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Hot Donkey!  Nikon just scored FCC approval for their new WiFi add-on to the Nikon D200. Engadget reports:

This new WT-3 Wireless Transmitter that's just gotten FCC approval, however, looks to be fairly substantial, so maybe it won't be so easily susceptible to the same problems. It's also quite a bit more capable, not only wirelessly transmitting photos to your PC, but directly to an FTP server or printer as well. The transmitter will also apparently let you control your camera from your computer, and works with 100BaseTx/10BaseT wired networks if WiFi's not your thing. According to the FCC filings, the transmitter's designed to work exclusively with Nikon's D200 digital SLR, but it seems fairly likely that the same technology could be put to use with other cameras sooner or later.

More details and pictures via Engadget

No, seriously I love the revisionist history tact Apple is taking in their "PC Guy" video from the WorldWide Developer Conference.  Yep, I'll link to it too.  At the beginning of the "wink wink" comments about Vista, they mention Vista's Gadget feature vs. Apple Widgets.  Funny - Apple was inspired by Konfabulator Yahoo Widgets enough to what... dare say you... copy it?  Name for name? Years after Konfabulator's release?  The concept isn't new- Microsoft Research did a paper on it in 2000, well pre-dating either product.  Then they make a statement about Windows Gadgets (which in full disclosure, I helped to name for Vista prior to Google shipping their dashboard) :). 

A few days ago, I called up the guy in charge of Windows Sidebar to congratulate him on the Apple video.  Apparently the competition thinks enough of the feature to slam it.  Like it or not, a good idea is a good idea, and I won't get bent out of shape when OSX SP3 Leopard is made available for download for purchase and includes some features inspired by Vista.  Windows XP has the feature Apple calls Spaces too, but it's a powertoy. It's been available since 2005, mentioned in Wikipedia for some time and it's a free download for Windows customers.

Others took shots at OSX when it was late to arrive, and didn't include features like DVD playback.  Vista will ship when it's ready and include advanced features such as digital cable HDTV PVR and enhanced home networking that makes it super-simple to set up and even diagnose when a WiFi router or other component goes on the fritz (happening a lot since I upgraded my WiFi- another story). Yet my Powerbook consistently decides to drop connection after ~5 minutes of access (WEP is enabled and authenticated). My wife on her Tablet PC right next to me?  She's still online.

For me, I welcome Apple's ads. The prevailing sentiment outside Microsoft circles?  Go to the "Nascar Nation" and I hear "That Bill Gates guy gives billions to help poor people".  What do they say about the Apple ads?  You be the judge  This is one PR battle I actually look forward to seeing more of.

Update: Paul Thurrott has his own thoughts here.  As does Engadget's Ross Rubin. And in the Apple camp, Daniel Eran. All in all, I think it's fun and not worth getting bent out of shape over. Satire is satire.  Apple's just trying to pull a Colbert/Wikigate (Video on YouTube).

New HD-DVD's released this Tuesday

• Aeon Flux (Paramount)
• The Italian Job (2003) (Paramount)
• U2: Rattle & Hum (Paramount)

courtesy High-Def Digest

Meanwhile in other news, HBO has announced they will be releasing The Sopranos in HD-DVD, making it the first TV program for either format.  <rant> Unbelievably, The Sopranos hasn't jumped the shark despite HBO's ridiculous "season" schedule designed to extract maximum dollar from you and me. </rant>

Come and get it :)  http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulatorx/downloads.html 

As I mentioned before, I've been working on a side project to address issues with the blog- the increased spam and difficult in reviewing statistics in particular.  Thanks to Ryan Hoffman at Telligent who wrote me an unofficial DasBlog to Community Server 2.1 converter, I was able to easily migrate all posts and comments into the system, but not without losing some items such as permalinks.  The system is much more robust and may pave the way to offering forums and more community submitted content in the future. 

So I submit for your review and feedback, "Addicted to Digital Media v3.0 Beta".  Please let me know your likes and dislikes, CSS issues or otherwise.  This site exists for you- let's talk about what you want to see more of/less of.

A small group of us are heading out to see the Blue Angels practice today at 1pm for Seafair.  I know we can't get into the main grounds, but I'm looking for suggestions on where to stage for good pictures.  Here are some thoughts:

• Luther Burbank Park, Mercer Island
• NewCastle Beach Park, Factoria
• Seward Park, Seattle

Any suggestions on the location?  I know I90 will be shut down but it's been a few years and I'm a bit rusty on their flight path.  Thanks!

Update0: qna.live.com has the same question posted here - thanks Erik!  By the luck of the draw, we found Colman Park- right near the I90 bridge in Seattle, it's free, was less populated and got some really good shots straight ahead, and 180deg behind you for closer shots. There's swimming for the kids, and plenty of space for a throw-blanket. 

