Now this is cool. Duct tape is mighty handy and should be part of any toolbox. But magnetic duct tape is simply over the top!
//Jon
via OhGizmo!
By Luke Anderson
I think it is almost universally agreed that duct tape is nearly the most useful tool on the planet. At the very least, it is by far the most useful tape out there. However, I’ve discovered another very useful adhesive that will have a permanent place in my toolbox. Yes, I do sound like I’m getting worked up over tape, but you have to admit that Self-Adhesive Magnetic Tape is rather appealing.
The concept is rather simple; just cut off a strip of tape, stick it to the wall, another piece goes on the item you’re hanging. Now just slap the two things together and it stays. This is rather handy for items that you might need to take off the wall and hang back up again. Sure, you could buy velcro strips and get a similar effect, but those wouldn’t be nearly as fun. Not to mention at $16 for a 5-meter roll, this stuff is probably a lot cheaper.
[ Pro-Idee ] VIA [ RedFerret ]
Not exactly an electronic gadget, but very cute anyway. Perfect for baking cookies when the grandkids come over.
via OhGizmo!
By Luke Anderson
I’ve discovered that I’m the kind of guy who finds himself baking something tasty at least once a month. I don’t really have a love for baking, nor am I usually making something for a get-together. Rather, I just happen to like the taste of cake and cookies, so I’ll just end up making some for myself instead of conning someone else into doing it. As a gamer, I’ve been wondering how to represent my gaming affection with my baking tools. (Okay, I haven’t actually been wondering that, but just play along.) So how does one do that exactly? With Pac-Man oven mitts of course!
The Pac-Man HotHead Oven Mitts are made completely from silicone and resemble our favorite yellow pill-eater. To give the inside of his mouth a bit of extra grip, it has been designed to look like the classic Pac-Man map. You can pick one of these up starting in April for $15.
[ Perpetual Kid ] VIA [ Technabob ]
Need a simple and cheap laptop to browse the web and check email? Consider the new class of small computers called Netbooks. They are in the $200 price range and most run on Linux, although some have Windows XP. Don’t be scared of Linux, it is very stable and arguably more secure because it is not prone to contracting Windows based viruses. Email and web browsing works exactly the same way as on any Windows or Apple PC you have ever used.
It looks like chip-maker INTEL, who’s chips make almost all computers run, has entered the operating system market. They are providing a customized version of Linux, an open source operating system, to run on this new computing platform. This version is optimized to run efficiently with new class of Netbook microprocessor chips supplied by Intel, according to the article.
Intel hasn’t hasn’t really taken a shine to the idea of netbooks, since the low price point of the Atom processor they use doesn’t allow for very high profit margins. Well, it looks like Intel has realized that netbooks are here to stay because they’ve just taken the wraps off their own flavor of Linux optimized for the Atom processor: Moblin. Currently available as an alpha release, Moblin is built off of the GNOME Mobile platform and will utilize Intel’s own Clutter and GUPnP open source technologies. This is pretty exciting news since we just found out about another netbook-specific operating system: Jolicloud. At the very least, you probably won’t be seeing a lot of XP around soon.
link: Intel’s new OS for netbooks
Do you own a Kindle from Amazon.com? If so, leave us a comment. do you like it? How much do you use it compared to print media? for those who don’t know what it is, check out this link at Amazon. I particularly like that it will download newspapers automatically overnight, and that the font size is adjustable.
Silicon Alley Insider has found that printing the New York Times costs twice as much as if the company gave every subscriber an Amazon Kindle using some rough numbers and elementary math. Obviously, not everyone likes the Kindle and cutting out the distribution of the NYT would eliminate thousands of jobs, but it clearly shows how digital is killing the print star. The transition to a digital print medium will not be complete until the next generation though as many baby boomers – and their parents – have trouble with GPSs and cell phones. So no matter how much it costs to keep killing trees, the practice will continue for their sake alone.
via CrunchGear
This is interesting, a fire extinguisher that is east to use, that is so attractive it does not have to be hidden out of sight, and that has flashing lights so you can find it in the midst of all the smoke. It’s fun when someone brings a sense of design to a product who’s form factor has largely been ignored.
via DVICE
Fire safety and prevention is some pretty serious business – something small can turn into something big rather quickly. Along those lines designer Sigrun Vik, a student at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, is operating under an interesting assumption: We don’t use (or know how to use) our fire extinguishers because they’re unsightly and hidden away.
To remedy this, she’s created the Act Fire Extinguisher, which is easy enough on the eyes that it could go in the corner of your living room, kitchen, in the hallways or wherever, really. It’s designed to be hooked up to a wireless fire alarm system (which many homes do not have), and when there’s a fire, it’ll flash it’s own lights so you can clearly see it through the smoke.
