Polk Audio "home" XM satellite radio receiver

I got into satellite radio the wrong way.

Unlike almost everyone else, I didn't care about better reception in the car. And I wasn't particularly interested in getting music without commercials.

I wanted good reception in the bedroom, for late-night talk radio.

I've been a night talk addict since age 13. Later on, when I was evaluating potential wives, a critical requirement was willingness to sleep with me with the radio on.

Until 2001, I lived in Westchester County, New York. I spent decades listening to Long John Nebel, Barry Gray, Barry Farber, Jean Shepard, pre-TV Larry King and other talkers. Although the topics and talent varied over the years, signal strength was always fine.

When I moved to Connecticut, I could get good reception in my cars, but not in my bedroom. I experimented with expensive radios and outdoor antennas, but I usually got more static than voices. Internet radio usually crashed after an hour or so.

I was excited by the prospect of satellite radio, but the first receivers were for car use. I think Sony made an indoor adapter for their car unit, but it was huge and clunky. I held off making my purchase, waiting for something more easily domesticated.

When XM brought out the Delphi SkyFi, I made my move. It sits in a little cradle on my night table, connected to a power amp on the wall behind the night table, feeding Niles speakers in the ceiling.

I wanted to have satellite radio music in my whole-house system, but there was no neat way to rack-mount the SkyFi. I ultimately bought a tiny Terk Commander, and mounted it on a blank rack panel, with its guts and a 12-volt power supply inside the rack. Sound quality was fine, but the buttons and display were so small, it was hard to use; and it frequently lost sync with the satellites and had to call XM for a "refresh" signal.

Last week, I mad a major upgrade. The Polk Audio "XRt12 Reference Tuner" is one of the first XM receivers designed for indoor use. It's 17 inches wide like most A/V components, and I got a nice custom rack-mount for it from Middle Atlantic Products.

Because the XRt12 has a video output, I can see all of the standard XM information right on my 65-inch Mitsubishi TV screen: channel number, name, artist name and song title. No more squinting and running up to the itsy bitsy teeny weenie mini micro display to see who is doing what. The Polk does have a built-in dislay -- smaller than the Mitsu, but bigger than the displaced Terk.

Connection is simple and flexible, with optical and coaxial digital outputs as well as analog RCA jacks for easy installation with any receiver or amp. I only had a little bit of trouble. The Polk's audio output bled into other audio inputs in my Sony receiver. A quick adjustment of the Polk's output level restored perfection.

I have two nits to pick: (1) You can't program the tuning presets from the front panel; you have to use the remote control. If you misplace the remote, or have no live triple-A cells, your're out of luck. (2) There are no preset tuning buttons on the box, as you get on even teeny-weeny XM radios.

OTOH, here's a cool feature: when you hear something you like and you want to note the artist and song, just tap the Memory button on the front panel and the XRt12 will record info (channel, artist and song) for later retrieval. It can store data on 10 performances.

The Polk XRt12 comes with an XM antenna with 20-foot cable (an optional 50 extension is available), a digital optical cable and a RCA-type analog audio/video cable, and a full function remote control.

Built-in signal strength meter helps you position your antenna for best reception.

20 presets for quick and easy switching to your favorite channels.

Category function allows you to scan through major types of channels (Rock, Talk, Sports, etc.)

Preview function allows you to see what channels are available and what is playing before switching from the channel you are listening to

Display control lets you enlarge the text on the display for easy viewing from a distance when the unit is not hooked up to a TV.

Output Level Control matches the analog output volume of the XRt12 to match that of other sources in your system for consistent volume as you switch from XM to other sources.

If you have a whole house distributed audio system like those made by AMX, Crestron, NetStreams or Elan, the XRt12's RS-232 I/O connector allows you to plug it right into the system for XM radio throughout the house. You'll be able to control the XRt12 from any station on the system and display channel, artist and song data on any control screen.

You can set the XRt12 to automatically shut off if a button is not pressed in 30, 60 or 90 minutes.

If your audio receiver or amp has a 12Volt trigger output, you can connect your XRt12 to it and have the receiver turn the XRt12 on and off.

Suggested retail price is $300. I paid about $220. I'm very impressed with the sound quality, ease of operation, and wealth of features. I wish I bought it sooner. I also wish XM and Sirius would merge, so I wouldn't have to keep paying money to both of them. CLICK for more.

"Deal of a lifetime" from Sirius

Last week we told you about an almost-free satellite radio from XM. Now we'll tell you about a deal from Sirius. (I'm a customer of both companies, and hope they convince the Feds to let them merge.)

The normal fee for Sirius service is $12.95 per month. If you pay for two years at once, you get three months' service free.

If you have faith in the future, you can pay $499.99 for LIFETIME service (lifetime of a radio, not your body). The payback period over the standard rate is just over three years.

If you act soon, you can transfer your lifetime subscription to a different Sirius receiver when you upgrade or replace your radio — up to three times — for only $75 per radio. Offer ends June 30, 2007. CLICK for more.

Almost-free XM radio

If you are a current subscriber to XM satellite radio, you can get a Delphi Roady XT receiver for just $5.99. List price is $80, and it usually costs about $40 - 50 after a rebate.

Delphi is the former car electronics devision of General Motors. They were one of the first supporters of XM, and have made a number of XM radios, including the original SkyFi (which is on my night table) and the MyFi XM2go portable (which is on my desk).

Here's the Roady XT description from Amazon:

The smallest and lightest XM satellite radio on the market, the Delphi XM Roady XT comes with everything you need to enjoy more than 150 commercial-free satellite channels in your car while you're driving across town or across the country. The plug-and-play Roady XT is easy to install, with no wires or cables required. Simply dock it on your dash, where it uses its built-in FM transmitter to wirelessly transmit the signal to an empty frequency on your FM dial. The device supports more than 100 frequencies, so even users in the busiest radio markets should be able to find several static-free channels.

Once installed, listeners will have access to the full XM menu of music, sports, talk, news, children's, and entertainment programming, all without having to listen to a single commercial. The Roady XT also offers 21 advanced traffic and weather channels--yet another reason XM was named best radio service at the 2004 Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards.

To make the listening experience more informative, the Roady XT displays the channel name, artist name, and song title for each XM channel on the bright, high-contrast screen, which boasts seven vivid backlighting colors. Complementing the track info is the TuneSelect feature, which alerts listeners when their favorite songs and artists are playing on a specific channel. Meanwhile, sports and finance fans will delight in the customizable sports and stock tickers; the former runs through the latest scores and schedules for both college and the pros, while the latter keeps track of up to 20 stocks at once.

All the features come bundled in a sleek, innovative housing that's designed to ensure high sound quality while taking up a minimum of space. The diminutive size (it measures a mere 3.7 by 2.2 by 0.61 inches) fits easily in most jacket pockets or purses. This not only helps protect against theft, but also makes it convenient to bring the Roady XT inside for home use (requires the Roady XT home kit).

Monthly charge is $6.99 (or less with a long-term contract). CLICK for XM's website.

Laptop for ladies who hate PCs

It's too late for Valentine's Day or Mothers Day, but you may still have time before Graduation Day.

If you need to get a laptop for a female who disdains the usual black, white or silver slabs, NEC suggests that you think pink.

Hello Kitty, Japan's cutest cat, decorates NEC's new pink laptop in an effort to woo working women.

The La Vie G Hello Kitty model, available for $1,650 by web order in Japan, went on sale yesterday, and has gotten off to a good start, company spokesman Shinya Hashizume said. "PC users now tend to be men, but we're hoping to attract women with this product."

The laptop, developed in collaboration with Sanrio Co., the Tokyo-based company behind Hello Kitty, uses 299 Swarovski crystals to depict four hearts and the bubbly feline head wearing a pink bow and crown.

NEC is hoping to sell several hundred of the Hello Kitty laptops in the next few months, targeting the summertime when Japanese workers receive their twice-a-year bonuses.

The laptop, which comes with Windows Vista, 100 gigabyte hard disk drive and 1 gigabyte memory, is being advertised as a laptop that's "dazzling and gorgeous like a jewelry box."

