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Tech gear is fun again – whether you're into 3-D computer screens, smartphones, theater-quality home audio, or DNA kits for kids. Our crack squad of geeks has rounded up 77 innovative playthings that'll keep you entertained till next holiday season.
by Bob Parks and Michael Myser
3-D Busts Out
The 3-D screen, a fixture of sci-fi and mad inventor fantasies, is finally getting real. The new tech is called autostereographics, and it applies recent breakthroughs in optical science to traditional LCDs, delivering 3-D video without the dorky glasses. The screens are flat, relatively cheap, and ready for commercial applications like gaming, digital photography, online shopping, and, inevitably, porn. Sony, Microsoft, and dozens of others are working to create compatible hardware, software, and content. First out of the gate is Sharp with a laptop screen that lets you toggle between 3-D and 2-D – eye-popping games one minute, productivity apps the next. (After all, you wouldn't want to do your taxes in 3-D.) The 10-pound Actius RD3D runs Windows XP and features a 2.8-GHz processor, a hi-res 1,024 x 768-pixel screen, and 512 megs of memory.
[ Actius RD3D: $2,999, www.sharpsystems.com ]
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Autostereographics at Work
When you look around a room, your eyes send two slightly different images to your brain, which interpolates them for depth perception. To make 3-D films and videogames, content producers create two videostreams to imitate left- and right-eye perspectives. Each frame of footage is digitally cut into thin vertical strips; alternating strips are then spliced together to form a single frame in which a line of pixels from the left stream is followed by a line from the right. The resulting image is a blur unless you have the right hardware.
Parallax Barrier
By carefully directing light, Sharp's display uses a filter called a parallax barrier to transform that blur into 3-D magic – no lame eyewear required. As with any LCD, the RD3D's light source comes from behind, but in this case it passes through the barrier on its way to the screen. The barrier splits the light, creating right and left beams that are directed at each eye. Your brain then combines the two into a single 3-D representation. To return to the drab 2-D world, just flip a switch and turn the barrier off.
Sweet Spot
For the maximum 3-D experience, your head needs to be 16 to 20 inches from the monitor. The RD3D flashes directions onscreen that become fully visible once you're properly oriented. The parallax barrier cuts resolution in half, but it's still a striking effect. Hundreds of games – like Unreal Tournament – already support the process. The added depth intensifies your immersion, but staying in the sweet spot can be a painful challenge. Sharp hopes to expand the field of view in future products.
Mother of All Wegas
Sony started small to make a big impression. While most rear-projection TVs still use traditional CRTs, the 60-inch-wide WEGA drops the tubes and gets its picture from three 1.35-inch LCD panels, each of which projects a different color – red, green, or blue. The new tech makes the set half as deep (14 inches) and a third as heavy (110 pounds) as similarly sized rear-projection boxes. Though it's still not as slender as a plasma panel, the WEGA offers a lot more detail at half the price. A resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels means the images are so sharp you can see celebrities' panty lines.
[ Grand WEGA KDF-60XBR950: $5,500, www.sonystyle.com ]
A Three-Way for the Freeway
With 384,000 pixels, Alpine's motorized dashboard monitor boasts three times as much detail as other in-car displays. The 7-inch widescreen monitor is bundled with a DVD player and stereo receiver capable of pumping two sources to three discreet areas. Play 2Fast 2Furious for the speed demon riding shotgun, or M�tley Cr�e's Music to Crash Your Car To for the slacker in the backseat, and pump classical radio to the overachiever in the way back. It's the end of "Are we there yet?"
[ IVA-D900: $2,300, www.alpine-usa.com ]
Cordless TV
Take Sharp's 15-inch high-style monitor anywhere on your estate. Connect the included transmitter to your cable feed or DVD player and the 11-pound LCD receives video and audio wirelessly over the 2.4-GHz band from up to 300 feet away (a lithium-ion battery powers it for up to three hours). It's the perfect backyard grilling companion – but it's not waterproof, so be sure to pull it inside at the first sign of rain.
[ AQUOS LC-15L1U: $1,799, www.sharpusa.com ]
Screenings On the Ceiling
Getting horizontal to watch a movie at home can be a real pain in the neck. Philips' solution: a couch that projects the action onto the ceiling. Designed with the help of Italian furniture maker Cappellini, the 11.4-foot-wide oval sofa features an embedded multiformat DVD player and a super-silent widescreen video projector. The 1,100-lumen bulb can cast images 20 feet wide, up to 33 feet away – though with only 858 x 484 resolution, it doesn't do HDTV.
[ Vesuvio Sofa: $31,000, www.philipsusa.com ]
Extreme Close-Up
At your age, you can't get away with a magnifying glass and a jar of spiders anymore. The best show-and-tell sessions start with NEC's DT20. The hi-res projector lets you view solid objects – whether seashells or computer chips – placed on its glass top. The blinding 2,800 lumens present images of the items at 1,024 x 768pixels (shown above), a resolution that matches the best data projectors, but its video inputs allow for only standard – not hi-def – sources. The lens zooms in as much as 625 percent, and a built-in digital camera can record your projections for future reference.
[ DT20: $6,195, www.necvisualsystems.com ]
If Looks Could Kill …
A hardcore gamer shouldn't trust anybody else's setup. Tote NEC's 17-inch fold-up LCD to your buddy's Half-Life 2 competition and you won't have to worry. Using its dual-hinge neck, you can make a pancake out of the 13-pound display, then store it flat in your trunk or messenger bag. The screen shows off images with a 1,280 x 1,024 resolution at a fast 16-millisecond response time (other screens clock in at 25 milliseconds). A tough sheet of acrylic protects the monitor's surface. When you get to the battle, plug it into the wall, connect it to a Mac or PC, and play like there's no tomorrow.
[ LCD1765: $549, www.necmitsubishi.com ]
Inset: Everett Collection
Must-see HDTV
Fact: Even bad sitcoms look good on plasma. Loewe, German maker of luxury TVs, sexes up the lamest shows with its glamorous 42-inch Spheros. The panel's 1,024 x 1,024 resolution flatters any HDTV signal. Where film's diagonal lines sometimes appear jagged on plasma, this set runs a special anti-aliasing algorithm to fix the problem. Throw in an optional matching remote control and motorized stand to spin the screen your way and you'll never want to leave the couch again.
[ Spheros 42: $11,000, www.loeweus.com ]
Inset: Courtesy Blizzard Entertainment
The Plasma Slayer
Samsung's 54-inch LCD outperforms rival plasmas in three ways: It uses a fraction of the electricity, shows a higher-definition picture, and lasts three times longer. Samsung's 3-inch-thick display is currently the largest consumer LCD in the world, can hang on a wall, and boasts enough resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) to show full HDTV. Computer inputs make it a hell of a surface for Warcraft.
[ LTN545W: $25,000-30,000, www.samsungusa.com ]
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"I can�t live without my cell phone. It�s the one with the big round dial, and it has a video camera on it. I have a ring tone of my sister, and she�s screaming and singing on it. It�s pretty funny."
Celebrity Stuff
Model, hotel heiress, actress
Her Favorite Gear
- 42-inch Sony Plasma WEGA
- Nokia 3650 phonecam
- T-Mobile Color Sidekick
Her Wish List
"I want to get a huge, giant, the biggest flat screen you can get. Someone told me there's like one that's the size of a movie theater screen, but I don't believe that. I also want to get a lie detector on my phone. I've heard about those at the spy shop. You can talk on the phone, and it will read the people and tell if they're lying or not."
by Paul Boutin
The Sixth Sense
Theater-quality surround used to be strictly for millionaires with electrical engineering degrees. And even if you had the money and patience to install it, the hulking array of speakers made your den look like Stonehenge. Kenwood's HTB-806DV is the first to squeeze state-of-the-art 6.1 sound into a compact 2 x 2 x 3-foot "home theater in a box" kit. The six tiny speakers and subwoofer won't overwhelm your home decor, and the quick setup (60 to 90 minutes) won't overwhelm you.
[ HTB-806DV: $600, www.kenwoodusa.com ]
Surround Sound
Star Wars: Episode 1 introduced 6.1 surround sound to the megaplexes. The HTB-806DV adds a sixth speaker [6] to the standard configuration, between the left [4] and right [5] rear channels. Combined with the left [1], right [3], and center [7] front speakers, it lends an unprecedented sense of audio dimensionality.
Powered Sub
A powered subwoofer [2] produces a tighter, stronger thump than one with separately wired amplifiers. The HTB-806DV's sub is rated at 150 watts, bringing the system's total wattage to 750. It delivers supercharged thumping bass – maybe more than you need. Turn on Midnight Theater mode to automatically hush loud sounds like gunfire.
Universal Remote
Once you've plugged your TV, cable box, cassette deck, stand-alone CD player, and VCR into the HTB-806DV, ditch all their remotes. The 806's universal controller is preprogrammed for most newer components and can be configured to handle older disc players, tape machines, or set-top boxes. Can it start the microwave, too? Maybe.
DVDs come in a perplexing array of multichannel audio formats. The Kenwood receiver recognizes and processes the most popular ones: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS Digital Surround, and 6 Channel Analog. In addition to theater mode, the equalizer lets you opt for arena, stadium, jazz club, or disco.
Disc Player
Go ahead, insert that MP3-encoded CD. If you've got music in disc format, the HTB-806DV's disc drive can play it. This one reads CD, CD-R, and CD-RW. And it plays DVDs, too. It can pull the DVD-Video signal from DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, or DVD+RW discs.
House Music
Yamaha's MusicCast is a self-contained groove network for the whole house. Its central hub rips CDs onto an 80-gig hard drive, then transmits tunes over Wi-Fi to up to five clients, each with its own remote. Connect clients to your stereo system, your kitchen boom box, even your spare PC speakers in the garage – and listen to your music archive anywhere you choose. An Ethernet port on the central server makes the system easy to connect to a home network to play streaming audio, too.
[ MusicCast: $2,200 (plus $600 per client), www.yamaha.com ]
Jewel of a Case
Compact disc meets concept art in MonoOne's Hot Ice Cube, a translucent acrylic player that redefines cool. All its electronics are hidden beneath the disc tray, and a separate five-button IR controller keeps fingerprints from marring its diaphanous beauty. And you'll never forget what's in the player – you can just look.
[ Hot Ice Cube: $256, www.monoone.com ]
Relay Champ
The JoyPort may look like an overpriced set-top, but it uses gold-plated output jacks, ultraclean audio circuitry, and 24-bit digital-to-analog converters to achieve sound quality that budget media streamers can't touch. Perch this unit atop your home entertainment center, install the included server software on your Linux, Mac, or Windows computer, and it becomes a wireless relay, playing your downloads, rips, or Internet radio sans tin-can computer sound.
[ JoyPort JP1R: $1,298, www.joyfaktory.com ]
Pipe Dream
Make kindling out of those old speaker boxes! Corners distort and muffle sound waves. Vince Christian's solution: the E5s. Their high-precision drivers are mounted to tubes of PVC, then tuned with polymer padding glued to the inside. The resulting 2-foot-high speakers are designed to hang from ceiling brackets and resemble the track lighting in today's yuppie lofts and suburban living rooms. A self-powered subwoofer sits on the floor and looks like the high tech appliance it is, rather than some lame throwback to wood furniture.
