TrackItBack stickers have a freephone line listed on them and a code unique to you, so that if you lose your mobile, PDA, etc, some kindly stranger can ring up and let be known what's become of your stuff, without actually having the kindly stranger show up on your doorstep with your digital camera full of incriminating pictures of you Vogue-ing while you watch a bootleg of Superman Returns. $13 USD (depending on the size) for the regular ones, or $15 USD for the more decorative variety. [GT]

TrackItBack [via Chip Chick]

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I don't think they swam in the original Alien movie, but perhaps they went underwater in one of the sequels. Anyway, this is a 12-foot swimming Alien made from fibreglass, which is being sold on eBay. He weighs 33 pounds, comes in ten separate sections but is easy to assemble, and if you can find somewhere suitable to hang him, he's the perfect piece of avant-garde home decor.

Also on Bayraider today: the fedora hat that Marlon Brando wore in The Godfather, and James Dean's childhood violin.

Following the controversy around Tuesday’s Top 10 Reasons To Hate Zune, here’s the promised second installment taking a more positive spin on Microsoft’s multimedia device. Because hey, it’s not all bad by any means. Zune is big news in the consumer gadgetry market, with Microsoft clearly hoping it’ll do to Apple’s iPod what they hope Xbox 360 will do to PlayStation 3. If that makes sense.

Anyway, here’s ten reasons to roll out the bunting for Zune. And in the interests of fairness after Tuesday’s Wi-Fi hoo-ha, one of them is entirely false. Enjoy.

1. Everybody loves an underdog. And let’s face it, iPod could do with some competition. It’s not as if the other manufacturers – including those licensing Microsoft’s own platform – have made great inroads into Apple’s market share. Healthy competition should spur even more innovation on both sides.

2. Mmm... widescreen. I’d rather watch movies on this baby, even if I have to turn it sideways to do it. Hopefully Microsoft will have some good deals with the movie studios by the time Zune launches.

3. Microsoft is smart. They launch, learn and improve. Remember the days when Xbox was just a big ole whirry box with rubbish games? And now look at Xbox 360. Whatever you think of the first-gen Zune, subsequent iterations will be better.

4. The brown Zune. Maybe all those people who said brown was The New Black had a point. And it does go nicely with my corduroy jacket...

5. It’s got Wi-Fi. And yes, that means you can send full-length tracks, not 30-second samples like some fool the other day was claiming. People have been wishing Apple would bring out a Wi-Fi iPod for ages, but Microsoft got there first. Simply having it in Zune gives potential for all manner of cool features. Over-the-air downloads, streaming live TV, 64-person Minesweeper battles. It’s all good.

6. Worthiness. For everybody who buys a Zune, Bill Gates effectively gets a few more dollars to spend on good causes. Which is better than giving Steve Jobs more moolah to spend on polo-necks.

7. Goblins. Zune is powered by little green goblins pedalling minature bicycles. Trust me, it is. And that's cool.

8. Good relations. Apple’s negotiating tactics have rubbed the music industry up the wrong way, although it’s too early to tell if the same is true of the movie studios. Microsoft could steal a march by going in as the good guy with these people. Especially if Bill leverages his multimillionaire contacts and calls up Paul McCartney. “So, about those Beatles albums that haven’t ever been sold digitally...”

9. The buttons look nice. Look, you can't look down on superficiality in this market.

10. The FM radio. Who'd listen to radio when they had their entire music collection to hand? Plenty of us. How else are we supposed to keep up with The Archers?

You may be a geek or a nerd and already think that your computer is sexy, but Intel has laid out the challenge to designers and manufacturers to design a 'sexy PC' - something that is better than the big beige box commonly associated with PCs.

Actually, even leaving Apple aside (who've had their share of beige boxes along the way, no really), PCs have come ono a way since the boring lump that you hid under your desk. Nevertheless, Intel would like to push further - and promote their own technology at the same time. Not surprisingly, the catch is that the computer must use Intel Viiv technology with Core 2 Duo processor. Well of course.

The grand prize winner will receive $300,000 towards the mass production of the system and $400,000 to co-market the design with Intel. The runner-up will receive up to $300,000 to help with manufacturing costs.

The result will be announced at the Intel Developer Forum in March 2007, by which time the Core 2 Duo processor will probably be going out of date.

All bets are off for the gadget most men will be putting at the top of their Christmas lists this year. I’ve just had a hands-on demonstration of Carlsberg’s new Draughtmaster, which lets you pull pints of lager in the alcoholic comfort of your own home. And while it’s got a couple of flaws, I can still think of a dozen friends off the top of my head who’ll want it.

