CherryOS 1.2 Update

I have just gotten an email from the code-stealers over at CherryOS.com. CherryOS is a program that lets you run Mac OS X on your PC by emulating a Mac CPU. There have been lots of reports that they ave simply taken all of their code from an open-source Mac emulator named PearPC. The email says that they have released CherryOS 1.2. Here is the body of the email:

CherryOS 1.2 Release

What's New in Version 1.2

* UPDATES
* * Improved CPU Performance (over 300% faster)
* * Improved System Performance (over 300% faster)
* * Core - Rewrite Improved Stability

* BUG FIXES
* * Install Error - Registering Fonts
* * Run Time Error - Runtime Error 374 \'VB.UserControl\'
* * System Error - Dual Processor Compatible

* NOTICES
* * CherryOS will now be available at $99.95
* * All existing customers will be upgraded free
* * Shared Drive Disabled
* * Shared Drive will be replaced by Drag and Drop Option in 1.3

* NEXT PLANNED RELEASE 4.11.2005
* * Improved Performance
* * Samba Integration
* * Network Bridge
* * Sound Enabled

I highly doubt any of those thing will really work s advertised, as a matter of fact, some of those additions in the new version were supposed to be in version 1.0!

ExtremeTech's $6,500 Killer Gaming Rig

ExtremeTech has built their killer gaming rig of 2005! The total cost of the system is a credit-card-crushing $6,500. The box has two ASUS Extreme N6800 Ultras (A.K.A. PCI Express GeForce 6800 Ultra ragged to the edge by clocking the core at 425MHz) running side-by-side in SLI mode. Its CPU is a AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 (best gaming chip you can get) and for RAM it has two 512MB TwinX XMS 3200LLPRO DDR400s. All of this and the system is water-cooled!

Refurbished Kodak 5MP Digital Camera: $179.00

ComputerGeeks has the refurbished Kodak CX7530 5MP Digital Camera for $179.00, $50.00 off their last post. This camera features 3x optical and 5x digital zoom. A one year warranty is included, and shipping is around $7.00. Go here for product page.

Website of the Day!

Today's Website of the Day!


Google PageRank Calculator

Google PageRank Calculator tells you the PageRank (importance) of any site on the web. This is helpful because the only other way to access PageRank info is to use the Google Toolbar with (gosh!) IE.

UPDATE: Teja, in the comments section of this post, points out other ways to access the Google PageRank info without using IE! Try this site or this site.

UPDATE: Matt, again in the comments section of this post, points out this Firefox toolbar that gives you all of this info: Google PageRank, Google Category, Alexa popularity ranking, Alexa incoming links, Alexa related links and backward links from Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

Also in the comments section of this post, Stephen W. writes:

I have a Firefox bookmark that points to "http://www.googlecommunity.com/scripts/pagerank.php?url=%s" with the keyword set as "pagerank." This way, I can type "pagerank theurlhere" and get the pagerank result, just as I type "google keyword" for my google search. Handy little tool.

Review of Sony PSP

The Register has a review of the PSP. The reviewer loves the nice, big screen and the device's slick design. The fact the PSP has two MIPS R4000 processors inside, both running at 333MHz, lets the thing play games with very high quality graphics. Here is what the reviewer says about the screen:

The fascia of the PSP is dominated by the 4.3in TFT screen and I can pretty much guarantee that you've never seen a display like this on a hand-held device before. The screen has a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, making it ideal for watching movies as well as playing games, with a resolution of 480 x 272 and a full 24-bit colour depth. The screen also incorporates Sony's X-Black coating, so the image is amazingly bright and vivid. The image produced by the PSP display is just breathtaking, and I've yet to show this device to anyone that hasn't been impressed by it.

The PSP's abilities to play movies songs, show pictures, and wirelessly play games over WiFi are all added bonuses.

Really, the only problems the review sights is the 3.5 hour battery life and that the PSP too easily gets fingerprint on it.

Logitech Wingman Attack II USB Joystick: $14.99 Shipped

I usually don't cover game things, but here goes: SurplusComputers has the new, retail-boxed Logitech Wingman Attack II USB Joystick for $14.99 (very good price for an okay game controller). This device is Mac and PC compatible, and shipping is Free. Go here for product page.

Sony's PSP Video Download Site: PSP Connect

Sony has just put up their new website where you can get MPEG-4 videos to put on your PSP. All the videos appear to be available free of charge. Going over the tutorial it looks like all you have to do to watch videos on your PSP is to download them, place them on your formatted memory card, and watch! Very cool.