Hello Kitty has been popular for years with children and young women, but the cat has begun to appear on electronic gadgets, guitars and expensive jewelry. (info from The Associated Press)

Google free directory assistence

If you're near a PC, you can use 411.com for free, but a call to Directory Assistance to get a phone number can cost as much as $2.00.

Google is offering a free phone-based service that should win some friends, and make some enemies. Google Voice Local Search is Google’s experimental service to make local-business search accessible over the phone.

To try this service, just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone.

Using this service, you can:

(1) Search for a local business by name or category. You can say "Giovanni's Pizzeria" or just "pizza".

(2) Get connected to the business, free of charge.

(3) Get the details by SMS if you’re using a cellphone. Just say "text message".

Google doesn’t charge you a thing for the call or for connecting you to the business. Regular phone charges may apply, based on your telephone service provider.

Google Voice Local Search is still in its experimental stage. It may not be available at all times and may not work for all users. The Googlers are fine-tuning the service to get better at recognizing your requests. It’s currently only available in English, in the US, for US business listings.

I tried to find the listing for my own company, and was offered a choice of several other companies in my city, with names nothing at all like my company's name.

When I tried to get the number for Sally's -- a famous pizza place in New Haven, I got good results...but the robot doesn't know that in New Haven pizza is spelled apizza and pronounced uh-beetz. The GoogleBot says "ay-piece-uh." Anyway, the number was right and free is a good price.

It's official: iPhone due on 6/29

In a series of television commercials that debuted over the weekend, Apple revealed that it would release the iPhone, its highly anticipated combination cellphone and iPod digital-media player, June 29.

The iPhone will come in two versions: a $499 model with 4 gigabytes of storage and a $599 model with 8 gigabytes of storage. AT&T will be the exclusive wireless carrier for the iPhone for two years. Both Apple and AT&T will sell the iPhone at their stores. It will come with a two-year service contract.

In addition to being a phone and an iPod, The iPhone will serve as an Internet-access device and a digital camera.

Apple boss Steve Jobs first showed the iPhone in January at the Macworld show. He said that within a year the company hoped to claim a 1 percent share of the worldwide market of 1 billion cellphones.

AT&T plans to use the iPhone to enhance advertising for its newly branded wireless business. The company has phased out the name Cingular Wireless and is adopting the AT&T brand.

Although AT&T is the largest wireless carrier in the US in terms of customers, Verizon Wireless is gaining fast. AT&T executives believe the iPhone could swing momentum back to their company. The iPhone won't be subsidized by Apple or AT&T, allowing AT&T to drop prices on other handset models and put more pressure on its rivals. Sprint Nextel could be the biggest victim of the iPhone's success. (info from ContraCosta Times)

Belkin hub has vertical and horizontal ports

Most computer accessories connect through USB ports, but even though modern PCs have USB ports in front and in back, there are never enough of them. And the built-in ports don't work well with things that need space around them, like thumb drives.

Accessory maker Belkin has a 4-port USB hub that will add capacity, and subtract mess, with a built-in cable management slot, plus included cable ties. It's great for adding capacity to a laptop, and can easily fit into a laptop case. If you need even more ports, it can be stacked on top of Belkin's 7-port model.

• Adds up to 4 USB devices to your computer, with individual LED status lights
• Features 2 top-load USB ports for quick access
• Includes an internal weight and stay-put pads to keep Hub anchored to the desk
• Requires no external power supply for most devices
• Prevents damage to your computer and devices with over-current protection
• Lifetime Warranty

Suggested retail price is $49.95. I've seen it with a $53.66 buy-it-now price at eBay, and in the low 20s elsewhere. I paid $18.43 at Sam's Club.

Super-sexy Nokia will cost more than iPhone

A Nokia phone made of smoked glass and black stainless steel will be available in the US for about $800 this summer.

The quad-band GSM/EDGE Luna 8600 slider features nearly opaque smoked glass, soft-touch stainless steel, and keypad illumination that pulsates from beneath the glass case when the phone is in standby mode. When you slide the Luna open, the phone’s tactile-feedback keypad emerges from a smoked-glass housing.

“Much like the Nokia 8600 Luna that we named in her honor, Luna, the goddess of moonlight, was often represented by the Romans as a mysteriously captivating beauty encircled in a soft, yet radiant light," said Nokia spokesman Heikki Norta.

The premium phone will be Nokia’s first phone to use a single micro-USB port that merges charging, audio and data connectivity into a single connection. The phone also features 2.5mm headset jack, Bluetooth, 2-megapixel camera, and playback of music in the MP3 and AAC family of formats.

New Curve is smallest Blackberry with QWERTY

The BlackBerry Curve, the smallest and lightest full QWERTY BlackBerry handset, is available starting today, exclusively from Cingular/AT&T in North America.

The Curve measures just 4.2" x 2.4" x 0.6", weighs about 3.9 oz., and builds on the popular BlackBerry handset technology to offer additional features and multimedia capabilities while maintaining exceptional battery life, according to the manufacturer. The Curve is the first BlackBerry handset to offer a 2 megapixel camera and spell checker for e-mail.

The Blackberry Curve is styled in a liquid silver finish with chrome highlights, smooth edges and soft curves. It combines the e-mail and messaging capabilities, premium phone features, comprehensive organizer and fast Internet browser with a new 2 megapixel camera with zoom, enhanced media player and new desktop media manager, microSD expandable memory slot and trackball navigation system. Other features include AT&T Music subscription services, TeleNav Maps to provide users with maps and driving directions, and integrated Push to Talk.

The BlackBerry Curve uses AT&T's EDGE high-speed national wireless data network. It's quadband, to work in more than 130 countries.

The BlackBerry Curve will be available for as low as $199.99 with a two-year contract and mail-in rebate beginning May 31 in AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless) retail stores, online, through select national retailers and various AT&T business channels.

Customers who want personal e-mail access and Web browsing with BlackBerry Internet Service can choose the BlackBerry Personal Unlimited plan for as low as $29.99 a month with a qualified voice contract. Unlimited corporate e-mail access via BlackBerry Enterprise Server is as low as $44.99 a month when a qualified voice plan is also chosen or when customers who travel overseas can have unlimited e-mail access internationally for as low as $64.99 a month with a qualified voice plan. Unlimited Cingular Push to Talk service is available for an additional monthly charge of $9.99 per device and $19.99 for Push to Talk Family. AT&T Push to Talk also features a pay-per-use option of $.15 a minute. TeleNav GPS Navigator monthly service is available for $5.99 for 10 trips or $9.99 for unlimited trips. As features within AT&T Music, XM Satellite Radio and MusicID require monthly subscription fees of $8.99 and $3.99, respectively. CLICK for more. (This is a preview, not a review)

Electric guitar folds like a flip phone

The Centerfold guitar solves a transport problem that every guitarist has experienced. It folds up to save space, but it can be played immediately after it’s been unfolded and it’s just as tuned as when it was folded away, according to Leif Rehnström, Managing Director of the newly started DeVillain Guitar Company in Skellefteå, Sweden.

Behind the development of the folding guitar, is SAS airline pilot Fredrik Johansson. He is a devoted guitarist but couldn’t take his instrument with him on flights around the world. Whenever visiting music stores he would ask about folding guitars, but they usually laughed and said "That’s impossible!" Nothing is impossible, Fredrik thought. A few years later he held the first prototype of a folding guitar that could easily be taken on a plane. When folded, it's less than 24 inches long.

”The resulting product not only solves the problem he was experiencing but also that of all the other guitarists who are fed up carrying their cumbersome guitar cases on buses, subways, bikes…", says Rehnström, who has sworn over these transport difficulties many times after several years as a professional musician.

You don’t even have to take the strings off when you fold the neck of the Centerfold, as they are rolled up by the guitar. ”Other guitarists can’t believe it when I tell them. I didn’t believe it either before Fredrik showed me his prototype.”

Price is $3370 (plus taxes and duties), with hand-made Honduran mahogany body. Left-hand models and basses are being considered for the future. CLICK for more.

