J Gadgets

Oddball Tech: Geocities is toast, watch the dead via the web, and sentient trains in Japan Posted: 24 Apr 2009 06:16 PM PDT Geocities to become a ghost town Yahoo announced on Thursday, April 23, 2009 that Geocities is going ka-put this year.  I know what you're thinking - Who the hell cares?  Yep.  The Internet is littered with old, old Geocities pages from long ago.  Let me take you on a trip back to the 90s.  Back then, we didn't have Facebook pages or blogs.  Then, we had something known as "webpages."  You would edit HTML and make navigation via static HTML pages.  That's where Geocities came in.  You would be able to create your website and have it hosted for free at Geocities.  Then Yahoo bought them in a fit of acquisitions that led to nowhere.  Will anyone miss Geocities?  Maybe a few people.  Yahoo will still be offering paid hosting plans if you really have your heart set on having your info on a Yahoo server somewhere in the world. Watch the dead I guess people will watch anything on the Internet these days.  Over in that boot-shaped country, Italy, there's a town that will offer webcams in their graveyard so you can not only see the deceased, but you can also pan over to see the scenery.  Apparently, lots of people want their bodies to decompose in Pollica, Italy and want their relatives to see.  For those of you wondering, the cameras will be above ground because cameras inside a casket is just silly.  They're coming You know how we all fear that we will no longer be the dominant beings on earth because robots will take over?  Well, looks like that's happening right now. Japanese trains are alive.  A train that had no passengers nor a conductor decided to go for a 5 mile trip.  The official story is that the train did not have its brake correctly applied.  However, I think we all know what happened. Even stranger, this is the second train in recent history to do take a roll.  A similar incident happened in 2006 when another train gained sentience (the official story is that the conductor didn't put the wheel chocks in place).  Good luck to you all.  Remember that trains fear small children.  Why else did you think that so many people carry babies on their backs or in slings?

Apple’s App Store serves billionth app download Posted: 24 Apr 2009 05:50 PM PDT - Congratulations to Apple for now serving over one billion app downloads on the App Store. It’s quite an accomplishment, and we haven’t even been able to celebrate the first anniversary of the App Store’s opening.

Media Cowboy DC-MC35ULI set-top box revealed Posted: 24 Apr 2009 05:19 PM PDT Digital Cowboy set-top box today that acts as media hub and more. It works with all sorts of media sources and is capable of playing most audio and video formats in 720p. It works with a 3.5 SATA hard drive, but can also work as an iPod dock, since it has a Dock Connector mounted to the top. This is an easy way to directly connect your media. And the built-in Ethernet makes it easy to share your files with others over a network. You even view YouTube clips and Picasa images on the hub, if you’d like. The included remote allows you to control the media stored on the drive or on connected Apple devices. Supported formats include MP3, WMA, AAC, AC3, DTS, DivX, RMVB, WMV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and XViD. Inputs include RCA, USB and outputs are TCA, optical audio and HDMI. You can get the Media Cowboy MC35ULI in Japan next month for the equivalent of $255. Relevant Entries on SlashGear

Verizon gets Samsung Smooth flip phone Posted: 24 Apr 2009 04:26 PM PDT Verizon got the in what this handset has to offer. Some of the Smooth’s features include Bluetooth, speakerphone, a VGA camera that sports a nighttime mode and more. It’s a dual-band CDMA and can be used to access Verizon’s services like the VZ Navigator service. You can check your e-mail, text message and browse the web with this phone. It has a 5-hour battery life for talk time and a whopping 336 hour battery life while on standby. You can get the Samsung Smooth from Verizon now for $29.99 with a two-year contract and a $50 discount online. Relevant Entries on SlashGear

Taking a look at Sesame Vault: An online video solution Posted: 24 Apr 2009 04:21 PM PDT On Monday (April 20, 2009), Open Box unveiled its solution for online video.  The simple fact is that if you use or create online video, you know that multiple formats are a necessary evil.  If you want to watch something on your BlackBerry or an iPhone or your computer, you need the right plugin or format.  Open Box's Sesame Vault aims to change all of that. For the end user a.k.a. the normal person Alright, so you're a person who watches video.  Why should you care?  Here's why—you don't have to install anything.  Everything is done on the server side so whatever device you have, you should be able to watch video.  Some devices - ahem iPhone ahem - can't play back flash video.  Wouldn't it be nice if you went to a page and it would just give you a video that you could play?  Yep, Sesame Vault solves that.  Also, if you're a podcaster or an aspiring video producer, you may want to check out their free single user account.  Let someone else take care of the heavy lifting for conversion, compression, and compatibility.  If you are interested in distance learning, like getting a degree online, Sesame Vault could be a great solution.  Just imagine if you could watch your lectures online on any device during a break at work.  You might want to let your online school's IT department know about the service.  Gonzaga already uses the service, so you know it is a viable solution. For businesses Right now, online video is growing.  Deploying information through video is one of the most complete ways of conveying data.  The last thing you want is for a format incompatibility to cause a delay in communication.  Sesame Vault allows the user to take a video and put it online without a lot of the hassles of converting the original file to lots of other formats.  Sesame Vault will make 11 different formats of the file and supports lots of devices.  Additionally, when a user connects to a site using Sesame Vault, Sesame Vault will determine which format to present.  Open Box has their own infrastructure and is claiming an uptime of 99.99%.  Their plans start at a free single user account, with the first paid option being $49/month all the way up to $349/month.  Prices vary with the amount of GB transferred in a month.

