TomTom GoLive 820

How does a portable hands free speakerphone that does double duty as an external speaker for your music on your mobile phone sound as a gift idea? And it even acts as an emergency battery charger for your mobile phone as well? That’s exactly what the Uniden BTS200 does.

Yes, it’s a hands free speakerphone that connects with your mobile phone or computer (or other bluetooth enabled device) and lets you conduct your phone calls in a hands free mode, with better sound quality than most phones can offer, because it has bigger and better speakers than your phone will have. Being connected to your phone or computer, it also can be used in place of the built in speakers for playback of music or movie soundtracks, and the removable battery has a USB port that lets you plug it directly into your phone to give it a boost if the phone’s battery has died.

WD TV Live Hub (Image copyright (c) 2011 Gary Stark)

Although it’s been discontinued by HP (pulled from the market almost as soon as it was released, in fact) HP’s WebOS based Touchpad tablet might make a great present for dad if you can find one and get it for a good (sub $150) price point. It offers a great browsing experience, there’s a kindle reader available, and it can handle email as well. Great for casual use within the home environment, say while watching tv, as long as you’re not going to paying too much for it.

Netgear Powerline AV500 (Image copyright (c) 2011 Gary Stark)

Hopefully, some of the ideas that we’ve presented will be of use to you as Fathers’ Day approaches.

Here’s a few ideas, pulled from the various gadgets that we get to look at throughout the year.

Jabra Drive

For the coffee-aholic dad in your family, how about the Nespresso Pixie? This is a compact, one touch coffee machine, that can make your cup of coffee in less than a minute. It’s a truly fuss free, mess free way of getting your hit of coffee, at any time of the day.

Pixie Nespresso

If dad already has a cappuccino machine, or if you think that the Pixie isn’t quite enough, perhaps the Nespresso Aeroccino milk frother might be a nice idea? Inexpensive, it’s a simple and elegant way of frothing up your milk for that perfect latte or cappuccino.

Maybe dad fancies himself as a bit of a shutterbug? Be sure to check out the Olympus Pen EP-3. This is a camera that’s small, but not too small. At the basic level it offers the advantages of interchangeable lenses and a relatively large sensor size, which means that your image quality will benefit as a result. but ease of use is a big feature here as well: it sports a touch screen interface, that lets you see, on the screen, the image that you’re going to capture. Touch the screen in the area where you want the image to be focused, and the camera will automatically focus at that location, and then take the photo for you. How cool is that?

Pen E-P3

Does dad need a new mobile phone? If your dad’s well into social networking and Facebook, maybe something like HTC’s Cha Cha or Salsa might be of interest? These are both very nicely featured smartphones running under the Android operating system, but specially developed for allowing the owner to interact with Facebook.

If they’re beyond your budget, maybe take a look at Huawei’s Sonic or Ideos X1 – perfectly inexpensive smartphones that are also running under the Android operating system, but very keenly priced.

It’s beginning to turn up more and more and in a lot more places.

Basically, it refers to a set of systems that can collect data and respond to that collected data, and in so doing, act in a manner that can help to control the systems that they’re monitoring. While it used to more generally refer to mechanical controls, this is become less and less the case.

A few weeks back we mentioned the CareTracker system. That was a means of data acquisition, but there is no means of control attached to that system, so it’s not really a SCADA system. But Google has a fully automated – as in driverless – car under development. That would rely upon a SCADA system in order to operate.

In just the last few days SCADA has turned up a few times within references to the Black Hat security conference, within the context of the potential for some SCADA systems to be hacked.

Insulin Pump

Specifically, if these systems – which constantly monitor his blood sugar levels and can respond by providing him with insulin – are able to be hacked, then what is the potential for a third party to be able to do this, and thereby endanger his (or your) life?

In the US, you can now have the option of having an on-board router installed within your new car, thereby giving you connectivity wherever you may roam, but also at this conference, some people from iSec Partners were able to demonstrate how to unlock, and then start the engine, of a car using an Android powered mobile phone.

And this is just the beginning.

Comscore advises that Microsoft’s share of the mobile phone space has now dropped, from 7.5% for the three months to March, to just 5.8% as at the end of June.

HTC Mozart

Just under a year ago I had my first hands-on experience with some actual hardware, and while it was very obvious that Microsoft were trying their hardest to push this as the best thing since sliced bread, I still had my reservations.

The first production versions of the hardware came, but some primary features were absent, and many people also reported crashes and a lack of general reliability. All of this is supposed to be fixed with the upcoming release of the Mango update, but there are a couple of serious questions that now need to be answered.

