Posted March 5, 2009 
Comments(0) Flying somewhere? Can you use your cell phone while driving? Do you have to use a handset? Is it all just illegal. What happens when you crash you car. The Governor’s Highway Safety Association has a useful chart that oulines cell phone laws by state. The chart is available at:
http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html
Posted February 1, 2009 Comments(0) It is a situation we have all found ourselves in at one time or another: our phone rings and up pops an unknown phone number. Do we answer it and hope it is someone we know calling from an unknown number or do we let it go to voice mail and find out later? If you are tired of having to make this decision multiple times per day, there is an alternative. A reverse phone number trace is a low cost and effective way to figure out the name associated with an unrecognized phone number, including cell phone numbers, business numbers and landlines.
Even though this technology is still in its infancy, it is remarkably effective. Standing alone as the first ever comprehensive catalogue of cell phone numbers, a reverse phone number lookup has many common uses. Currently, users say that they perform reverse lookups to track down the identity of telemarketers so that they can have their numbers removed once and for all. This technology is also quite useful if you are being bothered by a prank caller or obscene caller, and, of course, this service provides the best call screening possible.
When you consider just how useful these new types of searches are, it is surprising to learn just how cost effective they really are. If you are attached to your cell phone throughout the day and you simply don’t have time to talk to anyone that is calling you about frivolous things, a series of reverse phone number lookups can act like your own professional answering service, weeding out unwanted and unnecessary calls from the ones you really need. Most people would pay hundreds of dollars per year for such a service, but reverse number searches cost significantly less.
The magic powering these searches is due in large part to private record information. Unlike a regular, old fashioned search engine that simply scans the information on the Internet, a reverse phone number search queries private databases dedicated to storing large amounts of cell phone data. When a user searches a 10-digit phone number through a reverse phone directory, the search function sifts through the database until it finds a match for the queried number. The phone owner’s first and last name is then compiled onto an organized PDF file and made available to the user.
The technology is fairly simple to use and can be purchased for $15-20 per search. For more long-term users, year-long memberships are often offered between $35-40.
Posted January 26, 2009 Comments(0) The GigaPan System is a completely integrated solution for creating multi-gigapixel images. With three components
the GigaPan System provides a complete, low-cost and powerful solution for creating incredibly high-resolution photos. Sample impages can be found at www.gigapan.org
Posted January 17, 2009 Comments(0) 
The XBox 360 is my favorite console because it allows me to:
Unfortunately Microsoft decided to charge $90 for it’s Wi-Fi Dongle. Ridiculous! Gizmodo has a article about some much cheaper options. Their choice is to get the original Xbox dongle and it works.
How To: Add Wi-Fi To Your Xbox 360 Smartly and Cheaply
Oh yeah, we have found that a wired connection works significantly faster and is more reliable but sometimes it is way too difficult to string wires through the room and walls.
Posted January 15, 2009 Comments(0) Cool Tools is Kevin Kelly’s blog on tools that really work–a tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material or website that is tried and true. The reviews on the website are written by users who have actually used the tool. It is one of my favorite websites to get to at least once a week.
Mr. Kelly helped co-found Wired magazine and remains the Senior Maverick.
Posted January 13, 2009 Comments(0) Google and the Prado Museum present the 14 El Prado masterpieces in a stunning 14-billion pixel resolution The images have a resolution between hundred and thousand times greater than a normal digital camera allowing you to appreciate the subtlest details of the master’s work. As you can see in the video below Madpixel doesn’t use a special camera, rather a machine-controlled camera and stitches the final results together.
Posted January 12, 2009 Comments(0) If you want high-resolution images of the Earth, Unearthed Outdoors has made available the 250m True Marble image set for a free download with a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. It’s a map of the Earth made up of 32 tiles, where each tile is a 21,000 pixel square, available in png and tif formats. There’s also a series of smaller files that may be more useful — in case you don’t need a map of the Earth that ends up being 84,000 pixels tall and 168,000 pixels across.
Posted January 12, 2009 Comments(0) 
Login passwords, email passwords, phone numbers are all cluttering up my memory. The last thing I need is a hard to remember combination (turn how many turns left?) when I go to open the shed or the gym lock. Wordlock is a combination lock that uses easy to remember words instead of numbers. Wordlock®, Inc. was founded by Todd and Rahn Basche. The product was conceived by Todd Basche because no one in his family could remember the many numerical combinations on padlocks around his house. Wordlock was one of the top 100 new inventions in the Invent Now America competition hosted by the Patent and Trademark Office and QVC.
Wordlock comes in various configurations:
Setting the combination is easy simply pick a 4 or 5 letter combination of letters that you can remember with the lock open and rotate a dial so that the word SET is on top and aligned with the combination you set. Voila your new combination is set.
Posted January 10, 2009 Comments(0) 
I love keychain tools—but frankly only most keychains it becomes a pain to add and remove tools or even carry them since they poke out at just the wrong angle to poke a hole in your pocket. CountyComm sells a cheap little keychain ring that is just perfect. CountyComm’s Cable Key Rings are made from stainless aviation cable with brass screws and barrels. They are lightweight, strong, secure easy to open and reclose and big enough to allow your keys and tools to lay flat.
Posted January 9, 2009 Comments(0) Dell said today it will sell one of its mini-notebook computers for $99 — after a $350 mail-in rebate and the purchase of a two-year wireless broadband contract with AT&T Corp. The offer on the Inspiron Mini 9 runs through the end of the month.