[Via digg]

Apple Settles With "Tiger" Leaker

CNET is reporting that one of the men that leaked Apple's next-gen "Tiger" OS , Doug Steigerwald, has reached a settlement with Apple. It did not discuss the details of that settlement, though it does involve money being paid to Apple, according to Steigerwald. The article says that Doug Steigerwald "disseminated {Tiger] over the Internet, and thousands of unauthorized copies of Apple's software were illegally distributed to the public." Apple has said "While Apple will always protect its innovations, it is not our desire to send students to jail, We are pleased that Mr. Steigerwald has taken responsibility for his actions and that we can put this lawsuit behind us."

Pre-order Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" from Amazon

I had reported earlier about Amazon having a pre-order page for Apple's soon-to-be-released "Tiger" OS but Amazon soon took the page down. Now it's back up, you can pre-order "Tiger" for $129.99! This time (and unlike the first time Amazon had this page up) it has a description from the manufacture!

UPDATE: Just as the rumored April 1st release of "Tiger" approaches: Amazon has added a $35 rebate to the "Tiger" product page bringing the total price down to $94.99.

UPDATE: Tom, in the comments section of this post, points out that the Amazon order page is not accepting orders anymore.

Website of the Day!

Today's Website of the Day!

Google Tutor & Advisor

Google Tutor & Advisor gives very detailed info about Google's latest technologies, it also teaches you how to get the most out of them.

Digital Paper is Coming: Intel Invests in E Ink

Digital paper that changes it's content magically is on its way: The Register is running a story about Intel has pumping cash into E Ink. The investment amount was not made public. From the article:

E Ink's technology has already been licensed by Philips, which has used it in a non-volatile 'electronic paper' display. That unit, in turn, was chosen by Sony as the basis for the Librié 1000EP [top] electronic book it launched in Japan a year ago. The display's resolution is 600 x 800, but it operates at 170dpi.

Viking 512MB Secure Digital Flash Card: $25.95 Shipped AFTER REBATE

Buy.com has the Viking 512MB Secure Digital Flash Card for $25.95, after a $15.00 mail-in rebate. Shipping is Free, and this rebate expires 3/31/05. Click image for product page.

Apacer 512MB All in One MP3 Player/Radio/Voice Recorder/Pen Drive: $85.00

SupermediaStore has the Apacer 512MB AS820 All in One MP3 Player/Radio/Voice Recorder/Pen Drive (wow, it can do all that!) for $85.00 (the iPod shuffle is $99). Use coupon code "apacermp3" to get the discounted price. This deal expires 3/23/05. Go here for product page.

Google's Icon for World Water Day 2005

I did not even know World Water Day 2005 existed, but Google sure does (clicking link brings you to Google's home page where you can see their World Water Day 2005 logo)!

Playlist Review of iBoom (boom box with iPod dock)

Playlist's review of the iBoom gives the iPod compatible boom box three, out of five, stars. The writer of the review, Dan Frakes, likes the iBoom simply because it's a boom box and it's one of the best ways to listen to your iPod outdoors. The review says that the iBoom's built-in FM tuner is very good and picks up radio stations very nicely and with very high-quality. There are some problems with the iBoom, though. The iBoom's buttons for controlling the radio are "funky" to use and it's volume buttons don't really work right. Oh ya, I almost forgot: the review says in italicized type:

Note: There have been reports around the Web of problems with the iBoom’s electrical system. Early iBoom models exhibited an issue where using the unit on AC power while batteries are installed—a difficult feat, as explained below—could cause the batteries to leak. According to a DLO spokesperson, current models have an internal protection circuit to prevent such problems. Consumers who purchased an early unit and have experienced this problem should contact DLO for a replacement.

Overall Dan Frakes says that "it’s such a unique product that even with these quirks, it’s a lot of fun to take to the beach or park—or just for hanging out in the back yard. In fact, if I had one word to describe the iBoom/BoomBag combo, it’s that: fun."

More Realistic Google X

After all of that news about Google X (a JavaScript based Google home page that mimiced Apple's Dock feature in OS X), and the fact that Google as mysteriously taken it down, a lot of people have been making there own modifications to Google's X code. A couple of days ago Roger Roelofs emailed me with the code to the best modifications to Google's code yet: Google X 2. So I am now hosting the new Google X for him.

Google X 2 has a much more realistic feel to it compared to what it is trying to copy: the Dock feature in Apple's Mac OS X. The developer has told me that he has tried to write the code for Google X 2 so that people who wanted to learn can follow it. One last note: Google X 2 does not work correctly in IE5 for Mac.

Website of the Day!

Today's Website of the Day!