The device basically lets you pour pints of Carlsberg Export through a proper beer tap, and takes five-litre kegs, which is almost nine pints. It's not the first home pint-puller, but it's the most environmentally-friendly.

Now that Yahoo and Microsoft Messengers have merged Mac users needn't feel left out. Microsoft have announced version 6.0 of their Messenger service is now available for Mac. It features that interoperability with Yahoo! Messenger that we all apparently want.

A personal account works with the Windows Live Messenger service, whilst a corporate account uses the Microsoft Office Live Communications Server service. Microsoft say that the federation features on the Live Communications Server allow Messenger users to communicate with many other IM services including Yahoo IM, AIM, and iChat. Presumably the personal account only works with Yahoo.

And just for completeness, Yahoo have updated their Mac client to version 3.0.1 (beta, of course). Both are universal applications.

A couple of weeks back at the Boys Stuff Xmas Shindig, Susi grabbed Mark Tilden for a chat about his Robo range, and in particular the new bot on the block - RS Media.

Yahoo have acquired the Jumpcut video-editing and publishing website, in the ongoing scrabble on the web to compete with YouTube. Is it just me or do Yahoo seem to be doubling up on services? First they acquired Flickr and then launched their own photo-sharing service, now they're buying out a video service even though they have one of their own.

Indeed, they've said that Jumpcut will become part of the 'Yahoo Video family' and won't replace what Yahoo already do. Presumably they'll cater to different audiences.

I took a very quick look at Jumpcut and wasn't overly impressed. Sure, it was first impressions based, and maybe I'm doing them a disservice, but it didn't seem to have the same feel as YouTube or Google Videos, for example. One feature that sounds intriguing, however, is 'Remix' where you can take other people's content and, well... remix it. Ahh, a copyright nightmare!

It also sounds as if Jumpcut will stand to benefit more from the deal than Yahoo, with access to a broader audience.

Have you used Jumpcut (had you even heard of them?). What do you think of the deal?

Jumpcut

Looking not unlike Lego bricks, Kingston Technology has launched the Mini Fun USB Flash Drive, claimed to be the smallest storage gadgets currently available in the industry at just 1.5 by 0.75 inches and in a range of capacities up to 1GB.

Aimed at schoolchildren, The idea is to attach these colourful units to your keyring or phone to store and retrieve documents, photos, music or school assignments anytime. They also come pre-loaded with Atlantis and Magic Vines gaming software by Big Fish Games. Atlantis is an adventure game to - you've guessed it - the long-lost city of Atlantis, while Magic Vines is a location-based puzzle game. Yes, both sound quite educational. 

Available now, prices for the drives range from £6.30 plus VAT for the 256MB drive, through to £12.60 plus VAT for the 1GB model.

Kingston Technology website

Apple's iTunes 7 was met with mixed reactions when it was launched earlier this month. Though it had some nice features, such as free album art, seamless playback, eye candy Cover Flow, and new views, some users complained of poor sound quality, podcast playback problems, iPod synchronisation, and more.

Apple are usually pretty quick at getting out updates, and yesterday version 7.0.1 was released into the wild from the Apple website or via Software Update. A .01 version update means that not a huge amount has changed, but Apple are claiming that stability and performance issues with Cover Flow, CD importing, and iPod syncing have been improved.

I hadn't noticed any particular problems with iTunes 7, but it'll be interesting to hear if the previous issues have been resolved, or if we'll have to wait for a 7.0.2.

iTunes web site

The rise in home technology and high-speed broadband connections is apparently leading to problems when customers are left to their own devices (no pun intended). Sign up for broadband and, apart from an installation CD and some skimpy instructions, you'll probably be left with the modem or router and expected to set it all up yourself.

Now, for many, that's not a problem (in fact I'd rather do it myself to save the embarrassment of showing off my untidy working environment to a telecoms engineer) but to appeal to customers who have little time or expertise, and some cash to spare, many companies are setting up on-call engineers.

Sony Ericsson today announced the arrival of the K320i, which it describes as a "snapshot camera phone", with enough business-friendly features to make it useful for the working week.

As a business tool, the K320i includes PC synchronisation straight out of the box, support for push email, a full (HTML) web browser and storage for up to 1,000 contacts. And if you've got some time off, the K320i also offers a camera with 4x digital zoom (amazingly, only VGA), along with a media player for music and video playback on the 1.8-inch UBC (Ultra Bright Colour) screen. However, internal storage is just 15MB, with mo mention of being able to expand this.

