Geek Toys & Gadgets

Crowd Control Robot: Coming to Costco?

Steve Bargelt — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:47:45 GMT

Anyone who knows me well knows I have a Roomba that vacuums my house for me. I love my Roomba. I talk to him like he is a pet or a friend. I get upset when the "little guy" gets stuck in a closet (whish does not happen very often and is always my fault!). Well the makers of my little domestic cleaning device, iRobot, are marketing the new weapon -- it is one of their Warrior X700 tracked platforms paired with Metal Storm technology

You remember that gun that electronically fires up to a million rounds a minute (theoretically) by Metal Storm? They're strapping them to iRobot's X700 to create a serious killing machine with the flexibility of firing anything from explosive rounds to "less-lethal" ones, making it suitable for urban assaults, "border patrol," "crowd control" or my personal favorite, defense against a zombie apocalypse.

As an aside... the Metal Storm logo reminds me of another company's logo. Help me figure out what company that would be. I'm thinking it is a video game company and Sierra Entertainment came to mind but I couldn't find a logo that looked like Metal Storm's.

Amazon.com: iRobot 560 Roomba Vacuuming Robot, Black and Silver: Kitchen & Dining

ASIN: B000UUBCNO

Windows Home Server: HP EX470

Steve Bargelt — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:05:23 GMT

I've been running Windows Home Server since the beta days on a huge, inefficient server that I built from scratch a few year ago. Earlier this year the SATA RAID controller started acting funny - telling me that drives were bad yet on a drive scan or reboot they'd be fine. After enough scared I decided to upgrade to a HP EX470. Smart move! I love it. It is tiny and it "just works." I finally have all of my content moved over and have the other server shut off!

I've also decided to try and use the EX470 as my SageTV server. My only concern is that it won't have enough power to record two (or more) incoming HD streams from my HDHomeruns. I will find that out this coming weekend! If not there is still hope. Donavon over at Home Server Hacks posted two excellent upgrade articles: HP EX470 CPU Upgrade and the HP EX470 Memory Upgrade. Kudos to Donavon for taking the time to write up such easy to follow instructions.

Setting up my AT&T 8525 and Windows Mobile Revisited

Steve Bargelt — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:28:07 GMT

Back in May I posted about setting up my AT&T 8525 and Windows Mobile and a few hacks and tweaks... this post is basically a complete replacement for those posts and is the result of using the phone daily for over six months. I've tried many applications, hacks and tweaks in the past six months and here is a list of the applications I have installed and how I set each of them up. A ton of credit goes to GollyJer for pointing out most of the applications I've tried!

The first major change is now my device is running Windows Mobile 6. You can get the official WM6 ROM from HTC's site - although the site says that the update will only be available until February 1st, 2008.

Install WisBar Advance: $9.99. WisBar advance is probably the best investment you can make for your WM5/6 device. Too many features to list but on my device it replaced HandySwitcher ($9.00 itself) as my default task switcher and does a ton more like providing a cascading start menu, allows you to add/remove functions from task bar, skinning & themes and so much more!
- MY APPLICATION SETTINGS
  - Apply Skin: Vista 2
  - Settings:
    - Taskbar
      - Others:
        
        Uncheck
        
        The network icon uses the default icon
        The phone icon uses the default icon
    - Startup
      - Check "Run WisBar after a soft-reset
      - Enter 5 in Delay startup seconds
Install PocketBreeze: $19.95. Today screen replacement. This is one app I've used from day one. I still love it! This application crams a ton of information onto your Today Screen (see top 2/3rd of my today screen in the picture at right).
- MY APPLICATION SETTINGS
  - Options
    - General
      - Height: 180
      - Landscape Height: 100
    - Tabs Bar
      - Check Hide top tabs bar
    - Interface
      - Uncheck Paint Vertical Tabs
Install Spb Phone Suite: $19.95. This application replaces all of the functionality of Phone Alarm from my original list and it provides so much more. Although I love WisBar Advance if I had to pick only one application to buy/install it would be Spb Phone Suite. For how I use my device the two killer features of Phone Suite are
1. "Photo Speed Dial" - see the five small pictures at the bottom of my today screen? All I have to do is touch those pics/avatars to dial those individuals. Very cool.
2. "Reject and reply with SMS" - this feature allow me to ignore a call and reply to the caller with a canned SMS text that you pick from a popup list. Yes you can edit the list. This is great for rejecting a call while you are in a meeting... in three taps (Ignore, Yes, Tap message) you can respond to the caller with a SMS that reads "In a meeting."
- MY APPLICATION SETTINGS
  - Check Call Filtering
    - Feature Options > Accept all but black list > Add > Private Caller
  - Profiles
    - Feature Options > Custom > Speaker Volume 20% and Ring Volume 20
  - Today Plug-In
    - Feature Options > View >
      - Uncheck Operator Name
      - Missed Calls & messages
        