[ E5s and C12P subwoofer: $8,200, www.vincechristian.com ]
Three words: Wi-Fi boom box. The Streamium MC-i250, Philips' high-end portable stereo, has a built-in 802.11b antenna that streams Internet radio from any open network to its 5.25-inch speakers. And when you're on the road, connect the box to your laptop with USB 2.0 and crank out MP3s from your hard drive. Perhaps in a nod to the Streamium's upmarket audience, its lines are so clean and simple, it takes the ghetto out of ghetto blaster.
[ MC-i250: $800, www.streamium.com ]
MP3 Amigos
You already jilted your walkman for an iPod. Why not abandon your Brobdingnagian home stereo, too? Creative's speakers hook up to any MP3 player to create a compact, 100-watt sound system with a central music library that unplugs for mobile listening. The system consists of three speakers: one subwoofer with a 6.5-inch driver, plus two desktop minitowers with drivers made of – what else? – titanium.
[ i-Trigue L3450: $150, www.creative.com ]
Play Anything
Denon's universal disc player devours formats other players choke on. Pop in an SACD, DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, or MP3 disc. Or peruse your JPEG, Kodak Picture CD, and Fujifilm Fujicolor CD files. The DVD-2900 plays them all. This new model has the same sturdy build and digital-to-analog converters as Denon's flagship player, but it loses the advanced audio-processing software. The pleasant surprise for cheapskates: It sounds a bit cleaner as a result.
[ DVD-2900: $999, www.usa.denon.com ]
Digital Depot
The TheaterMaster is an all-purpose go-between for your audio components and amplifiers. Powered by 24-bit Burr-Brown converters, this digital surround processor translates up to eight channels of cold digital audio into rich analog. Take the coaxial or optical output of a CD, DVD, SACD, or DVD-Audio player and route it through this bad boy for ultrasuave decoding in almost any digital audio lingo – Reference Cinema, Cinema 7.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX, DTS ES, and Dolby Pro Logic II. Can it handle S-video? Composite video? Stereo subwoofers? Check, check, and double check.
[ TheaterMaster 8800: $6,200, www.alphadigitaltech.com ]
The Minimalist
All the remastering in the world won't make that Kraftwerk CD reissue sound as good as the original vinyl. TecnoDec by J.A. Michell Engineering offers a supersleek entry to the world of audiophile turntables. The deck borrows only the necessary parts from Michell's time-tested, 30-year-old models. A superquiet DC motor drives the extra-heavy platter, which floats atop a new bearing design that pumps a thin layer of synthetic oil as it spins. Extravagant features, such as a casing and a dust cover, have been left out, giving the TecnoDec a striking minimalist look and a low price.
[ TecnoDec: $1,795/$1,395 (with/without tonearm), www.artech-electronics.com ]
Totally Tubular
Vacuum tube amplifiers are still the n� plus ultra for audiophiles who prefer overall range and dynamics to the block-rocking bass of transistor-powered models. The Monoblocks sport twin amps that power the left and right audio channels independently. With no shared wiring or even a volume knob, there's zero coloration of the signal traveling through each block. So what if it puts out only 9 watts per channel? Sit closer.
[ Heart Stoetkit II Mk II 300B Monoblocks: $3,350, www.fsaudioweb.com ]
"My use of technology is mainly in making music. I�ve got an iPod that�s still in the box from when I bought it, and that was about a year ago."
Celebrity Stuff
Tom Rowlands
Musician and producer, Chemical Brothers
His Favorite Gear
- 1970s EMS Synthi-AKS portable synthesizer
- FinalScratch
- Apple Titanium PowerBook G4
His Wish List
"Abelton Live. It's a piece of software designed for the live electronic musician. Everything you do on the arrange page you can do on the fly – move chunks of audio around and speed it up and slow it down as you're playing. We're going to try to use that when we play live."
by Chris Baker
My First DNA Sequence
The same tech megatrends that are reshaping grown-up gadgets are revolutionizing kids' toys. Nowadays, youngsters can race nitro-powered remote control trucks, fiddle with programmable robots, and guest-star in the latest sitcoms. If those aren't sophisticated enough for your brainiac tykes, the Discovery Kids DNA Explorer helps junior scientists extract and map real deoxyribonucleic acid. As third-grade science projects go, this is light-years beyond the ol' baking soda volcano. Next step: cloning Fido.
[ DNA Explorer (ages 10 and up): $80, www.discovery.com ]
Prep the Specimen
Before extracting DNA, your young Dr. Frankenstein has to pick a specimen and prep it. The experiment works on all kinds of food, like corn, beans, or even (gross!) chicken liver. The kit includes freeze-dried ground peas (their DNA is easy to extract), isopropyl alcohol, and salt. When all three are put in a beaker and mixed with distilled water, the peas' cellular structure starts to break down.
Separate the Oils
After transferring the mixture to a test tube, Dr. Frankenstein needs to add dish soap. The tube goes inside a splatter-proof magnetic mixer and centrifuge, which splits up the oils and separates the DNA from the soapy liquid. After 15 seconds, Dr. F stirs in a pinch of enzymes, adds alcohol, and the DNA strands float to the surface, where they can be harvested with the "DNA Hook."
Zap the Molecules
To map the peas' DNA, Dr. F needs to whip up a sort of conductive Jell-O made from TBE buffer and agarose powder. The gel goes into a battery-operated electrophoresis chamber, where it's poked with a tool to make divots for the harvested genes. The molecules are transferred with a pipette. A zap of electricity sends the molecules – which are negatively charged – moving through the gel.
Unravel the Mystery
A couple of hours later, Dr. F can add a few drops of stain (we recommend a sassy mauve tint) to expose the peas' – or any other – genetic blueprint. Watch your toothbrush: Frankenstein may figure out who Daddy really is (or isn't).
Marvel of Marbles
Remember rolling marbles down those Playskool ramps? Ho hum. Quercetti's Skyrail Suspension is an ultrasexy update for budding architects and engineers who like to play with gravity, speed, and inertia. A 3-foot-tall central tower supports 36 feet of track suspended by cables, ties, and anchors – just like a real bridge. Shift the roadway in midroll to fine-tune your descent. Steel, plastic, and glass marbles are included.
[ Skyrail Suspension (ages 6 and up): $70, www.intplay.com ]
Go, Dirt Racer, Go!
A 9-volt battery will get your remote-control SUV only so far. The XXX-NT Sport's oversize Mach 15 engine runs on gasoline – plus a dash of nitroglycerin for added kick. Best of all, it's ready to drive right out of the box. Just pop off the body, pour 2 ounces of fuel into the tank, and it's juiced for 5 minutes of 30-mph dirt racing. The fully tunable suspension system features anodized oil-filled shocks and coil springs, so the Sport can do crazy tricks without flipping over. The included remote has built-in memory to store precision moves for when you want to impress your friends.
[ XXX-NT Sport (ages 12 and up): $500, www.teamlosi.com ]
Extreme Three-Wheeler
You don't need a driver's license and a beat-up Toyota Corolla to perform spinouts, skids, and slides. Huffy's Green Machine features dual steering levers and rear-wheel turning for exquisite handling. The large rubber front tire grips the concrete, the hand brake lets you stop on a dime, and the extra-wide rear wheels give plenty of float for the perfect drift. Watch out, your kids might learn some tricks you don't want them to.
[ Green Machine (ages 7 and up): $100, www.huffybikes.com ]
Your Ticket to Pleasantville
Wish you could appear in the final episodes of Friends? The Star Video: Synthetic Reality System lets you insert yourself into any image onscreen. Plug the device into your television via a standard A/V jack, point it at a blank wall, and stand in front of it. Using the same blue-screen front-projection tech that superimposes meteorologists onto satellite images, the little cam puts you on prime time! Stroll through TV shows, home videos, DVDs, even pics from your PC. Groovy special effects let you go semitransparent, or turn black and white to hang with Bogart in Casablanca.
[ Star Video: Synthetic Reality System (ages 8 and up): $160, www.mgae.com ]
Mr. Roboto
Its name sounds like a Polish porn flick, but WAO Kranius is a coder prodigy's R2-D2. The programmable bot has an 8-bit microprocessor and a built-in keyboard for typing instructions directly into the unit. Enter a command of up to 60 steps using its directional and numerical pad – hit Left, 2, and Enter, and your droid turns left at 45 degrees. Six vision sensors, like those on the Roomba vacuum, mean it can size up its surroundings to avoid falling off the counter, and if you place the four included light sensors on the floor, the little guy runs obstacle courses.
[ WAO Kranius (ages 14 and up): $120, robotikitsdirect.com ]
Pull My Trigger
Why squirt fluid when you can break wind? This fun gun blasts a powerful pocket of air at unsuspecting victims up to 30 feet away. Just pull back Airzooka's elastic rear section, aim at your victim, and cut one – the shape of the barrel produces a concentrated vortex that's highly directional and doesn't break apart as quickly as a normal gust of air. Plus, it won't leave a trail of evidence like a water pistol.
[ Airzooka (ages 8 and up): $13, www.airzooka.com ]
Channeling Disney
Just give in. Disney controls the world, and you can't do a thing about it, so at least look stylish when you submit. This 13-inch color TV (engineered by Memorex), with Mickey-esque speaker ears and control panel, looks like a cross between an iMac and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It's cable-ready with 181 programmable channels and digital tuning. You can use it to watch non-Disney channels and movies – matching DVD player sold separately -�but why in the world would you do that?
[ Disney 13-inch Color TV (ages 6 and up): $120, plus $100 for DVD player, www.disneyelectronics.com ]
Gross Encounters
The truth is in here. This deranged Kubrickian series pokes fun at the mythology and lore of aliens. Kids can spawn gruesome ETs by pouring bioplasm – which looks suspiciously like Play-Doh – into factory molds. The seven Alien Agency: The Arrival kits feature a selection of men in black, eggheads in lab coats, an operating table, and a scalpel and tweezers that let you stage your own autopsy.
[ Alien Agency: The Arrival (ages 6 and up): $6-40, www.megabloks.com ]
Easy Rider
Can't afford a lift pass? Turn a wintertime backyard into your own snowskate park with Burton's Approach. Developed with Vermont locals and pro riders like Ben Connors and Tad Hukari, the Approach's one-piece design makes it light, stable, and easy to ride. Its two-level form gives riders enough leverage to turn and flip on hard or soft snow. Nailing that 360 on a makeshift half-pipe won't be a problem anymore.
[ Approach Snowdeck: $80, www.burton.com ]
Kick it lo res. PixelBlocks are a cross between Legos and Lite Brite, with a generous helping of vintage Atari aesthetics thrown in. The bright translucent colors and sharp edges of these mini pegs beg to be made into chunky Pac-Man ghosts and Space Invaders in all their flat, old-school glory. Each building block interlocks on all six sides, so you can also render objects into the vertical plane. With up to 2,800 blocks per package, you can construct a 3-D honeymoon suite for Princess Peach and Mario so they can finally kick back and, um, get busy.
