Tuesday 8 January 2013

Review: Toolbar Cleaner removes unwanted browser toolbars, browser extensions, and start-up items

At one time or another, we install too much stuff. And who can blame us? The Internet is one big playground with lots to install and play with, and we eventually forget that too many installations can slow down and eventually crash our system. One key to a smooth healthy running computer is to keep it as trim as possible, with as little bloatware as possible. Enter Toolbar Cleaner (free) to make that task really easy.

As the name implies, Toolbar Cleaner…well….cleans your system of toolbars. But it actually goes further than that;  it also cleans your browsers of other items such as plugins and extensions. It also provides another service, which is to clean up your Windows start-up menu.So don't think it is a one-trick pony. It is capable of more than you might think.

But one thing at a time. First you need to install the program, which will literally take only a minute due to the installation file weighing in at 1MB. But a word of caution:  During the installation process, the app will try to change your browser homepage as well as install something called an "anti-phishing domain advisor" (more on that later). You can easily bypass these by unchecking them before proceeding, but an unalert user with their eye on something else at the time may totally miss it.  So concentrate on the installation; otherwise, you will have something else to uninstall later.

When installing Toolbar Cleaner (or any software), be very cautious and make sure that you don't accidently choose these two options. Unless you really want them, check them before proceeding.

When it is ready to go, fire up Toolbar Cleaner and you will immediately be presented with two tabs. The first tab, called "Browsers", will show you all he toolbars, extensions and plugins that you have installed. he app supports all the big browsers such as Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer. Simply study the list, decide which toolbars, extensions and plugins you want removed and tick the boxes next to them. Then, making sure the browser is closed first, click "Remove Selected Toolbar(s)" and watch the progress bar methodically remove your choices. Then simply restart the browser and see if they are gone.

The other tab is called "Windows Startup". Again, this is very self-explanatory. You will see a list of all of the services and software apps that start up when you boot up Windows. If you have too many, then Windows will slow down when you are trying to start it. So it pays to have this list as small as possible and only have the essentials starting up. Saying that, if you don't know what something is, don't touch it. Otherwise you could end up doing more damage than good.

If you know what something is, and it doesn't have to start up during Windows boot-up time, then check the boxes next to your choices and click "Remove Selected Startup Item(s)". They will then be disabled, not uninstalled (an important distinction to make).

When you run Toolbar Cleaner, you will be presented with an easy-to-follow list of all the toolbars, browser plugins, extensions, and Windows Start-Up menu items currently on your system. Just tick the ones you want removed and watch them disappear.

Toolbar Cleaner is a nice small simple app which fills a need and does it well.  However, it is slightly spoiled by the fact that it tries to install something on your system as well as try to get your homepage changed. If the developer would remove that, they would have a perfect little app on their hands.

There's one important point to go over. During installation, the program will try to install something called "Anti-Phishing Domain Advisor."  You might think it ironic that a program dedicated to removing bloatware is trying to install some of its own. However, I checked with developer Visicom Media, and they told me that Anti-Phishing Domain Advisor is actually a security application that they develop for Lavasoft (makers of Ad-Aware) and Panda Security. The Anti-Phishing feed, which comes from Panda Security servers, is updated several times per hour.  The developer was keen to point out that installation is not obligatory.

Not all toolbars are evil. The Google Toolbar, for example, is well-made and recommended. But all too many toolbars are virus-ridden and malware-infected, doing nothing but slow your system down and send your private information back to the toolbar developer. Keep Toolbar Cleaner handy and run it on a regular basis to keep your system clean.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.



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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2024000/review-toolbar-cleaner-removes-unwanted-browser-toolbars-browser-extensions-and-start-up-items.html

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CES first look: Android tablets tuned for kids

LAS VEGAS – When your kids see you using a tablet, of course they want to use one, too. Thank goodness there are some tablets out there tailored to them, so they can share the experience—without begging for time on your own device.

One of the early players in Android tablets customized for kids has been Fuhu, maker of the Nabi 2. The company introduced two new kids’ tablets, the Nabi Jr. and the Nabi XD, late last year, and this was my first chance to try them out. Both will be on sale by the end of February.

Nabi XD has Nvidia Tegra 3 GPU

The larger of the two tablets, the 10.1-inch Nabi XD, impressed me most. It has a uniquely curved design, with white plastic and red plastic accents. The tablet even has both front- and back-facing cameras, an unusual find in a tablet that's clearly trying to push prices down ever-lower.

Melissa J. Perenson
The Nabi XD has a uniquely curved design, with white and red plastic accents

Equipped with Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, it costs $249 for the 16GB model, and $349 for the 32GB model. It has thoughtful, but not stifling, Android launcher customizations, to provide a more streamlined experience for the tweener set. However I'm still verifying the screen resolution; what I saw in person did not seem to match what the spec sheet claimed.

Melissa J. Perenson
The Navi XD comes with Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

NFC field allows augmented-reality gameplay

The unique feature on the Nabi XD is the inclusion of a large, clearly delineated NFC field embedded into the back. The NFC works with Fuhu's own Battle Kinabis game: Tap the character figures with the tablet, and then, via augmented reality, the figures will get into the game.

Melissa J. Perenson
The NFC builds augmented-reality play into Fuhu's own Battle Kinabis game.

The Nabi XD has some parental controls, but not nearly as much or far-reaching as on the currently shipping Nabi 2 or the forthcoming Nabi Jr.

Nabi Jr. sports a rotating camera

Aimed at much younger kids, the Android 4.0-based Nabi Jr. is priced at $99 for 4GB, and $129 for 16GB. It's thick and stout, made of glossy white plastic and bright, clear plastic buttons all around. There’s also a back grid designed for use with personalization accessories like Nabi character tiles.

Melissa J. Perenson
The Nabi Jr. is thick and stout, made of glossy white plastic with bright, clear plastic buttons.

The single camera is cleverly designed to rotate so it faces the front or back of the tablet—something that's not practical on a mainstream tablet, given the real-estate constraints. There's even a capacitive touch stylus well for a small stylus, a terrific inclusion for kids who want to draw on a screen (small as it is).

