Technology News Blog

I have always had a poor memory and so have always used the 'tasks' option in my cell phone to keep track of reminders. But just came across this new launch of electronic sticky notes. It is a nice tool, much like the other freebie sticky notes available already. This one keeps tracks of reminder dates and has a good alarm feature.

If you are ready to shell out 15 odd bucks and then this also provides features like scheduled turning off of the computer, additional tool skins, etc.

Five more dollars extra and you can also launch files and websites at the required time, keep track of birthdays and anniversaries, etc.

Quite a nice feature. I have right now downloaded the free part. Do not think I actually require the advanced versions.

Just when websites have been advertising the fantastic option of reading new updates on sites through email rather than having to visit the website each time comes a much fantastic feature. You no longer even need to go through the pages of text from the different websites that you have subscribed. Rather you can play them on while you drive or go for a walk in the mornings.

Odiogo has come out with a software that can convert your RSS feed to MP3 which you can load to your iPod and listen as you drive or walk. There is a demo play of a New York Times news article on the website. It looks pretty good to me. Probably because I did not expect even the kind of voice modulation that was shown there.

But all this comes at a cost of around $30. Go for it if you feel it is worth of.

Internet Radio is not simply about playing the same hackneyed music that one can even otherwise get from the hundreds of other places. Internet radios are infact used to cast talks and discussions related to one's industry. Suppose you run a pet shop. You can publicize your company by holding a half hour talk show everyday related to pet care.

Now, since this is the kind of requirement most of the businessmen have and not something of all-day network, it is of no use in going to places like Live365. You can check out the lesser ones, which in fact only require you to have a broadband or a dialup internet connection to get started.

Softwares like PirateRadio are useful in achieving just that. These are available at a fraction of the dedicated server internet radio stations and they can simply play any of the poular audio files. So, economically and from the point of what is required, they achieve our needs.

Do suggest ways in which I too can use something of this kind of a radio to supplement my blog. Remember that since I can play any audio file, I need not necessarily have to speak on that !!

Got this sometime as an email forward. Copy pasting it, hoping it to be useful...
--------------------------
Things you never know your cellphone could !!!There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for
survival. Check out the things that you can do with it: -

*EMERGENCY*

*I*
*The Emergency Number worldwide for **Mobile** is 112.* If you find yourself out of coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112
can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. **Try it out.**

*II*
*Subject: Have you locked your keys in the car? Does you car have remote keys?*

This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone:
If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone.

Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of
miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote" for your car, you can
unlock the doors (or the trunk).

Editor's Note: *It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!"*

*III*
Subject: Hidden Battery power

Imagine your cell battery is very low, you are expecting an important call and you don't have a charger. Nokia instrument comes with a reserve battery. To activate, press the keys *3370# Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery.
This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell next time.

*IV*
How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?

To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone:

* # 0 6 #

A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. when your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code.

They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either.

If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

Check out this really cool video of robots dancing in traditional Japanese style. It is really amazing at the way Robots have come to resemble human beings. And if you have observed a robot working, you would have noticed that all movement is engineered most often by simple pneumatic or hydraulic systems, that makes robots truly awesome.

Look at the picture.No, it is not some mixer that you find in the kitchen. It is called a bender alarm clock. And the purpose: to get people like me, even me out of the bed. Now, how this works is, those styrofoam beads inside the plastic enclosure start creating a ruckus at the set time. Add four annoying tunes to it that also start off and it is sure to get anybody out of the bed. Call it a plus-point or not, it does not have an option of snooze..So, you WILL have to wake up when it rings.

But then, who wants to buy such an annoy-machine. All said and done, everyone of us love the snap after actually waking up. And I definitely don't want to wake up all angry and irritated. However, this one does look good. I tell you, don't keep this to yourself, but buy one for your friend on his or her birthday ;-)

Now, this is what I call technology, just for the heck of it. I simply do not understand what else got Electroux to come up with this new model of fridge. Called the 'Screen fridge', this model of refrigerator comes with a computer that is connected wireless to the TV and broadband.

And the purpose? - To make the kitchen the center hub of your household.
How? - The user can get details about weather and traffic details before leaving the kitchen and the house for work, check out the appointments, make a printout of your shopping list(Now, how do you get a printer to the kitchen!?). And apart from other standard controls, this fridge, priced at over $9000 and scheduled to be released at the end of 2006, comes with a remote access feature, which seems to be the only good thing about it, but then, why do you want to open and close a fridge if there is noone to pick or place a thing?

Looks like a big flop from the company. But then, I am hardly the person you should be asking when it comes to household appliances :)

The growing number of cell-phone movie contest is amazing. It is cool in a way, because it gives everyone of us a chance to become a movie-maker for a time, and who knows, even win prizes from one of those cell phone movie contests.

If you are serious about such contests, start deciding on the cell phones which might help you best in such cases. Recently came across the capabilities of J-phone Toshiba T-08.

Unlike most other cell phones which only help you in catching a shot and trasferring it to your computer or send it across, this phone has the ability to splice multiple shots, trim the images, add background score, redub the existing ones, add textual overlays, and a lot more.

This might look overwhelming for a device such as a cell phone, and if ever anyone who contemplates this one, just for such features, it should be one of those cell phone movie aspirants.

But then, my point is that it does not matter much. The movie is ultimately transferred out of your cell phone and only then watched. Why not transfer it out in the first place itself to your computer and then do the editing. You have a zillion softwares to do just that.The choice to get it is simply yours. Both ways, you are at a winning side!