*For the people who have the System Reserved Partition*

1. Run diskmgmt.msc
2. Assign the System Reserved Partition a drive letter ( R: )
3. Copy the Hazar Loader to the R: drive.
4. Run it as Administrator.
5. Wait abit.
6. Watch the CMD console do its thing.
7. Reboot.
8. Remove the drive letter on the System Reserved to hide it again.

The original Pet Rock was a huge phenomenon for no good reason. But what of this new twist on an old fad. Buy it as a stocking stuffer. But be prepared to duck when the receiver chucks it back at you.

Gizmodo via ThinkGeek

Barnes & Noble new e-Reader, Nook, has already sold out before the Holidays. And Amazon is poised to reap the benefits of their poor planning. Ya snooze, ya lose.

You know you’ve achieved cultural legitimacy when Beyonce sings about you. But if you think this video is shallow in its praise for emerging technology. Consider that putting Beyonce and Lady Gaga in one mega fab video may finally bring Black and Gay communities together.

If you understood what I just said, then you might be a product of the Culture of LOL, according to Travis Magazine. The question: Will texting be the death of the English language? According to the article, it might actually improve your reading skills.

It seems to me, that no language is set in stone. Most languages evolve over time to fit the current culture. IMHO, the English Nazis need to ease up on their snobbery. Besides, I’m really bad at texting, and therefore need all the help I can get.

I’m going to ask you what you can see (that’s new, or stands out) in this shot:

I know they're not invisible, but look at the glare over the clutch lever.

Hopefully the hand deflectors don’t pop right out at you.  My point is: they’re not ugly.  Actually, they fit very well! But how do they work?

…

When I decided I wanted something to cover my hands during those frigid winter rides, my thoughts would typically bounce back and forth between extra, heavier gloves (I own everything from $1.50 jersey gloves to 20-yr-old welder’s gloves) and some kind of chinese-delivery-boy hand fairing.

Then I learned about HippoHands.  They were basically the warmth of a glove but with the ugliness of a hand fairing! Excellent!

Hippo Hands: You might as well breastfeed at your own wedding.

The thing is, when I’m riding, I like to hold the controls and ride a motorcycle.  I’ll tell you what I don’t like to do:  operate a nuclear reactor’s control rods and ride a motorcycle.

"It's not about dexterity, it's about safety!" The morons might say.

SO!  I looked for a better solution.  There had to be some way to keep my hands happy while not making the bike look like it was designed for the mentally incompetent.  That’s what the PIPES are for, to make you look retarded.  Everyone knows that.  The handlebars must always be sexy.  Although… have you seen these?

ANYWAY….

I ordered a set of National Cycle Hand Deflectors because they looked not just normal, not just not-retarded, but actually good with the windshield.  And after riding through half of November with just a windshield, I installed the hand deflectors and had myself a time.

Here’s the package (not that these are for 2009 models – they work the same with 2010, at least for touring harleys):

Ooooooh......Aaaaaaaaaahhhh....

Installation is so easy, if I had to draw you a diagram, it would look like this:

It came with instructions because we are all dumb.

Installation truly took less than 10 minutes.  That includes dropping the nut and lockwasher behind my other bike, then finding them.

Note to future self and all those who don’t have the intuition of a lifetime of wrenching:  If you’re using your motorcycle seat as a bench to hold things, stand on the LOWER side of the bike so the parts, if they fall, fall TOWARD you.

The directions say to use 12 ft-lbs on the nut.  I didn’t use a torque wrench, I just guessed.

One issue is that by installing the deflector’s mounting bracket through the mirror stem, you have to re-adjust your mirrors.  It’s not difficult, it’s just annoying for *some* types of mirrors.  You have to leave enough travel in the glass-to-mount pivot joint to be able to get your mirrors facing how you need them.  Tightening the nut on the bottom of the stem can throw off your adjustment.  Just be warned – test your mirrors before you ride.

By the same token, test your clutch lever – if you over-tighten the mirror stem nut, you’ll find the clutch lever might stick.  Learned that the hard way!  Flexed it a few dozen times and it settled in.

With the hand deflectors on, I was delighted to see how well they fit the aesthetic of the Road King.

They do have a teeny bit of tinting to them.

