Musings From Mike

Class Action Settlement May Affect You as a Netflix Subscriber

2012-01-29T13:27:00.000-05:00

If You Rented Online DVDs from Netflix,
A Class Action lawsuit And A Settlement could Affect You.

There is a lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Walmart.com USA LLC (together called “Wal-Mart”) and Netflix, Inc. (“Netflix”) involving the price of online DVD rentals. The Class Action seeks money for current and former Netflix online subscribers.

Check out the settlement web site for additional information and a claim form:
http://bit.ly/wl0hzt

Biscotti: A TV Based Phone Using Free Google Video Chat

2012-01-29T12:55:00.000-05:00

I've used a number of Voice over IP telephony systems and devices, and here's another one unveiled at CES, the Biscotte TV Phone. Their video:

The device retails for $199 and easily connects to any home TV or entertainment system via HDMI cables. Check out their web site: http://bit.ly/yreLHz

Dash - The Smart Phone Car Stereo

2012-01-27T19:45:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of products that allow one to use their smart phone (iPhone or iPod) in a car, but this is the first I've seen that really shows an integrated way to dock your device in your car seemlessly, replacing a standard 2-bay car radio.

Dash is still in development, and available for investors through the Kickstarter web site: http://kck.st/xDDXFq.
Invest the right amount, and ensure yourself of one of the first run products as soon as they are available.

Here's their video:

Seen at CES: The NEST Programable Thermostat

2012-01-25T10:55:00.000-05:00

Why has it taken this long to come up with a unique programmable thermostat for the home? Not sure, but the Nest seems to combine a unique form with great functionality to set the optimum temperatures with a great user interface.

Their promotional video:

And their video explaining how it all works:

And their video to see if Nest is compatible with your wiring:

Nest sells for $249 retail directly from their web site: http://bit.ly/wMM2zR

Florida DrupalCamp will be held Feb 11th & 12th, 2012

2012-01-22T10:55:00.001-05:00

Florida DrupalCamp: learning, teaching and growing community

Florida DrupalCamp is the annual regional gathering of Drupal developers, decision makers, end users, and site administrators. The event is friendly and open, provides hands on learning, expert teaching, and active networking. It will be held Feb 11-12 at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fl (Orlando area).

Use Drupal to build everything from personal blogs to enterprise applications. Thousands of add-on modules and designs let you build any site you can imagine. Drupal is free, flexible, robust and constantly being improved by hundreds of thousands of passionate people from all over the world. Join us!

This year, we are beefing up our sessions with even more open source goodness, and adding a special nonprofit track! We are once again working with the Philanthropy Center at Rollins to provide the venue, lunch will be in the Rollins dining hall, the keynote speaker search is on, and all engines are roaring ahead to bring you the best DrupalCamp the world has ever seen, in one of the greatest venues. (a little proud, are we?)

This will be our fourth DrupalCamp, and we are building on growing attendance records every year, along with growing support from the community in Florida and worldwide. This year we were proud to provide assistance to the first-ever DrupalCamp in South Florida at Nova Southeastern in Ft. Lauderdale. The Drupal community has seen some exciting developments in the last year, such as the launch of 500+ United States Senate websites, and the release of several new packaged Drupal Distributions, such as OpenPublic for governments and OpenOutreach for nonprofits.

Drupal is an open source modular platform used to build everything from personal blogs to enterprise applications. Whitehouse.gov, Grammys.com, Florida Hospital, wyomingcountyunitedway.org, Popsci.com and hundreds of other businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organization sites use Drupal because it is free, flexible, and is constantly being improved by the hundreds of thousands of dedicated developers that are part of the Drupal Community.

The Philanthropy Nonprofit Leadership Center is a program of Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business and was established to strengthen the impact, effectiveness, and leadership of nonprofit and philanthropic organizations through education and management assistance.

You can purchase tickets here!

