The Gadgets Page

Since the Nike+ has been so helpful to my running, I was planning on bringing it with me on my next race. Looks like I need to read the rules first. According to Wendy, there are many races that ban iPods and headphones.

• About.com – Races That Ban iPods by Wendy Bumgardner

They say that it’s for safety precautions:

“Last weekend, my walking team did the Rock ‘n Relay marathon. As we were going through the race info right before the start, we saw that they banned wearing headphones or earphones during the event, for safety purposes… The stats don’t bear out that pedestrian accidents happen more often to walkers distracted by being on the cell phone or wearing headphones. Instead, in 40% of pedestrian fatalities the victim was imbibing alcohol. It is of interest that we got a ticket for a free beer at the beer tent to have at any time during the event.”

Real healthy, Rock ‘n Relay. You can have beer, but you can’t listen to your tunes while you run. Technophobia strikes again.

As a teenager, my favorite watches were made by Swatch. I could barely tell time on them, but they were so cool, I owned several of them. I STILL own them today and most of them are still running. That’s how well-made they were.

Swatch is still ticking along. They just released a new line of watches called Puzzle Motion. They are like a kaleidescope of color moving on your wrist.

• Official Swatch Website:: Spring Summer 2007 collection:: Puzzle Motion

Here are their videos showing how the watches look:

Embed this video on your website – Download this video for your iPod

If I have to have a watch that doesn’t do anything but tell time, at least it should show me pretty pictures.

Here is a video of the Swatch Puzzle watch in person:

Retro Swatch Ads after the break: (Continue Reading…)

This postcard from PostSecret is strange to me.

Technology doesn’t scare me. If I could just plug in a machine and it would make me sleep immediately, I would have that jack put in my head. If I could solve all my eating problems by installing a machine into my brain, I would do it. If I could download my memories via USB, I would do it religiously every day.

Where do I sign up for the cyborg revolution?

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

I have enjoyed the use of an ear light similar to this one: EarLite LED Task Light. Aside from the cool Borg-like appearance it gives me, it has been indispensable every time I have gone camping over the last two years. It is so much easier to take that scary walk to the outhouse in the middle of the night if I don’t have to worry about not dropping my flashlight.

Because the light is attached to my head and is directed in my line of sight, I always have light where I’m looking. I didn’t think this would be as useful as it was. I bought it for the geek-appeal. I thought that I would just use it for reading when we went camping. I have to admit that I have never used it for that. I have used it for writing in my journal, but mostly, it’s the perfect flashlight to take with you to the outhouse. Because it directs the light exactly where you need it, you’re not fumbling in the dark looking for the toilet paper. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about touching it before you can get to the hand sanitizer because it’s attached to your ear.

The last camping trip we went on, I thought I had lost it, but I found it right before night fell. I was so grateful that I realized that I better look for a replacement. The EarLite LED Task Light is a little more expensive than what I paid (by $3), but it looks like it would be a little better, so I think I’ll go with this one.

I have to give Suunto some credit. At least they’re trying to make a women’s digital watch that isn’t ugly. This is a pretty good looking watch for a digital, unfortunately, it’s not the kind of watch that will help me. I don’t need an altimeter, barometer, four languages or a compass. If I did need those things, I would wear the big ugly Casio digital that does all that for half the price. I don’t need my watch to be beautiful when I’m hiking.

• Suunto – Suunto Lumi

I need my watch to be beautiful all the other times of my day: walking around town, going to work, having dinner with friends. I want a pretty digital watch that will tell me the time and date on the face. I want an elegant digital watch that will time me with a stopwatch and give me a countdown timer. I want a lovely digital watch that will tell me what time it is in Vegas AND back home. And I want it to be small. I KNOW the watch manufacturers can do all of this, but for some reason they don’t.

Good try, Suunto. Thanks for thinking of me. I really appreciate it. Game over, man. Try again.

Via: Shiny Shiny: Sunnito Lumi – ‘An outdoor sports instrument for women’. Huh?

I have yet to find a laptop bag that I truly love, but that’s not the case for Thom Allen. He broke the shoulder connector on his previous Outdoor Products Powerpack Travel Laptop Backpack, and he went right out to buy another one because he loved it so much.

• Meet my new friend, the Power Pack | Thom Allen Weblog

His favorite feature is the ability to charge his laptop without taking it out of the bag:

One of the really cool features of this pack is the ability to connect the power system to your laptop, internally, and plug the power cord into the wall without removing the laptop from the pack. This makes it nice if you’re traveling and want to recharge in airport or restaurant.

According to the reviews on Amazon, it looks like it’s a favorite. D. Camp writes:

I’ve bought three of these laptop backpacks and this is the best. Well-made, well organized, and lots of space. Seems durable, but haven’t used it enough to vouch for it. Will protect my laptop physically with its padded pouch, but also from theft. How? The backpack doesn’t yell out “I contain an expensive laptop” – it looks like a cheapo student bookbag. And you can’t beat the price. Highly recommended.

I would love to see pictures of that nifty inner pocket that allows you to charge your laptop without taking it out of the bag. Anyone able to send me one?

The answer is 13. If you want to see all the karate kids crammed into the car, watch the video. There were not, however, enough seat belts for them all.

Mike and I saw a Xebra on the road in Montana the other day. We were surprised to see such an efficient car so far out in the wild.

When I watched this video, a wave of nostalgia hit me. It has been about five years since I’ve heard a dial tone or a busy signal. When Mike and I moved to our present house almost five years ago, we never had our phone line connected. We just use our cell phones. At first, I was worried about not having a phone line in the house, but after this long, I realize that I don’t need it.

I kind of miss the dial tone, though.

Via: adfreak: When will we see a PSA for the iPhone?

If you have been jealous of those cool Google Maps features on the iPhone, but you’re “stuck” with your Treo for a while, you’re in luck. All those features are available on the Treo. Andrew at Treonauts explains all the cool features and how to access them:

• Treo Google Maps Update Now With Contacts Integration | Treonauts

I installed Google Maps on my Treo, but I’ve found that it is only helpful to a point. My contacts addresses have to be exactly like the information in Google for it to be able to find their house. Additionally, Google Maps’ information is only as accurate as the phone book, so if it’s a new company or if the restaurant just went out of business, you won’t know about it.

Of course, whether you’re on the iPhone, the Treo or your computer, that is the case. Google Maps isn’t the be-all and end-all, but it is a good start if you’re in a pinch.

The Apple iPhone Bluetooth Headset has been released into the wild and people are unboxing them and using them all over the Internet. I have absolutely NO desire to buy one, even though I know it would work with the iPhone swimmingly.

Does Apple really expect this thing to stay in my ear?!

Sure, I’ve seen those Apple commercials with people dancing and gyrating wildly with Apple earbuds. The earbuds stay in their ears because they are ANIMATED, not because they are real.

Are there that many people out there whose ear cavities can support the earbuds, much less the headset?

Am I alone in this?

Do those Apple earbuds work for the majority of the population and I’m just sporting mutant ears? I would blame my ears if there weren’t so many companies out there making different earbuds. Does Apple not care about the customers with “weird” ears?

Of course, I don’t recommend this option either…

I guess the best bet is to go with a wired headset that’s made for ears like mine like the V-Moda Vibe Duo Earbuds. They have buds that will work with my ears, a microphone for talking on the phone and they aren’t white. I see white earbuds everywhere and I just want to be the one person on the street who doesn’t have a pair of white wires handing from her head.

The worst part is that I feel a little betrayed by Apple. They went to all that trouble making the cellphone of my dreams and didn’t bother making earbuds that would work in my ears. Mine are going to end up staying in the original box untouched.