Posts by Category: hmm..interesting

Mmm…wonder if it works?

hardware September 17, 2007 posted by

F.R.E.D. – the ultimate forensic computer for nabbing bad people

Meet F.R.E.D. Otherwise known as the Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device. Or his chum F.R.E.D.D.I.E. (Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device Diminutive Interrogation Equipment). Apart from some excruciating acronym crunching model name contortions (or EACMNC), this is probably the gear you’ll want to use when you set up that crime scene forensic computing service out of your back bedroom. Wheel your FREDDIE into the scene of the perp (or something), remove the drive from the nearest computer and suck out all the…


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hmm..interesting September 7, 2007 posted by

Sealand returns from the dead – record industry screams in terror

The folk at Sealand have apparently just received a ‘multi-million dollar investment opportunity’ to fund the launch of a new communications satellite. Nothing new there, you think. Well the backers are Moscow based. Yeah, now you’re listening right? So let’s see, the Russians are stepping up the war of words with the US and Europe, AllofMP3.com is coming back online and suddenly a Moscow based ‘venture group’ wants to launch a satellite ‘to enable content to be delivered to the internet…


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hmm..interesting September 5, 2007 posted by

Keyword popups suck – Ryan speaks

Ryan Block from Engadget has a small rant about keyword popup advertising, which he says pollutes the content and confuses readers. Couldn’t agree more. And while we’re at it Ryan, what’s with the current trend of multiple links to internal content in the main body of a post? That to my mind is just as confusing and annoying. But, hey what do I know?  Treat your readers with a modicum of respect. These kinds ads are absolutely abhorrent, and just because…


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Bookmark This! September 5, 2007 posted by

Rearchitecting the Music Business – how to stop piracy by getting rid of the record companies

A First Monday paper which proposes a new music business model which will remove record companies as we know them today. We pay less, the artist gets more. Sounds like a plan.  Revenue flows through the proposed framework would remain fairly simple and transparent, characterized in the first instance by artists (or their managers and agents) enjoying near–direct payments from consumers. Artists themselves or their agents would themselves take responsibility for the expenses of production as outlined above, and for…


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Bookmark This! September 4, 2007 posted by

Net Neutrality – Tim Berners-Lee says it’s serious folks…..

The father of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee recently entered the net neutrality debate and made his position absolutely crystal clear – net neutrality is essential and it must be enshrined in legislation to prevent any abuse by commercial or political interests. Read the post, watch the video and be prepared to fight for your Internet’s future if it comes to the crunch.  When I invented the Web, I didn’t have to ask anyone’s permission. Now, hundreds of millions…


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cool tech September 4, 2007 posted by

Photosynth – 3D fun and frolics with photographs

Proof that interesting stuff still trickles out of Microsoft labs now and then, Photosynth is a technology which takes a mass collection of images and creates a 3D environment which can be navigated and examined in detail. It’s rather too innovative to explain in words, so you’ll just have to explore the thing yourself. It’s fun.  Photosynth is an amazing new technology from Microsoft Live Labs that will change forever the way you think about digital photos…Our software takes a large collection…


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Bookmark This! September 4, 2007 posted by

The Bates Method – restore your eyesight naturally without surgery, drugs or glasses?

In the early 1900s ophthalmologist William Bates developed a system – the Bates Method – for restoring poor eyesight without external aids. His treatment is based around the idea that tension and strain make poor vision worse, and so he spent his time teaching his patients – often for free – how to relax mentally and physically and thereby see better. The full course and his book are available online for free. It is, of course, all rather controversial. Fascinating stuff.  Conditions…


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hmm..interesting August 30, 2007 posted by

Fuzzmail – send what you write, warts and all

Fuzzmail is a free online email service which records your typing as you create your message and sends the whole animated shebang as your email. That’s right all the editng, mistakes, changes of mind and general junk that happens when you type gets delivered to the recipient as an animated message. It’s one of those ideas that’s so out there it’s ridiculous, but you’ve got to love the thought of delivering love notes with all the ‘second thoughts’ word changes, doncha?…


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Gadgets August 7, 2007 posted by

Sony DVP-CX995V Disc Changer – more discs, less demand?

Sony DVP-CX995V Disc Changer. The first time we looked at one of these Sony disc changers was in 2002, when it held 301 discs and cost $500.00. It now holds 400 titles and costs $399.95. What do you think? Is this a technology going nowhere, what with the rise and rise of file based multimedia? Answers on an iPod box to…  De-clutter you life and manage your entire DVD and CD collection in one place with the DVP-CX995V mega-changer. This 400-disc DVD/CD/Super-Audio CD…


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Bookmark This! July 26, 2007 posted by

Change Advertising Forever – user generated advertising blight

Change Advertising Forever is another example of a growing number of user generated advertising services which are springing up like mushrooms (‘Folks, get your Marsha Farms mushrooms for 10% off’ at Trader Joes). These services, like Zooppa which we’ve mentioned before, and RealityAdz look set to capitalise on cheaper video equipment (‘Special offer on Panasonic AG-HVX200 prosumer HD camcorder, for this week only, see inside for details’) and the burgeoning ego of 20 somethings who think they can Do It Better!…


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hmm..interesting July 25, 2007 posted by

Only2Clicks – new startpage service with site snapshots

Only2Clicks is a new startpage service that is being promoted as a ‘simple’ ‘speed dial’ version of Netvibes. The idea is that you can use it to set up and store your most popular website destinations, along with screencaps and categories etc. You set it as your browser homepage and voila, an instant, easy to navigate startpage. I like the idea of appealing to the less sophisticated web crowd, and the visual benefit of a homepage full of screengrabs is obvious,…


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hmm..interesting July 19, 2007 posted by

Free laptops with Orange Broadband – get ’em while they’re hot

Want a free notebook computer? Just sign up to the Orange Broadband service for 24 months at £14.99 a month from PC World, and they’ll give you a free Advent laptop worth £300.00. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, doesn’t it? Of course 24 months is a long time to be stuck with an ISP, especially if things go wrong. But just think of it as paying for the laptop to get free broadband and it might feel better. Next week, free web servers with…


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hmm..interesting July 19, 2007 posted by

Climate Change Tracker – depress yourself with a fun interactive chart

The good folk at the Co-Operative Bank in the UK have come up with a free interactive Climate Change Tracker which you can use to see just how underwater, boiled, polluted or simply stuffed things will be over the next few decades. To be honest it’s not that impressive – the stats are too rough and limited, so there’s no real oooh factor – but the idea is sound. Now if only we could figure out how to save the…


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Bookmark This! July 17, 2007 posted by

United Nuclear – the Aladdin’s Cave for science nerds…

What is it that makes the United Nuclear chemicals and rare metals shop so fascinating? Is it the fact that you can buy Uranium, Caffeine or oddball materials like Wood’s Metal which melts in hot water? Or is it that in these terror filled times, it’s fun to play around with radioactive products without risk of getting shipped to a small camp in Cuba? Actually the whole main site is just mind blowing too (man I want me some of that Phosphorescent Powder…


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Bookmark This! July 6, 2007 posted by

Symbaloo – the button based search and start page

Symbaloo is one heck of a weird search and start page service from the Netherlands. It’s not that it doesn’t work, because it does – kinda. It’s just that the interface is so simple you can’t really believe it. I don’t think I’ll be swapping my Netvibes page for this anytime soon, but it’s definitely a fascinating attempt to tackle interface simplicity for the web.  Symbaloo is an easy way to start your daily internet session. Traveling information, phone numbers,…


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