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- Self-powered diaper monitor system automatically detects wet diapers
- Archos 5 Internet Tablet gets firmware update; Mini Dock demo [Video]
- Laptop reliability survey: ASUS and Toshiba win, HP fails
- Umazone UMA-ISO automatically mounts your DVD images
- What Happens When You Bring a 25-Year-Old Mac to the Genius Bar? [Apple]
- Hermés 8 Day Spiral Boule Clock: a blob of expensive, pointless extravagence
- CyberPower adds USB 3.0 and SATA 6G to entire Gamer Xtreme desktop line
- This Microsoft Store Is Trying Too Hard
- Viacom Top Lawyer on Obliterating Peer-to-Peer Users [Blockquote]
- OLED and solar-panel lights promise Earth-friendly simplicity
| Self-powered diaper monitor system automatically detects wet diapers Posted: 17 Nov 2009 07:41 AM PST
A research laboratory at Japan’s Ritsumeikan University has developed a monitoring system for wet diapers that consists of a self-powered sensor/transmitter and a receiver and is supposed to assist staff in hospitals and nursing homes in performing diaper checks with elderly patients. The sensor kit has to be placed inside the diaper and sends signals to the receiver unit, which was co-developed in collaboration with Seiko Epson. Both the sensor and the accompanying wireless transmitter are powered by a built-in battery that can generate electricity following a chemical reaction in the presence of urine. Once this happens, the sensor kit can transmit signals to a receiver located as far as 3 meters away. The university lab says their wet diaper monitoring system is still in prototype mode. One possible area for improvement is to add circuitry to the sensor system so that a single system can monitor a group of people, for example in a nursing home. Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subcription] Originally posted here:
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| Archos 5 Internet Tablet gets firmware update; Mini Dock demo [Video] Posted: 17 Nov 2009 07:27 AM PST
It’s been a rainstorm of Archos 5 Internet Tablet newness over at UMPC Portal today, with our friend Steve Paine taking delivery not only of the Archos 5 Mini Dock but the latest firmware which has also released today, v1.3.07. Together they’ve taken the Android-based Archos 5 even closer into MID status: USB host support means that you can plug a full-sized keyboard and mouse into the Mini Dock’s USB port, while the new firmware now supports full-screen YouTube HD playback together with outputting that content, via HDMI, onto your TV.
Video demo after the cut As well as full-sized peripherals, the USB host functionality will work with external storage such as USB thumb-drives and full-sized hard-drives. The latter, Steve has found, might not get enough power from the Archos 5 Mini Dock, however. We’re seeing more gadgets like smartphones and PMPs supporting USB host, and it certainly adds another degree of flexibility being able to whip out a mobile gadget to check or send out a file, rather than boot up your notebook or netbook. Steve has put together a full demo video below, including highlights of the new firmware; full details of that here. He’s calling it a “mini web PC” setup, and with a folding or compact keyboard we can certainly see it replacing what many users would generally turn to a notebook to achieve. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Laptop reliability survey: ASUS and Toshiba win, HP fails Posted: 17 Nov 2009 07:09 AM PST
 Boy, do we have a nice slab of data for you to sink your teeth into today. The 3-year service history of more than 30,000 laptops has been pored over, analyzed, and reduced to gorgeous comparative charts, which you know you’re dying to know more about. We should note, however, that the service was provided by SquareTrade, whose primary business is selling extended warranties, but that shouldn’t completely prejudice us against reaching conclusions on the basis of the presented facts. Firstly, netbooks have shown themselves to be on average 20 percent less reliable than entry-level laptops, which in turn are 10 percent more likely to break down than premium machines. In other words, you get what you pay for — shocking, right? The big talking point, though, will inevitably be the manufacturer comparison chart above: here ASUS and Toshiba (rather appropriately) share the winners’ spoils, while HP languishes in the ignominious last place, with more than a quarter of all laptops expected to suffer a hardware fault of some kind within three years. So, does your experience corroborate / refute this info? Keep it gentlemanly, okay? [Via Electronista] Filed under: Laptops Laptop reliability survey: ASUS and Toshiba win, HP fails originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Umazone UMA-ISO automatically mounts your DVD images Posted: 17 Nov 2009 07:01 AM PST
Japanese accessory manufacturer Umazone have outdone themselves with a hard-drive caddy that will likely strike a chord with anyone doing regular software installs. The Umazone UMA-ISO looks like a regular 2.5-inch HDD drive enclosure; however it also has a small display and, on the side, a jog wheel, which can be used to flick through ISO CD and DVD images stored on the drive inside. Once selected, plugging the UMA-ISO into a host computer is pretty much the same as dropping the original disc into a CD/DVD drive.
