cheap and tiny

We here at Cheap and Tiny love inexpensive, tiny gadgets. We also love fitness? Why? Is it because we think that obesity is a serious issue that must be addressed? Is it because we think that heart attacks, diabetes, and high-blood pressure are widespread health threats? Do we want to sell you another affordable portable gadget? Yes to all!

The Omron HJ-112 Digital Premium Pedometer, in case you have no idea what a pedometer actually does (which, if you really don’t, means you really need to get your duff off that couch RIGHT NOW), measures walking distance. Inside it is a little tree fairy that counts the number of times you bounce up and down, which it then types into a tiny computer that calculates the distance you’ve gone based on the number of steps you’ve taken. Then you can look at the device and be proud that you’ve walked exactly 15 feet from the living room to the kitchen to get yourself some Twinkies. Aww, we can’t joke about fitness! Besides, we’ve heard that getting an aneurysm isn’t much of a hoot anyway.

The term “gamer” seems to have become the official-unofficial buzzword of the past few years. After Microsoft jumped into the gaming fray, proving once and for all that you can’t spell “fundamentally flawed operating system” without “fun”, the world sat up and took notice, primarily because it was about as engaging as watching a walleyed nerd attempting to mingle with the cool kids at the playground. They were successful, of course, and now Bill’s rockin’ it with the skateboarders, rap artists, and hip cats touting “human energy”. Absolutely brilliant.

Equally brilliant (if somewhat forced) is Philips’ branding of this plain old webcam as a gaming cam. While attaching a microphone to this gadget and calling it a “gaming device” is about as justifiable as tagging Paris Hilton as classy and sophisticated, we can’t argue with the supreme logic of additional USB hubs. You can never have enough USB hubs, we always say.

I have no idea why they insisted on tacking the “real-time” label on this webcam, but frankly, I’m way too enamored with the unit’s price to care. I mean, $21.99 for a Philips Real-time PC Webcam? That’s pretty freakin’ sweet. Sorry, was that sales pitch a little too obvious? Yeah, I guess it was. Even how it was worded was a dead giveaway: start off with an off-hand comment, then launch into a spiel exhibiting personal impact and buyer passion. Then BAM, offer up a link to the product using the original name and mention the price to seal the deal. Yup, we all saw that coming.

But you’re still going to fall for it, right? Freakin’ sweet.

Just when you thought one was all we were going to get, Lady Fate spits another in our direction and fails to tell us to avoid stepping on the glob. No Golden Retrievers here; the ACECAD CAM-P-B300 PetC@m Webcam is instead shaped like a Beagle. We like Beagles, almost as much as a tall pitcher of cool sangria on a deserted beach at dusk. Only sangrias don’t poop and bark incessantly.

We like stuffed animals, maybe a little too much, but we’ll never admit that. We also like electronic gadgets, so it’s only natural that we went completely ga-ga over the ACECAD CAM-P-A300 PetC@m Webcam when we stumbled across it.

If you’re as Internet-savvy as we are (MySpace account? Check. Forum avatar? Check. Overwhelming sense to give our opinion despite an utter lack of information on the hot-button topic of the hour? Oh yeah, we’re there.), you’re well aware of how cluttered our computer tables get with junk. Sure, the PetC@m Webcam still counts as junk, but at least it’s cute, cuddly, stuffed-animal junk that makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Can you tell we weren’t loved as children? We’re in denial.
Try to ignore the robotic, somewhat clinical name. We’ve called ours Marshall.

Know what’s better than taking your bike out into the wilderness? Not getting eaten by a bear, that’s what! And what better way is there to avoid being a half-chewed carcass on some hibernating mammal’s feces-splattered hideaway than by bringing along a GPS with you on your ride.

But until The Bomb hits and our offspring begin to enjoy the advantage of having extra appendages (I’m looking at you, New Zealand!), we have the ultra-nifty Ram Triple Base Adapter Mount. Retailing for the low-low price of $7.63 (because $7.99 would have been asking for too much), the Mount…uh…mounts on your bike’s handlebars and holds up to three handheld devices for easy, hands-free, satellite-issued guidance.

Avoid the bear this summer! Get the Ram Triple Base Adapter Mount today! Your next of kin may regret your survival, but you won’t.

[Via Gizmodo]

Ah, my very first iPod: a simple 512MB iPod Shuffle. Yeah, yeah, I’m cheap and just a bit behind the curve. Truthfully, I didn’t want to spend all that much, and I didn’t really need to be carrying more than 120 songs around with me at all times. (In fact, my morning commute to work is just about one or two songs’ worth. I got this player for slightly longer trips than that.) I purchased the iPod Shuffle right off the shelf at the Clarendon Apple Store for $69, plus VA sales tax.

PROS
So let’s start with the good stuff.

The good about the Shuffle: it’s stylish and easy to use, as would be expected from Apple. Controls consist of five buttons for play/pause, stop, previous, next, and volume, and a switch on the back to toggle between linear and random moders. Importing music is as easy as plugging it into USB and dragging and dropping music in iTunes. Sound quality is great, battery lasts a long time, and the unit doubles as a flash drive if you select that option in iPod Preferences.

And you know what’s really, really awesome? They give you extra foam pads for your earbuds. Extra foam pads!

CONS
Ah, but I’m sad to say the cons outweigh the pros, for me anyway.

