Reinventing the mouse

Subject: General Tech | February 10, 2006 - 04:03 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The Evoluent VerticalMouse 2 reviewed at Extremetech is exactly what it sounds like.  A mouse that sits on it's side, so that while you use it, your hand is in the "handshake" position.  Find out how well it worked, and if it will help with that Carpal Tunnel Syndrome you managed to get after the 7 day LAN party.

"Unfortunately, Evoluent's VerticalMouse 2, which we review today, doesn't win any crazy and kooky

awards.

So ya wanna be famous?

Subject: General Tech | February 10, 2006 - 11:50 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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See your name in lights with The Movies, the newest sim game.  Pamper your starlets, keep your leading men interested, and remember, the only bad publicity is no publicity.  Check out the full review at GamePyre.

"Overall, the movies game was one of the first games to have me looking at the time in shock —

it's been a while.

Where's the heat?

Subject: General Tech | February 10, 2006 - 11:39 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The ThermoHawk 200 Infrared Thermometer is a $60 dollar tool that you may never get bored of playing with.  Sure, it is handy for figuring out which capacitor or chip is running really hot and needs a heatsink, or where the hot air gathers in your case.  But think, now you will never need to sip a beer to figure out if it is cold, or if the water in the lake is warm enough for a swim, or just how hot your coffee is.  Check it out at Think Computers.

'Today I have for review somethi

Practice your web-based self defense

Subject: General Tech | February 9, 2006 - 11:36 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Tech Connect Magazine has posted an article called "Under Attack", a primer on defending against the various wild nasties currently roaming the virtual world.  If you aren't up to speed on what kind of threats are out there, this is a read that could save you a lot of time and money.

"Viruses, Trojan horses, spyware and Hanson lyrics - the internet is a veritable jungle that only

a few can come out of unscathed.

Avoid the Direct Access button on your monitor

Subject: General Tech | February 8, 2006 - 11:41 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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NGOHQ has been trying to get a hold of nVIDIA, after running into some problems with the relatively new Direct Access feature, wihout much luck.  The feature is now gone from the newest drivers, and they do have a workaround for those who are having issues.

Also, if you entered the NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS Giveaway Contest @ ARP

Make any stereo broadcast in Bluetooth

Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2006 - 05:45 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The Bluetake BT450Tx Bluetooth Stereo Transmitter is a little device designed to pulg into an iPod, to allow Bluetooth headphones to not only play your music, but to allow some control over the iPod itself.  The neat thing is that anything with a 3.5mm plug-in can broadcast it's current music over Bluetooth.  Read the full story at A True Review.

A short time ago I reviewed the spectacular Bluetake i-PHONO mini Bluetooth Stereo Headphone.

Will Terratec's new device help you claw your way to victory?

Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2006 - 03:39 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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3DXtreme looks at the Terratec Mystify Claw, a customizable gaming device that will let you get rid of the keyboard for gaming.  Can it actually help your performance, or will it suffer the fate of most things that try to challenge the mouse+keyboard combe?

"Today 3DXtreme has the pleasure of reviewing a gaming device for the hardcore in the Mystify

Claw. Everyone is trying to make the gaming experience easier and more ergonomic and that's where

the Mystify Claw comes in.

A quick glance at AM2

Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2006 - 11:50 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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AnandTech has put together a 3 page look at the upcoming AM2 AMD processor.  If you don't fully understand what this new processor will be capable of, then give this summary a read to see what it can do beyond simply support DDR2.

"The new AMD technology refresh, now called AM2, will bring DDR2 memory to the Athlon64

on-processor memory controller.

Knoppix to the rescue

Subject: General Tech | February 3, 2006 - 11:45 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Extremetech has posted a guide on using the boot disk distros of Knoppix to aid in recovering a borked windows install.  Simply download the newest version of Knoppix, burn to a disk, and boot the troublesome PC using it.  The guide covers various ways to rescue yourself from data loss. 

"A bootable CD or DVD with Knoppix can be a lifesaver when your computer goes awry.