Sony Ericsson, in assocation with Fossil has introduced the MBW-100 Bluetooth watch, a mobile accessory/fashion item that allows you to keep in touch with your phones functionality as easily as checking the time.

As an analogue watch, it's certainly a looker, crafted from high quality (and scratch-resistant) stainless steel with a silver facia. It's also water-resistant up to 30m. But it's the Bluetooth functionality that's the big selling point.  An OLED display beneath the watch face displays who is calling when a call is incoming. A simple key press on the watch can reject the call. You can also control your music from the watch (play, pause and skip tracks), get notification of text messages and there's out-of-range notification when you are separated from your phone.

Vodafone is the latest company to launch an own-brand phone - in this case the new Vodafone 710 3G clamshell handset, which will be the first in a series of own-brand models.

China's Huawei Technologies will supply the Vodafone 710 clamshell phone. "The move will assist the uptake of 3G services, due to the lower cost per handset and the fact that the Vodafone 710 will be offered on prepay as well as contract, and will provide wide market access to 3G," Vodafone said in a statement.

Not content with having wireless access in the home, many of us want Wi-Fi access on the move - whether we're out working or bathing on the beach, according to a new survey by You Gov, in association with T-Mobile.

When those surveyed were asked where they would like more public Wi-Fi HotSpots, more than half wanted access Wi-Fi services on trains, with 37% calling for access at shopping centres. Nearly a third of respondents would like Wi-Fi access in parks, whilst over a quarter want access on the tube. Around 13% of respondents would also like to be able to surf the net whilst soaking up the sun at the beach. Hotels are apparently the most popular choice of location for accessing Wi-Fi services (42%), with cafes second most popular (32%) and airports third (29%). And it's on the increase, with 45% using Wi-Fi for the first time in the last year.

Kensington claims in can liven up your office presentations - and it can do it with the Wireless Presentation Remote, which gives you the freedom to roam while you demonstrate your project ideas.

Instead of conducting presentations with a mouse or notebook touch pad, the Kensington Wireless Presentation Remote allows  you to control that presentation from up to twenty metres away. To use it, you just slot the USB receiver into the notebook USB port, which frees you up via the remote unit. And it also features a built-in laser pointer that can indicate key areas throughout the presentation.

Compatible with both PCs and Macs, you can pick it up for around £35.

Kensington website

  Admittedly, it's got a cool, simplisitc design, but with so many of them around, the iPod is no longer the eye-catcher it once was. If you want yours to stand out from the crowd, you need an iBag Turntable - which also offers you some enhanced functionality on the move.

It's design harks back to the 1960s portable record player - and indeed it does play music, courtesy of some amplified stereo speakers on the outside. It also holds your iPod in a securely in place, courtesy of a small pouch, has an FM radio and also volume controls for when your bag is getting a little too much attentio. Of course, it's also a bag, so you can fit all your other daytime essentials in there too.

Powered by 4x AA batteries, you can pick it up for around $60.

Product page

Via Retro To Go

Yesterday, we briefly mentioned the new Vaio laptop cases, designed by Italian bag stylist Mandarina Duck. Well, more information and images have become available - and to be honest, they don't look much different to traditional laptop bags.

According to Sony, the collaboration between Mandarina Duck and Sony "will bring active men and women a stylish way to carry their notebook and everything they need for their mobile office in one fashionable bag". There's two types of bag, one backpack style, the other like a more traditional carrying case. Both are made from a mix of nylon and high quality leather and feature internal document and stationary pockets, Vaip branding on the leather handles, a Mandarina Duck loko on the aluminium buckles and enough room to securely hold a 14.1-inch laptop.

Both are available to pre-order now at £135.99 each, with a coloured range of bags for the C-Series models to follow.

Find out more

You probably know all about dual core processors, which basically means your computer can do two things at once and not get too hot under the collar. You may even have heard about Intel’s plans to launch a family of superfast 4-core processors in November, but here’s something new to get your head around, an 80 core processor, as reported by CNET News. A prototype wafer was unveiled by Intel CEO Paul Ottellini at the recent Intel Developer’s Conference in San Francisco and it is claimed to be able to process data at the rate of 1 terabyte per second. If everything goes according to plan the chips could be in production within the next five years.

The short answer is it depends. However, according to Propellerhead one way to get a fair idea of how much electricity your PC uses, and its contributing to global warming, is to consult the Journey Systems Power Supply Calculator.

It works by adding up the individual power consumption figures for all of the components in your PC, from the CPU to the CD or DVD drive. The site makes it very clear that the final figure -- designed to help PC builders work out the sort of power supply they will need -- is a theoretical maximum figure and unlikely ever to happen in normal use but it is a useful guide,