Gadgets Base

In my small attempt to help the environment, I am trying to turn down plastic bags when I go shopping in favour of using my own canvas bag.

But the trouble with my canvas bag is it doesn’t fit comfortably over my shoulder, or fit neatly inside my bag, so I’ve been casting around for an alternative.

These RuMe (short for “reuse me”) bags are definitely on the shortlist. They come in a variety of styles and colours and are water-resistant and machine-washable. They also fold up to the size of a cellphone so you can always keep one with you for emergency shopping situations. More importantly, a portion of the proceeds of every bag is donated to a charitable cause.

$28.50 from Delight.

Bicycles are supposed to be great vehicles when it comes to keeping the earth green and giving you a good workout, right? Well, apparently newer bicycles these days tend to let up on the sweating part by allowing a little electric-powered engine to help you out during the steeper moments in life. Optibike is one of those companies, and their 2008 range of electric-powered bicycles will have the limited edition OB1 as the flagship of the series. Its main component is the patented Motorized Bottom Bracket (MBB) that drives through the derauiller gear system to optimize acceleration and range at all pedaling speeds. This special system is now oil cooled and is capable of delivering 850 continuous watts of power. Other goodies include carbon fiber handlebars, brakes, derailleur, chainring and cable ferrules, a customized paint job, GPS satellite navigation, plus a wireless PDA interface that provides real-time feedback on remaining range, battery charge and motor temperatures - are you drooling already?

Talk about one high performance bike! I wouldn’t want to let this out of my sight even for a moment, and would do well to get the most secure parking options available in the market. After all, there will only be two dozen of the exclusive OB1s available throughout the world, and they don’t come cheap at $12,995 each - which is more than enough to buy a small, compact sedan. A trio of other models will round off the 2008 range, consisting of the 800Li, the 50 mile range 600Li and Optibike 400. All of these will feature “build-your-own” bike customization options, with prices starting for $4,995 upwards for the 400 watt model.

Well, it sounds like a great intra-city vehicle to move around in. Just make sure you wear a helmet whenever you head outdoors as you never can tell when one of those deranged motorists hit the road.

Source: Gizmag

I’m not a morning person. I never have been, and I doubt that I ever really will. I’m the kind of guy that gets up, showers, dresses and still looks and acts like a zombie. The last thing I need in the morning is some way to make my routine more dangerous, because lets face it, I’m clumsy enough when I’m not groggy. Needless to say, this toaster won’t be making its way into my kitchen any time soon.

I can certainly see the appeal of this toaster, as it looks much cooler than your average stand-up version. Unfortunately I can’t see any real benefits to this Fagor TP-2006 X Flat Toaster, except maybe you can toast larger items. That aside, all I see are negatives.

First, you’ve got a surface lined with extremely hot wires with no way to cover them (except with things to toast), so it is rather dangerous. Then, you’ve got to manually flip over your toast, instead of having both sides heated at once. No word on pricing or availability.

Source: SlipperyBrick

According to Microsoft’s latest Security Intelligence Report for July through December 2007, web attacks are on the rise.

With more users becoming cautious about downloading and opening email attachments, hackers are now looking for new ways to “trick” users into downloading malware.  The most popular attack is the embedding of malware into websites, especially through banner advertisements. In fact, adware has increased by 66 percent. The most common type of malware removed by Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) are Trojan horses, which disguise themselves as innocent software but contain hidden malicious code within—which can be used to create a back door or collect personal information, for example. Microsoft reports that the number of Trojan horses has exploded by 300 percent during the second half of 2007. In all, the software giant says that the number of malicious software removed by its MSRT has increased by 40 percent. Another attack gaining popularity is phishing, which is the act of tricking users into visiting a legitimate looking website and entering their personal information (e.g., social security and credit card numbers), only to have it stolen and/or sold to a third party.

Interestingly, a lost or stolen computer is the most common security breach, which accounted for 57 percent of the total number of breaches. Exploits, malicious software, and hacking accounted for 13 percent for the second half of 2007 (23 percent for the entire year). However, there is some slightly good news. The number vulnerabilities related to Microsoft products has fallen 15 percent in the second half of 2007; resulting in an overall 5 percent drop in the total number of vulnerabilities for the entire year.

Other interesting tidbits include:

• 129.5 million pieces of potentially unwanted software were detected between July 1 and December 31 2007, resulting in 71.7 million removals. These figures represent increases of 66.7% in total detections and 55.4% in removals over the first half of 2007.
• Once a largely e-mail based phenomenon, phishing attempts are increasingly being posted to social networks, exploiting the trust that victims place in these networks and in the social contacts with whom they have connected through them.
• The most prevalent rogue security software detected in the second half of 2007 was Win32/Winfixer, with more than five times as many detections as any other single family. Winfixer (an Internet and Windows Explorer toolbar) displays erroneous alerts warning of severe system threats. The program then offers to remove the erroneous detections for a fee. These warnings appear under multiple false product names in several different language versions.
• The top potentially unwanted software family detected in the second half of 2007 was Win32/Hotbar. Win32/Hotbar installs a dynamic toolbar in Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer and delivers targeted pop-up ads based on its monitoring of Webbrowsing activity. The toolbar appears in Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer. The toolbar contains buttons that can change depending on the current Web page and keywords on the page. Clicking a button on the toolbar may open an advertiser Web site or paid search site. Hotbar also installs graphical skins for Internet Explorer, Outlook, and Outlook Express. Win32/Hotbar may collect user-related information and may silently download and run updates or other code from its servers.

