Computer Gadgets New

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 11th 2008 at 7:43AM

Seems everyone is coming out with a cheap, do-it-yourself SATA adapter to convert all your extra flash memory cards into a makeshift SSD. This time, we’re looking at the ¥10,000 (about $91) PhotoFast CR-9000. The 9.5-mm tall, 2.5-inch, 3Gbps SATA adapter accommodates up to 6x SDHC cards and should fit into most slim laptops. That’s enough slots to make a 192GB SSD (using 6x 32GB cards) for a bargain $900 or about $270 for a 48GB SSD based on a quick calculation of SDHC cards found on-line. While performance depends upon the weakest card of the lot, Impress Watch was able to squeeze a respectable 111.4MBps reads and 55.17MBps writes from their RAID 0 setup using class-6 rated, MLC-based, SDHC cards. That’s nothing like the performance of the latest MLC-based SSDs but not bad for what you pay. Still, with SSD prices in freefall, these DIY adapters are quickly becoming less and less attractive.

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Filed under: Storage

Before you know it, the holiday season will be upon all of us once again, and this time round Elmo’s making a comeback in the form of Elmo Live. He is already available for pre-order, retailing for $59.88 and above. While I suspect that this model won’t hit the dizzy speculative heights of the original Tickle Me Elmo, I believe it will still be a strong seller, so your initial $59.88 might balloon to much more than that on the second hand market in due time. Shipping begins on October 14th, so get your mice ready, prep up your bank account and start clicking!

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 11th 2008 at 3:47PM

Yeah, we’ve seen the cart come before the horse before, and such is the case with NZXT’s Avatar gaming mouse. Shortly after being previewed, the outfit has done its duty and made things official. Specs wise, we’re looking at 7 customizable buttons, a 2,600DPI optical sensor, 4-speed DPI switch, ambidextrous design and a rubber grip to keep your palm secure even when the sweat really gets to pourin’. It’s available now to challenge your Razer for $59.99.

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Filed under: Peripherals

If you’re a top marathoner (or even just a weekend sole warrior), you probably already swallow a truckload of vitamin supplements to get you through the race.

But if a recent over-heating prevention study is any indication, you’re going to have to add another item to that list: an RFID-enabled pill.

Dutch researchers at Radboud University recently teamed with U.S.-based Progress Software to create an RFID pill that monitors the temperature of runners in order to prevent a cardiac arrest. Because running a marathon is a strenuous physical challenge known to lead to dangerous overheating and dehydration, this could be a way to improve performance and help out people in danger. 

RFID chips wirelessly transmit personal tracking data and have been recently used for everything from tracking tickets (and their users) at the Olympic games to U.S. Passports.

Using Progress Software’s real-time analysis of RFID sensor data, the University asked volunteer runners of a local race to swallow a pill that included an RFID tag and a thermometer. The researchers were able to monitor the runners’ temperatures, through wireless updates every ten seconds.

When a volunteer showed a hot reading, the researchers were able to alert him to a needed hydration break through a different receiving device in the volunteer’s backpacks. Presumably, this device produced an auditory alarm that was easy to distinguish quickly.

In case a runner showed a potentially dangerous reading, nearby medical teams were given access to the data so they could reach the runner, stop him, and treat him immediately.

A couple of years ago, Pfizer promised to tag large bottles of Viagra with RFID chips in an attempt to stop counterfeiters, and everybody got up in arms over the security issues. But since the personal temperature readings from these RFID tags should only be limited to last through a day (or just the race), the security issue shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Photos: infomatique/Flickr, stan/Flickr

See also:

• Problems at The Gates? RFID-enabled Tix to Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies to Include Passport Data
   
• Viagra Tag Could Be a Bitter Pill

If you have been eying that new large LCD computer monitor or television for a while now, your continued patience could reward you in the wallet. According to financial analysts, the current LCD market could have consumers saving a lot of green if their timing is right.

Right now it seems there is an oversupply of large lcd panels due to overshipments in the second quarter of this year and that has LCD companies and retail chains looking to unload inventory. The overstock issue appears to have been caused by overly optimistic sales projections for 2008 colliding with the reality of declining demand in large consumer countries like the US and China. So analysts are predicting in a month or so, LCD prices could decline in order make up for the overstock as price reductions filter down to retail markets.

Overall, what seems bad for the LCD industry will be good for us consumers. Of course seeing that new large LCD television on your wall will make you feel good, but knowing you paid hundreds less for it by waiting a month will make you feel even better.

Read more at The New York Times.

Imation Corp. is not one company to rest on its laurels - they have just introduced an extension of its SSD product line that will target power users who seek performance above everything else. While the average SSD does pretty well on its own, there are still segments of the tech savvy population who crave for more and are willing to pay the price. Somce of these new products will be the PRO 7500 and the PRO 7000 PATA, which are incidentally powered by Mtron technology. More on the individual SSDs right after the jump.