Connectivity is via USB 2.0 and eSATA, and it can also be set to show up as a regular external drive for copying over those ISOs (and other data) in the first place. It looks to be reasonably compact, too, only a little longer than the 2.5-inch drive it contains. In the negative column right now are a frustrating limitation to XP, Vista and Windows 7 and the fact that it costs 9,980 yen ($112) without a drive inside. Still, if you admin plenty of Windows machines and you’re sick and tired of carrying around a bag full of installation discs, the UMA-ISO is still likely to appeal. [via Akihabara] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| What Happens When You Bring a 25-Year-Old Mac to the Genius Bar? [Apple] Posted: 17 Nov 2009 07:00 AM PST
I didn’t know, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I brought an ancient and non-functioning Mac to the Apple Store in the Meatpacking District in NYC, and this is what happened. Overall, they were surprisingly unfazed by my request for repairs. They were impressed than I had it, and seemed genuinely interested in helping me get it fixed. They couldn’t do anything for me, since Apple only keeps equipment from the last five years on hand, but they pointed me towards Tekserve, another Apple-centric store in NYC. Thanks to Blakeley from Gawker.tv for shooting the hidden camera footage!
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| Hermés 8 Day Spiral Boule Clock: a blob of expensive, pointless extravagence Posted: 17 Nov 2009 06:46 AM PST
As vaguely pointless but nonetheless desirable knick-nacks go, the Hermés 8 Day Spiral Boule Clock has to rank pretty high up on the list. A 1kg ball of magnifying-effect optical crystal, white gold and a total of 231 parts, the Spiral Boule is wound by twisting the two halves, while a single button on the base switches it into time-setting mode.
Inside, the simple hands move around the spiral clock face – also made of white gold – or you can flip it over to watch the mechanics at work. Hermés say there’s enough power for 200 hours of use in-between windings, and that the inspiration for the design was a classic clock at the company’s museum in Paris. Of course, a large part of the appeal of something like this is the exclusivity. It’s apparently a one-off, and priced at an eye-watering $560,000. Despite it being roughly the size of a cricket ball, then, we’d recommend you not actually hit it with a bat. [via bookofjoe] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
More here:
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| CyberPower adds USB 3.0 and SATA 6G to entire Gamer Xtreme desktop line Posted: 17 Nov 2009 06:46 AM PST
Continue reading CyberPower adds USB 3.0 and SATA 6G to entire Gamer Xtreme desktop line Filed under: Desktops, Peripherals CyberPower adds USB 3.0 and SATA 6G to entire Gamer Xtreme desktop line originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| This Microsoft Store Is Trying Too Hard Posted: 17 Nov 2009 06:41 AM PST
See what I mean after the jump. Original post:
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| Viacom Top Lawyer on Obliterating Peer-to-Peer Users [Blockquote] Posted: 17 Nov 2009 06:36 AM PST
I really don’t get it. If he really thinks this, why doesn’t he advise another course of action? Señor Fricklas, no comprendo. [Ars Technica]
Read the original here:
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| OLED and solar-panel lights promise Earth-friendly simplicity Posted: 17 Nov 2009 06:32 AM PST
As well as reducing space the system would also avoid the need for a power inverter, since the solar-cells output direct current, the batteries store direct current, and the OLED panel runs off direct current. The FESC reckon it could be ideal for parking lots or other installations where you want minimal maintenance. [via OLED-Info] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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![What Happens When You Bring a 25 Year Old Mac to the Genius Bar? [Apple]](http://www.focusoft.biz/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/226ac3e48deus.gif.gif?eui=2226 "What Happens When You Bring a 25 Year Old Mac to the Genius Bar? [Apple]")
While we wait for the big boys to 
This is embarrassing. Not only are the Microsoft Stores a clear copy of Apple Stores, but now the employees are trying to be spontaneous and stir up customer reactions with a weird bastardization of Improv Anywhere. ![5a46f59264quote.jpg Viacom Top Lawyer on Obliterating Peer to Peer Users [Blockquote]](http://www.focusoft.biz/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/5a46f59264quote.jpg.jpg "Viacom Top Lawyer on Obliterating Peer to Peer Users [Blockquote]")
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