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  • may 4:24 pm on January 25, 2007 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , gadgets,   

    no more radio commercials! 

    So this just makes my geeky little heart sing. a couple days ago i discovered that i can stream internet radio stations from my cell phone to my car’s stereo! This heralds a pretty big change in my listening habits since my car was the only place left I listened to commercial radio. now I won’t have to listen to commercials anymore. yay! here’s what i’m using to get it working

    Of course you’ll also need a data plan with your cell phone company (Sprint charges $15/mo for EVDO). Sound quality and reception are surprisingly good. It does tend to drop in certain places (especially along the 280 where my cell reception is spotty) but in general it works pretty well in the city. Aside from $20 for the radio app, there are no extra fees. Given that XM satellite radio costs about $13/ mo, this is a pretty sweet deal!

     

    • jamie 6:42 am on January 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply

      You might be better off quality-wise if you go with something like the Monster RadioPlay rather than the cassette adapter. I guess it depends whether you think cassette quality is better or worse than FM radio quality. I could definitely see a case made in either direction.

    • may 9:36 am on January 26, 2007 Permalink | Reply

      oh yes, that’ll probably work too! I have one of these for my ipod but am not using it for the phone b/c I have a phone charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter (i think different phones need different chargers)

  • peliom 2:05 pm on January 3, 2007 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , gadgets,   

    Let’s Get Physical 

    Per today’s visit to Physical Therapy I am now the proud owner of a 6×36″ Foam Roller. You may recognize this object, the hated tool of the physical “therapist”, the Room 101 of stretching. A while back I used one to stretch my Iliotibial Band in the interest of less painful cycling. Stretching the IT Band kills … it’s best to do it at home because you are likely to start crying at the gym.

    My physical therapist assured me that the four foam roller exercises she is prescribing for me are not painful like the IT Band stretch. She says I have really bad posture and that is leading to this painful Shoulder Impingement, possibly catalyzed by hitting the riverbed when goofing of and diving in the Kings River. I do have horrible posture, no suprise there. Putting my back and shoulders into a supposedly “normal” anatomical position requires a lot of effort and is not a fun resting state. I have a super-stiff neck and upper back too, owing to my hunchback computer lifestyle. Hopefully these exercises will help.

    Just like every physical therapist and ergonomics specialist I have ever met, she expressed shock upon learning that I spend 14-16 hours a day in front of a computer.

    “Wow, that’s really a lot”

    I don’t get it … that level of computer time is an industry standard all across silicon valley. Why isn’t the PT industry in tune with that? I can see now why so many co-workers are triathletes. It’s not just about exercise … training at that level makes you pay attention to your body and keeps you in touch with sports medicine physicians that can be a valuable resource for this type of thing.

    Then again there are the chain-smoking, hard-drinking mexican web developers that I work with. I think I’m going to just get a cortisone shot and eat some candy.

    Link to AMF Should Impingement page

     

    • rajbot 5:03 pm on January 3, 2007 Permalink | Reply

      My one Alexander Technique lesson with Nick taught me a New Way To Sit, which really helps my bad posture and significantly reduces RSI pain I get while typing. When people used to tell me to ‘sit up straight’, I would use the muscles in my back/shoulders to straighten my upper body, which did not help. But I learned that simply ‘rolling forward on my sit-bones’ changes *everything*. It’s hard to describe, but really simple and I can’t believe I didn’t know about this all my life. I will show you next time I see you, but this might just be a rajbox thing, since I am oddly-proportioned..

    • may 6:26 pm on January 3, 2007 Permalink | Reply

      14-16 hours straight is a lot. i don’t think our bodies have evolved to sit for that long. i was doing that a couple weeks ago and now my lower back is totally killing me.

      i think training for some type of event helps me too because it makes me pay closer attention to my body and also more disciplined about doing things that aren’t so exciting (like stretching to avoid injury). plus i can also secretly pretend that i’m training to become an elite-kick-ass-ninja-fighter! (another childhood fantasy that comes from watching waaaay too many martial arts movies :-)

  • peliom 2:34 pm on December 19, 2006 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , gadgets,   

    Mac Tablet!!!! 




    OK, so this is not an Apple product but to me it’s a huge breakthrough. I want a mac table bad! I want Mac OS X in my pocket. Computers are too big. For many of my tasks (email, web surfing) an iPod class of device would easily be able to run a stripped down version of Mac OS X. I’m curious to see how much this news resonates in the blogosphere, it would be a good indicator of demand for mac tablet (err… market demand from bloggers anyway).

    So this guy was able to install and boot Mac OS X on type of windows tablet PC (x86 I guess). Very tempting. If there is no mac table from Apple at MacWorld (and I don’t think there will be), I will probably sell one of my macbook’s and try to get this working.

