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towers

A flash drive duplicator for secret missions

It's not entirely clear to us why one would want to duplicate 11 flash drives at once, but that's exactly what Aleratec's "1:11 USB Copy Tower" will do. The $1,575 box is a standalone device that requires no computer, according to Slippery Brick, which is probably a good thing if you're in a hurry to copy top-secret documents before security finds out. You can monitor progress on a backlit LCD to see how much time is left before you need to beat a hasty retreat out the window and rappel down the … Read more

When will iTunes replace Wal-Mart as No. 1 music retailer?

Apple's iTunes will likely whip past Wal-Mart Stores to become the largest U.S. music retailer sometime this year.

The NPD Group issued a report Tuesday that said Apple had outpaced Best Buy and Target to become the No. 2 U.S. music retailer. Unless the downward trend in CD sales suddenly reverses, Apple will be No. 1, said Russ Crupnick, the NPD Group's president of Music.

"Digital sales were up close to 50 percent and CD sales were down 20 percent last year," Crupnick said. "Even at half that growth rate in digital sales, … Read more

New review: 'Hordes of Orcs' for Mac

It's extremely rare for me to talk about games two weeks in a row for the Mac Daily Download, but a recent release from our friends at Freeverse Software is too good to pass up. When I heard the makers of great Mac games like Kill Monty, WingNuts 2, and Burning Monkey Solitaire were making a new twist on the online hit Desktop Tower Defense, I was immediately interested. As with most everything that comes from the folks at Freeverse, I wasn't disappointed.

Hordes of Orcs puts a new spin on Desktop Tower Defense games with smooth 3D … Read more

Use it or lose it: Do you care if your local video rental store goes away?

They're fast disappearing in my neighborhood. The Blockbuster shuttered a while back and only two of the five independent shops are left, but their days are numbered. For me it's like deja vu all over again, I remember in the '80s and '90s when record stores were dropping like flies. The real death knell came last year when Tower Records slid into oblivion, and I really miss the two NYC stores.

I think it's sad when local businesses whither and die, and we customers send our dollars and those lost jobs out of state. NYC is turning … Read more

Waterproof speaker isn't an ice bucket

As we continue this week's summertime outdoor entertainment theme, today we turn our attention to the ever-popular waterproof MP3 speaker. Yes, we've featured poolside models before, but for some reason they've often resembled ice buckets.

Net Japan's waterproof "Juke Tower MP3 Speaker," however, is as sleek and small as a shampoo bottle (see photo) at just over 7 inches tall--which GeekSugar says makes it perfectly manageable for the shower as well as the patio. The $129 wireless speaker, which stores up to 2GB of tunes on a detachable USB drive, runs on three AA … Read more

Study: Anxiety, tension not linked to cell tower emissions

Most studies on cell phone towers try to determine whether emissions can be linked to cancer in humans. (This one says it's not.) But a new three-year study tracks their effects on people's anxiety, tension and fatigue.

The conclusion of the study is that emissions from phone masts do not cause accelerated heart rate or higher blood pressure in people, according to a team of scientists at the University of Essex in England.

The scientists tested 44 people who had said previously that they were sensitive to cell phone technology, and another 114 people who had not reported … Read more

Dual vertical LCDs when you can only go up

From our experience with such previous postings as the multiple mutant monitors, we know now that there's no such thing as two many screens for many Cravers out there. And if they're built into a dual touch-screen laptop, all the better.

But what if you want a more conventional keyboard set-up while saving footprint space on your desk? An outfit called Neuro Logic Systems, which has made products primarily for the medical field, has developed what it calls "the the world's first dual 19-inch LCD in a vertical format." It's not exactly portable, as … Read more

Why would you want a folding PC?

Because it costs less, that's why. If you're the type of rugged individualist who builds computers from scratch (well, almost), then you know that shipping can be the difference between a bargain and a waste of time. So Aopen Asia is making tower cases that fold up and save space, resulting in lower packing and shipping costs, according to OhGizmo. This way, the company says it can fit twice as many cases in a standard shipping container. There are no guarantees, of course, that the savings will be passed along to the consumer. (We can be so cynical … Read more