Melissa J. Perenson
The Nabi Jr.'s camera rotates to face the front or back of the tablet.

The Nabi Jr.’s 5-inch display carries just 800 by 480 pixels, adequate for the smaller screen size (as opposed to larger displays that have the same resolution). It looked better than I anticipated.

Melissa J. Perenson
The display's 800-by-480-pixel resolution is adequate for the smaller screen size.

The MicroSD card slot is smartly covered by the bright red, easy to slip off, bumper. The tablet also has a headphone jack and charging port.

Tailored for fun, education, and parental control

The interesting thing about the Nabi tablets is that Fuhu really has tried to tailor both the hardware and the software for its younger audience. The tablet's interface is an evolution of the Nabi 2's, with its simple tiles and highly guided, protected environment. A Daddy or Mommy mode lets adults into an unrestricted, standard Android universe, but kids get a very targeted experience, one that's preloaded with apps, and designed in conjunction with educators to match up with standard school curriculums. The Nabi 2 allows multiple child profiles; the company is still working out details for Nabi Jr., though.

Melissa J. Perenson
Kids get a very targeted Nabi Jr. experience, preloaded with apps.

Fuhu says it is working on an Amazon Kindle FreeTime-like time and usage allowance controls, but it doesn't have a solution yet. The company does say it's been getting asked about it a lot, though, and software is currently in beta.

For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the nation's largest consumer electronics show, check out our complete coverage of CES 2013.



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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2024234/ces-first-look-android-tablets-tuned-for-kids.html

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Hands on with the Pantech Discover smartphone (video)

LAS VEGAS—Announced early Monday morning at AT&T's developer summit, the Pantech Discover may not seem like much at first, but this slick new smartphone has a lot to offer.

The Discover packs a 12.6-megapixel camera that's capable of taking some above average photos, and offers surprisingly good audio playback via its external, dual 3D surround sound speakers. We were surprised at how loud and clear the audio sounded, and with its lack of distortion even at higher volumes.

The back of the phone has a soft, rubbery coating that makes it comfortable to hold, and the 4.8-inch 1280 by 720 display provides ample room for typing out long messages or watching videos. If you're someone who’s always working while on the go, you'll appreciate the Discover's full VPN support, which will allow you to access your work documents wherever you go.

The best part about the Pantech Discover? The price. At only $50 (with a new 2-year contract), the Pantech Discover is an enticing choice for smartphone buyers on a budget. The phone hits store shelves on January 11th.

Keep an eye out for our full review of the Discover in the coming weeks.

For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the nation's largest consumer electronics show, check out our complete coverage of CES 2013.



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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2024201/hands-on-with-the-pantech-discover-smartphone.html

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Monday 7 January 2013

Music - News, Reviews & Boston Concerts - Boston.com

Be the first to hear everything RadioBDC. Receive weekly updates packed with giveaways, exclusive access to station events, concerts and acoustic performances.

Source: http://syndication.boston.com/ae/music

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Rainbow Igloo Rocks

By , 2013/01/07 @ 12:31 pm

rainbow igloo1

When New Zealander Daniel Gray and his girlfriend Kathleen Starrie decided to visit her family in Edmonton, Canada, for five weeks, Starrie’s mother Brigid Burton thought it best to come up with a hefty project to keep Gray occupied (and test his resolve): she tasked him with making a rainbow igloo in the backyard. Burton had collected a slew of milk cartons and used them, water, and food coloring to make colored ice blocks. Gray put his engineering prowess to work, drew up some plans, and started building, using “snowcrete” (snow mixed with water) to bind the bricks. Five weeks, 500 ice blocks, and about 150 hours of work later, the rainbow igloo was complete. For more, watch the story video and check out their full image set.

rainbow igloo3

rainbow igloo2

rainbow igloo5

[via Colossal]



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Review: Unroll.me condenses emailed subscriptions into digests

More and more email services are tackling the problem of email overload. One of the latest is Unroll.me, which attempts to organize your inbox by tidying up the mess left by all of those subscriptions most of us receive. Unroll.me has plenty of promise, but this free beta service remains a bit rough around the edges.

Unroll.me works with Gmail, Google Apps, and Yahoo email accounts; the company (also called Unroll.me) says it is working on adding support for AOL and other email services, but does not say when that will happen. You sign up for the free service online and link your email account, and Unroll.me goes to work automatically, scanning your email account to see which subscriptions you receive. It took just a few minutes for Unroll.me to scan a Gmail account that holds more than 10,000 messages.

Once the initial scan is complete, Unroll.me shows you your Rollup, which the company describes as "a digest that gives you an overview of the subscriptions you receive each day." By default, Unroll.me places all messages that it deems subscriptions into your Rollup, and it proved fairly accurate, though it did mistakenly identify messages from a few colleagues as subscriptions. You do have complete control over your Rollup, though, so it was easy to tell Unroll.me to deliver these messages to my inbox, instead.

Unroll.me automatically adds a folder to your email account, and all of your bulk messages are delivered directly to it.

You also can tell Unroll.me what time of day you'd like to receive your daily Rollup: morning, afternoon, or night. If you can't wait until your Rollup arrives to peruse its contents, you don't have to: you can either login to Unroll.me's website or you can take a look in the Unroll.me folder that's automatically added to your email account. All of your messages are delivered directly to this folder, which appears on mobile devices and any browser that you use to view your account.

If you want to use Unroll.me to monitor two email accounts, such as one Yahoo account and one Gmail account, you'll have to sign into each account separately on Unroll.me's site. Unroll.me does not create one blended rollup from the two accounts, which would have been a nice touch.

