Posts by Category: hmm..interesting

Mmm…wonder if it works?

but is it art? March 7, 2008 posted by

1000 True Fans – how to make money in the new media landscape

1000 True Fans. This piece has been circulating around the Net recently and it seems to make a fair bit of sense. The basic premise is that instead of shooting for blockbuster, megastar status, artists should aim to cultivate a small but loyal fan base willing to spend a small sum to support the artist’s work. On the face of it, this is very logical. Nowadays the revolution in communications has made it almost trivial to reach audiences across the globe for…


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hmm..interesting March 7, 2008 posted by

The parlous state of mainstream journalism – or has big business finally killed off real news?

The next time someone sneers at blogs as being sub-standard in some way to ‘real journalism’, try quoting them this passage from the Media Lens review of Guardian journalist Nick Davies’ interesting (I could use the word disturbing, but I won’t) new book Flat Earth News. Blogging is far from perfect, especially when it tries too hard to ape the mainstream media, but at least it holds out some distant hope for a new approach to the news and information process. Ah well…churnalists indeed!…


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Gadgets March 5, 2008 posted by

Mi-Vox – pre-loaded pocket friendly audio books

The Mi-Vox Audio Player comes pre-loaded with audio books of your choice, runs off a single AAA battery and can hold up to 60 hours of material. What’s more it has auto-bookmarking built in so it remembers where you last left off in your listening. There aren’t a whole lot of titles available right now because the product was only just launched in August, and the prices are pretty steep from around £9,99, but it’s an interesting idea nevertheless. Is…


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Bookmark This! March 3, 2008 posted by

Visual Thesaurus – interactive graphical dictionary and thesaurus for wordsmiths

The Visual Thesaurus comes in two flavours, online and standalone program, and lets you track the connection and meaning of words via an artfully designed graphical Java Applet interface. As per other visual products, this one relies heavily on the simple node point/line metaphor and while it initially looks attractive, I’m not really sure whether it adds value or speed to the word hunting task. And is it worth $2.95 a month subscription when you can use Thesaurus.com or the pure Roget’s…


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hmm..interesting March 3, 2008 posted by

Earthquake Experience Truck – get earthquaked without risking death

Trust the Japanese to come up with something as clever and useful as an Earthquake Experience Truck. Our Japanese is not what it was, but from the looks of this video clip, they’re trying to teach folks what to do in the event of a bone cruncher in their area. Actually it doesn’t look very nice at all…  Tags: earthquake+experience+truck, japan


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Bookmark This! February 27, 2008 posted by

Moon Estates – ‘home of the world’s most original gifts…’

Moon Estates. Eclectic online gift shop where you can do things like sponsor a random act of kindness (i.e. they’ll leave up to £20 in cash in random public spots for random people to find, along with a note) or adopt a reindeer or even name your own box of chocolates. Worth remembering if you’ve got a birth buddy you need to impress.   MoonEstates is a company dedicated to making the planet’s most original products available to the public. The opportunities to…


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hmm..interesting February 26, 2008 posted by

ManagedQ – visual search engine offers so much eye-candy my pupils hurt

ManagedQ. David Stat has sent me details of his team’s new search startup called ManagedQ, which aims to combine a ‘highly visual interface’ with ‘natural language processing’ to improve search. In simple terms it’s trying to provide search at the completely other extreme from the sparse Google interface. Search engines are a difficult thing to deliver, mostly because we have grown accustomed to the market leader, and therefore judge everything against Google. Newcomers therefore have a mountain to climb before…


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cool tech February 25, 2008 posted by

Electric Bus – start your own transport service with a power strip and fuse

The EV-BRT12-2 Electric Bus holds 36 bodies, travels at 45 km/hour and has a range of 85km fully loaded. OK, so it may get a tad windy, but what’s a small breeze matter when it comes to saving the planet? And…oh joy of joys…it comes with a CD player. And speaker. There now, you’re convinced aren’t you? No idea on price, but give them a call anyway and make some enquiries. Tags: electric+bus, ecological, ev


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Gadgets February 19, 2008 posted by

Webasto Thermo Top E Parking Heater – warm up your parked car via cell phone and stay cosy

Webasto Thermo Top E Parking Heater. It’s one of those ideas which seems obvious enough, but rarer than rocking horse droppings. A car heater which runs off a tiny amount of fuel and which heats up the car before you get in it. No it doesn’t start up the engine like the BMW pre-heat system, it’s actually a fully self-contained unit which can be switched on remotely via voice, SMS or timer. We’re talking 4.2 kW and max 60 minute heat…


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hmm..interesting February 15, 2008 posted by

20 Worst Foods in America – yum? um…

20 Worst Foods in America. Ouch!  Our primary criterion? Sheer caloric impact. After all, it’s the top cause of weight gain and the health problems that accompany it. (As you read, keep in mind that 2,500 calories a day is a reasonable intake for the average guy.) We also factored in other key nutritional data, such as excessive carbohydrates and fat, added sugars, trans fats, and sodium. The result is our first annual list of the worst foods in America….


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cool tech February 6, 2008 posted by

Project Better Place – subscription based electric car ownership offers a new deal for the future?

Project Better Place is a new Israeli initiative which aims to augment conventional car ownership with a subscription based service which incorporates a subsidized purchase price with a complete recharging, battery replacement and servicing package across the country.  Despite the subsidized price people will still own their cars, it’s just that the running costs will be subscription based rather like the mobile phone sector. It’s a fascinating idea. The team has raised $200 million in venture backing and intends to start…


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but is it art? February 1, 2008 posted by

Go-One Human Powered Vehicle – now with electrical assist

Go-One. It’s a human powered tricycle or velomobile, available in yellow (possibly) and resplendent for the recumbent incumbent with headlights, turn signals and joystick steering. Also available now with a 500 watt BionX electric assist motor, which will propel you up to the slightly scary speed of 20 mph. Come back Sinclair C5, all is forgiven. Priced from a recumbent creating $10,739.98 without electric assist.  The go-one³ is more than an enclosed bicycle [actually tricycle], it’s a “Human Powered Vehicle”…


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hmm..interesting January 30, 2008 posted by

Copyright on Cease & Desist letter not quite so clear cut – headlines don’t tell the whole story

Just a quick note to mention that the furore around copyright attaching to cease & desist letters sent out to web sites is apparently not as cut and dried as the headlines would have us believe. Just thought you ought to know. More here.  The district court in this case decided that the validity of the copyright should be determined after the plaintiffs actually filed their lawsuit for copyright infringement. It did not, as the press release implies, make a…


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Cool Web Apps & Sites January 29, 2008 posted by

Free television shows – wanna shift your viewing from the couch to the Aeron?

See I’m beginning to understand what you want. And what you want is to watch your fave TV programs on the laptop when you’re away from the den/couch/living room or any other traditional viewing position. So here you go, a small rash of online television services for you to experiment with. TV Duck. Well what can you say? A bunch of links to popular and less well known television shows collated from around the net. Playback performance is predictably patchy, but you may be…


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