And now, the real question:  how do they work?

As I said above, they work quite well.  Like your windshield, they block more than what’s directly behind them: they form a pocket in the wind that protects an area larger than the glass that forms them.  Against the wind, I would estimate they block about 75% of the rushing air at most speeds.  Yesterday I got up to 110mph and found they really kept my hands warm over a 58 minute ride.  Saturday I rode 51 minutes in the rain, got up to 92mph, and again was pleased by the wind protection.  I would give them an A+ for wind protection.

But they’re not called “wind deflectors” – they’re hand deflectors.  They block rain too! Yay!

They just don’t do it as well.  Obviously rain can still fall behind the deflectors, and rain will run off of all the nearby surfaces and it will splash and you’ll just get soaked.  Fact of life.  But they still work.  And they work well.  There was no design defect readily observable during my rainy Saturday riding.  The rain didn’t stream across my hands, sapping precious warmth.  There was no buildup up top or runoff from the trailing edges.  They would have to come up and over, like a roof, to do a better job.  And that would look silly.  All things considered, I don’t think you can do much better without sacrificing bigtime on the aesthetic (and easy as they are to install, with the mirror adjustment it’s not a joy to be taking them on and off – wouldn’t do it more than once per season).  That said, they still do protect your hands from rain.  This is a wonderful, wonderful thing!

Bottom line: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.  I paid about $90 for mine and the total delivery turnaround (credit card authorization through signing for the package) was 5 days with standard shipping.  Not bad at all.

Customer service was excellent.  Tell Scott that some pain-in-the-ass Italian guy with a 2010 FLHRC recommended you to National Cycle for some hand deflectors!

http://www.nationalcycle.com/catalog.html

(877) 972-7336

(Not a great shot, admittedly)

Network World magazine just published a list of 25 of the coolest tech gift ideas. I have a few of these gadgets that I got as gifts and I really like them. Take a look and maybe some will end up on your Christmas list this year.

http://www.networkworld.com/slideshows/2009/111609-gift-guide-cool-yule-tools.html?ts0hb&story=gifts#slide1

I picked up my 3rd Craftsman tool set.  It’s the 182-piece that comes in a modest red-and-black chest with three drawers.

Too american, if that makes sense.

Prior, I owned a 154-piece mechanic’s tool set.  And my first set was also a mechanic’s tool set.  Both of these came in a suitcase style case: you crack it open and fold it open.  No room for extra tools.

All three of my Craftsman tool sets have had manufacturing problems.

This whole entry is about those issues so I’ll take my time and spell this out right.

Everything included in the Craftsman sets has been outstanding quality – guaranteed for life. But only my life? Why so modest, Craftsman? You could say “guaranteed for 500 years.”  Or hey, just guarantee it until the rapture.

Everything is sturdy, hard, durable, and pretty much just “everything-proof.”  Never had a tool fail me.  Once I bent a Craftsman screwdriver while using it to pry something open: my fault.  No biggie. Now I use it as a crowbar and have other screwdrivers.

What am I complaining about?

EVERY CRAFTSMAN TOOLSET that I have owned has had PARTS MISSING.  Without fail.

On my first set, I had to assemble the ‘kit’.  The socket heads, for example, were in baggies, and needed to be organized into the case. No big deal! Let me get familiar with the new tools! I thought that Christmas morning, several years ago. Later on that day I realized I had 2 baggies of metric socket heads for a 3/8″ shank, and I had 0 socket heads for 1/2″ shank.    Dammit!

I went to Sears.  I brought the whole set and showed them – two of one, none of the other.  The manager said I had to call Craftsman – they only replaced what was broken.

I called Craftsman.  They said Sears was supposed to take care of this for me.

I went back to Sears.  They said only Craftsman would be able to help.  I referenced the phonecall.  They persisted…

Then I got very, very mean.   I took names. I took numbers.  I used the phrases “internet generation” and “brand degradation” and “I thought this was AMERICA.”  I left with a new 154-piece mechanic’s toolset, the closest thing to the initial set.

I took it home.

I opened it.

And the goddam thing was missing socket heads.  Again.

So I went back (to a different) Sears.

