Anyone who drives in Orange County knows that trying to get anywhere, especially during rush hour, is frustrating. So reader (or salesman?) Bill Byers, a local dealer for Big Boys Toys, suggests the TrafficGauge.

The device looks like a Palm organizer and displays one traffic map either of Seattle or a combined part of Los Angeles and Orange County. But more than a simple Palm, this gets real-time traffic information about accidents and other slowdowns, then starts blinking like crazy on the affected highway. With one glance at the 5-inch screen, you’ll know whether to avoid the 55.

I first saw this about two years ago. I thought it was pretty cool but it only had half of OC (it cuts off everything south of 405/5 merge) . The other bummer was the price, which apparently hasn’t changed in two years: $80 for the gadget and $6.99 each month for service!

Byers, who tells me he’s not the PR guy for TrafficGauge, still sells the gadget. He has a good reason to be hot on it. He believes it’s worth thet price. His words: “When I speak to the average person on the street … they all say about the same thing … they say the product is worth about $100-$250 and the monthly service fee is probably $10-$25.”

The TrafficGauge looks pretty much the same as the one I tested two years ago and I’d probably rip it in a review. I would, however, offer several suggestions, such as lower the price, add GPS capabilities or, at minimum, show all of Orange County. But, as Byers points out, he’s “just trying to make life a little more relaxed for those people stuck on the LA/OC highways.”

I thought I’d put this one out to the people. What do you think about it? Worth a review or not? Let me know!

Two distracting sites I saw this week:

The ASCII version of The Matrix. Someone (from the University of Washington?) took scenes from the movie and animated them with ASCII. Mesmerizing, at least for a few minutes.

Everyone likes poking fun at the president. I’m just entertained at how you control how much Bush’s face distorts as his nose follows the money. Again, just a few minutes out of your day is all it’s worth.

Upcoming events for next week:

• Electronic House Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center. If you’re into Big Boy Toys, the EH Expo will have everything you’d want for a living room, including home theater products, home automation, flat-panel technology, lighting control, etc. It’s a trade show but it looks like ordinary consumers can get in FREE if they register by Nov. 6.

• If you’re into podcasting or are just curious about it, the must-attend event is the Portable Media Expo at the Ontario Convention Center. A lot of the early podcasters hail from OC, including Tim Bourquin, in Laguna Niguel, who is organizing the whole show. Best part, of course, the expo-part of the show is FREE if you register ahead of time. Sessions on how-to podcast and how to make money off it cost $249.

Wow, another Kitten Cannon player. Blog readers will remember back in April when I couldn’t get enough of a flash-animated game called Kitten Cannon. It’s a pretty gruesome, but strangely addicting game where the goal is to shoot an orange tabby out of a cannon and see how far it will go. So, because I said I would post reader scores who beat my now pathetic 1,649- foot-toss, here is the high score from Jason Blakemore, who works in Irvine. Have you been practicing since April, Jason???

I, myself, have moved on. I recently bought Macromedia’s Flash so I can learn how to create games myself. If I end up creating something unique, fun and possibly addicting, I’ll post it. If you have your own Flash creation that you want to share, send me a link and I’ll post it.

In the meantime, here’s some Flash games I’ve recently stumbled upon:

Nanaca Crash! An even more gruesome take on Kitten Cannon. It involves an anime character who gets slammed by a motorcyclist.

Shoot the smiley faces with a paintball gun at Skinz.com. Definite stress reliever.

One of my favorite bands, The Polyphonic Spree, developed a Flash game to launch its “Together We’re Heavy” album in 2004. Help the wayward band members find the rest of the gang.

A few years ago, I wrote a story about an opportunistic teen who decided he wanted to win the Pokemon PT Cruiser in a Nintendo contest. The grand prize was a car that looked like a Pokemon character. All he had to do was write a theme song. This kid made a music video. He won. Just like that.

I always think of him when I spot a contest that requires some sort of skill. This week, I learned of four. And while I don’t have the skills to enter, maybe you do. Take a look and if you win one, let me know.