Innovative, Inexpensive New iPad Wall Mount Debuts on Kickstarter

2012-01-20T19:22:00.000-05:00

While there are lots of mounting solutions currently available for the iPad, nothing out there performs quite like the "Koala Mount". Dockem, the small startup behind the new product, consists of two brothers, Chris and Colby Moyer, who have teamed together to bring the world a unique new solution for docking your beloved tablet on the wall.

The Koala Mount is an innovative design that consists of two sleek brackets that attach to the wall using 3M Command strips. The mount was designed with the iPad 1 and 2 in mind, and can even be used without removing Apple's iPad 2 smart cover, although it is also compatible with other similar tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Motorola Xoom. The best part of the entire concept is that, because it uses 3M Command Strips, setup is incredibly simple and the entire system is damage free. That means you can use it on your kitchen cabinets, your refrigerator, or your apartment walls without worrying about leaving any nasty holes when it comes time to take it down (or you upgrade to a new tablet!). The Command strips are rated to hold up to 5 pounds each, while an iPad 1 is about 1.5 pounds, so you can be sure your iPad will be safe in the Koala Mount.

Their damage-free iPad wall mount is currently funding on the popular crowdfunding site Kickstarter.com. So far they've raised over $9,000 to put towards making the Koala Mount a reality, well beyond their initial goal of $5,000. There's only a few day's left, but if you get there in time you can get the white version for just $10 or upgrade to the Chrome version for just $5 more, which is a steal compared to the expected retail prices of $19.99 and $24.99 respectively. So, if you're interested in supporting this project and getting your very own Koala Mount, head on over to Kickstarter.com and become a backer!

StreamTV’s Ultra-D: Wide-viewing-angle 3D without glasses

2012-01-19T13:18:00.000-05:00

At CES this year, a number of 3D without glasses solutions were shown by various manufacturers. Some more developed than others. StreamTV's Ultra-D appears to be well along in development and should be visible in the marketplace in 2012 or 13.

This review from Extremetech.com By David Cardinal on January 18, 2012:

"Until now, the most common way to achieve 3D viewing without glasses has been with specially designed displays using what is called a “parallax barrier” — where any viewer to the left of the display’s center sees the image recorded by the left camera (and meant for the left eye) and any viewer to the right sees the right-side image (meant for the right eye). As you can imagine, this only works if the person viewing the screen sits exactly where the parallax barrier is set up to divide the image. As a result, it works well for personal display screens like the one on the Fujifilm and Panasonic 3D cameras, and the LG Thrill and HTC Evo 3D smartphones, which allow capturing and viewing 3D. But a parallax barrier doesn’t work well when you have more than one person in the audience, or if you want to move around at all while watching the media — since it only performs properly if the viewer is directly in front of the direction for which the barrier is tuned."

"Several companies are using this year’s CES to launch new solutions for multi-viewer 3D without glasses. StreamTV, best known for the Elocity tablet, rolled out an impressive platform called Ultra-D, which allows not just autostereoscopic (without glasses) viewing of existing 3D content, but realtime conversion of conventional 2D images and video into its 3D format. On paper Ultra-D slices through the two major bottlenecks hampering 3D very nicely. By having displays that are autostereoscopic no glasses are required, and by allowing realtime conversion to 3D, suddenly a near infinite amount of content is available."

"The Ultra-D system requires quite a bit of heavy lifting on the hardware and software side. Existing LCD, LED and OLED panels can be used, but an additional microlens layer is required for the displays, as well as new firmware and software. StreamTV is aggressively licensing its platform to makers of TVs, tablets, and smartphones, with the promise of 42-inch and 55-inch LED TVs available in retail by this summer. The Ultra-D TVs will be bundled with StreamTV’s SeeCube, which enables the realtime conversion of 2D to 3D and of traditional 3D content — designed for use with glasses — into autostereoscopic content for display on an Ultra-D device. Tablets and digital picture frames are also on tap, although details haven’t been disclosed.
StreamTV is fairly tight-lipped about how the system actually works, but from watching a variety of their prototypes and talking to some of their researchers, it turns out that instead of the traditional glasses-free solution of having two images — one for the left eye and one for the right — then showing one to each eye — Ultra-D creates 9 different images, each with a unique angle on the scene. The specially built display has an array of microlenses in front of the conventional LCD that project each image out in a series of overlapping cones. As a result each eye sees a combination of as many as 4 different images — all with a slightly different perspective — and is responsible for integrating the total into a coherent picture. Since your eyes are a few inches apart, at most viewing positions your left eye sees a different set of 4 images than your right eye (in essence your right eye is moved over by one, so if your left eye sees image 2, 3, 4, 5, for example, your right eye might see images 3, 4, 5, and 6). This clever approach means that as you move around the viewing area, the image you see actually changes."

