Monster today unveiled a trio of new, overpriced iPod accessories. The Shuffle charger looks cool, but only if it works to sync as well.

The other stuff is just overpriced versions of stuff you can get a lot cheaper elsewhere. Which is to say typical Monster. Seriously, does anyone even still buy Monster Cables? If you do, please comment so I can ridicule you (just kidding).

In any case, if you want to pay $80 for a car charger… head out to Best Buy and snag yours today.

1. For crying out loud, buy an iPhone already.  If you’ve been waiting for the next generation to come out, stop.  You’ll still be able to sell your current iPhone for plenty of cash when the next version is released.
2. Learn to BBQ awesomely succulent ribs.  Dry or wet – your choice – but remember, the bandito will take every advantage possible to outdo all other ribs.
3. Invent something totally impractical and functionally useless.  The inventor of the USB charged office rocket is defiantly worthy of accolades and you can be too.
4. Throw your Windows PC out the window and discover the magnificent world of Mac.  Seriously.  Wait!  Before you do this, see step number 18 below.
5. Mod your pod.  Don’t have a mod?  Well it’s time to make one then.
6. Go outside and start a heated discussion with your nearest neighbor on the topic of Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD.
7. Start an 8 hour a day training regiment for the 2008 Guitar Hero Olympics.  Or do you want someone else to be the gold medalist?
8. Melt down your old CDs for scrap plastic.  I hear scrap plastic is quite valuable.  Better yet, give them to all of your friends for their birthdays and insist that they are coasters.
9. Make your own beer.  Better banditos brew beer.  It’s fun and delicious.  That’s a fact.  Mmmm… Bandito beer.
10. Create a Wikipedia entry on yourself.  Then debate the ethics of doing so with your favorite office mate.
11. Build the best potato cannon in the country with its very own web community base following.
12. Do eye stretches at least every 45 minutes to keep your eyes in their peak performance.  Eye health is important to tech banditos.
13. Download a new Firefox extension even if you don’t use Firefox.  Okay, that was dumb.  Sorry.
14. Create your own Google gadget or code your own widget.
15. Buy real headphones.  Necessary, but sorry, this doesn’t count towards your pod mod in step 5.
16. Remember that better cameras almost always take better pictures.  And banditos do both.
17. Employ an entirely robotic maid staff to clean your space.
18. Build a Linux home music server with your old Windows box hardware instead of throwing it out the window.  If you’re reading this list backwards, skip step 4 when you get to it.
19. Improve your online identity – it’s likely the only one to really matter in the future.
20. Read TechBandito everyday!

The Incapacitator

Some light breaking news this week for all techies interested in, well… in light. Light technology has hit its stride over the last several years, with even the LED on my keychain being darn near as powerful as the four pound lantern flashlight I used to take camping with me to keep my petrifying fear of the dark at bay.

Alright, I’m not actually that scared of dark, but if I was, I’d be truly enlightened by the kind of gadgets becoming widely available today. For instance, check out the newest monster from Surefire aptly named “The Beast II.”

Considered by its maker to fit the searchlight category, this thing actually pumps out 2000 lumens. Umm… That’s a heck of lot of light folks. In fact, the output is conservatively rated at about 100+ times the output of your standard everyday flashlight.

Only one problem though… Unless you’re totally crazy or just totally loaded, at $7,000 I sincerely doubt too many of you all will be putting this gadget in your pocket anytime soon. On top of the ultra-hefty price tag, the 20 lithium batteries required to power this behemoth only last for less than a couple of hours.

This device is effectively targeted at non-consumers. So, if massive light power alone doesn’t exactly do it for you, what about the latest potential replacement for the tazer that’s getting all of the buzz today?

Have you heard of the flashlight that makes you vomit?

Yep, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has given Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc. the contract to begin building just such a weapon.

The so called “LED Incapacitator” uses the newfound favorite light emitting diode technology to blast penetrating light pulses with frequently changing wavelengths that instantly cause potential perpetrators to lose their own wavelengths, so to speak.

I’m pretty sure that a flashlight that can make you hurl is a brilliant idea. While completely incapacitating this device might be useful to slow down the bad guys (and maybe your buddies just for fun, if it ever hits the consumer market) just long enough to take control of the situation.