OK, maybe $150,000 is a bit much for a pair of speakers, but the price does include installation and you don't need to buy a subwoofer

French speaker maker Cabasse has introduced La Sphere, apparently the world’s only 4-way coaxial speaker system. All four drivers, are arranged in a line inside a spherical 27.6-inch enclosure intended to enhance rigidity, eliminate internal standing waves and eliminate diffraction effects.

Frequency response with the 22” honeycomb dome subwoofer driver is said to extend to below 20 HZ, so you won't need to pay extra for a subwoofer. However, if you want to do five channels for an all-sphere home theater system, figure on spending $375,000, plus sales tax, of course.

For nearly 400 grand, they better cook supper, wash the dishes and sing you to sleep. CLICK for more. (This is a preview, not a review.)

H-P A616 Photosmart Compact Photo Printer

Hewlett-Packard's A616 Photosmart Compact Photo Printer is several generations newer, and about half the price of the HP compact printer I've been using.

It's small enough for a suitcase, or a table at a wedding or bar mitzvah. Anyone who takes digital pictures -- even if you normally use a big printer or a store or online service for prints -- will find it useful, convenient, and fun.

This mini-darkroom weighs less than 3.5 lbs, has a convenient carrying handle, and its front folds down for printing and memory card access.

Instead of just the 4 x 6 prints that my older HP makes, the A616 gives you the option of printing instant-dry, water-resistant photos in a variety of sizes, including passport, wallet size, 4 x 6 inch, 5 x 7 inch, and panorama.

Print speed is about 40 seconds for a 4 x 6-inch photo, which costs about 29 cents. The unit has a flip-up 2.4-inch color LCD display that lets you preview images before printing. The Photo Fix button can automatically remove red-eye, sharpen images, and improve overall brightness, color, and contrast of photos. You can also crop, zoom, and layout your photos, and add borders and frames.

Amazingly, you can do all this without a PC. The A616 lets you print directly from most memory cards, iPods, flash drives (including thumb drives) and PictBridge enabled cameras. Prints are sharp and clear due to the advanced inks in the HP 110 Tri-color Inkjet Print Cartridge. If you want to give your prints a special look, you can print in antique, sepia, or black-and-white modes.

The A616 gives you the option to print photos on the HP CD Tattoo media, which makes it easy to share photos with friends and family. To enhance and customize your photos, the system comes included with HP Photosmart Essential Software and HP Photosmart Premier Software. For added flexibility, the optional HP Bluetooth Wireless Printer Adapter allows you to print from camera phones or other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Price ranges from about $90 to $150. It's $89.99 at Amazon, and you can get free shipping. (This is a preview, not a review.)

L.L.Bean LED headlight for your head

If you need your hands for something other than holding a flashlight, you'll like the Trailblazer™ II Headlamp from legendary Maine woods outfitter L.L.Bean. You can light up your trail, campsite, cookout, fish hook, flat tire, attic or dog walk with bright, power-efficient LED light. It's a great Fathers Day gift -- even for your sister or yourself.

Four long-lasting LED bulbs provide illumination to almost 90 feet, and burn for up to 150 hours on the low setting. You can select high, medium or low to balance brightness and battery life for your specific situation; and there's also a safety flash mode for warning others or attracting attention when there's trouble.

A handy red indicator light lets you know when the batteries are running low. It uses three AAA batteries, and Bean supplies the first set. Price is $29.50, and you can choose from five colors. CLICK to order. Bean is one of my favorite companies. I shop online, by catalog, and in their "real" stores in Maine. They have lots of cool, high-quality stuff, even for people who never go hunting or fishing. Get on their mailing list for catalogs, and get their credit card, so you'll be able to get orders shipped free.

Website can help get airflight price reductions

Few fliers realize it, but many airlines will give refunds if they cut the price after you buy a ticket. Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest, United and US Airways offer vouchers for the full price. Others offer vouchers, or cash, after deducting change fees (which can run up to $100).

In industry jargon, it is called a "rollover," and in most cases it only works if you bought the ticket directly from the airline. The rollover policies have been in place for decades, but, until recently, it has been tough for consumers to figure out when their flight's price has changed. The catch is you have to call while the lower price is in effect to get your rollover. That is where a new Web site, Yapta.com, has come up with a clever way to take some of the anxiety out of buying airline tickets.

Yapta (which stands for Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant) tracks fares on specific flights you select before or after you buy a ticket. You can use Yapta before you buy to alert you by email to pricing changes on a particular trip, or let you know if the price drops after you've bought a ticket and you're eligible for a refund. In order to obtain the voucher, you need to phone the airline directly.

Ellen Siminoff, who signed up with Yapta to test the site before its launch, paid $800 each for four tickets from San Francisco to Kona, Hawaii. A few days later, she got notification from Yapta that the price had dropped to about $400 per ticket. She called United and got tickets reissued at the lower price plus four $400 vouchers. "There's no way I would have been checking sites to see if the price went down," she said.

Fares yo-yo based on ticket sales and airline expectations of demand, and the uncertainty and disparity frustrates fliers. Prices sometimes change several times during the day.

Several Web sites offer alerts on price changes for specific markets. Expedia Inc.'s "Fare Alert" is a tool you can download and it sits in the toolbar of your PC and pops up when a lower fare comes along on a route you're interested in. Travelocity has a "Fare Watcher" that lets you pick city pairs and get alerts when the price changes by $25 or more. Orbitz's "Deal Detector" let's you select only nonstop flights or preferred airlines.

Yapta raises the bar by allowing you to pinpoint prices on specific flights. Alerts from other sites may be triggered by 6 a.m. departures or redeye trips, for example, that you don’t want.

When you search, Yapta places a button on the screen for you to click if you want to "tag" one of the flights offered. Tagging doesn't take you away from the website you're on -- it just sends the information to Yapta.

Once you tag a flight, Yapta will email you when the price changes. If you buy the ticket and record the information with Yapta, it will alert you to refund possibilities, taking into account the policies of that airline. You must act quickly. Prices can bounce back up within minutes.

Most airlines and travel vendors have more-liberal 24-hour or same-day price guarantees, offering to rebook you at a lower price and refund the difference if the price drops in the first 24 hours, without change fees. Expedia and Travelocity go a step further offering their own 24-hour guarantee. If prices drop more than $5 within 24 hours, they will reissue tickets at the lower price, refund the difference and give you their own $50 voucher toward future purchases.

Several airlines said they are pondering whether they think Yapta is a good thing for them or not. If it spurs sales at higher price levels and vouchers build customer loyalty, carriers will support it. On the other hand, a flood of refund requests could force changes in rollover policies. (info from The Wall Street Journal)

Stupid pool float costs more to runthan a real boat

Hammacher-Schlemmer, Home Shopping Network, Amazon and others are offering the Excalibur Motorized Pool Lounge, for $60 to $150 or so. It looks like your basic big ugly pool float; but in addition to the usual cup holder, it has two joysticks that control underwater propellers.

It may seem cool to be able to silently swoop and spiral around your backyard pool, but you better own an oil well -- or at least a battery factory -- if you're going to get one.

You can spend more money running it for an hour, than you spend to buy it.

The float uses 12 D cells (with no built-in charger); and a set of batteries will provide just a 15 minute cruise.

Alkaline D cells cost about a buck-fifty each. A full boatload will cost $18. That works out to $72 for an hour, plus sales tax.

If you want to emulate Gilligan's planned "three hour cruise," figure on spending close to $230 -- and you'll have to put Excalibur in dry dock every 15 minutes to change batteries.

Also, when you're onboard Excalibur, you're dry. You never touch the water, so why be in the pool? You may as well buy a boat, or stay in bed and save the money.

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For comparison, a 80 horsepower outboard motor -- big enough for a 16-foot boat carrying six people -- will use about eight gallons of fuel per hour, costing about 28 bucks, less than half of the cost of propelling the inflated motorized pillow with one aboard.

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Buck -- the talking, singing robot deer head

If you no longer get excited about animated singing lobsters, hamsters and fish, and you have a big empty space on your wall, Buck should make you smile, and scare others.