        Options
        
        Check Show unread VMail Count
        Uncheck Show unread MMS count
  - Photo Speed Dial
    - Menu
    - Uncheck Confirm Dialog
    - Feature Options
      - Add your "Fave Five"
      - Order your "Fave Five"
Install Vista II Dialer FREE
- MY APPLICATION SETTINGS
  - Install JPLDialer_VistaII dialer skin
Install VistaHide Battery Gauge - copy shortcut to \Windows\Startup
Install Pocket Controller Pro (actually the device portion is auto Installed by desktop application on first connect (See below)
- System - Settings - Pocket Controller
  - Uncheck:
    - Display Icon in System Tray
Install Mapping/Searching/Local Information: Yes I'm still trying to decide which to use: Google Maps Mobile or Windows Live Search.
- Install Windows Live Search: Free. Now with voice commands (that NEVER work for me)
- Install Google Maps: Free. Now with My Location (that NEVER works for me)
- Add 1-800-GOOG-411 to your contacts and add a voice tag. Seriously. This ROCKS! FREE 411 service. I've used it at least 10 times in the last two weeks... much easier to use while driving than the two applications above.
Install PTT Fix: Use the SJ Sleuth_PTTFix.cab. Free. This allow you to re-map the PTT Button (which you will do below)
Install HTweakC: Free. Small application that allows you to pick registry tweaks from a menu so you don't have to hunt in the registry. Very nice.
- Bluetooth
  - Improve BlueTooth stereo sound > Excellent
  - Enable Auto Suspend
- SysTray
  - Check Hide Battery Icon
- Check Hide Wireless manager Icon
- Phone > More Tweak
  - Disable SMS Sent Notification
Other mobile registry tweaks. Listing of Hermes specific tweaks at xda-developers.com - I have implemented the following:
- Kill the startup sound (DAMN that was loud!)
  - HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\StartupAnimation
    - Enabled - change from 1 to 0 to turn everything off and permanently fix the volume issue
Install Microsoft Voice Command (to \Device not \Storage Card). $39.99. I'd have to say that this one is totally optional. IMHO probably not worth $40. Obviously the selling point is that you can voice dial any contact without having to do any voice training. The other features are okay - like bringing up a contact by saying "Show Joe Blow."
Other device settings
- Start > Settings > Today
  - Items
    - Uncheck ALL except Pocket Breeze and Spb Phone Suite
    - Order Items so that PocketBreeze is on top and Spb Phone Suite is second
  - Appearance
    - Pick Windows Default
- Start> Settings > Buttons
  - Button 3 - Map to <Today>
  - Button 5 - Map to Voice Command
  - Button 5 (Press and hold) - Map to Comm Manager
Install Desktop PC Software:
- Pocket Controller Pro - $35.95. Kind of expensive but great this really is a great application. Basically it that allows you to control your WM device from your desktop PC. Tons of great features but the best is the ability to send text messages that I type on a normal keyboard!
- Free Registry Editor: Free. This doesn't actually install on your device. It installs on your PC and allows you to browse you device's registry remotely.
- WebGuide4: ~~$18.00~~. Now FREE! Another application that is not installed on my mobile device but I thought it was worth mentioning. I am using Vista Media Center (aka VMC or Vista MCE or just MCE) at home to record TV. WebGuide4 is an add-on that allows you to control MCE via a web browser. Even better there is a mobile version of the site. Very cool. I can control MCE remotely from anywhere (with adequate cell coverage, of course!) and even stream TV to my device. Here is a great review of the mobile components of WebGuide4. ~~If you use this application pay the guy! Seriously - it is worth every penny~~. Microsoft decided to pay the bill for you!
Hack the Vista WMDC Picture - yeah I did this. Yes I'm still embarrassed to admit it.

