Free Soft

You are somewhat insensitive toward the offensive odors in your own home but attuned to picking up the offensive smells in others. According to a recent study by Dutch Boy and Harris Interactive, 96 percent of adults have noticed an offensive odor in another person's home, but only 36 percent have noticed a similar smell in their own home. Of course, Dutch Boy has got an angle on all this research. Its new Refresh paint is formulated with Arm & Hammer odor-eliminating technology. Not ...

Tagi: offensive odors, offensive odor, dutch boy, hammer, amp, adults, pers

Tools used to be so easy. Shovel, rake, hoe-they all had nice straight handles. Then the ergonomic revolution came along and swept that all away. Now everything has got some crazy bend to it. It's easy to get blown away by the options.CableOrganizer.com has some pointers on selecting and using the proper ergonomic tool for you:Because finger size and placement differs from person to person, avoid using tools whose handles have built-in finger grooves. When fingers don't naturally align with ...

Tagi: cy bend, cableorganizer, finger grooves, ergonomic tools, finger size, using tools, shovel, blown away, rake, pointers, pers, fingers

Formats never truly die, but their eras always have a few painful stages of decline. First, there's the arrival of a promising new competitor, then its steady rise, which is invariably followed by a mourning period and the final purging of last-gen products from the market. The last stage of obsolescence for of the long-presumed-dead format is upon us: JVC has announced that production of their single remaining player will stop immediately.

The JVC player was probably only ever intended to service old, supplementary collections of tapes, but my romantic side hopes that at least one person will see this news and think "Aww, shucks, I guess it's finally.time to get one of those Dee-Vee-Dee players." As a comfort to those people, JVC (like others) will continue to offer a few combination players, and at least plans on selling its standalone VCRs until inventory runs out. [TradingMarkets via BBG]

Tagi: dee vee, romantic side, mourning period, production business, business sense, obsolescence, ayers, eras, vcrs, competitor, vcr, decline, pers

If you're possessed of some serious disposable income, electrical engineering chops, mountains of free time and a passion for open source and vintage gaming, you might be the kind of person who would want to buy the GamePack. For about $250, Liquidware will send you a full build kit for his open source Game Boy killer tribute. Unfortunately, the "Game" part will be up to you — the Arduino-based handheld has only been tested running very basic code. These points aside, the specs are impressive, with an OLED screen, Lithium Ion battery, and built-in rumble capability — not to mention that fact that it'll fill the gap in your nerdbelt between your NES buckle and your OpenMoko Neo Freerunner quite nicely. [Liquidware via Technabob]

Tagi: open source game, open source hardware, gamepack, oled screen, vintage gaming, gap, game boy, passi, electrical engineering, lithium, free time, buckle, pers, scratch, capability, mountains, tribute

To: Jason
From: Brian
Subject: Brando, King of Weird Gadgets
I can't believe I'm home, after being away for a month on that working trip. And yes, I am back in your hair. I've got some stories to tell, some gadgety, some not, but I only have one regret. On a side trip to HK to see my family, I tried to find the time to meet Brando, of weird gadgets fame, but we couldn't connect. I kept moving the time, and then he had to cancel and then he tried to undo the cancel, but it was too late. Maybe next time, but until then, I'm going to wonder what that guy is like in person. At least Elaine Chow and I got to finally meet and eat some noodles.

The site looks nice, and it's great to be around again during the day to cover you while you go get lunch, etc. But it is a lot harder to dig into the long term work while the news is buzzing about. Here are my favorite stories you and the gang found today:

•Sears Black Friday Ad Leaks, Full of HDTVs, Digital Cameras, and Other Gadgets
• Motorola's Aura Luxury Phone Given First Groping, General Thumbs-Up
• iPhone 3G Baseband Break-In, Unlock Closer

*with regards and thanks to Crecente and Ashcraft for letting me lift their night notes format.

Tagi: weird gadgets, iphe, sears, black friday ad, hdtvs, side trip, digital cameras, mth, jas, noodles, leaks, elaine, chow, hk, pers, fame, motorola, lunch