The revelations concerning Sony's loading rootkit spyware onto its music customers' machines has sparked a call for a boycott of Sony products. I am all for that and would love to participate, except I stopped buying Sony gear a long time ago. As have many of you. I haven't bought any music lately. but if I do I'll make sure it isn't Sony BMG.
Sony used to be a manufacturer of great consumer electronics products. In recent years, Sony has become an also-ran. Sometimes this happened because the company has forgotten customers in attempts to protect the intellectual property of its entertainment businesses. More often, Sony has simply not created products that customers want to buy. The Sony magic is gone and won't be returning.
So, as much as I'd like to boycott a company that loaded malicious code onto its customers machines, I am simply unable to purchase any fewer Sony products than I am already not purchasing.
I am, however, thrilled to see a company that has a well-deserved bad reputation having its behavior finally come home to roost. Sony has mishandled this episode in about every way possible and even though they've promised to "temporarily" stop shipping rootkits on music CDs, many such discs remain in stores and the company has done little to help customers whose hard drives it has already infected. Meanwhile, criminal exploits have been developed to take advantage of the backdoor Sony has opened onto its customers' systems.
Sony needs to make a preemptive offer to settle the legal problems that are developing, make arrangements to fix the systems it has infected, and display some senior executives' heads on platters. Figuratively, of course. [:D]
Sony also needs to look deep into its corporate soul to discover and remove the roots of its anti-consumer behavior. Another screw-up like this and there will be even fewer customers around to stage the next Sony boycott. In the meantime, if you want to hurt Sony, give someone an Xbox 360 for Christmas.
I just finished a big roundup of USB keys for PC Magazine, which I will link to when it posts. Until then, this little number should tide you over. The Swiss+Tech Micro Pro with Flash Drive ($29.99, 32MB) is part standard USB 2.0 flash drive. They only unique feature here is a slider that prevents data from being overwritten. (Why don't all USB keys have this?)
The neat part, of course, is the Micro Pro part, a mini-Leatherman-type device that includes a wirecutter, two screwdrivers, and a set of pliers. It is a little bulky to use as a key fob, but if you have a geeky Bob Vila in your family this makes a great gift.
The closest encounter you may ever have to a UFO is Iqua's Bluetooth Handsfree UFO device. So what exactly is it? Looks like a CD player, could be a compact mirror, or maybe it's a robotic toy?
Actually, the UFO is a mobile-conferencing unit that is great for the car when you have those important meetings while on the go. It's small and lightweight, which means you can fit it on your desk at the office, or use it at home for those days when you just don't feel like going to work.
Here are some of its features:
-VoIP calls -Radio -Download contacts from your cell phone -Text messages -Answer/end/reject call -Talktime up to 8 hours -Charges within 3.5 hours -Operating range up to 10 meters
The UFO device comes with a battery, wall charger, bottom grip, user guide, and a quick guide (when you just don't have time to read the instructions). No word yet on how much it will cost, but according to the Iqua Web site, it will be available for purchase at the end of 2005.
For full details, check out the product brochure (link opens to a PDF).
Besides, the sleeve is not nearly as pretty as the device itself. This is just going to fuel the market for fancier, cooler iPod Nano cases. After all, why go through all the trouble of buying a chic MP3 player only to wrap it in a generic sleeve.
Among my many interests is birding. I have more than 300 species, which ranks me a more than a novice and less than someone whose observation of something rare will be immediately accepted by his fellows.
One of the ways birders impress one another is by purchasing high-end binoculars--say in the $1,300 to $1,500 range. If birding is your fowl obsession, this is a fine way to spend money, though not an entirely necessary investment. The best bins won't make up for an inexperienced or sloppy birder. But, the do signal a serious intent. (One of the best birders I know, however, uses a decades old pair of $200 bins that are almost falling apart).
