What have we gotten ourselves into? The World Trade Organization recently ruled against the U.S. concerning online gambling. The Feds believe in a free and open Internet as long as that precludes U.S. citizens gambling online. Hmm.. I see some problems with this position.
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The old SMC Wireless Barricade Router I have been using at home finally decided to give out. It did survive mostly intact through a lightning strike that fried its’ power supply and I suspect that the strike shortened its’ expected life span. So, I packed up the truck and headed down to the local COMPUSA. I didn’t have time to do much research and why should I? SMC makes fine networking products…
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One of the neatest inventions of our time is personal storage devices such as USB key fobs. They let you take data with you in a compact package. No need to cart around floppies anymore. The real challenge is that the USB fobs are not small. They are one more thing to forget. If you attach the fob to your keychain, your keys are suddenly to large for your pocket or worse, you have to deal with a rather large presence up front that interferes with the nice press lines your cleaner was so nice to put on the pants. Why buy an additional gadget for portable storage when you can increase the functionality of something you already have and use daily. Enter the Laks USB watch.

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You know the old saying about criminal genius being an oxymoron right? Some joker went to a party in Austin, Texas during SXSW and stole some valuables from a purse. Problem is, he let himself be photographed…
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There are two parts to the cost of satellite radio - startup costs and monthly recurring charges. The startup costs include the cost of your receiver and associated hardware and the cost of activation. There are several types of receivers available including home, car, portable, and computer. The home, car, and computer receivers are dedicated units that can only be used for those purposes. These units tend to be either fixed in their installation such as the car units or have power and connectivity requirements that are not portable such as the home decks and computer dedicated receivers. Activation is the amount that both XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio charge to initiate service. Both services offer activation by phone and on the Internet. Internet activation is $5.00 with Sirius and $9.99 with XM. Telephone activation is $15.00 with Sirius and $14.99 with XM. Monthly subscription costs will be discussed at the end of this entry.
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The Kenwood Here2Anywhere Sirius receiver is very similar in design to the Sony XM Portable receiver. They are also both first generation receivers. As with all first generation portable receivers, it lacks a numeric keypad on the receiver itself. This fact is somewhat mitigated by the existence of the remote control and the fact that you can access programmed station presets using the preset keys. The best aspect of these older first generation radios is their price.
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Andrew Zolli over at Popular Science has a great little article this month tallying the true cost of owning a Treo 600. His rundown includes such essential additions like SnapperMail, Etymotic ER-6 Isolator headphones, a 512MB SD Card, and PocketTunes Deluxe.
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Remember the draft during Vietnam? I don’t but then I was just a baby. Apparently the Selective Service folks are preparing for the possibility of drafting computer nerds and people with specific foreign language skills. Put down the poster board! Don’t mobilize the protesters yet…
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Believe it or not, it’s official. Your computer is dirtier than your toilet! You clean your toilet from time to time don’t you? But when was the last time you Lysoled your workstation?
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The Audiovox Satellite Radio Shuttle Receiver (SIRPNP2) is the successor to the very successful Audiovox Satellite Radio Shuttle (SIRPNP1). The two models are similar but the SIRPNP2 adds an interesting new look to the line as well as a few new features (italicized below).
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