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I’m already building a Thunderdome May 20, 2008 |
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I really wish my car ran on disappointment. I was on my way to the Beverly Center in LA with the intention of spending my graduation cash as irresponsibly as the good people at Banana Republic would allow when I passed the above gas station. At this point, I’m starting to welcome a Mad Max-esque scenario where I can become the road warrior.
Source prolonged war + poor leadership + global warming
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AT&T Unlocks Blackjacks for Free! May 18, 2008 |
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They get a lot of shit, but AT&T isn’t so bad in my book! For one thing, I’m happy they agreed to Steve’s terms and let him have control over the iPhone - something Verizon wouldn’t do (Steve went to them first!). For another, they’re now unlocking phones for free, all you need to do is ask. I have a Samsung Blackjack that my iPhone replaced; I just unlocked it with a bit of help from AT&T and it was super-easy.
Continue reading AT&T Unlocks Blackjacks for Free!
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Did You Miss the Golden Compass the First Time? May 18, 2008 |
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The Golden Compass, a movie based on the first book of the His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman, is directly marketed to you LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia fans. While those two series have years to build their fan base, His Dark Materials Trilogy has only had a few years and competition from one Mr. Harry Potter. But, in the face of these hardships, consider this the little movie that couldn’t…do much wrong.
Continue reading Did You Miss the Golden Compass the First Time?
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Forget Ironman… go and get an IRONKEY May 15, 2008 |
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dotCURE has announced it will release a USB flash drive that features data encryption and a SELF-DESTRUCT feature!!! That’s right, self-destruct. Not sure why you need that on a flash drive… I mean, can’t you just put a flash drive under your foot and smash it? Anyhow, it looks damn cool. Unfortunately, I have no other details about the encryption or self-destruct features as the company site is in Korean, but the drive sure looks cool.
[source aving]
The Perfect Scent is not a book I would have picked up on my own, but I’m glad I didn’t miss it. My mom was reading it, and she recommended that I read it because of my background in chemistry. Don’t think you need to be a chemist to appreciate this book, though; the author gives enough detail to satisfy someone like me, but it’s not necessary to understand or enjoy the book. And while the chemistry of perfume creation is there, the truly fascinating insights are on the business side of things: the utter dominance of Chanel No. 5, the small and hidden group of perfumers that create nearly every scent on the market, and the variable level of celebrity involvement in the scents which bear their names. While the advertising suggests that labels craft their own perfumes, the reality is that they provide only a general picture of what they want, and contract with outside companies to blend the actual scents! Similarly, a celebrity perfume might simply bear their name - or its creation may have been carefully controlled by the individual. While I haven’t finished reading The Perfect Scent yet, I can heartily recommend it as a glimpse into a world that’s vastly different from what advertising suggests it is.
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Blackberry Bold; say that three times fast May 14, 2008 |
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So I saw Iron Man last weekend and it’s awesome, but that is not the focus of this text. The segway, however, will be elegant and subtle, like Samuel L. Jackson. There’s a commercial out there for Verizon where clips from Iron Man are mixed in with some terrible acting and the end result is Iron Man dropping his cell phone after getting hit by a missile at 30,000 feet with two teens picking it up on the ground below. “It” being an LG Voyager. My problems with this are twofold. First, my experience with Verizon tells me none of their phones are that durable nor is their customer service equipped to handle such a claim. Second, if I were a billionaire-industrialist-turned-superhero. Sorry, scratch that. When I am a billionaire-industrialist-turned-superhero, I will sure as hell not get caught with a LG Voyager. No, no, no. This is the phone a billionaire industrialist talks on. The Blackberry Bold. Now, I’ve never liked cellphones with names; model numbers do just fine for me (I will be correctly referring to this phone as the 9000 henceforth). But something about this one sticks with me. Maybe it’s that the name is a good match for the phone’s design. Maybe the marketing student in me appreciates that most mere mortals can’t remember model numbers. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s that this phone has every piece of kit in it you could imagine, expect or want from RIM. There’s no price or release date yet, but with 3G HSDPA, GPS, WiFi, 1GB internal flash and microSD all in a svelte 0.55 inch package, the wise have already begun cracking other peoples piggy banks and raiding neighbors’ couch cushions.
