Do you need to know what time it is in XXX? What about the calendar for 1934? What about the time the moon will rise in Arizona on March 12?

All of these questions (and loads more) can be answered on TimeAndDate.com. When you visit, there are a huge collection of tools that give you just about any information you would want to know regarding time and dates.

While you may not have a need for something like this now, you never know when you might want to see what day of the week your birthday falls on in 2032. Nevertheless, this is a good site to know about in the event you ever need it.

Post from: PCMech.

Website With Loads Of Time And Date Tools

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Motorola will be loading Microsoft’s Bing search onto its Android cellphones in China this month, ousting Google on its own smartphone platform. Motorola Android models will get the new feature when they are launched in this quarter.

Google isn’t being completely ejected from its own party: Bing, along with an alternative to Google maps, will be offered as a choice to customers when they first fire up the phone. We imagine that, as Google is the second most popular search engine after Baidu, that most people will still opt for it over Bing.

Why would Motorola do this? Speculation from the Wall Street Journal says that Motorola is planning for a future when Google may pull out of China. Reuters says that “Having search alternatives on the Android phones should lessen Motorola’s dependence on Google.” We have a much less conspiratorial explanation: Money. Search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo pay company’s to make their search the default. The Mozilla Foundation, for example, received $66 million from Google in 2007 for search royalties.

Could it be that, in an effort to increase its market share, Bing is offering more money than Google? Perhaps Motorola is just playing it smart, adding the new, money-spinning Bing while keeping Google and its own customers happy by keeping the old options around?

It’s a moot point anyway, we guess. Pretty much anyone knows how to type google.com into the URL-bar.

Motorola: Microsoft To Provide Search Functions On Its New Phones [WSJ]

Motorola, Microsoft in deal to put Bing on phones [Reuters]

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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Analog TV was shut off in Barcelona yesterday, so today seems a perfect time to mention the new miniature Elgato’s EyeTV Hybrid. The USB-stick is essentially a shrunken-down version of the old Hybrid, and will let you tune into both analog and digital TV channels.

We reviewed the original Hybrid almost exactly a year ago. It plugs into your computer and pairs with the EyeTV 3 software for tuning in, watching and recording TV broadcasts. With the included one year subscription, you get listings for local and national programming, and offers intelligent DVR functions, like automatically recording all episodes of your favorites show. You can also hook up a cable box through an adapter and view it from within the software.

So what’s new, apart from being smaller? The new Hybrid also works with Windows 7. You don’t get the EyeTV software, but you can use it with the already great Windows Media Center. And if you do have a Mac, you can send live TV streams or recorded shows direct to you iPhone or iPod Touch (this also works with the older, bigger dongle, but is a new features since out review).

Elgato thankfully hasn’t messed with a winning product. The Lady stole my EyeTV soon after I bought it and uses it often. If your analog signal is off and you watch most of your TV and movies on a computer anyway, I’d recommend picking one up. $150

EyeTV Hybrid [Elgato via TUAW]

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Google has added an iPad-friendly version of its RSS aggregator, called Google Reader Play. According to the Official Google Reader Blog, the new full-screen slide-show is for people who “aren’t interested in taking the time to get Reader set up”. It is also perfect for viewing on tablet PCs, including the upcoming iPad.

Navigate to the new page (part of Google Labs but open to everyone) and you’ll see a black screen with a row of thumbnails along the bottom and the content of the news item up top. If you have ever used a Flickr slideshow, you’ll be instantly at home. One news item is shown at a time. You can navigate with the arrow keys, or by clicking or touching the arrows and thumbnails on-screen. It works on the iPhone, but you can’t yet swipe to flip to the next item, and the view is way too small.

Google Reader Play recommends items to you based on what you mark as a liked or disliked. If you are logged into you Google account, it will pull from your own recommended items and also articles shared by contacts. And if you already use Google Reader, there is a new option when you click the arrow on one of your feed-folders to “View in Reader Play”.

It’s a great way to quickly flip through the news, and you don’t need to have ever touched an RSS subscription to do it. If you also consider that pretty much every Gmail user now has contacts due to Google Buzz, then Play should get pretty accurate, pretty soon. And of course, while it’s neat-o on the desktop, it’s tailor-made for tablets, especially as it doesn’t use Flash which can easily slow down these often underpowered machines. We fully expect to see an iPad optimized version very soon.

And Now for Something Completely Different [Google Reader Blog]

Google Reader Play [Google]

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Most people think the only free email that offers IMAP access is Gmail. Not so. Aol/AIM also has the same capability, which allows you to access your AOL/AIM account via the email client of your choice.

If you already know how to configure an email account using IMAP, skip down to the mail servers section below.

Why use IMAP?

IMAP is better than POP because your mail is synchronized directly with the mail server itself. With POP, the only thing you can do is download mail and optionally keep a copy on the server. IMAP is more convenient because it allows you to access your mail using any client you want on as many computers as you want.

In addition, being this is Aol mail, you can also use the webmail version at http://mail.aol.com or http://mail.aim.com.

Mail server addresses

If your email address ends in aol.com

Incoming server: imap.aol.com, port 143 (no SSL required)

Outgoing server: smtp.aol.com, port 25 or 587 if 25 doesn’t work (no SSL required)

If your email address ends in aim.com

Incoming server: imap.aim.com, port 143 (no SSL required)

Outgoing server: smtp.aim.com, port 25 or 587 if 25 doesn’t work (no SSL required)

Username

The mail username to use for both Aol and AIM is the portion before the @. For example, if your mail username was example@aol.com, the username you would use is example and nothing else. This counts for both the incoming and outgoing server username.

Is there folder support?

