A new way to protect your portable GPS from thieves.

These days almost every driver I know has a GPS unit. Many of them are built in, but many are portable units. GPS units become easier to use and more feature laden every year. But along with tech advances comes the attraction of thieves. That’s why I think the Maplock GPS anti-theft device is a good idea. It’s a two part locking system. There’s a stainless steel tether that attaches around the steering wheel. It’s connected to the Maplock device, which fits over your GPS unit and is locked with a key.  The Melbourne-based auto accessory company Who-Rae Australia developed this gizmo, which they say is the world’s first in-car GPS security device. It’s made to protect most portable GPS units with screen sizes between 3.5” & 5”. The bright colors of the Maplock are intended to deter thieves from breaking a window to gain entry. If thieves are roaming through a parking lot taking GPS units, I think they’d skip one that had this device in place and pick something easier. Why hassle cutting a wire and breaking a locking device when the cars all around probably have no locking device? GPS theft is not an isolated crime. According to the FBI, the number of thefts has increased by 700% in recent years. There are estimates that 2.6 million GPS units will be stolen over the next two years, so an under $50 anti-theft investment could really be worthwhile. It’s on pre-order right now and should be shipping in about a month.

www.gpsmaplock.com

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1023  

Speech to text, with a really good accuracy rate.

When I got back from CES I had a stack of new product press releases. My normal plan is to type a brief description of each new gizmo into an “Interesting New Products” file on my computer. But it’s one of my least favorite things to do. I would read something on the press release, type it in, read more, type it in, etc. As I looked at the stack of press releases I wish I had a secretary. A light dawns! Wait a minute; I have speech-to-text software that I never tried. At a press event a while back a kind spokesperson at Nuance Software sent me a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking 10. Fortunately I knew exactly where it was & I installed it. Setup took about 20 minutes. It detects and tests your hardware and you make some choices like where you were born, I guess to adjust for local accents. Then you read something from the screen into your microphone until the program tells you it’s finished with setup. Among the choices of things to read aloud are commands you use with Dragon. That’s the choice to make, because you’re multi-tasking. The program is tuning itself to how you speak, while at the same time, you’re learning some basic commands. There’s another option I didn’t use. You can also read some of your e-mail and word-processing docs so that Naturally Speaking can match your writing and dictation styles. My setup took about 20 minutes and then I just started dictating. I really was amazed at how accurate the text was. I’d say it got better than 90% of what I dictated perfectly. If you read something that the program mistypes – like GPS Padlock instead of GPS Maplock, it’s best if you manually correct the written text right away. If you do that, Naturally Speaking learns that new word and doesn’t type the wrong one again. It’s really smart. It turns out the Professional version Nuance sent me is the most expensive version. But it includes features that you and certainly me will never need, like automating complex workflow actions and other corporate chores. The basic version, which is probably all most folks need, list for $99.00. But I did a web search and it’s widely available for about $50. You can see all the various versions at the company’s website. There’s even an new iPhone version.

www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1024

Seagate Meets Pogoplug.

DockStar Network Adapter shown with optional FreeAgent Go portable drive.Seagate has a line of FreeAgent Go portable hard drives. They can automatically back up files and folders on your computer with the software on the drive. And now you can combine a FreeAgent Go portable hard drive with Seagate’s new FreeAgent DockStar. It’s a combination of a docking station and network attached storage device. It allows for the data stored on a Seagate FreeAgent Go drive and up to three other USB connected hard drives to be shared via a network connection. It gives you an easy way to share and access digital photos, videos and files anywhere you can find an Internet connection. You can also access files from any networked PC or Mac computer in your home. Or access and share files with friends, over the Internet —no special software required. You can enable friends and/or family to upload content, creating a comprehensive share space. It appears as a local drive whether at home or accessed through the Internet. It’s just simple drag-and-drop access. The device keeps your workspace neat by letting you dock a FreeAgent Go drive and then connect up to three additional USB storage devices. If you like, you can send pictures straight from your iPhone to the FreeAgent DockStar network adapter. Now you’ll notice in my heading to this gadget I mentioned Pogoplug. That’s because this device uses Pogoplug technology for the Ethernet connectivity and file sharing. Seagate made a licensing agreement with them, which means they pay a fee to Pogoplug. They offer the Pogoplug service to buyers for free for the 1st year, but then there is a $29.95 annual fee after that. You don’t have to pay the fee if you just want to use the docking station as a networked device in your own network, but not over the Internet. Or you can buy a stand-alone Pogoplug, which does a little bit less, and looks a lot less techie for about $99.00 - and pay no monthly fee. But be warned: The current Pogoplug is available only in glowing pink for some strange reason. (Check it out at the link below.) The FreeAgent DockStar lists for $99.99, but do a web search and you can usually find it a bit cheaper. I saw it on Amazon for $79.99.  You can team your FreeAgent DockStar with a FreeAgent Go Portable Drive. There are now 7 models in various colors that run from 250GB to 1TB. They start at about $70 for the 250 GB model. 

