmm, ActiveSync for Palm OS?  This sounds kind of like Microsoft Linux….  Weird indeed.  Anyway, we have a few of these Treo devices in the field and it might be cool for them to not have to install Good software on some of them when they only want email/contacts updated and not some of the more rich VPN like applications.

Second, it puts a stake in the ground: MS is not backing away from Exchange ActiveSync in the face of vigorous competition from RIM and Good Technologies; Good is already shipping GoodLink for Treo, and RIM announced BlackBerry software for Palm OS in December 2003.... IMHO the most significant impact of this deal has little to do with the specific technologies involved: if it is successful, it will validate Microsoft's fairly new, and still somewhat untested, approach of licensing key networking/communications protocols to all comers.
[Exchange Security]

Monday, October 4, 2004

Going home

Well, I had a wonderful time at my first Gnomedex. I ended up with some good schwag as I got a 7.1 sound card. Our table of 6 ruled the giveaway on Friday night as 5 of us got a prize and 2 received TWO prizes. :)

My dad and I left before the closing diner so that we could get back into San Francisco before too late. In fact, we got back before 10pm. I went to a wedding Sunday and just hung around the house on Monday.

Now the fun part. I have to ride the 10:45 back to Charolette and then wait 3 hours to catch the 15 min. flight to Columbia... And then go to work. I had wanted to take the whole day off but the other folks on the team are leaving as soon as I get in for New York for a disaster recovery test. I have bunches of pictures from SF and I will post them on my Flickr page only.

I can't wait for next year, it was an awesome conference and hopefully I can bring some co-workers next time.

Saturday, October 2, 2004

Will reading his book

Will reading his book

Will read some of his book. :)

Will showing off his books

Will showing off his books

Will signed my book

Will signed my book

He was cool. He said he was selling his book for less than normal but only if he didn't have to make change since he didn't have any. I paid in mostly 1s and change so he could make change later. :)

Will Wheaton

Will Wheaton

I asked and he said I could take his picture. :) Will rocks!

Max Wattage

Max Wattage

I wonder how much more we have to add before we become a fire hazard. :)

Lunchtime Panel

Lunchtime Panel

Panel met while most were at lunch...

Feedster schwag

Feedster schwag

Geeks jumping for schwag!

Our table

Our table

5 laptops, 2 from other tables, 2 surge protectors, 1 extension cord.... from 1 outlet 10 feet away. :)

Jason talking about RSS Ads

Jason talking about RSS Ads

Talk about ads in RSS.

Dude from Engadget

Dude from Engadget

The guy from Engadget.

Dont diss CNET

Dont diss CNET

Are we going to get a royal rumble?

This mornings panel

This mornings panel

The Future of Online Content (Panel)

Zonelabs

Zonelabs

ZoneLabs schwag.

Registration Desk

Registration Desk

Lisa from http://www.glimpseofagrrl.com/ would not look at the camera. :(

JozJozJoz

JozJozJoz

Hey, there is Joz!!!

More Early Birds

More Early Birds

Folks are starting to come in now...

Early Birds

Early Birds

Early Birds

Friday, October 1, 2004

Sam and Erica

Sam and Erica were dancing.

For you MAC users... Click here.

Schwag Abuse

Check this clip of the Google dude abusing his schwag. :)

Here is a clip from the band

Noggin made this on his way cool camera!!

Who are these guys?

Check this vid clip for live Geeks Gone Wild!!!

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!

He sucks!

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!

Chris got nekid

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!

Me

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!

Schwag

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!

Scoble dropped some schwag

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!

Noggin's a bum

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!

Band

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!

Camo kilt!