If you have ever had to spend much time tinkering with your local or business network… you know how handy this Universal Network Cable really is.  This $25 network gadget allows you to instantly convert any network line to rolled, crossover, straight-through, ATM/Loopback, and T1.  Read on for more details.

If you’re a member of the IT crowd, it’s sometimes hard to explain to your management why you need things. Especially if they’re the type of people who think the internet is a black box with a red LED on top or people who believe that if you type "Google" into Google you’ll break the internet. Try explaining to them that every time you need a patch cable that you have to dig through the giant box of everything cable-shaped for an eternity before finding the right one. To them, all cables are the same.

So here’s what you’re going to say… ready? "Hey, last time I had to find a patch cable, it cost you $50 worth of my time. Buy me one of these and I’ll never have to waste that time again." They don’t need to know that the Universal Network Cable adapter allows you to change wiring standard with just a click. They won’t care about going from straight through to crossover. Their eyes will glaze over when you mention Cisco or T1 or DDS. Just tell them that the Universal Network Cable is THE essential tool for the IT crowd, and that you’ll save them tons of wasted man/grrl hours a year. (Don’t tell them that you’ll spend those newly-found hours playing World of Warcraft. Bad idea.)

• Provides 5 cable types in one connector
• Just rotate the center to the cable you need
• Cable options:
  • ROLLED: Connect a host to a Cisco router or switch
  • CROSSOVER: Communicate directly between computers without a hub or switch
  • STRAIGHT-THROUGH: Use as a standard RJ45 patch cable
  • ATM/LOOPBACK: Test if a network card is working by checking for link lights with no need for a hub or switch
  • T1: Connect to DDS lines / T1 trunk lines

[Via]

Looks like Sybas Technology is jumping into the video content boxes with a clean UI and few extra frills.  The Popbox has an ethernet port for getting the goods and a HDMI port for putting it on your TV.  Forget about storage unless you want to add an SD card or USB hard drive.  No need for a Tivo or PC to run Netflix online on your TV now… not bad.

Powerzoa is basically a tiny cube that sits behind your gadgets power plug and the wall socket.  It will (still in prototype phase) be able to monitor electricity usage on individual devices and post the information to a web based control panel.  The Powerzoa web based control panel also gives you the ability to turn off individual devices.  I like the idea, we will have to wait and see if this product actually makes it to retail.

Clearly ignoring Senator Ted Stevens’ axiom that “the Internet is not something that you just dump something on”, Netgear announced their new “Open Source” WNR3500L Router. Backed by mucho hype and astroturfing, Netgear’s spokesperson claimed that, “The debut of our Open Source RangeMax Wireless-N Gigabit Router is significant as it is the first full-featured Wireless-N Linux router to combine wide ranging capabilities, features, infrastructure and a community to enable application development”.

Well, despite hitting the cool buzzwords like Open Source and Linux, this product did not stand up to the scrutiny of the real Open Source community.

You see, the WeeNeR3500L router ships with binary-only kernel modules – that’s right – no Open Source for you! As Harald Welte ( a well known and respected programmer, Linux kernel jedi, and a GPL enforcer) points out in his blog, “[it] is a very questionable legal practice. Netgear as the vendor is simply relying on the fact that none of the authors who have written parts of the kernel against which their binary-only module links will ever make copyright claims against them”.

Oh and if you give a rats ass about your router security, check out this little gem from the “OpenWRT Firmware for NETGEAR WNR3500L (BETA) (09/18/09)” under Shortcomings:

WPA and WPA2 are not working

WTF?! Well I guess you just have to rely on awesome and “trustworthy WEP” which can be cracked in 30 seconds by a 12 year old script kiddie. Oh and

NAS can be accessed only through command line using utilities such as ftp

That’s ok though right? Mad CLI skillz just up your street cred as a L337 haxxor. So in conclusion a little LOLCAT wisdom – Dear Netgear, the “Open Source” thingie – YOURDOINGITWRONG!

Sprints latest broadband router, the PH300 (almost the same as the Cradlepoint MBR-1000 pictured above), will take 3G EVDO REV A or WiMAX signals and share them via WiFi.  The bummer is that it will only do four simultaneous 802.11g connections (the MBR-1000 can do 32 802.11N connections).  Look for the Sprint PH300 at Sprint stores for about $160 real soon.

HP Just announced the HP Photosmart Premium with Touchsmart Web, a web-connected (via WIFI) printer that has a 4" widescreen display on the front. The printer will come preloaded with links to web services like Snapfish, Fandango or Google. There will be links to media sites like USA Today as well.

In the unlikely event that you computer is down and that you have an urgent need to print a map, this printer might be of help. In the meantime, we’re skeptical that this will "change the way people think about printing". If you wonder why it is so big: that’s because there’s a scanner as well.

[Via]

If you are paranoid about keeping your data secure, really paranoid, check out the Axxana Phoenix storage device.  The unassuming black box is waterproof to 30 feet, shockproof to 40 G’s, fireproof for 6 hours at 450 F, and can support 5000 pounds of pressure.

The Axxana Phoenix Systems price is not listed on the manufacturers website, but is most likely expensive.

All of Gadget King’s secret data is stored on this exact device… Just kidding, it is stored on a 1gb flash drive in my moms closet.

If you are a SlingBox junky and are waiting for the new Slingbox PRO-HD or SlingCatcher… they are finally available for pre-order at amazon.  Both units are priced at $299.99 but there is no mention of ship dates.

SlingCatcher pre-order for $299.99
Slingbox PRO-HD pre-order for $299.99

Dear Sony,

I used to love your products.  They were cutting edge and high quality (and expensive, but typically worth it).  But then you started doing really stupid things.  Without going into too many details/products, let’s just point out one of your latest “stupid things”… the Sony VAIO Mouse Talk VN-CX1/B.  The product combines a 800 dpi optical mouse and a VOIP/Skype flip phone.  I hate to point out the obvious (stupid idea) but who wants to be forced to stop using their mouse (stupid idea) just because they got a phone call (stupid idea). 

Maybe folks at Sony don’t talk and use their mice at the same time?

Sincerely,

Robby

AT&T is offering free WiFi at their hotspots (Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, etc…) for iPhone users after you enter your phone number for validation.  The mischievous part of all of this, is that anyone with an AT&T account can access the free WiFi if they just switch their browser’s user agent to Mobile Safari.  Seems like a simple enough hole to plug so don’t expect this free internet to last for too long.  You could always create your own since data plans seem to be going unlimited in a hurry using this bad boy.