Gadzooki

Cool wifi sensitive shirt

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Really find this shirt cool!  Again, sold at ThinkGeek for $29.99I remember 5 years ago, while working as a network administrator for a media company,  I’d be bringing my huge laptop around the office.  I was installing wifi access points and the laptop was there to measure signal strength.  My tasks included giving appropriate signal strength in conference rooms, common areas and of course the manager’s cubicle.That was a huge laptop to carry… they weighed 7+ lbs.Now this t-shirt comes along.  What an idea!  And I do envy the netadmins of today.  You’ve got such an easy job you! Lol.   Check out these product features :

 

Product Features

  • Glowing animated shirt dynamically displays the current wi-fi signal strength.
  • Shows signal strength for 802.11b or 802.11g
  • Black 100% Cotton T-Shirt
  • Animated Decal is Removable (with hook and loop fasteners) for Easy Washing
  • Battery Pack is Concealed in a Small Pocket Sewn Inside the Shirt
  • Runs for hours off three AAA Batteries (not included)

 

Capture the sun and the moon

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I was reading up on geeky things to get for mother dear and bam(!), found this wonderful light concept from ThinkGeek. Retails for $34.99 and is available right now!  Hold on you geek, let me finish my rave. Lol!

First, the product blurb from ThinkGeek:

Captured inside the Sun and Moon Jars are a highly efficient solar cell, a rechargeable battery and low energy LED lamps. When the jar is placed in direct sunlight the solar cell creates an electrical current that charges the battery over a few hours. This energy is then used at night to power the three LED lamps inside the jar.

The light is diffused by the frosted jar and give the appearance of sunlight emitting from the sun or a cool moon glow (warm colored LED lights are used to give a more natural and warm light).  You may have noticed that there is no switch on the Sun Jar – in fact there are no visible controls at all – but there is a clever light sensor inside that automatically activates the LEDs when it gets dark or the lights are turned out! (There is an override switch inside the lid to turn off the light at night and conserve battery life.)

Ok… ’nuff said… you can go now! 🙂

The geeky “Mother’s Day” card for Mom

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Well, we all know that Mom’s big day is this weekend.  And maybe some of you diligent children have stashed your big gift to mom months ago.  How fortunate you and your mom are… some of us are banging our heads already of what we can give her.  Many I believe though will hit it bigtime (getting the perfect gift) while some may just send a card, or an e-card!

Why not try an e-card this instance?  There are many great online e-card services on the internet these days.  To name a few you can go to :

  1.  
    1. EVCards.com
    2. MotionBox.com 
    3. RattleBox.com 
    4. BlueMountain.com
    5. Hallmark.com

The Photo Watch

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Now this is a gadget I wouldn’t mind bringing along.  I’ve seen myself to my lonesome during business trips in Europe and the USA.  There are so many photo prints I’ve crumpled in my luggage, ah with all the things I throw in it, it is amazing I’ve kept some of them in a great state.

This is for the family men… carry your pictures close to you at all times and just remember them any time of the day.

Brookstone, an online gift shop, presents the Photo Watch.

It’s a simple, elegant, all-in-one solution! See your photos, see the time, or see both—the watch can superimpose the time over your pictures. Watch stores up to 60 pictures and displays them on a high-resolution LCD display. You can view one picture at a time, choose a slideshow, or adjust the contrast. Plug and play technology means no software necessary—just drag and drop photo files on your computer desktop to download. It’s easy to crop and edit pictures, too. Watch is USB rechargeable, with up to 8 hours viewing time per charge. Contoured stainless-steel case and black leather watch band.

The Brookstone Digital Photowatch can be picked up for $99.95.

When copiers had a new meaning

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This gadget looks like it is from a sci-fi movie.  It’s actually a multi-USB drive copier designed by VConsole.com .  Comes in variants of 20, 21, 42 & 60 slots.  Sells for US$8,000 (flash drives not included).  Here’s a good rundown of the features every geek should know:

Number of Ports:  60
Maximum Duplication Speed per Port:  5.6 MegaBytes per Second
Total Duplicator Bandwidth:  336 MegaBytes per Second
Duplication of 60 pcs of 512MB Drive:  91.4 seconds
USB Flash Drives Supported:  USB 2.0 High speed
Max. Drive Size Supported:  Unlimited
Automatic sizing and size checking:  Yes
Custom/Partial Size duplication:  Yes

 Smart Duplication (Files only):  Yes

 Verification:  Yes

 Low level erase (DoD 5220.22-M):  Yes

 Standalone Operation:  Yes
Comprehensive Logs and Reports:  Yes
Duplication of none-standard file systems:  Yes
Single button control:  Yes
Friendly Win32 GUI Interface (optional):  Yes
Stackable operation:  Yes (IP multicast)
Max. Number of Duplicators in Stack:  100
 
Management Ports:  USB, Fast Ethernet
Multicast Duplication via TCP/IP:  Yes (in development)
Encryption support:  AES 128bit (sold separately)

Crazy eh?  I could think of multiple real-world uses for this baby!  And a couple of ideas to RULE THE WORLD!

iMac upgrades… speedbump & a larger hard drive?

