The Gadgets Page

While studying abroad in Russia, Mutated Jellyfish had a difficult time finding wi-fi, so he made himself a wi-fi antenna using an Ikea strainer and his USB Wi-Fi adapter.

• Study Abroadovich: INTERNETS!

I brought with me a USB wifi adapter, which is just like the wifi card in your computer, but it plugs in to a USB port and can be extended with a usb cable. This card gets the same range on it as my laptop’s internet wifi card, so it can’t see a bloody thing either.

Parabolic kitchenware is well known to some as not only kitchenware, but also do-it-yourself directional dish antennae with which you can augment weak signals with the use of a receiver of some sort. Equipped with my new Swedish strainer, I used some scotch tape and one of my Prismacolor markers that I don’t like to mount my USB wifi receiver as close to the apex of the parabola of the metallic mesh as I could possibly eye-ball. I then plugged it in, held it up to the window, and started refreshing my wifi networks while I pointed it in different directions until I found an acceptable orientation.

Instead of no wi-fi connections available, his increased signal strength gave him four different connections.

Materials:

• A parabolic strainer (from Ikea or Oxo)
• A USB Wi-Fi adapter (Mutated Jellyfish said that the Motorola brand didn’t work, so here’s a link to a different one: Belkin ME1001-USB Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter 802.11g at Amazon.com
• USB extension cord: Dayton USB 2.0 Extension Cable Black 3.3 ft. at Amazon.com
• Popsicle stick or anything to mount the USB adapter: Freezer Pop Sticks at Amazon.com: Mutated Jellyfish used a marker.
• Black electrical tape: 3M 49656 “Scotch” Vinyl Black Plastic Electrical Tape at Amazon.com: Mutated Jellyfish used scotch tape, but electrical tape will look nicer, hold better and last longer.

Instructions:

• Connect the USB wi-fi adapter to the USB extension cable.
• Tape the wi-fi adapter to the end of the popsicle stick.
• Mount the popsicle stick onto the strainer with the USB wi-fi adapter as close to the center of the strainer as possible. Tape it in place wrapping the electrical tape around the stick, the handle of the strainer and the USB extension cord.
• Plug in the USB extension cord into your laptop and turn the wi-fi antenna until you are able to get the best wi-fi signal.

Via: ikea hacker: Ikea strainer Wi-Fi antenna

As if talking teddy bears weren’t creepy enough, My Home 2.0 DIY has made a Teddy Ruxpin be able to speak the tweets of your friends. Here is a video showing how they did it:

This appears to be a viral marketing video for Verizon, but it doesn’t make it any less cool.

My favorite Palm I ever owned was the Tapwave Zodiac.

A full two years before the release of the Sony PSP, the Zodiac looked like it could be the perfect gaming platform. If only the game manufacturers wrote games for the Palm, the Zodiac would have had a HUGE jumpstart on both the PSP and the Nintendo DS. The only games I saw available for the Zodiac was Duke Nukem and Atari’s Adventure, but apparently there were a bunch of others: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4; Mototrax; Spyhunter; Madden NFL 2005; DOOM II; and Warfare Incorporated.

Not only was it a good gaming machine, it had EXCELLENT video conversion to play videos. Before the iPhone was even a glimmer in Steve Job’s eye, I was watching bit torrented episodes of television on my Zodiac during my lunch break every day at work. I could also listen to MP3s using their media player. When my Zodiac finally had to be sold, I truly missed the media capabilities it had and was frustrated to no end that I couldn’t recreate that experience with my Palm Treo.

Of course, the Zodiac had all the normal Palm capabilities that any other Palm device had at the time, so there was a calendar, contact manager, notes and to-do list. I loved that I could do everything that my old Palm used to do AND watch videos on it. It wasn’t until I bought my iPhone four years later that I FINALLY was able to have the same capabilities as I had with the Zodiac.

Sadly, Tapwave had serious problems. Not only did they discontinue the Zodiac in 2005, but they also stopped supporting their warranties on their older models. I had severe problems with the directional pad on my first Zodiac. I sent it in to be repaired. It took several months to come back to me. We feared that we might never get it back because the company seemed to be going out of business. When it finally returned, we sold the returned model.

It came with all this stuff:

I loved my Zodiac and I wish Tapwave could have survived long enough to become a dominating company in the gaming market instead of a fond memory and a footnote.

