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JuntaJoe · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 7391 Location: Texas

Robbo, our favorite Aussie, loves to share tech news from time to time on the latest gadgets and gear. He always seems to find the coolest stuff.

He will not post on any set schedule, but I know he'll be pretty frequent about it.

This is an open thread. So feel free to respond to the news he posts.

Robbo · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 9:38 pm Post subject:

First up, some legal stuff.

I accept no responsibility for any results of you reading this thread. Read this thread and click on any provided links, at your own risk.

Further, I am not affiliated in any way with any of the items mentioned in this thread, and my posts should not be considered a recommendation. I simply post a link, and often a short summary, of items which I have found on the internet or in catalogues, have been sent to me by members or friends, and which I think might be of interest to the community. Please do your own research before committing to anything.

Further, I am not a marketing department or technical support and will be unable to provide any further information you might require. If you have a query please feel free to post it here, and either myself or another community member will attempt to assist you - no guarentees though.

Thanks and enjoy 8)

Robbo · Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 9:42 pm Post subject:

I don't know if I agree with the manufacturer that this will be the new standard in Home Theatre PC's, but I think it might be useful.

Ever been using your PC and wish you could use a remote to control things, like you can on your TV? Well now you can with the IMON. Its available in two versions - Plus (remote has 43 key buttons and 1 joystick) and the Standard version (remote has 45 buttons and no joystick). Both of which are available in either Inside or Standard (Inside seems to be a receiver which lives in a 3.5 inch bay, while the Standard is a USB receiver.

It offers the usual multimedia controls, as well as DVD type controls (menu, bookmarks, captions, etc) as well as the ability to quickly change resolutions. And finally, it can be assigned shortcuts easily, for your programs and shortcuts. For more information on what it does, visit the Manufacturers website.

There are plenty of other remotes on the market, and of course, if we're going to talk about Home Theatre PC's, we must mention Microsoft Media Centre.

Brf · Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 8:23 am Post subject:

Robbo wrote: a remote

Arrrrrrggggghhhh!!!!! :o

TV, VCR, Stereo, DVD, Surround-sound, Cable-box, and now Computer? I would need a remote to control all my remotes! :roll:

JuntaJoe · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 7391 Location: Texas

Being the tech geek myself, I'll toss in the occasional tidbit myself here.

Something I just found:

Oxyride Battery to Be Sold in the U.S.
December 10, 2004 9:15 PM EST

TOKYO - A battery developed by Matsushita Electric Industrial that delivers 1.5 times the power of a regular alkaline battery is going on sale in the United States and Europe in April 2005.

The Oxyride battery, which went on sale in Japan in April, also lasts longer than regular batteries, allowing users to take about twice as many pictures on a digital camera, according to the Japanese manufacturer of the Panasonic brand.

Tadaharu Taguchi, a Matsushita director, said the battery marks "a major milestone in the battery industry."

Oxyride batteries maintain higher voltage and output longer because the material inside that produces electricity is more concentrated.

Oxyride uses oxy nickel hydroxide, an advanced battery substance, and finer grain graphite and manganese dioxide, allowing them to be packed more closely inside the cell.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. also developed a way of blending the powder to stuff more into the battery. A production innovation also pours more electrolyte, a key ingredient that leads to longer battery life, into the cell, Matsushita said.

In a recent demonstration of the battery's power, Matsushita showed a Oxyride-powered coffin-like electric car that crawled along the ground for several feet with a woman aboard lying flat on her back.

Reporters were also shown audio players powered by a regular battery vs. Oxyride. The one with Oxyride delivered a stronger, deeper bass, and Matsushita officials said some music experts express a preference for Oxyride.

The growing popularity of digital cameras, portable music players, handheld video game machines and other gadgets, is boosting demand for powerful batteries, Taguchi told reporters at a Tokyo Panasonic showroom.

AA and AAA Oxyride batteries cost about 10 percent more than regular batteries. In the United States, they will sell for about $3.99 for a pack of four, although prices will vary, Matsushita officials said.

Matsushita, based in Osaka, central Japan, is hoping to sell 100 million Oxyride batteries in the year through March 2005.

Oxyride batteries already comprise about a third of Panasonic AA battery sales, or 7 percent of the overall AA battery market in Japan. Even achieving 1 percent market share is considered significant for products like batteries.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press.

JuntaJoe · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 7391 Location: Texas

ROFL!

I was reviewing my last post and saw the word "Matsushita" replaced with crap.

Seems my word censors picked it up.

I was wondering how a company named "crap" was going to fix their US image problem. :lol:

Brf · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 3:44 pm Post subject:

JuntaJoe wrote: The Oxyride battery, which went on sale in Japan in April, also lasts longer than regular batteries, allowing users to take about twice as many pictures on a digital camera, according to the Japanese manufacturer of the Panasonic brand.

Hmmm.... I use rechargable batteries in my camera.....

JuntaJoe wrote: Reporters were also shown audio players powered by a regular battery vs. Oxyride. The one with Oxyride delivered a stronger, deeper bass, and Matsushita officials said some music experts express a preference for Oxyride.