While the personal sized device is just right for those one-on-one confrontations, the best part is that this technology easily scales up for bigger tasks, such as riot or crowd control or perhaps even some combat type applications.

Right now, the Incapacitator is still in development and could stand to slim down a bit, but that’s also in the works. Mass availability for enforcement agencies is predicted by 2010.

So there you have it… The week in light. What’s next in LED technology?

Are you still using the freebie bud style earphones that came prepackaged with your iPod or brand x mp3 player?

Well, let’s face it… If you are still using the freebies, you might be one of the rare few.  It’s really too bad that the big sellers of portable digital music geniusry (yep, I made that word up) don’t choose to put much research and development effort towards equal matching headphones.  I mean most of the earbud headphones that come included are only worth about their weight in plastic.

But the question still persists…

Even after you’ve made the choice to upgrade to something – anything – better than the included earbuds, how much are you willing to spend?

After all, the digitally compressed music file that your device is pumping to the headphones is not exactly audiophile quality stuff.  The same holds true for the audio circuitry of your music player – it sounds good enough on the fly, but the right amount of money and expectations can certainly purchase better quality.

If money were no object to me, I’d defiantly be sporting a pair of custom audiologist fit and personally tuned Ultimate Ears earphones.  These are the buds that most professional touring musicians use on stage, recently replacing the bulky and all too murky floor monitors.  Maybe I could settle for the $900.00 ue 10 pro model – arguable the best of the best of consumer earbuds.  But unfortunately I just can’t justify that price for spinning my flattened mp3s.

Could I settle for Shure’s new sound isolating three driver SE530 earbuds?  You bet I could.  My ears are practically salivating right now just at the thought of pure, crisp, and transparent sonic beauty.  But again, for the nearly $500 price tag, I’m going to have to pass for now.  Maybe someday.

Right now, I’m rocking my $40 V-Moda phones.  I know these are kind of obscure and arguably pretty darn ugly too, but man they sound good to me.  Granted, I’m one of those bass freaks and these deliver plenty of the low end I want to hear and feel like I feel.  Many would consider the bass to be too much and highly inaccurate.  To each their own.

So there you have it, I give myself around a $50 allowance for good earbuds to suit my on the go musical experiences.  Any more than that and I’d be way too upset when I manage to lose them or shred the poor cord.

Again, it would take a bit of persuasion to convince me to step out of my earbud comfort zone.  How about you?

In case you missed any of the hoopla, General Electric (GE) recently released their new G1 model 7 megapixel digital camera. Now we all know GE as a company has its gigantic corporate hands in just about every industry possibly imaginable – from jet engines to water purification to healthcare technology to light bulbs – you name it, chances are GE’s involved.

But digital cameras? I guess it’s worth a shot. In fact, GE does indeed have a long history of innovation in the consumer electronics field, going back the 1970s with the very first gadget most of us interact with on a daily basis, the clock radio.

Technically a collaborative project with General Imaging, the G1 camera is getting surprisingly good reviews for both its image quality and its sleek form factor design. In fact, Wired just gave it an 8 out of 10 rating. Even ultra high end products often have trouble achieving similar rave reviews.

Ironically, one of the camera’s downfalls is the flash strength – you’d think GE could work some magic with their vast lighting technology experience. Maybe they could mount a big instant on florescent ice cream cone to the top of the camera – surely that’d go over well.

GE’s foray into digital imaging does a raise a variety of valid questions though. For example:

• Even if a product is brilliantly designed, has an excellent feature set, and is getting only phenomenal reviews, does a brand’s perception keep you from even considering it?
• Just what exactly does it take for a brand to overcome any negative perceptions in quality or in the geeky coolness factor?
• Do you trust a brand that represents such a broad variety of differing products?
• What causes a brand to be pinned with negative perceptions in the first place?

Don’t get me wrong, I trust GE very much. Chances are, each time I fly on plane, I entrust my life to their aviation technology.