Buck is wall-mounted deer trophy, hand-detailed to look remarkably realistic, complete with whiskers, eyelashes and tufts of ear hair. He has lifelike movements, makes wise-ass remarks, and sings six songs (Sweet Home Alabama, La Grange, Friends in Low Places, Rawhide, On the Road Again, Suspicious Minds) with perfectly synced mouth movements.

Buck also comes with a wireless microphone, so you can speak or sing through his mouth, and he moves his head and ears along with the voice. An auxiliary input lets you feed in a recorded soundtrack. I put Buck on my front door for Halloween, and had him singing Monster Mash and Purple People Eater.

A wireless remote control operates his movement, voice, and songs... great for scaring the crap out of unsuspecting passers-by. Buck can also be motion-activated. Price ranges from about $100 to $200. CLICK for one source. Buck may have been discontinued by the manufacturer, but you should still be able to find one.

No room for a dog?Put a tiger oscar in your tank.

The tiger oscar is a puppy disguised as a fresh water tropical fish.

Oscars are smart, playful, willful, and love to eat. Years ago I called my fish tank "Marineland of the Bronx." I could hold food a few inches above the water surface, and my finned pups would leap out of the water to take the food from my fingers -- just like porpoises in the real Marineland.

When I entered the room, they wiggled their tails just like a cocker spaniel or golden retriever greeting a favorite visitor.

Oscars are opinionated, with strong views on tank decor. If you put in a plant that an Oscar doesn't like, it will be shredded or thrown out. I once put a heavy 12-inch-tall rock in the middle of my tank. A few days over, it was lying down flat. My oscars had become excavators -- digging out the gravel under the rock until it fell.

I restored the gravel and repositioned the rock. And a few days later it was knocked down again. The fish and I continued the silly competition for a few weeks before I surrendered. I liked the looks of the vertical rock, but I didn't live in the tank; so I let the oscars dominate the decorating.

Oscars can grow big (six inches is not unusual) so plan on a big tank (50 gallons or more), and a big food budget. Live food is good, but my guys also loved squished snails, and cubes of freeze-dried tubifex worms.

Oscars get along fine with similarly-sized fish, but anything mouth-sized can be considered lunch.

One of my oscars tried to swallow a catfish, but it got stuck in his mouth. I took the Oscar out of the tank, held him in a damp towel, and used an alligator clip to remove the rotting catfish carcass from his mouth. After the surgery, I rubbed his belly and put him back in the tank, and he picked his future food more carefully.

Because Oscars eat a lot, they crap a lot, so its VERY IMPORTANT to have powerful filtration to keep the tank clean. Oscars are susceptible to fungus infections, with disgusting fuzz growing from their eyes, and then they die. Treat your pets well.

(photo from sayersweb.com)

Battery jumper with tire pumper

My toy car is a 1978 Fiat Spider. Years ago, I was masochistic enough to own three Fiats at one time. If you have the mixed joy of owning an Italian or British vehicle of a certain age, with accursed Marelli or Lucas electrical parts, you know that there is no guarantee that turning the ignition key will result in a vehicle in motion.

In the old days, I parked on the top level of the railroad station garage, and hoped that by the time I coasted down to ground level I would be going fast enough to get a jump start. I also kept a set of jumper cables in the trunk, and frequently had to beg for a flow of electrons when I silently rolled out of the garage.

Now I have a more elegant solution. The AutoSport 660i has a powerful maintenance-free lead acid battery that should be able to start several Fiats and MGs, or a Hummer or Escalade. Amperage is rated at 660 continuous/1700 peak. It can even jumpstart a car with a completely dead battery (some other jumpers require that the car battery still have a few volts). Cables are extra-thick, 4-gauge copper and 40 inches long to make connecting easy.

A Voltmeter gives internal battery status when you press the test button. You can recharge the unit from any normal AC outlet with the included 48-inch AC power cord, or recharge from your car’s power outlet with the included 60-inch 12-volt cord. An LED charging light confirms recharging status.

Other features include a built-in work/emergency light, 12 volt DC "cigarette lighter" socket, impact-resistant case, and a powerful 300psi air compressor/inflator for tires, balls, etc. The inflator hose is 24 inches long, with a clip-on chuck. It comes with adapters for bicycles and sports balls.

Price for the top-of-the-line 660i is $129.95. Less expensive, less powerful models are also available. If you don't need it in your trunk, keep it in your garage. You won't regret it. CLICK for AutoSportsCatalog.com. The company's website and print catalog are full of other great stuff, too. Get on their mailing list.

Second-Gen Panasonic Blu-ray player is better and much less expensive

Panasonic just announced the availability of their second generation Blu-ray Disc player, at a suggested retail price of $599.95 (less than half the price of the first-gen DMP-BD10 that I bought last fall).

The new DMP-BD10A features improved audio with 7.1 channel surround, Dolby True HD and dts-HD High Resolution Audio decoding technology; and incorporates Panasonic's EZ-Sync system for integrated one-touch operation of Panasonic home theater components.

The new unit includes five freebie Blu-ray discs: Pirates of the Caribbean -- Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean -- Dead Man's Chest, Transporter, Fantastic 4, and Crash.

In addition to playing Blu-ray movie discs, the DMP-BD10A plays conventional standard-definition DVDs (with automatic 1080p up-conversion via HDMI) and conventional CDs. Other features include technology for IP conversion at the pixel level for ultra-fine details, a 297MHz 14bit Video D/A Converter with 4X oversampling, video noise shaping that improves signal-to-noise ratios by shifting noise to an unused band, and theoretical support for nearly 4.4 TRILLION COLORS. The DMP-BD10A also incorporates Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital and dts decoding, and BD-J (Java application) interactive capability. (This is a preview, not a review.)

Microwave oven trim kitmakes your nuker look nicer

This is not exactly a Big Boy's Toy, but it's a useful gadget that solves a real problem at a reasonable price; so it's worth talking about.

Lots of microwave ovens end up on open shelves, even in expensive custom kitchens. Sometimes the kitchen contractor makes a custom frame for your nuker, and then a few years later you replace it, and the new oven doesn't fit.

A company called Micro-Trim, Inc. has a great solution. You tell them the make and model of the m'wave, and the dimensions of the space where you're putting it, and they send you a custom kit with top and side strips that fill the space perfectly.

You can choose from five finishes, and the strips have ventilation openings so heat doesn't build up inside the cabinet. You probably won't need any tools more advanced than a screwdriver. I had to raise up my oven on some 1 x 2" furring strips, but the whole job took just minutes, and it looks great.

Micro-Trim also has trim kits for thermal ovens, and cooktops. Toll-free number is 800-338-8746. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Cummins tool bargains and other bargains

Cummins Industrial Tools has stores in the Midwest (six in the Kansas City area, two in the St. Louis area and one in Omaha) plus a website, and trucks wandering around the country.

I recently went to one of their truck sales, held at a nearby Shriners' lodge.

They had an amazing assortment of tools and gadgets at impressive prices: hand tools, power tools, garden tools, drill bits, games, flag poles, compressors, paint ball guns, winches, chain saws, scaffolds, duct tape, camping gear, work gloves, batteries, tents, tarps, pressure washers, tool boxes, work lights, garden lights, cots, poker sets, knives, leaf blowers, dandelion removers, vises, tricycles, weed trimmers, you name it. Everything is guaranteed, for 90 days or more. You can pay with cash or plastic.

CLICK for online ordering and for store addresses. If you want to know when and where there will be a truck sale near you, call 1-308-832-2070 or email trucksales@cumminstools.com. Please include your city, state, county and how many miles you are willing to travel to get to a truck sale.

Maximum fun, minimum messwith mobile GameKeeper

This mobile gaming center is a an attractive and sensible design, with vertical and horizontal shelves to hold pretty much any gaming console, plus software and accessories. The top shelf can hold up to a 20-inch TV.

It has lockable casters, so it can be moved from the corner of a room to the central play position, or from room to room...and stay put.

