The Gadgets Page

May 20, 2008

Make Your Own Poster with Block Posters

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets — Laura Moncur @ 8:39 pm

If you have ever wanted to create your own poster, you can do it yourself with this website:

All you need to do is upload your favorite photo, tell them how big you want it and download the PDF to print on your printer.

Via: ikea hacker: hey, hey it’s headboard day

May 19, 2008

Konami Is Bringing A Rock Revolution

Filed under: Toys and Games — Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am

Screenshot via Gamespot

I remember playing Drum Mania in the Luxor arcade many years before Guitar Hero ever stepped on the stage. Konami STARTED the music game revolution and Guitar Hero made it popular. Konami is back with its own band game called Rock Revolution.

Now, nearly 10 years after the first Guitar Freaks game hit the market, Konami is getting back into the instrument-game act. Two years after it trademarked “Guitar Revolution,” the publisher of Karaoke Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution will release Rock Revolution on DS, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

Rock Band was easily my favorite party game of the year, but the thought of Konami entering the ring makes me ecstatic. Instead of classic rock and obscure heavy metal, I’m sure Konami will focus on more pop songs. Things my mom would like to sing along with. It will be more accessible to ALL my friends and family instead of just my rocker friends.

Karaoke Revolution Party with Microphone at Amazon.comWe tried to get my mom to play along on Rock Band and Guitar Hero. I have to say that there is nothing more satisfying than see your mom play guitar to “Shout at the Devil,” but she was only humoring us and didn’t really enjoy the game. If they had allowed her to play an imaginary guitar to the tune of a ABBA song, instead, she probably would have loved the game.

Considering how mainstream Konami’s Karaoke Revolution has been, I’m VERY excited about the news of Rock Revolution.

Of course, all of this is on the heels of the news that Guitar Hero is releasing a new version of their game called Guitar Hero 4, which includes drums and a microphone as well. Given the choice, I think I’ll stick with Rock Band or try out the new Rock Revolution. Guitar Hero 3 was THAT big of a disappointment.

May 7, 2008

Do You Wear Your Phone?

Filed under: PDAs and Phones — Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am

Click to see full adHere is an advertisement for a company called Radiation. It’s from the sixties and suggests that in the seventies, you’ll be able to wear your phone.

Aliph Jawbone Noise Shield Bluetooth Headset- Red at Amazon.comIt didn’t come as early as the 1970’s, but we NOW have wearable phones, if you count bluetooth headsets like the Jawbone pictured here. I personally don’t “wear” my phone, but there are plenty of people who do now. I used to look at the views of the future and be so excited about what my future would bring, but it never turns out like it did in the newsreels. Now that the future is here, I find myself looking at it and saying, “Meh…”

When did I get so jaded?

May 6, 2008

The Really Perfect Ringtone

Filed under: PDAs and Phones — Laura Moncur @ 8:17 am

If you have been looking for the perfect ringtone for your cellphone, THIS is it.

This headline might make you think that this is the perfect ringtone, but it isn’t. Here you’ll find step-by-step instructions on how to make your own perfect ringtone for the iPhone.

I am still using the installed ringtones for the iPhone, but Eric’s is the one that makes me want to install my own.

Via: figby.com » The Really Perfect Ringtone

May 5, 2008

May CodeAway Was A Blast!

Filed under: Site News — Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am

The Gadgets Page sponsored a geek-together in Salt Lake City, called CodeAway. You can see the photos here:

May CodeAway by LauraMoncur from Flickr

We were able to try out the new MarioKart Wii. It turned out to be a fun game, even for people who had never played before and a challenging change for those old pros who had never played with the Wii Wheel.

May CodeAway by LauraMoncur from Flickr

A special thank you to Rocky Mountain Pizza for allowing us to invade their banquet room for four hours and play video games and eat lots of pizza!