And while it’s not my most favorite gadget in the world and I’ve been meaning to replace it for some time now, I still depend on my trusty GE alarm clock to wake me up on time each morning. Then, the very next electronic device I use as soon as I’m out of bed is my bathroom light – again GE compact fluorescent technology. It works great.

So the big question remains… Will I be purchasing a GE digital camera anytime soon? I don’t think so.

Why not? I’m still trying to figure that out, but I’ll be sticking with my trusty Nikon for the foreseeable future.

What about you?

Logitech has announced a new member of the mouse family, the VX Nano.  This is the second notebook-oriented mouse (the first is the VX Revolution) to sport the acclaimed “Hyper-Fast” scroll wheel.  What sets this mouse apart, however, is it’s mini-micro-sized receiver.

While most notebook mice ship with a receiver that’s about the same size as a medium-sized USB flash drive, the VX Nano’s receiver is scarcely larger than the USB plug.  It appears to extend from the USB port about 1/4 of an inch, which is quite possibly the smallest receiver ever used on a mouse.  The rounded edges and very small protrusion combine to make it possible to just leave the receiver plugged in, even in the case.  The receiver also plugs into the bottom of the mouse for storage.

With the buggy-ness of Bluetooth-based mice, I’m still a big fan of FastRF-based devices like the Logitech series of mice.  Until Bluetooth mousing becomes more reliable, it appears the VX Nano may be the best notebook mouse available.

The VX Nano should ship in August world-wide and will be priced somewhere between $70 and $80 (most reports say $70, Logitech says $80).  Notebooks.com did a video first look as well.

via Engadget

A potential flaw in the iPhone….yikes! If you are using Yahoo Mail, you may want to take notice. When the iPhone grabs email from the Yahoo servers, it may not be a secure connection, leaving your information vulnerable. Here is the quote from Wired:

“…if you’re checking Yahoo! Mail over a public WiFi connection, anyone could conceivably tap in to the exchange, grab your sign-in data and have full access to your account. ”

This is extremely scary…my advice: Get a $8 a year domain name and use a POP email address. Much cooler than john1203920389@yahoo.com anyways.

via Wired

For all you Halo freaks out there, XBox has has done it again. The new XBox 360 comes with some pretty nice stuff including:

• Halo 3 Special Edition Wireless Controller
• Halo 3 Special Edition Hard Drive
• Halo 3 Special Edition Wired Headset
• Halo 3 Special Edition Gamer Pics and Theme
• Component HD AV Cable (and HDMI port)
• Ethernet Cable
• Play & Charge Kit
• Xbox LIVE Silver Membership

What seems to be missing, oh yeah…..THE GAME….This 20 gig green monster should come with the game it’s designed around…this means war!

via Wired

When I saw the picture, I just knew this had to make it onto TechBandito.  If you’ve ever thought to yourself “hey, I know what I need… an air conditioned vest” then A) you are a geek and B) you have too much money.

But those crazy Germans at Entrak have just that for you… and it even appears to come with a too-serious looking goofy model dude.  In all seriousness, I’m sure this’ll be a great breakthrough for the troops sweating it out in Iraq (or is that the iRack?) and construction workers slaving away on the COSMIX project in Colorado Springs (now in year… twenty?!).

The Ventilation Vest basically has two battery-powered fans in the pockets on the side that constantly move air through the vest, aiding in evaporation of sweat (and spreading of stink), therefore keeping the wearer cooler.

via UberGizmo

This is somewhat old news, but the Playstation 3’s dropped $100 off of it’s price, giving it the title of cheapest Blu-Ray player yet again.

I’m guessing Sony hopes the drop will speed up the PS3’s lagging sales when compared to its competitors. I’m also guessing that a hundred clams isn’t as big a deal to the average gamer as the fact that the PS3 has very little to offer in the games arena that’s not available on the other consoles. Add that to the fact that Nintendo can’t keep Wiis on the shelves and the Xbox360 has Halo 3’s overactive hype machine cranking away and I’ll wait for the next PS3 price drop before I even consider one.

Oh, and Sony also released a $599 80GB model that comes with Motorstorm. Does anyone even care? 20GB and a free copy of a game you can get on eBay for $20 isn’t really worth $100 bucks Sony.