The Gadgets Page

Back in December of last year, Jason Kottke wrote about how much he feels about his cell phones. You can see it here:

• Remembrance of Phones Past (kottke.org)

In 2001, I spoke to my father on this Kyocera smartphone from 8th Avenue, having run up the block from work just in time to see the first tower fall. I don’t have to go into all the emotional baggage which that implies.

Since the time began that we were never to be found without our mobile phones (or whichever portable devices, for that matter), I feel that somehow all of the memories of the current chapter of my life are being constantly averaged out and inextricably linked to the phone that I’m using.

The Kyocera smartphone was the same one I was using when the the towers fell. I remember my client calling me on it, worried that I would be glued to the television instead of helping him with his move. Terrorists or not, he was going to homeless in 14 days if we didn’t close on his deal and I wasn’t about to let that happen.

A couple of months before that, I used to visit the phone at Office Max every few days. It was the epitome of smartphones at the time and I really wanted it. When I finally earned enough to buy it, I went to the familiar office supply store. They were closing them out and the only one left was the same display I had been fondling for the last month. I used to joke that I was going to visit my phone. I had no idea how true that was going to be.

Now, the idea of buying a phone at Office Max seems silly. They only sell the lame phones. Even going to the cell phone store to buy one seems strange, since I have bought my last two phones at the Apple Store.

I’m surprised at how much my perceptions of what is normal have changed over just a few years. I have gone through so many phones over the last ten years, each one offering me more than I had dreamed of the year before. I can remember so many times in my life, just based on what phone I had. It’s funny how our lives can be defined by our gadgets.

I was pretty excited to finally get the Sennheiser Pc121 In-Ear Mono-Aural Headset in the mail last week. Personally I had been looking for a small footprint headset I could use for Skype conversations, and this looks like a winner.

The headset came in a retail package, which I can’t stand because you have to use a blow torch to open it, and I just want to get to the device. To my surprise, the packaging just opened right up, a big win in my view.

This PC 121 model only has audio plugs (one green and one pink), and fortunately my laptop had the correct receptors. The package didn’t include an adapter from audio connector to USB, however I have an adapter from a Plantronics headset, and it seemed to work just fine. I would suggest Sennheiser include this simple inexpensive adapter with the headset, because not all laptops have audio connectors, but almost all come with a USB adapter.

A couple of things really excited me about this headset. The first thing was the over the ear clip like a cell phone wireless headset. No bulky over the head brackets and big ear pieces. Next was the very long wiring. This allowed me to move around while talking.

The big test would be whether the headset was recognized by Skype. That seemed to work with no problem. I could hear really well, and talking with this headset was comfortable most of the time.

Figuring a good test would be using the headset for my podcast, The CouchCast, I plugged it in and recorded the show. Here is a link to the show. The podcast is recorded live, and usually over Skype. In the past I’ve used a Logitech headset, and a Sony headset. But both of these are large and not very mobile.

The unit is light, small, has inline volume and mute controls, and the ASUS EeePC seemed to recognize the device with no problems. The boom mic is movable up and down, allowing you to adjust for comfort and clarity.

I tested the headset in several scenarios, and on several machines with Linux, Windows and Mac operating systems. All of the tests worked well, and none of the machines had any problems recognizing the device.

The only issue I had using this device, was the ear piece staying in place, at least in my ear. I couldn’t get it to stay put, even with the foam cover. It seemed the piece that goes over the ear either kept moving and pulling the piece out, or it simply would not stay in my ear. I spent most of the time holding it so I could hear and talk. Your experience may differ, and again, it could just be my ear, but I have several other devices similar to this and I have no problems keeping it in place.

It’s a great headset, and I really like that it’s small, and easily fits in my computer bag, which is what I have been looking for. This product easily meets my needs. I would recommend the headset to anyone looking for a small, light, portable device, that is easy to use and works on most platforms.

Photographs taken with film fade with age, and even negatives yellow and become brittle. Digital photos, on the other hand, retain the same brilliant color and clarity every time you pull them up on the computer screen—until your hard disk crashes and you instantly lose every photo you’ve ever taken.