Other than that, it appears to work like a normal extinguisher. It’s unclear whether you have to lug the entire thing around or if the extinguisher pops out, but we’re guessing that little pull-ring on the handle is how you use it. Either way, it’s a more integrated fixture, and one you’re likely to figure out how to use. Check out down below for more of the Act Fire Extinguisher.
The age range of 45 to 72 makes up 42 percent of internet users according to the following article from ARSTecnica who cites The Pew Report.
Hey, thats precisely the intended audience for this blog! Seems were are tach savvy generation after all!
Generation Y enjoys the widespread stereotype as being the official Internet Generation, but it turns out those stinking kids don’t own everything online. Generation Xers, Baby Boomers, and even “G.I.” folks dominate their own niches when it comes to the online world, according to a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Gen Y (also known as Millennials) make up the largest single group in the Internet-using population—30 percent—and more than half of the adult Internet population is between the ages of 18 and 44. However, Pew notes that surveys taken in 2006 and 2008 indicate that other groups are growing rapidly, with the largest increase in Internet use coming from the 70 to 75-year-old age group. Jacqui Cheng Limited iMac availability could mean new iMacs soon Denver’s red light cameras: no data, just lots of tickets Google Earth reveals two-acre field of weed to Swiss police iTunes Plus drops all-or-nothing upgrades, goes a la carte.
This G.I. generation plus the one just below it, ages 64 to 72, are helping drive the continued popularity of e-mail. Pew says that 74 percent of Internet users over 64 send and receive e-mail primarily, while e-mail is rapidly losing its teenage audience to newer communication methods like social networking and blogging.
In fact, “older” folks (those over age 32) do a lot of things online more than the young ‘uns do. Older users in general don’t use the Internet as an entertainment source to the same extent that younger netizens do, instead using it primarily for communication, research, and online shopping. Older users tend to use the Internet more to look up health information, for example, as well as religious information and governmental research. Generation Xers (those between 33 and 44) lead the pack in online shopping as well, with 80 percent using the Internet to buy products, compared with 71 percent of Internet users between 18 and 32. Gen Xers also lead when it comes to online banking, though Pew notes that, as Gen Y users grow older and, you know, get jobs, they will be just as likely to bank online.
link: Older ‘Net users giving youngsters a run for their money – Ars Technica
Wow, this looks like a very simple way to add NAS (Network Attached Storage) to a home system. I have asked the maker how many USB devices can be attached, waiting for the answer. . .
(update, 1/9/09) And today the JKOntheRun.com blog had the answer on a video interview, “you can daisy chain as many USB devices as you want”.
Credit to Rafe Needleman from CNET while at the CES 2009 show in Las Vegas.
//Jon
Pogoplug puts any hard drive on the Internet | CES 2009 – CNET Blogs:
Home CNET CES 2009 January 7, 2009 9:00 PM PST Pogoplug puts any hard drive on the Internet Posted by Rafe Needleman
Here’s a cool little product that I can’t wait to try out: The Pogoplug. It’s a simple and relatively cheap box that plugs into an external hard drive (or flash drive) via USB, and also into you home’s Internet connection. Then it puts the hard drive on the Web as well as on your local network. Any computer in your home can access it as a shared drive, and people outside can also connect to it over the Web. It sounds like a very quick and simple way to put a whole bunch of files online for friends to see.
Pogoplug connects your USB drives to the Internet.Now, it’s no great feat for a geek to wire up a PC or a network-attached storage drive for Internet access. What the Pogoplug does is not utterly unique. The company is going for ease of use”
(Via CNET.)
Why?
I’m a gadget nut. I’m also 57 years old. I recognize that some members of my generation have a hard time with the current and ever changing crop of electronic devices that proliferate our world today.
Since I have been playing with gadgets all my life, and since I am somewhat technical (this blog is evidence of that), and since I have a knack for explaining technical things, I decided to launch this website.
What are my qualifications?
Fair question. My entire working career (35 years) has been in the mechanical and electronic high technology field in the areas of installation, servicing, end user technical support, customer training, engineering, R&D, and marketing. My name is on five US & international patents and I have been deeply involved in some of the most successful products ever sold in the lock and security industry.
What can the reader expect?
My focus will be to seek out, review, and report on gadgets that are suitable for the over 50 crowd. Such gadgets need to be A); useful and perform a desired function, B); simple to use, and C); elegant in their design. I will review gadgets that come to my attention and rate them on a scale of 1-5 stars, 1 being poor and 5 being great. Get the idea? Geezer Approved Gadgets.
Let me know if there is a particular gadget you want reviewed.
Manufacturers; want the Geezer seal of approval? Send me your gadget for review.
Already own a gadget but find it hard to use? Let me know and I’ll try and break it down for you.
//Jon
email me at jon at over50tech.com
Now this is cool. Duct tape is mighty handy and should be part of any toolbox. But magnetic duct tape is simply over the top! 
