jhnsl8r’s posterous

expat Invernessian who talks between songs for money 

Top 10 Geekiest Decorations for Your Home or Office [Mashable]

We certainly wouldn’t advocate turning your office, cubicle or home office into some kind of over-the-top dork theme park, but a few witty items carefully placed here and there can brighten up the dullest work space with some geek chic.

Having an office gives you the chance to display things you might not get away with (or indeed, want to get away with) at home. From magnificent magnets to clever clocks and wall decals, here’s a choice of ten products that will help you geek-pimp your work space in style.

1. iPhone Icon Coasters

These Meninos coasters are styled after the iPhone’s icons giving Apple fans somewhere cool to stick their cups. Made of medium-density fiberboard (MDF) with a durable vinyl finish and a rubber bottom to stop slips, the anally retentive among you could arrange them on the coffee table as precisely as they appear on the phone’s homescreen, while the rest of us can mix ‘em up as we see fit. Oh, and if the iPhone’s not your thing, then Meninos also offers an Internet-themed set too.

Cost: $59.99

2. Million Dollar Homepage Poster

As well as adding a splash of color to your office walls, this poster will serve as inspiration, reminding you that a small, simple idea can grow into big, fat success. The million dollar home page poster is an exact replica of the original Web page, measuring 60cm x 60cm with a gloss finish. Heck, if you’re feeling flush yourself, you could even frame it.

Cost: $30

3. Enter Key Doormat

Let your visitors know that they are entering a geek domain right from the start with this recycled rubber doormat that is modeled after the “Enter” key. Designed by Pieter Woudt, there’s also a “Home” key version if whoever you share a domicile with will let you get away with geeking out your porch.

Cost: $30

4. Photoshop Magnets

We can’t think of a better way to stick your team pics to the fridge or filing cabinet than with these Photoshop-themed magnets, another little gem from Meninos. The set comprises 13 magnets which will be very familiar to anyone who has used the photo editing software as they replicate the menus and tool bars found in the popular Adobe product.

Cost: $25.00

5. A Red Swingline Stapler

As any fashion-lover will know, it’s all about the accessories. In this case, the essential office accessory is the Red Swingline Stapler. Launched in 2002 after strong customer demand generated by the stapler’s appearance in geek cult classic Office Space, the desk tool will elicit knowing approval from fans of the film. Just be sure to hide it when Lumberg’s around.

Cost: $32.48 (on sale at the time of writing for $21.99)

6. Recycled Mac Clocks

What’s the time? It’s geek o’ clock with these recycled Mac clocks offered by Etsy seller Pixelthis. The version pictured ($59) is the side panel of a retired Mac G4, upcycled into a working wall clock. There’s a whole selection over on Pixelthis’ Etsy shop, while commissions and customization of anything you want to send in to get the timepiece treatment are offered too, with price by negotiation.

Cost: Varies

7. Pantone Mugs

Don’t put up with boring chinaware, or worse still, ugly corporate freebie mugs. These officially licensed mugs from Pantone will delight anyone with an eye for color, or even a passing interest in design. The espresso set offers appropriate shades of coffee brown, whilst the more colorful set provides 10 shades — all marked with their Pantone reference, of course.

Cost: $50 and $120

8. Google Bean Bag

By all accounts, the Googleplex is a place of wonder. You can emulate a little bit of that magic with the Google Bean Bag — the very same kind gracing the Googleplex. Who knows what kind of gProducts have been thought up while someone’s posterior was placed on one of these things? Inspirational, indeed.

Cost: $109.40

9. Orbiculus from Art Lebedev

The Art Lebedev Studio has transformed “Cancel,” “Play,” “Save,” “OK,” and other commands into real-life objects with a useful function — the thumbtack. You can opt for the mixed set, or if you’re feeling particularly positive, go for the “Everything Is OK” set which is made up, as you might have already guessed, of just the “OK” pins. We simply can’t think of a better way to secure items to a bulletin board.