First of all, will Mango be enough to save Phone 7?

Second, how long will manufacturers like HTC, Nokia and Samsung be willing to invest their money in a platform that’s not paying its way? In this realm, one must wonder at what sort of subsidies Microsoft may be paying to the manufacturers in order to keep this OS alive.

But finally, does anyone, beyond Microsoft, really care?

Go Guy Pocket Urinal

Or perhaps it does.

It’s basically a plastic bag that’s filled with some super absorbent crystals. The concept is that the guy, in desperate need of some facilities, will open the package and pee into the bag. Having completed his business, he then waits for the now wet crystals to do their thing, solidify, and then seal the bag, to be disposed of, thoughtfully, at a later time.

But how does one thoughtfully dispose of bag full of solid urine?

And, if you’re in a line at an event, waiting to use the facilities but unable to wait any longer, how do you use this, in a gracious manner?

What if you’re in your car and you need to go? And you have an accident when using this portable convenience, leaving perhaps wet patches on the car’s seat or carpets?

So many questions. So many pissibolities.

More details at GoGuy.com, but I must say, I find their “Fits in your hand” photo caption on their website just a little disturbing. Like, one would hope that it does …

Yep, the lowlifes are already at it, trying to put their hands into your pockets.

So, be wary of any emails that turn up in your inbox promising to show you video of the bombing, or the shootings, or asking you to click on an embedded link within the email promising that you may be able to easily donate to assist those affected by these sad events.

The only thing sad is that these lowlifes actually are alive and walking on this earth, sharing the good air that the rest of us breathe.

And besides, why on earth would you want to see these videos anyway? Are you sick? No? Good, I didn’t think so.

If you want to donate, then please do so, but do so through a recognised charity and website, rather than because some sleazy greedy piece of crap sends you a link to a fake website to try to scam you.

And just to preempt things a little, yes, by midnight tonight we will also start to see the Amy Winehouse scams starting to appear. Trust me, those, too, may be safely deleted.

And to help us all understand the importance of the data that’s going to be collected, the ABS has created an interactive application on their website that uses a little bit of information about you to tell you a little about yourself, and how you relate to the rest of the people in the country.

infographic

Start by looking at a little bit about me. At the bottom of the page is a button where you can put in your own details, and see where you fit in to the picture.

And please feel free to add the link to your infographic here, as a comment; we’d love to see how you fit in with the rest of us.

Based upon a Grease Monkey script, this script will tell you if the site that you’re about to visit is owned by interests controlled by the Murdoch empire, and if so, it will give you the option of not visiting the site in question.

Available from the Firefox add-ons page

This is the sort of device that you can use if you have an elderly family member who may be inclined to wander off without telling you where they’re off to, or perhaps you’re concerned about the whereabouts of your kids.

As well as mapping the locations that the device (and therefore the person carrying it) has visited, you can call the device on its own mobile phone number, and it will respond by sending you an SMS message with its current location.

Care Tracker

I’ll let you know more about this as the review progresses, but right now, I can tell you that it’s mapping my location as I go about my daily business in and around Sydney.

Yes, that’s right. You can now have people call you on a phone number, and you can receive that call on your iPad. And yes, you can make outgoing calls, too.

Line2

Available in the US and Canada for around US$10/month, this may well be a great way to not simply use your iPad as a phone, but what about if you’re traveling and you want to have a US number that people can contact you on, or maybe you have a business and a need for a us phone presence?

The more expensive plans also provide you with access to a US toll free number, which, from a business perspective, may well be a great feature to have.

The application is available from the App Store in about ten days time.

But not really sick, however.

Earlier this week Microsoft announced that its Windows XP operating system, probably the most successful version of Windows thus far, and perhaps the most successful operating system of all OSes (to date) was about to reach its official end of life, with all support for it ending in 1000 days – April 6, 2014, to be precise.

To be honest, I think that that’s a very generous date on the part of Microsoft – there’s no good reason why you should continue to struggle with XP – or any earlier version of Windows, when Windows 7 is just so good.

Yes, you may offer the excuse that your hardware is so old and it’s unsupported by Windows 7. Well, yes, that’s exactly what that is: it’s an excuse.

Today you can walk into any of the major stores and buy a brand you laptop PC – not just a netbook, but a laptop – for less than $400. And that system will include a version of Windows 7. Why would you not buy such a system, really?