winsnap + flickr = screenshot bliss

Steve Bargelt — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 23:31:07 GMT

Via Tim Heuer @ winsnap + flickr = screenshot bliss:

i recently started using the latest version of winsnap and figured i could integrate my other photo tool of choice (flickr) into the mix. for me, the screenshot thing has always been a multi-step process: take the screenshot, save image, upload to flickr. well it dawned on me that i could use the same command-line interface that i use with flickruploadr and integrate that into winsnap...and boom, two clicks to heaven.
here's what i did...first use winsnap -- it is awesome. it's light and fast. it has subtle, yet effective post-shot image manipulation that you can use. i keep it in my system tray and run on startup. i also make the default screenshot be a "region" so i can precisely capture what i want. the latest version also does vista aero glass well.

Personally I use Gadwin Printscreen and this little trick works with it as well. Cool tip, Tim. Thanks!

Craftsman CompuCarve

Steve Bargelt — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:09:30 GMT

Someone please give me an excuse to spend $2000 on a Craftsman CompuCarve. It is so cool but so impractical! Damn.

Apparently the Craftsman version is just a rebranded CarveWright.

Motorola MOTOROKR S9 Saga Continues

Steve Bargelt — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 22:41:29 GMT

I received my replacement Motorola MOTOROKR S9 BlueTooth headphones yesterday from Amazon. You can read my original post and mini-review of the S9s if you aren't familiar with the problem I had with the original set. Kudos to Amazon for getting my the replacement set over two week earlier than promised.

Unfortunately this pair won't charge. I ripped open the cool packaging and plugged them in for a nice overnight charge. and when I went to grab them this morning the LED indicator light was still red. Damn. Shame on Motorola - seems like they have some serious quality control issues. I've tried to charge them again at work with no luck. Damn. I really, really wanted to use them this weekend during a solo Father's Day ride I have planned.

I went ahead and did the Amazon return dance again (I can't say enough about Amazon's service - just top-notch) and I received an email with the following:

"I am sorry that your replacement shipment was also problematic.

As it seems that the problem with this item is more widespread than
we originally thought, we are not able to send another replacement.
We will investigate and remedy the situation with the item; however,
I cannot guarantee when the error may be fixed."

I guess I'm just out of luck, eh?

Motorola MotoRokr S9

Steve Bargelt — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 22:19:24 GMT

I recently purchased the MOTOROKR S9 headphones to use with my new ~~Cingular~~ AT&T 8525 (HTC TyTn/Hermes) Windows Mobile device/phone. One feature that attracted me to my new phone was BlueTooth A2DP support. I want to be able to use my phone as a music source when cycling. I figure that since I need to carry my phone with me anyway it might as well serve double duty as my portable music player.

First Impression
Okay - I'm not a big fan of all of the unboxing videos that you can find on YouTube but the S9's packaging is just plain cool. Check out this S9 unboxing video. I'll try to get a better quality video up there... but don't count on it.

Sound Quality
Nothing scientific here. I did a comparison to me Shure E2c headphones and yes, of course the E2cs sounded better but the S9s sounded very good. I almost couldn't believe my ears. The bass isn't very deep, but it is audible and sounds good. Definitely much better than most inexpensive ear buds that I've used.

Phone Operation
In addition to playing and controlling music the S9 acts just like a typical hands-free BlueTooth headset. The only weirdness is that when using the S9 as a phone headset only the left ear speaker is active. I've seen reviews that make a huge deal of this. It is truly not a huge deal! The odd feeling I get is probably magnified by the fact that I normally wear my BlueTooth headset on my right ear. I'll get used to it, I'm sure. People at the other end of my phone calls typically could not tell if I was using the S9 or my normal Plantronics Discovery 655 headset. While the S9 does not claim to be the next JawBone it seems to do a damn good job of canceling out ambient noise while in the car. I have not had a chance to use it as a phone headset while cycling. I'll have to perform and write up that test in a separate post.

Battery Longevity with Music
First I charged the phone and S9s all night at home
Then at work the next day:

7:30 - 8:30AM topped off the charge on both the S9 headphones and the phone
8:30AM - Soft Reset Phone to make sure all apps were closed etc.
8:33AM
- Unplugged S9s from USB cable and turned on. Confirmed BlueTooth link.
- Started Media Player on shuffle-play
8:34AM - Unplugged USB to S9
3:14PM - S9s ran out of battery, BlueTooth connection was lost and the built-in device speakers took over. The 8525 was still at 50% battery.

