Father’s Day Gift Idea: Skull Bowling Ball

Need some exercise? Then take up bowling. What dad wouldn’t want to be seen with the baddest ball in the alley…

Very reminiscent of The Bowler character from Mystery Men.

Novelty Items Using USB Connectors

In response the the questions about where the USB tie came from, I had to do some digging. I pulled the image months ago (in anticipation of doing a Father’s Day) and forgot the source.

I must’ve learned about it on either Engadget or Gizmodo (both excellent sites you should check out).

But ultimately, the source is German, Dialogue05, which features an array of creative ideas, including:

• His and Her rings
• Bra clasp
• Belt
• Garbage can

Enjoy!

Father’s Day Gift Idea: USB Tie

Finally, a tie with a USB connector. What geeky dad could be disappointed receiving that on Father’s Day?

Even CEO Can’t Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business

Fun “article” at The Onion.

All kidding aside, I have no idea how they stay in business.

As I kid, I rode over to “The Shack” all the time to buy little gadgets and gizmos (breadboards, resistors, clips, cases) for my “experiments” and Popular Science projects. I’d use my free battery club card to get a free crappy non-alkaline battery each week and drool through the RS catalog from cover to cover.

Nowadays… it’s a way different story. I went into my local RS a few months ago. It was devoid of life. The lifeform behind the counter wearing a blue shirt and brown pants was comatose.

Rabbit Letter Opener

This video might be the only useful reason to have a pet rabbit in your house.

I remember visiting a friend’s house. He and his brother had two rabbits that roamed the bed room they shared. The little varmits nibbled all the buttons off the remote controls and pooped everywhere. Tiny bite marks could be found all over the room.

Don’t be sweet talked into bringing bunnies in your house, unless you want to use them as office supplies: Letter opener, paper shredder.

-BD

Read Available Job RSS Feeds On Your Mobile Phone

You’re the king of the castle but it takes a lot of moolah to keep that kingdom of yours running smoothly.

I have a tech tip to help you keep an eye out for available jobs using the RSS feeds for job boards you frequent.

This is very convenient if you have a mobile phone, smart phone or PDA with Internet access. If not, you can still set this up to view with your desktop computer browser bookmarks.

Just follow these easy steps:

1. Create a Google Reader or Bloglines account via your desktop Web browser.
2. Go to your favorite job boards and find the specific RSS/XML feed links for the search results you want. Then paste them one-by-one into Google Reader or Bloglines and organize to your preference.
3. Go online with your phone or PDA and bookmark the appropriate URL:
   http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/
   http://m.bloglines.com
4. Login to your account on your phone/PDA.

That’s it. Now you have custom feeds available wherever and whenever you want them. Great for scanning job postings, or keeping track of sports and news topics.

I’ve found RSS feeds available on these job boards: Yahoo! Hot Jobs, Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice, NYTimes, Indeed

Please let me know if you find this useful and what feeds you’d use it for.
Thanks!
-BD

Gas Price Shenanigans

I paid $54 USD at a Shell gas station last night to fill up the family mini-van. That’s $2.98/gallon for the lowest grade available (87 octane). Grrrr

It got me real grumpy and pondering who to blame: Bush, Cheney, greedy oil executives, Hurricane Katrina

Then I decided to do a little research. I’ve tracked every one of my gas fill-ups for the past three years (yes, I need a better hobby obsession). Here are the prices I paid around this time each year:

It’s interesting to see how the prices conveniently peak each summer. Also, I guess I’m becoming desensatized to the prices because I didn’t remember the prices being this high a year ago.

2004 May $1.819 :: Dec 2004 $1.929
2005 May $2.119 :: Dec 2005 $1.979
2006 May $2.819 :: Dec 2006 $2.139
2007 May $2.979

So what do we do to manage ourselves while all the puppet masters tug on their strings?

There is a lot of advice online. Here’s what I think is reasonable:

• Have a plan… consolidate all your travel errands into a single weekly trip.
• Make sure your tires are inflated properly.
• Drive less aggressively.
• Research where to buy your gas before hitting the road looking for the cheapest prices. Just search for “gas price tracker” and you’ll find many Web sites and desktop widgets to help you.
• Mass transit / public transportation can be miserable. But consider doing it once or twice a week.
• Consider using one of the online grocers… prepare your shopping list online and have it delivered.
• Pay bills online so you don’t have to travel to the Post Office for stamps or to mail letters.

Oh yeah, vote out the incumbant politicians (Democrats and Republicans alike). Start sending a message. It will take decades, but one day it might sink in.
-BD

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