Geek Tech Deals

Geek Tech Deals lists lots of, well, tech deals in a organized fashion. Thanks to Carlos Gabaldon for the link!

Thanks, Merci, Obrigado, Grazie, Dank!

My Google X Mirror has really caught-on! Thanks to all of these sites for linking to my Google X Mirror: Zgeek, linkbunnies.org, Gear Live, The JavaScript Weblog, Google Weblog, Tech Links, The Daily Tech by techferret, The Daily Rundown, Online Marketing Blog, UNEASYsilence, RavingMadmen, Jon Aquino's Mental Garden, deoxymoron, Heads up!, skezblog, gocool, and many many more. Also, a bunch of forums linked to my Google X Mirror. Thanks!

UPDATE: Stephen W., in the comments section of the post, points out all of the del.icio.us members that are linking to this site (making this site one of the popular sites for a period of time)! Thanks!

Firefox (TV?) Ad

Eric Edwards has made a nice Firefox video! Wonder if it's going on TV?

[Via Digg]

Webster's Millennium 2005 Encyclopedia: $4.99 Shipped

SurplusComputers has the Webster's Millennium 2005 Encyclopedia Software for $4.99. This software is PC compatible, and shipping is Free. Go here for product page.

New 64-bit Xeon MP Coming Soon

The Register is reporting that Intel's new 64-bit Xeon MP processor (code-named "Potomac") will ship on 29 March! The 8MB of L3 cache (up from the 4MB offered by the current top-of-the-range model), 667MHz bus speed, and clock speed of 3.33GHz will make this a very nice chip, it will probably cost thousands of dollars though. The specs of the motherboard this thing will ship with are equally impressive: the motherboard, the E8500, will support 400MHz DDR 2 SDRAM with ECC (ECC is error-correcting memory, it's cool). It will also provide a PCI Express bus.

Mac mini Hacks

Mac Mini Hacks writes "The Mac mini is to be opened with a Putty knife as instructed by Apple however this method is leaving people's Mac minis in damaged conditions and in many cases the Mac mini would have scratches, seperation gaps, and other scars. Until Apple releases the Mac Putty Knife an alternative way is discussed at Mac Mini Hacks about opening the Mac mini without the putty knife, instead using network cabling to loop around the hooks through the vented slots on the side releasing each tab for easy opening."

Mac Mini Hacks appears to be a new website but the admin seems to know his way around the guts of a mini.

UPDATE: Clint Ecker in the comments alerted me to this thing that can also be used to open your mini.

Modified Google X

Somebody created a modified version of Google X. Google X was a special Google home page, made just two days ago, that let you move around all the different Google services using a navigation system like Mac OS X's Dock (Google X has since been removed from Google's servers). The new modified version emulates the Dock even better. Also, it is worth noting that this modified Google home page does not work in my favorite web browser: Safari.

Revised Blog Design

I have just updated the design of Tech info Blog! The new design, the product of two weeks work, is an optimized, fast-loading and more organized version of the old one. Here are some of the improvements to it:

1. No more blogroll! The blogroll I used to keep track of a portion of this sites links has been replaced by normal HTML links. Because there is no JavaScript used to load the links everything is much smoother now. Also, I have added a bunch of links to the list.

2. I have integrated that cool new ad type into my blog (look at the "Ad Links" box in the sidebar).

3. Featured items and cool items section! If you look at the middle of the sidebar you will see two new headings: Featured and Techni-Cool. Under the Featured heading I will be posting interesting articles from either this blog or other news sites. Under the Techni-Cool heading I will be posting interesting links and products.

Google X: The Coolest Way to Access Google Services

Google has released so many awesome things lately but, unfortunately, it is hard to access all of them. I present the latest project from the Google Labs: Google X (more info) . Google X is based on the Apple dock, I believe, and lets you access most of Google's top features easily and in a very cool way. Keep it up GoogleGuys!

UPDATE: Google has taken Google X down. Wonder if it is because they are afraid of Apple getting mad at them because it works almost exactly like OS X's dock. I have grabbed the source code for this from (ironically enough) Google's cache and will soon be posting my own version of it here.

UPDATE: Using the Google cache of the Google X page I have been able to setup a fully functional mirror of it!

Linspire Released Linspire (you know, LIndows) 5.0

The Register is running a story about the new Linspire 5.0, the easy to use Linux. It says that that the new Linspire "boasts 1,200 improvements across every core application." That is amazing! I would guess most of the improvements are to the core code. A review of the new Linux flavor is mostly positive, the only real problems were that fact that you needed to buy the software for playing DVDs separate and that the audio did not work. Linspire says that the sound issue, along with a host of other kinks, has been rectified since the review. And also to Linspire's defense:
DVD playback software is just $9.95 for European users.