"The downside of this technique is an apparently less-sharp image, and a tendency for ghosting to occur. While StreamTV downplayed both issues, refusing to discuss resolution by saying there wasn’t a 3D standard for it, and blaming any ghosting on the prototype nature of the monitors, both issues are likely to dog them through its launch later this year, at least until it can show it has solved them adequately for the marketplace. In our testing, some source material, like the Superbowl filmed in 3D, was stunning, with the experience rivaling that of a 3D TV with glasses. Other material, like conventional 2D football coverage converted to 3D, was a little disorienting and the 3D effect detracted from the viewing experience. StreamTV provides two controls, found on the TV remote, to allow for tuning or turning off the effect. One changes the apparent depth of the action in the scene, and the other controls the apparent distance of the scene from the viewer. So you can have action “pop” right in your face, or have scenes with plenty of apparent depth, off in the distance."

Monitor Changes on Web Pages for Free

2012-01-19T12:39:00.000-05:00

ChangeDetection.com provides page change monitoring and notification services to internet users worldwide. Anyone can use their service to monitor any website page for changes. Just fill in the form on their site and they will create a change log for the page and alert you by email when they detect a change in the page text. They've been doing it since 1999. It's free.

Stumbled Upon at CES: CloudFTP. Wirelessly share ANY USB storage with iPad, iPhone

2012-01-19T11:50:00.000-05:00

CloudFTP is a pocket size adapter that can turn any USB storage device into a wireless file server, sharing files with WiFi-enabled devices (iPad, iPhone, computer etc.). It can also automatically connect to the Internet to backup and synchronize your USB data with popular online Cloud storage services like iCloud, Dropbox and box.net.

More info in their video here:

Become a backer of the CloudFTP venture before it actually ships ($69) and get a discount on the first shipment to you as well as recognition in their advertising. Link here: http://kck.st/xO6DaM

Seen at CES: Boxee Box Live TV dongle coming soon

2012-01-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

Streaming television programs over the Internet to your TV has been a capability offered by a number of set-top boxes and in now integrated into many of the new TV panels. Boxee Box has provided a set-top box capability for over a year now with partners like NetFlix, Vudu, and archived TV shows and movies.

Now Boxee Box has incorporated a live, over the air, tuner as a plug-in to their device which enables high definition TV, free, if you can receive it with an antenna in your local area. One can almost cut the cable, so to speak, and get their fill of the major networks as well as cable-like movies and services. The TV dongle will be available this month (Jan 2012) for $49. A Boxee Box sells for retail $179.99. Of course, some of the streaming services have monthly fees too, so you'll have to compare the total price to what cable or satellite TV would cost you.

Announced at CES: Vizio's Latest Products

2012-01-18T11:05:00.001-05:00

Vizio announced a slew of new products at CES 2012. And although they have some great new TV models, including a 3D 'Cinema Wide' TV, they've entered the computer and tablet markets with a line of notebooks, desktop, all-in-one PC's and a 10" Android Tablet.

