Seafoam Suds: 02/01/2005

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Potential wireless portability in Canada

Ottawa wants the federal telecom watchdog to 'move expeditiously' on the issue of mobile number portability, which would give wireless users the ability to keep their phone number when switching service providers.

CARDSPEED - Card�Readers and Memory�Cards

Area

Volume

Weight

Connectors

Interface

Storage

Card Type

Short

Th.

(approx.)

(typical)

Location

Type

Clock

Bus Width

Limit

Online Resources

PCMCIA, Type I

PCMCIA-I

54.0mm

85.6mm

3.30mm

46.22cm²

15.25cm³

front edge

internal

8-bit, 16-bit

http://www.pcmcia.org/

PCMCIA, Type II

PCMCIA-II

54.0mm

85.6mm

5.00mm

46.22cm²

23.11cm³

front edge

internal

8-bit, 16-bit

http://www.pcmcia.org/

PCMCIA, Type III

PCMCIA-III

54.0mm

85.6mm

10.50mm

46.22cm²

48.54cm³

front edge

internal

8-bit, 16-bit

http://www.pcmcia.org/

PCMCIA, Type IV

PCMCIA-IV

54.0mm

85.6mm

18.00mm

46.22cm²

83.20cm³

front edge

internal

8-bit, 16-bit

http://www.pcmcia.org/

Compact Flash, Type I

CF-I

42.8mm

36.4mm

3.30mm

15.58cm²

5.14cm³

front edge

internal

8-bit, 16-bit

http://www.cfa.org/

Compact Flash, Type II

CF-II

42.8mm

36.4mm

5.00mm

15.58cm²

7.79cm³

front edge

internal

8-bit, 16-bit

http://www.cfa.org/

Secure Digital Card

24.0mm

32.0mm

2.10mm

7.68cm²

1.61cm³

2.0g

bottom

exposed

25MHz

1-bit, 4-bit

http://www.sdcard.org/

miniSD Card

miniSD

20.0mm

21.5mm

1.40mm

4.30cm²

0.60cm³

1.0g

bottom

fully exposed

25MHz

1-bit, 4-bit

http://www.sdcard.org/

MultiMedia Card

MMC

24.0mm

32.0mm

1.40mm

7.68cm²

1.08cm³

1.5g

bottom

fully exposed

20MHz

1-bit

http://www.mmca.org/

MultiMedia Card 4.0

HS-MMC

24.0mm

32.0mm

1.40mm

7.68cm²

1.08cm³

1.5g

bottom

fully exposed

52MHz

1-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit(???)

http://www.mmca.org/

Reduced Size MultiMedia Card

RS-MMC

24.0mm

18.0mm

1.40mm

4.32cm²

0.60cm³

0.8g

bottom

fully exposed

20MHz

1-bit

http://www.mmca.org/

MMCmicro (S-Card)

MMCmicro

12.0mm

14.0mm

1.10mm

1.68cm²

0.18cm³

1-bit, 4-bit

http://www.samsung.com/

TransFlash

11.0mm

15.0mm

1.00mm

1.65cm²

0.17cm³

0.4g

bottom

fully exposed

1-bit, 4-bit

http://www.sandisk.com/

µcard

24.0mm

32.0mm

1.40mm

7.68cm²

1.08cm³

2TB

http://www.omia.org.tw/

Reduced Size µcard

RS µcard

24.0mm

18.0mm

1.40mm

4.32cm²

0.60cm³

2TB

http://www.omia.org.tw/

Memory Stick

21.5mm

50.0mm

2.80mm

10.75cm²

3.01cm³

4.0g

bottom

exposed

1-bit

128MB

http://www.memorystick.com/

Memory Stick Pro

MS Pro

21.5mm

50.0mm

2.80mm

10.75cm²

3.01cm³

4.0g

bottom

exposed

40MHz

1-bit, 4-bit

http://www.memorystick.com/

Memory Stick Duo

MS Duo

20.0mm

31.0mm

1.60mm

6.20cm²

0.99cm³

2.0g

bottom

exposed

1-bit

128MB

http://www.memorystick.com/

Memory Stick Pro Duo

MS Pro Duo

20.0mm

31.0mm

1.60mm

6.20cm²

0.99cm³

2.0g

bottom

exposed

40MHz

1-bit, 4-bit

http://www.memorystick.com/

SmartMedia (SSFDC)

36.0mm

45.0mm

0.76mm

16.20cm²

1.23cm³

2.0g

top

fully exposed

8-bit

128MB

http://www.ssfdc.or.jp/

xD-Picture Card

25.0mm

20.0mm

1.70mm

5.00cm²

0.85cm³

2.0g

bottom

fully exposed

8-bit

http://www.xd-picture-card.com/

Secure Digital Card Comparisons

Secure Digital Card Comparisons:

Speeds here are listed in MB/s (MegaBytes per second). You may also see some cards rated as 45x; 1x=150 kb/sec (kilobytes per second). The maximum speed you'll find is 10MB/s or about 65x. Also note that the actual performance of the card can vary based on the device (camera, pda, card reader). Therefore, a high-speed card will not improve the performance of some devices. Check you product's manual or customer support to find out more.