UPDATE: An email I got just minutes ago informs me that since I am a CNR member I get this new Linux flavor for free!! Yay!

Flash-based MP3 Players Will Sell More Compared to Hard-Drive-based Until 2009

The Register is reporting that Apple made a very good decision to enter the flash-based MP3 player market with the iPod shuffle: In 2004, some 27m Flash players shipped, almost three times more than the 9.8m HDD-based units released into the marketplace. But, Apple also made a very very good decision by entering the hard-drive-based MP3 player market: Come 2009, however, the proportions will have fallen closer to parity: 75.8m Flash players to 56.2m HDD-based units. Also, the profit made on hard-drive-based MP3 players is much higher then on little flash-based things.

SimpleTech Bonzai Xpress USB 2.0 Flash Drive 512MB: $29.99 AFTER REBATE

Buy.com has the SimpleTech Bonzai Xpress USB 2.0 Flash Drive (512MB) for $44.99 then there is a $15 rebate that brings the price down to $29.99. This drive is plug-and-play and works with Windows and Mac so you could plug it into any computer without having to install software. Here is a review of the SimpleTech Bonzai Xpress USB 2.0 Flash Drive. Click above product image for product page.

Wear Your iPod shuffle In Your Shirt

iPod Accessory of the day: Shuffle Shirt! Here is how it works:
On the sleeve of the shirt (the left one, I believe) there is a little pocket you slip an iPod shuffle into, once you iPod is in there it is held tight and snug so that it won't move around while your running. They say it's an alliterative to an armband but I would say the armband would probably be better because you could wear it with any shirt. The Shuffle Shirt costs $20 for all sizes.

Magicstor 2.2 Gigabyte CompactFlash Type II MicroDrive: $67.00

ComputerGeeks offers the Magicstor 2.2 Gigabyte CompactFlash Type II MicroDrive for $67.00. The device operates at 4200 RPM and works with digital cameras, laptops, and PDA's. It's among the lowest prices I have seen to date. Go here for product page.

Apple Buying Into the "I Bought a iPod Then I Switched to Mac" Thing?

Apple has said that they don't think that people who buy iPods are going to buy Macs. Apple is notorious for not actually thinking what they say. This page asks people if they switched to the Mac after buying an iPod, is Apple now aware of the "I Bought a iPod Then I Switched to Mac" thing or is it just that they want to find out if people really are switching to the Mac after buying an iPod? Only time will tell.

Week in Review

• Extreme Example of Quartz Extreme in Apple's "Tiger"
• Apple's Developer Tools Hint at Dual-core G5 & Quad Mac
• Special Google Home Pages?
• Apple's Mac mini vs. a Windows Based VIA Mini-ITX System
• PearPC and CherryOS Compared: CherryOS is Useless!
• Will iPod shuffle Firmware Upgrade Fix Problems?
• Google Giving Gmail Invites Out from Their Home Page?
• iTunes Phone Will Really Be Released This Thursday!
• Pre-order Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" from Amazon
• Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Elite Executive Edition Keyboard & Mouse: $59.99 (Shipped!)
• Today's Website of the Day!
• Today's Website of the Day!
• Exact Color of the iPod shuffle Green
• CherryOS: Run Mac OS X on Your PC
• Tiger vs. Longhorn
• Share Movies Like You Share Music Through iTunes
• Asteroid Evidence?
• iTunes Phone Will Really Be Released This Thursday!
• Behind-The-Head Collapsible Stereophones: Free AFTER REBATES
• Online Computer Show
• 
  

Extreme Example of Quartz Extreme in Apple's "Tiger"

Check out a very cool potential way to watch RSS feeds using Quartz Extreme in the oh-so-soon-to-be-released "Tiger".

Apple's Developer Tools Hint at Dual-core G5 & Quad Mac

Dual-core (and dual dual-core which equals quad processors) Apple G5s could be on their way because Apple's new release of CHUD (an Apple developer tool) has suport for up to four CPUs. Very cool! And it is very likely to happen because there is already a rumored dual-core G5 chip.

Special Google Home Pages?

I found these weird Google home pages in my server referral logs, the really weird thing is that they are hosted on Google's servers! This proves that even after going public Google is still having fun.

Google Bork Edition Home Page

Google Hacker (?) Edition Home Page - I believe that this page is in "hacker language." If you speak (or type?) hacker can you confirm my suspicions and maybe even translate the page in the comments section of this post?