More info and video demo at the Seagate website: http://www.seagate.com/www/products/network_storage/freeagent_dockstar

Here this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1028

Here’s the Daily Giz Wiz on the original Pogoplug: www.twit.tv/dgw817

Learn more about the current Pogoplug: http://pogoplug.com/

From Flying Discs to Making Coffee on the Fly!

Aerobie, yes the folks that make those fun-flying rings have found a way to make a good cup on the fly! There’s a picture of their AeroPress on the left. It may look a touch complicated, but using it is pretty simple. First you place the Aeropress on top of your favorite coffee mug. Then put a measured scoop of coffee into the brewing chamber and pour hot water into the grounds. (Here’s something to remember, pour the hot water slowly. The fist time I used the AeroPress the water went right thorugh and make a super-weak brew. Then I started looking at the instructions. Turns out that if you pour the water slowly, the grounds get wet and slow down the brewing process so you get a deeper, richer flavor. Now that you’ve learned how to pour the water, once it’s in the brewing chamber, use the included stirrer to mix the coffee and water for about 10 to 15 seconds. Then a few seconds later place the plunger on top of the brewing chamber and push down gently. What’s neat about this coffee maker is clean-up is quick and easy. Unlike that French Press machines with the springy-thingy on the bottom, which is difficult to clean, with this unit you just pop out the block of coffee grounds into the garbage. They refer to that block of coffee grounds as the “puck” because it does like a mini-version of one. You can make 1 to 4 cups of coffee or espresso (enough for 1 or 2 mugs). It uses a micro paper filter and I was pleased to find that they include 320 of them! And the company says if you don’t mind giving the filter a mini-rinse you can use each one 3 or 4 times. Best news is that if you buy another 320 along with the AeroPress it only adds a few dollars to the order. Now there are sorts of tips on how to brew the best coffee and a quick web search showed there are devoted fans across the world offering videos and ways to improve your coffee making techniques. It retails for $25 to $35, but our friends at ThinkGeek have it at the low end, $25.99. (No, we don’t get a commission, but they did provide a sample so we could play with it.) There’s also a video on using the Aerobie at their website here:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/8e3a/

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1026

This is the easiest to use travel clock I've found so far!

It’s the new Moshi Voice Control Travel Alarm Clock. Pushing a button and then just giving a command sets the time of day and alarm time on this small travel alarm clock. A while back we did the Moshi Talking Clock for the home. This travel alarm clock is better. You push a button on the top of the clock and give a command. You can say things like “set time”, “set alarm”, even “temperature”.  The last thing you want to do when you arrive jet-lagged at your destination is try to futz with those confusing hotel alarm clocks or automated wake-up calls. With the Moshi VC Travel Alarm Clock simply say, "Set Alarm…7:30 AM” and wait for confirmation voice. Then you can fall asleep with ease. Something I really like happens when the alarm goes off in the morning. You don’t have to touch a button, just say “snooze” and go back to sleep for another nine minutes! It’s available in four different color options and it’s priced reasonably at $24.95.

http://www.moshilifestyle.com/Product/VoiceControlTravelAlarmClock

Hear the Netcast I did on this program: www.twit.tv/dgw988  

Here's the link to show I did on the large size Moshi Talking Clock. You set the large clock by waking it up with "Hello, Moshi". I like the travel clock better, when you wake it by pushing a button. The bigger clock would sometime come on and start talking about it heard a phrase on the radio or TV!

http://gizwizbiz.com/homecurrentdailygizwiz/dgwmarch09.html