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Good thing I just bought a pair of these

Here you go:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/car/afe6/

I've been thinking about one of these, but am a little worried that I'll end up getting shot or something when I piss off some idiot with a gun in the glovebox.

Well, I know that by posting this I officially brand myself as a corporate shill, but here's a device that runs Linux, has a touch screen, has an open API, and already exists and can be yours for $239:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/digital-photo-frames/b425/

And you can use it as a picture frame out of the box. =)

Starting from scratch on a new layout made touch typing possible where it would be nearly impossible to avoid the temptation to hunt and peck when trying to get better at qwerty.

There's an answer to that particular problem. Das Keyboard! You can hunt all you want, but it won't help. You have to learn where the keys are.

Not with the help of thinkgeek! http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/adca/

http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/accessories/5a65/

• "I'm thinking of switching from a soft toothbrush to a medium-soft. How has that worked out for you?"

• This is slashdot don't use but carry this one.

• "I'm considering moving my sock drawer from the top right to the top left drawer. Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of each arrangement?

• I don't know ask this guy... or not.

• "We're moving to a new home and are having a family meeting this Thursday to evaluate hanging toilet paper so that the next sheet is over versus under on the roll. I was wondering how other readers have approached this decision?"

• There's already a site about that. Here. Not that I recommend it.

• "I'd like to set my USB to automount to a fixed drive letter when I plug it into my Windows XP laptop. I'm considering J:, P:, and possibly Q:. What do you all think? Should I look at M: as well?"

• Use this. 'USBDLM is a Windows service that gives control over Window's drive letter assignment for USB drives.'

Wireless Extension Cords!

The military will be saying "You can have my Firewire when you pry it from my cold, dead hands." They have the bigger guns, so I think they'll win any argument.

You mean a market niche just opened up for USB-powered Hellfire missiles? Count me in! Or should I order one of these ?

There are actually several products like that now.

One is this one, which has USB and eSATA -- it's probably available on other places as well, but who doesn't like ThinkGeek? They don't say the manufacturer, but if I'm reading the photo correctly I think it's "NewWave". It goes for $40. In the ad copy there's a mention of a 1TB limit but I don't know if they really mean that or not.

Another, nicer option (IMO), is this one from NewerTech; they call it the "Voyager Q" if that link dies. It speaks USB, eSATA, and both 400 and 800 Mb/s FireWire. MSRP is $100. It specifically mentions that it's compatible with 2TB and larger drives.

I've seen several other models floating around from various manufacturers (some I think are just re-brandings of the same product ThinkGeek is selling) that are all substantially similar.

I'd be a bit concerned about putting a drive through too many insert/remove cycles -- the internal SATA connector isn't really made for repeated connection and disconnection -- but for backup purposes it's a pretty darn slick idea. I'd been thinking for a while about getting my SCSI tape drive set up and working again, but I think I'm just going to do 2.5" disks instead. Yes, the tapes admittedly last longer, but this assumes you can get the equipment to read them (and DAT was always a bit finicky in this regard). Plus, there's no comparing the sheer volume of media produced; it's a lot easier to take care of a small stack of hard drives (for under $100 you can get an air/water-tight Pelican case and a small media-rated fire safe and keep a few drives secure against just about anything except getting nuked) than it is to try and protect a big stack of tapes.

Let me introduce you to the cool iPod Touch/iPhone keyboard: It's here. Any questions?

I asked my 15 y.o. son, is your iPod Touch a computer? His answer: yeah, but it needs a thing to type on that I can take with me and the batteries burn out too fast. Well, here you go son: a solution to half your problem. For the other half let me suggest you don't geek so much? (I know... but I'm allowed to be hypocritical. He's my kid.)

To add the two, I got an inline ad to this in this thread. (Konqueror helpfully offered to open it in KWrite.)

Closest you can get now is the Das keyboard. That's what I use (albeit the earlier model). It's at Thinkgeek .

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/digital-conversion/

There are lots of services and gadgets around to do VHS to Digital. These guys sell something like that, I think.

Yes indeed, but the question is ... what happens in ten years or so? With nobody selling blanks and nobody selling recorders, and nobody selling pre-recorded tapes, the market is going to consist solely of people that want to convert older recordings. Is there enough money in that, to make it worth manufacturing consumer-level equipment that will basically only get used once?