Most birding binoculars start at $300-ish. But, what if you're a new birder, a young person, or someone who just wants a nice pair of inexpensive bins for looking at clouds or watching the neighbors? Well, most low-end binoculars are pretty sad. Look through them long enough and blindness may not seem like such a bad alternative.
So, I was very pleased when more than a year ago, Pete Dunne, the noted birding author, introduced me to these fine binoculars. The Nikon Action series takes advantage of inexpensive, but high-quality, Chinese optics and manufacturing. The result? A very nice pair of 7x35 bins (Model 7215) that sells for as little as $49 online (do a search). The 7x50's, heavier, larger, but better at dusk and dawn, sellfor a bit more.
These are fine binoculars. They are what I keep under the front seat iof my car for unexpected sightings. They are what I loan to friends and recommend to new birders. When I let fellow birders look through them and ask them to guess how much I paid for them, the usual answer is $300 or more. Are they perfect bins? Of course not, but you would have to spend several times as much to get anything better and most people (who have never looked through really great binoculars) can't tell the difference.
Nikon also offers the somewhat more expensive Action EX series, which are waterproof and more rugged. Not that I have had any problems with the Actions I already own. I have not tested the EX series, so I can't tell you if they produce images as good as the earlier models. I suspect they are fine.
BTW, friends don't let friends buy "zoom" binoculars because the optics are so lousy. And I wouldn't even think of recommending the Action zoom models.
The Ambient 5 Day Forecaster ($99, direct or from Brookstone) is a wireless device that captures information from Ambient's wireless data network and displays it on an LCD screen. No Internet connection is required. (Clicking on the image opens it full-size and you can read the captions).
The forecasts come from AccuWeather, which may or may not be good news, and the information is free--there is no ongoing subscription required. I am not totally sold on the usefulness of this device--that is, I don't know where I'd use one--but it's a nice way to get a automatically updated forecast-at-a-glance for not a lot of money. The device is also tasteful in design, something that lately seems to be escaping much of the consumer electronic's industry.
Disclosure: More than a year ago, I did one day of paid consulting for Microsoft on products that might compete with this device.
When I first saw it, I thought the Ambient Orb ($149 direct, $99 from Brookstone) was one of the oddest/most useless devices I'd ever seen. Using wireless technology, the Orb receives information and displays a color based on the data it receives. I've generally seen it configured to respond to changes in the stock market. The color changes from green to red, based on whether the market is up or down.
Unless all you own is an exchange index, I don't see how such information would be terribly useful. Gee, the NASDAQ or S&P 500 is up. Fortunately, the company now offers (for a fee) to track particular stocks, whole portfolios, the pollen count, whether someone is "present" on IM, and several other pieces of information. But, only one at a time. I suppose it might be interesting to have one of these set to display the current terrorist threat level, currently yellow for "elevated." However, since the threat level goes green-blue-yellow-orange-red I am not sure ther Orb would work, since I don't think it displays blue.
A friend of mine described this as "information as art" as opposed to "useful information." (If you are wondering how big the frosted glass orb is, I can't find the information on Ambient's Web site, but I'd guess 6-8" in diameter).
So, if you want to give an interesting, if useless, gift to that someone-who-has-everything, this might be the answer. Or check out my next post, which shows the Ambient technology doing something useful.
Disclosure: More than a year ago, I did one day of paid consulting for the Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) group at Microsoft, which is an Ambient competitor.
This year, give the gift that says, "I don't mind spending, but didn't know what to get you, I know you have an iPod, so here's this! Like it?" Yes, it's Coach's line of leather iPod cases, ($48-$198, direct). Yes, Coach stuff always seems expensive, and yes, that really is a yucky red color they use on their Web site, but women seem to love their stuff. And the purse I gave as a gift several years ago is in daily use and still looks great. So, it wasn't a bad investment. They have cases of all sizes, I think, except the Nano. But, since the thickness of the different models varies, you'll want to be sure to ask. And to check which iPod your intended recipient owns.
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