The Gadgets Page

The BEST advertising that any company did in 1996 was Iomega. EVERYONE was carrying around their bags and everyone was collecting their buttons. If you notice on yesterday’s entry, all the people at the Mylex “virtual reality” booth were carrying Iomega bags.

Here is a photograph of an Iomega employee wearing all their buttons. You can’t see it in the picture, but each of the buttons said different things. They were all pretty funny and collecting the entire collection was a goal of many of the people who attended. I still have a large collection of them in storage somewhere.

Back then, Iomega was selling ZIP disks and drives. They are still around and have branched into external hard drive storage as well as their own proprietary disk storage.

• Iomega Data Backup: Data Storage Devices: Removable Storage: Managed Services

This photo of the booth for AT&T was another disappointing one. So many of the companies insisted on trying to “entertain” us with skits and bad actors spouting computer information. Within two minutes of the start of the AT&T skit, Mike and I couldn’t take anymore. We stood up and walked out on their presentation because it was so bad.

Back then, AT&T was a telecom monolith. Now, they are the proud and exclusive providers of wireless for the iPhone.

• AT&T Wireless

More Comdex 1996 reminiscing tomorrow.

Before there was CES, There was Comdex. In 1996, Mike had his first book signing at Comdex and I gave myself permission to take as many pictures as I wanted with my 110 camera. This was unprecedented in my days before digital and I have scanned in the old photos and am sharing them with you over the next few days.

The photo on the right is me back in 1996. I remember thinking how cute I looked and how I hardly looked fat at all. I look so different now. Is it wrong to feel like you look better at 38 than you did at 27?

This is a photo of the Sands Expo Center. I had never seen the Expo Center covered with so many advertisements. Now, EVERY hotel is covered with advertisements for various companies when CES comes to town, but this looked unique to me. It felt like Las Vegas had been taken over by the computer geeks. The casinos and the strip clubs had to move over for the computers and software. It was a very exhilarating feeling.

This is a rare sighting of the Energizer Bunny in the wild. Actually, it was a balloon flown over the Las Vegas Hilton during Comdex, but I LOVE this photo for its Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom feel.

Let’s start out with the worst. This was hands-down, the most disappointing booth at Comdex in 1996. I remember looking at this booth, saying, “Wow, Mike! Look, it’s like virtual reality! We should try that one!” There was a long line and Mike replied, “They don’t really look like they’re having fun.” I made him stand in line anyway and sadly, Mike was right. It was just an advertisement for the company. I don’t even remember which one now, although I think it was for computer storage or something boring like that. I kind of expected it to act like a video game and move around when I moved my head or hands. Instead it was like wearing a TV on my head.

Here is a copy of Mylex’s webpage from 1998:

• Welcome To Mylex Corporation

Here is the story of what happened to Mylex:

• Mylex – once upon a time #1 RAID controller company profile on STORAGEsearch.com

Tune in tomorrow for more Comdex 1996 reminiscing.

God, I love new construction gadgets. Jay and Ryanne present the new, Pothole Killer!

Momentshowing: VIDEO: pothole_killer

The company that makes the Pothole Killer, Patch Management Inc., describes a more efficient way to fill potholes:

The traditional method of road repair – shovels, a dump truck and two or three workers – is not only inefficient and expensive, but it is ineffective in solving the problem or keeping up with the demand. That is why you should turn to Patch Management’s services.

Working closely with Patch Management, Scott Kleiger developed the PK2000, the most sophisticated spray patching system in the industry. Referred to as the “Pothole Killer”, this self-contained spray patching vehicle quickly and safely produces pothole and road surface repairs that are more effective, more economical and longer lasting than any other patching method – a claim supported by trade journals and government studies.

The pothole killer was featured in a town parade:

• pothole killer in a parade on Flickr

According to the photographer, candice quates, “It got cheers from the crowds…”

This latest winter has left us with all our streets in ruin. I wish Utah would invest in a couple of these machines.

Seventeen years before Thomas Edison, Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville recorded the first human voice. Unfortunately, he had no way to play it back.

• BBC NEWS | Technology | Oldest recorded voices sing again

The device etched representations of sound waves into paper covered in soot from a burning oil lamp.

Lines were scratched into the soot by a needle moved by a diaphragm that responded to sound. The recordings were never intended to be played.

It was retrieved from Paris by Mr Giovanni, working with First Sounds, a group of audio historians, recording engineers and sound archivists who aim to make mankind’s earliest sound recordings available to all.

To retrieve the sounds scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California made very high-resolution digital scans of the paper and used a “virtual stylus” to read the scrawls.

However, because the phonautograph recordings were made using a hand-cranked device, the speed varied throughout, changing the pitch.

All of this brings to mind patent and copyright. Edison held the patent for audio recordings, yet Edouard-Leon Scott beat him to the process by seventeen years. Since Scott was unable to reproduce the sound and only made a visual representation of it, I can understand why Edison’s machine was better, but in today’s environment of patent law, I could envision Scott suing Edison over this.

Via: Shiny Shiny: Oldest recorded human voice finally played back; Radio 4 newsreader amused

The Nike+, which has been a successful accessory for the iPod Nano has nothing on what Apple is planning for you!