Another issue: I was less than impressed by the daily Rollup. The idea is promising, and the email message itself looks neatly organized, as it shows a list of your emails, organized into categories and by time received. But clicking on one of the message icons doesn't allow you to view that message, as I expected it would. Instead, it opens a page on Unroll.me's site, where you're taken to your current Rollup. So, if I open a Rollup from 2 days ago and attempt to view a message, I'm instead bumped to Unroll.me's site and my current Rollup. I then have to dig through several messages (my Rollup had almost 700 messages in it from the last few weeks) before I can find the one I want. I'd much prefer immediate access to the message in question. After all, if a service is going to save me time by sorting out the messages I don't need to see right away, I don't want to waste any more time trying to find the message when I decide I do need to see them.

Unroll.me offers an attractive list of your subscription-based email messages.

I do like how Unroll.me's site lets you edit your Rollup, though. When I hover over the message, I can decide to enter "Edit mode." From there, I can either choose to unsubscribe from this message delivery or opt to have it sent straight to my inbox, instead.

Unroll.me is similar in many ways to Sanebox, a $5-per-month service that cleans up your inbox to display only the messages it thinks you need to see right now. While Unroll.me is free, Sanebox justifies its higher price by offering additional features, such as the ability to sort your less-important messages into a variety of folders, such as an archive, a folder to view later, and a folder specifically for newsletters. Sanebox also makes it easier to find the messages you want when you decide it's time to view them.

Unroll.me does have promise. Its design is slick and its aesthetics are appealing. But until it makes it easier to access the messages I do want when I want them, Unroll.me isn't saving me as much time as it should.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor's site, where you can link your email account to this Web-based service.



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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023763/review-unroll-me-condenses-emailed-subscriptions-into-digests.html

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Nvidia’s audacious attempt to make life easier for PC gamers

LAS VEGAS— Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang talked here in Vegas about his company’s cloud-based system for helping gamers tweak their PCs for the best graphics possible.

The “GeForce Experience,” as it’s called, sounds a little like one of those crazy bungee jumping affairs you find when on vacation, but it’s really a stab at making life less confusing for PC gamers trying to navigate the complexities of PC game settings.

Since PC gaming is the fastest growing segment of the largest entertainment medium today, ensuring a smooth game experience is in the best interest of gamers and Nvidia, the largest purveyor of discrete graphics chips in the world.

Game setup is hard

Playing a PC game out of the box often yields a low resolution, muddy mess. A few games attempt to set optimized resolution, but game developers often can’t account for the vast range of performance differences that exist in today’s PCs. Add in gamers who might be playing on years-old hardware, and it’s impossible for a single game company to intelligently adjust settings for all possible system configurations. The configuration screens in games is often a messy collection of acronyms and technical jargon, which prevents many users from intelligently adjusting their own settings.

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang speaking at CES.

CEO Huang set the stage, noting how PC gaming is different from console gaming. A high-end gaming PC might offer 15 times the performance of an Xbox 360 console, while a low-end PC might eke out barely half the performance of the same console. PC games include the ability to alter game settings to get better quality graphics or tweak the game’s performance, but it’s too complicated for most gamers. “PC game settings are a blessing and a curse,” Huang noted.

Nvidia has access to a wide array of data on PC gaming platforms, going back to the early days of the GeForce GTX graphics engines. “We went out and tried to understand every single PC configuration in the world and every single game setting in the world,” Huang said. Given the company’s history of working with both game developers and end users, the company is uniquely positioned to understand all the vagaries of different PC systems.

Nvidia spent years collecting and analyzing a vast amount of performance data on PC games. They studied the impact of various in-game graphics settings on performance. This included data collected over multiple generations and price points of GeForce-based graphics cards, as well as a broad range of PC CPUs.

Automated game settings from the cloud

The GeForce Experience is a cloud service integrated into upcoming GeForce Drivers. Nvidia developed algorithms to automatically set game performance based on the configuration data the company collected over the years. GFE analyzes a computer’s settings, including graphics, CPU and memory, and automatically injects the settings into the user’s games. So users don’t need to navigate complex graphics settings to make changes to game settings. Nvidia tested a vast array of settings on thousands of PC configurations to make sure they actually delivered an optimal gaming performance.

Huang showed footage of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 running without the GeForce settings, then enabled GeForce Experience with a single click and showed the improvement. The differences were very noticeable: Frame rate remained smooth, while graphics detail and overall resolution improved.

Gaming graphics before "GeForce Experience" settings applied.

The screenshot before GFE is applied is blurry, with objects not well defined. When the GeForce Experience is applied, the image looks crisper, with higher detail on the object and crisper edges and outlines.

Gaming graphics after "GeForce Experience" settings applied.

Bottom line: PCs as game consoles

The GeForce Experience is currently in closed beta, with no formal release date announced. Jen-Hsun Huang said that the primary goal of the GeForce Experience is “console simplicity with PC performance.”

That’s an admirable, insanely ambitious goal, but Nvidia’s never lacked for ambition. If the GeForce Experience can come close to its stated goal of making PC game settings as easy as console games, then PC gamers everywhere will be much, much happier. The one exception to this will be users who are running AMD Radeon graphics chips. The GeForce Experience will be built into Nvidia drivers, and will work only on systems running Nvidia-based graphics cards.

And in the end that’s the real bottom line: more Nvidia GPUs in more PCs.

For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the nation's largest consumer electronics show, check out our complete coverage of CES 2013.



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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023844/nvidia-s-audacious-attempt-to-make-life-easier-for-pc-gamers.html

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Nvidia plans a Tegra 4-based portable gaming device

LAS VEGAS—Perhaps taking a leaf from Apple's book, Nvidia kept its greatest surprise at CES for the end of its Sunday news conference: an Android-based portable gaming device based on its new Tegra 4 chip.

A working prototype of the device was demonstrated by Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang (shown above) during the news conference. A launch date wasn't announced.

The device, called "Project Shield," resembles an oversized gaming controller with a fold-up flat-panel display on top.

It has three internal batteries that will provide between five and 10 hours of game play, a high-performance audio system, and a 5-inch display with 720P high-definition resolution.

