Monthly Archives: October 2005

diy October 24, 2005 posted by

DIY Silent Mouse.

The DIY Silent Mouse. When you absolutely must have silence in your workspace, a silent mouse is…well a must. Isn’t it?  Having used my silenced rodent for nearly 1/2 year at home, I finally decided to get rid of the clicking noise at work too and here’s the how-to. I’m not going repeat reasons for silencing mice, if you want to do it, you probably know why. If you don’t know why, then just assume there are people who hate…

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Free Software October 24, 2005 posted by

Abiword.

Abiword. Free word processor program. Word compatibility, mail-merge, plug-ins, and wonder of wonders, a word counter. What’s not to like? Windows, Mac and Linux.  AbiWord is unique among word processors in its drive to become a fully cross-platform word processor. Our source code is carefully written so that AbiWord will run on virtually any operating system with a minimum of time spent on porting. This combined with our support for internationalization (the ability to run AbiWord in many languages) gives…

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opinion piece October 24, 2005 posted by

Why Microsoft should be a little worried…

Linux works. So the wife’s laptop hard disk blew on the weekend. Plop. Dead. Since she uses it for emails and a fair amount of surfing I needed to get her up and running again as quickly as possible. Dug out an old Live Puppy bootable Linux CD banged it into the CD Drive, powered up and a few minutes later, glory; a working, living, breathing, useful laptop computer. It would have been even quicker but for the fact that the…

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Bizarre October 24, 2005 posted by

Bullet-proof Monk.

The Armoured Monk Mobile. This bullet-proof monk carrier in Thailand is a poignant reminder of our brave new world, isn’t it? Not to mention the fact that many of them now have to wear bullet-proof vests – in matching orange of course. Tsk.

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Awesome October 22, 2005 posted by

The GMail quota clock!

Got GMail? Seen your new real time quota counter yet? (hint: it’s on the Welcome page) It sits there counting up as your message space disk allocation increases. Tick, tick, tick. I’m not clever enough to work out the speed…but wow anyway!

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leisure links October 22, 2005 posted by

Link-o-Matic – The H2 Solar Backpack and more…

The H2 Solar Communications iPod Backpack – The ultimate hiking tool?  Frapper – Create a cool Google Map for your group or community.  How does SMS work? – what, you think it’s pixie dust?  Web2FTP – online FTP access is back again.  WikiCities wiki communities – Geocities for the 21st century?  BoardTracker – neat bulletin board and forum search engine  BitTorrent client review – almost everything you need to know  Loudblog audio content manager – WordPress for podcasting?  BarterBee – swap any…

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Gadgets October 21, 2005 posted by

Cordless phone elegante.

The Amadana Cordless Phone. Now that’s what I call an elegant telephone piece. Complete with genuine leather for the handset, natural walnut for the base and four very designer ring tones. I guess this means you need people to call you though, right? $109.00 or thereabouts.  Genuine leather is used for the receiver. Feel the warmth of its texture when you touch it with your hand. This gentleness can only be created with natural material and the more you use…

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Awesome October 21, 2005 posted by

Ground Control to Major Tom…

NASA Space Shuttle EVA Space Suit. Aww, man. I wanna play with one of these really badly. Really really. Look it’s got them retro rocket handle thingies too. Huh? You’re kidding, it’s a replica? For $17,500.00? Will they accept a replica VISA?  Our Fantastic Space Shuttle EVA Space Suit is custom made per order. Available with or without MMU, EMU and more. Not Available for Online Purchase! Molded from a Space Shuttle EVA Space Suit this is authentic enough for…

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hmm..interesting October 21, 2005 posted by

Ballistic Wear.

The Bullet Proof Denim Jacket. You have to understand boys and girls, it’s not that we condone violence and sanction overt covertness, it’s just that…well it’s a bit strange to think that there are probably ordinary folk walking around wearing things like this right at this very instant. Actually at £581.63 a pop [argh – Ed] perhaps not.  This is a regular Levis Strauss type denim jacket with a level IIIA bullet-proof lining cleverly sewn into the inside. Perfect for…

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sleaze tech October 21, 2005 posted by

Cheater Pen.

The Cheater Pen. Um…so what exactly are we saying here about the state of our general desire for honesty? Not much I guess. $7.50.  Why study when you can cheat? Each 5″ plastic Cheater Pen features ink that is made of special high-brightness compounds that are invisible to the naked eye, but magically illuminate when exposed to ultraviolet light. A black light is conveniently located on the opposite end of the pen, allowing you to see anything that might happen…

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Recommended October 21, 2005 posted by

Voicemail papered.

Phonewire. Get your voicemail transcribed into text and instantly transmitted to your cell phone, pager or email. What no camel mail? Tsk. $29.95 a month gives you reverse technosis with a smile. We’ve mentioned this kind of service before, so there’s clearly a bunch of you folk out there with a need.  Phonetic (pho-NET-ic) converts your voicemail into text messages and sends each to your mobile phone or email. The message arrives as if the caller had text messaged you,…

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Bookmark This! October 21, 2005 posted by

Healthline.

Healthline. Oh no, the world’s first medically filtered health search engine? With alerts, result saves, health maps, tags and community? Uhh..I feel a touch of something coming on. A slight twitch in the throat. A tingle in the glands. Oh no…  What if you could have over one thousand doctors help you search for health information on the Internet? Or if you could discover resources and information about a disease or condition without typing in a keyword or knowing any…

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hmm..interesting October 21, 2005 posted by

Rent a robot.

Rent a Robot. Maybe one day we’ll all rent robots to guard our property – and ourselves? – but they’ll probably have to look a bit, well funkier, than this SECOM Robot X, eh? And cheaper than $2500 a month too. Unless they sweep the yard, clean the bathroom, walk the dog and mind the kids while we’re out bowling like properly irresponsible parents.  The robot’s key features are as follows: (1) It can travel at 10 km/h, a speed…

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Gadgets October 20, 2005 posted by

PSP Talkman.

The PSP Talkman translation program. $69.90 complete with plug in mono condenser microphone. Designed to teach English to Japanese Sony shareholders, who will then be able to shout obscenities at new company CEO Sir Howard….what? Oh sorry, wrong product.  A voice-activated translation software application designed originally to teach English to Japanese PSP owners. Outside of pure translations, Talkman lets players play games to test their fluency of a language.

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Gadgets October 20, 2005 posted by

That’s the spirit.

The Aqua Spirit Ultrasonic Perfume Atomizer. Aroma-therapy, aqua-therapy, smello-therapy, and ‘romantic nightlight’. All rolled into one duber-delicious dingly didee. $49.95.  To enjoy a pure aromatic experience, fill the lotion cup with water and a few drops of your favorite essential oil (emulsified fresh fruits and vegetables may also be used). Since the atomizer uses vibration rather than heat to activate the scent, the molecular structure of the oil is not changed and no harmful carbon dioxide is released into the…

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