On last week’s feature, I kinda promised you a review of a iPod Video conversion software. I am ashamed to say that review is not yet ready (*slaps hand*). However, I think I have something this week for you that will make up for that.

When I bought my new iPod, I paid the standard price of $299 (plus tax) at Best Buy. I would have bought online, but I couldn’t stand waiting last time. Had I bought it online, well, I still would have paid the $299 (because being the idiot I am I would have bought from Apple, again). However, I could have saved some money. Obviously, different website offer things for different prices. And with all of those sites, I can be hard to track, until now. Introducing Mr. Dealio.

Mr. Dealio looks at all of the website that sells a particular product, and tells you what each site want. Furthermore, It will tell what the best deal is. For example, I could have bought my iPod for $285 from MacMall. Mr. Dealio tracks all electronics, including gaming systems, TVs, Cell Phones, iPods and more. Though $15 is that much of a save, It’s something. If your looking for a good deal on electronics, Mr. Dealio will help you out.

Mr. Dealio
MP3 Players [Mr. Dealio]

Despite what I tried to call it in the title, If you like all-in-wond.. (Crap! I did it again!) I mean.. multiple use gadgets (there we go), this is the Flash Drive/Pen/MP3 Player/Voice Recorder/FM Radio. Brando has released a pen with a Flash Drive, MP3 player, FM Radio, Voice Recorder and, of course, a pen. Check out Gizmodo’s angle:

See, you use the voice recorder to record your CFO and CTO in the bathroom talking about embezzling funds—you were hiding in a stall, using the FM radio to pass the time. Then you use the 512MB flash memory to steal office documents about the whole thing. Later, you confront and blackmail them with the MP3 playback of the recording. And finally, you have them sign a check for one million dollars with the built-in pen.

Why didn’t I think of that? Anyway, This particular gadgets sells for the low low price of $48. $48 for a $1 Million. That works.

USB MP3 Pen + FM Radio + Voice Recorder [Brando via Gizmodo]

Update – 7/12/2006 : DAP Review has just put up a review of this gadget, and apperently it’s not so great. Check it out.

Need a great way to launch you portable applications? Lifehacker’s Adam Pash shows a great way to quickly launch all of your files on the go.

The proliferation of portable applications makes it more and more convenient to carry your life on a thumb drive, especially if you don’t do all of your work and play from one computer.

But it could be easier. Rather than plugging in your thumb drive and clicking through your drive’s file system to open every program and document, wouldn’t it be nice if your workspace launched automatically? Today we’ll set up your thumb to Autoplay, so that you can instantly launch your preferred workspace on any computer. All you have to do is plug in.

First of all, there are a crapload of programs that you can run off your thumb drive. I’ll be using a few programs just to give you an idea of how this works, but your imagination is the limit when it comes to what you can run off the thumb drive. For a rundown of several different options, check out Gina’s life on a thumb drive feature.

The article at Lifehacker is very detailed, and will give you everything you need to know.

Hack Attack: Quicklaunch your USB workspace [Lifehacker]

A year ago when when Apple announced the change to Intel, many thought of the idea of running Windows on a Mac. I had the opposite idea, run OS X on a PC. And it has been done. The betapundit blog has posted a video clip of a Dell Latitude D600 that can dual boot Windows and OS X (Click the “Continue Reading” link below to view the video).

This is something I would like to try on my PC. Granted, a Mac is cooler, but I like the OS X platform and would love to run it on my PC. We’ll just have to see what happens.

MAC OSX booting on a Dell Latitude d600 [betapundit via TechEBlog]

READ MORE »

Information is coming in that the iTunes music store may start to offer Apple Lossless Encoded Music. Apple Insider explains.

A new version of Apple Computer’s iTunes Producer software suggest that the company may begin to offer tracks through its iTunes Music Store that are encoded in its higher-quality lossless compression format.

Apple introduced the format in 2004 as part of QuickTime 6.5.1, saying it offered CD-quality audio in “about half the storage space.” The company later added support for the format to iTunes 4.5.

In a private release of iTunes Producer 1.4 this week, Apple said the software “now encodes music in Apple Lossless format, which produces larger audio files and will increase upload time.

Personally, I’m not really in favor of this. Music downloads take forever that way it is. Why would you want it to take longer. Could this be as a method to eliminate theft. Either way, I doubt it will work.

Apple Lossless format coming to iTMS? [Apple Insider]

As of this Morning, Kevin Rose and Crew have put up the new version of Digg, version 3.0. New features include broader topics, science, videos and technology in their own categories. Also, v3 makes it easier to see what your friends have dugg, and a better way of view submitted stories.

If you’ve loved digg in the past, you’re going to love the new version of digg.

Digg

A common problem with Laptops is that they run too warn. Blogger Michael Leddy offers a simple solution.

A cheap and simple way to help cool a laptop: use bake-ware. My cooling rack, made by Ekco, cost $3.99 at an outlet store. With this rack and a tiny desk fan, my laptop runs 8 to 10 degrees cooler than it used to.

Formulaic disclaimer: Placing a computer on a piece of bake-ware might lead to scratches or other damage, so be careful.

Not a bad trick for $4. Obviously not a great solution when using on your lap, but great for on a table.

Cool laptop [mleddy.blogspot.com via Lifehacker]

When you get to be a tech blogger like me, you often start getting lots of email from the mass amounts of people that look at your site (hopefully). Which also means mass confusion. Desperately looking for a solution, I stumbled upon a tip on Lifehacker.

Managing the steady stream of email that gathers in your inbox every day can feel like an impossible task. Not long ago, I kept a lengthening list of folders in my email software to track messages by topic, sender, project, urgency and any other context that seemed relevant that hour. I’d spend lots of time carefully dragging and dropping every message from my inbox into the folder it seemed to belong in that day.

Since then I’ve slimmed down my email buckets to just three: what I call the Trusted Trio. Using just a few, simple action-based folders, it takes very little thought to keep on top of my email and a consistently empty inbox.

The solution is simple: Sort your mail into three self explanatory folders: Action, Archive, Hold. Simply explained, “Action” is for emails you need to do something with, whether it would be a reply or something else. “Archive” is for emails that you have read, and don’t require any action. They just need to be stored for future reference. “Hold” is for messages that you’ll need to look back at in the next couple of days. It worked for me, maybe it’ll work for you.

Geek to Live: Empty your inbox with the Trusted Trio [Lifehacker]

Hello and welcome to iPod Friday. This is a new feature I am starting this Friday (today) and will continue (if successful) through the end of July. Look for an iPod related Gadget or Tip every Friday. Enjoy!

The last couple of weeks, I’ve been giving hints throughout my posts about the purchase of a video iPod I was hoping to get. I finally got one last weekend, and after playing around with it for a week, I’d like to share my thoughts.
READ MORE »

Say your signing up for an online newsletter. Oh wait… they want your real name, address, phone number. Here’s a great way around that.

The Fake Name Generator randomly gives you a name, address, phone number, email address and Visa Card number. It also provides a permanent link so you can always view the info again.

So if you need to sign up for something, but don’t want to give out your info, this is for you.

Fake Name Generator