For some time now, we’ve been able to access our Gmail accounts freely over POP3 or IMAP, so we can play with our email all day long from our favorite email clients. Google apparently didn’t think that was enough and they decided to release a gadget for Google Desktop to allow you to manage your Gmail account. The gadget brings some of the web-based features to the desktop, such as keyboard shortcuts and ability to search your contacts. All in all, it is a cutsie little way to handle your Gmail account if you happen to use Google Desktop. Another...
That’s the really cool thing about trying to find ways to make new technology an integral part of our lives, we get to see all kinds of interesting ideas. However - it is also the cause of really mind numbing, head shaking, smacking one’s head against the desk reasons where we wonder just how far we really have progressed. There is no doubt that solar power is going to be an important part of our energy mix. Yes it still needs a lot of work in order to make it truly cost effective for mass use; but we’re getting...
Hello Entrecarders! Today I’m pleased to announce that we’ve taken an important step in improving our customer service. We’ve upgraded to a fully-featured Ticket System. Our new helpdesk system will allow us to better manage and track your support inquiries. You will also be able to log into our support system, and see the status of tickets that you create, using the login details automatically provided when you first submit a ticket. Just a warning though that the first time you submit a ticket now, you may need to click a link in an email to approve your email address....
007 isn't generally known for being friendly to anything except the ladies. So being friendly to the Earth certainly hasn't ever mattered. The question is, now that green-tech is awesome, and green-style is sexy, what's a Bond to do? Quantum of Solace seems to take two stances on the issue. First, green chic is lame. The lead villain of the movie (who shares my last name, unfortunately) is beyond greenwashing. His energy company has been pretending to buy up ecologically sensitive areas, but really he's trying to control the world's water. Sounds like a page out of T. Boone's playbook...
I recently started getting AT&T Uverse TV programming, after many years of being a DirecTV customer. The cool thing about Uverse — perhaps the only cool thing — is being able to remotely program your DVR using just a Web browser and your AT&T/Yahoo account. You can see a screen shot at left that gives you an idea of what is involved. You can use the search function to find a particular actor or the name of a program and then schedule the recording for any show that is going to be broadcast within the next two weeks. One thing...
Here’s the cool thing about Hasbro’s Lazer Tag Multiplayer Battle System - you can play and shoot each other in a group, running around as you normally would during a game of Laser Tag, which is always fun - or you can go it along with the television attachment, which turns the system into a one-player video game where you shoot the bad guys on the TV. The set includes the TV attachment, two tag guns, and two pump-action shot blast attachments. When your hit, a rumble pack makes it obvious, you’ve got a manual reload button to refill your...
I thought we had all moved on from talking about crappy vampires. I was ready to leave our Twilight past in the past, and focus on better bloodsuckers. But you just won't let me will you Hollywood? Stills from the brand-new Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans have emerged and oh my god are they a desperate attempt to medieval up some vampires by giving them swords and pleather body armor. You know what was the only cool thing about the original Underworld? Kate Beckinsale, and no amount of armored horses and Rhona Mitras will change that. Don't get me wrong:...
Springpad is a new web-based personal organizer, sharing vague similarities with my current favorite, Backpack (that I reviewed at length recently, Backpack: A Digital Version Of A Miscellaneous Drawer). Even though Springpad incorporates some cool ideas, several requirements are just missing that make it impossible to shift over, as much as I might like to. (Note: I also experimented with Drop.io as a Backpack replacement, and that just didn't work at all.) What's Springpad's Story? As the developers say, "Springpads are free online notebooks that help you manage your life. Use your springpad to keep track of notes, photos, maps,...
In a post about Comcast: "I bought EyeTV devices for three of my computers so I could receive digital over-the-air broadcasts. It amazes people when they find out that such high quality transmissions are available for free over the public air waves." I got a couple of questions wondering what I was talking about, and I promised to write about it here. So here goes. A few years back a friend told me he had put an antenna on the roof of his house and was receiving digital versions of local TV stations. He showed me, but even though it...
Sensational.com is a site I recently came across that provides a wealth of information regarding health and fitness. They provide a a bunch of directories with up-to-the-minute information on health-related companies. You will also find product reviews on diet, weight-loss and fitness products. The site is pretty clean and the information appears to be solid. I was able to use the site to find a few gyms, pharmacies, and health stores in my neighborhood. All I did was put in my zip code and the site did the rest. There is also a BMI calculator right on the front-page of...
At the beginning of 2008 I wrote a post called The Content Crossroads: Supernatural Success at the Intersection of Ideas. The point of the article is that innovative content often comes about when you connect two seemingly unrelated ideas or topics to come up with something fresh and new. While there’s a lot going on in that post, a fundamental aspect of the piece involves what’s known as the Medici Effect, thanks to Frans Johansson’s excellent book of the same name. Poets, philosophers, scientists, architects, painters and sculptors from all over Europe and elsewhere came together in Florence, Italy,...
Japanese researchers in Japan have developed a clever way to turn an entire umbrella into one giant speaker. Made of bamboo and paper, the Oto-Shigure uses a built-in amplifier connected to four tiny vibrating motors located on the tips of the umbrella. And before you imagine the streets of Tokyo turned into one giant cacophony of sounds, the cool thing about this invention is that the music can't be heard by anyone except the person under the umbrella: As you can see in the graphic, its design produces a three-dimensional sound bubble in the area right in the center of...
From Serious Eats Holiday Dessert from Bon Appétit: In all it's ginger crusted glory, spruce up your Thanksgiving table with a lavish pumpkin cheesecake. Stir Fry This: The cool thing about stir fry is that you can substitute almost anything for the basic ingredients as long as you keep the core herbs and protein, like the lemony chickpeas in this recipe. It's Not a Red Twinkie: Tapping into childhood memories of spongy red cake, Amanda Clarke successfully tests out her version of cranberry zingers, only no plastic wrapping. Orange and Black All Over: Just when you thought this spooky squash...
Windows only: Free application Zviewer is a one-stop shop for all your web video needs, integrating everything from Hulu and YouTube to Netflix Watch Instantly in a full-screen interface. The app lets you browse listings from different on-demand video sites and launch any video instantly. Apart from aggregating all this on-demand video, the cool thing about Zviewer is that it supports most Windows remote controls, so if you already have a Media Center PC, you can control the app from across the room. Unfortunately Zviewer is a little less of a full-service solution than we'd like, since playing a video...