Apple's Mac mini vs. a Windows Based VIA Mini-ITX System

ExtremeTech has a comparison of Apple's small Mac mini and a slightly-larger Windows based Machine, the Casetronic Travla. The Casetronic Travla is about the same price as a Mac mini when both are configured with the same specs (in the roundup both are about $600 and both have a 1.2GHz CPU). The Mac mini is about a inch shorter then the Casetronic Travla, and in my view a lot more stylish. The comparison shows that the Mac mini has better, higher quality, DVD playback, is quieter when idle (louder when the CD drive is spinnen'), and can encode music about twice as fast as it's Windows counter-part. And the Man mini includes Apple's software suite. The Casetronic Travla gets totally owned.

PearPC and CherryOS Compared: CherryOS is Useless!

(above: screenshots from PearPC running Mac OS X on my Windows PC)

I am sure most of you know about PearPC, an open source software program that emulates a Mac CPU so you can run Mac OSs (including the very cool OS X) on a Windows computer (or any OS you can compile the software for). Then there is CherryOS, another program that emulates a Mac CPU and lets you run Mac OS X. There have been reports that CherryOS is simply a professional-looking version of the open source CherryOS. Being a Mac and PC user I have the Mac OS X install CDs reqired for installing both PearPC and CherryOS so I have played around with CherryOS and it would let me run my Mac OS X upgrade CD but not my full install CD (I thought it was because the full install CD was Mac specific)! So that was the end for CherryOS. I had never used PearPC before but I thought I would see if it was only CherryOS that was giving me a problem with my CDs. Sure enough PearPC worked great! I am now running Mac OS X "Panther" full screen on my Windows computer, I can even connect to the internet from my fake Mac. Looks like the people who tried to make PearPC look more "professional" also made it more buggy.

Will iPod shuffle Firmware Upgrade Fix Problems?

Those of you who have read my review of Apple's iPod shuffle know that I had some problems involving audio books not playing correctly on my iPod shuffle and that I thought maybe Apple could fix those problems in firmware. Well, Apple has release a new firmware upgrade for iPods that includes updates to the iPod shuffle. It is supposed to fix "software stability." I will get back to you guys with info about if it helps.

UPDATE: Sorry for the delay. I am sorry to report I have seen no improvements in my iPod shuffle after the firmware upgrade.

Google Giving Gmail Invites Out from Their Home Page?

I am sure you know of Gmail, Google's spin of email, and how it is invite only. Google sometimes has plugs for themselves at the bottom of their home page and when I just went to their home page I saw a link to a Gmail invite (I already have aaccount, though)! Here is a link to the HTML of the Google home page as I saw it with the plug for Gmail (as I post it that invite link it still good, so if you want a Gmail account now is you chance!).

iTunes Phone Will Really Be Released This Thursday!

According to this article the long-awaited iTunes phone will be released by Motorola Thursday. I hope this is the real deal, not that other phone.

UPDATE: Motorola's introduction has been delayed after the companies discussions with cellular service providers in the region.

Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Elite Executive Edition Keyboard & Mouse: $59.99 (Shipped!)

SurplusComputers has the Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Elite Executive Edition Keyboard and Mouse Duo for $59.99. The Executive Edition includes a black Leather Explorer Wireless Mouse. With Free Shipping, it's among the best deals I have seen. Go here for product page.

Today's Website of the Day!

Today's Website of the Day!

factbites

Got an email from the folks over at factbites yesterday. factbites is a "topic-based search engine." It lets you search for something like "dog" and it will give you factoids about dogs. I tried some searches like "pizza" and "zebra" and it gave me some definitions I did not even know exist!

Exact Color of the iPod shuffle Green

I am sure you know of that green used on the back of the iPod shuffle and all of Apple's marketing for the small iPod. But do you know the exact color and its RGB, CMYK, and HTML values? Here are those (as far as I can tell) exact colors and how I found them:

HTML value: #67CE3D

RGB value: R: 104 G: 206 B:62

CMYK value: C:60 M:0 Y:99 K:0

I found the HTML value of the green by looking at this css file on Apple's website. I found the RGB and CMYK values of the green by taking the picture at the top of the iPod shuffle product page and taking a color sample of a 3 by 3 average sample of the dark green stripe.

CherryOS: Run Mac OS X on Your PC

Remember that supposed software known as CherryOS that would let you emulate a Mac processor on your PC so you could run Mac OS X? Now you can buy it for $49.95 and try a demo, I am giving the demo a try (I have a Mac and a PC so I have the Mac install disk required). I am wondering if it is based on that PearPC thing. Keep reading this post to stayed tuned about how my installation of OS X on my PC goes.

