- Share This Post
- submit
- 0
-
Sparkle (0)
Does technology hold our interest because there is a constant stream of new tech toys that do wonderful things? I'm always interested in what's new in the tech markets. Oh so very whiz bang.
The simplest and most obvious items can be new and wonderful. Case in point: the surge strip make-over. At Popgagdet, they describe this new marvel in Socket Sense: Adjustable surge strip to fit your adapters. Click over for a quick look at this surge strip. The sockets are angled so that all those bulky adapters that your toys use can play nicely together and a six socket surge protector can actually power more than just a couple of devices.
You get this gadget from Socket Sense where it will cost you about $30, a price in competition with the high range of normal surge protectors.
The post Create Photobooks with Mixbook from sarahintampa alerted me to a new photobook site. The thing I love about the Mixbook.com site is that the prices are great. You take photos from your computer or a public place like Flickr and put them into a printed book for prices like $12.99 for a 20 page book and $16.99 for a 30 page book. Being a Mac user, I normally make my books with iPhoto and get them printed by Apple. I gotta tell ya, Mixbooks prices are a lot better. I can't make any statements about quality since I've never held one of their books in my hands, but I'd love to try them at these prices.
As sarahintampa pointed out,
You can also use the service to share your Mixbook creations online. With the provided embed code, you can post your Mixbook to facebook, MySpace, or any other social network profile or blog.
The online sharing makes Mixbook even more desirable. You can make a photobook of a wedding or birth or reunion and print copies for the special few who need it. Then you can post the book online for the folks would would enjoy looking through it just once but wouldn't cherish it as a keepsake.
Mixbook.com is still in beta. It's free to sign up and explore before you commit to spending any money on a book.
I've mentioned Amazon's Kindle Reader before. It's selling like crazy on Amazon and there are over 1800 product reviews from buyers on the site. But I've been waiting for a review from someone I knew a little about and finally found one at Bb's Real Tech. Shelley said,
The Kindle is based on electronic paper, which uses a specialized ink with particles that react to an electric field to form the letters. Once the letters are formed, you can turn the device off, and the letters will remain. The Kindle has a long-lasting battery because it doesn't need to use power to maintain a page.
The electronic paper reflects like regular paper, which means you can read the device in sunlight, and need some form of reading light to see the print. I thought the Kindle was a little dingy at first, with its light gray background, and dark gray text. However, under a stronger reading light, I found that it really does match the paper found in a typical paperback.
Buying the Kindle is a $400 investment, but purchasing a book after you've got the device is cheap and easy. Sometimes you can find books free, as Shelley points out,
The power of Kindle, though, is that quick access to the Internet for books, and not just to the Amazon store, either. I've found at least two sites that provide free, Kindle formatted books, drawing on the vast pile of books available at Project Gutenberg. My favorite site is Feedbooks, with its associated Feedbooks Kindle Downloading Guide. This book is full of links to formatted classics.
It seems everyone is jumping on the Blu-Ray bandwagon. The competition for the next new thing in home theater has Blu-Ray in the lead. Netflix, Wal Mart, Microsoft, and a whole bunch of other big guns in entertainment selling are throwing their support to Blu-Ray. Engadget has the whole history of the HD/Blu-Ray battle, updated 2/15/08, if you want all the facts. They summarize the reason for Blu-Ray like this:
Blu-ray discs are more expensive, but hold more data -- there, that's all.
Ars technica tells us "Official HD DVD obituary a matter of days, not weeks." but pointed out yesterday that it isn't over till it's over:
Many of