[ PixelBlocks (ages 8 and up): $50 for 2,800-piece package, www.pixelblocks.com ]
Mommy's Little Mouthpiece
Teddy Ruxpin goes wireless. Plug Wabi's transmitter into a phone jack, call a designated toll-free number, and record a message. At selected intervals, the transmitter collects the data and sends it to the ursine bot's receiver over a 900-MHz signal. The bear giggles when it gets a message, and your kid simply presses its badge to play the audio. "Hi, Billy! Mommy and Daddy don't love you anymore. I'm in charge now, and things are going to change around this house, dammit!"
[ Wabi (ages 2 and up): $60, www.wabi.com ]
"I�m a watch freak. Guys love gadgets on watches. Well, at least I do."
Celebrity Stuff
Carlos Bernard
Actor, Fox TV's 24
His Favorite Gear
- Vintage Mickey Mouse pocket watch
- Apple PowerMac G3 (with Macromedia Flash to personalize his Web site)
- Maurice Lacroix Globe watch with chronograph
His Wish List
"The new PowerBook laptop. It would be fantastic if someone left that under the tree for me."
by Seth Feman and Paul Spinrad
Calling all Gamers
First it was smartphones, then phonecams – now gamephones are here to help you procrastinate. It was just a matter of time before games took advantage of the graphics, speed, and sound of next-gen cell phones. Leading the way is NEC's 515 High Definition Mobile, where 3-D space adventures are kicking Snake's blocky ass.
[ NEC 515 High Definition Mobile: $200-300, www.nechdm.com ]
Dual CPUs
Say good-bye to the herky-jerky graphics of single-chip phones. The 515 has a second processor for running games, so titles play smoothly without draining the battery. Software controls vibration feedback and enables simultaneous key pressing for combo moves (like advancing your character and gunning down monsters at the same time).
Audio Chip
NEC teamed up with music maestro Yamaha to pump depth into its sound, for games and polyphonic ring tones. The new audio chip uses a high-resolution FM synthesizer, so when you start blowing things up, you'll forget you're listening to a mere 40 notes of sound.
Color Screen
Most phone displays pale out with a scant 4,000 colors; this LCD supports 65,536, producing lifelike shades. Mobile games such as Star Diversion and Baseball – the first of dozens of DoCoMo Java titles available for download from NEC's site – look amazing on the 2.2-inch display.
Eventually, you'll probably want to make some calls. Working on four (yeah, four!) GSM frequencies instead of the standard two, the 515 is the first phone to deliver cellular access just about anywhere in the world. A single GPRS band makes for speedy data transfer, so you can stay connected via email, the Web, and text messages.
Caller LEDs
Glitzy cell extras are usually just for show, but the seven-color minilight on the 515's top cover serves as an encoded caller ID. Assign each hue to a different number – red for the office, green for the spouse, et cetera – so you know when to pick up and when to play on.
I Want My *MTV
Boost your pop savvy with the Kyocera V5 cell phone. Select the hot button for direct access to the music networks' mobile entertainment Web site, *MTV. You'll be able to download Britney Spears trivia games and Good Charlotte ring tones and wallpapers and receive daily Gen Y news updates. Once you're in the know, slide out the phone's hidden dialpad to text-vote for your favorite video on TRL.
[ Slider series V5: $159, www.kyocera-wireless.com ]
Lo-res phonecam pics are fine for swapping with other mobiles, but don't even think about displaying them on a proper PC screen or printing them out. Fortunately, a new generation of higher-res phonecams is coming, including Samsung's SPH-a600, which can shoot at 640 x 480. Onboard photo-editing software allows you to sepia-tone your image, make it a negative, or play with fluorescent and tungsten lighting effects directly on the celly. As if that's not enough, the a600 has a built-in flash, 4X digital zoom, photo caller ID, and can also capture lo-res (160 x 120 or 320 x 240) images.
[ SPH-a600: $350, www.samsung.com ]
Net Addict
If you absolutely, positively won't use a smartphone, Sony's Cli� PEG-UX50 PDA is the next best way to have email anywhere, with a pocket entertainment center thrown in for good measure. A built-in Wi-Fi sniffer alerts you when you've entered a wireless network. When you're out of range, the onboard Bluetooth links to your Web-enabled cell phone to keep you online. Offline, watch an MPEG-4 video on the massive 4.5-inch screen or chill out with some MP3s. (Both can be stored on the 29 Mbytes of media-dedicated internal memory or on, say, the new 1-Gbyte Memory Stick.) Or use the integrated digicam to shoot a 30-frames-per-second, 160 x 112-pixel home movie.
[ Cli� PEG-UX50: $700, plus $600 for 1-Gbyte Memory Stick, www.sonystyle.com ]
Rise Of The machines
It took Warner Bros. a decade to make a sequel to T2, and it sucked. Palm took only a few months to develop the Tungsten T3 handheld, and it's full of awesome upgrades. Its 320 x 480 hi-res color screen can flip from portrait to landscape mode and boasts a 50 percent larger area than other Palms and twice the resolution of Pocket PC 2003 handhelds. Its 400-MHz processor and built-in Bluetooth allow you to wirelessly transmit data to a compatible device, like a projector. The advanced email system can send files of up to 5 Mbytes in one shot. Add a Wi-Fi SD card for a high-speed connection and it's "Hasta la vista, slow email."
[ Tungsten T3: $399, www.palmone.com ]
Pocket PC Phone
Getting lost is so tired. Motorola's MPx200 with Windows Mobile Software sails through graphical apps and games originally designed for larger Pocket PC devices, like the animated Tube software that helps you navigate through the transit systems of a dozen major cities. This compact clamshell supports two GSM bands for voice and a pair of GPRS bands for email, SMS, and IM. Its 16-bit color screen displays streaming video and clips with desktop clarity. A full suite of smartphone apps lets you work, as well as play multimedia files and games, and the SDIO expansion slot can accommodate a digicam, additional memory, or other extras. Customize ring tones with any Windows Media sound file you care to upload, no matter how shocking or inappropriate.
[ MPx200: $299, www.motorola.com ]
Industry Heavy
The smartphone meets the phonecam. Hitachi's G1000 features a 180-degree rotating camera that can snap photos at regular, 2X, and 4X magnifications. Check out your shots on the mobile's 3.5-inch, 16-bit color display. If you get into a snag, the internal GPS chip enables E911 services. At 5.75 x 3.25 inches and 8.4 ounces, the G1000 is heftier than other phones, but it delivers more: voice dialing, photo caller ID, speakerphone, text messaging, jog wheel, Secure Digital/MultiMediaCard expansion port, and custom ring tones (which can be any WAV file). It's worth the weight.
[ G1000: $649, www.hitachi.com ]
Treo's Triumph
The Palm OS-based Treo series has already proved that being best beats being first. With the Treo 600, Handspring continues to get it right. The new smartphone introduces a 640 x 480-pixel camera and a much faster processor (144 MHz, up from 33) that can run Palm OS 5 on its superbright and superbig screen. The keyboard's domed buttons are easy to read and feel, and the battery allows for up to six hours of talk. Perhaps most important, the 600's 2.4-inch width means it can share a pocket more gracefully than its wide-body predecessors ever could.
[ Treo 600: $500, www.handspring.com ]
Card Shark
Need a PDA that can jump onto any network? Flip open the Linux-based YP 3700 and pick a CompactFlash card. Connect to the nearest hot spot with an 802.11b card, or swap in a Bluetooth card to transfer data to enabled peripherals like projectors, printers, and other PDAs. The small thumb-pad makes it hard to type long emails, but the large 3.5-inch, 65,536-color LCD makes it easy to read them. If you'd rather talk, the YP connects to CDMA networks; when one isn't available, try a GPRS/GSM card.
[ YP 3700: $499 (network cards sold separately), www.yopy.com ]
"I�m a gadget geek. When you�re sitting in a hotel and can get on the Internet and access files from your studio immediately, creative juices tend to flow a little bit more. I just wish I�d had this stuff 20 years ago."
Celebrity Stuff
Donny Osmond
Musician, TV game/talk-show host
His Favorite Gear
- BlackBerry 957 PDA
- 20-inch flat-panel Apple Cinema Display
- Motorola V60 cell phone
His Wish List
"Another electric car. I love the hybrid technology. I've been driving a Prius for three years; I was the first one in Utah to get one. In fact, a Toyota executive had to forgo his Prius so I could get it! I stole it from him!"
by Marty Katz
Point, Shoot, Transmit
Speed is the watchword in digicams. Improved processors and faster shutters are obliterating the lags, hangovers, and delays that used to plague photographers who snap live action. Nikon's D2H is the pioneer – it's a high-end digital shooter that uses Wi-Fi for image relays at broadband speed. At 4.1 megapixels, the quality is good enough for pro sports photogs; of course, weekend warriors will also have fun with the D2H, zapping hi-res updates to Grandma right from little Becky's field hockey game.
[ D2H: $3,999, plus $1,650 lens, www.nikonusa.com ]
A larger-than-usual 2.5-inch LCD encourages "chimping," the practice of reviewing your shots and admiring your handiwork with an "Ooh! Ooh!" The orientation sensor knows when you turn the camera to shoot a vertical pic, and the software automatically rotates the image when you view it later.
Reaction Time
Even the sharpest shooters have trouble catching the instant of impact – but using the D2H is like spraying the big moment with an Uzi. It captures up to 40 shots at 8 frames per second. And while some digicams have a shutter lag of 200 milliseconds or more, the D2H responds an amazing 37 milliseconds after you pull the trigger.
The optional SB-800 flash ($420) lets you brighten more, faster: Wirelessly adjust and trigger up to 24 auxiliary flashes to light complex studio or event shoots. When you change the SB-800's settings, the information is instantly communicated via infrared to the other lights.
Wi-Fi Module
The inch-tall Wi-Fi module mounts under the D2H like a motor drive. Select a few images and send them all flying via 802.11b to your PC, your blog, or your editor overseas. Shoot it, ship it, and get shoutback, all without leaving your perfect vantage point.
Remote Antenna
The stubby antenna on the Wi-Fi module unleashes you for just 100 feet of roaming. If you need more space, tote the optional 8-inch-long whip antenna ($119) for a boosted 490-foot range. A Photofashionista headline for 2004: "antenna hats de rigueur for sideline sports photogs."
Splash Cam
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor mud will stop Pentax's Optio 33WR. The water-resistant cam is perfect for boaters, skiers, off-roaders, and butterfingers. The squared-off shooter has gasketed covers for connections and doors, and a Class 7 water-resistance rating. Translation: You can't take it snorkeling, but it should be OK if retrieved within a few minutes of dunking. It's no slouch as a camera, either – the Optio features a 2.8X internal zoom, a serviceable 3.2-megapixel sensor, and a slot for SD memory cards.