Mozilla for the PocketPC

Google Groups : netscape.public.mozilla.small-devices:

Thank you for your interest in the Windows CE work we are doing. I have gotten alot of feedback from my posting to the newsgroup regarding help on building a great browser for Windows CE. I thought I would take this moment to tell you the progress I have made and point out a few areas where I think you can help.

Samsung SlimFit TXR3079WH 30-inch HDTV CRT - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Samsung has provided some deets on the SlimFit TXR3079WH, the 30-inch thin-CRT display with built-in HDTV tuner that they showed off at CES. The widescreen set will have a depth of just 16” and will support both 720p and 1080i signals at a 5000:1 contrast ratio. The number you really wanna hear is the price: the MSRP is $1,199, which means this baby may have a street price of under a grand when it ships in June. Not bad, considering that a typical 32-inch HD LCD goes for at least twice that, without a tuner.

Apacer launches 2GB MultiMedia Card: Digital Photography Review

Hertogenbosch 23 February 2005 - Apacer Technology B.V. leads in the trend of high density development for the camera phones market and today launches the world’s first highest-density MultiMediaCard (MMC) compliable with MMC Specification Version 3.X, introduced by the MMCA (MultiMediaCard Association). In addition to storing more than 4000 images at 1024 x 768 pixel resolution, Apacer’s 2GB MMC supports plug-and-play with all MMC slots in mobile phones, digital cameras, MP3 players, PDAs and other compatible multimedia devices.

Toolbar Requirements

Toolbar Requirements:

This document covers two related UI elements: Toolboxes and Toolbars.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Unofficial Miranda News

This blog exists to aid in providing a central unofficial news source for Miranda Instant Messenger covering up-to-date and detailed information about Miranda IM and its plugins and related files.

Integrate Java and .Net: Take a unique approach to integration that is technically cool and useful under the right circumstances

Integrate Java and .Net:

Given the potential for breaking new ground in business intelligence and analysis, application integration remains the elusive goal of many development and application customization efforts. Applications were typically developed or purchased for specific uses; yet as time passed, enterprises found that combining data or results from some of these applications could offer measurable efficiencies. In some cases such combinations could go even further, creating entirely new lines of business or business processes.

Eva Solo home

Eva Solo home
Cool steel stuff for your home, this place carries some of their stuff: Fitzu.com (haven't used them before, just came up first in the search).

Egg timer

Cafesolo coffee-maker

Memo Board

Playing Cards

D20 Shift Knob

Privateer Press Forums -> D20 Mod For My Car For the D&D car lover, the guy put a D20 dice for a shift knob

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Sunrise News: Viewer FAQ

Sunrise News: Viewer FAQ:

The viewer has dedicated support for newsfeeds. Essentially, it's a crossbreed between an RSS newsreader and an offline web viewer. You can mark items as read/unread/flagged or copy/move/delete them between archives. You are encouraged to use newsfeeds as much as possible, but you can still view documents with a 'normal' web site structure.

infoSync World : 5 Megapixel Samsung cameraphone to the U.S. this year

infoSync World : 5 Megapixel Samsung cameraphone to the U.S. this year:

In conjunction with its presence at the Photo Marketing Association Show, Samsung today announced that it will bring cameraphones with resolutions of 3.5 and 5 Megapixels to the U.S. market in 2005. Likely, the company will adapt two existing CDMA models for the Korean market, the SCH-S230 and SCH-S250, for a U.S. release later this year

Monday, February 21, 2005

SANDISK INTRODUCES ULTRA II SD PLUS, A DUAL-PURPOSE SD MEMORY CARD WITH BUILT-IN USB CONNECTIVITY

Orlando, FL, FEB. 19, 2005 – SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today introduced the SanDisk Ultra™ II SD™ PLUS, an innovative SD flash memory card with built-in USB connectivity. The new card, which works seamlessly in any SD card slot, also can be used as a high-speed USB 2.0 flash drive. The announcement was made at the annual Photo Marketing Association (PMA) Show at the Orange County Convention Center where SanDisk is demonstrating products in Booth 2408.

