Leapfrog, a California educational toy company, has invested over $100 million dollars on a new electronic pen for kids. Called the “Fly”, this amazing piece of technology educates as well as entertains.

You can use this pen to create on-screen music, play learning games and even use it with a calculator that you draw on a piece of paper. Check out their amazing Flash-Demo and find out if this educational toy is right for you.

Toyota is due to release another segment busting car in the US in 2006. Called the “Yaris”, this vehicle has been very successful in Europe for years. Following on the heels of the Bring it over from Europe Prius TC, this car will certainly be a hit when it arrives at US ports in September of 2006.

Launched in 1999, the first generation Yaris was Toyota’s bestselling model in Europe and was named the (2000) European Car of the Year.

As Toyota’s most affordable passenger car, the Yaris will feature modern exterior styling and a surprising and upscale interior. Aimed primarily at the ever expanding under 30 age group, It will be one of the most economic and youthful passenger cars Toyota has built.

From Toyota’s press release:

The next-generation Yaris rides on an all-new platform that is longer and wider than its predecessor. Air conditioning, tilt-steering wheel, and color-keyed mirrors and door handles are among the many standard features.

The Yaris interior provides unexpected roominess and a comfortable cabin. The upscale interior provides remarkable design and a rear seat featuring a center headrest. Driver and front passenger advanced airbags, and ample storage space are among the array of standard interior features. Powering the Yaris liftback will be a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine with variable valve timing with intelligence (VVT-i) that will have impressive fuel economy. Mated to either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission, the engine will produce 106 horsepower and 103 ft.-lb. of torque.

Combined with the MacPherson strut front and rear torsion beam suspension, the Yaris will offer fun-to-drive handling and excellent maneuverability. In addition to good overall handling, the Yaris also will offer seat-mounted side and front and rear side curtain airbags, anti-lock brakes, an audio system with MP3 capability and mini-jack port, power windows, mirrors and door locks, and a 60/40 split rear seat with reclining, sliding and fold flat features among its optional equipment.

This small car segment buster will certainly bolster Toyota’s dominance in the field. GM & Ford are you listening?

The Harmony 520 Advanced Remote Control lets you do just that. With intuitive computer based setup, you’ll be controlling your new entertainment components in minutes. It’s priced under $100 so it is affordable as well as smart. The step by step instructions make it easy even for the techno-phobic. The on-screen commands are simple statements like “Watch TV or Play DVD”.

Using Your Harmony Remote

1. Easy to set-up: Just connect your Harmony remote to your computer and the Web wizard walks you step-by-step through a simple set up. Enter in your model numbers for your components, then answer a few easy questions about how you “Watch TV” or “Watch a DVD” You’ll be controlling even the most complex system without any of the hassles of elaborate macro-programming.

2. Easy to use: The Harmony Remote is the world’s only remote with Smart State Technology® activity control. Just press one of the Activity buttons, such as “Watch TV” or “Listen to Music,” and your Harmony Remote automatically sets up your entertainment system, without you ever having to program a “macro.”

3. Easy to get help: With the Harmony remote, you don’t have to know anything about your entertainment system to operate it. No sound? No picture? No problem! There’s even a handy “HELP” button to guide you through simple troubleshooting and get you back in control. Everyone from the kids to the babysitter can now enjoy the full home theater experience.

You can order this little gem online or pick one up at your local Wal-Mart or other electronics retailer.

This is undeniably one of the coolest iPod accessories on the market. The iGrip (iSticky Pad) will cling to the dashboard of your car, isn’t magnetic or adhesive, and literally holds your iPod and won’t let it go (no matter how crazy you drive). It’s also washable, removable and weather resistant.

One of the few problems I have had with my iPod is what to do with it in the car. If I put it on the seat it slides off. If I put it in the center console it slides around and gets banged up. With the sticky pad I can put it on the dash where I can see the display, work the controls and I don’t have to worry about it flying out the window. It is strong enough to hold the iPod firmly in place with the wire connectors for my FM modulator. Pick one up at your local iPod accessory store.

Features:
• Holds iPod™ on Car Dash
• Clings to Any Auto Dash
• Washable, Removable, Reusable
• Temperature Resistant
• No Magnets or Adhesives
• Works with any iPod

A new assortment of these sticky pads is now available for cell phones and other gadgets. Called “Gadget Grips” by the manufacturer, this new assortment will allow you to put almost any small gadget securely on your car’s dashboard.

The novel video iPod has a competitor. Three new devices from PocketDish can store music, video and digital photos. Two of the three models have a larger screen than the iPod, and all of them can store and play any movie, TV show or sporting event that has been saved on a Dish receiver with recording capability.

The Dish portables connect instantly to the receiver, and all of the control takes place on the TV screen. A high-speed Internet connection is not required and you don’t have to link to a computer to get the video content.

The PocketDish AV700E has a 7-inch movie-format screen and a 40-gigabyte hard drive that can store 40 hours of Dish Network video, 20,000 songs in MP3 or WMA format or 400,000 digital photos.

Music company Sony BMG Music Entertainment has yielded to outspoken disapproval and is announcing plans to stop the manufacture of music CDs that use a controversial digital rights management technology called XCP.

Sony said Friday that it is temporarily suspending manufacture of CDs with XCP, which security experts said used malicious “rootkit” techniques to evade detection on Windows systems.

Anti-virus and computer security firms have also been adding recognition for the XCP technology to their products. And on Thursday, anti-virus firms advised the public of a host of new security threats, including a virus and a Trojan horse program that used the XCP technology to essentially cloak themselves on Windows systems.

Sony confirmed the new computer virus and said the company regretted any disruption caused by the XCP technology. The company also said it provided a patch to major anti-virus companies that will “fix possible software problems” and “guard against precisely the type of virus now said to exist.” Sony has not disclosed the number of installations of its DRM software.

