There may be only one build of the Sony Vaio E notebook you can buy today, but your coloring options are equal parts expansive and aggressive. Even beyond the plumage, though, you're looking at a nice little set-up.

It's easy to be distracted by the glare of the "Caribbean Green" and "Hibiscus Pink" color schemes, but under the hood of the 15.5" Vaio E available today are a Core i3 processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, and a CD/DVD burner standard for $800.

There are other options coming soon, including Core i5 and Blu-ray upgrades that will be available starting Feb 7th.

The 3.5 hours of battery life is a little disappointing, but otherwise, the Vaio E looks to be a reasonably priced notebook with some pep. And if you don't necessarily need your laptop to be visible from 500 yards, black and white models are also available. Oh, I'm sorry—"Lava Black" and "Coconut White" models. [Sony via Electronista]

Toshiba's Port

For about $24 in parts and 20 minutes' worth of drilling/bolting, this coffee can lamp can be yours. Just be ready for all the "nice cans" jokes to pour in at your decor's expense. [ReadyMade via Unplggd]

The iPad's not even on sale yet, but that hasn't stopped designer Michael Greenberg from imagining a gaming peripheral for it. Like the wheels built for the Wiimote, the iDrift could help aid in turning sharp corners when gaming. [Yanko]

Steve Wozniak has commented in Gizmodo about his problems with his beloved Toyota Prius, its faulty acceleration software, and his problems reporting this to both Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. He's frustrated, and completely right.

Here's the latest news I just got.

Once again, thanks for your time. We called Toyota with your issue, and so far the spokesperson's comment is that they haven't heard anything to do with cruise control in Priuses. The story is still in edits, and if and when it runs, I will email you a copy at this address.

This response is what I've been coming up against for 2 months, and it doesn't indicate that I'll even be contacted about my problem. I sure am thankful now for the good attention I get at the normal Genius bars!

Then he added this about how frustrating the whole process is:

I have expensive cars but prefer to drive my Segway and Prius's for many reasons. I have had many models of Prius and enough family members and staff to keep them all in use.

I have a very busy schedule and I'm usually free at midnight to deal with things like this. The NHTSA online reporting form doesn't fit my case. It asks things like the date of an accident. On the phone they refer me to a second number. At that number they need my VIN and mileage before they'll listen. The person on the phone sounds like a typical very low paid clerk who can ask specific questions to type things into a database, and have no interest in the urgency and connection of my problem to the crashes/deaths/recalls/halted sales. In fact, they make it clear that they are just taking data and not doing anything themselves to remedy a safety issue. That's the government.

Toyota is difficult too, but after some phone calls I managed to express some of my situation. Unfortunately my iPhone dropped the calls twice and I never got a reference number but they may have some sort of ticket open.

It's been 2 months trying to have all the data and freedom, trying to get to someone high enough up to give this some attention. You can't easily find phone numbers to companies online. I'd give anything to have had the phone number of Toyota's legal department. They'll see that I stated my discovery in writing 2 months ago but a local dealer couldn't understand the significance of it and sort of thought my wife was nuts. I was out of town, as usual, at that time. It's not easy to be heard on something like this. But today I addressed an education group (Sausalito Discovery Museum) and somehow a brief form of this story came out and I believe that someone there contacted CNET.

Tonight I heard from Bloomberg news in Asia that they are following up on it with a story and that they will contact Toyota directly about it. I wouldn't be surprised to get a call from Toyota tomorrow, but I'll be on the road in that car all day.

No, my problem is not deadly. It's not a sticky accelerator pedal, for sure. It's sticky acceleration that is scary the first time but has a good work-around.

What I find amazing is that someone—being Steve Wozniak or John Doe—is having these problems, and nobody in the company is doing anything about it, pronto. It may not be deadly, as the Woz puts it, but two months to get a response from a car company on an issue that affects the safety of their cars is inexcusable.

As of today, I will never tweet again. Meanwhile, expect a hammer to be taken to every HTC/RIM handset within my reach. Jean-Luc Picard* has arrived from the future to capture a humpback whale and set technology straight.

* I know that Patrick Stewart is a real actor and that Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character. Well, I should say, I know that's the misconception guiding the world's perspective regarding Star Trek TNG. But consider, if you will, the possibility that Picard is real, and he came back in time from the future to play an actor —oh yes—to give us a glimpse at a more peaceful future among the stars in which choice in one's tea is every bit as important as choice in phaser array. [thenextweb]

While I'm the first person who wants a webcam on the Apple iPad, this is just ridiculous: A Kansas-based repair web site is claiming that they just got the iPad's frame part, which shows a hole for the camera. Really?

The question here is: How some obscure repair shop got parts for the Apple iPad when nobody has the Apple iPad itself? The fact is that, while some China part wholesalers start offering parts before the product becomes available, it's highly unlikely that this is the case here.

The iPad has been kept under extreme secret until now. The production just started ramping up now to avoid any kind of leaks, which is the cause of the 60 and 90 day availability timeframe. For that reason alone, I doubt that anyone will have access to any repair part at this time, much less to ship them to a random repair site in Kansas only a few days after the JesusTablet was revealed.

That is, unless some Foxconn employee risked his life to smuggle a whole 11-inch frame out of the factory. Up his butt.

We will see what happens when the usual suspects get the iPad for dissection. [Mission Repair]

Select Walmarts and Best Buys housed E-Play kiosks to accept used games. E-Play folded, and neither retailer found continuing the experiment worth the hassle. Just save your old media while it lasts, kids. Two words: collector's items. [IndustryGamers via Kotaku]

As someone who's using v5.0.0.321, I'm very interested in hearing that BGR's sources have tipped them off to the possibility that not only has RIM started work on OS 6.0, but OS 5.2 should be released this year. [BGR]

As someone who has an original AT-AT taking pride of place in her lounge, Lifegood Design's AT-AT lamp has just been offered adoption by yours truly. [Lifegood via Design-Milk via Katiesol]