AnandTech: AnandTech Guide to Better Photos: Night Photography

Welcome to our latest guide to better photos. This time we are going to take a look at some ideas and techniques behind night photography. Other than your digicam, one of the most important tools that you will need to take good night pictures is a way to stabilize your camera. Obviously, the easiest way to do this is with a tripod. You can get a basic tripod for about $20 from most stores that sell cameras. If you aren't a big fan of carrying around a large tripod, mini tripods can be found for under $20 that fit in your pocket or camera bag. If for some reason you really hate the idea of carrying a tripod at all, you can still take great night shots with a little creativity. For example, you could place your camera on a low wall with a flat top, your car (turn off the engine to reduce vibrations), the ground, etc. The most important thing is that your camera remain completely still during the exposure. If you are using a makeshift stabilizer, you will probably need to prop up part of the camera to get the image framed the way you want it. We've all done this before when taking group pictures with the self-timer; you can use anything that's lying around: a jacket, keys, a twig, etc. We highly recommend a tripod, though, just because it's easier to set up and keep stable.

Pretec 133X Secure Digital Card Announced - PhotographyBLOG

Endowed with more than 2 times the access speed of current high speed SD 60X (9MB/sec), PRETEC SD 133X is now running at close to 20MB/sec allowing for a demanding new generation higher-resolution and higher-speed digital cameras and growing multimedia appliances. Implementing high speed flash algorithm controller design and “Dual Channel” technology, PRETEC SD 133X offers a 16-bit bus architecture for data transfer at an accelerated rate

Dell W4200 HD Plasma TV review by PC Magazine

Dell W4200 HD Plasma TV review by PC Magazine: Dell Product Page

Bottom Line
It's tough to beat this deal. The 42-inch Dell W4200 HD Plasma TV delivers very good image quality at a very competitive price.
Pros
Solid image quality (both measured and perceived). Good on-screen display controls. Dual built-in tuners (NTSC and ATSC). Very competitive price.
Cons
Needs some color/brightness/contrast adjustments out of the box, since default settings look a bit washed out.

DVI vs. HDMI vs. Component Video -- Which is Better?

DVI vs. HDMI vs. Component Video -- Which is Better?:

As DVI and HDMI connections become more and more widely used, we are often asked: which is better, DVI (or HDMI) or component video? The answer, as it happens, is not cut-and-dried.
First, to clear away one element that can be confusing: DVI and HDMI are exactly the same as one another, image-quality-wise. The principal differences are that HDMI carries audio as well as video, and uses a different type of connector, but both use the same encoding scheme, and that's why a DVI source can be connected to an HDMI monitor, or vice versa, with a DVI/HDMI cable, with no intervening converter box.
The upshot of this article--in case you're not inclined to read all the details--is that it's very hard to predict whether a digital DVI or HDMI connection will produce a better or worse image than an analog component video connection. There will often be significant differences between the digital and the analog signals, but those differences are not inherent in the connection type and instead depend upon the characteristics of the source device (e.g., your DVD player) and the display device (e.g., your TV set). Why that is, however, requires a bit more discussion.

dapreview.net: News / Comments / Sneak peek of the next Sony Network Walkman

dapreview.net: News / Comments / Sneak peek of the next Sony Network Walkman:

Sony design looking good as ever. This flash player will be known as the NW-E505, available in blue or silver with 512mb capacity. Features a 3-line OLED display, FM radio, and a built-in lithium battery that will power it for up to 50 hours. Weighs only 37 grams. That's all we know so far... It hasn't made an appearance on any of Sony's webpages yet.

Sprint intros the Sanyo MM-5600 one megapixel cameraphone - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Not that many phones get announced on a Sunday, but it’s also the first day of the Photo Marketing Association trade show, which is why Sprint chose today to unveil the Sanyo MM-5600, a brand new one megapixel cameraphone. The MM-5600 has a built-in a 1.3 megapixel camera (with flash), can play MP3s and stream videos, and sports a miniSD memory card slot (which you’re gonna need—it only has 3MB of internal memory), a 240 x 320 pixel, 262k color LCD, and support for PictBridge so you can hook directly up to a printer for making prints of those digital photos. Retails for $429.99 (ouch!), but you can get it for $279.99 with a two year service agreement (still pretty ouch, but less so).

First picture of Samsung i270 Microsoft clamshell smartphone with mega pixel camera (phoneArena)

First picture of Samsung i270 Microsoft clamshell smartphone with mega pixel camera (phoneArena):

FCC has just approved the recently announced new clamshell style Microsoft Smartphone i270 from Samsung. The device supposedly features 176 x 220 internal TFT display and 128 x 96 external one, has one mega pixel still camera with MPEG4 video recording and can play MP3, WMA, and AAC sound files. The phone will come with 64 MB ROM and 32 MB RAM plus a miniSD memory expansion slot. The phone also follows recent trend from Samsung and is Bluetooth capable.

Friday, February 18, 2005

Star Wars Custom Window Coverings by 3 Day Blinds

Star Wars Custom Window Coverings by 3 Day Blinds Star Wars window blinds anyone?