6 hours 40 minutes of battery time for the S9s. Not too shabby! Of course I would rather get 10 - 12 hours out of the headset but at least it beats Motorola's claim of 6 hours.

Controls
The controls on the left side of the S9 are the typical BlueTooth headset controls - the phone button (answers calls, hangs up, allows you to long-press to activate features like voice dialing) and volume controls. The right side of the device holds the music controls, a pause/play button, a skip track forward button and a skip track backward button. Nothing really special to note here. I do always seem to press buttons while putting the headset on and sometimes while taking it off. I'm sure this will end after a few more uses and I train myself to not accidentally press the buttons.

Oops
My S9s unfortunately developed a flaw before I could complete my testing. Now when playing music there is a high-pitched noise on top of the music coming from both speakers. It sounds kind of like ripped paper cones on full-sized speakers - almost a rattle... but too high pitched and consistent to really be a rattle. This makes me worry a bit about the reliability and durability of the headset.

Customer Service
A quick note about customer service. I first went to Motorola's site and I am extremely disappointed with their customer support. First, I would have to call them during normal business hours (I was trying to get this done at midnight during a fit of sleeplessness one night). Second they seem to have no notion of cross-shipping. Idiots. I would have to send the headset back to them at my expense and then once they received the defective unit Motorola would then ship out a new pair to me. That is unacceptable. Amazon to the rescue. My original purchase was through Amazon.com so I was able to request a replacement unit from them right from the web. Nice. Amazon rocks. Unfortunately the S9s are out of stock and will ship sometime between June 28th and July 11th (which at the time of my request was 4-6 weeks away). Bummer. I did get a very nice email from Amazon stating this fact and letting me know that I could request a refund if the wait was unacceptable. Again, killer customer support.

Conclusion
So far I'm very happy with this purchase - errr... well at least I was happy until the headset became unusable. Now I'm pretty disappointed with the purchase. I wanted to do an evaluation of the product while cycling since that is my main intended use. That will have to wait so I guess I will have to officially delay a conclusion until I receive my replacement headset.

Other Resources
A pretty good review of the S9
Interesting post regarding the technology inside the S9

Windows Mobile and Music

Steve Bargelt — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 16:50:55 GMT

Now that I have my Cingular 8525 (HTC Hermes), a 2GB memory card and sweet BlueTooth headphones (review coming soon) I have been looking for tips and tricks for managing my music on my device. I found this article from Microsoft. Hmmm... seems pedestrian to me. There must be a better way. Post your sweet setups in the comments!

$10 SureFire Flashlight

Steve Bargelt — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 16:48:40 GMT

Seems like a worthwhile Maker project:

$10 Police Flashlight Hack! - video powered by Metacafe

Windows Mobile and the X Button

Steve Bargelt — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 16:47:52 GMT

Shortly after unboxing my ~~Cingular~~ AT&T 8525 (HTC TyTn/Hermes) I started researching the best applications to install, the best registry tweaks to apply and generally reading up on the device and Windows Mobile 5. I found that quite a bit of time and effort has been spent complaining about and discussing fact that the "X" button does not actually close applications, rather it minimizes (hides) them. Upon further reading I found that Spb PocketPlus was a popular solution that allows users to make the "X" button actually close applications.

Of course about 10 minutes after I installed the Spb PocketPlus I realized that HTC was kind enough to include a little settings applet called X-Button that allows you to configure the "X" button's behavior. How nice of them! I uninstalled Spb PocketPlus. Nothing wrong with the app I just didn't need any of the other features it offers.

I went ahead and used HTC's application to configure the "X" button to actually close application. After about half of a day of the "X" button really closes applications, I decided that (hate to admit it) the architects of Windows Mobile actually do have it right. I usually do not want to close applications when I click the X button. I usually want to minimize them or simply get them out of my way. Here is a good post cleverly titled "The Emperor Has No Close." on the subject.

ON the rare occasion that I really do want to close an application my task switching application of choice, HandySwitcher, does offer a really close feature where if you click on red [X] next to the application name (see picture) in the HandySwitcher interface it really closes the application.