2006 July

You’d think that road side emergency signs are supposed to be used for emergencies. Especially when they’ve been purchased with funds from Homeland Security. Administrators in an Indiana county apparently thought otherwise. These good folks used $300,000 worth of emergency signs to hawk a spaghetti dinner, a fish fry, and a carnival. What, no pork [...]

So how much was your electric bill last month? Have you ever wondered how much electricity your computer(s), appliances, and other electronic gadgets consume? A simple watt hour meter will provide the answers. Plug a watt hour meter into the outlet, then plug the device’s power cord into the meter. Bingo! You’re on your way [...]

My inbox has been relatively quiet the last few weeks. Now I haven’t written anything remotely controversial in a while, but that’s probably not it. I have a hunch that half the gnomisphere is off somewhere on summer vacation - even if only one, check that, just one gnomie cared to share the location of [...]

The Kaiser Family Foundation released a report on advergaming this week, entitled It’s Child’s Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children. The media, notably (The SF Gate and CNN) immediately pounced on the hardly shocking issue … big companies use fun stuff (aka: online advergames) to push cereals and other sugary products [...]

I’m a big fan of productivity-enhancing technology … especially when it has the potential to make life more enjoyable. Lately, I’ve been lusting after an affordable set of noise canceling headphones. My road-warrior friends depend on noise canceling headphones to make air travel tolerable. But I’m not on the road that often. Rather, it’s my [...]

Have you thought about making the switch to a VOIP (Voice Over IP) telephone provider? What’s holding you back? Now I know it’s not a decision you’ll want to make on the spur of the moment. I made my switch to VoIP two years ago after a great deal of research. I was tired of [...]

What’s more relaxing than kicking back in the backyard with your wireless-enabled laptop? Okay, so maybe there are plenty of things that are more relaxing, but how do you get any work done when sun-glare makes it impossible to see the screen? Why with a retractable awning, of course! Flick the switch and the retractable [...]

Web audio … is it a good thing? In many cases, absolutely yes. In many other cases, absolutely not. If you have something to say, web audio can be a very compelling medium. But if you use web audio technology to say what you’re going to say without asking folks if they want to hear [...]

Backyard putting greens are all the rage. Is there a golfer that doesn’t need to work on their short game? With synthetic putting green technology, the expense (and potential nightmare) of maintenance is a thing of the past. Duffer or aspiring pro, all it takes is enough disposable income (not to mention square footage) and [...]

Owning an ATM machine seems like a nifty business… if you have the financial wherewithal and stomach for risk. Risk? What Risk? Well you need to be able to deal with those citizens who think it’s acceptable to haul off your ATM machines, never mind the GPS tracking device that’s installed within. Remember that backhoe-liberated [...]

Used correctly, voice broadcasting is a powerful life-saving technology. Automated telephone alert systems allow authorities to contact thousands, or even tens of thousands in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, voice broadcasting can be an annoyance to folks who receive erroneous calls. When’s the last time you ticked off 20,000 folks with the push of a button? [...]

All is well in the continuing saga of my recently expired domains. I successfully snatched my treasured domain names from the jaws of death with Enom’s “Club Drop” service. A mere thirty bucks saved each domain. I’ll chalk it up to experience. I may have gained a few gray hairs, but thankfully I didn’t lose [...]