Best Gadgets World

I don’t have any little kids in my house, so when one comes to visit, I’m often at a loss for how to entertain my guest, as I have no toys lying about. My repertoire of Origami cranes and inflatable cubes exhausts itself in about twenty minutes.

I’ve bookmarked this page of Fractalspin for the next time I find myself in this dilemma. The Mandlebot Paper Toy is a foldable robot that you print out on your own printer, then spend the next hour folding in accordance with the instructions. Fractalspin describes Mandlebot as a “stylish robot who just needs some help becoming 3D like the rest of us,” and who likes electronic music.

Hopefully, by the time I finish the project and my little friend figures out that it doesn’t actually do anything, it’ll be time to gather him up to send him home.

SHOP FOR TOYS AT THE POPGADGET SHOP AND THE BABYGADGET SHOP.

How many devices in your home take AA or AAA batteries? I shudder at the thought of actually counting up the number in my house, but I can tell you it’s a lot. Most of the power-hungry gadgets have rechargeable batteries in them, while things like TV and DVD remotes have the less expensive throwaway kind. With this many batteries, I have three different chargers throughout the house. One thing I haven’t considered is keeping a battery charger in my laptop case.

I do carry a wireless mouse that uses AA batteries, so it would make sense to carry a charger. However, I really don’t like putting anything more in my bag than is absolutely necessary. I will say that this Freeloader Battery ChargerPop might just fit, seeing that it’s the “World’s Smallest USB Battery Charger.” Just $25 will make sure that you always have a fresh pair of AA or AAA batteries, no matter where your travels take you.

Source: GeekAlerts

The modern day equivalent of the baby “brag book,” the pint-sized digital photo viewers that can be worn on a keychain, have come a long way since their introduction. The new Digital Foci Pocket Album holds upto 74 digital photos, with 8 MB internal flash memory; has up to 9 hours of battery life; can run automatic slideshows or scoll photos manually, has an LCD contrast adjustable for choosing the best viewing angle; and includes sofware to convert JPG and BMG images from your computer to the Pocket Album. (That means you’ll still need to help Grandma set it up.)

Still, it is one of the easier digital photo albums I’ve tired — the software automatically resizes for optimal storage and display on the digital keychain. At $29.99, it makes a perfect Mother’s Day gift, but I’d still preload it for her with family photos; conveniently, those naked baby butt photos of you will never see the light of day.

SIGN UP FOR POPGADGET DROP EMAILS TO GET WEEKLY TIPS AND WIN FASHION LAPTOP BAGS, MP3 PLAYERS, CELL PHONES, AND OTHER GREAT GIVEAWAYS FROM OUR SPONSORS.

Filed in archive Tip by jim on April 14, 2008

<!– <rdf:Description rdf:about=”http://www.digital-shot.com/50226711/controlling_contrast_on_digital_pictures.php” trackback:ping=”http://www.creative-weblogging.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.pl/119981″ dc:title=”Controlling Contrast On Digital Pictures” dc:identifier=”http://www.digital-shot.com/50226711/controlling_contrast_on_digital_pictures.php” dc:subject=”Tip” dc:description=”" dc:creator=”jim” dc:date=”2008-04-14T00:00:03-08:00″ /> –>

"Contrast" is the difference in color and light between parts of an image.

If all parts of a photograph, be it color or B&W, were completely and equally illuminated, or at the same "brightness" level, nothing would stand out in the image.

There would be no point of interest, no "pop" to the subject, it would appear "flat", which describes a lack of contrast in a picture.

I happen to be a fan of higher contrast photography; but many people prefer less "edge" and a softer effect.

The picture above, depending on how it appears on your computer monitor, is an example of how I like a picture to look, in terms of contrast.

I think that a bit of extra contrast, not overdone to the point where there's no shadow detail, adds a bit of drama to an image.

Check out this excellent article with tips on how to control contrast in digital photography.

Source:www.jimippolito.com

In the “is this really necessary” department, you’ll find the Ziszor handheld paper shredder. Everything in this day and age gets miniaturized, huh? The perfect use of this gadget for those on-the-go execs who need to shred ATM receipts or perhaps those guys in the West Wing who only seem to get information via little pieces of paper which they promptly eat. Kidding. But if they had a Ziszor, no more indigestion.

The Ziszor is 10″ long and weighs less than 1.5lbs, nice and light. It also has an attachable plastic bag to catch all those little shreddings. Is that a word? Runs on 4 AA batteries which is probably where a lot of the weight lies. You can snag a Ziszor from their site currently on sale for $40.