Counter Counterfeit Commission

Counter Counterfeit Commission:

At the CCC, we're dedicated to putting an end to the victimization associated with purchasing a counterfeit MINI Cooper. We cooperate with MINI and international law enforcement to pursue criminals. But there's one other crucial partner we need to recruit: YOU. We can't do this without YOU. Educate yourself about the problem. Learn how to detect a fake. Know when you're being hoodwinked. Together, we can put an end to this appalling injustice. Together, we can make our streets genuine once again.

The Stupid Store: Instant Irish Accent Mouth Spray

Radically changes the way you speak! Works instantly! Just one quick spray activates invisible language receptors in the mouth. Fresh on the tongue like mist of the Cliffs of Moher!

The Stupid Store: The Remarkable Hamster Clock

The Stupid Store: The Remarkable Hamster Clock:

The colorful Hamster Clock features a furry, mechanical hamster inside of a hamster exercise wheel. Once every minute, THE HAMSTER RUNS and the hamster wheel goes around one revolution. The wheel is connected to an intricate series of 12 gears -- So when the hamster wheel goes around, it makes the clock's minute hand move 1-minute forward.
But we've save the most astounding fact for last -- the entire clock is DRIVEN BY THE HAMSTER. The timing mechanism is INSIDE THE HAMSTER itself. Each minute, when it starts to run, it forces the wheel around, setting the clock in motion.

ThinkGeek :: Megazooka

ThinkGeek :: Megazooka: It's an Airzooka with a lock and trigger.

Just like Airzooka, the Megazooka shoots a powerful blast of air up to 20 feet at unsuspecting targets. Unlike Airzooka, the Megazooka can intimidate your enemies into submission at mere sight.
The MegaZooka features a new trigger action which allows you to cock your MegaZooka in position while waiting for the air assault to begin. Once you have your target in sight, simply pull on the trigger and watch as a single blast of air travels clear across the room. The element of surprise is born.
Requiring no batteries or electricity, MegaZooka can operate simply by pulling and releasing the built-in elastic air launcher. And here's the best part: because it shoots air, you'll never run out of ammo! MegaZooka features a pop-up site, double handle grips for improved aiming and single shot trigger action or rapid fire. Try your luck at indoor target practice, or take aim at your office enemies with surprising accuracy!
About 17 inches x 15 inches by 11 inches assembled.

Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE SFMA 2.0: 600 Watts! :: SilentPCReview.com

Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE SFMA 2.0: 600 Watts! :: SilentPCReview.com: They liked it overall, it's quiet for the amount of power it supplies.
Enermax Noisetaker AX

Over the past 18 months, power supply manufacturers have pushed the maximum output ratings for their top ATX products well beyond the 400W range. Enermax's Noisetaker line is a perfect example of this trend; the current top model is rated for a whopping 600W! This is considerably higher than the 470W Noisetaker that we reviewed last March.

Overall, the Noisetaker 701 is fairly quiet, but no PSU designed to deliver this much power has low noise as a primary goal. There are other models on the market that can compete quite capably with the Noisetaker in terms of both efficiency and quality of fan controller. The Noisetaker 701 is a very good PSU choice for low noise, and if you really need — or want, more likely — this kind of power level, then it's probably about as quiet as you can expect. We have yet to test any other PSUs that can deliver 600W.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Study finds Windows more secure than Linux

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Study finds Windows more secure than Linux The article is looking at security from an average administrator's point of view, not an all knowing administrator guru of administrators. In this light, I think the results are highly skewed in Windows favour.

SAN FRANCISCO — Believe it or not, a Windows Web server is more secure than a similarly set-up Linux server, according to a study presented yesterday by two Florida researchers.
The researchers, appearing at the RSA Conference of computer-security professionals, discussed the findings in an event, "Security Showdown: Windows vs. Linux." One of them, a Linux fan, runs an open-source server at home; the other is a Microsoft enthusiast. They wanted to cut through the near-religious arguments about which system is better from a security standpoint.
"I actually was wrong. The results are very surprising, and there are going to be some people who are skeptical," said Richard Ford, a computer-science professor at the Florida Institute of Technology who favors Linux.
Their research could contribute to the debate about which system costs more for companies to operate. Linux costs less to acquire, but Microsoft is trying to convince buyers that its software is less expensive to run and manage.
The researchers said security management is a key factor in the cost of running any system. "We need a real factual comparison here," said Herbert Thompson, the other researcher. He is director of security research and training at Security Innovation, a company that provides security services and technology. "There's so much speculation on the Web, newsgroups, from certain presenters on an RSA stage, we need real solid facts."
They compared Windows Server 2003 and Red Hat Enterprise Server 3 running databases, scripting engines and Web servers (Microsoft's on one, the open source Apache on the other).
Their criteria included the number of reported vulnerabilities and their severity, as well as the number of patches issued and days of risk — the period from when a vulnerability is first reported to when a patch is issued.
On average, the Windows setup had just over 30 days of risk versus 71 days for the Red Hat setup, their study found.
"That's a very surprising statistic, and I must say the first time I saw this statistic I thought you messed with my database," Ford said to Thompson. Their presentation started jokingly, with Ford reeling off Windows jabs and praising the virtues of freely shared software that's developed collaboratively over the Internet.
But they concluded with statistics showing that the Windows setup had a clear advantage over the Linux alternative. The setups were hypothetical, however. Both were in the most basic configuration, an approach that some in the audience suggested may tilt the results in favor of Windows, which comes with more features.
Ford said the idea was to represent what an average system administrator may do, as opposed to a "wizard" who could take extra steps to provide plenty of security on a Linux setup, for instance.

