Computer programmer creates USB 'finger drive'

A Finnish computer programmer who lost one of his fingers in a motorcycle accident has made himself a prosthetic replacement with a USB drive attached.

Jerry Jalava uses the 2GB memory stick, accessed by peeling back the "nail", to store photos, movies and programmes.

The finger is not permanently attached to his hand, so it can be easily left plugged into a computer when in use.

Mr Jalava says he is already thinking about upgrading the finger to include more storage and wireless technology.

"I'm planning to use another prosthetic as a shell for the next version, which will have removable fingertip and RFID tag," he wrote on his blog, ProtoBlogr.net.

Half of Mr Jalava's left ring finger had to be amputated last summer after he crashed into a deer while riding his motorbike near Helsinki.

He says he was inspired to create the unique storage device when doctors treating him joked that he should have a USB "finger drive" after finding out that he was a software developer.

Upgrade your iPod to 240GB -- unofficially

Size matters (Admit it- it does), especially when it comes to how many songs, podcasts and videos your iPod can carry. If you're toting around an iPod Video, which originally shipped with 30GB, 60GB or 80GB hard drive, you can now upgrade to a whopping 240 gigabytes of storage for your pocket player.

A 240 GB drive can hold roughly 60,000 songs, 300 hours of video or 50,000 photos.

Leading online electronics repair service Rapid Repair just announced the world's first 240 GB hard drive upgrade for iPods, using a new 1.8-inch Toshiba drive compatible with fifth-generation (5G) iPod Video players.

The cost for the drive is US $294.99, but Rapid Repair is offering free installation for the time being if you'd prefer them to handle the switch for you. (You must send your iPod to them, at your expense. It takes 1 to 2 days in the service center to switch drives.)

Data recovery and transfer from the old drive to the new one is optional, but adds to the cost ($75US). Otherwise you'll receive your iPod with a fresh 240 GB drive installed (media-free) and your original drive, too, unless you want to trade it in for a credit towards a future purchase.

The Kalamazoo, Michigan-based company says these drives use an exclusive mechanical and firmware design for enhanced durability, as well as a 33 percent improvement in overall energy efficiency over past Toshiba drives.

A warning: If you open your iPod it voids Apple’s warranty. Rapid Repair says their drives come with a 1-year manufacturer’s warranty against defects.

Rapid Repair is currently testing the use of the Toshiba 240 GB hard drive in other iPod Classic and Zune 2G media players.

Multitasking destroys your ability to focus

"Multitasking messes with the brain in several ways. At the most basic level, the mental balancing acts that it requires — the constant switching and pivoting — energize regions of the brain that specialize in visual processing and physical coordination and simultaneously
appear to shortchange some of the higher areas related to memory and learning. We concentrate on the act of concentration at the expense of whatever it is that we’re supposed to be concentrating on… studies find that multitasking boosts the level of stress-related hormones such
as cortisol and adrenaline and wears down our systems through biochemical friction, prematurely aging us. In the short term, the confusion, fatigue, and chaos merely hamper our ability to focus and
analyze, but in the long term, they may cause it to atrophy."