Connected to Nvidia's Tegrazone Android gaming site, Huang demonstrated some of the gaming features of the device. They included full-screen gaming on a television, multi-player gaming with a user on another of the portable devices, and the playing of a 4K video to a 4K TV. The 4K format is a new video format being pushed by TV makers that features four times conventional high-definition resolution.

Nvidia's Project Shield gaming device

The device can also play PC games through the Steam streaming service by taking advantage of Nvidia's Grid, a cloud-based graphics processing system that was also announced on Sunday.

Joining the gaming fray

The device marks an expansion of Nvidia's product portfolio, which has traditionally been centered around graphics processing chips and computer graphics cards. But it comes as companies including Microsoft and Google are trying their hand in the hardware business.

Before demonstrating the prototype, Huang showed a computer rendered video of the device, which ended to applause from some audience member.

"I'll take your money shortly," said Huang in response.

Huang will have to work hard to earn sales in the competitive mobile gaming market.

Nintendo and Sony are facing increasing competition for their DS and PSP devices from smartphones and tablets. Nvidia will have to compete with both those companies and the smartphone and tablet makers.

Hardware for better graphics

NVidia also said during the press conference that is it taking video games into the cloud with a new rack server optimized for computer graphics.

The server works in combination with software in a client device and holds the promise of delivering high-quality computer graphics and gaming on devices with relatively modest graphics processing ability, Huang said.

Each rack-mounted NVidia Grid contains 240 of the company's graphics processing units and boasts a total GPU computational power of 200 teraflops, said Huang. Each node can support 24 concurrent users and the entire server has a performance equivalent to 720 Xbox 360s, said Huang.

On stage, he demonstrated a streaming video game running on both an LG flat-screen television and netbook computer. The TV was connected to a receiver box and the netbook ran software. Both the receiver and software connected via the Internet to an NVidia Grid server.

Huang said that such a service wouldn't be possible using a conventional rack-mounted server because those were optimized for computing, not graphics.

"They have lots of CPU cores and no GPUs," he said.

NVidia has been working for five years on the device taking on challenges that included shifting data across the internet fast enough to avoid delays in gaming. The NVidia Grid includes a new, unnamed graphics processing unit.

The company is already testing the device with partners in several countries: Agawi in the U.S., Cloudunion and Cyber Cloud in China, G-cluster in Japan, Playcast in Israel, and Ubitus in South Korea.

New Nvidia software to interest PC gamers

Huang also had something to offer PC gamers, one of its core audiences.

GeForce Experience is a software application that scans a PC's hardware and automatically sets it to match the game being played. Typically, PC games feature a complex settings screen that allows gamers to match the game to their system and hardware.

"When you launch the game, GFE magically inserts the settings into your game so it comes up to the most beautiful and playable settings your game allows," said Huang.

He demonstrated a before-and-after image from the Call Of Duty game. With GFE enabled, the game screen appeared to be sharper with a higher definition.

For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the nation's largest consumer electronics show, check out our complete coverage of CES 2013.



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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023841/nvidia-plans-a-tegra-4-based-portable-gaming-device.html

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Sunday 6 January 2013

Macintosh Classic modded with NES and Raspberry Pi

By , 2013/01/06 @ 12:00 pm

Youtube user MungoBBQ took an old Macintosh Classic and stuffed in a couple of controllers and a Raspberry Pi to make his own mini NES emulator.

mac-nes

The CRT had long since blown out, so he removed it and swapped in a modern LCD screen, then added NES – USB converters to get the controllers to work. A powered USB hub routes into the Pi, which runs the Emulation Station to get those classic 8 bit games.

The build is nifty, but he looks like he can use some help permanently attaching the LCD to the housing. Any ideas?



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Young Makers Opens Its Biggest Season Ever

By , 2013/01/04 @ 4:30 pm

YM-SaraMia

Kids, parents and teachers making in the Bay Area:

We are thrilled to announce that we’re expanding to three host organizations in the Bay Area for the 2013 season: The Tech Museum of Innovation (in San Jose, for the South Bay), the Lawrence Hall of Science (in Berkeley, for the East Bay), and The Bay School of San Francisco (for San Francisco and North Bay). For the past three years, Open MAKE has been a collaboration between the Exploratorium, MAKE magazine, and Pixar Animation Studios. The Exploratorium will be closed during this year’s program as it moves to the piers, so the Bay Area welcomes these three new regional hubs as they step up to host Young Makers meetings, workshops, and exhibits in the Open MAKE tradition initiated by The Tinkering Studio.

If you are a fan of Maker Faire, the brilliant, inventive energy of these 12 events will tide you over until the main Faire in San Mateo on May 18-19. Each hub will host one event per month, and the day begins at 10am, starting a week from tomorrow with Open MAKE @ The Tech on Saturday, January 12 — an ideal location for Young Makers in the South Bay. The Lawrence Hall of Science welcomes Young Makers from around the East Bay the following Saturday, January 19th. Finally, The Bay School hosts the regional meeting for Young Makers of San Francisco and the North Bay on Saturday, January 26th. Then, there are three events for each of the next three months. Dates for the 2013 Bay Area Young Makers season are:

At each site, visitors are invited to explore their own creativity with makers from around the Bay Area who will share their art, ingenuity, and techniques for making.

These events are open to all. Young Makers’ attendance is complimentary at the two museums when you register in advance, and for other visitors, access to the events is included in the price of the museums’ general admission. At The Bay School, the events are free to registered participants.

To register for one of these Bay Area events, please visit youngmakers.org/bay-area-2013-registration/.

Kids, parents and teachers making outside the Bay Area:

You can start clubs and hubs too! Take a look at youngmakers.org to find out more. Make sure you sign up for our mailing list, and if you have a club going, add it to our directory.

What’s this all about?

