Friday, July 24, 2009
Techie Things
It's no secret that I'm a technology nut. If a gadget packs a lot of high tech into a small package, does something cool and/or has a high FLPD ratio (Flashing Lights Per Dollar), it's a Thing I probably can't live without. Here are my top five picks for the Tech Things I can't resist this week.
#1 - Wireless Microphones: My niece is a very good singer and I 'm not just saying that because I'm her uncle. We take her to karaoke nights whenever we can and she wows the audience every time. But sometimes she likes to practice singing at home. And sometimes she likes to sing duets with her uncle (okay, so that's mostly me) but I'm too scared to get up in front of people. With these mics, we can both sing along with a stereo or her own karaoke machine. The set comes with two professional-grade wireless microphones on two different frequencies and it's really easy to use. You just plug the wireless receiver into the microphone jack of your stereo, amplifier or karaoke machine and sing your heart out!
#2 - DVD/CD Duplicator: A couple of weeks ago, we recorded my niece singing at home (without me, of course) and burned the tracks onto a CD. It turned out pretty good, so my sister wants to make copies for people as Christmas gifts. But it takes a long time to make a lot of CDs on a computer. That's why I let her borrow my DVD/CD Duplicator. It doesn't get much simpler. You don't even need a computer. Just put the CD you want to copy in one drive and a blank CDR in the other drive and within six minutes, you have a copy. It also works with DVDs and doesn't require a cool-down period between copies.
#3 - DVR Pen With Sound: If you have trouble remembering exactly what was said during a meeting, a class or a seminar, this little gadget makes it easy to "recall" what happened. It's an ordinary looking pen, but it has a pinhole camera built in. It has 4 GB of built-in flash memory and will record up to 80 minutes of video with sound. Or you can use it to store hundreds of still photos. It plugs right into your computer's USB port so you can download the contents to your PC. Plus, the video plays back in Windows Media Player -- it couldn't be easier!
#4 - Mini Pen Digital Camera Recorder: This is the world's smallest high resolution, real-time digital camera recorder. You activate the recorder with the same motion you use to make the pen tip retract, so no one will know you're recording. And, you can even write with this pen! It also has 4 GB of built-in flash memory for about 12 hours of recording. To play it back, you just unscrew the pen and plug it into the USB port on your computer. What I really like about this one is it's truly "plug and play." There's no set-up required, it records until the memory is full or you shut it off and -- best of all -- it automatically saves files before the battery dies.
#5 - Waterproof Action Camera: Want to shoot some stunt videos? This little camera is waterproof, mounts on helmets, handlebars or other sports equipment and only weighs eight ounces. It's shock-resistant and waterproof up to ten feet. It takes great quality video, too. For a test run, I strapped it to my bike helmet and rode around the neighborhood and I was amazed at what it captured. Not only did it see everything, I saw, it caught a lot of stuff I didn't even notice, like an armadillo eyeballing me from the side of the road! Now I just have to figure out which videos I want to put on YouTube...See you next week,
Bobby
Posted by Bobby at
5:00 AM
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