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/digital-conversion/

There are lots of services and gadgets around to do VHS to Digital. These guys sell something like that, I think.

Shamelessly stolen from Thinkgeek

http://www.thinkgeek.com/books/humor/8e6c/images/2070/

Not many people use a gamepad in FPSes on PCs. That's true.

There are special gamer keyboards. The Wolfclaw, the Pro Gamer Command Pad, the DX1, Themaltake Flare, and more offer a different setup of keys that some gamers really find advantageous. They can be really nice for a serious RTS player, too, despite being marketed mostly for FPS players.

There are special mice just for gamers. Take a look at Trust's Gamer Mouse, the Razer Copperhead, and even the Zalman pistol-grip mouse.

I have a flight stick with seven buttons, trigger, a top hat, and throttle. I use it for flight games, and I like it much more for Mechwarrior 4 or many other vehicle-combat games than a keyboard and mouse.

I have a racing wheel and pedal set for car games. I have a game pad for my PC for the PC versions of Madden-type games. There are even more ways to command a PC, though.

Some gamers use a voice command system for some functions, although that can interfere with speaking to your teammates through Teamspeak or Ventrilo.

Some use things like the Fragpedal from Good Work Systems. It lets you have four extra buttons (two per pedal and two pedals) you can use without moving your fingers. I've considered buying that one specifically for fall prone/get up, crouch, reload, and strafe. There are also the Kinesis foot switches, although each USB connection with those is only good for up to three buttons. Perhaps I'd leave reload on the mouse or keyboard with the Savant Elite Triple Action. You can hook up multiple Savant Elite pedals, but the Fragpedal is less expensive already. Maybe I'll just see if I can get used to my car game gas and brake pedal set for FPSes before making such an investment. There are even more expensive versions of this concept out there, mostly meant for people with disabilities or to cut down on wrist strain. They could certainly be useful in gaming, though.

In the PC world, you're expected to invest in the level of game play you are after. Some people are quite competitive with a decent stock keyboard and a two-button mouse. A scroll mouse is a very cheap and now standard device and is much better for most games. A little better keyboard can go a long way to help. Every little bit can help, though. If you lose to a guy who has bought a fancier controller, you either shrug it off as okay or you go an invest in a fancier one yourself.

Not many people use a gamepad in FPSes on PCs. That's true.

There are special gamer keyboards. The Wolfclaw, the Pro Gamer Command Pad, the DX1, Themaltake Flare, and more offer a different setup of keys that some gamers really find advantageous. They can be really nice for a serious RTS player, too, despite being marketed mostly for FPS players.

There are special mice just for gamers. Take a look at Trust's Gamer Mouse, the Razer Copperhead, and even the Zalman pistol-grip mouse.

I have a flight stick with seven buttons, trigger, a top hat, and throttle. I use it for flight games, and I like it much more for Mechwarrior 4 or many other vehicle-combat games than a keyboard and mouse.

I have a racing wheel and pedal set for car games. I have a game pad for my PC for the PC versions of Madden-type games. There are even more ways to command a PC, though.

Some gamers use a voice command system for some functions, although that can interfere with speaking to your teammates through Teamspeak or Ventrilo.

Some use things like the Fragpedal from Good Work Systems. It lets you have four extra buttons (two per pedal and two pedals) you can use without moving your fingers. I've considered buying that one specifically for fall prone/get up, crouch, reload, and strafe. There are also the Kinesis foot switches, although each USB connection with those is only good for up to three buttons. Perhaps I'd leave reload on the mouse or keyboard with the Savant Elite Triple Action. You can hook up multiple Savant Elite pedals, but the Fragpedal is less expensive already. Maybe I'll just see if I can get used to my car game gas and brake pedal set for FPSes before making such an investment. There are even more expensive versions of this concept out there, mostly meant for people with disabilities or to cut down on wrist strain. They could certainly be useful in gaming, though.

In the PC world, you're expected to invest in the level of game play you are after. Some people are quite competitive with a decent stock keyboard and a two-button mouse. A scroll mouse is a very cheap and now standard device and is much better for most games. A little better keyboard can go a long way to help. Every little bit can help, though. If you lose to a guy who has bought a fancier controller, you either shrug it off as okay or you go an invest in a fancier one yourself.