Yes, digital photography has its share of disasters, and that leads some people to distrust it, or even to claim that film lasts longer than digital. But the good news is that your digital pictures can last forever if you take good care of them. Here are 10 rules to follow to make sure you don’t lose pictures to a digital catastrophe:

1. Use a quality memory card.

Start with the “film” your pictures are stored on: the memory card. While the cheap memory cards offer a huge capacity for a small price, it’s best to pay a bit more and get a quality card. A card from a good manufacturer will have less risk of data corruption or other failures. Sandisk, Lexar, and Kingston are good choices.

• Tip: Buy two smaller cards instead of one larger one: for example, two 1GB cards instead of one 2GB card. This will often save you money, and you’ll also have a hedge against data loss—one corrupt card will only affect half of your photos.

2. Get those photos off that memory card.

You might have a huge memory card in your camera that can store thousands of photos, but you should still consider the memory card temporary storage—a memory card can fail, or can be lost or stolen with the camera. Whenever you finish taking a batch of pictures or return from a trip, use a card reader or USB cable to transfer the pictures to the computer.

3. Don’t delete photos in the camera.

Your camera probably has a convenient “Delete” or “Trash” button. I suggest you never use it. There are three reasons for this:

• You avoid accidentally deleting the wrong picture, or accidentally using the “delete all” option.
• I find it helpful to keep all of my photos, since even the “mistakes” could turn out to be the only photo of something important, or a “happy accident” that is good in its own way.
• Can you really determine which photos are good or bad by looking at your camera’s tiny screen? It’s much better to transfer them all to the computer, then decide what to keep.

4. Don’t delete photos at all.

For that matter, why delete photos at all? I keep every photo I take with my digital cameras: the great shots, the out-of-focus shots, the mistakes, the duplicates, everything. Even the bad ones are useful years later for documenting my vacations and remembering what I saw, for seeing how my photographic technique has improved, or for seeing whether a camera is working as well as it used to. This also ensures that I never delete the wrong photo. If there’s a gap in the numbering on my original photo files, I know something’s missing.

If you don’t have room for all of your photos on your hard drive, remember that hard drives are cheap. You can also archive the old ones to CD or DVD media.

5. Keep a Backup. Or two.

Did I mention that hard drives are cheap? I recommend keeping two copies of all of your original photos at all times. I have a daily backup script that copies the new files to an external drive. Be sure to use a separate drive or another computer as your backup, to avoid losing photos in a drive crash.

If you want to guarantee you won’t lose photos, you should also have an off-site backup—use an online backup service, upload them to a server, or just drop off a few DVD-ROMs at a friend’s house. That way your photos are protected even if you have a house fire or other disaster.

6. Use generic photo formats.

Most cameras store images in the standard JPEG format, which should be easily readable for many years. However, higher-end cameras usually have a RAW format option. While raw images are great for post-processing and often beat JPEG in quality, keep in mind that all raw formats are proprietary, and you may have trouble opening these files 10 years from now. It’s best to save a standard JPEG or TIFF version of each photo, even if you use RAW. Some cameras can save a JPEG file along with the RAW file, giving you the best of both worlds.

• Tip: If you are serious about your photography and insist on using RAW format, keep a backup copy of the software you use to process the files. You might need to install it on an antique PC 10 years from now to access an old photo.

7. Don’t edit original photos.

If you use a photo, you’ll often resize, crop, or otherwise process it. This is fine, but the first thing you should do when editing a photo is save it to a new file. Keep the original, unprocessed, full-resolution file along with your edited version. This will make it easier to use the photo for a different purpose later, and it also avoids the costly mistake of overwriting a photo with a messed-up version. Back up the edited version too.

• Tip: Unless you’re very careful and use special software, overwriting a photo will erase the EXIF data that the camera stored with the photo. This is your record of the date and time the picture was taken and the camera settings used.

8. Don’t trust someone else with your photos.

Online photo sharing sites like Flickr are great for sharing photos, but avoid the temptation to use them for storing photos. Don’t trust an online service with the only copy of your photos, or even the backup copy.

