Brother Sewing Machine with HD Camera – CES 2009



BrotherlogoBrother has announced its latest sewing machine embroidery fanatics have been lining up to see. This sewing machine includes a HD camera and display to help you create that perfect seam, show if your hook is crooked, or place the needle in the exact location.Brother_quattro1

In honor of Brother’s 100 year anniversary, the Quattro 6000D brings you 100 brilliant, unprecedented, new and improved features.

The Quattro 6000D has a MSRP price of $9,000 and is available now.


Back in a Flash – CES 2009



Backinaflash_logo1Back in a Flash is not a flash drive but a USB stick which automatically backs up your files every day and can resuscitate your computer if it crashes.

There is essentially no installation – you plug it into a USB port anBackinaflash_productd click once. Your backed-up files are stored inside the unit daily, without you lifting a finger.

Back in a Flash is compatible with Windows, Vista, XP and 2000. It is available in four storage sizes, from 3.5 GB (under $50) to 31.5 GB (under $200).


Bank of America cannot be Trusted



Bank of America cannot be TrustedBeing I am doing more foreign travel I have been very persistent in letting Bank of America my primary Visa card company know that I will be traveling overseas.

But for two trips in a row when I show up at the Car Rental place or try and check into a hotel my card has been denied. I have plenty of credit and no mater what I do I cannot get the charges approved. I even went through the embarrassing situation of calling them collect and waiting well over a half hour for them to deal with the approval.

Here is the short version for some reason using a Bank Of America Visa card in Japan is impossible. While I have an American Express card and other payment options I track all of my business expenses on this particular card and to no avail it is worthless in Japan.

I can not even imagine being the customer that only has one credit card and being stuck not being able to make a payment. My advice to all travelers do not count on or even trust Bank of America Visa with anything.

Having been a customer since 1987 I will be canceling all my banking accounts with them when I get home. This included Personal Checking, Savings, Business Checking and all associated credit cards. If they cannot take care of their customers I will bank someplace that can..

BTW my American Express card has never failed me ever!


GNC-2009-02-27 #455 On my way to Japan



On my way to Japan tomorrow morning, but dealing with a very sore back after a major fall here at home. Slightly worried about my connectivity in Japan but will keep you all advised if it looks like I will have to delay a show. Congratulations to Dale on winning PogoPlug.

Support my Show Sponsors it keeps food on the table here!
[Save 15% off on any order >$20.00 at GoDaddy.com!] Use Code Geek5
More GoDaddy Promotion Codes Here
[Try GoToMeeting free for 30 days at GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts. No credit card needed.]

Twitter Me http://www.twitter.com/geeknews
My Facebook Profile
FriendFeed GNC Room!!
Comments to 619-342-7365 e-mail to geeknews@gmail.com

Listener Links:
OLED not Selling
US Broadband

Show Notes:
Windows 7 will play .Mov Files
Old School NASA Saturn Picture
Twitter Alternatives
Digg to Battle Stumbleupon
1.5 Million Footprint Found
Google Apps Status Page
CC Zero
Quebecor Sells Out on Three Strikes
Border Search of Encrypted media must give up Data
Earth Eclipse as Seen from Moon
Windows 7 Are they Listening
MIT Invention Powers Bicycles
Do you have a Broken Mac Air Hinge
I Love this Monitor Setup!
17 inch Macbook Pro Review
Pirate Bay Day 9
Lenses Informational
Why the Labels are Crying Wolf
Panther and CDN Networks Merge
Powerbook Battery Explodes
RIP Rocky Mountain News
Say Hello to Google Twitter
Facebook Photos a iPhone Contact List
iPhone Japan poor sales
MRO trouble
Discovery March 12th Launch
Blubrry Sponsors Wordcamp Denver
Fairness Doctrine first Nail in Coffin
How to Sync two Windows Home Servers
FAA hack
36 Changes to Windows 7
CBS gets Pass by Apple to Stream TV via 3G – Podcasting Denied
Asus Eee PC 1000HE


The Cost of Technology



With the release of the Kindle 2 from Amazon this week, we techies are faced with another financial pitfall. Do we buy or do we not? How many of our gadgets end up being pricey, not just for the initial purchase, but for the continued upkeep or subscriptions for the device in the long run? What is the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) on the product?