Gimme!

More info from the manufacturer

Price: $39.95 (current offer)
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Posted in Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation, Miscellaneous

Do you still use “rabbit ears” to watch your television shows? Was your TV manufactured before March 2007? If so, in case you weren’t aware, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to move all TV broadcasting into the digital spectrum, thus making all analog TV receivers inoperable after February 17, 2009 without a digital converter box. To help spread the news, the FCC is making it mandatory for retailers to inform consumers of the plan to switch from analog to digital signal by labeling televisions that would be obsolete in the new year. Unfortunately, some retailers like Wal-Mart, Sears, Best Buy, Target, and Circuit City (among others) have forgotten to the apply the “consumer alert” label to applicable analog television equipment. As a result, the FCC has issued $3.9 million in fines to the offending stores after warning them 30 days in advance.

The label is required to be affixed on televisions manufactured before March 1, 2007, as all TVs made after the date were required to come with a digital tuner. However, retailers weren’t the only targets in the FCC’s sights. TV manufacturers Vivitar, Precor, and Syntax-Brillian were also slapped with $1.6 million in fines, for allegedly importing or selling outdated equipment. In total, over $6.5 million were collected by the FCC. All companies have 30 days to appeal.

“The Commission’s DTV-related enforcement efforts have focused on protecting consumers from unknowingly buying televisions that will not allow consumers to enjoy the full benefits of the digital transition,” the FCC said in a statement. “The orders demonstrate the Commission’s commitment to strong enforcement in promoting the successful transition to digital television.”

From a consumer stand point, the FCC is doing a great service. Nothing irritates me more than buying new devices that are only to be outdated within a short amount of time.

Read [eWeek]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

Go pimpin’ on the roads with the Rainbow Dice Shape Lamp that goes one up on those fuzzy dice that gangsta rappers love to parade in their rides. While theirs only look phat during the day, introducing a little bit of geek power into your vehicle with the Rainbow Dice Shape Lamp. This little dice that could glows randomly with up to seven different colors. No idea if a $19 investment will help you draw in the ladies at the nightclub though - I presume the stature of the ride is of more importance compared to the decorations inside.

LG has released a new portable media player in Europe called LG T80. Being a touchscreen PMP, you would expect LG to make the T80 to come up with an iphone clone again with the T80. Thankfully, the PMP is nowhere near the iPhone in terms of looks or design.

The LG T80 boasts of a 3-inch 420 x 240 touchscreen display with 260k colors. Since it’s a PMP, it is but natural that the LG T80 supports various media formats, and it actually does – MPEG, MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, ASF, JPEG, and TXT. It also has an FM Tuner, a mic and a DVD-T (TNT) tuner. Most importantly, the LG T80 plays 5.5 hours of video and 2 hours of live TV viewing.

The LG T80 is available now in Europe for around $473. No word yet whether the LG T80 will see the light of day in the U.S. market. We do hope so.

Via [PMP Today]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

Well it had to happen, someone had to be the first, after all we have seen other social service accounts hit the open market, but Andrew Baron of Rocketboom fame has put his Twitter account up for sale.

Andrew was kind enough to offer up an explanation to his loyal followers:

I really love my Twitter account but I feel like I haven’t been using it the way I want to. Quite honestly, I feel sorry for all of my followers because they wind up with my tweets in their timelines and I haven’t been able to utilize the medium the way I want to. I also participate in another Twitter account over on Rocketboom so I’m thinking I’ll post more over there and start up a new account to do what I want to do next.

Andrew Baron has around 1,500 followers and as of this writing (4/13/2008 at 9:15 am) the auction currently sits at $510 after 26 bids. My question is, who thinks this will be worth that kind of money? Twitter accounts, especially when based from someone’s name seem, well kind of personal, I wonder just how many subscribers will remain after the new owner begins to post. Just in case you want to follow the action, you can check out the auction over at eBay.

Read [Twitter] Via [TechCrunch]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

Friday morning my DSL provider decided (or maybe the decision was made for them) to go out of business with no warning. I’ve had dreams, well nightmares really, about just such an incident occurring and was in true denial Friday night through Sunday morning. Until Sunday afternoon, the only Internet connections I had were a blackberry and a Treo which are decently slow at my house. Basically I was able to check email and that’s it (hence the reason there haven’t been any posts from me over the past few days).

What would you do? Take our poll…

I can tell you my wife curled up into the fetal position and started shouting obscenities at inanimate objects while I went into denial and hibernated for much of the weekend while trying to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Posted in Networking & Internet