Online oafs

BT's Home IT Adviser service has published its quirkiest conversation with tech-hassled customers. Here are a selected few:

Adviser: Press any key.
Customer: I can't find the 'Any' key.

Customer: My mouse pad isn't wired up.
Adviser: I'm not sure I understand, your mouse pad shouldn't have any wires.
Customer: Then how does it know where the mouse is?

Customer: I met a man on the Internet, can you give me his phone number?

This takes the prize.
Adviser: You have spyware on your machine.
Customer: Spyware? Does this mean that they can see me getting dressed through the monitor?

Laugh not, they walk among you! » Continue reading

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Can't find a microphone in an emergency situation? Don't worry, use your headphones (earphone)

Have you ever come across a situation where in you have to have an important online discussion with some one and you are running out of a microphone but you still have a headset (earphones)? Here is a trick by Robin Good where in you can convert your good old spare headset into a live working mike by just plugging in your headset into the microphone jack of your computer. I've tried it myself and it really works, although the sound quality is not as good as a real microphone as told by Robin. But who really cares as long as you are able to get your job done with this workaround in an emergency situation.

Tech-Recipes has detailed step by step instructions to use your iPod headphones as a microphone.

Sometime back I had accidentally plugged in a microphone into the headphone/speaker jack and guess what? Yeah, it worked like a speaker! » Continue reading

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Ouch, that was beautiful!

With a sophisticated clientele who seem to have a penchant for the bizarre, Singapore's beauty providers often go the extremes.

The most recent is the Fish Reflexology clinic, where clients' feet are exfoliated by tiny fish that nibble off dead skin -- a method traditionally used in the Middle East to treat skin diseases. The clinic says that over 2,000 customers have fed their feet to the fish. So the next time you visit this beautiful city-state, don't forget to pamper your feet!

Another popular beauty treatment is eyebrow embroidery. It entails plucking out the natural brows and drawing strands of hair back using a pen-like device that injects ink under the skin. Reportedly, the result looks more natural than a tattoo, and better than Mother Nature.

And if that sounds painful, several salons offer 'boyzilian' waxing. It is the male equivalent of the 'Brazilian,' where almost all public hair is pulled off using strips daubed in warm wax.

Image courtesy: omaritosan » Continue reading

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Creative Marketing: European semi-trucks with missing sides

These are pictures of European semi-trucks whose trailers are decorated to look like the sides are missing. The products they are hauling are painted on the sides and back.


This one shows Pepsi cases stacked on the ceiling, while the bottom of the trailer is empty.


This one is of a giant bottle of beer that looks so real, like it is coming out of the side of the trailer.


This truck has a windshield facing the back and there has been a driver painted in the driver's seat looking back over his shoulder to appear like he is driving backwards.


Here is one of a canvas tote bag.


Can you believe that the aquarium with fish swimming in it is not the real thing?


This one is of a bookshelf with giant books lined up in it and a post-it note with an advertisement on it, probably for the company that sells the books.


This one looks like it has no sides and top at all! But if the truck happens to move out of spot and it will have no effect at all.


This is the most innovative one for Pringles Hot & Spicy chips. The trailer appears as though the inside of it has been through a fire.

Now you might have thought these images to be real photographs, didn't you? You've been deceived, just like how these trucks give a deceiving look of the inside. These images are just digital mock-ups created for the Rhino Rolling Advertising Awards 06 competition in Germany. Seven winners (English translation by Google) were selected (with the Pepsi design taking first place), and those designs were implemented for real and showcased at the Awards ceremony, take a look at them here:

1. Pepsi
   
2. On the wrong way?: Windshield facing back
   
3. The tote bag
   
4. Crash
   
5. Toastbrot
   
6. Aquarium
   
7. Pringles

Special prize: Slave trade

You can take a look at the rest of the submissions here. » Continue reading

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Meet Kevin Bondelli

This 24 year young man from Tempe, Arizona is the Southwest Region Director of the Young Democrats of America, overseeing Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Yes, a politician he is! Not just that, he is the Internet Organizer, Internet and Technology Strategist and Non-Traditional Campaigns Director for the Arizona Democratic Party.

What I like about this politician guy is that he believes in the freedom of speech and is deadly against censorship of content on the Internet.

