grace

Jodi Arias dictating Twitter feed from jail

When a murder trial becomes a televisual happening, somehow the public aspects become almost as significant as the legal ones.

We're always told the jurors don't know what's happening in the media, but we wonder that they may have known more than they let on before being selected.

Then there are the defendants and the prosecutors. Each tries to gain some sort of sway in the public eye -- perhaps on a just-in-case basis.

There now, though, seems to be an usual twist in the trial that is currently capturing popular eyes -- that of Jodi Arias.… Read more

The 404 1,160: Where we turn over a new leaf (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Beyonce reacts to President Obama's re-election.

- Marijuana now legal for recreational use in Colorado and Washington.

- I'm joining the rest of the world and getting cable TV; which Time Warner package is the best deal, and are there any pro tips out there to get more for my dollar?

- Measure B in California requires L.A. porn stars to wear condoms.

- Don't forget to enter our Halloween Samsung Galaxy S3 Giveaway contest!

Bathroom break video: Horse crashes Huffington Post's election night coverage.

Episode 1,160 … Read more

Crave giveaway: Ecoxpro waterproof phone/MP3 player case

First off, congrats to Tim B. of Hilliard, Ohio, for winning a Dell Alienware Orion M17x Tactical Backpack in last week's giveaway. Summer's here, and that means sun, swimming pools, and beaches (except here in San Francisco, of course, where it means fog and layers, but that's another story). This week's prize, Grace Digital's new Ecoxpro waterproof smartphone/MP3 player case, is great for toting your tunes along on those sun-and-fun getaways.

Part of Grace Digital's Ecoxgear line of rugged waterproof products, the Ecoxpro has a built-in speaker and waterproof headphone jack. It also has room to store need-to-be-dry necessities like a driver's license, credit card, keys, and cash. It's submersible up to 10 feet, and it floats -- good news if you happen to get caught in an MP3-overboard situation. It fits any MP3 player or smartphone, including iPhone, Android, and others.

Normally, the Grace Digital Ecoxpro would cost you $79.99, but you have the chance to score one free. How do you go about doing that? There are a few rules, so please read carefully. … Read more

Crave giveaway: Grace Digital Mondo Wi-Fi music player

Congrats to Ning Z. of Elmhurst, N.Y., for winning a Samsung LN40D550 in last week's giveaway. Ning beat out more than 2,900 other entrants to score the 40-inch flat-panel TV.

This week, we have another great prize, a portable Internet radio from Grace Digital Audio. The Mondo Wi-Fi music player features a 3.5-inch color LCD display and comes equipped with more than 18,000 Internet radio stations and endless on-demand content from providers including NPR, BBC, iHeartRadio, and CBS (disclosure: CBS is the parent company of CNET).

You'll also get access to premium free music services such as Pandora, iHeartRadio, and Dar.fm, as well as premium pay services such as SiriusXM Internet Radio and Live365 VIP. Basically, you'll have loads to listen to--and wake up to (the radio also functions as an alarm clock).

The Mondo measures 3.5 inches by 9.75 inches by 5.75 inches, weighs 6 pounds, and works with any 802.11b/g/n wireless router with an Internet connection. The product can be powered by an AC adaptor or rechargeable battery that promises up to 13 hours of play at average volume levels. … Read more

NASA mission calculates global ice melt and rising sea levels

From 2003 to 2010, NASA satellites systematically measured all of Earth's melting glacial ice--the results added up to 4.3 trillion tons of water and a global sea level rise of half an inch.

Put in perspective, that's enough ice to bury the entire U.S. 1.5-feet deep.

These calculations are detailed in a new study released today by a team of scientists at the University of Colorado. The scientists used satellite measurements from the NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), which launched in 2002 and focused on how melting ice from glaciers and ice caps … Read more

Energy's tiny desktop speaker-subwoofer system

Energy's Power EM-2.1 plug-and-play desktop speaker system is remarkably compact.

How tiny is it? The EM-2.1's gloss-black 4.25-inch-by-2.25-inch-by-2.75-inch satellite speakers come mated with a satin black 4.5-inch-by-5.25-inch-by-5.75 inch subwoofer. Connectivity is as basic as it gets, there's just one 3.5mm input jack, and the sub has stereo RCA outputs that drive the satellites. Build quality is inline with my expectations for a $100 package.

The EM-2.1 system promises 80-Hertz-to-20-kHz frequency response, but those numbers sound a little optimistic as far as the bass goes. A power-house system, … Read more

Sprint shortens trial period; ends Premier Program

Two small, but significant changes are coming to Sprint. And they're not changes that we like.

First off, Sprint has confirmed to PhoneScoop that it is shortening its return policy from 30 days to a mere 14 days. Of course, that means that new customers will have only two weeks to return new phones and leave service plans without incurring an early termination fee (ETF). If customers go past the 14 days, however, they will be locked into their contract and will be subject to the full or prorated ETF if they cancel early. Verizon Wireless made a similar change … Read more

Grace Digital intros portable Wi-Fi radio

The number of Wi-Fi radios on the market has exploded the last couple years, but we've always been struck by how few portable units are available. Grace Digital is looking to fill that relatively empty niche with its new portable radio, the Allegro GDI-IRD4000, which includes the features we like on the company's stationary Wi-Fi radios, plus the ability to be powered by six AA batteries. Even better, the Allegro has a built-in charging circuit for NiMH batteries, so you don't need a separate charger if you go the rechargeable route.

Like other Grace radios we've … Read more

LoJack recovers lost and stolen laptops (podcast)

"Six-hundred thousand laptops are disappearing every single year," Absolute Software Vice President Mark Grace said during this CES interview.

The company is the publisher of LoJack for Laptops, a software product that tracks lost and stolen laptops. The company, according to Grace, has extensive relationships with law enforcement around the world. The product tracks the laptops through the IP address "behind the scenes," according to Grace. "Once that system calls into our servers we get three out of four back...we help get the subpoena and get the warrant and help law enforcement to go … Read more