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SanDisk 2 GB SD Memory Card

The SanDisk 2 GB SD card is an amazing marvel of technology. I remember when having 16MB of RAM in my computer was a lot, these days they can pack 2GB of super fast RAM memory into a super-tiny SD Memory Card for things like your digital camera. I have two of these amazing cards that I use in my Kodak V550 digital camera and they work great. They are very fast, which translates into faster picture taking as well as faster data upload to my computer. Plus, they are so inexpensive these days that it doesn’t make sense not to have at least two on hand at all times if you use your camera even a fair amount.
Features:

• Stores up to 2GB memory
• High transfer rate for fast copy/download
• Low Battery consumption to maximize battery life in portable devices
• Security complies with both current Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) requirements

Review, Reviews, Gadgets, Electronics, SD+Card, Memory

tags: electronics, gadgets, memory, review, reviews, sd+card

Gaiam Essentials Tools for Yoga Kit

Ok, so I have just started doing Yoga and I have to say that I really enjoy it a lot. However, I was not really sure what kind of gear to get and someone told me that they picked up one of these Yoga starter kits. I picked one up because I was looking for a yoga mat and figured the other items might be useful. I have to say it was money well spent.

Description:

Yoga continues to grow in popularity as a form of exercise to achieve greater balance and relaxation. Those who regularly practice yoga can expect to achieve a calmer mind, a more fit body and a greater resistance to stress. Yoga can help one to keep everything in perspective and to take life’s challenges in stride. Gaiam’s Yoga Essentials Kit contains everything you need to begin practicing yoga, and is great for beginners or experienced yoga enthusiasts. The set includes a non-slip yoga mat measuring 68 inches long x 24 inches wide x 1/8-inches thick, two foam bricks, a 6-foot long cotton strap, and a 30 minute instructional video which demonstrates using all of these tools.

About Gaiam
Gaiam was created as a lifestyle company with the vision that, given a choice, people would choose a lifestyle that is healthy and life enhancing, for themselves, their families and the Earth. The Gaiam lifestyle is a vote for individual health as well as the future sustainability of the Earth’s resources. Gaiam strives to provide customers with alternatives to traditional products by offering natural, eco-friendly or healthy versions that compare with the style, quality and price of conventional products.

Gaiam’s goal is to become the trusted source and unifying brand for Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) participants. They understand that the opportunity to affect people’s lives with information and products is both a privilege and a responsibility. Gaiam believes in the concept of Conscious Commerce, the practice of making purchasing decisions based on personal values and beliefs. It takes into consideration all the aspects of our lives and the impact we have upon the planet. Research indicates this concept appeals to approximately 50 million people in the U.S. alone. Gaiam’s strategy in delivering the distinctive quality for which they are known is to partner with experts in health/wellness, eco-living and personal development to develop proprietary products that meet our customers’ needs with meaningful solutions.

The name GAIAM is a fusion of the words Gaia (the name of Mother Earth from the Minoan civilization in ancient Crete), and I am reminds us that we are all interconnected with the Earth, the air and water, and very much a part of this living system that sustains us all.

What’s in the Box?
Non-slip yoga mat, two foam bricks, one cotton strap, 30-minute video

Features:

• Gaiam’s yoga kit is great for beginners
• Contains all of the tools you need to begin practicing yoga
• Includes non-slip mat (68 inches long x 24 inches wide x 1/8 inch thick), 6-foot long reinforced cotton strap, 2 durable foam bricks, and the 26 minute “How to Use Props Plus Workout” VHS

Review, Yoga, Yoga+Mat, Kit

tags: kit, review, yoga, yoga+mat

I don’t think I am any different then the next guy when it comes to explaining to our significant others about the importance of buying tools. Especially, when it is these same people who ask us for the honey-do lists. But, buying the right tools really is important. From simple things like using the right sized Philips Head screwdriver so as not to strip the fastener to having a quality table saw to help cut precise, straight lines in plywood. Having the right tool is usually the difference between a quality piece of furniture and something that your 5 year old might have built. So, next time your wife wants to know why you need that new Bosch scroll saw, tell her that it is because you only want your wife to have the best…and then run.

Tools, Honey+Do, Projects

tags: honey+do, projects, tools

When it comes to tools, there are a few names that stand out. One of them, Milwaukee, is in the top echelon of tool manufacturers. Known for their bright red handles and coloration, Milwaukee tools are the type of electronic tools that you can pass on from generation to generation. I did come across a cool new site dedicated to Porter Cable plunge routers. They review only Porter Cable plunge routers and accessories for them. Pretty cool what you can find online these days.