    Link to the Mac OS X on a tablet story

     

    • may 11:35 pm on December 19, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      sadly, i don’t think there will be a mac tablet at macworld either. but maybe there will be a mac phone! (which i imagine would have email and web browsing capabilities so that would satisfy most of your needs) i know this is sacreligious to say here (i hope rajbot isn’t reading this!) but i like windows and still don’t think i would switch even if apple came out with a tablet. i’m stubborn i know!

    • Travis 3:56 pm on January 2, 2007 Permalink | Reply

      ewww. lol

  • may 2:20 pm on December 8, 2006 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: gadgets   

    They look like boxing gloves… 

    IMAGE_00042.jpg but apparently they’re ear phones. One of the guys in the office just got these and they’re made from custom molds of his ears by a company called Ultimate Ears. He swears by them and says they’re awesome. Awesomeness, however, does not cheap – at $850 a pair, they’re not something you can easily replace at Best Buy should your puppy accidentally decide they might be tasty.

    since they’re molded to his ears, I can’t try them out, so I can’t attest to their awesomeness…but i think they look kind of neat.

     

  • may 4:12 pm on November 28, 2006 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: gadgets,   

    Wireless headphone recommendations? 

    Okay tikirobot audiophiles, I need some help. I’m looking for a pair of wireless headphones for listening to music when I’m in the office (b/c apparently my music is driving everyone crazy…yes even they can’t stand my bad taste). It should be compatible with both my powerbook or PC….I’m guessing it should be bluetooth. The wireless part is important because I don’t like being tethered to my desk and frequently get up to walk around. Small and light would be nice too. Oh and preferably under $100 (though i don’t know if that’s asking too much) Any recommendations???

     

    • bobslobster 5:33 pm on November 28, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Here’s the deal:

      http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?
      Product_Id=3989612&JRSource=linkshare.datafeed.SEN+RS110.

      Pay by google checkout to drop the price to 40 bucks.
      Disclaimer: I do not own these so I cannot vouch for the quality. But 40 bucks? C’moooon…..

    • bobslobster 5:38 pm on November 28, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Also, these end up being about the same price after shipping.

      http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=90130172&loc=111&sp=1&adid=17662

      Hope you find something u like.

    • rajbot 5:42 pm on November 28, 2006 Permalink | Reply

    • may 5:50 pm on November 28, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      thanks!! i might get one of these! wondering though if it’s possible to get headphones without a transmitter. (would sound quality seriously deteriorate?

    • rajbot 5:58 pm on November 28, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Well, if you want it to work on a PC, you might need the transmitter thingy, according to this:

      Now, it’s a simplification to say that Apple doesn’t support Bluetooth stereo audio. As I learned doing some reading just now, what Apple lacks is something called an Advanced Audio Distribution Profile or A2DP, for those who can’t properly create an acronym. That means that the audio through Apple’s built-in Bluetooth sounds terrible, and you’ll need a Bluetooth audio dongle (I always smirk when I type that word) to get decent sound.

    • may 2:40 pm on November 29, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      okay, i just ordered the sennheiser ones with the transmitter thingy since dealing with bluetooth sounds like a headache. thanks! now the office will be spared my collection of r&b slow jams :-)

    • rajbot 10:56 pm on November 29, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      You mean your company doesn’t require all employees to be Tyree fans???

    • may 12:16 pm on November 30, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      well if i had it my way we would, but i work w/ a bunch of guys so uh, i’m outnumbered 7 to 1. (i did put him first on our site though. hee hee)

    • rajbot 4:35 pm on November 30, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Maybe you can sway your coworkers by hanging a huge Tyree poster up in the office. An make sure he’s posing with his shirt off!

  • may 11:33 pm on November 26, 2006 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , gadgets   

    my sidekick replacement 

    ppc67001.jpgSo last week, I got caught in a downpour on my ride home and accidentally drowned my sidekick device. After letting it dry out for 2 days, it still would not be resucitated, so I prounounced it officially dead and decided to get a new phone. I considered getting another sidekick 2 (from ebay since I’m not enamoured with the most recent version which seems cheaply made and poorly designed to me) but in the end I picked up this Pocket PC from Sprint.

    I’m not going to rant about the horrible experiences I’ve had with Tmobile (that can be a whole other post), but for the most part I decided on this device because I wanted to switch to Sprint – they have the least expensive data plan out of all the carriers (only $15/month for unlimited data compared to $39/mo at both cingular and verizon and $29/mo at Tmobile) and this was the most sidekick-like device they had. It’s actually smaller and lighter than the sidekick and at $199, it ended up being $50 less, with a whole lot more features.

    Whether these additional features actually work or not, I don’t know yet. I’ve had it for 2 days so far and these are my first impressions.

