To many a service pack from Microsoft is the first sign their newest platform is becoming stable. For Vista the SP1 pack came out in April and it was a good sign. At least for some. The deal with SP1 is Microsoft sending a signal to corporate world it’s time to drop XP and make the upgrade. However, even with the Service Pack 1 revision from Microsoft some are still seeing problems with their USB devices. Most notably, users are reporting mice, keyboards and flash drives still not performing as they should.
“We are aware of concerns that a recent Microsoft update may be causing problems with USB devices,” stated a Microsoft spokesperson. “We are investigating the matter and at this time do not have any additional information to share.”
It’s not clear how widespread this USB problem may be. For those installing Vista SP1, Microsoft recommends using Microsoft Windows Update, which checks and verifies if updated drivers are present before the upgrade.
So now the question becomes – have you upgraded to Vista AND have you seen problems with your USB devices? Let us know and comment here… .
Continue Reading
Blogging is a tough gig that’s for sure. One way GetUSB.info stays on top is through real, translated websites from dedicated authors. The most popular translated website for GetUSB is the Spanish version. Today we went through the long process of update the look. Check it out: Spanish.getusb.info.
The Spanish GetUSB looked similar to our older layout like the Dutch version. If you review the two, you must admit the updated look is clearly the better site for reading. The colors are easy on the eyes, less ads and large text.
Carlos runs that Spanish site and is diligent about translating every post from the English mothership. The other domains we have include:
If you’ve taken the time [which I doubt you have] to click the other domains you’ll see the Dutch, Indonesian and Italian sites are out of date. The authors from the Dutch and Indonesian site had personal issues and couldn’t continue the translation process. The Italian site was clicking along great, then a system crash deleted the Authors profile, and that killed all his posts. Needless to say he [Andrea] was very upset and gave notice for the position.
Want to work for GetUSB.info? I’m seeking authors for established sites of GetUSB in Italian (PageRank 4), Dutch (PageRank 4), Indonesia (PageRank 4) and looking to establish new sites for French, German, Swedish and Russian. If you have interest in translating pre-written posts and a chance for revenue stream income, please contact me: gmo<@>getusb dot info for all the juicy details.
Continue Reading
Back in July 2007 I made a USB tutorial post about putting WordPress on a stick. Shortly there after, several visitors emailed me indicating I had too much time on my hands and it really wasn’t worth the effort. But how do I disagree!
Even in the past year, WordPress has gain momentum in the blogisphere and becoming the #1 blogging platform. Even Alexa, a fairly decent gauge on web traffic ranks WP as #26 in most popular sites.
Given this information, I’ve seen more and more website – not blogs – use the WP platform to create their static website and webpages. So for those SEO and web designers out there, putting WordPress on a stick allows them to demo the site to clients, run SQL runtimes for testing and troubleshooting and isolating their web environment during development.
A good example is my RSS Filter website: FilterMyRSS. Take a look at the source code, you’ll see the script which runs the utility along with supporting pages and blog entries…all based off WordPress.
I do agree the masses wouldn’t care about putting WordPress on a stick, but if the web is your bread-n-butter it would probably be smarter for you to know how – than to not.
Hmm, that title came out a little weird. Anyway, Vladimir released updated versions of his USB wood drives to include some odd shapes that include, what looks like to me, a mushroom, tree stump, wooden tooth and a fluted casing.
Wooden Jewelery is offering these for $20 [1GB] and $30 [2GB]. The wood drives come with a leather lanyard and a quality case. The line is called MEMORE and there is a full selection available with larger shapes and sizes to choose from.
So what else do you get for the $20 or $30? Well, for starters you get a very unique wood USB drive perfect to start any conversation. Not only does your USB drive hold valuable data, but the wood case is valuable too. To prove that point you can explain [depending on what you get] that a Bog Oak drive has been created from wood that is carbon dated back 1,300 years. Or Yew Root drives have been carbon dated back 600 years.
A quote from the creator:
…I prefer to work in wood because it is a living material…
-Vladimir Levestam
The Y-Shaped USB hub from Apacer is a clever design, but it’s not the first time we’ve seen it. RiDATA introduces a flash drive with combo two port hub on the back side, which I’m still wondering why it hasn’t gained more popularity, about a year ago. The Apacer Y-shaped USB hub increases the port connectivity over the RiDATA by two fold, but doesn’t have flash memory storage.
The Apacer PH151 uses a miniUSB connection to the host computer [via cable] and then provides two vertical ports and two horizontal ports. To me, once you’ve put a cable to the hub, it doesn’t matter what shape it’s in. Just stick your device in and go. The clear advantage with this design, is increasing
Continue Reading
Microsoft developed a USB stick to pluck evidence out of computers at crime scenes. The USB device is called COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor) and has the power to blast through security settings to get the good stuff…and quick.
The COFEE USB devices is ideal for on-site investigation where law-enforcement needs to extract data quickly and accurately. The Microsoft COFEE contains 150 commands which dramatically cuts down time to gather digital evidence. It can decrypt passwords and analyze a computer’s
Continue Reading
Waterproofing your USB drive is a good preventative maintenance procedure as you never know when it’ll end up in the wash. Below is a video on how to use epoxy and little skill to waterproof your UFD. Enjoy this USB tutorial:
Continue Reading
Gadget4All generally has some useful USB gear they sell, but today in my inbox was a USB flower fan that was nothing short of gadget crap. Sorry guys.