Read [CNET]

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The Chinese PMP manufacturer Ainol, recently came out with a nice new and simple PMP called the S100. One of the standout features of this PMP is its touchscreen and wide variety of supported formats.

First off, the S100 comes with a 3-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 400 x 240 and offers 8GB of storage. Moving to formats, it includes support for RM, RMVB, AVI, DAT, ASP, MP4, WMV, 3GP, MPG, FLV, MP3, WMA, APE, and FLAC. The specs did not mention whether microSD could be used for memory expansion, but if you take a look at the picture, there is a slot for microSD, so its safe to assume that is a yes. Finally, it comes in a few different colors including red, blue, purple, black, and silver. They are set to sell in China for 5999 Yuan or around $86 US.

Via [ubergizmo]

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Great news for people in the UK as more details have been discovered about the new FreeSat and FreeSat HD service. Currently the only way to get HD in the UK is via Sky HD (Review), which comes with monthly subscription charges. With FreeSat you will be able to get over 80 channels, and HD channels for free, with no monthly subscription charges.

Many people have trouble receiving all the channels via digital TV (Freeview), but with FreeSat, 98% of the UK will be able to recivie all the channels. Sources say that the FreeSat service will go live on the 25th of April 08, and installation of the satellite equipment and set top box will cost about £80, with both SD and HD set top boxes avaliable for around £40 to £100 depending on the specifications, such as HDD size for recording.

The main advantage of FreeSat over Sky is the fee’s, or lack of them. There is only a one off free, and thats it. Many people in the UK have HDTVs, but no HD signal, so HD via FreeSat sounds like a great idea.

For more information on FreeSat HD, visit FreeSat.co.uk

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 23rd 2008 at 2:45PM
Well, what do you know? The actual Rebel XSi comes packaged in a box that looks exactly like the one that cropped up earlier this month. Still, there’s just something special about seeing Canon’s latest DSLR cautiously unboxed, with the fortunate unboxer taking special care not to insert an obscene amount of blur into each snap. Sure, the model shown above was unboxed within a retail location, but that’s not to say you can’t hand over some cold hard cash to do the same at your abode. Check out the whole process in the read link below — just brace yourself for some serious (albeit SFW) gadget affection in that first shot.

[Thanks, Ryan]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Rain gauges tend not to be the most technical of devices. However, this latest one ads a bit more geeky-ness to your garden. The Digital Rain Gauge has been created and it’s wireless too (but not in a wi-fi type of way). What it allows you to do is track the rain which is then displayed on a small LCD screen which can be read up to 10 feet away. The only reason it gets the “wireless” added to it’s name is due to it being powered by an AA battery. Surely it should have been named a “Battery Powered Digital Rain Gauge”. Not to worry!

The digital rain gauge is designed for farmers who need to know how much rain there has been so they can best look after their crops. Accuracy of the gauge can see it measure to within 1000th of an inch which is not too shabby at all. The rain gauge also does not collect and store the water. The rain water just merely passes through the device and the amount of water is measured by counting as the rain falls through it. Resetting the device can be done at the touch of a button.

The digital rain gauge costs $60.

Via: TechChee

Guest Post by Matthew of Gadget Venue.

Now that the upcoming Asus Eee PC 900’s release date is drawing near, Asus is facing a bit of a predicament. For you see, Asus is experiencing a battery shortage right now, and if this problem persists till next month, there could be a lot of lost revenue for Asus here. But Asus Chief Executive Jerry Shen was confident enough to say that “ninety percent of the battery problems should be resolved by June but it could still affect April and May Eee PC sales.” And rightly so, because as you can imagine, less battery units produced means less Eee PC’s to manufacture. And as a company who’s right at the top of their game, Asus can’t afford such a blunder. The 7-inch Eee PC wouldn’t have made it to the 1-millionth mark if there were big problems on battery production, don’t you agree? But of course, as no one of us here is a clairvoyant or has any ability to see the future, there’s no telling just how this situation might turn out.

Read [Reuters]

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by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 23rd 2008 at 12:37PM As you may have noticed, Xbox Live has been a little wonky as of late and, according to Microsoft’s latest status update, it looks like it could stay that way for at least a little while longer. While the service itself is apparently “up and running,” it seems that anyone matchmaking or using client voice communication may “experience difficulties,” which is just a little bit more than a minor issue. No word on a full return to form just yet, but it seems that the folks in Redmond are on the case.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Gaming