Author Archive

Boot your PC by Remote Control

Posted in Logisys,PCs,Remotes by Chetz on September 30th, 2006

Logisys Remote Multifunction PanelIn response to the increasing requests for non-mainstream customizations to personal PC’s Logisys has come out with a Remote Multi-functional Panel for your PC. The panel fits flush into a 5.25″ bay in your PC and can be used to boot and/or reset the PC remotely with the included remote control that is similar to a car key fob from up to 15 feet away.

This multifunction panel comes in black or silver, and has two temperature gauges to monitor the temperature of your hard drive and CPU. There is also a switch to adjust the fan speed, two USB 2.0 ports and one Firewire port.

Multifunctional Panel [Logisys]

Silva airPod To Measure Hang Time

Posted in Exercise Gadgets,Outdoors,Silva by Chetz on September 29th, 2006

Silva Air time podHave you ever wondered just how out of control crazy you went with the last jump, or just how much hang time your buddy actually had when he took a huge jump going to fast when no one was looking?

Enter Silva “air time pod” to put these stories into some measurable reality via gadgetry. This gadget designed for use when skiing or snowboarding can actually measure your air time or “hang time” when worn while making the jump.

It shows the date, your hang time and the temperature when you did it. The air time pod from Silva will show your last 15 jumps’ air time, and some additional stats including air time by day, total combined air time for the year, temp, time, date and has an alarm.
This is one of a few items that Silva has come out with this year …

Sharp Triple View on One LCD

Posted in LCD,Sharp by Chetz on September 28th, 2006

Sharp Triple View

Sharp has one up’d themselves since their release of the double view LCD monitor with this new triple view LCD. In case you are not familiar, this is not splitting the screen across multiple monitors. This is one monitor showing three different pictures depending on what angle you are viewing from.

The picture in this post is showing the 3 images of the LCD screen are being shown; from the front, the left and the right. At first, aside from just being kind of cool you might wonder what good this is exactly. I mean, I used multiple monitors for programming and now feel I need them for everything, but I am always looking straight on.

The application for this goes way beyond just computer monitors, though. The double view is already being used in some GPS systems in cars, where the passenger can be scrolling …

Nokia N95 is Sliding in Large and in Charge

Posted in N95,Nokia,Smart Devices by Chetz on September 27th, 2006

Nokia N95
Here we go. I like to see a little innovation with some different designs in phones. The clam shell is overdone and the slide is so last month.

Nokia has come out with a new multimedia-centric mobile phone called the N95. This phone, although not real large, is not following the slim down trend of many of the other new phones. So what’s the innovation of this phone, you say? It’s the slide. Not only does the Nokia N95 slide open to expose a keypad for dialing, but it slided the opposite direction as well to expose multimedia keys on the other side. Finally a phone that goes both ways. Who would have thought?

Some other key points that makes this phone site large above the rest is it’s 5 megapixel camera, built in WiFi and integrated GPS with built in Map software with over 100 countries. …

Cool your Bawls With the USB Beverage Cooler

Posted in Coolers,USB by Chetz on September 25th, 2006

USB Beverage Cooler

It’s not uncommon for me to be staring “blinklessly” for hours into my monitor, whether gaming or writing code. I’ll reach without looking away for the cold drink I brought in, seemingly minutes ago and haven’t opened yet, only to find out that it’s somehow slightly warmer than room temperature.

This USB beverage cooler would solve all my warm beverage problems. Working like a hot plate to make things cold, and running off of your USB port of your PC or notebook, you can keep your Bawls or anything else you want cool like your chillow.

Bawls Chiller [xoxide.com]

Lose weight with EnterTRAINment

Posted in Exercise Gadgets by Chetz on September 23rd, 2006

Entertainer

This Entertrainer is somewhat of a motivational exercise gadget for working out at home. This little decagon shaped device has two basic functions.

The first function is as a heart rate monitor. It wirelessly tracks your heart rate from an included strap you wear around your torso. The second function is a wireless remote to your TV or other entertainment that uses a wireless remote and has a volume.

You set up the Entertrainer with your own age, gender, length of workout and what type of workout you want to do. The gadget will then calculate a target heart rate for you.

The idea for this is as you exercise you must keep your heart rate up in order to keep the TV volume up, or whatever you are watching or listening to. If you start to slack off, the volume goes down. If you can lip read …

Sony Fontopia Headphones

Posted in Headphones,Sony by Chetz on September 22nd, 2006

Sony MDR-EX71SL Fontopia HeadphonesThe popular Sony MDR-EX71SL/WK headphones are an easy to remember, roll-off-the-tongue type of name that should make them easy to find on the internet.

Since you did happen to run across them here, these are some pretty high quality ear-bud style headphones. They provide some nice base sounds with 3 sizes of buds for different sizes of ears and an extension cord.

They only come in colors of black (pictured here) and white. They are a nice-fitting light-weight solution for headphones for almost any activity and come with a hard case to store them in which is nice because it will help keel them clean and help them last longer, and for me that is important when I spend around $50 on headphones.

MDREX71SL [SonyStyle]

Rubik’s Cube Solving Machine Made From Legos

Posted in Games by Chetz on September 21st, 2006

Rubiks Cube Solver

Years ago when Rubik’s cubes were new and popular I worked on one for weeks and eventually developed a system for solving them in a relatively short amount of time.

I was able to do this because I figured out that the colors were adhesive stickers that I could remove and stick back on where I wanted.

Pictured here is a machine made out of legos that not only can manipulate the Rubik’s cube, but it can also identify the color and solve the puzzle. At around 30 seconds a move it takes a little longer than just moving the stickers, but it can usually solve the Rubik’s cube puzzle in around 20 moves.

Impressive.

Cube Solver [JP Brown]

Mix Max Movies For Moppets

Posted in Digital Video by Chetz on September 21st, 2006

Disney Mix MaxDisney has added a digital movie player to the mix of things available for the upcoming holidays. The Disney Mix Max Movie Player comes in three styles – Tinkerbell, Forever Princess and the recently popular Cheetah Girls.

Disney is also planning on updating the Mix Stix player and adding new music, along with introducing the Mix Micro music player with a smaller memory capacity and price.

You can buy only Disney movies for the Disney Mix Max, from Disney. So, looks like they have it covered.

You can get this Cheetalicious player and the other styles for $100 USD, and view the movies on a 2.2 inch screen. Movies will run for about $20 USD each, and initial titles include:

High School Musical
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Cheetah Girls
Lizzie McGuire
Cadet Kelly
Ella Enchanted

Source [Reuters]