I was given a 182-piece set and I paid the difference.  I opened it, right there on the counter of that Sears, and found all those familiar baggies.  I was heading to the movies* so I didn’t bother to check them.

SURELY the quality control was better on a larger item.  SURELY the years since that Christmas of long-ago have allowed Craftsman to improve their assembly procedures.

Nope.

I’m missing 3 wrenches and 2 socket heads.  In their place, I have 3 dupe wrenches and 2 dupe socket heads.

Anyone want to trade me a few 3/8″ socket heads? One of you out there has my missing heads, and I have yours.

And someone else has my SAE wrenches.  I have double metric.

3 tries and we still get it wrong.  The muscle is there; those tools will last forever.  But how hard is it to get the right tools in the box?  This is the problem?  This is what unhinges us?  This is why ryobi and hitachi are around?  And goddammit, Sears, why can’t you make good on the warranty as you’re obliged to do?  I come back and you try to weasel out of it again … Sears, if you were a person, you would push kids in the mud.  And I would have just given you a black eye.

TOMORROW I will review my National Cycle hand deflectors.  To save you the suspense, they are AWESOME.

*2012 is the most “you-must-see-this-in-the-theaters” movie I have ever seen.  And I never laughed so hard! EVERYONE dies!  Half the scenes are glorious, awful deaths!  Tidal waves, earthquakes, arrogance, idiocy, fire…it was so cathartic and enjoyable.  I highly recommend it.  The plot could have been leagues better, but you forgive it after you reflect back on it (the whole thing was HUGE-DESTRUCTION-SCENE / “i love you, dad!” tear-jerker-scene / HUGE-DESTRUCTION-SCENE / “i never got to say goodbye” /etc/etc/etc).   To the members of TOOL, thank you for Aenima (and everything else, if you’re reading this..).  To the fans of TOOL, you will be humming it…

The Sonos ZonePlayer S5 (www.sonos.com/S5) is now available to customers in Canada.  The Sonos S5 is an all-in-one wireless music system that can be controlled by an iPhone.  The S5 takes a new approach to the all-in-one music system market.  With the Sonos S5 and the iPhone – the smart speaker meets the smart phone.

sonos S5 wireless iphone controlled music system

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SONOS ZONEPLAYER S5 NOW SHIPPING IN CANADA: ALL-IN-ONE WIRELESS MUSIC SYSTEM CONTROLLED WITH AN IPHONE NOW AVAILABLE

• Wirelessly play music from iTunes® and the Internet in any room for $479 per room
• Enjoy room-filling, high-performance sound with all digital architecture
• Control your music experience with free Sonos Controller for iPhone™ app or any other Sonos Controller
• New Sonos Software 3.1 with Twitter functionality now available for all global Sonos customers

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – November 3, 2009 – Sonos®, Inc., the leading developer of wireless multi-room music systems for the home, today announced that the Sonos ZonePlayer™ S5, the all-in-one wireless music system you can control with an iPhone, iPod® touch or any Sonos Controller, is now available for purchase in Canada.  The S5 will be available globally later this month.  In addition, Sonos released Sonos Software v3.1, a one-button free software update for all global Sonos customers that includes Twitter functionality. The S5 has a suggested retail price of $479 and can be purchased at Sonos Canada retailers or www.sonos.com.  To view an introduction video about the S5, please visit: www.sonos.com/S5demo.

“This is the best time in history to love music,” said John MacFarlane, CEO, Sonos, Inc.  “The marriage of devices such as the iPhone and the Sonos ZonePlayer S5 connect consumers to an entire world of music and give them an easy way to control it all from the palm of their hand, in any and every room of their home.”

Key features of the S5 include:

Ø  Room-filling sound: 5 integrated speakers and 5 dedicated digital amplifiers provide crystal-clear, great-sounding audio that fills any room with music.

Ø  Unlimited music from iTunes and the Internet: Play way more than what fits on your iPod, including all your iTunes, free Internet radio and millions of songs and stations from the Internet.

Ø  Control with an iPhone or iPod touch: Download the free Sonos Controller for iPhone app and search for songs, choose the music and control the volume in any room from anywhere.

Ø  Wireless expandability: Add more S5s wirelessly and fill your whole house with music. Then, play the same song in every room or different songs in different rooms.

