Here’s another way to do some ‘wireless USB’ sharing via Silex’s Gigabit USB Device Server. Plug your USB devices into this hub-like gadget, then plug it into one of the Ethernet ports on your wireless router. Et voila! Shared devices.

It only has 2 USB 2.0 ports, but you can share up to 15 devices by using a USB hub. The SX-3000GB also has a built-in web server, so you can manage it, see status, connect and disconnect attached devices.

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $81.96
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

What happens when you string 24 drives together is you end up with a computer that is blazingly fast. Watch the video. It’s entertaining and you’ll be dying to have you very own RAID array that has a throughput somewhere north of 30x what you currently have.

Communication in today’s computer networked world comes in different forms and most of us have use more than one: e-mail, Facebook, IM, RSS feeds, etc. Many times, we have multiple accounts. I know I do! Checking them all can be daunting or at least near impossible as more of them gain more real-time streams.

Startup Threadsy aims to consolidate this comm into a single web-based client. I had a chance to test out Threadsy and found a slick app, that unfortunately was pretty ‘busy’ due to the number of streams that it tried to consolidate. But that’s no fault of Threadsy.

I set it up to check 1 e-mail account, Facebook and Twitter. Threadsy does what we all do – prioritize. In their case, they prioritization translates directly to screen real estate. Email takes up more space than my Twitter feed, although Twitter direct messages come through in my larger consolidated feed, which I like.

You can reply to messages directly from the Threadsy interface, although I did notice there was no way to mark an e-mail as spam.

Threadsy is great for people who want to simplify, but I’m not about to give up the power I have with Gmail, or Facebook’s interface. I already (at least subconsciously) prioritize my different communication streams, and like the separation I have. In time, if an app (or perhaps Threadsy) can incorporate that power and ‘learn’ from my usage how I prioritize streams, then perhaps I’ll switch.

I’ve got 10 invites that I can send out, and am posting them to my Twitter account. First come, first serve.

Here’s a quick and useful info bite:
If you’re looking for a new motherboard for your new custom-built computer, online vendor Interloper.com has a drill-down form to help you quickly figure out what motherboards have the features you’re looking for.

You can find it at http://www.interloper.com/mbsearch.php

Another technology that will see its latest revision usher in dramatic increases in capacity is SD cards. The latest incarnation is called SDXC (Secure Digital eXtended Capacity) and has a maximum size of 2TB. Just imagine 2048GB in a card small enough to swallow.

What you need to know about SDXC
Don’t expect 2TB cards to appear just yet. 48 and 64GB cards from Panasonic and Toshiba should start appearing this Spring, with other vendors to follow closely.

You should also have some restraint; don’t rush out to buy SDXC cards without having devices that can read them. SDHC devices can read a small subset of SDXC cards only, and not at full speed.

The other major point that you should keep in mind is that only Windows 7 currently supports reading SDXC.

You can get more detailed information from the SD Card Association.

You may also want to read about USB 3.0, HDMI 1.4.

Without needing a media streamer device, the Netgear PTV100 Push2TV gadget can display anything from a laptop with Intel’s Wireless Display technology.  The PTV1000 is a small lightweight box that connects to your HDTV via HDMI and connects to your laptop wirelessly via 802.11.

The PTV1000 can also connect via AV composite.

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $99.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

One of our great readers sent in this set of 7 pieces of free software that you can, and in most cases should, use to protect your PC laptop. Most of these also apply to your desktop as well.

I happen to use most of these and recommend them as well. At a minimum, you should be using antivirus, a firewall and backups.
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Chief Gadgeteer wrote a post about specs and his initial thoughts of the tablet. To summarize in a word his thoughts on the iPad it would be “meh”.

I like to think of myself as an Vendor-agnostic Geek that doesn’t take sides in the Linux/Mac/Windows debate, but I have a different view than my fellow writer/editor.

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Apple has just unveiled it’s long anticipated tablet device, named the iPad. iPads will start shipping in about 60 days. Here’s the rundown on it:

• 1/2″ thick
• a featherweight 1.5lbs
• 9.7″ IPS display
• full multitouch touch-screen
• Comes in 3 storage sizes: 16GB ($499), 32GB ($599) and 64GB ($699)
• WiFi 802.11n & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. Some models will have 3G. Monthly data contracts available with AT&T. 3G models cost $130 more than WiFi-only models.
• 10 hrs battery life, 1 month in standby
• view in any direction – landscape or portrait and from any side.

The iPad is geared to be a Web surfing and multimedia device, so it can handle photos, iTunes, movies, TV, e-mail, and even video games. There is on-screen soft keyboard for those apps that need it. Unfortunately, like the iPhone, there is no Adobe Flash.

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In what seems like a strange jump for a defense contractor, Lockheed Martin just introduced IronClad, a complete PC on a USB flash drive. IronClad contains all of the operating system, applications and user data in the 8GB stick made in conjunction with storage vendor, IronKey.

The entire stick is encrypted with 256-bit encryption and there’s anti-virus protection for when you plug into unknown computers to run your ’stick laptop’. The technology to run the OS from the stick was developed by LM.

Makes it sooo much easier to lose your ‘laptop’ now doesn’t it?!