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Tuesday
5/23/2006 2:16:57 PM
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Michael Wells
I've been shopping for a good punching bag for awhile, and came across a nicely-sized one for my office. Hey, systems architecture is a high-stress career...
Rebel Sport is a local sporting goods chain that carries a nice range of product. But most importantly, they deliver. That's right! And the delivery charge is five dollars. $5. Yes, I said FIVE dollars. A cup of coffee costs more.
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Saturday
12/24/2005 9:37:03 AM
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Michael Wells
I love my iPod Nano. It's sleek. It's black. It's sexy. And it has 350 songs, which means I'll pass out from exhaustion at the gym long before I run out of tunes.
My only inconvenience is that none of the store-available options for strapping the thing to my bod seemed to fit the bill. First, I bought an arm band, so that while jogging, it wouldn't bounce around much. That didn't go well... the arm band was way too small, and even if I sewed on some extension material and more velcro, it woudn't work so well in the gym when I want to do bicep or tricep exercises.
Next shot was just a neck strap. Sure, useless for running, because the iPod would just keep smacking me in the forehead. But maybe it would work ok in the gym. Fortunately, this time the strap was big enough, but the tangle of cords in front and the tendancy of the iPod to swing around... just not the right solution.
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Friday
12/9/2005 8:58:10 PM
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Michael Wells
I've seen Google desktop search, and while my life revolves around Google search technology, I just wasn't fond of the presentation of the search results.
Copernic does a cleaner job, in my opinion. Very smooth.
Here's a tip; if you want to create keywords that Copernic can execute, create a directory of uniquely-named shortcuts. Name them crazy, unique things, that Copernic won't find elsewhere on your computer, like "xyzzy", or "plugh", or "c3po", it really doesn't matter as long as the name is unique and you can remember it.
Make sure under settings that Coperic is configured to index the file type *.lnk, and *.url. These are the two types of shortcuts that Windows has. *.url files point to Internet resources, and Copernic should install with this configured already. *.lnk points to local files and applications, and you can setup these shortcuts with special command-line parameters (very useful for us geeks).
To add *.lnk files, go to Copernic's Options screen, and click on the Advanced tab. You want to "Add" the file type *.lnk as "File Name Only". That means Copernic will index the name, but ignore the contents of the file (which aren't all that indexable, I'd imagine).
Now, anytime you type "xyzzy" (or your keywords), those shortcuts will pop up right at the top of the results list, and you can run your special program with just a double-click.
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Tuesday
7/5/2005 3:40:28 PM
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Michael Wells
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Friday
6/10/2005 9:03:40 AM
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Michael Wells
A machine that actually can taste! Unlike the "digital throat" designs that are designed to mimic the human gustatory process and determine whether something "tastes good", this gizmo is designed to identify what you're about to eat. And get this -- it uses pulses of infrared to do that. Meaning, no touch, no muss, no fuss.
But what's with the little robot shape? I vote they scrap it, and create a snap-on for my PDA, or embed the scanner in my cellphone, and toss in some diet and calorie-tracking software. That would have a market. Who can remember what they ate today? Imagine if at dinner you just whip out your cellphone and it says "hey, cut back on the protein and add some veggies."
Of course, this is unlikely to work well. Since the device is purely visual, it probably won't handle that borsch well. And it's certainly not going to understand I'm about to eat a cheeseburger if I just blip the bun. But the idea is still cool, and maybe those can be resolved through a good application UI.
Also, these guys should be considering a grocery check-out version for produce; just blip the onions and garlic the same way you'd swipe a barcode.
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Thursday
6/9/2005 9:06:24 PM
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Michael Wells
A cool new item called the Tasting Table (also here), which has absolute nothing to do with food. It is, in fact, a table that allows you to place a CD jewel case on it, which it then identifies and offers a playlist of. Specific song titles can be selected and played without ever opening the CD case.
I'm assuming a few things here... 1) that the table works by reading the UPC barcode on the bottom of the jewel case, and 2) that the music is played from a central media server containing, perhaps, MP3s.
A neat idea, but the question has to be asked... what's the point of the table?
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Wednesday
2/16/2005 8:43:48 AM
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Michael Wells
I haven done any electronics in ages, and my soldering iron is probably rusty by now. But with this way-too-cool soldering iron on the market, I don't think I'll be picking up that old one ever again.
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Monday
3/29/2004 10:31:50 AM
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Michael Wells
If you surf the net these days, it seems that you are never safe. Click the wrong link and all of a sudden you have new items in your start menu, and icons on your desktop, and some extra junk in your favorites list. Worse yet, your homepage may be redirected, and your HOSTS file wiped out and rewritten.
This is a new category of virus often know as ad-ware, or tracking software, which seeks to infiltrate every part of your online life. They watch where you go, which sites you visit, redirect you to sites they want you to see, and generally make a mess of things.