The open design ensures that your Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo doesn't overheat, and wire management features keep your cables un-snarled. Removeable hooks will keep your controllers off the floor.

Price is $89.99. CLICK to order. (This is a preview, not a review.)

Retro-ize your iPod with AR tube amp

If you are not ready to be fully immersed in the 21st Century, this could be perfect for you.

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BUT FIRST, a little history:

Acoustic Research made hi-fi equipment in Cambridge, MA, and was famous for acoustic suspension speakers, which could produce deep bass from a small box; and a no-frills/high performance turntable.

One of the founders of the company was Henry Kloss, who later became the "K" in KLH, then founded Advent, and then Cambridge Soundworks, and then co-founded Tivoli Audio. He earned an Emmy Award for his development of a projection television system, and died in 2002.

AR's success and ownership varied over the years. In 1967 it was sold to defense contractor Teledyne. Around 1992 it was sold to speaker-maker Jensen, which absorbed other audio companies including Advent. The Jensen group did poorly and was broken up and liquidated in 1996. AR and other consumer audio brands went to accessory maker Recoton, and then went to French electronics maker Thomson, which made products under the GE and RCA names; and now belongs to Audiovox, best known for car stereo.

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Anyway, the new new AR4131 blackVault does carry the AR label, even if its connection with the original AR is long, complex and convoluted. Its main claim to fame is an unusual physical end electronic design, highlighting a glowing (GASP) vacuum tube.

The company wants prospective buyers to know that the tube circuit is "designed to create richer sound." Their trade advertising says it will make "richer dealers."

Frankly, even if the tube does provide some audible advantage, the tube is put in the worse possible place, on top of the vibrating subwoofer cabinet.

The system does have sex appeal, and is probably no worse than other iPod systems in its $200 price range, unless you crank it up enough to make the tube shake.

The center subwoofer cabinet holds and charges your iPod, and has an AUX input. A remote control is included. (This is a preview, not a review)

New cable modem is 25 times as fast,but you can't get one yet

Comcast boss Brian Roberts dazzled a cable industry audience Tuesday, with the first public demo of a new technology that enabled a data download speed of 150 megabits per second, roughly 25 times as fast as today's standard cable modems.

The cost of modems that would support new "channel bonding" technology is similar to current modems. They could be available in less than two years.

The new cable technology is crucial because the industry is competing with FiOS, a TV and fast Internet service that Verizon offers over a new fiber-optic network. The current top speed with FiOS is 50 megabits per second, but the network is capable of providing 100 Mbps and fiber offers nearly unlimited potential.

The new cable technology, called DOCSIS 3.0, was developed by the cable industry's research arm, Cable Television Laboratories. It bonds together four cable lines but is capable of allowing much more capacity. The laboratory expects manufacturers to begin submitting modems for certification by the end of 2007.

In the presentation, a 30-second, 300-megabyte television commercial was downloaded in a few seconds, and viewed long before a standard modem completed an estimated download time of 16 minutes.

The 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica 2007 and Merriam-Webster's visual dictionary were downloaded in under four minutes, when it would have taken a standard modem over three hours.

"If you look at what just happened, 55 million words, 100,000 articles, more than 22,000 pictures, maps and more than 400 video clips," Roberts said. "The same download on dial-up would have taken two weeks. It's an exponential step forward and we're very excited. What consumers actually do with all this speed is up to the imagination of the entrepreneurs of tomorrow." (info from The Associated Press)

Kingston 1G microSD card with dual adapters

If you've ever been in a situation where all of your full-size SD memory cards are full, but you have a microSD with room for a bunch of shots on it, an adapter would be very useful. It would also be useful if your PC card reader can't handle the micro SDs that your newest camera uses, or if you want to standardize on one size card but have cameras or other gadgets with different size slots.

A number of companies make adapters that allow small cards to be used in big slots, but memory maker Kingston Technology is apparently the first company to market a microSD card bundled with two adapters to maximize compatibility and interoperability of the increasingly popular microSD Flash memory cards among multiple device platforms.

You can use the miniSD or standard SD card adapter with a microSD card to enjoy music, pictures and videos or easily transport files from the mobile phone to an MP3 player, digital camera, PC or printer.

Consisting of a 1 GB microSD card; a microSD to miniSD card adapter; and a microSD to full-size SD card adapter, the new microSD dual adapter pack has a $39.99 suggested retail price, but you might find it for less than half that price. $15 - $18 is a good price for a 1-gig chip alone, so it's like getting the adapters for free. There's a lifetime warranty for the 1 GB microSD card, and 24/7 technical support.

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This is a preview, not a review.

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Homo Sapiens 1.0:better than Neanderthal, but not good enough

The Jewish calendar is based on the creation of the world in 3761 BCE, with Adam and Eve created on the sixth day.

Christian fundamentalist followers of Anglican Archbishop James Ussher believe that the world was created during the night before October 23, 4004 BCE, and that Adam and Eve appeared on 10/29.

Most people believe in a much older Earth, and that the first folks did not look like what Michelangelo painted in the Sistine Chapel.

Human beings are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo Sapiens (Latin for "wise man" or "knowing man") in the family Hominidae (great apes).

Humans have a highly developed brain capable of language, abstract reasoning, and introspection. This mental capability, combined with an erect body carriage that frees upper limbs for manipulating objects, has allowed humans to make far greater use of tools than any other species.

Like most primates, humans are social creatures; but humans are particularly adept at using communication for self-expression, the exchange of ideas, and organization. Social interactions between humans have also established an extremely wide variety of traditions, rituals, ethics, values, social norms and laws, which form the basis of human society. Humans also have a marked appreciation for beauty and aesthetics which, combined with the human desire for self-expression, has led to art, literature and music.

Humans are also noted for their desire to understand and influence the world around them. This natural curiosity has led to the development of advanced tools and skills; humans are the only known species to build fires, cook their food and clothe themselve.

"Modern humans" are defined as the Homo Sapiens species, which appears in fossils in Africa from about 130,000 years ago. While the current Homo Sapiens is notably better than previous terrestrial hominids, evolution is not complete.

• Homo Sapienses are equipped with apparently useless organs like tonsils and appendices.
• Males have useless nipples.
• Homo Sapienses may not need five toes on each foot, but extra fingers would help us to type faster.
• We're subject to lots of diseases
• We lose hair too soon.
• Baby humans take much longer than other species before they can walk or feed themselves.
• We can't fly or swim deep without specialized hardware.
• Some Homo Sapienses consider it necessary to modify penises, breasts and noses.
• Eyebrows and armpit hairs know when to stop growing; but cranial hair, facial hair, finger nails and toe nails need constant trimming.
• We can't see as well as a fly, smell as well as a dog, or swim as well as a dolphin.
• We can't go without water as long as a camel can.
• We lack natural protection from environmental extremes.
• We can't digest corn.
• Many Homo Sapienses need eyeglasses and hearing aids.
• Many Homo Sapienses are lactose or peanut intolerant.
• Many Homo Sapienses are intolerant of other Homo Sapienses, and of other species.

I look forward to further improvements in revision 2.0, now in beta testing. Delivery date for the final version has not been announced.

(Some info from Wikipedia)

USB-powered desk lamp

I am amazed and amused by the wide variety of gadgets that can be powered from the USB port on a desktop or laptop. I've seen everything from lava lamps to heated slippers and cigarette smoke absorbers; and sometimes it can be hard to tell the real stuff from the April Fools fakery.

Many companies make gooseneck lamps that can be plugged into the back of a laptop and used to illuminate the keyboard. This is a great idea for light night or early morning computing in a hotel room or one-room apartment or dorm, if you need to work but don't want to disturb someone else by turning on a big light. Unfortunately, most of USB lamps use just a single LED as a light source, and can't light up all of the keys at one time.

I have a terrific five-LED USB-powered lamp, bearing the Totes label, usually found on folding umbrellas; and have used it on several vacations and business trips. Unfortunately, it seems to have been discontinued; so while I would like to recommend it, I can't tell you where to get one.