Technical specifications of the S5 include:

Ø  Amplifiers – Five Class-D digital amplifiers

Ø  Speakers – Five driver speaker system includes two tweeters, two 3” mid-range drivers, and one 3.5” woofer

Ø  Volume/Mute control – Quick-access controls on the top of every S5

Ø  2-port Ethernet switch – Ideal for connection to your router or bridging Internet connectivity. 2-port switch (0/100Mbps, auto MDI/MDIX) allows Ethernet devices to connect through SonosNet.

Ø  Headphone connection – Built-in, auto-detecting connection

Ø  Analog audio inputs – Auto-detecting connection for iPod, CD player, TV, and more to your S5 enables music or audio playback on all ZonePlayers in your home.

Ø  Audio formats – Support for compressed MP3, iTunes Plus, WMA (including purchased Windows Media downloads), AAC (MPEG4), Ogg Vorbis, Audible (format 4), Apple Lossless, FLAC (lossless) music files, as well as uncompressed WAV and AIFF files. Native support for 44.1kHz sample rates. Additional support for 48kHz, 32kHz, 24kHz, 22kHz, 16kHz, 11kHz, and 8kHz sample rates.

Ø  Music services support – Napster® and downloads from any service offering DRM-free tracks, including iTunes, AmazonMP3

Ø  Internet radio support - Pre-loaded 25,000 stations; streaming MP3, WMA support

Ø  Operating systems (for stored files) - Windows® XP SP2 and higher; Mac OS X v10.4 and higher; NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices supporting CIFS

Ø  Wireless connectivity - SonosNet 2.0, a secure AES encrypted, peer-to-peer wireless mesh network

Ø  Power supply - AC 120/240V, 50-60Hz, auto-switchable

Ø  Dimensions/Weight - 8.50 x 14.40 x 4.80 in (217 x 365 x 123 mm)/ 9.15 lb (4.15 kg)

Sonos Software v3.1 software integrates Twitter into the Sonos Controller interface enabling customers globally to send the name and artist of the track playing on Sonos to their friends and followers.  Sonos makes it easy to send tweets about what you’re listening to by auto-populating a variety of messages with the name of the song and artist. The Twitter functionality is available on the Sonos Controller for iPhone*, the Sonos Controller 200 and the Sonos Controller for Mac or PC.  Other features of Sonos Software v3.1 include:

Ø  Full support for the S5 allowing it to work seamlessly with all previous generations of Sonos products

Ø  Graphical Music Menu featuring icons and logos makes finding music easier and more fun. Available on the Sonos Controller for iPhone and Sonos Controller 200

Ø  Unicode metadata for music libraries in the following character sets: Cyrillic, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese are now displayed on the Sonos Controller 200

To learn more, locate an authorized US Sonos dealer or make a purchase, please visit www.sonos.com/S5Demo or call 877.80.SONOS.

*Sonos Controller for iPhone 3.1 is currently awaiting approval from Apple.

Oakley OROKR – review

Protecting your identity – Review of the Guard ID Vault

Identity theft is and internet crime is big business. Not just for hackers, but for the companies developing products to protect us. Protecting our personal information is more important now than ever before. The possibility exists to lose so much, so easily. Everyday there are new methods being devised to steal your information. You’ve heard of them before – phishing, spear-phishing, pharming, spoofing and keystroke-logging.

Guard ID Systems has developed the id Vault. This device is a watchdog that protects you from various types of internet threats. It does this by storing your passwords, trusted websites and login information on a smart card chip. The smart card is the same technology used in identification badges. Think of those police shows on television, when they have to swipe their card to gain access to a secure area. The same technology is being used here. When you visit a website that you have deemed as safe, the iD Vault prompts you to continue using the stored information it is safeguarding. Your first visit to a website that requires a login will cause the iD vault to prompt you to add this site to your secure sites list.

The id vault seems to be a typical USB flash memory device, but it is not. It resembles a padlock, with a metal ring on the top, and a USB connector on the bottom. The pseudo-combination lock on the back has a red button in the center that allows the id vault to extend and retract. When extended, the USB connector is exposed. When retracted, the USB connector is covered, and the metal ring on the top is exposed. This is a great feature because you can put this on a keychain.

Included in the package are the USB id vault, a USB cable, a software cd, a quick start guide and a user’s manual. Installation starts with the software, then the USB device. The software comes into play and prompts you to configure the device. This is done in three steps. You first create your own PIN number, then the system generates a unique serial number, and finally the information is written to the device. When I say written, I mean written – permanently. If you forget your pin, you will have to use the unique serial number. If you are unsuccessful after three attempts, then id vault becomes inoperable. Also note a $19.99 annual subscription fee after the first year.

You can add websites to the id vault when you attempt to log in to one. It asks if you would like to add this site, you then enter your PIN, and voila. Your internet explorer favorites will now include secure favorites and the sites you have added. It also includes a wizard to add your banking institution’s website.

Manufacturer: Guard ID Systems
Price: $49.99 US
More Info: http://www.guardidsystems.com/
Rating 5/5
A portable, durable, and convenient security solution, with some added eye candy for the gadget lover.

A lot of people are looking to Obama to solve the world’s problems, like what to wear on a rainy day. Guess what? There’s an app for that…

Obama-Weather.com

I have came across many questions people posted online regarding about the difference in quality between RON⁹⁵ and RON⁹⁷ but to my surprise, there haven’t been any official report or unofficial report that was released or posted online yet (at least to my knowledge) and so few days ago, i decided to do my own research to discover the possible difference between these 2 grade fuels.

Previously, i’ve tried on RON95 fuels from 2 companies namely, Petronas and Shell. It is shown that Shell is indeed superior in terms of fuel economy beating Petronas by 0.051cents normal city driving but this statistic cannot be treated as the gospel truth because there are many factors that affect fuel economy of a car. It is just a rough estimation of the number. You can read about the full report HERE

I went almost flat (fuel signal light up!) with my 1.3 Proton Gen.2’s tank the other day before i start pumping in 36.16litre of RON97 fuel from Shell worth RM74.13 because lately they introduced the “Save 1 Litre From Every Full Tank” formula. One and a half week later, the fuel signal light up again which is about the time when i start taking down the amount of mileage i have back then. After doing the necessary calculations, i have reached the final numbers.

Amazingly, the RON97 fuel consumes no more litre per KM compared to RON95. I got RM0.18 per KM, very close to the RON95 fuel rating consumption of Shell’s. The only advantage of RON97 is that it gives your car a little bit more acceleration power compared to RON95 and the difference is really huge if you are driving an underpowered car like the 1.3 Proton Gen.2. I excluded the fact that during the fuel consumption test for the RON97, i did 2 runs of high speed driving up to 170kmph and we all know what happens to the fuel consumption if you drive fast whereas during the RON95 testing period, all was slow city driving.

I wouldn’t dare to confirmed that indeed the RON97 is no different from RON95 in terms of fuel consumption because i would have to do any test period with it to get the average like how i did with the RON95 but for now, i’m pretty much sticking to RON97.

]]> http://savorydish.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/hulu-shocks-consumers-by-adopting-a-profit-making-biz-model/ Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:32:16 +0000 savorydish http://savorydish.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/hulu-shocks-consumers-by-adopting-a-profit-making-biz-model/

Hulu, the online video hub that has provided millions with free tv and movie downloads is now looking to charge money for their content. Don’t they know that the Internet is how we get things for free? Damn.

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/10/22/hulu-to-start-charging-in-2010/

I can’t get Windows off my brain! But they keep running these ads. I still have no desire to use a PC. But I do have this strange urge to run out and adopt a kid with an adorable speech impediment.

In a bizarre cross-promotion , Burger King is serving up a 7 patty Whopper in Japan to help announce the release of Microsoft Windows 7.

No deaths have been reported, yet.

To get any EFI (electronic fuel injection) engine to really sing, there are EFI managers available that adjust how the ECM (the engine’s brain – literally electronic control module, sometimes called ECU [..."unit"]) pulls those strings and makes the EFI dance.

Of course, there are also replacement units that just know how to haul ass.  And that’s fine if that’s you.

