Samsung's WEP-420 Bluetooth Headset for the upmarket consumer

The Samsung WEP-420 Bluetooth Headset looks elegant and supposedly has a good sound quality, after all, it has been designed by Danish manufacturer of upscale audio products, Bang and Olufsen (B&O), for the upmarket consumer.

The WEP-420's buttons are neatly hidden behind a sliding cover. The special sliding cover increases the overall sound quality of this headset. To enhance its value, the WEP 420 comes packaged with a uniquely designed charger cradle that may be used as an interior decoration item.

Showcased for the first time at CeBIT 2007 in Hanover, Germany, the WEP 420 Bluetooth Headset is available from just $89.99 at Amazon.

Samsung also showcased at CeBIT 2007 the yet to be launched WEP-500 micro headset. It is round in shape and has easy-to-use features. It is expected to be launched this quarter in Europe and Asia. » Continue reading

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Ashes to Asses

When fast bowler Graham Dilley made his England debut in the first Ashes test in Perth in 1979, it was a momentous occasion for him. Unfortunately, the gravity of the situation was fatally undermined when he dismissed Aussie batsman, Dennis Lillee, through a catch by fellow teammate, Peter Willey. The scorecard read: "Lillee c Willey b Dilley" i.e., Lillee, caught Willey, bowled Dilley.

Peter Willey is also part of another famous commentary on BBC. During a Test match between the West Indies and England, Michael Holding was to bowl to Willey. The commentator at the time, Brian Johnston, described the action, quite accurately, as "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey". This would have been a large double entendre as the word "willy" is English slang for a penis. » Continue reading

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Tips on building brand credibility

It was an honor for my blog to be reviewed by Jennifer McLean, Market Communications Strategist and Author of the book "The Credibility Factor", on her Credibility Branding Blog, as part of the "Review My Blog" campaign. She was also the first and quiet quick to review my blog.

On The Credibility Branding Blog, Jennifer McLean gives some valuable insight into the credibility branding aspect of marketing. She also emphasizes on the importance of marketing in any business as opposed to a salesman-driven business.

Is your sales guy running the show? This is very common. The sales guys come in and they want the sale, no matter the cost. And that cost is what I call a "seat-of-the- pants" approach,

Some of her note-worthy posts are Preparing a Marketing Press Release for Editors and Customers and Not Your Boss and Pitching the Big Guys – How to Get Their Attention

In one of her recent posts she even talks about building a brand persona through blogging.

In short, her blog is a great resource for those looking forward to master the art of marketing. You could be a business man, the head of marketing in your company or even a blogger, you will definitely find her posts of relevance to you and for sure you're going to add her blog's feed to your reader.

I'm glad to have made a friend like you through this campaign, Jennifer! The next time I need the help of a marketing strategist, I'm gonna bank on you.

And for those of you readers who got annoyed with the exceptionally excessive links to Jennifer McLean's blog on this post, I'm terribly sorry. I couldn't help but highlight some of the best posts I liked on her blog. Actually, there was more, but I cut it short.

This post was actually scheduled to be published on May 1, 2007, but since it was already ready to be published, I couldn't help but just publish to let you guys know about her blog. It will also serve as a reminder to you that the Review my blog campaign is still up and running. Just 7 days to go before the first roundup of the campaign. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and take advantage of this opportunity. » Continue reading

Read more on Marketing and Advertising, Review My Blog

Get your social networking and other Web 2.0 profiles in one place

And share them with friends, family, relatives & colleagues on your blog, web site and MySpace using Aggregator Widgets.

I had earlier mentioned about the Wink Widget which helps you organize a list of links to your profiles on various social networks in one place. However, it has some shortcomings.

1. First off, you have to sign up on Wink.com to use the Wink widget.
   
2. It is pretty complicated and takes time to get it up and running.
   
3. It does not let you add profiles from services other than the default ones on the list.
   
4. It's a "blatant Wink advertisement" - Paul Stamatiou
   
5. Since it is hosted on the Wink server, its sluggish and sometimes slows down the performance of your web page / blog and if the Wink server goes down, so does your widget.
   

In order to overcome these shortcomings, Dustin Bachrach created a simple CSS/HTML widget, ShowYourself.

1. It has 25 default built-in Web 2.0 sites/services/networks and also gives you the flexibility to add ones not on the list, the ajax function automatically fetches the favicon image for the sites not on the default list.
   