Cinema Wide TV: Take a look at this video which pretty much explains the new wide screen, 3D product:

Computers

All-in-One PC:

Notebook PC:

Here's their video on the new line of PC's

and

Tablet

And more including: VHT215 Sound Bar, Stream Player, Dual-Band Wireless HD Router, Universal Remote, 3D Glasses and Wireless HD Kit. Read about all of the CES announcements at Vizio's web site: http://bit.ly/zZG4dT

Spotted at CES: AfterShokz Bone Conduction Headphones

2012-01-18T10:11:00.001-05:00

AfterShokz utilizes bone conduction technology to bring a unique brand of ear-free headphones to the market. Unlike conventional headphones and earbuds that use the eardrums to transmit sound, AfterShokz headphones rest compfortably in front of the ar and utilize bone conduction technology to transmit sound through the listener's cheekbones to the inner ear bypassing the eardrum completely.

President and CEO Bruce Borenstein said at CES, "Bone conduction technology has been around a long time; developed initially for our military forces that need to hear remote communication via a headphone, without any restriction to ambient noise in their surroundings. We've taken that technology and built it into consumer-friendly headphones that active adults, business travelers and gamers will benefit from, both in the short and long term."

Priced to sell in a range of models from $59.95 - $69.96, they may be ordered direct from the AfterShokz web site (http://bit.ly/wVPdDB ), and likely from major retailers in the near future.

Seen at CES 2012: LG's New 55" OLED and 84" Ultra-Definition LED/LCD

2012-01-17T10:41:00.000-05:00

The video says it all:

LG OLED and 84" Ultra Definition 3D TV at CES 2012 from Dave the Gadget Guy on Vimeo.

Seen at CES 2012: Third Rail Case & Battery System for iPhones

2012-01-16T18:01:00.002-05:00

There are tons and tons of cases for iPhones on the market today. At CES, Third Rail unveiled their case and external battery system for iPhone 4 and 4S.

Ultimate 3 in 1 Solution - sleek protective case always, power case when needed, universal backup battery for your other devices
Travel Lightly - Unlike traditional bulky power cases, add battery only when you need it and remove it when you don’t
Universal Charger - Use Smart Battery to power 100s of other devices
Thinnest battery enabled case on the market
Road Warrior? - Have multiple batteries on hand (sold separately) and swap them out for longer periods away from outlets

See the video showing a demonstration of their capability on the vendor's information page near the bottom:
http://bit.ly/w13TX2

Seen at CES 2012: Sport Earbuds That Won't Fall Out

2012-01-16T17:45:00.000-05:00

yurbuds introduced their ear-buds for athletes or active people at CES 2012. There are lots of ear-buds out there, but these are designed to lock into your ears and not fall out.

They are available now from yurbud's web site, Best Buy and other merchandisers for retail price of $49.95 and up.

Seen at CES 2012: Logitech Cube

2012-01-16T13:13:00.000-05:00

The tiny grab-and-go mouse that starts big conversations - Logitech Cube helps you make an impression in a size that fits any pocket.

Unique design redefines what a mouse can be

With its breakthrough design, Logitech Cube redefines the computer mouse with a shape that fits in your hand and will fascinate your friends and family, colleagues and clients.

From mouse to presenter—effortlessly

When used as a mouse, Logitech Cube scrolls when you swipe your finger along the main panel. But lift the Cube in the air—and a moment later it’s in Presenter mode. Clicking the Cube advances to the next slide. Go back? Simply turn the Cube over in your hand and click again.

Need a mouse for your meeting? Because the Cube is in your shirt pocket, it’s a snap to pull it out—and whether taking notes or presenting to the room, it’s ready to work. There’s no fumbling around for the right device.

More information and pre-order here: http://bit.ly/w23vfw

Top Five Tablets of CES

2012-01-16T11:08:00.000-05:00

By Melissa J. Perenson, PCWorld Jan 12, 2012 11:24 AM

At CES we spotted hordes of tablets this year, but only a few knocked our socks off with impressive specs, great value, and innovations that rival Apple's leading iPad 2. Instead of giving you the tablet laundry list of every single slate shown here at CES (and there were many) we are going to get right to the point.

Asus, Acer, Samsung, and Toshiba impressed us the most with their tablets. The common themes that set them apart were higher-resolution displays, support for the mobile Android OS Ice Cream Sandwich, chassis stressing thinner and lighter designs, and reasonable prices to boot.

Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/wHDLh0

AnchorFree's Hotspot Shield Provides Secure Browsing

2012-01-07T11:09:00.003-05:00

Hotspot Shield protects your entire web surfing session; securing your connection at both your home Internet network & Public Internet networks (both wired and wireless). Hotspot Shield protects your identity by ensuring that all web transactions (shopping, filling out forms, downloads) are secured through HTTPS. Hotspot Shield also makes you private online making your identity invisible to third party websites and ISP’s. Unless you choose to sign into a certain site, you will be anonymous for your entire web session with Hotspot Shield. We love the web because of the freedom that it creates to explore, organize, and communicate. Hotspot Shield enables access to all information online, providing freedom to access all web content freely and securely. Secure your entire web session and ensure your privacy online; your passwords, credit card numbers, and all of your data is secured with Hotspot Shield.

Hotspot Shield creates a virtual private network (VPN) between your laptop or iPhone and our Internet gateway. This impenetrable tunnel prevents snoopers, hackers, ISP’s, from viewing your web browsing activities, instant messages, downloads, credit card information or anything else you send over the network.

The basic services from Hotspot Shield are free with ad-free surfing and faster connections available for a monthly fee.

Hotspot Shield runs on:

Windows 7
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows Vista
Mac OS X (10.5 Leopard)
Mac OS X (10.6 Snow Leopard)
Mac OS X (10.7 Lion)
iOS for Apple devices
Coming soon for Android

Anatomy of an ATM Skimmer Scam

2012-01-06T17:03:00.000-05:00

By David Daw, PCWorld Jan 4, 2012 9:21 pm

Skimmers could steal your financial information at the ATM—or even at your local supermarket. Here's how to protect yourself.

You may already know that it’s important to protect your financial information when you shop online. But a high-tech threat can steal your credit card information when you’re out shopping around town. Scammers can steal your ATM or credit card information without your even noticing, and the technology behind their tricks is getting more and more advanced.

Read the full post here: http://bit.ly/AbWZ9k

Toshiba Plans To Show Off “World’s Thinnest And Lightest” Tablet At CES

2012-01-06T16:36:00.000-05:00

By Vincent Messina (10:31 am, Jan 06) Cult of Android

Toshiba has announced its plans to show off the “World’s thinnest and lightest” tablet and claims the 10.1″ AT200 will only measure in at 7.7mm thick.

The Toshiba AT200 will feature a 10.1-inch 1280×800 resolution display, a 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP 4430 processor, 5MP rear camera, 2MP front facing camera, micro HDMI out, 16GB or 32GB storage, and Android 3.2.

Full story at: http://bit.ly/xxG7H6

HP Wireless TV Connect with WHDI

2012-01-05T19:02:00.003-05:00

Not a new announcement, but recent enough to warrant coverage here, the HP Wireless TV Connect uses wireless HDI to stream content from any computer with an HDMI output to any high definition TV with a spare HDMI input. It saves having a long cable from your notebook or a computer in another room close-by.

Share photos and video content in HD: wirelessly stream hi-def 1080p multimedia content from your PC to your home entertainment center

Set up fast: just connect the PC and TV adapters to your HDMI laptop and HDMI TV; there's no software or drivers to install

System requirements: laptop with available HDMI and USB port; TV/entertainment system or monitor with available HDMI port

Available from the HP online store for approx $150. Link here: http://bit.ly/wIfdWH

What to look for at International CES

2012-01-05T12:56:00.002-05:00

Kumu Puri of Accenture's consumer-electronics practice identifies five important trends that will be evident at the 2012 International CES. They include

The proliferation of Ultrabook computers,
More powerful mobile devices,
Windows 8
Digital health products and services.

Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/ABvnpI

AOC to Unveil HD USB Powered 22" Monitor at CES

2012-01-05T10:13:00.000-05:00

AOC announces the 22-inch USB Monitor, a sleek full high definition LED monitor that receives both power and signal solely through USB connection. The energy-efficient and affordable 22-inch USB Monitor (e2251Fwu) offers simple plug-and-play connectivity, making the productivity benefits of dual- and multi-monitor computing available to the masses.

