@methodshop

Labels: pics

Mark your calendars. September 9th is the 41st birthday of the automated teller machine. So if you find yourself at the ATM today snatching up a wad of twenties, then feel free to sing happy birthday and let your fellow bank members know how you feel.

Here's some random ATM trivia. Enjoy!

• There are 2 ATMs in Antarctica.
• The first ATM in the United States was installed in 1939. It was removed 6 months later due to nonuse.
  
• ATM customers spend an average of 20 to 25% more than non-ATM customers.
• Bank ATMs average 6,400 transactions per month.
• The most popular day for ATM usage is Friday.
  
• Retail location ATM machines that dispense $20 bills increase store sales by over 8%.
• John Shepherd-Barron (Scotland), Luther George Simjian (USA) and Don Wetzel (USA) are the inventors of the ATM.
• ~240 new ATMs are installed per day worldwide.
  
• Since first ATMs were offline devices not connected by a computer network, banks only gave ATM access to card holders with good banking records.
• 16 mcg of cocaine can be found on every US bill in circulation.

methodshop

Labels: gadgets, holiday, tech news

Thinking about buying a USB 2.0 hub? Whenever buying a hub, the 3 most important things you should be looking for are: power, ports and speed.

POWER
Always buy a powered USB hub. Any hub that comes without an AC power adapter is a total waste of time. As soon as you plug in a power hungry USB device (like a memory card reader) you will probably get a low power warning. I got an un-powered USB hub as a corporate gift last year and eventually just threw it in the garbage. It would just randomly give me a low power warning and disconnect all USB devices connected to it including hard drives that I might have been working with at the time. Total pain in the ass.

PORTS
Besides power, the other thing you should be looking for is ports. The more, the merrier. Seriously, you can never really have too many USB ports these days. My PowerMac G5 has 3 USB 2.0 ports in the back and 1 in the front. But I still had to buy two powered USB hubs to connect all my external devices to my computer. I have an iPod Video, Chub City charactor, Kensington Turbo Mouse, Apple Mouse, Apple Pro Keyboard, a Cannon scanner, lava lamp, Christmas Tree, and a SanDisk memory card reader. I try to keep the USB port on the front of the computer free in case someone comes by with a USB keychain. Most USB hubs only have 4 ports. The Iogear GUH227 hub has 7. I always want the most ports possible.

SPEED
Another factor you should consider when buying a USB hub is speed. The Iogear GUH227 hub has 7 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports capable of a data transfer rate of up to 480 Mbps. Have no idea what that means? Don't worry about it. Just know that as far as hubs go, this baby is pretty fast.





The MiniHub also supports USB 1.1 devices. In general, most USB devices are backwards compatible but not always. I have a EP USB 2.0 memory stick that's not backwards compatible with USB 1.0 devices.




Features

• 7 USB 2.0 ports for easy expansion
• Supports data transfer rate of up to 480 Mbps
• 40 times faster than USB 1.1 products
• Plug-n-Play, hot swappable
• Backward compatible with USB 1.1 specifications
• Supports Windows 98, 98SE, 2000, ME, XP, and Mac OS X or later version
• 1 USB 2.0 A-B cable included
• 3 Year Limited Warranty

Requirements

• Windows 98SE, 2000, ME, XP
• Available USB 2.0 port
• Mac 8.6 or greater. Requires OS X for USB 2.0 support
• Available USB 2.0 port

Package Content

• GUH227 - Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Hub
• Power Adapter
• USB A to B Cable (6’)
• User Manual
• Warranty Registration Card

The Iogear GUH227 USB 2.0 hub supports Windows 98SE, 2000, ME, XP, and Mac OS X 10.2 or later.


methodshop

Labels: gadgets, review

Can't wait to get your greasy fingers all over an iPad 3G? Apple updated the 3G-enabled iPad's shipping date to May 7th. The 16GB model is priced at $629, the 32GB version at $729 and the 64GB model at $829.

methodshop

Labels: apple, tech news

Forget out about using the latest and greatest smartphone apps to update your Facebook status on the go. The cool kids just use their Hoodies.

Seattle designer Jennifer Darmour has a concept Hoodie jacket, called PING, that allows you to wirelessly link your Facebook account status to specific body gestures.




How does it work? She's designed the Hoodie's motions to trigger status updates. For example, tying your waist string accepts a friend request and taking off your hood pokes a friend.

The garment will also notify you of activity. A vibration on your shoulder means you just received a new Facebook notification.

What do you think? Is the PING Hoodie impractical? Cool? Are 'social-networking garments' the future of fashion?

You can find more info on the PING Hoodie on Darmour's site Electric Foxy.

methodshop

Labels: internet, social networking, tech news

What happens when a husky guy wants to do a cannoball jump into a frozen lake? Not what you might expect. Imagine the ending of Free Willy, only if the whale jumped into a frozen lake instead of the ocean. Pretty much the same thing except add a twist of panic and a mild concussion [via Break].






methodshop

Labels: video

I've been drawing cartoons for methodshop for quite awhile now and I wanted to highlight some of my favorites here and give you direct links to the cartoon pages. If you're not familiar with methodshop.com they are one of those sites that has stood the test of time--celebrating their 14th Anniversary as I write this. The site features tutorials, humor, news and advice on gadgets and technology. Perfect for a geek like me.

Here's a list of all my favorites.

~ Jeff Swenson


methodshop

Labels: pics