Therefore, in a departure from the way this blog usually operates, I'm going to suggest a class of products, rather than recommend a specific item: if you need a light for your keyboard, get one with four or more LEDs, not just one. There's a big selection at USBgeek.com, and one of their lamps is pictured above. If you need to travel with the lamp, make sure it will fit into your PC case or other luggage.

VXI RoadWarrior Bluetooth headsetis not just for truckers

In recent years, head-mounted microphones have become very popular for singers who want to move around on stage. And if you look at anyone from Madonna to Garth Brooks, or at sportscasters or astronauts or pilots, you'll see that their microphones are on booms that get the mic right in front of their mouths -- not near their ears or on their cheeks.

Wireless Bluetooth headsets are very popular for cellphones, but lots of them are bought as cool fashion accessories, not to enhance communications. Many of the sexier models are tiny -- not much bigger than an earring. Their microphones go closer to your ear than to your mouth, and they can transmit more noise than words if you're not in a quiet location.

It's a basic fact of life that when the microphone is close to your mouth, it transmits more voice and less background noise; and that's important whether you're singing before 150,000 fans in a stadium, or chatting on your cellphone.

It's also a basic fact of life that most trucks are noisy. That's why the wizards at headset maker VXI, who make BlueParrott (spelled with two T's) brand headsets, devised their B150 "RoadWarrior" headset.

It won't win first prize in any beauty contests, but it's definitely the champ in the cab of an 18-wheeler (and in many other spots).

Its microphone incorporates a high-rejection noise canceling design, combined with a long microphone boom and wind screen ("blast filter"). This minimizes the transmission of background noise, so your voice is loud and clear. For our test, Cynical Cousin Dave paired the headset to my Samsung Sync cellphone, and went for a walk.

We kept talking as he kept walking, and he stopped in the middle of the street (appropriately in front of a truck stop). His voice was strong and noise-free. I never had to ask him to repeat a word. I never heard the sounds of cars and trucks whizzing past him. I never heard the wind (and it was a windy day). Dave's voice sounded as good as if he was sitting at his desk in a quiet office! Some people may have wondered why he was having a leisurely chat while standing on the white line in the middle of a busy street, but fortunately, no one ran over him. Or arrested him for jaywalking.

On the receiving end, the B150's speaker element has high output to overcome road, wind and engine noise, and its big enough to cover your ear. Normally I recommend binaural headsets for use in noisy environments; but if you're driving, or going for a walk, it's important to have one ear free to hear honks, sirens and people yelling at you.

The B150 RoadWarrior quickly became a favorite among truck drivers who appreciate its talk power and durable construction; and its popularity now extends to people who use it in many indoor and outdoor environments.

It's great for sports cars, ragtops, jeeps, tractors, forklifts, lawn mowers, construction equipment, or any small car with a high-revving engine. It makes sense for use on boats, at oil wells or in mines or steel mills. It's a good solution for use in a factory, or in an office filled with loudmouths. It's even a good choice if you want to talk while walking your dog or working in your garden or basement workshop...or doing the laundry.

The BlueParrot B150 works with any Bluetooth enabled device including cellphones and computers (but not with Cynical Cousin Dave's stupid Palm Treo 700P). Range is about 33 feet. On-ear controls include mute, on/off, and volume adjustment. You get chargers for both 110 volt indoor power and 12 volt vehicle power -- which you normally don't get with other Bluetooth headsets, or even with cellphones. Charge time is about 4 hours, talk time 6 hours, and standby time 100 hours. It has a TWO-YEAR manufacturer's warranty, twice as long as you usually get with a Bluetooth headset.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Available at HeadsetHouse.com

Robot caddy schleps golf clubs by remote control, and can even wash your balls

David Fay, Executive Director of the United States Golf Association states "We strongly believe that walking is the most enjoyable way to play golf and that the use of carts is detrimental to the game. This negative trend needs to be stopped now before it becomes accepted that riding in a cart is the way to play golf."

If you prefer to walk rather than ride on the golf course, but don't want to schlep your own bag of clubs or pay someone else to schlep for you, consider a robot caddy.

The Hillcrest Special Edition from Kangaroo Motorcaddies has a rechargeable battery that should carry your clubs through 18 holes, and has a remote control, automatic braking, a fourth wheel to keep it steady on hills, a scorecard holder, and a cup holder. Options include a seat, bumper guard and ball washer. It takes about a minute to set up or take apart, and fits even in a small car. Base price is $2500. Other models are available. CLICK for Kangaroo.

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This is a preview, not a review.

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Book teaches kids to call 911 for help

A toddler in North Pole, Alaska knew to call 911 when his mother collapsed and lost consciousness during a gall bladder attack on April 10.

Tony Sharpe had learned about 911 in a book his grandmother had sent him, and made the call and reached the North Star Volunteer Fire Department. He told a dispatcher: "Mommy is sick. Mommy needs an ambulance. Mommy fell over. She is sleeping. Can you call the ambulance?" The boy then described the family's apartment building. Tony's mother Courtenay Sharpe was conscious but barely able to speak when firefighters arrived.

Her son had practiced dialing 911 countless times in one of his favorite books, It's Time to Call 911: What to do in an Emergency. The interactive book rewards its reader with a blast of emergency sirens and a cheery "good job" when 911 is punched into the key pad. The book is available from Amazon.com

"You know kids," Courtenay Sharpe said, "once they latch onto a book, they want the same story read to them over and over again. After awhile, he pretty much knew the book by heart."

The boy will be honored the fire department with a T-shirt, a plaque and a ride on a fire engine. His parents rewarded him with a much-wanted puppy, an 8-month-old mixed Golden Retriever and Labrador Retriever from an animal shelter. (info from The Associated Press)

Much cooler than the school bus:Bimmer 4-door luxo prototype

BMW's four-door ultra-luxury Concept CS, if produced, could compete with similar upcoming products from the likes of Porsche and Aston Martin as well as currently available models like the Maserati Quattroporte. Prototype was shown at the Shanghai Motor Show. (photo and info from The Wall Street Journal)

Wikipedia without the Web

Fans of Wikipedia, the collaborative online encyclopedia, like its dynamic nature: volunteers can quickly respond to new developments and errors in by adding or changing entries. It may therefore seem odd that Wikipedia volunteers are now working on a static version on CD. A preliminary version was released earlier this month.

The goal is to extend Wikipedia to those with limited or no Internet access. Success with the CD could ultimately lead to Wikipedia in book or other forms.

"Plenty of people do not have Internet access. They have a computer and no Internet, or just a slow Internet connection," said Martin A. Walker, the Wikipedia volunteer who helped coordinate the project. "There are many times when you may be offline anyway. You may be at a camp or something like that."

With Wikipedia, anyone may add, edit or even delete entries regardless of expertise. Although that has led to pranks, or endless revisions of controversial topics like abortion, Wikipedia volunteers can quickly make repairs.

Since its founding in 2001, the reference has grown to more than 1.7 million articles in the English language alone.

The Wikipedia CD will have only a subset of that - about 2,000 articles, with a heavy emphasis on geography, literature and other topics that won't change much the way current events and controversial subjects might.

"We did shy away a little bit from deliberately taking on those topics," said Walker, a chemistry professor at the State University of New York at Potsdam. "This is a CD that is going to be around for a year or two."

The CD strives to be of higher quality than the online version, Walker said. Volunteers have been scanning entries for foul language and other signs of vandalism, but didn't have the time to thoroughly verify all the facts for the preliminary CD. The cleaner version should appeal to teachers worried about displaying pages that might contain foul language.

The CD is available for $14 plus shipping through the project's Web site, wikipediaondvd.com. Despite the site's name, Walker insisted the contents must fit on a CD, noting that many home computers do not yet have DVD players. The CD works with Windows 98 and later, Mac OS X running on Intel-based Mac computers and Linux x86 systems. (info from The Associated Press)

"Warm Up the Snake" -- a Hollywood Memoir

John Rich directed and produced some of the best-known and most-loved shows in television history, including The Dick Van Dyke Show, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times, Barney Miller, Newhart, Benson, The Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, and many more. His feature film credits include Wives and Lovers, Boeing Boeing, and Roustabout (starring Elvis Presley), and he directed the live telecast of the opening day ceremonies of Disneyland in 1955. He won an Emmy for The Dick Van Dyke Show, two Emmys for All in the Family, and two Golden Globes for All in the Family.