[ Optio 33WR: $449, www.pentaxusa.com ]
Canon's 4-megapixel compact is about the size of a credit card (3.6 x 1.9 x 0.7 inches), and weighs only 3.5 ounces, so it slips easily into your shirt pocket. But it's so gorgeous that you'll want to put it on a chain and wear it. You can even color-coordinate – it's available in bronze, silver, black, and iridescent white. Though it's only got digital zoom, its fixed 39-mm lens is a fast f2.8 and has a field of view roughly comparable to the eye's. There's a quick-shot mode for reduced shutter lag and a super-macro mode for focusing down to 1.2 inches. The SD10 is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, uses SD media cards, and can print directly to Canon printers.
[ PowerShot SD10: $449, www.usa.canon.com ]
Play Your Cards Right
There are six competing media card formats out there. Here's how they stack up.
CF is slightly bulky – compare it to a matchbook – but it's the best-selling media card. It has the lowest price (about 25 cents per megabyte) and the highest capacity available (4.8 Gbytes and climbing). Some digicams feature a second slot for CF.
Memory Stick
Buyers of Sony (and some Samsung) devices were once locked into this proprietary format, which topped out at 128 Mbytes. This year, Sony introduced a new Memory Stick Pro standard that boosts capacity to 1 Gbyte. The company also capitulated to the popularity of CF with the DSC-F828 camera, which has slots for both cards.
Secure Digital
SD is the up-and-comer. It stores up to a gig on a card the size of a Wheat Thin, which pleases designers of compact cams, phonecams, and PDAs. SD costs about 35 cents per megabyte, and capacities are increasing.
Extreme Digital
XD is slightly smaller than SD, but it tops out at 512 Mbytes. And XD only works in Olympus and Fuji cameras.
Stamp-sized SM cards are the thinnest of the bunch, but they hit a capacity cap at 128 Mbytes.
MMCs aren't yet a factor in digital photography but will be used in upcoming Nokia phones.
See-through Scanner
It looks like a picture frame, but HP's Scanjet 4670 is the quintessence of handy scanning. Scan-head miniaturization has shrunk the guts wafer-thin, so only the polycarbonate body is visible. It sits vertically in a holder for a slim 16.3 x 7.1-inch footprint, and the 2,400-dpi resolution and 48-bit color depth mean professional-quality image capture. Photos, books, slides, and negatives – this baby scans whatever you lay it on, or on it. Pranksters, don't limit yourself to butt scans; new body parts are now accessible.
[ Scanjet 4670: $199, www.hp.com ]
One-Stop Photo Shop
The Photosmart 7960 is ingenious. Slots for most camera formats and a 2.5-inch LCD let you print images without firing up your PC or Mac. Front-panel controls and features like automatic red-eye removal make it easy to optimize and edit images. The HP's 4,800-dpi output guarantees exquisitely detailed color or black-and-white photos suitable for framing. You'll love the interactive contact-sheet feature: Print the thumbnail index of your images, select the keepers and choose their sizes, then feed the index back in; the 7960 magically reads and fills your order.
[ Photosmart 7960 Printer: $299, www.hp.com ]
Night Stalker
Sony's DSLR is a hefty 2-plus pounds, but it's feature-rich: Its 8-megapixel sensor sees in four colors rather than the usual three, which improves rendition under a variety of lighting conditions. With its extended infrared sensitivity, the F828 can be used as a night-vision camera – in a dark room, it bathes the subject in IR light, letting you see it clearly through the electronic viewfinder. The lens isn't interchangeable but it's a versatile 28-to-280-mm zoom. Its wide aperture and sensitivity of up to ISO 800 allow fast shutter speeds for sharpness. Best of all, Sony no longer forces you to use its Memory Stick – there's a slot for CF memory, too.
[ DSC-F828 Cyber-shot: $1,200, www.sonystyle.com ]
Must-have Accessories For Camera Fiends
Grandmaster Flash
It's the ultimate portable field archive/display gizmo. This battery-powered, Linux-based device copies images from a CF card (and other media with adapters) to a 40-gig internal hard drive. A 3.5-inch LCD and file browser allow viewing and editing of images. The FlashTrax, which connects to a PC via USB 2.0 as an external drive, can run a slide show on TV and even play MP3s and MPEGs.
FlashTrax FTX40: $499, www.smartdisk.com
Armored Picture Carrier
Whether you're documenting a war zone or a family reunion, you want a sturdy backup storage device for your pics. The Fortress is nickel-plated aircraft aluminum machined into a curvy shell. The soft, rubbery interior protects the 80-Gbyte hard drive from vibration and shock – it's rated to survive a 6-foot drop onto concrete.
Fortress: $799, www.4tress.com
Ample Archive
The pixel counts in pictures are rising rapidly. Luckily, so is the amount of memory crammed onto tiny CF cards. This little SanDisk unit has nearly the storage capacity of a single-density DVD – it holds about 2,500 1.6-Mbyte JPEGs. Now you can save – or lose – a lot more images at once.
4.0GB CF card: $999, www.sandisk.com
I'll Lumbar 4 Ya
Heavy camera gear goes unnoticed when held up by the hips and not the back muscles. That's why shutterbugs adore the Tour. This sturdy ripstop nylon lumbar pack socks away 660 cubic inches of cameras and accessories. Everything is well thought out, from the 5.5-inch-wide padded belt and multiple attachment points to the detachable shoulder strap and briefcase handles.
Tour Pack: $70, www.mountainsmith.com
Diffuse Box
Next time you're shipping something, grab a few extra boxes. They make a great hack for impromptu portraiture sessions. Point a bright external flash at a broken-down 27 x 28-inch FedEx box and bounce light onto your subjects like the pros do with their fancy softbox and strobe systems. The white-coated surface of the box offers the perfect level of shine, and the little bit of orange lettering even warms the color up a touch.
Large FedEx Express box: free
Dust Buster
A digicam's CCD sensor is a dust magnet, and you used to spend a lot of time and money shipping it off for a cleaning and overhaul. But this $3 rubber squeeze bulb renders factory technicians obsolete. A thin brass nozzle produces a high-velocity, precise whoosh (without canned air's propellant or the moisture of your breath) to lift away offending specks and motes.
Dust blower: $3, www.widgetsupply.com
Cinema Scope
If you own a hi-def TV and are sick of waiting for more HD content, why not make some of your own? HD video cameras have made the jump from bulky $70,000 professional tools to $3,500 consumer gadgets. JVC's 3.3-pound GR-HD1 grabs 30 frames of video per second at 720-line resolution on standard miniDV discs. A 200X digital zoom with optical image stabilization means you can zero in with pinpoint precision, and the 3.5-inch LCD makes it easy to review your shots in the field. Budding Spielbergs will jump at the chance to make high-quality digifilms, and new parents can produce "baby's first" movies that will still look sharp years from now.
[ GR-HD1: $3,500, www.jvc.com ]
Crowd Pleaser
Compact digicams aim for perfection, but they usually fall short: too slow on the snap, too pricey, too lo-res, lame lens. Olympus's beautiful compact camera shows what's possible, especially with speed. The quick shutter response, short shot-to-shot prep time, and a wide-angle zoom (4X, 27 to 110 mm) make rapid-fire snapping easy. It runs on standard AA batteries and accepts both CF and XD memory cards. The agile flip-up screen and advanced processing algorithms make for a stylish, pocketable 5.1-megapixel cam that beginners will love and experts may consider.
[ C-5060 Wide Zoom: $699, www.olympusamerica.com ]
�I travel around a lot, so these gadgets are a lifesaver for me. I couldn�t do what I do and have everything that I have going on without them.�
Celebrity Stuff
Bob Burnquist
Pro skateboarder, 2003 X Games gold medalist
His Favorite Gear
- Casio EX-M2 digital camera
- T-Mobile Color Sidekick
- Palm m505
- Samsung V205 cell phone
His Wish List
"The new iPod. And I want to extend my wireless network with the Airport Extreme base station."
by Brian Lam
Movie Mogul
Digital video is exploding. People are burning it, P2Ping it, streaming it, stockpiling it, even toting it around. That means massive headaches for the MPAA and TV networks, and tons of fun for you. Even if you still own a VCR and it's flashing "12:00," you can upgrade to Video Valhalla in one stroke with the Pioneer Elite DVR-57H. It's the best combination media streamer, set-top box, and DVD burner around.
[ Elite DVR-57H: $1,800, www.pioneerelectronics.com ]
Hard Drive
Able to store nearly an hour per gig on the lowest compression setting, this 120-Gbyte hard drive has enough space to hold all 14 seasons of The Simpsons, sans commercials. Or the next 200 years' worth of Super Bowl commercials, sans the Super Bowls.
DVD Burner
Back up your drive on DVD-Rs, which hold one to four hours of video with TiVo program guide descriptions. You can even watch shows from the hard drive while burning. Are soap operas your guilty pleasure? Use erasable DVD-RWs so you can destroy the evidence.
Importing and Editing Features
Resurrect your old VHS tapes. The Elite records video directly from a VCR or camcorder to the hard drive. Its edit function lets you cut dull moments and obnoxious brothers-in-law. Burn to DVD so the rest of the family can enjoy your new-and-improved director's cut.
An image processor with de-interlacing technology allows crisp progressive-scan playback without jaggy artifacts. The chassis is double-layered to kill vibrations that might make the DVD skip. And the writer burns at 4X speed – an episode of The Sopranos takes 15 minutes.
Built-in TiVo
With TiVo, you can start watching a show before it's finished recording, or record one while you're enjoying a DVD. Opt for the new home media service and this box will stream pictures and audio from your PC, plus share a show from your living room TiVo with the bedroom TiVo.
LIttle Big Screen
Handheld audio? Yawn. That is so 2002. Bigger hard drives and sharper screens mean that portable video players are finally viable. RCA's new PVP has a bright, palm-filling 3.5-inch LCD and 20 gigs of space for up to 80 hours of compressed video. Transfer media from your PC or connect with an RCA jack to record from your DVD player or TV. Beyond video, LYRA also does duty as a JPEG viewer, an external USB 2.0 hard drive, and an MP3 player.
[ RD2780 LYRA Audio/Video Jukebox: $449, www.rca.com ]
Portable video players aren�t just for gadget-happy adults. Three companies are vying to put PVPs in the hands of youngsters, so they can watch brain-rotting cartoons anywhere and everywhere. This holiday season will determine which company gains a stronghold � toy titan Hasbro, game software firm Majesco, or upstart startup HandHeld Entertainment. Here�s Wired�s take on their specs and features:
Pause for Celebration
Being able to pause and rewind live TV is cool; being able to pause and rewind HDTV is a revelation. LG Electronics' 120-Gbyte drive will hold 120 hours of standard TV or 12.5 hours of hi-def. And that 12.5 hours is truly deffer than def – visually sumptuous and luxuriously detailed, right down to the Dolby Digital audio. The built-in tuners can receive air and cable hi-def signals, as well as (ugh) dreary regular ones.
