voyager

Though Verizon Wireless isn't announcing the LG Venus and Voyager at CTIA, the cell phones are making guest appearances. I got a few minutes to play with both handsets, the first time I've seen them in the flesh, and I all I can say is, "wow." Both the Venus and Voyager sport throughly lovely designs that will do a lot to bring more style to the formerly stodgy Verizon. Yes, they're a bit on the hefty side, but they back up their bulk with sleek and shiny profiles.

As an update the the LG enV, … Read more

Plantronics has just announced its latest Bluetooth headset, the Voyager 855. Similar to the Jabra BT8010 from this year's CES, the Voyager 855 is a mono-to-stereo convertible Bluetooth headset that can "transform" from one to the other with a detachable stereo cable. Like other Plantronics headsets, it will also feature its AudioIQ DSP noise reduction technology, and since this is a stereo headset, the Voyager 855 supports A2DP and AVRCP formats for music, as well. As far as design goes, the headset also features a slide-to-talk boom mic for better audio performance. The Voyager 855 will be … Read more

I heard on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday that it was 30 years ago that NASA sent Voyager 2 into space with the music of Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry, Beethoven, Bach, and a wide selection of world music. The disc that also contained images of Earth, and the sounds of whales, a baby crying, and waves breaking on a shore. The NASA scientists must have felt sound was one of the best ways to communicate human experience of the 20th century to intelligent life in the distant future.

The gold-plated, 12-inch copper disc was an all-analog recording, probably because that … Read more

Baby naming has suddenly become a hot topic. News sources from Salon.com, to conservative commentator David Brooks have recently weighed in on the significance of a baby's moniker. The Wall Street Journal even framed the naming decision as "the art of 'branding' your newborn."

Parents' stress levels may be rising as the naming the baby becomes a high-stakes decision. Expensive consultants have even cropped up. The Today Show featured a self-proclaimed "nameologist," who charged a couple $300 to help them choose among combinations of Charles, Robert, and Matthew. I say keep the three hundred bucks and choose a name out of a hat if you are that undecided.

Luckily there are many free or low-cost naming tools that can add to the fun rather than the stress of baby naming. In addition to the many books on the topic, from the thematically-organzied Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana, to the encyclopedic 100,000+ Baby Names, there are many free resources available online.… Read more

Maybe it's an extension of our latently adolescent excitement over the pending Speed Racer movie, but we've been thinking a lot about TV shows from the '60s of late, especially of the sci-fi variety. So it was only a matter of time before we got around to full-length features from the era as well.

As others have noted, obvious comparisons can be made between the microscopic submarine in the 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage and a minuscule robot that's being developed by Israeli scientists. In both cases, the vehicle is designed to travel through the human bloodstream for … Read more