"Warm Up the Snake" is the witty and revealing backstage chronicle of Rich's career. The book is packed with unforgettable and often hilarious stories of personalities (Elvis was respectful, Shelley Winters was a bitch, Michael Eisner was a jerk). As director and producer of dozens of radio, TV, and film hits, Rich enjoyed a career that spanned half a century.

"Warm Up the Snake" reveals an inside view of the art, business, and politics of filmmaking, directing, and producing. Not only was Rich an accomplished director, he was also an innovator who is responsible for many TV production techniques. Rich was also a guiding force in the Directors Guild of America, and had a central role in negotiating financial security for directors and producers.

"Warm Up the Snake" is a must-have for film and TV addicts, the star-struck, and anyone interested in some of the greatest decades of American television and film. If you want to know what the title means, buy the book. I recommend it highly, and so do Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke and Sherwood Schwartz (creator of Gilligan’s Island and The Brady Bunch) CLICK to order from Amazon.

Experience Zero-G in fake space flight

Sharper Image Corp. hopes to boost its fortunes by going where no retail firm has ventured before: selling airplane flights that replicate the weightless thrills of outer space.

Sharper Image signed an exclusive agreement with Zero Gravity Corp., a company that pioneered the concept of flying passengers in a converted Boeing 727 cargo jet to mimic the weightless conditions of space travel. With fares slated to cost about $3,500, Sharper Image plans to prominently display the high-end adventure trips in catalogs, as well as in special promotions at its stores.

The partnership is the most aggressive effort so far by space entrepreneurs to try to tap into a mass market.

Describing the agreement as "the first major announcement" in a strategic plan to win back customers by upgrading products and offerings, Sharper Image Chairman Jerry Levin said that "we're obviously investing heavily in the marketing part," and that the company intends to portray the experience as the ultimate Father's Day gift. The move comes as the company, which sometimes resembles an adult toy store because of its eclectic mix of high-tech gadgets, struggles to shake off red ink, a management shake-up and a depressed share price.

According to Peter Diamandis, chief executive of Zero Gravity, the retail tie-in is intended to transform "something that NASA pioneered and demonstrated into an affordable, once-in-a-lifetime experience" accessible to everyday consumers.

As the jet flies 10,000-foot-high roller-coaster arcs, passengers briefly float and tumble inside a padded cabin as if they were orbiting the Earth or the moon. Diamandis expects the number of flights to reach about 100 a year, carrying about 3,000 passengers. (info from The Wall Street Journal)

Eos multi-room wireless audio system for iPod

Eos from IntelliTouch is apparently the world’s first digital wireless multi-room audio speaker system for iPod. Using WiFi-friendly technology, Eos links up to four stereo remote wireless speakers, with a range of up to 150 feet through walls and ceilings, for use indoors or outdoors. Eos was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show last January, and is now available in limited quantities.

The heart of the Eos system is an iPod docking base/transmitter with two stereo speakers plus a ported subwoofer. The system uses SRS WOW® sound enhancement that Intellitouch says improves compressed and uncompressed audio by expanding the size of the audio image and creating deeper, richer bass. Like the base, the Eos remote wireless speakers also have two stereo speakers and a ported subwoofer.

Eos accessories include a weatherproof wireless outdoor amplifier, with two audio zones and separate volume controls. This allows you to transmit and control sound outside your home, without having to drill holes and run wires. The weatherproof outdoor amp can be used with most outdoor speakers.

The basic Eos system includes a docking station/transmitter with one wireless remote speaker, with a $299 list price. Additional Eos wireless speaker remotes, as well as the Eos weatherproof wireless outdoor amplifier, and a transmitter/receiver bundle are available separately at $129. Eos products are available in black or white. CLICK for more info or online ordering. (This is a preview, not a review)

J C Whitney has everything automotive

Everyone who owns a motor vehicle -- and everyone who loves motor vehicles, needs a free subscription to the JC Whitney catalog, and should spend time on their website.

For over 90 years, Whitney has been a super source for almost anything that can be used to fix, restore or enhance a car, truck, SUV, RV or motorcycle. You can buy tools, tires, wheels, engines, wire, filters, spark plugs, test equipment, touchup paint, cleaning chemicals, upholstery, carpeting, navigation, audio, video, sunroofs, seatbelts, sponges, instrumentation, exhaust systems, fuzzy dice, headlights, funny horns, RV toilets, fire extinguishers, racing helmets... you name it.

They now publish six different catalogs: a general publication, plus specialized books for classic VWs, Jeeps, sport compacts, RVs, motorcycles, etc. Whitney can help you trick out a brand-new Honda, or keep an ancient Beetle on the road.

You can get serious stuff like shock absorbers, or silly stuff like LED-laden tail pipes. Over the years, the company has helped enhance the cars of countless people whose aspirations exceeded their budgets: they even sold phony CB radio antennas, phony cellphones, and phony stick shifts. They’ve also offered options that were unavailable from the car manufacturers. My first purchase was a genuine walnut applique for my Corvair dashboard. I also got a loud AH-OOH-GAH horn for my Vespa motorscooter.

In 1915, the Ford Model T had been in mass production for only seven years, when a Lithuanian immigrant in Chicago named Israel Warshawsky saw an opportunity to mine replacement parts from derelict automobiles. He bought a piece of property and opened a scrap metal yard, The Warshawsky Company.

Industrial growth generated by World War I put the salvage business into high gear. Soon, the demand for auto parts outstripped the supply of derelict cars. Warshawsky began buying up failed auto manufacturers and added new parts to his inventory, and added a retail store.

The Warshawsky Company grew right through the Great Depression, when few people could afford new cars or even new parts. By 1934, the company had a larger store and a wholesale catalog.

Israel's son, Roy Warshawsky, joined the company after graduating from the University of Chicago, and proposed a consumer catalog to make products available nationwide. Roy placed a $60 ad in Popular Mechanics and invited readers to send in 25 cents for a "giant auto parts catalog." The ad produced a flood of response and the JC Whitney Catalog was on its way to becoming a do-it-yourselfer's favorite.

When Israel died in 1943, leadership of the company passed to Roy. As a second world war cut back the supply of new cars, the demand for parts soared. By 1947, the retail store occupied an entire block, the biggest automotive department store in the world, with "everything automotive."

The post-war Baby Boom years spurred more growth on the catalog side of the business. The consumer catalog broke 100 pages, moved to 24-hour ordering and spawned a series of specialty catalogs targeted to key market segments.

When Roy saw a need for products that didn't exist, he contracted manufacturers to produce them. As consumer auto shows became more popular, Roy initiated a cooperative effort among retailers and manufacturers to make it easier for consumers to purchase independent aftermarket products. That effort led to the formation of the Automotive Parts & Accessories Association in 1967 and the election of Roy Warshawsky as its first president. Roy died in 1997. The company is still very much alive, and so are the cars of its customers.

Now your iPod can do the back float

Frontgate's waterproof iPod case is either really silly or really useful -- or maybe both.

It lets your iPod float safely alongside you in the pool, lake or ocean. Just put your pod inside and snap the case shut to enjoy music and movies, even in 100% humidity.

Waterproof click wheel navigates your media playlist. Dual full-range waterproof neodymium speakers. Shatterproof polycarbonate case protects from spills, splashes and corrosion in salt water. Fold-out stand in back enables you to prop up the iPod carrier for beach and poolside listening. Protective bumper guards. Shower mount. Adjustable wrist and shoulder straps. Included inserts make it compatible with various iPod models.

Price is $149, from Frontgate. (This is a preview, not a review)

Super toothbrush may take food out of your dentist's mouth

When I learned to brush my teeth, my father scolded, "If your mouth isn't bleeding, you're not brushing hard enough!"

For years, every morning I brushed, and every morning I bled.

