Here’s my tally:
• 80 GB in my new shiny MacBook Air
• 250 GB in my old faithful iMac (now recovered from a hard drive crash a few weeks ago)
• 320 GB in an old Western Digital MyBook external drive
• 500 GB in a shiny new FireWire MyBook
• 500 GB in an Iomega “Screenplay” connected to the TV, filled with movies
• 40 GB in a CF card reader/storage box
• 30 GB in an unbranded FireWire drive sitting abandoned in the cupboard
• 40 GB in an old iBook with a borked power unit in the same cupboard
• 250 GB in my set-top broadband TV box

That comes to a grand total of 2010 GB, so around 2 TB. That seems a ridiculous amount, to me. And apart from the “dead” gadgets, all those drives are in pretty constant use (some for backup).

• In MP3 terms, that’s 3,195 days worth of music—nearly nine years, nonstop.
• A plain text Complete Works of Shakespeare runs to 5MB, so there’s room for 400,000 of those.
• A RAW file from my camera is 8MB so there’s space to store about 250,000— enough to take 28 photos an hour for the next year, by which time the shutter would’ve clicked its last.
• A compressed feature film from a DVD will fit in a gig, so there’s room for around 2,000 of those.

That seems like plenty, but maybe I’m wrong. Come on, Giz readers, tell me:

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Thanks: [refer to pic]

Joystiq also claims a source close to the company told them that a drumkit will be in the next version of the game. Furthermore, when Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is released in June, they say Activision will expand their downloadable content, releasing songs “weekly”. There’s no denying that Guitar Hero has a lot to learn from the success of Rock Band, but we hope they can add some extra depth to the instrument roster—saxophones, kazoos, theremins, perhaps?—because it’s definitely better to lead than play catch-up.

Thanks: [Kotaku, Joystiq]

At this point, I can tell you we have LG plus three additional partners actively working on integrating our technology into their products. Three of the four partners are major companies which each sell millions of devices per year and will enable the Netflix functionality in some of those devices likely in Q4 of this year. The fourth partner is a small company with which — which will likely launch sooner than Q4.

So which companies could they be talking about?

Rumors have been floating around about the XBox 360 for awhile now, so that makes Microsoft one likely contender. Naturally, that could also mean that Sony and the PS3 would be included. Other major company players that naturally spring to mind are TiVo and Apple—but the fourth “small company” is anyone’s guess.

Thanks: [Seeking Alpha via Hacking Netflix via Zats]

Thanks: [ ]]> http://www.submiter.org/content/2008-04/iriver-brings-mickey-mp3-player-to-the-us-may-cause-cancer.html/feed http://www.submiter.org/content/2008-04/bring-out-your-inner-tool-with-peripherals-pants.html http://www.submiter.org/content/2008-04/bring-out-your-inner-tool-with-peripherals-pants.html#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:29:00 +0000 admin http://www.submiter.org/content/2008-04/bring-out-your-inner-tool-with-peripherals-pants.html This—what’s the word I’m looking for?—aberration of a pair of pants designed by Erik de Nijs (nope, me neither) is, I guess, designed for the Geek at Heart. They incorporate keyboard, mouse and a pair of knee-height speakers, and someone’s already done the joke about the joystick being located behind the fly buttons. I’ll refrain from my usual smutty observations except to say that, from where I’m standing, it looks as if there’s dried money-shot all over the dude’s lap.

Thanks: [Yanko]

“The robots are the mouse and the dolls are the cheese,” US National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Adam Jacoff (heh heh, sorry dude) told the New Scientist. Points go for the speediest contender, as well as the one who can best draw a map of the maze. We doubt you’ll see this clawed beast, or this backhoe-like behemoth, but the bots in the video seem well enough equipped to deal with the grim realities they face.

Thanks: [NewScientist via KurzweilAI.net]

Reader Mick received five ink cartridges in five different packages, most of which were ludicrously large for the single tiny box within. This is such an idiotically easy problem to solve that would have a huge impact on the environment. Let’s start being responsible, online retailers. It’s in your hands.

Have you received an irresponsibly-packed item from an online retailer? Snap a picture and send it to me at adam@gizmodo.com and I’ll help you shame them publicly.

Thanks: [1..100 of 103]

Shutdown Your Computer Without Losing the Perks of an Always-On PC

Obviously, computers require electricity to run, so shutting down, sleeping, or hibernating your computer when you’re not using it conserves energy. Every modern operating system has its own settings for conserving power, so the first thing you should do—if you haven’t already—is open the power settings of your computer and set them for optimal energy use. Set your computer to put your monitor to sleep, spin down your hard drives, and put your computer to sleep when you’re not using it. Even better, since your computer uses less power when hibernating than when sleeping, set up your computer to hibernate rather than just go to sleep.

One of the biggest turn-offs (no pun intended) about shutting down or sleeping your computer is that you miss out on some of the finer things your computer provides even when you’re away. For example, if you’re downloading a large file, you may want the download to continue even when you’re away. Likewise, we’ve covered tons of ways to remotely access your computer, all of which no longer work if your computer’s turned off. Luckily you can continue using your computer during these times but still conserve power the rest of the time.

For example, Windows users should check out previously mentioned WinOFF, which shuts down, restarts, and hibernates your computer (among other things) after a certain amount of time, at a specific time, or when your CPU goes idle so that your computer automatically shuts off at times you don’t need it.

If a download is what you’re waiting for, many peer-to-peer clients, like the popular BitTorrent client uTorrent, can shutdown your computer when a download completes so you can get your file and save energy, too.

