Posts from — February 2008

Interesting fact: last week Los Angeles took the title for tastiest tap water at the 18th Annual Berkeley Spings International Water Tasting. The competition is the world’s largest and longest-running water tasting competition, with over 120 different entries from 19 states and 9 foreign countries. Really?? As a resident of LA, I can’t say I have ever had a glass of tap water and been particularly impressed with its quality. In fact, just the other day I realized that you can buy a water dispenser like the one in most offices, and exchange/refill the tank for only $13 at most grocery stores! I had actually become a bit concerned because I have what is referred to as hard water at my apartment(probably due to old pipes), which makes my skin extremely dry after showering. While there is apparently no convincing evidence of hard water being bad for you, I still feel weird whenever i drink it.  Your thoughts?

Full Article via The Seattle Times

So my office got a very attractive looking new all-in-one laser printer yesterday since the last one mysteriously stopped working the day after a recent company party. To my surprise my company actually dished out the dough for a HP LaserJet CM4703(above), which did a marvelous job of handling some page heavy reports I had been waiting to print. Naturally I felt inclined to test the new machine out a bit, and thought it might be a good idea to print some pictures of myself at a 80’s pop theme party from a couple weeks ago since the Canon printer I have at home is so old it may as well have been a part of my outfit. Anyway, I picked out some pictures of me doing the robot in my acid wash jeans, and matching pink tank-top and headband, and sent them off to the printer. But before I get a chance to make my way to the room the printer is located in, my boss appears at my cube and begins discussing an upcoming project. Pretty soon I have completely forgotten about my pictures, and head off to grab lunch. Upon my return, I am greeted by several people whom I have never met before, all of which have a rather mischievous grin on their face. After discretely examining my appearance I walk into the kitchen and see my pictures taped to the fridge. Great. For the remainder of the day I was greeted by random people doing robot impressions even worse than mine.  Although I have not yet discovered the mastermind behind the sabotage, I feel i have secured my invitation to the next company talent competition.

Although I have never felt the urge to clutter my cubicle with random objects/pictures that show everyone at the office how awesome I am, some of these cube decorations look like they might help ease the pain of filling out those dreadful TPS reports. If you are looking for a calm and peaceful environment go with the Zen Cube and watch as your stress disappears faster than free cupcakes in the company kitchen. If you are the crazy scientist type you are sure to find comfort in the chalkboard-cloth-covered cube which eliminates the need for annoying post-its. My pick..the dive-bar themed cube, duh.

Article via Wired

Did you loose your stapler…again? Well don’t worry you don’t need it anymore. This Paper StichLock-Wanko actually “stitches” together up to 4 sheets of paper, and is environmentally friendly as it eliminates the need for the stack of staples piled up in your desk drawer. It doesn’t have quite as much binding power as the traditional stapler, but it’s easier to track down in case someone “borrows” it.

Now here is a brilliant piece of machinery. Aside from being able to print receipts of your basic calculations, this calculator also has a hidden spy cam! Although I can think of some unethical uses for this little gem, I am more interested in finally capturing the villain who has been stealing my pens and replacing them with highlighters to offset the growing empty space in my pen jar. It comes with a remote control, or can be activated via motion sensor. Get yours here.

Via UberGizmo