Into the Void

SkyScout

SkyScout is a digital planetarium. You point it at the sky and it identifies whatever star or other celestial object you point it at.

I…
WANT

Technorati: celestron sky+scout planetarium

Just testing that I can still post by email…

From the Samsung Blackjack of
Leslie Ellis

… From my latest toy.

—–Original Message—–
Sent: 8/12/2007 9:06 PM
Subject: Solid-state harddrives at Tiger

Solid-state harddrives at Tiger

or http://tinyurl.com/2×6jjo

VODKA - p.i.n.k. Spirits - Vodka Infused With Caffeine and Guarana - Mixed Drinks - P.I.N.K.

My shrink recommended I try a new beverage called “P.I.N.K.” Well, I think he was recommending it. I didn’t exactly get stern warning out of the conversation. I picked up a bottle today and brought a sip or two to enjoy while polishing up a couple blog entries for publication.

Errrrr, well, it was actually more like a mug of the stuff. The mug shown in the picture is the Pendulum Resources mug available at the The Bipolar Planet® Manic Mall.

So what the heck is P.I.N.K.? Well, it’s 80 proof vodka from the Nederlands pumped up with guarana and caffeine, the equivalent of 1/2 can of Red Bull per 1-1/2 oz. shot, but without the awful sweet vitamin-y taste. It is very expensive at $45 per bottle, very trendy, trés chic, and utterly unremarkable tastewise. The liquid isn’t colored pink, only the bottle.

This stuff must have been created with the manic in mind.

Count me in.

P.I.N.K pink vodka guarana energy drink vodka caffeinated vodka Red Bull manic Red Bull Bipolar Planet

New Hauppauge WinTV Products for Windows Vista - PVR Wire

I was looking at TV tuners for my husband’s computer the other day and thought “who needs TV on a computer?”

Shortly after that he sent me an email entitled “birthday” with a link to the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950 TV Tuner USB Stick Hybrid Video Recorder. Must have been reading my mind. It was on sale and had a rebate. At $59.99 I couldn’t turn it down.

He doesn’t read this blog. I hope.

The WinTV-HVR-950 plugs into a USB2 port on your computer and receives over-the-air High Definition TV broadcasts. You can view in realtime with a fast enough computer, or record them in MPEG2 format so that you can burn them to DVD later. The 950 receives the American standards, that is, standard NTSC broadcasts or ASCT over-the-air high definition digital. There is also a version for the European market.

The WinTV-HVR-950 doesn’t require any batteries or recharging since it gets its power from the USB port. It comes boxed with WinTV-Scheduler software, a USB 2.0 extender cable and a small antenna that is good for nearby over-the air HDTV stations. If you live out in the hinterlands, Hauppauge suggests that you get a rooftop HDTV antenna.

WinTV-Scheduler is perfect software for people who don’t bother to read instructions and don’t want to do anything fancy. It installed in a couple of minutes, detected the WinTV-HVR-950 with no problem. With a single button-press the software scanned the airwaves and came up with a couple of local High Definition public television stations. Another button controlled tuning. And still another recorded the show for later. The scheduler function allows you to record your favorite shows when you aren’t at home. It can also receive analog cable, according to the literature. I didn’t try that.

And then I thought, “I wonder what that weird-@55 card slot in my laptop is?” There’s a slot on one side of the laptop where the PCMCIA port should be, and in the beginning there was nothing online about any weird-@55 card slots. Maybe if I’d read the Dell manual. Eh, who reads manuals?

It turns out that our laptops both have slots for something called ExpressCard/54. Nobody sold anything for the ExpressCard/54 until recently, unless you count a remote control for Windows Media Center that gets stored in the unused slot. (I have XP Professional, thanks.) If you pull the card slot’s dust cover halfway out, it makes a nice holder for your Red Bull. That’s about it.

Well, the wait will soon over. Hauppauge is coming out with the equivalent of their WinTV-HVR-950 for the ExpressCard/54. It called the “WinTV-HVR-1500.” It was supposed to be out in May.

ExpressCard NTSC Hauppauge ASCT WinTV

Netflix Watch Now!

Netflix started rolling out their WatchNow instant video feature in January. If it hasn’t shown up in your account yet, try the link above to activate it.

Oh, but try it in Internet Exploder. It doesn’t work in Firefox.

Netflix WatchNow tests your connection speed to choose what video quality to stream. Other computers on your network can take away bandwidth, so if you plan to do any downloads or play interactive games online, well, don’t. Wait until the movie is over.

By way of Uneasy Silence.

Molex 54819-0572
USB On-The-Go (OTG) Mini-B Receptacle, Right Angle, SMT Solder Tails and Shell Tabs, with Cover Tape, Lead-free

FYI, this is a drop-in replacement for the [tag]miniUSB[/tag] connector in the [tag]RCA Lyra RD2850[/tag] MP3 player.

The [tag]StressEraser[/tag] is a handheld [tag]biofeedback[/tag] unit. Unlike my favorite computer game, [tag]Journey to Wild Divine[/tag], The StressEraser is small enough that I can carry it around in the laptop bag that is too full of other [tag]gadgets[/tag] to hold my laptop.

The StressEraser has a simple, no-nonsense user interface. It is really easy to use. You put your finger in the sensor, hit the “on” button, and the unit starts graphing. Once it figures you out, it starts printing pointers near the end of each inhalation. All you do is synchronize your breathing to the pointers. It helps you breathe deeply and evenly, and this, my [tag]caffeine[/tag]-guzzling [tag]geek[/tag] friend, is [tag]relaxation[/tag].

Ecopad, the Refillable Coffee Filter for the Senseo

I thought I was going to have to get another coffeemaker, because I’ve grown tired of the few brands that make pods for the [tag]Senseo[/tag] single-cup coffee system.

Here’s a refillable coffee pod. Now I can use whatever [tag]coffee[/tag] I want to make foamy single cups.

My new 20 Questions game correctly guessed “anteater.” I told it that it was wrong and after another five questions it guessed “echidna.” What the heck is an echidna?

The answer is: a prickly australian version of an anteater. You must buy this game. It is uncanny.

Picture from the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

The CVS one-time use video camera with modification for advanced preview capabilities.

Watch this space for technical details.