Just when you thought I ran out of 'em, Blogging Molly found another duck! (Well, the "Jenn-ator" really did, cuz she's the finder of wacky gadgets.) And this is no sitting duck. The aptly named Swimming Duck is made of plastic with rubberized webbed feet and runs on one AA battery. You can buy him one at a time or in a set of two. (What's better than one swimming duck?)

And really, what better bathtime companion is there than a paddling duck? He's available at iwantoneofthose.com. And indeed, I do want one.

After bath, grab for your toothbrush from one of these duckular toothbrush holders.

I know you all think I've quacked up--my middle name ain't "kwack" for nothin--but I just can't resist ducks in all their shapes and sizes!

 

I'll start off by saying that the Sony VAIO UX Series is not for everyone. But for those who are fans of PC handhelds like the OQO, the Flybook and the Libretto---- the UX Series, in my opinion, is the pick of the crop.

 

I was plagued by back pain two weeks ago, and the Sony UX180P couldn't have come at a better time. The beauty of the UX is that you can hold it over your head like a Sidekick 3, or on your stomach like a Sony PSP. The screen is  super bright, and I actually used it as a flashlight during one point at night. It comes loaded with a full blown version of Windows XP Professional. The OQO has the Tablet Edition, which I can't seem to understand why anyone would use a 4 inch screen as a tablet.

 

The UX features a QWERTY keyboard that you expose when sliding up the screen, similar to a T-Mobile Sidekick. The keyboard, unfortunately, is also one of my pet peeves. It doesn't have the bumpy feel of a handheld keyboard. You actually have to use your nails to type effectively. Ultimately, my tasks were limited to short emails, IMing and web surfing. Longer writeups were extremely frustrating.

 

Web surfing is ideal because it comes with both WiFi and CIngular's WWAN technology. You basically have an internet connection no matter where you are.

 

You can find my full review here

What gives you more status points than carrying a high-end Tumi bag? Carrying one for an admirable cause.

This fall, bag maker Tumi will present a limited edition backpack co-designed with internationally renowned artist Anish Kapoor to benefit Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), A.K.A. Doctors Without Borders. MSF is an independent global humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to over 70 countries around the world. Tumi plans to donate 100 percent of the $695 price of the Anish Kapoor Field Bag to MSF. 

Not only are these bags full of good karma, they're also full of cool tech features:

•   A solar panel for charging your phone, PDA and other gadgets,

•   A Tumi Electric Adaptor,

•   A removable, padded laptop sleeve,

•   Removable compartments and pockets,

•   Interior and exterior accessories pockets for things humanitarians might need: say, a flashlight, travel documents, a camera, and a water bottle.

Tumi plans to produce 500 of these limited-edition backpacks. They'll ship in early  in September.

Thanks to Errol Pierre-Louis for this post!

Looks like Creative is preparing to release the Creative Zen Vision:W, a widescreen (that's what the dubya stands for) version of the original Zen Vision portable media player. No word on availability yet, but according to a Popular Mechanics review (see the image, left), the player has a 4.3-inch LCD (in 16:9 aspect ratio), as well as a 30GB or 60GB hard drive, and will be priced at $399 and $499, respectively.

It retains the CompactFlash card slot and the ability to play several different video file formats. The Pop Mech review says it's got "the best screen we've seen on a portable media player," which means a) they haven't seen the Epson P-4000, and b) the screen is probably the same ultra-sharp LCD as the Zen Vision, so there's a good chance it may suffer from the same viewing angle problems.

Since Creative hasn't officially announced the player yet, these are all the deets we have to go on, but as soon as I hear back from the company, I'll be sure to spill more beans. In the meantime, there are also rumblings of a 60GB version of the popular Creative Zen Vision:M as well, which should delight folks who actually use it for video. Presumably that'll cost $399, since the 30GB model costs $299 (list).

Thanks to audio analyst Mike Kobrin for this post!

I just tested Skype for Pocket PC again, and got my best results ever: call quality that's only slightly worse than talking into a tin can at the bottom of a well, relayed via satellite from Iraq.

I've used the Pocket PC version of Skype on three or four devices now, and I'm always amazed at what a foul dog this program is. Echoes? Check. Static? You bet. Device slowdowns? De rigeur. Clear conversations? Not on your life. Never mind that the thing only works through wired headsets, killing off twenty-five years of the trend of holding up phones to your ear, but neglecting to anticipate Bluetooth.

Go onto the Skype support forums and you'll find a bunch of Skype fans desperately trying to sew a silk purse out of this thing: "It works using Build 42, but not Build 41, as long as you open Internet Explorer first, propitiate the rain gods, and hold your phone upside down." Forget beta - is there a letter before alpha?

Skype's attraction is low cost international calling. But there are other solutions which leverage the ease of use and quality of service of the actual voice cellular networks, yet lower your per-minute international charges, such as drugstore calling cards and Rebtel. I imagine there are also a few desperate cheapskates out there who want to make ordinary domestic calls without signing up for as many cellular minutes as they need to use. But the cost is just too high in terms of installation headaches, battery burn and awful, awful, miserable quality.

I'm not against all VOIP. Vonage gets the formula right: make it look and work just like the good ol' phone network. I've never cottoned on to those PC softphones like regular Skype -- do you really want to rely on the legendary stability of Microsoft Windows for your phone service? But I see analyst Davis Janowski chatting on his PC all the time, so I assume it works OK in terms of voice quality.

But not the Pocket PC version. It may be free, but it's not worth the price.

Technology makes cars and highways safer. So why are we experiencing the first increase in traffic deaths since 1986? Most the causes of fatalities in the 2005 death toll showed lower numbers, but deaths among motorcyclists and pedestrians increased and outweighed everything else.

There are multiple ways to measure highway fatalities. The most common is the body count: 43,443 in 2005 versus 42,836 in 2004, up 607 deaths, or 1.4 percent. Unfortunately, while it's the most heavily publicized, the body count is less valid statistically: It's linked to the economy (people drive less in down times) and America's growing population. The best indicator is deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and this has trended downward in a nearly continuous curve since statistics were first kept, after World War I. By this measure, 2005 was the first year-over-year increase in highway deaths (that is, compared with the previous year) since 1986, when the count was about 2.5 fatalities per 100 million VMT versus 2005's 1.47.

Which Way to Report Stats?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), keeper of the statistics, perpetuates the problem, because it reports most of the numbers in its public documents in fatalities rather than fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. (On the other hand, the numbers are pretty dry as it is, without going overboard on "100M VMTs," or 100 million vehicle miles traveled.)

Of the 607 additional fatalities in 2005 (versus 2004, and minus reduced deaths in some categories) were 525 more motorcycle deaths, 206 more pedestrian deaths, 57 more bicycle deaths, and 28 more big truck/bus deaths, which couldn't be offset by the 451 fewer passenger car (and SUV and minivan) deaths. That's the eighth straight year with an increase in motorcycle fatalities.

"We have no tolerance for any numbers higher than zero," said Acting Transportation Secretary Maria Cino in a prepared press release. "Motorcyclists need to wear their helmets, drivers need to buckle up, and all motorists need to stay sober." From the stats, it appears motorcyclists are the ones not holding up their end of the bargain.

Fewer Helmets Being Worn

According to the NHTSA officials, the single biggest factor in fatalities is motorcycle riders not wearing helmets. Even though helmets use lighter and stronger plastics and even carbon fiber, some enthusiasts (a minority) claim that any helmet increases their risk, because the added weight whips the head around in an accident; others say helmets diminish their hearing (regardless of how well muffled their own bikes are). And some add that wearing a helmet is their own, free choice. Most of those arguments have been rebutted.

Good Signs, Mixed Signs

In passenger vehicles, 55 percent of people killed weren't wearing seat belts, the same as last year. (That discounts 7 percent of the fatalities in both years in which police didn't or couldn't record the information.) Alcohol-related fatalties were off slightly (-0.2 percent) and were considered factors in 39 percent of all fatal accidents. Taken together, those two findings suggest that driving sober (or riding only with sober drivers) and wearing seat belts reduce the chance of being in a fatal accident to a statistically minor number.

While rollover fatalities increased by 2 percent, the number was down 2 percent in SUVs, perhaps because more SUVs have stability control, which compensates for aggressive or stupid maneuvers. The rollover number was flat among passenger cars, up 7 percent in pickup trucks, and up 14 percent in vans.

On its site, NHTSA provides both a detailed overview and state-by-state and even county-by-county breakdowns. Here is a summary of 2005 vs. 2005 U.S. traffic fatality and accident statistics and some breakout stats.

2005 U.S. fatalities vs. 2004
	Accident type Total deaths Passenger vehicles Pedestrians Motorcycles Big truck, bus Bicycles Per 100M miles Per 100M miles (injuries) Drivers 16-20 Children 0-15 Alcohol related (BAC 0.08%) Big trucks involved Rollover crashes SUV rollover crashes	2005 43,443 31,415 4,881 4,553 1,348 784 1.47 91 3,374 2,348 16,885 5,212 10,816 2,877	2004 42,836 31,866 4,675 4,028 1,320 727 1.45 94 3,538 2,622 16,919 5,235 10,590 2,929	Change +1.4% -1.4% +4.4% +13.0% +2.1% +7.8% +1.4% -3.2% -4.6% -10.5% -0.2% -0.4% +2.1% -1.8%

To read more about car safety, click here.

Boy, these Gearlog posts really make me tired. Or maybe the Pillow Pod is lulling me to sleep. This fuzzy, super soft 15-inch square respite for the noggin comes equipped with universal speakers that connect to your iPod, non-iPod, stereo, or nearly anything that makes noise. Brought to you by Funhouse, it comes in purple, blue, pink and green--I opted for my favorite color, pink.