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Sunday
11/2/2003 10:32:07 AM
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Michael Wells
An excellent "virtual nature program" detailing the rise and fall of dinosaurs. The product comes on two video DVD's, consisting of roughly 10 episodes.
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Wednesday
8/27/2003 11:08:16 AM
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Michael Wells
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Tuesday
8/26/2003 3:52:09 PM
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Michael Wells
A must for efficiency junkies like me, Hello Direct is a catalog reseller of phone equipment. Good pricing, great selection, incredible service, and the free catalog is just fun to read.
My customer testimonial is that I once received a slightly damaged headset with my Polycom SoundPoint Pro. A simple call later, and they overnighted a replacement for free, and told me to keep the original. On top of that, the catalog price for the SoundPoint pro had been incorrect, and they let me have the misprinted price despite how much lower it was. That's service.
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Monday
8/25/2003 2:42:14 PM
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Michael Wells
Play your music, videos, and photos on your TV and stereo, without having to run cables from your home PC where you store and manage the content.
Many devices are now hitting the market with this kind of capabilitiy. Two examples...
A $230.00 Orbitron DVD player that hooks to your TV and stereo, but is also hooked into your home network (wired or wireless). Through a small streaming media server product installed on your desktop, the DVD player can catalog and play back content from your PC.
Linsys' new Wireless-B Media Adapter, which has the same capabilities but no integrated DVD player. Designed to operate as wireless only.
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Sunday
8/3/2003 3:03:44 AM
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Michael Wells
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Sunday
8/3/2003 2:43:28 AM
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Michael Wells
Great spices can bring a good meal to a whole different level, but the junk you find at your local grocery isn't likely to make the cut. If you want to teach your tastebuds a lesson, try out some of the incredible spices at SpiceHunter.
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Tuesday
7/29/2003 8:55:55 PM
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Michael Wells
Ever wanted to see the world? For hardcore travelers and information junkies, Keyhole has the answer--your own virtual satellite system. Starting from a "from-space" view, you can zoom in to amazingly detailed aerial photos anywhere on Earth. Check out Tokyo, London, France, New York. The product even lets you type in an address and immediately locate a building.
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Saturday
7/26/2003 9:36:39 AM
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Michael Wells
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Friday
7/4/2003 10:45:10 PM
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Michael Wells
Digital photography is about to change (for the better). The current set of camaras uses a capture technique known as "mosaic capture", which can only detect one color (red, green, or blue) per pixel. This data is then re-blended to mix the adjacent pixels and create a smoother-looking image... but the fact remains that at least 2/3 of the information was lost from the start.
The Foveon X3 chip is able to detect the full color-spectrum in each pixel, essentially capturing three times as much information (and with far less processing effort) than a typical digital camera...
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Wednesday
6/11/2003 2:16:48 AM
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Michael Wells
Who needs actors? 3-D models have always been fun, but now you can populate your virtual worlds with realistic-looking humans. Poser is a package that allows you to modify, reposition, and render humanoid shapes into your 3-D scenes, and the quality is quite surprising...
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Thursday
6/5/2003 11:31:25 AM
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Michael Wells
Who doesn't like a good meal? But if you like popular restaurants, and are tired of trying to arrange "dinner for 6" in short order, you need OpenTable.com.
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Wednesday
5/28/2003 3:03:58 AM
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Michael Wells
If you like movies, NetFlix is an online-only DVD rental service that you need to try. For a low subscription fee of $20/mo ("Standard" service), NetFlix allows you to check 3 DVD's out at a time, and return them when you're ready--no late fees, ever.
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Tuesday
5/27/2003 5:40:11 PM
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Michael Wells
Working in the Loop, I am fortunate enough to be near one of the weekly Chicago farmer's markets. Each Tuesday (at the Dearborn and Adams location), I regularly visit my favorite vendor, Scott Graham, proprietor of "I Got Cheese!", which is my direct pipeline to a vast array of fine Wisconsin delicacies.
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Saturday
5/24/2003 1:26:38 AM
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Michael Wells
I love my TiVo. Few people understand how significantly different watching a TiVo is from watching TV... so from a user's point of view, I'll do my best to draw you a picture...
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Friday
5/23/2003 10:50:04 AM
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Michael Wells
 I'm a big fan of the hot and the spicy. The better it burns, the more I smile.
Although mainstream sauces (Tabasco & Pace) in Chicago are generally inadequate, Tabasco has recently served up a very tasty addition to its collection... Chipotle Pepper Sauce.
If you like hot, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try. What it lacks in smouldering, lingering agony, it more than makes up for in zesty robustness. It would also appear that Tabasco anticipated a higher consumption-level for this new line... the bottle is much larger than the their trademark micro-bottle.
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