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$700,000 Worth of Fake Nike Shoes Found, Still No McFlys 14 November 2008 at 5:43 pm by admin

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U.S. customs agents have found $700,000 worth of fake Nikes in a shipment from China that allegedly pretended to carry $20,674 in kitchen cabinets.

Hyperdunk_yesThere’s no word on whether the Nikes involved in the sting operation were the Hyperdunk shoes that the company tried to pass off as the real Mcflys from Back to the Future II, earlier this summer. The shoes are the company’s most trendy this year, and we wouldn’t be surprised if a criminal tried to make money off their popularity.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 568 cartons of bogus Nikes were stuffed behind 30 cartons of industrial toilet paper. This is only the latest incident in the battle against trafficking of valuable gadgets and other merchandise in California ports.

Earlier this year, thousands of expensive counterfeit watches were seized in a Los Angeles port, and in May, $22 million worth of fake designer bags were also found in Oakland’s Port.

The Port of Oakland is one of the West Coast’s largest terminals for container ships, and is one of the busiest ports in the country. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office, about 20,000 to 30,000 containers come into the port each month.

According to the Chronicle’s report, the alleged counterfeit importer described the contents of the container as only kitchen cabinets, before arriving to the port. There is no word on whether the man has been indicted for the counterfeit or whether he was wearing fake McFlys at the time of his arrest.

Photo: Brooke Anderson/Flickr

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+ Waterproof MP3 Players Won’t Make You Swim Like Phelps By admin 30 October 2008 at 1:45 pm and have No Comments

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Waterproof Mp3 players are niche gadgets, but for the genetic freaks that spend all their hours turning laps in the pool practicing, they may offer welcome relief from the monotony.

Freestyle Audio’s newest MP3 player, the Soundwave, is only the latest of these trying to ride the coattails of the high profile swimming competition from this summer’s Olympics.

The $90 player can handle submersion for up to 10 feet and can also resist shock. Like other waterproof players, it’s low in capacity (2 GB only or about 600 songs), it supports MP3 and WMA file types, and comes with waterproof headphones. It also comes with a built-in rechargeable battery that lasts 18 hours, according to the manufacturer.

But the biggest barrier these players face is to convince people they are more than crappy, low-capacity toys with barely passable audio recognition in submersion — only a few have managed to clear that low bar. Others have complained that it’s difficult to keep the earbuds in due to the water pressure.

SwiMP3 is one of the quality players that pro swimmers prefer lately, as it conducts vibrations through the cheekbones (like Bluetooth sets), and according to the New York Times, probably has the best clear audio of them all. Other good players out there are the Speedo Aquabeat player (expensive at about $150 for 1 GB), and NU Tech’s Dolphin (1GB, $135).

If there are any swimmers out there, what do you think?  Are you willing to pay $150 just for the privilege to listen to some tunes below the surface? How much would you pay for a waterproof, super-rugged iPod if Apple made one? (The flimsy, heavy plastic cases available now don’t count). Let us know in the comments.

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