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USB Cell Finally Arrives

Two years ago, in one of our earliest posts, we blogged about a new kind of rechargeable battery available from a company in the United Kingdom.

We still love this product in theory. After two years, we finally saw it being sold at the counter at our local Microcenter. We’re still charging them, which takes 5-7 hours, as we speak, and the product is everything we expected. It is small, easy to recharge, and is perfect as emergency batteries for the peripherals we carry in our bag with our laptop.

However, despite our high hopes, their website two years later has not changed much. The AAA, C/D, 9V and various other batteries have not yet been released for sale. Maybe thre are problems with the longevity of the products.

We checked out what people were saying about these batteries..Here’s a review from one blog. It notes that the shipping process should you buy direct from the manufacturer is efficient, and that the batteries have half the charge of a standard rechargeable battery. They have 1300mAh, but bear in mind the charger is built in so that likely takes space in the form factor.

Published on September 15, 2008
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Congress to Investigate Text Messaging

For all of us wondering why text messages have doubled in price in the last year, rest assured, the Federal Government is on the case.

Senator Herb Kohl, Chairman of the Anti-Trust Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter this month to the four major wireless carriers, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile asking them to explain the increase.

Carriers limit the number of characters in a text message to 160. Assuming a maximum of 140bytes stored per message, that means that if you were charged the same per-byte rate to download a 4MB song, you would pay about $6000. Nothing has changed particularly in the cost of providing the service, however, companies have the right to charge whatever they can get away with.

The odd thing is that math. We have a phone where text messages are 20 cents each, yet megabytes of downloaded data are 1.99 each. If we want to use Instant Messenging applications provided on our phone, they use text messages as opposed to using data time so they can charge more(We’re Verizon customers, in the interest of disclosure).

Kohl has asked for a response by October 6th. Some experts feel the increases may be a reflection of the decrease in competition as the four major players absorb smaller regional providers.

We look forward to hearing the response from the providers and hope it sparks some sort of change. The current system is ridiculous.

Published on September 14, 2008
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Does Home Depot Really Recycle CFLs?

Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs are one of those simple things we’re now encouraged to do to save money. However, they contain mercury and must be recycled. Until recently, in most municipalities, it was not easy to do that.

Then Home Depot came along and announced they would accept these lightbulbs for recycling. Happy day. Except the last two times we’ve delivered old bulbs to Home Depot, no one seems to know the procedure. We went to their desk, and the clerks there just took the bulb and left it there. We worry they are just dumping it in their garbage. We’d feel better if we at least saw a bin.

Does anyone have any evidence the agents at these stores are recycling these items? The same goes for Staples and other stores which take in spent batteries. and electronics. We’ll just wait for someone to do an expose.

Published on September 9, 2008
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Why You Should Switch To Linux

We were recently reading Lifehacker and found an article on Why its Readers Switched to Linux. We thought we might put our two cents in.

  • Dislike of Microsoft and Windows – We certainly got fed up with them. We admit to being primarily a Linux using now(this blog was built on open-source). Every few years you have to get the new Microsoft whatsis or you’ll be left behind. And, using Vista as an example, the new whatsis isn’t always an improvement.
  • Speed – A lot of the built-ins to Windows slow down the computer. It is why Linux runs faster on older hardware as well as newer hardware. It has background processes and programs just like any other system, but the overhead is usually much less.
  • Customization – This may be a pro or a con. Nothing is so configurable as Linux, with dozens of different packages to expand, change, or customize your experience for most standard functions. Of course, such choice can be be overwhelming to some. In which case you can stick to the defaults. No harm, no foul.
  • Price – 99% of things for Linux are 100% free. There are some commercial license Linux programs, as well as ones that ask for your donation in assisting them. You can forego them, or you can contribute to the community.
  • It’s Just Better – Not a great argument, we know. But our frustration level is way down. We can’t adopt the philosophy that change is impossible because Microsoft won’t let us. If enough people want a change to a piece of software, it happens. And if it doesn’t, if you are a programmer, you can hack it in yourself.

So try out your friendly neighborhood Linux distribution today. We recommend you consider Fedora or Ubuntu. Both have a reputation for being new user friendly and easy for those who have no Linux knowledge to use even if they don’t want to delve into the guts behind the graphical interface. You can even download bootable CD versions to try out before deciding if you want to switch.

For information on Linux distributions and their estimated popularity, visit Distrowatch.

Published on September 7, 2008
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Ikea Laptop Workstation

Ikea Laptop Workstation
Ikea Laptop Workstation

We just love the look of this thing the Unclutterer turned us onto. It is available in white or red and is perfect for places like a guest room or a kitchen. Current list price at IKEA is $59.99.

 

Update (2014) – The IKEA PS Workstation has been discontinued. The closest Ikea product if you are interested in a fold down workstation is the Ikea Bjursta(Product Link), images below.

Ikea Bjursta folds down into a shelf

Ikea Bjursta in the upright position
Published on August 27, 2008
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Retrevo

We haven’t had much to say in a while…something we intend to rectify soon. But we saw this recently, and thought it might be of some help. Venturebeat reports that Retrevo, a search engine for gadgets, is attempting to simplify the information overload that comes when you try to make a gadget purchase.