The Young Makers program connects young people (ages 8-17) with adult mentors and fabricators to create opportunities for kids to dream up and develop projects for exhibition at Maker Faire each year. We encourage kids to develop projects based on their own interests and ideas. Past projects have included a pedal-powered trolley, furniture that doubles as a hamster habitat, a fire-breathing dragon, a seesaw water pump, an animatronic galloping horse, and a mobile spy camera. We all work together to create a collaborative culture of creativity, innovation and experimentation. In addition, we bring program participants together for monthly meetups to explore different kinds of making and to talk about their own work in progress. In the Young Makers program, there are no winners and losers; the focus is on exhibition, not competition, and just like Maker Faire, anything that’s cool is fair game.To find out more about the program, visit youngmakers.org.



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Music - News, Reviews & Boston Concerts - Boston.com

Be the first to hear everything RadioBDC. Receive weekly updates packed with giveaways, exclusive access to station events, concerts and acoustic performances.

Source: http://syndication.boston.com/ae/music

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Tech spending expected to escape the recent doldrums

As the economy improves and at least some of the concerns about the so-called U.S. "fiscal cliff" are resolved, desire for new mobile, analytics, and storage technology will drive information technology spending this year, according to market researchers and economists.

The first batch of IT spending forecasts for the year are already in, and they look positive relative to the doldrums the tech industry was in during the last six months.

Businesses buy tech

Global IT purchases will increase by 3.3 percent in 2013, in terms of U.S. dollars, to US$2.1 trillion, according to a Forrester report released this week. Because the dollar has been strong relative to other currencies recently, however, a better way to understand IT spending growth is to look at the spending increase in terms of local currencies, according to Andrew Bartels, chief economist at Forrester. In local currency terms, IT spending growth this year will be a relatively healthy 5.4 percent, he noted.

Next year will be even better, with worldwide spending on IT increasing 6.1 percent in U.S. dollars and 6.7 percent in terms of local currencies, Forrester forecasts.

shopping

The partial deal on the fiscal cliff reached by the U.S. Congress this week will help unlock corporate coffers, Bartels said. The fiscal cliff was a series of government spending cuts and tax hikes set to kick in during 2013 if a budget compromise was not reached. Congress worked through New Year's eve and New Year's day to reach a compromise on taxes, which calls for, among other things, an increase on income taxes only for the wealthiest Americans, though a payroll tax on wages will come into effect.

Congress still needs to work out an agreement on government spending over the next two months. "But two-thirds of the impact of the fiscal cliff had to do with taxes," Bartels said. "Especially in the second half of 2012, you had U.S. businesses go into a capital spending freeze because of worries about going into a fiscal cliff recession."

Removing much if not all of those concerns also removes many barriers holding back U.S. investments on new technology, particularly around mobility, analytics and collaboration software, said Bartels.

In addition, as Europe continues to comes to terms with its debt problems and climbs out of recession, and China resolves political problems around a transition in leadership, areas of the world outside of the U.S. will also start to grow faster in 2013, leading to greater IT spending in 2014, IDC said in its report.

Biggest buy: Software

Software, at $542 billion, will remain the largest category of global IT purchases in 2013, and will experience growth of 4.4 percent in dollar terms, IDC said. Computer equipment, at $416 billion, is the second-largest category, but will remain weak with just 2.1 percent growth this year, IDC said, after 1.2 percent growth in 2012.

In tight economic times, corporations tend to rein in hardware spending, letting users continue to use older machines, Bartels pointed out. But an improving world economy will set the stage for a release of pent-up demand next year.

Data from other market researchers broadly back up the trends seen in the Forrester outlook. For example, broad economic uncertainty and weak demand for PCs led IDC to reduce its expectations for semiconductor growth for both 2012 and 2013. In a report issued just before the new year, IDC said semiconductor revenue for 2012 would end up being $304 billion, up less than 1 percent. That was significantly less than the 4.6 growth rate predicted in July. However, semiconductor revenue will rise 4.9 percent to $319 billion in 2013 and reach $368 billion in 2016, IDC said.

Priorities: security, mobile gadgets

Meanwhile, enterprises buying new mobile devices and investing in security and storage management will give IT spending a boost in 2013, said Gartner this week. Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending, in terms of U.S. dollars, to increase by 4.2 percent this year to total $3.7 trillion. The difference in the Gartner and Forrester figures is due in part to Gartner's inclusion of telecom in its calculations; Forrester breaks out telecom spending into a separate report.

"Uncertainties surrounding prospects for an upturn in global economic growth are the major retardants to IT growth," said Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner, in a statement about the report. "This uncertainty has caused the pessimistic business and consumer sentiment throughout the world. However, much of this uncertainty is nearing resolution, and as it does, we look for accelerated spending growth in 2013 compared to 2012." 

But corporate planners are apparently not entirely certain that the world economy is out of the woods yet, cautions Computer Economics, which provides metrics for IT management, in a new report. "As IT budget planners look to the year ahead, they are expecting growth in IT operational budgets close to what occurred in the previous year, about 2.5%, while IT capital investments plans are flat and IT hiring plans are on hold," the firm said. "Until a clearer picture of the economy emerges, large enterprises are preparing for a slow-growth environment."



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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023785/tech-spending-expected-to-escape-the-recent-doldrums.html

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Saturday 5 January 2013

Laser-Cut Bathymetric Charts

By , 2013/01/04 @ 11:30 am

belowtheboat

Below the Boat (AKA Kara and Robbie Johnson) lasers bathymetric charts, the underwater equivalent to topographical maps, out of birch. Water is shown colored blue for easy reference.

(T)he contours are laser-cut into sheets of Baltic birch and glued together to create a powerful visual depth. Select layers are hand-colored blue so it’s easy to discern land from water, major byways are etched into the land, the whole thing’s framed in a custom, solid-wood frame and protected seamlessly with a sheet of durable, ultra-transparent Plexiglas.

[via core77]



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Music - News, Reviews & Boston Concerts - Boston.com

Be the first to hear everything RadioBDC. Receive weekly updates packed with giveaways, exclusive access to station events, concerts and acoustic performances.

Source: http://syndication.boston.com/ae/music

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Friday 4 January 2013

RCA Android tablet packs dual digital TV tuners

An Android tablet that can receive both conventional and mobile digital TV transmissions will be among the gadgets unveiled at next week’s International CES in Las Vegas.