gadgetryblog: Tetris Tower 3D takes puzzle gaming to the next dimension

gadgetryblog: Tetris Tower 3D takes puzzle gaming to the next dimension: Play Tetris on a table. Crazy!

Radica Games product page

Da, comrades, despite its association with British, American and Japanese gaming giants, the global phenomenon that is Tetris was actually invented at the Moscow Academy of Science by Soviet boffin Alexey Pajitnov. Since its very first appearance in 1985, this excruciatingly addictive block-based game has, in some form or another, featured on practically every gaming platform going. Video gaming platform, that is.

Games giant Radica have now brought Tetris from behind the screen and converted it into a tangible tabletop game that promises to be just as fist-bitingly absorbing as its pixellated partner in fun. Tetris Tower 3D (�24.95), just like the videogame, involves manipulating falling blocks to create a solid row. The difference is you get to play head-to-head with a friend and physically drop the blocks into the playing area - with your hands no less. How retro!

Basically, the next piece to be dropped in is indicated by a light on the side of the tower. Players must pick the corresponding piece out of a pile, manipulate it into the position they want and then drop it into the game. Once you let go, the piece is guided down into the game by rails - a bit like dropping pieces into Connect 4. Once a line has formed you flick a switch on the side of the tower to indicate if it's your line or your opponents. To help keep the little one's attention span for just a little longer, the brain-draining process is accompanied by a 'tension-building' barrage of light and sound.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Canon’s new PowerShot SD400 and SD500 -- Engadget

Canon’s new PowerShot SD400 and SD500

The Pre-PMA action continues, this time from Canon. Besides officially announcing the Digital Rebel XT (which’ll also be known as the EOS 350D), they’re popping out two new PowerShot models, the SD400 and the SD500.

Canon PowerShot SD500 The seven megapixel SD500 is a slightly lighter version of its predecessor and has a bright 2-inch LCD screen and a 3x optical zoom lens.

Canon PowerShot SD400 The SD400 is the smallest five megapixel digital camera Canon has ever produced. It uses the same kind of DIGIC II processor Canon uses in its digital SLR cameras, and like the SD500, it also has a bright 2-inch LCD screen and a 3x optical zoom lens.

The rest from Olympus: the D-630 Zoom, the D-595 Zoom, and the D-545 Zoom - Engadget - www.engadget.com

The D-630 Zoom, a skinny five megapixel model that’s just 24.3mm thick and comes with a 3x optical zoom lens that twists around, though it’s not clear what purpose that serves (besides “grabbing attention” as the press release says). No optical viewfinder, but this one does have a 2.0-inch LCD screen on the back.

Olympus D-595 The D-595 Zoom, an entry-level five megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom lens, a 1.8-inch LCD screen, and a 2cm super macro mode.

Olympus D-545 The D-545 Zoom, another entry-level model, this one a four megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom lens, a 1.8-inch LCD screen, and that same 2cm super macro mode found in the D-595 Zoom.

Amazon.com: Tools & Hardware: Bucket Boss Brand 99981 Mug Boss

Amazon.com: Tools & Hardware: Bucket Boss Brand 99981 Mug Boss:

Amazon.com Review Messy desk? Amuse your coworkers and clean up the clutter with this fantastic little Mug Boss from Bucket Boss. There's no other desk organizer like it. The Mug Boss is made from the same fabric used in the company's famous job site tool organizers, so you know it's tough enough for even your sharpest pens and pencils. Contractors, do-it-yourselfers, amateur woodworkers, and even your average pencil pusher will get a kick out of the Mug Boss. It's the perfect office gift. We think the Mug Boss practically pays for itself in humor value alone--at this price, it's hard to find a less expensive punch line. --Brian Trinen

Hula Server - gmail-ish Calendar and Email server

Hula Server - Hula: "Hula is a calendar and mail server. We are focused on building a calendar and mail server that people love to use, instead of broadly trying to build a 'groupware server' that managers want to deploy.
Hula is available under the LGPL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html) and MPL (http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/).

