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RainyDayMagazine's content can now be licensed for your print magazine or web site. Please contact us directly here. If you want to see something reviewed, then drop us a note with a link and we'll be happy to take a look.
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A few of us are in Spain for a brief holiday this week. We landed in Madrid on Thursday and have been checking out the sites. Madrid is a very vibrant town...lots of cafes, windy alleys, and open squares. The weather is a balmy 29C.
Today we left Madrid and headed to Oriheula for a birthday party and to visit with some friends. We did bring some gear (Picturebook, Canon S2, etc...) to post updates of the trip when we have WiFi access. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink) |
Fall is the busiest season for us at RainyDayMagazine. Every year, things start earlier and earlier. Companies interested in getting their new products reviewed before the start of the Holiday Shopping season are jockeying for space in the schedule. Here is preview of what's coming in the Fall of 2007. The folks in the RainyDayKitchen are excited to give Cuisinart's new countertop Brick Oven a try.
The guys in the RainyDayGarage managed to get their hands on a pre-production unit of Navigon's 7100 GPS. This yet-to-be-released unit provides FREE real-time traffic info, photo-realistic 3D views, and many other unique features.
Other gear and gadgets on the Fall schedule are the MP4 video watch from Brando and the ultrasonic toothbrush from Ultreo. Both of these were selected because you asked for them :-)
Also on the list is the new iPod Touch from Apple, scheduled to arrive in early October. We are hoping to install it in the Boxster using Harman Kardon's new Drive+Play2. It is going to be a wild Fall season here at RainyDayMagazine. We hope you will enjoy it. However, before all this craziness starts for ernest, some of us are going to take a quick trip to Spain for a bit of R&R. It will be a good opportunity to test some travel gear, but mostly we are going to relax.
So for the next few days, the patients are going to be in charge of the asylum...god knows WHAT they are going to post while we are gone :-) - Wan Chi Lau (permalink)
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In 1989, Pons and Fleischmann announced they had produced "cold fusion" in their laboratory. The excitement generated by that claim reverberated around the world. Unfortunately, Pons and Fleischmann's experiments were not successfully replicated elsewhere. Eighteen years later, an inventor by the name of John Kanzius may have accidentally discovered a way to generate energy which may be just as revolutionary, but unlike "cold fusion", Mr. Kanzius' approach appears to be easily reproducible!
The idea is ingenious: the proper radio frequency will weaken the molecular bond of water, separating the hydrogens and oxygen molecules. Add a spark to create the combustion. Energy is released from the burning of the hydrogen and oxygen gasses. This is not "FREE" energy (something has to power the RF generator), just a way of extracting energy from water instead of fossil fuel. The Kanzius technique is totally novel and definitely worthy of a mention in "WowUsWednesday."
Of course, there is a difference between a technology demonstration and a working "salt water" engine. And, we are not quite sure of the implication of using up all our water for running our air conditioners and powering our SUVs. One thing is certain, if this technique is commercialized, it will certainly have an impact on our politics in the Middle East. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink)
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When I visited the Empire State building back in the mid-80s, I took a photo from the observation deck. I knew I still had the hard copy around somewhere. It took a while to hunt through 20 years of photos, but I finally located it.
The reason this photo stuck in my mind was of course the two towers of the World Trade Center in the distance. Hard to believe it has been six years since the insanity of that day. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink, 06, 05)
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Every year around the start of Fall, the editorial staff reviews the list of ideas for new sections. We have decided on and are currently developing a section for next year called RainyDayScience. Areas where technology and science intersect are obvious topics for this section. We plan to highlight gadgets and projects that give us a better understanding of the wonders around us.
The first RainyDayScience topic will be Astronomy. This weekend, we scoured Craigslist for telescopes. Fortunately, Boston and its surrounding areas are well populated with sci-tech folks. Consequently, high quality used telescopes are relatively plentiful. We were able to pick up two used telescopes over the weekend for pennies on the dollar.
The small one above is a 3" Jason catadioptric reflector. It is a relatively powerful unit given its table top size. We were able to purchase this unit for $10. It even came in its original box!
The second unit is Newtonian reflector with a 10" mirror and a metal German Equitorial Mount (GEM). According to the owner, its original cost was $800. The asking price was $200, but our crack negotiator was able to make a deal at half that price.
So, for less then the price of an iPod, we got ourselves two very capable telescopes. Our first tasks will be to do some cleaning, checking the alignments, and getting the scopes ready for a FirstUse. We are eager for a clear night so we can take them outside and see what we can see. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink) Congratulations to Matt T of NYC, first winner in our "Made In the USA" contest with his entry of the Questar 3.5" telescope.
The Questar was selected because: our research showed that this privately owned company is universally regarded as a maker of the best product of its kind in the world; the Questar 3.5" telescope is a product which can expand its user's knowledge of the world around them; and finally, because the Questar is built to last and be passed on for generations. It also fits in perfectly with today's topic...hey, it always pays to be lucky :-) - Wan Chi Lau (permalink)
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The annual Brimfield Antique Show is a destination for seasoned antique hunters. We reported on the Brimfield show back in 2005. This year, we returned to look for specific items for a few of the RainyDayProjects we have planned for this Winter.
The Brimfield show was a great place to look for Steampunk project items. There were quite a few vendors showing old radio gear. Many of these antique pieces were priced for collectors and were completely out of our budget.
However, after some extensive searching, we came upon a vendor with an amazing collection of stuff (headphones, morse code devices, etc...) perfect for a project we have been planning for some time.