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GeekSugar mentions on their website that there is a large possibility that the iMac will get a processor speed bump PLUS an increase in hard drive space across all iMac models.  This is extremely good news!  The iMacs has been very popular these past few months with all its current specifications.  Feature boosting it further will surely give the 1-2-3 K.O. punch, making the A+ grade like the previous feature boosts of the Macbooks.

While it doesn’t sound to be a huge overhaul (the upgrade to Penryn processors like the Macbook & Macbook Pro), it still is a welcome surprise to those who’d be getting their Moms a surprise for the coming Mother’s Day.  Yeah, I hear that iMacs are a big YES(!) to the moms.  Frankly, they deserve it!

“With the latest Intel processors, a faster new graphics option, and more memory, customers now have even more reasons to love the iMac,” Philip Schiller, Apple Worldwide Product Marketing senior vice president, said in a statement.

Mimibots… cute!!! Too cute!!! :p

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Oh no!  Must hide this picture from my daughter, she’s such a collector. 

I recently purchased a generic looking USB 1GB flash drive.  Nothing really fancy about it except that it was colored pink, which my daughter really loved.  I sure had high daddy-points that night.  Fresh out of the package, she pushed it into her macbook and began using it as her primary storage device for (oh!) all those Hannah Montana photos.  Cute!

I think one of the perfect tests for a “gadget” to succeed in the market is IF you can get the kids buy-in.  Parents have such a hard time saying NO (!), and now Mimoco (http://www.mimoco.com/mimobots/) have made it a little harder.  I could just hear her say “bud dad i really (10x) need that!  Oh brother!

Hop onto Mimoco’s website and you’d see that most of their USB flash drives are either sold out or have low stocks available.  And it’s not even Christmas yet!

These flash babies come with their own fairy tale story even… argghhh (must hide this page!).

Mimobots are available in 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB capacities, produced in limited editions, are hi-speed USB 2.0, compatible with both Mac and Windows, and are enhanced for Windows Vista’s ReadyBoost technology.

It has its own myspace, friendster, twitter & facebook page.

Retails for about $40 each.

DRIINN: This is one sweet life-hack!

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Driinn is one product that certainly is a must-have.  I easily had the “aha!” moment.  I said “yeah, I’ve been putting my phone, ipod, and other gizmos on top of anything… while charging”.  Now look at that (!)  a cool cradel to keep the cords neat while the gizmos are feeding on the power juice.

Here’s the marketing blurb… “Drinn is a handy, easy to use product for anyone with a mobile phone, an MP3 player or a PDA device.  It’s made of a special mix of plastic and rubber, giving the product gives the holder strength and grip.  It hangs between your batter charger and the wal socket.  Check it out below.  Made in Italy!

While Christmas is still many corners away, it wouldn’t hurt to present this as a potential corporate give-away or convention marketing give-away perhaps.

Retails for $7.65 at Amazon.com.

No Gadgets Perfect Yet

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The bus driver relied on his GPS gadget.  Sad story, but apparently we’ve had too many trusting drivers.  Check out these articles from www.engadget.com —>  Apparently, in the UK, the government has noted 2,000 incidents of bridge damages due to Sat Navigation GPS gadgets resulting to over 5,000 hours of delays.  Thankfully, it’s not from the satellites falling from the sky, but rather from over drivers relying a little too heavily on GPS units (in particular those driving trucks too large for the bridges. (article here).

UK has taken this seriously that in some areas they have begun posting road signs to IGNORE what your Sat Nav gadgets tell you and just look at the physical road.  (article here).  One would see the gravity of this warning if like the bigger picture above, you actually are driving say a team of soccer players to the game.  That is a catastrophe.

My take is yeah, sure, keep your GPS gadgets handy.  But keep your eyes trained to watch the actual physical road ahead of you.  For safety, sanity… 

For the GPS manufacturers, how about a 30-50 foot sensor feature that alarms one from any incoming danger, traffic, or road obstacle?  I’m sure technology won’t be far behind, and you’d be saving millions of lives.

When the Mighty isn’t might after all

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Here’s a good case made by the GeekSugar.com blog (http://www.geeksugar.com/1550696), and is exactly what I have thought of regarding Apple’s mighty mouse.  I’ve contemplated on getting one unit for 6 months already, but everytime I see a great deal from ebay.com, amazon.com, bestbuy.com or even apple.com I just can’t seem to click that “BUY NOW” button.  I ended up (three times) getting an A4Tech mouse for both my brand new Macbooks.

Yeah, I did give the Mighty Mouse a good try, I liked how it fits my hand.  I also liked the small scroll button (although I know I’d get tired of it soon), but over all, i’d give it a fair mark.  I’m not surprised that this isn’t part of the best selling list on the Apple Online Store.

Quick price watch:  The Mighty Mouse Wired version sells for $47-$56.  The Might Mouse Wireless version sells for $66-$70.

Here’s a noteworthy review from the professionals at CNet.com:

The good: Bluetooth wireless connectivity (even works in Windows, with Boot Camp); batteries lend welcome heft; ease to install and set up.

The bad: Side buttons lack sufficient tactile feedback and require too much pressure; doesn’t work with standard Windows-based PCs (at least, not easily).

The bottom line: Apple’s new wireless Mighty Mouse cuts the cord, giving you the freedom of untethered mousing. The design isn’t perfect, and Apple isn’t shy about the price, but Mac desktops and laptops beg for as little clutter around them as possible, and for that, the Mighty Mouse delivers.