Chumby

I’m reviving a post from the old blogging website about one of my favorite desktop gadgets...the

Chumby

!

What’s a Chumby? Well, it’s a cool little device that sits on your desk, nightstand, kitchen counter, bar, well...you get the idea and displays channels of information pulled from the internet. It connects to your wireless network and also has motion sensors for some games and such.

I have mine show news, weather and some cams from Times Square, NYC, various aquariums, zoo cams and some different clocks.

There are other channels that will display audio and video but I don’t play around with those to much. The Chumby also has a touch screen to interact with some of the channels and inputs on the back for external audio.

Finally, there are alarms you can configure to turn on/off your Chumby at specific times or awake to your favorite channel.

Pretty cool huh? At right is what’s being displayed on my Chumby right now. Pick one up

here

and enjoy!

Earthquake in Southern California

Did you feel it? Yesterday afternoon Southern Californian’s got a little shake, rattle and roll that seemed to last quite awhile. A 5.8 that was centered in Chino Hills.

I was sitting in my office doing work (okay, I wasn’t really doing work so much as I was surfing the internet...who are we kidding here?) when it hit. At first, I thought, we haven’t had a quake in awhile and then it just kept shaking! That followed by what seemed to be a long period of rolling. It’s amazing that the whole thing only lasted 30 seconds cause it sure felt longer.

In the end, everyone was okay and within a couple of hours, things went back to normal. It was like it never even happened proving that it takes more than a 5.4 to disrupt our day.

Although, with fires burning up North and quakes shaking in the South, you have to wonder what’s going on in the state?!

My favorite technology sites

Every day there are certain websites that I have to check out. Here’s my list of sites that will make you a geek in no time.

Engadget

Engadget Mobile

Tech Crunch

Boy Genius Report

Mac Rumors

These sites give alot of daily information on new gadgets coming out, reviews and the latest in tech gossip.

FireFox web browser

For those of you running Internet Explorer, Safari or anything other than Firefox, I come with a mission. Step away from the browser and head

here

to download the best browser out there. Firefox 3 was just released and it’s such a great browser to use...I highly recommend it.

Once you’re all setup and running on Firefox, be sure to check out these add-ons that will add even more power to your surfin’ experience.

1. FastDial - Cool program that can open multiple websites and then show you the thumbnails for them all on one page. I use it as my homepage and then browse from there.
2. Adblock Plus - Removes ads from the websites you visit.
3. Foxmarks Bookmarks Synchronizer - If you use more than one PC and/or mac, this will sync your bookmarks across all of them.
4. Forecastfox - A nice way to show the weather in the bottom status bar of the browser.
5. ColorfulTabs - If you do any type of tabbed browsing, this is a simple litttle add-on that just makes the tabs different colors and easier to recognize.

Must have BlackBerry applications

Okay, so it looks like the new style of blogging isn’t going to work that well with this iweb template I’m using now. I don’t think you guys were reading it anyway.

Below, I’ve listed out my new favorite applications that I use on my CrackBerry...uhh...I mean BlackBerry. These are great and I highly recommend them. Enjoy!

BB Weather

- The latest weather information at your thumbs. I’ve tried other weather apps and they just don’t give you all the information this one does.

JiveTalk

- A great instant messaging app. Again, there are several of them out there....pick your poison. This one rules.

Google Maps

- They’re indeed taking over the world. This mapping app provides directions, traffic and satellite views.

Viigo

- An impressive RSS newsfeed reader. There’s a new Project Tango version out that’s sure to please once it hits the street.

Microsoft Live Search

- As much as I am a mac guy, this program does a pretty good job. I love how programs are integrating GPS search into them now and this one has alot of cool features.

It's back!

You know it, you love it, you couldn’t live without it. Yep, the Tales of a Gadget Freak blog is back!

I know, you all missed it and, hopefully, I’ll be updating this on a more regular basis. Now to see about transferring the old blog posts to this site...