Calendaring
We want to build a real web-based calendar: to make it trivially easy to publish a calendar, to invite anyone with an email address to an an appointment and process their RSVPs, to get to your calendar via HTML or RSS or with an instant messenger or with SMS. We think it's time someone rethought calendars, and we have a lot of new ideas.

Rich Web Client
We want to build a high-quality JavaScript/DHTML web interface for both mail and calendaring, in the style of Google's GMail (http://www.gmail.com/). "

Introducing the Hipster PDA

43 Folders: Organizing Your Hipster PDA

Recently, I got sick of lugging my Palm V around, so I developed a vastly superior, greatly simplified device for capturing and sharing information. I call it “The Hipster PDA.”

So this is what ol' deftone has been doing. Call me a non-ludite but I like my PocketPC. It can do things a blank piece of paper can't do like find the square root of a number. Do you have any idea of how difficult it is to find the square root of number without a calculator or sine, cosine and tangent tables? I once spent an hour solving a problem because I didn't have a calculator but had the tables and wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. Man it is one hell of a pain in the ass. That and I can read books without having to write them first.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Dead Pixels Test for LCDs

Dead Pixels Test

Test your LCD for dead pixels. All of the tests look like a medium gray, but are actually composed of 2x2 PNG images with two colours in a X layout.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Mozilla Firefox - Live Bookmarks

Mozilla Firefox - Live Bookmarks"

Live Bookmarks is a new technology in Firefox that lets you view RSS news and blog headlines in the bookmarks toolbar or bookmarks menu. With one glance, quickly see the latest headlines from your favorite sites. Go directly to the articles that interest you—saving you time.

A site is enabled for Live Bookmarks when you see this icon on the bottom right corner of the browser. Clicking on the icon and selecting an RSS feed will bring up the Add Bookmark dialog. Select 'OK' and you will see Live Bookmarks with the rest of your bookmarks. Many people find it especially convenient to save Live Bookmarks in their Bookmarks Toolbar folder.

TheServerSide.com - Working with J2ME

TheServerSide.com - Working with J2ME:
"

Introduction

This paper explores the various facets of building a J2ME application. It assumes a working knowledge of Java. The focus is on a MIDP 1.0/CLDC 1.0 application that depends heavily on network access.

I have been working with Java for the past four years, primarily in web application development. For the past year and a half, I have worked on a team developing a J2ME application; most of the information presented here has been gained in that experience.

The Problem

Imagine you are commuting in traffic. There is a long line of cars ahead of you on the interstate; there is a line at the next exit. It looks like a wait either way. Luckily, you subscribe to a traffic congestion service. If you use your cell phone to enter your location, the service can return high congestion areas close to you. Hitting the brakes in frustration, you enter the cross streets just ahead. The traffic service queries a database of current traffic in your city, and informs you that there is congestion on the cross street ahead, making the interstate a better choice. You turn up the radio and leave the other cars on the exit ramp behind.

This problem has some salient characteristics: users need information, and may not be in front of their computer. Data only needs to be queried, not entered, and does not require complex presentation. In addition, the immediacy of access is more important than depth of information.

Other characteristics of this type of problem include: users may be non technical, more than one remote system may be involved, and control over such systems may be distributed--there may be one or more traffic congestion reporting databases in a given city.

To sum up, the problem that this paper will examine is: what is the best way to allow real time, read only access, for remote, possibly non-technical users, to an information system, or set of systems. In this paper, I explain why cell phones clients are a good answer to this type of problem. In addition, I also show how Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) is a good platform for such a client. I also outline some of the design choices and technical issues faced when building a J2ME client to access a system like the traffic congestion service."

Gizoogle.com - Snoop Dogg site translator

Gizoogle.com - More About Us:

"The 'Shizzout Outs' The 'shizzout out' on the results page are not intended as advertisements but only giving credit to the websites that have provided us with the needs to keep this site alive. Special thanks to www.Deafening-Urge.net for providing us with the hosting at no charge and to everyone-else who has helped us put this together and keep it free of advertisements! Visit the websites in the 'Shizzout Outs' list to show your appreciation for their contributions to gizoogle!"

Seafoam Suds after Gizoogle

flickr graph - marcos weskamp

flickr graph - marcos weskamp:

"Flickr Graph is an application that explores the social relationships inside flickr.com. It makes use of the classic attraction-repulsion algorithm for graphs. Start exploring your contacts by entering your flickr username or the email address you used to register there."

