Its not often you meet the near-perfect, much less the perfect tool. While the latter still eludes me, I’ve found and have worked with the former now for about a month. True story: The dog ran off with the first one that my PR rep sent me and dropped it down a drain pipe. She very, very, very kindly sent me another one, and I’ve been eagerly working with it ever since. In case you’re not clear on what I’m talking about, I am referring to the LiveScribe Pulse digital pen. This is no normal pen, mind you. The Pulse is a wonder of technology, convenience, function, and familiarity. It does exactly what it suggests it will do, but it also does so much more.
The key to the functionality of the Pulse is manifold, but it can be counted down to the infrared camera perched under the nib (I’m old, so look it up), the voice recording capabilities, and the special paper the pens use in order to work their magic. Now don’t go groaning over the fact that you have to buy special paper. Have you seen what a simple notepad costs at Barnes & Noble these days? Shocking to the point where you’ll think that paying $20 for a 200 sheet notebook which enables the power of the Pulse is a steal and a half. Combine that with the fact that the most recent Windows version of the software can print blank pages, and you’re on easy street.
Continue reading Review: LiveScribe Pulse
I’ve got a friend who owns a Sprint Palm Centro “RED” which she drops all the time. I rarely drop phones, but when I came across Otter’s new Defender Series, one model of which supports the Palm Centro, I jumped on it and and sent off for one. I’m super careful with anything electronic. I don’t mean that to say that I lock them up and never use them, but I also try my best to never put these typically fragile devices into too many dangerous situations. My friend has replaced her phone already, and she’s only had it for six months! Of course, no matter how careful you are, it never hurts to be prepared, which is why the Defender Series attracts me so much. 
Coffee is a precious resource, rich in go juice and vitality for the day to come. Getting that coffee used to be as simple as getting a cuppa jo’ at the local diner. Nowadays, its a raucous affair, rife with pitfalls and madness in the form of 7,046,876* different combinations of a myriad drinks being served by frazzled college folk working on their PhD thesis who only speak Coffeenese, which you don’t happen to know. Its nice, now and then, to just sit down at home, turn on the TV, flip to an HD channel, and enjoy a nice, hot, freshly ground, freshly steamed cappuccino. It takes a machine, however, to do that. 
Insignia, if you didn’t know, is a brand name of Best Buy. Think of grocery stores and their in-house brands and you get the idea of how Insignia works for Best Buy. Of course, Insignia doesn’t make peanut butter and their products should not be considered generic. Insignia’s new Blu-Ray deck is an excellent example of this fact. When I removed it from the box I was struck by how sleek it looks. The front panel is almost entirely featureless and is glossy black. There are power and eject buttons and a basic control pad and, of course, the disc drawer. 
Call it the computer with no name. Averatec didn’t give it a name, or even a snazzy numerical model number. Its just called the 18.4″ All-In-One PC (AIO), but its like no other PC you’ve ever seen, unless you count Apple’s “Lamp Shade” iMac. That’s because the computer itself is in the base and its attached to a stunning 18.4″ 1,680×945 display (which I believe is 16:9). You can get all of this now for a mere US$550. You need, however, to know this systems place in the grand scheme of things before you rush out and get one. 
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