I remember popping in 50 cents to play Ms. Pac-Man at my local pizza joint as a kid. Going to the arcade can still be fun, but getting change for a dollar when the change machine is broken can be a real pain. Not to mention thinking about how many kids touch the controllers each day would make any germ-a-phobe feel nauseous. Unless, of course, you have your very own arcade in your home!

Arcade-In-A-Box is an all-in-one arcade console. A computer is actually built right into the controller, which can then be plugged into any external video source through S-Video, Composite, or VGA connections.

The product (shown here), looks like an arcade control box with joysticks and illuminated buttons, while trackball buttons and a spinner are optional (remember using the spinner for that fun League Bowling arcade game?). Each system can play any PC game on the market and features a 3ghz Celeron, 512 MB RAM, 120 GB hard drive, and a 128 MB ATI video card. In addition, each unit is custom-built and shipped free of charge.

You can download arcade games to your Arcade-In-A-Box at iRetroGames.com, such as BreakQuest, Motorama, and Beat Ball 2. Or you can load any PC game of your own into the system.

But, it's not like these home arcades are that much cheaper than classic arcade machines. For example, the 1981 Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga Arcade Game sells for $2,995 at Brookstone.com. Even so, you can buy Plug N Play TV Games for as little as $20.

If money isn't an issue, you can purcase the Arcade-In-A-Box for $1,499. Or for $12.50, learn how to build your own arcade console with this Electronic Guide.

UPDATED: With correct prices.

Seems like USB drives just aren't satisfied anymore with being simple, humble, portable storage devices -- not that this is a bad trend. For instance, the SanDisk Cruzer Micro and Cruzer Titanium drives include U3 Smart technology that can turn your flash drive into a safe, portable workspace. 

U3 technology lets you download and launch applications directly from your flash drive. The interface runs like a Windows Start menu, with a Mac OS-like interface (though the U3 drive will only work on Windows). The U3 platform is awesome for those who have to work on various computers: You can download the programs you need to the U3 Launchpad, plug it into any PC running Windows XP or 2000, and run the apps from your U3 drive. When you're done, the U3 programs clean up after themselves, deleting any files or registry traces they left on the host PC.

The new Cruzers comes with a month-long free trial of Skype, and Avast! Antivirus, and SignUp Shield to make your drive password protected. If you're not impressed by all this and would rather free up space on the USB drive, you can delete U3 Launchpad, with the option of reinstalling it from SanDisk's U3 Web site. And in a triumph of design, the drives have retractable USB connectors, so you don't have to worry about losing the caps. 

The Cruzer Titanium is the high-performance model, speedier (read/write speeds of 15 MBps) and sturdier than the Cruzer Micro. The Micro is available in sizes from 512MB to 4GB ($39.99 to $199.99), and the Titanium comes in 1GB ($74.99) and 2GB ($119.99)  models.

Thanks to intern Errol Pierre-Louis for this post!

I haven't been too excited by the thought of listening to music on my phone, but I think this new service sounds more appealing: Axcess Mobilcast, launched jointly today by Alltel Wireless and Melodeo. For $3.99 a month, you can access thousands of podcasts and download as many as you want. (I'm not sure yet if Gearlog Radio is on the list!)

The companies promise the podcasts will be continuously updated, and you'll be able to get offerings from CNN and NPR (I subscribe to several NPR podcasts already, including the "Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me!" one; I usually miss the show when it's broadcast on the radio, and it always makes me laugh).

Alltel says the new service will be available on "several popular phones" and that the interface will be simple and easily searchable (that'd be a bonus for phone apps); also, you can bookmark your favorite podcasts, which can be streamed or downloaded. Is this the kind of app that might tempt people in the U.S. to switch carriers? I'd love to know what you think; comments, please!

Sudoku is more than a craze; it's becoming an essential component in today's technology. It's offered as a Nintendo DS game ("Sudoku Gridmaster"), as a handheld device (Sudoku Electronics), and will be featured in Microsoft's Origami ultramobile PC.

And recently, Imation announced its new USB 2.0 flash drive that includes a full version of Sudoku. Sounds like the perfect back to school gift to me (okay, so I'm addicted to playing Sudoku; that's why I love this flash drive)! The game includes four difficulty levels: easy, medium, hard and devilish.

The Sudoku Clip Flash Drive comes in several capacities (256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB) and also includes two other games. I personally like the drive's carabiner clip, which students can easily attach to their backpack or shoulder bag. It also features Imation Drive Manager, which lets you password protect your data.

The Sudoku Clip Flash Drive is available this month at Target stores in teal, neon green, black and red for $34.99. Works with Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

For more cool back to school products, check out Gearlog's Back to School Guide.

Thanks to Jamie for the tip!

