Talk about rubbing it in: Best Buy is giving out US$ 50 gift cards to all of its customers who bought HD DVD players or HD DVD attachments before February 23. What's with the date? This was within the week that Toshiba dropped the format and sealed HD DVD's fate. Details in the full article.

Ever got stuck somewhere and there is not a cab in sight? Even more frustrating is that whenever you need one, hundreds just seem to come out of nowhere. Well, New Yorkers might just be stuck with the first dilemma as NYC cabbies are threatening to go on strike due to a plan to install a GPS device on all taxis.

The Bloomberg administration is planning to install a video monitor at the back of cabs - all 13,000 of them - by the end of this year. The monitors will feature entertainment (along with commercials) for the passengers; credit card transactions will also be available. The cabbies complain that the installation of such a device would be an invasion of their privacy since the monitors also come with a GPS feature. Another source of taxi drivers' woes is the cost of the said device, which they will ultimately pay.

Some disagree with the privacy part of the complaint since the GPS technology of the monitors would be activated by the taxi meter and only the beginning and destination are recorded. The protest regarding the cost (US$ 2, 900 to US$ 7, 200) is getting sympathy, though. Well, the same thing happened in Philadelphia (cabbies went on strike) but the devices were installed anyway.

At some point, the technology might prove beneficial in solving crimes but the price is still steep for the taxi drivers. Subsidy, maybe?

While every MP3 player maker was too busy trying to kill the iPod, Walletex Microelectronics kept on doing what it does best.: designing and manufacturing electronic products that would make even anorexic supermodels look like hippos. The company's current pride and joy is the Wallet MP3 Flash player.

The Wallet MP3 Flash is the world's first credit card-sized mp3 player and has anywhere from 128MB to 2GB capacity. It doesn't have any graphic displays because frankly, that's asking for too much. It is water-proof, dust proof, and temperature resistant. We don't know if it's butt-proof for those who keep their wallets in their back pockets. But for the sake of those of us who don't have super-skinny supermodel behinds, it should be.

Being one of the busiest cities in the world, with people perpetually rushing to get to where they're supposed to go, Tokyo is starting to see vending machines as a one of its society's must-haves. As people in Tokyo are always on the run, it is important for them have access to every little thing that they need.

From carrying beverages to cigarettes, to cup noodles and disposable cameras (plus film and batteries), vending machines truly have invaded the busy streets of Tokyo, Japan. Expanding territory, these machines will soon invade Tokyo's underground. Tokyo Metro will soon be putting up ten vending machines offering DVD rentals. Initially priced at ¥350 ($3), local and Hollywood flicks can be rented out after registering and paying by credit card. After three days, you then have to return the DVD in the vending machine.

Each vending machine will hold up to 330 titles each, and will be made by Astala Vista company.

You're out on a hot date in your cute little dress and your killer heels, when all of a sudden and without warning, SOMETHING breaks down and even your hapless date is defeated with trying to bolt that something back to its place with his teeth and bare hands. Emergency! You need a wrench, and fast!

This means it's time to step in. Grab your purse (yes, the beaded one with the little frills down the sides and lace lining) and whip out...a spanner.

You heard me right, people. This spanner which can be ordered from the British website Doghouse for only £7.99 ($15), is the size of a credit card and is made of aluminum steel. It is 1.2mm thick and on its surface are holes that can accomodate nuts from size M6 to M14.

The credit card spanner, for the woman (or man, as it was originally for) of action!

In case you don't know, the 99 Cents Download isn't very popular with major music labels. It does sound a bit small, considering Michael Jackson has to feed his chimp and llamas. And then there's Whitney and Bobby's "hobby" which isn't exactly cheap. But we found out the artists don't even get all the 99 cents. The record label does! Which explains why it's the record executives, not the artists, who's been crying all the way to the bank.