• Starling Fitness » iPhone: Your Lifestyle Companion

Apple has filed SIX patents on a “Lifestyle Companion”. Not only will it communicate with a sensor on your shoe, but it also communicates with exercise machines so that if I run five miles on a treadmill, it doesn’t have to approximate with the sensor, it can get the information directly from the treadmill. It also can track your eating and nutrition.

Here are some images from the patents:

Via:

• The Joy of Tech comic… laughter is the best tech support.

• iPhone. Your Lifestyle Companion » Unwired View

This video from the Wall Street Journal talks about the second biggest problem with the One Laptop Per Child XO Laptop:

The biggest problem with the OLPC is discussed here:

• Gadgets Page » One Laptop Per Child Review from the.Inevitable.Org/anism

It seems that the OLPC is neither useful for developing countries nor developed ones. I wanted this to be a good product that could be a computer alternative for children, but it appears that it is just a toy and not a very fun one.

Via: Kids Prefer Aging Desktop to OLPC XO Laptop | notebooks.com

I love Skull Candy’s earbuds and headphones, so when I saw their booth at CES this year, I was so excited. Their booth didn’t disappoint. There were plenty of interesting headphones and backpacks in a wide variety of colors. Their booth had many headphones on the rack so you could see how they feel on your head.

They were also showcasing their Skullcandy FMJ headsets for the iPhone and the Blackberry Curve. In January, they weren’t available yet and the staff at the booth only had one to show us, but they let us test it with our iPhone. Here are the photos that we got.

They come in a round case like the Shure headsets.

The plug fits into the iPhone and the silver color matches the frame perfectly.

Here is the microphone for the FMJ.

The only problem I had with the FMJ is the cord is made of a stiff plastic that holds its shape (as you can see in the photo). If you use your headset all the time, then the cord will hang straight down, but if you store your headset most of the time and use it every once and a while, then it will be a curly mess hanging out of your ear.

Other than that, they are perfect. Skullcandy is known for their incredible sound quality (nearly as good as Shure for half the price), so you can safely plunk down the eighty dollars for the FMJ and know that you’re getting a good headset. Fortunately, they are finally available and you can purchase them now (which wasn’t the case when I saw them in January).

It’s always nice to see a company that was doing well before continue in the same vein and create even more great products.

You have a digital camera and you scanned in all your grandmother’s photographs back in 1999. Now, you find that your old scanner just kicked the bucket. Do you spend the money on a new one or can you just live without one? Here are five reasons why you still need a scanner.

1. Scrapbooking

Photo books are still very much alive today in the form of scrapbooking. If someone you love is into scrapbooking, then you must preserve a digital archive of their work. Even though you have a digital copy of the photographs, you don’t have a digital copy of the beautiful pages that your loved one has created. I promise you, in twenty years, those pages will be just as valuable as the raw photos they were created from. In this case, a scanner with a flatbed that can scan 12″ X 12″ sheets is essential. The Mustek Scan Express A3 1200 Pro is the most affordable scanner (priced at under $200) in the large format category. There is also the Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB Flatbed Scanner, which is a little over $200. The Epson GT-15000 Professional Scanner is considered the best, but it is priced at over $1000.

2. That Old Box of Negatives and Slides Collecting Dust In The Basement

Scanners like the HP Scanjet G4050 have attachments that can work with slides and negatives. The software can create photos from those old negatives and slides. Rather than risking loss at a photo developers, you can process your precious negatives on your own.

3. Receipts

The easiest way to keep track of your receipts is to scan them and store them on your computer. Then, if you have a warranty issue, you have documentation of every thing you’ve purchased. Instead of scrambling in a file, all you have to do is pull up the scan and print off a copy to prove your date of purchase.

4. Faxing

So much of our world has gone digital that we forget that there are still some old businesses that still use fax quite heavily. When you have to deal with those old-school businesses, it’s helpful to have the basic fax functions that today’s scanners still provide.

5. Scanner Art

Sometimes the camera just doesn’t do something justice, despite macro mode. Like pressed flowers before it, scanner art is becoming a known field of art that you just might enjoy. Here are a couple of links that talk about it:

• Creating Art work Using your Scanner

• REDONDOWRITER’S SACRED ORDINARY: New Ways of Seeing: Scanner Art

Final Notes

If you are trying to decide whether to buy a new scanner or if your current scanner is broken or unreliable, there are many inexpensive items to choose from. My favorite is the Canon CanoScan line, the newest of which is the CanoScan LiDE90 that is going for under eighty dollars. No matter what your needs, there is sure to be a scanner available that will work for you. Preserving your memories is well worth your time and money.

I’ve been thinking about the George Foreman Grill a lot lately. Why did it become so popular? It seemed like everyone I knew became an advocate for the thing a few years ago. It was like they suddenly discovered that they could cook food. Couldn’t we always grill food on our stove before? Yes we could. So why did we forget it? One word:

Microwave

Back in the seventies and eighties, we became obsessed with the microwave. It was SO easy and quick to heat up food. We tried to cook EVERYTHING in the microwave. We even were willing to bake cakes in the microwave, as shown in this commercial from Pillsbury:

As silly as it sounds, those microwave cakes tasted alright. I remember another commercial when I was a child in which a woman was demonstrating a microwave and a curmudgeon in the back of the audience kept asking, “But does it brown?” None of our microwaves browned food (except the miracle microwave in that commercial), but browning is something we gladly gave up for the convenience of speed.