Gadgetell Review: The Monster Turbine In-Ear Speakers Posted: 24 Apr 2009 02:07 PM PDT <img src=”http://www.dabbledoo.com/ee/images/uploads/gadgetell/monsteriesthumb.png” title=”" alt=”Gadgetell Review: The Monster Turbine In-Ear Speakers” width=”240″ height=”160″ align=”right”/ What is it? The Monster Turbine in-ear speakers (otherwise known to regular mortals as in-ear headphones) designed by Monster's head honcho, Noel Lee.  What's good There are lot of included ear tips with different sizes and shapes.  If you've got two different sized ears (and you probably do), this lets you get a good snug fit to get good audio.  The headphones also come with a case so you don't end up damaging these things in your bag. The sound quality is very nice.  The bass is good and clear.  These headphones are sound isolating, so you don't have to listen at very high volumes.  When compared to my old Sony Fontopia headphones, I only had to have the Monster Turbine headphones at about 1/2 to 3/4 the volume to get the same loudness.  It's possible that these headphones will open up new seating opportunities to you on the train like it did for me.  Those four loud people aren't so loud when you can't hear them thanks to the Monster Turbine. What's not The packaging is a bit on the large side.  While the materials are recyclable, the headphones would have sounded exactly the same in a package about half the size. The In-Between I was initially concerned about the weight distribution of the actual earbud.  While the buds look cool, they have a lot of weight to them.  I thought that they would fall out of my ears if I had to move around.  Running around Grand Central Terminal, I found out that they stay put.  The price is pretty steep at $179.95, although you can get a better deal if you shop around online.  I think these may be better priced at $99.  The Crux The Monster Turbine has good sound coming out of a stylish set of earbuds.  Their term of "In-ear speakers" isn't just a marketing term.  It sounds pretty darn good.  If price is no object, then I'd say go for it. Product Page:

Apple “dominates” in customer satisfaction Posted: 24 Apr 2009 01:53 PM PDT - Forrester released a computer manufacturer customer satisfaction survey in which, “Apple not only topped the list, it blew away the competition.” And whereas I’m not at all surprised Apple rated so highly, I am surprised by who brought up the rear: Dell.

Duracell USB Charger debuts Posted: 24 Apr 2009 01:44 PM PDT Duracell . Now you won’t have any excuse for running out of iPod battery while in your car. First up is the Duracell USB Charger, which offers 5-volts of charging power. You can use it in the DC outlet in your car. Plug in your USB-connected devices and get to charging! Then, there’s the My Pocket Charger, which just got a few new connectors. Three to be specific. These connectors include micro USB, mini USB and an Apple Dock Connector. Now, your iPhone and iPod can be charged up right along side your other gadgets. The My Pocket Charger requires two AA batteries and you can take it wherever you go for a little extra power. The pocket charger is available now for $17, but the pricing and release date for the Duracell USB Charger remains to be seen. Relevant Entries on SlashGear

Orange offers inexpensive Vegas touchscreen phone Posted: 24 Apr 2009 01:19 PM PDT Sometimes, all we need is the bare essentials and that’s precisely what phone. It’s small, inexpensive and provides a touchscreen on a device that normally wouldn’t have one. The Vegas has a 2.4-inch touch display. There’s a standard 1.3-megapixel camera, a built-in speaker, a microSD memory card slot with 64MB of built-in storage, Bluetooth and support for MP3 files and FM radio. It also has a headphone jack and GPRS networking, rather than 3G. You can get the Vegas phone from Orange now for just the equivalent of $72 in either pink or black color options. This phone is sold on a pay-as-you-go plan. There’s no doubt this phone is basic, but it offers some of that highly-coveted touch appeal for a fraction of the cost. Relevant Entries on SlashGear

PAX09: Purchase a peck of PAX tix Posted: 24 Apr 2009 01:14 PM PDT - The fine funny fellows at Penny Arcade have announced that their annual gaming extravaganza will be returning for its sixth year with more than 60 exhibitors…

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