Last year, my dentist discovered that I had swollen, bleeding gums (gingivitis), and it was not from heavy-handed brushing.

Gingivitis is the earliest stage of gum disease, an inflammation of the gums caused by plaque buildup at the gumline. If daily brushing and flossing do not remove the plaque, it produces toxins (poisons) that can irritate the gum tissue, causing gingivitis. You may notice some bleeding during brushing and flossing. At this early stage in gum disease, damage can be reversed, since the bone and connective tissue that hold the teeth in place are not yet affected.

If your hands bled when you washed them, you would be concerned; but many people think it's normal if their gums bleed when they brush or floss. In 1999, the National Institutes of Health found that half of Americans over 30 had bleeding gums.

("Bleeding Gums" Murphy was a saxophone player in the animated TV series The Simpsons, and an idol of Lisa Simpson. Bleeding Gums gave the origin of his nickname as this: "Well let me put it this way... you ever been to the dentist? Not me. I suppose I should go to one, but I got enough pain in my life as it is." Murphy died at an early age of unexplained causes. BE WARNED.)

Swollen and bleeding gums are early signs that something is wrong. Most likely, your gums are infected with bacteria. If nothing is done, the infection could spread and destroy the structures that support your teeth in your jawbone. Eventually, your teeth could become so loose that they have to be extracted.

"Perio" means around, and "dontal" refers to teeth. Periodontal diseases are infections of the structures around the teeth, which include the gums, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone. In the earliest stage of periodontal disease — gingivitis — the infection affects the gums. In more severe forms of the disease, all of the tissues are involved.

In recent years, gum disease has been linked to a number of other health problems, including Stroke, Diabetes, Premature births, Heart disease, and Respiratory disease.

While I am not a likely candidate for a premature birth, the other potential problems are decidedly unpleasant; and my dentist arranged for me to see a gum specialist. Dr. Goodgums did some probing and scraping, decreed a three-times-a-day four-minute brushing regimen, frequent flossing, and scheduled a re-exam six weeks later.

I was never a brush-after-every-meal guy. I do keep a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste in the office john, but it's reserved for special occasions. I did brush every morning, and was willing to add a night-time session.

The prescribed four-minute sessions lasted an eternity. I found I was bored or worn out after about two and a half minutes.

Then I got an inspiration. I figured that the key was not really the amount of time I spent brushing, but the actual number of brush strokes. If I could do more strokes per minute, I wouldn't need to brush for as many minutes.

Although I had long-ago switched from a manual brush to a motorized model, it seemed like I was putting a pokey Honda in my mouth, and I wanted to be driving a vroom-vroom Ferrari.

I was not about to invest in a dentist's chair and a high-horsepower roto-tool, but I found the next-best thing, the Braun Oral-B Triumph Professional Care 9000.

Despite the venerable old-world Braun label, Oral-B really comes from razor-maker Gillette, which is part of Proctor & Gamble, the soap, diaper and dog food folks.

The Oral-B Triumph rechargeable toothbrush, with multiple brush functions and choices of brush heads, is pretty close to having a professional hygienist do your teeth. It costs more than many other electrics, but I think it's well worth the price.

Assembly is easy. Just insert the charging ring into the base station, and attach the plastic protective cover, which conveniently stores up to four attachments. Slip the toothbrush body into the charging unit and the Triumph will become fully charged in about 12 hours.

Fully charged, this toothbrush will give you about 25 brushing sessions, which makes it easy to travel without schlepping the charger. If you are going to be away for a long time, you can save suitcase space by taking the charger without the full-size base. Should you be motivated to show off your Triumph to someone you meet in a far-away hotel, the display on the Triumph handle can be programmed for any of 13 different languages. The SmartPlug automatically adapts to any voltage worldwide.

Two brush heads are included with the Triumph -- the FlossAction and the PowerPolisher. The FlossAction brush head relies on MicroPulse bristles that penetrate between the teeth for a flossing effect, while the PowerPolisher is designed, as the name implies, to "power polish" your teeth. The Triumph is able to recognize the brush head you've attached, and automatically select the appropriate mode of brushing. Two other modes -- "massage" and "soft" -- can be selected manually.

A digital display in the Triumph handle tells you when the brush heads are ready for replacement or when the battery needs recharging. Additionally, the brush is programmed to time each brushing session for the recommended two minutes. Every 30 seconds the brush pulses, alerting the user to shift to a new section of the mouth. And when the two minutes are up, the brush pulses and displays a friendly "happy face" on the handle's indicator.

Tests show that the new brush head removes over 90% of plaque, and I definitely had a happy face when I went for my checkup with Dr. Goodgums. He looked me over carefully and made detailed measurements, and said that I had made the most complete recovery from Gingivitis that he had ever seen. My gums were so good, in fact, that he canceled my next appointment, depriving him of $150 -- which is more than I paid for the brush.

List price is $130. I got mine for just under $100 at Amazon.com. Look for special deals on accessories. If you spend $129 or more on select Braun and Oral-B products at Amazon, you get $50 off a future Amazon.com purchase. The current offer expires April 30, 2007. (some info above from Colgate, Amazon, Wikipedia)

Giant remote is too big to lose

I've tried Velcro-ing remote controls to the furniture, and tethering them with coiled phone cords, but they still diappear. They're usually under a cushion or under the bed, and our dog has taken a few outside the house.

Brookstone may have a solution with their King Kong-size univeral remote control that measures 5" W x 11" L x 1" H. This 6-in-1 device can operate your TV, VCR, DVD player, satellite receiver, cable box and other gadgets. It has glow-in-the-dark buttons, so you can easily find it and use it when the lights are out; and it knows nearly 300 codes for popular brands of audio and video devices.

You may not have the biggest TV in the neighborhood, but for $35 you can have the biggest remote control. CLICK to order from Brookstone (This is a preview, not a review.)

Intermission

I'm away on a business trip. Postings will resume on Wednesday 4/18.

Internet Wayback Machine shows web's past

Peabody's Improbable History was a segment of the popular and witty Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon series starting in 1959. It starred Mr. Peabody, a talking dog historian, and Sherman, his pet human boy.

They used their "Wayback Machine" to visit historic events, and helped to make history turn out the way it was supposed to. Each episode ended with Mr. Peabody delivering an agonizing pun that caused Sherman and viewers to groan.

In one episode, William Tell is nearly blind and likely to kill his son in the process of shooting the apple from his head. Peabody and Sherman help history by hiding a strong magnet in the apple that attracts the tip of the arrow, enabling a perfect shot. Mr. Peabody ends the history lesson with a pun about Tell's eyesight being so bad that a disorder was named after him: Tell-a-vision. (GROAN)

Alas, that Wayback Machine was pure fiction, from the inventive mind of cartoonist Jay Ward; but a free online service will let you see the web the way it used to be -- and maybe even see yourself the way you used to be.

The non-profit Internet Archive has built an Internet library, with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital form. Founded in 1996 and located in San Francisco, the Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, software and archived web pages. You can browse through over 85 billion pages dating from the Archive's start to a few months ago.

To use the Archive's Wayback Machine, go to www.archive.org/web/web.php and enter a url (a www web address). A page will open up, showing entries going back as far as 1996. Sometimes there will be a few pages per year, sometimes as many as one per day. Just click on a date, and you go WAYBACK. Keyword searching is not currently supported.

In most cases, you will be able to view entire websites, not just home pages, but a few graphic images may be missing and some links may be dead. It's a fascinating way to spend a few spare minutes, or many hours. The archive is an invaluable research tool, a good way to recover your own deleted webwork (see how great you were or how far you've come), and may help resolve copyright disputes. If you find it useful or fun, donate a few bucks to help the project keep going.

If you want to go wayback to the 1960s and see Mr. Peabody and Sherman, you can buy a Rocky and Bullwinkle collection DVD at Amazon.com. It's a very important part of American cultural history that belongs in every home. Rocky the flying squirrel, and Bullwinkle the Moose, inspired Simpsons creator Matt Groening; and Family Guy talking dog Brian owes a lot to Mr. Peabody.