Gadgets Control

Memory card readers come in all shapes and sizes these days, but few rely on a rechargeable lithium battery to power their . . . built-in cash note verifiers. Yes, this innocent-looking ladybug 3-in-1 reader ($16) is absolutely unforgiving against counterfeit currency. Don’t ask me how it works (I couldn’t tell you if you did), but the 2.2″ x 1.4″ x 1.0″ ladybug is packing a black light (?) somewhere under those wings that “illuminates” the security strip embedded into U.S. dollars. If you’ve never questioned the legitimacy of the cash in your wallet, you can still make use of the ladybug’s integrated USB charging cable and ability to read T-Flash, microSD, and microSDHC cards. Via GeekAlerts. (Read the full post about ‘Ladybug reads memory cards and U.S. dollars’…)

Share This

I have seen the future of television, and it is VideoClix. If you haven’t tried the wonder that is Clickable Video yet, just go over to the VideoClix site and watch the first few minutes of an episode of HBO’s Entourage. VideoClix technology allows the user to watch a video and click on certain images for more information. For example, I clicked on one of the actors, and an information window gave me a description of his character. I clicked on the bowling shirt the actor was wearing, and I found out where I could buy it from. I clicked on the car the actor was in, and I saw the make and model. I clicked on the scenery the car was parked in front of, and I got information about the Grand Canyon! (Read the full post about ‘VideoClix and Revision3 Team Up to Change Internet TV as we know it’…)

Share This

Filed in archive Tip by jim on April 14, 2008 "Contrast" is the difference in color and light between parts of an image. If all parts of a photograph, be it color or B&W, were completely and equally illuminated, or at the same "brightness" level, nothing would stand out in the image. There would be no point of interest, no "pop" to the subject, it would appear "flat", which describes a lack of contrast in a picture. I happen to be a fan of higher contrast photography; but many people prefer less "edge" and a softer effect. The picture above, depending on how it appears on your computer monitor, is an example of how I like a picture to look, in terms of contrast. (Read the full post about ‘Controlling Contrast On Digital Pictures’…)

Share This

If this thing has more than ten minutes of battery life, it could be the best UMPC yet. The Willcom D4 weighs only 470g (1lb), comes with a gig of RAM, Bluetooth EDR, WiFi, a two Megapixel camera, a 5″, 1024×600 touch screen, a 40GB hard drive and runs on a 1.33GHz Intel ATOM Z520 chipset.

The keyboard slides out from underneath the LED backlit screen, which means that in tablet mode this looks more like a PSP than a miniature PC. The D4 will be on sale in Japan from June for ¥130,000 (around $1300), and will be able to run Windows Vista Home Premium. Of course, any self-resecting gadget lover will wipe that immediately and load this up with XP or Ubuntu Linux.

(Read the full post about ‘World’s Smallest Vista Capable Computer From Sharp and Willcom’…)

Share This

Now the Philips DCP951 is truly a wonder - it not only plays DVDs, but also does DVD +/-R and DVD +/-RW, VCD, DivX, and MPEG4 movies as well. Heck, it even doubles up as an ipod touch dock, enabling you to view videos on it without resorting to the touch’s relatively tiny display, while charging up the iPod simultaneously. In addition, an SD/MMC memory card slot makes it a snap to view short movies and digital photos stored on that media as well. The 9″ LCD display surely makes this a pretty decent companion to have if you’re on a long haul flight. The Philips DCP951 retails for $199 each - just don’t go purchase bootleg copies of movies whenever you’re traveling lest you get caught! (Read the full post about ‘Philips DCP951 DVD Player’…)

Share This

I don’t have any little kids in my house, so when one comes to visit, I’m often at a loss for how to entertain my guest, as I have no toys lying about. My repertoire of Origami cranes and inflatable cubes exhausts itself in about twenty minutes. I’ve bookmarked this page of Fractalspin for the next time I find myself in this dilemma. The Mandlebot Paper Toy is a foldable robot that you print out on your own printer, then spend the next hour folding in accordance with the instructions. Fractalspin describes Mandlebot as a “stylish robot who just needs some help becoming 3D like the rest of us,” and who likes electronic music. (Read the full post about ‘Free Mandlebot Paper Toy’…)

Share This

LG’s latest portable media player, the T80 isn’t exactly groundbreaking in design, and it does let one wonder whether the ipod touch look was a deliberate move or an accident. Features include :- 3″ 420 x 240 resolution touch screen display with 260k colors Support for MPEG, MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, ASF, JPEG, TXT formats Integrated FM tuner Built-in microphone DVB-T tunerThe LG T80 comes with a battery life of approximately 2 hours for TV viewing and 5.5 hours for video, featuring a recommended retail price of 299 Euros. Tags: gadgets, amps, AAC, Ogg Vorbis (Read the full post about ‘LG T80 PMP’…)

Share This

Google has joined forces with charities, conservationists and non-governmental organizations to help raise awareness of endangered species around the world.

The new initiative is part of the Google Earth Outreach program, which aims to help non-profit and public benefit organizations to get the word out about what they do and make the public more aware. In this instance, Google Earth will have a new layer added that will offer users written, video and audio information on endangered species in different parts of the world.

The new layer has been made possible through the use of information already available through the ARKive project.

(Read the full post about ‘Endangered species get their own Google Earth layer’…)

Share This

Like the Eee? If you’re enthusiastically shaking your head in the affirmative, perhaps you’ll want to check out Fukato’s low-cost Datacask (cheery, right?). Like the Jisus before it, the computer-maker hopes to garner some of that cheapo laptop market with this black and white number, which sports an 8-inch, 800 x 480 display, a 500MHz AMD Geode CPU, a 20GB 60GB hard drive, 512MB of RAM, and a (surprise!) Linux-based OS. The little dude will be hitting European shelves sometime in May for €279 (or about $440). (Read the full post about ‘Fukato’s Eee-ish Datacask enters your life in May’…)

Share This

Go pimpin’ on the roads with the Rainbow Dice Shape Lamp that goes one up on those fuzzy dice that gangsta rappers love to parade in their rides. While theirs only look phat during the day, introducing a little bit of geek power into your vehicle with the Rainbow Dice Shape Lamp. This little dice that could glows randomly with up to seven different colors. No idea if a $19 investment will help you draw in the ladies at the nightclub though - I presume the stature of the ride is of more importance compared to the decorations inside. Tags: gaming, cool gear, design, camera (Read the full post about ‘Rainbow Dice Shape Lamp’…)

Share This