After ten or fifteen years of eating soggy microwaved food, grilled food sounded pretty good. Food that was grilled on both sides at the same time was innovative and made the grilling time quicker. That, coupled with the infomercial world that we found ourselves in was a phenomenon.

Do I like my George Foreman Grill? Yes, I own the red one pictured here.

I’ve never used the other three plates that have come with it, but I keep thinking that I’ll make some waffles with it someday. Huge waffles for an army of angry football players who are REALLY hungry. Until then, I’ll just keep grilling my pork chops, hamburgers and steaks. It’s an awkward and bulky appliance sitting on my precious counter space when I could just as easily grill on my stove with a pan, but I still love the thing.

What can I say? I’m a child of the microwave generation.

Why do laptop and cell phone batteries seem to just die suddenly, while other forms of rechargeable batteries wear out gradually? What’s the best type of rechargeable battery to replace Alkaline batteries in remotes and toys? Understanding a little about how batteries work will help you make good decisions about how to use them, which type of rechargeable battery to buy when you have a choice, how to dispose of them, and how to compare them to each other.

Battery is measured in “milliamp hours” or mAh, which is a measure of how many milliamps the battery can deliver in one hour. For example, if your device requires ¼ of the rated mAh on the battery, it should last about four hours.

There are three basic types of rechargeable batteries in use in consumer electronics today:Ni-Cd, NiMH, and Li-Ion

Nickel Cadmim (Ni-Cd, also called “Nicads”)

The first “consumer grade” rechargeable batteries that could replace disposables, Ni-Cd batteries hold a moderate charge (about 1200mAh for AA size—about 1/3 of an alkaline battery’s life in typical use) and are easy to recharge with a simple trickle charger. They have memory effect, however, so you should discharge them completely before you recharge them for the longest life and best performance. They also contain cadmium and must be disposed of responsibly—don’t throw them in the trash. You’ll find them in cordless phone handsets and on the shelf as replacements for alkaline batteries. Nicad cells have a natural 1.2v per cell voltage that is close enough to replace 1.5v alkaline batteries.

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)

An improvement to Nicads that more than doubles the energy density (about 2500mAh for AA size) and removes the toxic Cadmium, NiMH can be used wherever you use disposable Alkaline batteries or Nicad batteries. NiMH batteries suffer from memory effect, and should be used until they die before being recharged. While they can be trickle charged, they charge much faster when pulse charged by a “smart charger”—typical smart chargers can put a full charge on them in about an hour and can automatically perform deep-cycle charges to refresh batteries that have a memory effect. They’re safe to dispose of in the trash, and have about half the energy density as a disposable alkaline battery so they’re very good disposable replacements. You’ll find these batteries in older laptops and cell phones, and as rechargeable batteries in all the common sizes. Overall, they’re the most reliable and best price point per energy density of all common disposable batteries and should be your first choice when choosing a replacement for disposable alkalines.

Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)

A completely different and new battery chemistry, Li-Ion has the highest energy density of any battery chemistry (about 3600mAh at 3 times the voltage per cell). They’re common in high-end electronics such as cell phones, laptops, cameras, and camcorders. They have no memory effect, but they don’t like to be discharged completely—keep them on a charger as much as you can. They also don’t last for many charge cycles (discharge to recharge) as other chemistries so they’re relatively short lived. A typical Li-Ion cell will last 300 charge cycles, which is one to two years of common use. Li-Ion batteries are not as toxic as the mercury in alkaline batteries or the cadmium in Nicads, but they should be recycled.

Li-Ion batteries have to be charged by smart chargers that can prevent overcharging, which can cause a Li-Ion battery to explode violently and catch on fire. Lithium Ion batteries have a natural 3.3 volt charge per cell. If a Li-Ion battery is charged above 4.2 volts, it will explode, and if they are discharged below 2.2 volts, it will never take a charge again. For this reason, you’ll only find them used in electronic devices or smart battery packs that can act as chargers that monitor the battery constantly and power off before they drain too much power. A variation of this type of battery uses a polymer matrix to improve energy density and is sometimes called “Li-Poly” batteries. They are otherwise equivalent.

Charging Recommendations and Disposal

You don’t need to worry about Lead Acid batteries—you can’t hurt them. Nicad and NiMH batteries like to be completely discharged before you recharge them. Get a smart charger for them—in addition to being faster, it can refresh them to eliminate memory effect and make them last longer. Li-Ion batteries don’t like to be discharged so keep them plugged in whenever possible for longest life. Be careful how you dispose of batteries: NiCd and Li-Ion should not be thrown in the trash.

The bottom line

Whatever style of battery you find in your cell phone, laptop, or camera, make sure to follow these simple guidelines and your batteries will last far longer than you imagined.