LOL!!!!! I find it very hard to believe that audio quality could be affected much by battery brand.

NibbyCat · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 3203 Location: Eastern Ohio

JuntaJoe wrote:

I was reviewing my last post and saw the word "Matsushita" replaced with crap.

Seems my word censors picked it up.

I was wondering how a company named "crap" was going to fix their US image problem. :lol:

Some filters will replace just the questionable part, so the company would show as "Matsucrapa". Did you tweak yours, because the company name shows correctly for me.

CooJoe · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:51 pm Post subject:

Looks like he did.

JuntaJoe · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 7391 Location: Texas

Yes, I went back and modified my parameters.

The board lets you use asterisks to let the filter pull out all possible derivatives of the offending word.

Since Matsushita has the proverbial four letter word in it, the filter removed the whole word.

Brf · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:51 pm Post subject:

Matsucrapa is hilarious though :lol:

Robbo · Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:58 pm Post subject:

RailDriver Full Sized AAR105 Control Stand

The RailDriver prototypical control stand for training programs, museum simulators, or dedicated train hobbyists. All control levers, switches, gauges, and indicators are fully functional. Connects to a computer via USB interface for direct control of train simulation software or computer controlled DCC systems.

Weighing in at 105 lbs approx, it will set you back between USD$5000 and $6000, depending on how you configure it.

AAR105 Website

The cheaper option is the Desktop Controller (which I have used)

And of course, you'll need Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004 to play with it 8)

Robbo · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 12:21 am Post subject:

This weeks toy is http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/

While TerraServer has been around for awhile now, they do have new 'urban maps' which are quite cool to look at. This image brought back some memories for me, when I visited there.

And of course, all you americans can type your address into the search box, and be presented with a satellite photo of your house.

JuntaJoe · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 7391 Location: Texas

Bah! I did it the hard way! 8)

I just kept clicking smaller. Of course, a large city is actually easier as the roads, bayous, and significant structures actually help you find it providing your are intimately familiar with your region and have a good sense of vertical direction.

Found my exact house and saw the trees and vehicles in the driveway. The house was about inch long at the closest setting. But my big trees really hide a lot. Of course those trees save me a ton of money in the hot summer, so I'm not complaining.

Boy, I tell you, that's a pretty amazing thing to think about it. My house is 100 feet on it's longest size and this map manages a rough 100 feet per inch resolution for a simple freebee civilian website. Thirty years ago, a city planning inspector would pay several thousand dollars for a city arial view pasted together from overhead plane shots. A serious business investment expense back then. A nationwide one would have been impossible to calculate the cost. Today it's free for the curious. Now I know military satellite scans could do better than this 20 years ago, but that was using government megabucks and spy satellites.

Nice find, Robbo. Did you find your cave entrance too? :wink:

Robbo · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:31 am Post subject:

Glad you found your house :) I had been using it to jump around some places I've visited, and its an enjoyable toy. Gets a bit boring after awhile though.

It is amazing to see how technology has evolved, allowing us civilians to look for free. Also makes you think about how much better the classified military satellite images are. :D

Quote: Did you find your cave entrance too? ;)
While australia is what you describe decades ago in the US, with satellite images costing a fair bit, we do have aerial photography via http://www.lpi.nsw.gov.au/airview/ . And if one does a suburb search for blacktown, then clicks at the bottom left hand corner of the 'B' on the map, and hits display photo, the cave is indeed there :P Good luck finding it though ;)

Brf · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:08 am Post subject:

Cool.... My house in this picture: http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=16&X=1737&Y=23395&W=1

My house and garage ended up on two different pictures.

AriesQtPie · Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 7:55 pm Post subject:

This is as close as it would get to my house. Two blocks to the east is the Intercoastal Waterway (which connects a tad north of me to the Indian and then Halifax Rivers). Two blocks to the west and in the lower left corner is my daughters school. (The five buildings in a "row")

http://tinypic.com/view.html?pic=19sexj

Robbo · Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 6:26 pm Post subject:

Oughtta Stay Out of Pictures:Why video games shouldn't be like the movies.

Critics have called Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas a blood-soaked crime simulator that valorizes the worst gangsta stereotypes. What they haven't noticed, though, is that everyone's favorite shoot-'em-up is also a family drama. Early on in the game, my character discovers his brother and sister fighting over her decision to date a South Side Hispanic man. I don't need this racism, she says, from "a no-good, narrow-minded, hypocrite gangbanger."

http://slate.msn.com/id/2112744/

Robbo · Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:08 pm Post subject:

George Foreman USB iGrill

The low-fat, high-bandwidth solution to your networked cooking needs is finally here. The George Foreman USB iGrill conveniently connects to your home or office PC using USB 2.0 technology, and provides a sophisticated web-based cooking interface.

Web Link

JuntaJoe · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 7391 Location: Texas

Say what?!

Computer linked fryolators? :shock: