SoBeTECH

Determine how much energy you use with Power Cost Controller Power Strip
Cut down on energy costs and reduce your electric bill. Simply plug the easy-to-use Power Cost Controller with surge protection into the wall and connect your electronics to the power strip to see how efficient it really is. Large LCD display will count consumption and cost by the kilowatt-hour, same as your local utility. Monitor your electric consumption by hour, day, week, month, even an entire year. Also check the quality of your power by monitoring voltage, line frequency, and power factor. Measures 8-1800W appliances. Now you’ll know how much your computer network or home media center really costs! $99.99 Get it HERE!

How to Miniaturize a Scene

Miniaturize a Scene
It’s called a tilt-shift effect. It’s a favorite device of fine-art photographers and the Flickr crowd. The idea is to keep a narrow band of a picture in sharp focus while blurring everything else. The result: a sprawling photo-scape suddenly looks like a scale model. To pull it off you need an expensive tilt-shift lens -— or this simple Photoshop trick.
This page is a wiki. Got extra advice? Log in and add it.

How To Proceed

1. Import your image to Photoshop, then press Q to enter Quick Mask mode.

2. Select the Gradient tool and set it to Reflected Gradient. Click on the area you want to be in focus and drag the cursor in the direction you want the image to blur.

3. Press Q again to complete the mask and exit Quick Mask mode

4. Invert your selection with CTRL+SHIFT+I (in Windows) once you quit Quick Mask, otherwise you’ll blur the section you actually want to keep in focus

5. Apply a blur filter from the Filters menu.

6. Marvel at your masterpiece.

(Via Wired News.)

Sony has unveiled the SRSZX1, its latest 2.0 speaker system, ideal for brightening up your desktop and entertaining your colleagues with “an enriched sound range and fuller bass sound reproduction”.

Sony is promoting the SRSZX1 as a good solution for those who use their PC for gaming, listening to music or watching DVDs.

Aluminium finish

“The SRSZX1 has been innovatively designed to provide the performance of a 2.1 speaker in a stylish and compact, yet powerful 2.0 unit,” Sony informs us.

Add to this a rather fetching aluminium finish, a compact wireless remote controller, Mobius Duct technology which ‘minimises wind noise’, Turbo Shift technology for extended bass range and a Sigma-Type magnetic circuit for better sound reproduction.

No news yet on pricing, but we should have more info shortly.

By Adam Hartley (via - techradar)

Every month SmashingMagazine has a collection of great desktop wallpaper calendars to brighten any dull computer screen! There are a number to choose from. Most include a handy May calendar, this is helpful when looking for that day you need to send Mom some flowers!

BMW updates classic M1 sports car; drool supplies skyrocket worldwide

BMW today is proudly — boastfully — showing its M1 Homage, a tribute to a legendary super-sports car that began production 30 years ago. This M1, however, is only a concept.

The M1 Homage holds remarkably firmly to the original, which had a BMW father and a Lamborghini mother (or vice versa; your call). Production of the original M1 ended in 1981 after a mediocre racing career few remember. It’s better known for accelerating people to its top end of 162 mph, and doing it with a refinement rare among sports cars.

The two best features of the new version: 1) BMW created a new color, Liquid Orange, for just this concept car — never has any hue known as “orange” been this right on a car. 2) The bestial front end. The headlights are set deeply back into the grill (there is, technically no such thing on this car). They peer out in a feral squint. All the sharp lines flow together to create a look of absolute patience. It will pounce when it can take you down with the least amount of effort.

If you believe as some do that we are witnessing the final demise of extravagant, anatomy-compensating sports cars, the M1 Homage would be a beautiful end point.

(Via DVICE.)

Mozy Offers 2GB Of FREE Secure Online Backup

Mozy is a secure, automatic remote backup service for your Mac that is simple install and configure. Mac Mozy uses Spotlight, so you can select the types of files you want to backup. The application runs quietly in the background, and backup speeds will vary depending on the speed of your internet connection.

What You Get For FREE

• 2GB Of Free Secure Storage (UNLIMITED Storage ONLY $4.95 A Month)
• Open/Locked File Support
• Block-Level Differential Backup
• 128-bit SSL Support (Secures Your Data During Transport)
• 448-bit Blowfish Encryption (Secures Your Data On Their Server)
• Continuous Or Scheduled Backup Options
• Automatic Or Scheduled Backups
• New & Changed File Detection
• Block Level Incremental Backups
• Bandwidth Throttling
• File Versioning
• Public Or Private Key Encryption
• Much More

FREE Mozy Online Backup - CLICK HERE For 2GB FREE

(Via Cool OSX Apps.)

Five classic TV shows released on iTunes
Apple today unveiled five classic television series on the iTunes store: 21 Jump Street, Hunter, The Greatest American Hero, Wiseguy, and Silk Stalkings.
The release comes as Stephen J. Cannell Productions teams up with New Video to offer the content on iTunes, with The Commish and Renegade to show up in the following months. The classic series’ are offered with the option of buying a Season Pass at a discount.

“I’m very pleased to be working with New Video and having some of our most popular television series, available for the first time, to the many millions of iTunes customers,” said Cannell. “I’m hoping that these series, that originally aired in the 80’s and 90’s, prove to be as entertaining online and on portable devices as they were when first broadcast on network television.”

(Via MacNN.)

Review: Mophie Juice Pack for iPhone

The Juice Pack addresses one of the major complaints of the iPhone, namely the lack of a user-swappable battery. While the Juice Pack does add a bit of size and bulk to the iPhone, it is nothing unwieldy, and its ability to more than double your iPhone’s battery life while still maintaining a sleek, compact design makes it a must-have accessory for any serious traveler or iPhone “road warrior”.”

pic - Macenstein

(Via Macenstein.)

Geek Love: Steve Wozniak and Kathy Griffin all broken up

Speaking to an Us Magazine reporter on Saturday, comedienne Kathy Griffin declared that she and billionaire Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak have moved to Splitsville, population: Them.

“As a matter of fact,” she added, “I got an email last week from him, and he is going to marry someone else… I think he might be married. I don’t really know that for sure, though.”
Wow, with Wozniak’s marital status up in the air even while dating, it sure comes as a surprise that the two couldn’t see eye-to-eye in the relationship. It couldn’t have helped that rumors suggested the notoriously flaky Woz may have held up production of episodes of Griffin’s reality show “My LIfe on the D List” slated to air on Bravo. Still, they’ll always have Sunnyvale. (Photo AP/Danny Moloshok)”

Lego speakers are the most fun way to play your music around

If you’re looking to be able to play your music for your friends from your iPhone or iPod and are also looking to have a way to build a sweet castle out of Legos, there’s really only one product to fill your needs: the Looks Like Lego iPod speakers.

These diminutive little speakers plug into the bottom dock connector of your portable audio player and pump out whatever music you’re listening to. In addition, it’s shaped like a little Lego brick, meaning you can probably build a little structure on top of it if you want. I mean, yes, that would most likely block the audio coming out and defeat the purpose of the whole thing, but come on! Legos!

(Via DVICE.)