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I never had much problem apologizing for the things I do wrong. Though, of course, I never do anything wrong. Just ask my parole officer. But for some of you gadgeteers out there, communicating an apology might be one of the hardest things for you to do. And you’re not alone.

Thankfully, there’s a way to apologize without having to be respectful enough to do it face to face with the victim. These handy pads of Apology Forms provide a nice little template for saying your sorry, the easy way. Not to mention, it hosts a list of some truly awesome excuses.

So, you left the toilet seat up, and your wife is pissed off. Ok, I guess that’s understandable. But we really need an excuse without having to admit we’re lazy. Let’s just check our handy Apology From. Hmmm, “Mercury was in retrograde” seems like a mildly obscure one. She’ll never knew what hit her!

“I was traumatized in childhood”, that’s a good one too. A pad of 50 Apology sheets will only set you back $5, which is either really, really worth it, or really, really NOT worth it. Either way, you’re bound to be in more trouble than ever after using an Apology form.

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We guess that Asus got over its shortages issues, because otherwise Target would not have inked a deal to retail the Linux version. As the title says, it goes for $299 and here’s the actual config (link):

• 7″ Display (800×480)
• Linux, 2GB Solid State Disk and 512MB of RAM
• 800 MHz Intel Mobile Processor (Celeron)
• 3 USB Ports, SD slot
• 802.11b/g Wireless Connectivity , 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN Network Card
• Software Included: Open Office
• Also Includes Power Adapter
• 8.86 x 6.30 x .79 “; 2 Lb.
• 1-yr. Warranty

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The Portuguese government is confident that Intel’s low-cost laptop initiative will improve education — enough to place an order for 500,000 of the chipmaker’s Classmate PC notebooks.

With the move, Intel has nearly matched One Laptop Per Child’s (OLPC) overall total of 622,000 laptops sold to date. Nonprofit OLPC’s goal since 2005 has been to produce a $100 notebook to provide poorer countries with education; its current offering, the XO, costs about $188.

Though it would appear Intel has "won" against OLPC, OLPC President Chuck Kane stressed that competition is irrelevant to his organization’s mission.

"I want to make it clear here we’re not competing; we are complementing," Kane said in a phone interview. "When these actions take place then our mission is further advanced…. Our mission is to get laptops in the hands of children; it doesn’t necessarily have to be our laptop."

He added that Intel’s move does not spell out trouble for OLPC, because "The world is big enough for us combined — and more."

However, computer industry analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates thought differently. He said that the downfall of OLPC is that it fails to recognize it must operate with a sharp business model in order to succeed in its idealistic goals.

"[OLPC] is not really clear on what it takes to produce massive quantities of these things, deliver them and then support them in the field," Kay said in a phone interview.

He explained that Intel has the advantage in this regard, because in selling 500,000 low-cost notebooks to Portugal, the company is creating a market for such devices. Thus, more Original Equipment Manufacturers will want to work with and provide for Intel, a company that understands how to operate a business, as opposed to OLPC, Kay said.

"Intel has very long range view of how they develop a market, and that’s what they’re doing," Kay said. "It’s competitive; this is how competitive companies operate, they have a goal…. They adjust to realities of the situation; they bring in partners; they come up with marketing strategy and campaigns."

However, OLPC’s president said his organization is satisfied that a new market has emerged as a result of its efforts. He said he’d like to keep seeing Intel and other manufacturers continue producing low-cost laptops, because it only furthers the organization’s cause of providing computers to as many children as possible.

"What I’d like to see happen is an ecosystem develop here — similar to what’s happened with iPods," Kane said. "When Apple came out with that product, there were a lot of companies that surrounded the appliances of that product….We will be absolutely delighted to see people push innovation, because that’s only going to translate to other parts of the world having that opportunity that they would’ve never had before."

Portugal to sell 500,000 of Intel’s Classmate PCs [AP News]

(Photo credit: graysky/Flickr)

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The typically content-stingy NFL has made the decision to broadcast it’s games live over the net.  Heck yeah!  This is super-exciting news not just for sports fans but for those who can’t wait for the TV to Internet transformation.  Soon your TV won’t be held hostage to the Cable company for content.  And content is king.

Those of us that caught the webisodes of Joss Whedons Dr. Horrible know that good stuff can be made just for the net and it has the interest of a lot of indie type players to widen our content options.  TV as internet will do for TV shows what the internet is doing for music.  You’ll find new stuff you never even knew was out there.  Build your own TV station.  The trick is, can anyone figure out how to make money off it.

NBC will be selling the predictable advertising that will go along with the stream.  Surely, we’ll be forced to sit through some pitch for an amazing new laundry detergent.

Now that the NFL is jumping on board, how can the rest of the non-concussed content makers not take notice?

Read [ars techinca]

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I wonder whether Sony’s entry into China’s portable media player (PMP) market has anything to do with diversifying their portfolio, as you won’t be able to find the PMX-M80 anywhere else. Some of the features found on this PMP include :-

• Map browser suite
• 4.3″ 480 × 272 resolution display
• 16GB internal memory
• SRS 3D audio
• Support for MP4, AVI, WMA, MP3, and AAC formats
• Built-in microphone
• Memory Stick slot

Sony has priced the PMX-M80 at approximately $331.

