This summer it’s very hot here in Israel. I took a look at this list of unusual cooling gadgets and at first thought they were pretty funny. But it’s so hot these days I actually wonder now how effective some of them are. I especially liked the USB Necktie Cooler. I’m so glad I don’t wear ties. (via Digg)
“Great” Inventions: The Safe Bedside Table
Imagine someone breaks into your home and wakes you up. What are you going to use as a weapon? The Safe Bedside Table is what you must get for those occasions exactly. In a split second it turns into a club and shield. And if I didn’t convince you yet, take a look at the pictures. (via Digg)
Best. Sales Pitch. Ever
Imagine you’re a defibrillator salesman (you know, the medical device you need to shout “CLEAR” before you attach it to someone’s chest and zap them) and you walk into a store to make the case for your product when suddenly the guy standing next to you falls because his heart stops. Then you manage to revive him with the defibrillator you’re trying to sell.
I call this the best sales pitch ever. (via Digg)
Ideas That Made Money Although They Shouldn’t Have
Every once in a while someone comes to me asking if I want to participate on a new idea. I guess everyone wants their “million dollar exit”. Naturally, so do I. Unfortunately I haven’t made any progress lately with ideas, but I’m not pushing it – when the right idea comes, I’ll have all the time I need to implement it.
MadConomist.com came up with a list of ten ideas that shouldn’t have been profitable, but were very much so. Some items there are really surprising. (via Digg)
More Things People Do With Spare Time (and 66,000 business cards)
Yesterday I thought it was funny that a writer typed an entire book on his cellphone. It seemed like a strange way to spend your time. But now there’s a contender – Dr. Jeannine Mosely, who found herself with 66,000 business cards and decided tot build a big Menger Sponge (yes, I said Menger Sponge. This isn’t a mistake), which is a fractal cubic structure. Click the link for cool-yet-nerdy photos and information.
Things People Do With Their Spare Time…
Let’s say you commute to work every day and you have some spare time. What do you do? Read a book? Listen to music? Doze off? Not Robert Bernocco, who used this time to type an entire 384-page science fiction book on his mobile phone using the T9 input method (the one where you only have the 9 numeric keys, not an entire keyboard). Now how about that for spare time usage? (via Lifehacker)
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu
Let’s see you say that 3 times in a row. This is actually the longest name place in the world. It seems like a very beautiful place, as you can tell from the picture.
When I See Toilet Seats Twice A Day, I Must Report It
The old toilet seat “fight between the sexes” will probably always be a mystery to me. While I always return the seat to its previous position when I’m in someone else’s place, I wouldn’t mind lifting it and lowering it back as much as needed in my own home.
Having said that, it turns out that the issue is subject to actual research. Not much research, but who would have thought? And for those of you who really have a hard time doing the seat up-seat down thing, here’s the PeaceMaker Toilet Seat Lifter.
Crazy CAPTCHAs
CAPTCHA, or “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart” (Wikipedia definition), is the de-facto standard of authenticating humans and telling them apart from machines on the Internet. However, some sites go way too far with CAPTCHAs, as these funny CAPTCHA examples show. (via Digg)
3D Mailbox Email Client – Good Or Bad?
3D Mailbox is an email client that visualizes the emails you get as people in a 3D environment. It is very hard to describe, so you can either read this Download Squad review of 3D Mailbox or see the 1 minute trailer (I didn’t get it until I read the review, though).
Download Squad, in a nice attempt to be impartial, interviewed the creator of 3D Mailbox, Robert Savage. It’s obvious from the interview that Mr. Savage believes his product is innovative and that outside-the-box-thinkers (and gamers) will sure like it. I guess only time will tell.