Zyb will keep your contacts safe
Helpful reader Roar Nielsen remembered reading a post where I
admitted to dropping my Treo in a toilet after a night of carousing.
He recommended a new service called Zyb that lets data enabled
cellphones replicate all the important information via the internet.
The service is very similar to the online storage that the Hiptop
uses, except this is manual and currently supports over 200 phones.
Yahoo Mobile's Contact Backup service is very similar, but Zyb has
many fewer restrictions as to who can sign up.
Zyb users can manage synced contacts with a web interface, and they
can be shared with other Zyb users. Each account can be linked to
multiple mobile phones, and Zyb can be used to push old contacts to a
new phone. The early adopter geek in me is thrilled at the prospect.
Most cellphones ship with the required SyncML data interface so the
majority of phones are compatible. There's no cost to use the
service, and the founders guarantee that it will remain that way. The
company's business model shows plans to roll out additional fee based
premium features in the future. Eventually you'll be able to sync
your contacts from the website to Outlook or an iPod.
http://tinyurl.com/l6y52
Make your own touch-screen barcode scanner
For all you obsessive-compulsive types out there who need to keep
track of every single box of paper clips and old Popular Mechanics
magazines crammed into your overstuffed desk drawers, Max's App Note
Blog has posted an easy way to categorize your useless swag with a do-
it-yourself touch-screen barcode scanner. Little more than a standard
commercial touch-screen attached to a Metrologic Voyager scanner with
a RS232 null-modem cable (instructions for building your own are
included), this project has all sorts of practical applications, from
making sure the nano you just bought isn't some cheap knockoff to
giving your kids a head start on the technology they'll need to
master in order to become successful grocery store cashiers. And if
for some reason you fall upon hard times and are forced to sell off
most of your possessions, the touch-screen barcode scanner will make
your fire sale look that much more professional to the folks
snatching up your treasured gear at insultingly low prices.
http://tinyurl.com/zxxyg
China's cheap-as-free Ainol V3 MP3 players
While not the most attractive or featured-filled of their kind,
there's really no arguing with the price on these DAPs. The 512MB
version of the Ainol V3 retails for a mere $50 (in China, of course),
and packs in MP3, WMA, WAV and OGG codec support, a 1.3-inch screen
running at 160 x 129 for a bit of photo viewing or text reading, FM
radio, USB 2.0 and a most welcome miniSD slot. There's also a
rechargeable battery included that should last up to 8 hours, and the
V3 manages to squeeze it all into 0.5-inch thick enclosure. If 512MB
plus whatever miniSD sticks you have lying around isn't enough
storage, you can always jump to the 1GB version for $69.
http://tinyurl.com/jezlr
AND
Ainol's 1GB US$70 Mp3 player
(link to this article)
August 14, 2006 We just can’t get over how hot MP3 players are at
present. From being non-existent just a handful of years ago,
portable audio player sales last year hit US$5 billion in the United
States, which comes into perspective when you find out that the
combined home and automotive market for fixed audio systems was US
$5.11 billion. Whatsmore, the MP3 market is expected to more than
double again by 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/ehyv4
Siemens VDO shows off eCorner motor-in-hub concept
We've seen various implementations of all these assorted next-gen car
technologies that Siemens got ahold of for their new eCorner system,
but they've managed to squeeze them all into a single wheel, creating
quite an interesting system for use with fuel cell or hybrid cars.
First off, there's an electronic motor integrated into the wheel hub,
allowing for more efficient power use and independent rotation from
the rest of the car. Next up is an active suspension system and
Siemens' very own electronic wedge brake (EWB). Finally, the
independent steer-by-wire function built into the wheel allows for
some very interesting maneuverability. Siemens expect cars that would
use such functionality to be common in 15 years or so, but we hope we
don't have to wait that long for all the fun and power savings this
system promises.
http://tinyurl.com/flvwx
Homebuilt "Evette" electric car gets 200 miles per charge
It may not be as badass-looking or quite as fast as the Wrightspeed
X1, but Tom and Yvette Sines' "Evette" electric car does have the
edge in at least one area: it's street-legal. And it ain't too shabby
in terms of performance either, with a range of 200 miles and a top
speed of 60 miles per hour. Like the Wrightspeed, however, a big
chunk of the car is nothing but batteries, with twenty-four 12-volt
batteries packed into that fiberglass body, which can supposedly be
recharged at a cost of just $2 (although they'll have to be replaced
every three to five years). While it's a one of a kind wonder for
now, the husband and wife duo are currently seeking investors to help
them mass produce the car, which they say could go for as little as
$25,000 once production ramps up -- although we're guessing they'd
probably have to change the name, or face some expenses of another sort.
http://tinyurl.com/j7gyo
ANOTHER ONE:
(Video) Flexible Plastic Display
Plastic Logic has developed new technology which “enables active
electronic circuits to be produced on large flexible plastic
substrates with high yield.” Video after the jump.
These circuits are constructed using solution processing and direct-
write techniques and consist of transistors and other components that
are produced from polymers and a variety of other materials
http://tinyurl.com/eg4s5
BookMooch - Almost free real books
What is BookMooch? According to John Buckman (founder of the new
system), here is the description:
BookMooch is a web site where anyone can give away books no longer
wanted. In return, you get to ask other people for books you do want.
There is a point system based on the books you offer/give and other
aspects, when the goal is reached you can “mooch a book” from
another user, this means you’ll receive the desired book in your
home, for free. The person sending the book has to pay for the
sending costs which are different from country to country and etc.
I think BookMooch is missing a real beta mode version, it seems like
there are still some bugs and other things to test out. In this
Inquirer interview, John Buckman says there were 2 weeks of intense
beta testing, but maybe that wasn’t enough.