There’s no display, for one thing, so you don’t really know what’s playing. It’s supposed to be part of the appeal of the “shuffle” ethic (”It’s not a bug, it’s a feature!”), that you’re in a constant state of random surprise, but being a classical music listener, I prefer to know what movement of what opus I’m on, so a display helps. Even a simple calculator-type LED would be fine. (Yes, I know, I should have gotten a Nano instead. I’m thinking about it.) Also annoying: the foam pads cover the little letters “L” and “R” on the earbud, so if you’re not familiar with which bud goes left or right, you need to push the foam aside to see.

The worst problem of all, though (and this is for all iPods, not just the Shuffle), is the copy-protection. Once you’ve associated the iPod with an iTunes playlist, you cannot hook it up to iTunes on another machine, you cannot casually copy the songs file by file off the iPod as MP3s, and the optional disk mode partitions the iPod into separate sections — with the music “protected” from normal disk access. Now, I understand the legal reasons behind this inconvenience, but I’m no pirate or casual downloader, and these hindrances are keeping me from legally enjoying the music within the bounds of fair use.

TO SUMMARIZE
All in all, an excellent entry-level music player, fashionable and user-friendly — as long as you don’t mind the lack of a display and the DRM lock-in.

>> Get iPod shuffle 1GB at MacMall: only $94.99 with FREE FM Transmitter after rebate

>> Get Apple 512 MB iPod Shuffle from Amazon for $69.99

>> Get Apple 1 GB iPod Shuffle from Amazon for $99.99

It’s all about digital photography these days. Megapixel this, CCD that. I say screw that and return to the pleasantly archaic world of film, where everything is clearer and more vivid if a whole lot more messy. Remember when showing off your photo collection didn’t involve crowding around a computer screen? We weep for traditionalism! Yay!

Behold, the wonder of Lomographic cameras beckon. These decidedly non-traditional forays into the classic world of 35mm film photography turn the experience of plain old picture taking into an engaging, visually-active journey. This is pretty much like saying that doing the laundry is akin to cleansing oneself of life’s myriad unpleasantries, but we’re trying to make a camera that can take four time-lapse photos on one frame sound exciting so bear with us.

Close your eyes: You’re at a park with your dog (or similarly abled four-footed friend) and your significant other, and you feel like your cubicle at work needs something unique and artsy to spruce it up (that Photoshopped picture of David Hasselhoff doing odd things to a cow just having lost its novelty the week before). Whip out the Lomographic Action Sampler 35 MM Camera and get your significant other and your dog do similarly odd things with each other and get four shots of it on one film frame! That’s so cool we’re totally feeling like we should start getting tattoos and piercing ourselves in random places. Okay, the feeling’s gone.

There’s more than just taking four shots in one frame with Lomographic cameras too. You can also take eight shots in one frame, give everyone this weird fish-eye look, apply different colored flash filters for image ultra groovy-ness, and explore other image configurations. So quit being boring already and try these out.

Lomographic Action Sampler 35 MM Camera for $21.55
Lomography Fisheye 35mm Camera for $39.99
Lomography Colorsplash 35MM Camera for $59.95
Lomography OKTOMAT Compact 35mm Camera with 8 Serial Lenses for $39.99
Lomographic Pop 9 Camera for $29.95
Lomographic SuperSampler 35mm Camera for $39.95

Yes, folks, it’s finally happened. Technology has gotten so cheap that we can now put out MP3 players like the screenless Evergreen USB 2.0 player with SD card support for as little as ten bucks. What can we expect from this point on?

With the cost of chips down, expect that the government will soon mass order memory storage chips for the entire population of the United States with the sole purpose of tracking each and every single human being’s whereabouts and financial rating. After instituting a clause in a soon-to-be-passed law, all citizens will be required to purchase “smart cards” for identification. Only these cards will be smarter than you intially expect.

As you sleep, these cards will release an army of microscopic nanites that will infiltrate your bloodstream and embed themselves in every part of your body. Via the power of suggestion and the unholy psychic gift of David Blaine, these nanites will eventually control every decision you make. It will also establish a conduit between you and the central government computer, which will come to be known by the future children of the Alpha-Caheedras War as Brain A. Brain A will, thanks to funding from the ASPCA and the Fox Network, influence your thought processes, thereby coercing you into watching reruns of “Lost” and dressing your pets up as cute anime characters. Then, once the entire country is awash in Shepard Mania and cosplaying animals, they will declare a Machiavellian state of government so rigid that laws will exist requiring every child born be named “George” and that everyone only be allowed to make left turns.

This is the way it will be, and it will be glorious.

[Via Gizmodo]

Cheapskates rejoice! Now you can listen to your music and not feel bad that you had to blow half your rent money on an iPod just so Steve Jobs could have another solid gold toilet seat in the guest room. Buy one of these discounted Zen Nanos, and you can line Creative’s coffers instead! This way you can help boost the business of a comparatively smaller company which, compared to Apple, has only about a couple billion dollars to really play with. Poor Creative Labs.

Check out these great deals on the Creative Zen Nano (and a Creative Labs MP3 player that isn’t a Zen Nano):

Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 Player Black for $75
Creative Zen Nano 512 MB MP3 Player Black for $50
Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 Player Blue for $70
Creative Zen Nano 512 MB MP3 Player White for $50
Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 Player White for $90
Creative Zen Nano Plus 512 MB MP3 Player Black for $60
Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 Player Pink for $70
Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 Player Green for $70
Creative MuVo TX FM 1 GB MP3 Player for $70