GearLive recently sat down with Jonathan Sasse, President of iRiver America at their offices about the development of the Clix.  You can see the framed signoff poster we gave them commemorating the effort and learn more about the experience here.  The audio quality leaves a bit to be desired but a good demo and interview overall.

Real + Mozilla + Google Toolbar. And I remember the days when you could just easily download the software you were intending to download.  We've reached a new tipping point when 2/3 of the download are products you didn't directly intend to download.

Chris Pirillo- how about a cartoon extolling the new software "box" - "Now includes 66% more stuff than you wanted asked for!" Party on the party plane!

Last night, I had the opportunity to have dinner with Jeremy Toeman, VP of Sling Media and a group of folks from the Windows Mobile team.  I had a fantastic time- this was the first time Jeremy and I had met in person and we clicked.  I've been a reader of his blog for some time at www.livedigitally.com which he does for fun on the side as I do this site.  We both use Shure headphones.  We both like to smoke... BBQ (gotcha!).  We both love Slingbox.  He set up my new HTC Breeze aka MTeoR aka Qtek 8600 with his own home account for testing (sustained 140kbps over EDGE in Bellevue WA).  I was getting 14fps which was truly watchable.  His wife called up shortly thereafter because he was fighting with her on the same TV for control.  Uhoh- glad he was at the controls :).  No marital tiff here, he just apologized and said he was doing a demo.

I forgot to take a picture, but as an owner and fan of the iRiver Clix, I gave him my launch jacket as a thank you for all the good (Windows Media) work that went into the Slingbox.  I love my slingbox and with my new super fast cell phone, I'm sure to enjoy it on more wifely excursions.

Special thanks to Jonathan.  I've officially been out-gadgeted. Of course, now my boss wants a Slingbox as well. :)

I'm going to start a new segment, "HD-DVD Tuesdays" where I'll list the new DVDs coming out in HD-DVD.  I'm not going to include Blu-Ray here because frankly, I like my HD-DVD player and I'm not going to shell out the extra $$ for a Blu-Ray player that's not executing as well as HD-DVD. 

August 1 Releases

• Four Brothers (Paramount)
• The Manchurian Candidate (2004) (Paramount)
• We Were Soldiers (Paramount)

courtesy High-Def Digest

MSN Spaces is now Windows Live Spaces, offering blogging and more for mainstream Windows Live users.  I keep a family blog over at WL Spaces, and perhaps now will do more with it.  I was surprised to hear that WL Spaces is now the largest blogging service on the web with over 100 million unique monthly visitors, beating Google's Blogger.

Here's an interesting video at On10.net that explains some of the new features.  The "mistress" analogy is the most non-Microsoft I've heard in a while.  Something tells me this guy is going to get a call from PR to come up with another analogy... ;)

Top New features:

• New look and feel
• Support for Windows Live Gadgets
• Friends Module (heavily customizable - look out MySpace!)
• RSS feed embedding (include content from your favorite sites on your WL Space)

Michael Arrington at TechCrunch has more here as well.  Personally I'd like to see more in the statistics features, more music and video integration (including simple hosting of videos on 3rd parties ala YouTube).  How about links to Urge music with freeplays? Perhaps we'll see more in the future.

Update0: Added RSS feature to list - thanks Erik!

Remember those annoying little tamagotchi keychain games that were all the rage in the last 90's?  The goal was to raise your little animal by hitting buttons to feed or train it.  Jeremy Toeman points to what I call "Analog Tamagotchi"- real plants and cactii on a keychain.  Just a little water every few days.  Eventually these can be moved to pots to become full-sized.  Or you could just kill it like I do most of my plants and carry around a plant corpse, noting you're too busy to water it.

Source: LIVEdigitally » Blog Archive » Who’da Think it? - 5

If you're like me, you know how infuriating it can be to have a layover between flights and no access to power to recharge your battery.  Airports are often stingy and attempt to hide their power outlets.

Jeff had a great idea- start a Wiki where users can post pictures and details on how to find AC power. Whether you want to watch a movie, surf, or get real work done, this is a great resource.

Sean's Travel Tip #28: Often times when you find the outlet, someone else will be using it.  Bring one of those dandy $3 3-outlet adapters with you to share with the other power user and potentially a third person such as a coworker. Worried about surges?  There's a solution here for you too.  Go ahead, recoup some of the "Airport usage fee" rolled into the cost of that ticket. ;)

Long Zheng from Australia was excited to win my little giveaway a few weeks back and finally recieved one of the first iRiver Clix players in his country.  His thoughts are posted here as well as pictures of the swank jacket we created for the launch team which I included as a bonus.

Now comes more good news for our friends down under. The Clix is now available officially at Dick Smith Electronics.

Sorry, I don't have any additional details on Clix availability in other markets- please contact iRiver and/or your favorite retailer directly for your region.