When you make a search, each resulting device/gadget is ranked by a combination of “value” (the number of desirable features at the price point) and community sentiment (the combined wisdom of experts and consumers). The results pages offer the product’s model number, a picture of the product, its price range and two cartoon thumbs. One thumb represents value, the other represents community sentiment. They can point up, sideways, or down. The top ten results contain a reasonable mix of high value, low cost products with good buzz around them and medium and high-cost products that deliver what you would hope to get at those price points.

The site lets you choose between the expert and consumer opinions.

The company says its product index doesn’t contain out-of-date products or those that aren’t widely available in stores. This compares favorably with CNET, where I often find myself reading positive reviews for last year’s technology. It’s also more simple and elegant than Buzzillions, which requires more input to find devices you might like.

So check out Retrevo at www.retrevo.com. We did some random searches, and intend to try this product a bit more.

Published on November 19, 2007
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Cablecards Now a Mandate

After 11 years, the Federal Communications Commission order mandating Cablecards took effect on Sunday, July 1st.

It requires all major cable operators to give up cable boxes that they lease to subscribers at a significant profit and replace them with ones that will accept a CableCard…an decoder that plugs into their box or any other equipment that will accept it. Customers will be able to use the CableCard, which they must provide, into equipment from any company. Cable companies have delayed on this decision because most subscribers have paid the cost of their box many times over.

Currently, the options for hardware are limited. Few televisions include CableCard slots…no computer cards sold commercially do…and the only company that has supported it and promises to support the new generation of cards is Tivo.

Once the technology is more mainstreamed…consumers could purchase cable-ready devices that could do much more than a box from the local cable provider. Features could include the integration of internet data onto the screen with the television signal, boxes that also act as media servers for media stored on computers, etc.

The accusation of companies like Comcast is that the requirement amounts to a tax…as they will not absorb the cost, but pass it along to use as the consumers…Conversely, since this mandate has been delayed so long….cable companies had plenty of time to phase in the technology over time and devote proper resources to it.

Our issue is this…you go out and buy a television. It includes a tuner you can’t use because you have to rent a $10 a month box from the cable company. What is the point of a tuner in the TV anymore?

Published on July 6, 2007
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Things You Should Know About

  • Major League Baseball claims that Slingbox, the device that allows people to watch their home TV feed remotely over the internet, is illegal. Legal experts say users are not breaking any laws by using the device. The Slingbox, essentially…allows people to watch cable they’ve already paid for from another location. Cable or satellite prices can be high enough, especially when we have to buy 800 channels to get the three we actually want…now we have to pay because we want to see it when we aren’t at home?
  • This spring, the XPower Powerpack Solar, a 10-amp battery with a 5-watt solar panel will hit shelves. The $169 device can run a laptop for 3 hours and a TV for 45 minutes. It takes 40 hours of sunshine to charge it…so it may not take off as much as the company hopes…although they expect people will charge it at home and top it off on the road…Green is in…is that green?
  • Scientists at the University of Utah have succeeded in building small devices to turn heat into sound and then electricity. The devices could be used to produce electricity from waste heat in various industries. For the home, it could cool electronics, specifically the cooling of computers…it would also make them more energy efficient. A thermo-acoustic cooling device could cost about $100-200.
  • The Free Software foundation has launched Playogg.com to promote awareness of the open-source multimedia format OGG as an alternative to MP3 and AAC, which are proprietary. Support for OGG on desktops is fully mature, with a variety of programs….hardware players are limited, although various ones do and several others can be hacked. We use OGG on some of our systems…
Published on June 7, 2007
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Dell Offers Three Systems with Ubuntu Linux

Dell will be offering systems with Linux, based on a customer demand. Three systems will be offering it to start…the XPS 410N(Starting price $849) and E520N(Starting price $599) desktop machines, and the E1505n(Starting price $599) notebook.

Initially, Dell will offer a subset of the component options they support on the three systems and will continue to work with vendors to improve the stability of the associated Linux drivers in order to offer more options as part of a longer-term goal to increase the number of drivers that work at the kernel level.

They have a video available about Linux from StudioDell entitled Linux 101: What’s all the Fuss?.

Ubuntu Linux is available free of charge for download for your existing systems at the Ubuntu Website. Ubuntu is divided into desktop and server editions released every six months. For those of you interested in switching to Linux for daily use…you might want to give it a try. We use Fedora Linux ourselves…but we are creatures of habit.

Published on May 31, 2007
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Fedora 7 Released

We use Fedora Core Linux for many of our systems…especially the servers. Today, Fedora(which has dropped the Core from their distributions), released Fedora 7, codenamed Moonshine. We are downloading it for upgrade of our systems as we speak.

OS Upgrade time is always a happy time in our household. We use it as an excuse to dust our system interiors(you should do this regularly) and review our systems for possible hardware upgrades. This year, we’re gutting the interior of our main server. The old pieces will be reallocated to other functions.

For those of you considering jumping on the Linux bandwagon, Fedora 7 incorporates some exciting new features. You can take your Fedora installation disc(usually a full DVD) and customize it…adding or removing packages and software to install…thus you could create a distribution that only installs what you need it to…or that substitutes packages not included in the standard distribution…You can also create a LiveCD that will boot Fedora without needing a hard drive, and customize this as well.

Here are the release notes…Wait a few days to download it…it is going to be overloaded for a bit. We’re hoping it will improve some of the weaker areas of previous distributions…the release notes seem to indicate they’ve worked on those areas.

Published on May 31, 2007
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