Yes. Any folder created in your email client or the webmail version will sync correctly – HOWEVER – I recommend creating folders using the webmail version, then synchronizing the client. It seems to work better that way.

Can you sync contact lists with an email client?

No. Just like with Gmail, contacts are either local to the email client or web-based. My suggestion is to use the web-based version since it’s portable.

Can you be logged into the web account and email client at the same time?

Yes.

Is it reliable?

It’s no more or less reliable than the way Gmail does IMAP. The only difference is that Gmail uses SSL connections while Aol does not. While it’s true that non-SSL is not as secure, it is notably faster.

What mail clients can be used?

Any mail client that supports IMAP based email accounts. This includes Outlook Express 6, Outlook, Windows Live Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird, Apple’s Mail, Evolution and several others.

Post from: PCMech.

How-To: Access AIM or Aol Mail With IMAP

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There are a few ways to travel long-distance by bike, and none of them is cheap (unless you actually ride the bike). To take your ride on a plane you either need to pay expensive extra fees for bike carriage, buy a folding bicycle, opt for the excellent but pricy S&S system (essentially a frame that breaks apart for easy packing) or now, buy the $600 Helium case from Biknd.

The Helium is designed to protect your bike and pack it up as small as possible. You’ll need to strip the bicycle down pretty radically to make it fit, removing not only the wheels but the seat, pedals and handlebar. Once done, it all fits snugly into the tough, flexible nylon and polyester case, cosseted by plastic hub covers, a Cordura nylon crank and chain-stay cover and fork protectors. As this will add 9.5 Kg (21-pounds) to the weight of your bike, you may be wondering why it is called the Helium.

There is some gas involved: air. Once packed, you hook the foot-pump up to the case and inflate it. This provides extra protection whilst adding negligible weight. There’s enough room inside for a 64cm road frame (that’s pretty big) or a full-suspension road bike. There’s even a a pair of wheels for rolling this up to check-in. Just remember to pack a tool kit so you can put it back together.

I’m planning on moving to Berlin for a couple months this summer, and I’ll be taking a bike with me. I’m not dropping $600 on a case, so I’d like some suggestions for flying. The bike is a beater, a track-framed fixed-gear, so stripping it and re-building is easy. Answers in the comments, please.

Helium Bike Case [Biknd via Oh Gizmo!]

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PocketWizard, the off-camera flash-triggering company, has finally begun testing prototypes of its Nikon FlexTT5 units.

Normally, Nikon cameras communicate with the strobes via bursts of light, coded flashes which chatter back and forth in the moments before the photo is taken. The problem is that the range is limited, and you need line of site. That’s where PocketWizard comes in. The FlexTT5 sends these signals via long-range, corner-proof radio waves. Previously, these were manual only, and after some teething problems, PocketWizard successfully added an auto mode to it’s radio-powered flash Canon triggers.

The new prototypes, seen in the video above, are still far from production, but Nikon-shooting flash-freaks should be getting excited already. The Nikon CLS system is pretty close to magic already, letting you get great flash-shots with little effort. These new PocketWizards should make the experience even better.

If you just can’t wait, try to track down some RadioPoppers, a rival product which already works with Canon and Nikon and is cheaper: The PocketWizards are around $220 each, and you’ll need two. The RadioPoppers are $180 each for the TTL versions. The problem is that the RadioPoppers are selling so well it’s hard to get ahold of one.

Video: PocketWizard + Nikon – first look [Snap Factory]

First FlexTT5 Nikon Prototype Test [PocketWizard via Photography Bay]

RadioPopper page [RadioPopper]

See Also:

• Radipopper: Smart, Remote Control Flash Photography
• Pocket Wizard Fixes Reliability Issues With Tin-Foil Hats
• TTL 'Poverty Wizard' Flash Triggers

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This amazing Lego mecha is, according to the authoritative Brothers Brick, the first walking Lego mecha that “also boosts aesthetics”. We take that to mean that it actually walks by picking up its feet rather than shuffling along like a burned-out meth-addict.

Either way, the IR-remote controlled bot, named Element Commune, is a fantastic build by Flickr user Legohaulic. Here it is in herky-jerky action:

V2.0 will actually be steerable (this one just stops and starts, “walking” in a straight line), and we particularly like the tiny t-rex arms at the front. We wouldn’t want to climb inside the full-sized versions, though. As Brothers Brothers commenter Kunert says, “That thing would go down like ED-209 in a stairwell.”

Element Commune: LP-11 [FLickr]

Legohaulic’s walking biped revolutionizes mecha building [Brothers Brick]

See Also:

• Real Life Gundam Would Cost $725 Million
• Artist Creates Steampunk-style Wooden Robot, Time Machine, and a …
• 10 Sci-Fi Techs We Could Build If They Weren't So Damn Expensive …
• Stunning Papercraft Transfomer Model was Inspired by Cookies …

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If you have watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds, you probably already have a panic room in your home, ready for when golf-club and baseball-bat wielding psychopaths invade your house. But what of the other place where you spend so much of your time? What if you car plunges down a steep ravine into the rushing waters below, or you flip your ride on its roof and hang, dangling helplessly from the seatbelt while the gasoline drips ever closer to the broken mirror focusing burning sunlight onto the hot asphalt? What then?

You will need the ExiTool, billed as a “seat belt cutter, window breaker, LED flashlight tool”. The ExiTool clips onto your seatbelt and there it stays, holding its steel blade, tungsten window-smashing nubbin and button-cell powered flashlight just where you’ll need it in case of hugely unlikely emergency. Not convinced? This awful video certainly won’t help, but it will make you laugh. It appears almost as a parody, as if a real informercial had been “sweded“:

The ExiTool will be available “soon” for “just” $27.

ExiTool [CRKT]

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