Gadgets, gear, games and more
June 2006
June 30, 2006
Microsoft discovers industrial design with Ultimate Keyboard
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Home & Household
Damn you, Microsoft. Just when I think I'm free, you pull me back in. After the whole "free" flash drive debacle, I swore to never again ask Redmond for anything. Sure, I need my copy of XP to play the...
The return of Smell-O-Vision?
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Geekery
Scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have apparently come up with a way to record smells, then play them back later. The device works by analyzing a scent, and then recreating it by mixing a bunch of chemicals together.Somboon's...
Does This Mean I Have to Reboot My Pen?
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Music
[Emru Townsend at Digital World writes:] In recent months, the plots of both 24 and The Inside Man hinged on characters using pens with built-in voice recorders. If you want to get your own superspy mojo working, consider this multipurpose...
Napster offering free digital audio player
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Music
Taking a page from the playbooks of cellular phone providers, music purveyor Napster has begun offering free/cheap music players to users who sign up for a year long subscription to their music download service. The player comes in two flavors:...June 29, 2006
No need for "lights out" with solar-powered tent
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Home & Household
I don't do that much real camping, tending instead to the bastardized version that my hardcore woodsy friends call derisively "car camping," but I've spent my fair share of nights in a tent. And while I often pack an electric...
Shocking tanks are just like real tanks...only smaller...and they shock
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Toys
Honestly, the shocking fetish has to stop. First it was Shocking Roulette (to steal a quote from a friend, "where even the winners are losers"); then it was the Shockolate Vault, the jar that prevents you from eating your hard-earned...
Microsoft says Xbox ain't the only 360 round here
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Video
Video conferencing has been The Next Big Thing for about twenty years now. I mean, it's 2006; how come we don't have video phones? Sure, your webcam can do a passable job, but they have plenty of limitations. For example,...
Google sets its sights on PayPal with Checkout
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Internet
The monolithic search engine/adveritising/kitchen sink company has launched yet another new service: Google Checkout. Billing itself as "a new service that makes online shopping faster, more convenient and more secure," Checkout lets you store your payment details in one centralized...June 28, 2006
At this Internet cafe, the food isn't the only thing that's fast
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Internet
I do most of my work in Wi-Fi-enabled cafes and libraries, so when I saw that the world's fastest Internet cafe had opened, I resisted the urge to phone them and ask if their cafe was running. What makes this...
Space on hard drive may be smaller than it appears
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Geekery
I haven't quite managed to conquer the fact light is both a particle and a wave, but I'm pretty familiar with the marketing trickery that redefined the gigabyte to 1,000,000,000 bytes (instead of the proper 1,073,741,824 bytes). While this might...
What time is it? Time to get a walkie talkie watch.
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Phone & Wireless
Now, that's what I'm talkin' bout. Last week I spoke of my affinity for Dick Tracy-style wrist radios, in reference to the GSM F88. Which was, we all admit, kind of on the fugly side. Trying to cram a fully...
DS Lite is "in the pink"
Authored by Dan Moren at 3:59 PM
Category | Games
Egad! The DS Lite appears to have been attacked by some combination of unicorns and mischievous elves. What once was a beautifully constructed objet d'art, in white and navy blue, has now become a monstrosity, destined to break loose from...June 27, 2006
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