[ LG LST-3410A: $999, www.lgusa.com/dav ]
Quality Control
Hi-def TV screens make a DVD's standard 480-line trickle look lo-res. Luckily, Samsung's DVD-HD931 converts video files into high-end formats like 720 progressive scan or 1,080 interlaced signals that will satisfy the most demanding HD sets and discerning viewer eyeballs. The rock-solid picture comes courtesy of a digital video port, which shoots a straight digital signal to your DVI-ready set, skipping rickety analog signals entirely.
[ DVD-HD931: $349, www.samsungusa.com ]
A PC for Your TV
It looks like a PC for your office, but it's meant for your living room. ViewSonic's M2100 runs Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004, an OS tailored to store and serve music, photos, and video. It can automatically rip MP3s every time you play a new CD, burn images to DVD, and record up to 140 hours of TV on its 160-Gbyte hard drive. It even has a remote control. We wish Media Center used conventional MPEG video encoding instead of the proprietary, uneditable DVR-MS, but at least the latest version lets you swap some video files with other Windows PCs.
[ M2100: $1,599, www.viewsonic.com ]
Slash and Burner
The Linux-based Telly server does everything Media PCs can do – and adds features that make it a Hollywood exec's worst nightmare. It's compatible with video file formats that Microsoft won't touch, and it can serve all your TV and music across your network or even on the Internet. Would you rather watch that pirated DivX movie you downloaded to PC on your living room plasma? Drag and drop the file to the Telly. You can also move MPEG clips to your PC so you can cut the commercials out of that sitcom.
[ Telly MC1000: $899, ]www.interact-tv.com ]
Pirate Treasure
DivX is the lean, mean video format preferred by Kazaa-philes. But why download a 600-Mbyte feature flick only to watch it on your puny computer monitor? Kiss Technology's DP-500 reads DivX encoded data from CDs and DVDs, and even streams it from your PC via Ethernet, so you can watch traded movies on your home theater rig. Although you won't get DVD quality, you will be sticking it to the man.
[ DP-500: $299, www.kiss-technology.com ]
Speed Freak
This high-speed drive is the Evel Knievel of DVD burners. The 8X writer can sear a DVD+R at 10 Mbytes a second, filling a disc in roughly seven minutes. As a bonus, it burns CDs at a respectable speed of 40X, or three minutes a disc. At that many RPMs, you run the risk of media spinning so fast that it literally explodes in the tray – but the Plextor's casing and bezel are reinforced to trap any shrapnel. Daredevils have more fun.
[ PX-708UF: $359, www.plextor.com ]
"I wish I was as gadget-oriented as my character [Marshall] on the show. I mean, I love it, but I�m not running around trying to find a pen that�s also a camera."
Celebrity Stuff
Kevin Weisman
Actor, Alias
His Favorite Gear
- Sony receiver for DirectTV with TiVo (60 hours)
- Canon PowerShot S1 digicam
- PS2 videogame console with Tiger Woods Golf
His Wish List
"I'm a big fan of all the Apple products. I take my iPod everywhere, and I just got the new iSight, which is the video chat eyes for Mac. I wish I had an iKitchen and an iButler to make me food in the morning."
by Brian Lam and Will Tuttle
Frag Rocks
In all things PC, games lead the way. They push the industry to develop faster processors, bigger drives, lower latency, richer sound, better displays, and more intuitive interfaces. Though most high-end gamer rigs will empty your wallet and fill up your desk, Falcon Northwest's FragBox costs under a grand and mimicks the GameCube's footprint. It sets the stage for computers in 2004: Sexy, semiportable, and high-performance.
[ FragBox: $995, www.falcon-nw.com ]
Front-Panel Jacks
The FragBox puts out 360 degrees of digital sound. At home, plug in your 5.1 speakers and you'll be able to pinpoint exactly where that soldier is lurking so he doesn't blindside you. At LAN parties, plug in your headphones to block out distractions. For team-based play, use the mike input to bark at your underlings.
Tech Specs
Falcon's box has got guts. The high-performance hard disk spins at a whiplash-inducing 7,200 rpm. Its 80-Gbyte drive is large enough to hold three dozen games, plus a few dozen albums in MP3. It sports 512 Mbytes of RAM and a 2.7-GHz Pentium 4 processor, which is faster than the Xbox's CPU by a factor of three. Translation: Datawise, it hauls ass.
Graphics Card
If the CPU is your PC's brain, then the graphics processing unit is its heart and soul. The FragBox's GeForce 5600 is a 256-bit, 128-Mbyte wonder, pushing pixels at rates that shame the Xbox. But the pace of innovation is so quick that graphics processors go stale in just months. Luckily, it's a snap to add a fresh, piping-hot videocard.
Portable Design
You're going to that LAN party to lay down smack, not break your back. The FragBox is relatively light (14 pounds), and takes a cue from the GameCube, with a reinforced handle for easy transport. The tiny case (9.5 x 8.3 x 12 inches) leaves plenty of room on the table for wires, pizza boxes, and Red Bull cans.
A high kill ratio will earn you respect, but so will a pimped-out PC with an evil skull logo. This is the next best thing to building your own. Peer through plexiglass panels at the FragBox's souped-up innards. Under the eerie glow of the heat sink lamp, its silicon and metal parts become a work of geek art.
Pop-up Video
Finally, gamers don't have to fight for TV time. This PS2 controller has a 2.5-inch TFT screen that provides sharp, clear graphics without an appreciable loss of detail. Plug the unit into your console (and its AC adapter into the wall) and play without a boob tube. Built-in stereo speakers produce a surprisingly powerful blast of sound. And the ability to program 16 move combinations into one macro button might make you give up your standard PS2 controller entirely. Now multitaskers can play GTA: Vice City without missing a minute of The Simpsons.
[ Intec Controller and Game Screen: $99, www.inteclink.com ]
Your Own Arcade
What some gamers wouldn't give to have an Asteroids cabinet in their living room. But wait: For five large, anyone can own this full-size arcade machine – and play thousands of vintage games, not just one. HanaHo's Arcade PC Deluxe packs a powerful computer into an upright 74 x 29 x 42-inch case, plus three joysticks, 20 buttons, and a trackball. The PC is preloaded with 50 classic Capcom titles, and you can download 7,500 other games (anything supported by MAME, or multiple arcade machine emulator). Best of all, you won't have to deal with surly teenagers wearing coin belts.
[ Arcade PC Deluxe: $5,000, www.hanaho.com ]
Enhance Enhance Revolution
At last, an arcade-quality dance pad for your living room! Dance Dance Revolution fans can stomp all night on the Cobalt Flux Dance Platform. Constructed from top-of-the-line galvanized steel and shatterproof polycarbonate plastic, the inch-high platform has a weight capacity of more than 600 pounds, which the manufacturer tested by parking an SUV on it. Highly sensitive panels allow even the lightest hoofers to make a big impact.
[ Cobalt Flux: $300, www.cobaltflux.com ]
Keystick Joyboard
EverQuest Online addicts know there's nothing more annoying than having to put down the controller to type on the PS2 keyboard. That's why Nyko has given us the iType2. A mini-board is integrated into a standard analog PS2 controller so players can key in commands to teammates during battles without slowing down the action. The pen is no longer mightier than the sword – they're equals.
[ iType2 Controller: $40, www.nyko.com ]
Unwired Firearm
Charles Bronson and Max Payne don't have cords trailing from their guns. Why should you? Cosmo's Radio Frequency Wireless Lightgun for the PS2 gives you the freedom to move around the room. Jump over your coffee table John Woo-style as you blast away baddies onscreen, without knocking stuff over with a cord. Coolest of all, when one of the three included battery packs starts to die, you can pop the "clip" out of the grip and slap in a new one, just like your favorite action hero.
[ RF Wireless Lightgun: $40, www.cosmoacc.com ]
Retro Action
Few things evoke happy childhood memories like a warm mug of cocoa, a fuzzy blanket and an NES controller in your hand. Mad Catz created RetroCON for the PS2 with the nostalgic in mind. Its classically designed metal casing houses dual analog sticks and twin vibration motors. Extra-special bonus: The D-pad and buttons light up, which is comforting during long, dark nights of Silent Hill 3.
[ RetroCON: $25, www.madcatz.com ]
Universal Soldier
Sometimes the difference between life and death onscreen comes down to a few accidental keystrokes. Fans of first-person shooters have long had to memorize hot keys unique to each game, and there's nothing more frustrating than dropping a grenade at your feet when you meant to crouch. Enter Ideazon's Zboard. Compatible with almost every shooter on the market, it features programmable, well-marked keys that are laid out for quick maneuvering. No more blaming the keyboard when you get fragged.
[ Zboard CrossFire: $40 base bundle ($20 per additional keyset), www.ideazon.com ]
Comm Link
Whether you're tipping off troops or talking trash at opponents, headsets are a must for squad-based tactical shooters. The Sennheiser PC 150 puts you in the game without making you look like a telemarketer. The sleek, lightweight design and crystal-clear sound make the PC 150 essential for those endless bouts of Counter-Strike, while the comfy headband lets you forget you're wearing it. Most important, the noise-canceling mike will protect you from ridicule when you're getting chewed out for forgetting to take out the garbage.
[ PC 150: $70, www.sennheisercommunications.com ]
Keeping a cool head is important in first-person shooters, but not as important as keeping a cool hand. Nyko finally brings its popular Air Flo technology to the PC with the optical Air Flo Mouse, which has a built-in fan to push air through strategically placed pores in the rubber grips. Gamers can fire away for hours without stopping to wipe the sweat off their trigger fingers – or the mouse. Now if only they didn't have to get up for those pesky bathroom breaks.
[ Air Flo Mouse: $40, www.nyko.com ]
PC Freezer
Until diamonds replace silicon, hardcore gamers will need CPU cooling devices to keep their overclocked rigs chilled out. The Mach II brings hot processors down to -58 degrees Fahrenheit. A powerful compressor creates a vacuum chamber, forcing refrigerants to evaporate and pulling heat from the CPU into an oversize radiator. Ironically, the cooling elements need to be surrounded by heaters to prevent frost, which can melt and short out your motherboard. The hot and cold elements are all microprocessor-controlled, with fail-safe logic that powers off your PC if the Mach II has a meltdown.
[ nVentiv Mach II: $820, www.nventiv.com ]
Heat Beater
Let your blazing motherboard rest on the hefty, 2.5-pound MCX4000-T from Swiftech. It brings processors below room temperature with a built-in 226-watt thermoelectric cooler. Voltage passes through the MCX's copper core element, making one plate very hot and one plate very cold. The cold side kisses your CPU with a mirror-smooth surface for maximum thermal transfer, and the hot side is cooled down with 429 ribbed pins. You can play until hell freezes over.
[ MCX4000-T: $95, www.swiftnets.com ]
"I am so gadget! I love gadgets! Me, Dom [Monaghan], and Elijah [Wood] would play PlayStation 2 a lot when we were making Lord of the Rings. We�re setting it up to play over broadband now that we�re away from each other."
