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Kiss Firmware version 2.9.1 available

Kiss Technology has released firmware version 2.9.1 for several players, including the KISS DP-1500, KISS DP-1000 (PAL).

The 2.8.8 firmware was released shortly earlier but removed. Hopefully 2.9.1 is there to stay.

Update

I did a full firmware update following the instructions on the web site. I was surprised that it did not loose any important configuration settings. The new firmware has several fixes and new features that previously was only available in customized hacked firmwares:

• More video codecs supported


• KML (Kiss Markup Language) finally improved.


• Subtitle improvements: bigger font, code page selection, support for MPL2 format, improved synchronization, support for vplayer subtitles


• Support for DivX DRM


• Time setting uses multiple time servers


• Playtime shown on display on SVCD Playback

More on the KML client

KML is a limited version of HTML that can be used to create web sites for the Kiss player. It is used by the player to display the WebRadio interface. With the new firmware you can finally create your own web site for the Kiss player on your PC-Link server. The player uses http to download the file index.kml from port 8888. The following KML example redirects to an existing site on the internet:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes'?>
<KMLPAGE>
<GOTO href='http://tinystocks.com/k/kiss.php' />
</KMLPAGE>

Another option is to use EzLink Next-Generation which comes with a built in KML server and a KML browser that makes it easier to test your pages.

There are several things I would like to put on my KML site:

• Directory of other KML sites


• A home page that allows me check mail and comments on the blog.


• A info page that shows the weather forecast for the next few days and the top news headlines

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Cool Tool: ExplorerXP 1.06

ExplorerXP is a free Windows Explorer replacement that has some really useful features:

• It shows the total size of each folder and its sub folders


• You can assign your own keyboard shortcuts to all menu commands


• Tabbed interface instead of many open windows. You can drag and drop files and directories between the tabs


• Use wildcards to select of files or select similar file names


• Multiple rename


• Merge and split files

I particularly like the total folder size feature. It calculates the directory sizes in the background so it does not block the user interface. This is important as it takes a while to calculate the directory sizes after you have booted if you have a large disk. The folder size calculation is on my default but you can turn it of under File, Settings.

There are more "advanced" disk analyzers out there so I did a quick comparison of the leading ones on my Win2k3 machine. I ran all test 3 times and ignored as the first run takes forever until Windows has loaded the file system in cache.

SpaceMonger
This is without a doubt the fastest of the disk analyzers. At 6 seconds it analyzed the disk space usage in half the time of the other tools. It does one thing, and it does it well: it gives a graphical representation of the disk usage. It does not do anything else though as you can't get a directory listing or move files to other drives.

WinDirStat
WinDirStat is the slowest of the bunch at 16 seconds. The WinDirStat gives you the best of both worlds: a normal text listing on top and a graphical representation below.

It shows you where the space has gone and you can delete files but you cannot move files or directories.

ExplorerXP
Slightly faster than WinDirStat at 14 seconds as it only presents a list of files and directories.

Conclusion
The graphics of the other space analyzers are neat but they do not solve the disk space problem. ExplorerXP allows me to sort on the Size column which is all I need to find out where the disk space went, and it has all the tools I need to free up the disk space. Add the other features and it is one cool tool.

ExplorerXP discovered via [jkOnTheRun]

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SmarterChild IM Buddy

MSN Search in an Instant Messaging buddy. Just add SmarterChild to your AIM or ICQ contacts and start chatting to use one of its several neat features:

• Get the latest news, sports results and weather forecasts


• Look up movies show times and reviews


• Look up words with a dictionary, thesaurus and encyclopedia,


• Spell check words


• Perform calculations


• Translate words


• Play games

sounds cool and somewhat useful, but I have not tried it as don't use AIM nor ICQ.

Via [Wired Magazine 050.02|2005]

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RSI relief with the USB wrist warmer

The Computer Geeks sell a USB Powered Thermal Wrist Protector. It provides heat to the wrist which eases RSI pain and should make repetitive work more comfortable.

The best is of course to avoid RSI to begin with:

• Use the whole hand to grab the mouse. Holding the mouse with few fingers stresses the wrist.


• Reduce the speed and force of repetitive hand moves.


• Use keyboard shortcuts.

Thanks Mike.

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Voodoo knife rack

Neat gift idea. You can give it as a birthday/wedding gift to a "friend" or keep it yourself for therapeutic reasons:

Just in case you were wondering: yes, the design is Italian. After all; a voodoo knife rack is cheaper than putting a horse's head in the bed.

Via [BoingBoing]

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Stay Cool with USB gadget fans

The Thanko USB 2.0 Fan with USB 2.0 HUB comes with 4 USB 2.0 ports:

 

The Thanko USB Fan with Card Reader reads CF, MD, SM, MS, SD, MMC and MS-PRO: 

Both are powered by the USB cable and cost $49. The only problem I can see is the weight. 320g (0.5 pounds) for the card reader, and 280g (0.6 pounds) for the hub make them perfect for the office but too big to bring along if your bag is as full as mine.

I personally prefer this basic USB powered fan. It is tiny, only costs 9.90 euro and comes with a handy case:

Via [I4U News]

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Access Wikipedia from a PDA using Wapedia

I use Wikipedia a lot. Mostly to link to terms I use in my posts but also to look up subjects I am not familiar with. It is one impressive service.

Wapedia, contrary to what the name suggests, gives Wikipedia access from any PDA device, not only WAP devices. I have tried it with a Nokia 6630 (WAP 2.0) as well as a Pocket PC and it works like a charm with both devices. I did not try the more difficult WAP 1.0 devices, like the Nokia 6210, but the pages are short enough to work.

Accessing Wikipedia directly with a mobile device is a disaster. The Nokia 6630 downloaded close to 100kb of data but was only able to display the first few lines (what a ripoff):

Wikimedia needs your help in its US$75,000 fund drive. See our fundraising page for details.
We are over 55% there thanks to all those who have donated so far! Day 4 detail and report (http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2005-February/002355.html)

The Pocket PC is able to display the entire Wikipedia page but it is not user friendly. Skweezer does a good job of rendering wikipedia on PDAs but I prefer the wapedia interface as it is lighter and works on more devices.

Wapedia is fast, free, without ads, and it does what it promises to do: give mobile accesses to wikipedia.

Via  [Pocket PC eBooks Watch - eBook and beyond]