Wikipedia, bless its globally-distributed pointy little hydra-head, has a really sweet collection of links to iPod-related hardware and software hacks.
Treo vs. Treo
Yardena Arar, the “PDA Pundit” at PCWorld, takes a side-by-side look at the new Windows-based Treo 700w and the Palm-based Treo 650. Her conclusions (which we might have guessed even before reading the piece):
Overall…the Treo 700w…is fast; it’s got a few nice phone features; and if I have to use a Windows Mobile hybrid, I’d rather have a Treo than any of the other Windows Mobile smart phones I’ve seen. But do I feel any desire to surrender my Palm OS-based Treo? No. I’ll just upgrade when a faster version comes along. The best things about the Treo 700w have little or nothing to do with Windows Mobile.
Peter Vallone Doesn’t Have a Posse (and other Subway Musings)
I guess I missed this, but apparently some time early this month, Andy Cheung followed inspiration from a Gothamist thread and created a template to let people create their own subway service signs – the ones that are usually found tacked to the support beams in New York’s subway stations informing riders of the problems facing them that day.
The template, found at WhereAndy.com , creates mock service signs for any subway line in New York, with your own custom message. The signs have even started cropping up in stations for the past few weeks, with messages ranging from political (“Peter Vallone Doesn’t Have a Posse”) to pure mockery (“Not Running On Time. Ever.”).
New York’s own 24-hour news channel New York One covered the trend and found that most subway riders were bemused. Subway workers less so.
Page Not Found, Hilarity Ensues
Time Wasting on a Timer Script
Gina Trapani, who writes the excellent “Geek to Live” column on Lifehacker, has created a nifty “Invisibility Cloak” Firefox script in Greasemonkey that blocks a list of websites you specify, giving you access to them only after a certain time of day (you know, like AFTER you’ve gotten some actual work done). You need the Firefox Greasemonkey extension to use it. Here’s a link to Gina’s piece.
Street Tech’s Sucks Less Awards
We’ve been thinking for a while now about creating an official Street Tech Sucks Less Award to honor those tech companies who show some true design intelligence behind the products they foist on a gadget-weary public. We probably wouldn’t call it the “Sucks Less Award,” but you get the idea. Until we do the official roll out of such an award, we’ll be handing out some mini virtual trophies now and again.
Today we’d like to hand out a suitably handsome little statue to the HP Pavillion HD DLP TV. Not for the TV itself — we haven’t seen it in person yet — but for how they handled the A/V input/output. You can’t see it on this photo, but if you pull down the access panel at the bottom of the TV console, ALL of the A/V I/O is on THE FRONT of the set. The cables all come through a channel around the side of the TV and are connected through this hidden LIT console. No more needing to borrow the local rugby team to help you wrestle your gigantic TV set from the entertainment center so you can plug/unplug a component. What a concept!
Video Hands-On Review of Treo 700W
We’re starting to see a lot more of these online video reviews of products. This one, on Mobility Today, takes a first-look at the Treo 700W. This is a really great way to get a literal look at a product you’re interested in that can say so much more than a simple print review and still image(s).
DIY Component Cables
HD Beat has a short piece on making your own high- quality “monster” component A/V cables. It’s actually fairly easy to do, but the tools will cost you close to US$100. This is the sort of situation where sharing tools with friends and neighbors (or buying/selling used on eBay) would come in handy.
Fifteen Tech Concepts for 2006
Popular Mechanics has a piece entitled “15 Tech Concepts You’ll Need To Know In 2006.” We like these sorts of “on my radar” articles that try and keep readers informed of emerging technologies and sciences that will likely have an impact in the near future. We plan on doing more of these here at Street Tech in the year ahead. This wouldn’t be OUR fifteen to watch, but it’s still a decent list.
DIY Space Invaders Bling-Bling
We love the geekly fashion here at Street Tech Labs, and we get a kick out the whole retro- computing craze (how long do you think it’ll be before geek antique shops start poppin’ up?). These pastimes come together (along with a little DIY craftiness) in these download and print Space Invaders ring and earrings.
[Via Boing Boing]