Between WinOFF and built-in shutdown features common to many apps, we’ve taken care of the the download problem—but what about when you want to access your computer remotely? If it’s shut down, you can’t very well get to it, can you? Actually, you can, assuming you set up Wake-on-LAN on your computer. Once Wake-on-LAN’s enabled, you can turn your computer on over the internet from anywhere—so there’s no reason not to shut down your computer when you leave the house.

Finally, if you’re on a Mac laptop, check out previously mentioned SmartSleep to enhance your power-saving options.

Save Paper when Printing

When it comes to the environment, one of the first places most offices can improve is the giant pile of discarded paper by the network printer. Aside from obvious things you can do on your own—like printing duplex, printing to PDF, previewing before printing, and not printing hundreds of copies of an email forward to plaster around the office—there are a few other tools you can use to minimize wasting paper and ink when printing.

To save ink and paper when you’re printing from your browser, use previously mentioned Firefox extension Aardvark to tweak the layout of a page and remove elements—like ads and images—that you don’t need on the printed page.

When you’re not printing from the browser, Windows users can save tons on ink and paper with previously mentioned GreenPrint, a freeware application that automatically identifies and removes unnecessary pages or space from your printouts before they head to the printer.

If you’re regularly sending documents back and forth to other people or businesses, you can also save a few trees and save a little time in the process with a couple of office hacks. For example, rather than going through the age-old print, sign, and fax dance handed down through the generations by our forefathers, try creating a scanned signature and then sending scanned PDFs rather than faxes. It’s quicker and it saves on resources and costs.

Turn Off Peripherals to Kill the Vampires

Now that you’ve put good energy practices into use on your PC, it’s time to move onto the power-hungry peripherals you’ve got plugged into it. Whenever possible, you want to turn off any peripheral when you’re not using it—like your printer or monitor. Likewise, you should be aware of any gear in your computing setup that draws standby power (a.k.a., vampire power) even when you’ve turned off the device in question. Vampires commonly stand out as large, unsightly AC adapters.

While you could diligently unplug your wall warts or keep them plugged into a power strip that you switch off when they’re not in use, you can go even further and automate the process with gadgets like the Energy Saving Smart Strip (original post) and the Power Minder (original post), both of which monitor your PC’s power state and automatically shut down other peripherals when you turn off your computer.

For more on saving energy at your computer, check out our top 10 computing energy savers.

Estimate Your Power Usage

It’s one thing to know your computer sucks down a lot of energy every month, but actual power usage numbers drives the point home. Windows can install previously mentioned LocalCooling, an tool that both helps you tweak your Windows power saving settings and visualize the amount of power your computer consumes. Some users reported inaccurate measures with the app when we first posted about it, but the well-intentioned LocalCooling team continues in their efforts to improve the application and help you save energy and visualize the impact of your energy-saving.

If LocalCooling’s not giving you accurate results or you want to get a more definitive look at your PC’s power consumption, regardless of your operating system, this Coding Horror post demonstrates in detail how to determine and lower the cost of leaving your PC running (original post).

How Do You Make Your Computer More Eco-Friendly?

These are just a few of the many ways you might go about living the green life on your desktop. If you’ve got methods of your own, let’s hear about ‘em in the comments.

Adam Pash is a senior editor for Lifehacker who’s computer glows green all year round. His special feature Hack Attack appears every Tuesday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Hack Attack RSS feed to get new installments in your newsreader.

Thanks: [www.ustelecom.org]

Thanks: [product via ohgizmo]

The device’s lithium-ion battery only last two hours on a charge, so don’t expect Grandma to run a full marathon, but some time moseying around the retirement village while looking all cyberpunk will surely make her coolest geriatric in Del Boca Vista. The Walking Assist Device will be demoed this week at Intex Osaka—the press release for that is below.

Honda to Showcase Experimental Walking Assist Device at BARRIER FREE 2008

TOKYO, Japan, April 22, 2008- Honda Motor Co., Ltd. will showcase an experimental model of a walking assist device which could support walking for the elderly and other people with weakened leg muscles(*), at the International Trade Fair on Barrier Free Equipments & Rehabilitation for the Elderly & the Disabled (BARRIER FREE 2008) which will be held at Intex Osaka, Friday, April 25 through Sunday, April 27, 2008 (Organizers: Osaka Prefecture Council of Social Welfare and Television Osaka Inc.)

Honda began research of a walking assist device in 1999 with a goal to provide more people with the joy of mobility. Currently, the device has entered into the feasibility stage.

The cooperative control technology utilized for this device is a unique Honda innovation achieved through the cumulative study of human walking just as the research and development of technologies was conducted for Honda’s advanced humanoid robot, ASIMO. Applying cooperative control based on the information obtained from hip angle sensors, the motors provide optimal assistance based on a command from the control CPU. With this assist, the user’s stride will be lengthened compared to the user’s normal stride without the device and therefore the ease of walking is achieved.

The compact design of the device was achieved with flat brushless motors and a control system developed by Honda. In addition, a simple design to be worn with a belt around the hip and thigh was employed to help achieve overall weight as light as approximately 2.8kg. As a result, the device reduces the user’s load and can be fit to different body shapes.

The research of this device is being conducted by the Fundamental Technology Research Center of Honda R&D Co., Ltd. in Wako, Saitama.

Honda is planning to offer interested attendees an opportunity to wear and experience this walking assist device at the Honda booth at BARRIER FREE 2008.
(*) This device is designed for people who are still capable of walking on their own.

Thanks: [Honda via New Launches]