OK, I admit it. Blogging Molly loves rubber ducks. My bathroom at home is full of them. And I've discovered a cottage industry of techie-ducky devices out in the blogosphere. From ducky USB keys to ducky toilet-paper holders to ducky radios: It's ducktastic!
USB keys come in all shapes and sizes these days, and I found three ducky models: one from Freshly Squeezed Flash (below) and one from Dynamism, and a devilish one from Everything USB. And there's more. . .
1. Verizon's EVDO ExpressCard For MacBook Pro: Almost Too Easy. Phone genius Sascha Segan's brief and happy message about Verizon Wireless' new V640 EVDO ExpressCard's effortless integration with the MacBook Pro caught lots of reader interest this week.
2. SanDisk Cruzer Titanium and Micro USB U3 Drives. Will we never tire of our love of USB drives? These new ones from SanDisk let you transport your desktop environment safely to other computers.
3. DirecTV Titanium: VIP Only. Lots of pay-TV pampering promised by the company; but few can afford it, and few are even invited to pay for it!
Are you as excited about Snakes on a Plane as everyone else in America? I for one cannot wait until August 18th. You don't even need to see the previews to know what this movie is about. It's about motherf****n snakes on this motherf****n plane!!!
This movie has spawned an entire online community which shows no sign of slowing down. There are thousands of blogs and fansites dedicated to this movie with regular updates, trivia and all kinds of silliness, including the aptly named "Snakes on a Blog." It's even got a Wikipedia entry!
My new favorite Snake site, discovered by my co-worker. . . Whitney. . . is one that lets you send messages to your friends about Snakes on a Plane. You can send them an e-mail, sure, but there's an awesome feature that really sets this snaketastic site apart from the rest. I walked into work one day recently to find I already had a voicemail. It was Sam Jackson calling to tell me about his new movie and he knew stuff about me. Creepy and fun! You see, Whitney had gone to this site, put in my name and number, and answered questions about me: I work with computers, wear glasses and ride the subway, among other things. I immediately sent it to all my friends.
It's easy, just visit the site, put in your name and your friend's name, answer some questions, and fill in their phone number or e-mail address. (And hope they have a sense of humor.)
And don't forget--go see Snakes on a Plane next Thursday at midnight!!!! (As Sam Jackson says, "It's the one summer blockbuster that will take a big, nasty bite out of your butt!")
If you thought the JOBA Horse-Riding Fitness Equipment was a disturbing piece of fitness equipment, then you haven't seen Brookstone'sOSIM iGallop. The iGallop, yet another horse-riding fitness machine, helps shape and tone your body through balancing at three different random speeds.
Choose from three fitness levels:
Trot: to warm up
Gallop: for extended toning and shaping
Race: to really get those muscles toned
And just like the JOBA, you can use it while watching TV. Buy one for your friends, and you can gallop together!
Yawn! Chalk up another win for Lexus, on yet another J.D. Power survey: the 2006 Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) released today. That's 12 in a row for the automaker.
J.D. Power & Associates surveyed 37 brands to determine problems found by owners of 2003 model-year cars. The survey showed a fairly even mixture among luxury cars at the top (typically those with more technology) and non-luxury brands. Lexus, Cadillac, Acura, Jaguar, BMW, and Infiniti made the top ten list, but so did Mercury, Buick, Toyota, and Honda. (Power ranks Buicks as non-luxury cars.)
"In general, [tech features do] not have a very large impact on the vehicle dependability experience," says Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis for J.D. Power. He noted that there was less technology on 2003 cars than there is now. "As penetration [increases], maybe a couple problems will come up."
More important, the dependability gap is narrowing between luxury and non-luxury vehicles. "The industry continues to make improvements in long-term vehicle quality, and not just among luxury makes that benefit from smaller production volumes on the assembly line," Oddes said. "Many high-volume, mass-marketed brands have acquired a foundation of quality products from which to challenge the normally strong performances of the luxury brands.
"What this means for consumers is that they don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money to get a high-quality used vehicle, and vehicles with high long-term dependability ratings retain more of their original value than brands with lower dependability ratings. This pays off for the consumer when it's time to trade in their vehicle," Oddes said.
