Gadget Guy

I need this drug

This is funny

Getting the hair off couches

Remind me never to get a white dog with dark micro suede couches.

I’ve been using the Pledge Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair to keep Ray’s hair off my couches. So far, it rocks. Ray hair can be quite stubborn. I’ve had to run the gizmo over an area several times.

We’ll see if it holds up.

I heart AppleTV + Remote + iPhone = goodness

The much maligned AppleTV got a boost with a recent firmware update this week. The software works with the new version of the Remote application for the iPhone and iPod touch. It now uses gestures to manipulate menus. Awesome. Now if it would just get the iTunes visualizer…

Cool gadget of the week: SendStation dock extender

My  iPhone case prevents me form plugging the device into the universal docks that hook into speaker and stereo systems. I’ve been pretty bummed that I can’t rock out to Enya at work, even though I have a nice Logitech AudioStation

SendStation has answered my prayers by developing a solution: the iPod dock extender. The gizmo retails for about $30. It comes with a dock, the extender, and a cradle with several rubber pads to secure the iPod or iPhone on the dock. The extender comes in black and white.

The black version of the dock extender fit like a glove on my speaker set, so now I am rocking the workplace once again.

Gadget Guy verdict: Recommended.

SendSation's iPod extender.

Nooooo!

The girlfriend has now decided to get a bigger television screen. Her 47-inch LCD will be bigger than my 42-inch plasma.

Suddenly, I feel small.

Plasma televisions seem to be going the way of the dodo bird. Pioneer recently shut down production. Many experts and AV geeks consider plasma to be a superior technology for display of movies and games. Colors are brighter and blacks are deeper. Viewing angles are also better.

Concerns about burn-in, reliability and power consumption have kept consumers away from plasma. Today’s modern plasma TVs have worked through those challenges for the most part, but LCD still gains ground.

And the number one reason why I want a basement

I would like to turn it into a Star Trek-themed home theater setup.

Apparently, sci-fi man caves are the rage. I need to research this trend some more.

http://www.reighn.com/

Nice flash panorama here:
http://www.reighn.com/theaterphoto.html

The other parts of the basement will be an Apple Store and Best Buy, of course.

A scifi take on storage

The past month I’ve spent time organizing my garage with Rubbermaid Roughneck Totes and peg board. It’s looking pretty spiffy…for me.

Roughneck Totes are pricey at about $7 a pop, but well worth keeping those action figures and comic books safe from moisture. They can easily be stacked to save space.

Long before the Roughneck Tote, science fiction media predicted modular storage containers. The depictions have evolved over time.

Supply container from Star Trek episode Dagger of the Mind.

The original Star Trek series used simple boxes with prismatic wrapping paper to depict 23rd century totes. The series was also fond of cylinders. The photo at left shows a supply container bound for Tantalus colony. Eventually, storage and cargo containers got more sophisticated in the Next Generation and later series.

Container from Space: 1999.

Space: 1999 used octagonal totes (aka moonbase containers) which seemed to be made out of wood, had colorful markings, and built-in handles. Characters were always falling into them during fights and crashes. At left is a representation of the containers. It’s a icon from Dave Brasgalla’s wonderful collection at The Icon Factory. Kind of clunky and not very efficient when stacked.

Other odd shape containers have appeared in science fiction. The bigger cousins of the moonbase containers appeared in the dystopia film Silent Running. I remember Bruce Dern wrecking into them in one scene:

Cargo pods in Silent Running

My containers are smaller and against the garage wall. I hope not to wreck into them.

On starting a new blog

I’ve started a lot of blogs during the past few years. They all seem to fall by the wayside. Part of the problem is selecting the blogging platform. Although I have played around with Movable Type, blogger, and various Mac-specific blogging applications, I keep coming back to WordPress. This blog is in the latest version of WordPress (2.7) and a highly recommend it. The dashboard interface is more intuitive and there are more options. The theme I am using is called gears. Next, I’ll be hooking up one of my Mac blog applications to tie into the new blog.