Is Crackberry withdrawl inevitable?

Subject: General Tech | February 2, 2006 - 11:58 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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CNET has gathered an FAQ on the Blackberry patent dispute for those trying to figure out if they will wake up one day to find the service dead.  If you have one, then you know the confusion this suit has caused.  If you don't have one, but know people who do ...

Mobile multifunction music maker

Subject: General Tech | February 1, 2006 - 02:11 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The SonoWave Digital Media player is a WiFi device that will play back music from just about any source you can stream to it.  It's only major drawback is the amount of batteries it eats, just like old ghetto blasters, this guy wants 8 C batteries.  Heaf to 3dGameMan for the full review.

'This is not your standard boombox. Being able to play Internet Radio, MP3 and other audio formats

wirelessly sets it apart from many other devices.

Internet Explorer discovers tabbed browsing

Subject: General Tech | February 1, 2006 - 11:59 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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CNET has a story about, and a link to download, the newly released IE7 public beta.  Head straight to the page if you want to see what the new version can do ... the only requirement is that you must have WinXP with SP2 in order to use it, Win2K won't cut it.

"The program, still a work in progress, is available for download from the Internet Explorer

section of Microsoft's corporate Web site, the company said.

Tell us something we didn't know

Subject: General Tech | January 31, 2006 - 11:57 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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It looks like Vista won't be under anyone's Christmas tree this year, from what The Inquirer has learned.  The beta version that will come out this quarter to TechNet members will contain all the features of the planned commercial release, so the extra time before distributing to the public should let them iron out a few more bugs.

"As it stands Vista and Allchin will leave the Redmond Volehill about Christmas. Already that is a

bit late, as Microsoft had been talking about October or November.

BlueGears Stop Support for HDA X-Mystique and VR-Fidelity

Subject: General Tech | January 30, 2006 - 03:38 PM | Jonathan Hung
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It appears BlueGears has discontinued support for the HDA X-Mystique and the VR-Fidelity. The same post references a contact at a new company called Auzentech located in San Jose, CA.

AMD AND HP GENERATE MORE THAN $2 MILLION FOR THE LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION

Subject: General Tech | January 30, 2006 - 11:53 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Jan. 30, 2006 - AMD (NYSE: AMD) and HP (NYSE: HPQ) (Nasdaq: HPQ) today announced that they have generated more than $2 million to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) through sales of the HP Special Edition L2000 Notebook PC, powered by AMD Turion(tm) 64 mobile technology. Thanks to the tremendous success of this initiative, availability of this one-of-a-kind notebook will be extended through June 2006.

ABit will trade info for a chance at great schwag!

Subject: General Tech | January 27, 2006 - 01:53 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Abit is hosting a survey on their website, and if you participate, you are entered to win some really good prizes.  Depending on how far you go in the survey, you can end up with more than just one chance to win, as well as letting you in on even bigger prizes.  There are daily draws, and the grand prize winners are announced on Feb 10th.

1000mW pointer of light

Subject: General Tech | January 27, 2006 - 11:50 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Well, maybe not quite that powerful, but the Spyder Series Portable lasers that MVKTECH has linked to are something else.  While they are quite expensive, you can do useful things with them, like burn holes in black garbage bags or melt plastic ... or use it as a pointer, I suppose.

"Wicked Lasers is proud to introduce the most unique and innovative portable lasers available in

the market.

Wireless streaming audio brought to you by Squeezebox

Subject: General Tech | January 26, 2006 - 01:37 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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HotHardware, has posted a reveiw of the Squeezebox Wireless Media Player by Sean Pelletier (aka Pelly).  The audio box seems like the perfect way to get the songs on your PC to play anywhere in your house, without adding to your already existing cable spaghetti, plus it comes with a "MP3 is not a crime" sticker.  Give it a read.

"We've just posted a new article at HotHardware.Com where we evaluate Slim Device's sleek

Squeezebox Wireless Media Player.