Obama Looking for Ways to Hold onto His Blackberry

It looks like President-Elect Obama isn't going to give up his beloved BlackBerry this January without some sort of fight. In an interview with Barbara Walters, he revealed that he was working to find a solution to that whole surrender-your-cellphones-and-email-accounts at the door policy.

"One of the things that I'm going to have to work through is how to break through the isolation, the bubble that exists around the president," Obama said. "And I'm in the process of negotiating with the Secret Service, with lawyers, with White House staff ... to figure out how can I get information from outside of the 10 or 12 people who surround my office in the White House. Because one of the worst things I think that can happen to a president is losing touch with the struggles that people are going through every day."

Interesting spin! Never knew the BlackBerry provided a way to get in touch with the common folk that newspapers and say... a White House blog or something... don't. Still, all the luck to Obama and his changing the Presidential Records Act to be more tech-savvy. I wasn't that convinced open official correspondence and using BlackBerries were mutually exclusive in the first place. [Gearlog]

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How would you change Apple's unibody MacBook / MacBook Pro?

Now that you've had well over a month to toy with Apple's latest MacBook and MacBook Pro, we're just dying to know what your impressions are. Has the glass trackpad turned you off (or just turned you off to every other trackpad on the planet)? Is the inability to order the MBP with a matte display still grating your nerves? Are you happy with the performance? Is your "S" key randomly popping off at the most inopportune times? You just spent a load of cash on what essentially amounts to a first-generation product -- you've every right to make your voice heard. Do just that in comments below.

engadget.com

MSI unveils a slew of new netbooks and one lonely nettop

It looks like MSI has been pretty busy lately. We got a good look at the MSI Wind U120 about a week ago, and now the company's back with a slew of new machines and we have plenty of details for you to savor. Most notably, the U115 is a 10-inch netbook featuring the Intel Atom Z530 processor, 1-2GB memory, and a hybrid SSD / hard drive storage system. The solid state drive (being smaller and theoretically faster) is meant to contain the OS while the hard drive is to be used for data. The U110 is basically the same as the U115, except it only ships with 1GB memory and there is no SSD included. Also introduced were the U150 (sadly enough with no specs, besides the fact that it also ships with both HDD and SSD storage) and the WindBox, an Atom N270-based nettop designed to be VESA-mounted to the back of your monitor. The WindBox should be available Q1 2009 for around €300. Keep reading after the break for a complete rundown of all the specs.

Read - MSI WindBox Revealed
Read - MSI unveils new netbooks, unusual storage systems

MSI Wind 110

• 10-inch, 1024 x 600 pixel netbook
• 120GB, 160GB, or 250GB
• Intel Atom Z530 processor
• 802.11b / g / draft-n WiFi
• Bluetooth
• 4-in-1 card reader
• 1GB RAM
  
  

MSI Wind U115

• 10-inch, 1024 x 600 pixel netbook
• 8GB SSD / 80GB HDD, 16GB SSD / 120GB HDD, or 32GB SSD / 160GB HDD
• Intel Atom Z530 processor
• 802.11b / g / draft-n WiFi
• Bluetooth
• 4-in-1 card reader
• 1-2GB RAM
  
  

MSI WindBox

• Intel Atom N270 processor
• 1-2GB RAM
• 160GB or 250GB HDD
• three USB ports
• 802.11b / g WiFi
• 300mm x 240mm x 65mm (12 x 9.5 x 2.5 inches)
• 500g (18 ounces)

engadget.com

Alternative energy and green gifts - Solar, fuel cells, biodiesel and more!

Next year is going to be a big year folks, we'll see more investment and emphasis on alternative energy than ever before, this will be our "space race" and our "moon landing". The children of today will be the ones who will shape the next decade and the next century.

As a parent, a friend, big brother or sister, a mentor or just someone who is giving a gift this holiday season - instead of a plastic toy or nik-nak MAKE Magazine asks that you consider giving something that might just spark the attention of a young mind that will be called to solve the challenges for our energy needs. Read on for solar kits, fuel cells, biodiesel projects and more...

Solarspeeder Kit
Power House Kit
Fuel Cell Car & Experiment Kit
MAKE: Volume 3

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