Powered by USB or AAA batteries you can clutter up your office space with a pink or green USB flower fan. Granted it’s only $12 to buy, but sometimes it’s just more fun taking random items from around your space and creating something yourself…example: this USB fan.
BUT, if you are looking for a colorful and playful looking fan to prop up on your PC for the kids during the hot summer months, than please reconsider the USB flower fan. Or if you’ve got a lady friend who’s totally into Disney trinkets and anything gay and colorful like that.
Happy Earth Day. Over the years, GetUSB has reported on a number of green friendly products. Today we’ll take a quick look at what some of those are.
For example, how would you like to listen to music with a hand crank MP3 player while making your way through a jungle? Not adventurous – well you can still do your part with the Go Green USB Earth Drive. But even that might be a little extreme for you. We do have a selection of wood flash drives which might not be the best “go green” decision, but it would cut down on plastic.
Probably one of the most useful things we could collectively do is stream line production and consumption and go with one standard for power connections. This would reduce the number of useless cables and connectors made for all different types of electronics and we could just settle for one cable which does it all.
As a closing note, we could monitor our electricity consumption a little better with a USB temperature and humidity logger. After all, keeping a closer eye on how often that air condition goes on would not only help the environment, but reduce your electric bill.
To read up on Earth Day please visit the official website for more details on how to clean up our mess.
Continue Reading
GetUSB.info has been translating our posts into Spanish for quite some time now. Our Spanish site isn’t an automated translation engine either – it’s the real deal. Carlos is my Editor in Chief for GetUSB.info Espanol and is relentless in his punctual translations. Located in Panama, Carlos not only does the edits for spanish.getusb.info but also runs Panama Live, an online travel and tourism magazine for Panama, and Adarte Studio, an online community for designers, webmasters and SEO professionals.
Carlos just reported some interesting statistics about his visitor base and I wanted to take some time to A) say “thanks” to Carlos for being a great editor and B) share the visitor statistics. So here we are:
Our next step is changing over the old GetUSB design to the new, fresh look of the English site. We feel the English version is easier to read, quick to navigate and less intrusive advertising.
So, if you like what you see at GetUSB but would rather read it in Spanish hop over to spanish.getusb.info. You can also grab our Spanish RSS feed here. (Need an RSS Filter for those keywords?)
Once again, Thanks Carlos for a wonderful job!
Greg
GetUSB.info Editor in Chief
Continue Reading
With over 5,300 Diggs, I figure this would be a good article to report about on how to make a sawed-off USB key. Nothing about this project is too technical, but the idea is clever enough it’s gained a lot of attention.
The sawed off UFD is a mod of using a slim Kingmax USB drive, USB cable and some glue + knife for a very cool looking storage device.
The intro line to this tutorial from the main page is:
“Holy crap– somebody just went and TORE MY FREAKING USB CABLE IN HALF while it was still attached to my laptop!!!
No– wait– sorry. That’s just my USB drive. My bad. Never mind.”
Which I think is pretty funny.
So besides getting a slim Kingmax USB drive (here is a 4GB for $15), you will need the following:Â USB cable, X-acto knife, glue, pliers, small screwdriver and some mad cutting skills.
First thing you will want to do is cut open the female end of the USB cable so you can insert the memory for storage. It’s fairly straight forward in the process. Some additional pictures are available
Continue Reading
OWC is giving you GB hungry data hoggers some extra storage space. Their new 500GB Mercury portable hard drive is their largest [portable] edition yet. It’s got Firewire and USB connectivity to support any gear you’re dealing with. A couple concerns I have are a) it’s a 5400 RPM hard drive, which is standard for portable hard drives – but I like 7200 RPM, and since the Mercury is b) bus powered, the 7200 RPM wont see the light of day. As I’ve mentioned before, if you are looking for serious use off your USB hard drive, don’t deal with bus powered devices.
So given those two knocks, it’s still super slim for a half Terabyte of data storage, and at just $359 it’s doable, but I’ve seen plenty of options out there.
Nothing posted on OWC’s site for purchase, but check their homepage and use the search function.
Continue Reading
To many a service pack from Microsoft is the first sign their newest platform is becoming stable. For Vista the SP1 pack came out in April and it was a good sign. At least for some. The deal with SP1 is Microsoft sending a signal to corporate world it’s time to drop XP and make the upgrade. However, even with the Service Pack 1 revision from Microsoft some are still seeing problems with their USB devices. Most notably, users are reporting mice, keyboards and flash drives still not performing as they should.
Happy Earth Day. Over the years, GetUSB has reported on a number of green friendly products. Today we’ll take a quick look at what some of those are.
For example, how would you like to listen to music with a 
GetUSB.info has been translating our posts into Spanish for quite some time now. Our Spanish site isn’t an automated translation engine either – it’s the real deal. Carlos is my Editor in Chief for GetUSB.info Espanol and is relentless in his punctual translations. Located in Panama, Carlos not only does the edits for 