The 8-inch RCA Mobile TV Tablet packs tuners for both the high-bandwidth ATSC digital signals typically received via a roof-top antenna, and for lower-bandwidth mobile ATSC broadcasts.

The RCA Mobile TV Tablet packs tuners for both conventional and mobile TV.

The former carry all local TV stations in all television markets across the U.S., but the signals aren’t suited to reception while on the move. The mobile ATSC broadcasts can be received while in motion, say in a car or on a train, but coverage and channel availability are much more limited.

NBC and Fox are building a network of transmitters to offer a mobile service under the Dyle brand, but the services are currently on air in only 35 television markets. Dyle transmissions are scrambled, although currently available at no cost, and the service will remain free for at least all of 2013.

The RCA tablet will allow reception of all local TV broadcasts, but only a few of them while in motion.

The device runs Android 4.0, known as Ice Cream Sandwich, and is based on an ARM Cortex A5 1GHz processor. Battery life is listed as 10 hours for web use and 4 hours for mobile TV.

The tablet is made by Digital Stream, a South Korean-based manufacturer of portable and mobile TV products, and sold under the RCA brand name. It will be priced at $299 and be available in the U.S. from the Spring.

The ATSC system used for digital TV in the U.S. is incompatible with broadcasts in most other countries, so it’s unlikely to appear in many other markets.

Despite being popular in many countries, mobile TV has failed to take off in the U.S. It was first hampered by a collection of competing standards that meant no one technology became dominant. Today, it’s biggest hurdle seems to be general disinterest from consumers and a lack of compatible hardware.



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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023760/rca-android-tablet-packs-dual-digital-tv-tuners.html

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Gartner's top 10 cloud storage providers

Network World - According to a Gartner survey, about 19% of organizations are using the cloud for production computing, while 20% are using public cloud storage services.

That means there's a pretty good sized market for the cloud, and specifically cloud storage. Gartner predicted in 2012 $109 billion was spent on cloud computing, a 20% increase from the year before.

But the cloud is a big industry too, with a lot of vendors seemingly having a cloud strategy today. So where do potential customers start? Recently, Gartner released a list of the top 10 cloud storage providers, based on enterprise capabilities. Below is a description of each, based on pros, cons, strengths and weaknesses.

RELATED: Gartner: Cloud storage viable option, but proceed carefully

2013 PREDICTIONS: OpenStack backers hope 2013 is the year of adoption 

MORE 2013 PREDICTIONS: Growing confidence in cloud security 

Amazon Web Services

Like many other aspects of cloud computing, Amazon Web Services is considered a market leader in cloud storage. It's been an early and aggressive player in the market and its services drive offerings from competitors, Gartner says, while its pricing is the "industry reference point." Its Simple Storage Service (S3) is the basic object storage, while Elastic Block Storage is for storage volumes. AWS keeps innovating too. Earlier this year AWS announced Glacier, a long-term, low-cost archival storage services. More recently, at its first-ever user conference, AWS announced Redshift, a cloud-based data warehousing service.

MORE AWS: Is the cloud the right place for your data warehouse? 

AWS has challenges though, Gartner notes. While it has a tool to link on-premise data to its cloud, named AWS Storage Gateway, the ability to create hybrid storage architectures that span both on-premise storage options and AWS's cloud is still largely a work in progress, Gartner says. AWS is an innovative company that continues to release products and services to round out its already-market leading position though. With services geared to specific vertical industries, most notably the federal government agencies with its GovCloud service, it has a wide breadth and depth of cloud storage features and services.

More information on Amazon Web Service's cloud storage options.

AT&T

AT&T's Synaptic cloud storage service is aligned closely with EMC's Atmos storage service, which is used as an on-premise storage system. This creates an opportunity for AT&T to sell into the strong EMC customer base, and gives customers hybrid cloud capabilities with a leading storage vendor. Gartner says this has been focused mostly on small and midsized businesses though. Still, AT&T claims it has recorded double-digit growth in its service, with several billion objects stored in its cloud. AT&T Synaptic already spans multiple regions, which customers can choose to take advantage of, with plans by AT&T to expand the service globally, with Europe being the next stop. Customers using AT&T's VPN service are freed from ingress and egress charges when using the company's cloud service.



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Must-have accessories that should be in your laptop bag

For some, a laptop bag is just a piece of luggage dedicated to safely transporting a portable PC and/or tablet from Point A to Point B. For business travelers, though, the laptop bag is more like a Swiss Army knife—an essential element filled with the gadgets and accessories you need.

1. Laptop power cord
Panic. That is the feeling that hits you when you arrive at a destination and realize you forgot to pack the power cord for your laptop. Without it, you have mere hours of productivity before your laptop will die, and you’ll be dead in the water. If possible, you should have a spare power cord that is always in your laptop bag so you don’t run the risk of forgetting to bring one. If you can swap out the battery on your laptop, you might want to carry a spare battery as well.

2. Smartphone / tablet charger
Along those same lines, you also don’t want to embark on a business trip without the adapter and/or cable you need to recharge your smartphone or tablet. Ideally, you should have a backup always stored in your laptop bag for the same reason cited above.

3. USB flash drive
USB flash drives seem like they’re already on their way to obsolescence, but they still come in handy in a pinch. If a customer or vendor needs to share a file with you, or vice versa, a USB flash drive is often the most convenient and efficient means available.

A portable drive like a WD My Passport should be in your laptop bag.

4. Portable hard drive
For laptops with smaller SSD storage, an external USB hard drivemay be necessary just to store and transport data you need without filling up the storage on your laptop. It’s a good idea to have a portable hard drive in your laptop bag in general, though. You can use it to carry the crucial software you rely on in case you need to reinstall it, or you may need to back up your laptop or store a file that’s simply too large for a USB flash drive.