I’m looking for a plug-in system.  It seems there are a few.  They all interface with the EFI and “trick” it into running richer, or leaner, depending on what you’re looking for (typically richer – more fuel means more power, to a point).  The ECM (or “ECU”) adjusts the engine’s idle speed and the amount of juice the EFI is allowed to burn — all based on the engine’s temperature, the amount of oxygen in the system, and maybe some other factors.  An EFI manager is like the nagging wife that tells the EFI “I know the ECM said to inject for 5 milliseconds, but if you don’t make it 7 ms you’ll be sleeping in the doghouse tonight” and so the EFI ignores the ECM.

FuelPak, by V&H, is a unit that’s earned lots of respect as far as nagging wives go, but isn’t available for 2010 bikes, according to http://www.fuelpakfi.com/harley1.html on today’s date.  The FuelPak behaves the way the ECM does, but is “better” — the ECM has a long list of how the EFI ought to respond for each scenario (RPM, temp, throttle position, O2, etc…) and simply makes that happen.  That list of instructions is called a “map” since it can most easily be understood as a topology of the fuel function.  The FuelPak has its own fuel map and borrows the ECM’s measurements (above) to tell the EFI to use its values from its fuel map.  FuelPak is the least expensive option, so it’s a shame that they’re not able to give me what I want since I’m kind of over here waving my $300 around.

In case you’re wondering, I decided to get a fuel manager based on all the glowing praises from various forums and newsgroups.  It’s like having a butler, but instead of doing your laundry, he does your fuel injection. Or, I suppose it’s like having a TV/monitor set to the wrong resolution?  Go to hell, analogies.

Next up is the ThunderMax.  It looks great – instead of a simple map, it can adjust itself and “learn” the bike and your riding habits.  Seems great, right? Problems: first, the complete system (the “autotuner”) comes out to about $700.  Hopefully I’ve misunderstood and the autotuner isn’t required, but according to my understanding of their website, that’s not the case.  Problem two? It’s not available for throttle-by-wire bikes.  Oh well! http://www.thunder-max.com/

And then, last up, is the Power Commander.  There are two, kinds, but it seems only the PC V (that’s a FIVE) will work on a 2010 TBW bike.  Cost? Just $360, and they have the autotuner for another $360 too.  Wait a minute! Again with the autotuner?

Best I can figure, the autotuner is what enables “learning” mode.  That’s got to be the way to go, right?  But for $700, couldn’t we just get on the dynojet and calibrate once and for all?

Chase Jarvis is the man.

He created The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You, the world’s first picture book of iPhone photography, and now The Best Camera, a $2.99 app for the iPhone that makes photography simple as just one touch. Seriously – the simplicity of this app and convenience (it’s on your iPhone that you have with you EVERY DAY) makes it amazing!
Some of Chase’s own photos, of course, taken on an iPhone, using The Best Camera app. Instant artwork!

A how-to guide even retards can be dope photographers:

So…although that Photoshop mobile got rave reviews, it’s gonna be head to head, although Best Camera gets a one up for being able to Tweet, Facebook, etc on the go after creating amazing photos. Now I need to decide if I should use tomorrow’s espresso money for this bad boy.

//chasejarvis.com
//Flavorwire

So rumor has it that Apple is coming out with the world’s largest iPhone.

Well, it’s actually gonna be a tablet PC.

I guess it’s designed to impress your early adopter friends. So when they whip out their sleek iPhones.

You can say, “Bam! Take that, bitches!”

“Now watch me dial a phone number with my elbow.”

I have always been interested in point-of-view video taken by riders.  If you have a normal camera (digital OR film), there’s a very easy way to bring your camera along, fastening it to your handlebars or whereever: use RAM mount parts and create a custom solution to whatever you’re trying to do.  The RAM mounting hardware website is here.  RAM will let you get your camera in the wind, or behind your windshield, so you can get those point-of-view shots.  But why risk your precious camera?  That $700 video camera doesn’t really belong bouncing in the wind, does it?  Would you strap your $3,000 DSLR to the bars and snap shots as you ride? No.  You’d pull over and snap a shot or two when the moment arises.  There has to be an easy way to do video, and now, there is …

that's not my hand, nor my picture...