I'm sure there will never be a demand in the future to interface old media with new technology. I mean, how likely would that be?

I'm sure there will never be a demand in the future to interface old media with new technology. I mean, how likely would that be?

I'm sure there will never be a demand in the future to interface old media with new technology. I mean, how likely would that be?

I'm sure there will never be a demand in the future to interface old media with new technology. I mean, how likely would that be?

If you absolutely must store your data on-site or can't afford off-site backups, consider something like this hard drive safe from thinkgeek.

Either that, or make arrangements with a good friend to purchase 4 identical hard drives.

He holds on to one of your drives, you put one in your backup server.
You hold on to one of his drives, he puts on in his backup server.

Every week, go visit your friend and take the drive from your backup server. Give it to him for storage at his house, and you do the same for him.

After the switch, you can both run off the second set of drives until next week when you meet and swap drives again.

It's a good idea, because you have an on-site backup, and an off-site backup at your friends house--plus it forces me^H^Hyou out of the basement to go have human contact every once in a while.

The down-side is if you store your data unencrypted, your friend has access to all your porn.

Dammit.... you got me.. ok three.
But, I have worn this t-shirt while preforming the duty: http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/frustrations/388b/zoom/

I just figured that if Van Halen could have contract riders stating that they would get 10lbs of m&m's (sans brown ones) backstage, I ask that the computer knowledge-deprived ladies to provide me with good beer and free dinner OR that they invite a cute single friend over (no DUFFs) and I bring the drinks. Sometimes this works. I suggest bringing a good bottle of white and red wine (or four). :)

Nintendo already has released a portable Wii - http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/home-entertainment/a749/?cpg=ab - Strains the eyes a bit, but works fine.

A similar (maybe the same?) material has been in existence long enough for someone to make a toy out of it, exploiting just the behavior you're curious about. link.

Cell phones in prisons have been big news in Texas, after a Death Row inmate was stupid enough to make threatening calls to the chairman of the state Senate's Criminal Justice Committee. They're still being found, weeks after a supposed crackdown that turned up dozens of in-cell cell phones systemwide, along with an inordinate amount of drugs and weapons.

The Grits For Breakfast criminal justice blog has been following the issue closely, asking questions like "Will we see prosecutions of staff who smuggle cell phones in addition to inmates and family members paying for their minutes?" Answer: probably not. Sen. Whitmire, whose family was the target of phoned-in threats from Death Row, summed it up pretty nicely at an emergency Senate hearing on the issue. TDCJ officials promised to implement a plan they'd been working on, to prevent guards from smuggling contraband to prisoners, to which Whitmire responded with a question: Why the hell weren't you doing that already?

One story mentioned a phone that was only found by an abdominal X-ray. I wonder if it was this little bugger? Oh, sorry, bad choice of words.

Bismuth is a widely accepted nontoxic substitute for lead...

So? Clorine and Sodium are two very toxic supstances, but NaCl isn't. See also: Thinkgeek
Properties of compounds often bear very little relation to their constituent parts.

Hey, I didn't write the movie script.

But I personally prefer the movie definition. While I would never qualify as a programmer and "Hacker" is something I would never have the temerity to refer to myself as, I've been working in the networking/IT field for over 10 years now and I would refer to myself as a Geek. Also, my work shirt with the "geek" label on it from thinkgeek would disagree with you too.

Besides, the movie definition is much funnier than yours.

The fact that it will not have any security upgrades won't stop people from using it.
Of course, most people who uses it knows better, but I've installed quite a lot of "red internets" to some computer iliterates some time ago, and don't trust them to click on the "upgrade" button, without the urge to call me...
Time to get that shirt?

Except that this has already been accomplished, which already scratches that particular itch, man. Sorry. :)

A Kill-A-Watt might be a better choice for "power trimming", since you can get an instant reading of the power used by anything that plugs in.

On my website I have a couple of webcams that I grab the image from at a specific interval and store the result. Basically, if you get a Trendnet TV-IP201 and a Pentax 10mm f/1.2 lens with a C-mount to CS-mount adapter, you can just wget the image however often you want. Image processing is another issue, but I don't know anything about that.