UPDATE: I have installed the CherryOS software and I am now "Formatting newly created HPFS Volume." Being a Mac user I know there is no-such thing as a "HPFS Volume" so I do not know what the CherryOS creators are thinking. The interface is a bit weird. Once I have some other news I will update this post, again.

UPDATE: I had the wrong CD in, right one in now. The part of OS X installation I have just experienced shows that this thing actually runs OS X pretty fast on my AMD 2600+.

UPDATE: I had some problem where CherryOS would keep quitting. So I took action: I uninstalled CherryOS and reinstalled. Redoing install of OS X.

UPDATE: It appears that CherryOS quits when I try to install certain CDs but does quit when I run others.

UPDATE: I have posted some pictures of part of one of my unsuccessful installs.

UPDATE: This CherryOS would let me boot my Mac OS X upgrade CDs but not my full Mac install CD (I think it is because those are Mac specific). So I can boot a Mac on the CD but I can not install it!!! Trying some workarounds now.

UPDATE: Okay, I give-up. I can not get this to work!!! I am guessing it is because I do not have a plain Mac OS X CD.

UDATE: The same CD that did not work in CherryOS worked great in PearPC! I am now running OS X 10.1 fine on my PC and am currently upgrading to 10.3. Screenshots to come sooon!

Tiger vs. Longhorn

Yahoo! News has a roundup of all the new features of Apple's soon-to-be-released "Tiger" and Microsoft's not-soon-to-be released "Longhorn." It covers everthing from code changes to graphics changes. Very good read.

Share Movies Like You Share Music Through iTunes

Patrick Fitzsimmons writes "Lanovision is a brand new program that works exactly likes iTunes music sharing only for videos. Download it, tell others on your dorm network to download it, and instantly watch each others videos. Lanovision supports all video formats - including DivX and XviD. A student at Yale wrote the program, and it is already causing students to stay up late watching their friends videos. The Yale Daily News even featured Lanovision on the front page. To download it, go to www.lanovision.com. Get a network going in your dorm!"

Looks very cool! Waiting for Mac version.

Asteroid Evidence?

Here is a excerpt from this article at Think Secret about Asteriod, a low cost audio device for connecting instruments to a Mac that rumors are saying should be released by Apple soon:

AppleInsider recently brought to light evidence of Asteroid's existence in the form of an embedded TIFF image in GarageBand 2. While the image cannot be opened, it lends credibility to rumors that surfaced in December on several Web sites

Very cool, hope it's $99.

Behind-The-Head Collapsible Stereophones: Free AFTER REBATES

COMPUSA has the Koss Behind-The-Head Collapsible Stereophones for $17.99 then there are two rebates which make the price free. The Behind-The-Head Collapsible Stereophones are only available for in-store pickup. Go here for product page.

Online Computer Show

Jason writes to me with a link to 2GnG. 2GnG appears to be a show about computer stuff you download and watch! Their first (and only, so far) episode is about Port Forwarding, Web design in Photoshop, and something about a CarPC. I will have to watch it later (it's a 200MB download).

My Free Paper

I had reported about a HP survey you could take to get a free paper sample, no shipping even! I have just received my 10 sheets of high-quality paper (about 3 weeks after ordering it). The survey appears to still be valid so take it!

Get Your Local Weather from Google?

This post on the official Google Blog unveils Google's new feature: do a search for "weather" space your U.S. location or zipcode code (example search) and Google will show you your local wheather! Neato!

Website of the Day!

Today's Website of the Day!

Panic Software Online Accessory Store Using Very Cool HTML

Yes, the website is a store, no I am not affiliated with them. I like the store because of the effects that happen when you ad or remove something from your online cart.

Smart Phone Research Project (get money)

Dave M writes "I live in Northern New Jersey, and was recently called to schedule an appointment to do a study in Livingston.  First I was contacted then they asked what I assume were qualifiers and then I got scheduled.  It was pretty cool because they paid me to talk about my cell phone, which happens to be one of those smart phones.  If you live in No. NJ you should e-mail them.  The card I got said livingston@midamr.com

They said they needed more people.

D"

Free Windows Laptop Light?

If you go to this page (which I believe is hosted on Microsoft's servers) you will see at the top that its says "Please enter the Survey Code number found on your letter in the space below to get your complimentary Microsoft Windows Embedded Resource Guide and USB Laptop Computer Light."

Here is that code: DG05104@00490672 (I tried some bogus codes and this is the only thing that works)

I just ordered mine! Will get back with you guys if I get my Light Laptop!