Sony has posted a link with instructions on how to remove the rootkit files here.

The Following is an excerpt from Yaro Starak’s article on Page Ranking in Google. It is reprinted with permission from the author.

What is Google’s PageRank? If you have ever done any reading about search engine optimization or were just curious how you can get your site to the top of the Google search engine results, understanding PageRank is vital. I’m going to introduce you to the basics of PageRank and also provide a brief discussion on how much you should really worry about PageRank if you are running a website or Internet business.

Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, invented PageRank and it forms the basis for how Google works. Google didn’t become the best search engine in the world by chance, it became the best search engine because it provided the best results. PageRank is in fact the technology that gave Google its competitor-killing edge, a way to greatly improve the accuracy and validity of a search response to a user query.

In essence PageRank provides a means to determine the value of a website for any given search term or keyword phrase. This value is determined by how websites link together with the more popular (and theoretically better) sites receiving more links. It’s these incoming links that help the site have a high PageRank value and thus display higher up in search results.

Let’s read how Google explains their PageRank system:

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.”

Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. Of course, important pages mean nothing to you if they don’t match your query. So, Google combines PageRank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that are both important and relevant to your search. Google goes far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and examines all aspects of the page’s content (and the content of the pages linking to it) to determine if it’s a good match for your query.

The key rule to understand is that it is a combination of variables that determine how well your site performs in Google. These are the most important variables to worry about:

Read the rest of this entry »

Here is a useful trick for creating a desktop icon that will start your E-mail program (Outlook in this case) and open the proper screen ready for input. Here’s what to do:

* Right click on your desktop
* Click New, Shortcut
* In the box that says “Type the location for the item” enter mailto: (be sure to add the colon at the end of mailto)
* Click Next
* Type a name for the shortcut, such as “My Email”
* Click Finish

You should now see an icon for your mail program on your desktop, named My Email, or whatever name you chose. You can leave it on your desktop and even drag it to your Quick Launch bar so it’s easily accessible. Try out your new shortcut by clicking on it. A new blank email should automatically open for you with the cursor in the To: field..

To open to a specific person or distribution list type the following in the “Type the location for the item” box.
Mailto:nameofperson@theiremail.com where nameofperson is their name and theiremail is their e-mail address.

You can have multiple entries separated by semicolons and a space.
Example Mailto:user1@email.com; user2@email.com; user3@email.com

To open a stickynote instead of E-mail: Instead of Mailto:, use the following line.
“C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OUTLOOK.EXE” /c ipm.stickynote
(The path is where your outlook.exe file is located. This may vary by version)

To open a task instead of e-mail: Instead of using Mailto:, use the following line.
“C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OUTLOOK.EXE” /c ipm.task
(The path is where your outlook.exe file is located. This may vary by version)

Hotkeys in Outlook

Switch to Mail: CTRL+1

Switch to Calendar: CTRL+2

Switch to Contacts: CTRL+3

Switch to Tasks: CTRL+4

Switch to Notes: CTRL+5

Many thanks to Kelly Forrister for her post about this.

Just when you thought you couldn’t take it with you, Apple comes out with a Video I-pod. This sleek little machine will play MPEG-4 compressed video on it’s 2.5 inch screen for up to 14 hours on a battery charge. This is a really awesome little unit. The best part… my wife can go to I-tunes version 6 and download the latest editions of Desperate Housewives the day after they air for only $1.95. Time will tell if people will enjoy watching movies on such a small screen, but the concept and the execution are a joy to behold (or hold in your hand for that matter). The price point is great. The 30 GB model of the new iPod will retail for US$299, while the 60 GB model will retail for $399.

Are you totally stressed out? Are you facing impossible deadlines and working 14 hours a day to get caught up? If you are you might have noticed that your desk is getting piled higher and higher. All sorts of stuff is accumulating, from junk mail to cd’s to magazines and books. Everything seems to be on your desk.

While your job and personal stresses are huge you probably have an additional amount of stress from not being able to see your desk. And even more stress from not knowing where things are on your desk. The problem is you don’t have the hours it will take to sort through the piles and put things away. What do you do?

Here is a 5 minute drill that will get your desk cleaned off and reduce your stress level immensely. You’ll need a few items to get started.

1. Cardboard filing box with lid
2. Trashcan
3. Empty Inbox
4. Cleaning rag
5. Furniture polish
6. Watch with second hand

Once you have the items ready, enter your office and put the items on the floor next to your desk. Sit in your desk chair, make a note of the time on your watch and count down 5-4-3-2-1… GO.

This is a race and you only have 5 minutes to finish.

Take all of the stuff off of your desk and put it in a pile in an open area of your office. Pull up your office chair and start going through the pile quickly. If the item is obvious trash throw it in the trash can. If it is something that requires immediate attention or is very important (bill etc) put it in the inbox. Put any books or magazines quickly back in your bookcase. Old magazines go in the trash. Pens and pencils go into your desk drawer. All of the other items go in the filing box.

Don’t stop on an item. If you have doubts put it in the filing box. One the pile is sorted put a lid on the box and put it under your desk or out of sight. Take the cleaning rag and clean the desk surface. Empty the trash can. Put the chair back in front of your desk. Sit down and give a sigh of relief.

While you haven’t completely solved the problem, you have put your items in a trusted place. Important items are in your inbox, trash has been discarded and all of the clutter is out of sight and out of mind. You’ll still need to go through the filing box when you have an hour to spare but your stress level has been greatly reduced. A clean desk brings on a sense of calm and you’ll be much more efficient now. If you need something from the box you’ll know where it is. All of this stress reduction in only 5 minutes. Enjoy!