The 22-inch AOC USB Monitor will be available for $199 at national retailers in February 2012. The e2251Fwu will also be showcased at the Bellagio, Monet 3 Ballroom, at the International CES 2012. January 10-13, 2012.

Enabled by a DisplayLink chip, the AOC 22-inch USB Monitor’s technology easily integrates with existing desktop / notebook environments and is supported on all leading operating systems including Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7 & Apple MAC OSX Tiger / Leopard and Lion. Linux support is also available through many of the standard distributions.

Specifications
•   USB-powered LED display
•   250cd brightness
•   20,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
•   5ms response time
•   1920 x 1080 @60Hz resolution
•   HDCP compatible
•   Ultra-slim (10.6 mm)
•   Supported on all leading operating systems including Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7 & Apple MAC OSX Tiger / Leopard and Lion.

10-inch Acer Iconia hits Jan. 15 for $329

2012-01-05T09:16:00.000-05:00

By Phil Nickinson 05 Jan 2012 8:49 am

Acer's looking to make a dent in the Android tablet market, having started with the 10-inch Iconia A500 and then with the 7-inch A100. And now it's back in the larger category with the A200 -- and doing so with a price that all but promises sales. The Acer Iconia Tab A200 is a 10.1-inch Android 3.2 tablet (it'll get Ice Cream Sandwich in mid-February) with a 1280x800 resolution, full-size USB port and a Tegra 2 processor. Nothing we haven't seen before. But the $329 price tag is what really has our attention here. Of course, that's the price for the version with only 8GB of storage. The 16GB Iconia A200 will run a whopping ... $349. Somebody here is doing things right, folks.

Stop American Censorship Now

2011-12-29T08:57:00.001-05:00

I've censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet--a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/29219/uncensor

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Reactions to these bills, “SOPA" H.R.3261 and PIPA S. 978

“The potential for abuse of power through digital networks – upon which we as citizens now depend for nearly everything, including our politics – is one of the most insidious threats to democracy in the Internet age&ellipsis; This is no time for politicians and industry lobbyists in Washington to be devising new Internet censorship mechanisms, adding new opportunities for abuse of corporate and government power over online speech.”
- Rebecca MacKinnon (New York Times)

“These bills were written by the content industry without any input from the technology industry. And they are trying to fast track them through congress and into law without any negotiation with the technology industry.”
- Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures)

“SOPA, regrettably, represents a big step backward in Washington's efforts to support the digital revolution, one of the only sectors of the economy that continues to grow.”
- Larry Downes (TechFreedom)

“When civil liberties organizations describe the bills as encouraging “American censorship,” a weighty charge, the legal analysis by Professor Tribe and I support that conclusion. At least, according to the American Supreme Court’s established First Amendment jurisprudence.”
- Marvin Ammori (Laurence Tribe, leading Constitution Scholar)

“It contains provisions that will chill innovation. It contains provisions that will tinker with the fundamental fabric of the internet. It gives private corporations the power to censor. And best of all, it bypasses due legal process to do much of it.”
- James Allworth (Harvard Business School)

“The main "enforcement" mechanism in these bills is to put liability on third party service providers coming from the tech industry, undermining the safe harbors of the DMCA and the legal framework that has allowed tons of important internet platforms to evolve.”
- Mike Masnick (TechDirt)

“[SOPA would] overturn the long-accepted principles and practices [of the DMCA] in favor of a one-sided enforcement mechanism that is far more broad than existing law while not attempting to protect the rights of anyone accused of copyright infringement.”
- Gigi B. Sohn (President of Public Knowledge)

“When ideas are blocked, information deleted, conversations stifled and people constrained in their choices, the Internet is diminished for all of us.. There isn’t an economic Internet and a social Internet and a political Internet. There’s just the Internet.”
- Hillary Clinton (United States Secretary of State)

“This is a move that threatens, rather than protects, property rights, and also threatens America's Internet and tech leadership.”
- Neil Stevens (RedState.com)