And if you really must keep the old box running, then install a version of Linux on it; you’ll be safer, and you should be able to perform everything that you can do on your aging XP system, but with a greater level of security, better features, and a more up to date interface to boot.

And yes, it’ll still be supported, which your XP installation will not.

Please don’t come crying to us when your apps fail, or your system has a virus that you can’t remove because the OS is no longer supported. We’ll merely say that we told you so.

First of all let’s understand a couple of key points: social media is here, whether or not you like it. And whether or not you like it, if you own or run a business, you’re involved.

And whether or not you choose to become involved can determine how your business will be judged by others. And it’s that judgement (by others) that may, at some point further down the track, determine the ultimate success, or otherwise, of your business ventures.

I recently spoke with the owner of one small business who told me that he’s banned access to Facebook and Twitter for his employees. On the one hand, I understand his motivations: he wants his employees to, while they’re at work, be focused on the tasks and duties that he’s assigned them to perform and complete. Let’s face it: they’re at work to do their jobs, and not goof off chatting to their friends on Facebook all day.

Twitter

But what about the situation where somebody – somebody who’s external to his organisation, but a customer of his – says something that relates to his products or services? What was said may be good, or it may be bad, but by not being proactive in the management of this, he is running a very big risk of letting things get said that might not be accurate or complimentary, and eventually may lead to problems in his business.

Let’s look at a couple of examples that I saw this week …

During the week I had cause to visit a bank and deal with a teller. Yes, I know, that’s becoming an increasing rare event, which is partly why it was notable.

But what was even more notable was the professional attitude and helpfulness of the teller in question. He went well and truly over and above the level of service that I expected, and offered me a little advice and service that I found to be surprising and unique.

It’s sad that this level of service is so rare these days that when you do get it, it stands out so much, but that’s how it is. I think it’s also important to catch people being exceptional …

Upon leaving the bank, I issues a tweet, acknowledging the good service, mentioning the name of the teller, and the bank’s name. A little while later, I noticed that the bank had replied to my tweet, asking for details of which of their branches I was at, so that they could pass on my comments.

I thought that this was a great use of the medium: through the use of social media, the bank’s employee could have his exemplary behaviour acknowledged. This was a great outcome, and I applaud St George Bank for the manner in which this was handled.

At the same time as that good news story was happening, I’d tweeted about the very bad behaviour of Australia Post, who persist in delivering junk mail despite the very clear request of the recipient – me – to not deliver such unwanted, unrequested, rubbish.

Let’s understand the problem here first: my letterbox has a very clear and distinct label on it that says “NO JUNK MAIL”. If you don’t understand that message, then kindly leave the room.

But despite that very clear label, Australia Post persists in disrespecting my wishes, and delivering unsolicited advertising material. Yes, advertising material.

And I know that it’s Australia Post delivering this crap, because the advertisers have told me that (a) they contract with Australia Post to deliver their materials, and that (b) they’ve instructed Australia Post to respect the wishes of their prospect customers and not deliver these materials where such a “No junk mail” instruction exists.

But yet, Australia Post persists in disrespecting those who are paying for this particularly piss-poor service, as well as those to whom they deliver this unwanted crap, in spite of their clearly stated intentions.

So Australia Post responded to my tweet.

Did they ask for details of the problem? No.

Did they apologise? You’re kidding, right?

No, they went off on a tangent, totally defensive, and explained to me at great length that they can and will deliver certain articles of unsolicited material, in spite of a recipient’s stated desires.

Does the person who posted those tweets truly think that they’re actually helping the matter by making excuses?

Does this person truly believe that I care?

No, I do not.

The problem is that I’m getting crap delivered into my letter box. Crap that I have no desire to receive.

And no, I am not interested iun bullshit excuses, thank you very much.

The correct approach is not to make excuses. It’s not correct to try to justify your behaviour; that only exacerbates the problem.

Rather, ask about the problem, take control and ascertain the facts. Instead, they just made excuses, and made me even more angry. I have no interest in excuses. Find out the facts, and then fix the bloody problem!

To the person from AusPost who issued those tweets, here’s a message: people don’t care about how you think you can justify this shitty behaviour on your part. That you may be able to deliver some crap is wrong in any case, and should not be used to try to justify your already untenable position.

But more significantly, and to the point: you were arguing with me on Twitter. You were not paying attention to what I was saying, which was adding even more disrespect towards me on your part than had already occurred. Your job, on Twitter, is not to argue with me, but to listen, and then to try to manage the process.