Put another way, since all used cars are getting better, buyers of used cars might look to the very bottom of the survey for cars with depressed used-car prices—Land Rover, Saab, Suzuki, Kia, Hummer, and VW—for good deals.
Power rates cars based on "PP100," or problems per 100 cars. The results ranged this year from 136 (Lexus) to 438 (Land Rover). Oddes said luxury cars ranked higher than non-luxury cars by 15 problems per 100; in 2003, the gap was 31 PP100.
How did technology-focused brands fare on the VDS survey? Among makes that received Digital Drive awards from PC Magazine and Technoride for superior tech features, here's how they fared on the VDS: number 4 (Cadillac), 5 (Toyota), 6 (Honda), 7 (Acura), 9 (BMW), 10 (Infiniti), 15 (Pontiac), 18 (Mercedes-Benz), and 28 (Audi).
Power conducts several auto surveys each year. The Initial Quality Study (IQS) measures problems in the first 90 days of ownership, although this year it added a section asking about problems with design issues, meaning ergonomic and cockpit design, and as a consequence, the tech-heavy German automakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi tanked, although to their embarrassment, Porsche wound up first in the survey, followed by Lexus. The APEAL, or Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout survey focuses more on how customers respond emotionally to their cars; Porsche, BMW, Mercede-Benz, Lexus, and Infiniti were the top five automakers.
See our slideshow (above) for a rundown of above-average cars. This year the average was 227 problems per 100, compared with 237 and 269 PP100 the previous two years.
These are the cars that ranked below average, where more PP100 means a less reliable used car:
Thanks to the terror threat revealed yesterday in London, there are a whole new set of prohibited items on flights, notably liquid items such as water bottles, toiletries and even coffee. Baby formula, prescription medicines (they'll check your name on the bottle), and required non-prescription drugs like insulin are allowed. While this means that my ritual of buying a meal for the flight before the flight is now in jeopardy, at least domestically I can still listen to my iPod on a flight.
The British government has clamped down on carry on baggage completely: You can bring only a clear plastic bag with a few personal items onboard, like your wallet, keys, passports, and feminine hygiene products. No mobile electronic devices, including iPods, laptop computers, mobile phones, and even car-alarm key clickers, are allowed. This applies to all flights to and from the UK, so if you're flying to Heathrow or Gatwick, I hope you haven't seen the inflight movie or read the inflight magazine already, becuase it's going to be a boring bunch of hours.
If you're flying anywhere else, like within the domestic USA, you won't be able to bring liquids onboard, but at least you'll be able to use your laptop and other electronic devices. This info comes direct from the TSA, but things may change as more details come out. Since TSA screeners have been known to overreact when changes happen, be prepared for long lines at the airports.
[Thanks to USA today, SJ Mercury news, and tsa.gov for the info]
If there's one adjective to describe dorms, it'd be "cramped". So maximizing one's space is extremely important to make your college years (surviving on Easy Mac and five hours of sleep) bearable.
CompAmerica, manufacturer of desktop PCs and notebooks, has the solution for small rooms: the Pandora PC. It measures just 2.0" x 6.5" x 6.5" and weighs 3 pounds! That's lighter than even your average ultraportable notebook, and it fits right in the palm of your hand! In fact, it's said to be classified as a "Book PC". Plus, it consumes little power and is said to be extremely fast.
There are two Pandora PC models. The first is the Pandora 915-VX ($588), which houses a Pentium M or Celeron M processor and a CD burner; the other is the Pandora 945-VX ($788), which houses a Core Duo processor with a DVD burner.
The Pandora PC features: -Choice of 40 to 160GB Hard Disk Drives -Supports 2 monitors -Standard Gigabit Ethernet, Modem, Wifi, USB 2.0 -Runs on Windows XP, MCE 2005, or CompAmerica's new AX6 Operating System -Optional wall mount to hold both the Pandora and any 17- or 19-inch LCD
Not only can you use it as your PC or as your TV set with a TV tuner, you can also plug into CompAmerica's Web based TV network CompAmericaTV.com, and get HDTV. From the press release: "You can record or play DVDs, and also capture and play MPEGs. It supports Microsoft's new Zune and Apple's iPod, as well as other services supported by Microsoft Media Player, Apple Quicktime, and Real Player."
Gee, it supports Zune already? It's not even released yet!
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