2. The widget automatically displays a logo beside your AIM and Skype profiles indicating whether you are online or not.
   
3. It uses plain CSS & HTML, no hosting required.
   
4. Lets you customize the colors.
   
5. The favicon (logo) images can be hosted on your own web server.
   
6. There is no need to sign up for anything to use the service.
   
7. There are no advertisements. You just need to leave a link back to the ShowYourself web site.
   
8. Its free!
   

Get yourself ShowYourself now!

Do you know of a better aggregator widget? Share it here, now! » Continue reading

Read more on Internet, Social Networking, Technology, Web 2.0, Widgets

Tips to prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) on long distance flights

If you are a frequent long distance air traveller, you need to know about deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and take some precautions.

DVT is the formation of blood clots in the legs. Prolonged inactivity can be a factor and it has been linked to cramped conditions during air travel. The US government's Aviation Health Unit offers this advice:

• All of us should exercise the calf muscles regularly, drink enough water, but avoid alcohol and coffee.
  
• Minor risk (If you have any of these factors: age over 40; very tall, short or obese; history of leg swelling; recent minor surgery or extensive varicose veins.) Do not sleep for long periods or take sleeping pills.
  
• Moderate risk (Recent heart disease; pregnant; on the Pill or HRT family history of DVT.) Take a doctor's advice about travel. You may need special stockings known as "graduated compression stockings" to prevent DVT.
  
• High risk (Recent major surgery, stroke or leg injury, known clotting tendency.) Take medical advice. You may need blood-thinning medication.
  

And here's a video by NewYouLifestyle on DVT.

You can buy graduated compression stockings to prevent DVT here or here.

Related posts:

• Tips for long distance flights
  
• Flying long distance with kids
  

» Continue reading

Read more on Health, Lifestyle, Travel and Holiday

Review of the Genius Ergomedia 500 USB Gaming Keyboard

Are you a compulsive PC gamer? Or do you just hate PC gaming because you hate using keyboard during game play and you're fixed to playing games on a dedicated console? Ergomedia 500 USB Gaming Keyboard (read Keypad) from Taiwan based Genius is the gadget which will change the way you game on a PC.

I just received my piece from Amazon and I was so much fascinated with the ergonomic design of the keypad, it really looks good sitting on my desktop. Alas I can't click a pic of it as my camera phone is under repair. But here I have some photos from the official website of Genius, for you to see. The unique hand friendly design ensures that there is minimum amount of hand movement and maximum comfort. It helps support your palm to avoid discomfort and fatigue when playing for longer periods. It also gives a very good feel and control over the game with the mouse in the right hand and the Ergomedia in the left.

Ergonomic palm rest design to support your hand for long time playing.

The eleven keys on the keypad are programmable and supports one touch recording and playback of macro sequences. Apart from that there is a 4 way direction button. The blue keypad back-lighting makes sure all keys are highly visible even in darkness.


Installation, like most other USB devices, is easy. Just plug and play. However, it comes along with an inbuilt sound card, earphone and microphone jacks (for in-game use and chatting online). So if you prefer to use your own sound card and audio setup, you have to enable them again in the Windows sound settings configuration as the installation process disables these by default.

Mic in and speaker out jack - great feature to eliminate inconvenient cable switching.

On the cons side, the Ergomedia 500 lacks the facility to print macros that you record. The only option would be to write them down unless you have a very sharp memory.

Ergomedia 500 is an additional peripheral rather than a keyboard replacement. You may still need the standard keyboard to type in messages, entering an IP address or dropping out of the action as there is no ESC key on the Ergomedia.

On the whole, it is a must buy for all compulsive PC gamers. It can also change the perception of those who are hooked to dedicated gaming consoles, like Playstation, Xbox or Nintendo Wii, towards PC gaming. So here is the link to the amazon store where you can get your Genius Ergomedia 500 for just $34.99 USD. » Continue reading

Read more on Computers, Gadgets, Gaming, Lifestyle, Technology

All the juice on the gossip grapevine

Do you remember all the more mundane details about your friends' lives, or are you more likely to remember juicy gossip? UK-based researchers Alex Mesoudi and Andrew Whiten of the University of St Andrews and Robin Dunbar of the University of Liverpool used a "Chinese whispers" style of experiment to find out, and it seems gossip wins hands down.

The researchers gave ten people four different passages to read, then asked them to write down what they could remember. Then their writings were passed to another five rounds of volunteers. Not surprisingly, the researchers found that gossip-like information involving deception and infidelity was remembered and transmitted in far greater quantity and with greater accuracy. In a separate study, a British market research company called 72 Point surveyed 2000 volunteers and found 97% of women and 93% of men admitted they like spreading tittle-tattle. Their favorite topic? Information about friends and family, closely followed by details of office affairs and celebrities' lives. » Continue reading

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