UPDATE: Fixed the code, I had left out a letter, sorry!

UPDATE: Looks like you can change the last few digits of the code and get another valid one! Don't know why you would want to do that though, unless each code only ships on laptop light. Hmm.

All My Gmail Acounts Have Basic-HTML View

I had reported here about Google originally giving (a very limited amount) of Gmail accounts a new feature that lets you read your email in a HTML-only view, no JavaScript (perfect for old computers). Well, now all of my accounts have this feature! Yay!

Play World of Warcraft for Free!

Why spend $15/month to play World of Warcraft when you can play on a third-party server for free? Well, other then the many server problems that come up, there is no reason! I have not tried this myself.

Surf Junky is a Scam?

A lot of the people in this tread are complaining that Surf Junky, a company supposedly paying people to surf the web, is deleting user accounts for no appearent reason whenever the account reaches the threshold for payment to the user. Surf Junk's official statement about the account deletions is on their website. Believe what you want to, I do not no what to say.

Review of American Innovative Neverlate 7-day Alarm Clock

The fine folks over at American Innovative have sent me their 7-alarms-in-one clock-radio/alarm clock, the Neverlate, for review.

At first glance the Neverlate is a very stylish curved square with a knob on the top. The big feature of this $35 AC/DC clock is that it has a different alarm setting for each day of the week. The other thing that makes it special is the way you program it: the patent-pending knob on the top (and a ring around the knob) let you fly through time. By "fly through time" I mean that if you need to set a fast nap alarm or day alarm you can do that by setting the knob to the correct day and easily twirling the ring around to set the time, very much like using an iPod.

Getting Started

The instructions for the Neverlate are delightfully short, two pages of warnings, three pages telling you how to use it, and one page of warranty info. Setting the time, date, snooze duration (how long the alarm stays off when you hit snooze), and wake preferences (radio/buzzer) could not be easier. Using the knob/ring combo (as described earlier) meant all I had to do was hold the "Setup" button, located on the top of the clock, for two seconds and then it walked me though everything.

Setting Seven Different Alarms: Easy

Because of the knob/ring combo, setting an alarm for each day of the week is painless. The knob spins around so it can change the mode of the clock from "Run [alarms]" to "All Off" and it also selects the day of the week you are setting the alarm for. For example; to set the alarm settings for Monday you would select the "Mo" setting by pointing the knob at it, then you would use the ring to change the time.

Radio Works?

The answer to the above question: Yes!!!! Comparing the sound quality of the Neverlate's built-in AM/FM radio to the sound quality of a boombox showed that it was able to pick up faint signals very easily and that strong signals were very sharp. The radio is controlled with two knobs on the front, right below the time. One of the knobs controls the volume, the other the tuning. Another nice feature allows you to set a sleep timer so that the radio turns itself off after a preset amount of time (perfect if you listen to the radio when you go to bed and you fall asleep before turning it off). If I could add one feature, I would add an RCA audio-input so that I could listen to my iPod over it.

Basic Design

The clock has a squarish design with rounded corners and a nice big back-lit display that shines very bright when you are fiddling with it and a touch lighter when you are not. The display blends well with the overall look of the Neverlate. The display holds a lot of info in an organized manner: the time in a big bold manner, day of the week along the top, and the setting for the alarm (buzzer/radio, I don't know how useful that is). The top of the clock has 5 little buttons for setting the clock, sleep timer, nap timer, and it also has a button to turn the radio off/on and change between AM/FM. There is also a long-horizontal button along the top (closest to the front) that puts the clock into snooze and lets you review your next set alarm.


Notes

Here are some fine points of this radio not worth devoting an entire paragraph to:

1. Battery Backup: Just as you need to back up your hard drive you need to back up you clock settings, especially when you have seven of them! This radio has a battery compartment where you can put two triple-A batteries. In the case of a power outage (or you decide to unplug the clock to move it) the settings are saved, although, you will need to plug it in again to use it.

2. Cool speaker system: the clock's speakers are under the unit. They work like Apple's iMac G5 speaker system: they bounce sound off the surface under it and into your ears. This system sounds good to me!

Problems

Mostly this clock has worked flawlessly, but I have run into an issue:

2. Because there is not a lot of room around the tuning knob for the radio the printed tuning info for the radio has been condensed. This is a little bit of a issue. I think it would be a good idea for the clock to display the station you are on, while you are tuning the radio, instead of the time.

Would I buy this clock?

$35 is just about on-par with a lot of other clock-radios on Amazon, and none of those clocks have seven different alarms. I think it is a good buy and an especially good gift for a starving college student.

