Last post of 2005...

One more interesting thing to blog about in 2005...

We all remember Dec 26th 2004 as the day disaster struck in SE Asia. The massive tsunami waves that followed a big earthquake, and caused death and destruction on an incomprehensible scale... Many government organizations were caught completely off-guard, and there have been many attempts, hopefully successful, to make sure proper measures are in place to enable adequate and timely warnings in future, if heaven forbid, something similar were to occur again... One of the more interesting ones that I've come across is the 'Mobile Tsunami Detector'... Have a look !


Well, this concludes 2005. I wish you all the very best for 2006, and hope that it may be a year in which we see less war and discord amongst people, less famine, less poverty and less misery amongst all the creatures of this great planet of ours. Have a Happy New Year !

Macs & Cars

Many people have taken to using iPods in cars, and some car companies already offer nice integrated solutions to allow you to take your tunes on the road (goodbye CD-changer market!)... But what if you also want some video? Sure, you can stick the 5G iPod in your car, but why not see things a whole lot bigger?

Like the person who installed a PowerBook running Front Row into their A6?



Or the one that went one further and has a Mac mini in their Infiniti M45 Sport, and quite a sweet set-up that is... Wow !!!





Watch Front Row in action :

The First Thing...

Consider this a public service announcement :

What's the first thing you should do after you buy songs from the iTunes Music Store?

One More Thing...

't Is the season to be jolly, but also almost time for MacWorld Expo to unveil the latest well-kept Apple secrets onto an unsuspecting world... And as Steve is about to do another 'One More Thing...' speech, why not first listen to the Master himself...


Courtesy of Catholic Insider, I have managed to obtain God's keynote speech... Just go and listen !

When you have some time, do have a look around this site. And perhaps get a "Praystation Portable" for your loved ones...

Solar Vibes

Who ever said adult pleasures and an environmental mindset cannot mix ?

Terminator always said he'd be back...

Is this the beginning of our end ?

Silly gadgets...

Many of us, like myself, are pet-lovers. But what to do if you have multiple pets and you need to keep track of various things like vet appointments, feeding times etc ? Well, then, get yourself a PetMaster !!!

What do you do when you are sleeping one night, and someone breaks in to rob your place? Well, quick as lightning, you grab your "Safe Bedside Table" and knock some sense into the dude... Yes, really... Keep in mind that the table-top is not kevlar-reinforced, so if the intruder is actually armed with a gun, you'll be minus a certain paddle in that creek you find yourself in...


And what if you had about 17,5 grand lying around, going to waste? Well, then, you could get one of these MarioKart Arcade GP cabinets...

Then there is this classy Italian shower head that promises a cleaner, better experience... Without scalding yourself...

And for you Ultimate Frisbee enthusiasts, why should you let nature stop you from practicing your sport ? If it's dark outside, just use this...

This one is not so much silly, as an indication that too much technology can't always be good... Like in these 21st-century parking meters...

For the ultimate in geek-dom, though, only the LED Earlight will do. Though it looks like a Bluetooth-headset, it is much less fancy than that... It shines a light... That's all... But it's nerd value is stratospheric, guaranteed...

Have you ever wanted to smell a website? Well, now you can do that too... Just make damn sure to pick your sites carefully with this 'tool' or you might get some nasty-smelling surprises... I do wonder what Playboy.com would smell like, though...

RFID Worries ?

If you're worried (read : paranoid) about the increasing use of RFID and the intrusions on your privacy this may represent, you can now get this RFID-blocking wallet... As you will see, you could actually build your own easy enough...

What the spooks know...

In light of the recent political spat in the USA on whether or not President Bush was allowed to authorize wiretapping to take place secretly on US soil without a warrant, here's an interesting article on 'what the spooks know'...

And this is a very articulate op-ed piece about the 'lawbreaker in chief'...

Seedier Side (Sites) to the Internet...

Much like the 'real' world, there is a seedier side to the Internet. The proliferation of viruses, trojans, worms etc. is partly due to the ever increasing amount of devices hooked up to the internet worldwide, and the relative ease and lack of cost of perpetrating such nastiness. Same for the exponential rise in spam we all get on a daily basis (even if the US thinks it is winning this particular war also), or the phishing mails trying to trick us into giving out passwords to our eBay or PayPal accounts or our bank account details so that we may profit from a helper's fee on a large sum of money being extracted from Nigeria... The extraction will occur alright, but out of your own funds more likely...




One of the latest is a spam email that purports to make you believe your IP was logged by either the FBI or the CIA while surfing 'illegal' websites... As P.T. Barnum used to say : 'There's a sucker born every minute', and some people are more easily fooled than others... Even if it sometimes is for the greater good (one man in Germany recently turned himself in to the police for possession of child pornography after receiving a spam email claiming the police were onto him), in reality too many people suffer from these tricksters.




