Here is a great gift idea that includes a splash of tech…give the gift of millefiori glass with a USB stick tucked inside. Granted, the picture is what caught my eye for this article, but the bottom line is that: it IS a good gift idea.
Personally an image like this might work even better…but who am I to judge.
To create the millefiori USB drive can be done in several simple steps. If you haven’t heard of millefiori then let me tell you: Millefiori is a glass work technique which produces distinctive decorative patterns on glassware. The term “millefiori” is a combination of the Italian words “mille” (thousand) and “fiori” (flowers).
The millefiori technique has been applied to polymer clays and other materials. Because polymer clay is quite pliable and does not need to be heated and reheated in order to fuse it, it is much easier to produce millefiori patterns than with glass. And this is what we are going to do today.
In seven steps you can produce a nice looking USB necklece. The detailed how-to is over at Instructables but here is the general idea.
Get a small USB flash drive and take it apart. Get some polymer clay, such as Fimo Soft or Fimo Effect. Prep the millefiori material into a cane like shape. Include a core in the cane shape as this is where the USB stick will go. Cut the cane so you have
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This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a USB tattoo and it isn’t the first time we’ve asked ourselves “why?” But here we are…asking that question again:
Is it me, or does this arm look like it belongs to a woman? Interesting.
MSN did an interesting article on the top 15 tech tattoos – which is the full story – check it out.
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Sometimes you need a USB stick to always use the same drive letter. Whether it’s backup software needing to point to a specific storage device, or you use a Windows Office application which requires a specific drive letter – sometimes it is just needed.
Given that Windows will assign a drive letter as a first-come, first serve basis to removable media it can get frustrating to always try for the same drive letter. Here is one way to assign a specific drive letter to a USB drive.
Before you can assign a drive letter to a USB device, take a look at what drive letters you have available. This will vary depending on what’s connected, networked drives and mapped drives in your system. Simply go to START > MY COMPUTER and take a look.
Next, plug in your USB drive to your computer and let Windows enumerate it [see it].
Navigate to:Â START > CONTROL PANEL > ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS > COMPUTER MANAGEMENT >
An alternate way to get to the same spot is START > RUN > “diskmgmt.msc”
In the left panel expand the Disk Management icon. On the right side you’ll see all the drives available. Right click on the Removable drive and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths”
Click the Add button and choose a drive letter not already in use from the drop-down list. Click OK.
Now exit or close all the dialogue windows and you’re set. Now, each time this specific USB stick is plugged in, Windows will assign it the same drive letter.
Note:Â Windows is associating the serial number of the device to the request you’ve entered above, SO, you’ll need to perform this same process for different flash drives.
Spread the word and enjoy.
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Albiet a concept design, this is one portable looking USB vinyl record player. Comprised of just two parts, a base and top, the USB vinyl record player is meant for table top play back. Granted, you’ve got to ask yourself who’s in such need of a portable solution, but for the die hard vinyl fan who just can’t stand MP3 this is a sure bet.
Published on Pyott Design they give you 3 easy steps:
1) Carry around & store as needed. To play separate base and player via side button.2) Place record on base spindle and reattached top player
3) Plug in power jack to USB port and additional audio jacks if needed. Will play 35/45 RPM
4)Â Place needle head on desired track and play.
In the beginning of July Engadget posted an article about a new release of Star Wars USB drives, not that we need more, but it was a fun little gallery – yet, not impressive enough to make you buy. Today that changed with this artist’s rendition of what he thinks a Star Wars USB drive should look like.
It should look like Luke Skywalker’s hand just got cut off.
That’s right, to gain access to your portable storage you need to sever Luke’s hand.
What’s more impressive is the detail of this home-brewed USB stick and the agony you can see in Luke’s eyes while you detach his hand just to store the latest collection of Tera Patrick photos.
No price as I don’t think these are for sale, but definitely a sweet little project for some bored teen.
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We all know the MinoHD Flip is a great hand held video recorder and is probably the most popular one, but there is a new star on the horizon, the Samson Q3.
Where the Samson Q3 differs from the Mino Flip is the great ability to capture audio. Just look at the thing…there is a towering microphone perched. Ready to capture the best of moments.
I would like to see what Jake & Amir can do with this thing?
In addition to the well positioned microphone, the Samson Q3 also has an expansion slot via SD card for additional memory capacity. Up to 32GBs to be exact.
The Samson Q3 also has VGA output so you can easily connect the device to your TV for instant viewing.Â
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If you are like me [and most people] you have a favorite flash drive. It’s not necessarily because of the way it looks, but rather – over time – all of your important information has accumulated to one stick. You get to a point where if you are going to save any kind of data to your USB drive, then you might as well save it to the one which has everything else.