May CodeAway by LauraMoncur from Flickr

NakedJen was so nice to come to the party. She’s a recent transplant to Utah from Santa Cruz. Kevin Fitzgerald just came to Utah from a small town near San Luis Obispo, so I sat him next to Jen so she could give him pointers on getting adjusted to Utah.

May CodeAway by LauraMoncur from Flickr

Here’s a self portrait of me with Jen.

May CodeAway by LauraMoncur from Flickr

Toward the end, we received a visit from our favorite tech recruiter, Robert Merrill!

May CodeAway by LauraMoncur from Flickr

Scott Lemon was streaming some of CodeAway live using his Nokia 75. It’s a great demonstration of Qik and the Nokia. The audio is kind of scratchy, but it gives you a good idea of the fun we were having:

Sheri took some photos as well. You can see them here:

This one is my favorite:

Left, go left! by designsimply from Flickr

Left, go left! by designsimply from Flickr

In the end, I would like to thank all that attended (and spread around the Link Love):

If you live in the Utah area, you can find out about fun geeky events like this at CodeAway. It looks like the Gadgets Page is going to be sponsoring CodeAway for a while, so you can find out about all the fun after the party here!

May 1, 2008

We Don’t Add Stuff On. We Build It In.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets — Laura Moncur @ 7:50 am

THIS is why I don’t want to buy a MacBook Air:

The MacBook Air is pretty, it’s sexy, but it ISN’T a computer for me. I’ll stick with my plain ole’ MacBook until they can figure out how to make a MacBook Air with a DVD (or Blu-Ray) drive and maybe even a Express Card slot.

X300 Core 2DUO SL7100 64GB Ssd at Amazon.comIt looks like someone made this commercial for the Lenovo ThinkPad X300. With the same 64GB SSD drive, the Lenovo beats the price of the MacBook Air by about $400, but it’s processor is only 1.2 GHz instead of the 1.8 GHz that comes with the MacBook Air. It has 3 USB ports, but no optical drive, so it’s in the same category as the MacBook Air.

The commercial is a little misleading because they have so many things connected to the MacBook Air. Even the Lenovo ThinkPad would need a USB hub for all of those things. This commercial is funny, but the Lenovo isn’t much use in this case. Either way, you’re carting around a stupid USB hub and a bunch of wires.

April 30, 2008

Mario Kart for the Wii

Filed under: Toys and Games — Laura Moncur @ 8:30 am

THIS is why I LOVE Nicole Lee.

MarioKart for the Wii by Nicole Lee from Flickr

MarioKart for the Wii by Nicole Lee from Flickr

A blurry picture of Mario Kart for the Wii tells me what I should have already known. Mario Kart was released THREE days ago. How I missed the news, I don’t know, but I’m heading to the video store right now to go pick it up.

Here’s a video to whet your appetite:

April 28, 2008

CES 2008: Optimus Maximus Keyboard

Filed under: Computers and Peripherals,Reviews — Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am

CES 2008: Optimus Maximus Keyboard by LauraMoncur from Flickr

So much of what we see at CES is just vaporware. It doesn’t exist and it may never exist. In fact, after a healthy dose of CES, everything that IS available starts to look incredibly lame in comparison. The Optimus Maximus keyboard is a good example. Imagine a computer keyboard in which the keys can be WHATEVER you want. Instead of stickers on your keyboard (that would be MY solution), the Optimus Maximus keyboard has a tiny LED screen on each and every screen. You can change the keys based on your language or whatever other scheme you prefer.

CES 2008: Optimus Maximus Keyboard by LauraMoncur from Flickr

When we saw Optimus Maximus at CES this year, we thought it looked cool, but both Mike and I assumed that it would never see the light of day. We had seen this keyboard before and nothing had come of it. We logged it as cool and didn’t report it back then because it just wasn’t available for purchase.