Chat rooms have been used for many nefarious purposes too, succeeding in bringing easily convinced youngsters in touch with people they would otherwise stay well clear from. The old adage that 'on the internet no one knows you're a dog' is very true. People have also been scammed out of large sums of money for buying what essentially turned out to be 'thin air'... Confidence scams are everywhere, be it in real life or online...




So, what happens if you want to do a search on Google, but accidentally misspell the name of the site... You could make some people rich, or open yourself (via your insufficiently protected PC) up to 'infection'... The culprits here : typo-squatters...

iPod = Chick Meeting Tool Supreme...

iPods have many uses, on top of being very cool "designer chic" portable music and video players... Some of those were documented already on this blog in past episodes... But what about the iPod as a dating tool? There are (of course) already websites which put the newest video iPod to good use as a new way for those (desperate) singles to meet. Then there is "pod jacking", i.e. exchanging iPod headphones with each other and listening to the other person's tunes... Bottom line : add chick meeting tool supreme to the iPod's repertoire also... What is the competition supposed to do but weep?



If you have a video iPod, and have some spare time besides checking out all the singles in your area, head on over to 4Flix.net and download some free movies for it...





Or if you want to use your iPod with wireless headphones, check out this item...

In any case, a Northwestern University professor and audiologist has determined that using your iPod earbuds intensively can cause fairly rapid and permanent hearing damage. So, go easy on those poor little ears and either lower the volume or use different earphones...

Looking for a stylish way to protect your iPod from scratches and natural wear and tear... Instead of getting Apple's funny-looking socks, get a much hipper-looking hoodie for it... Or if that is your thing, you can get a fluffpod instead...

The reasons why Apple is better...

This is a very interesting article on the reasons why Apple is better...

One down, several more to go...

In light of this article, do you think there is any possibility to also shut off the popcorn-munching patron, or those that feel they must comment on every single aspect of a movie while it is playing? I tell you, private home theaters can only increase exponentially...

Gadgets galore...

Some of the gadgets I came across this week while going through my trusty RSS feeds...

For all you hard-core gamers out there, this is the chair to get... Enhance that experience, and rock out...

Then there are those lazy folk who hate toweling themselves dry after taking a shower... This even might be a cure for frigid bathroom syndrome...

Do you remember going to concerts, and when the artist(s) played a slow song, waving your butane lighter above your head, and almost setting your fingers on fire? Well, in this day and age of cellphones, there is of course a better way...

Father Christmas not quite bring you the 70" HDTV widescreen television you were hoping for ? There is perhaps a cheaper solution...



Have a need to transport software on a USB drive? Why not do it the goofy way?

And after all the hoopla on Sony's copy protection scheme, here comes a Korean firm with CD-R's with built-in copy protection... Will we ever be free of this menace?

Strictly for the adults...

Two very interesting adult stories I came across (no pun intended) this week :

The implications on a relationship that come with the use of sexual toys : benefit or threat ?

And an in-depth look (again, no pun etc.) at the female orgasm... Too many misconceptions and frustrations abound...

Wurlitzer iPod Edition

For those of you who have the money it takes to get one of these : this is one cool Xmas present... This one holds 100 CD's plus the tunes on your iPod...

Looking for ideas for my Christmas present ?

What would I like for Christmas ?

How about one of these ?



Yum !!!

iPod fakes, progress, and great accessory...

iPods are extremely popular... So popular that it has become worthy of making fakes... Also have a look at this "iPod nano"...

It's also amazing to see the difference in size between the 1st generation iPod and the current 5G iPod Video.

And then there is the perfect adult accessory for your favorite music player : the iBuzz. Satisfaction totally guaranteed : rock out like never before !!!

Repo Man out of business...

Remember that cult 80's movie : Repo Man ? A dirty job but someone had to do it, right ? Well, not anymore... There are other ways of making sure people meet their monthly car payments...

Email and phone habits that you must lose...

This is almost 2006 : please get the word out on these?

And how about phone useage ? Hardass time management supreme...

Size is everything ?

An age-old saying... But in this context, when is a laptop still considered a "portable" computer ? I do realize that the average western person is steadily getting bigger, but is this a bit too much anyway ? Although, I do admit, generally it is said 'bigger is better'... Still, are we ready for them ?

Bodcast ?

Looking for fun things to watch on your 5G iPod Video ? Well, there's ever increasing content on the iTunes Store, but what about watching a 'bodcast' instead ?

Privacy? No longer...

Welcome to the brave new world of the 21st century. Everything is moving, slowly but surely, towards a fully digital environment. Music, film, information, any media you can think of... And thanks to search engines like Google, we can find most information we need rather easily and speedily, and best of all, for free. No more private eye detective work for specialists, but now available for the masses... 'Googling' someone is all the rage. And thanks to 'electronic' payments, and 'fidelity' cards, convenient and enticing though these are, they allow relatively easy compilation of databases of where you are or shop, and what you buy, how often, etc... But what are the implications of some of these changes on our daily lives? This article makes one think, and pause, I hope...