One of the biggest complaints about the Kindle is the cost, around $360. And while you are presumably getting unlimited wireless download service for years to come, the books themselves aren’t free. Okay, some books are free, but those are public domain. Books range in price from $4.36 (Feng Shui A to Z) to $6,431.20 (Selected Nuclear Engineering Systems, Part 4). The Kindle holds 1500 books, so even if you look at the low end of about $5 per book, your Kindle could cost you $7860.00. Or more, if you are into Nuclear Engineering Systems. So total TCO for device could really get up there at some point.

The iPhone presents the same sort of issues, in a different way, than the Kindle. The higher-end iPhone will cost you about $400 plus an ATT wireless contract locking you in to two years of service with a base price of $70 per month. Then there are the applications you are expected to buy to make your iPhone be all that and the kitchen sink, and you’re talking a pretty good chunk of change in the TCO department.

And I’m not going to let the iPod slide either…Mine was $350 for a 60 gb video model, plus another chunk for the extended warranty, and I purchase all of the music I am storing on my iPod, whether electronically (eMusic, iTunes, Rhapsody), or by CD. I’ve had my iPod for 3 years and have about 6000 songs on it; I estimate I’ve spent another $400 buying music that I didn’t already own. That’s a chunk of change too, although it’s a bit more spread out and may not be so obvious.

There are times when I want a device to do just one thing and do it well (like the iPod). But then there are times when devices that serve multiple purposes can have lower TCO. For example, if I want to read eText, my laptop can already do that, and I can even have it read it to me with text-to-speech. My laptop is reasonably portable, as well, and would hold a lot of eBooks, too. And it holds my entire iTunes/iPod library as well. It’s just a little hard to carry around in my pocket, and it isn’t very good at making phone calls on the run.

But when it comes to TCO, it is something we have to consider, especially in these scary economic times. It’s not just the initial cost of the gadget. It is the long-term costs of service and support for that gadget as well. How many of us have made this decision when it came to home printers, and went from ink jet to laser jet, because of the TCO when it came to ink and toner?

For me, the Kindle and the iPhone have not hit my “must have” list because of TCO. How about your must-haves? Is TCO not a consideration, or are they a good return on your investment?


There’s the Grammatic Way and the SEO Way



In working with websites, I find having to understand my grammar is a key factor. Nobody likes misspelled words or sentences that run too long or don’t make sense. I’ve been spending time going through my sites trying to find and fix those lines that meet that criteria.

But there is another factor I have to consider – SEO. Search Engine Optimization is something most web masters strive for. They want to see their name in lights (Search Engine lights, that is). To be able to top a search means more views. That, in turn, can bring more opportunity and even $$.

So now the real question is: where is the fine line? There are words that crop up (Tumblr, Blubrry) that are not spelled correct. I also have to think about saturation of keywords. Webmaster is a keyword – Google counts how many times webmaster is in a site. Google then reports back that webmaster is a keyword you should focus on. Adding words like webmaster (and their variants) and making it look appeasing is a real task – that is, if you content focuses on getting webmasters to come to your site.

Want to add another angle? How bout we take in viewer retention: The user is only on the site for an average of 2 seconds. You have 2 sentences to explain you, your site and your article. Period. Don’t do that – they’re gone. That is where Grammar comes in more than SEO.

Of course, doth could turn thine speaking into Ye Olde English! Hearty words shall evoke the emotion! Now Everyone – DRINK!

All this to think about and you still have to put your style into an article. For writing everyday articles, it’s a consideration, but you should focus more on your style. If this is an “About” page or something that is going to be a major part of your site, then you need to really focus on SEO, then Grammar. The only exception is the first paragraph: This defines the rest of the article. Therefore, following grammatic rules is the best bet.

Grammar or SEO? They both have advantage. However, the better the site crawls, the more people will see if you correctly spelled Webmaster. Welcome to my world…