Cost: Approx $6

10. Blik Wall Decals

Blik offers a way to geek up your blank walls that is ideal for the commitment-phobe: Vinyl decals that can be peeled off it you get bored of them, or if your office landlord has a tizzy when he/she sees them. There are a few designs available that will turn your wall into a scene from a Super Marios Bros. game, or the classic Space Invaders. There are some pretty cool robots, too.

Cost: Varies

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments [0]

Mr. Chips, you naughty boy!

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   TV  

Comments [0]

Nice concept idea: Hanger Tea

Concept: Hanger Tea

 
 
Hanger_tea3

Hanger_tea


Hanger_tea4


An interesting concept from Soon Mo Kang

-via SwissMiss

Love this idea.. not sure quite how practical!

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   concept   design   tea   tea bag  

Comments [0]

Shoplifting Win

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments [0]

Newswipe

Some journalistic comedy for Thursday...

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   bbc   comedy   news   newswipe   tv news  

Comments [0]

Air Video Streams Your Videos to Your iPhone [Lifehacker]

Air Video Streams Your Videos to Your iPhone with Minimal Effort, Is Incredible

Windows/Mac iPhone/iPod touch: Not only do videos take up a ton of space on space-constrained devices, but converting videos for the iPhone gets painful quickly. Air Video streams videos straight to your iPhone, converting them on-the-fly if they're incompatible.

The app is actually an iPhone app plus a PC/Mac app that acts as a server. You can use any videos on your computer, whether they are in iTunes or not—and, if you prefer, you can also add video playlists from iTunes to the list of sources. Once you get the server app running on your desktop, you can start streaming over your home network immediately. Streaming over the internet from outside your home, though, only takes a few more seconds—in the server app, go to the "Remote" tab and check Enable Access from Internet (see below). The app will give you a server PIN that you can type in when you go to add a source on your iPhone or iPod touch—note that your router at home needs a public IP address and support UPnP or NAT-PMP protocols, which shouldn't be a problem for most people.

As if that weren't cool (or easy) enough, if you have some videos that can't be played directly on the iPhone, you can convert them using Air Video as you watch it (as long as you're running firmware 3.0 and have a fairly powerful computer back at home). If you prefer, you can also convert the file offline and watch it later.

Air Video is a free download for the iPhone and iPod touch, although the free version only shows you a few videos at a time, at random, from your folders. If you have a large video library you want to share, or don't feel like clicking on the folder multiple times waiting for the video you want to be on the list, there's a $2.99 pro version available as well.

Air Video [Official Site]

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments [0]

Google Street View Snowmobile

First it was the Street View Car, then the Street View Trike...  now meet the Street View Snowmobile!

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   canada   google   google maps   google street view   map   peak   piste   ski   snow   snowmobile   street view  

Comments [0]

Playing with Hipstamatic for iPhone

         

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments [0]

How To: Put on a Duvet Cover

Do you struggle to put on that fresh duvet cover on laundry day? Struggle no more!

Grant Thomson demonstrates the 'Thomson Technique' to getting that freshly washed cover on your duvet.

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   103.1 central fm   central fm   duvet cover   grant thomson   how to   radio   steve courtney  

Comments [0]

Google Buzz Explained [Screenshot Tour]

Google Buzz explained thanks to the fab team over at Lifehacker!

Google Buzz Explained

Google today announced a new service, Google Buzz, that automatically brings social networking into Gmail and the rest of the Google-sphere. Whether or not you're big on social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook, Buzz offers a somewhat new and intriguing approach.

What's Buzz All About?


Buzz's five key features, as laid out in the event at Google HQ today, include:

  • Automatic friends lists (friends are added automatically who you have emailed on Gmail)
  • "Rich fast sharing" combines sources like Picasa and Twitter into a single feed, and it includes full-sized photo browsing
  • Public and private sharing (swap between family and friends)
  • Inbox integration (instead of emailing you with updates, like Facebook might, Buzz features emails that update dynamically with all Buzz thread content)
  • "Recommended Buzz" puts friend-of-friend content into your stream, even if you're not acquainted. Recommendations learn over time with your feedback.

