Archive for the 'reviews' Category

In-Car Navigation with a TomTom GO 710 in Australia

Published on February 5, 2007 in Australia, reviews and tech. 5 Comments

TomTom GO 710In my last post, I introduced the TomTom GO 710 GPS receiver (GPSr). I recently bought this device for car navigation but have since found it to be a surprisingly versatile gadget! With the right collection of tweaks and add-ons, it can become a great device for geocaching, and a lot more besides.

In this post, I’ll describe the TomTom GO 710′s on-road navigation features, and offer some useful tips on how to make them better!

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Navigation, Geocaching and More with a TomTom GO 710

Published on February 4, 2007 in geekdom, reviews and tech. 7 Comments

Kevin holds up the Penny Bridge geocache and smilesIf you’ve been watching my Flickr photos lately, you’ll have noticed that Jess and I are getting into geocaching, the world-wide treasure hunt where participants follow GPS coordinates to the locations of hidden caches of goodies.

The one essential tool for geocaching is a GPS receiver (GPSr), which gave me the perfect excuse to add this long-coveted piece of technology to my car. But finding a unit that would make a good on-road navigator (with good maps, nice screen, useful routing features, and an extensive Points of Interest (POI) database) as well as a good tool for geocaching (offering accurate coordinates and useful off-road navigation features) would prove to be a challenge.

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System Tray Audio Device Switcher

Published on March 30, 2006 in reviews and tech. 17 Comments

I actively use both a Bluetooth headset (a Logitech® Mobile Pro™) and a Rode NT1 microphone on my computer. The headset I use for making and taking Skype calls and listening to podcasts at home, while the microphone I use for narrating video tutorials and recording podcasts. The problem is, switching between these audio sources is a minor pain (which becomes a major pain through repitition), requiring a trip to the Control Panel every time.

Thankfully, I’ve found this free utility called, in various places, System Tray Audio Device Switcher, SysADS, SADS, and System Tray Audio Device Manager. It lives in my Windows system tray and allows me to select my playback and recording device with just a couple of clicks. The program hasn’t been updated since its release in 2003, but it works on Windows XP SP2 just fine (I’m not holding my breath that it’ll work quite so well in Vista, however).

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Mrs. Henderson Presents

Published on January 15, 2006 in reviews. 0 Comments

Mrs. Henderson PresentsJess and I went to see Mrs. Henderson Presents last night. It was the first time in a long time I got to laugh out loud along with a hundred other people at the movies, and has (at least temporarily) restored my faith in going out to the movies. Continue reading ‘Mrs. Henderson Presents’

Stay Away From UtilityOne

Published on January 10, 2006 in Australia, rants and reviews. 10 Comments

UtilityOne LogoIf you’re moving within Australia, do yourself a favour and avoid UtilityOne, a company that offers to handle all your utility connections and disconnections for free. After giving it a go, I found the service overpriced. Continue reading ‘Stay Away From UtilityOne’