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It’s amazing how some simple things can be turned into cool geek products. This latest desk lamp designed by Japan’s 25togo looks very much like an oversized LEGO block. The top of the blocks have a snap-off top layer that can hold pens, pencils and whatever else that will fit inside it. The bricks are measured at 6” x 4” x 2.4”, which makes them quite a bit bigger than the standard LEGO block. It’d be interesting to see if anything can be actually built out of these lamps, perhaps an illuminated Christmas tree? The only downer is that these lamps are only available through 25togo’s online store, and are going for about $15 each.

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Worried about people accessing your computer when you’re not around? The Biometric Fingerprint Encrypted Mouse might just solve your problem. This mouse has a couple of security features, such as PC-Lock, Web bank, Virtual Disk, and File encryption/decryption. Said features would be able to prevent users from using the computer when you’re not around, remember personal data such as passwords, hide sensitive files, and also encrypt files. The mouse will be going for $116, which isn’t too high a price to pay for security, though it’d be interesting to see what would happen if someone nicked the mouse.

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After much speculation on what the latest Sidekick device from T-Mobile will be called, the carrier decided to just name it Sidekick, plain and simple. There won’t be any other code name attached to it, bringing us back to the basics. You will be able to choose to fit one out of two shells that come with each Sidekick purchase - black and metallic green. There will also be a wide range of pre-designed shell patterns and colors for you to pick up at T-Mobile retail stores or online, and I’m pretty sure we won’t have to wait for long until someone with an excess amount of Swarovski crystals and super glue decide to bling up their Sidekick. Granted, other luxury labels might also think of blinging this up with diamonds and precious jewels, but that’s another story for another day. For now, we will look at the features right after the jump.

• Exterior shells that can be personalized
• Capability to record, play and share videos: record videos using the camera; receive video attachments from e-mail, picture messaging, or side load videos to the microSD card; play video using the built-in media player; share videos via e-mail, Bluetooth or picture messaging
• Horizontal swivel screen and full QWERTY keyboard (manufactured by Sharp)
• WQVGA screen with high-definition LCD technology
• Enhanced Web surfing: PC-like, full-size layout or standard Sidekick screen-size layout to scroll and read a page; use Mini Page to zoom out on an overview of an entire Web page; save images from Web pages to the microSD card
• Customizable IM experience: create and join group chats, set custom status messages, search for friends in a buddy list and see who is logged into IM to immediately start a conversation
• Easy download capability: install and use downloads without the need to restart the device; set a theme as the device’s default instantly
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP supports stereo Bluetooth and Bluetooth file transfer to other Bluetooth devices including Bluetooth photo printers
• 2.0 megapixel camera
• Included 512MB microSD memory card
• More storage: Up to 25 ringtones, add up to five slides to multimedia messages, and up to 60-second voice messages
• Quick Find to search across all applications
• T-Mobile myFaves® enabled
• Dimensions: 4.7” x 2.3” x 0.7”, 5.3 oz.
• 2.6-inch display, 400×240 pixels
• Quad-band world phone 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; GSM,GPRS,EDGE
• 1030mAh Lion battery

You can pick this up for $149.99, which is pretty reasonable although you’ll be tied down to a 2-year contract in the process. Image courtesy of Gizmodo.

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Sometimes I’m amazed at the sheer amount of Lego inspired gadgets and even furniture that pops up.  Well here’s one more for you and this one comes in a chic smoky white form.  For once, this one won’t actually cost you a small fortune either.  So many vendors take advantage of the fact that Legos have so much geek appeal that no matter the price, someone will buy it.  This light actually has an extra perk thrown in.  It has an extra layer that can be snapped off or on that has little cups to hold your pens and other little things you keep on your desk.

Then if you don’t need that, it can pop off.  It doesn’t mention if the lamps will snap together or not.  It may be that the bottom of the lamp itself isn’t equipped for that.  It would be fun to have a full tower of brightly shining Legos though.  To pick one up it will actually only cost you $15.  The down side is though that this is a Japan product.  Hopefully a US or UK site will pick some of these up too though to make it easier for those of us outside of Japan.

Source: technabob

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There was a time when we thought that Earth was the only planet like it. Then we created satellites and space ships to prove ourselves wrong. Today marks one of those occasions, as NASA announced that their Cassini spacecraft was able to confirm there is a lake on Saturn’s moon Titan.

The lake isn’t made of water, though, so we can’t start moving just quite yet. Instead, it’s probably comprised of ethane. Still, this is big news as it confirms a long-held theory that the many dark spots on Titan’s surface are, indeed, made of hydrocarbons and therefore liquid. The scientists that operate Cassini are understandably pretty excited about this and are hoping that it isn’t the last big find for the satellite.

Larry Soderblom, a Cassini interdisciplinary scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz said:

Detection of liquid ethane confirms a long-held idea that lakes and seas filled with methane and ethane exist on Titan … The fact we could detect the ethane spectral signatures of the lake even when it was so dimly illuminated, and at a slanted viewing path through Titan’s atmosphere, raises expectations for exciting future lake discoveries by our instrument.

As Cassini continues its travels, it’s likely to scour a few more lakes to find out if they’re all the same or if different lakes contain different elements. The journey will take years, so look forward to many more exciting discoveries.

Read more at NASA