You failed.

Miserably so.

You gave a wonderful example of how to mishandle social media interaction with your clients, and as such, you would have better off to just have shut up. That would have caused far less damage.

Comscore reports that as at the end of May 2011, the Android OS was occupying 38.1% of the market, ahead of Apple’s iOS with 26.6%.

RIM’s share was 24.7%, which, while seemingly good, was in fact down by about 4% from the previous month, and Microsoft’s share was also down, by almost 2%, to just 5.8%.

Tardis Mug

Well, we’ll leave you to judge how beautiful it is, but you have to admit, it does look somewhat cool.

I am wondering, though, what it’s like to drink out of the square opening. I suspect that a few spills may be the order of the day.

It’s available from gadgets.co.uk, if you’re interested. Or even if you’re not.

However, the methods that they have used to advise their customers about this is very seriously flawed. Let’s start by looking at the email that they issued …

Telstra Letter to Clients

There are a couple of things notable about this letter – note the two sections, in blue, that are underlined. These are links that are embedded within the email. Note that one of them says that it will take you to the “Email Bill Registration Page”, while the second one says that it’ll take you to where you can log in to your account.

What the hell?

Anyone who knows anything about internet security, safe web surfing, and not being hacked, knows only too well that you shouldn’t click on links like this. It’s stupid. Bloody well stupid!

Banks warn you never do anything like this: Never, ever, click on any link that promises to take you to any sort of login page, because, quite frankly, you really don’t know exactly where that page might be taking you too.

And if it’s taking you to a “phishing” page, where somebody wants your credit card or banking details, then you’ll end up in serious danger.

But please, don’t just believe me: I took an opportunity to speak with Lloyd Borrett, from AVG Internet Security. He’s an expert in these matters, and in the interview, he gives some very sound reasons why Telstra, in sending out these emails, are implementing some very bad ideas.

Lloyd Borrett, AVG – Clicking On Embedded Links In Emails

So, the advice is to ignore Telstra’s emails. Telstra’s methods are very seriously flawed, and a very bad idea. Contact them, and tell them just how bad an idea it is for them to be sending you these emails that look like they’re trying to scam you.

Instead, whenever you get an embedded link like these, close your browser (for safety’s sake), and then open a new browser session, and go to the site byt entering in the URL in the browser’s address bar. This should be the way that you always go to important sites like these, by the way, because then you will know that you’re not going to be going to some sort of scam site.

At the beginning of the week we asked Telstra why they are implementing such a poor practice, but they were unable to give us a response.

We spoke this week with Lloyd Borrett about how all the lowlifes seep through the internet at this time of year and try to grab your attention.

And your credit card and bank account details.

If you’re not vigilant, it can be all too easy for them. Here’s what Lloyd had to say.

Lloyd Borrett from AVG discusses the email scams that come up at tax time. Beware

Commodore 64

Available in three different versions all powered by a dual core Atom CPU, the US$895 top level version includes a BluRay drive, 1TB of storage, 4GB RAM and WiFi capabilities. Other specification levels cost US$595 and US$250.

All models include Ubuntu Linux 10.10, a multi-format card reader and expansion capabilities, and you’ll even be able to also grab a copy of the original Commodore OS if you want to enjoy the full Commodore 64 experience.

Rubiks Cube Mug

Far easier to just peel off the coloured stickers and rearrange them on the various sides of the cube so they match, and the cube then looks as if it’s been solved.

Or else, just grab a Rubik’s Cube coffee mag, from Perpetual Toys.

Of course, the Rubik’s Cube mug would be incomplete, unless you also got the Rubik’s Cube coaster to keep it company.

Rubiks Cube Coaster

The coaster is available from gadgets.co.uk. I think you need to order nine, if you want to build your own cube from the coasters.

iCufflinks

From the good people at Adafruit.com comes these open source iCufflinks. They’re battery powered. They don’t merely glow; they pulsate. They will keep your cuffs linked.

And while you can order them ready-made, you can also make your own bespoke version by downloading the circuit diagrams, source code and CAD files.

Be the first on your iBlock to wear these to the big iBall.

Hopefully only for the duration of the event.

Diagram from Apple Patent Extract

I’m certainly not going to encourage the illegal recording of these sorts of events, but really, don’t you think that this is just a little too Orwellian?

Besides, it’s also still just pissing in the wind: it doesn’t address the issue of those who use phones other than iPhones, or those who may be using straight out cameras.

