At CES Unveiled, I walked past the Logitech table and thought to myself, “Same Old, Same Old.” It’s not really fair to Logitech, actually. They have made perfectly cromulent computer mice for years. Without them, many of us would be lost.
When I inched closer to their table, they had an array of colorful wireless mice on the table.
I’ve seen these mice at the stores in Salt Lake City and I never once considered buying one, not even the blue one with the squiggles design. It’s my style and it matches the skin I have on my laptop.
I realized that I gave up on wireless mice over three years ago. I had a wireless mouse from Logitech that I loved. It used AA batteries and they lasted FOREVER. When that poor mouse finally died, I tried to replace it, but by then, Logitech had moved on to rechargeable mice and I had a world of hurt with them. I also switched to the Mac, and some of the features of that rechargeable mouse didn’t carry over to the new platform.
In the end, it was easier to use the Mighty Mouse that came with my Mac and I’ve never had to replace it. The short cord plugs into my keyboard and hasn’t ever gotten in my way.
Sorry, Logitech. I love that blue mouse. It’s adorable and would match my laptop perfectly, but I just can’t bring myself to buy it.
For me, the best design winner of CES Unveiled was definitely Sensia by Pure.
When I saw the Sensia, I didn’t actually care WHAT it did. I liked the design so much that I wanted to know more. Unfortunately, the more didn’t impress me much. It is a wi-fi enabled radio. So it can play FM radio as well as all the Internet radio stations that you love. It can also connect to Facebook, Twitter, weather and plethora of other Internet features.
What is DOESN’T do is more important. It doesn’t dock with your iPod. It doesn’t show videos on that gorgeous five inch screen. It doesn’t go portable without the optional ChargePAK.
It’s a shame that such beautiful design work was wasted with this crippled inner workings. Of course, Pure could add those features in the future, but for now, the Sensia just doesn’t live up to its lovely design.
The MSI Wind has long been a favorite for the netbook Hackintosh crowd. So much so, that it was rumored that MSI furtively released drivers to aid in the process. Installing Mac OSX on a netbook technically breaks your user agreement, so do so at your own risk. Here is a how-to for making a MSI Wind a Hackintosh.
The coolest thing we saw at CES Unveiled last night was the ARDrone from Parrot. Here is a video of it in action.
My video makes it look like your every day typical flying toy, but it’s not. It has video cameras on it and you can control it with your iPhone. If you ever had fantasies of spying on your sister, sneaking items into an enemy compound or creating a UFO hoax, THIS is the gadget for you!
What you can’t tell from my video is how quiet it was. There are four propellers, but it makes hardly any sound when it’s flying. I’m sure something like this would cause a UFO scare in my neighborhood, so I’m excited to see what happens when these puppies hit the open market.
Here is their video describing it:
I couldn’t find any information on where to buy these or how much they will cost, but you can follow them on Twitter here:
Kudos to Travis Jensen for getting his Hackintosh up and running!
A Hackintosh is PC Computer that has been made to work with the Apple operating system. Since Apple doesn’t guarantee its operating system works with any computers but their own, there can be problems when you are trying to make this work. Additionally, it’s technically not legal to do this. Here are some resources to help:
Each computer is different, but I really like is this How-To Tutorial, but it only gets you halfway there.
This one shows you everything, but they take a more difficult route to make sure everything is closer to legal.
It’s possible to really screw up your computer if you try this, so do so at your own risk. If you have wanted an Apple computer in a small size (like a netbook) or if you can’t afford the cost of an Apple laptop, this might be an option for you. Check it out!
Update 01-05-10 3:26pm: Refer to this forum when Hackintoshing your Acer Aspire One.
When Stacey and I were children, we had a pile of junk jewelry at my grandmother’s house that she allowed us to play with. In the collection, was a poison ring. It was a toy that was featured in much of our play. Tea parties, playing restaurant and even when we played newspaper agency, the poison ring was a coveted piece of our fantasies. Not a day went by without one of us being “poisoned,” and usually both of us were.
We never actually PUT anything in the poison ring. I just opened it up and pretended that poison came out into Stacey’s drink. Who needs poison when you have a POISON RING?! It all made perfect sense back then.
After Grandpa died, his family descended upon the house they had never visited during the nearly forty years that my grandparents had lived there. Much of what Stacey and I found beloved was sent away to estate salesmen and appropriated for that side of the family. We were allowed to take the remainders that they deemed not worth the time to sell. I was lucky enough to get my bedroom set, my bike and my toys.
Well, some of my toys…
All of the junk jewelry in the toy box was gone when I was allowed to claim my inheritance. I never asked about it, but I still regret the loss of my poison ring to this day.
So, I thought I would try to buy myself a poison ring. Ever since Lady Gaga poisoned her boyfriend in her music video, Paparazzi, I thought that maybe poison rings might be making a comeback.
Unfortunately, I made the mistake of trying to buy a solid perfume ring instead of just searching for a poison ring. I bought the Kat Von D Solid Perfume Ring and the Michael Kors Solid Perfume Ring, thinking that I could keep my favorite for myself and give the other one to Stacey. Based on the pictures online, I imagined that they would be about as big as my grandmother’s old poison ring. I’d be able to use the perfume and when I was done with it, I’d have an updated poison ring.
I was so excited when the box hit my doorstep. The dog was barking at the UPS driver while I opened the box in anticipation. I expected to like the Michael Kors ring the best and give the Kat Von D ring to my sister.
Then I opened the boxes…
THE RINGS WERE HUGE!!! Not just huge, COMICALLY huge!! Just look at them!!
They definitely would NOT do! If I walked into the Russian Embassy, not even my press pass would help me escape if the evil Russian ambassador was found poisoned. They’d take one look at my ring and KNOW I poisoned him!!
Heck, I couldn’t even close my fingers around the Kat Von D ring!! The sheer weight of it was cutting off my circulation!
I nearly cried as I packed them back up to be returned, and then I realized that I could look on eBay and Amazon for POISON rings instead of trying to get a solid perfume ring to do my bidding.
This time I was delighted with what I found! Here are a couple of links to poison rings:
I may never find a poison ring like the one Stacey and I “killed” each other with so many years ago, but I can find a tasteful replacement ring with a “deadly” secret. No one will know that it was me, not even the dead Russian ambassador!
For fun, here is the Lady GaGa video, Paparazzi. Enjoy her very own poison ring scene at the 6:02 mark.
I was pretty excited about the OWLE iPhone Camera Accessory when I first saw it. It is a case that your iPhone fits into that gives you a boom microphone and an adapter for 37mm lenses. It comes with a standard and macro lens.
I have to admit that I am feeling the limitations of the iPhone camera and sometimes I miss my Panasonic Lumix. The problem with the OWLE is that it’s just as bulky as carrying around a “real” camera. If I have to carry around some bulky thing, I might as well just carry around my Lumix. It has a wide angle Carl Zeiss lens and optical image stabilization.
The iPhone camera is the best camera available, which means that it’s the camera that I have when I’m not planning on filming or taking photos. Unfortunately, the current iPhone camera will never be good enough for serious photographers and videographers. No amount of added lenses and mounts will change that.
Sorry, OWLE, you’re cool, but if I have to carry around something that bulky, I’m going to be packing some REAL heat.
All of the junk jewelry in the toy box was gone when I was allowed to claim my inheritance. I never asked about it, but I still regret the loss of my poison ring to this day.