Celebrity Stuff
Billy Boyd
Actor, Lord of the Rings, Master and Commander
His Favorite Gear
- Sony PlayStation 2
- Canon PowerShot S230 ELPH digicam
- Apple 15-Gbyte iPod
His Wish List
"This new robot vacuum thing [Electrolux] sounds like the best gadget ever! Just switch it on and it cleans out your room, it can 'see' where your chairs are. And if it runs out of power, it just returns to its docking station and recharges. It's a vacuum cleaner, but it could also be a friend, I think. Like having a dog."


text:
Concrete Mix Design CalculationsPosted in Mix Design | Email This Post |
The concrete mix design available on this site are for reference purpose only. Actual site conditions vary and thus this should be adjusted as per the location and other factors. These are just to show you how to calculate and we are thankful to all the members who have emailed us these mix designs so that these could be shared with civil engineers worldwide.
If you also have any mix design and want to share it with us, just comment on this post and we will be in touch with you.
Here is the summary of links of all the mix designs we have till date:-
Mix Design For M20 Grade Of Concrete
Mix Design For M35 Grade Of Concrete
Mix Design For M40 Grade Of Concrete
Mix Design For M50 Grade Of Concrete
Mix Design For M60 Grade Of Concrete
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
So begins the Wall Street Journal editorial, overstating the convergence and — big surprise — setting up a critique of the Chief. His approach to the taxing power, the editors say, is new and scarily unconstrained. They're disturbed that Congress can configure a tax that shapes behavior that it could not simply command, and yet they admit — as they must — that tax law does that all the time. Congress can't compel you to go into debt to buy a house, but you'll pay less taxes if you have a mortgage interest deduction. Congress can't require you to get married, but single taxpayers get stuck with higher tax rates. Why is this new area of taxing so shocking?
Congress has never passed a tax on a lack of gasoline or a tax on a failure to buy gasoline, any more than Congress can regulate inactivity under the Commerce Clause by telling people to buy gasoline or else pay a penalty. The reality is that Washington would love to regulate the ordinary economic choices that used to be beyond its purview, and now it will be able to abuse the ad hoc "tax" permit that the Chief Justice has given it.Will it? Now that everyone's onto this game, the political debate will focus on it. What was unusual in this case was that the opponents of Obamacare were not alerted that the taxing power was the necessary basis for congressional power. Much effort was put into arguing that the commerce power was inadequate, and proponents of the law maintained that it not even serious to argue what has now become the Supreme Court's Commerce Clause doctrine. With the doctrine made explicit, in the future, if Congress tries to regulate individuals for their failure to engage in interstate commerce, everyone will talk about the taxing power. It won't be a stealth power, and it won't be so easy to use.
Moreover, there is a limit on the taxing power as articulated by the Chief Justice: At some point, what purports to be a tax — or what, in litigation, the government attempts to portray as a tax — crosses the line from incentive to compulsion. It actually becomes what Congress called the tax in this case: a penalty. If it's a penalty, Congress is not taxing but regulating, and it will need a power to regulate such as the (now clearly limited) commerce power.
Remember, the reason the so-called "penalty" was deemed a tax was that it was so weak. The amount to be paid to the federal government would usually be "far less than the price of insurance," so that it could often "be a reasonable financial decision to make the payment rather than purchase insurance," especially since the IRS is denied its usual means of enforcing taxes (like criminal prosecution). Roberts said it was a tax precisely because it would not work to compel people to buy insurance. If it worked as compulsion, it really would be a penalty — even if Congress called it a "tax" — and the taxing power would not suffice.
So that's the limit on the taxing power. It doesn't actually work to make people do what Congress wants. Now, it remains to be seen whether the Court will have the nerve to enforce that limitation. What if all the people with relatively low medical expenses make the "reasonable financial decision to make the payment rather than purchase insurance"? It will wreak havoc with the scheme of requiring insurance companies to sell to persons with pre-existing conditions without charging extra. Won't Congress have to up the "penalty" until it really does cease to be a non-penalty to get the desired compulsion? When that happens, will the Court draw the line?


text:
The -o nosuid option to the mount utility has the following functionality:
Processes from a setuid binary located on a file system that is mounted using the nosetuid option do not run with the privileges of the setuid binary. The processes run with the privileges of the user that executes the binary.
For example, if a user executes a setuid binary that is owned by root, the processes run with the privileges of the user.
Opening device-special entries in the file system is not allowed. This behavior is equivalent to specifying the nodevices option.
This file system-specific option is available to all Solaris file systems that can be mounted with mount utilities, as described in the mount(1M) man page. In this guide, these file systems are listed in Mounting File Systems in Zones. Mounting capabilities are also described. For more information about the -o nosuid option, see "Accessing Network File Systems (Reference)" in System Administration Guide: Network Services.


text:
fptechnoNov 02, 2012 09:38:41 IST
A Federal Trade Commission staff report has recommended that the government sue Google for violating U.S. antitrust law because it asked courts to stop the sale of some products that infringe its essential patents, a source told Reuters Thursday.
The five-member commission is inclined to vote in favor of suing Google Inc , the Internet search engine company, according to the source, who declined to be identified to protect business relationships.
Bloomberg News was the first to report the staff recommendation on Thursday.
Apple Inc , Google and Microsoft Corp have sued each other many times in various countries, each alleging that their respective patents are being infringed by rivals in the highly competitive smartphone market.
In many cases, the companies ask that their rivals' products to be banned from stores.
Google may get sued by the US government
In a few cases, the patents involved are considered "standard essential patents," which holders pledged to license on fair and reasonable terms. Many antitrust enforcers believe it is inappropriate for companies to ask for sales bans based on the infringement of essential patents.
Google has sued both Apple and Microsoft in the United States, saying the companies infringed on standard essential patents, according to Florian Mueller, an expert on the smartphone patent wars.
The FTC is looking into a long list of complaints brought by rivals of the search company, which is also accused of using its dominance to squash rivals in vertical search areas such as shopping and travel.
Google declined to discuss the report, saying "we take our commitments to license on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms very seriously."
FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in mid-September that he expected a decision in the case by the end of the year. A decision could be a lawsuit or, more likely, a settlement.
Google has settled with U.S. law enforcement agencies in the past.
For example, it settled with the FTC following privacy gaffes during the botched roll out of its social network, Buzz, and later paid $22.5 million to settle charges that it bypassed the privacy settings of customers using Apple's Safari browser.
Google also paid a $500 million settlement in 2011 to the Justice Department for knowingly accepting illegal advertisements from Canadian pharmacies selling in the United States.
Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.


text: Hi i need some help. I have been using ++ or -- for example i++. The problem is i would like my values to get picked at random thru my array. using ++ or -- is to predictable with what im doing. What formula can i use to pick random arrays instead of ++ or -- that go up one or down one?


text:
Menu for Hope 6 - the delectable list
[You may also jump directly to our donation form where you will find the list of all the raffle items, showing hot items and cold items (which means you have a better chance to win).]
Here it is ladies and gentleman, the official list of delectable items for your bidding pleasure. Donate to Menu for Hope 6 in support of the UN World Food Programme and good karma might help you win one.
Once again, food and wine bloggers from all over the world united to offer up a list of these delectable items for the Menu fro Hope raffle. We've got something for everyone.
Dining is your pleasure? One of these meals might suit you.
Love to try delicious foods from all over the world? We've got just about everything for your appetite.
If chocolate is your vice, we've got just the list for you.
Or maybe some wine? We have stuff here that'll impress even the geekiest of wine geeks.
Need another culinary book? We've got many, and some even autographed.
Not quite enough tools in your kitchen, we've got some amazing stuff that'll turn you and your cuisine positively pro!
Your life is getting too much and you could use a getaway? We've got the most perfectly delicious places to hide.
Want to improve your photography skills? Of course you do!
We've also got other miscellaneous cool gifts you want to check out.
So check them out and head over to First Giving to donate - the more you donate, the better karma, and the bigger chance to take one of these delicious things home.
Special meals
UW04 The Grand Tasting Menu+wine pairings for two at Michelin 2-star Manresa, AND a tour of the restaurant's biodynamic garden at Love Apple Farm, offered by Chez Pim
UW06 Dinner for two at Daniel Patterson's Michelin 2-star Coi. Plus, dinner for two at his more casual spot at the Ferry Plaza, Il Cane Rosso , offered by Chez Pim
UW25 $100 gift certificate to SALT in Boulder, CO, offered by Use Real Butter
UW27 Dinner for 2 at Ad Hoc, plus signed cookbook, offered by Inuyaki
AP06 $580 10 course degustation of Attica restaurant, offered by Tomato
EU14 Dinner for Two at Hidden Kitchen in Paris, offered by Hidden Kitchen
AP07 $250 dining voucher for Cutler & Co, offered by Tomato
AP18 Dinner for two, valued at $150 at Mezzo Bar and Grill, Melbourne, offered by Run ForrestAP19 Dinner for two, valued at $150 at Libertine,Melbourne, offered by Run Forrest
UW28 Signed copy of Ad Hoc cookbook, offered by IInuyaki
UW29 Signed copy of Under Pressure, offered by InuyakiUW30 Signed copy of Momofuku cookbook, offered by Inuyaki
UW14 My Nepenthe book + Big Sur basket, and $100 gift certificate to dine at the gorgeous restaurant, offered by My Nepenthe
UW36 The Butcher and the Vegetarian, plus goodie basket of artisanal food products, offered by Tea and Cookies
UE34 Signed copy of 'Everyday Harumi' (simple Japanese food for family and friends) by Harumi Kurihara, offered by Serge The Concierge
UE36 Coco: 10 World-Leading Masters Choose 100 Contemporary Chefs (Phaidon), offered by Serge The ConciergeUW19 signed copy of Advanced Bread and Pastry, offered by Wild Yeast
UW21 Top Chef/Iron Chef prize package, offered by Cooking with Amy
UW22 Signed copies of Ad Hoc and Fat of the Land, offered by Four Chickens
UW32 Doughnuts kit, sneak peek recipes from Lara Ferroni's new book, and a signed copy of the book (when it's out), offered by Cook and Eat
UW38 Not Becoming My Mother (US and Canada), offered by Family Friendly Food
UW41 Gluten-Free Goodness (US and Canada), offered by Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef
UE39 2 signed copy of The Gilded Fork: Entertaining at Home cookbook, offered by The Gilded Fork
UE20 Cookbook Collection by Scribner, offered by The Best Food Blog Ever
EU04 The BloggerAid Cook Book (US, Canada, UK and continental Europe), offered by Cook Sister!
EU07 Signed copies of Chocolate & Zucchini and Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris, offered by Chocolate & Zucchini
EU15 A signed copy of Hungry for Paris, offered by Alexander LobranoEU29 Five Culinaria Books, offered by The Traveler's Lunchbox
EU39 Room for Dessert, Ripe for Dessert & The Sweet Life in Paris, offered by David LebovitzAP01 Greek Cookery: From The Hellenic Heart by George Calombaris, offered by Winos and Foodies
AP04 Four seasons of An Honest Kitchen eMagazine worth $79.80 (Australia only), offered by Limes and LycopeneAP05 Four seasons of An Honest Kitchen, an eMagazine worth $79.80 (Except Australia), offered by Limes and Lycopene
AP10 One year subscription to Cuisine Magazine (NZ only), offered by La Dernière Miette.
