Gadgets and Sites

Just a fast post of some new things I've seen in the world.

I'm a fan of Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point (which I own); well written, a simple read, with lots of anecdotes to support his theory. Well, I just found his blog, and some of the content is interesting. Like his opinion about the Dog Whisperer, it seems he did an extensive amount of homework, and is open-minded (meaning he is NOT ill-intended and not trying to blast Cesar).

Anybody who knows me is likely to know my affinity for quotes. I think they can offer great insight into peoples' thoughts and ideas in somewhat concise phrases. Well, The Quotations Page is a great site to see. The site offers a "Quotes of the Day" on their home page. I even tried searching for Bertrand Russell and their search engine came back with very accurate results. How excellent!

Director Michael Bay talks about his work on the upcoming film Transformers on his blog. Some details and a list of which Transformers made the cut through casting calls.

What's the world coming to? I know, dvd vending machines aren't new... Several companies are doing it already. In fact, some New York hotels and large residential buildings have had them installed for about a year already... One of those companies was a prospective client that ran me around for months getting a product deal set up, to not order anything; so I'll refrain from naming any names (or links to DVDstation). But the Tokyo metro will install 10 dvd vending machines in subways stations. It's the next new thing. Put it next to a soda vending machine, and a popcorn vending machine (huh?)... and your next "Drive-In" movie theatre experience could be at Grand Central Terminal on platform "B" or whatever (bring your own portable dvd player please). But, I could be wrong.

The BBC reported UK researchers have increased the speed on transistors, setting a new record of 110 GHz compared to the old world record of 70 GHz. What's that mean to us consumers? Well, according to the article, complete circuits operate at about a tenth of the speed... could allow engineers to build chips that operate at a speed of about 11 GHz... [compared to] circuit speed of 7 GHz... At present mobile phone circuits operate at speeds of about 1 GHz. Sounds like our new cellys might be mad breezy fer sheezy.

This USB sim card multi-reader might be a good buy. I've long thought landline phone manufacturers need to catch up with the times and at least offer a sD or CF slot for address book compiling. The idea of inputting 300 phone listings into each phone (varying brands) in my home by keypad sucks like raw eggs through a thin straw. I know there is a service out there that you can pay to do this through, but I couldn't find the site right now.

Is a USB-powered seat cooler a good idea? I dunno yet, but Thanko seems to think so. I guess if you're in a hot weather climate and desk-sit all day, maybe... It should help limit some clingy situations, I suppose. It might also be able to double as a blow drier for my pup after getting bathed. Hmmm.

A few gadgets for the ladies, and I'm not blogging about fashionable iPod sleeves... Well, there is the Monster Laptop Sleeve that looks a bit like cookie moster. Cookie Monster rules! Okay, anyways. A tres chique Click & Blink eyelash curler, that you might actually show off? And, of course, some swank earring-like Earmecca earphones.

image credits: Transformer image from MichaelBay.com, transistor pic from BBC.co.uk, Rubis Click and Blink from GizmoDiva.com.