Kevin has not just got a long list of achievements in his political carrier but he is a professional graphic designer, just take a look at this F16 breaking out of this photo.

This multi faceted personality has some great ideas on how to get your book or DVD reviewed by blogs and websites.

Kevin has also pointed out some hilarious incidents where Google Maps asks you to swim across the Atlantic in order to reach Paris from New York.

His blog features some really very interesting and original content on a regular basis. Do subscribe to his blog's feeds so that you don't miss out on some really good information.

Kevin Bondelli was the fourth to submit his review of HashOut as part of the Review My Blog campaign. » Continue reading

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ASUS PG191 19 inch Silver-Black LCD monitor for ultimate gaming and video experience

Taiwan based ASUS's PG191 LCD monitor incorporates super bass system and the fastest 2ms gray to gray response time to deliver better audio and video performance demanded by hardcore gamers.

With a unique industrial design, the black and silver PG191 comes with a sleek aluminum alloy neck, a circular base and a glaring piano-black panel frame, making it a stylish huge piece of decor. The bundling up of the webcam, speakers and woofer along with the monitor saves a lot of desk space too!


The model comes with 2.1-channel speakers (2x10W speakers and 15W super bass system) to deliver a thrilling audio experience when battling in the virtual world. Complemented by SRS Lab's flagship TruSurround XT audio technology, the display supports the latest game titles' 5.1 and 6.1 channel sound standards.

PG191 incorporates the Trace Free technology, which accelerates gray-to-gray response time to 2ms to enable smooth video quality, whether it is football match, 3D gaming or DVD playbacks.

The built-in 1.3 mega-pixel HP webcam along with headphones and microphone jacks together offer a total interactive solution for online gaming. The bundled life frame video communication software further lets users take snapshots and record video with ease.

The PG191 offers hot keys to activate its special audio and video modes. It has five audio modes: standard, first-person shooting games, RPG games, theater and music; and five image enhancement modes: standard, scenery, night view, theater and gaming.

The innovative technology also enables users to select three skin tone options for the best visual results in different video applications.

Other features include a tilt and swivel angle adjustment and three USB 2.0 ports.

The PG191 has a native resolution of 1280x1024 pixels, aspect ratio of 4:3, contrast ratio of 800:1 and 320cd/m2 brightness. You can find the detailed specifications of the monitor at the ASUS website here.

While other 19 inch LCD monitors are available for almost half the price of ASUS PG191, it has loads of extra features to justify its price. You can check out the price or buy the ASUS PG191 LCD Monitor right away on Amazon or SHOP.COM. » Continue reading

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The secret to improving your Google PR and Technorati Ranking

These days almost everybody in the blogosphere seems to dream about becoming a dot com mogul. One such soul is Cheewee Ng. And if that was really tongue twisting then you could simply call him Betshopboy. For a detailed explanation of why he's called Betshopboy, read his profile.

Betshopboy was the third to submit his review of HashOut as part of the Review My Blog campaign.

If you've ever been to John Chow's blog then the first thing you'll notice on Cheewee Ng's blog is that he has got a similar bottom line for his blog.

At first sight the blog seemed to be very amateurish, but as I sifted through the blog posts I was quite astounded to see that the blog which ranked in the region of 1.8 million on technorati at the end of March, ranks under 52k and has a Google PR (Page Rank) of 2 out of 10 as on date. All this within a month and just a meager 56 posts on the blog!

So how did Cheewee Ng achieve this feat? Yes, you got it right! The link love that he received through his "review exchange and link swap" campaign skyrocketed his Google and Technorati rankings. This once again asserts the importance of building links to your blog and review exchanges are a much better alternative to link exchanges as it serves three purposes. Firstly you get links back to your blog, secondly the person who reviews your blog gets involved with your blog and may become your thick friend and a loyal reader of your blog and finally your blog gets more readers through the reviewer's blog.

However, Cheewee Ng's review exchange program is a little different from what I've seen at several other blogs. In that, he has reversed the roles. He reviews your blog first and in turn asks you to link back to his blog with the anchor text "make money online" and also to link back to his "free blog review" post. Seems pretty simple, even for a layman to understand. » Continue reading

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