We purchased this WORKING headset for $5! Our idea is to restore and convert this pair of vintage headphones into something Steampunk-ish. It should be a fun project! Look for it this Winter. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink)
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No, this is not our new product photographer. We got this link from one of our readers and thought it was too funny not to share. Click here for the story behind this photo.
Apparently, Canon digital cameras are so easy to use that "anyone" can get a shot using them. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink) Last Friday we gave you a preview of the Parrot photo viewer. Today, we'll take a closer FirstLook.
This Parrot photo viewer comes with an integrated power cable, an AC plug, and a stainless steel stand. The frame is covered with leather and backed with wood. These materials are high quality and will look great on the coffee table at home or the desk at work. Because of the power cable and the need for an electric outlet, the Parrot (along with most other digital frames) is not really designed to for wall mounting. If you want the spec, they are here on the Parrot site.
The finish comes in a variety of colors, but are not interchangeable. We are already thinking of a few upgrade project possibilites (brushed aluminium, exotic wood, etc...). There are three buttons on the back of the frame. They are for navigating amongst the various on screen menu options and making selections.
The only "assembly" needed is to thread the stand into the hole in the lower corner of the frame. The frame may be positioned horizontally or vertically.
We'll show more of the setup phase in the next installment of this series on the Parrot Digital Frame because it is one of the frame's unique features. In the meantime, we wanted to give readers an idea of the amazing quality of the TFT LCD display.
The photo on the left is the image taken with our S2 of a purple cone flower in the RainyDayGarden. We displayed it as a desktop pic on the 22" screen. The smaller image on the right is the same image on the Parrot. Click on either pic for a closer look at the details. We were very impressed with both the contrast and the brightness of the display. It will be very interesting to see how other digital frames compare to this Parrot unit. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink)
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Green screen is a technique used by movie studios to create many of the special effects you see in movies today. The idea is simple: shoot some video in front of a matte screen of one color, replace that color with another image or footage, and voila...you could appear to be sitting at the edge of the Grand Canyon or reporting from the front of the White House lawn.
All of the gear (camera, screen, tripod, software) required to create that type of effect is now available as a complete package. The Creation Station from RipRoar is aimed at the YouTube generation, but allows anyone to add their own green screen FX to videos using the same advanced techniques as the pros.
Priced at $130, it is within reach of even the most modest video budget. It does require a PC for storage and processing of the video. If you want a CreationStation
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Many of us have been asking to trading in our Motorola RAZR for the $600 iPhone
Today, Apple announced a $200 price drop on the iPhone
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One of our favorite portable batteries is the Tekkeon MyPowerAll. We reviewed the myPowerAll 3300 in 2005 and have used it in a variety of projects (camera, helicopter). The battery has been cycled close to 70 times (mostly for photo shoots) and is still good as new. This is definitely one of the "workhorse" batteries at the office.
Tekkeon recently updated the battery (myPowerAll 3450) with an increase in power and connector options. One of the new options we really like is the USB port. This means we can now leave the chargers for the smaller devices (pda, cell phone, gps) at home!
Like the 3300, the myPowerAll 3450 comes with a variety of tips for connecting to different devices. An increase in battery power means the need for a larger AC/DC converter. The upside is that the 3450 is still physically the same size as the 3300, when not stored in their respective cases.
The 3300 case is a padded leather unit with a magnetic closure. The case which came with the 3450 is a thin synthetic one. The 3400 case will protect it from scratches, but probably not from accidental drops ...which we certainly have done a few times.
To carry all of the loose bits (cable, tips) of the myPowerAll, we recommend getting a small case of some sort. Both the Otterbox
We will charge up the myPowerAll 3450 and try it out with a few of our favorite gadgets. If it is as good as the 3300, we may have another "workhorse" in the office. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink)
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This Labor Day, RainyDayMagazine would like to bring attention to some great products made right here in the USA. Because everyone here tries avoid "laboring" whenever possible, we are cleverly disguising the legwork required to find these great products by holding a contest!
RainyDayMagazine will give away one of these Bit Drs. from LoggerHead Tools for every "find" you send us that we publish for the month of September. To submit a find you consider worthy of mention on RainyDayMagazine, send the link with the subject line "Made In The USA for a RainyDay." If your submission is selected, we will give you credit for the find and send you a Bit Dr. Keep an eye on the pile of Bit Drs, the contest ends when we have given them all away. Enter as often as you wish, but one link per entry. If you spam us with lame suggestions, we'll add your name to the automated email filters and all your entries will end up in the email black hole. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink) Congrats to Eric Jones for sending in the correct answer ("bluetooth") to the Parrot Puzzler in August. Eric will be receiving a Bit Dr. from this pile. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink)
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This past August in New England was a dry one. Many of the Cone Flowers (known as echinacea) have gone to seed earlier than usual. The golden finches have been spotted taking advantage of this bounty in the RainyDayGarden.
We spotted the finches only because Eliot and Buffy were both perched on the 2nd story window with their gaze fixated on a spot in the garden.
Getting a shot of them was a little more difficult. The 12x zoom on the Canon S2 was barely good enough. The slight overcast made for even lighting, but cut down on the overall brightness. This situation (high zoom, low light) is particularly difficult for digital cameras.
It is suprising how light birds really are. This finch is sitting on and pecking at the cone and there is not so much as a shake. - Wan Chi Lau (permalink)
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, preorder it on Amazon now. This could be the sleeper gift of the 2007 holiday season. 
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