Posts from — August 2008

If you are interested in having a place in your home to get some work done but are short on space, then check out this Convertible Compact Desk ($500) from Crate & Barrel.

What appears to be a 30-inch cabinet can easily be converted into a 55-inch full-size desk with a quick slide of its top panel.

It comes in a deep ebony stain finish, and features generous storage space, cubbies with removable dividers, ball-bearing drawer glides, and cord management cutouts.

Keeping your eyes glued to the computer all day can put a real strain on your eyes, and usually winds up hurting your productivity.

But luckily for workaholics, hardcore gamers, and internet porn enthusiasts, there is now a company called Gunnar Optiks that makes eye-wear specifically designed to reduce the side effects of staring at computer monitors or hand-held devices for prolonged periods of time.

Aside from making you look like you are preparing for a role in the next Matrix, the glasses work with your eye, optic nerve and brain to help you see better, absorb more, and process more that you could with the naked eye.

The website even has some fancy graphs like this one.

The glasses are available in various colors and models from the Gunnar Optiks website, and range in price from $99 to $189.

via Geek Alerts

Lesson 1

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour. Before she says a word, Bob says, ‘I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.’ After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, ‘Who was that?’ ‘It was Bob the next door neighbour,’ she replies. ‘Great,’ the husband says, ‘did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?’

Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 2

A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said, ‘Father, remember Psalm 129?’ The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, ‘Father, remember Psalm 129?’ The priest apologized ‘Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.’ Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, ‘Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.’

Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 3

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, ‘I’ll give each of you just one wish.’ ‘Me first! Me first!’ says the admin clerk. ‘I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.’ Puff! She’s gone. ‘Me next! Me next!’ says the sales rep. ‘I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.’ Puff! He’s gone. ‘OK, you’re up,’ the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, ‘I want those two back in the office after lunch.’

Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 4

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, ‘Can I also sit like you and do nothing?’ The eagle answered: ‘Sure, why not.’ So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 5

A turkey was chatting with a bull. ‘I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree’ sighed the turkey, ‘but I haven’t got the energy’. ‘Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?’ replied the bull. They’re packed with nutrients.’ The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story: Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.

Lesson 6

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
(3) And when you’re in deep shit, it’s best to keep your mouth shut!

via Ballbagger

If you have a powerpoint presentation that is lacking some serious steam, then check out pptPlex; a free add-on for Microsoft Office 2007 that won’t make your content any less boring, but might make you look like you know what you’re doing.

This plug-in allows you to arrange slides on a canvas then zoom between the slides during the presentation. You can move around the canvas and show groups of slides, individual slides, or even zoom in to show a particular section of a slide.

pptPlex is a free download only available for Windows with Microsft Office 2007. For more info visit the Microsoft Office Labs FAQ Page

via Lifehacker

The tangle of cables and wires beneath my desk looks like a cluster of poisonous snakes. Doesn’t everyone’s? I have been searching for a clean, elegant, totally neat solution for years, but none of the ones I looked at seemed good enough for me to pull out my wallet and dig out a credit card.

That was until I stumbled upon Bluelounge’s SpaceStation, an organizer that can satisfy even me. (I’m a hard sell—an early adopter with lofty expectations.)

Space Station is perfect even for perfectionists. Especially those who use laptops as desktops when they’re home.

It takes up little space. In fact, it’s downright inconspicuous—and easy to clean around. It lays nearly as flat as your desk while still leaving enough space beneath to keep everything cool—in every sense. It has a cool design. (Funny, it doesn’t look like an organizer.)

It has room for USBs (ditch that hub!), iPods, scanners, printers, laptop connectors, cameras, and even paper. For just $79.95 each, it’s just what I’ve been waiting for. I’m glad I was patient.

Italian design and Japanese engineering? There must be a punch line coming after that set-up.

The ads say it’s like thousands of tiny fingers simultaneously massaging your scalp. This sounds like the magic fingers option one used to find on beds in midrange motels. As in that case, it seems to me that human fingers would do a better job. But in one’s lonely office cubicle, the Brain Spa Head Massager may be an acceptable second choice.

Anything that relives stress is a good thing. And improved blood circulation may even help you come up with new ideas. The helmet you have to wear may make you look like a space cadet, but hey, your officemates will relieve their stress by laughing at you.

To help celebrate the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing based company Lenovo, the first official Chinese partner of the Olympics, has released a series of limited edition USB flash drives.

The first one, a 4GB thumbdrive going for..ouch $980, is made of the same material as the Olympic torch and features the same red swirly cloud design around the Beijing Olympic logo.

The Mascot-series ($199) consists of six 4GB flash drives that feature a Fuwa image on one side, and the official log on the other side.

The third collection is a set of 5 medallions with the Fuwa characted engraved on them. Not sure where the USB port is placed, but it should hardly matters to you as they are sold out!

The final, and very limited USB set (only 10 made) is made of five 1GB titanium flash drives with a swiveling USB plug, and it comes in a nice mahogany box.

via Everything USB

Looking to re-decorate your home office? Check out the Level 34 modular office system designed by Werner Aisslinger for Vitra.

What’s with the 34 you ask? It represents the distance (in centimeters) between the floor and each of the modular components, and is significant because of the visual aspect of having several pieces of furniture connected as one, all at a uniform hight.

The office system allows for multiple desks, filing cabinets, and even an inspirational bench. Moreover, it has cable baskets incorporated into the bench structure which means you can keep all of your electronics connected while keeping any cables hidden

via Unplggd

Dell just unleashed seven new Latitude business botebooks yesterday and definately didn’t hold back on the improvements. Although the accompanying options for each of the notebooks vary, here are some of the new features you can expect from all of them:

• Extended battery life- up to 19 hours!

• Connectivity- Wi-Fi, mobile broadband, WWAN, Ultra-wideband, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, WiMax

• Security- Fingerprint readers, hardware-based encryption, ControlVault, Smart Card

• Control- Centralized control, via Dell’s ControlPoint software

• Design- Full-frame magnesium alloy construction, and all metal hinges.

For more info head over to Direct2Dell

These days it’s good to know that no matter what your taste or required function, there is a computer keyboard that can accommodate your special needs.   There are eye dazzling keyboards for those who prefer form over function, there’s ergonomic keyboards for those of us looking to increase efficiency and boost productivity, there’s even some weird ones that don’t really seem to serve any function at all.

No matter what you’re looking for, there’s a keyboard for that.  So if you’re on the prowl check out this excellent compilation of Cool Computer Keyboards for Geeks.