GeekSugar

Daily Tech: Circuit City Files For Bankruptcy

GeekSugar — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:30:37 -0800

Not a happy day in Circuit City land. Today the company petitioned for Chapter 11 protection as it struggles to survive with competing retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. - Switched
Last night on 60 Minutes, correspondent Scott Pelley exposed the electronic waste black market between the US and China. - Boing Boing
Ozzy Osbourne has teamed up with Samsung Mobile to promote their latest cell phone, the Samsung Propel. - CrunchGear
This year on Black Friday, Dell will offer their Xbox 360 Arcade and Rock Band 2 for $199! - Engadget
What a chic-looking charger! The Uniross imagine POM is a universal battery charger that's shaped like a cute apple! - Unplggd

Take Care Of Your E-Waste This Earth Day

GeekSugar — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 10:00:37 -0700

Today is Earth Day, which means you should take the time to do a thorough E-waste spring cleaning! Did you know that every year more than 3.2 million tons of electronic waste is disposed in landfills? When computers, TVs and cell phones go to landfills, they can leak lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, selenium, chromium, and many other toxic materials into drinking water and have serious effects on our health. Thankfully companies like Sharp Electronics are celebrating Earth Day for the entire month of April. For all customers who buy a new Sharp LCD TV (measuring at least 37 inches), Sharp will recycle their old TV for free. When your new TV is delivered, the company will even pick up your old one. Do your part this Earth Day (and everyday) to preserve and conserve our planet. Below are some tips and suggestions to help you go gadget green this Earth Day!

Reuse and Recycle Your Gadgets Try re-using old computers and cell phones by giving them to a younger sibling or friend. You can even donate them to a local organization or a church or school. Do a bit of research and see if there is a recycling service in your community. If you exercise all of the options above and decide that you must dispose your electronics, make sure that you do not give anything to a recycler who ships waste overseas; as this just transfers the problem elsewhere.
Check out E-Waste Recycling Sites For more info, visit great NGO computer donation and recycling sites like: Used Computer, Share Technology and Earth 911

Source

Circuit Board Necklace Takes a Bite Out of E-Waste

GeekSugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:07:23 -0700

Be eco-geek-chic with this recycled printed circuit board necklace. Considering circuit boards account for three percent by weight of the total amount of electronic waste, you are not only getting a geekilicious piece of jewelry, but you're helping the environment as well! Each necklace is totally unique and measures over 1.5 inches wide. Pick one up from ThinkGeek for $20.

Daily Tech: More Jillian Michaels Fitness Games on the Way

GeekSugar — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:56:03 -0700

Looks like Majesco is getting ready to release Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2010 and Jillian Michaels' Pocket Trainer 2010. - Joystiq
We may not be overly enthused about its new Della website, but we are excited about this! Dell has just adopted a ban on exporting e-waste as part of its policy. - Engadget
With Craigslist receiving so much scrutiny with the Philip Markoff murder case, the online classified site will remove its erotic services section and replace it with "adult services," which will be screened by staff. - The New York Times
With Facebook and Twitter adding so many celebs to its userbase, the social network Ning is attempting to do the same with its new partnership with The Collective. - TechCrunch
Here are some quick tips to help you extend the battery life of your cell phone. - Switched
It's giveaway time on geeksugar! Be sure to log in for your chance to win an Xbox 360 Console and an Xbox Live Subscription. - geeksugar

Daily Tech: Lego Designer Creates a Robot Based on Son's Drawing

GeekSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:02:10 -0700

How cute! Lego builder Moko built an exact Lego replica of his son's drawing. . . flower and all! - Boing Boing
Did you know that 95 percent of all returned gadgets aren't even broken? Many are returned because they don't meet customers expectations or they are too difficult to operate! - Switched
Best Buy is kicking off a free e-waste recycling program where you can take two items a day (like computers, TVs, etc.) to be recycled. - Gizmodo
A computer technician in Canada found a way to hack into Paris Hilton's and Lindsay Lohan's MySpace profiles and exposed some of their juicy photos. - Valleywag
Apple is offering a deal for new college students where they can get a free iPod Touch or iPod Nano with the purchase of a Mac laptop (MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac). - CrunchGear

The Life Cycle of Cell Phones

GeekSugar — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:01:36 -0800

Considering I have at least six old cell phones, this video by The Secret Life Series really got me thinking about the impact of cell phones on our environment and what can be done to minimize the dangerous amounts of e-waste. Featured on treehugger, "The Secret Life of Cell Phones" discusses the shocking statistics associated with cell phones, the dumping of nonworking electronics to China and Nigeria and the continual efforts in raising awareness about cell phone recycling programs. Lets hope with the EPA's new cell phone recycling program the estimated 150 million phones, which are said to be discarded this year will be recycled or reborn through cell phone donation.

Eco Chic Wattson Device Proves Less Is More

GeekSugar — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:00:27 -0700

This year I've made a resolution to be more conscious about the energy I use and how wasteful I am. Sure, I might just be on an anti-eWaste Earth Day high, but I really would like to do my part and lower my electricity bill. Enter DIY KYOTO's small wonder Wattson, a sleek and chic tracking device that enables you to learn about your own personal energy use through interactive play. The Wattson, which looks a bit like the wii console, shows the power being used across the home, and reacts instantly to any changes with colors and watt readings.

The Wattson gives you the information and understanding you need to take action to reduce your energy consumption and costs, says the creator. The system measures total electricity entering the house and displays this value on an easy to understand display. As we all know, a house's electrical system is made up of several circuits, such as ring mains, lighting circuits and cooker circuit, all of which are connected together at the fusebox, which is where Wattson measures the total electrical power entering the home.

For how it will help you and a gallery of Wattson images, read more

View 4 Photos ›

You can view power use at any moment in Watts or in Pounds Per Year - how much it would cost if everything was left as it is for a year (if you didn't guess it's a British device). This allows you to learn how much money appliances cost to run, even when on standby. While the device is still on the pricey side for the regular user, you can purchase a Wattson for about $701 USD (£350). The good news is, by showing you your actual energy usage, the device will force you to make changes and save money. "You may find your microwave costs you £50 ($100 USD) a year just to tell the time and wait for you to ask it to do something," says the website. "Switching on a kettle will make the yearly figure jump by around £3000 ($6,009 USD). Nobody leaves a kettle on for a year, but it gives a good reason to boil as much water as needed rather than a full kettle that takes six times as long (and costs six times as much)."

Not ready to cough up the dough for a Wattson? Check out a less ritzy device like the Watt's Up Pro, $129.99. It's less user-friendly - you have to plug it into each device to measure wattage being used - but it's certainly a start.