Cool Stuff

by Vinny (Rick's son)

As many know, about a year and a half ago, Nintendo released their new gaming console, the Wii. It features motion sensing controllers, the internet, a weather channel, a news channel, and loads of cool games. The Wii has also hit a new crowd of gamers, the elderly. Many nursing homes have bought Wii's since they aren't your average games. But is it really that good?

By Andy Cochran

Today's vehicles offer many handy features like anti-lock brakes, electronic fuel injection, and lots and lots of cup holders. Along with these luxuries, there are also drawbacks. These modern computers-on-wheels have several major systems which consist of various types of sensors to measure speeds, temperatures, emissions, airflow, along with many other things. The problem with this is that if one sensor or other component has a problem, there's a good chance that the rest of the vehicle's operating system will be affected.

Yesterday my Palm Treo 650 took a fall and I had to replace it with a Treo 700p.

Here is my review:

The Treo 700p is EVDO high speed Internet capable, but it is not available in Grand Junction.

Other than a few differences that aren't obvious in everyday use, the only real difference between my Treo 650 and the 700p is that all of the buttons have been moved around and there are some different screens that popup from time to time after phone calls.

That's it. So, if you are using a 650 and want to upgrade to the 700p, don't bother unless EVDO Internet is available in your area. 

I probably lick about four stamps per year. I don't even mess with labels, I just do it the old fashioned way by writing the addresses by hand.

My wife buys self stick stamps and the only real mail we send out are bills that come with pre-addressed envelopes.

Today I saw a very cool device that has me trying to come up with reasons to buy a label and stamp printer.

The DYMO Twin Turbo is a small printer that prints labels only. It features two spools for two different sized labels. The print speed is also amazing.

Kensington Terrain Notebook Messenger Bag

If you have listened to the show for any amount of time, you know that we love Kensington products. Perhaps the company is best known for its patented Kensington lock, but they make so many cool devices.

Recently Kensington sent us this excellent laptop bag. As soon as I recieved it, I began giving it my rough real world treatment.

There are many things to love about this laptop bag, but I could also find a few areas that could use some improvement.

By Adam Cochran

It is no secret that we are not big fans of the iPod. There is nothing wrong with the device itself, we just don't care much for the way committing to an iPod means committing to iTunes and other proprietary standards (oxymoron).

We love media players that do it all without forcing the user to change their music into different formats or go through long conversion processes to get the music or media onto the device.

The Sansa e200 series is shamelessly designed and marketed to compete with the iPod Nano. However, when it comes to features and construction, the Sansa e200 beats the Nano hands down.

Let's compare, shall we?

by Adam Cochran
July 2006

Listen to our Interview with Auri Rahimzadeh from our show on July 8.

Hacking the PSP sounds like a geek book for people who play too many video games. This is true in that you must have a PSP and be comfortable tinkering with it. But even as a person who doesn't own a PSP, I found this book very interesting.

So many devices like this are  borderline scams.  But this one actually looks  very usefull if  you or  a loved one  is  in need of such a device.

The Guardian Alert 911 is a new little device that connects directly into your regular phone line and calls 911 in the case of an emergency. Unlike some of the more expensive similar devices, it does not use cell technology so it only works at your home. But, chances are, if the person wearing it is outside of their home they are likely with someone who can make the emergency call.

Bob Umlas is a Microsoft Valued Proffessional (MVP) who put his nearly 20 years of Excel experience into a book called: This isn't Excel, it's Magic! Bob shares many excellent tips for the experienced Excel user that will save time and energy when working with spreadsheets. A beginner may be a little daunted by some of the tricks, but will appreciate them once they get to know Excel.

by Rick Castellini
March 2005

Adam and I discovered XaviX while attending this year's CES in Las Vegas. In a nutshell, XaviX brings interactive gaming to your television in a whole new way. When talking about XaviXGames, interactive not only means interacting with the game, but interacting with your entire body AND a buddy or two or eight. No more couch potato syndrome with the XaviX!