Online services might go out of business, and they don’t guarantee that your data will be safe—especially if you forget to pay the bill. They also almost always process the photo (resizing, etc.) when you upload it. Use these services to share pictures, but don’t expect them to last forever there.

9. Test and maintain your backup files.

A backup copy is no good if it doesn’t work, or if you lose access to it. Here are a few tips for making sure your backups will back you up:

• Take a look at your backup files regularly, and make sure you can load a few photos.
• If you back up to a hard disk, check the disk for errors regularly.
• If you back up to CD-R or DVD-R, use quality backup media.
• Test CD or DVD backups every month or two.
• Once every year or two, copy CD or DVD backups to brand new discs. Media has a lifespan potentially as low as 5 years.
• If you get a new computer, be sure to move the photos from your old computer, and make sure you still have two copies.
• If CD or DVD formats are going away in favor of some kind of new Super Blue-HD discs, copy your files to the new media as soon as it’s practical.

10. Label, organize, and sort your photos.

If you follow the above rules for 20 years, you’ll end up with thousands of great photos—and now you have a different problem. Finding a few pictures of “that one time we went to Yellowstone” could be virtually impossible when you have thousands of photos stored in a disorganized mess of folders.

At the very least, do what I do: store each batch of photos in a separate folder with a descriptive name beginning with the date. Here are some examples:

• 2006-05-10 Yellowstone Park
• 2006-08-22 Testing new Camera
• 2006-09-01 Elvis sighting at Caesar’s Palace
• 2006-12-26 Opening Christmas presents

I avoid renaming the photo files, since I consider them my “negatives” and want a complete record of the pictures I’ve taken. Instead, I store them in folders like the above, then group those into larger folders for each year. This makes it easy to find particular photos, and the pictures are in convenient groups for archiving to DVD-ROMs every few months.

You may even want to move the best photos (or the ones you’ve chosen to print) into a separate folder within each folder, especially if you’re like me and you have more “misses” than “hits”.

If you want to go one step further, you can catalog your photos with a program like ACDSee, which lets you store a title, description, keywords, and rating for every photo. That would make it even easier to find what you’re looking for, if you can find the time to label and rate each picture.

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If you have been worrying about all those batteries you use every year on your remote control, here is an eco-friendly option for you, the wind-up remote control:

• Wind-Up Remote Control at Gizoo

Product Specifications

• 30 revolutions gives a full charge
• Can control up to 6 different devices
• Product Dimensions: (H) 22cm x (L) 5cm x (D) 3.5cm

My biggest problem with this product is that I don’t use that many batteries on my remote control. In fact, I only change them once every few years. I’m not going to hand crank a remote control just to save myself the bother of changing batteries. Honestly, the remote control isn’t a big power hog, so I’m not going to worry about it.

As one reader said:

Had one for over a year. A full windup is right. Fully wound for 30 turns lasts approx 1 hour if you’re lucky and don’t channel hop or change volume. I’ve gone back to eco-unfriendly battery operated controllers because at least they work. Nice idea but so poorly implemented.
Adrian, UK

Via: Pocket-Lint: The remote control goes Eco

Just when I thought I had heard it all, Gordon warns me of a new email exploit that looks like it’s from CNN and pretends to load Flash on your computer. You can see the whole story here:

• getluky.net » Blog Archive » Almost got owned by a fake CNN today. =[

However, for all the cues that were available, the writer of this exploit put in an amount of effort into crafting an authentic-feeling damnit-I-have-to-upgrade-Flash-again experience for an average Internet user that nearly fooled me. If it hadn’t been for my tendency to give up on content rather than install yet another Flash upgrade, I might have been caught hook, line, and sinker.

How many times have you chosen okay on a window without even reading it? I know I have MANY times. I probably would have fallen for this one.

One step you can take to avoid an exploit like this is to go directly to Adobe’s website and install the latest version of Flash right now:

• Adobe Flash Player Download Center

Then when something suggests that you might not have the latest version, you will KNOW that you do.

Michael Moncur has been having trouble with the GPS feature on his brand new 3G iPhone. Compared to his old iPhone, the maps feature isn’t nearly as useful.