Imation SSD PRO 7500
The SSD PRO 7500 series is an ideal solution for individual and business applications with extreme performance needs such as high-performance workstations, storage arrays, database servers, Web servers and other network appliances. Featuring an ultra-high-speed internal data bus, the PRO 7500 delivers extremely high-sustained read (130 MB/sec) and write speeds (120 MB/sec), impressive input and output operations per second (IOPS) performance of 83,000 sequential read and 19,000 random read, SATA 3.0 Mbps interface and virtually no seek time. With less than half the weight of traditional hard drives, plus reduced power consumption, the PRO 7500 packs a powerful solution with superior drive performance in a lightweight, power-efficient design. With mean-time-between failures (MTBF) of one million hours, the PRO 7500 provides outstanding product reliability in a rugged package designed for harsh environments.

Imation SSD PRO 7000 PATA
Imation SSD PRO 7000 PATA makes it easy to upgrade legacy equipment for high-performance needs using the standard PATA interface. Featuring an ultra-high-speed internal data bus, the PRO 7000 PATA delivers extremely high-sustained read (130 MB/sec) and write speeds (120 MB/sec), impressive IOPS performance of 27,000 sequential read and 18,000 random read with virtually no seek time. In addition to the expected SSD benefits of performance, reliability and environmental endurance, the PRO 7000 PATA makes it easy to install and use with standard PATA interface support providing an ideal solution for upgrading legacy equipment.

The Imation SSD PRO 7500 and PRO 7000 PATA will be available in the US in 2.5″ and 3.5″ flavors, coming in capacities ranging from 16GB all the way to 128GB, be it PATA or SATA interfaces. Pricing starts from $499 upwards, so you know that 128GB won’t exactly be kind on your pockets.

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Hopefully you caught our entry on the Lego Donkey Kong. It appears that this classic Nintendo game is today’s theme with the release of Donkey Kong Jenga.

This version of Jenga comes with 54 black hardwood blocks made up to look like the classic Donkey Kong girders. This Donkey Kong Jenga looks like it has different rules than the traditional one of “you take a block from the bottom, and you put it on top”, as it comes with a spinner and some multi-colored playing pieces. Now you can help Mario save Pauline, or…the whole thing comes crashing down, I guess.

I suppose that it is just a matter of time before Jenga got into the franchise tie-in market. As for me, I was more than happy with 54 blocks made of plain wood. I suppose that Jenga is taking a page from the Monopoly playbook. Not that Jenga needs to alter its rules to be more like Monopoly (or any other game for that matter), but I’ve seen Monopoly versions that range from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, to individual universities.

This Donkey Kong themed Jenga is available at Amazon.com for about $24.95. That, or you can wait until it comes to Wal-Mart.

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As incredible as the Olympics opening ceremony fireworks looked on our television screens, it’s disheartening to learn most of what we saw was a computer-generated illusion.

The Telegraph picked up a story in the Chinese newspaper the Beijing Times giving away that filming the 29 firework footprints from the air would have been impossible. So visual effects artists spent a year creating a computer-graphic simulation — inserted precisely at the same time the real fireworks went off — to bedazzle home viewers as if they were at the actual ceremony.

Therefore, the only real fireworks we saw on TV were those filmed from inside the Bird’s Nest. Kind of a downer, isn’t it? It’s OK, Cai Guo-Qiang. We still think you’re cool.

Beijing Olympic 2008 opening ceremony giant firework footprints ‘faked’ [Telegraph]

(Photo credit: Jason Lee/Reuters)

If there is one thing I hate, it’s when the batteries run out in my remote. It usually happens when I am most comfortable on the couch. It’s like when you turn on a light, and you get that last blink of the dying light bulb. Now you have to go find a bulb, assuming you have one on hand, and waste a few precious minutes changing it.

Similarly, I rarely have batteries on hand for my remote control, so wouldn’t it just be easier to get a remote control that doesn’t use any batteries? Fortunately, it exists, and is powered by one of the most elementary power sources.

When I say elementary, I mean elementary school. Yes, this remote control is powered by wind up power, just like a toy. Apparently, thirty twists are enough to power the device for about a week. That is definitely more efficient than my old wind-up toys.

I’m guessing the wind-up function works like an egg timer, but the turns do more than just tick-tocking. Maybe a bell should go off when you need to wind it up again. Let’s just hope that you cannot over-wind the thing like an old school alarm clock.

If you like it, you should be able to get it at the Gizoo website for about £19.95 or $38.

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Tired of your house smelling like smoke?  Well then suck it up with this ashtray.  It was specifically designed to suck that smoke into the dome and dispose of it.  It does so by, breaking down the smoke into negatively-charged particles, which are then “captured by the positively-charged stainless steel lining of the dome.”  I’m a little skeptical as to how it works and if it will actually stop the smell from getting into your home.  After all, your cigarette doesn’t stay in the ashtray.  At some point you have to take it out to smoke it.

I’m sure this would work fairly well for someone that doesn’t smoke that often anyway.  However, anyone with chain smoker tendencies likely won’t smell much of a change.  Then again, once you’re to the chain smoking point, usually your sense of smell isn’t that grand anyway.  It does come with the glass ashtray you see in the picture as well as an AC adapter.  It uses 4 AA batteries, I’m guessing for when it’s not plugged in.  The ashtray is being sold for $19.99, which is cheap enough that it’s worth a shot.

Source: BookofJoe

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