Have you looked at a cold soldering iron? I find it a little annoying to work with, but I keep one in my woodshop, because one thing you don't want to have in a room filled with wood shavings is something with a temperature of over 500 degrees that takes more than a second to cool down. Might be just the thing for child. ThinkGeek stocks them.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/giftsunder20/69d3/

I actually received this email today http://www.thinkgeek.com/geek-kids/?cpg=81H from ThinkGeek and it looks like it could be aimed directly at you.

A little more, but so much cooler. Levitating Globe

On the same theme as the Levitron is the Levitating Globes. Small ones are $40.

Or this just cuz it's cooler and achieves corporate overlord approval

reminds me of a poster on thinkgeek.com

here

One step closer to a nigh-untraceable Annoy-a-tron

I had done quiet a few bike trips and generally can't be without my iPod, PSP, and cellphone so I have had some experiance using Solar Panels previously, though never for something as power hungry as a notebook/netbook. Two years ago I purchased the Soldius 1 Solar Charger, seen here: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/7d34/. I found that even stationary it really just drained my iPods batteries and made them unusable, as the change in voltages associated with clouds would cause the iPod to constantly redetect that the charging had started and illuminate the screen thus draining more power. I may have only gotten one meaningful charge or two out of it, in the two years I've had it. It also didn't charge some devices, that were USB powered, and seemed very brittle. This summer past, I had taken time off to go cycling for 2 months across Canada, and so invested in another Solar Panel, the SolarFocus SolarMio 31 Solar Charger: http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302697169&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442620595. It was very durable, and I had it strapped on my rear rack, even in the worst rains. It also has a portable battery pack so you can charge during the day, and then have power for later, and it charges relatively quickly. I found that 4 hours would give it a full charge to the battery, (it is probably much better than this, as being on my bike rack and in motion means that it is not really positioned for optimum solar energy collection) and that would charge my iPod to 90%. It also has an external AC adapter to charge the battery overnight, and a USB port for 'most' USB devices. Some draw backs are that it didn't charge my Phone at the time, a Motorola KRZR, and after my trip I found out it doesn't charge my iPhone (which is kinda a disappointment). Another plus is that the battery is detachable, and while replacements/spares are expensive, it made it convient to charge at camping sights. They make an equivilant solar panel for laptops which is a bit pricer at CAD $595: http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302697169&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442625524. Which is too rich for my blood at the moment, but if the quality is anything like this one, I'd definately recommend it. Finally some other words of wisdom: 1) The Solar Device compatibility list actually seems to matter at least for obvious devices not listed, just because it's USB doesn't mean it will charge it. 2) Getting a dead iPod (I had both a iPod 4G Photo and 5.5G Video) to charge is a bit tricky if you are charging straight from the sun in less than ideal conditions, as when it turns on, the screen comes on maximum brightness, and I believe stops charging for a moment, and will cause the iPod to turn off. I found that both the above would eventually charge by just booting it into Disk Mode a few times, eventually it would have enough power to stay on in Disk Mode and charge. Finally after two minutes rebooting it into Normal mode, so that the screen turns off resulted in a quicker charge.

>do you have a link to that watch?
8GB Video Watch I assume.

Of all that data. How much of it is duplicates? Do we want to archive all the spam e-mails too? If you really want to save the data continually reproduce it on modern technology.

I have two links :-)

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/a442/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/8e18/


Ridiculous toys of course. You're much better off with a video player that is _not_ stuck on your wrist. But the kid in me still thinks "awesome!"...

I have two links :-)

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/a442/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/8e18/


Ridiculous toys of course. You're much better off with a video player that is _not_ stuck on your wrist. But the kid in me still thinks "awesome!"...

: D

That's a card holder. We're talking about RFID passports.

How about this for your cards, or this if you like the idea, but want to keep your passport and cards in one place.

However, if you think that having all your ID in one place is a good idea, I don't think you should be on this thread.

That's a card holder. We're talking about RFID passports.

How about this for your cards, or this if you like the idea, but want to keep your passport and cards in one place.

However, if you think that having all your ID in one place is a good idea, I don't think you should be on this thread.

Already been done.

Only if you could combine the machine and the heart with one of these

use this : Phantom Keystroker
wire the +5 and gnd signal and put a long wire on the data+ pin
this should keep them busy for a while