Oh and best of all, it’s on AT&T, so that’s one fewer ETF I have to pay.
Source & Image Engadget
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Wrapables Adhesive Numbers Metal Wall Clock May 14, 2008 |
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I’m looking for a new wall clock for my living room, and I came across this kick ass clock from Wrapables. You get the center piece (with the arms) and then some numbers and index blocks. All of these parts have adhesive backing, and you get to stick them on the wall however you want. I think I’ll stick to a traditional circle, but I just might try a triangle. I think this product is a great idea, and from the picture the build quality looks decent.
I’m ordering one this weekend, so I’ll post up the results once the clock arrives. In the mean time, if you want to pick one up yourself, one of these clocks will set you back $39.95 from amazon.com
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Iron Man does not disappoint May 12, 2008 |
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By now everyone and their mother has seen Iron Man and probably told you how cool it was. Well, just in case you are neither someone nor someone’s mother nor any permutation of the two, here it is: Iron Man is cool. It’s kick-ass fighting robot suit on robot suit action for the whole family (Unless someone in your family has epilepsy. Leave them at home, it’s for their own good). I’ve always been an Iron Man fan; I used to watch the mid 90’s cartoon religiously. I had serious fears that this film would ruin that (like Hollywood’s last try at the Hulk) but this movie is faithful and entertaining. It’s packed with references that only the true fan will recognize (did anyone else catch that the terrorist organization is called the Ten Rings?) but is still fun for the uninitiated. And make sure you stay through the credits. I won’t spoil it but I’ll give you two words: Sam Jackson.
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Mundane Lust: The Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 Rice Cooker May 12, 2008 |
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It’s a boring looking contraption, certainly. Indeed, it’s a device for cooking rice, one of the less exotic foods around. But it is rice’s status as a staple food that makes this worth discussing: The inability of so many rice cookers to make decent rice. Maybe I just have bad luck, but I keep getting rice that’s overcooked - the latest one leaves a nice burnt bottom layer which “seasons” the rice above as it sits in the pot to stay warm. So I asked around, and the answer I heard most often was that I should get a Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker. I looked it up on Amazon, and the sheer number of positive reviews was enough for me: of 138 reviews, 112 people gave the NS-ZCC10 five stars out of five. The drawback is the price: at $185, it isn’t cheap - but I’m still planning to get one. I usually don’t regret springing for big-ticket items if I use them every day - a part of me even regrets waiting until the price drop to buy the iPhone. Strange, but it might also be due to the fact that the two months I waited were spent in the clutches of Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone, which was … counterintuitive, to say the least.
If you, like me, lust after perfect rice; buy the Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 using this link and help us pay our hosting!
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Leatherman Gets Cool: The Skeletool May 9, 2008 |
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It was a long time before I bought myself a leatherman-style tool. I always thought that too many compromises were made in the attempt to include as many tools as possible, ensuring that none of them was actually any good. Then, the Gerber Suspension caught my eye, and I ended up using it constantly - comfortable spring-loaded pliers, two knife blades, scissors, a saw, and more in a compact package. But there was a problem - I never actually carried it. It lived on my desk, in my backpack, but never in a pocket - it was too big for that. And it was cowering deep inside my bag, racked with fear, when the TSA ripped it from its home and threw it away before allowing me to board my flight to New York. As you may surmise, this was a tragic moment for me, despite it being entirely my fault.
The silver lining turned out to be dark grey: the Tungsten DLC coating on the Leatherman Skeletool CX.
Continue reading Leatherman Gets Cool: The Skeletool