Motorola’s MOTOfwrd contest, open to college students.
The gist: People are using cell phones to send text messages, share video, snap photos and play music. What’s next in the world of seamless mobility?
Requirements: Write an essay, produce a short film, draw a cartoon or use any sort of visual to show what’s next. Entries due by Nov. 15.
The grand prize: $10,000 and a Bluetooth-enabled car.
Details: www.motorola.com/motofwrd

Stop the genocide in Sudan contest, open to college students.
The gist: MTV’s college TV channel, MTVu, and Reebok Human Rights Foundation want to raise awareness of genocide in Sudan.
Requirements: Create an online video game or viral campaign to raise awareness.
The grand prize: $50,000
Details: www.mtvu.com/on_mtvu/activism

The Scion F8 Macromedia Flash contest
The gist: Scion, the car, has created its own little hipster world, with a magazine, music and art.
Requirements: Create an ad for the new Scion with Flash. Deadline is Nov. 7.
The grand prize: A 2006 Scion
Details: http://www.scionf8.com/

Daz Productions 3D Digital Art contest
The gist: Daz, a leader in 3D content and software, wants to know your vision of the future.
Requirements: Use a DAZ product prominently in your entry. Deadline is Oct. 31.
The grand prize: BOXX Technology 4400 Series workstation, plus other stuff.
Details: http://www.daz3d.com/contests/index.php?id=12

I almost forgot to welcome OC’s newest magazine, Squeeze OC, which is Freedom Orange County Information’s push to attract a younger, wealthier and non-newspapery reader. (FOCI is also the Register‘s parent company.) The first issue debuted Thursday. But you can’t find any in this newsroom.

I finally convinced staffer Matt Degen to give me one of his precious copies. Of course, I had Matt, who has helped out the Gadgetress on several occasions, sign his story on buying a sofa. So, if you can find Squeeze, check it out online at SqueezeOC.com

How do bloggers find the time to post daily? Many even post multiple times a day. Not me, which you would know if you’ve been a dedicated reader (thank you!)
I pitched the idea because I often have this urge to share something odd I discovered on the Web (have you seen this? Or this? Or the build-your-own insect here?) So I started for fun last fall and moved to an official Reg page in January.
Only in the past few weeks have I reached some sort of momentum by blogging three or more times a week. Then again, I suppose most bloggers don’t have to wait for an editor to look over their stuff to make sure it’s appropriate for the Register. And no editor here works at midnight, when I’m likely to be up and looking for new stuff on the Internet. Now you know my secret…

In tribute to local bloggers who do find time to update their online journals, please check out a few that I found. If you hail from OC and want me to promote your blog here, tell me about your blog and why you do it.

OC Blog knows a lot about politics and news in OC and even offers advertising opportunities. Plus a bunch of links to other local blogs.

Metroblogging Orange County has a lot of musings about OC current events and assorted happenings. It must be good because a contributor is Michael Doss, the very polite, intelligent and technically proficient researcher here at the Reg.

Speaking of the Reg (and might as well add this shameless self promotion), the business section recently launched a daily (!) blog, The Morning Eye. The editorial section’s Orange Punch blog gets more hits than most stories at the paper (I’ve seen the numbers). And there’s Sam Miller, a South County education reporter, who writes the Back of the Class blog.

OC Art Blog, run by Chris Hoff who runs The Office art space in Huntington Beach. He also has a bunch of links to local artist web sites and blogs.

Grow A Brain, which touts itself as “Original Real Estate Blog.” It has a May 2004 posting on OC blogs (not all the links work). But it’s a huge collection. Guess I’ll stop posting about OC blogs now.

So, maybe you’re checking my blog today because you’ve gotten used to seeing something new every Wednesday. So, for my fourth consecutive weekly round up, here’s what I noticed about gadgets from OC tech companies:

Ortery Technologies Inc. in Irvine makes a high-tech and portable photo studios controlled by your computer. The Photosimile 100 and Photosimile 200 are miniature rooms, more like boxes, that you stick an object d’art inside, your computer adjusts the lighting and settings for the box and your camera (Canon PowerShot A and G series and the Olympus C series only please). No experience required! It must be good because Ortery charges $1,200 and $1,700. That sounds expensive but for some reason, Joseph T. Sinclair, author of “eBay Photography The Smart Way,” is quoted in Ortery’s press release saying, “Photosimile is a cost effective way for eBay retailers to take photos.”