This is where RecycleUSB.com comes in…if you have extra sticks lying around, which aren’t gett’in the love – donate them. Recycle USB has partnered with SugarLabs to turn donated USB sticks into portable learning computers.
What do I mean by portable learning computers?
Well SugarLabs created a Linux distro [based off Fedora] which boots directly from a flash drive. The distro is a customized learning platform for kids to
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What are the two things people always tell you; “don’t hire your friends and family” and “keep your work life separate from your personal life.“ Well, the USB split stick was designed for just that. The USB drive is split into two drives. The top lever allows you to pop out the USB connector for either work files or personal files.
I think this is brilliant.
You get 2GBs for each side, so whether it’s work and home, his and hers, or legal, illegal, it’s easy to separate the two without having a stoner moment and mixing your lifestyles.
The 4GB split stick sells for $20 and is available now.
Nexcopy just released two large USB duplicator systems that are 40 and 60 ports. Geared towards in-house USB duplication from fortune 500 companies, schools, universities and service bureaus, the Nexcopy units offer the largest PC based systems on the market.
It would be interesting to know how they got past the Windows drive letter limitation to reach the larger capacities. The two new USB duplicator systems are modular in design. Meaning you can start with a 20 port duplicator and expand it to 40 or 60 ports by simply adding more boxes. I like this feature because it allows the user to grow as their duplication requirements increase.
Nexcopy also mentions their new Data Collection feature. This is an interesting concept as it does the reverse of what you would think a USB duplicator is designed for. The Data Collection feature allows you to suck data OFF the USB stick and put the content to the host computer.
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The Universal Serial Bus name has expanded it’s connectivity reputation once again with the Alesis USB to MIDI audio cable. The latest in Alesis’ AudioLink series solves the problem for musicians and their connectivity issues.
The MIDI-to-USB cable has traditional male and female MIDI (DIN) connectors on one end and a USB connector on the other. Musicians can use the USB-MIDI Cable to control virtually any MIDI-compliant software using any hardware device with a MIDI output jack, such as a keyboard, drum pad or MPC
The USB-MIDI Cable is class compliant for plug-and-play USB connectivity on
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I remember buying the first CD-R blanks for $35. I remember buying 128MB USB sticks for $45. I will now bookmark [in my memory] when I bought a 1TB USB hard drive for $99. Crazy how times have changed. Not only are we talking 128MB or 650MB CD-R to a 1 Terabyte hard drive, but we are also talking about paying an exorbitant amount of money for a small bit of memory, verse paying hardly anything for 1TB of data storage.
The Western Digital USB external hard drive is on sale for $99 for 1TB. This includes free shipping.
Limit 10 per customer – so act quickly. While supplies last.
Grab the GetUSB Dealz now!
Here is the company line:
Preformatted and ready to go, WD Elements USB 2.0 external hard drives make it possible to add reliable, high capacity storage instantly to your PC or Macintosh computer.
Plain, simple, reliable add-on storage. This external USB 2.0 drive is preformatted for immediate use. Simply plug it in to a USB port and you’ve got instant storage your PC or Macintosh.
Features
High-speed USB 2.0 – For maximum performance; backward compatible with USB 1.1 ports
Plug and Play Storage – Just plug it in, connect the cable to add high-speed storage for both desktop and notebook computers
Rugged Metal Case – Compact, durable metal case for extra data protection
You personal security for on-line shopping has finally arrived. No more malware keylogging your credit cards, pins and CID number. With this personal credit card swipe machine you are very secure to buy all that gadget crap off eBay.
SmartSwipe is the first to introduce this brilliant product. What the USB swipe credit card machine does, is read the mag strip, encrypts the data and sends it
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To create the millefiori USB drive can be done in several simple steps. If you haven’t heard of millefiori then let me tell you: Millefiori is a glass work technique which produces distinctive decorative patterns on glassware. The term “millefiori” is a combination of the Italian words “mille” (thousand) and “fiori” (flowers).
The millefiori technique has been applied to polymer clays and other materials. Because polymer clay is quite pliable and does not need to be heated and reheated in order to fuse it, it is much easier to produce millefiori patterns than with glass. And this is what we are going to do today.
In seven steps you can produce a nice looking USB necklece. The detailed how-to is over at Instructables but here is the general idea.
Get a small USB flash drive and take it apart. Get some polymer clay, such as Fimo Soft or Fimo Effect. Prep the millefiori material into a cane like shape. Include a core in the cane shape as this is where the USB stick will go. Cut the cane so you have
Continue Reading
You personal security for on-line shopping has finally arrived. No more malware keylogging your credit cards, pins and CID number. With this personal credit card swipe machine you are very secure to buy all that gadget crap off eBay.