CES 2008: Optimus Maximus Keyboard by LauraMoncur from Flickr

Well, now it is:

Here is a video produced by ThinkGeek showing the abilities of the Optimus Maximus keyboard:

If you’re willing to plunk down over $1.5K, you can have a Optimus Maximus keyboard. Of course, the concept of “available” is a fuzzy one when even ThinkGeek doesn’t have them in stock.

Considering that sticker sheets are sold in packs of 25 for ten bucks, I think I’ll go for the sticker idea.

Via: Optimus keyboard now shipping, bring on the hacks – Boing Boing Gadgets

April 25, 2008

Keep All Your Computers And Devices Talking With SugarSync

Filed under: Software — Thom Allen @ 5:00 am

SugarSync The one killer app I’ve wanted for a long time is the one where I can sync all my computers AND my mobile. There are plenty of services out there that let you sync multiple PC’s; and some even give you a web interface to access those files on a computer you haven’t synced.

But the one feature that is always missing is the ability to sync from your mobile phone to your other machines. SugarSync gives you all that and more.

SugarSync File Use

The companies latest offering is a 45 day 10GB trial account. Once the trial is over the cost to keep your 10GB of storage is about $25 a year. Compare that to Apple’s 10GB .Mac service at $100, with single machine sync and no mobile access, it seems a good price.

SugarSync Process

How SugarSync Works SugarSync monitors files in specified folders on your computer and keeps an up-to-date copy of them on a secure, remote central server. It then automatically synchronizes these files to all the devices you specify. The downloadable SugarSync Manager software is required on each device that you want to sync

While having to install the client software on all the machines and devices I want to sync can be a hassle, it’s a small price to pay for the ability to connect everything.

Several months ago I was talking with a senior executive of an online storage company, and I told him one thing I would love to have is the ability to get to media files I store online so I don’t have to cary them with me. His comment to me was the amount of bandwidth needed to download the files was not cost effective. While I agree trying to download large music or video files doesn’t seem an effective use of bandwidth, my unlimited use account with T-Mobile allows me to download as much as I want.

I really like SugarSync. I think it has a lot of potential. I have accounts with Amazon S3, Mozy, Apple’s .Mac and several web hosts. But none of these services have the immediate sync capabilities nor the mobile access.

I’m going to sepnd the next several weeks using the sevice and I’ll write a follow up post. But for now, I recommend you try SugarSync.


Thom Allen is also the writer of Digital Thom.

April 24, 2008

Wearable Technology Is Cool But How Effective Is It?

Filed under: Clothing — Thom Allen @ 9:51 am

Zegna Solar Jacket Today I ran across this really cool jacket from a company called Zegna. The Solor JKT has collar mounted solar panels capable of charging and providing power to many small electronic devices.

I’ve seen clothing like this in the past, most notably is the ScottEVest which came out sometime in early 2001, and has morphed into several different styles. The difference between the two is the Solar JKT uses the sun to power and charge your devices. The Scott Vest doesn’t provide any charging capabilities.

The jacket isn’t really designed to be worn year round. If you live in a warm climate the thought of wearing a jacket all the time is just not feasible. Not too mention the collar is bulky and looks uncomfortable.

However, a really cool feature of the jacket is the ability to remove the solar panel from the collar and use it separately to power devices. The ability to use the solar panels without the jacket makes this “gadget” something to look at.

Some of the features:

  • Cell phones, mp3 and other devices powered at 5 or 6 volts
  • Withstands limited exposure to water – advises not to clean by submersion
  • Solar cells should be used “perpendicular” to the sun
  • Detachable collar from jacket
  • Recommended device power be at least 50% or greater
  • Takes up 4 hours to fully recharge a device
  • Has USB adapter
  • Adapters for most cell phone charging ports
  • Adapter for charging iPods

There are plenty of alternatives to an electric article of clothing. The price is high enough to exclude the average Joe. The wow factor is high because it support a large number of devices.

I’m pretty sure the Zenga won’t bank it’s future on the sales of the Solar JKT.


Thom Allen is also the writer of Digital Thom.

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