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The concept of a mobile broadband router is quite appealing, especially if it supports popular USB modems and enables Internet connectivity sharing over a private LAN. I had cast a quick glance at the Edimax 3G-6200WG but my past experience with products in the Edimax range didn’t boost my confidence enough to consider a purchase. Today, the Incredible Corruption offered a deal on a comparable device that was too good to pass up (the less ZAR 600 applies until 3 May):

The DOVADO UMR (USB Mobile Broadband Router) has a rather interesting capability for users of the NeoConnect Prime device – this is a phone with a USB connector and is connected to a single PC. To share that Internet connection, the PC must be setup to share the Internet connection. With the DOVADO UMR, the NeoConnect Prime device can be connect directly to a router, permitting the Internet connection to be shared with both wired and wireless devices. Think about the extra use you could get out of that ZAR 999 per month uncapped broadband… Other than the Neotel device, the UMR supports a wide variety of popular USB modems, including the Huawei E220. The list of supported devices is rather extensive.

The packaging includes the router, a power adaptor, aerial and excellent user manual. Attaching the aerial to the router is a simple exercise of screwing it into the back of the device.

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As with any device, mobile or otherwise, the more applications are available the more useful that device becomes. That was my experience with Windows Mobile for which a wealth of applications could be purchased and downloaded and the same is true for the iPhone.

I spend a fair bit of time every week or so to check out what’s new in the iTunes App Store. For reference purposes I had downloaded a freeware currency converter. It suited my purposes well but was obviously limited to currency conversions. When the need came about to quickly convert some measurements, I decided to check out the collection of unit converters available for the iPhone. I spent a little time looking around and then settled on Convertbot, a really excellent conversion utility that provides a huge assortment of units as well as a rather unique interface.

It works like this: select the appropriate unit category by turning the selection wheel. At first, the icons on the wheel may be difficult to decipher, but after one or two tries they make sense. Once selected, the chosen units within that category may be converted. To change currencies is a simple matter of selecting the currency shown at the bottom half of the wheel and then selecting a new one, for example.

It’s all very intuitive and the large OK button in the middle cannot be missed. The movement of the wheel is accompanied by some rather appropriate sound effects. The usual functions are provided: invert the conversion or simply select a new unit to change the conversion to that. Currencies are updated at regular intervals using WiFi or 3G. Under the hood, the developers have provided quite an assortment of unit categories, and selecting the most appropriate or most-oft used ones is very simple. First, select the category,

then the units within that category

If you’re looking for a conversion application that does it all, Convertbot should be part of your consideration. Though the interface with the selection wheel and the sound effects may put some users off, I find the application a delight to use. At USD 1.99, the application is well worth it. iTunes Store link here. There’s also a mini application available free of charge to try out before committing to the full app.

The following roadshow might be of interest to Canon enthusiasts residing in one of three major cities in South Africa.

The four hour long presentation promises to provide some expert advice on photography, Photoshop demonstrations and a host of product presentations.

The local Canon website provides very scant information on the event that is being hosted in Durban (9 May), Cape Town (16 May) and Johannesburg (23 May) – all that is available at first glance is a registration link and little else. Had I not happened upon the flyer in the local Kameraz, I would never have known that this event was scheduled to take place. To be honest, Canon SA should get their act into gear and re-work their website. Canon USA is a good example of what can be done.

23 May is marked in my diary!

In Outliers, Malcom Gladwell presented an interesting point of view: of course there are really special people who are capable of extraordinary feats and able to succeed to the extreme in their chosen field of speciality. Yet the reason for their success can be attributed to their environment, their hard work and possibly even the date of their birth. That audio book was read by the author, as his The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference which I finally got to complete this morning.

In The Tipping Point, Gladwell once again sheds some light on occurrences that we observe almost daily, yet cannot explain or don’t really think about. Why, for example, does a brand like Hush Puppies suddenly rise from the depths of obscurity to become a fashion hit the world over? Or, why did violent crime and complete disregard for an orderly society suddenly cease in New York during the late 1990’s? Gladwell provides an explanation: social epidemics, influenced and propogated by very distinct behaviours and traits are able to radically alter the status quo. As these factors exert their initial, limited influence, the changes they bring about occur faster and faster until they potentially lose their efficacy. The turning point brought about by the factors described by Gladwell is known as The Tipping Point – that point at which the  effective trend is suddenly reversed or changed completely.

As is usual in a Gladwell book, the research and delivery is painstaking and exact, with excellent real-life examples provided to illustrate the points made. The chapter on crime in New York City is particularly interesting – it’s a book our new president should read…

If you’ve never read a book by Gladwell, I highly recommend you create a Tipping Point and make an effort: it’s well worth it!

Just announced today, Afrigator’s Gatorpeeps is a micro-blogging platform built and hosted in South Africa. Afrigator has already had a lot of success with its aggregation platform and ad-serving service to local bloggers.

Gatorpeeps is another innovation from the Afrigator stable, though it is effectively little else than another Twitter. That means having to follow yet another set of people and trying to keep track of what is going on…

Local services deserve our support – until Gatorpeeps has been tested and shown to be able to last longer than other micro-blogging services, get an account an hop right in. That’s the only way to give it a chance.