AP24 2 volume set of The Old Foodie's Menus from History, offered by The Old FoodieCA01 The Latest Books from Canadian Celebrity Cooks (North America), offered by seven spoons and Whitecap Books
CA02 Windows on the World and Wine Book Bundle, offered by seven spoons, Whitecap Books and Sterling PublishingCA05 Grazing, offered by Dinner with Julie
CA06 One Smart Cookie, offered by Dinner with JulieWB08 Wine Book Bonanza, offered by UC Press via Vinography
EU25 Japanese Delicacies, offered by Just HungryEU26 Bento Boxes and Accessories, offered by Just Bento
ChocolateEU09 A Taza Chocolate tasting set, offered by Chocolate & Zucchini
EU37 A Year of Bernachon Chocolate Bars, offered by Lucy's Kitchen Notebook
EU34 Private Chocolate Tour & Tasting at Rococo Chocolate in London, offered by Rococo Chocolates
EU01 Made in Italy Gourmet Chocolate Basket, offered by Ms. Adventures in Italy
UE08 Box of LA Burdick Chocolate Mice, offered by The Sour Dough
FoodUW05 A selection of six jars of Chez Pim's artisan marmalade and jam, plus an autographed copy of The Foodie Handbook, offered by Chez Pim
UW07 Four months coffee subscription to Citizen Bean, and a welcome kit, offered by Chez Pim, courtesy of Citizen Bean
UW17 Basket of artisanal foods from Foodzie.com (US only), offered by Simply Recipes
UW02 Locavore starter kit: a tour & $100 CSA credit to Soul Food Farms (or any CSA if you live outside SF), plus SF Ferry Plaza tour with lunch for 2, and a basket of homemade goodies offered by Married with Dinner
UW34 La Quercia Spallacia (prosciutto-style leg) (US only), offered by Hobson's ChoiceUW33 Fra' Mani Salumi package (US only, no PO Box), offered by Potential Gold
UE28 Morgan Ranch American Wagyu (US only), offered by Gastronomic Fight ClubUE29 Morgan Ranch American Wagyu Family BBQ Collection (US only), offered by Gastronomic Fight Club
UW15 Truffle Gift Set (US only), offered by Chez UsUE11 $25 gift certificate from Fleisher's Grass Fed and Organic Meats in Kingston, NY plus a copy of Julie Powell's new memoir Cleaving, offered by Healthy Green Kitchen
UE14 $50 gift certificate to Sucre Confectionary in New Orleans, offered by Scoop: Adventures In Ice Cream
UW26 Brownie Essentials, offered by Brownies for DinnerUW42 Sustainable Sushi package in Seattle, offered by Sushi Day
UW03 Coffee and Cake from Cucina Nicolina, offered by Cucina NicolinaUE04 Eat Boutique Gift Box, offered by Eat Boutique
UE12 4 seasonal shipments of 12 cookies, offered by Jacy CakesUE13 100% certified fair trade coffee sampler, offered by Eating From The Ground Up
UE15 "Ethnic Chicago Neighborhood spice blends Deluxe gift box + Taste of Chicago, offered by The Perfect PantryUE17 Bacon-Lover's Candy Pack (US only), offered by Cooking 4 The Week
UE18 12 bars of Amano chocolate, offered by Su Good EatsUE19 Sweet Amandine Trio (US only), offered by Sweet Amandine
UE23 Vermont Foodie Gift Basket and Essential Canning Tool set, offered by Hippo FlambeUE26 Gift package of Stonyfield Products (US only), offered by Andrea's Recipes
UE30 North African Spice Blend Package (US only), offered by 64 sq ft kitchenUE31 Burro Foods Aartisan Oil, offered by Hungry Burro
UE24 A Taste of Atlanta prize pack (US only), offered by Running With TweezersCA11 Comfort and Restoration with Brownies, offered by Cardamom Addict
EU06 "A ""Sweet"" Collection from a French Candy Store", offered by French LettersEU11 Real Turkish Delights (lokum) from Cemilzade, Istanbul, offered by Cafe Fernando
EU12 Taste of Italy for Hope (EU only), offered by Ma Che Ti Sei Mangiato
EU13 A Year of Home Baked Goods (EU only), offered by Rosy Lips & LavenderEU20 A Taste of Sussex: Jams, Pickles, Honey, offered by Too Many Chefs
EU28 French Gourmet Basket of Delicacies, offered by A little Owl in the Kitchen
AP13 Stonesoup ultimate afternoon tea pack and cookbooks (Australia only), offered by Stone Soup
AP15 Bruny Island Cheese Club membership and Cheesebox (Australia), offered by Tomato
AP17 Heilala Vanilla valued at $120 (Australia), offered by Run ForrestAP23 1x $100 voucher at Le Madre Bakery in Geelong (If you didn't know where this is I guess this item isn't for you!), offered by Run Forrest
Kitchen Tools
UE25 The SousVide Supreme, offered by Steamy KitchenUE03 New West Knifeworks "Phoenix 9", offered by No Recipes
UE33 All-Clad Stainless Covered Saucepan, offered by Zen Can CookUE10 "J. A. Henckels Professional ""S"" 7' Santoku knife + 5 bags of Impact Granola.", offered by My Favourite Flavors
EU36 Kenwood Chef Classic Mixer, offered by Saffron and BlueberryEU08 A dough whisk and a sample of Clotilde's natural starter, offered by Chocolate & Zucchini
UE21 Stainless Kitchen Tool Set by All Clad (US only), offered by The Best Food Blog EverUE22 Nespresso Le Cube/Aeroccino Plus bundle (US only), offered by The Best Food Blog Ever
UW20 Winnie the Pooh Goes Bananas in a Box, offered by Lunch in a BoxUE27 2-piece Kitchen knife set from New West Knifeworks (US only), offered by Andrea's Recipes
EU10 An extensive set of reusable bags from flip & tumble, offered by Chocolate & ZucchiniEU22 Italian Cooking Apron, Shopping Bag and Recipe Notepad, offered by Un Tocco di Zenzero
EU38 Mega Mix of Moleskine Notebooks, offered by Ms. Adventures in ItalyUW39 Panini Presses (US and Canada), offered by Panini Happy
UE38 Kitchen Gift Package, offered by Thirty A WeekCA04 Herriott Grace Handcrafted Mortar and Pestle, offered by Herriott Grace and forty-sixth at grace
CA07 Fresco 24-cm Frying Pan (Canada only), offered by The Domestic Goddess and FrescoCA08 Fresco 24-cm Frying Pan (Canada only), offered by The Domestic Goddess and Fresco
CA09 Fresco 24-cm Frying Pan (Canada only), offered by The Domestic Goddess and FrescoCA10 Fresco 24-cm Frying Pan (Canada only), offered by The Domestic Goddess and Fresco
GetawaysEU35 2 Night B&B Stay in Piedmont for 2 with Market Tour, offered by Bella Baita View
EU24 Monday at the Market in Florence Tour, offered by Over a Tuscan StoveEU31 Market Tour & Cooking Class in Burgundy, offered by Cook's Atelier
UE05 Weekend at Farnum Hill Orchard in new Hampshire, offered by Offbeat EatsUE06 2 night-stay in Chelsea Studio Appartment, New York City. (value $250), offered by Annie's New York Eats
EU02 2 tickets for the "Tour de France of Wine" at O Chateau in Paris, offered by Olivier MagnyEU03 2 tickets for the "Wine and Cheese Lunch" at O Chateau in Paris", offered by Olivier Magny
EU16 City Walk Tour from Context Travel (gift redeemable on listed cities), offered by Context TravelEU17 3 hour walking tour of Paris Aligre Market with a native, offered by A Foodie Froggy in Paris
EU18 Gourmet Tour of London for four, offered by LondeliciousEU19 Personalized one-day Paris itinerary, offered by Edible Paris
EU21 Paris Gourmet Tour for 5 people, offered by Paris Talks
EU30 Paris Gastronomic Itinerary, offered by Meg Zimbeck
EU23 My Italians Wine Tasting in Rome, offered by Vino RomaAP14 Degustation and matching wines with one night's accommodation worth $540 at Provenance Beechworth in Australia, offered by Tomato
AP16 That Jess Ho's drinking tour of Carlton, Fitzroy and Collingwood, offered by That Jess Ho
For the wine geeksWB01 Dinner with NY Times Wine Critic Eric Asimov, offered by Vinography
WB22 Dinner with Randall Grahm at Cellar Door in Santa Cruz, a Special Bottle of Wine, and His Latest BookWB20 Vinography as Your Sommelier for the Night (incl. 4 bottles), offered by Vinography
WB02 The Brunello Experience: A Week's Stay at Il Palazzone in Montalcino Tuscany, offered by Il PalazzoneWB04 2 Nights and Wine Tasting in Santa Barbara Wine Country (incl 6 bottles), offered by Koehler Family Winery
WB11 Two Nights + Dinner +Tour in Tuscany at Il Borgo at Castello Banfi, offered by Banfi VintnersWB05 Two Magnums of Wine from Soter Vineyards (incl 2 bottles) (US only), offered by Soter Vineyards
WB06 The Old School Wine Collection (incl. 6 bottles) (US only), offered by HedoniaWB07 The New Guard Wine Collection (incl. 6 bottles) (US only), offered by Hedonia
WB09 Magnum + Case of Verge Syrah, and a Tour of Bradford Mountain (incl. 13 bottles), offered by Verge Wine CellarsUE40 Red Wine Extravaganza (US only), offered by Live To Feast
WB12 Cape Ardor Collectors Executive Wine Gift Set (incl. 3 bottles) (US only), offered by Cape ArdorWB13 Banned in 'Bama Wine Gift Box (incl. 8 bottles) (US only), offered by Andrew Rich & Vinography
WB14 A Case of Your Own Custom Blended Wine (US only), offered by CrushpadWB15 Stolzle Decanter and Four Wine Glasses (US only), offered by Winesooth
WB16 Happy Canyon Wine Horizontal (incl. 14 bottles worth $584) (US only), offered by WinesoothWB17 Wine Jewelry, Wine Book gift package from WinewomenPSP (US only), offered by WinewomenPSP
WB18 The Twisted Six Pack (incl. 6 bottles) (US only), offered by El Bloggo TorcidoWB21 Brazilian Cachaças Tasting Set (incl. 5 bottles), offered by Gastronomia
WB23 VIP (Sonoma/Napa) Wine Country Tour with VIP Hostess Alana Gentry aka Girl with a Glass, offered by Girl With a Glass
WB03 Sustainable Napa from Clif Family Winery & Holme Grown Wine Tours (incl 6 bottles), offered by Clif Bar Family Winery
WB19 The Twisted Tour and Pick Any Bottle (incl. 1 bottle), offered by El Bloggo Torcido
AP21 A case of Gembrook Hill's current release wines valued at $433.50 (Australia only), offered by Run Forrest
AP22 A case of McIvor Estate Wines current release wines valued at $330 (Australia only), offered by Run ForrestAP25 A case of The Wanderer's current release wines valued at $420 (Australia only), offered by Run Forrest
For the photographer in you
UW08 Get an Emera bag of your own - tote your favorite DSLR in style with Pim's favorite camera tote bag, the one and only Emera Bag! (US only), offered by Emera Bags and Chez PimUW11 Lowel Ego Photo Lights Two Light Set (US Only, offered by) Kalyn's Kitchen
UW43 Photographs from Asia, offered by Rambling SpoonUW01 Photography workshop with The One and Only Matt Armendariz of Matt Bites
UW16 2-hour studio session or photo tour of Pike Place Market with Valentina Vitols of Valentina Vitols Photography and Creative Writing
UE02 Three 8x12 art prints by Helene Dujardin OR Hands-on 1 day food photography & styling workshop with Helene. (Worldwide if you fly her, first class of course), offered by Tartelette
UE32 US$ 50 gift card from B & H photo+ The BloggerAid Cook Book (US only), offered by What's For Lunch Honey
UW10 $50 gift certificate to Blurb to make your own book, offered by Blog Appetit
UE16 Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers Cookbook & Cuisinart Elite Collection 12-Cup Food Processor (US only), offered by Meal Makeover Moms' KitchenUW31 Bacon and Cocktails print, offered by Cakespy
UE35 Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda Gift Bag, offered by Serge The ConciergeUE37 Wine you can wear' tee-shirts, offered by Serge The Concierge
AP02 Wellbeing Check (valued at $150) to City Natural Therapies in Australia, offered by City Natural TherapiesCA03 My Favourite Things, a special collection from Tara of seven spoons
WB10 Wine Bottle Hurricane Lanterns from Savoring Thyme Gifts (US only), offered by Savoring Thyme Chef
UW23 Original photograph by Jen Yu, offered by Use Real ButterUW35 Food-inspired wire sculpture, offered by Food Woolf
EducationUW12 Two Day BlogHer Conference Pass offered by Blogher
UW18 Two-day artisan baking class in San Francisco, offered by Wild YeastEU27 Mediterranean & Middle East Cookbooks and London Cooking Class, offered by Anissa Helou
UW37 Consulting time with Dianne Jacob, writing coach, offered by Will Write for FoodUW40 an afternoon of foraging with Langdon Cook in Seattle, offered by Fat of the Land
UE01 One Day Macarons Making Workshop with helen in South Carolina, SC. (worldwide if you fly her, first class of course), offered by TarteletteUE07 A Round on Us - Custom Beer Tasting, offered by My Hoppy Place
UE09 Day of bread making with Mary a.k.a Breadchick, offered by The Sour Dough (see blog for more shipping restrictions)UW24 $100 gift certificate to Culinary School of the Rockies in Boulder, offered by Use Real Butter