What I think about BookMooch:
The idea is good but the system still needs some adjustments.
The portuguese version of BookMooch has some crucial spelling
mistakes, using the google translation system is a not a smart idea…
I sent them an e-mail regarding this aspect and received a reply from
the founder - John Buckman - asking to translate other things as
well. It was a cold e-mail with no thank you message, just a
paragraph asking to make more translations. So here it is, the public
gadgetizer translation service, helping BookMooch get better.
On the home page:
BookMooch - uma vida nova para seus livros -> BookMooch - uma nova
vida para os seus livros
Revisão -> Procurar
Juntar -> Registar
Busca -> Pesquisar
Receber pedidos para seus livros -> Receber pedidos para os seus livros
Afixar seus livros e receber pontos -> Enviar os seus livros e
receber pontos
PS - Of course I won’t do the whole BookMooch translation, there are
services to do that kind of work.
http://tinyurl.com/gurqw
Security 'bad news for sex drive' A woman's sex drive begins to
plummet once she is in a secure relationship, according to research.
Researchers from Germany found that four years into a relationship,
less than half of 30-year-old women wanted regular sex. Conversely,
the team found a man's libido remained the same regardless of how
long he had been in a relationship. Writing in the journal Human
Nature, the scientists said the differences resulted from how humans
had evolved. The researchers from Hamburg-Eppendorf University
interviewed 530 men and women about their relationships. They found
60% of 30-year-old women wanted sex "often" at the beginning of a
relationship, but within four years of the relationship this figure
fell to under 50%, and after 20 years it dropped to about 20%. In
contrast, they found the proportion of men wanting regular sex
remained at between 60-80%, regardless of how long they had been in a
relationship.
http://tinyurl.com/lbkfx
Anderson Powerpoles
12-volt plug system

I have been building small portable solar systems for camping and
power outages using 12 volts. You can run regular 110-volt devices by
sending the 12 volts through an inverter, or more efficiently, there
are some really great 12-volt products out there. Unfortunately, most
of the 12-volt devices you can buy come with a cigarette lighter
plug. These plugs are often of poor quality, and are much too bulky,
especially when you want to hook up multiple things to a power source.
I went searching for a better connecting system, and it turns out the
ham radio crowd found a great solution years ago. They are called
Anderson Powerpoles, and are perhaps the perfect 12-volt connector.
Some of the advantages:
* Flat wiping contact system (cleans the contacts every time you use
them)
* Interchangeable genderless design
* Colored, modular housings
* Polarized, so you can't hook things up wrong way
* 15/30/45 amp contacts use the same housing
I chopped off every cigarette lighter plug I have, and now put these
on everything. Of course I still keep one lighter plug around (with a
powerpole on the other end) for when I need juice from a car.
-- Howie Oakes
Anderson Powerpoles
$1 per set
Available from PowerWerx
More info and ideas about Powerpoles
http://tinyurl.com/hhkdx
Evaluate Product Health Hazards Like A Pro
CommonDreams recently reported that “A guide by the Washington
Department of Ecology to educate consumers on the safe and proper
disposal of hazardous household products was withdrawn from
publication a decade ago under industry pressure and never re-issued,
according to agency documents released today by Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility (PEER)”. Check out this link for more
on the history of the apparent lobbying effort. There’s a good news
ending, at least. An agency from the neighboring US State of Oregon
has updated the guide and that revised version is downloadable here.
Get it while you can: lobbyists don’t give up easily. Like many good
public domain publications, the guide has a proprietary competitors.
One in particular has wider utility. Want to formulate your own
products with low hazard ingredients? Look below for details on free
access.
Check out this interactive online database located on a National
Library of Medicine server (free access via this link). Because it's
never too late for a Federal budget cut or Congressional
intervention, however, we suggest you have at it now, while it's
still up. If your favorite brand is not listed, don’t despair. The
directed toxicology links are useful for learning about the hazards
of product constituents by name, regardless of brand.
http://tinyurl.com/jgbps
Solar Hyper-Concentrators: Reducing The Cost of Solar Power
http://tinyurl.com/h3vyf
Wind Turbines on the Edge: Small Wind Power Could be Moving in Next Door
http://tinyurl.com/g43qz
50 Ways to Save Your Water The folks at Consumer Reports have been
making an effort to be a little greener for a while now, with
resources like their "Greener Choices" section and projects like the
realistic gas mileage tests. Their latest effort is a list of 50 ways
to save water, and it includes a bevy of easy, quick ideas to insure
that more water doesn't go down the drain than it should. Featured on
the list are some that we've trumpeted before, like using low-flow
showerheads and taking care to use the dishwasher correctly. If the
quick fixes are too easy for you, they also offer ideas for long term
investment in water efficiency, including some good ideas for further
research and some interesting stats on where all our water goes (14%
of it leaks!). Worth a look, especially for anyone doing a little
home improvement this weekend. ::Consumer Reports via ::Hippyshopper
http://tinyurl.com/gbdha
Ask the Readers: Create a will? Reader Kristi writes in:
I'm 31, single, and do not have a will. Obviously my family doesn't
know the details of my finances. Do you know an inexpensive way to
create a will and do you have any tips for being prepared for such an
eventuality? (i.e. record of finances, power of attorney, etc.)
We've featured some law books which cover creating your own will, but
not a whole lot on setting things up so that your family will have
everything they need when the time comes. Any readers have tips for
Kristi and anyone else preparing for that inevitable day? Anyone lose
someone recently who wished the deceased had done something
differently to help out his or her surviving loved ones? Let us know
in the comments or to tips at lifehacker.com. — GINA TRAPANI
http://tinyurl.com/jtqk5
MASSIVE ONLINE ARCHIVE OF COMIC BOOKS:
http://www.aibq.com/index.php
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