Belkin has done it again with their new In-Desk hubs.

In an attempt to plug those often unused desk holes which always seem to fall just out of reach when trying to route your myriad of cabling, Belkin’s two- and three-inch In-Desk USB Hubs provide a nifty excuse to decorate your aging computer desk whilst adding some much needed (or wanted) functionality. Available in a slanted front-access edition or a flush-mounted version, each of the four-port USB hubs will run users $39.99 whenever Belkin decides to unleash ‘em, and for the iPod owners in the house who’ve somehow avoided another docking solution, the $39.99 In-Desk Dock for iPod provides the obvious connection for syncing / charging while still neatly covering that gaping spot.

If only had a desk with those holes. Anyway, all four hubs go for $39.99, and will be “available soon” (Mid-June Anybody?).

Belkin USB Hubs [Belkin via Engadget]

Note: Well, my attempt for content this week fell short, again. I have nothing going on this week, and I have a four-day week due to Easter a Christian spring holiday (To be politically correct), so you’ll be sure to get a solid stream of content this next week.

Okay, so it turns out this post has been up since sometime on Monday. This post was supposed to be today’s (Wednesday’s) post. I have fixed the date issue. Sorry for the goof.

I know there are many people that like alternate codecs, like DivX. However, there’s not a good way to play them on the mac. Perian is the solution for you.

Perian is the swiss-army knife of QuickTime components. The goal of the Perian Project is to build a QuickTime component wrapper for the libraries produced for OS X. Perian enables QuickTime-based playback tools access to more file formats and codecs.

The plugin supports Divx, XviD, FLV, AVI MS-MPEG4 v1, MS-MPEG4 v2, MS-MPEG4 v3, DivX 3.11 alpha, 3ivX, Sorenson H.263, Flash Screen Video, Truemotion VP6, and much more. Perian is 100% free, and for Mac OS X.4 or higher (sorry PC users).

Perian [Thanks, Alex]

Those of you that travel, I’m sure, may have a video iPod. I’m also sure that some of you don’t like people seeing what you’re doing on your iPod. iStyles has an innovative solution, called the iPod Video Privacy Screen.

The iPod Video Privacy Screen Protector is an innovative premium quality screen protector for the iPod 5G that not only protects your screen from scratches and light bumps, but also protects your privacy by preventing your neighbors from seeing what you have on your screen.

Watch your movies or view your pictures in privacy even in a crowded train!

The cost is only $9.99, but due to overwhelming demand, more will not be available until April 9th. That means order now to ensure you get one!

iPod Video Privacy Screen Protector [iStyles via TUAW]

Note: Sorry for my absence this weekend. After getting caught up with school work, I needed a few days away from the site. I’ll be back on schedule this week.

This is Wired For Gadgets, after all; So let’s talk about some gadgets. This time around, I’ve a treat for those of you who like to eat treats by your computer. AEW Digital TSK-VX7 Keyboard has no keys; It’s a touchpad.

Cleaning your keyboard isn’t fun, but if you want to keep all the crumbs, staples and dust out of it so it works at its best you have to do it, or do you? AEW Digital has a new keyboard that doesn’t use normal keys, rather every key on the keyboard is touch sensitive. The keys work much like the touchpad on your notebook or like the F keys on the Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Keyboard 7000. The AEW Digital TSK-VX7 keyboard has all the keys needed for XP MCE and Vista media operation. The 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity should make this a decent media center keyboard. The biggest problem I see is typing feel. Touch sensitive keys naturally have no typing feel so this will not be a keyboard suited to heavy typing.

Of course, It’ll take some getting used to, for typing that is. Since it is a trackpad. No idea if or when it’s available or for how much, but it other manufacturers jump on the bandwagon, It’s sure to be a hit. After all, you don’t bits of an Egg McMuffin stuck in your keyboard, do you?

Touch Sensitive TSK-VX7 Keyboard has the Typing Feel of a Board [Everything USB via OhGizmo]

Blogable editor Jake Jarvis recently launched his highly anticipated new site, Secret Rant.

Secret Rant allows anybody on the net to leave angry thoughts or messages without leaving any personal information. Think of it as anonymous blogging… The idea behind Secret Rant is as simple as it gets. It provides a way to let off some steam at the end of a long day at work without being identified. Before, the easiest way to rant in public was to sign up for a Blogger or Live Journal account. Now, anyone can post a few sentences without even logging in.

The site went public on Saturday (I waited to mention it so he could work out any possible bugs). So far, I enjoy the site (just reading the great stuff everyone else has put up). Rant on!

Secret Rant

When Apple released Mac OS 10.4 (better known as Tiger) almost two years ago, their big feature was spotlight, their instant search. When doing a search, you click, type, and click again to select. As if Spotlight weren’t fast enough, you can speed it up through a keyboard shortcut.

If you do a search and notice that the file it choses as your Top Hit in the Spotlight menu is actually the file you were looking for (hey, it could happen), just press-and-hold the Command key to jump right to the Top Hit, then press Return to open that document (or song, email, etc.), which closes the Spotlight menu.

What’s even more is that you can activate spotlight with your keyboard, too. Just use Cmd+Spacebar (Cmd is the Apple Logo) and type away. How do you like them Apples? (Pun Intended)

Get to Your Top Hit Fast [Apple Pro Tips]

Many people I know (including myself) use Facebook to contact people online. One of it’s many features is it’s ability to upload photos. If you have many of them, it could take awhile to get them all up. Facebook has come out with a solution for Mac people who use iPhoto for their pics: The Facebook iPhoto Exporter.

If you’re running a recent version of iPhoto, you’re set to go. With the plug-in, you just simply select the photos, pic an album, tag friends, and then export. it’s a great way to get your pics on Facebook.

So if you’re an avid Facebook user on a Mac, or just like having plug-ins, this is for you. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Facebook
Facebook iPhoto Exporter [via TUAW]

One of the great things I love about Firefox is the Bookmarks Toolbar. While most other browsers have this functionality, Firefox is unique in the fact that it has dividers.

To add these, go to Bookmarks >> Organize. From there, you can go to the Bookmarks toolbar folder. On the top, there’s a button to add a separator. Then just move it to where you want it.

Now, for the reason why. As you can see in the screenshot. You see sites related to me (JakeBechtold.com, this site, Viewmigate, MySpace). I then have a separator the splits up my links to frequently visited sites. Beyond that is a section for homework. Essentially, it’s a great way to split up all the sites you visit on a regular basis.

Any other cool uses for the Toolbar? Be sure to leave a comment.

In honor of my birthday, today, I’m going to provide you with a site that will give you random factoids about your birthday. Paul Sadowski’s Birthday Calculator will tell you pretty much everything you want to know about your birthday. As an expample, I’m going to use my birthday, March 12, 1990.

According to the Birthday Calculator, I was born on a Monday, and fall into the Chinese year beginning 1/27/1990 and ending 2/14/1991, and I was born in the Chinese year of the Horse. It also tells me that Escapade by Janet Jacksona, Opposites Attract by Paula Abdul with the Wild Pair, and Step By Step by New Kids On the Block were all popular songs around my birthday. Also, my birth tree is Lime Tree, the Doubt.

This isn’t all; the calculator provides other useless, but entertaining facts. Enjoy! (Oh, and the pic is my cake from last year)

Birthday Calculator [Paul Sadowski.com]

Here in the US, Daylight Saving Time starts 3 weeks early this year, on March 11, tomorrow (The day before my birthday, ironically). While you may know how to adjust for the new difference, your computer and gadgets may not. In fact, unless you run an update patch, your computer will adjust on April 1st, like it thinks it should.

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