What is that? The poor man's Wii?

Someone tell me what's going on...

On December the 10th, a new gaming console was released in Poland: the VMAX16. Take a look:



It has 7 sports games and controllers with movement sensors - doesn't it remind you of some other console?

It gets weirder, however: it costs 50(fifty) $! That's like an extra controller for the Wii!

And it gets even weirder: googling for articles in English about it doesn't get you anywhere. Searching for the manufacturer, Speed Link, does get you to the official site, but searching for "vmax 16" on that site returns void.

I'm really curious what that thing will turn out to be. My hope: competition for the Wii that will make it twice cheaper. Let's wait a bit for the reviews.

[Source, picture credit]

I bought a new laptop!

I bought a new laptop! It's an MSI Wind U100, it's pink and it's as cute as that:


Didn't really have time to test it yet - all I can say is that WinXP SP2 Pro got installed in 12 minutes and boots instantly. Something more like a review should appear here within days.

It's pink! I'm so excited! This was a really spontanious buy: I got the idea of buying a lightweight laptop on Sunday, picked the model on Wednesday, bought it yesterday (Thursday)!

Did I mention it was pink?

[Picture source, source]

My first time: tea on the laptop

Yesterday, I got my laptop wet for the first time. I had a lot of luck however:

• I knew what to do, so I panicked way less than I could have (thanks anyone who did this before and kept me informed!)
  
• My workmates reacted quickly and helped me do the right things (thanks guys!)
  
• I spilled the tea next to the laptop, and not on it, so actually nothing got inside.
• I had bought cleaning foam a few hours before! Isn't it ironic?
  

Anyway, since it's an important thing to know, I'll post here what are the right things to do when you get your laptop wet, especially as it's one of the tough situations for a geek as there's no time to google.

1. Disconnect the laptop fast as you can.
2. Remove the battery fast as you can. No looking at the screen, no hibernating, just make sure it's off.
3. Leave it to dry for 3 days.

After that, it should work but may be dirty and sticky. Now you can google on how to clean it.

By the way, here's a story about a laptop that has been cooked in an oven and worked afterwards.

Make your own cool USB drive - 8 tutorials

There are some really cool USB drives on the market nowadays. However, nothing beats making your own one, and it's really easy as you can start with a drive as small as this one:


There are also loads of tutorials avaliable. My favourite one is the broken usb cable:


Another cool idea is a keyboard key: Enter or Backspace:


If you love Legos as much as me, check out the Lego brick:


... and the Lego airplane:


Still on the toy shelf, the Playmobil:

... and the Pez dispenser:

A legend says that eBay's founder Pierre Omidyar got the idea for eBay when his fiancée traded Pez dispensers. But it's just a legend.

Back to the USB drives. If you have access to the right equipement, you can make an undestructible one:


... or a transparent one:


And lastly, "make your own USB drive for dummies":

Want some more ideas? Take a look the top 10 weirdest USB drives ever and a gallery of unique USB gadgets.

On my wishlist: Nokia Morph

I try to stay away from all the gadget mania. I hate marketing and I'm the last person to buy that new extra hot and fashionable cell phone just because everyone does so and some people in marketing tell us to do so. But marketing is another topic.

Today, a gadget that I have to have: the Nokia Morph.
It's so geek, so cute, so shiny, so cool and everything. They don't even have something that cool on Star Trek!

It's not only cool, but also very practical, especially for a woman. Being a woman, even a geek one, you always need to carry a purse because you always [may] need the following:

1. money
2. season tickets
3. cell phone
4. make-up

But, how often do I go out and wish I didn't have to watch my bag? And when I go out, I often wear a dress, so no pockets available. However, with this gadget, great times are coming, as you can wear it as a bracelet:
So, what does a girl still have to carry? Money - let's count on the boyfriend for this one. Season tickets - right now they can be registered in a card, so why not in a cell phone (or card I'd put in the phone)? Cell phone - let it be a bracelet! So it's just the make-up. How about a make-up palette in a box made with the same technology (so as a bracelet for the other hand)?

Oh yeah, great times are coming. As soon as this beautiful baby comes out and I can afford it.

[Source, pictures credit, more pictures]

How geeks behave

My father was recently at a conference when one of the scientists, a great speaker, said he always began his lectures with a joke. So I'm gonna start this post with a geek joke. It doesn't translate really well into English, but you should get my point.

Some geeks are having a party and are only talking about computers. Finally one of them says:
"Guys, let's talk about something else for a bit.
-Like what?
-I don't know... bitches!"
A minute of akward silence. Then a geek finally speaks out:
"You know, my graphic card is a bitch!"

So the other day, I was at school, talking about you-know-what. Some guys were talking about how hard it is to pick up the girls at the dorm when every conversation ends the way it does (see above). So I joined their conversation and reminded them the joke. (You don't tell geeks geek jokes, cause they know them already, you just remind them.) And then I said:

"But you know what? Mine really is! Finding the drivers took me sooo long..."

Everyone laughed and I walked away. I went to have lunch with two girlfriends of mine. Another of our girls was there with her boyfriend, talking about virtualisation. This was pointed out: "My, having lunch with her boyfriend and talking about vitualisation...". Ten minutes later, we were talking about virtualisation ourselves.