My brother, Dan, got a iPhone 3GS the day they came out. We were so excited to see it and compare it to our 3G phones. Both he and Mike started loading their favorite game, Peggle, at the same time. We were SHOCKED at how quickly Dan’s phone loaded the game. We were going to film it, but it looks like lots of people out there have already done that, so here’s the best video I found:

Stacey, my sister, bought herself a Palm Pre. I’m sure she’ll be happy to notice the results of this speed test by CNET:

In two out of three of the tests, the Palm Pre kicked butt. When tested against the original iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS, the Pre was a lot faster for web browsing and sending photos via email. On the power up test, however, the Palm Pre REALLY chugged, taking well over twice the time of the iPhone 3G and almost five times as long as the iPhone 3GS. The lesson of that test is: don’t turn off your Palm Pre unless you absolutely HAVE to because it will take almost two minutes to turn it back on.

For Mike and Dan, the increased processing speed for games like Peggle makes the iPhone 3GS the best choice, but for Stacey, she was excited about how quickly she can browse the web and send email. What scares ME is this report of a dog whistle noise coming from the iPhone 3GS.

• 3G S application that Apple forgot to mention: dog whistle

Boy Genius Report estimates the sound to be in the 15 kHz range (here’s a clip of a similar sound for reference), well within the iPhone’s listed range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Your personal experience with the sound may vary, as higher pitched sounds become harder to hear as you age.

A call to Apple’s tech support revealed they had no previous knowledge of this issue. They directed me to do a hard reset (holding down the Home button the Sleep button for ten seconds) but the sound remained. The representative speculated it was a hardware issue, and recommended I take the phone to my nearest Apple Store to get a replacement.

Years ago, I owned a Palm E2. It had an annoying whistle every time I turned on the screen. The store let me exchange it for another one, but the second one developed the SAME whistle within a month (but after the two week exchange period at the electronics store). Palm wouldn’t take it back or exchange it for another one and NEVER admitted that there might be a problem, despite the multiple complaints from MANY E2 owners. It was so bad that some people went to drastic measures to get the high pitched squeal to go away.

• Protichnoctem: Palm squeal/whine/noise repair

Until I can get a final verdict on whether the iPhone 3GS has a consistent problem with a high pitched whine, I’ll wait to get the new one.

The fourth of July is right around the corner, so get ready for your Independence Day BBQ the way The Gadgets Page would celebrate it!

The best charcoal grill: Meco Stand Up Red Charcoal Grill

Mike and I bought a grill similar to this one at a garage sale about six years ago. The previous owner had used it once. We could still see the single hamburger mark on the grill. After a good cleaning and tightening of the bolts on the legs, it has lasted us this entire time. Now that it’s time for its retirement, I’m partial to just buying the exact same one to replace it. Ours is a little different because it has a little fold-down table on the right side, but everything else is the same. I can’t count how many wonderful cookouts we have had on our little grill.

Best BBQ Tool Set: Mr. Bar-B-Q 18-Piece Stainless-Steel Tool Set

I thought this would be a great set because after I cleaned the tools, I would be able to put them all away in the case and keep them clean and organized. Unfortunately, the case was lost long ago. All that remains of this set are the tongs, the burger flipper and three of the corn on the cob holders. It’s about time we bought another set of BBQ tools and I’m going to go with the same kit as we did last time. I’m going to keep everything in its case, I promise!

Best argument ender: Digital BBQ Fork

The biggest argument while we’re cooking is whether the meat is “done” or not. I don’t own this gadget, but I imagine it would end all of these arguments. I can see them play out like this:

“I don’t think it’s done. You should give it another five minutes.”

“But that will make it all dry and gross!”

“It’s not safe to eat right now.”

“It’s just fine. I’ll risk a little e.coli to have a tender burger.”

“Let’s let the Digital BBQ Fork decide!”

“See! I TOLD you it was done!!”

Of course, it my fantasies, I’m always right, so the Digital BBQ Fork would agree with me. In reality, I’d probably have to wait the five minutes just like Mike said.

Best BBQ apron for a gageteer: Q-Labs Top Secret Spy Gadgets BBQ Apron

I don’t own this apron, but I want it. What gadgeteer wouldn’t want this awesome apron for both BBQ’s AND science experiments!

In the end, you don’t need a bunch of gadgets to have a great BBQ. You just need some good friends and a bit of good food. Have a happy holiday and don’t burn yourself on the grill!