Developer links GPS to Google Maps - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Developer links GPS to Google Maps - Engadget - www.engadget.com "Australian developer Glen Murphy has created a GPS plug-in for the recently released Google Maps service. Although the tool currently requires Windows XP or 2000 (which means, of course, you need a full-size laptop hooked up to your GPS), we can easily envision a version that works with a Palm or Pocket PC PDA. While this may never take the place of dedicated mapping software, the idea of getting your GPS to interface with the Web has its appeal; we’d like to be able to go a step further and be able to, say, run a search on Moviefone.com and have our GPS transparently plot a route to the theater without us having to punch in the adddress. What do you say, Glen?"

http://gmap.glenmurphy.com/

Review: Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW 24-inch Widescreen LCD

Review: Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW 24-inch Widescreen LCD: "We've already had some experience with big, wide desktop monitors. One of them, the Sony GDM-FW900, is a CRT with a 24-inch diagonal display (22 inches viewable), but it's no longer manufactured (you can sometimes find refurbished units for about $1,200). LCDs have begun appear in widescreen format in the past couple of years, and these typically cost several thousand dollars. One of them, the Samsung 240T, weighs in at around $2,000. The best price we've seen for another, Sony's 23-inch SDM-232, was a bit over $1,600. And apple's 23-inch Cinema HD can be found for under $1,600 if you look hard enough.

Now Dell has decided to drop the price bomb. The UltraSharp 2405FPW 24-inch widescreen LCD will cost a measly (by comparison) $1,199. It's the classic Dell approach: Not pioneering a new market or category, but entering it later and at high volume, usually with a significantly lower price."

textually.org: New Text speed record broken in India

textually.org: New Text speed record broken in India" Karan Sachdev, a second year B Com student of Delhi University, became the Indian SMS king, by punching a confusing message of 160 characters in 66 seconds - beating the previous record by one second - in a tense competition in the Capital on Saturday, reports the Times of India.

Karan claimes he sends 200-300 messages everyday.

The previous Guinness record was held by Britain’s James Trusler who typed the same message in 67 seconds.

“The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.” "

PDA Panache: Nintendo DS Stylus Upgrade ( Brass )

PDA Panache - Your Stylus Source " Nintendo DS Stylus Upgrade
Part No.: NINDS
Price: $14.95

For use with Nintendo DS

The PDA Panache Pro Stylus Upgrade for your Nintendo DS™.

Replace your stock plastic stylus with our exclusive all-metal Battle Stylus!

- Wrought from a solid billet of brass for maximum mass and stiffness.
- Fits your Nintendo's built-in stylus slot so it's always there when you need it.
- Advanced screen-safe EasyView™ stylus tip to protect your screen.
- Finger grip extended for writing and tapping control.
- Balanced weight for comfort and ease of use.
- Gunmetal Black finish with EasyView™ neon stylus tip.
- Lifetime tip repair and 30-day money-back satisfaction guarantee. "

infoSync World : Preview: Panasonic X800

"Topping the Panasonic X700 is something that's hard to do. After all, Panasonic's first - and, until now, only - smartphone still remains one of the smallest smartphones in existence a year after its unveiling. With the X800, unveiled today at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, France, the handset maker has managed to improve on an already excellent recipe, creating the world's slimmest smartphone to date.

To be available in select Asian markets next month, the X800 is extremely sleek with a thickness of only 17 mm, in which Panasonic has integrated a 1.3 MP camera capable of taking both stills and recording video. A miniSD card expansion slot is provided for memory expansion, and the device will also come with QuickOffice software providing compatibility with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word documents.

Not only sleek but also light, the X800 offers a more up-to-date design than the X700, and despite not running the final version of its firmware proved snappy during my short hands-on session. Pictures taken with the megapixel camera appeared to be of relatively high quality - comparatively speaking - and the viewfinder refresh rate was also comfortable.

Despite being close to flush with the surface of the phone, the X800's keypad offered comfortable tactile feedback. Another positive trait would be the crisp, clear and unusually bright screen, which offers 24-bit colour depth and as such is capable of drawing from a palette of up to 16 million colours.

The only possible hardware drawback of the X800 is that it's a tad long and unwieldy when opened, but not bothersomely so - and besides, I found it refreshing using a phone which doesn't invoke the urge to move the device back and forth between the ear and mouth when having a conversation."

infoSync World : Preview: Panasonic VS3

infoSync World : Preview: Panasonic VS3:

"There's good reason for my silly behaviour, though, as the VS3's 300-candela display is quite simply stunningly bright and clear. Much like users of Sony Vaio laptops just can't go back, owners of a Panasonic VS3 will be able to boast almost unparalelled brightness, and a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 2.2' size further benefit the impression.

It's not all about the display, though, as the VS3 also features an ultra-slim form factor much reminiscent of the Panasonic X800 which was also on display at CeBIT. As is the case with the X800, the VS3 is a tad on the long side when opened, but its light weight and good ergonomics help mitigate this somewhat.