    (More …)

     

    • rajbot 2:11 pm on November 27, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      So has it crashed on you yet? I tried a Pocket PC pda a few years ago I couldn’t deal with how often it crashed. I got tired of having to remove the battery to reboot it.. That doesn’t still happen, does it?

      It’s amazing that people are willing to deal with that much frustration from their phone..

    • rajbot 2:14 pm on November 27, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Oh yeah, does this phone allow you to use it as a modem (EVDO dial-up networking)?

      It was such a relief when I finally ditched my sidekick after many painful years.. hopefully you are feeling the same way!

    • may 2:29 pm on November 27, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      yep it’s already crashed once! (i think b/c I had 2 different syncing apps on my computer and it got confused)

      and yep, I’ve used it as a modem for EVDO dial-up networking. (i wrote more about that up top but it was hidden behind a “more” link :-) I just learned that I’m not actually “supposed” to do that on my $15/mo data plan (according to this guy) but you have to really use it *A LOT* i think before Sprint cracks down. I only plan on using it when I’m on caltrain so I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Also, I’ve only tried it on my PC and don’t know if it’ll work on my Powerbook, but apparently this guy got it to work on his MacBook

    • may 2:37 pm on November 27, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      oh and yes, this makes me soooo much happier than my sidekick! also, Sprint rocks!!! I called them yesterday because I was having problems getting my Gmail via POP and they couldn’t figure it out. Today they called me back and wanted to know if I was able to fix the problem and if I needed more help. (after much searching, I discovered that the problem is a known issue that has to do with the way Gmail implements POP, so I have to forward my Gmail to another account which I can get on my phone).
      on the not-so-positive side, I’ve discovered that the display (although really crisp when you’re inside) is REALLY hard to read when you’re outside in the sun.

    • rajbot 3:22 pm on November 27, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Oh…..! Were you able to get DUN working over bluetooth *and* via USB cable?? This stuff is so confusing..

      I just ordered a razr on Verizon, and DUN over bluetooth is $15/month (unlimited data), but tethered DUN using a cable is $60/month (on Verizon).

      Sooo.. if you got DUN working in both tethered and untethered mode, here is the $45-dollar question that I haven’t been able to find the answer to: what are the datarates of the two modes?

      From what I can find, EVDO should give you 1Mbps in SF, but only in tethered mode. In untethered mode, is the only limitation the speed of Bluetooth 1.2? Do you really get 723Kbps? If so, I’m sold!

      The sidekick’s transflective display was maybe the only thing it did better than other phones. Also, I have so many sprint horror stories it’s not even funny.

    • may 3:54 pm on November 27, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Honestly, I have no idea what DUN even is. I’ve only used the phone as a modem via USB since my laptop doesn’t have bluetooth. This guy says that DUN does work on the 6700 via bluetooth and USB. However, I don’t think I would recommend this phone to Mac users because of the weird quirks and instability that are just part of the windows OS (this phone works a lot like my tablet so it’s fairly inintuitive to me but i know it would be highly unintuitive to others).

      Anyways it could be that Sprint is being nice because I’m a new customer (and can cancel my service and return the phone within 30 days w/o penalty if I’m not happy) but I don’t remember TMobile *ever* being this nice.

    • may 4:30 pm on November 27, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      oh apparently he also says DUN is really slow via bluetooth (slower than EVDO) so he recommends connecting via USB which I’ve done.

    • may 10:33 am on November 28, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Now I’m posting this from the train with my laptop connected to the phone via USB. Laptop says that the data rate is 230.4 Kbps and pages seem to be coming in pretty fast. I don’t think I’m actually supposed to be doing this because someone told me Sprint disabled this function on their Treos, but apparently they forgot about this phone.

    • rajbot 10:38 am on November 28, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Awesome! Thanks for the report!!!! Hmmm… if it’s at 230Kbps I wonder if Sprint would care, since you should be able to get that speed via bluetooth, and DUN via Bluetooth is explicitly allowed by Sprint…

  • peliom 5:00 am on October 6, 2006 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: gadgets,   

    It Really Does Work! 




    You should get one of these, they’re awesome. I use this on my NetFlix DVDs so I don’t have to deal with their attitude when I return my movies.

    Link to DVD Rewinder Online Store

     

  • rajbot 2:22 am on March 17, 2006 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: gadgets,   

    AlphaGrip: is it ergonomic? 

    Is the AlphaGrip actually ergonomic? Could it possibly replace my FingerWorks? Will it reduce RSI? Why is does the pink one on their homepage have a different key layout? Why is the image named “frontbigdummmy.jpg”? Is it mac-friendly?

    I don’t know!! But I’m going to buy one for $100 and let you know how it works!

     

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