While at this time this is only a patent application lodged by Apple, with no guarantees that it will ever become a production reality, is it an interesting potential use of technology?

Or maybe an interesting potential abuse of technology?

In the latest of a series of hacks against major technology companies, Sega confirmed today that information belonging to 1.3 million of its customers has been stolen from its database.

As part of this initiative, Sony is conducting a book donation drive to bring books to young students in South Africa, who may otherwise not have access to these learning materials.

PLEASE DONATE YOUR CHILDREN’S BOOKS UNTIL MONDAY 11 JULY 2011

Drop off your books between 9am – 4pm, Monday to Friday at the marked collection point in the loading dock of Sony Australia, 33-39 Talavera Road, North Ryde.

Types of books required:

• English language books (preferably British English)
• Books suitable for ages 6 to 14
• Picture books, word books or story books for children who are learning to read
• Children’s reference books & encyclopaedias

Please avoid:

• Damaged or very dirty books
• Books with a lot of handwritten notes
• Books with unsuitable content for children
• School textbooks
• Outdated books e.g. Encyclopedias published before 1995

iOS 5 SDK Video Export Strings

The 9to5Mac website carries a story telling us that the export strings in the video API of the new release includes support for 1080p resolution, as indicated by their screen capture, shown here.

This means that, for devices that have the hardware support built in, you will be able to shoot videos in full HD and upload them to your favourite video sharing website for all to see.

A report has been released by the International Air Transport Association covering the years 2003 to 2009. It documents 75 separate incidents of possible electronic interference. The report is based upon survey responses from 125 airlines, and lists incidents that airline crew members believed were linked to mobile phones and other electronic devices.

This report indicates that twenty six incidents affected the planes’ flight control systems, and in one instance reported, actually disengaged the plane’s autopilot system. Other instances affected communications systems or produced responses in the planes’ electronic warning systems.

It should be noted here that nothing has been determined to be proven or conclusive, though.

Today Parrot goes even further with a number of announcements to enhance the piloting experience for players and fans alike.

· More playable platforms: Parrot AR.Drone is now compatible with OS AndroidTM Smartphones, bada (Samsung) and Symbian (Nokia)

· More games: Challenge your piloting skills on your own customised circuits: zigzag your way through trees, inflatable pylons and donuts and race against the clock with AR.Race, a customisable single or multi-player racing game for the AR.Drone.
There will be more surprises to add to the growing catalogue of games for the AR.Drone soon.

· More interactions: who will be the number 1 AR.Drone pilot in 2011? Parrot has set up the AR.Drone Challenges, an international competition* that will take place from June 24th till August 14th 2011 and will consist of three challenges for a chance to compete in the grand final in Paris in October 2011.

Parrot AR.Drone

More playable platforms: Android™, bada and Symbian

Android™ Smartphones users will find a free version of AR.FreeFlight’s piloting application developed by Parrot in July 2011 – also available on the Android Market. At the same time, Playsoft Games – for Samsung – and Nokia used the Parrot AR.Drone Software Development Kit (available free at https://projects.ardrone.org) to develop “Free Flight” (bada) and “AR.Drone” (Symbian) piloting apps.
The SDK’s allow new developers to create new applications for the AR.Drone across iOS, Android™, bada or Symbian platforms.

More games: Create customised circuits with AR.Race

AR.Race is a race game which allows one to four pilots to challenge themselves on the same circuit. Inflatable items – two pylons with a finishing point and a donut – are also available to add an extra element to the race. Players can create as many circuits as they want, such as creating zigzags with the pylons or using natural obstacles such as trees to create more unique circuits.
· Available free on App Store ™
· Available accessories on www.parrotshopping.com
· Discover the AR.Race video on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEvmaU7chbM

Still to come: Parrot will launch a brand new game involving two players and a single AR.Drone.
A confrontation between the man and the machine, a track race where the target is not necessarily the one that we believe …

More interactions: AR.Drone Challenges
After registering at www.ardrone.com, participants* will be invited to compete with others in three “video” challenges, revealed online on June 24th, July 8th and July 22nd. Pilots will have to film their exploits and post their videos on the website before August 14th, 2011. The top 14 will win a place for the grand international final, on October 1st 2011 in Paris.

Calendar of the AR.Drone Challenges:

June 24 th: first challenge
July 8 th: second challenge
July 22 th: third challenge
August 14th: end of the competition
August 26th: announcement of 14 finalists
October 1st: grand final in Paris

*Competition is open to over 18’s only. Available regulations on www.ardrone.com