Random Stuff I Find Interesting

Time running out for the wristwatch

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

I haven't used a wristwatch in years. Why? Because I already carry a timepiece - my cell phone. This is becoming more common with young people and may impact the watch making industry.

That said, I did just purchased a watch. But only because it's Solar powered, Atomic (receives time calibration radio signals which keep the displayed time always accurate) and submergable to 100 feet! Now just waiting for an iPod that can do the same...

The Ultimate iPod Accessory

From Ferrariworld.com
The new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, complete with iPod integration.

How We Will Eventually Interact With Computer Screens

From Jeff Han's Multi-touch Interaction Research.

Check out this video

We Need Biodegradable Containers

From ecoproducts.com
Its not your mother's TupperWare—these containers break down in compost heaps in about 2 months.

Flasher (for your phone)

My old boss Dale has been working in the gadget workshop again. This is his new little baby. A stick-on LED for to assist your camera phone.

Personal Wind Turbine

From Gizmodo.com
Get off the grid for five hundy.

What's YOUR Accent?

From accent.gmu.edu

The speech accent archive lets you compare accents of English speaking all over the world.

Don't Call Me On My Mobile!

From donotcall.gov

Seems to be a bit of email going around about this so I thought I'd pass it on too. In a few weeks, ALL mobile numbers will be released to telemarketing companies. If you receive calls from them, you will be charged according to your mobile calling plan. To get your mobile number removed from telemarketers lists, visit the link or call (from the phone you want blocked) (888)382-1222. This will block your number for five years.

Swim Without Turning Your Head

From finisinc.com

This is a product that I use and love. It's a Snorkel for swimmers, recommended to me by my Chiropractor because I have a neck injury. I started with their regular Swimmer's Snorkel and then moved up to the freestyle version.

Now I'm debating if I need one of THESE!

Protect Your Network With Paint?

From forcefieldwireless.com

Seems like it would be easier to just turn on a firewall. But an interesting product. "When mixed into paint the painted surface dries to a tightly packed RadioTrap layer. The hard fibered film will reflect and refract radio waves, preventing wave transmissions by as much as 90%." Seems like it also wouldn't be that great for your FM radio...

Take Your Vitamin D

From redorbit.com

This report says that the lack of vitamin D has been linked to heart disease, lung disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis as well as breast and colon cancer. If you don't get enough sun, at least take a supplement.

Who's On The Internet In America?

From pewtrusts.org

A breakdown of stats. Also links to the full report titled How Women and Men Use the Internet: Women are catching up to men in most measures of online life. Men like the internet for the experiences it offers, while women like it for the human connections it promotes.

The Y2038 Bug!

From dawn.com

I would hope that 32-bit systems would be obsolete in 32 years. Otherwise it's going to be a problem on Jan 19th 2038, at 03:14:07.

What's Missing?

From worth1000.com

Check out these photoshop contests where various items have been removed. Click on View Related Galleries for more. Some pretty good photochopping skills.

Retouching Magazine Covers

From i-am-bored.com

We all know that magazine covers are retouched - but to what extent? Check out this demo that illustrates some of the techniques used (click on the cover to get the flash popup - wait until it loads).

"Free" Cingular 411

From snopes.com

If you are willing to listen to 12 seconds of advertising, you can save $1.29 by calling 1-800-FREE411 from your Cingular phone. Time vs. money.

How Well Do You Google?

From google.com

Google is so powerful, yet most people don't know how to use it beyond typing in a few words. Here is a handy cheat sheet of how to get the the most of your searches. Beyond those, here is a list of advanced operators. Like did you know that you could use "link:www.site.com" to find all the other sites linking to that domain? And here is a list of all the search features. But before you start googling away, (as mentioned in a previous post) you should read this.

What Are We Searching For ('05)?

From google.com

Google releases some interesting summaries of the billions of searches conducted in 2005. The top news search of the year? Janet Jackson!

Which Side of the Road Do You Drive?

From users.pandora.be

An interesting historical account of why some countries drive on the left and some on the right. We right drivers outnumber the left drivers 2:1. Though I'm a bit surprised it's that close of a ratio.

The site has some other interesting World Standards too.

Urine Business

From asap.ap.org

I'm all about technology that improves people's lives. "At any given moment, about half the world's poor are suffering from waterborn diseases, of which over 6,000 - mainly children - die each day by consuming unsafe drinking water."

DEKA Research (run by Dean Kamen of Segway fame) has created a portable low-energy water distiller prototype.

It can even distill urine into pure water.

Another, even more portable and affordable solution to providing clean water to the third world is the Life Straw.

And finally, the watercone is an amazingly inexpensive invention to extract potable water from seawater (though it's not commercially available yet.

What Celeb Do YOU Look Like?

From myheritage.com

Upload your (or someone else's) photo and it will use pattern recognition to match it against a Celebrity database.

Why 6 Wheels Are Better

Also from gizmag.com

Now THAT is thinking outside the box!

The Ultimate Jeep!

From gizmag.com

With TWO 5.7L V8 engines and a turning radius of ZERO??

Tech Company Name Origns

From thekaran.com

Wonder where the names Apple, Adobe, Oracle, Sun, Google and others came from?

One Person's Junk is Another Person's Treasure

From freecycle.org

Sure we have Craigslist.org here in San Francisco, but this is another alternative. The mission of the Freecycle Network includes keeping good stuff out of landfills while helping to foster a local gifting community.