EU05 Plant-based Cooking Class in Paris. (Class must be taken before December 15, 2010, and is not available Feb 23-March 18, 2010.) Offered by La Cucina de TerresaEU32 French Conversation Classes in Paris (package 1), offered by Let Them Talk
EU33 French Conversation Classes in Paris (package 2), offered by Let Them Talk
AP03 A cooking class for four worth $400 at Sunnybrae Restaurant and Cooking School
AP20 1 x enthusiast membership Sommeliers Australia, for one year, valued at $100, offered by Run Forrest
Ok, you've decided what you want and now what?1. Choose a bid item or bid items of your choice from our Menu for Hope list just above.
2. Go to the donation site at Firstgiving and make a donation.
3. Please specify which bid item you'd like in the 'Personal
Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation.
You must write-in how many tickets per bid item, and please use the bid item
Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a bid item
of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for
EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02 - 2xEU01, 3xEU02.
4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
5. Please allow us to see your email address so that we can contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.
Check back on Chez Pim on Monday, January 18 for the results of the raffle.Thanks for your participation, and good luck in the raffle!


text:
employment application
Thank you for completing this application. We appreciate your interest in our company. We consider applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or status as a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, armed forces service medal veteran or other protected veteran who served active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense (collectively, "covered veterans"), or other legally protected status, as required by law.
contact information
Please give accurate, complete full-time and part-time employment record. Start with your present or most recent employer. NOTE: Applicants for driving positions need to list employment history for the past 10 years.
other qualifications
specialized skills (check skills/equipment operated)
Other Machinery You Operate or Skills (Please List)
additional information
Voluntary Affirmative Action Information
White: A person having origins in any of the peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.
Black or African American: A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaiian, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
Asian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
American Indian or Alaska Native: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North or South America (including Central America), and who maintain tribal affiliations or community attachment.
Two or More Races: All persons who identify with more than one of the races of White, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Asian, or American Indian or Alaska Native.
Decline to Identify
I am not a protected veteran
I decline to identify
A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.
A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.
An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.
An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on the active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.
Because we do business with the government, we must reach out to, hire, and provide equal opportunity to qualified people with disabilities under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. To help us measure how well we are doing, we are asking you to tell us if you have a disability or if you ever had a disability. Completing this form is voluntary, but we hope that you will choose to fill it out. Any answer you give will be kept private and will not be used against you in any way.How do I know if I have a disability?
You are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition. Disabilities include but are not limited to:
Reasonable Accommodation Notice
Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include making a change to the application process or work procedures, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.
For more information about this form or the equal employment obligations of federal contractors, visit the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp
Employment-EEO Statement and Online Application Process
It is the policy of the Company to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws and not discriminate against or harass any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, protected veteran status, age, pregnancy, genetic testing or information, local human rights commission activity, gender identity, and all other federal, state, and local protected classes required by law.The Company will take affirmative action to ensure that all employment practices are free of such discrimination.Such employment practices include, but are not limited to, the following: hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, recruitment or recruitment advertising, layoff, disciplinary action, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation, and selection for training.
To complete our online application process you will be asked to provide information which may include your place of residence, background and work history.This information will be used to determine your experience as it pertains to that position to which you have applied.You will not be considered an applicant until your application is complete and electronically submitted.The information you provide is subject to verification.You agree to allow the Company to process the information to determine your qualifications for the job.Providing fraudulent or misleading information will constitute grounds for disqualification for the job.We ask that you voluntarily provide the information requested during the application process, which may include, but is not limited to, gender, ethnic or racial background information and may constitute sensitive personal data.The Company is required to ask for this type of information in order to comply with its equal opportunity legal requirements.Refusal to provide this information will have no bearing on your application and will not subject you to any adverse treatment.
By completing the job application, you voluntarily agree that the Company may provide your application information to any third party we consider relevant solely for the purpose of assessing your qualifications for the job. Job application information may also be shared with the Company's subsidiary and affiliated companies for employment considerations only.
The Company is committed to providing accessibility to employment opportunities forindividuals with disabilities.If you require reasonable accommodations in the application or interview process; or have any other questions regarding the online application process, please call the Human Resources Department.


text:
Almost a year ago to this day, EFW - which is based in Brighton, well Hove actually - packed its drinking boots and headed to Aberdeen. After reading, and eventually writing about their 'Red Ultras' we were hooked. We saw them play Celtic, dashed across the city to see Cove Rangers - just for kicks - then made merry for days in the plethora of brilliant pubs. Mi casa es su casa as they say - now it was time for them to visit us.
Brighton were fresh from a round of friendlies in Portugal. One of them - against Portimonense - was abandoned after a "mass confrontation". Albion's (mad as a box of frogs) gaffer Gus Poyet defended his teams actions. "It was good for team spirit" he said, "they cried at the first sign of an English tackle, just like I did when I first arrived to England" he added clutching at straws.
Albion do have previous in this department. I was in the Republic of Ireland years ago for the 'Battle of Longford'. That friendly was also abandoned after a wayward Charlie Oatway tackle lead to a scene reminiscent of the Benny Hill end credits, with everyone chasing each other around the pitch and eventually into the changing room for another "mass confrontation".
Poor old Aberdeen. Whilst Rangers have been in Australia playing in the Sydney Festival of Football and Celtic off on their usual world tour playing anyone with a buck, The Dons have made do with Tamworth, Port Vale and now Brighton. At least their real fans have travelled for these games and in fairness they do play away in Kaiserslautern next week. Dreamy.
As usual, the Dons fans had travelled in good numbers - 516 to be exact. A round-trip of 1194 miles for a friendly? Pah, peanuts - bring it on pal. There was no sign of the Red Ultras though - they disbanded after multiple hassles with the authorities last season. They have now reformed under another name - Red Army 12 - and have something special planned for SPL opener with Hamilton apparently - welcome back and good luck lads.
So after a few afternoon range finders including a few pints of Old Rosie - weighing in at a sleep inducing 7.2% - we headed off to Withdean Stadium. I won't bang on about that place again (you did enough of that here - Ed.), suffice to say this is the Seagulls last season here, and mercifully, next season they're moving to Falmer - The American Express Community Stadium to be precise. And it looks lovely already.
If Mark McGhee was worried about how he'd be welcomed back to Brighton he needn't have. Memories of that play-off win in Cardiff outweighed the negativity that marked the end of his tenure, and his sojourn across the Withdean pitch was greeted with a standing ovation. He must have felt like a golfer strolling down the 18th at St Andrews. Whilst we're on that subject, golf fans are easily pleased aren't they? They clap absolutely everything.
I'm not too sure how seriously Aberdeen took the match - which the Albion won with a wonder strike from Elliot Bennett. There were reports that they were out in town sinking a few beers the previous afternoon. Not too surprising then that despite fielding their first team, their only shot in the whole game came in the last minute when a Michael Paton volley shaved the post.
On the flip-side, Brighton were pretty impressive. It was one-way traffic in their favour. Oh, and what's not to like about an Argentine winger called 'Baz' who shone out in his bright yellow boots and seemed determined only to attempt to score goals via the scissor kick.
Back at EFW HQ afterwards, fans of both clubs drank, and eventually sang long into the night. There was apparently some fairly serious trouble in town but we're more into giggles and beers than fighting here at EFW.
Aberdeen now move onto Germany then, whereas, for the Seagulls, anything other than relegation this season should ensure that they will be watched by crowds of 20,000+ at the beginning of next season in their new shiny home. Exciting times on the South Coast.


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The new Terminator film has taken another step forward closer to production. Last month we learned that Megan Ellison's brother, David Ellison, had come aboard the project to co-produce the next installment of the franchise through his Skydance Pictures banner alongside Megan's Annapurna Pictures, and now the producers have tapped a couple of writers to start work on the script. Deadline reports that Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier will write the script for the new Terminator film, though further details are understandably being kept under wraps.
Kalogridis previously penned the scripts for Shutter Island and Alexander, as well as the pilot for the TV series Bionic Woman. Lussier, meanwhile, was responsible for writing 2011's Drive Angry and received a "story by" credit on Dracula 2000, which he also directed. As I mentioned, we know next to nothing about where this new Terminator stands in relation to the previous films, but Megan Ellison has confirmed that it will indeed be rated R. With screenwriters now firmly onboard, expect to hear more news regarding the next Terminator sooner rather than later.