Techalyzer

One of the most unusual lamps to be invented lately comes from the Dyson family. Yes the same Dysons that bring us those high powered Dyson vacuum cleaner.
Jake Dyson, son of British vacuum guru James Dyson is the designer of this light which is and upright that almost looks like a heavy flashlight. This is a lamp meant to perform and entertain you. .
With the flick of a switch, the lamp’s motorized crank moves a focusing lens above the light bulb that adjusts the shape of the beam — from a wide sweeping wash to an intense spotlight.
Can’t decide where to set the beam? No problem. Put the Motorlight on autopilot and the lens rises and falls in a continuous 25-second cycle, creating a pulsating, heaving effect that makes your walls that makes you feel like you are inside an alive breathing animal. How much for all this fun? About a thousand bucks.
For ten times less you can get yourself a toilet roll dispenser that is also an entertainment center. Atech Flash’s iCarta is pretty much the end of the line when it comes to always-on tunage. It’s an iPod dock and speakers with an integrated toilet paper holder.
This thing comes with four speakers, big sound and easy controls. The can be used with TP (arms outstretched) or without (arms collapsed). Wall mounting hardware included to mount this conversation piece. It also includes line-in jack and USB plug for MP3 players without iPod dock connectors.
Then there is that $450 dollar gadget known as an Immersion Circulator. Culinary enthusiasts around the world have been using them for years to cook proteins at low temperatures under a vacuum seal (sous vide) with no risk of overcooking or drying them out. Some home chefs call them “water ovens.”
The one made by Sous Vide Extreme it’s essentially an immersion circulator about the size of a breadbox, and consists of a 2.6-gallon tub, a heating element and a precision temperature-control device. It’s got a stainless steel exterior that would look right at home in any modern kitchen. If you want to learn what to do with one of these things then you might want to try reading a book called “Under Pressure” by Thomas Keller.

Do you want to deploy the built in parental controls that are on both PCs and Macs?
Both types of home computers have pareantal computers built into their operating systems, and each of their newest systems (Windows Vista and Mac’s Leopard) offers parents more vigilance over their kids than ever
To use your computer’s controls, first set up individual user accounts for each of your kids. Check your computer’s user guide if you’re not sure how to do this.
If you are a Mac User choose System Preferences on the Apple menu, and click on Accounts. For each child’s account, click on Parental Controls and you’ll be given a list of categories (Mail, Safari, etc.) that you can restrict or monitor.
If you’re running Leopard, you can record IM conversations and designate with whom the child can talk via e-mail or iChat, among other things. You can also limit screen time. For instance, you can set the computer to automatically log your kids out at 8 p.m.
If you are a Windows User the parental controls are accessed through the Control Panel. Look for User Accounts and Family Safety Control Panel. With Windows Vista, you’ll be given choices about web restrictions and also have the option of receiving reports on your child’s use of the computer. You can also designate certain hours off-limits and block objectionable video games and programs.
No matter which system you have, most browsers (Safari, Firefox, etc.) have an automatic history log that shows which sites have been visited. Check your user manual to learn how to check the history, if you’re not familiar with it. Make sure to check all the browsers on your computer if you have more than one. And be warned: Kids can learn how to delete the history to cover their tracks, so ask questions if you discover that the history was cleared by someone other than you.
As your kid ages he or she can be more responsible for their own online safety. Don’t let them do something because all the other kids are doing it.

Need more help? Both Apple (Macs) and Microsoft (Windows) have online tutorials and detailed info on their websites — just Google “parental controls” and “Apple” or “Microsoft” to find them. Mac users can also make an appointment at an Apple store if there’s one nearby.

One of the areas of technology where more and more inventions are evident is in the area of screen and digital displays. This is because the transparent display brought in such a revolution of ideas about how to use them in other modules.
A good example is a headset display recently invented by Motoroloa. The headset is a prototype hands-free terminal for use in construction or other tough environments where the user has his hands busy, but still needs a computer. This is very much like simply “wearing your computer on your head.”
The Motorola Helmet display fits under a construction helmet. The display itself is called the Golden-i. The design puts a tiny screen up close to the eye which gives the equivalent of a 15-inch display, and also has a headphone, a microphone along with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for talking to other devices. You become almost one with the computer’s brain when you wear a headset like this.
The headset is voice-controlled. Once you have adjusted the eyepiece for your eyesight, you simply read off the names of the icons to access them: My Music, My Pictures and so on. The voice detection software, supplied by Nuance and called VoCon3200, ignores normal conversation, only listening to commands. Think of this type of display as being like Blu-Tooth for your computer. You can command it to do what you want.
Another great display concept is called vaporware. These are low-power displays that can switch between color LCD screens and e-reader-like black-and-white displays. These are just simply easier on your eyes. There is way les glare.
Conventional LCD screens offer bright, glossy images but consume too much power. They are just not the ecological or efficient screens tine the world. The images they display are also not visible in sunlight. It’s one of the reasons electronic paper, a low-power black-and-white display that can be seen clearly outdoors during the day, has become a rage among e-book readers.
A company called Pixel Qi promises to bridge both worlds by giving computer users a display that is both black and white and color.
Pixel Qi’s 3Qi display operates in three modes: a full-color LCD transmissive mode; a low-power, sunlight-readable, reflective e-paper mode; and a transflective mode, which makes the LCD display visible in sunlight. This means you will never be craning your neck or twisting your laptop around straining to read the print on it again.