You can follow me here.

I’ve seen images of an immense pocket knife in presentations, but never considered that such a humungous thing would ever be manufactured. As is often the case, I was wrong. Wenger, maker of Swiss army knives features item #16999, aptly titled Giant Knife.

The Giant Knife features 87 implements and 141 functions, weighs roughly 1kg and almost 20cm wide. Costing a whopping USD 1400, many may be pleased to know that the item is not available in Wenger’s stock at the moment.

You should find anything from a cap lifter to a pair of pliers on this pocket-filler. Though it’s an unlikely gadget to carry around every day, it could find a home on the back of a pick-up truck or in the boot of a car. You simply never know when a Shortix laboratory key or a chain rivet setter could come in handy. At least with the Giant Knife, you’ll be prepared wherever you go…

It’s taken them quite some time, but Nokia has finally launched a localized version of its online music store. That’s stolen the march on Apple, whose iTunes Store is still not available in our territory and it requires a bit of deft manipulation and a white lie or two to access their US-based online store.

To get cracking with the Nokia online store, the Nokia Music application has to be downloaded and installed. Running a Mac or Linux? Then you’re out of luck. Even Windows users will require at least XP with SP2 to be able to run Nokia Music. In keeping with the style of the Nokia desktop software, the application looks good and is easy to use and operate. It requests to associate music files and offers to import your existing media for easy transfer to your device.

It’s very much iTunes-like. I redeemed my ZAR 200 voucher graciously donated by Nokia and had a look around…

Of course, a good question to ask is what devices you can use to play back your music purchases. Since this is the Nokia Music store, you should expect nothing less than support for Nokia mobile phones. Even so, the list of compatible devices is rather limited – my E90 is not shown as being supported, for example. A list of compatible devices can be found here. That’s where compatibility ends – the application warns that no other devices enjoy support, so don’t buy credits if you own an iPod or any other MP3 player.

Sadly, tracks are not free of DRM. At a time when MP3 files sans DRM can be purchased through Amazon and when even Apple has capitulated and is offering audio files without protection technology, Nokia is lagging behind. Even worse, it’s Microsoft DRM technology which one should be wary of in any case: their Play-for-Sure technology limited users to a tiny subset of supported devices and even then didn’t play for sure. DRM makes it difficult to transfer tracks to another device, required registration and is a bit of a headache. Of course, the tried and tested method of burning tracks to a CD and then importing them again can always be used and this should be considered a part of your backup strategy if you intend investing money in purchasing music tracks from the Nokia Music Store.

The price of music tracks is not exactly something to write home about: ZAR 10 per track or ZAR 100 for an entire album. Though the price for an entire album is probably cheaper than a physical CD, you’ll be missing out on a physical piece of media that you can rip and play on any device as well as having a backup of the music you purchased. ZAR 100 for a downloaded album is just too expensive, in my opinion. Make a track cost ZAR 5 or less and you have a deal – that should bring the album cost down to ZAR 50 and is far more reasonable. The music giants still seem intent on making more cash than they deserve…customers will vote with their money (or their torrent downloads).

The Nokia music store launched earlier today and you can download the desktop application from here.

The Picquic is a popular tool. It’s a screwdriver with fast-change bits that are stored in its handle. Though it’s compact, it’s not exactly compact enough to carry around all the time. Enter its much smaller sibling, the Teeny Turner. Available in a range of crazy colours, the Teeny Turner is as long as my Leatherman Micra.

Seven bits are included, with one permanently stowed and held up front by the magnetic bit holder. Six others reside in the barrel. There are four Philips screwdriver bits of various sizes and thicknesses and three flat screwdriver bits. The tool is solid and able to apply sufficient torque – more than plenty for the application it would be used for. The magnet holds the bits properly, so losing the seventh should not be a worry.

Due to its tiny size, the Teeny Turner is an ideal pocket companion, always at the ready to manipulate smallish screws, most commonly those found on everyday gadgets. The Teeny Turner is solid and well-made, and my only recommendation is that some kind of fastener be provided on the back of the handle to connect the tool to a keyring. That’s simply to help prevent loss.

Teeny Turner is available at Cape Union Mart for ZAR 70.

Papercraft models are a fun way to while away some hours. Often, those creations end up gathering dust or being used for target practice. But here’s one that is not only interesting to put together, but will also educate the modeller about photography and enable some creative shooting once the glue has dried.

David Balihar has made a PDF available of a fully-functioning pinhole camera, dubbed the Dirkon. Its name is derived from a part of the Czech word for pinhole (dirk) and the ending a part of the name of a well-known camera manufacturer (kon).

Forget trying to insert your CF or SD cards into this one. You’ll need to run to the closest camera store to get some 35mm film. Remember what that looks like?

The PDF download and additional instructions can be found here.

This recently showed up in the MacBook’s AirPort list:

No fear: the Free Public WiFi network does not exist and is not accessible. It remains the great South African pipedream. Where the entry comes from, I have absolutely no idea…