• figby.com » My iPhone Thinks I’m in Minnesota

Despite not having a GPS chip, [my old] iPhone would do an admirable job of finding my current location using cellphone towers, WiFi, and some sort of dark magic.

Although this was good, I was really looking forward to using the maps on the new iPhone 3G with true GPS. I brought a new 3G iPhone home last week, gleefully clicked on the Maps and “locate me” buttons, and instantly found myself on a map centered on Wayzata, Minnesota. I’m sure it’s a fine place, but unfortunately, I’m 1300 miles away in Utah.

I have had the exact same problem with my iPhone and I’m surprised that there is nothing in the Apple support pages about it. I guess that’s the price I pay for being an early adopter, but honestly, all those cool iPhone apps that use my location are USELESS when the phone thinks I’m in another state.

Update 09-01-08: After playing with it for two weeks, I’ve decided that Mike was right. It IS the 3G tower interfering with the GPS signal. When I turn 3G off, the iPhone can find EXACTLY where I am within a few seconds. All iPhone apps that use my location (like RunKeeper) use the correct location when I turn off 3G.

Last January at CES, we saw a booth for Mr. Clock Radio. Although entertaining, I never thought he might become available in the U.S., but it looks like you can now buy Mr. Clock Radio on Amazon.com, so I thought I would share what we saw at CES.

He looked like a fun little toy, like something you would give to your father-in-law to make him laugh. I’m glad Mr. Clock Radio finally made it to the states!

The excellent Ed Grabianowski at io9 has the five reasons you don’t have a personal jet pack yet: Mad Engineering: Five Reasons You Don’t Have a Personal Jet Pack Yet

• Humans are not designed to fly

• Thrust burns a lot of fuel

• They are dangerous

• Rockets and jets are really, really loud

For me, the most important one was the last one:

• Inefficiency: There’s really no point in flying one person around. Pretty much any practical use you can come up with for a jet pack can be done with a lower tech, cheaper and more efficient solution. This is the main reason the other problems haven’t been overcome by awesome engineers yet — beyond looking cool and flying around, we don’t really need jet packs.

Here is a video from The History Channel about the Bell Rocket Belt and its place in history:

In the end, I realize that I won’t ever have that flying car I always wanted (and was PROMISED) since childhood. I have the option of taking all my nourishment from a dehydrated food tablet like George Jetson did, but his flying car is still out of my reach.

Back in January at CES, we showed you Ion’s prototype for a professional drum set:

• Gadgets Page » CES 2008: Professional Rock Band Drums

Ion has announced that it is accepting pre-orders for Drum Rocker, which will sell for $300 a set. There are additional cymbals that you can purchase to add to the set, but that’s the price for the base set.

You can see them in action here with Dan Amrich of the Official XBox Magazine, who was nice enough to play the drums while I filmed.

The two biggest questions I have been getting about these drums are WHEN will they be available and will they be able to be used as “real” drums. According to the Drum Rocker FAQ file from Ion, here are the answers:

If I pre-order on this website, when will my Drum Rocker be shipped?

Drum Rocker is expected to ship mid-September.

I want to use Drum Rocker as a real electronic drum set. What will I need to be able to do that?

While there are many “drum brains” that accept the 1/4″ outputs of the Drum Rocker drum pads and cymbals, Ion recommends using the Alesis DM5 drum module with Drum Rocker.

The DM5 is a professional drum module with (12) 1/4″ trigger inputs and more than 500 professional quality sounds. Its trigger inputs are well suited to handle the output levels of the Drum Rocker pads. If you decide to use a DM5 with Drum Rocker, you’ll also likely want to purchase a kick pad and regular kick pedal, which will let you take advantage of the increased control that the DM5 offers. The drum pedal that comes with Drum Rocker can then be used as a hi-hat pedal.

I am so glad that Ion made Drum Rocker compatible with drum machines so they can double as a game controller and real drums. Here’s to learning to play and playing to learn. I think Rock Band is the best catalyst for music education that we’ve had in a long time.

Via: Ion’s $300 “Drum Rocker” premium drum kit for Rock Band unveiled – Engadget