I have been slow to get on the Skype bandwagon, much to the annoyance of my sister down in Australia, but I am going to have to take the plunge soon. One thing that would make it a lot easier would be a device like the VIVO Voice Key ($60). This little box sits between your plain old telephone and your PC and lets you place and take Skype calls just like ordinary calls. Of course, you have to have a Skype account and install some software from VIVO, but it sounds like it makes calls a lot more like, well, phone calls. There are other skype adaptors out there, but the Voice Key looks pretty promising.

[[Found on the TechFilter]]

In my tireless quest to go ever further afield from the core mission of Gearlog... I use this post to congratulate our own Tony Hoffman, staff editor at PC Magazine, for having an asteroid named after himself! Click on this NASA link for details. And here's a link that shows Asteroid 112900 Tonyhoffman's current position in the night sky.

Unbeknownst to many of his coworkers, Tony has long had a passion for astronomy: He's a director of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York and has found over 70 "sungrazing" comets. Tony does all his discovery work online, poring through images generated by the SOHO (Solar & Heliospheric Observatory) spaceborne observatory, a joint project of NASA and the ESA (European Space Agency).

Tony's also written about heavenly bodies; an article he wrote for "Sky and Telescope" magazine won an award from the American Astronomical Society's Solar Physics Division for popular writing. For these achievements, comet and asteroid hunter Rob Matson, who found this particular asteroid, honored him by naming it for him.

Have you ever longed to be a space discoverer? Tony told me, "It's a free-for-all: Anyone with a computer can access the SOHO images." In fact, nearly 1,200 comets have been discovered by amateur astronomers using home computers. It's very competitive, though, and requires a great deal of patience; Tony's first find took 7 months. And the thrill of discovery may be short-lived, as many of these finds are vaporized by the sun within a day or two of discovery. But perservere, as Tony did, and someday maybe you too can place your moniker on some outer-space real estate.

Sony announced a truly perplexing product today: the mylo (short for "My Life Online," or rather, "my life online") a cute handheld communicator missing several key features.

It makes phone calls, but it doesn't connect to cell-phone networks - rather, it uses SkypeOut over Wi-Fi, which is neat except that Wi-Fi isn't exactly pervasive in the universe. (Come on, people, mobile VOIP is supposed to complement cellular, not replace it!) More infuriatingly, it's designed for instant messaging but doesn't support AIM, the dominant instant messaging system in several universes. It's got great Web browsing (with the Opera browser) but, once again, you have to be within a Wi-Fi hotspot.

I'm having trouble understanding what Sony's getting at with this gadget, which only makes me more eager to get one in here and try to figure it out.

Read my full news story on the mylo at pcmag.com.

Here's the second installment of Back to School products you never knew existed. If you missed Part I, you can check it out here. Click on any photo to see the item up close. Enjoy!

ENGLISH:

"Reading furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours." -John Locke
Merriam-Webster Dictionary & MP3 Player ($80, Office Max)
A dictionary and MP3s. Can't beat that combination for excelling in English class. The unit includes 274,000+ definitions, a built-in audio player, Phonetic Spell Correction, Crossword Puzzle Solver, 5 Games and a local/world clock. Requires 2 AAA batteries.

CHOIR:

"I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain; What a wonderful feeling, I'm happy again." -Arthur Freed

B2 mi Jam Stage Mic ($19.99 list)
Download piano accompaniments to your MP3 player so that you can practice songs at home in time for your next choral concert. The mi Jam Stage Mic includes a headset and control module. The headset is comfortable to wear and works with any digital music device. And for Saturday nights when you're getting together with friends, use it for karaoke. Available at Best Buy, KayBee, and Toys R Us stores.

MATH:

"Mathematics are well and good but nature keeps dragging us around by the nose." -Albert Einstein

Roll-up Calculator ($16, ComputerGear.com)
Have your calculator and roll it up, too! Batteries included with solar back up. Approx. 4" x 5" when opened. Choose between pink, blue, clear, tangerine or teal.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION:

"If you can dodge traffic, you can dodge a ball." -Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Nike's Cuff Wristband Watch ($39)
Don't want to wear your nice watch during PE class? Then try Nike's Cuff Wristband Watch on for size. It shows the time and the date, and is water resistant up to 30 meters. Comes in three interchangable colors. One size fits all.

SHOP CLASS:

"Living a life is like constructing a building: if you start wrong, you'll end wrong." -Maya Angelou
LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT ($249.99)
Practice for shop class by building your very own LEGO Mindstorms. The new NXT Intelligent Brick features a 32-bit microprocessor and more memory, plus support for USB 2.0, Bluetooth and more. The new sound sensor enables robots to respond to sound patterns and tones. Works with both PCs and Macs. Ages 10 and up.