Michael Kanellos, an editor at CNET News, says record labels make the most from legal downloads. Record companies keep about 72.5 cents on average for a 99 cent song. Does the rest go the Bubble's retirement fund? Not at all. The credit card company also gets a small slice. Then the last slice goes to the people who sold the song. No wonder Jackson isn't doing much singing these days.

An Israeli company called Compulab built a computer that fits a complete PDA into a device just two-thirds the size of a credit card. At only 4.4 x 6.6 cm, the CM-X270L makes even a 6.0 x 4.4 cm MiniPCI wireless card look big.

The CM-X270L almost breaks the law of physics by fitting an Intel XScale chip that runs Windows CE or Linux, half a gig of flash memory, 128MB of RAM, AC’97 sound and a Philips 802.11b wireless interface inside its body. That's not all, it even found enough room to cram other features not found on PDAs, such as a PCI bus, four USB host ports, and wired networking.

The wireless wonder costs about $47 which is really cheap. But the company only accept minimum bulk order of 10,000 units so stick to your humongous PDAs for now. They're harder to lose.

If you're out in the market for a digital photo frame that has suddenly become a must-have for tech savvy homes, then you would want to check out SUN SG8 Digital Photo Frame. It plays photo, MP3, MPEG1/2/4 and DivX format in its bright 8 inch TFT screen.

This nifty gadget saves you the trouble of hooking up your digital camera to a television set just to view your photo collection, instead it allows you to view it on your kitchen counter, office desk, car, boat, train, etc. Just insert your flash card into the frame. You have options on how you want your pictures viewed. You can either display just one shot, or to cycle through all the photos as a self-running "slideshow" with interesting transitions like wipe, windows blinds and many more. A remote as small as a credit card lets you view your pictures with ease. The amount of pictures you can view is dependent on the capacity of your flash card. It also comes in a variety of colors to fit your home and your style like silver, black, red, yellow, blue, green and orange.

Features:

• Video format: M-JPEG (Camera), MPEG1 (VCD), MPEG2 (DVD), and MPEG4 (Movie)
• Support NTSC / PAL composite video output
• Support photo zoom, rotate and slide show with background music
• Allows for copying of files from different memory cards to a CompactFlash card
• Able to copy files from USB storage device, Memory Stick, to CompactFlash card
• Calendar with month and date display
• Clock: Time, Alarm clock with snooze function
• DXSB for DivX network & Multi, Audio Xvid for Divx codec
• Remote Control: easy operation for copy, delete files between different memory cards
• Select any photos to favorite file to make special slide show for your optional photos
• Photo rotate, Zoom, Thumbnail, Auto Slide show
• Adaptable for use in Car, Truck, Boat with a special design (12 or 24V) optional cable
• Can be connected with External HDD to load or run the HDD’s data
• Can pre-set up this unit Auto-power “On” or “Off” by user
• VESA Mount (75mm) compatible

Don't get distracted with the description. It's still like your typical credit card, except you'd mistake it for a butterfly when you first see it. It's not the color of the card, or even the design. It's the way it opens up and closes when you flaunt your card when paying your bill. Who would've thought paying with your card would look more stylish than the clothes (or the jewellery) you actually bought with it?

I'm talking about the Butterfly card from American Express. Why "Butterfly?" Because it looks like one. The card is the size of any other credit card you use only when it's "open." It actually folds in half so you can place it in its small case (which looks like a mini-pen case, by the way). And it works just as any ordinary card will work.

You can use the Butterfly card wherever American Express Cards are accepted. This can be used interchangeably with your AE Gold Card and is linked to your regular Card account. It's really just the same as your AE card, the only difference is that it's more portable (as if your credit cards are not!) and more stylish. Imagine paying with this in a crowded resto with everyone looking at the stylish case and slowly becoming amazed with the unfolding "Butterfly" that might or might not be a card.

Nice daydream, eh?

The Butterfly card is given free as companion to your Gold Car and can be activated by going to AE's site.