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You stumble out of bed after being awakened by your Wake n’ Bacon Alarm Clock, sit down at the computer to check your email, and munch away on the rest of your breakfast made by your CrazyPC 5.25 Bay Toaster. Installing in minutes, it comes with Windows software to adjust heat and time. What’s more, it includes a crumb tray for easy cleanup. Find it at a price of $29.99. More details below.
Click to continue reading CrazyPC 5.25 Bay Toaster
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| CrazyPC
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NBC and Yahoo Sports Vie for Top Online Viewers
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Editorial, Home Entertainment, Internet,
It would seem that even though NBC shelled out over $1 billion in rights and production costs, their online website has had some problems, including the video player not usable for those with firewalls and some clips without commentary. Still, they say that they have received 830.1 million page views, 56.1 million video streams, and 38.9 million users.
On the other hand, Yahoo Sport brags that it has 8 million users, about 1.3 million more than NBC, according to comScore Media Mix. The network’s TAMI (Total Audience Measurement Index) says that they have never gotten more than 8% total Internet viewing on a single day. Although the messages seemed mixed, Zap2it reports upwards of 30 million viewing on TV each day, leading us to believe that this is certainly becoming an Internet watching world when it comes to up-to-the-minute gratification.
Read More | Wired
eBay Adjusts Pricing for “Buy It Now” Items
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet,
eBay has finally taken the Amazon hint and is altering its fee structures for “Buy It Now” items. Going into effect next month, sellers of those and “Fixed Price” items will only pay $.35 for up to 30 days. Buyers can now only pay with credit or debit card, or PayPal.
Scot Wingo, from ChannelAdvisor, says about former opposition to fixed price sales, “The previous management tried to fight it. This management is more willing to ride along with it.”
No doubt eBay is hoping that this will increase flat out sales during the upcoming holiday season.
Read More | Daily Tech
Latest Gear Live Videos
The Speed-Vest is considered by its designers mykle Systems Lab as a cycling “safety device and advocacy tool.” It displays the user’s current speed in bright lights for about 6 hours with a AA battery. The clothing recently won a local contest in Minneapolis. We see a couple of things wrong here, no offense. First off, how distracting would that be to drivers behind? And second, it wouldn’t do much good if the cyclist didn’t know how fast he/she was going. We think this traveling sign needs a bit more work before hitting major markets.
Read More | mykle
Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte Cell Phone
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Cameras, Smartphones, Design,
Nokia has a new high end cell phone constructed of carbon fiber, titanium, polished glass, and stainless steel with an anti-fingerprint coating. The 8800 Carbon Arte features a tap-for-time button below the display for an insta-clock. It has turn-to-mute capability by turning the phone screen side down and changing background images. Also included is a 3G memory, a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus cam, high quality audio, and an OLED display. Look for the Arte in the 3rd quarter of this year for €1,100 ($1,620.).
Read More | Far East Gizmos
Aiaiai’s new Y-Com is not only less metallic and ugly than most earbuds, it is compatible with iPhones. With a choice of 3 different color combinations, it one ups its non-iPhone design with thicker cords for less tangling, and has an inline mic button to control incoming and outgoing calls. Three sets of buds come with the headphones, and the Danish company claims great sound-isolation and full spectrum sound from C4 Studios. Available from Aiaiai for a price of €55 (~$110.00.)
Read More | Cool Hunting
Gnomedex 8.0: Kris Krug: Making Better Photographs
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Productivity,
Kris Krug is here at Gnomedex to talk to us about taking better pictures. He goes into tips:
- Light in the Eyes: You want to try and get light in the eyes.
- Evaluate the Light: Sun? Shade? Incandesent? Halogen? Look around and find highlights, spotlights, and shadows, and then put your subject in good light. Look for reflection and light in the eyes, and if possible, use lamps.
- To shoot in low light: Turn your ISO UP, Increase your aperture (make number lower), decrease your shutter speed, focus manually if autofocus fails you, tinker with manual settings/metering, brace on things (tripod, wall, gear bag)
- Reflections are Yummy: Look for puddles, glass, metal, shiny floors that may have reflections in them, and then take an image of that reflection.
- Focus on a theme: Black and white, portraits, funny faces, laptop stickers, over-exposed. This will give you a goal.
- Learn Your Camera: Isolate the variables like depth of field, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc. ALso, Tinker, tweek, shoot a bunch of photos, share them, get feedback, and feel free to change up your style. Share your gear by finding someone you can test out lenses, flashes, etc. with. Last, but certainly not least, set the white balance.
- Take a look at your background: No trees sprouting out of peoples heads, less busy puts more focus on the subject.
- Fill the frame: Hold your hand out, and if your subject isn’t bigger than your hand, you are too far away.
- Get High! Swing Low: People look better from above, so stand on things, lay down, get the angle, and change your perspective. This is why people are always taking MySpace photos by holding their phone above themselves.
- Tips for being a good subject: Laugh, smile, have fun. Make eye contact with the camera. Stand in the light.
- Camera buying advice: Lenses are more important than the body. You should spend 2/3 of your camera budget on your lens. Don’t fall for megapixels. Look for manual controls. Cameras from Canon, Nikon, and Fuji are great.
You can find Kris at Static Photography. This dude is an amazing photographer.
Obama and McCain’s Playlists
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial, Music, Portable Audio / Video,
The two Presidential candidates were asked what was on their top ten play list. Barack Obama listed “Ready or Not” by the Fugees, “What’s Going On” from Marvin Gaye, and Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” as his top three, while John McCain said that “Dancing Queen” and “Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA, as well as Roy Orbison’s Blue Bayou” were his faves.
Somewhat related (not really, we just wanted to share,) Rolling Stone has claimed Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” the top karaoke song of all time, no doubt prompting the singer to come out of the shadows for over 20 years and release his new album, Venus in Overdrive.
Read More | Blender
In Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC, a turtle wearing a GPS device for research happened across a marijuana field. The discovery was found by the ranger in charge of the program. Apparently, this is not the first time that people have used the park for growing their own. The culprit was taken into custody and the turtle has gone back to his research. When complimented on his dedication and discovery, the turtle just looked glassy-eyed and commented “Far out, man.”
😉
Read More | WUSA9
NMI Golden Shellback Waterproof Coating
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science,
The Northeast Maritime Institute has developed Golden Shellback coating. This waterproof polymer repels oil, dirt, dust, synthetic fluids, hazardous materials, and water based solutions. It can be applied to plastic, metals, ceramic, glass, and other types of sufaces to also become anti-corrosive. While the coating is not yet available to the public, it would appear that the process would involve sending the gadget to them and paying ~$50.00 to $75.00, depending on the size. To see it in action, catch the video featuring lots of electronic devices, including an iPod touch.
Read More | Golden Shellback