5. Ethernet cable
There are times when you’re traveling that an Ethernet cable comes in handy. Most hotels offer wireless network access, but it’s often flaky and unreliable, and some hotels have wired Internet access, but no wireless network. You also may need to connect to a network at a customer or vendor site. An Ethernet cable is inexpensive, and could be a lifesaver when traveling.

6. 4G hotspot
Another option for connecting on the go is to have your own 4G hotspot. You can use a dedicated 4G hotspot device, or share out the cellular connection from a smartphone or

wireless hotspot
A 4G hotspot comes in handy for getting connected from remote locations.

tablet to allow you to get connected and get stuff done on your laptop from virtually anywhere.

7. Headphones
Whether you want to catch up on season 2 of Portlandia during your flight, or listen to some music while you work in your hotel room, you should have some headphones in your laptop bag. You can use a simple pair of earbuds if you want some headphones that take up little space and weigh next to nothing, or you can use some larger, higher quality headphones that generally have better sound and do a better job of blocking out other noises around you.

8. Pain medication
This is not a gadget, but it’s a must-have for traveling. Headaches tend to strike at the least convenient time possible, and purchasing a Tylenol or Advil from the store in a hotel lobby is often quite expensive. You should have a travel container or your pain medication of choice available.

9. Coffee
This is also not technical, but vitally important for coffee drinkers. In case there isn’t a Starbucks available, and the mediocre coffee from the miniature pot on the bathroom counter in the hotel isn’t cutting it, you should carry around a stash of Starbucks Via packets. I have an assortment in my laptop bag, including coffee, iced coffee, and the Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher drink.

10. Business cards
The concept is a little “yesterday”, but people do still exchange business cards. Sure, it seems simpler and more efficient to just add contact info to your smartphone or tablet since you’re going to have to do that anyway with the information from the business card, but you’ve got the cards so you may as well use them.

Some of these things may never even be used, but Murphy’s Law suggests that the one time you travel without them is the one time you will really need it. So, stock your laptop bag now, and be prepared.



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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023669/must-have-accessories-that-should-be-in-your-laptop-bag.html

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Thursday 3 January 2013

DIY Rickroller

By , 2013/01/03 @ 4:22 pm

Screen Shot 2013-01-03 at 3.42.59 PM

Have you ever been Rickrolled? The bait-and-switch gag is a web classic. But why should the cheesy music of Rick Astley be confined to the internet? Now it doesn’t have to be thanks to computer engineer Zach Rattner.

Zach has created an open source, Arduino-powered device that plays Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” whenever someone walks within 6 feet of the unit’s ultrasonic sensor. When they walk away the music stops, but picks up where it left off when the Rickrollee steps back in range. Zach offers details on the build right here. I love it and so will you.



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Music - News, Reviews & Boston Concerts - Boston.com

Be the first to hear everything RadioBDC. Receive weekly updates packed with giveaways, exclusive access to station events, concerts and acoustic performances.

Source: http://syndication.boston.com/ae/music

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Raspberry Pi Educational Manual

By , 2013/01/02 @ 6:00 pm

Raspberry_Pi_Education_Manual-1


This morning, the Raspberry Pi Foundation announced The Raspberry Pi Education Manual by a team of UK teachers from Computing at School (CAS). The manual is free and even Creative Commons licensed. The book includes chapters on Scratch and Python and will include a Java chapter soon, according to Liz Upton in a blog post on the Foundation’s blog. “There’s a group at Oracle which is currently working with us on a faster Java virtual machine (JVM) for the Pi, and once that work’s done, chapters on Greenfoot and Geogebra will also be made available – we hope that’ll be very soon.”

The manual is available in the Raspberry Pi Store also as a PDF download on the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s site.



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Wednesday 2 January 2013

Samsung showcases two new Series 7 laptops for CES 2013

It's that time of year again. The holidays are over, people have finished their shopping spluges, and it's time to get back into the normal swing of things. Unless, of course, you're a tech enthusiast getting excited for CES next week. At CES 2013, we get our first look at what may end up on next year's Christmas list, starting with a couple announcements from Samsung.

The Series 7 line is known for powerful units, and luckily 2013 looks to continue that trend with the Series 7 Chronos and the Series 7 Ultra.

Series 7 Chronos

Samsung
The Samsung Series 7 Chronos

The Chronos is targeted at the PC elite with the latest Intel Core i7 processor and a claimed 11-hour battery life. This laptop is intended for serious content creation and can take advantage of Samsung's new software solution, RAMaccelerator (powered by Condusiv Technologies), which will (according to Samsung) provide a 150 percent increase in speed for browsing and running apps by taking advantage of the existing memory.

Series 7 Ultra

Samsung
The Samsung Series 7 Ultra

The Series 7 Ultra is designed to be the ultimate Ultrabook for multimedia and mobility. The Ultra's highlight feature is the inclusion of 4G LTE connectivity for Internet access anywhere at any time. The Ultra also boasts a reported 8 hour battery life and 178-degree viewing angle.

Both units come with Windows 8 and have an optional 10-point multi-touch screen. Keep on the lookout for any additional information on these during our CES coverage as well as reviews when the units become available.

I'd also love to know how the heck the RAMaccerlator software works!

Check out the full specs below:

Samsung
* Available as factory option. ** n.b. All are based on factory specifications. Product design specifications and colors are subject to change without notice and may vary from those shown. Errors and omissions excepted. Battery life based on MobileMark test scores that will vary based on configuration. Warranty service availability and response times may vary from country to country and may also be subject to registration requirements in the country of purchase.


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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023625/samsung-showcases-two-new-series-7-laptops-for-ces-2013.html

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Best of 2012: Toolsday

By , 2013/01/02 @ 1:00 am

MAKE - Best of 2012

We started doing tool-review Tuesdays—soon compounded to “Toolsdays”—in early 2011, and 2012 has been the column’s first full calendar year. The reviews are written on a volunteer basis by MAKE staff and friends. Sometimes a manufacturer or retailer provides a review unit, but as often as not, the reviewer simply opens his or her toolbox and picks out a personal favorite.