The VS300 is also blessed with a keypad with good tactile feedback despite limited travel, and boasts a well-developed range of features including a 1.3 Megapixel camera, Infrared, J2ME MIDP 2.0 support, USB connectivity and video recording functionality - yet oddly, there's no support for Bluetooth. "

Motorola SLVR V8 (MobileBurn)

" We've know that the Sliver V8 was coming for quite some time, and today at 3GSM in Cannes, France, Motorola decided to show the latest in their new ultra-thin line of phones that started with the RAZR V3 last year.

The Sliver is a candy bar form factor handset, but this candy bar doesn't have much room for a lot of sugar inside. It measures a mere 11.5mm (.45") in thickness, which is much thinner than most other similar handsets on the market. Full dimensions are 49mm x 113.5mm x 11.5mm at 85g (3.4oz). Like its sister product, the RAZR V3, the Sliver makes use of a large TFT display.

It is a triband GSM device that, like the PEBL V6 that was also introduced today, will be offered in two versions. 900/1800/1900Mhz for most of the world and 850/1800/1900Mhz for the Americas. Both versions support EDGE high speed data. Motorola gave the Sliver V8 a rather large 820mAh battery that the company claims will be good for anywhere from 250 to 380 minutes of talk time and from 310 to 420 hours of standby time - a lofty claim indeed.

Like the RAZR and the PEBL, the Sliver has an integrated VGA camera with a 4x digital zoom capability. And like the PEBL that it was introduced alongside of, it sports 5MB of storage for photos, videos, and sounds files. Speaking of which, you can both capture and play MPEG4 video with the Sliver.

Push-To-Talk also seems to be getting a push here at 3GSM - Nokia earlier announced new PTT handsets. Likewise, the Sliver also supports PTT with full presence indication. There is also a hands free speakerphone, a MP3 player, and Bluetooth in there. Naturally MMS and SMS support is there, as well as POP and IMAP email support. Lastly, the Sliver supports JAVA MIDP v2.0, offering the ability to add advanced games and applications.

Motorola expects the Sliver V8 to be available in Q3 of 2005. Estimated pricing information is unavailable at this time.

Another image of the Motorola Sliver V8 is available on the following page."

Monday, February 14, 2005

Motorola SLVR V8

"Moto’s going all out today! The SLVR V8 has specs much like it’s new sibling, the PEBL V6: it’s got tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE data capabilities (which means we’ll most likely see this show up on Cingular), a 262k color 176x220 display, Bluetooth, 5MB internal memory, an MPEG4 VGA video camera, speakerphone, MP3 playback software (for running off its TransFlash slot), and, surprisingly, push-to-talk capabilities (well, maybe not so surprising if you’ve been following the rumor mill, which estimates Cingular will launch PTT service this year). The handset will be a diminutive 4.46 x 1.92 x 0.45-inches—easily small enough to get lost in a tight pair of jeans. Hallelujah"

Dell 2405FPW 24" Widescreen LCD (March 2005)

Dell Monitor Information Center - Higher Education: "24" Viewable Image Size Largest available viewable image size in Dell's Flat Panel Monitor Portfolio

1920x1200 Native Resolution Provides gamers and graphics professionals with best in class image detail.

12ms (typ) Response Time Enables crisp clear images when using the display for fast motion video such as gaming or video editing.

Dual input support Digital (DVI) or Analog connection allowing for max versatility.

CE Inputs S-video, composite and component inputs allow for CE connectivity.

P-I-P (Picture-in-Picture)

Users can and view alternative source video from a CE device with a touch of single PiP (Picture-in-Picture) button. View both your PC content and alternative source video at the same time.

Easy to access 4 port USB Hub and 9-in-1 card reader allowing easy access for your favorite peripheral devices"

SanDisk Announces 1-Gigabyte miniSD Card

SanDisk Announces 1-Gigabyte miniSD Card: "CANNES, France --(Business Wire)-- Feb. 14, 2005 SanDisk(R) Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK) today announced that it is doubling the current capacity of its popular SanDisk miniSD(TM) card to 1-gigabyte (GB)(a). The miniSD card is used in a growing number of mobile phones with multimedia capabilities such as digital cameras, music players, video recording and playback, games and more."

MobileTracker - Nokia intros Series 60 3rd Edition

MobileTracker - Nokia intros Series 60 3rd Edition: "At 3GSM World Congress this morning, Nokia introduced the third edition of its Series 60 platform. The Series 60 3rd Edition, which runs on Symbian OS 9, will be available for licensees in mid-2005."

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Lithonia Lighting - LTD CFWW: Louvered Linear Housing

Lithonia Lighting - The best value in lighting -- Product Catalog: "LTD CFWW: Louvered Linear Housing Product Catalog > Lithonia Lighting > Track Lighting > Track Heads > LTD CFWW Features: Stylized, linear housing with soft, rounded edges provides superior wallwashing capabilities. Available in three housing sizes with a wide selection of compact fluorescent lamps."