Instructions On How To Do (Just About) Anything

From ehow.com

This is a pretty amazing resource. Everything from how to adjust to new time zones to stop your puppy from biting.

The Robots Are (finally) Coming

From honda.com

Honda unveils a new ASIMO (Advanced Step In MObility) - the original humanoid robot who could walk dynamically. This one can now run and carry trays of objects.

Change the Default Screensave Format in OS X

From imoviepulgins.com

If you're always converting your screen captures from .PNG to .JPG (or other format) like I do, this tool is for you. BTW, the quick-keys for screen capture are Cmd-Shift-3 (screenshot of whole screen), and Cmd-Shift-4 (screenshot of dragable region). To take a grab of a window, the menu bar, the Dock or other areas, press the Space Bar after Cmd-Shift-4 and then click on highlighted area. You can also put the grab on the clipboard instead of saving it to your desktop by holding down the Control key with the other key sequences. If you need GIF, or to change the default location from the Desktop, check out this Screen Shot Settings freebie. Here is a complete list of Mac keyboard shortcuts.

The First 100 Domains Registered

From (believe it or not) thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com

How to Cancel Your AOL

You have to call them. And even then, it's not easy.

Check out this guy's account. AOL = BAD.

Just Abuout Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The iPod

From answers.com.

How Old Will YOU Be in 2036 When The Asteroid Hits?

From guardian.co.uk

OK, so it's only a 1 in 5,500 chance that Apohis will actually hit the earth, but it is possible. Just wanted to warn you.

Ultimate Baby Name Picker

from babynamewizard.com

Enter your name to see (dynamically) when it was most popular.

Merriam-Webster's Open Dictionary

From www.3.merriam-webster.com

Even M-W is getting into public collaboration. Top of the most recent entries when I was just looking was: Cludge- A term used by programmers for poorly written computer code.

Go ahead. Submit a word.

Mac Tip: Add Date to Menu Bar

From creativebits.org (thanks Paul).

Shows how to add date and more. One caveat is to be aware that changing the International settings for Time format could affect other apps as well.

Wardriving Not Legal According to FBI

From politechbot.com

Depends on how you define "theft of services".

What Does YOUR Phone Number Spell?

From phonespelling.com

Enter your phone number and see what words and phrases it spells.

How the Apple "Command" Key Came To Be

From folklore.org

See more Original Macintosh folklore

Virtual Flying Through Clouds

From erdfgcvb.ch (?)

Kind of fun. Mouse left and right to turn. Click above center to go forward, and below to go back. Distance from center determines speed (don't get sick).

Deja vu (all over again)

From online.wsj.com (Wall Street Journal)

Ever experience it? Happens to me all the time :-)

From the article: For reasons unknown, the incidence of déjà vu decreases with age, rises with education and income, and is more common among people who recall their dreams, who travel, and who hold liberal political and religious beliefs.

Proof of the Body Alarm Clock

From psychologytoday.com.

It's all about stress and hormones...

You Need Not be Paranoid to Fear RFID

From boston.com.

RFID stands for "Radio Frequency Identification" and soon it will be embedded in everything you buy so your purchasing patterns AND whereabouts, can be tracked. From the article: Because they need no batteries, RFID chips can be made small enough to attach invisibly to practically anything (and already are). One company is even working on a way to print RFID chips onto newspapers, using electrically conductive ink.

Don't think it's real? Gartner is predicting it will be a $3 Billion industry by 2010.

Worried yet?

Flexible Electronic Paper

From devLIB.org

This new LCD from E-INK has the potential of truely changing the way we read our information. Like reading a newspaper

How Darwin and Einstein Managed their "inboxes"

From msnbc.com

From the article "A new study finds that the correspondence of Albert Einstein, as well as that of Charles Darwin, followed patterns similar to modern e-mail communication. Einstein sent more than 14,500 letters. But he received more than 16,200, and responded to only a quarter of them. Darwin mailed more than 7,500 letters. He responded to 32 percent of the roughly 6,530 letters he received."

Personally, I respond to 100% of email that requires a response.

NewerTech recycling program for Apple laptop batteries

From newertech.com.

Send in your old Apple or third-party PowerBook or iBook batteries and receive a $19 rebate for each NewerTech replacement.

How to Make the Ultimate Paper Airplane

From timesonline.co.uk

Here's an image of it.

Cool Google Maps

From coolgooglemaps.blogspot.com.

Includes New York City Live Cam Map, US Hot Springs Map, Hot or Not Map, Weekly Earthquakes Map and more.

Eye Direction and Lying

From blifaloo.com.

Not a sure bet, but useful info to know. There are even inventions that can track it in real time claiming 95% accuracy.

The Ultimate Guide to Google Services

From tipmonkies.com

Lots of info on the various Google offerings.
This is why GOOG is trading at $426.53 (as of this writing) and MSFT is quaking in their boots.Especially because of these rumors. Also, especially for you conspiracy theorists, you should read these somewhat disturbing Google facts.

Just in time for the holidays.

Did you know that E-Bay stands for "Echo Bay"?

From news.softpedia.com

Good thing "EchoBay.com" was already taken. Doesn't quite have the same ring, does it?

Now the question is, will e-Bay get shut down?