Usually the tool is of modern manufacture and is available for sale, but sometimes we write about old tools, eBay finds, and family heirlooms. These “tool stories” usually add an element of human interest to the review, and have been some of my personal favorite Toolsday so far. In 2013, I hope to expand the series more in this direction, while still bringing in modern products that jump out at us as especially clever, novel, or useful.

Thanks to all our readers and reviewers for a great year!


Engineer PH-55 Scissors

Engineer PH-55 Scissors GT

I’m a modernist when it comes to design aesthetics: Form should follow function, and unnecessary ornament should be avoided. That’s why these scissors from Japanese toolmongers Engineer, Inc. are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I am way more susceptible to their gratuitous sci-fi greebles than I ought to be.


Whitelines Graph Paper

Whitelines Squared Notebook

A paper notebook is something most of us, I think, are still using, at least in the early stages of our design processes. I’m naturally partial to our own branded Maker’s Notebook, but I liked Stuart’s short-and-sweet review, from back in June, of his low-contrast white-on-gray graph paper notebook. The idea is to keep your eyes on the drawings (or the data) instead of on the grid, which fades into the background unless you’re really looking for it. Statistical graphics guru Ed Tufte promotes a similar idea, and actually sells his own brand of low-contrast gray-on-white “ghost grid” graph paper to achieve the same purpose.


Vaccon Venturi Vacuum Pump Setup

Vaccon Venturi Vacuum Pump

Chemists without access to a proper lab have to do the best they can with limited resources. Back in January, I was thrilled to discover that a simple air aspirator attached to my garage air compressor can provide a much cheaper, lighter, cleaner, lower-maintenance vacuum source than the traditional rotary-vane pump. And unlike a water aspirator, you don’t even need to have a sink handy. They can be a bit pricey if purchased new, but easy to score on eBay.


QU-BD Silicone Heater

QU-BD Silicone Heater

MAKE intern Eric Chu has more hands-on experience with a greater variety of consumer-grade 3D printers than anyone else I know. He was instrumental in assembling and testing many of the 15 different printers we gathered at MAKE HQ to prepare the MAKE Ultimate Guide to 3D printing, and has continued to experiment with and use many of them on a day-to-day basis as part of his work in the MAKE Labs. His recent review of 3D-printing start-up QU-BD’s silicone elastomer heated build pad really shows off that experience base, and is provably the best first review I’ve ever had from a novice writer.


Klein Kurve Wire Stripper

Klein Kurve Wire Stripper

In June, Stuart Deutsch brought out his favorite pair of wire strippers and wrote, with his characteristically sharp eye for design, about what makes them better than others. Many of us use wire strippers on a daily basis, and reviews that analyze a common tool in great detail provide a nice opportunity for readers to compare notes about their personal favorites in the comments. I’ve discovered some gems this way, myself.


Schröder 9″ Hand Drill

Schröder 9″ Hand Drill

This July review from photo editor Gregory Hayes is the first of a number of “nostalgia” reviews I’ve included here. Greg, who communicates with words as well as he does with pictures, movingly describes his childhood relationship with his handyman grandfather, who loved to fix and build things, preferring careful, patient work with manual tools. Using Grandpa’s “eggbeater” style hand drill stands out in Greg’s memory, and he jumped at the chance to pick one up again when Garrett-Wade offered their modern German-made eggbeater hand drills to us for review.


Easydriver Set

The Easydriver

Here’s my own entry into the “nostalgia” category: My Dad’s Easydriver ratcheting screwdriver was one of the first tools to make an impression on me when, as a child, I’d “help” him make and fix stuff out in the garage.  He’s still got it, and was kind enough to let me borrow it so I could photograph and write about it for this review.  The Easydriver, sadly, is not manufactured anymore, but they are still relatively easy to find on eBay.  I also dug through the online archives of Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and the US Patent Office to bring a bit of the Easydriver’s history to light.


Shapeoko CNC Mill

Shapeoko CNC Mill Kit

This August piece from Michael Newman is probably the most persuasive review I’ve seen all year. Michael has a background in DIY CNC tool-hacking, and was excited about the Shapeoko from its first appearance on Kickstarter, to its arrival on his doorstep, to its final assembly and successful operation. That enthusiasm shines through in every part of his review, and is positively infectious. He took great pictures, and struck a nearly perfect balance between providing too much detail and providing too little. I often refer new reviewers to this piece as an example of how to do it right.


Garrett Wade Yankee Push Drill

Garrett Wade Yankee Push Drill

This review of Garrett-Wade’s remake of the classic Yankee push-drill, written by Maker SHED “Evangelist” Michael Castor back in April, drew a larger response from our commenters than any other Toolsday review in the history of the series. Like Greg’s grandpa’s “eggbeater” hand drill, and my Dad’s “Easydriver” ratcheting screwdriver, Michael’s father’s old Stanley push-drill made a powerful impression on him as a child. When GW offered to send us a review unit, Michael went out of his way to do a careful side-by-side comparison with the heirloom tool.


Tapewriter

Dymo Metal Embossing Tapewriter

This review tops the column for all-time traffic numbers. Cory linked to it from Boing Boing and, to date, it’s had more than 50,000 views. I like it, personally, because it’s completely noncommercial—Dymo still sells a new-model “industrial” aluminum label embosser, but it costs hundreds of dollars, and this old one I scored cheap on eBay is essentially the same tool. Though they’re apparently a lot harder to find since this piece made the rounds. Commenter Jessica Garrett Martin writes:

I am consulting for a company in Philadelphia selling vintage chrome Dymo tapewriters. Thanks to these posts, we sold 80 in one day. We don’t have many left but you can contact me at martin_id@verizon.net. We have Dymo 1550 kits and deluxe kits as well and some aluminum and stainless steel tape and more. We have LOTS of old Dymo stuff so ask away!

The comments on this review also directly inspired a Make: Project about how to emboss labels on scrap aluminum sheet cut from soda cans, and indirectly inspired a second Make: Project about how to take “invisible glass” photographs.



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