Buzz lets you share photos, video, links to web sites, and other content from all over the web with your closest contacts or with the public at large.

It feels a whole lot like Facebook's newsfeed—or even more like FriendFeed, though fewer people ever got to know FriendFeed all that well—but it lives inside Gmail and integrates automatically with your most frequent Gmail contacts.

Apart from working directly inside Gmail, it can pull content from Twitter, from Flickr, and from various other popular social sites from across the web. Currently social services supported include:

  • Flickr
  • Twitter
  • Picasa Web
  • YouTube
  • Blogger
  • Any feed connected to your Google profile (like your blog)

When you publicly post something via Buzz, it automatically and instantaneously adds the post to your Google Profile page (which it creates for you if you haven't already created one). If you want to post privately, you can create and choose specific groups you want to share with—in what looks like an attempt to offer both the public aspects of Twitter and the private aspects of Facebook.

Buzz is (or will soon be) available as a new sidebar link in Gmail, but it also integrates with your Gmail inbox. If you're worried about email overload, here's the skinny—Buzz items end up in your inbox in three ways:

  • Someone comments on your stuff
  • You comment on something and other people continue the conversation.
  • Someone @'s you, Twitter style.

Buzz also suggests a Recommended Buzz, pulling content from users you aren't following using an algorithm based on what your friends like or are following. The idea is that they'll bring you the "good buzz" even if you're not friends with who's delivering it. If you don't agree with the recommended "good buzz", you can tell Google so and it'll tweak its algorithm, so hopefully it'll more closely match what you like next time.

When your friends post content that's not all that exciting ("ate a bagel for breakfast"), Buzz will attempt to identify it and automatically "collapse the bad buzz."

Buzz on Your Mobile Device

Google is also launching three different mobile products that integrate with Buzz.

First, they've integrated Buzz into the Google.com mobile homepage. The new homepage has small UI tweaks, but the big change is that the Buzz icon now appears in the upper right corner of the screen. Click on it and you can post to Buzz, but more importantly, when you click there, Buzz will find your location and turn it into a real place—not just an address, but an actual, meaningful place. (When demoing, Buzz asked the user "Are you at Google?") In normal use, it'll try placing you at wherever it thinks you are, whether it's a business, your home, a restaurant, or wherever.

A mobile Buzz webapp for Android and iPhone (available at buzz.google.com, screenshotted below) gives the user mobile-friendly version of Buzz, providing a stream of people you're following. You can also grab nearby buzz to see what people around you are saying (say you're at a concert and want to hear what people are saying about it).

Finally, Google Mobile Maps has added a new Buzz layer, which allows you to post to Buzz quickly from Google Maps. (We're doubting this will work on the iPhone soon because it would require Apple to update Google Maps, which it normally only does on OS updates, but it will likely be pushed out to other devices soon.) Like the webapp, you can post from the Maps app, it'll grab your location and snap you to a real place rather than just an address.

Google says they want Buzz to be the poster child for what it means to make a social tool that plays nice—one that has an open API, that respects the user's privacy decisions, and that doesn't lock up your data. (As opposed to some other popular social networks.)

Google Buzz in the Business

Last, Google explained that they'll eventually be adding Buzz to Google Apps accounts so businesses can use them internally, something that Google thinks will be a very important use in time.

Google Buzz will begin rolling out at 11am PST, and will continue slowly rolling out to users over the course of the next couple of days.

Interested? Let's hear what you think in the comments.


Send an email to Adam Pash, the author of this post, at tips+adam@lifehacker.com.

track'); jQuery.cookie(_cn, _cn_d, { path: '/', expires: 365 } );

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Loading comments ... -/|\\\\\" /></div>
	</div>
	
	<div class=
In order to view comments on lifehacker.com you need to enable JavaScript.
If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark lifehacker.com as trusted.

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments [0]