Travel power strip… w/ USB charging ports

How cool is this!  If it’s pretty light, I may have to buy one.  Review on ZDnet Blogs

Motorola H375 Bluetooth Headset and my Treo 650

So in switching cars from my TL to a slightly older MDX, one of the things I’m losing is my built-in Bluetooth speakerphone.  I used it constantly.  The 2004 TL was one of the first cars to have it built in.  At the time, I didn’t even own a Bluetooth anything.

Anyways, now that the MDX doesn’t have one, I began looking for a Bluetooth headset to go with my Treo 650 (yeah, it’s getting a bit old).  I’ve tried a Bluetooth headset in the past and wasn’t happy with it at all.  I was never sure if the problem was the Treo BT radio or if it was the headset, so I have never owned one since - preferring corded ones instead.  After trying out a more modern headset, I’m happy to say it looks like it may have mostly been a bad headset choice.

I bought my Motorola H375 in a combo set at Costco ($50-$60, I can’t recall).  It came with a wall charger, the H375 headset, and a car charger.  Bottomline, it works pretty well - from a Bluetooth perspective.  Dial a call on my Treo, and the headset automatically connects once dialing begins.  Incoming call and a quick press of the H375 button answers the phone; a second button press hangs up.  The volume buttons are easy and intuitive to press, and you can press both to mute the headset (or press mute on the Treo 650 itself).   Unfortunately, the headset does not seem to be loud enough in some “noisy room” situations.  Normal room situations (okay, fairly quiet situations) seem to be no problem at all.  I was even okay in an airport - at least until the PA system came on.

Battery life is advertised as 6 hrs talk, 8 days standby.  That’s somewhat misleading.  I have not talked enough to push the 6 hr talk limit, but I’d say you can easily get at least 4 in my experience.  8 days of standby is probably true, but the headset has some interesting power-saving “features”.  It seems to turn itself off after about 30-60 minutes of inactivity. When a new call comes in, I’ve got to press the POWER button to turn it back on.  Seems a little weak if you ask me.  Maybe it’s user error, but I don’t think so.

Overall, I’m keeping it - but it’s not perfect.

Book of the future

Have you seen Amazon’s Kindle?  Sweet!!!  ‘Nuff said.

To me, it looks like a large PDA.  At $399, it ain’t cheap.  You can buy a laptop for that much, but it won’t be as light or slim as the Kindle.  If they could combine the Kindle functionality (read a book, buy online, download a book, etc.) along with an ad-hoc note taking capability (like a tablet PC) — I’d be willing to pay a premium for that.  If they take it one step further and allow for document sync between my Kindle and the Amazon servers — and then that syncs with my PC (Linux) so I have a local copy — I’d be sold and pay a premium!  I’m thinking something along the lines of Novell iFolder, but an embedded version that I don’t have to worry about.

10 Ways the World Could End.

From a TED talk in 2002… Stephen Petranek reviews 10 possible dooms-day scenarios and some possible solutions.  While some generate snickers and chuckles from the audience, there wasn’t one of these scenarios which is DEFINITELY not going to happen.  I think it’s interesting that these problems are just as relevant today as they were in 2002.

I’m not the only geek in the house…

Apparently I’m not the only geek/gadget-guy in the house… My 3 yr old has figured out how to fly the mini-remote-control helicopter I got for my birthday.  No, I did not show him how to do it.  He learned by simply watching me.   Kids are amazing.

Rechargeable Batteries - free recycling

Everybody’s got them… cell phones, cordless home phones, PDAs, rechargeable tools, portable vaccums, etc.  They all have one thing in common… rechargeable batteries.  Did you know that these batteries can be easily recycled?  Check out this ZDNet video, then visit the website for the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC).

Tons of major retailers have collection boxes… and it doesn’t cost you a thing!  Find a recycling drop off point near you.

Put in just an ounce of effort, and help preserve the environment.  Plus, it just feels good to do the right thing!!

Donate 1 “laptop”, Get 1 “laptop” free

I think this is a pretty good marketing idea… For $399, you can buy a laptop from the One Laptop Per Child program - actually you’re buying 2 laptops.  One will be donated, and one will be sent to you.  Although the laptop actually costs $150, you can’t purchase them here in the US.  I’m always looking for worthwhile causes to invest/donate to… Here’s one more to consider.

Actually, I’m thinking this might be a great laptop for my kids to surf the web on… and heck, they run Linux inside.

CNet Article for details

OLPC Program Details - you can even sign up for an email reminder when they go on sale…

These “animals” are super cool…

They detect water, they detect sand, they can store energy, they can count in binary, they can carry heavy loads, and even move with the grace of a living creature. Then you realize these are 100% mechanical and there are no electronics here at all.  They’re freakin’ WIND powered.

AMAZING Engineering work by the designer!

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/162

How do you rename files in bulk in Windows with intelligence?

There’s a great utility I found called Bulk Rename Utility which lets you have a massive amount of control.  You can download and install it or just run it in memory (no install — that’s very cool).  Especially if you’re paranoid about spyware and malware like I am…  (don’t talk to me about Linux, that’s what I sell in my professional life, so you’re preaching to the choir on that one, still several apps I use at home for video editing are only on Windows and I am not a Mac/Linux hypocrite.

Anyways, the best part of BRU is that it gives you a “preview” of what the new file name will look like based on the current rules you’ve defined.  It’s a freely downloadable utility but you can donate to the author if you found the utility useful as I did!

It’s amazing what you can “figure out” about our universe just by using math and science

Discovered: The Asteroid that Killed the Dinosaurs

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19526204.800&feedId=online-news_rss20