Humax USA, another Irvine company, began discounting its DVD recorders with built-in TiVo service. The Humax DRT400 will record up to 40 hours of TV plus play or burn DVD-R and DVD-RW discs on its progressive scan DVD player. It’s now just $300, after the $100 instant rebate. Offer ends Sept. 5. If you want the best that Humax has to offer, take a look at its T2500, a 300-hour TiVo DVR for $499.

According to gadget blog Engadget, Oakley in Foothill Ranch is working on a new Thump, those $500 MP3 sunglasses that have surprisingly shown up in this blog a lot in recent weeks. Rumor is the Thump 2 will look like Oakley’s Gascan glasses (pictured) and have more memory and redesigned ear buds. Release date is sometime in the last three months of the year.

Yamaha Corp. in Buena Park is pitching podcasters a machine to produce the best sounding podcast (isn’t that defeating the purpose?). The new AW16G and AW4416 digital audio workstations give musicians immediate access to making and mixing music and likewise, podcasters their own podcasts. These are portable mixers with onboard effects. Read the news release for specifics.

In other OC tech news:

* Irvine computer game developer Blizzard Entertainment offers an update on its upcoming BlizzCon convention at its site www.blizzcon.com/news including a pro-gaming tournament with over $25,000 in cash prizes.

*Irvine’s Interchange launched its Local.com™ beta, a new local search engine.

* And, if you really want to see some innovative technology, come back Thursday to see video footage and my coverage of the last week’s CyberFashion show in Los Angeles. Don’t worry. I’ll remind you Thursday. See ya soon.

Another Monday, another column. Don’t forget to check out my latest gadget review on 411-SONG, a service that uses your cell phone to figure what that song is on the radio.

As for what’s happening in the rest of the world, Adobe is buying the folks who brought us Macromedia Flash software, a great tool for creative people with too much time on their hands. Like Dan Fleming of Burst Films. His latest flash-animated game is all over the Web so take a look before it becomes so last week. (If you don’t have Flash software, it’s free, just click here.)

!!Warning: This is not for people who lack a sense of humor!!

In “Kitten Cannon,” you shoot kitty out of a cannon and try to get it as high as possible. Essentially, cute kitty go boom! Don’t worry, the orange tabby in “kitten cannon” has an unlimited number of lives, no matter how many times it gets eaten by a Venus Flytrap or lands on a bunch of pointy metal spikes.

My best score? 1,679 feet, thanks to several springy trampolines and more than a few explosives (when I finally was able to submit, the top score was 8,645!). But I couldn’t submit my score since the world apparently is finding the game and Burst Films’ server is too busy to accept scores. Try to top my high score and send me an e-mail telling me how you did. Maybe I’ll post it here…

Another simple Flash game I just discovered was – in all places – a cosmetics site. Bloom Cosmetics, which has cute cartoon girls, wants you to help Ms. Bloom smack her pet duck. I couldn’t resist.

I’m hoping to turn this “blog” into an outlet for the people of OC. Tell me about the cool gadgets you bump into, clever Web sites you’ve discovered or your own little Flash game that you’ve been tinkering on. I’ll post the best.

I just got the premiere issue of Make magazine and, trust me, gadget freaks will love this do-it-yourself journal. Make is from the folks who bring us useful books like “Google Hacks” and “Windows XP in a nutshell.” And it’s staffed with people in the know, including an actual engineer who designs nanophotonic integrated circuits and Mark Frauenfelder, a cofounder of Boing Boing magazine.

Make isn’t for everyone. But even non-techies would get a kick out of the how-to articles, like how to take aerial photos (a step-by-step guide involves using a camera and a kite). One project I want to try is the build-your-own credit-card reader. Author Billy Hoffman, a computer science major at Georgia Tech, offers this up after running two credit cards through a reader and finding his social security number embedded in the stripe. (Yikes!)

It’s a good-looking magazine and in the style of one of my favorite mags ReadyMade. Make is full of pretty pictures, sketches and quirky articles (the “Heirloom Technology” piece suggests curing heart disease by becoming hunters, who have “no heart disease, diabetes or tooth decay.”) Who couldn’t benefit from knowing things like how to salvage deleted photos from your camera’s memory (the $50 CameraSalvage software from subrosasoft.com is recommended). Or how to make a motor, a tale told in cartoon form a la HowToons.com.

There’s something for everyone and very few ads. I guess that’s why it costs, gulp, $14.95 an issue.