I tried it out with a matching pink iPod mini and was surprised at the sound this pillow projected, whether it was Britney (yeah, she used to sing!) or Cobra Starship. Much louder than its cousin, the Flower Pod, it could be heard even outside, during a softball game. And at the office, it was loud enough to annoy my cube neighbors. Bonus!

Now Blogging Molly agrees that this is a strange gadget that is absolutely impractical, but it's pretty irrestistible. After all, how can you have too many pillows? And on those long, sleepless nights, some soft tunes piping right into your ear could be just the thing to send you to dreamland.

What's great is that this gadget requires no batteries--your iPod or other musical gadget handles the power needs. It's versatile--the included connecting wire plugs into the headphone jack of your iPod, laptop or stereo. And when you just want a pillow, you can also stow away the connecting wire in a secret pouch. Bet you can't find it!  See more pictures of the Pillow Pod here. Buy it for $24.99 at withcharacter.com or pre-order it at Amazon for $17.99.

 

 

I can scarcely believe it: Gearlog launched over a year ago, on August 09, 2005 (yeah, we're a little late in noticing our own anniversary). A lot has changed in the past year. We gained a boatload of new posters with a wide range of interests and expertise, and the site has really grown in scope (not to mention in page views; ahem). And we're looking forward to October, when we'll show you a better-than-ever blog, with a redesign as well as numerous new capabilities.

I thought I'd regale you with some highlights (and lowlights) of the first year on Gearlog.

The first-ever post: Snappy New Ultralight Tablet From Toshiba. Posting pioneer Jim Louderback explains why no one will care about the Fujitsu LifeBook P1510. Did anyone care? Did you?

Post with mega-long legs: When Joel and Sascha decided to try booting XP on three different Macs, including a 20-inch iMac, a MacBook Pro, and a Mac Mini Intel Core Duo and report on the results in Windows XP on Macs: Tested, Benchmarked we were all amazed at the huge response. We'll never, never, never underestimate the intense interest of the Mac community in all things Mac again! Over 150,000 page views and still growing...

First Gearlog field trip: Drowned Alive: David Blaine and the DryPod. Jen and PJ pay a visit to Bryant Park where the submerged magician (or performance artist, or fame whore, or whatever he is) gave us his underwater reaction to the DryPod waterproof iPod case. Thumbs up from Blaine!

The most impressive multitasking feat: During the Apple WWDC keynote, Sascha monitored nine other sites that were doing real-time coverage of the event, and relayed all the best details, minute by minute. Damn, he types fast.

Gearlog attracts the ire of countless ClayMates: At the risk of making them really mad all over again (for no good reason, I might add!), Cingular's Insane American Idol Promo.

First risque post (but not the last): An April Fool's joke, Jen's Laptop Lingerie post attracts all kinds of interesting attention, causing her to consider actually marketing the product.

Thanks to our readers for helping the site to grow and prosper! Please write to us at Gearlog@ZiffDavis.com with suggestions, criticisms, and unquestioning praise. We love it all.

I guess by now, everyone should know that smoking is prohibited on commercial flights. That's why those "No Smoking" signs will be replaced by "No Mobiles" signs on many planes next year.

I, for one, don't feel the need to use my cell phone during flight, whether it's to chat (not that you really can anyway), send text messages, play games, whatever. Can't a person just enjoy the ride?

Apparently, airlines feel the same way I do, because these "No Mobiles" messages will allow a way to "police potentially annoying on-board phone chat via symbols of a mobile phone crossed out, forcing passengers to switch off during take-off and designated "night" periods."

Now all we need are "No Mobiles" signs in the movie theatres, although I'm guessing people will still leave them on!

[via Reuters]

I'm not what you call a "coffee connoisseur", but if I was I think I'd have too much fun in the mornings with the Melitta Smart Mill & Brew Coffee Maker. What differentiates this coffee maker from the rest is the fact that it gives you real-time, region-specific weather forecasts while you're brewing a pot!

I had the chance to witness this cool coffee maker at a consumer electronics event hosted by Amazon a couple of weeks ago. On the coffee maker's LCD display, you'll see the current conditions of your area, the hi/low temperature, sunrise and sunset times, chance of precipitation, and the UV Index.

Don't speak English? The Melitta Smart Mill & Brew's interface also displays French and Spanish.

Other features include:

   *Displays current time, which automatically updates for daylight savings time and after power outages

   *Easy pour reservoir with large viewing window

   *Warming plate with auto shut-off

   *Made of stainless steel

   *Hidden cord storage

To bring you weather information, Melitta utilizes the MSN Direct service without the need for an outside sensor.

Catch the Melitta Smart Mill & Brew Coffee Maker, sold exclusively through Amazon.com, in November 2006 for $199.99.