Review, Reviews, Tools, Mikwaukee

tags: mikwaukee, review, reviews, tools

I have built a very serious home media PC based on Microsoft Medica Center Edition 2005 and I am pretty happy with it. The DVR functionality is not as good as that of my Tivo, but I am sure that with a little time, those things will get worked out. Most people using this setup have Tivos or are converting from Tivo, so there are a lot of voices saying the same things. The benefits are having much more flexibility and access to other media with MCE 2005. I have over 250 movies that I have compressed from DVD to Divx format. These take up anywhere from 700MB to 1GB each and look great on the screen. If I want to play a DVD I just pop one in like I would before. Maybe a DVD jukebox interface will be put together allowing MCE users to have access to hundreds of their DVDs rather than one or two at a time. But, that is for later.

One of the coolest features of Windows MCE 2005 is that you can use it to distribute all of your media to any location in your house via wired or wireless ethernet. Nothing is going to beat a wire and if you want the best quality, then you will need to run cables to all of your rooms. But, you can use these MCE Extender boxes to gain access to all of your media with the same MCE interface on screen. This also removes the requirement of you having to have a computer in your living room…as so many people refer to it. Noise levels are back to where they were. Even if you are only using MCE on one television right now, an Extender is a great option if you want to keep everything out of the living room (or whereve you are watching tv) or you want to use the computer for other things while watching television or movies. This is something that people were able to do with pre-release versions of Windows Media Center Edition 2005, but the standard release does not allow for more than one session to run at a time.

So, to sum it up, get yourself an extender box if you are running MCE 2005. You will be happy, your wife will be happy, and you can use your computer when she is watching something you don’t want to.

Just found a pretty cool site that is providing up to the minute music news for just about every major artist out there. The site is called Pawow Music News and from what I can tell they are aggregating news from a very large number of news sources on line. At first I thought they were some kind of scapper site that was simply grabbing RSS feeds and posting them on their site, but it appears that they actually crawl the news sites and grab the information for themselves. Anyway, it is a pretty cool concept. But, the site design needs some serious work.

Bluetooth wireless technology is one of the coolest things to hit the technology markets in a long time. The technology itself is not new, but many electronics manufacturers have embraced it and included it in their consumer products like cell phones, computers and printers in the past couple of years. Plus, Microsoft’s Windows XP has great out of the box Bluetooth support allowing for easy installation and configuration of Bluetooth enabled devices. I bought myself a Linksys Bluetooth adapter last year and it has been nothing but a joy to use. It offers easy setup and great range with its large external antenna. The only drawback to the Linksys Bluetooth adapter, if there is one, is that it is a little larger than many of the smaller USB adapters that are available. There are some great USB Bluetooth adapters from D-Link and some smaller, lesser known companies that are great for older laptops that do not have built-in Bluetooth radios.

The bottom line is that if you own a new mobile phone, chances are that it has a Bluetooth radio built in. This will allow you to easily connect and sync your phone with popular contact managers like Microsoft Outlook in a matter of minutes. Then it can take place without you even initiaing a sync automatically any time your phone is within range. I do this with my Nokia 6620 and I never have to worry about my phone or my computer having updated information.

Bluetooth is also being used for wireless keyboards, headphones and a myriad of other wireless devices that are used within 30 feet of their bases.

No matter what you think about Kanye West’s performance at the Hurriance Katrina fundraiser on NBC, you have to give him props for his music. He is clearly one of the best Rap/Hip-Hop acts on the block today. I saw him on the NBC show and I really couldn’t believe that someone would make themselves look so silly and ignorant, but I guess that sometimes our emotions get the best of us. I think Kanye West should just come out and apologise for the silly comments, have a well-scripted statement, and then move on. Back to Kanye’s music. His latest single, Golddiger from his Late Registration album is getting a lot of attention.

For those of us who like to built it ourselves, because there is nobody who does it better, our tools are very important to us. But, they are also instrumental in creating quality woodwork for our homes, jobs and projects. Creating beautiful casement work is difficult to do if you don’t have quality cutters on your tools. This is something that anyone who has spent any amount of time creating window and door casements will attest to. You really get what you pay for when you buy router and shaper bits as well as other cutters like rosette cutters. There are many different manufacturers of blades, bits and cutters on the market, but I have really liked the Grizzly cutters lately for their high quality build and moderate prices. The trademark Grizzly Green is of course a part of these cutters and makes them easy to spot in the crowd, but more than anything they work great. High quality rosettes, clean cuts, and long cutter life have been a part of just about all of my projects that I have used these rosette cutters on. I can recommend them to anyone.

More information at:
www.grizzly.com
Grizzly tool reviews
Grizzly Industrial tools

Looking for a GPS setup for your bike? Yeah, that is right, I asked if you want to put GPS on your bike. The fact of the matter is that GPS receivers are made small enough to wear on your wrist these days and they are cheap too. Many cycling fanatics are putting them on their bikes to track their rides and progress. The coolest part may be that you can download the data from your ride or run directly to your PC and get topographic maps from the GPS data. That is pretty darn cool. I think that everyone will have one of these on their bikes in the near future. It is just a matter of time. So, if you are like me and just read the Bicycling magazine article about GPS for bikes, you will want to spend the $130 and have one of these on your bike next week.