There are MANY versions of the camera in the photo above.  It’s a CMOS (inferior to CCD – more on this later*) pinhole camera with a micro-SDHC flash slot.  They initially retailed around $200 US, but now you can pick them up for under $50.  It turns out, however, each one is different: like anything that isn’t patented, there are infinite varieties.  Some have blue and yellow lights, some have red, retangular lights, some have a pocket clip, some have a standby mode, etc etc.

I purchased two of the cheapest ones I could find and tested them for this review.

Contender 1: 4UCam’s Micro DVR (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KK5ZHW/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)

• ASIN: B001KK5ZHW
• Item model number: DV013

4UCam's Micro DVR Video Camera

As of today’s date, the cost is (what I paid a few weeks ago) ~$45.  It did NOT come with a memory card.

Bottom line:  DO NOT BUY.

This camera features standby mode; turning it “on” will allow it to wake, but does not wake it. Very frustrating.  It has 3 combinations of lights when in “video” mode (which is the first mode; the second mode is audio-only, called “record”), and it takes some testing to determine which combination is actually recording: One yellow light on the left, middle blank/off, and one blue light on the right.  Both lights solid.  Blinking means it’s starting up or saving the data.  Again, very frustrating (at least compared to the winner … boy, this isn’t much of a shootout, is it?).

The main problem with this camera is that the CMOS is absolute shit.  The video quality is HORRIBLE. Not just bad as in, “you spent $45 for a camcorder, what did you think? yes it’s horrible!” but EXCEPTIONALLY bad, like 3fps webcam bad, but then factor in that you’re moving around with this camera and so your images are all ghosts.

DO NOT BUY.

In other news, I have a $45 camcorder for sale.

Contender 2: PI-CamStick AVI [I THINK] (http://www.spygearco.com/PI-CamStickAVISuperHiResMicroSpyCamera-PE.htm)

Goddam, this review sucks.  I can’t find the link to the one I have.  The one above is being offered for $230 … the one I got was $45, same as the above one.  Damnit!!!!

It happens to look nearly exactly like the one I’m saying stinks – the 3 lights are shaped differently (teardrop shaped in the bad one, round in the good one … which, yes, makes it seem like the wrong photo is up — the 4UCam people used the wrong photo, but if you go to their Amazon site, you’ll see the above [incorrect] pic…I have no idea how you’ll find the right camera =/).

Obviously I’m just going to have to cut this review short.  Sorry.  Boy, what a waste!

******EDIT: I found this: http://www.intelspy.com/sm18ghispyca.html – $29.99 for a micro DVR.  Doesn’t seem to come with a card, but the one I bought had an option for a bit $ more to add a 2gb card.

THE GREAT, REDEEMING CONCLUSION TO THIS SHITTY REVIEW:

There are $45 micro DVR’s (they’re called “spy cameras” because of how small they are!) available on the web.  Some suck.  Don’t buy the one above (4Ucam, off Amazon).  Find one that does not have a standby mode, one that indicates recording by flashing its light rather than displaying a solid light.  That = simple.  Get a 4GB micro SDHC and stick it in the side, and then you’re limited only by battery power (which is a few hours).  Get one with a pen clip, stick it in your shirt (or on a cable, or just tape the thing somewhere since it’s so small and light) — and there you go, you can record your rides without any problem.

Alternative:

You can get the GoPro cam, either regular or HD, normal or wide/fisheye, waterproof or not.  They’re about $300 if you want the better one(s).  I have not used them, but a 5MP camera @ 1080p is amazing for sports applications.  The GoPro website is here, moneypockets.  Check their video (wow!).

If you’re interested in the GoPro cam, check out my friends at CityBikerBlog.com; they just recently posted a review of that unit (prompting me to post my own ultra-portable camera review).

I’ll take some video with my micro DVR tomorrow, assuming it’s not raining, and I’ll post it here.  For $45, you’ll be amazed.

*CMOS is a cheap type of sensor; it can be integrated directly onto a circuit board, which is how these cameras are so small.  The resolving power of a CMOS is far less than that of a CCD (look closely at your camcorder if it’s a new one – it’ll be a CCD … or even a multiple CCD unit).  Of course, CMOS costs less.

For a more technical discussion, I recommend this site.  It’s an advertisement, of all things, but it boils down the information very well (scroll down liberally!).