The Neverlate 7-day Alarm Clock is available direct from the manufacturer at www.americaninnovative.com and is for sale at various retail locations across the country.

Buy Gmail Account With Special HTML (only) View Feature

I had reported earlier on my blog that Google is slowly rolling-out a way to view messages in Gmail accounts in only HTML (not JavaScript). I have one of those accounts that have the HTML-only view option (the same on I used in my report). Well, I have decided to sell in on eBay! Here is the link to the auction.

UPDATE: Stop the presses!!! I have just lowered the priced of the auction for this rare item to a paltry $3. I will email the username and password of the account to the winner personally as well!

Free Ice Cream!!!!!!!!!!!

Go here (you will need a Yahoo! account) for a coupon from Yahoo! because they are celebrating their 10th Anniversary, good for today only. The coupon will get you one scoop of Baskin-Robbin’s ice cream in a cup or on a cone .

[Via jake jarvis dot com]

Report on Gmail's Basic-HTML View

(click the above screenshots for larger version)

I had reported earlier about people getting Gmail accounts with a option in them to switch to a basic HTML-only view. A HTML-only view is good for using Gmail on computers that do not have the right browser for the job or for using Gmail with dial-up connections! Google even let it be known there is a HTML-only view. I have just logged into one of my accounts and found that now I have a HTML-only view option myself! Here is my report of this exiting new thing from Google:

First off I managed to capture the HTML of the HTML-only view that my Gmail account was in, here it is. That HTML file will display exactly what my Gmail account looked like in HTML-only view for those whose Gmail accounts do not have HTML-only views, yet. Here is the URL to the HTML-only view feature of my Gmail account, unfornately (and unlike a lot of other Gmail features) you can only use HTML-view if your account displays the option to go into it (you can't just click the link I gave you). The HTML-only view does not have many of the features of the JavaScript version of Gmail: there are no pop-down tabs, no buttons to display or hide different emails in a discussion, no fancy things at all. You can not access you Gmail account settings in HTML-only view either.

The basic design of the HTML-only view is almost the same as the JavaScript version. The only real difference is the way things are linked: in the JavaScript version you could click anywhere on a email to open it, in the HTML-only version you can only click the hyper-linked text.

I logged into my Gmail account with IE5 on Mac (that browser is not compatible with the JavaScript version of Gmail) and it automatically brought me to the HTML-only view and told me I should get a better browser.

This Gmail HTML-only view is sure cool. Gmail-Lite is in some ways better, though, because it uses NO graphics and it is better optimized for mobiles devices. I hope Google gives all Gmail accounts this HTML feature soon.

iTunes Music Store Downloads Go Over 300 Million

Playlist is reporting that today Apple announced that more than 300 million purchases and downloads have been made from its iTunes Music Store. In late January Apple announced the iTunes Music Store had passed the 250 million song mark. So in about one month there where 50 million songs downloaded from iTunes! That's 12.5 million a week!

Target.com: Additional 10% Off Any Purchase + Free Shipping

Target.com is offering an (additional) 10% off any purchase. Use coupon code "TCTENMARCHJT" to get the discounted price. Free Shipping is also available on select items. This offer expires 3/04/05. Go here for Target.com

Gmail Supports "thismessage:"

You know how when you get HTML-formatted emails sometimes you click on one of the links in it and it takes you to a different part of the email? Well, when you would click on one of those links (they start with this, by the way: thismessage:) in a message you are reading in your Gmail account you would simply get a error message saying that the "thismessage:" is not supported. Now when I click a link like that in a message I am reading in my Gmail account it works and takes me to the correct part of the message. Gmail appears to be converting the "thismessage:" thing to just normal anchor tag to move between parts of a HTML-formatted message. I am glad Google fixed this minor annoyance in Gmail.

Intel's First Dual-Core Chip 'Smithfield' to Ship as Pentium D

The Register is reporting that Intel's first dual-core chip will be called the Pentium D and will launch next quarter. The Pentium D is missing HyperThreading. HyperThreading will only be available on the dual-core Pentium Extreme Edition, it will be used to differentiate between the D and EE varieties. Intel spoke of the EE as a "four-thread" processor and the D as a "two-thread" chip. The EE dual-core chip will run 50-65 percent faster then it's single-core brother.

Old (yet) Cool News: Google Labs

I am sure most of you already now about Google Labs, but I want to tell you again. Google Labs is where Google puts all there not-ready-for-prime-time ideas. Some of my favorite Google Lab projects:

Personalized Web Search

Google Maps